Moving the coals to a new campfire

Introducing…

The Narooma and District Education Support Committee (NDESC) – (Facebook page)

(Supporting and enhancing Public Education)

You are invited to a gathering

 Saturday August 31, 2024

1-2pm             Lunch (Bring a plate)

2-4pm             Meeting                     

 

The Narooma Fishing Club, 25 Riverside Drive

Djawa Yunupingu, chairman of the Yothu Yindi Foundation, described at the Gama Festival, how he hoped 12 months ago that by the time of this year’s festival, his ancestor Garrtjambal the kangaroo would ‘stand in the constitution’ as it does on the coat of arms.

Yunupingu declared only the referendum question was defeated – his people were not. ‘After the fire, when the rain comes it renews the land and new growth emerges.’

Following the Voice Referendum in 2023, a few of us have gone on to become involved in this new committee established by the Elm Grove Sanctuary Trust, focussing attention on supporting and enhancing Public Education through Narooma High School and its feeder Primary schools.

Come along and

  • Hear about what is happening and what is planned
  • Learn about volunteer opportunities
  • Share what else is happening
  • discuss closing the Yes 23 Facebook group
  • Catch up with people

Please RSVP to dukest@me.com or in message 0417 738 331

Kind regards

Steve Payne

0417738331

dukest@me.com

Nature and Spirituality

This is an article reprinted from: St Lucia Spirituality Group

Ecology is a huge subject. Many writers have written books on the subject, including Pope Francis, so it is somewhat daunting to prepare a brief discussion paper on the subject and relate it effectively to spirituality. Much local news about climate change, international efforts to counteract global warming and prophecies of doom for mankind approach the subject from the global perspective. We are slowly discovering what indigenous peoples have known for millennia – we humans are not the centre of the universe. However, that is a topic for another day. In this paper, I want to focus on the relationship between the individual and nature.

When was the last time you sat in a park and did nothing but observe what was going on around you?

I credit Richard Rohr with shifting my perspective on nature and spirituality. He was the first person I read who described nature as God’s first Bible. He encouraged me to reflect on creation and evolution. He and the authors he quoted helped me to understand the inherent value in every animal, plant and, yes, even every inanimate object.

And so, I sat in my local park recently. I was astounded at the speed of a butcher bird as it raced from tree to tree. I marvelled at the musical calls of different birds. I observed the industriousness of ants. I watched wispy clouds pass overhead and contemplated the amazing journey that water takes from ocean to cloud to rain to earth to river to ocean. I pondered the uniqueness of each tree. I noticed that trees of the same species have different heights, widths, colouring, branch structure etc. And then, in a moment of insight, I thought that humans were just like trees. We have different gender, sexual identity, DNA maker coma personality, and life experience. We are all unique and we all contribute to the rich tapestry of life.

During April 2024, Richard Rohr’s meditations included a series on nature. I would like to share with you three extracts from these that help with reflection on nature and spirituality.

Ecological theologian Thomas Berry (1914-2009) suggests that the Western world has lost its connection with nature:

“Many earlier peoples saw in these natural phenomena a world beyond ephemeral appearance, an abiding world, a world imaged forth in the wonders of the sun and clouds by day and the stars and planets by night, a world that enfolded the human in some profound manner. This other world was guardian, teacher, healer—the source from which humans were born, nourished, protected, guided, and the destiny to which we returned….

 

We have lost our connection to this other deeper reality of things. Consequently, we now find ourselves on a devastated continent where nothing is holy, nothing is sacred. We no longer have a world of inherent value, no world of wonder, no untouched, unspoiled, unused world. We think we have understood everything. But we have not. We have used everything. By “developing” the planet, we have been reducing Earth to a new type of barrenness. Scientists are telling us that we are in the midst of the sixth extinction period in Earth’s history. No such extinction of living forms has occurred since the extinction of the dinosaurs some sixty-five million years ago.

