Sunday the 18th of August 2024
We plan to gather again to meet in peace and worship with our surroundings at the Crichton estate.
Gather at 2pm outside the Crichton chapel.
We will meet in peace and then read from the Bible and Creation.
Peace
We meet in in Christs name. Whether you call him a close friend or are simply curious we share his peace.
(everyone offers each other a sign of peace)
Reading from the Book
We are heading towards harvest so this reading is particularly relevant
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ 53 So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live for ever.’
John 6:51 – 58
The reading from Creation
This week we will focus on riverside animals.
Those who are attending or participating in Nithraid 2024 will find this of particular interest
Who are our riverside neighbours?
Kingfisher
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/kingfisher
Kingfishers are small unmistakable bright blue and orange birds of slow-moving or still water. They fly rapidly, low over water, and hunt fish from riverside perches, occasionally hovering above the water’s surface. They’re vulnerable to hard winters and habitat degradation through pollution or poor management of watercourses.
Otter
Stories of Otters and humans can be bittersweet. The Nith Otter family are attracting fame, but books like “Ring of Bright Water” and “Tarka the Otter” go beyond the life of celebrity fame and track the sometimes traumatic experience of this popular animal.
Otters, Forestry and Land Scotland
Heron
What does the heron see, flying along the river?
https://www.seabird.org/wildlife/grey-heron
And there are more…
What animals would you like to research? This webpage has some more suggestions.
Time to reflect through making
We will make some masks. They could be simple masks, they might have the elegant beauty of layered felt construction. They may provide the framework for a more elaborate creation.
The deep dive is:
- What lessons can we learn from the riverside animals?
- What would they say if they could speak?
- What message should we communicate for them?
- In wearing the masks, what can our spiritual imagining tell us about what is it like to see the world through their eyes?
The really really deep dive would link this activity with the experience of totem animals, shamanism, and becoming the animal for a while in the spirit realm.
However, this Sunday I think our version will be more at the discussion over tea and cake level.
Please bring materials you think will be useful and we can share them.
Blessing
We will conclude by taking time to be thankful for each others company, to reflect on what we will take a way with us as our inheritance and to share with the people we meet. To be a voice for those who cannot speak and salt to preserve the life we are surrounded by and to help people become aware of the flavours they have forgotten how to taste.
Further research
Here are few links that might provide a start to your research journey – please get in touch to describe what you find, as it is in community that we help each other learn and discern the truth.
Stories where God speaks through animals include Balaam and his donkey , Jonah and the whale. Or where Jesus imagines himself as a mother hen. Or reflect on the meaning of the Spirit of God hovering over the water in Genesis .
Shamans in the Christian tradition? Or masks and green men?
e-mail quartz@ancient-pathways.co.uk for more info.
3 replies on “August Forest Church”
[…] Walking through the estate we thought about animals, and what they can teach us. We gathered materials to make masks, as described here […]
What about Kate’s other reading from Job?!
“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? Job 12 vs 7…