Monday, 7 March 2022
Eek.
Amazed to find this blog is still here 12 years after my last post. Maybe I should add something... but don't hold your breath. Let me think about it.
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
Wednesday, 17 November 2010
Humans
This week in the news we heard about a man who stayed with a dying fellow passenger in a tube tunnel, one of a number of heroic stories to emerge from the 7/7 bombings inquest. In the same week we also were told of another man who systematically tortured and eventually murdered a toddler who was distracting him from his X-Box. We humans are capable of so much, both good and evil. I was reminded of the lyrics of a Bruce Cockburn song.
From the lying mirror to the movement of stars
Everybody's looking for who they are
Those who know don't have the words to tell
And the ones with the words don't know too well
Could be the famine
Could be the feast
Could be the pusher
Could be the priest
Always ourselves we love the least
That's the burden of the angel/beast
Birds of paradise - birds of prey
Here tomorrow, gone today
Cross my forehead, cross my palm
Don't cross me or I'll do you harm
We go crying, we come laughing
Never understand the time we're passing
Kill for money, die for love
Whatever was God thinking of?
Saturday, 11 September 2010
Mothers! Stop going to Church!
I came across a blog today that quotes some Swiss research* that apparently shows where both parents attend church regularly, 33% of their children will end up regular churchgoers. However, if only the father attends regularly and the mother not at all, then the number goes up to 44%. The blog makes an important point about the role of fathers in the spiritual welfare of their children, but it would seem that the child's chances of becoming a regular attender are BETTER if mum stays at home or goes shopping on Sunday mornings. Well, in Switzerland at any rate.
Isn't research wonderful?
*The demographic characteristics of the linguistic and religious groups in Switzerland, Werner Haug and Phillipe Warner of the Federal Statistical Office, Neuchatel. In The Demographic Characteristics of National Minorities in Certain European States, Volume 2 of Population Studies No. 31, edited by Werner Haug and others, published by the Council of Europe Directorate General III, Social Cohesion, Strasbourg, January 2000.
Isn't research wonderful?
*The demographic characteristics of the linguistic and religious groups in Switzerland, Werner Haug and Phillipe Warner of the Federal Statistical Office, Neuchatel. In The Demographic Characteristics of National Minorities in Certain European States, Volume 2 of Population Studies No. 31, edited by Werner Haug and others, published by the Council of Europe Directorate General III, Social Cohesion, Strasbourg, January 2000.
Sunday, 22 November 2009
Academic Life
The MPhil has a had a brain-hurting stage which I think*/hope*/pray*/we'll see next supervision* it's emerging from. I came across this cartoon recently which sums up the academic cycle quite well. Check out the original here.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Monday, 25 May 2009
Our Common(s) Lot
This is the LICC Connecting with Culture comment for May 22... (I added the cartoon)
‘I think it is a dreadful example of the House of Commons as a whole - which as a whole is responsible for the mess we are in - trying to scapegoat one man who was trying to represent what he thought were their views on what should be done.’
Frank Dobson certainly isn’t alone in detecting a whiff of hypocrisy in this week’s tumultuous and historic events at Westminster, which saw Michael Martin become the first Speaker of the House of Commons in more than 300 years to be effectively forced out of office.
There is, however, another scapegoat in the current crisis over MPs’ expenses, one on which everyone seems eager to lay their hands: the system. The applause that greeted Speaker Martin’s later (and longer) statement to the Commons last Tuesday, in which he outlined interim changes to the parliamentary expenses claims system, is indicative of the honourable members’ conviction that the system needs to change.
There is now cross-party agreement that MPs should no longer be able to claim for, among other things: mortgages that don’t exist, homes they do not live in, and houses in which their ducks do.
This is tragic.
In other words, the real problem here is what the Bible calls sin.
To cast the present scandal in terms of the words of Jesus, it is from within, out of the heart, that greedy expenses claims come (Mark 7:20-23). Making a scapegoat of the system may be to join the Pharisees in cleaning ‘the outside of the cup and dish’, but inside remaining ‘full of greed and self-indulgence’ (Matthew 23:25). The system, like the Daily Telegraph, can expose sin, but it can’t do anything about it. Only Christ can do that. Ultimately, there is no solution to the scandal of MPs’ expenses apart from the scandal of the cross.
