The Friday Fix

Tag: light

  • ‘Fix You’ by Coldplay

    Warning: this post contains strong emotions.

    Jill writes:

    In 2007-8, when we had a difficult time as a family I would sometimes find my husband sitting listening to this song, with tears running down his own face… just listening and crying.

    His cousin (aged 28) was killed in the 7/7 bombings. She was sitting in the carriage where the bomb went off and there was no chance of survival. There was nothing anybody could do.

    Her parents asked for none of us to talk about her and I’m not going to here except to say that she was an extraordinary person (you could read more in her memory https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12011102) and that she is still missed.

    This piece of music, for me, is one which has helped, since then, to deal with any difficult situations. Until I decided to write this I didn’t even know what the lyrics were. ‘I will try to fix you’ was the only phrase I remembered. There was absolutely nothing that could be done. The fire had literally ignited her bones. And yet… we wanted to fix it. We really wanted to fix it. This song tuned in with that longing and that helplessness.

    We all want to fix it… for those we love, for the world. This Covid-19 pandemic has reminded us of our vulnerabilities as a human race. We do feel ‘stuck in reverse’. We also want to fix other people… and really we can’t.

    In films those who are called ‘fixers’ are those who are known to be people who claim to do this and always come undone. They are not the ones with real power but the ones who try to convince others that they are! For me it is turning out to be a life-time’s work to learn that only God can help people truly fix things in their own lives.

    ‘Fix You’ will always remind me of those traumatic experiences (of hearing The News, of realizing it was our family’s news, of the funeral, of trying to support others through bereavement) but since then, the song has become one which helps me with other sadnesses. Until I started to write this I didn’t know that the song was performed at the benefit concert ‘One Love Manchester’ – dedicated to the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017… but it does not surprise me. The music itself is healing as it brings the tears which register the realities of sadness and make the beginnings of real change possible. We can then begin to look for the ‘lights which will guide us home’

    At Helen’s funeral the vicar, who was a friend, mentioned that Helen had supported him after a difficult funeral he had to take for a child, “She said to me: ‘In tragedy, it is never God’s will. God’s is the first heart to break and God is the first to shed a tear.’”

    Find out more about Coldplay at https://www.coldplay.com/

  • Let Your Light Shine

    Thinking about being light to others.

    What you will need:

    Set Up the Space

    • You will need to set up a table in a place where the group can see and access. Drape with material (as creatively as you like!). Place the large light or candle (this can either be in the middle at the back or to the side); set out the lined tray with tealights laid out in rows inside the tray (either to the front of the large light or on the other side of the table to the large light). Place the lighter to the side of the tealight tray. (PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT HOWEVER YOU SET UP THE TABLE, IT MEETS FIRE SAFETY GUIDELINES!)

    Reading: Matthew 5: 13-16 (from The Message version)

    13 “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

    14-16 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

    Reflection – Use the Friday Fix of ‘Katrina & The Waves – Love Shine a Light’. Here’s the link: https://thefridayfix.home.blog/2019/05/17/katrina-and-the-waves-love-shine-a-light/

    Activity – Focus on the large light shining out, pray that God’s love will shine through your life and that when people see you, your life will communicate Jesus.

    Pray for your church or work – that it may become even more visible, attractive and accessible to the local community.

    As you pray you might like to light a tealight.

    Closing Prayer

    God of Love

    You have called us to be salt and light in the world.

    Guide us to the places where we need to take your light.

    May we bring hope to those living in darkness.

    May we bring hope to those who see no light at the end of the tunnel.

    May we bring salt and light to a world of blandness and shadow.

    Shine your light on and through us to show others the way to You.

    Amen

     

  • ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ – Joni Mitchell

    Gill writes:

    ‘Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.’ 

    Over the last few days, these words from ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ have been bouncing around my head. I’ve always appreciated this song for it’s statement on the environment but as the past week has unfolded for us in the UK, these lyrics have taken on a wider meaning.

    A wander around our supermarkets is all you need to appreciate what we take for granted. No visits to the theatre for the next few weeks; no parties and weddings to go to; no meals out with family and friends; no Pilates class; no school runs because school’s not running. Everyday aspects of our daily lives have just disappeared overnight.

    ‘You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’

    One of my favourite sort of TV shows are the ones when we send a family back in time.  I particularly enjoyed the ‘Turn Back Time’ series a few years ago which was set in Morecambe – where they took a street and put four families from 21st Century Britain to live in the same conditions as their great-grandparents, grandparents and parents.  It took you from the Victorian age right through to the 1980’s.

    What becomes apparent from these sorts of programmes is the amount that we rely on electricity.  No fridges, freezers, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, televisions, computers. The sheer delight of the families when these commodities are gradually introduced is a joy to watch.

    The thing that often strikes me is the struggle that the people have with light – from tallow candles that burn too fast to conserving oil for lamplights; from a fizzing lightbulb to wartime blackout. How light is so valuable when the darkness falls.

    Pondering the ‘light’ thing – we are told quite clearly in the Gospels, 3 times I think it is, that Jesus said that he is the Light of the world – and in Matthew 5:15-16 we’re told that we are the light of the world too. (‘Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.’)

    We need to be the light in our communities right now – showing the way.  This moment in time that we are living through requires us to step up and be a light to those around us. We can’t be church in the way that we’re used to but we can be church in radically different ways over the coming weeks.

    We’ve taken our ways of living and worshipping for granted. We don’t really like to be or feel uncomfortable these days. We can’t be bothered with a bit of thinking and a bit of effort – it’s easier to do what we’re used to doing and in ways that we’re used to doing them.

    Earlier this week, Archbishops Welby and Sentamu wrote a letter to the Church of England and asked the question ‘This is a defining moment for the Church of England. Are we truly a church for all, or just the church for ourselves?’ It’s a defining moment for all churches.

    They went on to say “We urge you sisters and brothers to become a different sort of church in these coming months: hopeful and rooted in the offering of prayer and praise and overflowing in service to the world.”

    Light is valuable when darkness falls.

    You can see what Joni Mitchell is up to these days by visiting https://jonimitchell.com/