• The Beatitudes of Livestreaming

    Blessed are they who livestream their church services
    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs to share with others and they know it.

    Blessed are the sick and the dying in churches which livestream
    for they shall be comforted by still being able to be part of their congregations
    in addition to receiving the personal and pastoral care of their friends and clergy.

    Blessed are those who are meek enough to know that audio matters more than video
    for they will inherit the online audience.

    Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for life-changing worship both online and in-person
    for their love of God will be counted as righteousness.

    Blessed are the joyful
    for their joy online will light up the world.

    Blessed are the purposeful
    for they will make their livestreaming easy to find and they will ensure that
    no-one needs to download a hymnsheet, a liturgy book and a pdf version of the notices.

    Blessed are the livestream makers
    for they are counted amongst the evangelists of today.

    Blessed are the congregations who rejoice in the technical and digital skills of those who are often overlooked
    for they shall reap a harvest of plenty.

    Blessed are those who know that their worship would be better not livestreamed yet
    for they know that they need to concentrate on renewing their in-person worship first.

    Blessed are you when people make snarky comments about your livestream
    for they are telling you they want it to be better for the honour and the glory of the Lord our God.

4 responses to “Retreat”

  1. Carole Avatar
    Carole

    Retreat
    Interesting choice of theme for the Advent retreat.
    Mary Magdelen was of course know to be an energetic, implusive and caring woman. Quite a dream really.

    Unusual combination of food stuffs lentils and banana, anyway.

  2.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Retreat

    Just struck by the coincidence that you and I were on retreat at the same time.  While you were considering the place of Mary Magdalene I was being led to listen more deeply to my dreams.  Through a process of table fellowship and sharing I came to find much meaning in what seemed like a completely random collection of items which regularly arise during the silent hours of the night:  medical pots; gas masks; military apparel; a purple stole; a half-mauled rabbit; a friendly ghost and a bottle of single malt.  I was really appreciative of my fellow retreatants one of whom, realising it was my first time, was very gentle with me and showed me the ropes.  The other, the slightly more talkative of the two, showed a persistent yet Liberal interest in delving deeper into my darkest recesses to see what might come up. If your retreat was anything like as rich as mine you should have enough to chew upon for a very long time, Kelvin.  Thanks for reading this anyway.

  3.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Another dream
    I don’t know what that retreat started but since posting that last message I have had yet another dream.  In this latest one there were two soldiers carrying a sofa up a glen!!! What on earth does that tell me.  Any offers of help most gratefully accepted.

  4. Saph Avatar
    Saph

    Another dream
    As a person of quite mature years, let me share with you my thoughts on your dream.
    I see the soliders with their uniforms as a sign of discipline – perhaps you are searching for someone to take you in hand and put more structure in your life. The sofa to me represents comfort and familiarity maybe this is what you are searching for but combined with the rugged landscape of the glen are prepared to take the rough with the smooth. Sometimes our dreams are like a humane mouse trap, we are lured in with the promise of something nice to taste but in the end we are trapped and at the mercy of someone elses hand to release us back into the wild.

    I hope this has been of some help to you. Thank you for taking the time to read the ramblings of an old woman anyway.

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