Revd David Runcorn led the Clergy Advent Study Day with a time of reflection on two bible readings from Mark’s gospel. He invited clergy to share in groups what the scriptures were saying to them in the midst of November 2020.
Crossing an unknown sea – journeys of faith with Jesus using stories from Mark’s gospel.
During the Stepney Clergy Advent Study Day, David Runcorn Free-range priest led the time of reflection with two bible readings from Mark’s gospel. He invited clergy to share in groups what the scriptures were saying to them in the midst of November 2020.
The groups fed back to each other:
- “Amongst all the challenges of this year we have a ‘genuine hope’ to hold onto”
- “We need to take time to be present to ourselves, just as a child can be absorbed with a simple building site.”
- “For some of us the desert places, have been our deserted churches… we need to hold onto the fact that Jesus is still there in the deserts.”
- “Some important words for today have been ‘rest’ resilience’ ‘holding onto the lessons God has taught us.”
- “Our prayers are often too polite, prayers in the bible often aren’t and yet we often train people to pray in polite ways to a God who is ready to hear whatever we bring him “
- “Jesus is present in the storm, the calm and the questions asking us ‘who is this?’
- “What happened to the other boats? The disciple’s earnest prayers were heard and other benefitted from the overflow of God’s grace”
- “We are called to be a non-anxious presence amongst those who don’t yet know Jesus.”
- “That simple prayer may be the most helpful: ‘Help us to know what is ours to do’
- “Sometimes we need to wait to hear what God is saying, the signal amongst the noise”
- “Dead calm may not be so useful to sailors, we need to be wary of asking for too much peace and safety… praying “Help us to know what is ours to do’ when I feel tempted or driven towards control – it’s not my job to calm the storm”
- “Maybe we need to love the storm, and love the calm and embrace them both, the tone of Jesus when he tells the storm to calm down…”
- “The Jesus stories just keep on giving!”
