tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30382099.post1826359574585108143..comments2023-06-16T12:43:49.193+01:00Comments on one-hand-clapping: If I ever lose my faith...Tracey Wheelerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18010003004299720661noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30382099.post-47324443979308453332012-01-17T19:59:01.171+00:002012-01-17T19:59:01.171+00:00Thanks. Thought-provoking stuff.Thanks. Thought-provoking stuff.Tracey Wheelerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18010003004299720661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30382099.post-9281852723989288932012-01-17T17:29:24.336+00:002012-01-17T17:29:24.336+00:00TRACEY: I came across this this morning (a meditat...TRACEY: I came across this this morning (a meditation/reading by Ian Fraser in a book called “Gathered and Scattered” from the Iona Community) which seemed to have echoes with your post (apologies for its length!):<br />“What makes church church has to be continually discovered. What exists has to be continually reshaped. Jeremiah (ch.18:4-5) provides an illuminating illustration. He is told to go down to the potter’s house. He finds the potter at his wheel. Jeremiah is instructed by what he sees.<br />‘The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand. He reworked it into another vessel as seemed good to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as the potter has done?” says the Lord.’<br />The basic material is not discarded. It is reshaped. In the reshaping the original intention may be better realised – even improved upon when fresh imaginative possibilities are brought to bear.<br />If I find that some people are giving up on church, I do not try to dissuade them. Their action may cause the church, as a prodigal, to come to itself. But I do urge them to get together with others to bring a small community into being and to join them on a journey of discovery about life’s meaning and purpose.<br />Something like this is what happened when my wife, Margaret, and I participated in the first European Congress of Basic Christian Communities in Holland in 1983. The congress lasted for four days. For three of these, those who came from outside Holland were allocated to different basic Christian communities to share life experiences. Our group, the Salland group, had come about in the following way. One person had contacted a few acquaintances and had put an advert in the local paper to this effect: ‘I want to find what it is to live the Christian faith today. It seems to me that the official church is hindering rather than helping me. Any others willing to join me in this quest?’. In no time thirty people had responded. By the time we arrived the number had risen to over seventy. Two small communities had to be formed to cater effectively for those keen to go on such a pilgrimage.”bigdaddystevieBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00842346891905135070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30382099.post-90494637795895333502012-01-14T20:00:42.707+00:002012-01-14T20:00:42.707+00:00Thanks Gai. We are really fortunate that we are pa...Thanks Gai. We are really fortunate that we are part of a church that recognises the problem, and has supported this initiative. Addressing the issue within church services would be tricky, but I dream of a time when we can be more honest in front of the whole body of Christ - especially those children in our midst who otherwise could be left with an impression that adult Christians never blink.<br />I hope you find Him. He's waiting...Tracey Wheelerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18010003004299720661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30382099.post-884223707908870592012-01-14T19:58:11.739+00:002012-01-14T19:58:11.739+00:00Yes to all that! We are part of a group we call &...Yes to all that! We are part of a group we call "Ithaca" because it's about the journey. It sounds as if you've gathered an interesting group. I will be very interested to hear how things go.blue handshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02641583999123384078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30382099.post-24791801290241798642012-01-14T19:19:05.573+00:002012-01-14T19:19:05.573+00:00I'm so glad I'm not alone. This is just h...I'm so glad I'm not alone. This is just how I feel. Fortunately I have a number of friends with whom I can share my agnosticism. I guess the unlucky ones just drift away.just Gaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17410006899511613020noreply@blogger.com