"I keep having these dangerous thoughts," said Jon, as we sat around the pub-table last night, with books and minds and hearts open. I think we'd all been thinking thoughts like Jon's.
Bonus. The Eva Hart pub in Chadwell Heath (named after an ex-local resident who survived the Titanic sinking) is currently hosting a beer/ale festival. I choose one called 'Tanners', which was acceptable but not memorable. David tried one called 'Titanic'. And Ian opted for one that tasted like bananas. Honestly.
Last night was our first night exploring 'Schools of Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism' (edited by the Rutba House... available from Amazon - where you can read the first chapter for free online). I read the book last year (thanks for the recommendation Justin!) and have been returning to it ever since. More and more, I find it necessary to explore books and new ideas and things-I-feel-from-God (there aren't that many) with my friends, co-collaborators, the pilgrims I share this Path with... faith is not a solitary thing.
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Ian and David, Rosi and Jon, Rob and Dewi and I reflected on chapter 1, 'Relocation to Abandoned Places of Empire' (by Sr. Margaret M McKenna), and explored it's implications on our life-together. Here are a few of the things I scribbled in my journal as we talked...
..."i keep having these dangerous thoughts!"
...Rosi talked about the Wilberforce book she's been reading - Amazing Grace - and the incredible impact that the Clapham Sect-friends had on their community, on London, on the UK and on the world. They agreed to "dream dreams, see visions," and support one another in pursuing these dreams and visions. Do we dare to dream? How do we apply our values/principles/rule(?) to these dreams and visions?
...we need to develop a healthy breathing in-breathing out rhythm, as individuals and as a community of friends, of prayer and mission, coming and going. We talked a lot about what our 'rhythm of prayer' might look like.
...liturgy. The Northumbria Community aim, not to re-package or revive old practice but, to draw inspiration from what has gone before, and dig a "deeper spirituality of the heart". We need this... deeper grooves are cut into our lives through spiritual disciplines.
...liturgy can also help us to overcome the power of individualism (personal calling... personal Saviour... personal life, etc.)
...we talked about the concept of 'Empire' and what it is that we need to resist. For us, Empire meant the unhealthy exercise of power. In his introduction to the book, Jonathan Wilson writes, "Since one of the marks of our cultural moment is the loss of any sense of 'telos' (end goal, towards which one is headed) and the consequent reduction of all action to the battle for power over the other, the recovery of teleological thinking and living is one, perhaps the, critical task of the day."
...we cannot 'renounce' power in the sense that we cannot live 'free' of all expressions of power. Wilson says that this is "as impossible as it is irresponsible," and "Power is present and available in the Spirit; to renounce it is to turn away from the Spirit's presence and work. So the new monasticism displays a reconception of power that witnesses to the self-giving power of Jesus Christ."
...busyness is a mark of Empire in our lives. How do we let go of the 'busy' attitude and really 'be' with God?
..."I really like calling it the Empire... it's a bit Star Wars-y, a bit Lord of the Rings-y... perhaps we could call ourselves 'the Republic'?"
..."the greatest temptation faced by the new monasticism is simply the perpetuation of it's own life..." Our community must not become the purpose (telos) of the community. Equally, serving the world must not become the purpose either. "...the new monasticism must orient it's life in accordance with the consummation of the kingdom of God - the redemption of creation in Jesus Christ." YES!
...we read McKenna's stuff about the post-Constantinian Christians relocating into the deserts, into the "abandoned places", in an effort to escape the "compromises of the many" in the Church (martyrdom had all-but disappeared... and so had integrity to the Gospel of Jesus Christ). Church had become safe, big, impressive, a place of social advantage and power (even allied to military power)... we realised how similar the Church is today, and wondered at the possibility that our efforts to 'escape' might echo theirs in some tiny way.
We also realised that the abandoned places of today's Empire, today's deserts and today's 'margins', are mostly within the cities themselves - hidden and isolated. Dewi mentioned that the closer city-people live/co-exist, the more isolated and lonely they seem to become. Our deserts are before us.
...we also acknowledged that our relocation meant seeing and hearing differently. We can walk the same streets in a new, prayerful way and discover that we are in a new place (as Jon and Rosi and Drew and Sue and others had done on Sunday).
...the place where we are is where we are called to be... and to restore, for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Through hospitable welcome, open fearless lives. Hospitality isn't a vehicle for the message of Jesus, it is the message of Jesus.
We tried to summarise what we wanted to follow-up;
- we want to develop a regular rhythm of life/prayer
- we will develop some daily prayer resources
- we want to explore ways to resist unhealthy power/Empire in our lives
- we want to reach out to those 'on the margins' - where and who are they?
- we want to maintain our focus on Jesus, not on our community, nor on others
- some want to reflect more on 'desert' and what this might mean (for us)
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"I feel like fundamental things are changing... in me, in us", reflected Ian, as we finished the dregs of our beer/ale-festival pints. "My fires are being stoked," Rosi grinned, "I feel, kind of edgy." We laughed together.
"It's like a weight-lifter," offered Dewi, drawing the image from his mind, "We are, I mean. A weight-lifter has to commit to training, to discpline. It is effort that leads to reward." "I'm excited," Jon beamed, "because we're in this... we're not emerging, we're in it. But we need to keep dreaming!"
And I read a bit from McKenna's summary on relocation... "In a new place one must begin by looking and listening, and this leads to love, creativity, service and surprise..."
(...and it reminded me of Vincent Donovan's introduction to his wonderful book,'Christianity Rediscovered, where he talks about "church in a new place")
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We'll be back in the Eva Hart pub on Monday 14th May at 8pm to explore chapter 2, 'Sharing Economic Resources with Fellow Community Members and the Needy Among Us'. You're welcome to join with us. I suspect the conversation could be even more "dangerous". Maybe the beer will be too? ;o)
Oh how I want to be there! But thanks for letting us listen in to the conversation, through your journal jottings Phil - keep them coming please! [I have ideas about prayer resources, as a follow-up to one I was part of developing a few years ago, which I really hope I can share with you some time].
Posted by: Tom J | Tuesday, 01 May 2007 at 06:08 PM
Sounds v. interesting stuff!
Posted by: Miranda | Tuesday, 13 January 2009 at 12:36 PM