The 2012 London Nativity

Mary and Joe were heading to London in their little old Vauxhall Corsa. Mary was nearly due and it was uncomfortable for her to sit squeezed in the small car with the seat-belt tightly hugging her large bump.

They were heading for London. Joe's brother was competing in the Olympics and he had got them tickets.

It would be hell in London. there would be loads of people but Mary and Joe were very fond of Jimmy, Joe's brother and wanted to see him compete. He was in the Archery and his competition was being held at the Lords cricket ground venue on the outskirts of London.

But with Mary being pregnant they had not had time to get things sorted properly. They had got the best tickets - thanks to Jimmy and his influence being an athlete. That was all arranged ages ago and now they were beginning to wonder if it had been wise making the long journey as they little car was stuck in the heavy traffic on the M1.

It was summer and the sun was shining and they were sure that they would be able to find somewhere to stay.

And the competition was tomorrow.

The journey went on and on and the Mary was becoming more and more uncomfortable.

It was early evening when they pulled into the area of St John's Wood where Lords is situated and wondered what they would do for the night. They saw a hotel.

The friendly receptionist said “Sorry no room!”

There was a b and b but the lady there said “Sorry we booked out months ago - don't you know the Olympics are on!”

They called into a roadside pub to be told “Sorry we don't do accommodation”

Joe pleaded with the girl behind the bar pointing to Mary's bump and saying she had not long to go. He laid it on thick, telling the young woman about how uncomfortable Mary had found the long journey.

He explained that they had visited many hotels and b and bs but all said the same. Because of the Olympics they were full.

This barmaid had a sister who was expecting and she could recognise the state Mary was in. She had an idea.

“Why not go and ask my Aunty Peggy. She sometimes takes in lodgers. Here’s the address. Tell her Judy sent you.”

So they trailed to to the next street and went to the modern semi detached house.

The door was opened by an elderly lady with grey hair and thick glasses.

This was aunty Peggy.

But her reply was predictable. “No. Sorry! All my rooms are full of games-makers. They are working odd shifts keeping everything going so they are in and out all day and night but a lovely bunch they are too. I have no spare beds at all. No spare room I'm afraid.”

She glared through her thick specs at the huge bump as Mary stood pathetically at the door. the eyes behind the thick lenses softened as she looked at Mary's tired eyes.

“Just for tonight is it?” she asked.

She paused for a long moment as she weighed up a possibility in her mind.

“There is a sun lounger in the conservatory - you can kip there as its just for tonight. I'm only doing this considering the state you are in.” She looked at Joe and added “There are a few cushions on the floor for you.”

Mary settled down on the nice sunbed. The conservatory was not big but it was clean and there were blinds so it was not like being in a greenhouse.

Joe went out and returned twenty minutes later with two portions of fish and chips and some lemonade and they had a makeshift supper.

Mary was tired and as soon as she had finished her chips she was ready to sleep. Joe curled up as best he could on the cushions on the tiled floor and tried to relax thinking about the events of the day and his excitement for tomorrow.

Mary wasn't asleep long when she woke Joe. It was now dark but the summer sky was still glowing from the city streetlights.

“Oh... Joe its started.” she exclaimed. “Joe its started!”

Joe jumped up quickly and held Mary’s hand. It was clammy.

He knew he had to do something.

He grabbed his iphone. There wasn't an app for do it yourself midwifery!

He phoned his brother.

No reply.

The phone was switched off. He mused it was probably a rule in the athletes camp to switch off all phones on the night before their event.

He decided to call an ambulance. But where were they. He remembered the scrap of paper that had written down Auntie Peggy's address.

He dialed 999.

Ambulance. The telephonist explained she was sorry but there will be a delay as there has been an incident at the Olympic village.

I won't describe the next bit because it was noisy and a bit messy but things happened very quickly and soon a new young pair of lungs were filling the conservatory with a loud cry.

The ambulance arrived eventually and they did a quick check and cleaned Mary up then left them to it.

And the following day they went to Lords, with a baby wrapped in swaddling bands and tucked close into Mary's chest and watched Jimmy compete and get into the final but not win a medal. And in honour of his uncle they called the baby Jamie.

Image"Laying Around" courtesy of Timeless Photography / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Christmas meditation on John chapter 1....

For thousands of years before Jesus was born festivals were held across Northern Europe at the darkest time of the year. Near to the shortest day a solstice festival would be held with holly and mistletoe, evergreen trees and singing, and plays and stories about the promise of spring.  In the darkest nights of winter, especially on the days when the daylight never seems to arrive,  this festival reminded people that the spring would come.

In more recent times, relatively speaking, the people across the northern parts of Europe became Christian. As a result the church leaders decided this season was the perfect time to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  No one actually knew when his real birthday fell. They saw a parallel between the old winter festival and the coming of Jesus.  They pointed out that the joy felt at the returning of the sun with the lengthening days of spring is the same joy we know in the life Jesus brings into the world.

