The first Infinite Annual Report -  a time for reflection and an open letter to the group:

Dear Infinite,

I've just been writing an annual report for our Infinite group.  A strange thing to do, in some ways, but an important part of being part of the wider community that is our church.  Thinking how to communicate ourselves to others and how to share our news from the past year, often difficult, year proved to be an interesting and useful time of reflection.

Much of the report wrote itself.  For example, the statement we devised to express who and what we are has stood the test of time:

Infinite are a group from St Marks, Grenoside, who meet regularly for food, chat and prayer.  We are exploring what it means to live together as people who love God, each other and the world around us.  We currently meet on Monday evenings to talk and pray together, but also gather as a community on other occasions for family get-togethers, meals, worship and anything else we feel like doing. 

Then there were the words or phrases we gathered to describe what Infinite is about and our hopes/fears for the future.

Infinite is about:

• Belonging - a place where we can know and be known
• Gathering as a community/family outside of 'formal' meet-ups
• Openness - where all are welcomed into a place of safety
• Being 'normal - with God and each other (not stuffy)
• Discipleship - following Christ in all we do
• Support - in all areas of life; 'doing life together'
• Valuing - each other as God's gift to each other
• Accepting - cherishing individuality
• Exploring - different worship styles, times and pattern
• Learning - about different ways to relate to/speak with/experience God
• Creativity - seeing to encounter god in new and different ways

Our hopes for the future are:

• Growing (and welcoming growth)
• closer to God
• closer to one another
• outwardly, in size and attitude
• To explore ways of praying/worshiping with our children
• To enjoy spending time together and with other people
• Hosting events - to do more things that other people (esp. partners and friends) want to join in with
• Not to 'split up'

Again, so far, so good.  Although I can now perhaps see neater ways of expressing what we wanted to say, the words we used back in the autumn still speak for who we are.  Evidence, perhaps, of a secure group identity beginning to form?  

A test of that came in collating our highlights for 2012-13.  This was new and I became aware that, without time to discuss with the others, I'm in danger of speaking more for myself than the group.  That being as it may, the things I chose included: 

• Hosting something which was ‘Definitely Not a Hen Night’ for Claire Asquith in May 2012 and celebrating her marriage to Barrie a few weeks later.
• Greenbelt 2013 – Saving Paradise along with fun, laughter, rain and lots and lots of mud.
• Holding a memorial service for those affected by the loss of a baby - when we became aware of most of our group had been affected by the loss of a baby, either personally or by those close to them and decided to respond to this by holding a memorial service. ‘Time to Remember’ was a moving but meaningful way of acknowledging loss but also seeking God’s presence in it.
• Being joined by friends for an overnight retreat at Westwood Christian centre. We enjoyed relaxing and spending time with God and each other.  Our theme, which we unpacked with the help of contributions from the group and Rev Kate Bottley, was ‘God in the Ordinary’, exploring how God is present in our everyday lives and what we might do to become more aware of Him.
• A family trip to the Deep in Hull – Easter 2013.

Belonging, gathering, supporting and learning all feature strongly here. (As for being 'normal'? Well I wouldn't want to judge!).  I could perhaps have said more about some of the things we've been up to week-week, early attempts to explore different ways of worshiping and relating to God.  We've not yet been as creative as some of us might wish, but I'm confident we've started well. Relating to this, I also mentioned our Facebook communication: 

As well as meeting up we interact regularly through Facebook and by text message.  This is particularly important for keeping in touch with each other between gatherings and providing a way for those who are not able to attend meetings regularly to remain part of the community.  Infinite members and friends use the Facebook page for sharing interesting or thought-provoking articles, books they have been reading or quotes which have particularly inspired them to think about God in a fresh way.  You can find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/InfiniteAtStMarksGrenoside

Facebook has its limitations - we need to be constantly aware that not all of us access Facebook in the same way.  Finding ways to make sure we include those who don't have regular, reliable access to the internet (or the time/desire to do so), is a big challenge to our desire to be open and inclusive.

In reflecting on some of our struggles and ongoing challenges, I'm struck by things which I didn't include in the report: the frustrations, the tears, the meetings which went on too long or left us angry or upset.  Neither did I mention the time of lament last summer, when the most appropriate thing (on so many levels and for so many reasons) we could do was to gather, to pray and to cry.  There are sometimes good reasons for avoiding being too honest.  There are things which don't need to be said.  But I'm challenged that, in editing the story, we should take care not to edit God out.  Some of our most painful moments as a group may prove to be those where God moved most powerfully?

