brand sense and 'Here's to the people behind the numbers'

The other week I went to listen to Simon Harrop, Executive Director of BRAND sense agency. He was saying that in the 70's people would remember around 25% of the TV ads they saw, now it's only around 5% - so he's promoting use of the other non-visual senses in advertising, particularly 'smell' and 'ritual'. Apparently people used to enjoy sliding their fingernail down the foil between two pieces of the KitKat chocolate bar to break into it - and that was a ritual - lost when the wrappers became plastic. Have you heard/seen the new Yellow Pages ad? It's both ritualistic and deeply spiritual; 'here's to the people behind the numbers' (watch it here) - slowly, repetitively, the advert honours different people - it's almost a prayer. And apparently, suggests Harrop, we use vision and audio to screen stuff out, but smell, touch and taste to engage. So why not include a little ritual and multi-sensory in your prayer times? Light some incense, use some oil to prayerfully anoint yourself/a friend, light a candle, begin your prayer time with ritual eg. 'In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit'. Seems there's some sense in the ancient traditions after all...

Spirituality of a Prayer Rope Maker

I find that making a prayer rope calms me, and the activity naturally becomes a 'still point' in a turning world; taking it further why not pray for the person you are making the prayer rope for and make it a spiritual activity? Liz Babbs book and CD, 'The Celtic Heart' has a beautiful meditation which fits:

Cords of Love
Thank you, Lord,
for the cutting and weaving
for that first umbilical knot
you were shaping
and forming
all that I was to become.

Thank you, Lord,
for the 'ups' and 'downs'
the 'unders' and 'overs'
you were weaving
beauty and purpose
into my life.

Psalm 139: 'When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.'

and as you hold the cord, hold the person before God:

We hold each other's lives
in our hands
What fragility and responsibility
Eathen vessels formed
from loving hands
So easily crushed
by clumsy words and actions
and only forgiveness can reassemble the parts
according to the Maker's instructions.

God loves in a nutshell

In the autumn children gather conkers - this is a dried one I collected - it reminds me of Julian of Norwich: 'It was at this time that our Lord showed me spiritually how intimately he loves us. I saw that he is everything that we know to be good and helpful. In his love he clothes us.. And he showed me more, a little thing, the size of a hazel-nut, on the palm of my hand, round like a ball. I looked at it thoughtfully and wondered, 'What is this?' and the answer came, 'It is all that is made.' I marvelled that it continued to exist and did not suddenly disintegrate; it was so small. And again my mind supplied the answer, 'It exists, both now and for ever, because God loves it.' In short, everything owes its existence to the love of God.' Take time out to think on the wonder of God's love for you and creation as you journey around the Prayer Cord. Andrew

COTA's 'Ordo': music for the Jesus Prayer podcast

I've mentioned the Church of the Apostles CD 'Ordo' before, but here's a podcast of the track 'Have Mercy'. This track is an excellent way to lead in to a time of praying the Jesus Prayer using contemporary music. I haven't uploaded the full track - you can download or send for the CD. Enjoy! Andrew

Anglican Prayer Bead Confirmation Experience

I sat on the beach at Tenby making knotted Anglican Prayer Cords for our
Confirmation Group - there are two adults (63 yrs and 38 yrs) and 3 young
people (12yrs). On our last session before the service, we had a practice and
then spent some time with God.

We started with an explanation and then we sang. We said the Lord's prayer on
the Cross, 'May the words of my mouth' etc on the invitatory bead, 'Jesus Lamb
of God, have mercy on me, a sinner' on the single beads - they repeated after me
rather than have it on a bit of paper, then on each group of seven beads, we prayed in
turn for the world, the church - worldwide, our parish, congregation, the
people that had told us about God; our family and friends - the people who
loved us, we loved, who encouraged us to be here; ourselves - our journey with
God, the service; and then back to the invitatory and Lord's Prayer. We
finished with anointing and another song.

It was a really good time together with God - there was that quiet and stillness
and unwillingness to move or break the silence which comes from having been in
the presence of God. Chandy

How to tie an Orthodox Prayer Rope

If you're feeling adventurous, I'm grateful to Brett, who sent me his link on How to tie an Orthodox Prayer Rope.

The Convent

Iona arrives - 'The Convent': Wednesday 14th June BBC2 9pm
Last year's ground-breaking 'The Monastery' made riveting viewing as we watched the journey of 5 ordinary men who spent 40 days in Worth Abbey with life-changing results.  This year's series about four women promises to be no less intriguing.  Visit the Poor Clares mini site on the series. Andrew