Abraham and Isaac

Sermon on Genesis 22:1-18, part of a series on Abraham, preached at St Mary's Little Parndon today. (I prefaced the sermon by considering the call of God to Abraham in the context of morality. I suggested that as in 1 Chronicles, Satan is introduced into the temptation of King David at the threshing floor where in Kings God alone is spoken of, so perhaps we might do the same thing here. In one sense God is 'responsible' for everything (he made the world), we may also distinguish God's permissive will, which allows  Satan a role. This passage sees things from the viewpoint of God's overall 'responsibility', through which Abraham learns more of God eg child sacrifice is wrong.)

In the first Harry Potter book, the first year boys are put into Houses in the School for Magic, Hogwarts. There is a magical Sorting Hat. To begin with, the hat wants to put Harry into Slytherin. But Harry says no, he wants to be with his friends in Griffindor.

Later in the story we learn that Harry suited Slytherin because he has similarities to some of the evil members of that House. He is devastated, That is what I am like, he thinks. No it is explained, for it is our choices that make us what we are. Harry, you chose the way of friendship and loyalty, not the way of power and selfishness.

Who do you want to be? Today's passage is about the importance of our choices.

God puts us all into difficult situations, when the earth seems to disappear from beneath our feet. We can all think of examples. Where is God, we think?

This was true for the Jews of old. In the 6^th century BC they found themselves in Babylon. God had promised them the Promised Land, and yet they had been invaded and taken into captivity. Where was God?

Today’s story of Abraham and Isaac was one they read each other. God had promised a son to Abraham, Isaac.

·        But now God himself was asking Abraham to sacrifice his son. It seems  God had given a promise with one hand and taken it away with another.

·        Worse, he was demanding that Abraham sacrifice his own son. What anguish this must have seemed!

In our own lives and own lives there have been moments of agony when it seems that God has forgotten all the promises he made us in the past. It is not just that they seem to delay; it seems that he has betrayed them – and us.

For all of us there are moments of deep sadness. We ask, Where is God?

Gold bars are tested, and then stamped so that everyone knows it is 99.99% pure. The refiner stamps it. You can then take that bar to the Bank of England and they will accept it. It has been tested. Without that stamp, who knows what you have.

The Bible speaks of our being tested. But the testing is not so that God knows what we are like. He knows already. It is not really so that we know what we are like, though that knowledge is useful. It is so that the stamp might be there in our lives. We are changed by the testing. Our choice makes a difference. Something is stamped on our character.

Romans 5 ¹ Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we have^[a] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.² He has brought us by faith into this experience of God's grace, in which we now live. And so we boast^[b] of the hope we have of sharing God's glory!³ We also boast^[c] of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance,⁴ endurance brings God's approval, and his approval creates hope.⁵ This hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to us.

Here we read that Abraham was tested. (Some versions:‘tempted’: but God does not want us to do wrong; the Hebrew word for test and tempt is the same).

When you are tested, you come out stronger - stamped with the experience. You are better for it. Abraham learnt to trust God in a much deeper way.

Jesus was tested for the 40 days we recall during Lent.

·        Hungry, he could easily have used his powers to turn stones into bread

·        He realised he could avoid trouble by doing miracles to impress people, like jumping off a great height and surviving

·        How much easier to go the devil’s way. As Adolph Hitler knew, it is easy to control people by violence.

For 40 days he resisted. And he learnt that God provides.

Which meant that when he faced Gethsemane and the Cross, and the other challenges, he came through unscathed. He was stamped with the experience in the wilderness.

And Abraham came though as well. He hung on to the thought that God provides. And when he was about to sacrifice his son, God pointed him to a ram in a nearby bush.

Abraham named the shrine: Jehovah Jireh: The Lord will provide.

In this season of Lent we remember Christ who was tempted to breaking point, and was triumphant. He was pushed to every extreme; tested like we are in every way, yet without sin. Supremely that was true on the cross, where even he cried “Why?”.

