Chris Gribble

Be yourself - Everyone else is taken (Oscar Wilde)

A prayer for all creatures

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As Wind carries our prayers for Earth and All Life,
may respect and love light our way.
May our hearts be filled with compassion for others and for ourselves.
May peace increase on Earth.
May it begin with me.

A reflection on Psalm 134

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My Version

My day begins and ends with praise,
I am blessed when I consider my good fortune,
Eternity had made his home in my body,
Creation’s source reaches into my heart,
Truth illumines my life,
Opening my soul’s eyes to love unleashed,
From a heart big enough to miss no one.

A reflection on Psalm 133

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My Version

I love the sound of community,
Moments of intimacy shared,
Makes my heart sing,
Laughter born from understanding,
Creating the music of eternity,
Praise that expresses joy together,
In the midst is the Voice, smiling,
Laughter’s source wishing well,
On all who hear his call to joy.

Test

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A reflection on Psalm 73

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My Version

Contempt will receive its own reward,
It draws from a spring of deep pride,
That spews out hate words,
Words that have murderous intent,
They only care for their own life,
With no thought of their destructive ways.
Every day is the opportunity,
For contempt to find new ways to wreak havoc,
The hater’s smile spreads,
When hurt is created,
Each wound inflicted adds to hate’s pleasure.

The hater’s world is surrounded by fear,
Lashing out to bring down others,
ThIs is all they know,
They build a false sense of security,
Luring others into believing lies.

I succumbed to contempt,
I made the hater happy for a long time,
But, then I made the choice,
To listen to God.
My weak spirit – was broken,
God blocked the hater’s words,
The contempt didn’t stop.,
God just allowed me to hear his voice,
He gathered up my broken heart,
And, today I walk with him,
We talk daily about life and hope and love,
Now this is what I talk about myself,
To anyone who cares to listen.

A reflection on Psalm 71

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My version 

Why do my haters wish ill on me?
They stay awake at night thinking the worst about me,
I sleep like a baby,
Knowing that God is with me,
All the things that were used to condemn,
Are coming back to stare my dear enemy in the face,
His destructive plotting,
Will be his own ruin.

God has been with me for a long time,
My hater’s words,
Don’t worry me anymore,
Because I know God will come through,
He never has let me down,
Even when the hate words inundated me,
And, I forgot how powerful God is,
God is still my deliverer.

Shame will be defeated by loyalty,
When God reaches out to me,
I will hold my head high,
Vindicated by God’s word to me,
I choose the trusting loving words,
Of a trusting, loving, powerful, faithful God,
Not the word vomit of an unfaithful enemy,
The choice should be obvious,
Please help me to always remember,
The difference between the smell of vomit,
And, the smell of hope.

Words are important,
Words used in a song of praise,
Is the language of Eternity,
Praise, Praise, Praise.
Never ceasing,
Begins in my life now.

Big Dreams – Possibility emerges

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“Grasping at things can only yield one of two results:
Either the thing you are grasping at disappears, or you yourself disappear.
It is only a matter of which occurs first.”
Goenka

A year ago I arrived from Queensland, Australia in Austin, Texas to attend the first retreat of a Courage and Renewal, Leadership Academy course. I had the privilege to be the focus person in a “Clearness Committee”. My opening statement was that, “It’s been a big journey, and I’ve come a long way.” In choosing those words I was seeking to express the hugeness of physical and internal journey when arriving at the first retreat as a student.

I didn’t realise that at that point was the start of one of the most difficult and also one of the most creative phases of my life. A year ago I had various labels put on my state of mind, “depression”, “burnout”, and “grief” were a few that were relevant. Each of these can be debilitating conditions that affect different people in a range of ways. They are common to many people’s experience. My state of mind was expressed mainly as fear. I was living a fearful, uncreative life that impacted on every part of my world.

One of my harshest lessons since that first retreat nearly a year ago is learning to recreate myself. To have the courage to face my reality and the journey that emerged. Many of the things that I had attached myself to in the past were no longer there and could never be retrieved. In the words of the Quaker wisdom, “The way behind has closed”, but my experience is things have closed the way ahead has emerged.

I wrote the poem, “Where do broken dreams take me?” not as a lament but as a celebration of what lies ahead. It’s a recognition that change is constant and nothing is permanent. I had planned a desired future, dreamed about it and then it was gone.

It would be very easy to constantly lament those changes. I could be living life regretting the loss of future that I attached myself to and thinking it was going to be the only way. But, thinking this way doesn’t give life. Regret may feel like a safe haven but it requires that a person stays with an attachment to regret and in so doing losing yourself.

Being able to dream is an important part of being human. It’s what has brought humanity to where we are today. People are incredibly resourceful and creative even when facing the most adverse of situations. The biggest and best dreams have all emerged from an inner epiphany that affirms each of our humanness.

To choose to keep living means that the way ahead will continue to emerge. New dreams emerge that help create new possibilities. When understood this way life is not confined to an anxious uncertainty but a fresh appreciation of the way that closed and what lies ahead.

Where do broken dreams take me?

