Tag Archives: bible

lifeless

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Today’s Celtic Lent thought concentrates on the actual crucifixion. I often think we lose a lot of the impact of the crucifixion because we know what comes next. The disciples and Jesus’ followers lived this in the moment. They did not know what was going to happen. They stood, or hid, in shock seeing the very person who they believed was their saviour beaten and murdered on the cross. Today I am trying to forget that I know what happens on Sunday in a hope that this will allow the crucifixion accounts to impact me differently.

The Dream of the Rood reveals that the whole of creation experiences the crucifixion. As we move into a more traditional Good Friday account, the Rood still speaks and tells of its experience which may com as a surprise to many of us. The cross says’they mocked us both together’ and ‘They pierced me through with darksome nails. The Rood even tells how it refused to bow or break at any point during the crucifixion.

And not just the cross …. creation goes into darkness for 3 hours. There are earthquakes. The whole of creation is involved in, and feels, the effects of this victorious battle of Jesus the warrior king. Remember… Celtic Christianity does bot recognise anything other than sacred. The whole of creation is sacred, Christ fought for the whole of creation. The whole of creation is redeemed and the whole of creation will eventually be what the Creator intended it to be.

And all creation wept, wailing the slaughter of its King. Christ was on the cross.

The very one who brought life, hangs still, lifeless on the cross.
The one from whom all life comes, is still, is static, is dead.
The one who gave hope of action, hangs still, frozen in time
The God who promised to never leave. descends to hell for what seem an eternity

There is a lot there for us to contemplate here.

The only prayer I have for this is ‘thank you.’
May you recognise the absence of God today

warrior ???

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Today’s Celtic Lent thought draws us back to the cross and specifically the removal of Christ’s body from the cross. The account from the gospels that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body off the cross and laid it in a tomb are not realistic. It would have taken more than two people to do this and The Dream of the Rood talks of troops of warriors who came from afar to help their king after the battle.

The Dream of the Rood is, again, looking at the spiritual side of things rather than the physical. I think we might call the warriors spoken of here as angels. Heavily armoured fighting warrior like angels. This reminds me of an incident quite a few years ago when I was director of Gillingham YFC. We ran a drop in coffee shop for young people and many nimby type people were making it difficult for us to exist there. We feared physical aggression rather than just complaints. On a day we expected lots of aggro a couple of the team members, totally independent of each other, came to me to say that that they saw an two angels standing outside the shop. The angels were wearing blue armour and had their swords were drawn in front of their face like the Queens (now KIng’s!) Guards at Buckingham Palace. Both people gave an almost identical account 30 mins apart from each other. Although I went outside and saw nothing I acknowledged we were in a spiritual battle and the expected onslaught never came.

As Christ’s followers says today’s though, we are also called, and become, warriors. I don’t know what you think about that, but I don’t feel very warrior like. For many reasons (which I will go into another time) I feel pretty exhausted, beaten up and thrown aside by individuals and an organisation I loved, and love, very much. To be a warrior is the farthest from my mind at this point in time.

So … what about you?
Where do you see yourself in this epic saga?
Do you see yourself as a spiritual warrior?
If so does this knowledge change your outlook?
If it doesn’t what do you think of the concept?

the dream of the rood

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This morning’s Celtic Lent thought introduces us to the Dream of the Rood, which is the story of Christ’s death set firmly within the hero saga style with the theology of Christus Victor right at its centre.

The poem is a man’s dream of the actual cross (the rood) telling the crucifixion story. What amazes and challenges me again (see my other posts from this week) is that Christ is not portrayed here as he sacrificial lamb that many of us have but instead, he is portrayed as a warrior king that has come to the cross ready for battle. He is a Dryhtnes which is translated as a warlord in charge of a band of warriors

This week we are going to unpack this poem and so many of us will find the warrior language a challenge as we have predominantly come to accept the idea of Christ as the sacrificial lamb. So, this week David Cole asks us to try and come this week with fresh eyes, with Celtic/Anglo Saxon eyes from the 8th century while remembering that scripture tells us there is a battle going on on around us spiritually.

As we prepare for this week it might be helpful to return to Ephesians 6:10-18 to prepare us for spiritual battle imagery.