Jesus' coming brings a promise of new life and hope to the world. In this way those early theologians interpreted Jesus as the life that creates and continues to bring new life into the world.  When we begin to understand Jesus in this cosmic perspective we see that he is so much more than just the "reason for the season".  Jesus is the grace that gives life to all creation and continues to sustain all that exists.  He appeared in human form so that in this embodiment we could see that love is both crucial and essential as a description of the new life Jesus brings.  With Jesus present as incarnated love, love as the energy of the universe can flourish and grow.

The bible narratives remind us that Jesus was born when Caesar was the emperor in Rome and Herod was his regent in Palestine. These two both have gone down in history for their notorious record on human rights - they were despotic tyrants who stayed in power through a reign of terror.  The social and political climate into which Jesus was born could hardly have been worse.  And yet, just as after the solstice has passed each new day becomes longer and lighter than the one before, so the good news of Jesus began to spread through the world.  It was indeed "Good news of great joy for today in the city of David is born a Saviour"

This reminds us that even on the darkest nights there is light in the world and that dawn will come.  The light of Christ has come into the world and though there will be moments of darkness as nations rise and fall, politicians come and go, and the economy goes up and down, always for Christians there is the glimmer of the presence of the light of Christ and the promise of more light yet to come.

This light cannot be bought, it cannot be won as a prize, cannot be withheld from anyone who wants it, and is not dependent on whether you have been "naughty or nice". It is not something that can be marketed or exploited. It is there for Christians but Christ came to the world because God loves the whole world (in the Greek - the cosmos), so it is there for everyone. This light is fundamental to the functioning of the universe itself. And at the centre of Christmas is the wonderful free gift from God - the invitation to become children of the the light. This is a free gift that is so different to the other gifts that people strive and struggle to possess, to earn or to win in the power based society in which we live.

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness neither comprehends nor is able to overcome it. This great gift does not fit into the pattern of the world's way of doing things.  This light and this promise to become children of light is the life of the world and brings us hope at this dark part of the year. 


Image "Candles" courtesy of  Chris Sharp / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Fools and wise men......

This quote about fools is from the book "Mastery" by Robert Greene - a motivational book with the message that we can all be high achievers if we put our mind to it....

"In the course of your life you will be continually encountering fools. There are simply too many to avoid. We can classify people as fools by the following rubric: when it comes to practical life, what should matter is getting long-term results, and getting the work done in as efficient and creative a manner as possible. That should be the supreme value that guides people’s actions. But fools carry with them a different scale of values. They place more importance on short-term matters—grabbing immediate money, getting attention from the public or media, and looking good. They are ruled by their ego and insecurities. They tend to enjoy drama and political intrigue for their own sake. When they criticise, they always emphasise matters that are irrelevant to the overall picture or argument. They are more interested in their career and position than in the truth. You can distinguish them by how little they get done, or by how hard they make it for others to get results. They lack a certain common sense, getting worked up about things that are not really important while ignoring problems that will spell doom in the long term."
Image "Crazy Girl Cross Eyed And Pulling Her Ears"  courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A study of old age and so much more

All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West (1931)

I had not read any Vita Sackville-West until I acquired an ancient Penguin edition of "All Passion Spent" when clearing out my mother-in-law's bookshelves.  What a treasure I had missed. This is English prose at its best, though describing a long dead world with its outdated mores and values, it still has a message for today. 
The heroine is the elderly Lady Slane who courageously embraces a long suppressed sense of freedom and whimsy after a lifetime of convention. After the death of her husband she, as an 88-year-old woman, is emancipated and, for the first time since she was eighteen, "does her own thing!"  Her husband was a politician, prime minister and Viceroy of India and she travelled the world with him as he followed his career. She enjoys annoying her pompous and overbearing children. She begins by infuriating them by ignoring their plans for looking after her in her widowhood and makes her own arrangements to live in a cottage in Hampstead. A few months later she has an opportunity to annoy them even more by giving away an enormous inheritance to charity to spite their avaricious and parsimonious tendencies.
This charming and gentle novel addresses people's, especially women's, control of their own lives, a subject about which Sackville-West was greatly concerned. Like Sackville-West, Lady Slane explicitly states that she is not a feminist and considers such issues to be questions of human rights, while acknowledging the difficult position of women.
The wise old lady seeks a life that allows plenty of time for reflection and she chooses companions that will not upset the rhythm of her new life. She reflects for the first time on the dreams that she had for her life before she became engaged at the age of 18 and how her plans became completely taken over by her husbands plans. It is a story about relationships, family, place in society, the constrictions that convention puts upon people and the lack of control that people have on their lives. It also reflects tangentially on the nature of love and relationships which considering Sackville-West's affairs with other women as a member of the Bloomsbury set and her long lasting "open" marriage are poignant.
I am glad I made the time to read this grubby old orange Penguin novel. It was a worthwhile read.

