Growing Hope , livre ebook

Wild Goose Publications - Neil Paynter

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

225 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

A book of quotes and readings - poems, prayers, short reflections and stories - for each day of the year from writers and thinkers who have inspired the Iona Community and from members of the community themselves.

Sujets

Northern Scotland

Christian liturgy

Prayer

Informations

Publié par	Wild Goose Publications
Date de parution	17 mai 2006
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781849520409
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0500€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

GROWING HOPE

GROWING HOPE
Daily Readings
Neil Paynter

WILD GOOSE PUBLICATIONS

Contents of book © the individual contributors Compilation © 2006 Neil Paynter
First published 2006 by Wild Goose Publications, 4th Floor, Savoy House, 140 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow G2 3DH, UK. Wild Goose Publications is the publishing division of the Iona Community. Scottish Charity No.SCO03794.Limited Company Reg.No.SCO96243. www.ionabooks.com
ePub:ISBN 978-1-84952-040-9 Mobipocket:ISBN 978-1-84952-041-6 PDF:ISBN 978-1-84952-042-3
Cover illustration ©The Iona Community
Neil Paynter has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,1998 to be identified as the author of this collection.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means including photocopying or any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

CONTENTS
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Coming here one day changed my whole life.
A volunteer with the Iona Community
To Dorothy
INTRODUCTION
This book grew out of a call to Iona Community members to send in their favourite quotes – quotes that have influenced and inspired them, quotes they have copied down in notebooks and diaries, quotes they have taken with them on demonstrations and rallies, quotes they have carried around in their minds, in their hearts …
Not every quote I received for Growing Hope made the book, unfortunately. I am sorry about that. Many did. I had to make choices (an editor’s responsibility and privilege). In the end, I had to make it ‘easy’ for myself and choose material I could source and which our budget could afford. There was lot of ‘work and worship’ involved, a lot of digging and praying. Still, it was a work of love.
Thank you to everyone who took the time and trouble to send me quotes; and thank you to everyone who gave permission for quotes to be included. Many contributors e-mailed me back almost immediately to give their go-ahead, happy and honoured to be part of a project supporting the Iona Community and the Growing Hope Appeal. If I have failed to obtain permission from anyone I hope they will forgive me; I have tried my best. Thanks also to Sandra Kramer, Tri Boi Ta, Alex O’Neill, Jane Riley and Suet-Lin Teo at Wild Goose Publications – you are amazing.
Growing Hope is not a comprehensive book detailing the influences and inspirations of the Iona Community. If I put out another call I would receive different quotes, and some of the same quotes no doubt. There are many writers and thinkers not included here who I know could be – theologians like Walter Wink and Gustavo Gutierrez, poets like Whitman and Ben Okri … Still this book does express, to a good extent I think, and in a scattered, rich way, the concerns and spirit of the Iona Community. It is also, of course, a book about hope; hope runs through it. In a time when George Bush and Tony Blair are sowing and reaping the weeds of war, people around the world are being uprooted and scattered by governments, death squads and multi-national corporations, and climate change is creating chaos, we need hope.
Growing Hope is a book for daily reflection and meditation. A book to keep in your handbag or your briefcase. A book to keep on your bedside table or to read on the train in to work. A book to read in spare moments, and a book to read in the thick of it. Some readings are a sentence or two, others are a few paragraphs. They are short and to the point. Short and to the point because, it seems, that brevity and compactness is what the modern person has space and time for, but also because there is little time left, I feel – unless we act.
I hope this book gives you comfort but doesn’t make you feel cosy. I hope it deepens your connection to the world in some way. May these little readings be seeds of hope; may they fall on good ground; may they sink in and take root in you.
‘Hope comes from the grass roots,’ somebody said. Hope comes from you and me, from everyday folk working in their communities. There are so many amazing, wonderful, committed people working to make this world a better place – I meet them all the time, working in nursing homes, working in youth clubs, working with children, working for nuclear disarmament, working in the environmental movement, working … It gives me hope.
Let’s get it together; let’s get together. Let’s wrest this world away from the politicians and ‘the money boys’, as George MacLeod named them. I don’t know about you, but I am no longer interested in building walls of security and privilege, in withdrawing into shopping, drugs, virtual reality … I no longer believe the lies: We are not alone. We are one body. We are in community. We are all connected on this precious, fragile, miracle of a planet.
We are not powerless. We have enormous potential power – let’s use it. Let’s scare the life out of the powers that be. Let’s turn the tables. ‘Never doubt,’ wrote Margaret Mead (see the reading for July 21). Never doubt. Hope.
This book owes something to the booklets Peter and Dorothy Millar produced to help fund charitable projects in South India, where they worked for many years (Prayers from a Columban House, Notes for a Pilgrim, Seeds of Hope). If you like this book you will probably profit from their beautiful booklets. These are available from the Iona Community Shop on the isle of Iona (write to: The Iona Community’s Shop, Isle of Iona, Argyll PA76 6SN). If you would like to read Dorothy and Peter’s booklets, travel to Iona; they are there in the south aisle chapel of Iona Abbey, a deeply prayerful place, full of light and warmth and God’s energy Go to Iona, read a quote, light a candle … Read the quotes in this book each day and light a candle. Pray for the concerns suggested by the readings; pray for yourself and those close to you; think about ways to act in your community, in the wider world. Go out and make some difference; help to make hope grow. Be a candle. Be a seed. There is no other reason for you to be here on Earth really. Is there? What are we waiting for? What are we so frightened of? God is with us. ‘Let your light shine,’ said Jesus.
Camas and Iona are places of light. Crossroads where pilgrims from around the world – from Pakistan and Pollokshaws, from Uganda and Somerset – meet to share ideas, experiences, food, music, stories, late night talks and early morning worship; where folk learn to work together and to play again; where people can recharge, be accepted for who they are, gain understanding and strength and go out again on their journeys. The world desperately needs places like Camas and Iona; places where hope grows and spreads out – places where people can experience hope, love, trust, freedom …
The ‘slogan’ of the Growing Hope Appeal is ‘Hope, Friends, Love, Trust, Freedom’. It’s a good ‘slogan’ in this world of 24-hour commercials, ads, jingles … It’s certainly a much better ‘slogan’ than ‘Four More Years!’, or ‘Whoever has the most toys wins’, or ‘It’s not racist to impose limits on immigration. Are You Thinking What We’re Thinking?’ (the Conservative Party, 2005) …
‘Hope, Friends, Love, Trust, Freedom’– don’t you wish a political party would run on that platform? I’d certainly vote for them. Or is that naïve, to believe in love, hope, friends, trust, freedom in this complicated time, dark age?
O God, help my unbelief.
Help me to believe in love,
hope,
friends
love,
trust,
freedom:
Hope in the future,
Friends who affirm and challenge and inspire us,
Love as the guiding force of the universe,
Trust between peoples and nations,
Freedom from suffering for the world’s oppressed and marginalised people.
O God, make me your child.
Neil Paynter Biggar, Scotland, Advent 2005