 

To preserve this sacred world of our origins from destruction, our great need is for renewal of the entire Western religious-spiritual tradition…. We need to move from a spirituality of alienation from the natural world to a spirituality of intimacy with it, … to a spirituality of the divine as revealed in the visible world about us, from a spirituality concerned with justice simply to humans to a justice that includes the larger Earth community….

 

We cannot save ourselves without saving the world in which we live…. We will live or die as this world lives or dies. We can say this both physically and spiritually. We will be spiritually nourished by this world or we will be starved for spiritual nourishment. No other revelatory experience can do for the human what the experience of the natural world does.” 1

Former US Environmental Protection Agency scientist Theresa Martella speaks about the influence Berry had on her life and the importance of contemplation in appreciating our deep connection to nature:

“As a spiritual ecologist, I have been profoundly influenced by Eco theologian and Passionist priest Thomas Berry, also known as the father of ecological spirituality. Thomas taught me what I had always intuited; that spirit and matter are one.

 

He once said, “We are in trouble just now because we do not have a good story. We are in between stories. The Old Story—the account of how the world came to be and how we fit into it—is not functioning properly, and we have not learned the New Story.” His call for a new story—one of nurturing a mutually enhancing relationship with the Earth—resonated deeply with me, naming our ecological crisis as a spiritual crisis.

 

Contemplative wisdom soon became my compass, guiding me toward sustainability and simplicity in my own life. When I practice regularly, I can detach from my wants and desires and recognize my interconnectedness with all of life. The need for constant comparison and material accumulation passes as I recognize my desires as passing thoughts, not needs. My worries for the state of the planet recede, if only for a minute. My mind and soul rest.

 

When we fully attend to Nature, we experience a spacious emptiness where we merge with something larger than ourselves. Nature becomes the healer, supporting radical resilience as we face an uncertain future with climate change. We realize we are of nature, not separate from it.” 2

Ecological theologian Tony Jones writes of his encounter with God in wild places and how venturing into wilderness puts him in touch with his true self:

“The God of wild places offers peace. In a modern world that’s frenetic and busy—always connected, always on—finding peace is getting more difficult… To receive the peace offered by the God of wild places, we’ll have to retrograde to old technologies: canoe and paddle; hiking boots and walking stick; bow and arrow and fishing pole. We also have to remember that the peace we long for is within, a spark of the divine that resides within each of us. To bring that spark to a flame can be done indoors, but I have a lot more luck when I’m outdoors— and the wilder the place the better.

 

The God of wild places honors place. When we visit and revisit the wild places that are special to us, experiences of transcendence are waiting for us there… I’ve sung a hymn to my most special place, a few acres of northern forest sitting on the edge of a lake. Caretaking that land is a joy and a privilege, and it’s become clear to me that doing so is part of my vocation, my calling from God. These trees and this creek are my congregation to pastor, as a shepherd, cares for sheep—they were torn asunder by a tornado, as was I; they have regrown in scarred beauty, as have I…. These days I’m zealous in maintaining these woods, guarding and protecting them, doing what I can to keep them healthy and safe, safeguarding their peace.

 

The God of wild places has given us companions. We may be hurtling through space … but we’re not alone. We are interdependent on a whole fabric of creation, woven together with beings, sentient and non-sentient, animate and inanimate…. I’ve stopped looking up to the sky for help and instead lowered my eyes to the companions around me. My dogs have been my most sacred non-human companions. [My friend] Seth talks to plants. No matter the species with which we commune, the key is keeping the whole web in view—seeing the forest and the trees, for God’s love pulses through the web.

