Prayer

Ground Me in Your Grace

Eternal One,

     Silence

        from whom my words come;

     Questioner

        from whom my questions arise;

     Lover

        of whom all my loves are hints;

     Disturber

        in whom alone I find my rest;

     Mystery

        in whose depths I find healing

             and myself;

Enfold me now in your presence;

     restore to me your peace;

        renew me through your power;

                   and ground me in your grace.

- Ted Loder from Guerrillas of Grace: Prayers for the Battle, LuraMedia, 1984

God's Grace and Chocolat

I'm not sure what the theme of my homily today ought to be. Do I want to speak of the miracle of Our Lord's divine transformation? Not really, no. I don't want to talk about His divinity. I'd rather talk about His humanity. I mean, you know, how He lived His life, here on Earth. His kindness, His tolerance... Listen, here's what I think. I think that we can't go around... measuring our goodness by what we don't do. By what we deny ourselves, what we resist, and who we exclude. I think... we've got to measure goodness by what we embrace, what we create... and who we include.

 - Pere Henri in the film version of Joanne Harris's  Chocolat

Another recycled Greenpatch:

And by the way, for a brilliant depiction of our shadow sides, the various and mixed motives behind Lenten observances and how they can go horribly wrong, do, if you've not already had a chance to, have a look at Joanne Harris's Chocolat.  The whole novel, but especially the scene near the end when the priest (in the book) or the mayor (in the film version) pigs out in the Chocolaterie window. It would be hilarious if it weren't so sad.

To which I'd add now -  such a wonderful depiction of God's grace - in the screenplay at least, along with the famous Bishop's Candlesticks scene in the film of  Les Miserables. (I prefer the Chocolat take on it myself, though what that says about me I don't like to think!)

Great minds think alike anyhow: as I was pondering all this yesterday Chris Goan of This Fragile Tent pipped me to the post with his Chocolate and The New Kingdom.

The long and winding road - praying the labyrinth

St Columba's Bay, Iona, labyrinth, May 2011

The labyrinth at St Beunos, retreat October 2011

Made one of those happy discoveries this evening when I stumbled across a labyrinth blog for the first time: agracingmaze, which  title I reckon deserves an award for both aptness and the most apalling pun ever! Looks to be some wonderful resources and a chance to share reflections on this means of prayerful walking.

As I've written before in my old Greenpatches blog, the labyrinth has played a significant part in my own walk; sometimes affirming, always challenging. Yet, do you know, it's only as I was pondering earlier on the struggles of somebody else that the realisation is  dawning a) of the tremendous distance I've travelled (spiritually as well as physically!) since those first, hesitant steps, and b) an emerging pattern: each time the labyrinth symbolising a time of transition,  liminal space, a turning point, a call to go deeper with God.  And yet I'd not always appreciated this at the time. I guess when you're in the thick of a situation it's easy to feel that you're going nowhere, trudging  round in an endless circle. Only time, space and perspective reveal  that this circle, is, in fact, a spiral. Quietly breathtaking.  Cue imitation of a (happily) stranded guppy...

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Whiskers on Kittens - 110 Things that Bring Me Life...continued

At the (totally embarrassing) risk of sounding a dead ringer for Maria in The Sound of Music:

45. The blossom laden trees in the park as I walked GP dog in the park earlier. So delicate; try and grasp the blooms and you risk crushing them.

46. The arrival in my in-box of the St Beunos newsletter;  bright, springlike and bursting out all over.

I'm not so sure about our own resident 'big kitten,' pictured above. Leastways - when he plonks himself on my desk between the printers and sits there looking stern/shoves his whiskers in my face. We've not had to cope with such goings-ons since the reign of the Late Great Gothcat. Was that really three cats ago? How time flies!

[Hmm..Who can spot the typo in the post title first?! ]

God in All Things - 100 things that bring me life

I've been inspired by Emma's challenge in Count Your Blessings to revisit a similar exercise which I heard about at a prayer workshop last year. The leader recalled being challenged by her spiritual guide to list 100 things which enlivened  and helped her become more aware of God's presence in her everyday life. She didn't tell us how many she clocked up but I was inspired enough to rush home and begin my own list over the next few days. It all trailed off after a while - maybe now's the time to have another go. So here, with some editing to protect the innocent and tone down the personal is what I came up with.

