The Shelburne & Primrose Sunday Morning podcast brings you Sunday service, music, and more — straight to your device. Currently on hiatus; enjoy the podcast archives!
It has been said that those who follow in the footsteps of Jesus are Easter People, though I would contend that you need not be a Christian to be an Easter Person. An Easter person is someone who understands in a profound way that suffering and death, sorrow and pain, are never the final story. To be an Easter person is to understand that the end of the road is the beginning of a new journey. It is to understand than in the bleakest of forecasts there are unseen possibilities.
Read MoreJesus had startling news for his generation. The kingdom of God is already here, he declared. It is not coming soon, it is right here, right now.
That was a big idea to absorb, because you will remember that the Roman Empire ruled the roost back then and they kept the Hebrew nation under their heavy boot, demanding allegiance, obedience and taxes.
Read MoreBut let us start with three simple aspects of the kingdom of god for our reflection.
The kingdom of God is ushered in by people who react to what is going on around them in a certain way.
The kingdom of God is no respecter of cultural laws, traditions or norms. It has its own code of ethics that rises above all human made concepts.
Read MoreAs we continue our stroll through the parables of Jesus, we look at the story of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:21-35) and our theme of embodied spirituality. In the Christian faith we cluster around a person – Jesus of Nazareth – rather than a book, or a set of laws, or a particular practice. Personhood, people, are important in our faith, for it is here we see the divine and the human working together.
Read MoreOur parables today will remind us that though we may be the sower of seeds, and we are also the soil that receives the seeds, it is not we who are in charge of the way things go. We are only in charge of our own personal behaviour and response. Perhaps a little more leaning on the everlasting arms would do us all good.
Read MoreWe have three different short little parables to look at today, all concerned with seed and its sowing. They are simple parables, deceptively simple, for within them are deep truths we are asked to absorb. And sometimes, those very simple truths can be very challenging.
Read MoreGod needs us to come and participate in creation, is desirous our company, invites us to be co-creators, to be co celebrants, to join in the feast, to be companions in The Great Work. Do you not feel sometimes somewhat sorrowful at all the times you have told God you were busy? I do.
Read MoreTo help us all with the challenges we have been going through, and the uncertainty that surrounds us, it may be helpful to bring our thinking back to Jesus’s foundational teaching by exploring a collection of his most memorable parables.
Read MoreToday, we consider the simple practice of awareness, which has the power to initiate transformation. We cannot shift how we live if we are not aware of how we live. We are living through a time that is demanding that we shift and change our worldview - how we perceive ourselves, how we perceive others, what the very nature of being human is all about.
Read MoreIt is time to deeply absorb the knowledge that we are all fearfully and wonderful made. Everyone. Not just some people. And in coming to understand this, we will know that we must treat all people as sacred, as we do ourselves.
Read MoreHumanity is rising and resisting the old story of separation, and embracing the new story of the collective, the desire to include everyone, because everyone is part of the divine family and there are no exceptions, and certainly no hierarchical form of governance based on something so seemingly random as the colour of one’s skin. But we are a long way off from realizing this dream, and there is much work to be done to break down old thinking, old prejudices, old fears, binary ways of being that like to divide and conquer.
Read MoreIn times of uncertainty, when we don’t know all the answers – and we can’t know them anyway – it gives us a chance, as German writer and critical thinker Rainer Maria Rilke would instruct, to ‘live into the questions.’ And I suppose that is what we are trying to do when we gather together in Sabbath time, to explore the world of thought and spirituality as we live the questions.
Read MoreIt is good to be reminded that everyone we encounter is fighting a great battle, something we can’t see and can’t understand. Somehow knowing that, gives us courage for our internal battle – to be good, to find our best selves, to see that everything and everyone does not bear the mark of commercial branding, but of its creator, which is a mystery we cannot unravel.
Read MoreOur podcast this week focuses on sharing, though not what one would think of as the ordinary kind. Rather it explores the larger landscape of sharing as we connect with others at a deep level, where a shift of worldview is required.
Read MoreWe are called to stand steady and be amazed at all that we do not know, all that we cannot control, all that may yet unfold. Amazement is such a welcome place to rest.
Read MoreThe invisible workings of the spiritual world create the world we see. Do not ever be fooled into thinking otherwise. It was Jesus' great strength - and it is the strength of all spiritual leaders as well - that he never for one moment believed that what he saw with his eyes contained the wholeness of things.
Read MoreIt is a strange Easter not to be gathering together, hugging one another as we pass the peace, singing joyfully together as we end the long contemplative season of Lent. But we gather together in spirit, listening to this podcast.
Read MoreThis podcast includes readings of Macrina's teaching and prayers, as well as a time to practice vigil on an Easter weekend when the world itself is in a kind of vigil like suspension. Bruce's music will offer you place for soulful reflection.
Read MoreThis is a contemporary service, a personal journey with Bruce’s art and music. We ponder what it means to ‘stand at the foot of the cross’ as we interact with those around us.
Read MoreThis is a traditional service - well as traditional as we can manage, anyway - consisting of a complete read through of the passion story from the Book of John.
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