Chris Gribble

Be yourself - Everyone else is taken (Oscar Wilde)

Perspective

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Perspective

The mountain is,
The interminable climb,
Tired muscles, painful breaths,
To get to the top.
Or,
It’s the awesome view,
The soul renewing outlook,
That was waiting to be reached.

Most mornings my wife and I go for a walk. We are fortunate enough to live near the edge of the Toowoomba range so we are given a beautiful context in which to do this. I wrote this poem after seeing a particularly glorious sunrise during this walk.

While we walk we talk. Mostly we talk about people – Our kids, our wider family and our friends are the usual topics. Each day the conversation starts again. Most of the time our talk is a celebration of the good things in our life. Sometimes disappointments come up but they usually don’t take too much of our time.

We try to take a long walk. The minimum time we like is an hour. The gift of this amount of time is that we tend to run out of words. This isn’t the silence because of conflict but the sound of two people being content just to be with each other.

What I find is the walk gives me perspective on the day ahead. Work is about people, relationships, hopes and ideas. It’s also about the things that have to be done. Sometimes work can be the climb, the tiredness and the pain. Or, sometimes there is the opportunity to take a rest and appreciate the view.

Two questions I have been asking myself lately are:

  1. Is there time to walk?
  2. What is my perspective of the mountain?

As Kingfishers Catch Fire – Gerad Manley Hopkins

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As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves — goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying Whát I dó is me: for that I came.

I say móre: the just man justices;
Keeps grace: thát keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is —
Chríst — for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.

Where I “found” myself in this poem.

What I do is me,
all his goings graces;
God’s eye,
Christ – in ten thousand places,
Lovely eyes,
Father – through men’s faces.

The Daily Examen – Five Key Questions

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A great way to pray is to look for God’s presence in your life. More than 400 years ago St. Ignatius Loyola encouraged prayer-filled mindfulness by proposing what has been called the Daily Examen. The Examen is a technique of prayerful reflection on the events of the day in order to detect God’s presence and to discern his direction for us. Try this version of St. Ignatius’s prayer.

1. Become aware of God’s presence. Look back on the events of the day in the company of the Holy Spirit. The day may seem confusing to you—a blur, a jumble, a muddle. Ask God to bring clarity and understanding.

Question One – Where did I see God today?

2. Review the day with gratitude. Gratitude is the foundation of our relationship with God. Walk through your day in the presence of God and note its joys and delights. Focus on the day’s gifts. Look at the work you did, the people you interacted with. What did you receive from these people? What did you give them? Pay attention to small things—the food you ate, the sights you saw, and other seemingly small pleasures. God is in the details.

Question Two – What am I thankful for today?

3. Pay attention to your emotions. One of St. Ignatius’s great insights was that we detect the presence of the Spirit of God in the movements of our emotions. Reflect on the feelings you experienced during the day. Boredom? Elation? Resentment? Compassion? Anger? Confidence? What is God saying through these feelings?

God will most likely show you some ways that you fell short. Make note of these sins and faults. But look deeply for other implications. Does a feeling of frustration perhaps mean that God wants you consider a new direction in some area of your work? Are you concerned about a friend? Perhaps you should reach out to her in some way.

Question Three – What did I feel today?

4. Choose one feature of the day and pray from it. Ask the Holy Spirit to direct you to something during the day that God thinks is particularly important. It may involve a feeling—positive or negative. It may be a significant encounter with another person or a vivid moment of pleasure or peace. Or it may be something that seems rather insignificant. Look at it. Pray about it. Allow the prayer to arise spontaneously from your heart—whether intercession, praise, repentance, or gratitude.

Question Four – What should I pray for?
5. Look toward tomorrow. Ask God to give you light for tomorrow’s challenges. Pay attention to the feelings that surface as you survey what’s coming up. Are you doubtful? Cheerful? Apprehensive? Full of delighted anticipation? Allow these feelings to turn into prayer. Seek God’s guidance. Ask him for help and understanding. Pray for hope.

Question Five – How do I feel about tomorrow?
– See more at: http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen/how-can-i-pray#sthash.cPPigQg5.dpuf

Reflection on Psalm 70

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My Version

Lord, I have reached the end of this path,
I need you to point me in the right direction,
Opposition has drained me,
Haters words are cruel,
They delight in seeing my pain,
Desiring to declare my weakness,
and use it against God,

I know I sound pathetic,
Asking for help again,
The victim of my own choices,
Don’t you desert me too God,
Let me see that again you rescued me,
I want to shout this message out,
God hates the haters.

Daily Examen

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Question One – Where did I see God today?

Gerad Manly Hopkins words “For Christ plays in ten thousand places, / Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his.”

Question Two – What am I thankful for today?

Connection with two friends. Time spent sharing deeply together.

Playing touch football with a group of friends.

Question Three – What did I feel today?

I felt good. A good mix of time alone. Reflection and activity.

Question Four – How do I feel about tomorrow?

