Autumn 2013 Newsletter

The Simeon Centre for Prayer and the Spiritual Life Ridley Hall, Ridley Hall Road, Cambridge CB3 9HG Tel: 01223 741090 Web: www.simeoncentre.co.uk

Newsletter #13 Autumn 2013

Moral Dilemmas It’s only a few weeks since Justin Welby spoke out for a new way of financing credit and was ‘found out’ by the media because the Church Commissioners have invested in a holding company which itself holds shares in wonga.com. What I admired about his response was his unwillingness to be flustered by the media’s constant call for black and white solutions to global problems, and his acknowledgement that the practical application of clear ethical principles often requires quite a balancing act.

For ‘ordinary Christians’ like us, the two easy ways out of moral dilemmas such as this one are to tolerate morally compromised situations and to leave the answers to the experts. Clearly the Archbishop can do neither, and I am sure that the Church Commissioners will be disinvesting in that holding company as soon as possible. Many of us, however, feel quite detached from such issues, sometimes angry, often helpless, without a voice.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this recently, and the issue surfaced for me again with the discovery that chemical weapons have been used in Syria, allegedly by the al-Assad regime. It’s possible, of course, that both sides have been using them, which would complicate the issue further. But here I am, with Parliament being recalled, feeling a tired and terrified sense of déjà vu. Jingoistic headlines, a sense that Britain knows best, a willingness on the part of some politicians to consider ignoring the UN and going in ‘on our own’, whatever that means. Will they never learn?

Director: Adrian Chatfield ac588@cam.ac.uk Chaplain: Jane Keiller jk271@cam.ac.uk Admin Asst: Rosemary Kew rak44@cam.ac.uk

http://simeoncentre.blogspot.com/

FOR YOUR PRAYERS We would love you to pray for the following things that are really close to our heart:  For the changes taking place in the Simeon Centre as Jane Keiller prepares to retire (from Ridley but not from the Simeon Centre)  For ongoing developments in the ‘Making Christian Marriage Possible’ project, especially the development of a website  For new students arriving at Ridley Hall, that they may be encouraged and supported in their Christian discipleship by the Centre’s ministry  For two Simeon Community meetings (October 21 and December 9) to envision the Centre’s ongoing work  For Adrian speaking at the Ely Diocese Mothers’ Union Quiet Day (October 22)  For Adrian speaking at Great Chesham on ‘Dying Well’ (evening of October 23)  For the Simeon Centre’s Advent Day ‘The Day of the Lord’ (November 23)

Does democracy mean that we vote, and then politicians do what they want?

When I was younger, in the much smaller country of Trinidad and Tobago, I felt really connected to politics, and eventually got involved in the formation of a new political party. Many felt that Christian leaders should not be involved in politics, but readers of this editorial will probably agree that the Christian faith impacts the public space just as much as it does the individual soul. Now, however, Westminster seems so far out of my reach.

So what can I do? I can pray, of course. I’ve also written to my MP, who happens to be Andrew Lansley, asking for intelligent debate, for military wisdom, and expressed my views strongly. And I’m writing this editorial, to invite you who read it to think of claiming back – as disciples of Christ – the right and the responsibility to act politically in a very messy world just as Justin Welby is doing. In reclaiming the public space for the Kingdom of God, we will find ourselves disagreeing, sometimes quite angrily. But I can’t surely be entirely wrong in thinking that Christians arguing over the right political decisions to be made would be far better than Christians abdicating the public arena and simply waiting, head down, for the Second Coming of Christ.

Adrian Chatfield

SIMEON CENTRE ADVENT DAY Saturday November 23rd THE DAY OF THE LORD: YOU SHALL EAT IN PLENTY AND BE SATISFIED Booking has already begun for the Simeon Centre Advent Day. This year we have placed it a week before the beginning of Advent. In case the title puzzles you, Adrian Chatfield writes the following: Having been away for the last Advent Day, I thought that it would be good to speak at the upcoming day on Saturday 23rd November myself. I have used the quotation from Joel 2.26, because I want to explore the idea of the Day of the Lord as both blessing and challenge, as salvation and judgement. I personally find it much easier to speak sweet words than bitter ones, but the scriptures give us both. At the end, God will be God, his kingdom will come, and all that is not holy will be excluded from his presence, or transformed. Much to reflect on, and I would love to have you share the day with us.

Book your place (registration fee £20) online using our secure payment processing at: www.simeoncentre.co.uk

Making Christian Marriage Possible Following the Symposium of June, 2012 came a second and larger gathering in June 2013. Adrian puts them both into context: About five years ago, during Katy Wehr’s internship, we began exploring issues of singleness and celibacy. Out of that project came an excellent MA dissertation and Grove booklet on the subject. A further outcome was the start of a new conversation that we are now naming Making Christian Marriage Possible. Much Christian work is done on helping single people to live faithful single lives, and at least as much emphasis is placed on encouraging faithful Christian marriage. Less attention is paid to the often difficult task of supporting those who wish to be married but feel stuck.

