[RivCompanions] [Rivendell] it's all about relationship

Martha Frances martha.frances at gmail.com
Thu Nov 12 14:55:41 UTC 2015


Dear Barbi,

Thank you so much for this "report/testimony" as to your own experience at the 
Come & See conference.  It's clear that my sending Bob Flick+ to you all was certainly what you needed & I suspect you weren't alone.  Your ability to communicate this transformation to your Rivendell Community is a gift which will carry through to your ministry, I know.  I'm sad that I missed being there, but hearing your story helps me know what was important, at least for you.

Blessings as you move forward, 
Martha+

Sent from my iPad

> On Nov 12, 2015, at 8:24 AM, Barbi Click <bgclick at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Dear beloveds, 
> 
> 
> 
> Here is a bit of highlight from my time at Ecclesia Mission Ministries conference. 
> 
> 
> 
> Everything is about Relationship. It is all about relationship. 
> 
>  
> 
> A story about Relationship:
> 
> Gennie from Trinity Church in Boston:
> 
> She has been sight-impaired since birth. She walks with a sight cane as she ministers to the homeless who are around Trinity Church.
> 
> She told of one man who made sexual advances towards her. It was all innuendo but clearly pointed. She leaned towards him and asked, “Is this about sexual intimacy?” Boom. There it was, blatantly laid out on the table. He began stuttering and clambering for words to back out of what had become an uncomfortable conversation for him. But she continued to converse. He finally said, “I have not been touched in 12 years. I just want someone to touch me.” She asked him, “May I give you a hug?” As tears streamed down his face, he said, “Yes.” And she did. She said she is not a hugger but that she hugs him every time she sees him.
> 
>   
> 
>  
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> People hunger for more than simply food. Poverty isolates.
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>  
> 
> Bob Flick+ on Francis:
> 
> Francis stripped naked – to become obedient (to hear)
> He heard the word of God tell him to rebuild San Domiano – to build community
> He began to work as a minister in a leper colony.—he wanted to be able to embrace the leper.
> Embracing the leper became a metaphor for following his deepest desire. The leper was within him.
> 
>  
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> Emptying/letting go – we have to strip naked before being filled, being able to embrace our own leper.
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>  
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> Bonaventure wrote about Francis. For Francis, the world was the monastery. Francis asked: How can I be a contemplative in the world around me?
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>  
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> Bonaventure used the example of the Temple.
> 
> The court as the outer ring – world outside of the self, creation. It’s about relationship between the outside and me.
> God is in the crap as well as in the roses. Nobody needs fixing by me. There is no good change without relationship. Developing relationship is about being open to the presence of God in one another.
> 
> 
> 
> Sanctuary – inside the self – conscious, memories, imagination – WHO AM I?
> Memory is the IS of eternity. We have a past, a future – but the NOW – present to the stuff inside of us.
> 
> In touch with self- memories need to be contemplative.
> 
> Eucharist is being present to the Now and the remembering of the Holy Spirit on these gifts.
> 
> Jesus told us to remember him. We rob ourselves of the contemplative life if we do not spend time in our memories, good and bad.
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>  
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> We are called into something much more profound than just getting the job done. We are working to learn/feel compassion. For ourselves, towards others, for God.
> 
>  
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> God made flesh in Jesus was to show us that all of this is doable.
> 
> Holy of Holies – Beyond self. God as God. Godness, Trinity, Mystery.
> To be present to God in mystery. Bring in relationship with a God that is beyond our knowing.
> 
> God is most essentially relationship: Love changes. God is love. God changes. God is constantly creating new things which means change.
> 
> Love – God is relentless.
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>  
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>  
> 
> I knew I had to change my narrative. In the midst of this talk, I felt the tears begin. It became a flood and I had to get up and go to the back of the room. I knew something really big was happening. I didn't know what at the moment but I knew it was important. 
> 
>  
> 
> As the tears flowed, I felt the resentment, anger, bitterness flow out of me. It was a profound moment and I knew I was different. The understanding didn’t all happen quite so quickly but soon after it became apparent. I felt changed. I felt a calm that I have never felt before in my life. And it remains.
> 
>  
> 
> God is relentless. 
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> 
> 
>  
> 
> Barbi 
> 
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