 

The God of wild places requires risk. We’ve done everything we can to mitigate risk to ourselves, an admirable trait that has ensured the propagation of our species…. On a neurological level, adventure facilitates deep learning. On a spiritual level, high-risk situations strip us bare and make us vulnerable. When my ego recedes, there’s more room for God. Attaining the next level of success requires taking a chance: climbing a bigger mountain, hiking a more challenging trail, riding a bigger wave…. Modern life tends to inoculate us against these risks, but the God of wild places peels away that safety and brings us back in touch with who we’re meant to be.” 3

Questions for reflection:

  • How often do you pause, commune in nature and simply observe the wonder of creation?
  • What role does nature play in your spiritual journey?
  • What can you do to develop a greater appreciation of the role of nature in your life?

1 CAC Meditations 6 March 2024

2 CAC “We Conspire” series, 25 April 2024 https://cac.org/news/living-simply-and-sustainably-in-aprils-we- conspire-series/

3 CAC Meditations 22 April 2024

Nature and Spirituality John Scoble Butterfly Series #30 June 2024

Narooma High School’s Breakfast Club

Can we support Narooma High School’s Breakfast Club to be sustainable into the future?

What is the Breakfast Club? Here is some background information that may assist.

  • The Breakfast Club runs Monday – Friday from 8.00am – 8.45am
  • Located in the Food Tech Classroom
  • Caters for students who travel in by bus from Cobargo, Tilba, Bermagui, Bodalla, Dalmeny & Wallaga Lake. (It does not exclude Narooma resident students.)
  • Buses arrive at school from 8.10am to 8.30am
  • Attending staff set up food/equipment normally from 7.45am and repack/store from 8.45am
  • ‘Menu’ is fruit, ham, cheese, mushroom, green leaf toasted sandwiches/wraps and berry/milo smoothies.
  • Students make and toast their selection and make smoothies.
  • Students wash their plates and utensils.

We use the activity as a soft engagement with students and observe if students are arriving at school in an emotional state (Monday is the high-risk morning). This follows through on completion of breakfast in identifying if the student has brought either a packed lunch or money to purchase lunch from the canteen. Staff intervene in a non-embarrassing way to arrange lunch should this be needed.

  1. In 2023 we averaged 18 – 20 students per morning – so far this year we are averaging 30- 35 per day. Multiple reasons lie behind this!
  2. Purchase of the food is undertaken by staff and funding comes from a range of ‘shavings’ from a range of sources within the school. In 2023 average purchase costs was $50.00 – $60.00 and currently it is now $80.00 – $90.00 per week.
  3. Food is purchased from Narooma Woolworths who offer a ‘discount’.

If you would like to make a small regular or one-off donation in support of this program this can be made through our Elm Grove Sanctuary Trust Project Account –

BSB: 032-766

Account Number: 13-9061

All donations are tax deductible. Please indicate that the funds are for the Breakfast Club program.

To enable us to receipt your donations please send an email to egstrust2@gmail.com

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Narooma Education Support Team

Elm Grove Sanctuary Trust has an exciting new Committee

Our EGS Trust board has a new committee of committed local people who are taking a shared hope and vision forward under the auspices of our Trust. Narooma Education Support Team held their first meeting last week and appointed Tony Agnew as their Chairperson. Committee members are Kevin Bird, Steve Payne, Tony Agnew, Linda Tucker, Sean Burke (EGS Director) and Angela Young (EGS Associate Member). The committee will have up to eight members. We extend to them our sincere congratulations, appreciation and ongoing support.

Their committee member, Kevin Bird has written this report.

Narooma Education Support Team

Following the outcome of the Voice Referendum in 2023, the Narooma and District Community ‘Yes’ Volunteers decided rather than fade into the mist that discussion was needed on how the energy and empathy of the Volunteers could be utilised in the future.

At that time, community awareness was rising on the flow-on issues facing communities following the Covid 19 2020 / 2021 shutdowns and the closure of schools in favour of ‘Home Schooling’.

Evidence based data was starting to show the issue of low levels of literacy and numeracy competencies, poor social and behavioural skills of young people, school attendance and attending refusal now within the school environment.

