Way back in the 1990s I wrote a liturgy based on the idea that we were an in-between people. More recently I have discovered more about Bridget of Kildare or St Bridget and I loved how some people see her as someone who inhabited the inbetween spaces. This resonated a lot because of how I have been thinking about the Fresh Expressions strategy and inhabiting the living middle\/the ecotone.<\/p>\n
So as part of our Leadership Community gathering last week I wrote this reflection\/prayer which I called the Prayer of the Inbetween.<\/p>\n
God of doorways and crossroads,
\nof fading embers and kindled flame,
\nyou meet us in the in between spaces,
\nbetween the known and the new,
\nbetween the gathered church
\nand the searching world.<\/p>\n
We remember Brigid of Kildare,
\nborn on the threshold of a door,
\nwho wove a cross from rushes
\nand made the ordinary a shelter of grace.<\/p>\n
They say that where she walked
\nthrough the cold fields of winter,
\nwhite snowdrops rose in her footsteps, small lanterns of hope
\nbreaking through frozen ground.<\/p>\n
Teach us to walk the in-between places,
\nbetween tradition and tomorrow,
\nbetween doubt and faith,
\nbetween the church doors
\nand the open road.<\/p>\n
let hope rise quietly behind us,
\nlike snowdrops in late winter,
\nHelp us weave signs that point to new life
\nand notice everyday grace.<\/p>\n
Make our hands generous,
\nour tables wide,
\nour communities warm as a hearth-fire.<\/p>\n
And where we go
\nin streets, caf\u00e9s, homes, and thresholds
\nmay your Spirit leave small flowers of grace
\ngrowing in the wake of love.<\/p>\n
Through Christ,
\nwho walks every road with us.<\/p>\n
Amen.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Way back in the 1990s I wrote a liturgy based on the idea that we were an in-between people. More recently I have discovered more about Bridget of Kildare or St Bridget and I loved how some people see her … Continue reading