Category: Faith goes walkabout Page 8 of 9

Helicopter Crash in North Norfolk

On January 10, 2014

In church seasons, community, Faith goes walkabout, pastoral, theological

On the edge of the North Norfolk coast, US Air Force helicopter crashed killing all four people on board.

The HH-60G Pave Hawk, based at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, came down at a nature reserve in Cley next the Sea on Tuesday night.

The aircraft, from the 48th Fighter Wing, was on a low-level training mission and carrying live ammunition.

For many of us, living in Norfolk, the flights overhead of military planes and helicopters is a constant reminder of the work of the armed forces and how the low level flying over the sea is a fundamental part of the training programmes.

It is of enormous sadness that four young men should lose their loves in such a way on the shoreline where there is usually peace and solace.

The Bishop of Lynn, The Right Reverend Jonathan Meyrich said ,

“We have all been shocked and deeply saddened by the loss of the four crew members involved in Tuesday’s crash. Words can be of little help at this time to the families, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives, but in services across the Diocese we will be remembering them in our prayers this Sunday, as well as those in Cley and Salthouse and members of the emergency services, many of whom have been left shaken by this tragedy.”

“Often when a tragedy like this happens, people want to pray but are not sure how. The best prayers come straight from the heart, but the prayer below can be used by any who wish to remember before God those whose lives have been affected.”

“God of all consolation, we pray for all those whose lives have been affected by Tuesday’s helicopter crash. We ask for comfort for those who have been bereaved, courage for the colleagues of the crew, strength for the emergency services, peace for communities of Salthouse and Cley. Grant to all who have been affected by this tragedy your light and hope, for we pray in the name our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.”

Rev’d Sue Martin

Diocese of Norwich

Advent 2

By faithgoeswalkabout

On December 8, 2013

In church seasons, Faith goes walkabout, pastoral, theological

Posada

The Advent journey of Mary and Joseph and their donkey is experienced more and more in our churches and homes.

The tradition of Posada, which began in South America is now taking root in the UK.

Crib figures, representing Mary, Joseph and the donkey travel around a village or town stopping(by arrangement!) where there is a place for them to stay with a warm welcome.

Night after night, the figures are taken from one host home to another; hospitality, the lighting of a candle and a very simple act of worship are shared. There is time to wonder on these amazing overnight guests and to reflect on what Advent really means.

Rev’d Sue Martin

image courtesy of spiritualchild.co.uk

I have a Dream…

By faithgoeswalkabout

On September 1, 2013

In church seasons, Faith goes walkabout, theological

I have a dream…. That one day my children will be judged, not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character’.

Martin Luther King August 28th , 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington.

Powerful stuff…. and this particular piece,etched in the memories of so many came from within, it was not scribed before.

Towards the end of Martin Luther King’s speech there was a voice from close by but in the crowd. The voice was from Mahalia Jackson who shouted,
‘Tell them about the dream, Martin’.

King had been preaching on dreams for sometime, since 1960, then called The Negro and the American Dream. King suggested that, ‘It may well be that the Negro is God’s instrument to save the soul of America.’

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was partly intended to show mass support for the civil rights legislation proposed by President Kennedy in June. King and others agreed to keep their speeches calm, and to avoid provoking civil disobedience,sometimes associated with the civil rights movement.

The speech went a long way to be linked with the Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation.

One of the interesting comments mentioned on Thought for the Day was that it was a dream, a vision, a hope, a wish……
Not a complaint, not a statement with issues, not an indictment to riot….

This week it would be good to just spend time to reflect how far we have gone and how far we have still to go.

Rev’d Sue Martin

Curate at Gayton Group of Parishes

www.faithgoeswalkabout.org

The Teams of Twelve

By faithgoeswalkabout

On March 9, 2013

In church seasons, community, Faith goes walkabout

Third Sunday in Lent The Teams of Twelve

Genesis 28:10-19a and John 1:35-51

Jacobs ladder

The teams of twelve…. John starts the building of the team of the twelve disciples for Jesus, as we hear in the passage from John’s gospel.
Jacob has the powerful dream, about the ladder to heaven with angels passing up and down, as we hear in the passage from Genesis. From there his name is synonymous with Israel and the twelve tribes of Israel from the descendants of his twelve sons.