Image courtesy of vichie81 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Apocalyptic environmentalism

A review of "The Rapture" by Liz Jensen.
When I first started reading this novel I wondered what genre of fiction I had. It is called the rapture and has many references to apocalyptic Christians in the near future interpreting climate change and other events as signs of the end. ( Incidentally "The rapture" is not biblical but an imaginative 19th century heresy thought up by an Anglican clergyman who subsequently left the Church of England, joined the Plymouth Brethren and then went to the USA. Thus pre-tribulation rapture theology was developed in the 1830s by John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren,and popularised in the United States in the early 20th century by the wide circulation of the Scofield Reference Bible.) The novel set in a the future after the faith wave - a religious revival that has greatly expanded all forms of fundamentalism throughout the religions of the world. It is a novel about eco-warriors battling an evil corporation that does not realise the consequences of its actions - sort of. But it is also about mental health and disability as well as being a love story and examining the effectiveness of psychotherapy for seriously criminally disturbed young people. No wonder I had trouble pigeon-holing the book neatly into one simple fiction genre.
Ther are some far fetched co-incidences in the book which verge on fantasy specifically about the ability of people to predict the future through pseudo psychic powers enhanced by electro-convulsive therapy (or ECT). Ignoring these fantastic elements the book is a good thriller which follows the familiar plot of a small group of people trying to warn the world of what they know and battling with widespread unbelief and the powers of the law.
The heroine is wheelchair bound with serious issues about her disability that is the effect of a car accident. The plot makes clear that people with issues can be sympathetic and insightful psychotherapists but they can also be seriously handicapped. It is a well structured thriller dealing with topical issue of sudden climate change, tsunami and apocalypse. In dealing with religion, mental health, disability, as well as environmental issues it leaves you with plenty of things to think about after you have enjoyed the denoument.
Irvine Walsh in his Guardian review says "Would-be thriller writers should certainly pick up The Rapture; it's a master class on how to write an engaging thriller about a relevant contemporary issue while still respecting the reader's brain cells."
You can buy this book by clicking here

Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Unhealthy religion

Daniel B. Clendenin writes a blog every week reflecting creatively on the lectionary. This week his reflection on an apocalyptic text in Mark's gospel contained the following analysis of how to spot religion that is unhealthy or even evil. 

You can find his blog here - http://www.journeywithjesus.net/

...some of the signs that religion has become evil and that evil has become religious. Here are ten warning bells.

• Fanatical claims of absolute truth. I don't mean the belief in absolute truth(s), which I think is both tenable and admirable, but rather the doubt-free and uncritical confidence that one has understood absolute truth absolutely.
• Identifying the gospel with nationalistic ideologies, partisan politics, state power, and ethnic identity.
• Blind obedience to totalitarian, charismatic, and authoritarian leaders, personality cults, or views that undermine moral integrity, personal freedom, individual responsibility, and intellectual enquiry.
• Ushering in the “end times” in the name of your religion.
• Justifying religious ends by dubious means.
• Any and all forms of dehumanisation, from openly declaring war on your enemy, demonising those who differ from you, construing your neighbour as an Other, to claiming that God is on your side alone. Do you believe that God loves Iran as much as Israel? There shouldn't be the slightest hesitation or qualification in the answer — of course he does.
• Pressure tactics of coercion, deception, and false advertisement.
• Alienation, isolation and withdrawal from family, friends and society, whether psychologically or literally (eg, David Koresh's Branch Davidians or Jim Jones' "People's Temple" in northern Guyana).
• Exploitation and all forms of unreasonable demands upon one's time, money, resources, family, friendships, sexuality, etc.
• Oddball, sectarian interpretations of Scripture that have little or no support from the broad, classical Christian tradition, or that disregard the best of historical-critical scholarship.

Often these danger signs combine and overlap.

  Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Carbon compromises

I was at a group meeting this week discussing our carbon footprints. We looked at a an on line website where you enter information about your lifestyle and the site calculates your carbon footprint. We looked at several alternative websites and they were of varying degrees of complexity and in the end decided to use a simple one that concentrated on travel and fuel use - the two major parts of life that generate carbon dioxide emissions. There were other calculators on line that allowed for many other factors to be included but we felt that this became much too complex!
We were a mixed group of people - some in employment some retired, some in large homes and some in smaller accommodation, some with family spread out across the world and others with few relatives close at hand. We all had different lifestyles and expectations and almost everyone flew at least once every year. One member of the group commented that we live in a cold damp part of the world and a holiday somewhere warm and dry is important to preserve our sanity!
When you think about living in a carbon neutral way you tend to think of living in thick ethnic sweaters in cold homes and walking and cycling in the cold rain. These negative images are unlikely to encourage many to embrace living in an eco-friendly way. 
But as we discussed the way to live in an environmentally friendly way we we were not depressed because we all recognised that we all make compromises every day. Perfection is difficult to achieve in any part of life so we often have to make do with what is achievable within the time and resources we have available. There are some purists around who never make compromises. They may well achieve a high level of self satisfaction but they can be a real pain to be with!
Life is about travelling in a certain direction with a certain steer. Being aware of the actions that create problems for the environment makes us aware and attentive to options at every turn and we can adopt the least worst course of action. Real life involves many competing pressures on our lives and many different priorities all demanding our attention. Real life is doing our best as we accept the inevitable compromises but recognising that we are on a journey. All the small things that we can achieve are better than nothing at all. 

