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The Abbey of StBarnabas at ABeckettPark - a centre for

spirituality and theenvironment

The call and direction of The Abbey of St Barnabas at ABeckett Park as a centre for spirituality and theenvironment is shaped both by theparticular issues of our contemporarycontext and the wisdom and lessonslearnt from the scriptures and pilgrimswho have gone before.

We live in a moment of crisisor crossroads.

The environment is struggling andstraining with the growth of populationworldwide, the increased use of oil andother non renewable energy, principallyby developed nations, and the growth of emissions and toxic waste. The marks of climate change alert us to the severity of

the impact of humankind on theenvironment.

We face the question How do welive within and care for creation in a waythat will enable creation itself to sustainand nurture us and the life of thisplanet? This is an important question forus to explore as we realize that thedecisions we make and the actions wetake in relationship to the environmentcan either further jeopardize thewellbeing and future of all creation

including humankind, or open the pathfor sustainability and the wellbeing of all.

Furthermore, the crisis of theenvironment is part of a wider crisis of faith, meaning and purpose. The voice of God seems to have become mufed.Many people, out of touch with the storyof God in their personal lives, in theirsociety and in the world globally, havelost their spiritual bearings. Our pastunderstandings of God often fail toengage the deep questions of today.

These questions and issues of ourday embrace both the spiritual and thepractical: How do we understand God,ourselves and our world in relation toGod in this new situation? What practicalskills, techniques, understandings andtechnologies do we need to develop to re-fashion our living?

ABeckett Park, located onRaymond Island, is a vulnerable,fragile, sacred place that bears therisk of climate change and its own

demise. The vision for The Abbeyof St Barnabas at ABeckett Park asa centre for spirituality and theenvironment holds before us thedream for the restoration of thedeep balance of all creation.

The Abbey of St Barnabas at ABeckett Park is envisaged as a place of learning and care for the environment, aplace of welcome and hospitality, of pilgrimage and journey.

Restoring the deep balanceEdie Ashley

Waterholes2010 NEWSLETTER OF THE ANAM CARA COMMUNITY ISSUE THREE

A Community of Prayer and Support

for the Inner Journeyinto God

Waterholes is the newsletter of the AnamCara Community, a ministry of the AnglicanDiocese of Gippsland.

Visit us on the web:www.anamcara-community.org

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The Abbey of St Barnabas at ABeckett Park will offer leadership withinthe Diocese on environmental mattersand give practical expression to the 5thmark of mission of the AnglicanCommunion that strives to safeguard theintegrity of creation and to sustain andrenew the life of the earth.

As we take up the journey for The Abbey of St Barnabas at ABeckett Park we turn back to the old sources of wisdom and being. We look to thescriptures and bring the questions of ourtime to engage with the time-honouredstory of God and Gods creation. Wereect on the patterns of pilgrimage andmonasticism that emerged during periodsof crisis in past times.

As we take up the journey for The

Abbey of St Barnabas at ABeckett Park we are also open anew to God in thismoment in time and place:

To hear the Spirit of God and infresh ways to understand ourselves inrelation to our world and to our God

To work with others who share aconcern for the environment todemonstrate sustainability practicesand to ca r e fo r t he na tu ra lenvironment of The Abbey and itssurrounds

To learn new (or old) practicalskills, techniques and technologies thatwill enable us to re-fashion our living so that we can live within and care forcreation in a way that will enablecreation itself to sustain and nurture usand the life of this planet

To share the journey and what welearn in our care for the environmentwith our community, parishes andchurch

The Vision for The Abbey of StBarnabas at ABeckett Park as a centre forspirituality and the environment will bereected in its Buildings, Gardens andInfrastructure, through The AbbeyProgram and through the life of theCommunity of St Barnabas.

Buildings, Gardens and Infrastructure

At the Abbey of St Barnabas at ABeckett Park will be rebuilt to minimizeits environmental footprint and todemonstrate sustainability options:

environmentally designed 3.5 star motelstyle accommodation for visitors, reducedemission and use of solar and renewableenergy, waste and water management.

Planting and landscaping will giveconsideration to native and indigenousspecies.

Abbey Program

The Abbey of St Barnabas will be ameeting-place for pilgrims and travelers,those seeking:

rest, refuge or silence, a place tostay, a venue for conferences

a hands on opportunity to carefor the natural environment

a chance to learn how to pursuesustainable alternatives

the time to address soul-matters company along the way hope or inspiration to continue

the journey

Abbey On-site Program

The rst Abbey On- site Programwill be developed/trialled for the periodMay October 2011.

This rst program of retreats andenvironmental workshops will bedeveloped in line with the following fourstands:

Hosp i t a l i t y : a l l owi ng theenvironment to nurture you;

J o u r n e y : a l l o w i n g t h eenvironment to nurture you;

Sustainability: issues of water,power, waste and re;

Natural Environment: care for theexisting ora and fauna unique to thearea, replanting and regeneration of indigenous plants, care and protection

of rare and threatened species,preservation of lakes and pristineforeshores.

