Space For God

Reflections on Space For God - Rebecca

Posted: 28/03/2007

I came to Space for God not knowing what I was looking for, besides space in my life for thinking about the important things. I didn't expect such friendship, or poetry or peace; neither did I expect such great challenges to my soul.

Space for God is never the same for me, never the same people, never the same stories, never the same format. Every week I don't know if I am going, who will be there, what age or background or faith group they will come from, what we will speak about, whether my bible will be opened, and my heart and my mind or whether I will feel like I am part of a great poem God is writing, or whether I will feel humble and terrified and excited and sad all at once. Usually it's a bit of all of them.

like the format, sitting around, some sort of offering or symbol or creative activity, some sort of music and drumming and chanting, some sort of personal sharing and learning from people whose lives are so different to my own, as hard as it can be, to continually realise social justice is vital and acknowledge that I am not always big enough to live that in my everyday.  I like the wisdom in the group, and also the laughing, why is there never enough laughing in the world? I like the interrupting and also the silence, there is also not enough of either of those.

I would love to see more activity, more active prayers, they seem to be so powerful, pouring water into a jug and holding your breath in case it flows over, rather then praying in strange words, sometimes it seems so alone and awkward, that sort of praying, perhaps because it seems more about us sometimes then something bigger, maybe the activities bypass my ego more, and I feel part of something else, instead of listening so hard to my own voice. I would love to write some words for songs, that maybe friends with beautiful voices and bodies could sing and dance to, maybe that could be my prayer offering to the group? I would love to see more cooking too; maybe we can bring more things from home to share, if not food, then parts of our lives. Even though I couldn't touch them, I loved to see Sandra's amazing walks and gatherings from her bushland wonders, like a bit of her in a fossil or a spiky leaf.

I think realising that there was not only thinking Christians, but also communities of them that so fit into my vision of community (and my work on this topic) woke something in me I had pushed aside, a wonder that I couldn't share with people who had religion scar them, and not with the cynical and the lost. To me, the fact that my partner John loves to come to Space for God, can see active Christians living faith, that says something is going so right here, he doesn't believe in God, but he believes in people and this community, fractured, shifting, balancing on a cup of coffee after midnight in Steph or Carols or Rod's house, has a heart that is ethical, sustaining and committed to difference and change, and I am very proud to be part of that.

Got you thinking? Share your thoughts with the rest of us:

---

Name
E-mail
Your words
	Click "preview" first, then click "submit" to confirm.

---