— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
Journeying through a whole book of the bible in one go can be a very rewarding experience full of “aha moments”. One could do this by curling up on your sofa with a hot tea and your bible on a wet afternoon or by listening to a bible recording on youtube or an app. The latter is my favourite way, as it can keep me company while hanging up laundry or doing the dishes.
It is quite incredible what jumps out at me when I immerse myself in scripture this way. I become aware of themes and phrases that repeat, become aware of the author’s writing style and might even note some contradictions along the way.
On Sunday during the homily I mentioned Matthew’s preference for dualistic and sometimes even brutal storytelling. When we look at John’s gospel, we notice a very different style, which is almost poetic.
A few weeks ago the preparation work for one of my New Testament lectures asked to go through John’s gospel in one go, to make notes and to use them to create some art piece. I was very excited about this, as all things artsy are right up my alley! I took the time to listen through John’s gospel while doing some visual note-taking. (Click here to see a large scan of what I drew and wrote.)
I was struck by the portrayals of Jesus meeting individuals throughout his ministry: all of them very different from each other, all of them seen and loved by Jesus. To honour these encounters I wrote a collection of short poems, called cinquains.
Enjoy them and perhaps try discovering a book of the bible yourself too!
St John’s Cinquains
Christine Ghinn
guarded
Nathanael
seen even before
acclaimed a true and upright soul
believes
leader
Nicodemus
curious by candlelight
tending to his teacher’s body
with love
a well
foreign woman
noticed and loved at last
springs of living water flooding
the land
all sneer
at her that day
but he confronts their hate
stirs their conscience and reveals their guilt
she’s free
blind man
made well to see
interrogated by all
bemused at their concern and then
knows him
he weeps
calls Lazarus
out of the tomb
mourning turns into rejoicing
sisters
his friend
the one he loved
leans close at the table
be made the weeping mother’s son
embrace
through tears
she pleads and seeks
hears her name and smiles
runs to their friends cheering
he lives
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
Freiburg Anglican Church 