This program will be widelyadvertised in February 2011.

Abbey Extension Program

Through The Abbey ExtensionProgram, The Abbey Program will beshared more widely with communitygroups , churches , and par ishesthroughout Gippsland.

It is envisaged that The AbbeyExtension Program will develop slowlythrough 2011 and in a more formal sensein 2012.

Community of St Barnabas

The Abbey of St Barnabas will behome to the Community of St Barnabas.It is envisaged that the community of StBarnabas will be a small Christiancommunity, living in the extended EnaSheumack house, committed in prayerand practice to the work of the Abbey.

We would hope that the community willbegin to form by the end of 2011/beginning of 2012.

The community with its own regularprayer rhythm, will engage in the work of the Abbey. This could include, forinstance, hospitality, the discussion anddevelopment of sound practices intheology, ecology and care for the naturalenvironment of the Abbey, developmentof music and worship resources. The

community could include some gap year,sea-changers, those on a sabbatical yearand other short term members who joinfor 3-12 months, while others might havea longer term commitment. There couldbe musicians, theologians, administrators,gardeners, environmentalists and others living, working and praying at The

Abbey.

For the period of the First Abbey Workshop, May 2011 October 2011,we are looking to have 3 people at alltimes living in the Ena Sheumack House.People are invited to become part of aprayer and support team, to spend 2weeks in Ena Sheumack supporting The

Abbey Program and praying in StBarnabas.

This invitation will be advertisedwidely in February. Please plan to be partof this prayer and support team at The

Abbey.

Edie Ashley

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Soul Carers LetterAnne Turner

Before youLord

Michel Quoist

To be there before you, Lord, thats all.

To shut the eyes of my body,To shut the eyes of my soul,And be still and silent,To expose myself to you who are there,exposed to me.To be there before you, the EternalPresence.I am willing to feel nothing, Lord,

to see nothing, to hear nothing.

Empty of all ideas,of all images,In the darkness.

Here I am, simply,To meet with you without obstacles,

In the silence of faith,Before you, Lord.

But, Lord, I am not aloneI can no longer be alone.I am a crowd, Lord,For men live within me.I have met them.They have come in,They have settled down,They have worried me,They have tormented me,They have devoured me.And I have allowed it, Lord, that they might be nourished and refreshed.I bring them to you, too, as I come beforeyou.I expose the, to you in exposing myself toyou.Here I am,Here they are,Before you, Lord.

Michel Quoist, born in Le Havre on 18 June1921 and died in Le Havre on December 18,1997, was a priest and a French writer.

His father had died early. Therefore Michel began to work at the age of 14. He sought meaning of life. In 1947 he became a priest. Hiswork as a chaplain and a writer was focused on

young people.

As a post-war chaplain of Catholic Action inconjunction with major religious initiatives he

published in 1954 Prayers which brought him ahuge success: 2,500,000 copies have been sold throughout the world.

His books are still being published and millionsof copies have been translated into 27 languagesup to now. His literary work is particularly well known in Latin America.

Some of other titles of Quoist books: (1954)

Prayers Of Life,(1965)The Christian Response,(1971)Christ Is Alive, (1972) I've Met JesusChrist, (1973) Meet Christ And Live.

In a Waterholes edition last year Iwrote of a sense of a call of God to begina soul friendship ministry with those

living with disabilities. This had grownout of my admiration for and inspirationfound through the life and work of thepriest and spiritual author, HenriNouwen along with my own experienceof a disabling condition which changedmy life in my 40s.

Even though I was to discover myneuromuscular disease was genetic, it hadlain almost dormant for the rst half of my life enabling me to achieve myambition to be a High School PhysicalEducation teacher and play sport at afairly high level. Almost overnight I wentfrom an active, outgoing, always on thego, type of p e r s o n t oc o m p l e t e l ybedridden withn o t h i n g working as itpreviously had.The journeywith the grief

of this, facing t h e l o s s o f ident i ty andindependenceto name justtwo was myoverriding spiritual discipline and withouthaving already committed myself to theinner journey and the sheer grace of God I would not be the person I amtoday.

It has always been my experiencethat God wastes nothing in our lives if weare prepared to say Yes to God. It takesa long time and much effort to reach theplace of saying how can this experiencebe an opportunity for new ways of Godin my life?

There have been more opportunitiesthan there is space to write but one of thegreatest and most satisfying has been agrowth in understanding of others withall types of disabilities; chronic and life-

threatening illnesses; those born withthem and those where it has been thrustupon them. I have never lacked empathybut there is a great difference in merelybeing empathetic & walking in someone

elses shoes. We can never say I knowhow you feel because we can neverknow fully anothers experience but there

is an unspoken knowing where there isa shared experience whatever it might be.

