A meditation
John Mason offers some thoughts on receiving ministry in worship and in service
When you are speaking,
I am:
Reading between your lines;
Listening beneath your words;
Interpreting posture, gesture and tone;
Getting a sense of the ‘you’ that is speaking;
Seeking what you are experiencing that generates what you do and say.
When I speak,
I hope that you are:
Reading between my lines;
Listening beneath my words;
Interpreting posture, gesture and tone;
Getting a sense of the ‘me’ that is speaking;
Seeking what I am experiencing that generates what I do and say.
When you are speaking,
I am trying:
To resist the first reactions that surface;
to question what first arises in me;
to take time to discern what is appropriate,
to say at most what needs to be said;
to seek alignment between our spirits.
When I am speaking
I hope that you are trying:
to resist the first reactions that surface;
to question what first arises in you;
to take time to discern what is appropriate,
to say at most what needs to be said;
to seek alignment between our spirits.
This is what it means to receive ministry from others,
both in worship, and in service.
How can I remember:
that what arises in me may not agree with your intent;
that we may not be fully aligned;
that I may be mistaken?
How can I remember:
to take everything said and done, as ministry;
as coming from the quiet place in each of us?
How can I remember:
that others may take what I say and do as ministry, even unawares;
that being still, itself distils?
It is so much easier when:
my words and actions come from a still, spirit-led space, in the light;
your words and actions come from a still, spirit-led space, in the light;
we are centred, in-dwelling a considered place.
