This resource is something that you can use to work through independently or within your SCM group. Alternatively, you can join SCM SOC for a special service on Weds 10th June at 8pm. Details on how to join the zoom call will be on the SCM Facebook group. What you will need: pen, paper, bowl of water.
Please respond with the words in bold.
Opening Prayer
God of our days and years, we set this time apart for you.
Form us in the likeness of Christ so that our lives may glorify you.
Amen.
Hymn
Psalm 121
Reflecting on the Final Term
This final term has been different to how any of us will have expected it to be. COVID-19 has impacted our lives in ways we could never have imagined when we first heard reports of it surfacing. This reflection is aimed to help us acknowledge the pain of losing what was to be. Yes, there is hope in the future but right now it is important to sit with God in the grief.
Draw a gingerbread person on your piece of paper.
On the outside write the events that have been cancelled, the plans missed, the people you miss etc.
On the inside write how you feel about all these changes, how did you feel when we went into lockdown, how do you feel now?
This activity can be done in silence or whilst listening to some reflective music.
Bible Reading – Isaiah 61:1-7
Reflecting on University
Between each reflection:
Leader: God of love, we bring you our joys and our memories; our struggles and our insights.
Hymn
When We Face an Unknown Future
Letting Go
Read the following and do the actions as you go through the reflection.
I struggle with letting things go - I tend to grasp them tightly to myself.
clench your fist, palm facing the ground
And I've got it (the thing I can't let go of) then, but I can't see it, I can't do anything with it, there's no space for it to grow, and if I try to look at it or show it to someone else - if I release my grip - it'll fall to the floor. And gripping things makes me mean and scared. And it takes a lot of effort just to keep the thing in your clenched hand. But if I turn my hand over and open my hand,
turn your palm to face up and open your hand,
I still have the thing, and yes - I could now more easily lose it - I have to take more care of it in the open hand, but I can see it, appreciate it, I can use it, I can share it with other people - it can grow if it has to and holding things in the open hand invites sharing, welcome, it's less fearful. Less controlling. It's less tiring and ultimately, a happier stance to take.
Looking to the Future
Right now the future can feel quite uncertain. We are mourning the lost time at university and the final goodbyes that we didn’t have in the way we had hoped. However, it is important that we look forwards and outwards to what the future holds.
Let’s take some time to think about three things we are looking forward to over the coming week and months. You can use the on screen whiteboard and the annotate function if you would like to share these or you can use the chat function as another way to share. If you are using this resource individually you could write these things down on paper and then stick it somewhere that you will see it regularly as a reminder of what there is to look forward to.
Blessing
(Tom M. Shuman)
Closing
Written by Jack Woodruff with help from Yordanos Gebremichael and Annie Sharples.
New Patterns for Worship, which the opening prayer is from, is copyright © The Archbishops' Council 2002 and published by Church House Publishing. Other aspects are adapted from a liturgy created by Northern Leg of Student Cross.
You can download this resource as a PDF below.
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