Image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Ecumenism - is it always better elsewhere?

This week I have been at a two day ecumenical meeting. The programmed business centred on how the ecumenical body can achieve its core task of calling all churches into the goal of visible unity. This has to be done in ways that will work and with structures and policies that can be supported and resourced by the member churches. 
It is easy to see what has not worked in the past. It is much less easy to define precisely the tasks that we are wanting to undertake today and the structures that will be needed. How are the churches, who all are struggling with their own denominational problems (mostly about manpower and resources but also all challenged in different ways by sex!), able to look above their denominational parapet and take a wider view? Those of us who are convinced ecumeniacs may say that part of the answer will involve looking creatively beyond ecumenical boundaries. 
At our meeting we looked at the example of the churches in Wales with a new covenant and the churches in Australia that have similarly signed up to a covenant. Superficially it is easy to say that these other places have got their act together while we are still in the process of going round and round the same old ground in long and boring meetings. 
On the other hand these covenants are just further stages on the journey. They are tools or instruments for creating the space to allow churches to grow together rather than being a destination in themselves. They are agreements for a loose federality that in themselves do nothing. Yet without structures of some sort churches can't work together. The best structures should be almost invisible.
We need similar structures to facilitate and promote engagement on the deep and substantial things that matter to us. We are all agreed on the need to work together. It seems there may well be many more hours of debate to come before we are clear about how this can best take place.

(Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net )

Burned by Thomas Enger - Nordic noir

"Burned" by Thomas Enger is a debut crime fiction novel that has become a best seller in its native Norway and other Scandinavian countries. It is in the popular genre of nordic noir: books that examine the dark reality of the downside of living the Scandinavian dream.
The protagonist Henning Juul is an investigative journalist who has not worked since a traumatic incident in his life two years previously which has left him with scars both real and mental. Returning to work Henning's first investigation is the murder of a young female student in what looks like a ritual sharia killing. Her Muslim boyfriend is arrested but Henning thinks he is innocent.
Set in Oslo, Henning's investigation, using traditional journalistic methods, stays one step ahead of the police. The ethics of journalism emerge in the narrative,  particularly the tension between ethics and sensationalism under the constant pressure to attract more and more readers. The book touches on issues of immigration and prejudice, particularly Islamophobia, without preaching at the reader. 
Henning is an intelligent and intuitive damaged hero who works best alone, though he becomes more appreciative of human contact as the story develops. Hennings obsession with smoke alarms is understandable once the nature of the trauma and loss he has lived though have been explained. A violent criminal drug smuggling and people trafficking gang are on the periphery of the plot and they pose a constant threat as they know Henning is the only eyewitness to a murder. 
The novel is well written and translated and the plot is solid with some nice twists. This is one of the best crime books I have read for a while. There are many hints and references to past cases which I am sure will be developed in future novels about Henning Juul.

Image courtesy of twobee/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A log-jam about to burst?

St Peters Basilica, Rome

Image courtesy of Simon Howden/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I had a short but meaningful conversation with a Roman Catholic priest that I have known for many years recently.


One very interesting part of our conversation concerned the future of the Roman Catholic church. He described the huge geographical area for which he is now the only full time working priest. There are other retired priests who help cover the masses on Saturdays and Sundays but many of them are very elderly. There has only been one ordination of a new priest in his diocese in the last twelve years.

He said that it is interesting to see the resilience that is emerging in the parishes that are, for the most part, being left on their own to get on with it. Some of them are coping and coping very well. Others who have been heavily priest dependent are coping less well and are floundering like a headless chicken. The lay people all know of the crisis they are in and my priest friend knows that if asked what should be done they would suggest two solutions. They would  suggest that the church should allow priests to marry and should ordain women. 

Do you have a problem with that I asked? He replied that with his dioceses finance hat on he wonders where on earth they will get the money from to pay enough to support the wives and families of priests! That was not the answer I was expecting.

The pressure is building - in all sorts of places and all sorts of different ways. The Roman Catholic church does not do gradual change - it changes by sudden revolutions and he believes that there is a revolution coming. It is now fifty years since Vatican II.  

And what do you think will be the tipping point I asked? It will come after Benedict he said. Benedict is not a administrator he added, he has done nothing to reform or change any of the curia (The Vatican civil service with its built in conservatism). He finished by saying that the log jam will burst suddenly with a new broom coming in that will sweep much that is now taken for granted and then who knows.
Interesting times.....