We are in no way perfect.  There is much more we could be, as individuals and as a group, in God.  But, overall, my reflection is 'wow'.  What an infinitely brilliant, valuable and precious group of people.  What an honour to be a part of you all, to walk with you.  What a lot we've done. How much more is there to learn, to grow into and to share.

Thank you all, but most of all thank you God:


"Every time I think of you—and I think of you often!—I thank God for your lives of free and open access to God, given by Jesus. There’s no end to what has happened in you—it’s beyond speech, beyond knowledge. The evidence of Christ has been clearly verified in your lives.

Just think—you don’t need a thing, you’ve got it all! All God’s gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. And not only that, but God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that."

(1 Corinthians 1:4-9 - The Message)

O!: The practice of Worship and Awe: Awakening to the Beauty and Joy of God

Alternative words: Hallelujah! Glory! Amen! How....

Starting point: “If our first simple work awakens us to the presence  of God and the second to the presents or gifts of God, our third simple word awakens us to the heart of God which is – consider this – characterised by an essential, unconquerable, boundless, radiant, wonderful, infinite, exuberant, generous, glorious joy.” (p82-3)

“I have worshiped in the world’s great cathedrals, and I love the grandeur, glory, reverence, dignity and history....but these [African church] tin roofs, these dirt floors, these smells of sweat and cooking fires, these animating rhythms and swaying bodies and resonant voices...these mark for me worship at its most sublime....Why are the most blessed often the most restrained in their worship, and why are those who have least in terms of health, wealth and safety the most ready to ‘make a joyful noise and sing for joy to the Lord’?” (p81)

On the way:

·      “Could it be that our accumulation of possessions and protections coat our souls like rubber gloves so that we touch, but do not feel?” (p81)

·      “Could it be that the conceptualised and formalised worship of the ‘developed world’ is actually designed to inhibit and control rather than foment joy?” (p81)

·      Worship creates Temporary Autonomous Zones (Kester Brewin), places where normal patterns of hegemony (dominance of one group/culture over others) and homogeneity (making all things the same) are broken..  Holy-days. “when we transcend normal patterns....and get a tiny taste of the way life is supposed to be”

·      God is joyful – “when we connect with God, it is as if we are plugging our souls into a pure current of high-voltage joy.....God is a joyful being and to enter or awaken to God’s presence is to enjoy a bracing jolt of invigorating delight followed by increasing levels of unending pleasure...God’s joy is contagious” (p83)

·      “To worship is to exercise the highest capacities we have” (p89) – suggestion that this might involve connecting left (analytical) and right (feeling) sides of brain?  “Explanation gives way to exclamation, reasoned answer to rhetorical question” (cf Paul in Romans 11 – p 93-94). But also the type of God we worship might actually affect our brain/how we think? (p88)

Walking with scripture: Psalm 95: 1,6; Psalm 94:3; 1 John 1:5; 4:7-21.  When human beings enter into the joyful celebration of the glory of God and the goodness of God’s gift of life...people don’t simply become more religious – they become more alive – Ps 28:7, Ps 150.  Romans 11:33-36. 

Moving on: “Worship translates naturally  and immediately into a way of life, life lived not for self-interest...but for the common good” (see Paul in Galatians 5 – p94) “.. the tsunami of God’s grace inspires us to express our worship not simply in religious activities, but in real life, through love for one another” (p95)

Pointers for prayer:

1.    Give God the first greeting every morning

2.    Give God the first thanks at every meal

3.    Give God the first response to every pleasure

4.    Give God the first consideration in your weekly schedule

5.    Make God the first supervisor or customer for all work

6.    Give God the first part of every pay cheque

7.    Give God the joy of your creativity

SUMMARISED FROM 'NAKED SPIRITUALITY' BY BRIAN D. McCLAREN (HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 2010) - this summary produced by Jane Perry Mar 2012

Thanks

Thanks is the second of our simple words.  This is our summary of Chapters 6 and 7.

Thanks: The practice of Gratefulness and Appreciation: Awakening to the Goodness of God

Alternative words: Again. This. Dayenu.