In our testings and testing moment, let us flee to Christ, who is able to strengthen and help us through.

If I take a flimsy piece of paper it is soon crumpled or torn. But if I place it between the leaves of a think book, it resists all attempts.

So it is with Christ as we abide in Him. Amen.

The Bigger Picture

Yesterday I visited the David Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy.

What I especially enjoyed is his taking time to observe. The sketch books of great detail, the returning to the same scene again and again. The exploring of the same scene at regular intervals. The one theme of The Arrival of Spring in 2011 portrayed in 51 views (and others not used also on display on IPads.

(How does he achieve such detail for such large prints - see also the final room - with such a relatively small tool?).

Then in contrast there is intense activity. 'Action Week', when the Hawthorne flowers. There is hardly any time to portray it as it is so short lived.

May I know when to watch and pray and when to act.

Sabbatical - Final Day

As my mini-Sabbatical draws to a close, what shall I take with me into the future?

It has been a joy for Mandy and I to be together so much over the past month.

We have made many new wonderful friends and met many wonderful people. These are just some...

I have seen the slums of Chennai and this challenges my lifestyle...

As I have learnt, many new agendas have opened up. The following are but initial thoughts to signpost further thinking.

1 A deepening conviction of the scandal of denominationalism. Disunity is, to use Newbigin's analogy, like a drunken meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. Our task is to point to Christ. If the church is divided, we point to a divided Christ. In Foolishness to the Greeks (145f) he states that denominationalism is the religious aspect of secularisation, the social form in which privatization of religion is expressed. A federation of denominations is not enough, if we are to confront the secularisation of society. Movements like 'Heart fro Harlow' are signposts to true unity. But the focus on relationalism is perhaps a foretaste of what that unity might consist of, as against formalities that in themselves undermine the church. I note that though CSI arose from a formal scheme, it arose out of close networking in mission over a prolonged period, and involved great flexibility, such that the wider church as not sure at the outset whether to recognise it. I perhaps need to reflect further on the basis of the CSI.

Lesslie Nebigin writes in Honest Religion for Secular Man, p 118

It is a very parody of mission when divided churches go to a new people or a new community and seek to reproduce there their own divided existence.

The CSI Cathedral in Chennai, where the CSI began

2 An ongoing desire to see our culture more and more though the eyes of others. I will seek to read more from theologians from outside the European / North American sphere. I have seen the value of this in my Sabbatical. I have come to value afresh and more deeply Newbigin's insights and can see how these have come about. I have a sense of UK Christianity as very parochial in the context of vibrant worldwide church.

3 A fresh commitment to evangelism. I see how this is something that must and can be addressed by the church at large. Individual churches are of course where most evangelism will be rooted, but resourcing and co-ordination by the wider church can have a massive impact, as I have seen.

The Chapter 'Being God's People' in his Honest Religion for Secular Man sees Newbigin addressing many of the issues I have been feeling my way towards in earlier blogs. This needs my further attention, not least his analysis of the Christendom model of church (which assumes a Christian society in a land where we meet one another less and less) as against the missionary model in the Indian village, as I observed. I note how his words are very relevant to 21st century Harlow though written well over 40 years ago.

I note the following at p105:

I have said that in the New Testament the Church is depicted as a body of people chosen by God and trained and empowered for a missionary task. It is a task force which exists not simply for the sake of its members, which would be absurd, but for the sake of the doing of God’s will in the world. The visible structures of church life which we have inherited from the corpus Christianum of mediaeval Europe do not correspond very obviously to that description.

p106: In the great majority of European towns and villages the church building is no longer the centre of a Christian society. It is a place to which a small minority of the people who desire these things may repair for worship, teaching and fellowship. It is not a place of training for the penetration and occupation of a foreign society. It is not an instrument of mission. It says ‘Come’, and there are some who accept the invitation; it does not say ‘Go’. It may conceivably support missions, but it is not itself a mission

p111: The Church is a congregation, set to draw all men of whatever kind into one family. But it is also a mission sent to the nations, that is to say, sent to men not as isolated individuals, but to men in the full reality of their cultural, social, economic life as men. For the fulfilment of that mission it is not enough to say ‘Come – all are welcome’. It is also necessary to go, to leave the establishment behind, to make daring experiments in seeking to learn what it means to live the life of Christ in every one of the idioms and patterns of the myriad human communities.

