SOUL SURMISE

ACT OF REMEMBRANCE IN FITZROY 2018 - Introduction and Prayer

art piece and photo: Gillian Fitch

 

100 Years ago

They ended the war

There was celebration that it was over

From our side, that we had won

Armistice Day

But ceasefire and peace

Did not stop the pain

Of the physically wounded

The traumatised

Or the grief

The parents

And loved ones who lost

Sons, mainly

Husbands

Fiancees

Boyfriends

Armistice Day

Didn’t bring back the adulthood 

Of those who fell in the fields of France

And other places

Teenagers… Our Theos and Judes

Gone… forever…

So… 

We promised

We would remember them

Today, as Gillian and Daphne 

Have highlighted 

In their art piece around our Memorial Stone

With 113 poppies

One for every one we lost

From Fitzroy, Donegal Pass and The Crescent

So we will remember them

We are delighted that we have sailors from HMS Duncan with us

We will pray for them and their colleagues in navy, army and airforce

 

PRAYER

Our God

Who reigns forever

Creator

Sustainer

Redeemer

We worship you

We put you in your place

As Lord

So we might find our place

In your space for us in your Creation

 

We are your people 

We sing your praise

Even as we remember

War

And loss

And wounds of body and heart and mind

 

Lord, we pray for our forces

That they would be channels of justice

Conduits of our safety and security

That you give them courage to resist the evil forces in our world

That you would give them wisdom in the dangerous situations they will find themselves in

That you would give them compassion for their colleagues

And indeed even their enemy

That you would make them sensitive to what you declare to be justice

That you would stop them from crossing any lines

That would move them from defenders of the nation

To being aggressors on other nations

God keep them safe

And God may they be harbingers of peace and justice 

Across the world

That you Kingdom would come

And your well would be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

AMEN

THANKSGIVING PRAYER #3 - Thanksgiving for the God of Place and People – BARBARA DASS

This is one of the prayers that member of Fitzroy, Barbara Dass, prayed as our Sunday service prayers. It is so good I asked Barbara permission to blog. I have broken it into 3 parts... this is part 3

 

Thanksgiving for the God of place and people – the Family of God - Fitzroy

 

Thanks be to you, our Lord Jesus Christ,

For all the benefits which you have won for us

For all the pains and insults you have borne for us. *

 

Our Loving Heavenly Father,

For each friend and member of the Fitzroy family we pray:

 

On all who are dis-spirited and dejected,

Lord, come in your mercy.

On all who have lost hope or joy,

Lord, come in your mercy.

On all who are unable to cope,

Lord, come in your mercy.

On all who are weak and heavy-burdened,

Christ, come in your mercy.

On all who are lost or who have strayed,

Christ, come in your mercy.

On all who are fearful and anxious,

Christ, come in your mercy.

On all who feel lifeless and dead,

Lord, come in your mercy.

On all who feel forsaken and betrayed,

Lord, come in your mercy.

On all who are powerless and helpless.

Lord, come in your mercy. *

 

Our Loving Heavenly Father,

For each friend and member of the Fitzroy family we pray:

 

That each step we take, may it be on the God-Trail,

Foot falling softly on sacred ground,

Hearts welling with your blessings,

Reveal your Holy Highway to us!

 

Save us from delusions of self-righteousness,

Keep us from mirages of lies,

Protect us from debilitating doubts,

Don’t let us miss your God-revealing signposts!

 

Our Father,

May we follow your counsel,

Immersed in your Word,

Waiting always,

Longing for you alone!

 

Prevent us from wandering off on our own,

Keep us on track…a steady pace,

And when the wild horses come thundering,

Fill us with untamed love!

May we abandon our selves to you alone,

Inhabiting the expanding landscape of your love,

Compelled to follow your bronze-fired feet!

 

May there be no regrets then,

Fitzroy lives sculpted by your Word!

Thank you, our Father, for your clear truth,

For speaking straight to our hearts today!

We’re going to do what you tell us to do.

Amazing God! 

Magnificent Counsellor!

Mighty Redeemer!

We’re on your Holy Highway!

Walking with the Sacred Three!

Never alone!

Confident in your presence!

 

Our most gracious and loving Heavenly Father,

Thanksgiving wells up from the deep!