It was perceived that the skills, backgrounds, and life experiences of many of the ‘retiree Community’ resident in the Narooma District, might be utilised as Community Volunteers (Refer – ABS 2021 Census Community Profile for Post Code 2546) as many had wished to be involved with young people with identified Literacy & Numeracy competency challenges to be ‘student mentors / support’ with a focus on enhancing individual students Lit/Num competency levels.

Initial discussions with Executive staff at Narooma High School were very supportive and embraced the concept and, if the proposal materialises, they would provide training for Community Volunteers, identify students requiring Lit / Num support and oversight the program once imbedded within the school. The Executive staff have provided a strong ‘Letter of Support’ for the program.

Discussions with the Elm Grove Sanctuary Trust Board resulted in the formation of the ‘Narooma and District Education Support Volunteers’ as associate members of the Elm Grove Sanctuary Trust.

Under the guidance and auspice of the Trust’s Board members, a funding submission has been submitted to the Federal Department of Social Services under the ‘Strong and Resilient Communities Activity Community Grants’. We await an outcome from the Department on the funding proposal.

  • The program, on advice from Narooma High School staff, will focus on selected students currently in Years 7, 8 & 9.
  • An initial ten (10) Community Volunteers would be selected and undertake initial training provided by Narooma High School. Volunteers would have approved Working with Children and DoE Probity Clearances.
  • Volunteer Mentors/Student support would attend the school, initially twice a week mentoring a student, on enhancing their Literacy and Numeracy competencies.
  • It is projected that 20 students would initially participate each commencing Term 3 2024.
  • 2023 NAPLAN results will be used as the base starting point of student competency and 2024/25 NAPLAN results of individual and group progress (Refer – My Schools – Narooma High School – 2023 NAPLAN results)
  • An element of the funding submission is to engage a Program Co-Ordinator to oversight the program and to provide open communications with school staff, selected students, parents / care givers of the selected students.
  • Selected students would in the main, be from family settings that are within evidenced based ‘disadvantaged’ environments.

We await the advice from Dept of Social Services with bated breath on the submission’s veracity!

God on Mute

At these challenging times we are hearing so many people express the need to distance themselves from news reports in order to remain positive in their daily lives. This can be a real challenge for us all.

With Easter almost with us, our Associate Member, Anne Coutts has sent her notes on Pete Greig’s book ‘God on Mute’.

 God on Mute, by Pete Greig

These notes are mostly quotes that I felt important. I have not given extracts for the last half of the book.  I encourage you to buy or borrow a copy!

In his enthusiastic foreword Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, describes this as a profound book.

Chapter 1 opens with “If your deepest, most desperate prayers aren’t being answered, if life sometimes hurts so much that your secretly wonder whether God exists, and if He does whether he cares, and if He cares, why on earth He doesn’t do something to help, you’re not alone. Surprisingly, The Bible reveals that Jesus – even Jesus suffered the silence of unanswered prayer. … and Unanswered prayer is only a problem for those who believe.  For others, it is simply a confirmation that they were right all along.”

The book takes the form of a journey through the four days of Christ’s betrayal, death, burial and resurrection.

MAUNDY THURSDAY

HOW Am I Going to Get  Through This?

Abba, Father…everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me.

  • Mark 14.36

In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is wrestling for His life, in prayer…We each arrive in Gethsemane by different paths.

In Chapters 2 and 3 Pete gives the account of his wife Sammy’s terrifying seizures, trip to hospital, the bad news that she had a tumour in her brain, the successful operation, and his reflections on prayer in such circumstances.

He reflected on Christ’s prayers in the garden of Gethsemane. In saying Abba, Father, Christ reveals the tenderness of his relationship with his Father.

He quoted Karl Barth saying, “true prayer is primarily very simple; it is an asking.” He also quotes Andrew Murray, a South African writer in the last century “the power of prayer depends almost entirely upon our apprehension of who it is with whom we speak.”