The Armor of God

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Substituion Atonement or Christus Victor …?

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Today’s Celtic thought brings us to the teaching of Christus Victor rather than the teaching of Substitution Atonement (I deserve to die due to my sin, Jesus took my place so that I could be made right with God) that many of us have been brought up with. In the early years of the church the main teaching was that of Christus Victor (Christ died on the cross to defeat all the works of evil and to defeat Satan) rather than substitution atonement which only became ‘popular’ in the last 800 or so years.

As we have already seen earlier in our Lent journey, the Celtic Christians understanding was that we were already ‘made right’ with God because we are all, created in the image of God and so God dwells within each one of us, working with us to become the person we were originally created to be.

Whilst there is truth in both teachings, and the Celts would certainly have had an outlook of both/and rather then either/or, the teaching of Christus Victor resonates more with me at the moment. The fact that I, that all of us, are born in original blessing suggests we are already ‘ok’ with God and don’t deserve to die. If we don’t deserve to die then Jesus must have been doing something other than simply taking my place, our place, on the cross. Defeating evil and Satan so that the whole of creation could be what it was originally created to be jut seems to make a lot more sense. The cross is then no longer seen as a place of sacrifice but more a weapon that can be used to protect and save.

This teaching is quite new to many of us, and it is worth a good consideration and I genuinely wonder what others think about this. I wonder, too, why I feel some ‘concern’ even writing this. Concern that challenges ‘am I really a Christian?’ believing something different to what I have been taught across the nearly 60 years of my life.
So …. Substituion Atonement or Christus Victor …. what do you think?

I am wonderful!

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Today’s thought has brought tears to my eyes.
I wish to simply take some quotes and leave them with you today to ponder as you journey on

1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from far away.
3 You search out my path and my lying down,
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
    O Lord, you know it completely.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is so high that I cannot attain it.

7 Where can I go from your spirit?
    Or where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
    if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning
    and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me fast.
11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light around me become night’,
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is as bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

13 For it was you who formed my inward parts;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
    Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
15     My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
    all the days that were formed for me,
    when none of them as yet existed.
17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
    I come to the end[a]—I am still with you.
Psalm 139

‘God creates us. God with loving hands knits us together and moulds our being. God does not make mistakes. God does not make faulty goods. ….. God’s loving formation of our being creates the perfect human being – you – in the divine image.’ (page 106, Cole, D ‘Celtic Lent.

Dave Cole ends with this prayer today:
Almighty Creator, Intimate friend, loving Father, restorer of all that I am, I pledge to work with you to restore the beautiful being which you created, beginning with the declaration that I am wonderful! I say this not because of ego, but because the scripture says that you made me, I am one of your works, and that your works are wonderful. Thank you. May my restoration begin with my belief in myself. Amen

Original sin or blessing?

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Since becoming a Christian at 17 I have always struggled with the concept of original sin which, I now know, came from Augustine and was adopted by the Roman/Latin church. I remember having long discussions with leaders of my church in Weymouth. In the confirmation group I asked awkward questions which people didn’t seem to have answers for. I could not understand how a new born baby could be ‘born in sin’ and be born containing ‘original sin’. To me then, and even more so now, the concept simply does not fit with the concept of a loving God who created us all in God’s image.

If we are created in God’s image, stated this arrogant loud teenager, then how on earth could we be born with Original Sin?
I remember tagging on the patience of my teachers as I proudly stated that, if anything, we must all be born in ‘original blessing’ as this is the only thing that makes any sense f we are created in God’s image.

In today’s thought from Celtic Lent we hear that this very concept was a distinguishing difference of theology between the Latin church and Celtic Christians. The catholics believed the core of us, our soul, was eveil and fallen and required transformation from Christ. The Celtic Christians believed our core was a divine image but tainted which needed fixing by Christ.
In the words of Genesis 1:31; ‘God saw everything that they had made, and behold, it was very good’

This makes a massive difference to how we view other people and creation itself. If we consider ourselves and others as being inhabited by that divine image then that surely significantly impacts upon our behaviour towards each other. Surely it means we see each other differently and we would want to cherish, uphold and applaud each other in our daily journeys. Surely this would mean Christian ‘spaces’ would be open, welcoming and loving to absolutely everyone!

