just going to spending some quality time here for the next few days
so it will be quiet over here!
Cornwall
Reply
the first to get it ….
Are you the sort of person who is often the last to ‘get it’ or are you one of the first? …. and by ‘get it’ I mean ‘understand’, be in on what is happening, understand the situation or so on or so on.
On reading the gospel accounts of the crucifixion scene the other day I think I ‘got’ something for the first time. It seems that the robber who was crucified with Jesus, the one who said:
‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom’
was the first person to really get what Jesus was about.
This little statement jumped out and grabbed me as I read the whole gospel. To put this in context everyone else was really taking the piss out of Jesus. Are you really the Messiah? … then do this … do that …. save yourself … if you were the Messiah then you would … Christ was being mocked horrendously. The ‘experts’ of the law and the religious ‘geniuses’ were at the forefront of this mocking. The disciples even frustrated Jesus in that they never seemed to understand what he was about, even though they hung out with him all day long.
Out of the centre of this mockery comes this simple statement … ‘Jesus, remember me’.
The others, those that should have recognised Jesus, see the humiliation, the sacrifice and can’t believe it is God – they are not seeing what is front of them … they have lost the plot. The disciples get scared and run away. In their minds this cannot be the Messiah.
The robber, the condemned man hanging with Jesus sees what is happening and he grasps it, he understands. He gets it – this must be the Messiah!
I think we have a scene here that the ‘educated’, those who should know can learn masses from the outsider, the one on the edge, the distraught, the distressed …. the condemned.
And that got me thinking about myself, and my interactions with people – I find that often people I meet with get Jesus a lot more than others that I know in the church.
I wonder …. what can we learn from Christ from those around us that others may have written off?
a monastic conversation
I simply had an amazing day today; and I look back on the day and I am not sure whether I am excited or terrified … and maybe it is a mixture of the two.
I was invited to a conversation that was being held with leaders of traditional Anglican monastic communities and leaders of small missional communities in the CofE that draw on a New Monastic basis. It was in the latter category that I was invited … in case you thought something had happened that you were unaware of.
I am not sure whether the gathering would call itself a new monastic community or whether we think of ourselves in that way. Certainly as a community we want to be able to live a life of integrity where our actions support our words. We are a missional community that wants to engage with the needs in the community around us. We are quite diverse and yet united by a desire to travel the journey together and we hope we will be able to achieve this, in part, as we develop our rhythm of life. Taking all that together it does sound like we may have some monastic tendencies …. but what we develop into may be something different. Hey … I don’t even know what tomorrow will bring, let alone what we will be next year!
I met up with some good friends today and was able to catch up, and I made a number of new friends which I always enjoy to do.
The format of the day was great. People told their story and in tables we chatted about the story as we sought to learn from each other and hear what is happening. My table had a good mix of people from new monastic and traditional monastic communities – so the conversation was always good.There were two particularly exciting things for me that I noticed throughout the day:
God seems to be saying similar things to diverse groups of people. On my table I had the delight of meeting Sister Mary David from the Benedictine Community of West Malling. She noted that each community, traditional and ‘new’, was very different but that all were trying to live out a faith authentically.
I was particularly encouraged by each person sharing how small their community was. I guess from the web it is easy to think that things are a lot larger than they really are and this, in turn, can cause you to feel pretty inadequate. As someone involved in a small community I was quite encouraged to hear others being and doing in small groups as well. I was also challenged by others who are living in some pretty scary places and even being shot at for their faith! I am not sure I have the courage for that!
I was struck by a few ‘gems’ of wisdom during the day:
On our table, I guess, I was keen to learn from those who have been in monastic orders for a while. We had 4 nuns on our table and when asked about sustainability we were given two bits of advice – the need to be flexible and adaptable to what is happening around you in the world and the community and change accordingly. Holding onto things and practices too preciously was not going to be honouring to God. The other ‘secret’ of sustainability was the need to take risks – a number of the traditional communities have needed to change location or how they work … and some of those changes have been very risky!
Another ‘gem’ regarding a rule of life. One sister, Joyce, spoke of the rule of life as ‘not a fence but a well to draw from and be refreshed by’ while Sister Mary David spoke of it as a ‘trellis that helps us to grow and supports us’. I find both of those images both powerful and helpful to myself as I wrestle with ‘stuff’.
I’ve already said the day was amazing. There is a lot we can learn from each other and I am really excited that these conversations will continue in some way. I am also pretty scared …. at what the outcome may entail.
Thanks everyone, particularly Ian and Abbot Stuart, for making this such an amazing day.
blessed
I have an interesting job.
On occasions I have chance encounters in which I think I touch the divine.
