The breaking

Jerome, 4th century bishop

"By the breaking of the bread, he makes it into a seedbed of food--for if the bread had been left intact and not pulled apart and broken into pieces, they would have been unable to feed the great crowds of men, women, and children....Mysteries are made manifest, so that what did not feed the multitude of people in its original whole and unbroken state now feeds them in its divided state."

Stop waiting for bread to fall from the sky (or fish)

God tells us, "Not me but you; not my bread but yours; not sometime or somewhere else but right here and now.... Stop waiting for food to fall from the sky and share what you have. Stop waiting for a miracle and participate in one instead." Bread, a simple and most necessary thing--both physically and spiritually--is indeed a powerful thing, and the sharing of it is at the heart of our life together in the church.

“ ‘Man, my friends,’ said General Loewenhielm, ‘ is frail and foolish.  We have all of us been told that grace is to be found in the universe.  But in our human foolishness and shortsightedness we imagine divine grace to be finite.  For this reason we tremble…’ Never till now had the General stated that he trembled; he was genuinely surprised and even shocked at hearing his own voice proclaim the fact. ‘ We tremble before making our choice in life, and after having made it again tremble in fear of having chosen wrong.  But the moment comes when our eyes are opened, and we see and realize that grace is infinite.  Grace, my friends, demands nothing from us but that we shall await it with confidence and acknowledge it in gratitude.  Grace, brothers, makes no conditions and singles out none of us in particular; grace takes us all to its bosom and proclaims general amnesty.  See! That which we have chosen is given us, and that which we have refused is, also and at the same time, granted us.  Aye, that which we have rejected is poured upon us abundantly.  For mercy and truth have met together, and righteousness and bliss have kissed one another!’ “  

                                                        --Babette’s Feast -Isak Dinesen

Wrestling with God

Peniel 1

Sometimes demons,

sometimes God;

we wrestle in uncertainty.

Is it the God within with whom I wrestle:

or is it the God within who wrestles through me,

applying the headlock with my arms

to overpower that which would claim my life?

I strive and grapple,

confronted by desires and fears

that lay hold of me and threaten cold paralysis;

whilst the needs of gospel sting me

to engage and respond with the heat

of fruitful living. In this life and death struggle

is found the unexpected;

glimmers of surprising joy,

and grace that brings the disparate things

together.

So I daily enter the ring to wrestle

with one called Love,

wanting to be overcome

but fearing, too, the cost of that defeat.

Victory is also costly.

sometimes the treasure is the field

Sometimes the treasure is the field and is hidden in plain sight.

Where are your riches

The world does not say: "blessed are the poor." The world says: "Blessed are the rich. You are worth as much as you have." But Christ says: "Wrong. Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, because they do not put their trust in what is so transitory." Blessed are the poor, for they know that their riches are in the One who being rich made himself poor in order to enrich us with his poverty, teaching us the Christian's true wisdom.
-Oscar Romero 1917-1980
The Violence of Love

Creation waits

Children of God

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God.                Romans 8:19

Children of God,

can you hear the groaning

of the ocean as you walk its shore?

The seas that roar with the burden of carried waste,

oil slicks, plastic bags, heavy metal poisons;

moaning for the many,

the fish and cetaceans

that no longer swim and dive.

Children of God,

do you feel the sighing

of invisible forests as you place

your footprints upon earth?

The fallen giants of past ages,

rotting, green moss and lichen life-filled

lost places of renewal and shelter

for once countless birds, lizards

frogs and insects.

Children of God,

will you smell the choking sadness

of the air as you take it deep into your lungs?

Sky darkened by smoke and dust,

rain made acid by careless chemicals,

seasons warmed beyond nature

threatening the homes of many

good creatures.

Children of God,

can you taste the fearful horror

and salty bitter tears

of war and bombs and guns?

Buildings and countries torn apart,

along with bodies, children,

hearts and trust.

Children of God,

do you see the weak and flickering

candle-flame of creation waiting?

Here you will find your part,

along with freedom, promise,

and hope.

Ken Rookes

Parable of the leaven

'we who eat the bread'

“ ... But we who eat the bread when we come in

Out of the cold and dark know it is a deeper mystery

That brings the bread to rise:

It is the love and faith

Of large and lonely women, moving like floury clouds

In farmhouse kitchens, that rounds the loaves and the lives

Of those around them ...

