I woke up at 5.30am this morning, strange bed, Disciple to prepare for, lots to think about, lots to do. Trying to return to the land of sleep proved impossible. There is a balance between action and inaction, doing and being.
Today I am at the second day of CELL UK national conference for the Methodist church, located in Swanwick, hence the strange bed. Last week Rowan Williams described the future of church as somewhere between cell and celebration, not new but pithy. So yesterday and today I am listening, talking, questioning and reflecting on how church can be better in 'cells'.
It seems there are a number of things: cells have DNA, something deep that defines and shapes them, there is also something about connectedness, not just to those in your own cell group but those outside, those friends, family, co-workers whose 'hand you hold', whom you pastor to. The aspect that has gotten to me though is that cells, by definition, multiply, they are born to grow, to split. The word 'split' in the context of church is always seen in a negative light, it means there has been disagreement that has led to schism, not a good kind of broken in any way.
Yet 'Cell Church' has as its mantra and withing its DNA that it should aim to split, there should come a point when growth has meant that, to misquote the Spice Girls, '1 become 2'.
It is strange how things happen, yesterday evening, over dinner, I was talking with a colleague, about the value of exercise, he was explaining to me the benefit of using weights to build muscle and burn calories, Apparently any exercise and especially short bursts, tears the muscle, literally breaks it, the bulk comes when the muscle repairs itself, growing in size but also burning calories to do so. So when the muscle stops working the benefits remain, the growth increases during the resting. Purposeful brokenness for the benefit of growth.
Apparently 'borked' means to break or damage, its etymology is uncertain but it is thought it was originally a misspelling of 'broked' as in broken. A new word born by breaking an old one.
Psalm 51:17 says"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.", maybe brokenness IS something to work toward, a purposeful attempt to renew, to grow through purposeful discipline: physical, or spiritual.
I ran 4 miles today in gloriously sunny Swanwick.
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