Coracle Trust E-Reflections
Yes
Tuesday 12 October 2010
i thank You God for most this amazing day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes e.e. cummings, I thank you God for most this amazing day
"The kingdom of God doesn't come by counting the days on the calendar. Nor when someone says, 'Look here!' or, 'There it is!' And why? Because God's kingdom is already within (or among) you." (Luke 17:20-22, The Message, NIV) This is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God's Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. (2 Corinthians 1:20-22, The Message) Music: Spiegel im spiegel, Arvo Part
Life as Yes
Natural, infinite, yes. Three words that particularly echo at this stage of midlife. Here is a longing for crispness, for depth and for wide open spaces. The world and the attendant responsibilites clutch at the heart, pluck at the wallet, compress and distract. Yet, below, through and beyond this are hints that the universe is large and is not divided. After all my defensive strategies for survival I start to sense that after all the universe might actually be benign. Might there actually be a Unity that infuses and supports everything, independent of our exertions and limitations?
Faith as a 'Yes!'
All things were made through Christ. Doesn’t this suggest a stamp of loving care, an impression left on and in all things by which each can grow? Lord of earth below and heaven above. The kingdom of God does not seem to be smeared with boundaries and parameters so much as being an inviting, affirmative space. The poet Mary Oliver writes “Sometimes I need / only to stand / wherever I am / to be blessed.” There is toil and commitment at this stage, to be sure - close and wider family plus increased work responsibilities. But there is also a rising interest in the ancient paths, the deep well of spirit that bubbles from within. Satisfaction like a deep bath or a clean dissecting pass on a football pitch or a sticky risotto, a deal won, an insight given and received may be one and the same thing yet only the tip. Is faith now trusting in what is deepest, in what is natural, infinite and yes?