We have a deeper understanding of thelimitations and the attitudes of others.

Over the past years I becameincreasingly aware and drawn to those onthe margins of the church because of their disability be it physical or mental. Iknew rst hand what it felt like to feelswamped in a wheelchair, unable tomove out of the way of my space being invaded; how dis-empowering it is to havepeople speak to me from behind or to theside or stand in front of me instead of coming to eye level. I became more

aware of when Idid it to others& have tried toteach how to bewith someonei n t h i ssituation.

A t t h e

beginning of this year, its e e m e d t h eright time tobegin a soul-f r i e n d s h i p

group for those with disabilities. Itseemed we needed a safe place to growour faith and express our deepest selveswith a degree of understanding whichcomes f rom a sha red commonexperience. I really felt a completeamateur, never having ventured with sucha group before. Most of the participants Ialready knew from the cathedralcongregation so there was already arelationship established. Most of thegroup have had & go on having experience of other groups catering fortheir needs but not really with regard totheir spiritual needs. I also havewonderful support leaders to help sodont feel alone in it all!!

The group has formed a life of its

own growing in numbers and depth.Some of the comments from thoseattending, testify to its power. I feel safehere I feel free to be me and say what I

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think I enjoy being part of a circle of friends I feel I belong

There is a sense now when they are

in the general church congregation thatthey have their own place and feel a truebelonging and part of the Body of Christ. The sense of isolation which issuch a huge part of living with adisability has been bridged to a smalldegree.

The greatest lesson I have learnedfrom others in the group especially thoseborn with intellectual disability is they aregenerally speaking people in whomthere is no guile as Jesus spoke of

Nathaniel; a most beautiful childlikequality which has so much to teach us all,in a world where there is so much powerplay.

The Circle of friends is thehighlight of my life and ministry where Isee the face of God in those who sufferfrom being on the fringes; and in thosewho care for them daily who live with theworry and uncertainty as to their future. Ifeel privileged to have been given thisopportunity to grow in my own faith

journey and knowledge of God and self through this wonderfully child like groupof people from teenagers to the 60+

It has helped me continue to growinto fuller acceptance of my ownlimitations and disabling condition, whichcan often lay me very low. My circle of friends always gives me energy tocontinue with strength faith and hope.

With love and prayers,

Anne Turner

Contacts and information

Eastern RegionGatherer: Heather Toms - sale@anamcara-gippsland.org, 03 5199 2711

Southern Region

Gatherer: Colin Thornby - southgippsland@anamcara-gippsland.org, 03 5658 1086

Western RegionGatherer: Marion White - westgippsland@anamcara-gippsland.org, 03 5623 3216Gatherer: Carolyn Raymond - latrobevalley@anamcara-gippsland.org, 03 5191 8343

Raymond IslandLiaison: Jane Macqueen - jane@anamcara-gippsland.org, 0411 316 346

Website:www.anamcara-gippsland.org, email: hello@anamcara-gippsland.org

Joining the Community:Anne Turner - anne@anamcara-gippsland.org, 03 5144 1914

Retreats, workshops, quiet days and worship events Jane Macqueen - jane@anamcara-gippsland.org, 0411 316 346

Communications (Website and Newsletter)Colin Thornby - colin@anamcara-gippsland.org, 03 5658 1086

TreasurerKate Campbell - treasurer@anamcara-gippsland.org

The Small Print Waterholes is the newsletter of the Anam Cara Community. The newsletter isedited by Colin Thornby(colin@colinthornby.com). Copyright in all material is heldby the author or creator. All rights reserved. Statements in this newsletter are thoseof the author or editor, and are not necessarily approved or endorsed by theAnglican Diocese of Gippsland. Printed by the Anglican Diocese of Gippsland, Sale.

Soul Carers Letter(Continued from page 3)

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A Prayer of TransgurationChrist Jesus, transgured before our eyes, transgure our lives that we may be able todwell in your presence forever. Amen.(Chris Bennie wrote this prayer in response to one of the gathering times at the Mixed Lay Retreat inOctober 2010).

STOP PRESS:

NUMBY NUMBY DEDICATION

ANNUAL THANKSGIVINGEUCHARIST

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A brief look at some bookson spirituality

Book Review by Chris Venning

The circle depicts the soul journey into

God, inner circles and outgoing linesspeak of making a journey within andwithout. The lines make up the sign of the cross, the central Christian symbol.The inner circles are an Aboriginalsymbol for meeting place. We havereceived permission to use this symbolfrom the local elders, as they understoodwhat it means for us as a contemplativeprayer community.

This article briey surveys sometrends in the literature of spirituality overthe past three decades and more. Manyof the authors and texts predate thisperiod by far but my interest is in thecurrency of their impact on more recentspiritual experience and thought. Theparticular focus will be on a selection of authors and texts on my shelves that havebeen helpful in my own spiritual journey.