Yesterday I had one such encounter.
It just so happened that before this encounter I was reading The Irresistible Revolution.
My mentor thought it would be useful to read.
In a coffee shop I just finished the first chapter.
It ends with this Mother Teresa quote:
‘in the poor we meet Jesus in his most interesting disguises’.
I left the coffee shop and walked thought he cathedral on my way back to the office.
This is my normal routine.
Immediately the stewards directed me to the rear of the cathedral.
A man had come in who had been beaten, mugged, and hospitailised a few days ago.
The guy was clearly distressed and wanted to get home to London.
He had been discharged but had no resources to get home.
I think he was intending to walk home.
He was directed to the cathedral as a place that might help.
That thought brings a tear of joy to my eye.
Someone ‘out there’ thinks the cathedral is a place of help.
After a little chat I offered to walk to the station and buy a ticket for him.
He accepted happily and we walked together down the High Street.
We talked a lot and the guys life story was a privilege to hear.
He was an HIV counsellor who had lost his job due to funding cuts.
(the politics of cuts are for another post!)
As I walked with the man a verse from the Emmaus story in Luke 24 hit my heart.
‘We’re not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road…’
My heart burned
I was intrigued by this man’s presence.
As I handed over the ticket he shook my hand
He looked me in the eye
held my gaze
and said
‘I’ll pray for you’
Strange …
I was going to offer to pray for him
humbled ..
and a little watery eyed …
I waved goodbye ..
and returned along the High Street
blessed
(not) just another day at the cathedral …
Sunday was a great, rather than ‘just another’, day at the cathedral.
The 10.30, All Age Eucharist, was great fun to be in and, as Bishop Stephen said afterwards ‘it had everything that is good about all age worship’ in the service. A number of my friends in other churches might say ‘big deal’ bit for a cathedral this was, and is, a big deal.
The relaxed tone was set by Bishop Stephen for the service. The choir sang amazingly – but I am biased and they were singing my favourite setting – Chilcott’s Little Jazz Mass which they sang amazingly (as they always do!)
The service was then taken to another level by Neil who spoke amazingly from the floor and engaged everyone in what he was saying and doing with great amount of serious content as well as humour. Neil was making a cake with different ingredients. To demonstrate that we are all together and equal when he lifted the mixing spoon everyone had to move and sit elsewhere. It was very funny to see the young boys make a dash for the presidents chair on the pulpitum platform. They clearly wanted to be in the limelight (we have an amazing picture but sadly I hesitate to put it on my blog as such things are seem to be unwise in this day and age) and rushed to what they saw to be the ‘important’ places.
Interestingly, a number of the choirs (as well as myself) chose to sit right at the back of the cathedral. I loved the opportunity to be at the back, not on show and able to see everyone else without being seen for a change. It was a light hearted approach to quite a serious topic.
The look fo joy and confusion on peoples faces was quite good to see – and I think the illustration and sermon brought home a good message. The place was certainly ‘buzzing’ with joy afterwards!
Burma Update – New Government – Same Dictatorship
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial}
p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial; color: #154eae}
span.s1 {text-decoration: underline}
On Wednesday, Burma’s dictator, Than Shwe, officially disbanded the State Peace and Development Council, the body through which Burma’s dictators have ruled the country since 1997. The new President, Thein Sein, was sworn in.However, the changes are more about rebranding than reform. Dictatorship remains alive and well in Burma, guaranteed by a new Constitution and a new political structure.
The new government is the final stage in the regime’s so-called ‘roadmap to democracy’, following the sham election last November. In reality, it is a transition from military to civilian dictatorship. The new parliament has no real power. Real power still lies firmly with the military and a new all-powerful body, the National Defence and Security Council.
This is history repeating itself. Burma’s first dictatorship began in 1962, led by General Ne Win. Ne Win also introduced a new constitution through a rigged referendum and rubber-stamp parliament.
The real facts on the ground are that there are no new freedoms, that human rights abuses continue, and that those ruling Burma clearly have no intention of introducing any genuine reforms to improve human rights or move towards democracy.
For more details, read our press release here.
sea of sameness
I love the sea.
I grew up by the sea.
My parents might even say I grew up IN the sea.
My whole teenage life was contained within the sea: fishing, sailing, swimming, canoeing …
If I could choose any holiday destination it would always be by the sea.
When I am struggling I love to sit in front of the sea.
When I am chilling I just love looking at the sea.
The sea can be my greatest time-waster.
There is something about the vastness of the sea which holds my attention, which draws me and which ‘holds’ me.
There is something about the immenseness of the sea set against my fragility that is chilling.
I have noticed that I am really drawn into the sea when I find her at her most beautiful.
