Festive fun and cultural confusion?!

I recently heard of a quiz contestant who was asked to name two of Santa's reindeer. After a moments thought the contestant responded 'Rudolph and Olive'. Attempting to mask his surprise the quizmaster said 'Yes, we're aware of Rudolph, but where does Olive come from?' The eager contestant reminded him of the song - 'Rudolph the red nosed reindeer'. With the quizmaster still unconvinced the contestant began to sing...

'Rudolph the red nosed reindeer had a very shiney nose,
and if you ever saw it you would even say it glowed.
Olive the other reindeer....!!'

All right, all right - it amused me! But it serves to illustrate that at this time of year not everyone gets the point.

Would the real Christmas people please stand up?

Two more - just two more!

Hours.

I reckon I need two more hours a day to help me get through the backlog of DVDs that have been recommended or lent to me in the vain hope that I will one day get round to watching them. Mind you the way some films are going these days it might be nearer three extra hours!

That said last night I shunned the rather lacklustre and meagre TV offerings and watched Frank Miller's Sin City instead (you understand it wasn't Frank Miller's DVD - he's one of the directors. The DVD actually belongs to a friend of my brother...now I think some people may accuse me of over-detailed digression, but I like this blog stuff to be informative!).

Anyway, its one of those films that I was always going to be watching on my own (not Lisa's cup of tea, but then she loves The Sound Of Music!). And it was worth watching - based on 'edgy graphic novels' that I was hitherto unaware of it was a clever and artistically creative film with a crackin' cast - 2 hours well spent!

Next? To End All Wars - 'a true story about the will to survive and the courage to forgive'.

The apple of my eye - the fruit of my loins?!

Make the most of now

It’s the most precious thing in the world. It only exists for an instant. It’s here. Then it’s gone. So cherish it. Love it. Use it to make someone smile. Use it to tell someone you love them. Discover great things. Laugh at daft things. Take it in your hands and stretch it. Eloooongate it. Put it through its paces. Make it earn its keep. Fill it to the brim with your favourite things. Squeeze every drop of enjoyment out of it. Whatever you do make the most of it.

These wise words are currently being used by Vodafone to encourage us all to buy their stuff, but it sounds like good advice nonetheless.

Break it to me gently! (The painful honesty of community)

One of the few constants in our lives at the moment are conversations. At the Tenants & Residents Association (TRA) meeting we hosted recently among the many informal introductions the following stood out…

Mrs Miggins: ‘When I first saw you come in I thought you were a stripper!
Me: ‘Are you joking, look at me.’
Mrs Miggins: ‘I know that’s why I’m glad you’re not!’

Charmin’! Community life can be so painful!

Is faith in public life good for Britain?

Last Monday my Dad and I attended a Faithworks debate that centred around this question. Prompted by an article she had written in the wake of the London bombings ('In the Name of God') Polly Toynbee joined with Steve Chalke, Elaine Storkey and Keith Porteous Wood to discuss whether faith in public life benefits or harms British society.

Given the hotly contested nature of religion and politics, faith schools, faith-based community projects and religious fanaticism, a lively and good-humoured debate ensued.

Once opposing statistics and extremities of abuse had been exchanged the meat of the argument developed largely around education and politics. But I couldn’t help feeling that much of the arguments ‘against faith’ (I realise I maybe a little biased here!) were a little misplaced.

When it came to education the discussion really centred upon selection. While the case against ‘faith in politics’ hinged upon parliamentary privilege. As far as I’m concerned neither of these issues preclude the involvement of faith as neither selection or privilege are in-keeping with Kingdom values anyway. Surely if we (as faith communities) decide to ape the world in its desire to select the brightest and best for our schools/academies or eagerly desire seats of privilege at the top table of power then we will deserve to lose our voice and place in public life. As God’s appointed ‘seasoning for society’ we would better serve the public sphere if we remember the upside-down nature of the Kingdom and demonstrate the transforming power of role reversal epitomised by Jesus.

