Mindfulness blog by Petra Elsmore

Poem by Cate Jacobs from St Bride’s

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt asks a simple, but difficult question: why do we search for self-transcendence? Why do we attempt to lose ourselves? In a tour through the science of evolution by group selection, he proposes a provocative answer.

…an amazing TED talk… Well worth watching.

Last Sunday I was looking through the Observer’s Food Monthly magazine when a particular article caught my eye. It was an interview with the philosopher of everyday life, Alain de Botton (Cadwalladr, 2012). Botton has recently written a book entitled ‘Religion for Atheists’ in which he suggests that ‘civil society should steal the things religion does well but leave out all the God stuff’ (ibid). The heading caught my eye because it said something about Botton’s plans to open a restaurant based on the Christian Mass. In the course of the interview, the conversation turned to a focus on the obsession with food, rather than on that of gathering and meeting; that sometimes so much effort goes into creating the food but that that is only part of the experience.

oday we are focussing on the role of silence in the experience of God and its role as a spiritual practice for Christians. In this short paper I am suggesting that Christianity, as all authentic spiritual movements, was born out of a profound experience of God and that silent or inner prayer (in its various forms) has a key part to play in the experience of God today, and ultimately in the transformation of human consciousness, culture and society.

Spiritual Philosophy: The Novel

Written by Anthony C Green FeedARead 2011, £7.99

Reviewed by Russell Barnes

Preparing to talk about prayer in St Bride's tomorrow, I came across this wonderful passage from Thomas Merton...

Jonathan Clathworthy writes

More on the proposed Anglican Covenant. This Covenant is the product of the debate over gay bishops: the idea is that the different international provinces, including the Church of England, will sign a commitment to consult each other before doing anything controversial.

We focused on our Patron Saint in our service this morning. Here’s a great piece from the Irish Times last year which puts the saint into feminist perspective as a weaver of peace and community - wonderful stuff….

You have to use words

but words cannot capture God

You have to use words

but words cannot capture

You have to use words

but words cannot

You have to use words

but words

You have to use words

but

You have to use words

You have to

You

Carrying a Candle by Jan Sutch Pickard

Guest blogger for the Guardian, Declan McSweeney, visits St Bride's in Toxteth, the scene of serious street violence in 1981 and again in August. He finds a church with plenty to do

As Autumn flames across park and field as smoke curls from ditch and garden as birds sing their farewell song as frost begins to touch the ground and our hearts are warmed by the scent, sound and touch of it, then is the time to throw away the heavy stones of anger, regret and fear, which harden our hearts. Now is the time to gather stones of praise to build a cairn of thankfulness to our God for all the blessings of our Autumn life.

~ Kate McIlhagga

We are All Saints!? (saintliness– dimensions of self– beatitudes) Contemporary spirituality gives a lot of attention to the self. Spiritual teacher Andrew Cohen for example says:

We're about to start a new season of "Living the Questions" at St Bride's. Preparing to lead the course again I found myself side-tracked by this wonderful poem...

CHRISTPOWER

St Brides
Sunday 2 October 2011, 10.0 am
Bible reading: Matthew 13:33
The Parables of Jesus
Aim of the series: to explore new research on what Jesus would have meant when he told the parables.

The term Transition in this context refers to the growing aspiration among many people around the world to learn how to transition to an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, and socially just human presence on the planet. It is expressed in various ways, sometimes called Transition, sometimes The Great Turning (Joanna Macy, David Korten) or the Necessary Revolution (Peter Senge). All of these are responses to the growing awareness that we live in an extraordinary time of convergence of problems which will require some radical responses if we are to get through them without enormous suffering.

Three Isaiahs - notes from Steve Shakespeare's Talk on 31st July 2011