After Chris, then Billy..

In the past week (or so), Chris was back from Uni & made a point of visiting for a coffee & chat. He wanted to make good use of the time & we ended up deciding not to just talk about doing things, but to set some time aside to DO something, that we think we're made to do! This wasn't "öut there", so much in this external world God has made (and involved us in its continuing making), but more in the invisible world of thought & communication. So we made space to create; a poem, a song, a picture etc. It was fun, though neither of us finished what we started. The next week before he left, he visited & said how much he'd appreciated actually being helped to use time to create, and how he'd tried to do that with other friends he'd met with in between, to good effect.

So, we had another go.

It was the 18th of the month, so we read Proverbs ch 18 (out loud, alternating proverb by proverb), then told each other the three proverbs that had most interested/ impacted us. Then, choosing the one that least interested/impacted us from those three, we had 5 or ten minutes to make it into a song/dance/chant/ditty/ etc. Then we presented them to each other. I recorded our attempts. It was fun. Gilbert came in & helped us with some harmonies too.

Then the other night at a community meal, I was sitting beside Billy & recalled Chris's comments. Our community calendar has suggested that we read through Matthew ch 5 this month & pick a verse (or more) to memorize, so that we can meditate on it & let it into us in a deeper way... So we read the chapter through & picked a verse or two. We happened to pick the same one; Matthew 5:16 from The Message translation by Eugene Petersen. It goes like this...

14-16 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.


I didn't get to present it to Billy that night, so here it is Billy. This is my attempt to put it to a beat, to help get it into me more: God, help us to grow more to be like you, our father in heaven.