Reflections and Photographs

Abraham and Isaac

2012-02-26T14:49:00.003Z

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 putinto 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, hewants to be with his friends in Griffindor.

Later in the story we learn that Harry suited Slytherin becausehe has similarities to some of the evil members of that House. He isdevastated, That is what I am like, he thinks. No it is explained, for it isour choices that make us what we are. Harry, you chose the way of friendshipand 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 earthseems to disappear from beneath our feet. We can all think of examples. Whereis God, we think?

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

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

· But now God himself was asking Abraham to sacrificehis son. It seems God had given apromise with one hand and taken it away with another.

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

In our own lives and own lives there have been moments ofagony when it seems that God has forgotten all the promises he made us in thepast. It is not just that they seem to delay; it seems that he has betrayedthem – 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 everyoneknows it is 99.99% pure. The refiner stamps it. You can then take that bar tothe Bank of England and they will accept it. It has been tested. Without thatstamp, who knows what you have.

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

Romans5 ¹ Now that we have been put right with God throughfaith, we have^[a] peace with God through our LordJesus Christ.² He has brought us by faith into thisexperience of God's grace, in which we now live. And so we boast^[b] of the hope we have of sharingGod's glory!³ We also boast^[c] of our troubles, because we knowthat trouble produces endurance,⁴ endurance brings God'sapproval, and his approval creates hope.⁵ This hope doesnot disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts by means ofthe Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to us.

Here we read thatAbraham 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 forthe 40 days we recall during Lent.

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

· He realisedhe could avoid trouble by doing miracles to impress people, like jumping off agreat height and surviving

· How mucheasier to go the devil’s way. As Adolph Hitler knew, it is easy to controlpeople by violence.

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

Which meant thatwhen he faced Gethsemane and the Cross, andthe other challenges, he came through unscathed. He was stamped with the experiencein the wilderness.

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

Abraham named theshrine: Jehovah Jireh: The Lord will provide.

In this season of Lentwe remember Christ who was tempted to breaking point, and was triumphant. Hewas 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 andtesting moment, let us flee to Christ, who is able to strengthen and help usthrough.

If I take a flimsypiece of paper it is soon crumpled or torn. But if I place it between theleaves of a think book, it resists all attempts.

So it is with Christas we abide in Him. Amen.

The Bigger Picture

2012-02-25T08:39:00.001Z

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

2012-02-16T12:59:00.001Z

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, 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 Re-adjustment and

C.S. Lewis: Fantasist, mythmaker, and poet 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

2012-02-14T08:34:00.001Z

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

2012-02-13T21:45:00.000Z

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

2012-02-13T10:10:00.000Z

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

2012-02-12T17:18:00.001Z

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

2012-02-10T23:33:00.001Z

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

2012-02-09T06:24:00.001Z

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

2012-02-08T05:48:00.001Z

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.

Sabbatical Day 23 - Tuesday

2012-02-08T04:14:00.001Z

Out and about today (by the by discovering that ripe coconuts are not at all hairy. They are only like that after the outer shell is removed - see first photo).

- the privilege of leading in the dedication of a new Care Home for the Elderly ('Elder's Paradise) at Panaiyur, not far from Palavakkam. The Christian couple have been planning for 9 years and are members at the church we visited yesterday. They have a staff of 20.

- then a trip to the wonderful Dravidian sculptured monuments at Mahabalipuram, a world heritage site (7th / 8th century)

Quite late back, so just photographs today.

Sabbatical - Day 22 Monday

2012-02-06T11:45:00.001Z

"Is anything too wondrous for Yahweh?" - Genesis 8:14 (John Goldingay's translation from his Genesis for Today commentary.)

These words resonate as I see what is happening here in evangelism and mission.

Below:
'I will make you fishers of men'
- fishermen launch their boat at Elliots Beach, Chennai

Below: some of those at the Fellowship Meal at Church of Jesus Christ at Palavakkam yesterday. The land is that which St Paul's and St Mary's Harlow helped purchase (see yesterday's blog). The awnings were removed for the film show in the evening. Great not to have to worry about rain!

I need though to get better perspectives as to size. "The church has twenty-two dioceses... There are eight dioceses in Tamil Nadu, six in Andhra Pradesh, four in Kerala, three in Karnataka, and one in Sri Lanka." - Wikipedia. The population of those amounts to roughly 247 million. I think there are somewhere over 2000 clergy in the Diocese, considerably less per head of population than in the Anglican church in the UK. The English parish system means that there will be a church in or for every village; there are no villages in the U! which a church does not in some way serve.

How may I learn for UK culture?

I must revisit Lesslie Newbigin's writings. They will probably have greater meaning now I can stand just a little in the place he stood, able to reflect on European civilisation from the outside. I can see first hand the value of stepping outside one's own culture, if only for a short time. Lesslie Newbigin helpfully points to the idols of the West. And, by the by, I have learnt more about Hinduism than I could ever learn from reading books.