Starting point: “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was ‘thank you’, that would be sufficient” – Meister Eckhart (p62)

Learning from the happiness in poor communities (Guatemala): “I remind myself of something that we all know, but we don’t take seriously enough: it is not how much you have that brings happiness; it is how much you appreciate however much or little you have” (p64)  “If here suggests waking up and presenting ourselves to the presence of God, thanks means waking up to the presents of God....waking up to the abundant gifts of life with which we have already been blessed.” (p67)

On the way:

·      “Wealth comes with a hidden danger, a threat to happiness.  The more we have the more we need to practise gratitude; otherwise we will begin taking more and more of what we have for granted.  If we habitually take more and more for granted, our ingratitude will eventually lead to....unhappiness” (p64-65)

·      “Consumerism robs the soul of happiness while it sells the soul more stuff”. Gratitude is essential because spirituality...is constantly under assault by consumerism, which claims that the source of joy is not in God, or within, but in buying new things or spending money. A lot of people spend a lot of money every day trying to keep us from being happy, so that we want, and then buy, more stuff...the impact on the planet and on ourselves is clear. Is it possible that gratitude might just save the planet? (p64-65)

·      “..in reality you are inter-connected not only with others, but with all creation”.  Every time eat, drink or draw breath demonstrates that we are not self-contained units.  “Ingratitude makes us foolishly forget the fragility of our own skin and proudly deny our interdependency and interconnectedness.  If true spirituality and authentic religion are about vital interconnectedness, you can see how essential the practice of gratitude must be” (p71-72)

·      ‘In everything, give thanks’ – BUT “the words ‘in everything’ shouldn’t be confused with ‘for everything’ of course.  But neither should they be thinned to mean ‘in easy circumstances’. Even in pain, we can find a place of gratitude, a place where alongside the agony of loss we still count and appreciate what remains.” (p75)

·      Dayenu: “It would have been enough” – borrowed from Hebrew, taken from key part of Passover celebration, dayenu functions within the retelling of the story of God’s goodness over the generations... see p76-77

Walking with scripture: Give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:8-10) – evokes journey through the wilderness (Exodus 16, p72-3); Jesus’ prayer teaches us to travel light: if we have food and clothing we have enough (1 Tim. 6:8, p73); ineffectiveness of worry (Matt 6:25-33, p73-74); reasons for gratitude found even in suffering (Matt 5:3-12, p74)

Moving on: “With these counter-intuitive sayings and others like them, Jesus enrols us in advanced classes in the school of gratitude.  He shows us the disadvantages of advantages, the advantages of disadvantages.  He will make this paradox most dramatic through his own death; his suffering and crucifixion will eventually bring freedom and hope to all humanity....Here is the deepest lesson of gratitude then: to be grateful not just in the good times, but also in the bad times.” (p74)

Pointers for prayer:

Start with our own bodies (even toes!); move on to physical possessions; family; friends, pastors, colleagues; institutions; things we enjoy; natural world...I can ponder each one while holding ‘thanks’ open to God like a hand.

Again – “one of the greatest obstacles to gratitude is the sheer bounty of God’s generosity” – Again, God, again you have blessed me. Again, I savour this gift.  Again, I appreciate. Again, I say thanks. Again. Again.

SUMMARISED FROM 'NAKED SPIRITUALITY' BY BRIAN D. McCLAREN (HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 2010) - this summary produced by Jane Perry Feb 2012

Here

Here is the first of McLaren's simple words - this is our summary of Chapters 4 and 5:

Here: The practice of Invocation and Presentation: Awakening to the Presence of God

Alternative words: Now. You. Who? We. Open. Home

Starting point: “Here is the simple word by which we show up, respond to the one calling our name.  Here is the way we name where we are – pleasant and unpleasant, desired or not – and declare ourselves present to God’s presence.” (p42)

“Whether I feel I’m seeking God – calling out, Is anybody here? – or whether I feel God is calling out to me and I respond, Here I am! ...the simple word here can do something amazingly comprehensive.  Through it I show up. I come out of hiding, I let myself be found....I tell the teacher I am present and ready to learn.  This acknowledgement of mutual here-ness becomes the prelude to mutual nearness.  Through mutual presentation, the soul and God open the way for deep connection.” (p44)

On the way:

·      Dangers of naming God (p42-43) – “when we begin by naming God, too often we assume we know more about the one we’re addressing than we may actually know”....our familiar language may miss the mark or indeed be misleading... “we know that God’s reality must always be far higher and greater and other than our concepts and images of God” (p44)

·      Invocation – becoming present to the Presence.  Not summoning God – who has been there all along – but calling inward to our own souls, summoning ourselves to wake up so we can attend to the Presence in whose attention we are held and in whom we live and move and have our being.

