The Eight O’Clock
News February 2017
8 am Service, Christ Church, Kenilworth
Week of Breakthrough Prayer When you read this, the first month of the year will be over and the Week of Prayer will be drawing to a close. Our church community will be standing at the brink of a new direction, anticipating living our lives in a ‘deeper in and further out’ direction. New Year’s Resolutions may already have been broken and in the wake of early failure, this resolve may have little chance of succeeding in the long term. After all— where did January go? Some may not even have thought about changes that could be made in daily living. So, why not make knowing Jesus more and being more like Him, a resolution for a new you? The timing at the beginning of a new year is not important, it is rather God’s timing that matters. In thinking about how the Lord is calling me, I picked up a book that I have had for some time that I had only started reading but abandoned shortly into it—not because of the book itself but possibly because of some other demand on my life at the time. Now, in opening its pages once again, so much has resonated deeply within me; even the flyleaf words drew me deeper. One Thousand Gifts beckons you ‘to leave the parched ground of pride, fear and whiteknuckle control and abandon yourself to the God who overflows your cup’. Indeed my cup has overflowed and I have experienced what the book’s author, Ann Voskamp, writes, ‘Joy and pain are but two arteries of the one heart that pumps through those who don’t numb themselves to really living’. So how does she suggest we approach both the joy and pain of living? Chara—deep joy—is only found at the table of the euCHARisteo: the table of thanksgiving. She calls it ‘a triplet of stars, a constellation in the black’: Charis (grace), Eucharisteo (Thanksgiving) and Chara (Joy). Grace, thanksgiving, joy. Eucharisteo—a Greek word that might make meaning of everything? ‘Eucharisteo precedes the miracle’, she says. Think of Jesus giving thanks outside Lazarus’s tomb and also when He took ‘even the bread of death’—He gave thanks. Paul wrote about living joy in every situation, the full life February 2017 Eight O’Clock News
of eucharisteo. He said in Phiippians 4:11-12: “I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything”. Saint John of Avila (d1569) put it like this, “one act of thanksgiving when things go wrong with us, is worth a thousand thanks when things are agreeable to our inclinations”. In One Thousand Gifts, Ann dares us to live fully right where we are. She keeps a gratitude journal throughout the book: 1000 gifts—‘Jam piled high on toast’, ‘Moonlight on pillows’, ‘Toothless smiles’, ‘Stepping over a dog when coming in through the dark’... Somehow, for me, this living in gratitude links to what Philip Yancey wrote about prayer: ‘Regarding prayer, I flow downstream, as if I’m pleading with God, as though He does not know my needs. Instead, I should go upstream, begin with God who is on the throne and pray kingdom-minded prayers’. Giving thanks before the miracle, expressing gratitude before the answer to prayer frees us from that whiteknuckle control. We can then surrender more fully to God’s giving of Himself and become a blessing ourselves. With every grace experienced in eucharisteo, the Lord’s voice can be heard, “You are precious to me. You are honoured and I love you” (Isaiah 43.4). “For you are a chosen people a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). - Cheryl Anderson
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Dennis & Belinda Henwood
The marriage of our daughter Penelope to Gavin Harpur took place on Friday, 7 October 2016 at the Houw Hoek Inn, Grabouw. It was a joyous occasion conducted by her cousin Jeremy Jobling and her Godfather, Rob Jobling gave Above: Jonathan (brother of the bride) the address. and hiw wife, Alana, travelled from the
UK to celebrate this special day.
