Faith Goes Walkabout – Page 14 – Thoughts and reflections

Christmas Eve

On December 24, 2016

Mary & Joseph. Image from BBC Nativity

Christmas Eve has arrived! I had a message this morning that, ‘You’re never too grown up to stop looking at the skies for Father Christmas’. Quite right.

A wonderful time for families across the world, waiting, hoping, sharing, getting ready.

Maybe this year you’ve gone overboard on the presents, maybe like me you have been too the supermarket one too many times and just been amazed at the size of the laden shopping trolleys and maybe today we can all stop, take a break and wait….

Wait for the Light of the World to come among us, to heal and to teach, to be with us and for us.

Even if it’s only for a few minutes lets release all the worries and the fears, they will still be there in two days time.

Christmas is the most special time in the year, a time to enjoy, and a time to know that God is with us, the Word made man.

Rev’d Sue Martin

Bethlehem

By faithgoeswalkabout

On December 22, 2016

In Advent, Christmas

The famous journey to Bethlehem must have started about this day. Mary and Joseph travelling alone to be registered.

Our vision of Bethlehem is of the city outlined against the starry night sky.

Today many people are trapped behind the huge walls in Bethlehem that have surrounded them, and from which they are not able to get out, apart from through the guarded roadside posts Palestinians. Both Christian and Muslim have little access to making a livelihood for themselves.

I met Mahmoud in Manger Square, and still have the embroidered phone case which his wife had made and which he was selling. He refused to take money from me as we had talked and talked! He used to work in Jerusalem as a builder but now finds no work at all trapped in Bethlehem.

Mahmoud in Bethlehem

This is still the place where we will find the Christ child, in the places where people struggle and lifes torments are most acute and long lasting.

O Little Town of Bethlehem., how still we see thee lie,

Above the deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stard go by.

Yet in the dark streets shineth, the everlasting light,

The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

Shine on in our hearts so we can see the way to help and support those living in Bethlehem today.

Rev’d Sue Martin

Advent 4 – Mary and Angel Gabriel

By faithgoeswalkabout

On December 20, 2016

In Advent, Christmas, Uncategorized

Love, openness and forgiveness

Image courtesy of BBC Nativity 2010

2 Samuel 7:1 – 11, Luke 1: 26-38

What vision of Mary do you have in your mind?

What kind of picture of this young mother do you have?

Is it that serene and graceful woman, often shown much later in life that Mary actually was, gazing with love and awe at baby Jesus?

Or is it of a good looking young girl, with lots of dark hair, and full of character, wondering how, where and why she has been given this enormous and immensely special task?

Whichever way you think of Mary, maybe you can see her face in images from around the world of young people who are given responsibility above their age?

If you have chance to watch reports from Channel 4 of Aleppo you will see a young teenage boy distraught with grief who then turns to help an older woman who has lost her daughter. Harrowing, especially at this time of Christmas, when all should be well.

I keep in mind the sight of the Mary who trusted in God so much and went through a huge struggle in her world.

O Little Town of Bethlehem, be born in us tonight.

Rev’d Sue Martin

Light up a Life!

By faithgoeswalkabout

On December 7, 2016

In community, Faith goes walkabout

Light up a Life services with the Norfolk Hospice, Tapping House are being held this week.

Over a hundred people joined us on Sunday 4th December, at King’s Lynn Minster and lit candles which were placed on the altar. Carols were sung and people had chance to reflect and join together over a cup of tea and a mince pie.

On Monday December 5th, a service was held at the Sandringham Visitor’s Centre and more than a hundred people listened, prayed and lit candles too. Tea and mince pies again on offer and a well needed chance to meet and chat!

When we lose someone we love.… a chance to read the address

Rev’d Sue Martin

Chaplain to the Norfolk Hospice, Tapping House

Advent: Are we ready?

By faithgoeswalkabout

On December 4, 2016

In Advent, church seasons, Faith goes walkabout

See more here…

Advent calling. Are you getting ready, what can you actually do to get ready, how much time do you need and will this have the right effect?

