A song for this day

I’ll sing my Lord a morning song
So with the rising sun
I’ll offer up my prayer and praise
To God the Three in One.

I’ll sing my Lord a midday song,
For justice and for peace.
I’ll offer up my prayer and praise:
Worship will never cease.

I’ll sing my Lord an evening song
As glowing sun does set:
The endless round of prayer and praise
Has never ended yet.

I’ll sing my Lord a night time song
As gentle moon shines on.
The stars shall join in prayer and praise
Until the kindom comes

JAL 14.01.2019

Tune is St Columba

Whales

Baptismas is a water festival. Remembering the bible at this time might include other stories about Living Wet, like Jonah living in the belly of a huge sea creature. The #waveofwhales campaign is also a good activity for this period. Send words or images to the Japanese Ambassador to indicate your opposition to commercial whaling.

When the wise were walking
You were weaving your way
From pole to pole and back.
Beneath the waves you sang
Your way across oceans
And around continents.
Hunted, massacred, pushed
To the edge of extinction:
The not so wise made the rules.
Much later, out of the blue,
The realisation that we need you
Made most repent and take another way.

Time rolls on; once again the heat is on,
The oceans are plastic soup,
And old enemies rise and risk a strike.
Every wave is needed to object,
To command, to remind,
The really wise do not persecute the great grey ones,
The singers of the deep:
Come, watch, listen and learn.

JAL 12.01.2019

A time of transition

Transitions,
Everyone encounters them from time to time.
What did you do while waiting, adjusting?
Between Egypt and River Jordan,
What watching, learning?
Observing fishermen and tax collectors,
House keepers and sweepers,
Sons both prodigal and willing,
Good enough shepherds,
Bridesmaids both foolish and wise,
Women and men of all ages, natures and abilities,
The mournful, righteous and persecuted:
Enough to last a life time of blessings.
Enough that you would step into the water,
Wordless, accepting, affirming,
Ready to be the Beloved
And show us how to Live Wet!

In our life and our believing
We’ll have a wet, wet time!

JAL 11.01.2019

Olive’s chair

My great aunt Olive was one of the wise ones in my family. Before I give her chair away I’d best tell you her story.

Olive was married to Len, one of the Sewell brothers. Anna Sewell of ‘Anna Sewell and sons’ was her mother in law and my great grandmother. Anna had five daughters and four sons, of which Len was the eldest, so he ran the business on a day to day basis. He was helped by George who had served as a submariner in WW2. They all lived at the fish shop in West Green Road, Tottenham, which was where I grew up.
Olive ran the multi generational household that gathered at the shop and where all family occasions were celebrated. We relied on the shop for the major part of our diet when I was very young. My mum would call in everyday before tea time and Len would give her something that was left of the fish on the counter. ‘Fish makes you brainy’ the uncles would always say and we thrived on it. I still love to eat fish above everything else.
On Saturday nights the whole family would gather at the shop. Each person was allowed to choose what they wanted for tea from the fish left that had to be used up (Sunday and Monday the shop was closed). You could choose anything but you had to ‘deal with it’ yourself, bones and all. We all learnt to fillet at an early age.
There would be stories and laughter. Uncle George would say daft things and get told off by Aunt Olive. There would be card games of rummy and cribbage with Newmarket at Christmas played with buttons from the button box rather than money.
Olive was always generous, giving things away, freecycling just as we are doing now so I know she’d approve.
In the holidays we’d go to aunt Olive’s caravan near Southend sometimes. Or she would come on holiday with us and our cousins to places on the east coast like Sea Palling, bracing! She’d read us stories and we’d play tricks on her like putting a china egg in her egg cup at breakfast.
As we got older, aunt Olive was a source of treats. She took me to the hairdresser when I was about 10 and I got a bob hair cut. She bought me a magic set for my birthday, not a practical thing but something I had dearly wanted (I can’t remember why).
Eventually Len sold the shop and everyone dispersed. Len and Olive lived in retirement in a bungalow near the east coast and we would visit quite often. When Len died it was Betty, my mum’s sister, who took time to look after Olive.
At about that time I was moving into a flat in Palmers Green in North London. Olive gave me two items of furniture for the flat: a bedside cabinet and the rocking chair. I used to sit in the window at the flat and read or sew. It was the best thing I had apart from my sewing machine. She lent me her watch for my wedding day (something borrowed).
When Olive died hers was the first funeral I conducted, on my 33rd birthday.
I remembered driving along the M40 towards Oxford, returning to college, praying ‘May the God of Peace comfort, hold and sustain you now and forever’.
It’s been a great chair.

In our life and our believing

The love of God

JAL 08.01.2019

They went in

It was simple enough.
It was a ‘come in’ kind of place:
Homely, warm, gently buzzing.
So they went in.
After all they’d been in other places,
Scarier, less welcoming.
Places where you got questioned
About everything:
Where did you come from?
How did you get here?
Why have you come?
What do you want?
So they went in.
There was a baby
And like most babies,
It was the centre of attention.
It was sign, they said.
We’ve bought gifts, they said.
And eventually,
We’ll go back another way, they said,
Backing out slowly,
Not making a fuss.
Like they went in.

Welcoming One, may we also come in to your presence,
Homemaker, may we be welcoming too.
Manger Babe, may we bring others to the light and joy of your love.
Help us to remember that a welcome is not just for Epiphany,
And on the streets and beaches of this land may we be the welcomers.

JAL 06.01.2019
Feast of Epiphany

Living water

The water is alive!
See how it flows,
Hear how it whispers and roars!
After a summer of dwindling,
Seeping away, slowly sinking,
Now rain raises it up,
Brown and white, foaming and vigorous.
This valley is marked by it
As it both stills and flows,
Moving on to give life to other places.

May we be like the living water.
As you raise us up, enliven us,
By your Spirit, to share life and renew
Our communities with hope and love.

JAL 05.01.2019

Lost

You can get lost in a temple
Or anywhere at all.
You can wander about for a few days
Or much, much longer
Until the story comes back to you.
Then you remember
Your place in God’s kindom
And you set off again,
Firmer, clearer, resolved.

JAL 04.01.2019

It seems that if you use a printed lectionary the story of the Lost Jesus only comes up once every three years, whereas it comes up quite often in the Remembered Bible.