and at p120: There can be no final escape from the truth that the Church, if it is to be the faithful witness of man’s true end, must be recognizable in the world as one family, as a household in which men of every sort can be at home because it is the Father’s house. It must find the forms of unity flexible enough to allow for the freedom of missionary experiment in all the different sectors of the human community, and yet strong enough to make variety a source of enrichment and not of conflict. The more seriously we take the missionary principle that Christians must be ready to go into every human situation, accepting that kenosis without which there cannot be a true incarnation of the life of Christ in a new community, the more necessary will it be that the bonds of unity are strong enough and flexible enough to hold all together.

4 An affirmation of my conviction that deeds and words go hand in hand in the work of mission ('Soup, Soap and Salvation'). In mission we witness to Christ, in whom this was supremely true. This is rooted not in an ethical gospel (though the gospel is that) but in a Kingdom theology whereby we know that Christ has met and masted the powers that enslave this world and that the has been give. The real foretaste of this Kingdom in the gift of the mighty Spirit of God (Newbigin, The Gospel in Pluralist Society, 136).

A deepened valuing of church schools would be one particular result of this for me,

5 A clarity as to the value of a secular Public Square which affirms all religions and their contribution to debate etc (the Indian model; I am not sure how far this has ever been the English model which has tended to privatise religion) as against Secularism, which seeks to exclude issues of faith.

Newbigin in Honest Religion for Secular Man noted how secularisation in India was achieving things for which missionaries had fought. Indeed, he notes that the missionary has been the agent of secularisation. Thus in a brief period in India has occurred what has taken hundreds of years in Europe. The speed of change in India, amongst other things, means that the missionaries's legacy is still remembered and valued. He also suggests that the process of secularisation is a new phase in the movement by which the biblical prophetic engages with the total claims of a sacral society (p30), as I always has. This is part of our deliverance in Christ from the elemental powers. "It has often been said in India... that it needs Christians to keep the secular state truly secular. I think this is true." (p76).

This is of major interest in public debate at the moment in the UK. This quote from Julian Gaggini is of interest, favouring the model I suggest, though as I say above, I am not sure if he correctly represents UK secularism as it has been 'on the ground', historically...

It all goes back to how we understand the core secularist principle of neutrality in the public square. Neutrality means just that: neither standing for or against religion or any other comprehensive world-view. That is why in theory, if not in practice, the United States is both culturally the most religious country in the developed west and constitutionally the most secular. There, it is clearly understood that the value of secularism is that it allows all faiths to practise freely, without any enjoying a special place at the heart of power. That explains why when I once took part in a panel discussion with a Southern Baptist, one of the most conservative of denominations, he was as enthusiastic about secularism as I was.

Why then in Britain has secularism become seen to be hostile to religion? Because neutrality is too often assumed to require the bleaching out of all traces of faith, excluding religious belief and discourse from public life. But it doesn't, and we can see why by appeal to the notion of public reason, articulated most clearly by the late political philosopher John Rawls. Rawls was quite clear that the religious have no obligation at all to keep their faith entirely to themselves. "Reasonable comprehensive doctrines, religious or non-religious, may be introduced in public political discussion at any time," he wrote, "provided that in due course proper political reasons – and not reasons given solely by comprehensive doctrines – are presented that are sufficient to support whatever the comprehensive doctrines are said to support."

