Start:Stop-Revealing the Underground Stream

Forgotten Streams by Crista Igelsias

Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop. This reflection will last around ten minutes and you are welcome to come and go as your schedule dictates. We begin with a short bible reading which can be found on page 37 of the New Testament.

Bible Reading - Mark 1.9-13

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Reflection

St Mark is, among other things, the Patron Saint of Venice - a city which bore more than a passing similarity to this part of London not so long ago. When Thomas More lived in a large house on what is now Bucklersbury, just opposite the entrance to the church, this whole area would have been like a smaller version of Venice - with boats able to take people from the Thames right up to jetties leading to their front doors. Nowadays the River Walbrook is all but forgotten - one of the few visual reminders we have is the sculpture by the artist Crista Iglesias, which was commissioned as part of the Bloomberg building development. Her installation, ‘Forgotten Streams’ may not follow the route of the Walbrook exactly, nor will its cast-bronze riverbed and treated water provide much in the way of a habitat for wildlife, but the two pools offer a hint at what lies hidden underfoot - and the stone bench around them encourage us to stop and spend time there.

Dr Jane Williams, who has written the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book this year, invites us to spend the weeks leading up to Easter rediscovering a river. She asks us to consider the start of Lent not as the point at which Jesus enters the arid wilderness for forty days - but at his baptism in the River Jordan. Here, after his immersion in the waters, Jesus encounters the presence of the Holy Spirit - in dramatic circumstances according to Mark’s account - and hears the voice of His father - our Father - saying “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Jane Williams suggests it is here, immersed in the mighty river of God’s love, that we should begin our Lenten journey - starting out each day by listening to God's words - reminding ourselves that we are God’s beloved children. Her rationale goes far deeper than a "take something on rather than give something up" strategy for Lent, and strikes right at the heart of our faith. It is here, in the river, that Jesus's ministry is defined and against which it is tested in the wilderness - and it is our dependence on this mighty river of love that is the only defining characteristic we share as Christians. So, it seems appropriate that it is here, in the river, that we should begin our observance of Lent.

Starting each day remembering we are beloved won't make God's love for us any greater - nothing we can do can change that - but, like the immediacy of Mark's gospel account of Jesus's baptism, it may help to bring to the present the reality of this mysterious gift - a gift freely given and one which, as people who inhabit a world defined by transactional relationships, we can find difficult to accept.

It is said that six weeks can be long enough to make or break a habit - but the habitual acceptance of God’s unconditional love for us can turn into a lifetime endeavour - even (or perhaps especially) for the most famous theologians and spiritual writers. Thomas Merton wrote "If you find God with great ease, perhaps it is not God you have found.”

Whilst religious practice will never make perfect, however long we persevere, it is vital if we are to uncover what Paul Bayes, the Bishop of Liverpool, calls the ever-present “underground stream” that lies between the fountain of our baptism and the eternal sea of love. He reminds us that religious practice "is not cumulative. There is no way to become ‘advanced’. All we will ever be is increasingly experienced beginners.” The reason we call ourselves practising Christians is because we are just that.

If we are destined never to perfect our endeavour and if nothing we can do will make any difference anyway, then why should we bother at all?

Paul Bayes draws strength from those who are daily renewed by the “underground stream” and finds these are people who have embraced the mystery of God’s love - not sought to explain it. Like Jane Williams, he looks to writers such as Julian of Norwich and Teresa of Avila for wisdom.

Teresa of Avila suffered long periods of dryness, when the “underground stream” seemed far out of reach - whilst all the time receiving requests for spiritual direction and guidance. She felt like a fraud. In her writings she explains that we do not pray because it makes us feel good or so that we may have some wonderful mystical experience; these come and go, like our insight and understanding. But the practice of prayer and reading from scripture - through which Jesus sustained himself in the arid wilderness - helps us to come closer to the mystery of God’s love. Teresa describes the activity of prayer as “like the little donkeys that draw the......waterwheel. Though their eyes are shut and they have no idea what they are doing, these donkeys will draw more water than the gardener can with all his efforts.”

It is Paul Bayes’ prayer that as we set out each day searching for God, on a quest for understanding that never really seems to get going, perhaps we will start to wear down the ground outside our front door until we find we have uncovered the underground stream - the presence of God. In a few moments of silence before we pray perhaps we might practice removing our blinkers for a moment, and as Jane Williams suggests, return to the river of our baptism to hear that God is there, waiting patiently for us to tell us that we are beloved.

Meditation

Prayers

Please join me in prayer. The response to : God of love, mighty river is : flow over us, within us and through us.

God of love, mighty river,

flow over us, within us and through us.

We pray that we may begin each day in the knowledge that we are your children and are beloved.

Surround us with the waters of our baptism, a river of mercy, source of life and love.

May the mystery of this river bring hope to those in the deserts of despair and from the long droughts of the mind.

May the gift of your unfailing love, through your grace, continually sustain us.  

God of love, mighty river,

flow over us, within us and through us.

God of love, mighty river, cleanse us; purify the channels of our lives.

Help us to see ourselves and each other as streams flowing from one river;

We pray for peace on earth and an end to violence and conflict. 

Give strength to those suffering at the hands of others;

Grant wisdom to those seeking to bring about reconciliation.

We pray for the Church, it’s Bishops, Priests and Deacons and for the Government, The Lord Mayor and all in positions of responsibility. May the power of your love drive all who take decisions which affect the lives of others.

God of love, mighty river,

flow over us, within us and through us.

God of love, mighty river, bear us along with your flood of life-giving service.

We pray for all those known to us in need, the sick, the poor, the distressed.

May these flowing waters drive us to serve them, following the way of your Son.

May we be His reflection in this ever glowing stream.

Give us the courage to practice our faith, not because your love needs to be earned but because by sharing love amongst your beloved children we may see more clearly your love for us.

God of love, mighty river,

flow over us, within us and through us.

God of love, mighty river, bear us down to the ocean, the ocean of thy love.

Lord, your love for us passes all understanding.

Help us to draw water from the sweet springs of your kindness and your ineffable sea of love, even when we cannot see the flowing waters in between.

Nourish our faith until our hearts find their rest in you and we are united in love in eternal life.

God of love, mighty river,

flow over us, within us and through us.

(Inspired by and adapted from prayers written by Chandran Devanesan and St Gertrude the Great).

Blessing

May the God of Love, mighty river,

Pour life into our bodies,

Love into our hearts and

Joy into our spirit.

Let us go now,

our lives filled to overflowing

with His love to be outpoured.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop today. We begin Lent next Wednesday with a special Choral Eucharist and Imposition of Ashes here at 12.45pm. The service will be led by The Bishop of London. I hope to see you there. The next reflection will begin in a few minutes.