Praise from the expanses!

Don’t ever walk off and leave us!

 

May it be so! 

 

* David Adam, “The Rhythm of Life – Celtic Daily Prayer”, Morehouse Publishing, USA, 2007

 

read part 1 of the prayer here

read part 2 of the prayer here

THANKSGIVING PRAYER #2 - Thanksgiving to the God of the Nations - Sovereign God - BARBARA DASS

art: World Literature Map by Dave Freeburn

 

This is one of the prayers that member of Fitzroy, Barbara Dass, prayed as our Sunday service prayers. It is so good I asked Barbara permission to blog. I have broken it into 3 parts... this is part 2...

 

We admit to sometimes being overwhelmed with a myriad of emotions when confronted by the affairs of the nations. 

Sorrow, anger, compassion, frustration, hope, fear, scepticism and struggling faith!

Daily we witness the strutting nations declaring:

“We’re powerful!”

“We’ve got wealth!”

“We’ve got strength!”

“We’ve got control!”

“We’re looking out for ourselves!”

“We’re getting the best deal!”

“We’re going to be great!”

“What we say goes!”

Playground bullies and gangsters!

 

Sovereign God – you alone rule the nations! 

Praise God!

 

We are full of thanksgiving that we belong to your Kingdom.

Our King is Jesus! 

The Servant King!

Kingdom earth-dwellers we are.

Praise God!

A Kingdom of servants,

Thanks be to our Sovereign God!

 

Upon all in the nations who are suffering from hunger,

Lord, come in hope.

Upon all in the nations who are refugees,

Lord, come in hope.

Upon all in the nations who are prisoners of tyranny and war,

Lord, come in hope.

Upon all in the nations who are exploited,

Lord, come in hope.

Upon all in the nations who are underprivileged,

Lord, come in hope.

Upon all in the nations who are without work,

Lord, come in hope. *

 

We declare to the leaders of all nations:

 

The LORD is King! God rules!

His Kingdom is established,

Subversive, pervasive, unseen, unstoppable!

Darkness is crashing out, death defeated.

The Servant King is on the throne.

Believing, trusting,

May we be Christ’s Kingdom in this place, this day!

Loving the Light. Living the Love.

Lighting up the day with your blazing truth!

 

Our God reigns!

We’re watching the clouds!

All creation is waiting!  

 

May it be so!

 

*David Adam, “The Rhythm of Life – Celtic Daily Prayer”, Morehouse Publishing, USA, 2007

 

read part 1 of the prayer

read part 3 of the prayer here

THANKSGIVING PRAYERS #1 - Thanksgiving to the God of the Universe - Maker God - BARBARA DASS

This is one of the prayers that member of Fitzroy, Barbara Dass, prayed as our Sunday service prayers. It is so good I asked Barbara permission to blog. I have broken it into 3 parts...

 

Our God the LORD is King!

Creator God we praise you!

 

You sculpted our wonderful land – the land that we breathe and walk in!

Let the white limestone cliffs of the North Coast rejoice!

Let the Fair Head boulders jump for joy!

Let the amazing Causeway columns shout!

Let the flora-carpeted sand dunes of White Park Bay dance!

Let the Mourne Mountains stamp their feet!

Let the heath lands of the Belfast Hills celebrate with swathes of white waving bog cotton!  

Let the fine sandy beaches shimmer and the crashing white horses roar!

All creation is glad in our place! 

 

Our God the LORD is King!

Creator God we praise you!

 

In your hand are power and might.

And it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all.

And now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your glorious name. *

 

Upon all who seek to care for our world,

Lord, have mercy.

Upon all who seek to conserve and preserve the earth’s goodness,

Lord, have mercy.

Upon all who work as your co-creators,

Lord, have mercy.

Upon all who work in dark or dangerous places,

Christ, have mercy.

Upon all who suffer through pollution,

Christ, have mercy.

Upon all whose land is spoiled through war,

Christ, have mercy.

Upon all who work on land or sea,

Lord, have mercy.

