Naming here
It can help to find the words to tell the truth of where you are now. If you can find the courage to name ‘here’ – especially in the place where you do not wish to be – it can help you be there. Instead of resenting another’s words of gladness or pain, it may be possible to hear it simply as another location. They are there and I am here...everyone will pass by many locations in their life…Hello to here.
For decades I have thought of the words ‘You are here’ and ‘Yes I am’ as good places to begin something that might be called prayer…However we are often in many places. We are saying to ourselves ‘ I should be somewhere else ‘ or ‘I should be someone else’
- Padraig O Tuama, In the Shelter
I wish to borrow Tuama’s Hello/Welcome motif addressing, as we look through the life of Jesus in the gospel of Mark, one thing:
The naming and welcoming of, What is Here?
We will keep Bridget's table and empty chairs picture in view throughout with its open invitation to Come and sit. We will welcome what is (grief, wonder,...) and also prepare a space for the One who would join us.