Incidentally, Newbigin notes that a prophetic spirit which denies its affirmation of the power of God is ultimately self-destructive. But the task is not to question secularisation but to bear witness in this new situation. He also notes how the process of secularisation helps the church rediscover its nature as a missionary community as the identification of church and state is stripped away

6. I want to reflect further on CS Lewis' insight as to paganism as against secularism. The pagan is aware of the sacred nature of creation; the secularist is focused on self. CS Lewis approach to paganism is helpful here. It is interesting to apply his words in the context of Harry Potter, and Christian discussion some years ago.

Some of the discussion in Lamin Sanneh's book, Whose Religion is Christianity,49ff, is of interest in this regard.

7. Teaching the valuing of the tradition of the church (not in the sense of modern traditions of worship, but rather a sense of being part of the ongoing history of the People of God in Christ.) "Christian discipleship, like all human activity, is embedded in a tradition and cannot be Iived apart from that tradition." - Proper Confidence, Lesslie Newbigin, 87

C.S Lewis' perspective that although new ideas are now always bad, we must always ask, 'How does modernity impact the human condition'? challenges the mood of our times, when new is, broadly, better. (See his poem, On a Vulgar Error).

He also writes of how the coming generation cuts itself off from the values of the past, anticipating the literary theory of deconstruction and the impossibility of meaning. See C.S.Lewis poem, Re-adjustment and C.S. Lewis: Fantasist, mythmaker, and poet, p 270, by  Bruce L. Edwards.

I wonder: does evangelicalism add to this tendency through its stress on the converted heart. India showed me the importance and vitality that comes from distinctiveness, and this in turn comes from being part of a 'tradition'. Evangelicalism at the very least needs to recover  or find a sense of the corporate, so that conversion is understood as being incorporated into Christ in all His fullness, including the Body of Christ in its historic sense. We need to discover that same sense of being part of a tradition which formed the Israelite and Jewish people, as evidenced for example in Psalm 106, and in many, many other places.

8 A fresh appreciation of the importance of praise as part of worship. May this be ever-increasingly part of my life and walk with God.

Sabbatical - Day 30 - Tuesday

Psalm is 104:26-end was a recent lectionary reading.
"Countless are the things you have made, Lord"

I see this in the great variety of ways that we live across the world. I have often thought about the richness of different cultures. I now know (and give thanks for) something more of the breadth and much more of that richness - not least the strength of the human spirit when not cosseted by the luxuries I take for granted (safe water, 24 hour electricity - in the Indian villages the power is off for 1/3 of the day 8 think. The electricity was put on especially because of our visit in the village, being turned off at midday. In Chennai it is unreliable which can cause havoc for eg a wedding reception, though we did not experience any significant cuts.)

The church of the Madavaram Pastorate in the state of Andhra Pradesh:

I also give thanks for (no particular order):

- The prayerfulness, encouraged by regular 'please pray for me' and the desire for prayers of blessing from pastors at every opportunity. We talk about 'arrow prayers' sometimes. This makes them more corporate and part of normal a conversation. This prayerfulness is evident in daily moments of turning to God rather than in having more 'prayer meetings' than most churches in the UK (at least, I wasn't aware of much difference in the latter regard. I did note with interest that each church leads prayers at the Diocesan centre for one day a year, food prepared by the centre (the Laity Centre referred to previously.)

- Other small ways in which the Christian community are reminded of their identity day to day, e.g. the valuing of 'Christian' names, church calendars, the use of the sign of the cross for blessings, vibrant publicity for events, very public welcomes for guests of the church, taking Bibles to church, etc.

- The sense of history, not only of Indian history, and the missionary legacy (recent and back to the times of the early church) but also as part of the Christian community over time (in the valuing of 'Christian' names.). In a not unrelated context, Newbigin, Proper Confidence, 35, writes, "To give the family name, as has been customary in the past [in the developed world], would identify the individual by reference to a history and a society. But this is not acceptable. the self is an isolated monad which can only be understood from within itself. Thus the inward journey becomes much more fascinating than the exploration of an external world, and psychiatry becomes a dominant element in society."

