I held my hand a Sea urchin and was asked, recently, to reflect on my ministry.

So

Sea urchin

Landing on sand

Complete and open and empty

A small channel of wonder

Washed forth from mountainous wave

When I was accepted as a candidate I stood on a Victorian coastline bitten cliff beach and felt that I

unlike the urchin

would shatter into a thousand pieces

so shot thru was I with god

so charged with glory

but I didn’t

break

and now

these many years on I am washed smooth

and all my sharp shiny fear long since smoothed away

I can break bread now

Without trembling

And Christ and I walk hand in hand

He, ever within and without and around and all I need to do is call

Now the fear is of other darkness…

Ever ancient ever new

Of drowning bears and a world too hot to breathe,

‘I hate summer’

Says my 4 year old

‘When will it be over’

So what is all this for then, this faith, this story, this good news

if we can not

radically

wake the world up

god and I are just fine

humanity and I

not so good

right about now

I have been preaching now for over 5 years

Every Sunday more or less

Telling folk that god is love

And not omnipotent

And that evil is real

And inculcated

And that we are all this poor god’s got

So let’s get on with it

However and whenever and wherever we can

Holy, Holy, Holy God

God so vulnerable

And she cant get down from the cross and this is the whole point really

And maybe just try eating just a little less meat

Recycled toilet paper really isn’t so bad

Its your bottom

For heavens sake

Smash

Smash goes Christ in the temple and everyone

Instead of outrage

Just turns away and carries on regardless

With the endless tedious blasphemy

So

What was the question

Ahh.. me and my faith and the spiral and the journey

I think a bit of the magi cold night,

cold coming we had of it,

wind blowing,

star chasing,

skin chafing,

water running out,

fear of soldiers,

fear of foolishness,

why are we doing this?

And the night-fires going out,

and the lack of shelters,

And the cities dirty and the towns unfriendly

And

A hard time we had of it.

And at the end we preferred to travel all night,

Sleeping in snatches,

With the voices singing in our ears, saying

That this was all folly.

And yet they traveled..towards the light.

So yes I am on a journey

And I have companions

But I am frightened that maybe we can not travel fast enough.

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