Not that we should sit in judgement. The current crisis begs the question of our own integrity. Be it in regard to our own work expenses, or anything else, we must all contend with the truth that our actions betray our allegiance. As we do so, we might find we have more in common with the Commons than we thought.
Nigel Hopper
‘I think it is a dreadful example of the House of Commons as a whole - which as a whole is responsible for the mess we are in - trying to scapegoat one man who was trying to represent what he thought were their views on what should be done.’
Frank Dobson certainly isn’t alone in detecting a whiff of hypocrisy in this week’s tumultuous and historic events at Westminster, which saw Michael Martin become the first Speaker of the House of Commons in more than 300 years to be effectively forced out of office.
There is, however, another scapegoat in the current crisis over MPs’ expenses, one on which everyone seems eager to lay their hands: the system. The applause that greeted Speaker Martin’s later (and longer) statement to the Commons last Tuesday, in which he outlined interim changes to the parliamentary expenses claims system, is indicative of the honourable members’ conviction that the system needs to change.
There is now cross-party agreement that MPs should no longer be able to claim for, among other things: mortgages that don’t exist, homes they do not live in, and houses in which their ducks do.
This is tragic.
It is tragic because such things shouldn’t have to be spelt out. The system, designed to ensure MPs aren’t left out of pocket for legitimate expenses incurred in the course of their work, isn’t the problem. The creation of such a system is good, very good. The problem is the selfishness and greed of those who abuse the system in order to fill their pockets. Justifying their actions with reference to the letter of the law, they wilfully disregard the spirit of the law.
To cast the present scandal in terms of the words of Jesus, it is from within, out of the heart, that greedy expenses claims come (Mark 7:20-23). Making a scapegoat of the system may be to join the Pharisees in cleaning ‘the outside of the cup and dish’, but inside remaining ‘full of greed and self-indulgence’ (Matthew 23:25). The system, like the Daily Telegraph, can expose sin, but it can’t do anything about it. Only Christ can do that. Ultimately, there is no solution to the scandal of MPs’ expenses apart from the scandal of the cross.
Not that we should sit in judgement. The current crisis begs the question of our own integrity. Be it in regard to our own work expenses, or anything else, we must all contend with the truth that our actions betray our allegiance. As we do so, we might find we have more in common with the Commons than we thought.
Nigel Hopper
Friday, 27 March 2009
Fascination
Here's something I read a few weeks ago that has stuck with me since like a Jack Russell terrier on a postman's trouser leg.
"In many churches today there is a strong emphasis upon evangelism – equipping people to share the good news of Jesus. There are programmes to train people for this, to help them deal with the questions of postmodern people, to help them persuade people of Christian truth so they will want to become Christians.
Five years ago I was doing research into evangelism in the church of the first three centuries. And I was puzzled: the early church was growing rapidly, but in early Christian literature there are no training programmes for evangelism and practically no admonitions to evangelism. Why? I concluded, not least through reading what early Christians themselves said, that the church before the conversion of Constantine was growing because it was living in a way that fascinated people. It spoke to their needs; it addressed their questions; and it didn’t so much persuade as fascinate people into new life. Early Christians believed that, in Christ, God had begun a vast movement of reconciliation that had incorporated them; so they had renounced violence, converted their swords into ploughshares, and stopped studying war. This was something they had experienced, and that had given them a new way of living."
It's from 'Becoming a Peace Church' by Alan and Eleanor Kreider. Available as a pdf download here (scroll to the bottom of the page).
Fascination - Alphabeat (Official Music Video)
"In many churches today there is a strong emphasis upon evangelism – equipping people to share the good news of Jesus. There are programmes to train people for this, to help them deal with the questions of postmodern people, to help them persuade people of Christian truth so they will want to become Christians.
