Sanctuary First - We all need it
I've started to write a service for Sanctuary First exploring the idea that God is often encountered in the areas of life where people normally would refuse to be by choice. I've still got a bit of work to do on it. I'm reflecting on how to make this service meaningful what illustrations can we use? Writing this kind of material isn't easy, it makes you trawl your own life moments, your own place of brokenness, the experience of extreme loss, the pain of facing impossible decisions. The thought went through my head, this is a bit heavy for for young people will they connect with this? Then I read of the horrific shootings in Norway and the trauma that these young people must be feeling and my heart reaches out to them. Where is God in all of this we ask ?
I was walking in a busy Glasgow street yesterday morning when my mobile rang, it was Lilias our church youth worker, within a few moments I was given the sad news that a young 18 year old girl in our town, who came around the church had died. Without hesitation Lilias seemed to know what to do, she had read the situation, Facebook was full of young people who wanted to talk who wanted to make sense of the loss of their friend. The experience of a brokenness wasn't just in Norway here it was in Bo'ness. "I'm going to open the church", she said, "they'll need a place to come, a place where they know they are safe, a place to find comfort." The church was busy yesterday, young people sitting praying, lighting candles, writing cards, not a hint of loud music, at one point over 50 young people gathered in a circle to talk about their friend and share each others pain. This was the hard place where no one wanted to be yet being in such a place brought peace. We closed the church at 12 Midnight. No doubt it will be opened as usual this week but I'm confident the prayer times will be busy.
Here are some extracts from the meditation that I've been writing for the Sanctuary First service in September.
Borderlands
Borderlines and borderlands
When people are afraid to go forward,
When people feel they are at their wits end,
When they've reached their limits.
God, in some amazing way is encountered,
often in the midst of dead ends. There is something spiritual about the desert places,
The borderlines,
borderlands,
the no – man's – land.
Wastelands
We need to open our eyes to see the mystery,
To recognize God in the lonely places.
Take a moment and reflect on the borderlines,
between light and dark,
the in-between places
before seas crash against land,
before sky touches horizon,
before wind shapes landscape.
Here is adventure
Posted By: h On: 24 Jul 2011 At: 7:33pm
Albert, so sorry to hear of your sadness in Bo’ness, in our own town this morning, we too, experienced a tragic loss of two young lives.
I never believe that God ever wants anything so sad to happen, I am sure He weeps with us.
We ask “why” - perhaps one answer is to be found in the fact that God gave us our own minds to think and be.
He gave us freedom of choice, expression.
When horrible and unexplainable things happen in life, it is not God’s will at all.
He wants only the best for us.
In our despair, we have to look beyond the pain and over-whelming hurt to Jesus, who stands with us, holding His arms out-stretched ..waiting to hug us close.
In our darkest nights of sorrow, always will, one day, follow the most beautiful dawn.