Lost in Translation ! I won this little hammer at a team-building event. ’Made in China’. I think the instructions are more dangerous than the hammer! - Sent in by Cheryl Anderson
“A Liberal’s paradise would be a place where everybody has Lynne Robinson (nee Scheppening) gave birth to Samuel Peter on 24/1/17. Alexander and Naomi share the occasion. Samuel’s in good hands ! February 2017 Eight O’Clock News
guaranteed employment, free comprehensive healthcare, free education, free food, free housing, free clothing, free utilities, and only law enforcement has guns. And, believe it or not, such a place does indeed already exist: It's called Prison." - Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Arizona. USA
- Sent in by Margaret Barrett
Exploring in the ‘Big Woods’
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In September last year, I had a surprising and wonderful opportunity to spend a week at St Beuno’s Ignatian Retreat Centre in North Wales. Earlier in the year, my friend Judy Everingham, who witnesses much of my grappling with this issue, suggested to me that I think about going over to do the Psychology and Spirituality workshop which is run annually. I did more than think: I went straight home and googled. To my delight, the week before the workshop was a silent retreat focussing on Poetry and Prayer, and so I booked for both. St Beuno’s is the place where Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote most of his poetry, and it is dense with natural beauty and the resonant quietness of a place which has formed around centuries of prayer. The bedroom where I stayed overlooked the hills toward the peak of Snowdonia on one side, and towards the Great Orm of Llandudno in the distance on the other. I arrived not knowing quite what to expect, very tired, a bit displaced (couldn’t work out how to use the shower or heating, couldn’t quite work out all the social nuances of British interaction!). The Wendell Berry quote on the inside of the information cover comforted and challenged me: “Always in the big woods, when you leave the unfamiliar ground and step into a new place there will be, along with the feelings of curiosity and excitement, a little dread. It is the ancient fear of the unknown, and it is your first bond with the wilderness you are going into. What you are doing is exploring. You are undertaking your first experience not of this place, but of yourself in this place.” I think that I had hoped to come with chunks of new knowledge and skills with which to impress myself and everyone else (ah, how I would love to casually insert profound lines of poetry into conversation!). What I did come home with was a deeper knowledge of myself (not so impressive), and a bedrock awareness of God’s patience and absolute constancy. The Poetry and Prayer retreat followed a pattern of some input in the mornings, silence until the afternoon, input at 4pm, and then the option of socialising or remaining in silence. Each morning we were given handouts of poems to discuss and reflect on for the day. (Some were familiar: Hopkins (of course), Seamus Heaney, George Herbert. RS Thomas was new to me, a Welsh priest who wrote very earthy, understated kind of poetry, a bit like Robert Frost. So was Carol Duffy (the poet laureate) and Malcom Guite, a contemporary Christian poet, whose work has touched me deeply in the subsequent months. “Singing Bowl” was the first poem we were given—I was so moved by it that I learned it off by heart and so carried it with me throughout the week. (poem on next page) Brian McClorry, who was leading the retreat, gave some thoughtful input about the relationship between prayer and poetry. He spoke about prayer being simultaneously of “every language and no language”. It does not always need words, but words give those of us who pray a sense of a common world. Sometimes February 2017 Eight O’Clock News
we can’t exactly explain what happens in prayer. And poetry, as with all creative arts, plays in the space between words and no-words, often evoking responses which are difficult to articulate, but nudge us towards change. This opening up of space for transformation often comes through an imagination open to God, where we can be curious about possibilities, think outside of our normal restrictions, and often access new hope. (The theologian Walter Bruggemann provocatively speaks of sin as “failure of imagination”.) I was struck by how this kind of playfulness in our walk with God is where we thrive, and yet (for me, at least) my attempts to draw closer to God are often terribly serious and intense, and became anxious and cerebral as a result. Yes, it’s true that connection with God is something we “work for”, but it also simply comes as a gift. I played with writing poetry during the week, and found a similar process: you can sit for hours fiddling with ideas and crafting words, but sometimes things just “flow” into writing which is authentic, very personal and yet universal. For the first few days of the retreat, I mostly walked for hours at a time. The weather was idyllic and I loved eating blackberries off the hedges! My mind was extremely busy, and the walking helped to quieten me so that by the fourth day I was able to spend time reading and writing. One of the things I was able to process was some of the pain I had experienced in my two years of working in psychiatric wards of state hospital, where the levels of suffering and hopelessness had been overwhelming at times. Brian McClorry said that “we write things down to discover what’s going on”, and in writing a poem which is a composite of my experience there (on next page), I remembered that God had been very present and continues to be present even in the most helpless situations. It was a shock to the system to emerge from the poetry retreat to the lectures on Psychology and Spirituality. The retreat finished on Friday morning, and I spent most of the day walking around Llandudno and the Great Orm before I returned to St Beuno’s in the late afternoon to meet a new group of people (the introvert in me sighed deeply) and shift gear completely. Roger Dawson, who is director of St Beuno’s, led the
weekend. He worked as a Clinical Psychologist in the NHS for many years, and has really helpful insight into the parallels between major psychological theories and Ignatian Spirituality. It’s difficult to summarise what was said, but it was very thought-provoking and helped me to find a way to integrate the two paths that have been part of my life for the past six years. Thank you, Judy, for making the wild suggestion and to Ev, for the opportunity to revisit my experience in writing about it. I would be happy to organise a discussion on either of these topics if anyone is interested. - Colleen Sturrock
Singing Bowl - Malcolm Guite
Begin the song exactly where you are, Remain within the world of which you’re made. Call nothing common in the earth or air, Accept it all and let it be for good. Start with the very breath you breathe in now, This moment’s pulse, this rhythm in your blood And listen to it, ringing soft and low. Stay with the music, words will come in time. Slow down your breathing. Keep it deep and slow. Become an open singing-bowl, whose chime Is richness rising out of emptiness, And timelessness resounding into time. And when the heart is full of quietness Begin the song exactly where you are.