Part of this is to do with the gender imbalance in our churches, currently about 2:1. It is not made any easier by the relative lack of help in forming relationships and ‘dating’. Over the past 18 months, we have brought together a number of key national groups to build a network of concern, and to explore ways forward. We are about to launch a website with resources for the project, and will be meeting in October with another such network, the Marriage Strategy Forum, to share ideas and concerns. Please pray for this, but also, if you have a particular interest in this ministry, do get in touch with Adrian.

Reflecting on the Past Seventeen Years As Jane Keiller approaches her retirement as Ridley Hall’s chaplain, she offers this retrospective.

As I have been wondering over the past few weeks about what I would write in this article, my heart has been filled with thankfulness.

This morning’s psalm – 16:5 sums it up: My share has fallen in a fair land; indeed I have a goodly heritage.

These summer months walking through the Ridley archway day by day with blue sky and the sun shining has left me in no doubt that, although I know the time is right, leaving will be difficult.

What will I miss? The fun and stimulation of working alongside such a fantastic team of colleagues, who love each other, laugh together, pray together and support one another in countless ways. I will miss the extraordinary privilege of engaging with so many remarkable men and women called by God to serve churches and communities up and down this land and beyond. And then there is the wonder of witnessing lives changed as individuals have chosen to “work with their stuff” that they might be better equipped to accompany others.

As I approach the start of the academic year for the last time, I know for sure I will miss what Graham Cray always referred to as “the annual miracle” by which the Ridley community re-forms every September. Seventeen years is a long time, it has been the framework within which my children have grown from primary school age to adulthood – we will all miss the parking!

A key gift to me from being at Ridley has been the opportunity to train on the Ignatian Spiritual Direction course in London. It took a day a week for three years, and has proved formative in that from it came the idea to offer two or three terms of Ignatian Guided Prayer to anyone who wanted it.

The full Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius require rather more time than most Ridley ordinands or spouses are able to give, but the opportunity to pray with scripture for an hour a week, together with direction once a fortnight has proved a useful introduction. The focus on knowing one is loved by God, on examining what

happens when the love of God shines into our hearts, and exploring our call to follow Christ seem to provide a fruitful context for spiritual growth. I am indebted to the Revd Peter Found, the spiritual director of a former ordinand, who enabled me to develop the material that so many have prayed with over the years.

And then there is The Simeon Centre, its coming to birth, the exhilaration of seeing once vague ideas taking shape – Restoring Prayer, Dying Well, numerous Quiet Days and outside events. How thankful I am for the generosity of our benefactors, for Adrian’s appointment as the first director, for Jill and Rosemary and for our interns Katy, Kara, Nicky and Ruth, and the Community that has sprung up as a particular gift of God. What next? I don’t really know, but the Tuvan people from central Asia are proving an unlikely encouragement: “In Tuva the past is always spoken of as ahead of one, and the future is behind one’s back. (A Tuvan) could never say, ‘I’m looking forward to doing something’. Indeed, he might say, ‘I’m looking forward to the day before yesterday.’ It makes total sense if you think of it in a Tuvan sort of way. If the future were ahead of you, wouldn’t it be in plain view?”1 I am full of thanks for all God’s goodness that is before my eyes, and even more that, though the future may be hidden from me, it is in the Lord’s plain view.

1

National Geographic July 2012

I’m Still Here: Spirituality and Dementia This day conference, offered by Ridley Hall’s Simeon Centre, took place in Ely Methodist Church on Wednesday June 26th 2013. The Keynote speaker was Revd. Dr Joanna Collicutt, Oxford Diocesan Advisor on the Spiritual Care of Older People.

Joanna centred her presentation on ‘Memory and Dementia’ and ‘Spiritual Care’. Her lecture drew upon an article in which she counters the tendency to view the person with dementia as ‘less than human’, offering ways for ‘re-membering the person’. For the nonprofessionals among us, it was when she presented her comments in the form of diagrams that we began to see how this insight can be fleshed out in practical ways.

Our most fundamental soul-need, she declared, is a ‘deep sense of peace and well-being’ (It’s OK ... Shalom). This need is surrounded in her diagram with three other soul-needs: solidarity (I am with you... you can look beyond isolation and find connectedness), dignity (you are cherished... you can rise above the loss and limitation and be yourself) and hope (things can be different ... you can look beyond the present and find renewal).

One of the things that struck me particularly was her refining of our title ‘I’m Still Here’ to include also ‘I’m Still Me’. Another was her offering of her own ‘Memory Box’ as an example for preserving a person’s identity: in the early stages of dementia, she asserts, one can encourage people to construct records of their life, either in book form or as ‘Memory Boxes.’ This clearly struck the imagination of many. Also striking sparks around the room was her insistence that, even if the people visited don’t remember your visit, or even your name, they are often left with a feeling of well-being.