Five years ago I was doing research into evangelism in the church of the first three centuries. And I was puzzled: the early church was growing rapidly, but in early Christian literature there are no training programmes for evangelism and practically no admonitions to evangelism. Why? I concluded, not least through reading what early Christians themselves said, that the church before the conversion of Constantine was growing because it was living in a way that fascinated people. It spoke to their needs; it addressed their questions; and it didn’t so much persuade as fascinate people into new life. Early Christians believed that, in Christ, God had begun a vast movement of reconciliation that had incorporated them; so they had renounced violence, converted their swords into ploughshares, and stopped studying war. This was something they had experienced, and that had given them a new way of living."
It's from 'Becoming a Peace Church' by Alan and Eleanor Kreider. Available as a pdf download here (scroll to the bottom of the page).
Fascination - Alphabeat (Official Music Video)
Friday, 6 March 2009
Stand on me
I was watching an old episode of 'Minder' the other week (the original and best, on ITV4). At one point when some sort of deal is being done Arthur Daley says: "Stand on me", meaning you can rely on me, one of his many sayings. It got me thinking about reliability. I'm sure this should have featured in one of the lists of gifts in the New Testament, because it is a quality I have come to realise is right up there in the top three of what I look for in people I work with. 
This last few weeks we have been working hard to get the next PeaceWeek ready. This involves encouraging everyone and anyone to join in and contribute something, and it has been good once again to see a number of people do just that. But not so good has been a few who have said they would take on a job or use a particular skill or gift to enhance one of the events, but who have then not actually done anything at all. In some cases that job has had to to be picked up by someone else already over-committed, in other cases that thing will just not be happening.
Jesus had something to say about servants who say they will do something, but don't actually do it, and servants who say they won't do it, or winge about it but, at the end of the day Brian, actually do do it. In the case of these few individuals who said the equivalent of "Stand on me" it has ended up causing, to use another Daley phrase: "A right lot of ag."*
Who was it said: "When all is said and done, there is a lot more said than done"?
*Aggravation
This last few weeks we have been working hard to get the next PeaceWeek ready. This involves encouraging everyone and anyone to join in and contribute something, and it has been good once again to see a number of people do just that. But not so good has been a few who have said they would take on a job or use a particular skill or gift to enhance one of the events, but who have then not actually done anything at all. In some cases that job has had to to be picked up by someone else already over-committed, in other cases that thing will just not be happening.
Jesus had something to say about servants who say they will do something, but don't actually do it, and servants who say they won't do it, or winge about it but, at the end of the day Brian, actually do do it. In the case of these few individuals who said the equivalent of "Stand on me" it has ended up causing, to use another Daley phrase: "A right lot of ag."*
Who was it said: "When all is said and done, there is a lot more said than done"?
*Aggravation
Saturday, 13 December 2008
A piece of history revealed
We've been doing a lot of work on our house over the last few months. It began with damp problems in the hall (the inspector bloke said we had the full set: dry rot, wet rot, rising damp, weevils and wordworm), which meant new a damp course and replacing the floor. There were also problems in the dining room. So the upshot is a lot of replastering and redecorating. Cue lots of mess and expense, but considering how long we've been in this house with very few major problems we can't really complain. Anyway,when we stripped the wall over the stairs this long buried archeological treasure was revealed. 
It's a piece of ancient artwork dating back to a previous redecoration (we, er haven't re-papered the hall very often, just repainted). It has been carbon-dated to the year 1985 when Judith was pregnant with Daniel and feeling unwell. So, before it gets covered up again we thought we would exhibit it to the world. Does anyone have the address of the Turner Prize people?
It's a piece of ancient artwork dating back to a previous redecoration (we, er haven't re-papered the hall very often, just repainted). It has been carbon-dated to the year 1985 when Judith was pregnant with Daniel and feeling unwell. So, before it gets covered up again we thought we would exhibit it to the world. Does anyone have the address of the Turner Prize people?Monday, 24 November 2008
White is a colour
We're trying to re-decorate two downstairs rooms and hall for the first time in years and at the weekend we went shopping for paint. Armed with a 15% off voucher for Homebase we pulled up outside to see they were also doing a 'Buy 2 get one Free' offer on Crown paint.
After some debate about what colours went with what, we rolled up to the check-out with 9 tins of paint (spot the arithmetic), only to discover 'computer says no' to our third free tin. This also puzzled the Homebase staff, and as there were very few other customers in, several of them, including the manager, gathered round to try and find out what the problem was.