My Advent reading this year is with Tom Wright, a great writer of commentaries and his Advent for Everyone: A Journey Thrugh Matthew.

So get ready for the adventure ahead, or are you already Advent ready!

Matthew 3:1-10 is the place to be!

Advent content available here…

John was preaching in the Judean wilderness. By all accounts John was a wild character, clothes made from camel hair, eating locusts and honey and foretold by Isaiah that there would be a voice in the wilderness shouting in the desert.

And he doesn’t let us down! As in Matthew 3:7 he says to the Pharisees approaching, who were full of pride and righteousness.

‘You brood of vipers, who warned you to escape from the coming wrath, you had better prove your repentance by bearing the right sort of fruit!

But what about us?

Can we take ourselves away from the glitter and spending for a little while, to reflect and prepare for Jesus coming into our world?

Advent is a wonderful time of year and it does bring Jesus into many homes, through Nativities, cards, carols and the church services. We can pass on that understanding of what Christmas is actually about.

That wonderful togetherness and joyousness is a reflection of the joy that Jesus can bring into all our lives.

It isn’t a case that we have to stop enjoying the preparations, let’s all have a great time and make as much festive Christmas preparations as we can, let’s light up the churches, let’s light up the world and let’s light up our hearts with the knowledge that once again we find ourselves at this splendidly wonderful time of year.

Rev’d Sue Martin

Faith, Hope and Compassion at the End of Life

By faithgoeswalkabout

On September 17, 2016

In Faith goes walkabout

Sarah Tobin, our first speaker, on Compassionate Care

A training and seminar workshop for clergy and medics, at The Norfolk Hospice, Tapping House was held on Sept 16^th 2016. Over 40 participants from across Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, listened to three speakers and enjoyed time together sharing stories and exploring ideas.

The three speakers brought different aspects of compassion and faith to the sessions;

Sarah Tobin, is a lecturer at the University of Plymouth and a Clinical Nurse Specialist at Torbay Hospital. She gave an amazing talk on compassionate care in the health service and how we can teach it and make sure that it is part of the experience of nursing staff to go above and beyond or just to share a simple act of kindness.

Rev’d Catherine Dixon is a Methodist Presbyter in West Norfolk. She has recently gained an MA in Pastoral Theology at Anglia Ruskin, Cambridge and is studying for a Ph.D. Her talk was based on the title of her studies, From Glory to Glory: Ministry to the Dying. It provided a unique slant on how practices and acceptance of death has changed over the last 50 years.

Rev’d Sue Martin FRSA, is Hospice Chaplain and licensed with the Norwich Diocese, and is keen to explore the wider aspects of ministry, including being alongside people at the end of their lives, meeting with families, offering compassion and support. Her talk was based on work within a health care setting, offering methodology and stories about walking alongside.

Fuller details of Sue’s presentation will be available on www.faithgoeswalkabout.org

(See Sue’s page Faith and Work here for a copy of her slides…)

The day provided a much needed resource and chance to talk and share with colleagues across professional boundaries, we are hoping that we can continue to develop further workshops in the future.

Rev’d Sue Martin Chaplain to the Norfolk Hospice, Tapping House

First Steps to Santiago

By faithgoeswalkabout

On September 13, 2016

In pilgrimage

Pilgrims en route,from Norwich Diocese another time

Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford sets out on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. His first steps are recorded on his twitter feed as he heads off along the Camino del Norte.

The start of a pilgrimage can be so exciting, an adventure in the making. To have arrived at the point of setting out is a journey in itself. No doubt for Bishop Stephen it will have taken some organising to have released himself from his day to day tasks and the pressures and joys of ministry in the Diocese of Chelmsford.

We are very fond of pilgrimages!! Journeying, setting out, exploration, discovery, walking with God, what could be better than that!

Faith Goes Walkabout is in essence about finding your way, taking first steps, exploring, looking beyond what you first see. On a pilgrimage your mind becomes freer and walking with God along a path or a route helps you find your way. You may not even be lost but God will find you.

