I’ve (Eliacin) been invited to moderate a discussion panel during the Film, Faith and Justice 2007 Festival in Seattle. The discussion will be on Immigration and Christian Hospitality. The title for the panel discussion is “An Inverted Kingdom.”
Get more info at – Film, Faith and Justice 2007
This last week has held some remarkable lessons in the value of community for me (Christine). Last Sunday we hosted a gathering of people from my days on board the Mercy Ship Anastasis – some of them I had not seen for 15 – 20 years yet it was amazing how quickly we felt like family as we shared photos and reminisced about our adventures on board. We also shared the stories of what has happened in our lives since then. It was a wonderful reminder of for me of the special place that this community has played in my life and of the joy and healing that so many of these people brought to my life.
However this week has also been a reminder that community is not just a place of joy and celebration but often also a place of hurt and pain. Some of the stories I heard on Sunday showed deep hurts that have not been healed. It reminded me of how easily my own actions can hurt others, particularly those I am closest to.
We are in a stage of transition at the Mustard Seed House as we have people moving out and are looking for new members. We have started discussing again what it means for us to live in community. We have talked about the kingdom values we most want to see reflected in our community and we have also talked about how we should deal with disagreements and conflicts. Hearing these stories these week has made it very clear that sooner or latter this will be necessary. The challenge for me has been to remember that conflict and disagreement can be healthy – it does not need to lead to pain and hurt. What is important is not whether we have conflict but how we deal with it. Our natural inclination is to try to ignore it and hope that it will go away. Unfortunately that just makes it fester and grow.
I was really impacted by the words of Henri Nouwen in Making All Things New: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life, where he says “We must honestly unmask and courageously confront our many self-deceptive games. We must trust that our honesty and courage will lead us not to despair but to a new heaven and a new earth.”
I think we need community to give us the courage to confront our own self decelption and the selfishness of our hearts, we need community in order to deal with the pain and brokenness deep within us that contributes to unhealthy conflicts. I am probably rambling a little here but I think that remembering my days on the ship has also brought back reminders of when I hurt others because of my own brokenness. I know how easily we can see community as a place to hide from our pain and our hurts and as a place to escape from the scars and damage we have inflicted on others and that they have inflicted on us.
These issues are important for me to think about as we work on what we want the Mustard Seed House to be like in the future. I love living in community and cannot imagine a better way to live. Hopefully I have learned from some of my mistakes in the past and will be better able to provide a healing place of community for others in the future.
Soon we will be sharing with you some of our favorite recipes. As well as resources on community, spirituality, Celtic Christianity, whole-life faith, simplicity, household economics and many others.
Stay tuned.
This prayer is often called “St. Patrick’s Breastplate” because of those parts of it which seek God’s protection. It is also sometimes called “The Deer’s Cry”.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom.
I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.
I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me:
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.
I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.
-From Eliacin
So after much consideration, I am starting the Thomas Merton Project.
This is an experiment in Spiritual Formation is which I plan to read mostly books by Thomas Merton for the rest of 2007. There are so many new books too read and I confess I tend to be distracted by novelty. So for the rest of the year I will prayerfully engage in a search for truth, beauty and spirituality with Merton.
I can no longer condemn or hate a brother [or sister] for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me is transformed through intercession into the counte-nance of a brother [or sister]for whom Christ died.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
