e~mergent kiwi

Looks great - shame its the first sunday of the month. Fuller St cafe is looking forward to having the mary & elizabeth reflection as part of tonight though - thanks again

Hi Steve
What is body prayer massage? (Unbelievably, neither google nor wikipedia knows.) Soak could get inundated with excited athletes, which would not be a bad thing :) Anyway, soak conjures great images, hope it went well.

Yes Steve, I was wondering what "Body Massage Prayer" was as well.
Jill

Jody and Jill,

"Body prayer massage" was my words to try to describe the following station ....

the benefit of touch, that hand massages could be a non-threatening way for some people to receive
prayer and healing. Because we are Jesus' hands and feet here on earth, as we massaged hands or feet, Jesus could use this physical touch to
heal in many ways - connecting by sitting talking, listening, sharing - while being
massaged could help someone to really feel heard and that could bring about healing. There are many people who are deprived of touch in their
lives and this could be a safe way to receive it - a transmission of God's love to them.

So body prayer massage can be offered as one of about 5-7 "stations" spread around the auditorium over about 30-40 mins. all occur in public, but in ways that help with safety. so the prayers sit on a sofa and if you want prayer, you simply go and sit beside them. then there is communion in one place, confession using water and scripture, cushions and crayons and paper to process, visuals looping (a ripple of blessing), and ambient music.

this is offered after a period of sung worship and after reading a passage about Jesus healing ministry.

steve

thanks for the explanation....sounds interesting. Massaging hands and feet could be very powerful and sounds much safer than a full body massage. :)

now what on earth were you thinking we were offering Jill :)?

steve

I've seen this before, the linking of massage with Jesus. I've seen Jesus linked to the cleaning of feet then this linked to the massage of feet and now its because we are 'Jesus' hands and feet on Earth.' Is there a more solid link in the bible? It seems to me that folk are so good at interpreting the bible to justify what they want to do, to mislead people in a subtle way . . .and to justify what they don't want to do. How do you know people wont feel obliged or safe with the massage because of a notion that it is somehow Christlike? I imagine there is no Soak station with a big bin for people to give away ALL that they own to follow Jesus, but no doubt that one has been conveniently lost in translation. Don't mean to sound cranky and negative, Jack

If the big bin to give away ALL including clothes is right before the massage station, no amount of "safe" hand massaging is going to keep it comfy! But you're right Jack, we tend to be good at putting our own spin on what it means to be christ-like. (I am pretty awesome at it...!)

There were a couple of small velvet pouches at Soak which people could have put a cheque or cash representing the value of all their possessions in if they had wanted to. We call it the offering.

Hi Jack,

Isn't pretty much most of what Christians do about linking our lives, beliefs and actions to Jesus? (massage or otherwise)

Also, I'm curious about your phrasing, "feel obliged or safe with the massage because of a notion that it is somehow Christlike."

Does massage make you feel unsafe generally? I neither particularly connect nor disconnect it with Christlikeness but your phrasing seems to suggest that don't like massage in any context.

Hi Iain

Yes its about linking out lives, beliefs and actions to Jesus but surely it has to be a valid link that is backed up by scripture. Otherwise you get all this stuff like these preachers that load themselves up with money and say its God blessing them for being so Christ like I assume???
And suggesting measly 'offerings' when Christ actually said to give it all away.
Yes massage does make me feel unsafe and particularly in a spiritual context. I don't want to go into details here, but thanks for the feedback, perceptive and thought provoking! :)