Why Scottish independence - no. 1

When Ukraine was part of the USSR it had the second largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world. Only the United states had more. Now it is an independent country and it is nuclear free. It has achieved this as part of the struggle for independence. Here is a lesson for Scotland.
Trident is one of the most devastating weapons of mass destruction ever invented. I believe nuclear weapons to be immoral. These missiles and the submarines that launch them are located in Scotland. The missiles and warheads are stored in underground silos and bunkers on the beautiful hillside above Helensburgh overlooking Holy Loch, near Faslane naval base. The warheads are regularly carried through my home town of Stirling in a military convoy to take them for reprocessing (or whatever has to be done to service them).
The cost of the weapons has been astronomical. The billions to replace them are part of the British government's long term defence strategy. 
The referendum on independence offers a huge opportunity to galvanise the widespread public opinion that thinks that the possession of such devastating weaponry is totally immoral. Getting rid of this system is a very good reason to vote for Scottish Independence. I do actually believe that there are many other reasons why independence is a good idea but removing Trident from our shores is a clincher for me. 
There are already many parts of the world that are nuclear free. Africa became nuclear free by the treaty of Pelindaba in 1996; Southeast Asia by the treaty of Bangkok in 1995; the South Pacific, New Zealand and Australia by the treaty of Rorotonga in 1985 and the whole of South America by the treaty of Tlatelolco way back in 1967.
There is widespread condemnation of Trident through Scottish civic society - from the churches, the Islamic community and the trade unions. If getting rid of trident really is a priority for all these people then there is only one way for them all to vote in the referendum and that is YES!

I acknowledge the influence that Brian Quail's article in "Coracle" Autumn 2012 has had in galvanising my thinking on this subject.

(Image courtesy of Darren Robertson / FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Postscript  3rd November 2012
Support for getting rid of Trident came from an unlikely source this week.....
"Former Tory Defence Minister Michael Portillo gave a damning verdict on Britain's nuclear weapons programme on BBC This Week. In response to the question "Should Trident be renewed?", he replied "No, I think it is all nonsense". Then when asked "Should we have any kind of nuclear deterrent?" Portillo said, "No, it's completely past its sell by date. It's neither independent, because we couldn't possibly use it without the Americans, neither is it any sort of deterrent, because now largely we are facing enemies like the Taliban and Al Quaeda, who cannot be deterred by nuclear weapons. It's a tremendous waste of money. It's done entirely for reasons of national prestige and at the margins it is proliferation". In contrast, Labour MP Tessa Jowell said that the Labour Party supported Philip Hammond's plan to spend millions of pounds on Trident replacement, in advance of the formal decision to proceed with this the new system in 2016."

Hope in troubled times

In the book "Bothered and Bewildered" Ann Morisy suggests nine aptitudes that people need to develop in order to enact hope in troubled times. 

These are -

1. to be a non anxious presence in stressful times
2. to practise systemic thinking in order to resist the temptation to blame others when things go wrong
3. to practise gratitude - even in difficult circumstances
4. to engage in courageous micro-actions that counter the inclination toward neo-tribalism and fragmentation rather than social cohesion (eg the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well)
5. to imagine ways of breaking out of the constraints of circumstances and have the motivation and discipline to persist with intentional behaviour
6. to gain confidence in the viability of the economy of abundance and generosity that Jesus inducts us into, rather than being beholden to the economy of scarcity
7. to practise sitting more lightly on the globe in recognition of our thoughtless abuse of the creation
8. to practise compassion, conviviality and harness the imagination to ward off the dangers of gnosticism
9. to draw on the enriching memories of eras past in order to affirm the human capacity to correct its own errors or in more theological language to repent or turn around.

These give an idea of the process of church needed for troubled times.

 (Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Soul Space

Last night I attended Soul Space, which some might describe as a "fresh expression"  though I like its self identity as "a time for encounter".
Just over a dozen of us met in the church hall at 6.30 and shared a pot-luck meal. Then from seven to eight we sat in a circle and most of us shared something inspiring that we had brought with us. We had been given the theme on the flyer sent out by email "One World - many faiths and cultures".

I took a short meditation from Jan Such Pickard that I had read very recently to share. One person shared a short video, others poems and others various reflections. It was not overtly Christian though it happened in a Methodist building. It was a space where people could be themselves and bring and share and listen to others at a level that is not possible in a  normal church service. 
One of the people present was an ex-minister now describing them self as a person of no faith.  
It was perhaps like a Quaker meeting - many small contributions interspersed by periods of silence - there was no planning though the structure was planned to be open and inclusive. (Of course the person who wanted to share a video had made preparations for it to be projected!) There were many connections between the contributions made. There was a spirit of peace and calm during the hour of sharing.
This meeting met the criteria outlined by Ron Sebring for healthy religion (As quoted in Ann Morisy's book "Bothered and Bewildered")

• Healthy religion does not indoctrinate, but teaches people to think for themselves
• Healthy religion invites us to be humble about what we believe and what we know
• Healthy religion does not invest in negativity; it does not major on what it is against but rather on what it is for
• Healthy beliefs stay in tune with reality, never filling in gaps for what we don't know.