I see the administratively energy put into 'soup and soap'. This is very akin to Church of England schools (many parallels); it is akin to Street Pastors. But it takes energy and depends on key people with the appropriate skills.

I see financial priority given to evangelism. There are around 150 paid pastors, around 125 paid missionaries, in the Diocese. I note our own Bishop's (Chelmsford, UK) aim to have an Evangelist in every parish.

I see a priority being given to lay training, as seen below (hired for the wedding; hire fees hello towards Diocesan overheads). I believe this centre arose from the personal vision of Bishop Devasahayam.

I see a culture where the dominant mood is of believing in gods or God. It is a question of which God you worship.

Here as compared to the UK, I have seen little evidence of widespread secularism as such, though I note that government schools do not teach religion. Hindu temples or shrines are widespread, some large, some simple eg placed just inside the main doors of a major store. (This is to be be distinguished from the fact that India is a secular state so that every citizen, regardless of religion, should be able to participate in the benefits and responsibilities of a welfare state. The government by virtue of the constitution must respect the various faiths - this I am told was insisted upon the the British in granting independence. However, decisions are taken on the basis of this intent and legislation exists to outlaw religious practices which would undermine it eg untouchability, the dowry system - see Newbigin, Honest Religion for Secular Man (1966).)

[However, R E Frykenberg, in his book, Christianity in India, notes that the 'secular state' in India comes out of an almost entirely different historical context from that of the west (p 479). Its origins lie in the wisdom and statecraft essential for holding any larger political structure in India together. It is centuries old, rooted in Indian culture. The East India company then enshrined a pluralistic system of neutrality and non-interference as a means, or policy, for managing ethno-communal and religious differences. "This system, profoundly indigenous or 'nativistic', was 'secular' in a uniquely Indian sense. Secular, in this sense, did not imply any separation from religion, so much as impartial and balancing of positive support for all established forms of religion... Toleration was its watchword. Secularism in India, in short, was almost synonymous with ideological and religious pluralism."

Incidentally, prominent amongst the posters in Chennai are those for J. Jayalalithaa - Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, of the AIADMK party - who in 2002 passed a 'Prohibition of Forcible Conversion Bill'. Frykenberg observes that "[b}eyond a doubt, this ordinance made life for the non-Hindu minority communities more diffocult - creating an atmosphere in which Muslims, Christians and Dalits became increasingly uneasy and insecure. Christians in Tamil Nadu expressed their continuing resistance ib closing educational uinstitutions, if only to show how many non-Christians were dependent upon them for their continued learning. It is noteworthythat the Hindutva NDA governments had hardly fallen as a result of elections in the spring of 2004 when, in due time, this law was repealed." This last Christmas she announced funding to help Christians make pilgrimages to Jerusalem and has met with Christian leaders.]

But I see the impact of technology and western lifestyle making itself felt. Will this bring with it secularisation or will India's very different history mean a different path is charted, one which might in turn bring help to the West? Trends in the UK which are well advanced can be discerned here, for example fast food just beginning to make an impact on the pattern of a mother / wife spending 1/3 of her time in food preparation beginning with raw ingredients. How will India respond?

(Incidentally, I learn that there is greater growth in the south than in the north. The north is I think more capitalist and is perhaps suffering more or the worldwide recession. The south has more IT. To put things in some perspective though, the Indian growth rate is 6.9%.)

I note that the evangelistic emphasis is towards the villages. Palavakkam church is evidence that many are becoming Christians in more urban environments as well. I asked how people become Christians. One significant way seems to be that when in need, someone might pray to their own god(s). But if no answer is forthcoming and they know a Christian they might pray to Christ. When prayer are answered, if the gospel is then explained they become Christians. 'Soup, soap and salvation', a wonderful phrase, is also a key element of strategy. But if secularisation develops (note the 'if'), what will the impact be?

I note a spirituality which makes links between daily life and Sunday worship eg regular personal thanksgivings in services for God's goodness and valuing of prayer and Bible Reading when the pastor visits. One pastor though indicated to me that pastoral ministry is heavily dependent on the pastor ( as against, I note, evangelism.) The pastor is just that, a pastor, though there may well be a key role in eg new building developments.

But he or she is not a pastor to the community but pastor to the church community. This is very different to much of UK ministry. Is this key? (If so, it challenges much thinking in the UK). At the very least, my belief that the George Herbert pattern of ministry is redundant, burdensome and probably never existed, needs to be revisited in the light of this pattern. (For clarification, I think this is a differenta model, but there are parallels). See also the discussion here as an example of the conversation I need to enter into afresh from an evangelical perspective.

Liturgy varies widely, reflecting to some extent inherited traditions ( eg Methodist), to some extent the make-up of the congregation. Those from village backgrounds generally prefer I think the more informal, probably reflecting community styles to which they are used.

