Mission | d-church

This week I have been spending time on mission in North Shields and we have been exploring story with our theme ‘The story we find ourselves in’. The whole idea has been to engage people in conversation to give space and time to listen to their story. We aren’t through the week yet and we have heard some amazing stories so far, some that have moved us, challenged us and inspired us. One of the things that has struck me even more than normal this week is that we seem to be always rushing around, we are always busy, life has become so hectic for many us. And as a result we can sometime miss opportunities to listen to people. In our manic world maybe we need to slow down a little! When we do slow down and begin to engage in conversation we may find that people are happy to chat and happy to share, and who knows where the conversation may go.

So why not try to give more time to people whom you meet, either those you know or the stranger that you meet?

How can you make more time to hear those around you?

What does it mean to hear the real stories that are hidden behind the conversation?

Cheers Rob

I have been thinking a lot about imagination recently and I was pondering on Christmas, what I find interesting is that we are asked to use our imagination at Christmas… Everything about Christmas is about seeing life in a different way: Father Christmas, good will to all, peace on earth, decorations that point to otherness, winter wonderland, positive atmosphere, nativity plays with ‘extras’! And Jesus as a cute baby in a manger.

There is something about Christmas that as a society we own and love. I wonder if some of this is about imagination? I came across this quote from Sandra M Levy about imagination…

“it is the inherent human power to transcend the concrete, to create new images and ideas that can open up new possibility and promise — the not-yet of a future we can envision, the re-valuing of a remembered past. Ultimately what I mean by imagination is that human capacity to receive and respond to God’s revelation in our everyday lives”.

And so we remember our childhood Christmas’ and it often fills us with joy. As I write I think about the song ‘I wish it could be Christmas everyday’… many of us can’t stand it… but what would society be like if we imagined it like that? Not with all the tough stuff about Christmas… but the good wholesome stuff that brings love and light?

bedaringquote We obviously can’t live like that in reality… but we can live with imagination that invades our world… that wants to imagine a better world, a better community, a better church, a better life… maybe it’s time for us to go back to our childhood and remember how we played with our imagination, maybe its time for us think about the words of Jesus… “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”