Upon all who seek to make this world beautiful,

Lord, have mercy. *

 

Father of all creation, we thank you that you 

Have given us a world rich in resources,

And made us stewards of your mysteries;

Help us to act responsibly,

Not wasting or destroying what we do not need,

Not polluting the earth, or sea or sky,

That we may act with love towards all things,

And so reflect the great love that you have for this world. *

 

Be with us, Lord God, Creator of all,

To strengthen us on our journey,

To guide us in all our doings,

That we may share in the love and care for your world.

Breathe new life into all creation and begin with us. * 

 

May it be so.

 * David Adam, “The Rhythm of Life – Celtic Daily Prayer”, Morehouse Publishing, USA, 2007.

 

read part 2 of the prayer here

read part 3 of the prayer here

CARRY IT GENTLY

God, give us a confidence in you

But give us grace to keep us from arrogance

God, give us a strength of conviction

But let us share it humbly

God may we believe courageously

But help us carry it gently

Lord, may we go forward with vision

But help us to be careful that we do not abuse your grace to feed our own self righteousness

But use your grace to feed the world’s deepest needs.

AMEN

THE JUGGLER... AND GOD'S SKITTLE OF GRACE

You are born
And before you know it
Your parents throw you a skittle
Catch it
Expectations of being like them
Thinking like them
Wearing what they think, to be respectable
Meeting their dreams
Finding a secure future in the job they’d like you to have
The spouse that they would like you to have
Making them proud...
Don’t drop it...
And you go off to school
And before you know it
Teachers are throwing you a skittle
To achieve and excel
To make the grade
To improve their school league tables
And to get you to University
To study that which would
Give you a secure future in the job that they’d like you to have
You better work, work, work
You better not drop it
Don’t drop it...
And you get a school break
And before you know it
You are trying to make friends
And trying to get into that gang
And your peers are throwing you a skittle
Wear what we wear
Like the music we like
Do what we do
Drink what we drink
Smoke what we smoke
Pray like we pray
Read the Bible like we read the Bible
Become like us
Because we are cool
And you need to be cool
To be given the same label of cool
You better get cool
You better conform
Don’t drop it...
You better juggle
You cannot hold all three skittles
Keep them all in the air
Don’t drop any
Even when your parents skittle
And your Church’s skittle
Clashes with your friends’ skittle
Keep them all up at the same time
Don’t drop one...
On Sunday you go to Church
And before you know it
The minister is throwing you a skittle
You better behave like this
It is Sunday wear this
Read this version of the Bible
Sing these kinds of songs
Do this with your hands
Believe this about baptism, tongues and predestination
And then you can belong
Only then
So you better just do as they say
Without thinking to much
Don’t drop it...
You better juggle
You cannot hold all three
Keep them all in the air
Don’t drop any
Even when your parents skittle
And your Church’s skittle
Clashes with your friends’ skittle
Keep them all up at the same time
Don’t drop one...
And you finally go off to University
And the freedom that brings
Throws you a skittle
Insecurity of being free
The inferiority of making new friends
The fear of not acting the right way in the freedom
The idea of not being good looking enough
Or talented enough
Or clever enough
Or spiritual enough
Or fashionable enough
Or free enough
Or too free
Will I ever find friends?
Will I ever fit in?
Don’t drop it
You better juggle
You cannot hold all three
Keep them all in the air
Don’t drop any
Even when your parents skittle
And your Church’s skittle
Clashes with your friends skittle
Keep them all up at the same time
Don’t drop one...
And God says
I love you
I died for you
I welcome you
Not by behaviour
Nor brains
Nor looks
Nor cool
Nor spirituality
I love you
Because...
I love you...
So much...
Now drop all those skittles
Catch this one
Grace
Unmerited favour
Grace
Loved as you are...
Into who you can become
With this one skittle
Grace
Catch it!

MAY WE BE A BEGINNING - START OF CHURCH YEAR PRAYER

Lord,

At the beginning of another Church year

As my friend Sarah Masen sings

“We come with what we have done

We come with who we are

We are a beginning.”

Lord, may we be a beginning

We ask that you give us a brand new impetus

We do not want to live on the momentum of what we have done

We seek a new impetus from your Holy Spirit

Even for the things we continue to do as before

So Lord

In our passion for you

In our compassion for others

In our love for one another

In our forgiving of enemies

In our commitment to serve in Fitzroy

In our commitment in work, leisure and volunteering outside Fitzroy

In our pastoral care

In our mission

In our Kingdom building

From our neighbourhood in the Holy Land

To Africa, India and wherever else

In our vision for your work

In our wisdom to carry it out

In the grace needed to be pastoral sensitive as we do

Lord, re-fuel us with an invigorating energy 

Shift our propelling forward

From momentum

To impetus

Keep us up to your speed

In the work you have called us to do

Give us your grace towards your holiness

May our deepest gladness meet the world’s deepest need.