It also resonates with the four hallmarks of healthy religion identified in the 2006 report from the English Anglicans and British Methodists called "Faithful Cities"

• It will enlarge the imagination
• It will teach and encourage the practice of wisdom and holiness
• It will open us to the new
• It will deepen our sympathies

The next soul space will be in six weeks time. I have already marked it in on my calendar. It will be on the theme of "Inspirational women half forgotten in our traditions".

Image courtesy of foto76 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Change

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. " 

Reinhold Niebuhr's prayer dating from 1943 was written at a time of great change, conflict and uncertainty that puts into perspective the changes and worries we have about our own times.

Most people are anxious about change - we are all comfortable with what we know.  You sometimes find enthusiasts for change per se but I often feel that they are disconcerting people to be with. It is almost as if they are running away from something!

Change is inevitable. Everything changes!  If you refuse to change you end up like Charles Dickens' Miss Haversham - an anachronism in a time warp.

Change should be the way of life for the Christian. The bible is continually exhorting it:

The Old testament Prophets continually call for the people to change their ways.

John the Baptist came preaching a message of "repent - turn around"

Jesus teaching as we have it is all an instruction not to follow the way of the world but change and follow a different counter cultural path!

The church has the Orthodox tradition of theosis (growing into the likeness of God) and our own Methodist tradition of holiness sanctification and perfection. Change should be in the DNA of Christians but perhaps it is because it isn't that there is so much in our tradtions to encourage it.

Change is a journey and journeys can be good in themselves not just for the destination that is aimed for. To journey together people need to agree that they want to be somewhere different to where they are now. Once there is consensus on the need to move then all it takes to start is one small step. A trajectory can be set without a distinctly defined destination.

My vision of the church is of a group of friends out for a hike

1. They meet up
2. they agree to walk together
3. they agree on the direction of travel
4. they set off at a pace that is right for the slowest
5. some may want to dash ahead - they go with the groups blessing
6. some may wish to explore side paths or different directions - they too go with the groups blessing
7. the group continually and transparently reviews the progress made and the decision to be made at every junction
8. no one is excluded from what is happening
9. the leader may not always be at the front
10. they share their resources one may have a map another a gps another a compass another a set of walking poles another a water bottle and another some energy bars
11. they share and find they all have enough
12. the group will allow others to join in the journey
13. they look back and see where they have come from and recognise the changes which may have happened gradually so they missed them.

When dealing with change must remember that:

1. Different people react differently to change

2. Everyone has a need to feel in control, to know that they are included and that there is openness in the process.

3. Change often involves a loss and people will go through a grief process

4. Expectations need to be treated realistically- no one change is going to make everything perfect!

5. Fears have to be faced.

 

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." - Barack Obama

This post is based on a short presentation I made on change this week. 

Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A Modern Mainstream Methodist

Thomas Jones has written the following which I want to share with the world. (And with his permission I do...)

With sincere apologies to messieurs Gilbert, Sullivan, and most of all, to yourselves:

I am the very model of a modern mainstream Methodist,
I find myself under attack both by the fundamentalist,
And the growing number who are all completely secular,

And claim that the whole universe is solely molecular,
The one lot think I’m stupid and the rest that I’m a heretic,
Despite my finest reasoning and arguments so very quick
And so I play the middle line against the pull of each extreme
Whilst they all think that I am on the evil and opposing team!

We still think Wesley’s sermons are the pinnacle rhetorical
And our Eucharistic wine is still non-alcoholical,
But at least our bread is bread unlike the Ordinariate,
Who can keep their rotten wafers, even when they transubstantiate!

I am the very model of a modern mainstream Methodist,
We tend to be quite open and aren’t really over-prejudiced
We’ve got female ministers and have a preaching laity
And think that they are equal in the sight of our deity,
We are still debating on the issue homosexual,
Is it that immoral; is it socially contextual?
But you’ll never find us being a little bit disparaging,
And we give them blessing services as we discuss gay marriaging.

People think I’m properly supposed to shun the demon drink,
But I enjoy a pint or four and I must say I really think
That all God’s gifts are good for you when used in moderation,
After all ‘twas God Himself invented fermentation!

In fact when I know off by heart ‘And Can It Be’ and ‘Love Divine’
And don’t believe you’re justified ahead of time by pre-design,
And when I think God tends towards being fairly lenient,
By making sure His grace is free and totally prevenient.
When we arrange our churches in an order circuituitous,
And know that to be Methodist is really most fortuitous.
It means we know that we are right when holding forth doctrinally,
Though our congregation sizes tend to trend declinally.

And when I know of what you speak by Wesleyan and Primitive,
And think that my theology is totally definitive,
And when I’m really rather rude about the poor old Calvinist,
You'll say I am the model of a modern mainstream Methodist!