1. Painting garden trellis and furniture (in tasteful shades of green and buttermilk)
2. aha! moments of insight, ideas and connections
3. Helping other people make connections with God
4. My nightly bath!
5. Completing and turning in a piece of writing.
6. Watching Soap and other DVDs with Mr GP
7. Laughing and joking.
8. Admiring the garden through the kitchen window.
9. Sitting on a garden bench with a cup of tea.
10. When - and - (friends and prayer partners) come round.
11. Frame it moments
12. When all the clutter and gunk clears and prayer really takes off.
13. Just sitting and gazing.
14. Coffee with -- before work.
15. Walking GP dog in the park on a sunny day.
16. Looking outside after a snowfall.
17. Walking through soft snow.
18. art journaling
19. Singing classes
20. Spotting the first snowdrops.
21. Julian prayer group
22. Setting up for communion in a quiet church on a sunny Friday afternoon.
23. 'Revisiting' in imagination places like CSF Compton Durville or Iona where I've felt God to be so, soclose.
24. Lent library - planning and doing
25. Creativity - when I've a sudden inspiration to add an imaginative twist to a project, a finishing touch that just seems 'meant.'
26. Traveling  - by train or walking - with Mr GP; cups of tea, arriving at our destination for the day and 'setting up home,' exploring and planning for the trip.
27. Silent retreats
28. Visiting a favourite place within a place, like the font in Salisbury Cathedral.
29. Strolling through the streets on a Summer's day or in the cool of the evening and smelling the scents of the flowers, trees etc
30. Moments of 'like-minded' connection with other people, however fleeting.
31. Wearing a favourite, old, cosy garment.
32. Planning and list-making for retreat or holiday.
33. My 'Kelly,' 'Volcano' kettle!
34. Laughing with -- and --- at the stall at church over something that happened during the week.
35. Herman the Amish sourdough starter. No, I never did manage to pass him on.
36. Walking into church on a Friday afternoon; smelling the polish and saying hello to person on the cleaning rota for the week.
37. The times when I'm brave enough to be authentic and able to share where I really am spiritually.
38. Group meeting: Being able to speak up for myself and correct a point where I felt I'd been misunderstood in a polite yet firm and clear manner and having this accepted.
39. Arriving home to find Mr GP in the kitchen making the meal  and chatting together.
40. Unexpected invite to the cinema with ---.
41. Walking out of a ----meeting feeling weary yet energised at the same time.
42. Gathering conkers on the way up the hill to church of a Sunday morning and going back in my imagination to my first ever retreat at CD.
43. Gathering beechnut husks on the walk home from singing. Reminded of the Joyce Grenfell sketch: Useful and Acceptable Gifts!
44. Sitting in the sun in ------churchyard on a TSSF quiet day, art journaling and pondering over prayer when another piece of the puzzle drops quietly into place as I draw.

Phew!

To be resumed.,,

What about you, dear fellow-bloggers?

Why Greenpatches??

Well, I did say this blog was about gardening, didn't I? Though not the kind that features in Gardener's Question Time as any of my family will tell you. No, back in Lent 2007 I was after a  suitably greeny-tinged blog title  in keeping with the St John's Nottingham module I was studying: Sustaining The Earth. Inspiration struck as I gazed out over our perfectly manicured, lush green lawn (not). As most of you who have a resident Fido will know, (if you don't then your pooch is obviously too goody-goody for words and would the two of you kindly take yourselves off elsewhere), canine Number Twos scattered willy nilly bring out your grass in nifty little green clumps. Patches of Potential Promise in amongst the p***

(sorry) the arid desert effect brought about by Greenpatch dog's leaky bladder. My Myers-Brigg's INFP intuition antennae went all of a quiver as I spotted  the spiritual analogies and Green Patches was born. 

I've spotted more than a sprinkling of my own Greenpatches on my  journeyings since that day five years ago; not all either recognised or appreciated at the the time but hey - I'm older, greyer and wiser now...I think.

Oh and my gardening skills are much better than they used to be, too.