Reflections Sunday 28 August 2021

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Being
Listening For God
Mantra
Quotes
Reconciliation
Silence
Stillness
Wildness
Wisdom

Getting out of the rut
Welcome to this week's reflections. I have gathered together a number of things to reflect on based on this week's Scripture reading James 1:1-17.
You may choose all or some of the things to reflect on. You will find Scripture verses, quotes, songs and videos, prayers and mantras to use and some thoughts. The aim is not entertainment or stimulation but that you spend time in Stillness and Silence. Please click on the links to lead to external websites and clips.
Scripture reading:  James 1:17-27 

A Bible verse
​Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world (James 1:27).

A Song
​'we venerate thy cross’ sung by Noirin Ni Riain and the Monks of Glenstal Abbey. This video contains images of the beautiful Skellig Rocks off the County Kerry Coast in Ireland. The words of the chant are attached in Russian and English for you to follow.

we venerate thY cross

A Question
Why do people tend to take the same worn paths?

Some thoughts
I was out walking the other day and came across a brown deep rutted track across a grassed area. Rather than following the cement pathway people had been taking a short cut. I wondered why do people do that?  Why do people tend to walk in the same path making a deeper and deeper rut? Why don't they spread out?

​What we see in the ever wearing track is an externalisation of what is going on in the brain. We tend to fall into the same routines which then become like grooves in the mind which we find hard to get out of. We tend to respond to things in the same way, we follow the same old paths to destruction, we take the short cut, the familiar path, though it be painful and leading to the same outcome rather than risking to choose a different way, an unfamiliar path; because the darkness we know, with all its potholes and hazards is safer than the unknown path. But hey another path could lead us to a different place. It could lead us out of the spiral we are in. It might open up a new world, lead to different behaviour and to better relationships, perhaps to a more peace centred life. We will never know unless we get out of the rut and explore.

In the church we can do the same. I know I often say the same things in my sermons and prayers over and over again, people choose the same songs, listen to the same music, sit in the same place, talk to the same people, round and round we go.
So how can we get out of this?
​
James tells us to be doers of the word and not merely hearers. Being hearers of the word is very important but without putting it into practice we remain the same. Hearing and doing are connected. Our doing flows from our hearing. Listening for God shapes our actions, our doing. While there has always been much good in the church, there has also been many terrible things done by people claiming to be doing the will of God. People claim to be following Jesus, but if we are going around in circles are we really following the one who brings freedom, liberation and transformation? Is our veneration of Christ's cross simply words we sing or a way we follow? Was Jesus' way of the cross in vain? 

Silence, stillness, reflection, listening for God, bring us closer to God’s heart and as our hearts connect with God’s heart our minds are transformed and our actions then tend to flow from love and empathy, with grace and mercy and kindness.
​When faced with a well worn track as pictured below, what will we do? What choices will we make? Where might Jesus be in this photo?

A ​Poem: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
​
​Words of Wisdom
Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger (James 1:22)

A Mantra
Hearers? Doers? As you inhale say the word 'Hearers' softly under your breath and as you exhale say the word 'Doers'.
A Silent Moment 
Take a moment to be still and silent, be aware of the energy or pain in your body, hold your gaze on a tree. or plant or bird or insect for a moment. Let God come to you.
A Prayer
God of love, who hears the cries of all who suffer, may we be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger. Amen.

And finally - a Quote
​‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions’
This is a well known quote but it is not from the Bible. The author is unknown. It is something worth reflecting on.
Here is a clip of Madonna singing it. Watch out or it might just get stuck in your head. If you find this offensive in anyway I apologise.