Reject BNP racism!

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I received this email yesterday and found it shocking!

Dear Rob,

Despite widespread opposition Nick Griffin will be on Question Time this Thursday.

The BBC have made their decision – they are willing to let a leader of a fascist Party on their flagship show. Last week the BNP agreed to change its constitution for fear of being found guilty of having a racist and illegal membership policy. On Sunday, Griffin attacked and abused his fellow panelists Bonnie Greer and Baroness Warsi for not being white. And yet the BBC still allow him on. Griffin’s presence is a stain on the BBC – and I know that you share my feelings of anger.

So I think we need to make a stand.

On Thursday afternoon we’re going to the BBC to deliver the Question Time presenter, David Dimbleby, thousands of messages of hope from our supporters. Your stories, your experiences and your belief in an open and tolerant society will send the strongest possible rejection of the BNP’s message of hate. You can send your message of hope here.

The BNP’s goal is to divide us. It’s to whip up fear and hatred in our communities and then exploit the anger that they’ve induced.

But we don’t have to accept their hatred.

At a moment like this we need to rally together to send a message of defiance against the BNP. And Rob, you’re best placed to do this. So why did you oppose the racist BNP? Why you are proud to live in our open and tolerant society?

Or quite simply, what message do you want to send Nick Griffin?

Tell us here.

Whatever you write, whatever story you tell, your words will speak for the majority of Britons. And when thousands of us come together in this action we can send a unified message of hope to counter Griffin’s fractured message of hate.

Please join us in this moment – whether you write a single word or an entire essay we will take them all to the BBC and present them to David Dimbleby. We can’t make the impact we need without you – please send a message now: your stories make our movement.

Best wishes,

Nick

I cannot quite believe the subject, it seems unbelievable to me that this weeks Question Time has Nick Griffin on the panel which will serve nothing but allow him to spread his racism and hatred.

Please, if you are as shocked as me, add your comment to the link above so that it can be presented with thousands of others to David Dimbleby.

heading into the awkward!

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I have had the pleasure of meeting with different groups of people today and realised even more what a privilege the ‘priestly’ part of this role is. It seems to me that it is a gift a bit like the reverse of Jon’s gift of faith that I linked to last week. This gift box is still open but the more I decide to venture into the gift box, the more I find to take out (rather than looking to add things in the cartoon) and if I have the guts to step out and use some of ‘items’ I am quite overawed at what God does.

One of those situations in which I am incredibly conscious what I have been entrusted with is with funerals. I have mentioned this before but I really am surprised by how much supporting people at such a special and rough time is nothing other than a privilege even though the experience can be quite painful. As I prepare for a funeral I remember funerals I have attended and surprised, I guess, by the pain that I still hold for myself in relation to my friend or family member that has died. That pain does not seem to get less – it seems to me that we just think about it less but when it comes to the front of our thoughts it has the same level of pain that it ever had. I wonder if my consciousness of this pain allows me to gain some empathy with the family I am dealing with.

For the week or so before the funeral and then for a few weeks after I pray for the families that I have had contact with and Adrian has suggested that I should contact them within 7 to 10 days to see how things are going. If I am honest when this was originally suggested it petrified me! I think I will always be nervous but I have, however, been surprised at the overwhelming positive reaction of those I have contacted a week or so after the funeral. The knowledge that when life all around them seems to move on and forget, that there is still a community holding them in prayer before God seems to be appreciated.

Today while out and about again I have found that breaking through the pain of personal awkwardness and embarrassment can be a good thing to do in opening me and others up to what God is doing behind the scenes. I guess this is the same for all of us – it can be awkward to ask how things are and we don’t need to ordained to ask it but I wonder what life would be like if we did not politely avoid the awkward moments? Not only can we support other people but I’m also finding that we experience something different of God as well.

temporary communication loss!

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I don’t like dentists!
I think lots of people may agree with me.
Why would anyone want to do that job?
It seems quite bizarre to me!