- The witness of 'one church', especially in the small communities where there is literally one church. The reality of the decision - am I in Christ or out of Christ (do I worship at the Temple or the church)? - has a down to earth reality.

A village church (the only one I believe in the village)

- New friends and fabulous hospitality (this was our being greeted in the village:)

- The clear sense of what it means to follow Christ in a non-Christian culture.
- A lifestyle uncomplicated by materialism
- The desire for mission and evangelism, taken forward with fruitfulness. I note Lesslie Newbigins words (see yesterday's blog) in this regard.
- A biblical faith across, insofar as I observed it, across the traditions.
- My beginning to understand Hinduism
- The Autos, that somehow seem to navigate safely through the traffic.
- Tender Coconuts
- Gnat bite cream
- The leadership of the Bishop of Madras
- The witness of missionaries and the widespread appreciation of them in the Christian community.
- And much besides.

What a vibrant life, something of which I find summed up in this image from the Bombay Circus in Chennai (flamethrower etc.)

Sabbatical - Day 29 PS

I am seeking to find out the current membership of CSI. The most authoritative statement I have so far found
is as follows, from Encyclopedia of Christianity Online

"Church of South India
The Church of South India (CSI) resulted from the union in 1947 of the Anglican Church of India, Pakistan, Burma, and Ceylon; the SouthIndia United Church (SIUC); and the Methodist Church. The SIUC itself resulted from a union of Presbyterian and Congregational churches (Reformed and Presbyterian Churches; Congregationalism), along with churches of the Basel Mission in South India. The CSI represented the first union in the world involving episcopal and nonepiscopal churches. In numbers the CSI is the largest non–Roman Catholic church in India, with over two million members in 1994. It is at work in four Indian states among speakers of Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Telugu, and also in Jaffna (Tamil), Sri Lanka. There are CSI diaspora congregations in the major cities in India, the Gulf countries, and the United States."

But this is quite out of date. I am suspicious of other web references. If anyone reading this can help, do please get in touch. Thanks.

Sabbatical - Day 29 - Monday

These words (from The Reunion Of The Church: A Defence Of The South India Scheme, 1960, by J. E. Lesslie Newbigin, pp12ff) come to life for me in a way they would not have a month ago. The photo includes those involved in mission in the Madavaram Pastorate where these words have a ring of truth. I am not sure how true they are of the city, where the various traditions of the CSI exist alongside one another and where other traditions make their presence more felt (Roman Catholic, Pentecostal etc.)

"It is not possible to account for the contentment with the divisions of the Church except upon the basis of a loss of the conviction that the Church exists to bring all men to Christ. There is the closest possible connection between the acceptance of the missionary obligation and the acceptance of the obligation of unity. That which makes the Church one is what makes it a mission to the world...

It will be easily understood that the acceptance of this principle had a profound effect upon the churchmanship of those who were begotten and nurtured as Christians under it. It means that in any one place town or village – there is normally but one Christian congregation, and upon this congregation rests the responsibility for the evangelization of the area allotted to it under the principle of comity. Several important consequences result from this. The outsider is presented with a clear and simple choice between Christ and no-Christ, unconfused by conflicting interpretations of what to be “in Christ” means. The proper connection between the Gospel and the Church is visibly preserved, for the Church stands in the pagan community as a clearly marked society founded upon the Gospel in such a way that faith in the Gospel and membership in the Church obviously and naturally belong together. The Church stands as a visible and distinct community possessing the secret of reconciliation and offering this secret to men in its evangelism..."

"But the Church in South India has clung stubbornly to the conviction that to have Christ in common is enough. It has refused to accept the necessity to cater for varieties of tradition, caste and class by setting up a variety of congregations in each place. The principle of comity has meant this, that the typical congregation in a South Indian country town consists of men and women who have nothing in common save their redemption in Christ. That means, as has been said, strain and stress within the congregation. It means that quarrels are frequent and often bitter. It means that party spirit often disfigures the conduct of church business. But it does also mean that men are driven back to Christ and compelled to ask themselves again and again how much it matters to them that Christ died for them. If congregational life is not to dissolve altogether, men have to allow themselves to be driven back to this fundamental fact, that Christ died for them and for their friends and for their enemies – for on no other fact can the common life of the congregation hold together...