Last year was a busy pilgrimage year and with the Diocese of Norwich travelled to the

Holy Land with Pilgrimage People and Papua New Guinea.

We wish Bishop Stephen well on his pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

Rev’d Sue Martin

Faith Goes Walkabout

Where is your treasure?

By faithgoeswalkabout

On July 31, 2016

In Uncategorized

July 31^st Tenth Sunday in Trinity

St Mary’s Church East Walton, Norfolk

Where your treasure is there will your heart be also

Hosea 11:1-11

Colossians 3:1-11

Luke 12:13-21

I would really like to put my head in the sand and be an ostrich at this time. A few weeks ago I thought that was possible and that when I came up for air then all this turmoil, worry and disaster would have gone away and life would be more settled.

But it hasn’t and there have been such dreadful things happening that they are now impossible to ignore. They are creating fear, despair, upset and rage and then what happens next?

In our prayers, be with all those in Rouen at the dreadful killing of Fr. Hamel, at the Eucharist, we ask God to look with compassion on his family on earth, to break down the barriers that some want to erect between different people, counter the effects of evil in our time and be with all those who mourn and who have been involved in these sufferings.

What I am going to talk about is seeking those things which are above in God’s world, getting rid of malice, fear, anger and wrath and being with God and God with us at every step of the way.

Where your treasure is there will your heart be also

Extract from sermon for 10th Sunday in Trinity

Rev’d Sue Martin Diocese of Norwich

Nice, France 14th July 2016

By faithgoeswalkabout

On July 16, 2016

In community, Faith goes walkabout

On the warm summers evening in Nice, people were out celebrating Bastille Day, enjoying family time, friendship, camaraderie and the beautiful setting of the promenade, the Mediterranean and the city.

The destruction that followed is beyond description and belief, I don’t understand how anyone in their right mind could have driven that lorry and killed so many innocent people.

Was this done in the name of something else, religion…No, organisations on other shores… who knows?

So many questions to which there will never be an answer. On TV news, the father of the driver held up a medical letter stating that his son needed constant psychiatric medications. A plea maybe to give some reasoning behind the action.

What can we do? How can we feel? Where does this leave us and everyone else in Europe?

I would suggest that ‘at a loss’ is most people’s attitude. Apparently the following evening, beyond the Promenade Anglais, the bars and cafe’s were open, people were not afraid and would not be intimidated. But it does leave a sense of fear which will spread beyond Nice and that is exactly what must not happen.

Nick Blaine’s blog makes good reading

Fear is the biggest weapon in the hands of the enemy, it develops hate and prejudice.

In all that is happening in this world of 2016, a seemingly crazy year, let us look to others, for support and friendship, not close our doors, and retreat to an ever narrowing circle of life.

And pray…. for those in Nice, for those close to us and far away and for those who have just a touch of badness in us. I have added a prayer written by a 12 yr old on to the prayers on Faith Goes Walkabout.

Rev’d Sue Martin

Diocese of Norwich

Come, walk with me…

By faithgoeswalkabout

On July 5, 2016

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

This has been an amazing two weeks in the UK, a referendum that has seen us exiting Europe, unbelievable and now unstoppable. There is so much to say that I am lost for words and maybe this isn’t the place to express what I feel in deep sadness and concern.

And so… recently I was working in London, just off Southwark Bridge and had a couple of spare hours to myself, an experience that seldom happens. In my sermon for July 3rd I express what actually happened to me on that day. My intention was to go for a wander in London and a nice coffee somewhere.
What actually happened was not quite as expected, and I found myself in the chapel at Southwark cathedral.

For way of a change to the usual address style, the sermon was delivered by two people, see Sermons 2016.

It is a reflection of how life can change sometimes and take you into places that help you, if you listen in the first place.

Come, walk with me…

Rev’d Sue Martin

July 31st Tenth Sunday in Trinity

St Mary’s Church East Walton, Norfolk

July 31^st Tenth Sunday in Trinity