To provide a context let me beginwith some personal background. Born in

Adelaide in late 1946, my school yearswere spent at Loxton in South AustraliasRiverland, where I also attendedMethodist worship, Sunday school and

youth group. I was a mystical child andremember many individual spiritualexperiences and a deep sense of connectedness to God. The convictionthat God was calling me to be a ministerbegan in my late primary school years,was somewhat suppressed in adolescencebut then was renewed as I approachedadulthood. Looking back, I value thesense of spiri tua l inte grat ion Iexperienced in relation to church,creation and everyday life. In my lateteens a gradual drift from the church wasarrested by an evangelical conversion,followed shortly after by charismaticexperiences and years of study in Bibleand theological college. At this time CSLewis and Christian writers of a more

overtly philosophical or theological bentwere my main spiritual reading, butemotional and spiritual nurture was being found more often in the Bible andpersonal prayer, and in religiousbiography, ction and poetry than inintellectual reading. New perspectiveswere gained by the Jesus Movementsembrace in the late 1960s and early1970s of Australian and youth culture inways that helped to close the gap betweenthe worship experience of many churchesand the increasingly informal and secularsociety in which we lived. If spiritualnurture was being found elsewhere, I hadcertainly come to nd great intellectualstimulation in the formal study of

theology, English literature and history. And for many history students of myBaby Boomer generation, including me,reading Manning Clarks magisterial butemotive A History of Australia(6 volumes,1962-1987) became a spiritual experiencein itself. My instincts toward ecumenicity,eclecticism and inclusivity led me toembrace insights gained from church andreligious traditions other than my own.

Although I had always been eclecticand reective, it was not until early mid-life that the emphases of a more reectivespirituality spoke loudly and clearly into alife of mi nistry that had becomeincreasingly meeting and task oriented. Inmy early forties I found myself on theedge of burnout. At this time two authorsopened windows and doors on spiritualpaths that were largely new to me. On asilent day retreat in 1989 I read at asitting Elizabeth Goudges The DeansWatch (1960). CS Lewis apparently foundthat the writings of George MacDonaldmediated Gods presence to him in aunique way; the writings of ElizabethGoudge do this for me. And just asi m p o r t a n t l y , t h i s e x p e r i e n c edemonstrated to me how some ction canbe just as nurturing as the recognisedspiritual classics. A few months later,during a week of personal retreat, I readRichard Fosters Celebration of Discipline:The path to spiritual growth(1978). Family

and church, school and theological studyhad all encouraged a focus outside of myself which resulted in an increasing disjunction from the more creative andintuitive, mystical and reective child thatI had been. The Evangelical andReformed theology in which I had beenmainly trained emphasised trusting inexternal realities like the love of Godand the cross of Christ, and a distrust in a

journey inward. But awareness had beengrowing in me that although I knew whatI believed and thought I no longer reallyknew who I was in an emotional or moredeeply spiritual sense. Foster gave me

The Symbol of the Anam Cara Community

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Prayer is the gatewayPrayer is the gateway to the vision of Godfor which we were created. It is the meansof free and conscious intercourse betweenthe creature and [the] Creator and itexpresses the union between the two. It isthe art of spiritual living and will beincomplete if it includes only the art of the presence of God without the necessarycomplement of the practice of thepresence of man. (Mother Mary Clare,

Learning to Pray, Fairacres Press, Oxford)

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tools to begin the process of rediscovery

of the inward Chris Venning. A simplebut similarly helpful little book I readaround this time also was JamesFenhagens More than wanderers: Spiritual disciplines for Christian ministry(1978).

As had been the case with my mid tolate 1960s journey into Evangelicalism,the Charismatic renewal movement andReformed theology, many of my peerswere also in the 1980s and 90s rediscovering parts of our spiritualheritage that had been largely closed tous. Church leaders like RowlandCroucher were encouraging AustralianEvangelicals to explore a more reectivespirituality with the assistance of aspiritual director. The Still Waters DeepWaters meditational series he edited, andto which he invited many of us tocontribute, set a new benchmark forreective theology of its kind in Australia.Meanwhile Lutheran pastor Aub Podlichand Uniting Church minister BrucePrewer were publishing poems and

prayers grounded deeply in our Australian context, works like their Australian Accents (1988) which includedmaterial from the formers Australian

Images and the latters Australian Psalmsand Australian Prayers.Australiancartoonist Michael Leunig producedwidely popular illustrated books of let ters, poems and prayers thatchallenged our spiritual values, and poetslike Les Murray unashamedly probed thenations spiritual psyche. In time Iaccumulated a large l ibrary onspirituality, including more generalreference texts such as Gordon Wakeeld(ed.), A Dictionary of Christian Spirituality (1983); Keith Beasley-Topliffe (ed.),

Dictionary of Christian Spiritual Formation (2003); and Bradley Holt, A Brief Historyof Christian Spirituality(1993).

