Not Yet Now

A collective of artists who collaborate in prayer & place. We commit our craft to narrate the story we see & to call in the unseen.

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A Table Liturgy - Written by the Béthanie Community At this table… We welcome all. We value all. In eating we assert our shared humanity. We confess our commonality, And take comfort in companionship. May those who come as strangers leave as friends. This is your table, God. As we break bread, we will remember you.

At this table… We make space for grace. We give no place to condemnation and complaint. Setting others before ourselves, We banish unkind conversation. May every word we speak, speak life. This is your table, God. As we break bread, we will remember you.

At this table… We celebrate God’s goodness. In poverty or plenty we choose thankfulness. We take time for slow food; We dine and digest; We take delight in a life well-lived. May all we receive here make us generous in giving. This is your table, God. As we break bread, we will remember you.

At this table… We learn to listen, and listen to learn. We linger until the last word is spoken. We savour the flavour of each other’s stories. We stay until the hunger of the human heart is fed. May all who eat their fill be fuelled here For every new adventure they face. This is your table, God. As we break bread, we will remember you.

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Gaia Prayer | Bemoan What if the way we respond to a crisis, is part of the crisis?

Sometimes we skip the grieving process, and rush to solutions and sticking plasters. Grief is a powerful response to the climate crisis.

As we grieve, we reconnect with the earth and join the groan of creation. As we bemoan, we acknowledge brokenness in the world and ourselves.

In grief, brokenness can become a resource and an invitation to something new. As the seed dies. As the kernel cracks. As the cocoon splits open.

Spend some time grieving the losses you see in the world. You may like to light a candle as you grieve. Whisper the losses you see or write them down on your phone. As you bemoan, may brokenness become a resource and invitation to a new way of being.

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Gaia Prayer | Bin Bag

Take action!  Become God’s hands and feet in the world.

As you go out, pay attention to your surroundings, the weather, the bugs and birds that catch your eye, the people you bump into. Be open to God’s gentle whisper. If you see any litter (and it is safe to do so) pick it up and put it in a bin.

You may like to take a short awareness walk around your local neighbourhood (with a bin bag and gloves) picking up litter and paying attention to God.

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Gaia Prayer | Bless Take out your phone and open a notes app. Bless God, by writing a thank you prayer to God, inspired by your experience of the Gaia artwork or the natural world.  You may like to read psalm 8, 24, 98, 1044. Be inspired by the images, metaphors and poetry of the Biblical psalms. Feel free to use this psalm 103 inspired prompt to start your prayer… Bless the Lord, O my soul, All that is within me, bless God’s holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, Forget not what God has done: God… God… God… Share your prayer with us on social media: Community of The Tree of Life Leicester Cathedral & The Not Yet Now

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Gaia Prayer | Beseech Make an urgent appeal to God in prayer. Take some time to pray aloud, or in your head, for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November and the climate crisis.

Pray for our world leaders. Pray for unity. Pray for action.  Pray for policy and legislation.

God of Creation, Who formed beauty from the unseen, hover over the COP26 summit. Let there be light-bulb moments and policy breakthrough. Let there be space to listen, and join, the groans of creation. Let the land be free to fulfil its divine potential and feed the world. Let the sky be blue with prophetic thinking and direct action. Let the waters replenish, Let the earth breathe, Let us, be remade in your image. Amen

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Gaia Prayer | Behold

We can read the earth like a sacred text, reflecting and revealing the character of God. Follow this four-step spiritual practice:

Settling: Be still. Clear your mind. Look closely at Gaia (the earth).

Shimmering: Notice what you respond to – what shimmers or stands out. It can be either a resonance or dissonance. Linger on whatever is capturing your attention.

Seeing: What images, memories or feelings are being stirred within you? What is this telling you about your relationship to the natural world? What does it reveal about the nature of God?

Savouring: Thank God for this moment of connection.

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Gaia Prayer | Blue The astronauts of Apollo 8 travelled all the way to space to discover more about the moon. They discovered the Earth. A singular, bright blue ball with no signs of borders, religion or politics, just a fragile  oasis floating alone in the vast infinite of space.

Read and meditate on this poem by James Dickey, 1969, US Poet Laureate.

“To say O God Almighty! To come back! To complete the cure To come back Singing with procedure Back through the last dark Of the moon, past the dim ritual Random stones of oblivion, and through the blinding edge Of moonlight in the sun And behold The blue planet steeped in its dream Of reality, its calculated vision shaking with The only love.”

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Gaia Prayer | Breathe

Breath prayer is an ancient practice that connects short, memorable phrases with deep breathing.  Get into a comfortable posture. Bring your attention to your breath. Treat each breath in as an arrival. Breathe in God’s presence. As you breath out, imagine letting go of future worries and responsibilities to God.

As you inhale, whisper or think the first phrase.

As you exhale, whisper or think the latter phrase.

Repeat.