·      Need, and difficulty, to be present where we are, awake to our own situation: “ I don’t have to be somewhere else: right here is OK.  In fact it is the only place I can be to begin to awaken spiritually. Here. Now. Just as I am” But can be tougher than it seems – easy to be tempted to be partially somewhere else, to pretend I’m not where I am, who I am, how I am. (p44-45)

·      Tension between otherness and nearness of God – God wants to be in dialogue with us, but yet God’s full identity must always remain mysterious to us. “resolve the tension on the side of transcendence or otherness, God becomes distant....resolve the tension on the side of immanence or nearness, G-d becomes too much the chum, the mascot or even guard dog, a genie who comes obediently when summoned by magic words.” (p55 – but see all of Chapter 5)

Working with scripture: Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3); Jacob’s dream and wrestling with God (Gen 28:10-22; 32:22-32); Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:8-10); how God is addressed in the Psalms (see p56-7)

Moving on: From here to who and you – moving from using a title (God, Lord etc) with the depth of relationship that implies (p47) to addressing God by name, reopening the question: Who are you, Lord? “We must hold that question open to God: who are you? Without doing so, we will pray yet again to our frail images of God, our set of preconceived notions....By holding Who? Before God, we open and present ourselves to the God beyond our notions, to the living You who is actually here.”

Pointers for prayer:

HERE: Here I am, Lord. Here you are, Lord. Here we are together. (Pause)

WHO: Who am I, Lord? Who are you, Lord? Who are we together? (Pause)

To be here with you, God, is to be at HOME. Home is my soul, my space, where God is welcome.  Home is heaven, God’s space, where I am welcome.

The word OPEN may also help you open yourself to God, and realise that God’s embrace, God’s front door, God’s presence is open to you, welcoming you.  It may even help you to clench your fists, symbolising how we are often tight and closed off to God’s presence, bringing to mind the things that have had you uptight lately. Then you can gradually open them as you open your heart to God, and perhaps then, YOU will be the most helpful simple word.

SUMMARISED FROM 'NAKED SPIRITUALITY' BY BRIAN D. McCLAREN (HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 2010) - this summary produced by Jane Perry Feb 2012

Four Seasons of Spirituality

The following diagram summarises the four stages or seasons of sprituality set out in 'Naked Spirituality.

Book 1 - Naked Spirituality by Brian McLaren

One idea is that, to help our conversations, part of what we do will be a bit like a book-club: we'll read a book together and discuss a bit of it each time we meet.  This space will share summaries of what we're reading and provide an extra space to share thoughts and comments.

Naked Spirituality by Brian McLaren (Hodder and Stoughton, 2010)
'Naked Spirituality' is our first book - it tackles the question of what Christian spirituality really means. The blurb on the back reads....

"In our busy lives we often sideline prayer and spiritual practice, or wrap up the subject in a tangle of guilt-driven showmanship and 'self-motivation'.  Stripping away the jargon, Naked Spirituality presents twelve core elements of prayer in a fresh and accessible way.

Known for his wrestling with what it means to be a Christian in today's world, Brian D McLaren has had to confront these issues in his own life.  In Naked Spirituality he shares candidly the challenges he's faced and the experiences and insight he's gained.

Using twelve simple words, he shows us how we can connect with God in practical and durable ways, and how that connection can affect how we engage with others."

Welcome!

Welcome to the new blog-space for our 'Not a Small Group'. 

If you've not met us yet, 'Not a Small Group' is a gathering of people linked St Marks Church in Grenoside.  Our general aim is to create spaces which help us to explore together what it means to follow Christ in our real lives, as they really are, here and now.

This is a space for conversation and comment, with each other and with others.  It gives us more space to share what we're doing and what we're thinking; to observe and to comment.

As with everything we're doing, its a journey - so here goes!