In the past thirty years writers like Anthony de Mello, Thomas Merton andHenri Nouwen came to be read avidlybeyond Catholic circles, and many of us

rediscovered, too, the spiritual writings of St John of the Cross and Meister Eckhartand those remarkable medieval women

Julian of Norwich and Hildegard of Bingen. There was also a dawning

interest in spirituality apart from thechurch and formal religious practice.This led to writers like Joseph Campbell,

James Hillman, Thomas Moore and M.Scot t Peck, wi th the i r var iouscombinations of theology, mythology andmodern psychology having broad appeal,as had long been true of writings by and

about Freud and Jung. Spiritual writingsfrom other religious backgrounds alsoproliferated on retail bookshelves, withBuddhism and the Dalai Lama andSusm and Rumi always popular. Somewriters like Paul Coelho, author of The

Alchemist (1988), wrote on spiritual themeswithout identifying overtly with aparticular religious tradition. The abovehave all in some measure shaped my own

journey of mind and spirit in the pasttwenty or thirty years, although my mainfocus has been the Christian mystics, pastand modern. I gained a great deal of nurture and understanding from having a

spiritual director and attending monthlyTaize services, and as a result of worldtravel, especially in the Middle East. Norcan the intellectual and philosophicalaspects of spirituality be ignored whenstimulating books like those by DavidTacey on Australian spirituality continueto be published.

Celtic spirituality has emerged as aspecial interest during recent decades, forme and many others. For me, I think ithas restored something of the integrationof spirit, creation, church and everydayliving that was so important in mychildhood and my mid-life transitions. Itsuse of story and song, nature symbolsand wise sayings, vivid poems and prayerstaps into deep wells of spiritual need and

nurture. Like many another, I made mypilgrimage to Iona to nd it indeed athin place, where heaven and earthseem unusually close. The communitys

Wild Goose Publications produce many

rich resources of story and worship, andthere are numerous other publishers of this genre. For those who want context,try Katherine Lack, The Eagle and the Dove:The Spirituality of the Celtic Saint Columbanus (2000); John J. ORiordan, A Pilgrim inCeltic Scotland (1997); Norman Shanks,Gods Energy: The Spirituality and Vision of the

Iona Community(1999). The major work of Celtic folklore is Alexander Carmichaelscollection of prayers and blessings, poemsand songs from the Western Isles of Scotland, Carmina Gadelica(1900/1994);selections from it include New Moon of theSeasons: Prayers from the Highlands and

Islands, Collected & translated by Alexander Carmichael, selected byMichael Jones (Lindisfarne Press, 1992).Lyn Wilde, Celtic Inspirations(2004),Robert Van De Weyer, Celtic Parables(1999) and Lion Publishings The CelticSpirit: Poems, Prayers & Music(text and CD,2000) are all attractive and accessible.Requiring a little more concentration andthought are Phyllis Jestice, Encyclopedia of

Ir ish Spiri tuali ty(2000); GeoffreyMoorhouse, Sun Dancing (1997); JohnODonohue, Anam Cara: Spiritual wisdom

from the Celtic world (1997); Margaret Silf,Sacred Spaces: Stations on a Celtic Way(2005).

Spiritual direction and retreat havetheir own large literatures. On spiritual

direction (or spiritual friendship) I havetexts by Peter Ball (2003), William Barry(1992), Barry & Connolly (n/d), Carroll& Dyckman (1981), Tilden Edwards(1980), Alan Jones (1982), W. Paul Jones(2002), Kenneth Leech (1977), ChesterMichael (2004), Eugene Peterson (1989)and Janet Rufng (2000). Of these I havemost carefully read Leech and Peterson,but all seemed to have their distinctivecontributions. I also have MaureenConroy, Looking into the Well: Supervision of Spiritual Directors(1995). On spiritualreection and retreat I enjoyed RogerHousdens Retreat: Time Apart for Silence and Solitude(1995). Retreat resources includeMary Batchelor, Seasons of Life(1990);Marcus Braybrooke (General Editor), The

Bridge of Stars(2001); Anthony de Mello,Contact with God: Retreat Conferences(1997);Emilie Grifn, Wilderness Time: A Guide for Spiritual Retreat (1997); Kay Lindahl, TheSacred Art of Listening (2002); Jan Pickard,Out of Iona: Words from a crossroads of theworld (2003). Those attracted to labyrinths

will nd Gernot Candolini (2003) andVirginia Westbury (2001) informative andinteresting.

A brief look at somebooks on spirituality

(Continued from page 5)

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I do not see the road aheadof me

Thomas Merton

My Lord GodI have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me.I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself,and the fact that I think I am following

your will does not meanthat I am actually doing so.

But I believe that my desire to please youdoes in fact please you.