There are a couple of tasks that I need to do that I am not looking forward to. I will do them and they will be finished.

Community – Parker Palmer

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In true community we will not choose our companions, for our choices are so often limited by self-serving motives. Instead, our companions will be given to us by grace. Often they will be persons who will upset our settled view of self and world. In fact, we might define true community as that place where the person you least want to live with lives!…

Community reminds us that we are called to love, for community is a product of love in action and not of simple self-interest. Community can break our egos open to the experience of a God who cannot be contained by our conceptions. Community will teach us that our grip on truth is fragile and incomplete, that we need many ears to hear the fullness of God’s word for our lives. And the disappointments of community life can be transformed by our discovery that the only dependable power for life lies beyond all human structures and relationships.

In this religious grounding lies the only real hedge against the risk of disappointment in seeking community. That risk can be borne only if it is not community one seeks, but truth, light, God . Do not commit yourself to community, but commit yourself to God…. In that commitment you will find yourself drawn into community.

 

Parker Palmer

 

A reflection on Psalm 58

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My Version

From birth speaking deceit,
Impressed by a words power,
To control by paralysis,
Evil only hears its own voice,
Charmed by its own sound,
The pain of injustice is no longer heard.

Their destructive outbursts,
Don’t worry God,
He watches as they harmlessly echo into nothing,
Powerless to harm language’s creator.

When God speaks deceit will bow,
It will choke on its own spit,
Humility will watch on,
When God’s voice corrects deceit,
Humility hears its sound,
Deceit is silenced.

A Reflection on Psalm 140

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My Version

Hatred has a smell,
Like a corpse rotting in the battlefield,
Contempt’s odour is distinct,
Pride is bathed in it,
It putridly seeks to infect those around it,
My enemy bathes in contempt every day,
Never resting in finding new ways to lie,
Creating elaborate word snares,
That confuse truth.

I was trapped by contempt,
Breathing its foul air,
Wondering when arrogance would rise,
Seeking ways to shatter my hope.

It’s time to seek God,
To watch his power unleashed,
In anger for his child’s pain,
Stupid enemy,
Arrogance is God’s enemy,
It will get its due,
Words that sought my destruction,
Will torment your heart,
In your sleeplessness,
Where all hope has faded.

It’s time to walk humbly,
Waiting,
Listening,
Silent,
Rest,
Learning my Father’s footsteps.

Reflection on Psalm 41

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My Version

Enough is enough,
I will no longer cower,
Scared of lies and malicious intent,
My loyalty repaid with contempt,
This is not the life that God has for me.

I am ready God,
To walk with my head high,
To face hatred and stare it down,
I have heard my dear enemy’s voice,
Let the destructive hate words,
Eloquently put together but bathed in malice
Spoken with their foul smelling voice,
Be collected and be discarded with their faeces,

My enemy spends too much time in destruction,
I choose to seek honesty,
Honesty is about God’s truth,
Spoken as a love song,
My enemy is confounded,
Because my heart continues to sing
Praise that reaches my Source,
Sung with the breath of Eternity.

 

My reflection

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I came to the still pond,
Walking with a limp,
Standing on its bank,
Feeling sorry inside,
I saw my face looking back,
With sadness in my eyes.
The pond could only mirror,
What was given,
Reflection’s response isn’t emotion,
Completely honest,
My story retold,
The mix of light and shadow,
Reflecting pain and loss.

The limp arrives,
When starting with only a goal,
Then the water’s sheen was broken,
By a ripple that dislocated,
Everything from before,
My eyes no longer visible,
Sadness spread through each small wave,
Washing on the pond’s shore,
Completely honest,
Each step wincing,
My story broken,
Light gave way to shadow,
Taken by pain and loss.

Only waiting can stop the wave,
Rest is my heart’s cry,
My soul’s sadness,
My limp,
Sadness in my eye,
I wait at the edge,
Till the ripples slow,
Emerging stillness again,
Each wave smaller than the last,
Each whispering honestly,
My story being reformed,
Breaking more gently,
My soul restored by light.

A reflection on Psalm 86 – Part Two

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My Version

When I discovered truth in you God,
I couldn’t ever imagine going back to what I had before,
I know that one day everyone will recognise you as God.

I want every part of me to know you,
I want you to heal my broken heart,
So that gap between desire and reality is bridged,
Creation’s wonder emerges renewed,
Shadows become bathed in light.

Stupidly people seek to bring me down,
Their anger against me is turned to you,
What a fearful world they must live in,
I pity them because they don’t know about grace,
They live in a tenuous half life,
Constrained by their own pain,
Their world doesn’t understand compassion,
They seek to feel better by pushing me down.

My next request is difficult,
But, show me your goodness,
Deal with those stupid people,
Let their futile attempts at greatness,
When they sought to destroy me,
Become their own tormenter,
Don’t take it easy on their destructive desire,
I seek mercy to be shown through your strength,
God, you work it out – I will trust you.

