We’ve an exhibition on in church over the next week. It is an exhibition of art by Syrian Refugee Children. Its fantastic and a way of seeing what is happening in that part of the world through different eyes.
There’s a preview tonight (Friday) at 6.30 pm. If you’d like to come to that preview, consider this your invitation.
See you there.
Helpful, thank you
What is the concern with the reproaches? I’m not familiar with them
They can be interpreted as being directed at us the listeners. But they can also be interpreted as speaking to Jewish people as all the imagery is from the Hebrew Scriptures and doesn’t reference the experience of those who actually were around Jesus during his life on earth.
For example:
“I led you out of Egypt, having drowned Pharaoh in the Red Sea:
and you have delivered me to the chief priests.”
Who is being addressed here?
I must admit I had always read the Reproaches as directed to the listener. That the Egypt from which we are delivered is the Egypt of the modern world, the slavery of ghastly jobs (I’ve had a few, in fact a lot) and the oppression of terrible political systems. But I come from a totally different thought world to that of most people today, and I absolutely see they wouldn’t commonly be read that way.
But I think it would benefit everyone to find a way of expressing BOTH what faith can offer in terms of freedom AND the mess we do make of the world, and sitting with that tension.
And I think the church as a whole urgently needs to find a compelling and deep reaching way of doing both.
You might be interested that we’re looking at Isaiah 59 as a helpful text for this year, given the current ways of the world.
I’m of much the same mind. (A mind that is still blown away when I hear them sung)
Thank you
Today is the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul. The old joke is of course that its something worth praying for. However, I like to keep it. It reminds me that the most murderous and violent opponent of the early Jesus movement did do a complete turn around on the road to Damascus. Still…
Anyone coming to St Mary’s tomorrow might note that there are temporary traffic lights at the junction of Great Western Road and Napiershall Street. This has been causing some congestion today. Presumably it will not be as bad tomorrow, but forewarned is forearmed, or whatever the expression is.
And here is the final one of the batch of Prayer for the Day scripts that have been going out on Radio 4 every day this week: Good Morning Someone asked me the other day what is the first memory that I have. I was able to tell them and to date it exactly. I’m…
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