Pete goes on to say that when we are scared and hurting, when life feels chaotic and out of control, it is more important than ever to anchor ourselves in the absolute and eternal truth that we are dearly loved and deeply held by the most powerful being in the universe.

C.S. Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew tells of Digory’s encounter with the great lion Aslan. Digory asks for a magic fruit which would make his dying mother well again. His wish is not granted but he sees the tears in Aslan’s eyes and realises the lion must really be sorrier…than he was himself. Digory’s prayer remained unanswered, but everything had changed, Aslan cared.

Another quote was from Hudson Taylor a missionary to China in 1900, following the Boxer Revolution he said ”I cannot read, I cannot think, I cannot even pray, but I can trust”. Pete goes on to say that when we are hurting and the pain seems senseless, we may find it hard to think clearly or to pray diligently but we can still trust, resting quietly in the Father’s love for us. It means receiving the kindness of people as gifts from God.

God cares for us more than we care for ourselves. Paul in Romans says, “In all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Isaiah portrays God as the one who tattoos the name of his people on the palm of his hands.

Paul says in Romans 8.18 that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ‘In’ us not just to us or for us. He goes on to say God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

When Sammy was back in hospital after a vicious epileptic attack, Pete asked if she ever doubted God’s existence or power to intervene. Without hesitation she said “No, I never doubt God these days, Pete.” Then “How can I doubt God?”  then softly “God is all I’ve got”.

Chapter 4 Into the Mystery p 40

In Gethsemane, Jesus recognises that intimate love and infinite power coexist and coalesce without contradiction in the heart of God.

C.S. Lewis cautions us to remember that, for all his tears, Aslan is not a tame lion.od’s love means that He must surely want to end suffering, and His power must mean that He must surely be able to end it. So why doesn’t He? It is a profoundly important question, not least because so many people lose faith in the face of suffering.

Pete uses examples from the lives of others to help us understand.

Aaron Kushner was diagnosed with the premature ageing disease called progeria.  He would never grow more than 3 feet, have hair on his head, or reach adulthood.  His parents tried to make the most of his short life, wanting his life to matter and for him to be remembered. He died at 14.

His father, a rabbi, wrote “I am a more sensitive person, a more effective pastor, a more sympathetic counsellor because of Aaron’s life and death ..I would give up all those gains in a second if I could have my son back….but I cannot choose”

Kusher wrote the book When Bad Things Happen to Good People. It proposes that the only way to make sense of unmerited suffering without losing our faith in God is to reduce our expectations of what God is able to do.

Going back to the earliest book in the Bible, we find that at the conclusion to Job’s litany of agonising experiences, God appeared and revealed his power. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations. Tell me if you understand.  Who marked off its dimensions? Who laid its cornerstone – while the morning stars sang together, and all the angels shouted for joy” – “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you,” cries Job in awe, as if his sufferings have simply evaporated. The book of Job is therefore both the most frustrating and enlightening treatment of unanswered prayer in the Bible.

Many people resign themselves to the idea that the suffering of this world is ultimately a mystery and beyond human comprehension.

The holocaust is cited as evidence in the case against God. For this reason an American rabbi surveyed hundreds of holocaust survivors to find out how their experiences affected their beliefs about God. About half said the holocaust had no impact on their religious convictions.  About 11% lost their faith (however many continued to be angry with him). About 5% abandoned atheism and began to believe in God as a result of their experiences!

When Solzhenitsyn reached the end of his endurance working in sub-zero temperatures, he discarded his shovel and slumped on a bench awaiting a guard to beat him to death. Before that could happen, a follow prisoner came and scratched the sign of the cross in the mud and scurried away.  As Solzhenitsyn stared at it the message of the cross began to converse with his sense of despair.  At that moment he knew that there was something greater than the Soviet Union.  He knew that the hope of all mankind was represented by that cross, and through the power of the cross, anything was possible. Picking up his shovel he went back to work.

Nothing but the message of God’s suffering could have inspired Solzhenitsyn to return to work that day – he had hope that everything was possible for God.

