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Selfish Genes and Generous Spirits

Attached is a liturgy we used recently as we began to explore our family backgrounds.

A couple of years ago at Vaux we did a series of meetings around 'My Urban Practice', which were simply an opportunity for individuals in the group to have an evening to talk about their day to day work. It was amazing how much we more we discovered about people.

So we decided to do something similar and give people a chance to explore/share something about their family background. I just went through all of my patriarchs, back to my 4 great grandfathers. It was great just to explore some of that history anyway, and nice to open some of that up to people, hopefully to allow them to understand me better.

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Selfish Genes and Generous Spirits

Opening Prayer

Oh God, who is jealous enough to punish the children for the sins of their great-grandfathers,
and loving enough to show mercy to a thousand generations beyond,
be kind to us today as we gather.
We cannot enter our mothers’ wombs again,
yet you promise us rebirth
into the holy and mysterious family that is each other, and you.

Bryson

Welcome. And congratulations. I am delighted that you could make it. Getting here wasn't easy, I know. In fact, I  suspect it was a little tougher than you realize. To begin with, for you to be here now trillions of drifting atoms had somehow to assemble in an intricate and intriguingly obliging manner to create you.

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Blessing by John O'Donahue

Thanks to Andrew Jones for getting the go-ahead to blog this, which is from his Anam Cara book.
He has a book of blessings coming out soon, which will doubtless be equally wonderful.

Beannacht ("Blessing")

On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.

And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.

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scraping off the shit - a maundy thursday liturgy

safe space maundy thursday liturgy
jesus washes the feet of the disciples

reading - john 13v3-17

scraping off the shit
where we walk, we walk in the crap left by others, by ourselves, the mess of human lives, the comings and goings of a wasteful, corrupt and selfish world, we wallow in the dirt and the hurt, oblivious to the stink and the stains that we carry with us.  God stripped off all finery, stepped in our shit, knelt in it, touched it, held our ugliest bits in the very hands that made us and washed them clean.

hands which formed matter, pulse which set the rhythm of the planets, breath which stirred life into being, mind which dreamt the diversity of the species, eyes which bore deep into the heart of humanity, heart which yearns for us to choose peace, feet that walk each step with us, mouth which chides and comforts, arms which embrace the hurting, strength which sustains the weak, life which was given up for love, creator who scrapes the shit off my feet, God who serves.
wash me clean

...for the whole liturgy click here

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Embracing Our Finitude [1]

We used this piece in a service reflecting on our 'finitude'. We'd love to see ourselves as immortal. We're not. And Lent is a good time of 'mini deaths' to reflect on this.

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We remember God, falling to earth as a seed, to live in our dirt, to suffer our pain, to understand our weakness, and to die and be buried. We struggle to understand life beyond death. We live as though immortal, and though death surrounds us on every side, we do not often confront it. In this communion, we remember God who died, and we hold the mystery of this death as comfort for our fear, pain and mortality.

[Call]
As we prepare to accept these symbols of God's death, we remember:
Those who have died
Those who mourn
Those who face death

[Response]
But if it dies, it produces many seeds

[Call]
As we prepare to accept these symbols of God's death, we acknowledge:
Our fear of death
Our deadness of spirit
Our frailty and mortality

[Response]
But if it dies, it produces many seeds

[Call]
As we meditate on these mysterious symbols of life beyond death, help us:
To live with uncertainty
To hold on to the world lightly
To comfort those who mourn

[Response]
But if it dies, it produces many seeds

Dismissal (after communion)

[Together]
Accept these symbols of life and death. May they lighten your spirit, enrich your life and give you peace. Amen.

Originally uploaded at vaux.net

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From a Life Divided to a Life United

Inspired by the words of Paul Tillich...

Bringing to Consciousness the Divide of the Individual: Part 1

Where is your life divided?

I'm divided by what my soul longs for and what is shaped by my hands.

Where is your desire incomplete?

Today, like every other day, I woke up wanting what is beyond my reach.

Where has your story been scattered?

Its form is dictated by my rushing to pick up the pieces, trying to make sense of what is futile.

Where has your journey become disconnected?

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Grace Liturgy Archive

A full archive of Grace's liturgies can be found [here]

All pieces are protected under a Creative Commons License.

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Prayer For a Meal on Tired Evening After a Week of Struggles in the City

The congregation gather around a table.

Lord, it is night,
It is night after a long day.
Websites have been tended, Copy written, Ministers ministered to, Festivals organized, lessons given. [The work details of the congregation are entered]

Lord it is night,
It is night after a week in the city.
Gardens have been dug, films seen, music listened to, people engaged with…
People bumped into, sleep disturbed, sirens heard, violations suffered.

Lord we are hungry,
Junk has been eaten, producers forgotten, chemicals swallowed, meals rushed, thanks not given.

Lord we are not as hungry as some,
Forgive us.

Lord we are hungry,
Make this table yours. Make this table just. Make this table gracious.
Make this table thankful.

Lord we are not whole,
We remember those who are not with us.

Lord, we are not whole,
We break this bread and share this wine to re-member your body.
Broken so we may be whole.
Poured out so we may be filled.

Lord it is night,
May this body and blood be strength and refreshment for us.
May it give us energy to forgive, to persevere, to love.
Dear Christ, re-invigorate us, re-plenish us, eat with us tonight.
Amen.

Bread and wine is shared, and a meal is eaten.

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Learning to Wait

May we learn how to wait
And not run away

May we discover in the darkness
The uncontrollable truth at the heart of all things

May we let go of our ideas of God
And our ideas about ourselves

May we let go of our precious wounds
And be open to unexpected healing

May we let go of our desire to matter
And stay with ourselves

May we let go of our compulsion to describe God
And stay with the mysterious presence of Christ

May we not be afraid
When nothing is happening

May we not be ground to zero
By the empty ache

May we not be too proud
To receive love when it comes

Like a child's tears falling
On the lonely dryness of a prayer that seems to be going nowhere

(this was initially written for advent, with a couple of phrases stolen from Rowan Williams)

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Liturgy for the Celebration of a Birthday

The People are furnished with full glasses.

Infinite God, ageless and timeless,

God who was born and counted time with us,
God who knows each hair on N’s head (an alternate liturgy shall be said for the bald)
Thank you for N’s years that have passed.

The first toast is drunk, remembering joys and sorrows.

Infinite God, ageless and timeless,

God who rose eternal and sees far ahead
God who traces out each step N might tread
Thank you for N’s years still to come.

The second toast is drunk, a prayer of  hope for the future.

A cake may be presented, and a traditional song sung.
A third toast is drunk, a celebration of the present.

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Liturgy for the Dedication of a Child

We used this for the dedication of our son, Elias.

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