For the last two Mondays, and next Monday, I have been to the dentist, not something I enjoy. Actually that is an understatement! A filling fell out in the summer and the dentist wanted to clean and do other things and so is stretching out 2 hours of work into four visits which I guess makes sense.

Why is it that so many dislike the dentist? In my case I thought it was the pain – but actually there is no pain. I’ve often come to the conclusion at the end that I made a lot of fuss and worry beforehand over nothing. The techniques they use today do seem to limit, if not totally eliminate, pain.

If it is not the pain then what else makes me uncomfortable? I wonder, ctually, if it is the loss of my ability to communicate? I wondered about the intrusivity of the dentist, but doctor visits are just as intrusive but I do not experience fear when I go to the doctor. I also wondered about the loss of control over what happens to me, but again with a doctor I am not in control of what happens.

The loss of communication, however, seems to be quite scarey to many people. The knowledge that I can’t communicate with the dentist when he his working inside my mouth and the inability to have a normal conversation when so close to another human being, is quite alien. I think the lack of interaction causes me to feel uncomfortable to a point that is is a worry. Today the room was silent as the dentist worked and that was very very odd.

As the drill drilled today and I could do nothing but stare at the ceiling I was surprised to find myself reflecting on the fear that many I chat with actually have of the church. This seems to essentially boil down to a real fear (which many have actually experienced) that their voice will not be heard, that things will be done ‘to them’ without any way of them communicating, giving feedback or making their views known. A fear that stuff will be delivered to them and that they have to accept it without question. This fear is a fear that no matter what I will be squeezed this way and assimilated that way rather than listened to and be part of and included in making a difference.

It’s really difficult, and I think we are seeing this as a community, but to be genuine and honest and accepting to and of each other means not only listening to each other and ensuring that each other has a voice, but it is also about being willing to change and act differently as a response to that voice. A commitment to journey together has implicit within it a commitment to change.

a different perspective

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I experienced worship in the cathedral from a different perspective today. I was not on the rota for anything and so chose to sit in the congregation.

I thought it might be odd sitting in the congregation rather than being ‘up front’ and being involved in a public way. The very thought that I might find it odd worried me which was why I was keen to sit with others. I guess I felt it was a bit like deciding not to drink alcohol on a Friday night just to prove to yourself that you had not become addicted. I sat in the congregation on Sunday to check whether I was becoming addicted to being seen up front – and I am glad to say it never felt strange at all. In fact it felt a very normal place to be. I think ordination in the Church of England leaves us susceptible to feelings of self importance through processions, robes, sitting up front and so on when we all know that we are called to serve others in our church communities

I have reflected on that feeling and it suggests to me that, without realising it, that I do very much feel a part of the cathedral community. It’s interesting that while I am trying to work with others to build a new community, that I am doing this from a happy position of being welcomed into an already established community. I guess that is quite normal as we all exist in a variety of communities rather than one anyhow.

weekend madness

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It’s been a bit of a busy weekend. I don’t often regret my move from Dorset to Kent (or even the one from Bristol back to Kent) but this weekend I did. Medway is one of the few ares that still has grammar schools and along with that goes the 11+ / selection test. We have given all our children the choice and Joe decided he would like to take it despite it meaning being under ‘exam conditions’ from 8.30 until 1.15 on a Saturday morning in a large conference centre with around 300 other children.

Talking earlier in the day with friends, we realised that even when we took our degrees we were never under so much pressure for such a long amount of time. Yesterday children were queuing outside these centres across Medway for up to 30 minutes as they waited for the centre to open and be registered. I don’t like the system and it seems to be parallel to sacrificing our children. It seems to me this is a system to make it all easier for the local authority with no thought to the welfare of the child.

I don’t want to get into all the politics of grammar schools – those of you that know me are aware of my thoughts and I am not knocking them here. The system, however, must be wrong. When I did the test years over 30 years ago I never realised what was happening. There was no stress, it was one in our class with our teacher sitting in our normal places amongst our friends. I have to ask why we can’t do that today – the stress we put children under through this system is madness!