[BREATHE IN]

All of creation is a song of praise to God.

[BREATHE OUT]

I am part of that creation.

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Gaia Prayer | 2021 It’s great to have partnered with Leicester Cathedral and The Community of the Tree of Life, for this prayer project all about our World, based around the Gaia art installation by Luke Jerram.  This installation aims to create a sense of the ‘Overview Effect’: the experience astronauts feel of awe for the planet, a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life, and a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment.

Small blue ball floating

in the eternal silence.

Riders on earth, rise

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Unfathomable Father

He who’s hands hewed us from dust, Must know us very well indeed, How we love, live and bleed. Through our luck and deed his love helps breathe.

It seems insanity that he who made me, treasures me, Despite my profanity.

What a mystery! That he who seems “so out there” Lives in me and you, To renew us from mess to reflection.

How far from the rejection We’ve come to expect from everywhere else we’ve looked?

When the king of heaven Makes able to join us At the table. Breakfasts, lunch, dinner, Me and you, Forgiven over food, The sinners.

Passionately powerful And powerfully passionate Our father is unfathomable.

Words: Ben Tanton | Image: Jon White

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Unbeatable Son

The unbeatable Son, He’s the one, who came to meet us again in our garden, He put aside what we’d done, to become a part of His own creation.

When God became humanity, The risk of love through empathy. As a Baby.

Into a difficult nation full of complication, Somewhere between the Romans and Religion With only a barn to keep him from harm.

He grew up in a world where he could not just see, - but feel the best and worst parts of what it is to be like you or me.

With the love of the Father At one with the Spirit, He came to live life and he came to give it.

A carpenter by trade, fishing on the side, Interesting and integral He inspired beggars, leppers and tax collectors, To turn around live for others. The upside down kingdom.

Rebuked by the religious and Rejected by the rest.

Teased. Tempted. Tortured.

Then put to death,

But

Three days later, he was back in the garden, living and breathing the same as he had done

Beach Barbecue breakfasts Walking, eating and drinking. he continued his teaching,

King of a better Kingdom. Anointing us to adventure.

20__ years on and he’s still not dead. But the best is yet,

He’s coming back.

Again.

The unbeatable Son.

Words: Ben Tanton | Image: Jon White

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Unstoppable Spirit

Hovering over waters and Adam’s first breath, Olive branch bearer and Column of Cloud. Wisdom of Prophets and Kindness of kings.

Miraculous signs and behind the scenes

Peace of Mary Bird at Baptism Joy of Jesus.

Helping healer and Last breath prayer.

Earth quaker, curtain cracker. Son Resurrector, and Apostle assurer,

Sustainer through shipwreck Outlaster of Empires,

Future inspirer and past pardoner Table setter and kingdom gardner.

love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness

the Trinity traits of

The Unstoppable Spirit.

Words: Ben Tanton | Image: Jon White

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SPRING

Returning light warms the soul, thawing the ground, and stirring hope: green, striking, new, new, new, as if to say ‘life will abound again!’ For now young shoots will do: vulnerable but visible their freshness sustains the imagination and creates perseverance. There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in. The days draw out and more will come. The ground is rich and ready with potential so we sow what’s in our pockets, knowing the harvest God planted in our heart will grow in the ground soon. The spring wait is lean and frustrating but still - no matter - dawn is here now and we will feed on hope.

Photo: Jonathan Cherry | Words: Helen Griffiths Taken from ‘How the light gets in’, our Seasons Prayer Room

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PRAYING ______ (add your own)

“All things where created through Christ, and find their purpose in Christ.” - Col 1 As you continue to notice God around you, in the every day, what object or action might you find useful as a tool to pray?  How does this metaphor reveal something of God’s mystery to you? Share your prayers with us, @thenotyetnow 

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PRAYING PROMISE

“This is the sign of the promise that I make between us” – Gen 9

Find a stick on your walk.  Use some scraps of tape and elastic bands, to wrap different coloured strips tightly around the stick, until it’s totally covered up.  Take your finished ‘prayer stake’ with you and drive it into some soft ground. Pray God’s promises over your neighbourhood.

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PRAYING PURPOSE “You are the salt of the earth...” - Matt 5 Take some salt with you on your walk. Stop somewhere that has meant something to you, it could be at school gates, neighbours houses, a local business, or church... whoever you want to pray for. Sprinkle some salt on their ground.  Pray for their flavour to not fade.  They are the salt of the earth! Pray for God’s purposes to be worked out in and through their lives.

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PRAYING POTENTIAL

“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed... nothing will be impossible for you.” – Matt 17

Get a packet of flower seeds (or whatever seeds you can find from your shed or kitchen!)  Take them with you on your walk, and in an act of hope, discreetly ‘seed bomb’ (scatter seed at random in soil) your neighbourhood.  As you scatter the seeds, pray for God’s potential to break out.  God’s future is now.