exploring My Patch

Yesterday I managed to get out and explore a new part of my Patch and wandered off towards the feilds I walk past most days. What i love about being here more than anything is the differences. Stand at the top of the hill outside the church and look one way, you see the houses of the two estates and down towards the village. Turn and look the other and theres fields.  Walk through the estate and the noise of traffic and life being lived in its many forms can be heard and smelt. But walk the other way the very different sound and smell of life takes shape. 

Yesterday was cool but nice perfect exploring weather.. There was part of me that began remember the time a group of us would head off to explore the local woods as kids. Walking through the quite was great. exploring the different tracks that cut back and circled going nowhere at times It didn't matter.

Just Another Bear!!

Earlier this week I posted the photo below on my photo blog. The day I saw it walking the dog it really stopped me. It really isn't something you expect to see. One of the things this blog was about was seeing God in the little patch that I live and work in. To see God in the everyday in the ordinary of life. This image has stayed in my thoughts all week. one comment left saw 'peace offering'. I don't no the story behind why this was done a joke or a remembrance of a accident. So what was the photo 

Bear behind barbed wire on the top of a wall. So many of those who live next door or down the road to. Those who are our neighbours and even yes even each of us can be just like this bear at times that wanting to be loved, cared for love me lots. Yet there are hugh sharp barriers around keeping us in and others,  and hurting ourselves and others out.

The amnesty international symbol also came to mind with this picture 

 

Hope and light in a dark place in the candle and wire, love and peace comfort behind wire in the image of the bear in both these images is what our communities need.

Today another image spoke to me that of Holy Saturday that saturday between Good Friday and Easter day. Esther  De Waal writes about a image of what took place on this day something that artist struggle to show. yet on a font in a English church 

 is a dramatic and dynamic scene, portrayed with extra- ordinary vigour and richness. Christ is dragging Adam out of a limbo of twisted knots, rather like clinging tentacles. (An antiquarian brochure, written by someone who had no idea of the context, described it as a man being pulled out of a thorny hedge, and somehow I always felt that this homely interpretation was no bad way of catching something of the difficulty and discomfort of how entangled we become and how we need the help of a strong hand to drag us upward.)  Seeking Life.p.14-15

The bear at the end of the road here a daily reminder of the mystery and grace of Easter that there is nothing not even a barb wire fence that will stop the Love and grace of God reaching out to His creation. Not matter what the darkness in life may be His light will shine through and the comforter will be there alongside by His Spirit and by His People being Jesus with skin on.

Top moments of 2011

A friend posted on her blog her top moments of 2011(here) then sent out a tweet to challenge to do the same and STF posted her 11 for 11 (here)...

So my moments for 2011 Hmmm it's been a really hard year for MyPatch in a lot of ways.. but lets see how far we get.....

1.  Hesse (link) with a friend is always good enjoy these trip with this friend a lot...

2.  Trip though the Finnish Archipelago over night with STF and had breakfast on the boat looking out over the harbour in Sweden. playing wii bowling in the children deck very funny oh and Playing M&M poker

3. Getting a second merit for a MA assignment which meant I could go on to the full MA at Cliff College. Thanks due here to STF and My/Our friend and mentor Rev Dr P Meadows. Who believed and encouraged.

4.  Robes project... talking and serving the homeless who stayed one night a week with us in vauxhall over the winter months. For many there were good news stories of lives renewed starting jobs.and new homes.

5.  My New Home and New post in Leicester -

6. Bryan Adams in Concert at the O2 amazing night

7. Cub Camp - eating pizza in Akkalas car that had been smuggled back to camp by her and another leader so the other didn't find out...

8. Little women- Helping with the Lighting at the inner city players production.

9. Tea and home made scones on the patio in wonderful sun in Turku

10. Trip to Greenwich and the docklands museums picnic lunch band in Hyde Park on a hot sunny sunday afternoon Regents park too tea at the teahouse theatre

11. Street party in vauxhall for the royal wedding and wandering round London the night of the wedding chatting and taking in the atmosphere.