Our God is our Father, loves us completely, is all-powerful, and will ultimately make all things new.

Revelation 21:4-5 He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

‘On P54 Pete closes the chapter with a prayer of Ignatius Loyola

O Christ Jesus

When all is darkness

and we feel our weakness and helplessness,

give us the sense of Your presence,

Your love and Your strength.

Help us to have perfect trust 

in Your protecting love and strengthening power,

so that nothing may frighten or worry us,

for, living close to You, we shall see Your hand,

Your purpose, Your will through all things

Chapter 5    Naked prayer p55

In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was utterly honest in prayer.  He knew that His mission was to suffer many things and yet he asked God to take the cup of suffering away from Him, but in this heart-rending request, we are assured that it’s OK to grieve and cry and plead with God.  God accepts our honesty.

Pete tells of his experience as a young man struggling with belief. He found in the Psalms disgruntled prayers much like his own at that stage in his life. He reflects on the behaviour of disciple Peter often getting it wrong and in telling Mark the stories showed he refused to play the superhero and made it okay for us to struggle and fail and get it wrong.

The Christian gospel is the story of a God who breaks the rules of plausibility – often when we least expect it and in ways we could never have predicted. Our God is our Father, loves us completely, is all-powerful and will untimely make all things new.

Pete tells of two people who had suffered horribly but who acknowledged that goodness had somehow been worked in and through their lives through the excruciating circumstances of unanswered prayer.  They both discovered how deeply redemptive it can be if our hurts can be harnessed for the care of others. Paul in 2 Corinthians1: 3-4 says “The god of all comfort…comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

It is important that we learn to lament.  Jesus himself was overwhelmed by sorrow, wrestled and cried out to God and allowed his friends to see this was how he felt.

Lamenting is more than a technique for venting emotion.  It is one of the fruits of a deepening spiritual life that has learned to stand naked before God without shame or pretence.

Out of heart-rending experiences Joseph Scriven wrote this much loved poem.  He said, “The Lord and I wrote it together.”

What a friend we have in Jesus

All our sins and grief to bear…

Chapter 6 A Darker Trust P 68

Yet not my will, but yours be done. Luke 22:42

Pete tells the story of Floyd McClung who wrote The Father Heart of God which changed Pete’s life as a teenager, who was now facing the possibility that his daughter and her unborn child would not survive surgery.  Knowing that Pete had been through the trauma of Sammy’s operation, Floyd told him of his walk on the beach where he prayed for his daughter’s life, but he also knew he had to give her back to God.

The next day Pete mobilised as many of the 24-7 networks as possible to pray for Floyd’s daughter and her child. On the fifth day the doctors took her our of her coma.  She and her child survived!

Floyd sent messages to all who had prayed, giving God the glory for the miracle but also to encourage the care of those still wrestling with their own unanswered prayer.  Some promises of God are fulfilled in Heaven.

The power to choose God’s will instead of one’s own personal preference is, according to Scripture, the defining human opportunity.  In the words of Dylan Thomas, when our lives are enveloped by darkness, our duty may not always to “Rage, rage against the dying of the light,” but rather to “Go gentle into that good night.”

Paul challenges us to follow Christ’s example by offering ourselves to God as a ‘living sacrifice’. This could sound masochistic and morbid but counselling professionals tell us, acceptance is ultimately the healthier response to suffering than denial or defence.

Five Stages of Grief: page 75

  1. Denial
  2. Anger
  3. Bargaining
  4. Depression
  5. Acceptance

Pete says these five stages explain why we may initially get angry with God, then try bribery, but ultimately peace comes by accepting God knows best. You may wonder if indeed God has already answered your prayer.

On pages 77 and 78 Pete tells of his friends, Barbara and Terry, who had been missionaries in Zambia facing the diagnosis of cancer for Barbara. Terry told Pete that she wanted die well, die faithfully, die peacefully, to trust God and to love God in the most frightening days of her life.

