In the Mists on the Shoreline

Chris Polhill

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Wild Goose Publications
• Date de parution: 07 mars 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781849523301
• Langue: English

Extrait

The spiritual encounter with the ‘otherness’ that Christians call God is often seen as the province of the very holy, or is simply dismissed in our rational, scientific culture – but it is part of the experience of being human, recognised down the ages.
In this book you will find a wide variety of spiritual experiences openly explored – from the mystical to the practical, from very personal reflections, to stories with passion for social justice. For some people, the significant encounter comes during one of life’s more traumatic times, such as illness or death, for others as part of everyday living. Insights from Christian spiritual tradition are linked to each experience, including that of God’s ‘absence’. Some contributors are clergy, others are not, and there is a broad range of age and life experience among the writers. They are all ordinary, extraordinary people.
www.ionabooks.com
In the Mists on the Shoreline
REFLECTIONS ON SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE
Chris Polhill

www. ionabooks .com
Contents of book © individual contributors Compilation © 2015 Chris Polhill
First published 2015 by Wild Goose Publications, Fourth Floor, Savoy House, 140 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3DH, UK, the publishing division of the Iona Community. Scottish Charity No. SC003794. Limited Company Reg. No. SC096243.
PDF: ISBN 978-1-84952-328-8 Mobipocket: ISBN 978-1-84952-329-5 ePub: ISBN 978-1-84952-330-1
Cover photo © Blyth McManus/ www.freeimages.com
All rights reserved. Apart from reasonable personal use on the purchaser’s own system and related devices, no part of this document or file(s) may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Non-commercial use: The material in this document may be used non-commercially for worship and group work without written permission from the publisher. Please make full acknowledgement of the source and where appropriate report usage to the CCLI or other copyright organisation.
Commercial use: For any commercial use of this material, permission in writing must be obtained in advance from Wild Goose Publications at the above address.
Chris Polhill has asserted her right in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this compilation and the individual contributors have asserted their right to be identified as authors of their contributions.
Contents
In the mists on the shoreline, by Chris Polhill
Introduction, by Chris Polhill
Meeting the Iona Community, by John Harvey
Space for reflection, by Robert Stevens
The gift of cancer, by Zam Walker
In the present moment, by Stephen Wright
Bouncing down the stairs, by Chris Polhill
Meeting, by John Polhill
Holding on, by Kathy Galloway
Finding God in the mess, by Warren Bardsley
Knowing Her, by Chris Polhill
Birth to the barren, by Alison Swinfen
A call to growth, by Ali Marshall
When God seems absent, by Chris Polhill
Notes
This book is dedicated to all who explore the ‘great deep’. I would like to thank my Iona Family Group, and particularly my husband, John, for the encouragement to continue with this exploration in the many times when I felt hopelessly inadequate for the task. I would also like to thank the contributors for being willing to offer into the public space experiences that touch the deeper parts of their spiritual journey. Thanks also to Colin Ball, Christine Massey, Keith Elbourne and Elizabeth Wild for being willing to read the text and make helpful suggestions.
Chris Polhill
In the mists on the shoreline
Walk the shoreline and clearly see here was yesterday’s tide, there land, there sea. Firm sand built into castles, glinting, ever-moving, rippling sea. Shadows on both, litter mixed with seaweed, and the line, the fragile line between.
But as I walk the shifting line my mind like driftwood moves, now present, now away. I search a different shore, dreamy, luminary, mystery sea. Light on shadows growing life from rubbish, and the mist, the silent mist shimmers.
That hidden shore veiled within mist that thins apart by grace, soul’s caught, soul’s taught. Out of time, beyond words, awe-ful, tears of joyful, beautiful sea. Christ in shadows, waiting with the broken, and the Love, the healing love of God.
Chris Polhill
Introduction
The word ‘spiritual’ has collected around it many expectations – from the weird to the inspirational – so it is worth exploring what this book means by ‘spiritual experience’. The dictionary describes spiritual as ‘ relating to spirit or soul, not to physical nature or matter’ , 1 and yet Christians would not separate the spiritual from the material, seeing them as one. George MacLeod, the founder of the Iona Community, spoke of Iona as a place where the veil between heaven and earth is ‘tissue thin’, and the same could be said of many holy places, yet a spiritual experience can happen anywhere, as many contributors to this book testify. It cannot be confined only to special places: and they are physical places, sometimes very beautiful. We are mind, spirit and body, inseparable, interconnected and affecting the whole. We cannot make a spiritual experience happen, nor control it: it is not a spiritual experience if we do; the best we can ever do is engage with a spiritual journey and live with the integrity of faith.