 

The audience

Channel Four is a mixture of the good and the bad: their programmes can be at both extremes. 

I saw the programme "The Audience" for the first time last night and unfortunately it was the last in the series. I usually find reality TV crass and shallow but this was worth watching.
The basic format is a central character has a dilemma in his/her life and a group of 50 strangers listen to the person and question him closely in order to understand his dilemma. They then offer insights from their experience and help him resolve the quandary. This is crowd sourcing at its most raw!
Actually this is no different to the listening and reflecting back techniques used by counsellors of all hues, religious or secular, to help people understand their own situation. A counsellor's aim is often to get a person to realise that they know much more about their lives than they think that they do.
It could have been crass, exploitative and superficial but I was surprised by the sensitivity and warmth of the crowd. Though there were fifty people in the crowd, only about a dozen asked questions and spoke to the camera.
Anthony, the guy with the dilemma, was obviously chosen because the producers realised that there were a whole load of unresolved baggage in his life. This came from the traumatic and tragic loss of both his parents and grandparents in childhood. In the presence of this large group of strangers he opened up about the past in ways that he had probably not done before. During the course of these conversations he became emotional and tearful several times. This was clearly cathartic for him. By the end of the programme his increased self understanding gave him the confidence to admit the dilemma was an excuse to run away from facing up to the tragic and traumatic events from many years before. He was now more accepting of the reality of his family history. He could now make decisions himself and plan his own future.
The transformation of a person from someone moulded by their circumstances to someone who is taking responsibility for their life is at the heart of the Christian gospel. It is the sort of transformation that I look for as a sign in the lives of mature Christians. It is good to see that in the strange secular world of reality television this truth is also recognised.
There is also something in this crowd sourcing model that can help better decision making in churches and other organisations. Often when an organisation is facing a dilemma they will bring in a consultant. The consultant will, in the same way as "The Audience", reflect back to them what they already know deep down but perhaps have never articulated. A skilled facilitator can frequently help groups increase their self understanding and from this informed position, dilemmas can be seen in a clearer light. 

 Image courtesy of FloatingLemons / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Living in uncertain times...

Was there ever a time that was not full of uncertainty and change? Life changes; people grow older; politicians come and go and the world develops. Nothing stays the same. “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes”. (James 4:14.)

To live confidently as Christians in uncertain times we need to pay attention and to engage with the present moment. So much of our discomfort is related to what might happen later today, tomorrow or next year. All the "what if's." If we can step back and be curious rather than always imaging the worst, we give ourselves breathing space. We can also look back at the other challenging and uncertain times we have lived through and we can have confidence in our ability to survive this new crisis or possible crisis when and if it comes to pass. “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine”(Isaiah 43:1)

If we can be present to the joyful liberating limitless potential of every moment then we can live each moment. We can meet every moment with all of our senses and with the freshness and the newness of each second. If we can be present with every person we are with. If we can be aware in every place we stand of the wonder about us in our surroundings and in other people. If we do not blot out life by listening to our own music on earphones, cocooning ourselves in our own little shell. If we do not ignore all the people around us as we communicate with our friend by smart phone. We are living life to the full when we recognise Christ with us in every minute. If we can live life so fully, and experience the presence of God with us in every moment then we will have no fear of an uncertain future. We will be building a strong and resilient future in every minute of our present lives.

If we really trust God we realise that we are in this together. God cares for all people. God wants all to claim their identity and destiny as children of God. This involves trust as God does not force it on anyone. When we take hold of God by faith and begin to seek God’s way we see that we are in this together. So we become free to live in the present, to enjoy it and live one day at a time. We can neither predict nor control the future. But we can work with God who is beyond past, present, and future; therefore, we can focus on today – its problems and its blessings. We are able to be alive to what is now, trusting that the God who is with us in all of life holds us in an eternal embrace of presence and purpose. So we pray Reinhold Niebuhr's prayer written in 1943:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next. Amen.

(I wrote this article for a church magazine when the future pattern of ministry was unclear and this issue was causing some anxiety)

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Moral dilemma of the day....

Image courtesy ofTom Curtis/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

On the eight eleven train into Glasgow this morning a young woman came and sat next to me. The carriage was full. She was wearing headphones connected to her iphone to insulate her from possible interaction with other passengers.
When the ticket collector arrived she bought a return to the next stop. She then stayed on the train all the way into Glasgow. She had committed a crime - fare dodging - and I was probably the only one who was aware of it. Should I have done anything?
She had paid a fare but not the full amount required at that peak hour service. The train was packed with standing room only on the last stops into the city so the train company would have made plenty of money from the trip. 
The guard/ticket collector was nowhere in sight. There was probably nothing that I could have done. I didn't feel that it was my duty as a good citizen to confront her.(Or was that cowardice on my part?) 
Perhaps the young woman was an impoverished student who had spent the last of her student loan on her iphone and had to economise whenever she saw a chance? 
She did contribute something to the railway. This contrasts with my recent experience on buses when I have been one of the few passengers who have actually paid anything at all! Should I just mind my own business? Should I try not to be so aware of what other people are doing around me? There are of course far more serious crimes committed every day and some would argue that this was a victimless crime. But if the ethics of right and wrong were a simple binary question expecting a simple yes/no answer then there would be no work for lawyers!
Ethics always seem simple until you get into the real world!