There is faith for life, and then there is a darker faith for death.  There is faith for miracles, but also for pain.  There is faith for God’s will when it is our will too, but there is also the grace to trust God when his will is not what we would choose.

The words of the Lord’s Prayer – or the abbreviated version that Jesus uses on Maundy Thursday are worth repeating and exploring several times a day especially when we are seeking to walk through our own Gethsemane in darker trust.

The Oil of Suffering p80,81

Gethsemane means the oil press and oil was important to life in those times. It is easy to see the potency of the images of the press and oil for Jesus that night in Gethsemane to become the Light of the World, Healer of the Nations, King of Kings. Oil can flow in our lives too from the crushing experiences we endure.  We see resilient faith expressed in the rich tradition of African American spirituals, born out of slavery.

There is an anointing, an authority, that can only come to us through the darker trust of unanswered prayer, it is an illumination both in us and through us that can only come through suffering; a healing that we can only minister when we ourselves have been wounded.

GOOD FRIDAY Why Aren’t My Prayers Being Answered? p83

Jesus legitimised for all time the need we have for explanation.

Chapter 7 Wondering Why p84-89 returns to Sammy’s recovery.  Pete says through our relatively moderate suffering, Sammy and I have learned to cherish life with dimensions of gratitude that we could never know without all the pain. The journey of life proves itself more wonderful and terrifying than we could ever have anticipated.

The book goes on to focus on (1) God’s world and the way it seems to work (2) Gods Will and the way it interacts with human free will, and (3) God’s war and the cosmic struggle between good and evil

Chapter 8 God’s World starting at p90 goes through reasons for Unanswered Prayer with helpful commentary and examples:

  1. Common Sense – some prayers aren’t answered because they are plain stupid!
  2. Contradiction – some prayers aren’t answered because they contradict other prayers.
  3. The Laws of Nature – some prayers aren’t answered because they would be detrimental to the world and to the lives of others.
  4. Life is Tough – some prayers aren’t answered because the creation is “subjected to frustration” and has not yet been fully “liberated from its bondage to decay” (Romans 8:20-21). Tragically, life in such an environment is inevitably going to be acutely difficult at times.
  5. Doctrine – some prayers aren’t answered the way we think they should be because our understanding and expectations of God are misguided.

Chapter  9  God’s Will page 110

  1. God’s best – some prayers aren’t answered because God has got something even better for us.
  2. Motive – some prayers (even spiritual sounding ones) aren’t answered because they are, in fact, selfishly motivated.
  3. Relationship – some prayers aren’t answered because God Himself is a greater answer than the thing we are asking for, and He wants to use our sense of need to draw us into a deeper relationship with Him.
  4. Free Will – some prayers aren’t answered because God will not force a person to do something that he or she does not want to do.
  5. Influence – Some of our prayers aren’t yet answered because they are working gradually and not as an impersonal mechanism of forced control.

At the end of this section p131 Pete summarises his reasons for unanswered prayer:

  • Perhaps God has something better for us
  • Perhaps our motives in prayer are selfish
  • Perhaps God is allowing us to struggle a while in order to draw us into a deeper relationship with Himself’
  • Perhaps a positive answer to our prayer would violate someone’s free will
  • Perhaps God is answering our prayer subtly and slowly through the power of influence rather than control.

Pete says we are discovering that there are reasons for many of our struggles, both in the complex and fallen nature of God’s world and in the benevolent complexity of God’s will.

Chapter 10  God’s War p133 opens with another of Sammy’s seizures and Pete praying with vigor and rising faith, declaring that Sammy was a new creation, that she had been made whole by the wounds of Christ.  He claimed the power of the blood of the Lamb and continued, he said like an old-time gospel preacher.  The seizure seemed to obey, and as once before, it reversed back down Sammy’s wrist and out of her body.