It is true that our spirits are enhanced by good music, beauty, a sunset that leaves us feeling at one with everything around us, a worship service that lifts us out of the ordinary … These are all encouragements on the spiritual journey and some offer important spiritual experience as part of the journey. Sometimes they are brief moments of unity with the divine, a glimpse of the mystical, if we have eyes to see. What we are particularly looking at here is the kind of God-given encounter that changes the way someone is living their life, and the reflections on the experience, which are sometimes about an immediate situation or sometimes last a lifetime. So for me, spiritual experience is an encounter with the ‘otherness’ that Christians call God, and the test of such an experience is the effect that it has on the recipient. The Bible is full of such encounters.
Jesus took Peter, James and John up a mountain to pray. While they prayed, Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus – and the three of them all shone. The disciples were filled with awe and holy fear, and didn’t really know what to say. In the struggle for words that comes with trying to explain or describe a spiritual experience, Mark 9:2–8 says that Jesus’ clothes were whiter than any washing could make them . Peter refers to the experience in 2 Peter 1:17–18 – it has clearly given the disciples much to think about long after the event itself.
At his baptism Jesus comes up out of the River Jordan hearing words from God, then travels into the desert to reflect and pray. Whatever Jesus knew before his baptism, this moment is a turning point, a time of decision – and his life takes direction, though we still get glimpses of the temptations, even doubts, he lives with during his ministry.
Paul struggles for words to describe a spiritual experience (2 Corinthians 12) and then talks of his weakness, but clearly has had a life-changing experience on the road to Damascus (Acts 9), where he encounters the risen Jesus and becomes a Christian: one of those people he had previously sought to kill; and has a directional vision, which sends him to Macedonia (Acts 16:9–10).
Through the centuries many saints have had encounters with God that changed them in a life-giving way. Francis of Assisi leaves an affluent, carefree life to embrace Sister Poverty. This leads him to see all of nature in the intimacy of family relationship, and to found a new religious order. Julian of Norwich reflects lifelong on an encounter that heals her, and devotes her life to prayer, giving wise counsel to the many who visit her. Columbanus feels a call to take the Celtic monastic way from Ireland to Europe, and in the process profoundly alters people’s views of faithful living. He sees nature as God’s ‘big book’ and says that ‘ those who want to know the great deep must first consider the natural world … If you wish to know the Creator, understand creation.’ 2 Clearly Columbanus sees the material and the spiritual as interconnected and inseparable.
Are these the kind of insights and experiences that belong only to a very few, or only to history, with no relevance for the present-day? It is my belief that most people have some awareness of the ‘otherness’ that Christians would call God. David Hay, who researches children’s spirituality, expresses the concern that children today lose that sense of ‘otherness’ earlier than they did in the past. 3 Some of this will be due to the way our society values experiences of this nature and encourages other ways of thinking: it is not ‘cool’ to speak of God, and religion is often denigrated openly. However, some of this loss will be due to the way adults name what the experience is (if, that is, they are trusted with being told).
In this book you will find a wide variety of spiritual experiences – from the mystical to the practical, from very personal reflections, to stories with passion for social justice. For some, the significant encounter comes during one of life’s more traumatic times, such as illness or death, for others as part of everyday living. Some contributors are clergy, others are not, and there is a broad range of age and life experience among contributors. They are all ordinary, extraordinary people.
Chris Polhill
Meeting the Iona Community, by John Harvey
As the Iona Community has inspired all of the contributors to this book in some way, it seems appropriate to begin with an encounter where Iona and the Iona Community are very much part of the experience. Iona is a small island off the west coast of Scotland which has been a place of pilgrimage for cen