Actually the evening concluded shortly after a provocatively Jesus-like riposte given by Elaine Storkey. Having highlighted the inconsistent nature of gift aid that positively favours ‘faith-based’ charities, the Editor of the Christian Third Way publication was encouraged by Storkey to forego the extra 30% that he could collect from donations ‘as a witness to the injustice’.

Challenging, informative, incisive and at times uncomfortable – it was a good debate and a good evening made all the better by the fact I could chew it all over with my Dad!

Three in one

I noticed recently that in the sleeve notes for ‘Second First Impression’ Daniel Bedingfield begins by thanking ‘The Author of all Creativity – My Father God, Champion of the Underdog – Yeshua – The Christ, The Catalyst and Comforter – The Spirit of Holiness.’

That’s my kind of Trinity!

More ‘armless stuff…

Earlier this year Lisa and I were fortunate enough to visit Rome for a few days. Full of history, wonderful architecture and a serious amount of scooters, it’s one of my favourite cities with more church buildings than you can shake a stick at (whatever that means?!). In one such church there is a statue of Christ without arms. When you ask why, you are told that it shows how God relies on us, His human partners, to do His work for Him. Without us, God has no eyes; without us, God has no ears; without us, God has no arms.

We’re often asked why we’re in Stratford and what we’re up to, put simply we’re trying to be God’s eyes, ears and arms.

Pastoral naivety!

Tipped-off by a friend’s mother we recently arranged to meet up with a member of the old Stratford corps. So yesterday, armed with some lush Guiting fruit cake we set off to introduce ourselves to Jill and her friend Ivy.

We had a great time getting to know them both, hearing stories about their families and their memories of the Army in Stratford. We also managed to acquire the closest thing we have to a corps history book in the shape of Jill’s scrapbook.

I’ve got no doubt this will be the first of many such ‘tea-parties’ we’ll have – as long as I can remember not to repeat my pastoral faux pa!

Lisa seemed to think it was wrong of me to repeatedly tell Jill (who is quite blind) what a wonderful view she has from her seventh floor flat!

Social capital & midwifery

Last night I was introduced to a new group of people and a new concept. The people formed the East London contextual theology group, the concept was 'social capital'. The group was stimulating, the concept intriguing.

With opportunity to unpack the concept and reflect upon its potential through shared stories, (and with some food thrown in!) it was a couple of hours well spent. One challenging story highlighted the potential risk involved with increased professionalism. The example shared related to education (after-school/lunchtime clubs), but the parallel’s for Christian communities seeking to serve were unavoidable.

I’m looking forward to more evenings at St.Katherine’s Retreat house and discovering more about this social capital stuff.

Where is the love?! (The Black Eyed Peas)

While away we had the chance to see the Heaven & Earth show which featured the ‘openly Gay Bishop’ from the USA, Gene Robinson. In talking about the challenge to the church presented by homosexuality the Bishop drew comparisons with previous tectonic conflicts with racism and sexism.

What got me scrambling for a pen and some paper was when he said ‘God continually challenges us to move the boundaries between ‘us’ and ‘them’ outwards. Outwards to such an extent that there is no longer a ‘them’ – only ‘us’'.

Ding Dong!

Similarly I remember being challenged when I read Bishop Desmond Tutu’s book ‘God has a dream’. Naturally drawing upon his own experience of hatred, bigotry and persecution Tutu writes ‘the endless divisions that we create between us and that we live and die for – whether they are our religions, our ethnic groups, our nationalities – are so totally irrelevant to God. God just wants us to love each other. Many, however, say that some kinds of love are better than others, condemning the love of gays and lesbians. But whether a man loves a woman or another man, or a woman loves a man or another woman, to God it is all love, and God smiles whenever we recognize our need for one another.’

I desperately live to see God smile and so I’m left wondering ‘are some kinds of love better than others’?

The three of us...