What future was imagined?
Splintered into a million drops of vapour,
Leaving nothing that can be grasped,
I question what was reality,
The drops of moisture remind me,
With the beads that collected,
Of dreams broken and tears shed,
And, what can never be remembered,
In the same way again.

Broken dreams are etched in my heart,
Forgetting is my heart’s desire,
Memories that keep me awake,
Regret is an easy refuge,
To evade the blows that were the breaking,
Remembering is the anxious,
Pursuit of Why?
Never to dream is the only way,
To never be broken again.
(Chris Gribble)

A reflection on Psalm 111

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My Version

My starting point each day is God,
It begins with goodness,
I can’t wait to wake up and begin my praise,
Thoughts that centre on God,
Make me feel warm inside,
My stomach stops churning,
I am totally secure,
God’s love in certain.

God breathed life into my body,
Then I sought to destroy myself,
But, God was my faithful companion,
I will never forget the day,
When I gave up, the end had come,
God turned up,
Breathing new life into my worn out soul,
Loyal, and trustworthy,
I daily seek to echo his Voice.

John 5 – The secret about rest

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When seeking to understand eternal truth our human minds can only grasp at the edges. This encounter with a cripple at the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem reminds me of how we can get it wrong and then impose our wrong beliefs on others. Confusion always abounds when creating theology that deals with the human condition. In this encounter I saw the religious leaders use their theology as a battering ram to seek to break Jesus.

This time we met a crippled man. His life was an eternity of failed hope. Disappointment had etched deep lines on his face, and the hopelessness of his situation touched his eyes. He had waited without success for nearly four decades to be healed.

Jesus started talking to this man, asking him questions about why he was there and why he hadn’t been healed. Jesus brought with him a presence of authority. The man had no idea who Jesus was. I am guessing he thought he was some kind person who may be able to help him get to the pool if the waters were stirred up.

Jesus then instructed the man to simply pick up his mat and walk! Amazingly the man did this.

This grabbed the religious leader’s attention immediately. Something had happened that was outside the rules. Firstly the pool wasn’t stirred up and secondly this was the Sabbath and if someone was healed and then carried their mat they had “worked”. They picked up on the work and forgot about the healing.

The religious leaders interrogated the crippled man. You could see the fear in their eyes as they sought to understand what was happening. They wanted to know every detail of the man’s encounter with Jesus.

The insecurity of these leaders was growing as more signs were being performed that were uncovering the lies that had been constructed. There was a hint of desperation about their questions as they saw their power base being threatened.

Insecurity makes it impossible for someone to be friends with anyone. When I looked at the religious leaders it was becoming very clear that they had to make Jesus their enemy. In their world there could only be a winner and a loser. They were going to fight to the death to be the winner.

Psalm 127

Work for work’s sake is futile activity,
Slavery to an endless list of tasks,
Only to achieve a bigger paycheck is futile,
They are illusions of success,
Rest is important too,
It teaches us that God provides.

Later on that day we met the healed man again. He was in the Temple, giving God praise for what had happened to him. Jesus was very clear in his instruction, “Stop sinning now, otherwise you will return to the despair that you had during all those years when you waited for healing.”

Those of us who were close to Jesus started to realise some things that we didn’t know when we started out. The obvious thing was the growing conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders. It was becoming very clear that they hated Jesus. Even though their questions were polite you could hear and see the contempt in their voices and eyes. Sometimes I was chilled to the core when the raw hatred was seen from close quarters.

Jesus was fearless in his presentation of the truth. Even when surrounded by contemptuous glares he did not back away from what needed to be said. The new reality was that the Voice, the Breath and the Flesh’s desire to love us humans was going to be declared to the whole world.

This meant that forgiving love would set us free from the burden of sin. I know this burden because every day is littered with my own broken standards. Then when the religious leaders standards are imposed over my own standards I come out feeling a complete failure.

The secret that Jesus was revealing when he healed the crippled man was that rest belongs to God. It’s not some legalistic predetermined day. When we enter fully into the community of the Voice, the Breath and the Flesh we discover rest.

A reflection on Psalm 51

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My Version

Why did I stop listening to my God?
Foolishly I fell in love with my own voice,
I believed my own lies,
They quickly piled up till my life crumbled,
Then I became overwhelmed with my faults,
My dear God, thank you for bringing reality.

By myself I could never make it,
Even my desire for truth is flawed,
Confusion is the best word,
To describe the self determined world.

Today Lord my heart turns to you,
Please forgive me,
Give me a fresh spirit,
One that can move forward,
From the wreckage of my mistakes.

Today Lord, I feel your breath of laughter,
Sadnesses piled up are blown away,
My impoverished spirit is restored with hope,
I love the sound of God’s laughter,
Banishing all my past errors,
Sadnesses becoming places of joy,
God transforming my life by forgiving me.

Complete honesty is God’s refuge,
I have found rest with him,
Praise is the only response,
That is enough to let people know,
My God saved my crumbled life.

A Christian Blessing

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May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,
wherever He may send you.
May He guide you through the wilderness,
protect you through the storm.
May He bring you home rejoicing
at the wonders He has shown you.
May He bring you home rejoicing
once again into our doors.

