Parenthesis …

Christ has no Body now but yours

This week one of Danielle’s co-workers were ego-googling Dan. While doing so she came across this link at the BBC site which has an article from our old blog signposts linked up.

It reminded me that we had some good resources on signposts that are in line with the aim of this new blog. I will from time to time republish some of our older posts here.

In terms of the BBC article, I would like to point out that the words of the meditation are not our own. But rather someone else did the work of merging the words of Oscar Romero and Theresa of Avila. As much as I would like to take credit for the beautiful words, I unfortunately cannot.

They are indeed powerful words. It has become my habit to use the words at the forge leadership workshops that I run. Our annual leadership retreats at Northern also use the words to reflect deeply on our own work and ministry.

Here are the words again:

Christ has no Body now but yours

No hands, no feet on earth but yours

Yours are the eyes through which he looks

Compassion on the world

Yours are the feet with which he walks

To do good

Yours are the hands with which he blesses

All the world.

Yours are the hands

Yours are the feet

Yours are the eyes

You are his body

Planning in the Kingdom

It helps, now and then, to step back

And take the long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts

It is even beyond our vision.

Lord, we know in whom we believe

We accomplish in our lifetime

Only a fraction of the magnificent enterprise

that is God’s work

Nothing we do is complete,

which is another way of saying that the

Kingdom always lies beyond us.

Lord, we know in whom we believe

No statement says all that could be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith

No confession brings perfection

No pastoral visit being wholeness

No programme accomplishes the Church’s mission

No set of goals and objectives includes everything

Lord, we know in whom we believe

This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted

Knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development

We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.

Lord we know in whom we believe

We cannot do everything

And there is a sense of liberation in realizing that

This enables us to do something,

And to do it very well

It may be incomplete

But it is a beginning,

A step along the way, an opportunity for the

Lords grace to enter and do the rest.

Lord we know in whom we believe

We may never see the end results,

But that is the difference between

The master builder and the worker.

We are workers,

Not master builders,

Ministers,

Not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future

Not our own.

(Oscar Romero)

Lord, we trust in you

To eternally renew our belief in you

In ourselves and in each other

In this is our joy. Amen

Yours are the hands

Yours are the feet

Yours are the eyes

You are his body.

Christ has no Body now but yours

No hands, no feet on earth but yours

Yours are the eyes through which he looks

Compassion on this world

Christ has no Body but yours.

lesson from the garden

Recently I had six weeks long service leave. I spent most of the time in the garden at our weekender. It was great and I miss the fresh air and the pottering about in the garden. But, I also worked hard! Many days were spent weeding the fairly large block, and the covering all the gardens with mulch, planting new trees and constructing new garden beds. I even put in a hot house and a automated watering system which was so much like lego for adults it wasn’t funny!

All in all the garden was looking pretty good - it has the air of being in good shape.

I went back to work for a week and came back on my next day off to find the following sight in our backyard.

A big branch had come down from one of the gum trees in our backyard, and had covered all of our citrus grove.

I know the picture is hard to make out but hopefully you can get the general idea.

So, my day off was spent chopping up the branch and spreading some out to the rest of the garden and burning some of it up.

I could not help but be struck by the similarity with Church leadership. Just when we think we are making progress or when we think we are doing OK - the wheels fall off. Something unexpected happens and we have to direct all our energy to that particular crisis.

Our leadership role is very similar to a gardener - a task never done, Still, hopefully we can experience some sort of sense of progress even when such events happen in our faith communities.

Oh by the way, after cleaning this big branch up and going back to work, I received a call on monday from one of our neighbours who informed me that a huge tree had come down in the front yard This tree smashed into the carport breaking the spouting, and taking with it the telephone and power lines.

Oh well… more to do!