Some more rhythmic highlights…

Cream teas, Lower Slaughter, beautiful crisp walks, time with my wife, horses, fish & chips, the West Wing, rain battering the windows while we sat snug in front of a log fire, old churches, our son, not having to get dressed, no reception on the mobile, time to read the whole paper(!)… these were a few of my favourite things.

Rhythmic highlights – Cotswolds 2005

On reflection it was a much needed break and escape that we took to the beautiful little hamlet of Temple Guiting. It really was an idyllic retreat away from the hustle and bustle of urban life. Our time away (and indeed our inevitable return) was all the richer for the contrast.

Strange as it may seem a highlight for me were the stars – not that they were doing anything unusual – they were ‘just’ there and I could see them! (which hasn’t happened often since we moved to London two years ago) I‘ve grown used to the dull amber hue through which urban-dwellers view the night sky. God’s handiwork once again distorted by man’s pollution. The focus of the Psalmist’s paean of praise all but obliterated. At night, conversely it is the darkness that reveals God’s majestic and creative genius.

I suppose in the end stars are like good friends and God himself – you don’t have to see them to know they’re there.

(Have) I got rhythm?!

Some, it is said, are born with it. Most Brazillians I’ve met certainly seem to be. Others, like embarrassing uncles at weddings or middle aged politicians on election nights prove with alarming regularity that they very obviously don’t. But regardless of how ‘silky’ or ‘syrupy’ our moves may be there is a rhythm that we would all do well to find and develop.

The French theologian and philospoher Jacques Ellul contends that ‘life is a rhythm of work and rest, engagement and withdrawal, action and reflection.’

Personally I know from experience that a healthy rhythm is not always easy to strike or maintain. My Protestant, Salvationist background with it’s emphasis upon activism and pragmatic involvement has perhaps stymied my created need for rest and reflection. Yet increasingly I’m being made aware of the importance of withdrawal as well as engagemnent as part of a sustainable and balanced tempo of life.

With that in mind for the next week Lisa, Joshua and I are withdrawing (with a couple of jigsaws and some good books) to the Cotswolds.

Taking our lead from the God who ‘on the seventh day, having finished his task, rested from all his work’ [Genesis 2:2) we perhaps need to rediscover a ‘Mars’ work ethic that will help us ‘work, rest and play.’

After all, when it comes to having rhythm as songwriter declares ‘Who could ask for anything more?’

Credal confession

Matt Patterson writes...

I believe in God,
Three in one
Father, Son, Spirit
Paradox
Mystery
Elemental

I believe in a God of justice,
Compassion, mercy, hope
And first, a God of love
Love personified, incarnated

I believe in God,
the Mother of Creation
God, the father of humanity
God, the lover of us all

I believe we are called:
To activity out of passivity and apathy,
By the Son of God, through his actions
Calling down through history,
Borne on the wings of the Spirit

I believe we are called:
To community, with each other
Through Christ the thread
Weaving us all together

I believe that God plays no favourites
Pulls no punches
Leaves no stone unturned

I believe that life is hard
I believe that life is beautiful
So, I believe, does God.


...incidentally, so do I.

Embracing the future - the need to pray

Charles Ringma writes ‘prayer is always the starting point for new activities that seek to achieve God’s good in our world.’

I have a confession – prayer does not come easily to me. For lots of reasons it is not always the most natural thing for me. Yet I'm painfully aware how important it all is for me as an individual, for Lisa and I as a couple, for the three of us as a family, and for us all as we seek the Kingdom and ‘achieve God’s good’ here in Stratford. Not for the first time I can certainly echo Paul’s honest admission to the Roman Christians that ‘I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it’ Romans 7:18.

Based on the belief that the God who is ahead of us is calling us into new possibilities Jacques Ellul contends that ‘to pray is to carry oneself toward the future.’ As someone interested in new ways of thinking, the creation of new communities, new ways of acting, better ways of serving, and greater participatory processes I am increasingly aware that those who pray may well be laying the foundations for a better world.

Keen to embrace the future, my ongoing prayer is first and foremost to pray more. But beyond that to pray more earnestly, listen more attentively and respond more vigorously.