Just as we know it is hunger –

Our own and others’ – that gives all salt and savor to bread ...”

Thomas McGrath

I love the yeast parable

God longs for God and uses us,

Rises in us ....

Becomes in us.

Let us be silent, a quiet dough

Where God moves into every pore ...

Where God lives as God pleases

Let us rise simply

A quiet dough.

Gunilla Norris

but if it dies

But if it dies.
Resist the temptation
to scurry to more comfortable parables.
They will not help you to understand this one.
The grain of wheat must die.
It is not about a sower and soil that is stony
or full of weeds; or even about good soil
which produces an hundredfold crop.
The death is real.
It is not about the tiny seed which grows
to become a home for the birds,
or even the seed which grows mysteriously by night
to produce the required fruit.
Life must be surrendered.
The story is about blood and brutality,
thorns, whips and betrayal.
It is about trumped-up charges, trials late at night
and a cross.
Before the grain of wheat can be reborn, fruitful,
it must submit to earth's dark embrace.
The story is about defiance and submission.
It is about courage, generous and true;
and love, deep and tearful. It is about death.
Real death.
It is about a man who will be buried;
a seed planted in the ground
who will bring a harvest of hope and life,
luminous and full.
There is no other way.
"Come," the man says; "Journey with me.
Share my joy, and my death.
Together we shall live."

Rev Ken Rookes

prodigal cartoon

http://cakeordeathcartoon.wordpress.com/2009/02/20/prodigal-cartoon-2/

Prodigal son

http://ladyborginnadur.blogspot.com/

Strange land dreaming

Having pulled the goat’s-hair

over his father’s desert-blind eyes,

and in order to escape some brotherly wrath,

Jacob is sent north with another parental blessing,

this time with the hope of finding a wife,

(or two), from among his cousins.

The loneliness of his journey

and the uncertainty of its outcome,

(serious business, taking a wife),

is allayed by the excitement

of his newly discovered independence.

Away from the dominating presence of his father,

and his stories of strange ancestors,

the younger son exults in his freedom

from family expectations

and unsatisfiable comparisons.

In a foreign land,

slightly fearful and largely weary,

he presses a stone into unexpected service

as a pillow.

Sleeping uneasily with the strange dreams

of the unfamiliar bed

he sees a ladder of angels

and hears the voice of his God,

far from home, surprisingly present,

but not unwelcome. 


Rev Ken Rookes

Sower ppt slide

from http://www.realisticimaginations.com/Wallpapers/

Vincent Van gogh - The sower

sower

Sower

The middle-eastern farmer

casting seed in the manner

of his ancestors

hopes for a good return

that the family may be fed.,

the creditors paid,

and enough grain be laid aside

that a crop may be planted

next year.

A hundredfold!

Yes, indeed; that

would be most acceptable.

This messenger from God,

casting seed in the manner

of his own strange choosing,

hopes for a good return

that the hungry might be fed,

sinners be forgiven,

and new life burst forth

in a harvest of joy and

generosity.

A hundredfold!

How would we ever cope?

Rev Ken rookes

Are you weak and heavy laden?

iPlod - Australia now a wired nation addicted to work

Kelly Burke, Melissa Davey

June 23, 2011When workers were asked if they felt technology helped them achieve a better work-life balance, more than 70 per cent agreed. Yet more than half admitted technology was intruding into personal time.

Mr Page did not believe job insecurity was driving the workaholism. But Barbara Pocock, director of the University of South Australia's Centre for Work + Life disagreed.

''Research shows that three-quarters of people who are putting in long work hours don't want to be doing them,'' Professor Pocock said. ''Job insecurity is part of this, although there is an addictive element to the long hours.''

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/iplod--australia-now-a-wired-nation-addicted-to-work-20110622-1gfku.html#ixzz1QoVFJ11t

Don't waste a minute ... Jakeb Brown gets in a few more keystrokes as he waits for his train home to Newcastle, a trip that entails another hour's work. Photo: Wolter Peeters

IF COLLEAGUES on Facebook outnumber your friends, a smartphone is the last thing you consult before bed and you can't resist taking your laptop on holiday, it's time to get a life.

You are one of a growing band of ''techno-enabled'' workaholics ...