Eventually we worked it out. The offer was on Crown coloured paint, and we had one tin of white. It appears white is not a colour. According to Crown at any rate. In the end, at the insistence of the manager, we got another, tenth, tin free.
This made me think about the term 'people of colour' which I hear a lot to describe people who are not white, often used by those very people. To me this term implies that white is not a colour, and therefore the default by which everything else is measured. But surely the whole point is that white IS just another colour, like any other.
After some debate about what colours went with what, we rolled up to the check-out with 9 tins of paint (spot the arithmetic), only to discover 'computer says no' to our third free tin. This also puzzled the Homebase staff, and as there were very few other customers in, several of them, including the manager, gathered round to try and find out what the problem was.
Eventually we worked it out. The offer was on Crown coloured paint, and we had one tin of white. It appears white is not a colour. According to Crown at any rate. In the end, at the insistence of the manager, we got another, tenth, tin free.
This made me think about the term 'people of colour' which I hear a lot to describe people who are not white, often used by those very people. To me this term implies that white is not a colour, and therefore the default by which everything else is measured. But surely the whole point is that white IS just another colour, like any other.
Friday, 7 November 2008
All bets are off!
At about 11.30 this morning I passed by our local shops and saw this scene. The security blind at the betting shop had jammed and two blokes were desperately trying to free it, watched by a gaggle of the regulars also desperate to get in and have another tilt at the tote. I don't know if or when they got it open, but maybe some money got saved today.
All people are equal. But some are less equal than others.
So Russell Brand has been sacked and Jonathan Ross suspended for their offensive joke played on Andrew Sachs (I wonder where the sacked/suspended line intersects with the audience figures). Quite right too - this was a no-no in a number of ways, not least that it was broadcast despite a request not to from Sachs.
OK, so for an up to date measure of what does and does not cross the line marked 'Too Offensive', we can now say publicly offending and upsetting a 78 year old man is clearly on the wrong side and there will be punishment.
How about a 68 year old man who fairly regularly has his sexuality questioned (because he happens to be single) and beliefs ridiculed (but only because he's a Christian - they wouldn't dare if he was a Muslim)? That does not appear to be a problem to the Guardians of PC.*
Or how about the glee with which some 'edgy' right-on people greeted the news that an 82 year old woman was suffering with dementia? All because they didn't like what she did when she was Prime Minister. Too far? Apparently not.
And nether, it seems, is the constant use of the name 'Jesus (and/or) Christ' as an exclamation on radio, TV and in print, either side of the watershed. I've blogged before about when Lenny Henry expressed how his heart still skipped a beat when he heard the 'n' word... which is what mine did a few minutes later when he used 'Jesus Christ' as a comic swear word. One is not OK, one is. Why are both not OK?
I remember the aforementioned Jonathan Ross apologising to the TV audience for a pre-watershed 'F' word from the stage during Live 8. But no notice was taken of a number of exclamatory mentions of You Know Who. One is not OK, one is. Why are both not OK?
It's all a matter of taste. But whose?
(*Cliff Richard. I was going to add 'not that I'm a fan', but that would be pandering to the Laws of Cool. So I'll leave you guessing.)
OK, so for an up to date measure of what does and does not cross the line marked 'Too Offensive', we can now say publicly offending and upsetting a 78 year old man is clearly on the wrong side and there will be punishment.
How about a 68 year old man who fairly regularly has his sexuality questioned (because he happens to be single) and beliefs ridiculed (but only because he's a Christian - they wouldn't dare if he was a Muslim)? That does not appear to be a problem to the Guardians of PC.*
Or how about the glee with which some 'edgy' right-on people greeted the news that an 82 year old woman was suffering with dementia? All because they didn't like what she did when she was Prime Minister. Too far? Apparently not.
And nether, it seems, is the constant use of the name 'Jesus (and/or) Christ' as an exclamation on radio, TV and in print, either side of the watershed. I've blogged before about when Lenny Henry expressed how his heart still skipped a beat when he heard the 'n' word... which is what mine did a few minutes later when he used 'Jesus Christ' as a comic swear word. One is not OK, one is. Why are both not OK?