Christmas Meal

I used to love school dinners esp the sponge cake with pink icing on covered in custard. Today was christmas dinner at Hamilton Community College.

 Over the Last few weeks I've been working in the Key stage 3 base ( thats yr 7-8 (11-14's) or to the older readers 1st & 2nd yrs of secondary). Those who come to the base are in need of support in different ways through bad days or need help with social skills. The base is part of the Inclusion facilities at the school 

The faculty strongly believes in the College ethos, “Every child should achieve their very best and feel secure,” regardless of their individual needs.  The Learning and Life Skills Faculty is dedicated to improving the literacy and numeracy of targeted students, SA, SA+ and Statemented, providing nurture as appropriate and to share information on students with needs to all staff, especially strategies and targets to include in mainstream lessons wherever possible. 

Looking back many of those who come through the base when I was at school would have been excluded from education. That now is the last case Scenario each each child's situation is looked at individually. There are many reasons why there are struggles with certain lessons or how we handle situations... for some it's english is a second or even third language, others its difficult settling in to a new environment, a unsettled home life. And those worries and concerns come through in many different ways.

talking to one of the staff they use chocolate buttons instead of counters playing draughts with those who struggle with patients and frustration..not sure i would have the patients not to eat the counters :)..

but this was titled christmas meal.. and today classes for yr 7 finished a few minuets early as we all went down to the dinning hall and lined up for lunch. The dinner was worth the wait.

  It would give any restaurant a run for it's money  

Not for sale

That was the message that is being sent to the local movement by members of the community and the one of our MPs Kate Hoey. 

The site behind is an old school site which the local movement want to sell. Yet on the oppersite side of the road is Archbishop Sumners school (ABS) who want and need to expand into a two tier entry school. School places are limited in Lambeth and steadily rising school age population mean this will continue. Leaving some children with NO school place. 

Over 2000 signatures have been collected in support of the bid by ABS.

The wonderful demonstration of the lack of school places with the use of Kate Hoey's mini and getting as many children in as possible.

Easter day

In March over on 365-my patch I took a photo of one of the allotments just down from my flat. The ground was stating to be prepared for planting it was towards the beginning of lent then. Today I went past the same allotment and it looks very different. Laid out each plant and vegetable in its patch in a place where it can grow and  develop. I'd spoken to the tender of the allotment and he said to watch out for something he had just built a frame a frame that looked like a gallows. 

Thursday at the globe I heard Esther recited. A gallows was built in there for much darker reason as someone who wanted power plotted to do evil in order to get it and ended up hanging from the gallows he built for another. Friday, Good Friday saw another image used for destruction the Cross. 

Yet both were used so very differently both the gallows and the Cross saw in them the beautiful. 

The tender of the allotment used for growing tomato's.

The cross a sign of suffering and pain and shame. bring forth the beauty of new life new hope through the resurrection of the one who died who shed his blood upon it.

¹ Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. ² But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. ³ Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ And it happened, as they were greatly^[b] perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. ⁵ Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, ⁷ saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”⁸ And they remembered His words. ⁹ Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰ It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.

What this easter day is there in your life in my life that can be changed from something that is a seemingly harmless past time or a object that as you read this you recongnise as being like the gallows or the cross and needs that change that turning over to God so that He can reshape it into somthing beautiful.

How does that allotment that was being prepared look now well....

Replanting

houseplants.com

My patch on the move, Later this summer the little patch of vauxhall that has been where I've been planted since october 2009 will be left behind. Just as with plants it's time for me to be repotted, it's said but also a good time as I seek to find where God wants me to go next. 

As I googled a site today to look at more info about a patch I've applied to today I came across this job title on the rejesus site which was one of their links.....

Job title

Follower of the way

Disciple

Employer details

Jesus of Nazareth

Location

Flexible. You will essentially be a field worker fulfilling the requirements of the role in your local community. You will be prepared to leave the security of home behind at certain times.

Role and purpose

You are to live as Jesus taught, and follow his example. 

