Tuesday, September 14, 2010

OUR DAILY BREAD

Here is something Iwrote for the monthly magazine that goes to all the 4100 homes in Tetbury. I thought you might enjoy? it.

This is the season when we customarily celebrate our harvest thanksgiving. This year perhaps important than ever I am so conscious of the great gifts we receive from all those who work hard to provide us with our food. From my youth I remember that in our village church in rural north Devon we always had some sheaves of corn and a large loaf of bread fashioned in the shape of a sheaf of corn. Bread is such a basic part of food the world over and this year I am especially concerned for those many countries and regions in the world where the food crops have either been destroyed or at least diminished by either droughts or floods or, as in the case of Niger, both. So many people throughout the world simply do not have the necessary food to sustain life and the malnutrition is simply horrendous. It is these people that have come to my mind each time I say those words in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.” For Christians in those counties that are suffering food shortages this must be particularly poignant with a heartfelt plea that their lives will have enough to sustain them and their children. This has been the case of course right from those earliest biblical days when the prayer was written in the Gospels. But for those early Christians the mention of “Bread” also carried the meaning of the bread that they would receive in Holy Communion at the Eucharist. This gives a fuller meaning of course to the phrase “We become what we eat.” For them and for us “Bread” not only means their food but all that sustains our life. We realise that our all the elements of our lives, including the spiritual dimension, are nourished not only by the food we eat but in so many other ways as well.
An acute awareness of this intimate connection between the physical and the spiritual surely engenders a sense of compassion for those who are suffering any way. Just as receiving the Bread in Holy Communion demonstrates our oneness in Christ so we are at one with those who suffer. We are indeed also one with them and we too suffer with those who are suffering from the lack of the bread in both the physical and the spiritual sense. As we pray the Lord’s prayer we can particularly hold them in our hearts as at this is a time we can give thanks for all of that is truly nourishing enabling us to live the fullness of life. A few years ago I came across an interesting poem called “Bread” by the Irish poet Brendan Keneally which will perhaps point us in the right direction.
Bread
Someone else cut off my head
In a golden field.
Now I am re-created
By her fingers. This
Moulding is more delicate
Than a first kiss,
More deliberate than her own
Rising up
And lying down.
Even at my weakest, I am
Finer than anything
In this legendary garden.
Yet I am nothing till
She runs her fingers through me
And shapes me with her skill.
New & Selected Poems 1960-2004, Bloodaxe Books 2004

Thursday, September 2, 2010

September Already

Yes I can hardly believe that it is September already and for me it has brought a rather unpleasant "S" as well. I am suffering with a rather painful bout of sciatica which is quite de-energising!

Recently I watched an old film " The Man for All Seasons" - the story of St. Thomas More. I was particularly struck by the way that he remained faithful in his allegiance to the Catholic Church while at the same time so critical of many of the details of the institution. I guess that It where so many people are today particularly those who like me are committed to the central teachings of the Second Vatican Council which appear to be being undermined. I am especially speaking about the nature of the church and most notably the real implementation of collegiality with the Bishops really given authority to lead their own diocese rather than being controlled by out of touch figures in the Vatican curia. My dear friend Cardinal Hume had many a tussle with them and i take him as a model with his understanding of the church as "Communion" This is particularly evidenced today in the Vatican's control of local churches and their liturgy. I think the Bishops need to just simply say as a Body we are not going to do this. I think that there is a little precedent on this with the Catholic Bishops in Canada who decided to use the Catholic version of the NRSV translation for their liturgy. It was approved by the Cngregation for worship in the Vatican so they went ahead only to be told later by the CDF that they were not to use it as it had doctrinal flaws! The bishops simply said well they have the books all printed and they are using it already so they weren't going to stop! i think the Bishop's conferences should all take a similar line and just make their own decisions as that is what their ordinations define that they are capable of doing!

I am also finding Cynthia Bourgeault's book "The Wisdom Jesus" quite fascinating. it looks at Jesus in the Scriptures through a contemplative lens which is very powerful It is much like the last couple of books by Fr. Richard Rohr and also fits well with the work of Fr. Bruno Barnhart. The book is summed up well in words by Jim Marion " She invites us to follow Jesus's path of self-emptying love and she describes wisdom (contemplative) practices that we Christians can use every day to transform (Awaken) our own minds so that we too can see with the eyes of Christ" _ that seems to me to be a good description of what we who are Christians do when we practice Zen.

So what we should do now is quit reading this and sit in some form of contemplative silence for 25 minutes - RIGHT NOW!