You have to check out this

totally stuff white people like plus way worse.

 

Team Work

I did the most fun Walk ever on Monday night. It was with one of my regular schools. Just before it started I bumped into one of the guys I have known around the Cross for about 12years. He can be pretty moody but was in good form. He asked me if I wanted to go to the movies. Well, I had to say no to that, but I invited him to come on the Walk. I had to explain that I walk around the Kings Cross with kids and we explore ideas and I tell stories. And he says to me “and what would you know about the Cross?” I thought – well come on you have known me for 12years, but I let that go and persuaded him to come along and see. I was slightly nervous but decided if I can’t say what I say in front of the streeties then I probably shouldn’t be saying it. Anyway it went really great. He was being a bit of a loose canon, but we also had moments where I felt we were working as a team. Those moments were priceless and I got amazing feedback from the teacher about it. He said to the kids after – “it is one thing to talk about social justice, it is another thing to live it.” It seemed the teacher felt that having us both there doing it together was a display of social justice.  I really hope the Walks can produce more great moments like that.

mountain air

I have over the last few days been getting into this TV series.

It has been interesting. My favourite character surprised me. She got herself together and things were going so well and then she ran away. Something cracked in her. I sometimes have these indulgent moments as if I am the only one who has ever had moments of losing the plot, but I guess we all run from things. I guess we all do it all the time.

Life is a strange thing. It rushes us all around the place. But for now I am in a good place. I have a beautiful room where I get to look over my amazing garden surrounded by pine trees while I stare at scrolls and translate Hebrew into English. I had a good day. I have a new bed too. It is a queen sized. I feel like a real adult. Yes, everything is very pleasant. But life is not going to stop being life. I am wise enough to know that nothing beautiful does last. But for now I can breathe. And it is fresh mountains air.

Prayer

This is the prayer I prayed at the service on Sunday for our new minister Ed. Did I mention I love him?

“Prayer is not asking for what you think you want but asking to be changed in ways you could never imagine.” (From Anne Lamott)

God,

Many an hour I spent with you, praying for all the things that I want.

God I just lost my phone, please get it back for me? God, I am in pain, can’t I always be happy? God can’t I be rich? Can’t the trains run on time? I am going to be late, damn it. God, that guy is so wonderful, can’t you make him fall in love me?

God, I think about the billions of prayers you must get like this every day. We want you to manipulate the world for us to make our lives more pleasant.

But God, it is much more exciting, just the thought, that your aim is not to make our lives more pleasant but to change us in ways that we cannot even imagine yet. Now that is prayer I want to be holding onto. One I feel you calling us towards. But God, it is scary and overwhelming too. Change isn’t easy. Change doesn’t make us feel good. Change takes ideas we held onto and people and things we love and leaves them behind. Change is to move on, to let go, to feel out of place and out of shape.

So tonight we pray for our new minister Ed, and for Jane and Chloe and Georgia. For all they have let go of, moved on from, said goodbye to – may you comfort them. God, this is a time when they need you to be really near them, sending them lots of messages reminding them that they are awesome in your eyes.

God, there is pain in change, but there is also beauty. As we farewell the days of summer the leaves turn red and orange on the trees. As Ireland farewells a family who they loved, we get new leadership and a family we will no doubt come to love. God, thank you for bringing them here. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Know we are grateful to you. So let us embrace change.

For God you are the master of using change to strengthen us, grow us and lead us closer to the people of the Kingdom of God.

So God, we pray it tonight for Ed and Jane and their daughters and we pray it for ourselves. We pray it – knowing it is scary but because we put our trust in you.

God change us in ways we cannot yet imagine.

Amen.