"And the effect of the principle of comity was to keep the Church constantly aware of its evangelistic task. Where there is only one Christian congregation in a town or village or district, its members can never forget the fact that the responsibility for making known the Gospel in that area rests upon them alone. If they do not do it, no one else will. If they behave unworthily, their neighbours will have no other epistle in which they may read the truth of Christ. Where, on the other hand, there is a multitude of competing congregations it is well-nigh impossible for their members to feel resting upon themselves the full responsibility for their neighbours. Inevitably each congregation becomes more concerned with the maintenance of its own distinctive life. But where there is only one congregation it is impossible for its members to escape from the solemn recollection that on the day of judgment it is they and they alone who can be questioned about their neighbours who had never heard the good news..."

Sabbatical - Day 28 - Sunday

The High Court has ruled that it is illegal for Bideford Council to have prayers as part of the formal agenda. The Council does not have the statutory authority to require this.

In a previous blog I reflected along the lines that the problem for the Christian (and anyone of a faith group) is the conviction that the meeting will be the lesser for the lack of prayer, not least because at the heart of prayer is listening. And listening (to anyone) is something that is in short supply.

The net result is that the faith-conviction of a minority (i.e. the secularist) is allowed to outweigh the faith-conviction of the majority.

(Let no-one think that faith groups other than Christian will be pleased by the outcome.)

I come at this from this angle because this is close to the heart of Bishop Lesslie Newbigin's critique of secularism. In The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, the final chapter is entitled The Myth of the Secular Society.

For the secularist must argue either

- that there is no God and this prayers are foolish. But to say that there is no god of a faith statement
OR
- that a society governed without reference to religion is preferable for the greater good of all, including the religious.

Only the second option need be addressed.

In the chapter referred to, Newbigin writes:

"Especially in a country like India, long riven by inter religious tensions... the vision of a genuinely secular society was and is compelling. Such a society, it was believed, would provide free space for the exercise of religion."

Newbigin then goes on to argue, amongst other things, that the secularist is committed to a very particular view of society, namely one that excludes the notion that all creation is under the rule of God. This then is not a neutral society.

The secularist then argues (Newbigin says, critiquing the writing of Denis Munby) that society should distinguish between facts and values. The latter are for personal choice alone. Society is governed on the basis of facts alone, without anything held up for emulation.

Newbigin's response is that the mind of man is in fact an image-factory. This I see with new clarity, for Chennai is full of images. Not only are there the Hindu gods but there is also Kollywood (there is a very vibrant film industry, comparable with Bollywood).

In our own culture i note the 'Celebrities' and hour after hour of image on our TV screens.

If we are to have a truly secular society then we must do away with all 'images'. But no one wants that.

The upshot is that the Golden Calf is allowed, but any attempt to introduce images that challenge ( e.g though prayer), are not allowed.

The paradox is that it is Christ who challenges the false gods of this age. The attempt to exclude prayer from public life will lead us to have more gods, not less. Except these gods (commercialism, celebrities etc.) have no reason to act for anything other than their own interest.

Whereas Christ opened his arms for us on the cross.

The mind is an image factory - some images from Mahabalipuram...

Sabbatical - Day 26 Friday

Yesterday - our last full day in Chennai. Attended a wedding and had the privilege of leading prayers. The service was delayed due to the tragic murder of the cook and a new one had to be found quickly. That puts any difficulties in an English wedding service in perspective!

The family were not wealthy. I counted around 160 in church though there were others outside, not least preparing the food for the celebrations, held on the church site. There was one car to bring the bride and groom. I understand that this was much more of a 'normal' wedding for members of this particular church.

Below: Preparations get underway, rather later than hoped. (The sand and bricks are for a new parsonage being built next to the church.)