Two workshops were offered in such a way that all present could experience both. The first I attended was the ‘Music Workshop’ presented by Sarah Harris from Music 4 Memory. Alongside the practical and joyful experience we all had of singing together the songs she uses in her work, I was struck by two things. The first was her insistence that dementia brings losses but also gains, and the second flows on from the first: namely that people with dementia, far from being mere passive recipients, have things to offer the community. She spoke of musical presentations, for example, and of a Welsh woman, a professional singer, who despite her dementia was able to sing as well as ever, once given the opportunity, to the tearful delight of her hearers. One participant went home, purchased a CD player, and played worship songs and organ music to her husband who is in the late stages of dementia. ‘My dear husband comes ALIVE!!’ she wrote.

The second workshop ‘Dementia and Godly Play’ was presented by Joanna. This method of guiding the spirituality of children has been found effective also in helping those in the various stages of dementia. She chose a sequence on ‘The Desert’, which tells the story of Abraham and extends it right down to our own time as we

are all ‘children of Abraham’. The quiet and gentle presentation was deeply moving as the ever-mobile desert was spread before our eyes, and the figures plodded their way through the sands guided by the hand of God drawing near and hovering over them at critical moments. In the fullness of time Abraham and Sarah died and were tucked gently away. But their children, and their grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren, against all hope and in accordance with God’s promise, multiplied and multiplied until they were as many as the gains of sand in the desert. A comment that stayed with me was that on one occasion when this presentation was made in a care home, the staff were aghast at the mention of the deaths of Abraham and Sarah, whereas the residents responded very well to that – and also commented that no one lets them talk about their own parents and grandparents.

Dr Chatfield concluded the day with some observations of his own. What kind of spirituality sustains us, he asked, as we walk with those with dementia, changing it from a lonely burden to a shared journey?

His closing comment also elicited some very positive feedback: we need absolution, he suggested, from the grief that we couldn’t do more.

Rosemary Kew

Advance date for your Diary: Lent Day March 1, 2014 ‘Who touched me? Healing for us Today’

Falling Upward Falling Upward: A Spirituality for Two Halves of Life by Richard Rohr (San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass, 2011) is available on Amazon.co.uk as a hardback, paperback, and ebook and is reviewed here by Richard Kew. Stumbling across Falling Upward while recovering from a bout of pneumonia, I read the first few pages, then put it on one side knowing I was not yet ready for it. I discovered Richard Rohr’s writing on male spirituality some years ago; now here he was meditating on second-half-of-life issues and genuine maturity, so I knew I would be challenged.

It was only after working through the consequences of my recent ill health that I was able to read Falling Upward, mining from it much wise insight as I got ready to transition toward ‘retirement’ -although this will not mean the end of my active life and ministry.

When he talks about First Half and then Second Half of life, Rohr is talking more about seasons than strict proportions. He says, “This first-half-of-life task is no more than finding the starting gate. It is merely the warm-up act, not the full journey.” A cardinal point he keeps returning to is that our culture and institutions, including the churches, are preoccupied with the concerns of the First Half. The result is that many of us as we age are fixated on the First Half and all its issues, and never give ourselves the opportunity to mature into true elderhood.

Rohr is inviting us to explore and then embrace a further journey that is about going deeper and growing our soul.

“The first half of life is discovering the script, and the second half is actually writing and owning it.” He makes the point that we create our own ‘hell’ if we fail to transition toward spiritual and emotional maturity. “So get ready,” he says, “for some new freedom, some dangerous permission, some hope from nowhere, some unexpected happiness, some stumbling stones, some radical grace, and some new and pressing responsibilities for yourself and for our suffering world.”

This is not a long book, but there is food for thought about God’s grace as we mature from “human acting” into what he calls “human being.” The book is not just for those on the senior leg of life’s journey, but for all those eager to put to use the raw material God lays in our way. One caveat: Rohr’s helpful insights about this journey further into life and toward home come from a somewhat open theological commitment, but having said that there is much he has to teach us if we are willing to learn.

This summer saw the retirement of the Revd Jill Chatfield as a pastoral tutor at Ridley Hall. We asked her to write about ‘retirement’. Here is what she wrote:

Retirement – a chance to rest and relax or to seek new and different challenges?

Thankfully, it is a bit of both. Mine kicked off with a lovely long break in an unusually hot and sunny Scotland. The opportunity to unwind at the end of my paid working life was made all the more enjoyable knowing that there was a new opportunity opening up to serve God with Kairos, a ministry which seeks to bring God’s love, forgiveness and new life to people in prison. It had been in abeyance for some time in the United Kingdom but has been resurrected in the last couple of years. The first Kairos Event in Whitemoor was a trial – a successful trial which means that the programme will be running for the third time from October 28th – 31st. I will be part of the ‘inside team’ and would welcome your prayers over that period for me and for the whole team.

It is axiomatic in the Christian faith that all people are made in God’s image, that God loves all people, and that all people can be restored to him through Jesus Christ. Many prisoners have lost touch with any sense of their worth and value as human beings or of themselves as the handiwork of a loving and gracious creator. Many feel trapped in a downward spiral that they feel they may never be able to reverse. The Gospel really is good news and the change that God is able to make is born out by the many stories of changed lives and changed behaviours that have been the end story of the previous two Kairos events. (273)