And I hope that I have that desirein all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road

though I may know nothing about it.Therefore will I trust you always

though I may seem to be lostand in the shadow of death.

I will not fear,for you are ever with me,

and you will never leave me

to face my perils alone.

Thomas Merton

For those for whom books oftenstimulate growth and new and helpfulperspectives, I trust you will nd among these authors and texts a springboard tosome new spiritual adventure, or theopening of a gate to a particular pathwayin spiritual direction, reection or retreat.I conclude with a Celtic prayer recordedin the nineteenth century by AlexanderCarmichael ( New Moon of the Seasons, 1992, p.150). I have printed mymodernisation/revision below it.

Thanks to thee, God, Who broughtst me from yesterday

To the beginning of today,Everlasting joyTo earn for my soul

With good intent. And for every gift of peaceThou bestowest on me,My thoughts, my words,My deeds, my desiresI dedicate to Thee.I supplicate Thee,I beseech Thee,To keep me from offence,

And to shield me tonight,For the sake of Thy wounds

With Thine offering of grace.(Recorded by Alexander Carmichael,19thcentury)

I thank you, God,For bringing me from yesterdayTo the beginning of a new day;For enabling meTo earn eternal joyBy seeking to live within your will.

And every gift of peaceYou bestow upon meIn thought and word,In deed and desireI dedicate to you.I earnestly beg you,I humbly plead with you -Keep me from sin and harm,Guard me through this night,For the sake of Christs wounds

And your Parental love and grace.(Revision by Chris Venning, 2008)

Chris Venning

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A brief look at somebooks on spirituality

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The Burning BushColin Thornby

Dedicationof NumbyNumbyAbbey of St Barnabas atABeckett Park - 9 December2010, 5.30pm

The rst of the newly refurbishedNumby Numby accommodation units at

the Abbey of St Barnabas at ABeckettPark will be dedicated by Bishop JohnMcIntyre on 9 December 2010.Refreshments will be served from5.30pm. The Dedication will begin at6pm. All members of the Diocesan

family are very welcome. For cateringpurposes, please RSVP Kerrie(kerries@gippsanglican.org.au) or Danielle(daniellem@gippsanglican.org.au), or phone the Registry - 03 5144 2044.

Catch the 5.15pm ferry from Paynesville to Raymond Island.

The story of Moses discerning Gods presence in the burning bush is one

that captures our imagination, and saysmuch to those of us who are called towalk in Jesus way.

Moses was keeping the ock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he ledhis ock beyond the wilderness, and came

to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lordappeared to him ina ame of re outof a bush; helooked, and thebush was blazing, yetit was notconsumed. ThenMoses said, I must

turn aside and look at this great sight,and see why thebush is not burnedup. When the Lordsaw that he had

turned aside to see,God called to himout of the bush,Moses, Moses!And he said, Here Iam. Then he said,

Come no closer! Remove the sandalsfrom your feet, for the place on which youare standing is holy ground. He saidfurther, I am the God of your father, theGod of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and

the God of Jacob. And Moses hid hisface, for he was afraid to look at God.Then the Lord said, ... The cr y of theIsraelites has now come to me; I have alsoseen how the Egyptians oppress them. Socome, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring

my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. ButMoses said to God, Who am I that Ishould go to Pharaoh, and bring theIsraelites out of Egypt? He said, I will bewith you; and this shall be the sign for you

that it is I who sent you: when you havebrought the people out of Egypt, you shallworship God on this mountain. (Exodus3:1-12, NRSV)

Even where I live, in Korumburra,t h e s e a s o n f o rbuilding the re toheat has fair lymuch ended. Fireis one of those

facts of life whichwhich were veryaccustomed. InVictoria we haveexperienced thewrath of re, inthose areas whichwere destroyed bybushre in 2009.So we know re,and we think wehave a handle on

how it behaves, even when it isunpredictable and ferocious.

Moses encounter with Godspresence in the burning bush could betermed a theophany - a manifestation of God to a human being. Wonderous as

Anam Cara Community Annual Thanksgiving EucharistCome and join us at the 2010 Anam Cara Community Annual ThanksgivingEucharist. Each year we gather to welcome new associates to the community, tothank God for the year past, and to commission the leadership team for thecoming year.

Venue: St Pauls Cathedral Sale

Date: Saturday 27 November 2010 (yes, Victorian Election Day)

Time: 11am, followed by a light lunch Further information: Colin, 03 5658 1086 or colin@anamcara-gippsland.org; or

Jane, 03 5182 8198, jane@anamcara-gippsland.org

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Holy listening that is, if we stop there we dont get intothe depths of this beautiful reading.

At this point in Exodus Moses is

discovering who he is, and what he is for.Intimately bound with this is who God is,and what relationship God has withMoses and the people of God. Each of usmake this journey of discovery - not justonce, but repeatedly throughout our lives.

