{"id":524,"date":"2019-11-28T15:14:11","date_gmt":"2019-11-28T15:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniofglos.blog\/chaplaincy\/?p=524"},"modified":"2019-11-28T15:14:11","modified_gmt":"2019-11-28T15:14:11","slug":"a-time-for-gentleness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/2019\/11\/28\/a-time-for-gentleness\/","title":{"rendered":"A time for gentleness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Are you someone who rushes towards Christmas, and can\u2019t\nwait? Or someone who resists the Christmas madness until the last minute? This\nSunday is Advent Sunday. Advent is a space <\/a>of preparation before the celebration – a time of\nreflection so that we are more ready to receive the Christmas child who is\nalready on his way. This is the time to take a deep breath. \n\nHere\nare some words from the prophet Isaiah which are often part of that preparation\n– sung in churches as part of Handel\u2019s Messiah. \n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the\u00a0Lord\u2019s hand\u00a0double for all her sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A voice of one calling:
\u2018In the wilderness prepare the way for the\u00a0Lord;
make straight in the desert\u00a0a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0will be revealed,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0has spoken.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A voice says, \u2018Cry out.\u2019 \u00a0And I said, \u2018What shall I cry?\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018All people are like grass and their faithfulness like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0because the breath of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0blows on them.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0but the word of our God endures for ever.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He tends his flock like a shepherd: he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It reminds me a little of the backdrops that are often\nbeing prepared in Primary School halls at this time, ready for the nativity\nplays. Before we focus in on the very intimate setting of the stable, we have\nthe chance to take in the big picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isaiah is speaking at a very particular time. His\npeople have been taken into exile in Babylon. They no longer live in the land\nGod promised them. They can no longer worship him in the temple. They feel\nalienated and forgotten, and they don\u2019t know when it\u2019s going to end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our reading contains some powerful words of promise.\nThey will return along a road through the desert which will pass through every\nobstacle. God has promised this, and his word is to be trusted. Isaiah is\ncalled to proclaim this great hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when we reflected on this passage yesterday at Soul\nFood, what spoke to me were the words from the first lines which are not about\npower and deliverance, but about gentleness. Comfort, comfort my people\u2026 Speak\ntenderly to Jerusalem\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isaiah is to give his message with gentle sensitivity.\nHe is to be aware of the brokenness of his people – their sense of hurt and\ndismay at what has happened – their vulnerability in their place of exile – the\nfragility of their trust in God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe that is what we need. Maybe we need it as a\ncountry. Perhaps we feel that as a country we are a long way from being the\npeople we long to be. We have no shared sense of vision or feeling of belonging.\nWe are not at home with ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People shout at us from every side: Take back control!\nGet Brexit done! For the many not the few! Stop destroying the planet!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But maybe what we need first are those who can\nunderstand our sense of alienation and uncertainty – voices of comfort and\ntenderness that can offer us a different vision in a different way, a way that\ndoesn\u2019t try to bludgeon us, but gently invites us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That might be true for us as a country – and it might\nalso be true for us as people. Perhaps there are ways in which we feel we are\nin exile. I remember my first year\u2019s teaching, in our tiny school Christian\nUnion, singing with the line from the song \u2018Do not be afraid\u2019 which says \u2018when\nyou dwell in the exile of the stranger\u2026\u2019 and feeling that it was about me. It\nmight have been living in Doncaster – but I think it was more to do with the\njob.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes our sense of exile is about place, or\ncircumstances – sometimes it is about relationships – sometimes it feels like a\nspiritual exile – sometimes it is to do with how we are with ourselves – we are\nso far from the hope of ourselves. We may have a sense of not being a home – of\nneeding something to change. But it can be hard to move – especially if we are\nhurt or disappointed, or lacking in confidence or trust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps in this Advent waiting time, we can listen out\nfor what God may be saying to us – softly, gently – first of all noticing our\nbrokenness and offering the comfort of his love. And then tenderly inviting us\nto see the beginnings of a way home. And gently leading us as a shepherd leads\nhis sheep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you someone who rushes towards Christmas, and can\u2019t wait? Or someone who resists the Christmas madness until the last minute? This Sunday is Advent Sunday. Advent is a space […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reflections"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}