I remember the aforementioned Jonathan Ross apologising to the TV audience for a pre-watershed 'F' word from the stage during Live 8. But no notice was taken of a number of exclamatory mentions of You Know Who. One is not OK, one is. Why are both not OK?
It's all a matter of taste. But whose?
(*Cliff Richard. I was going to add 'not that I'm a fan', but that would be pandering to the Laws of Cool. So I'll leave you guessing.)
Friday, 24 October 2008
Why I Don't Go To Church
The other day I read this article entitled: "Why I don't go to church." It questions our assumptions about the word 'church' and how we use it, and how far we have drifted from the Biblical definition. Church = PEOPLE - we ARE the Church. How can we 'go' to it? Not only the building/organism confusion, we have also lost a sense of there being One Church, not in the universal sense (we seem to at least pay lip service to that concept), but in a geographical sense - as in "the Church of (fill in name of city)" - which is how Paul addresses his letters.
This of course means we have a shared responsibility for our city. All of it. All of us. Which has implications.
The photo is of the only church building I've ever seen that gets it right. "Meets here..." should be a compulsory add-on to all church building signs!
This of course means we have a shared responsibility for our city. All of it. All of us. Which has implications.
The photo is of the only church building I've ever seen that gets it right. "Meets here..." should be a compulsory add-on to all church building signs!
Saturday, 6 September 2008
MPhil-ip me!
Well, it's official. My application to do an MPhil with the Urban Theology Unit in Sheffield has been accepted by their validating university, Birmingham, beginning October 1st. The old (and I mean 'old') academic chops are going to have to get not only restored but multiplied. To say I'm a bit daunted by this undertaking would be putting it mildly, but it seems to be 'right' to give it a good go. Maybe a Peter getting out of the boat situation.
I ended my 2007 sabbatical feeling I was entering a year of transition. I'd begun some study on "Mission With" as a theological back-fill on my involvement with Carisma and PeaceWeek which had opened up a number of other avenues of thought which needed more exploration. And I still had my 'itch'. The Urban Presence Trustees recommended I try to keep the study going a day a week. In December I gave a presentation on "Mission With" to the annual Urban Theology Collective, one of the members of which heads up the Post-Graduate bit of UTU. Afterwards he suggested I had the beginnings of a good MPhil. There followed several months of weighing up pros and cons, praying and taking advice, which was mostly "go for it". So I did. Recently I realised that October 1 is ONE YEAR EXACTLY from when my sabbatical finished. Spooky.
So, as best as I can work out, I think God is in this. Oo-er. The title of the research proposal is: "“Mission With” in Inner-city Manchester: Presence, Partnership and Power in Local Church Community Engagement" The sub-title is a quote from Steve Chalke: "True incarnation is when I go out and get involved in a local project where I don't run the show and I don't pull all the strings." No doubt I'll comment on progress here from time to time. Meantime, those of you who do, please pray for me!
P.S. The title of this blog sounds better said in a Belfast accent as it is a play on a local colloquialism. (This piece of information should, academically speaking, have a footnote leading to at least one verifiable source, referenced in a Bibliography, to demonstrate its accuracy... or you can take my word for it.)
I ended my 2007 sabbatical feeling I was entering a year of transition. I'd begun some study on "Mission With" as a theological back-fill on my involvement with Carisma and PeaceWeek which had opened up a number of other avenues of thought which needed more exploration. And I still had my 'itch'. The Urban Presence Trustees recommended I try to keep the study going a day a week. In December I gave a presentation on "Mission With" to the annual Urban Theology Collective, one of the members of which heads up the Post-Graduate bit of UTU. Afterwards he suggested I had the beginnings of a good MPhil. There followed several months of weighing up pros and cons, praying and taking advice, which was mostly "go for it". So I did. Recently I realised that October 1 is ONE YEAR EXACTLY from when my sabbatical finished. Spooky.
P.S. The title of this blog sounds better said in a Belfast accent as it is a play on a local colloquialism. (This piece of information should, academically speaking, have a footnote leading to at least one verifiable source, referenced in a Bibliography, to demonstrate its accuracy... or you can take my word for it.)
