Bethlehem today

Below is a link to a video in which some people from Bethlehem now share their hopes for peace.
http://youtu.be/bjQDl95tOcU


Well the little model Bethlehem we made is now ready for visits.



The tradition of creating a model of the nativity and the village of Bethlehem is very strong in Spain ...

Not sure there are many like this one!

The idea of this project has been to raise awareness re the situation in modern day Bethlehem.






The model will be on display in Agora Bookshop over the Christmas period with explanations and the opportunity to leave messages of peace.

Bethlehem continues in my mind and heart today ... Dad says it's snowing there ...



Here's a poem ...

ADVENTure

I’ve just noticed in my advent musings that this word ‘adventure’ has the same root as advent … obvs! (spot the dictionary.com geek) I love adventure and perhaps this is why – it’s a journey into the unknown of what’s to come! Something that’s true is that something is always coming. You cannot hold time back or stop the world from turning. An adventurous spirit is willing to participate in the exciting and potentially risky experiences that come their way and even look for them! The old cliché that life is an adventure rings true here, because it will always present us with new experiences, even if it’s as simple as a new face at work, or the aging process.
What position do we take before the unknown, the new and the surprising? Do we see our life as a fixed state to be maintained, or do we have an idea of how we want things to be in our future and aim towards that? When I think of an adventurer, I think of someone who has some idea of where they are going, they may even prepare in various ways for what’s ahead, but when they place one foot in front of the other they also know that the best bit to come may be what they least expect. On my dictionary travels I found this rather romantic definition for an adventurer ‘a soldier of fortune’. So time to strap our boots up and see what we can discover…

A new agreement contd

‘Money is an agreement’ said the man in the video clip yesterday. This resonated with me as I believe that agreement is very important, that it even has spiritual power –‘if two of you agree something on earth in my name it shall be done by my Father in heaven’. If we do not agree on certain things within our relationships, jobs, households, it’s difficult to move forward. Partnerships, teams, laws, contracts, covenants. ‘This my blood of the new covenant’ said Jesus at the last supper. He was referring to a new agreement. So what was the old agreement? Simply put, according to the Old Testament scripture, this is how it went … You – (specific group of Jews) will be my people (under my protection and guidance) and I will be your God (point of reference, main man and object of worship) if you continue to follow my commands and bring my light to the earth. New agreement? Jesus invites everyone into relationship with God no matter where they come from and what they have done. Score!

What I am asking myself now is what kind of agreements do we live under? What kind of agreements are really making the world go round currently? Have we mutually agreed that if you do not have access to the resources you need to live that’s just unfortunate or your own fault? What about the arms trade which is based on making money out of constant conflict? What if world systems were based firstly on agreements about the value of people as equal, sacred and beloved instead of the value of resources and products to be earned or acquired? Oh my life I’ve just realised how little the world looks like that right now … eeeeek. ‘Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth’ Matt 5v5

Generosity contd - a new agreement

A very cool dude expressing some very cool ideas that are playing with my head at the moment...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEZkQv25uEs

A generous spirit

Been pondering over generosity and giving, right use of resources etc. Currently I feel pretty convinced that the right course of action in all our daily transactions of time, money and resource, will come from a right attitude or spirit within.
So what is a generous spirit? How do we perceive ourselves as players within the world? Is our identity in our ability to earn or produce? What about in our ability to give? Lets start like this ... You are a gift to the world ... Do you believe that?? How can we give of ourselves today?

This is something my Dad gave to me this week -this picture with the words 'a small drop makes waves and turns the world upside down' :) Thanks Dad

thankyou Nelson

Thankyou Nelson,
Today we lost someone who anchored heavens hope to the ground for a time, who walked out a vision of life without hatred, who showed us just how bright that vision can get, that what we long to believe is true, that forgiveness can make the way to peace and patient service has the power to undo evil. We saw in him what we often fail or forget to be.
We have lost someone, but we havent lost what loved in him. It is now our responsibilty to live out the light in us and rise to the occassion of being. thankyou again nelson.
Today we grieve beauty and at the
same time hold to its promise.

White skies

Today's advent thought is for those who are grieving or broken hearted:

When the sky is white
And you strain but you fail
To see colours in light
When the cold holds heavy
Against your skin
Let the winter in

Give it this battle
It's yours to fight
There's no strength on this earth
That can hurry the night
Let it pass gently
Let it pass on
As a friend who visits
And is suddenly gone

For as surely as it came like a cover of grief
And kept you adrift like an autumn leaf

So surely will it go like a clearing mist
And watch as you rise to a summer's kiss.

                                                                                          White skies in Burgos - looking a bit 'Minas Tirith'

Advent-Woop! A journey home...

Ha ha! I couldn't resist resurrecting some gratuitous blogging for advent this year! So watch this space as I bring you some sights, sounds and reflections on my December days in Burgos before I embark on the journey home to the UK :) And it occurs to me as I anticipate this journey with much excitement, that this is the general idea of the advent season. A joyful, hoping, waiting, longing for a place we can call home. Some of us are fortunate enough to have that place or feeling here on earth, where we can take a deep breath, loosen our shoulders and sink into a night of peaceful sleep. Some of us are still searching for this place. Some of us believe our sense of home can be found in a person not a place. The Christmas story is about a God who comes searching for us, to help us find our way back to our true home, in His Everlasting Arms. It might just be that here, where we are known, we are home. I hope you feel a Christmas star resting over you tonight. Sleep tight :)