In the name of Jesus 

In whose name we pray,

Amen

SHORT PRAYER FOR UGANDA

Just a few weeks since we returned from Uganda, it has found itself living though some tense days. I am surmising what my friends there are surmising and praying that they will all find peaceful ways though.

 

My crane

You are crest fallen

My pearl

You are tarnished

So, I pray 

That between the ruffle and scuff

And the preen and the shine

God will keep

Your hearts compassionate

Your souls humble

And fire your minds

With wild imagination

That casts light and visions

Of peaceful pragmatism 

To hope upon. 

IN A WEEK LIKE THIS (FOR THE WEEK OF THE OMAGH BOMB)

Twenty years ago this week, I wrote this prayer/poem/reflection as some kind of response to the Omagh bomb. Just months after the hopeful Good Friday Agreement a car exploded, in the centre of Omagh during a busy Saturday afternoon, to blow all those hopes apart. 29 people were killed. Many others maimed and blinded. The whole country was shocked.

It was my turn to do a Thought For The Day on BBC Radio Ulster a few days later and I wrote this to touch the grief, confusion and search for hope.

Lord we come to the end of another week
Except it hasn't been just another week
It has been the worst week of our lives
And even worse for some
Lord help us to be honest, vulnerable and somehow hopeful in the reflection of our feelings

Lord we have been shocked
Shocked by how one tiny second can tear our lives apart
Shocked by how far humanity can fall
Shocked by how callous and painful humankind's actions can stoop

Lord we are grieving
Grieving for the loss of lives with so much love and energy still to give
Grieving for the man and woman and child who we will never be able to hold again
Grieving for our history that is as sad and twisted as this

Lord we are confused
Confused at why this should happen
Confused about how this should happen to the innocent
Confused about where you and faith enter into these events

Lord we are angry
Angry at why we allowed our family and friends to go shopping
Angry at how evil people could rip our world asunder
Angry that you allowed it to happen

Lord we are seeking
Seeking some kind of feeble consolation in the midst of our deluge of tears
Seeking some kind of hope that good might come from this evil
Seeking your Spirit whom Jesus called a Comforter to whisper into our maddening silence

Lord we are squinting for faith
Faith that the majority, who long for change, might have a say in the future
Faith that love will end our hate, good will end our evil and grace will touch our broken hearts
Faith in a God who is as angry as we are and who is reaching out to us.

Lord we are remembering
Remembering those who today can no longer be shocked, grieve, be angry, be confused, seek or squint for faith
Remembering that you watched as your son covered in blood, died at the futile whim of injustice
Remembering that that very death is the only thing that we can grope in the dark for in a week like this.

Lord we have planted our loved ones deep in the bloody earth of Ireland this week
We have watered them with our tears
Lord may you allow them to be seeds of a love that will grow into our peace.

Lord remember us. 

FOR THE DAY OF PRIVATE REFLECTION - A SHORT REFLECTION

Healing Through Remembering created the idea of a Day Of Private Reflection on Jun 21st, the longest day, every year to honor the people who were killed in the conflict in and about Northern Ireland or affected by it in any way. It is offered as a day of private reflection therefore no large public events should be held on this day. 

I send this short Scripture/prayer/reflection for your resourcing of the day.

Psalm 91: 1&4

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

 

God we have found a place in your arms

Felt the soft tender down of your wings

You love us as we are

You want so badly to comfort us and heal us

You want to help us to move on a step

To sow one seed in a future

We find it hard God

We feel stuck... frozen in time...

Frustrated with the paralysis of pain

Give us energy, love, forgiveness and hope for one step God

To sow one seed God

Give us your Holy Spirit to find strength

To nudge us forward to make this place a better place,

A safer place and a happier place.

Please God

In the name of the one who was lost and resurrected

That those of us who lose might believe in resurrection.

AMEN