I've just finished a intensive MA week over at cliff college which was one of the reasons why blogging was non excitant last week. my MA is in mission Wesleyan Theology and Spirituality and spent a lot of time looking at what it meant to be a real follower of jesus.

whatever happens patch wise this is the job description the way of life that is first and foremost  

Sunset over London

This was the view from my balcony last night, the last few days have been grey and cold here but this last night was a real respite from the gloom and damp today its been back to the rain. 3 or 4 storey blocks around here cast shadows and block out the sun at the best of times so its often seems darker than it really is. Yet yesterday for a few moments light broke through the darkness and that hope was seen, people seemed to be a bit more cheerful even if it was horribly cold. Today the sound of the sparrows and house-martins filled the air I wonder if they were complaining about the damp too. 

walking around the estate I heard another noise the rustling of leaves looking down  their at the bottom of a tree was a squirrel with a mouthful of leaves I guess mr squirrel wanted extra blankets today too.

The Lion Saves

I have a friend staying with me for the weekend so after a very late start to the day we took a walk along the Albert Embankment toward vauxhall bridge. I've taken this route a few times normally when walking my adopted fore-legged friend. Today though i chose to walk this way to avoid the slushy black mush that was being thrown up onto the pavement by the passing traffic there is nothing worse than when the snow becomes mush. 

Like it or love it the snow makes the place look so different... As we walked I spotted the lions that decorate part of the river wall with snow on them. So went to take a closer shot what i found made me smile. You can just see in the picture above that the lions have rings in their mouths. 

the one on the left though was what caught my eye and imagination instead of the stone ring like it's neighbour this lion has in its mouth one of the buoy's you normally find for rescue.. gripping it firmly in its teeth..

I wonder what was going through the mind of the one who placed it there.. had it been washed up on the slipway with the drift wood and other lost or cast off items. Did it just seem like a fun thing to do. I don't know it doesn't really matter. What I saw as I looked on was  

The Lion that Saves.. 

Jesus is referred to as the Lion of Judah. 

In the chronicles of Narnia C.S.Lewis uses this imagery with Aslan the lion who gives his life to save.

The week we come to the final week of advent as we think about Christ and His incarnation Jesus being born as a child, Emmanuel God is with us , the plan of God to save mankind to draw each of us back to himself.

That great act of salvation remembered at easter in His death and resurrection. Talking about the cross at christmas seems strange well maybe not as strange as you may think. 

Three gifts were given to Jesus by the Magi Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. the significance of these gifts gold it's a gift fit for royalty He is King,frankincense Ancient people burned frankincense, believing it to carry their prayers to heaven. Its use as incense illustrates His role as our Priest. Myrrh was used in incense, perfumes and holy ointments and also medicinally. The most notable use for myrrh was for  embalming, and was used in Egyptian mummies. As an embalming ointment it signified that He was born to Die for the world., Myrrh is mentioned as one of the burial spices of Jesus (John 19:39).

So from the very gift brought those of the Magi the recognition of who the small child was and was to become.

who is He to you at this time...

around My Patch, Allotments

I got the idea for the name of this blog while on at a lay conference at the beginning of the year... Where we looked at the place we had been called as a allotment patch and the different ways we approach things and people we will meet. From the parable of the sower

A few minuets from the flat where I live is a small allotment patch broken up into private patches. 

 

What I love is the variety of things that grow in this small area, that each persons own thoughts ideas and expression comes through. So many different plants edible and decrotive grow together... 

it's a wonderful picture of what community is what church community could and should be like

walkin round the small area was a real surprise finding that there were grapes growing along the wire fence I'd not realised that this was what the plant was.

Jesus in john's gospels speaks that He is the vine his people are the branches here in the heart of my little patch is a reminder... of what I am called to do what we as a community of believers are called to be and do. To reach out take His love and goodness out. 

The vine had broken out in places from behind the fence the grapes growing the branches spreading connected to the main vine. but on the outside of the fence... and they were different from those on the inside.. not formed quite right a bit grubby from being knocked about and the mud and grim off the road. 