A reflection on Psalm 46

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My Version

My world is awash with pain,
Every day I see more things to fear,
A relentless coming and going of disappointments,
Life lived with sadness as its shadow,
These shadows can stretch over the day,
Threatening to block out all light.

A life lived in the shadows,
Overcome by fear,
Is not what God planned,
No, he desires us to discover,
Happiness with each new day,
Light that keeps the shadows in check,
Sadness that opens into joy.

Humility is God’s home for his children,
I need to learn to live with him,
When peace comes to me,
Life’s shadows become welcome shade,
Not an interminable disheartening,

I loved my homecoming,
Choosing God first is finding rest,
I set down my self defences,
Opened my life with no pretence,
I found fresh hope,
Everything in its right place.

A reflection on Psalm 44

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My Version

I tried to do it all myself,
Wanting to be my own saviour,
God needed to be brutal,
Because, I was headstrong,
I thought my way was the best way,
I only wanted to hear my voice.

God sometimes needs to push hard,
To get me to listen,
I can be pig headed,
Unwilling to sit in his classroom
He had to push me down in my seat,
And, still I wasn’t a good student.

My classmates said I was dumb,
They pointed out my errors,
They looked for ways to show me,
Just how stupid I was,
They tried to make each day,
A lesson about my stupidity.

God my teacher was at the front,
Showing me how to love,
But, I listened to my classmates more,
Bullied into despair,
I thought that I was unworthy,
The daily message of stupid,
Etched into my heart.

The lessons I needed to learn,
God’s voice slowly brought to light,
Hear his lesson about love,
Trust that he will deliver,
See the heart of love,
Know that the he will transform,
Words of hate and mistrust,
Into joyous shouts of praise.

Where do broken dreams take me?

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What future was imagined?
Splintered into a million drops of vapour,
Leaving nothing that can be grasped,
I question what was reality,
The drops of moisture remind me,
With the beads that collected,
Of dreams broken and tears shed,
And, what can never be remembered,
In the same way again.

Broken dreams are etched in my heart,
Forgetting is my heart’s desire,
Memories that keep me awake,
Regret is an easy refuge,
To evade the blows that were the breaking,
Remembering is the anxious,
Pursuit of Why?
Never to dream is the only way,
To never be broken again.

A reflection on Psalm 127

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My Version

Work for work’s sake is futile activity,
Slavery to an endless list of tasks,
Only to achieve a bigger paycheck is futile,
They are illusions of success,
Rest is important too,
It teaches us that God provides.

Blessings come through the gift of children,
Celebrate their unique qualities,
Take time to be pleased with them,
When my enemy lashes me ,
With his endless put downs,
My children are a true testimony,
Of a life well lived.

A reflection on Psalm 126

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My Version

I tasted the promised life,
Making my home there,
Wanting to be noticed by my friends,
Thinking that this was God’s plan,
I forgot my God,
His reminder was quick and effective,
He broke down my self constructed walls,
A divine breath took it all,
Not even the foundations remained.

Now I am prosperous again,
I don’t want to forget why,
To get everything I needed to give it all away,
Riches begin to abound,
Fresh hope courses through my veins,
I delight in every gift,
My God gives to me,
Daily reminders of his faithfulness.

Stillness – Being present to another

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Stillness is what creates love,
Movement is what creates life,
To be still,
Yet still moving—
That is everything!
—DO HYUN CHOE, Japanese Master

I just spent a couple of days at a retreat. One of the main activities during our time is to listen to each other’s stories. I have been retreating in this manner with some of these people for more than a decade. Over that time we have heard each other’s story many times but I still look forward to catching up.

I often wonder what is the gift that is received during these times. Each of our stories is very ordinary, with the usual mixture of failure, successes and transitions. We laugh often, cry sometimes and respond to each other’s voice, so our time is not a deathly 24 hour silence. It’s a time that’s full of life that keeps us coming back over and over.

Perhaps as Do Hyun Choe says, “it’s that stillness that creates love.” Giving our presence in a quiet space is something that is life giving for each of us. Our souls are given a little more light to be able to reenter the fray.

I know that these quiet spaces can be difficult to find in a busy life. There is always one more email needing a response, another phone call to make, or that one more thing to check off on that unattainable checklist of perfection.

Last week in a small orphanage that My family supports in Asia a small life passed from this earth. I stopped and considered his life. A different voice emerged to me that day. His was a short story that impacted on a few lives on a world with many busy souls.

The words, “A voice speaking to me”, in the midst of the “raucous din”, reminded me of there are important things to consider that needed to be sifted from all of my activity. A reminder to stop and listen because there may be an important voice that I have not heard that I need to hear.

Still – For David

A breath of stillness passes by,
A whisper that is barely caught
I was still just now,
I heard a voice speaking,
Love and hope for those left behind.

A life passes sadly in the din,
Barely heard,
A small voice in a crowd,
Eternity cries out to me,
Be still and hear him now.

What does this life say to me?
I pray my soul is not deafened,
To the cry of the poor,
Not drowned out,
by a raucous busy life.

I took a moment to be still,
I heard a voice speaking,
I took a moment to be still,
I heard his voice speaking to me.