Children are adaptable and he returned home fine enough – but just because children are adaptable and do it does not make it right!

christmas by colour

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Saw this on a few blogs so when ahead and ordered my poster – I’m not disappointed and a few people in the office have had a laugh looking at it.

I like it – it’s a piece of work which really draws you in with a smile and it brings a different feel to Christmas art and will be part of the decorations in my house this coming Christmastime!

No ribbons

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I have had a few conversations recently about faith with various people and they all seem to boil down to whether faith can or can’t change.

It seems to me that there is a lot of looking and deciding and packing away with the ‘this is what I believe, I’ve investigated that, and that part of my faith is set and won’t change.’ It is then neatly boxed and brought out, but not unwrapped, to be used in some argument about what is right or wrong – or in my experience more of a who is right and who is wrong!

I find that approach difficult as it seems to me that as I look back my faith is changing. It’s a different faith to the one I had when I was 18, and when I was 25, and 40 and so on. It seems to me that the more we investigate and keeps things open the greater, or more rounded, our faith becomes. Surely this is natural as our understanding of other things changes then surely faith should change.

This cartoon is cool and helpful. Maybe if we regarded faith as a gift (rather than as something to be protected or tied up) as Jon over at ASBO Jesus is suggesting then our faith would continue to grow. A faith with no ribbons …. I like the sound of that because I want my faith to continue to deepen rather than allow me to box it away somewhere where it will get dusty.

in the right place …?

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Mondays are usually quieter days but yesterday was full of different experiences and, as I look back, I think I can see the guiding and protecting hand of God.

I started the day by leading matins in the morning and then presiding at the 830 Eucharist. No one showed for the Eucharist so I read the liturgy until the intercessions and then ‘closed’ the service. Many people leave written prayer requests in the cathedral and so I felt it important to pray for these people as well as take the extra unexpected time to pray for protection and guidance throughout the day.

I then payed a visit to the hospital to take communion to Alan, a brilliant guy from our congregation. Timing was excellent and God seemed to have steered me here because on the final word of prayer after I anointed Alan the ambulance crew arrived to take him to a hospital in London at 10am – despite everyone thinking they were coming at 1.00pm.

On the journey back my car developed a strange knocking noise. To cut a long story short somehow all 4 wheel nuts of one of the front wheels was loose. Whether they had worked loose over time or whether someone had undone them during the evening, I don’t know. I am, however, conscious of God’s protection – I’m guessing my car would not go too well on just 3 wheels! Normally I am up for a challenge, but not a 3 wheeled one in a citroen xsara!

My time in Rochester opened up new conversations and it seemed that today was quite a lot about being in the right time at the right place. Quiet often we can start to believe the delusion that we are in control, or that we can influence stuff when actually we are a small part of a big picture which I hope God is in control of.

gathering pt 6 … more exploration

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Yesterday afternoon, our fledgling christian missional community gathered again in our house.

We are still working out who we are and what we should do together. Yesterday we shared where we were and prayed for each other, we wrote psalms, chatted more about our values and rhythm of life together and broke bread together. So far we have come to think together that our values are partly about worship, hospitality, balance and seeing faith as a journey.

These values are not complete yet, and they will need a mass of unpacking when we agree on something that encompasses the whole community, but it is a start and I’m excited because the process is quite organic and real. This is the start of a process which I hope ill just naturally continue as we start to realise what God has called us together for and as.

Farewells

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Yesterday was a special day in the cathedral, the warmth from which I will remember for quite a while. We said ‘farewell’ to our Archdeacon, Peter Lock, who really is an outstanding bloke. I’ve only known him for a year but the encouragement he has given, and the expertise he has shared has been second to none.

Lots of stories were told – but there was a common theme. Peter has real skill with people. He is able to cut through complex issues with wisdom and has the respect of everyone I know. Despite being responsible for a large area, with loads of vacancies, he always seem to be able to make time for peo[ple, even a lowly 1st year curate.

Most of all this is a man of deep and infectious joy. Loads of people are going to miss Peter being around, and I’ll be on of them.