Original sin, or original blessing ….. you decide?

into the unknown

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Todays reading shares the story of Brendan’s voyage.

Brendan was amazing. After a time of prayer Brendan, and a few friends, decided God was calling them to literally go into the unknown. They took the words of Jesus in John 3:8 seriously and decided to simply put themselves in the way of God through the wind and sea and be taken wherever it was that God would have them go. This is classic Celtic spiritually of green and white martyrdom with a solid reality check of knowing this could so easily end up as an act of red martyrdom (see my previous post if you need a reminder).

Sometimes I have felt God calling me to do something, or rather to explore something, that seems impossible to do. These have been both exciting and scary times. Brendan and his friends had no idea where they were going and must have wondered if they were going to fall off the end of the sea. Sometimes that sea would be calm and they would be drifting while others they would have experienced massive waves and just clinging on for dear life as they waited for calm.

Today, are we able to take those kind of risks for the gospel?
Today are we willing to step out into the unknown, not really knowing where we will end up or what will happen?

This resonates quite strongly with me and my journey at the moment. My journey is in no way as scary or as brave as Brendan’s. I am, however, in a situation where I am simply placing myself in front of God on a daily basis. Each day I ask that question ‘where do you want me to be?’ I have not heard any answers yet … so I , as most of us do, will continue to drift and ride waves until I see where God wishes me to be present. Id love to hear from others your experiences of stepping out into the unknown.

To give up or to hold on …. a ‘choice’ or ‘both and’?

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Celtic Lent today introduces the story of Cuthbert.
After a vision Cuthbert gave up his old life to start anew as a monk with God. He journeyed on a horse with a spear and a servant walking beside him to the monastery door. When there he gave the servant his spear and horse and walked into the monastery with just the clothes on his back.

I have struggled with this question over the years because I think there is a bit of a balancing act to do here. I wonder if giving up everything to follow God is all that is required if we are to learn and change on our journey.

During my early Christian life I believe I gave up too much. I gave up a career, which I still believe was the correct thing to do; but I think I also gave up my true character and social class. This was due to a desire to fit in but it resulted in me denying who I was and am.

I have come to understand that Jesus called me as me. Jesus called me as the very left wing, working class, dancing, drinking, loud, dreaming and challenging, and often annoying, character that God created me to be. I may say more about this at a later date. God called me as me, with my faults and sharp edges, because God wanted me to meet others with similar faults and sharp edges so that we could learn more and travel further together.

So, as we travel today and think of Cuthbert and the others we have learned from this week; yes … let us think about what we can lay aside or give up. But let’s also commit to keeping, growing, forming and allowing those bits of our characters that God wants to use to become what God wants them to be.

just dust …. or a whole lot more?

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This mornings thought from Celtic Lent has caused me to consider throughout today the ‘who am I’, ‘how was I created?’ question.
Were we created from dust, or were we created from a whole lot more?
Celtic christianity has a beautiful story of us not just being created from dust (and to dust we shall return) but that we, or strictly speaking, Adam, was created from earth, sea, sun, clouds, wind, stones and the light of the world.

I totally love that! The idea of being created from all aspects of creation. If that is so it explains the resonance many feel towards the rest of creation. If that is so it means humankind is inextricably liked with the whole of creation, and not just placed alongside to be a steward. Creation is broken, which isn’t a surprise as humankind is broken. We are part of creation and creation is part of us.

Over the last few years I have been experiencing a time of being broken. Thats another story for another time but I can share now that it hurt.
I have needed to be recreated.
Rebuilt.
Restored.
Being smashed into tiny pieces, like a really complicated jigsaw, obviously takes great time and effort to fix.
Only God has the patience and ability to do that.

I am not there yet. But I will be!

During my contemplation today I was reminded of the practice of Kintsugi.
Slowly I am allowing God to rebuild me.
Like someone that fixes a broken vase.
God has started the work, has continued today and will do more tomorrow.
As there are so many little pieces to fix back together God is needing to use a lot of gold.
Today, that simple thought reminds me that despite everything, I am precious to my creator.
So are you.