Friday 10th April 2015
I’m typing this but I have no idea when I will be able to
post it online. Maybe Monday when I can get back to the office.
Today was another day in synod, was can be boring but I feel
that actually God has given me a great opportunity to get a sense of the
direction the diocese is moving and where it’s strengths and weaknesses are.
Again I was invited to sit in the house of clergy and the group sat for several
hours discussing some of the issues, bizarrely, a hen and her chick dandered
into the cathedral and started to weave in and out of our seats, clucking away.
I wanted to laugh because it was so random and something you would never see in
a church at home, especially the cathedral, but no one else in the group batted
an eyelid because it’s such a normal occurrence. Later, what looked like a
peacock without the massive tail (I have no idea about birds!) casually
strutted around the inside of the cathedral.
On a more serious note I was genuinely impressed at the
total honesty of the clergy about their issues in the church. We discussed a
lot of deep rooted and personal issues but what struck me was their clarity and
discernment about the tribalism which seems to still be alive and well in the
church. I realised how similar our cultures are at some level. Northern Ireland
is renowned for our ‘tribalism’ and we too are still working our way through
it. The church leaders here are resolute about getting rid of that mentality in
the church, and in many ways we could take a leaf out of their book of
determination.
I think of the things that has stood out most for me today
was during synod there was a pause because of some technical issues and the
Bishop sat waiting for a moment then burst into an African chorus/song. He got
about three words in and the whole place joined in! I have no idea what they
were singing as I forgot to ask afterwards what it meant, but it sounded so
beautiful. From a business meeting, this wee chorus just transported people
into a place of worship. Amazing!
I’m going to leave this for tonight with a few thoughts
shared from Bishop Joel’s sermon this morning on John 21
Without Jesus, the disciples stayed up all night and caught
nothing. When he came to them, he gave just one command and they caught more
fish than they ever could have imagined.
We can toil for long periods of time in our own strength and
see no results or if we are willing to seek and wait for his one command then
we will see more fish being caught than we could ever imagine.
Later on the shore, Jesus has breakfast with his disciples.
Importantly he gave them breakfast before he sent them out to ‘feed his sheep’.
We too are invited to eat with Jesus at the table and to receive from him before we are able to feed anyone else.
Be blessed!
Danielle x
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