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Keeping Watch [A fictitious encounter drawn from a number of experiences]
Every Monday, I hear your stolid shuffle down the despair-begrimed corridor. I see your side smile-smirk, which hints at stories you can’t wait to shock me with. below your fraying khaki shorts, your gnarled and hairy knees. your slip slops, flat with walking through the veld, drop dubbletjies on my carpet. We sit. You talk. I listen. You talk of beatings and arson of burning your school of toughening up in Pollsmoor (“kykie tattoo”) of living on the streets in Bellville, Hillbrow, Wynberg, of your wife, who yesterday again held the breadknife to your throat. I listen You talk Of Krummels (11, twice expelled), the only thing that really makes you smile. “Ek wil ’n goeie vader wees. Die ander twee is al klaar bevok.” I listen You talk I know you won’t get any better. The scar where the bullet went into your frontal lobe glistens in the dusty sunlight, and who knows how your neural pathways criss-cross and tangle with the tik and buttons and weed. I sit, in this small and stuffy Gethsemane, with no hope of resurrection, And keep watch.
Origin unknown. Sent in by Alison KemptonJones
February 2017 Eight O’Clock News
You rise to go (no soldiers here – the clock invades with aggressive predictability) “Dankie Mevrou” (extends the daunting stubbly hand) “Dis so lankal iemand so stil sit en luister na my. Dankie Mevrou.” No cock crows, but outside in the heat the hadedas lament in harsh incessant cries. When there are simply not enough tears to go around, Oh Jesus, give us Yours. - Colleen Sturrock
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Feeding the Hungry Rising in 2017
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Last year Feeding the Hungry underwent a process of reappraisal and introspection. Many of the ministry’s volunteers participated in the challenging When helping hurts course. After much consideration and prayer it was decided that the daily feeding of the men waiting for work and the street people along Wetton Road should come to an end. This ministry had continued unbroken for nearly 30 years and we salute and thank all who faithfully served in it over that time. We also thank all who donated generously to maintain the ministry both from the congregation and local businesses. It would not have been possible without the generous donations from local businesses.
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February 2017 Eight O’Clock News
However, the desire to show the love of God and to help those in desperate need still remains. Now we aim to work with two added imperatives ie that of developing meaningful relationships with those we help and to work with churches already involved in areas of need. The Social Transformation committee and previous volunteer teams are visiting three areas to investigate the viability of establishing work there. They are at Philippi (The Children’s Library at Jim se Bos), Delft (at Bettaway church) and Mannenberg (at the Church of the Reconcilliation). Our first visit was to Jim se Bos, and here are some of the reactions [and photographs] from the group: Jenny McMaster: It is quite amazing what Seung has been able to put together for the children in this desperately needy place. Land Middlekoop: In the midst of a most depressing collection of shacks we found an oasis of trees and flowers bought and planted by Seung. Not just an oasis, but life-giving water in a desert of dirt. We met the beneficiaries—the morning session of running, jumping gleeful pre-schoolers. In an area of 97.5% unemployment ten adults were earning some money gardening and cleaning. Gill Adlard: Hordes of shy toddlers emerge from the shack dwellings and shyly peep at you. As they thaw they give hugs, hold your hand and show you their playground, library and meeting rooms. In the community’ hall they all received the peanut butter sandwiches that we had brought. The water bubbling through Jim se Bos is the love of Jesus from the hearts
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of Seung, Raymond and Kobus and their helpers. If you would like to see this living water then phone Gill and Rhona 082 973 6554. You will be blessed as Kobus guides us in. Lindy Tomalin: I was struck by the practical and loving responses to the dangers and problems the children face. When a child was killed playing near a busy road, a playground was built. When another drowned in a farm dam, a shower was erected to
give relief from the dirt and heat. Poverty and unemployed parents spell malnutrition and neglect for the children. The pre-school and homework classes help them and so do work opportunities. Wendy Wilcox: From 9-11.30 is preschoolers’ time—with Bible stories, activities and a brown bread sandwich. Then Seung quickly goes home to prepare a meal for the older children coming to attend Homework Club. I was humbled and encouraged to see Seung’s obedience to God. I left inspired and hopeful for our country. - Lindy Tomalin
Photographs: 1 Community Centre (double-storey made from wire) 2 In kitchen area 3 In playground, eating sandwiches the team took with them
Our First Trip to SA Granddaughters, Emilia (with Mom Kate) and Zoe (with Dad Ben Lyon) have enjoyed their visit to Granddad Berkeley and Grandma Pam Maytham.