Who we believed ourselves to be when wewere 10, 20, 30, 40, is often not who weunderstand ourselves to be when wereolder, and hopefully wiser. Tied up in thatquestion of identity, and really, giving itmeaning, is who God is, and what Gods

place in our lives is. One of the problemswith much of modern Christianity andspirituality is that it puts me in thecentre, and pushes God to the periphery.But we cant understand ourselves at allwithout reference to who God is, andwhat Gods action in our lives, and in theworld, is about.

There is a great intimacy here. Eachof us meets God in the burning bush of our lives. We learn who we are, and whoGod is, and what were for.

The burning bush is a bit of anenigma. Was it just a way of getting Moses attention? Abraham Heschelsuggests not. Certainly, it was meant toget Moses to look. But more than that, itwas meant to get Moses to stop, observe,wait and listen. When you think about it,it takes a little while to look at burning wood and nd that it isnt being consumed. Moses would have had to look at the bush and wait, in order to see thatit was not being destroyed by the re.God was drawing Moses into prayer andcontemplation, which is, of course,drawing Moses into relationship withGod. For contemplation is nothing morethan sitting, loving God and listening toGod.

It is God who takes the active rolehere. It is God who reveals Godself, andGod who calls Moses. It is God whoexplains, and God who sends Moses. Thisis one of the great truths of the life of the

spirit - it is Gods work. Were asked to

How do we know that we are notdeluding ourselves, that we are notselecting those words that best t our passions, that we are not just listening to

the voice of our own imagination?Who

can determine if [our] feelings and insightsare leading [us] in the right direction? Our God is greater than our own heart andmind, and too easily we are tempted tomake our hearts desires and our mindsspeculations into the will of God.Therefore, we need a guide, a director, acounselor who helps us to distinguishbetween the voice of God and all other voices coming from our own confusion or from dark powers far beyond our control.

We need someone who encourages uswhen we are tempted to give it all up, toforget it all, to just walk away in despair.

We need someone who discourages us

when we move too rashly in unclear directions or hurry proudly to a nebulousgoal. We need someone who can suggest

to us when to read and when to be silent,which words to reect upon and what todo when silence creates much fear andlittle peace. (HenriNouwen, Reaching Out )

The ministry of sp i r i t ua l d i r ec t i on(sometimes also calleds o u l c a r e , s o u lf r i e n d s h i p ,

companioning or othernames) is a ministry of the church that has asits aim helping a personto grow in intimacy with God, whichleads as a consequence to rightrelationship with all of creation.

Spiritual direction is a time-honoredterm for a conversation, ordinarilybetween two persons, in which oneperson consults another, more spirituallyexperienced person about the ways inwhich God may be touching her or hislife, directly or indirectly. In our age,many people dislike the term spiritualdirection because it sounds like oneperson giving directions, or orders, toanother. They prefer spiri tualcompanionship, tending the holy, orsome other name. What we call it doesntmake any real difference, and we willrefer to it as direction for the sake of ease.The reality remains conversations aboutlife in the light of faith. Although spiritual

direction has had a burst of new life, it isreally quite ancient. Across both theHebrew and the Christian Scriptures, wend people seeking spiritual counsel. The

Queen of Sheba sought out the wisdomof Solomon. Jesus gave us examples in hisconversations with Nicodemus, with thewoman at the well, in the ongoing formation of Peter and the otherdisciples. In the early church, peopleocked to hermits in the desert forspiritual counsel. Across the centuries wend striking examples in some Irishmonks, in some German Benedictinenuns, in Charles de Foucault, Teresa of

Avila, John of the Cross, Francis de Sales,and others. Today, spiritual directorscome from many traditions and areclergy and lay.

The whole purpose of spiritual direction is

to penetrate beneath the surface of apersons life, to get behind the faade of conventional gestures and attitudes whichone presents to the world, and to bringout ones inner spiritual freedom, onesinmost truth, which is what [Christians]call the likeness of Christ in ones soul. This

is an entirely supernatural (spiritual)

thing, for the work of rescuing the inner person fromautomatism belongsrst of all to the Holy Spirit. (Thomas Merton)

Spiritual direction isoften helpful if you nd

yourself wanting adeeper relationship with God; yoursearch for God is at a crossroad; you wantto explore new ways to pray or if prayerhas become difcult; you feel the need forsomeone to help in discerning the call of God for you; you desire a companion onthe spiritual journey.

During a session, the director will

spend most of the time listening carefullyand attentively to your story, experienceof your prayer and your struggles. In acondential and trusting setting, you willhave a chance to talk about your searchto know and do whatever God is asking of

you in your life.

If youd like to nd a spiritualdirector or soul carer, contact the AnamCara Community (hello@anamcara-gippsland.org). The Community has agroup of spiritual directors who haveundertaken formation, and in whom thegift has been discerned.