The two interventions they had experienced renewed their faith in the supernatural power of prayer to impact their situation.  They felt that it was a case of God saying yes and Satan saying no. He goes on to say such apocalyptic ideas may not sit comfortably with our modern sensibilities but there is no doubting the biblical position.  See Ephesians 6:11-18

  1. Satanic Opposition- some prayers aren’t answered because God’s will is being directly contested by “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph 6:12). Perseverance, faith, and authoritive use of the Word of God become vital in winning.

 

Standing in Faith p145 

  1. Keys to Faith: Prayer and Worship
  2. Keys to Faith: Fellowship
  3. Keys to Faith: Fasting
  4. Keys to Faith: Start Small
  5. Keys to Faith: Impulsiveness
  6. Keys to Faith: Adventure
  7. Keys to Faith: Bible Study
  8. Keys to Faith: Pilgrimage
  9. Keys to Faith: Journaling
  10. Keys to Faith: Listening to God

For each of these Pete gives explanations and examples

  1. Why Unanswered Prayer: Faith – Some prayers are not answered because we just don’t believe they will be.  However, faith grows as we get to know God.
  2. Why Unanswered Prayer: Perseverance

Standing with Integrity p156

Then the Lord said to Moses “Quit praying and get the people moving! Forward, march!” Exodus 14:15 TLB

  1. Why Unanswered Prayer? Sin

Some prayers are not answered because of areas of disobedience in our lives. Are there hidden sins we need to confess or actions we need to take in order to lend power to our prayers?

Justice – personal injustice and disregard for the poor

  1. Why Unanswered Prayer? Justice

Some prayers aren’t answered because of our disregard for the needs of others in our communities and in other nations too.

Finally, Stand…

Don’t get too daring.  Satan  has had thousands of years of practice and we do not know 100th part of what he knows – Martin Luther

Help me to Stand on p 160 is helpful

HOLY SATURDAY– Where is God When Heaven Is Silent p163

They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.

Chapter 11 Exploring the Silence page 164

Pete says no one really talks about Holy Saturday yet if we stop and think about it, it’s where most of us live most of our lives.

A God Who Speaks and Does Not Speak

Why Is God Absent?

The Miracle of Unanswered Prayer

Rushing the Resurrection

When God Goes Missing

Christ Became the Atheist

“Via Negativa”

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go  – The lovely Hymn written by George Matheson

Chapter 12   Engaging The Silence page  179

Because God lives…present in absence, praying and responding in silence, the Easter Saturday story which leaves us mute, is also our empowerment for utterance and prayer.

Martin Luther King Jr saidI have lived these last few years with the conviction that unearned suffering is redemptive.”  Life’s great trials can make us bitter or better.

Looking Back: Remembering God’s Word in the Silence

Sabbath of Doubt

Looking Around: Encountering God in Other People and Places

The Sign of the Torn Veil

The Comfort of Bethany

Learning God’s Language

Speaking Out: Expressing God’s Word in the Silence

Five Minutes with Rob p 189 Pete tells a story

Being in the Presence of the Absence

Prayer by Alan.E. Lewis p 193

EASTER SUNDAY

WHEN

Every Prayer is Answered

I have seen the Lord!

John 20.18

Chapter  13  Living Hope p 196

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 

1 Peter 1:3

The Apostle to the Apostles

The Refiner’s Fire

Who’s to Blame?

Questions That Heal

Chapter 14  Beyond Miracles p 207

If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those have fallen asleep.

1 Corinthians 15:19-20

Imagining Heaven

A Vision of Jesus

APPENDIX A

PERSONAL CHECKLIST:   WHY IS MY PRAYER UNANSWERED P 219 – This is a very useful summary! Beyond my ability to reproduce here, I’m sorry!

APPENDIX B

HEROES OF THE FAITH AND UNANSWERED PRAYER P 223

GOD UNMUTE P227  

A Forty-Day Journey of Prayer

AFTERWORD by Sammy Greig