Comments on: not a problem to be solved

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 23:27:25 +0000

thanks all… had a bit of a mad weekend away from the computer. lovely to come back to these.

Mick… thanks for the stories [and the slip!]. i’m not really asking questions – yet, anyway – just clearing the ground to let something to emerge.
blair… i hope to. thanks
kel… i love it too.
jen… i think there are such rich layers in that comment…

more soon. my head is spinning with possibilities. you have no idea how long it’s been since that was so.

By: Mick Mc

Mick Mc — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 23:54:28 +0000

In that case, in light of all of the favorable comments, (numbering 2) let me say that I did it on porpoise!!

By: Kel

Kel — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 21:09:44 +0000

Cheryl, I love your type of community

Mick, rowing one’s boat away from the sure is the best typo I’ve read ths year
It holds much more power than shore . . .

By: Jen

Jen — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 10:15:22 +0000

Mike, I’m not so sure it should be shore. I like the image of rowing our boats away from the sure – what we think we’ve firmly grasped. Perhaps looking back on it from a distance will give a different perspective.

By: Blair

Blair — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 06:40:34 +0000

hi Cheryl. i hope you leave more than breadcrumbs as you explore. not so that you can come back, but so that others might also recognise the path you’ve travelled.
=) B

By: Mick Mc

Mick Mc — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 06:36:10 +0000

Doh! Sure should be shore.

By: Mick Mc

Mick Mc — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 06:35:42 +0000

Not 100% sure of the questions you are asking but here is me rowing my boat away from the sure in attempt to respond.
My background in this area is retreats. I spent 15 years in a small Christian community that ran retreats for teenagers, community groups, families & etc. The nature of each retreat was to share, challenge, reflect, question, celebrate, well I guess you know what a retreat is. With teenagers who would predominantly come as part of the schools r.e. program, we did everything we could not to make the experience predictable.
The sort of questions that you are asking were the sort of questions we would ask whenever we wanted to incorporate some sense of Liturgy into the experience. The (planning) questions that we would ask were essentially, what experience could we develop that would accurately reflect a: the experience of the people who are here b; the experience that we have all shared over the past few days & c; the physical constraints of the setting. I have lots of great memories of these times but two stand out. The first was with a small group of creative arts leaders from a parish in Mornington where we wanted to have a meal & let the celebration of communion evolve out of the natural setting of the meal. We didn’t tell people what we were doing, we simply asked them to come to the meal with an open mind. We talked, we laughed, we told stories, we sang, we drank some great wine, we shared the word from the good book & our own lives & then we broke bread & remembered the call of Christ to do this in memory of him.
the second was celebrating communion with a girls school; being a Catholic school there was no Priest to preside over the Eucharist, but there was still a strong desire to share some sort of communion. As we were planning the service, the teachers looked to me (the only male present) to break the bread. I nearly relented but realised that the R.E. Co-ordinator was in fact the pastor of these girls not me. In the early 90’s, this was a challenging thing but I will never forget the site of Lee Toll lifting up the bread & speaking the blessing, breaking it & sharing it with the girls.
I know I waffle on but the subjects that you raise are cracking the earth (perma frost) on some dear memories & attitudes that I have not allowed to breath for a while. Thanks Cheryl
MM