It's a picture a message that in the church we need to recognise  where God is moving and be there along side. 

there is a reality check to this as well as each of the little plots has a compost heap where the waste the unproductive where that which is pruned cut back is put... 

I don't want to end up in God's compost heap being recycled.....

around My Patch, South Bank

Today on the way back from the office I went down the south bank of the themes. Theres a great smoothy bar ( in a trailer) I like. So with it being nice off I went. It's still very strange even almost a year on waking to the sound of Big Ben walking through Parliament Square seeing those who govern the country, those who I've only seen through the papers or TV.  

So parliament isn't really part of my Patch ( it's the wrong side of the river) but what happens there has a ripple effect to those in my patch. 

Some of those I know work there in different ways from MP to cleaner. Without one the other could not do what they do.

The decisions that are made here have lasting effect on the community that stands within the sound of the  bell of Big Ben. 

To be able to walk here an pray for those in leadership, that they may rule and vote not for their own gain or self interest but that they will stand for justice and peace that they will have the courage to make the difficult decisions and stand by them.

we are told to pray for our leaders what a reminder here in our patch each time the chimes ring.

Bin Radiers

On the way home yesterday from Lunch and Theatre with a friend one of our resident furry critters was tasting the delicacies of the park bin....


even furry critters like the left overs from the local coffee shop

It's amazing the way these neighbours have adapted to life with humans, the scaffolding that had been around the block of flats had provided a great playground for these furry critters.

They live side by side and adapt, the sad part of that is so often we as humans destroy the natural living spaces, to so a degree that many are struggling to survive.  Maybe there's a lesson to learn from these little critters in my patch  about sharing environments and resources 

I'm sure there are many more critters living in this urban forest than I've seen yet.

How High Can You ...? pt 2: the answer

How high can you get a pile of books 


before they fall over?....  That was the question I was asking when working on my essay and feeling like i was being buried under books.....well i just found out :)

Had to think about the shot in the library in Ghostbusters with this....... and yes they were wobbly 

all fall down :)

back in the box till the essay is sent off.. all the sticky tabs have to be removed from the college books and sent back. Not quite celebrating yet as a friend keeps reminding me it's not finished till it's handed in to the marker and it becomes their problem!

Not sure how good the paper is.. whether it will meet the grade.. It's been a long hard fight to write the paper ... the first one I've done as a part time Post Grad student ( me doing a post grad course still seems a dream!) I guess whatever happens with the paper. I've learnt a lot....

the paper title "what have the means of grace got to do with the mission of God?"

Reading wesley's means of grace sermon, thinking about that over the past few weeks one thing I want more than ever is that deeper relationship with God... and to be used by Him to open to those in my patch and see His grace already at work in their lives, without them knowing it!

Around My Patch, Docks!!

I've been stuck at my desk for most of the day today escaping twice for parish prayers and for a walk to take my daily shoot photo.. I decided to walk along part of the Albert Embankment that runs just behind where I live... The tide was in and you could smell the salt in the air...

When I first moved here there was a strange structure being built and at the beginning of the summer was there for all to see..

                                          

It was the site of the old docks that supplied access to the themes for a pottery firm... you can just see the old building in the back left of the shot.

The dock is the only one left at that is down to lost paperwork years ago.. at low tied you can still see where some of the other inland docks where along the bank...

whats interesting for me is the history of the dock and on one wall you can still see the remains of a painted sign reading E.W.S which was the emergency water supply and was painted there during world war 2

Around My Patch, Lambeth Mission & St Mary's (LMSM)

(LMSM)

Our website says this about the fellowship that meets at LMS

Lambeth Mission & St Mary's is located in a famous corner of Lambeth - just at the junction of Lambeth Road with the Lambeth Walk. We are a united congregation of Anglicans, Methodist (and others) with a proud history......... Today, we form a mixed congregation of different backgrounds and from different religious traditions. We are black and white, rich and poor. We work hard to be inclusive and to make everyone welcome.