A Reflection on Psalm 55

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My Version of Psalm 55

God are are you there?
You must be able to hear what is said about me?
Aren’t you my protector?

I love how you show up self declared power,
Before you it looks pathetic,
My enemy speaks words against me,
But they are contributing to his downfall,
He gathered an arsenal of put downs,
I felt like he used every last one of them against me,
He was so good at it,
I started believing him and not you God.

I doubted myself,
I stopped sleeping,
I imagined the worst,
I thought that I would die.

None of this was true,
The worst was transformed into peace,
God turned up,
I visited the shadow but now live in the light.

My dear enemy continues to gather words,
In the hope that he can overcome God,
It’s a futile hope,
But he clings to it with a death grip,
Sucked in a downward spiral into darkness.

I know what anxiety is,
I know what fear is,
I have tasted failure,
Yet God is still with me,
He hears my prayer this morning,
My Saviour.

An open hearted prayer (Bonaventur)

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O God,
I pray that I may know You and love You
So as eternally to rejoice in You
And if, in the present life, I cannot do so fully
Grant that my love and knowledge may at least grow on earth
That my joy may be fully in Heaven:
A joy expected here and there fulfilled.
O Lord our Father
You counseled, or rather commanded through Your Son
That we ask for this fullness of joy,
and You promised to grant it.
I ask of You, O Lord,
that which, through Your Wonder-Counsellor,
You encouraged us to ask and promised to grant:
That our joy may be full!
Let my mine meditate on this joy,
my tongue speak of it,
My heart desire it,
my words extol it,
My soul hunger for it,
my flesh thirst for it,
My whole substance yearn for it,
Until I enter into the joy of my God
Who is Triune and One,
blessed forever.
Amen

(Bonaventure)

The still point – T S Elliot

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At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.
TS Elliot
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Reflection on Psalm 22

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My Version

What are you doing with my trust God?
You are treating me like my enemies,
My voice is lost among creation’s lament,
I shouldn’t be in this position,
Where I am begging for you to listen to me.

My enemies exhaust me,
Their putrid words dripping with hate,
Words creating fear and division,
Ripping at my heart,
I feel sick – sick enough to die,
My enemy gathers like minded haters,
They crowd around me hungry for the kill,
Lashing me with contemptuous barbs.

My legacy will be declared by my children,
That my God delivers,
He will speak praise words,
That will echo through humanity’s heart,
Even the deaf haters will hear him,
And have to endure eternity’s praise,
Witnesses of worship given to the rightful king.

Perfect

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Wonder collapsed in perfection’s ideal,
Reaching for what was lost,
Noticing the flawed,
Seeing only what was missed,
Comparing it to desire,
Perfect became inconsolable,
With the heart’s yearning.

Perfect was waiting to be revealed,
Discovered in what was found,
Restoring what was intended,
A heart able to see,
Understanding what it owned,
Perfect came as a gift,
Joined again with creation’s yearning.

A reflection on Psalm 64

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My Version

I don’t understand why people plan evil,
Isn’t doing good a better option?
It’s happened again though,
My dear enemy has promised good,
But delivered hate,
They keep telling me that it’s love!
Confusion is created again,
Too many words wreaking havoc,
Hate relishes confusion,
It gives opportunity for destruction.

A much better way is to plan good,
God doesn’t tolerate duplicity,
He will set it all straight,
My dear enemy will face the truth,
Words used to destroy me,
Will entrap them in their own confusion.

I love how my God works,
Protecting me against my dear enemy,
Turning the tables –
My enemy’s power becomes weakness,
Even if they don’t see it,
It is a witness God’s power to the world.

A reflection on Psalm 62

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My Version

Lord, I have felt like everything is wrong,
It feels like all hope has been lost,
Overwhelmed with sleepless nights,
I think constantly of my failures.

This is the time when I cried out to you God,
In the middle of the night,
In the early morning,
When the shadow of depression touched my soul,
When I feel only darkness,
When my friendships are shattered.

In all of this you are speaking to me,
Waiting for my response:
I choose to praise – not hate,
I choose to live powerfully – in your strength,
I choose to love – forgiving wrongs,
I choose life – eternity with my Father.

Reflection on Psalm 62

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My Version of Psalm 62

Peace is such a beautiful place to find,
I have discovered true rest with my Father,
He has helped me withstand the personal attacks,
He will confront the lies that were told,
The lies that were intended to destroy me,
They were destruction veiled as truth,
I watched as my enemy took delight,
In seeing me hit rock bottom.

I know now how to take a true rest,
So that those lies no longer affect me,
Truth relies on God – not on my enemy,
I have learned to pour my heart out to God,
So that my ears hear only truth.
The great reversal is coming,
Where God sets it all right,
In the meantime I am learning what is important,
Rich or poor the end result is the same,
We must keep close to God,
Trust him above everything else,
This is the only safe place in this world,
Eternal love expressed with truth is the result.