Thursday, 21 August 2008
Knock-down Countdown
In Asda the other day I came across a huge display of Ramadan Countdown Calendars. Each door had a question on it (e.g. How long do we fast for?) and just like our Advent Calendars a piece of chocolate behind it. They were half-price, so I bought one. I was curious as to why so many of them and why the price reduction. Was there a theological problem? Or some sort of disapproval of the concept?
Now I think I know...
The chocolate tastes AWFUL. Even my girls won't touch it and that is saying something.
Now I think I know...
The chocolate tastes AWFUL. Even my girls won't touch it and that is saying something.
Are you having a drink?
The last two weekends Judith and I have been guests at a friend's daughter's wedding. They are Muslim so the wedding takes place over several events spread over about 10 days. It was a great experience, lots of people having a great time, and of course fantastic food (there's not a lot I won't do for a decent curry!) Interesting to compare and contrast to 'our' weddings - some similar traditions, some that were new to me. Like trying to take something, preferably money, but a shoe will do, off the groom. Or everyone feeding wedding cake to the bride and groom.
The wedding service (there was a civil marriage some days beforehand) seems to take place in 2 parts. A ceremony with the Imam and the bride in a private room then another in the main room with Imam and the groom (to be honest I couldn't hear much of it). Then with much celebration the bride is brought into the main room and presented to the groom.
A big difference is that over the two events there was not one drop of alcohol consumed. Now hang on... didn't I say up there people had a "great time"? Is that possible without the imbibing of intoxicating liquids? Well, yes it would appear so. Contrast our white christian (small c) British culture where it is assumed the drinks have to be alcoholic for enjoyment to be possible, to the extent that the word 'drink' in certain contexts = 'alcoholic drink'. As someone who has had his manhood questioned BY FELLOW CHRISTIANS when ordering a soft drink in a pub I think this is a big problem in the Church also. I'm not teetotal, but I wonder if in these days of binge and alco-fuelled violence if we can learn something from the Muslim community and be more ready to challenge the cultural assumption behind "are you having a drink?"
The wedding service (there was a civil marriage some days beforehand) seems to take place in 2 parts. A ceremony with the Imam and the bride in a private room then another in the main room with Imam and the groom (to be honest I couldn't hear much of it). Then with much celebration the bride is brought into the main room and presented to the groom.
A big difference is that over the two events there was not one drop of alcohol consumed. Now hang on... didn't I say up there people had a "great time"? Is that possible without the imbibing of intoxicating liquids? Well, yes it would appear so. Contrast our white christian (small c) British culture where it is assumed the drinks have to be alcoholic for enjoyment to be possible, to the extent that the word 'drink' in certain contexts = 'alcoholic drink'. As someone who has had his manhood questioned BY FELLOW CHRISTIANS when ordering a soft drink in a pub I think this is a big problem in the Church also. I'm not teetotal, but I wonder if in these days of binge and alco-fuelled violence if we can learn something from the Muslim community and be more ready to challenge the cultural assumption behind "are you having a drink?"
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
O me of little faith
Last Saturday was the annual fun day in our city park. Judith and I are part of the 'Friends' group of local residents that organise and run it. We arrived and met the rest of the group at 9.30am as planned to start setting up... but didn't as it was raining very heavily from a sky of unbroken dark grey. Nick from church turned up in the minibus. We climbed in and began to decide whether to call the day off or to move it indoors at the church.
I was for calling it off, and was still unsure when the rain slackened to heavy and one of the group - not a committed Christian - got out and said: "Looks like the rain is stopping. Let's get started." As we put up the first couple of gazebos the rain got a bit lighter, but I still wasn't convinced and was grumbling that we'd look like right idiots later, sheltering in one of the gazebos in a sodden and empty park. You see, I knew the weather forecast was for heavy showers all day...
Well, the rain stopped. We finished setting up, the jazz band, food, entertainers and face-painters arrived, the sun began to shine, and people started to come. Apart from a brief and not very heavy shower around 2pm, the next serious rain was about 5pm. By that time the event was over, several hundred people had come and had a great time, some community cohesing had occurred, and we'd done most of the clearing up.