I think the sea is most beautiful when she is calm and flat, particularly on a bright sunny day or at sunset.
I seem to find the sea at her most beautiful when she is at her least interesting,
flat … calm … boring …
everyday …
but vast, and captivating, and alluring, and inviting
and did I mention vast
and attention holding yet …
very samey!
No waves, no ripples even …. just a flat calm sea which looks the same for miles ahead.
In my Lent thinking this week I have been struck by how I am called to work in a sea of sameness –
the same people I talk to each day,
the same places I visit,
the same roads I walk,
the same seats I sit in
…. and yet ….
in this vast sea of sameness that is my life there is amazing beauty.
My sea of sameness is teeming in life with
beautiful incidents,
beautiful people,
beautiful happenings,
beautiful encounters.
In the sea of sameness there is an abundance of beauty to see.
which is closer to Christ?
One of the other things I have taken on in Lent is to replace some TV time with listening to podcasts. I have just started listening to Jurgen Moltmann podcasts over at Emergent Village. I’ve subscribed to them on iTunes which is by far the easiest way to listen to them.
The first two podcasts are pretty general interviews to give some background as to where he is coming from and how his theology has come together. In the the later podcasts he gets interviewed in a more focussed way about what he has written.
I have just finished the second interview which displays well Moltmann’s clear thinking but also a great sense of humour. When he is asked about his theology of scripture he answers by saying ‘church and theologians need to read forward and backward in scripture’. He goes on to say that he reads the bible with the ‘supposition of meeting the Divine in human words …. and where there is conflict (for an example here he uses Paul’s ‘there is no male, no female, no jew, no greek’ passage and places it alongside the same writers ‘women shall not speak in church’) he asks himself ‘which sentence is closer to Christ?’
By that I think he means which seems to fit better better with the ‘whole’ message of the the Bible – the message of love for all, acceptance and redemption.
It’s an interesting question that I have taken into my world today …. ‘which is closer to Christ?’
Good, and sometimes challenging, food for thought during Lent!
86, 062
Last night I had the wonderful experience of attending the viewing of 86,062, an amazing exhibition which has been created by Zara and Rikard. You can find the exhibition details on facebook, on the Deaf Cat website as well as on Chatham Girl, Zara’s website.
86062 is an exhibition of prints made from the painkillers that have been prescribed to Zara and are a pretty powerful expression of how they have had an impact on her life.
The written word will never do this justice – so you’ll just have to visit Deaf Cat yourself!
Does Chrisitianity need to develop a new gospel for today?
This was the starting question at last nights pub theology. It is an interesting question and kept us going for quite some time. I think it is a fair reflection of the conversation to say some were concerned by the question, some welcomed it and some were just intrigued.
We spoke about the need that some Christians feel they have to ‘protect’ the gospel and, for that matter, God. I think we came to a kind of agreement that the neither need protecting.
We spoke a bit about what is it in the ‘gospel’ (a term which we simply used as a name for the Christian message) that people find offensive that brings this question. What is it in the gospel that turns people off, that annoys people and causes us to ask whether it needs to be changed? Simply put the answer seemed to be something like:
‘the message that only some are included and if you disagree, or have a certain lifestyle, then you are excluded and not welcome …. unless you change your view, your lifestyle or your sexuality.’
This then took a tangent, an important tangent, to churches being quite quick to condemn, to complain or campaign against things that the everyday world sees as normal and right. The group, which was a collection of people with faith and no faith, all agreed that the church has this image. It’s unusual for the people of pub theology to agree – it’s quite sad that this is something we can agree on! But … moving on …
We chatted about this a lot and were able to see that, actually, the gospel message is one of love, of acceptance and of inclusion. This is seen in those key times when Jesus meets the marginalised of his time. He eats with the tax collector, touches the leper, spends time in the midday sun with the ostricised and shows compassion to those condemned. That’s a pretty inclusive way to act.
So I think – and I may be wrong but people who were there can correct me through the comments – we kind of came around to the conclusion that we do not need a new gospel, but we need to realign ourselves with the love message of the gospel. A gospel that champions love rather than hate, lives freedom rather than legality and breathes compassion rather than judgement. That would be quite counter-cultural and attractive in the way the character of Jesus is attractive.
We then moved onto other things in the discussion and the night was a really good night. Interestingly a reporter form one of the local papers joined us as he was interested in the concept and what we are about. I think he enjoyed the discussion as well.
I felt this session was a really good time together. Everyone seemed to contribute as much as they wanted to but, I think more importantly – everyone was having a good time, drinking eating and chatting about questions that we all have. I’m already looking forward to the next one in a month’s time!
The Shiny Headed Prophet 