Comparing Clusters!

So, a couple of weeks ago, we finished the course on How To Make The Most Of Your Life; and the two clusters following have both stood out in completely different ways. In fact, I don't see how they could have been more different.

The first week after combined a prayer walk with a social, which sounds a bit odd; but actually worked quite well. A few of us met up at church (which is fairly central), and went off from there. We went up to our friends and cluster members who are now parents, as of a couple of weeks ago; and, after praying outside their house for a bit, turned and went down the High Street via the Sandford Ale House, that we also prayed outside. We went down through the centre of town, and then went on to the social part of the evening; which was already growing in numbers. We had arranged to meet one of our other cluster members there, and it was a mere matter of minutes before quite a few others joined us-more than double. You could argue that this was due to the relative popularity of prayer walks and socials, but nearly everyone seemed to have good reasons for being late-and, socials are at least as important for clusters as anything else. Possibly more important than some things, as relationships are vital for clusters to work; and there has to be occasions for people just to get to know one another without 'working', as it were.
So, we just generally chilled and chatted in the pub. To be honest, I found it difficult at first, for some unknown reason, but after a while I relaxed and just let things happen. All in all, it was a great time; and a great time was had by all. You could call it something official like 'building relationships' or 'fellowship', and either of those would be just as accurate; but all that happened was people chatted, people relaxed (even me, eventually), and there was lots of laughter. I can't speak for anyone else, but I know I enjoyed it; and it was just what I needed.

And last night was also outstanding for completely different reasons. It was the first session after the course, and I was leading it. And I had no idea what I was going to do. Or rather I had too many ideas. The title I'd been given was 'Creativity in your Prayer Life', and I didn't know how to do it. My prayer life isn't particularly creative. I just talk to God and try to listen; not much else, really. I couldn't see how I could build a session on that. I tried looking up various patterns of prayer that different people use, but it didn't feel like the right way to go. So, I got round to asking people a few questions, and seeing what came of that. I had my day off the day before, so I planned to write it then to let as many people reply as possible. In the end, about 10 people gave me some answers, so I had a look at what they'd written to see what similarities there were. One of the main things was that from what they said they did, everyone seemed to have a fairly healthy prayer life, but no-one felt satisfied with it; they all felt it should be better.
So, I felt that was the thing to address. If people felt they were unsure about prayer, to give them some encouragement that they could do it, as it were. But even up until I was about to start, I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do, or how well it might work. First, however, came the worship that Fay led. She knew I was doing prayer, as she was one of the people I'd asked; and had come up with something that led into it brilliantly. She asked us to write/draw/make a psalm. She'd written out a list of some of God's titles/attributes, and let us get on with it. The idea of 'HELP' was in my head; partly because I'd been working on this all week and still didn't know what was going to happen, and partly because I'd been feeling quite drained a few times recently, and just felt if I was only just holding on with God, what would it have been like without Him? Anyway, I started writing, and it just kind of poured out. It sort of reflected what my prayer times are sometimes like, kind of calling out for help, and then acknowleging that God is there and leaning on Him. It was actualy quite emotional-and unexpected. And then I started. We started by discussing the questions in small groups, and then the main point of the evening. Another thing that people had said a lot was that they felt they didn't spend enough time listening to God, so I'd arranged for us to have some quiet time just listening. What He said to me was that, although I do get distracted, He is always there, and I know that; and also that I should worry less-or not at all. I'll keep working on that one, I think. All in all, I think it was another great cluster, God was definitely there; even in the time afterwards, in different ways.