Alannah told me later when she'd first noticed the gray skies she'd prayed that the rain would stop. Now, why didn't I think of that?
Photos: Top: 9.45am - view from the front of the minibus. Middle: 3pm - the Fun Day in full swing. Bottom: 5pm - the Friends group shelter under the trees, clearing up nearly done.
More photos of the Fun Day here.
I was for calling it off, and was still unsure when the rain slackened to heavy and one of the group - not a committed Christian - got out and said: "Looks like the rain is stopping. Let's get started." As we put up the first couple of gazebos the rain got a bit lighter, but I still wasn't convinced and was grumbling that we'd look like right idiots later, sheltering in one of the gazebos in a sodden and empty park. You see, I knew the weather forecast was for heavy showers all day...
Well, the rain stopped. We finished setting up, the jazz band, food, entertainers and face-painters arrived, the sun began to shine, and people started to come. Apart from a brief and not very heavy shower around 2pm, the next serious rain was about 5pm. By that time the event was over, several hundred people had come and had a great time, some community cohesing had occurred, and we'd done most of the clearing up.
Alannah told me later when she'd first noticed the gray skies she'd prayed that the rain would stop. Now, why didn't I think of that?
Photos: Top: 9.45am - view from the front of the minibus. Middle: 3pm - the Fun Day in full swing. Bottom: 5pm - the Friends group shelter under the trees, clearing up nearly done.
More photos of the Fun Day here.
Friday, 6 June 2008
Toaster
We bought The Simpsons series 6 on DVD recently (bargain price on CD-Wow). Much to my delight it includes one of my all-time favourite bits - the middle section of "Treehouse of Horror V" where Homer travels back in time while trying to fix a broken toaster and ends up altering the future when he swats a fly. This cycle is repeated numerous times with bizarre and laugh-out-loud results, in a great spoof of the Butterfly Effect.
I suppose I should make a spiritual point here...
Doh.
I suppose I should make a spiritual point here...
Doh.
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Relocation, relocation, relocation
Yesterday was interesting. During the day I went to a conference on incarnational ministry called 'Living Amongst'. About 30 people, most if not all of whom were already doing what it said on the tin - re-locating to areas those who can choose to move out of. Talk of identifying, living alongside, long-term, struggle, frustration... and the mix of joy that comes from knowing you are where you are by choice and obedience to the call of God and not through dutiful grit teeth. The word 'transformation' came up several times, in a wider context as a Kingdom vision to aim for, in a personal sense as much about OUR transformation as learners, neighbours, servants, detoxifying control-freaks as about anyone else's.
In the evening I joined with about 500 others for a big prayer event (er... not over 6000 as quoted on the BBC News website) focusing on gang crime. Here the talk was of exciting projects and initiatives run by churches and Christian organisations, often in partnership with the Police - including of course Street Pastors - community clean-ups, drops in crime-rates, acts of kindness. Here 'transformation' in the wider context was already taking place, in communities, in towns and cities, in the personal sense as something happening already to young people all over the city. I'm not knocking any of this, it's great that as Christians we're getting out of our buildings and doing stuff. But I am concerned that we think it's enough. Venture out into a poor area, do a project, come to a meeting and pray and jump and sing and think we've 'done' social action.
A few weeks ago Shane Claiborne visited Manchester. This is someone who is doing the incarnational 'living amongst' thing, in community and in a quite radical way, attracting much admiration particularly from young evangelicals. A lot of the people who were at the meeting last night were also there and heard him say the first mark of what he and his friends were trying to do was "Relocation to the abandoned places of Empire." Relocation. I heard nothing of this last night, or of any of what we had been reflecting on earlier in the day.
I kept thinking last night of a quote from Ann Morisy's superb book "Journeying Out." "The radical, missionary activity of the Church cannot, like liberal, secular, social policy, aim at the transformation of the poor. In the new adaptive zone we have entered, the aim must be the transformation of the secure, the well-meaning and the well-endowed of this world. The processes that Jesus teaches and demonstrates invest potential in the most unlikely, not in the well resourced." (my emphasis) And that transformation needs to start right here, with us.