I love that  "and others" :)

For the almost the past year this has been home and work. The welcome that I received when I came was amazing. Today Visitors for the first time as they left said how they had felt so welcome it's great when you here that kind of feed back. It's the little things that count more than the big. The lady who does the tea and coffee today came to where I was sat to say she had put a Black Coffee on the side for me. It makes you feel wanted and special when those little things are remembered ( all our teas and coffee are ready made and brought into the back of the main hall ready and waiting for the end of the service, it's a real blessing to have her with us to)

The church  has a long and rich history 

There has been a Methodist presence in Lambeth since the time of John Wesley when he preached at Kennington Common. A short distance from the site of LMSM. The common now the site of kenington park has had a interesting history too


Kennington Park was first opened in 1854 and lies between Kennington Park Road and St Agnes Place. It had previously been called 'Kennington Common', and until 1800 was the site of public executions as well as being the South London 'speakers corner'. Methodist founders George Whitefield and John Wesley are some of the illustrious orators to speak at the Common and are reputed to have attracted a crowd of 30,000.


The site of public executions.. the place where Whitefield and  Wesley preached putting the old self to death and walking in the new life the Christ has for us... fitting perhaps 




The church was known in later times as the IDEAL when Thomas Tiplady, who was also a Hymn writer and wrote "Above the hills of time the cross is gleaming."  used the new medium of Film to put across the gospel message. 

The Ideal

The church was hit in 1945 by a V2 a plaque inside the church   remembers this  and rebuilt in 1950.

The architect for the rebuilding was Alec Gavin, and Tiplady then  commissioned Bainbridge Copnall to provide a monumental sculpture for the front.

officially Called the Word... It's more commonly called the Lambeth Street preacher

What as interesting for me was that when I started at the church I had the idea of starting a group fro the teenagers using movies as the starting point for a bible study or discussion group I had no idea of the background and history of the church. I'm sure rev Tiplady would approve of 3-18 teenagers turning up to the church flat on a friday night. 

Around My Patch, Any time you're Lambeth way

Any evening, any day
You'll find us all
Doin' the Lambeth Walk

I'm not much of a dancer ( two left feet ) 

Every day though I walk down lambeth walk.  Lambeth walk was made famous by the 1930's show Me and my Girl and this one song doin the lambeth walk 

A simple little tale about a male equivalent of Pygmalion's Eliza Doolittle, Me and My Girl became one of Britain's most successful musicals in its original run, and surpassed its success when it was revived and rewritten 50 years later. A favourite on the amateur dramatics and operatics scene, it is rarely off the stage, and several of its songs are, for good or ill, part of Britain's national psyche

The song is known world wide some friend were telling me not to long ago that when the checkpoint were still in place in spain they were pulled over in the car. when they were asked by the guard where they were from and said london he asked them do do the lambeth walk so they did over the border. 

The walk has changed over the years theres a great site that shows old lambeth walk and some of the history of the place. (see here )


I have to admit when I realised where I was living I rang my dad to tell him. Our family has a link to London through his side of the family. My great grand dad was a fishmonger on the old roman road.

 

 flats at the top of lambeth walk 

                                                              

Lambeth walk day nursery 

I'm gradually learning the rich history of my new patch there's something really important about knowing a place 

Around my Patch, Home

Over the next few days I want to give you a little tour of My Patch.. 

Where better to start than where I am living. 

This is a far cry from what the block of flats looked like last year when I moved in. This was taken by a friend about two weeks after the scaffolding came down. I mentioned in a earlier post that there had been a big difference in the feel of the place since then. All the work has finally been finished those last little bits that needed touching up.. 

I don't know what it was like to live here before the work started.. but in my flat having the new windows and doors has made a huge difference. 

The internal corridors are lighter and brighter as are the stairwells. 

What has been great to see is the new families who moved in during the last few weeks and the other children on our floor playing in the corridor in the afternoons. 

Durring what I think was a Birthday party recently a envelope with a card and sweets was pushed through the door. A thank you from them, they had been very messy and noisy all afternoon but had clean up. It was a nice touch from these younger neighbours.