Health Spot ! Breast Awareness As Never Seen Before ‘Brilliant visual aid—it needs a full colour poster’.
Have We Learned Anything In The Past 2072 Years ? "The Budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed, lest Rome will become bankrupt. People must again learn to work instead of living on public assistance." - Cicero, 55 BC Sent in by Belle Divaris February 2017 Eight O’Clock News
- Sent in by Dr Margaret Barrett
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CCK Christmas Potjie Party !
February 2017 Eight O’Clock News
Lost in Translation Too / Two!
Our Identity in Christ Grace is a word that is familiar to us as Christians.
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Afrikaans words often lose a great deal in their translation into
We might even know a definition like “grace is the unmerited favour of God” or “grace is something that we receive that we don’t deserve”.
English. Thank you to Sheila Clow for this contribution (direct translation in () followed by common meaning: * Spookasem (ghostbreath) - cotton candy
Philip Yancey’s definition of grace from his well
* Skouervlieg (shoulder fly) - backseat driver * Rondkyktwak (look around tobacco) - marijuana * Brakkie sakkie / woefkardoes (doggie bag) - same * Springmielies (Jumping corn) - popcorn
known book, “What’s so amazing about grace?” in which he writes: “Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us more and nothing we can do to make God love us less.”
Ephesians 2:8,9: “For it is by grace you have been
For Our Riches
saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast.”
I pray today,
not only for the suffering, the hungry, the war-torn, the lost, for they are always in my prayers. But I pray for the wealthy, The prosperous, the comfortable of this world.
The apostle John wrote: “God’s love was revealed among us in this way; God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that God first loved us. “(1 John 4:9) Or as Richard Rohr would paraphrase this: “God doesn’t love us because we are good, God loves us because God is good!”
Open the sleepy eyes of the wealthy nations, Lord. Awaken us from our overfed slumber to responsibility for our needy brothers and sisters. Teach us, again, how much we have that we do not need, and how much they need that they do not have. Persuade us, set conviction deep within us, that our comfort is at their expense, our well-being at the cost of their misery.
The grace of God given to us in Christ Jesus is all about God and what God has done for us. God initiates, God acts, God comes to us in the person of Jesus. It’s not about us and what we do or don’t do—God is faithful even when we are unfaithful (1 Corinthians 1:9).
The apostle John writes: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1)
This is our true identity—we are children of God— not because we are good but because God is good and God has always loved us and, by the grace of God given us in Christ, has made us His children.
Knowing the grace and love of God as our lived experience is deeply transformative. We come to see ourselves as God sees us, which Paul reminds us of in Colossians 3:3: “Your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Richard Rohr believes that: “...we have no real access to who we fully are except in God. Only when we can rest in our identity in Christ can we find the security and the freedom to be who we are, all that we are and much more than we think we are.”
Set us free, Father, from our clinging to the overstuffed life. Set us free, Father, for the bringing of life, basic life, to all mankind. Show us our task in these days when the world and its resources grow ever more limited: never simply the preserving of a national way of life, rather the provision for the first fully human way of life. May my life, Lord, begin to witness these truths and to follow the path of the one who gave his life to save our lives and to bring life, new life, to all.
The grace of God—our identity in Christ—gives us
J Barrie Shepherd.
the freedom to become all who God had created us to be. Paul writes to the church in Corinth, telling them that they as a community of believers are not lacking in any spiritual gift because of the grace of God given to them in Christ Jesus. - Extracts from Judy Everingham’s sermon on 1 Corinthians 1:1-9. Full text on website February 2017 Eight O’Clock News
- Sent in by Wendy Gunn Editorial Team Tel/e-mail Ev Els
021 696 0336 emichael@iafrica.com
Cheryl Anderson
083 272 1530 canderson@beckman.com