Colin Thornby

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co-operate (and it cant happen withoutour answering yes), but it is Gods work.

What have been the burning bushes in your own life? Where have themoments of Gods presence, of Godscall, come from? Have you stopped towait, to pray, to see? Or hurried on?Have you got so excited by the burning that you forgot to look for God? Did youhear the call of God? The voice calling

you by name?

The burning bush could be anynumber of things. It could be acircumstance, a person, a book, a

relationship, a moment of time. It couldbe very comforting, or very confronting. Isuspect, for Moses, that thismoment was very confronting. Hewas caring for his ock of sheep,fairly much minding his ownbusiness. And he could have kepton doing that, because God wouldnot have forced him to becomethe shepherd of the people of Israel - he needed to take up thatmission willingly. Based on myown experience of God, I ratherthink God would have keptoffering burning bushes as ways of getting Moses to notice, but therewould not be compulsion or armtwisting.

Very often we need to be remindedthat the burning bush in our lives is holyground. Im very fond of Gerald Maysbook The Dark Night of the Soul: A

Psychiatrist Explores The Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Darkness(HarperOne,

2005). In it he observes that observed thathe now nds it hard to work out whetheran event or situation has a bad effect, or agood effect. Sometimes the things thathave seemed most good take us in thewrong direction, and sometimes thethings that seem most dark take us deeperinto God. My experience of a signicantdarkness, having cancer, is that Goddraws great growth and opportunity fromdarkness and suffering. For me having cancer was a burning bush. The long hours I spent in hospital, attached to IVsand receiving poisonous drugs, weretimes when God helped me to growdeeper into him, moments when I wasallowed to get a glimpse of the glory of

God. Having cancer led me deeper intoknowing who God is, and who I am. Mybrokenness, my failures and my sinfulnessare put into context by God - they arereal, they are there, and they are barriers,but God makes the rst move, and asksme to travel with God, doing what Godasks of me.

Seeing these moments as holyground, as fertile and as times when wecan grow, change and be renewed allowsus to have hope and faith, even whenwere in the darkness, or trapped in aswamp of despair.

Moses response to this greatrevelation of Gods glory was to hide hisface. God had appeared to him, andrevealed himself as the God of hisancestors. This must have been anawesome moment - to have experiencedGod and suddenly to know who God is,

and who Moses was. Hiding his face, toavoid seeing and being seen, would havebeen a natural reaction, and a reactionthat we have in our own lives whenconfronted with Gods glory andinvitation to be in relationship with God.How much easier to hide. But Moses hadlooked on Gods glory, and it changedhim.

Seeing Gods glory cant help butchange us. We need to remember thatsuch a gift is given not to puff us up, butto create something new in us. Anencounter with God leaves us withoptions, but if we accept the offer thatGod extends - to be in love with God - wecant help but nd ourselves changed andrenewed. Those parts of our lives that are

dark and hidden are illuminated, healedand cleansed. Sins are brought to light, inorder to be dealt with and healed. And

we grow into who God calls us to be, step bystep and moment by moment.

A key part of this growing is walking inthe way God has for us. For most of us, thisway will not be as public as the way Moseswalked. But we can be sure that the walk is

vital - for us and for those God calls intorelationship with us. One of the tensions of the Christian life is surely that we make thisindividual journey very much within acommunity. Some nd that easy, othersmuch less so. Some nd that the community,the church, is an easy place to be, a placewhere they t in, and where the ministrythey are offered nurtures them. The wordsmake sense, the activities help them grow,their identity as a person, and as a Christianis nurtured and they grow deeper. For some,the church is a hard place to be - sometimesalmost an impossible place. It may be that

the life of the church doesnt speak to us, orthe words no longer make sense. The church

may dene us in ways that dont helpus to t in, or we may experience thedark side of the church, and of thechurchs ministry - abuse, or hurts.Ronald Rolheiser speaks of a certainkind of leaving, in these situations.Sometimes, even if there isnt aphysical leaving, there is adistancing so that the pilgrim cancontinue to be there. Sometimesthere is a departure, for a new place.Sometimes there is a state of being inbetween, of not having a home - adifcult place for the Christian, and aplace in which guidance is vital.Sometimes this certain kind of

leaving is to help us to see what thechurch really is - the Body of Christ.Stripped of the institution (and illusionsabout the institution), the reality of what thechurch is may become clearer.

Christian life is lived in community,

because we need a team to help us live thelife. Part of Gods gift is this team, a way, atits best, of ministering to us when we are inmisery and brokenness. God heard Israelspain and groaning, and God responded.God responds to our pain and groaning too,

very frequently through fellow Christians,who accompany us on the way.

So, what is your burning bush? What isGod saying? How are you being changed?Sit. Look at the bush, and see if the res arelicking the wood, but not consuming it. Waitfor God, expectantly. Wait.

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