Eco-Congregations Ireland hold their first conference

Ireland is a very green country but the idea of churches being interested in green issues is very new. When the committee of Eco-congregations Ireland decided to have a conference they though that it would attract 30-40 people. The Dromantine conference centre in beautiful rural County Down was booked in faith for a two day residential conference from 9.30am on Friday 14th to 5pm on Saturday 15th September 2012. The conference attracted almost 150 attendees and a block booking at a local hotel had to be made to accommodate them all! There seems to be an awakening spirit of environmental awareness in the Irish churches.

Dromantine is just a few miles outside Newry, and thus just north of the Border. The participants were attracted from all the major denominations and from all parts of Ireland, North and South, and was particularly successful in attracting religious sisters and brothers. (In fact I have never been with so many nuns at one time in all my life!) Many of these religious communities have run gardens and farms as part of their vocation for many years so Christian environmentalism was for them a natural progression.

As the representative of Eco Congregations Scotland I was made very welcome and I told about some of the green achievements of Scottish churches and parishes in a workshop. ECI is in a different place to ECS. It was set up by the inter-church committee for social affairs five years ago and to date has made five awards to churches and dioceses. It still operates as a sub committee of this body. In contrast ECS is a charity in its own right and has now made 100 awards.

A range of distinguished speakers opened up the whole area of green theology and ethics.

Prof David Howell (Exeter) asked if the bible is green and how environmentalism be drawn from the text. Prof Stephen Williams (UTC Belfast) examined what a theology of creation could look like. Ann Primavasi looked at the threat to the world from Militarism. Alastair McIntosh spoke about money, consumerism and society and Peter Owen-Jones spoke about the quest for well-being in the twenty-first century. There were also workshops on weather, economics, GM crops, earth spirituality, and practical advice on what churches can do.

I enjoyed my long weekend in Northern Ireland and the great craic of the many coffee time and after hours encounters. I even ended up late on Friday night singing Irish songs with a Presbyterian couple from Belfast and four lovely nuns from Kilarney!

How do we react when others disrespect our faith?

This week there have been riots across the Muslim world and in Pakistan people have been killed following the release of an American video disrespectful to the prophet Mohammad and the Islamic faith.

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 But then I read the following Avaaz article reacting to the response of Newsweek (link). It seems much coverage lacks a sense of perspective and assumes all Muslims think in the same way. The report highlighted that: 

1. Participation in anti-film protests at between 0.001 and 0.007% of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims – a tiny fraction of those who marched for democracy in the Arab spring.

2. The vast majority of protesters have been peaceful. The breaches of foreign embassies were almost all organised or fuelled by elements of the Salafist movement, a radical Islamist group that is most concerned with undermining more popular moderate Islamist groups.

3. Top Libyan and US officials are divided over whether the killing of the US ambassador to Libya was likely pre-planned to coincide with 9/11, and therefore not connected to the film.

4. Apart from attacks by radical militant groups in Libya and Afghanistan, a survey of news reports on 20 September suggested that actual protesters had killed a total of zero people. The deaths cited by media were largely protesters killed by police.

5. Pretty much every major leader, Muslim and western, has condemned the film, and pretty much every leader, Muslim and western, has condemned any violence that might be committed in response.

6. The pope visited Lebanon at the height of the tension, and Hezbollah leaders attended his sermon, refrained from protesting the film until he left, and called for religious tolerance.

7. After the attack in Benghazi, ordinary people turned out on the streets in Benghazi and Tripoli with signs, many of them in English, apologising and saying the violence did not represent them or their religion.

We will all experience strong feelings when things we hold dear are treated by others in ways that are at varience with the reverence in which we traditionally hold them. 

I was at the musical drama "Tam O Shanter" last night on its tour of Scotland after its run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The play, about Burns and his poetry, showed the drunken, bawdy life of the society in which he lived.  Also several scenes parodied the strict authoritarian attitudes of the church at the time. These scenes served to highlight the hypocrisy of the parishioners who said amen to the preacher reading out comminations whilst at the same time acting in a debauched manner. A section of the bible was read out and a psalm sung as part of the performance.

But rather than wanting to burn the theatre down at such a use of the bible and church tradition I was challenged to think about the way that faith is portrayed. How different are the churches today compared to the strict Calvinism of the seventeenth century? I was challenged to think of how the church relates today to people on the fringe of society who are living lives fuelled and dominated by alcohol. And I started to wonder how the church can make its message for the world clear as a positive message about life and all its fullness. 

From the statistics above it would seem that the majority of Muslims in the world are trying to do exactly the same.