January

January 1
NEW WAYS
God of our lives,
you are always calling us
to follow you into the future,
inviting us to new ventures, new challenges,
new ways to care,
new ways to touch the hearts of all.
When we are fearful of the unknown, give us courage.
When we worry that we are not up to the task,
remind us that you would not call us
if you did not believe in us.
When we get tired,
or feel disappointed with the way things are going,
remind us that you can bring change and hope
out of the most difficult situations.
Kathy Galloway, a member of the Iona Community
Leader:
This is the day that God has made;
ALL:
WE WILL REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT.
Leader:
We will not offer to God
ALL:
OFFERINGS THAT COST US NOTHING.
Leader:
Go in peace to love and to serve;
ALL:
WE WILL SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT.
Leader:
In the name of the trinity of love,
ALL:
GOD IN COMMUNITY, HOLY AND ONE.
Responses used in Iona Abbey

January 2
To walk in the light is to walk freely not fearfully, to see and delight in all the beauty around us: in people, in nature, desiring it to be allowed to remain beautiful. It is to walk with a light heart, relaxed not tense, to have choices. The light is in the world. There is an old Jewish saying, ‘Do not say, God is in my heart. Rather, say, I am in the heart of God.’ The gospel of Jesus says precisely this thing. I am in God’s heart, and you, and you and you. Loved, valued, unconditionally accepted, we live and move and have our being in the heart of God, which is the light of God.
Kathy Galloway
Follow the light you have
and pray for more light.
George MacLeod, founder of the Iona Community

January 3
NOW
The reawakening to mystery is leading us to an attentiveness to the present moment … This moment that we’re given is, in itself, a precious moment, and we ourselves are precious within it.
Peter Millar, a member of the Iona Community, from a sermon
Living with cancer
Thank you for givi