There are other links between these two passages;
There are links between the books of Genesis and John; they deal with the beginnings, the establishing of God’s church and creation, light and darkness, day and night.

There is a similarity of the endings of both passages; in Genesis Jacob makes a vow,

‘ If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God.’

In John, Jesus says,

‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the soul of man’

And there we also have another connection, in the angels ascending and descending.

Rev’d Sue Martin, Assistant Priest St Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield London

A Great Teacher and Beyond…

By faithgoeswalkabout

On November 4, 2012

In church seasons, Faith goes walkabout, theological

Jesus and crowds

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the hillside and sat down. His disciples came to him. He took a deep breath, and began his teaching.

What a start,wonderful news, The Beatitudes.
Blessed are the poor in spirit. The kingdom of heaven is yours!

And so he went on. Good news for all the people.

I love that beginning; He took a deep breath and began his teaching.
So, here we go then!!

But Jesus starts straight in, what a teacher!

Blessed are….the poor, the mourners, the meek, the hungry, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted.

Good News for all!!

Blessed means wonderful news, the happy, the blessed. The Beatitudes, which these are often called comes from the Latin beatus.

Words as much for today as for the people at the time of Jesus.

This was the introduction to Jesus’ teaching, ‘listen to this everybody, this is going to turn your life upside down. No more are the rich and powerful going to be the ways to success and prosperity’ .

That is for this life only.

Good to remember and hang on to when we see fame and fortune being a real goal for many, that sadly just slips away into the night.

Readings from Matthew 5:1-12

Rev’d Sue Martin

Gayton Group of Parishes

Sitting on Top of the World

By faithgoeswalkabout

On October 22, 2012

In church seasons, Faith goes walkabout, theological

Sitting on Top of the World

A huge step downwards...

Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian helicopter pilot had been lifted up by a helium balloon to over 128,000 ft above Mexico, sitting on top of the world.

From there he emerged from his capsule in a suit, similar to a space suit and fell back to earth at 833mph.

Wow!! You might say it was utter madness, a stunt for publicity, what a waste of money or many other things but actually… Wow!

Sitting on top of the world!

The beautiful blue planet of earth lay beneath him, at the edge of space.

There’s a very good song by Delta Goodrem called Sitting on top of the World, a real rousing song and full of ‘feel good’ factor. If you don’t mind all the glitz, you can view on Youtube!

But what could it have been like! Once having made the decision, there was no choice but to get down, if he had gone up and up into space all sorts of things would have happened,he would not have survived for long.

What did he think at that point? He said he felt small and very alone and just wanted to get down.

Feeling small, humbled…the enormity of space around him. Looking down on the world below… all very theological.

God looking down from the heavens…

In the video of Felix’s descent the only sound you can hear is of his breathing, no screams, no shouts of joy or fear just silence. When he landed on his feet he fell to his knees and gazed upwards, Mmmm.

A fuller sermon is under Trinity on Faithgoeswalkabout, interesting for reflection.

Rev’d Sue Martin

Tasmania

By faithgoeswalkabout

On October 9, 2012

In community, Faith goes walkabout, pastoral

2012-09-27 11.13

Tasmania, the most southerly state in Australia, an island, separated from the mainland by the Bass Straits. A beautiful place with huge diversity in the climate, landscape and wildlife.

Vast areas of wilderness and huge untouched forests with no roads or population are unchartered territory, especially in the south west.

We spent a week in Tasmania (see section on Faith Goes Walkabout- Walkabout Australia).From echidnas and wombats to Tasmanian Devils and Duck Billed Platypus, the wildlife is amazing. The temperate rain forests with the Tall Trees of Sassafras and Arras and beautiful beaches are stunning.

