Uniting in Prayer 2024 runs for 35 days during May and June and is an opportunity for the whole of the Uniting Church to come before God as we discern out future together.  One way to participate is through the daily shared prayer.  These prayers are drawn from people across the breadth of the Uniting Church and our faith tradition.

I’d like to share a prayer that is a piece of art from Jessie Injamad.  Jessie learnt to weave from her grandmother. She fondly remembers the hours she spent as a young girl learning this traditional craft. It was always a special time of learning, sharing and storytelling as large groups of women of all ages would spend days working together to make large sitting mats and baskets. Jessie also recounts that this was also a special time to share Bible stories and talk about faith.

Faith Mat – Pandanas and natural dyes – by Jessie Injamad, Warruwi 2021

Weaving takes a long time- you have to collect the pandanus and then strip it for weaving. Then you have to collect all the different colours for dying the pandanus. After the pandanus is dyed and dried then it takes a long time to make the mat.

Life as a Christian is a bit the same: You start very small in the middle and it keeps growing. All the colours are like different seasons in your life. Faith keeps growing as you keep learning. Sometimes I get it wrong and I need to think about my mother or grandmother and the way they taught me. Sometimes I need to get help from other people. It takes a long time and it is slow work but it makes me really happy.

Blessings – Heather (she/her).

This coming Sunday is Pentecost, the day when Christians around the world celebrate the formation of the church, the day when the Holy Spirit came and called people into community as Christ’s body and blessed them. This day is a special day in the church calendar and we mark it by reading again the story as told in Acts 2, wearing a splash of red, or singing hymns which emphasise the Spirit.

I sometimes think that when we remember things as happening in the past, we relegate them to that time only. The coming of the Holy Spirit is something we can’t explain and partly because of this, I wonder if we are less open to that being a reality for us now.

In the 1960’s the song Spirit of God was written by Medical Mission Sister Miriam Therese Winter, an American Roman Catholic feminist musician, theologian and writer. While its words are primarily about the Spirit in creation, they also bring a prayer that is just as relevant for us today.

Spirit of God in the clear running water

Blowing to greatness the trees on the hill

Spirit of God in the finger of morning

Fill the Earth, bring it to birth

And blow where you will

Blow, blow, blow ’til I be

But the breath of the Spirit blowing in me

May our prayer be that the Spirit of God will blow within each of us and that we will be receptive to what the Spirit offers us.

Blessings – Heather (she/her).

We are mostly used to hearing patriarchal language describe God.  Father, Son and Spirit is used much more than Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.  Yet throughout scripture we do find images of God as Mother if we know where to look.  As we approach Mother’s Day, and remember the women who are important in our lives, let us remind ourselves of some of those lesser-known mothering descriptions of God.

In Isaiah 42:14 God is birth-giver, crying out in labour, and later in Isaiah 66:13 God is seen as a comforting mother.  In Hosea 11:4 God is imaged as nursing infants, and in Deuteronomy 32:11 as an eagle, hovering over her young and protecting them when trouble comes.

These mothering images of God are not contained only in the Old Testament.  In Matthew 23:37-39 we find Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem, and hear him wishing he could gather people together just as a hen gathers her chicks, keep them close and sheltered.

These images are nurturing and it is comforting to think of God being like a calm, compassionate mother.  However God is also depicted as a ferocious mother-bear (Hosea 13:8a), profoundly attached to her cubs and responding with strength and power when they are taken from her.

This Mother’s Day, let us remember and honour all those women who have nurtured and cared for us; those who have birthed new ideas within us and fed us with their wisdom; those who have provided places of safety and protection; and those whose strength and power have stood with us when we have need it.

Blessings – Heather (she/her).

‘A day without laughing is a day wasted.

This insightful Charlie Chaplin quote is quite appropriate for today which is known as World Laughter Day.  We know that laughter is good for the soul and while it may not resolve complex situations, it does a great job of making us feel better.

Despite our gender, age or nationality we all laugh in the same language.  Laughter is universal and is the language that bridges cultural barriers, connecting all types of people.

I wonder what it would feel like if could try to ‘just laugh’ rather than respond in word to something funny or humorous?  It might alter our internal chemistry, uplift our spirits and improve our sense of being.

According to Dr Madan Kataria, ‘when we laugh we change, and when we change, the way we look at the world changes too.’

While I agree with Dr Kataria, I wonder whether an ongoing, more sustained way of seeing the world in a positive light, is to practise following the way of Jesus. For when we look at the world through Jesus’ eyes, we will see differently.  Also, when we immerse ourselves in the love of God, and live within and operate out of that each day, our spirits will be lifted and we will be given the grace we need to respond to everything that comes our way.

So in the next week why don’t try to enjoy a laugh and time with God each day.

Blessings – Heather (she/her).

Lord God, who desires peace for all people,
on this day we prayers to prayerfully,
respectfully and thankfully
remember the contribution made by men and women
during wars and conflicts and while training.
We think of the many people killed in action,
those who were wounded,
and those who suffered in body, mind and spirit,
long after they returned home.
We remember relatives and members of each community
who made sacrifices that we might live in peace and freedom.
Help us show our appreciation in the way that we live.
We also remember the friends and family members
who carried the burden of loss and grief
and carried on the work of raising families
when their loved ones were away.
May this solemn moment remind us of the privilege of life
and of the debt of gratitude we have.
Lord, teach us to develop new ways of resolving conflict
in our homes, schools, communities and between nations.
We pray for those who engage in the slow and patient work of diplomacy.
We pray that you would bless all who live in this land,
those whose ancestors were custodians,
those born here and those who choose to make it their home.
May grace, mercy and peace be with us
today and always,
through Jesus, Prince of Peace.
Amen.

Blessings – Heather (she/her).

If I asked you what was going on in the world, I’m sure that many of the things you shared would be the ‘bad news’ stories that we are bombarded with.  We witness injustice, find it hard to get our heads around why some things happen, and can think the problem is too big for us to do anything about.  We want to assist and can, at times, feel quite helpless to do anything at all.

In light of what has happened in the last week, I was thinking about this.  At the same time I received an email from Graham Ray.  It contained a well-known story, but it spoke into what I think many of us may have been feeling.  Let me share it with you …

Have you ever walked along a beach and seen starfish washed up?

The story goes, that a man was walking along a beach covered in starfish. As he walks along, he notices a young girl picking up starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean. The man approaches the girl and asks why she is bothering to throw the starfish back into the water, as there are too many for her to a difference.

The girl responds by picking up another starfish and throwing it into the ocean, saying, “I made a difference to that one.”

Perhaps this story is about the power of individual action and the importance of making a difference in the world, even if we can’t solve every problem.  Small acts of kindness and compassion can make a difference to someone, and we should not be discouraged by the scale of the problems we face.

May each one of us do what we can, in the places we find ourselves, to make a difference.

Blessings – Heather (she/her).