A Bible is signed for presentation to the couple...

The couple met for the first time around last Tuesday I think.

One lovely touch of an Indian wedding (or yesterday's anyway) is that the couple begin with garlands over their shoulders, opposite ways round, creating a heart image. Then after they are we'd they each give the other a more traditional garland, symbolising the completing of their love. The two garlands can been seen here in last week's wedding..

Last night we had a farewell meal at their home with Jayaseelan, Ramila, Jerin, Jefrin and Joshua. After two wonderful weeks it was very hard and sad to say goodbye, both to very special new friends and to India.

We are back home now, but I plan to continue to post reflections and photos of India for around a week, more intermittently after that. I need time to reflect and learn from the transforming days in India.

Sabbatical - Day 25 Thursday

Yesterday a visit to the Kalyani Hospital, one of the hospitals run by the Church of South India..

... to visit a close relative of our hosts.

Then to the Trade Fair...

... which runs from January to April each year, with massive stalls where you can buy all sorts of things at good prices, plus some funfair rides etc for children. Families can make a day out of it.

Next to the superb Bombay Circus, an annual favourite here in Chennai.

The day concludes with a visit to a local restaurant known for its mutton biryani. No need to mention what I have.

In the morning I had an interesting conversation with a volunteer at the YWCA, where I am staying (I recommend it highly). The hostel helps fund the ministry for women or site here. She spoke of the support of those who have been badly treated and those with mental illness. There are around 40 volunteers for these ministries, drawing on a larger group of around 250 whose availability changes depending on family circumstances etc.

Part of the YWCA in Chennai...

Some of today's reflections I have included in some updates of Day 22.

As I have got to know people in Chennai, I have met a fabulous group of Christians going though all the ups and downs of life that will be familiar to I guess anyone involved in Christian pastoral work, with a great gift of hospitality. They take their guests to their hearts; that is certainly my experience.

Their faith is alive because it has to be, in the daily difficulties of life, and as a minority faith in a mainly Hindu environment. There are good practices to learn from, but given the cultural differences many similarities. Church life buzzes in part because of clear strategies of
- soup and soap
- salvation (mission to villages)
which are effective.

We hear many calls in the English church for more of this or that, as if there are magic bullets, which would solve the church's problems. I am seeing no magic bullets. But I do see something of the blindness that materialism causes in the west, and I see the fog of secularism in the UK, which traps the individual Christian. We need to be able to stand back from our culture and see the grip of secularism, which is as powerful as the more obvious 'gods' I see on along the streets.

Sabbatical Day 24 - Wednesday

I was interested to note recent statistics for global faith, including the UK figures here, which indicate 45 million Christians, which is at total odds to reality if gauged by church going.

The discussion as to how you count Christians is not new and I am aware of the complexities; but this is not what interests me. Rather, it is the contrast with India where, if you dig around the web you find discussion as to the number of hidden Christians ie those who for one reason or another prefer to remain known as Hindus in census returns though their belief, and perhaps practice, is Christian.

An example of the reason given for for this is here. I simply give the link as evidence of the discussion.

But my point here is the contrast to the UK, where it is easy to take the name of Christian. The differences would thus be reflected in skewed statistics, the skewing being in opposite directions.

But in the UK the perception In the Christian community is that it is becoming less easy to take the name of Christian. This tends to cause anxiety. I support those who seek - in Christian ways- - to preserve Christian freedoms. But I wonder whether a greater sense of being a minority In the UK would in fact lead to more vibrant faith and witness.

I give thanks for our freedoms in the UK, but we must beware seeing these as 'rights' to be fought for. When was fighting for rights ever a Christian virtue?

It is interesting that in India everyone sets out their stall in the market place. This is true in religious faith as well as the street stalls and the shops of Doveton... What these pictures don't show (except the final one)  is the sheer number of signs and posters.

Ducks playing in the fountain at last week's wedding. After a discussion we decided they were real, proved later when they had moved.