The history of Tasmania since the arrival of the white settlers doesn’t make good reading and the church was part of this difficult time. Tasmania was established as the place of last resort and conditions were really bad. Conditions were harsh and made worse by the elite class who continued to make large amounts of money.
The aboriginal population was destroyed and any people left were made part of the settler’s way of life. There are many stories, and a recent book called Wanting by Richard Flanagan is about a young girl Mahinna around 1839 and her move into the governor’s house.

Maybe it’s when travelling that we are taken to places, not only beautiful but where we learn about life, that we start to increase in wonder and look back in amazement.

Tasmania, a great place and very far south on the other side of the world.

Rev’d Sue Martin
Curate at Gayton group of parishes

The Mustard Seed

By faithgoeswalkabout

On June 21, 2012

In church seasons, Faith goes walkabout, pastoral, theological

The Mustard Seed 2nd Sunday after Trinity

mustard seed

The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.

I have to say that the world is a pretty big place.

The vastness of the oceans, the great continents and land masses, no-one could say that our world is small.

And the universe, well there is something that is so vast it the size is beyond our comprehension.
But is that really so?

A visit to Sydney Observatory, a close look at the craters of the moon through a very large telescope and a glance at the southern skies in the planetarium… how to find an emu in the black spaces or the winged fish in the southern cross.

This is quite a big universe we are part of.

But how big is the kingdom of heaven? Bigger than the widest ocean, taller than the highest mountain(to quote a children’s song). But yet it is as small as a mustard seed!

Our understanding of the size and dimensions of heaven can only ever be hinted at.

Jesus uses this story along with the other parables as a way of trying to makes sense to us and to the people he was talking to on the banks of the Sea of Galilee about the kingdom. A place for us all, so vast and yet no size at all or at least not as we know it.

Our world and creation is a wonderful place, but yet, is like a tiny part of that mustard seed.

Visit Trinity page on Faith Goes Walkabout.

Rev’d Sue Martin

Curate at Gayton Group of Parishes

Singapore and Spirituality

By faithgoeswalkabout

On June 12, 2012

In church seasons, community, Faith goes walkabout, pastoral

DSCF1570

On my way home from Australia I stopped over in Singapore for one night to break the long journey home in the hope of preventing some of the jet lag.

Singapore is an amazing place. Full of the most impressive buildings, hugely tall and wonderfully architect designed. Blue glass surrounds with flashing steel girders over 60 stories high.

The Marina Bay Sands, over 56 stories high, 220 metres and with a garden, restaurant and observation platform.

I paid the 20 Singapore dollars to look at the view.

The view was spectacular, the waterfront with the container ships moored into the sea in a real South Asian feel, the huge high rise buildings that seemed to go on forever and the Boat Quay a real haven for tourists, especially in the evening.

But it was somehow, surreal. An air conditioned walkway for people to spend and then spend again, drawn into the shining shops with wonderful goods.

No where did I feel anything spiritual at all. I wondered if it was the fact that it was all ‘man made’ or was it just me being spaced out with travelling!
Maybe this is what happens when life becomes over designed with no spaces for real life to be found.
Amazing but not for me!

Rev’d Sue Martin

Walworth in Southwark

By faithgoeswalkabout

On February 19, 2012

In community, Faith and business, Faith goes walkabout, pastoral

What a contrast! Walking down from the Elephant and Castle on the Walworth Rd, and finding my way to the Electric Elephant cafe on Tuesday morning.

A very welcome coffee and start to my placement with Near Neighbours project from the Church Urban Fund.

The next four weeks will be a real mix of places to go and people to see, a real ‘walkabout’.

Already I have explored the East St Market, running at right angles to Walworth Rd, found my way through the side streets to St Peter’s Church, walked into the Caribbean bakery and then back to the Rockingham estate community centre to meet with the Bengali Women’s group.

A real adventure and beyond that I will be going to activities for children and families and find out how they work and what opportunities are available.

Rev’d Sue Martin