I think yesterday I saw, and have been struggling to reconcile, two approaches to the same thing. One thinks big, one thinks small. Both have their pluses and negatives, but I think ultimately one is from a safe distance, shallower, short-term, and will not actually transform in the deeper way that I think the Bible would have us strive for - justice, inequality. (And maybe this should start with the Church and work outwards.) The other is an attempt at going further in, reducing that distance, living among, working 'WITH' rather than 'for': dare I say doing it as Jesus did - the one who sends us as he was sent. From this foundation there is still a place for projects such as community clean-ups, but it would involve working with other local people to do it. A bit different from sending in 100 young people to pick up litter FOR the community, with the risk of reinforcing the dependency culture, and never asking the question why it got untidy again after the last time we did it.
Shane Claiborne quoted Søren Kierkegaard: "The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church's prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall in the hands of the living God."
I was chatting with the speaker at the end of the 'Living Amongst' day and saying perhaps we should do a conference for the church called "Relocation, relocation, relocation". But would anyone come?
Footnote: 6pm. As I write this some of my neighbours are sitting on their doorstep across the street getting very drunk and playing the same song over and over on a volume-up-to-distortion hi-fi... Praying for rain.
Cartoon "Gabardine Swine" by Roy Mitchell. (Source: torn out of a magazine years ago)
In the evening I joined with about 500 others for a big prayer event (er... not over 6000 as quoted on the BBC News website) focusing on gang crime. Here the talk was of exciting projects and initiatives run by churches and Christian organisations, often in partnership with the Police - including of course Street Pastors - community clean-ups, drops in crime-rates, acts of kindness. Here 'transformation' in the wider context was already taking place, in communities, in towns and cities, in the personal sense as something happening already to young people all over the city. I'm not knocking any of this, it's great that as Christians we're getting out of our buildings and doing stuff. But I am concerned that we think it's enough. Venture out into a poor area, do a project, come to a meeting and pray and jump and sing and think we've 'done' social action.
A few weeks ago Shane Claiborne visited Manchester. This is someone who is doing the incarnational 'living amongst' thing, in community and in a quite radical way, attracting much admiration particularly from young evangelicals. A lot of the people who were at the meeting last night were also there and heard him say the first mark of what he and his friends were trying to do was "Relocation to the abandoned places of Empire." Relocation. I heard nothing of this last night, or of any of what we had been reflecting on earlier in the day.
I kept thinking last night of a quote from Ann Morisy's superb book "Journeying Out." "The radical, missionary activity of the Church cannot, like liberal, secular, social policy, aim at the transformation of the poor. In the new adaptive zone we have entered, the aim must be the transformation of the secure, the well-meaning and the well-endowed of this world. The processes that Jesus teaches and demonstrates invest potential in the most unlikely, not in the well resourced." (my emphasis) And that transformation needs to start right here, with us.
I think yesterday I saw, and have been struggling to reconcile, two approaches to the same thing. One thinks big, one thinks small. Both have their pluses and negatives, but I think ultimately one is from a safe distance, shallower, short-term, and will not actually transform in the deeper way that I think the Bible would have us strive for - justice, inequality. (And maybe this should start with the Church and work outwards.) The other is an attempt at going further in, reducing that distance, living among, working 'WITH' rather than 'for': dare I say doing it as Jesus did - the one who sends us as he was sent. From this foundation there is still a place for projects such as community clean-ups, but it would involve working with other local people to do it. A bit different from sending in 100 young people to pick up litter FOR the community, with the risk of reinforcing the dependency culture, and never asking the question why it got untidy again after the last time we did it.
Shane Claiborne quoted Søren Kierkegaard: "The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church's prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall in the hands of the living God."
I was chatting with the speaker at the end of the 'Living Amongst' day and saying perhaps we should do a conference for the church called "Relocation, relocation, relocation". But would anyone come?
Footnote: 6pm. As I write this some of my neighbours are sitting on their doorstep across the street getting very drunk and playing the same song over and over on a volume-up-to-distortion hi-fi... Praying for rain.
Cartoon "Gabardine Swine" by Roy Mitchell. (Source: torn out of a magazine years ago)
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