The scriptures are valued highly. When I referred to a verse in the Bible whilst preaching yesterday there was a race to find it and read it aloud for all to hear. It seemed that most people has brought a Bible with them.

As I reflect on all I am observing, I wonder though whether KEY big differences to church life in England is the sense here that Christian faith

- means turning your back on pagan gods (there is a Hindu shrine just inside a major supermarket I visited today);
- is a minority faith;
- transforms society;
- gives the Untouchables (Dalit) a new family.

There is also a greater sense of partnership between churches in mission (each church has to have some commitment to village evangelism I think) and between church and institution ( eg schools, hospitals). The latter may to some extent reflect a sense of being a minority faith.

These between them perhaps help explain the sense of dependence on God, the maturity that keeps trusting even in difficult circumstances, and the vibrancy of worship. Texts such as the Epistles of Peter come to mind, which speak of Christians as in exile. Perhaps it is the sense of this in the context of rejexting the idols of western civilisation that most needs to be rediscovered.

Below: Inside St Peter's... Note the higher proportion of women to men (generally brighter clothes). In the village last week it was roughly 50%. The congregation sat on the floor, except for a few chairs at the back.

I see in CSI a diversity of traditions held in unity. Kingsbury church, below, has an Orthodox background and is formal than St Peter's.

Some of our new friends at Palavakkam beach yesterday. The moon seems brighter than in the UK (probably due to fewer street lights).

Sabbatical - Day 21 Sunday Sermon

2012-02-06T04:35:00.001Z

Readings:
Psalm 104
Job 38
Ephesians 1:3-14
Luke 12:22-34
@ Kingsbury (Orthodox background) and St Peter's (informal, both CSI).

Theme - Creation: Sign of God's Providence

"Consider." This is what Jesus tells us to do. Look around; see the world that God has made. Learn from it.

If you look at a work of art you can often tell who made it. When I was a boy we had a lesson on a famous Dutch artist, Rembrandt. That evening, by chance, my more took me to an art gallery. As we walked in I looked across the room and said, "Look mum, a Rembrandt." I had learnt about the sort of paintings Rembrandt did and spotted the artist behind the painting.

Look around. Look, a Father's work of art! Jesus spent a great deal of time looking - Luke 12:24,27.

The Psalmist has done the same thing. He has looked at the stars (2),the seas (6ff), mountains, (8), rivers (10), birds(12), harvest (14). I could go on; indeed, I think Jesus was thinking about this psalm she he spoke.

Job also is told by God to look at the world around. I the aeroplane to India I could see dawn rising over India as we approached. It was a beautiful sight, to be in pitch black but see dawn in the distance for high up. Cp Job 38:12-15.

Look around.
What do I see?

God is creator. He is the only one who can make something out of nothing. There was nothing; he spoke, and the world came Into to being.

Look around.
What do I see?

The day I arrived I saw beautiful parakeets, parrots, in the trees, provided for.
I see green trees following the monsoon.
I see wells from which water is drawn, that the rains have filled.
I see mangos growing, getting ready for harvest.
I see tender coconuts, full of refreshing milk.

I see a God who cares for you and me, providing for all our needs.

Look around.
What do I see?

Every day the sun rises. Every day it sets. Every day gravity holds us to the ground. Year by year the monsoons come. Year by year there is summer, autumn, winter, spring.

God is faithful. God is constant.

And I think many of you know this. For I also see people who trust God in all the difficulties of life. As someone said to me this week, I have learned to be content with whatever I have.

Philippians 3:14

If God so faithfully cares for his world, will he not also care for you and me (Luke 12:27-29).
Let us trust him. One of Pastor's churches is Sadhu Sundar Singh church. The evangelist Sundar Singh went from place to place with no provisions, trusting God to provide. God only asks some to do that, but we can learn for his example of God providing. One day it was the evening when having tried to preach in a place called Kanyan all the day, only to be interrupted again and again by men who were bitterly opposed to him, he made his way out to a desert place, dropped down hungry and miserable under a tree and fell asleep. About midnight, he was awakened by a touch, and a voice told him to get up and eat. There beside him were two men holding out food to eat and water to drink. Thinking they must be villagers who had taken pity on him, he took the refreshment gratefully and when he was satisfied looked up to speak to the men – but they had disappeared.

Look around.
What do I see?

God provides this wonderful world with riches all around us every day. But some hoard it all up They make lots of money, puts it in banks, do not share it, get drunk, spend it on expensive things. They get very rich.
But one night such a person has a car crash and dies. Where is his wealth? He is a fool. He is rich on earth but is not rich in heaven. When he meets God what good will it do to say he has money in the bank.
What matters is that you have a rich relationship with God. So not envy those who have more than they need. (Cp Luke 12:20ff). We are rich as we trust Jesus and care for others.

Sadhu Sundar Singh told a story:

"A mother once hid herself in a garden amongst some densely growing shrubs, and her little son went in search of her here and there, crying as he went. Through the whole garden he went, but could not find her. A servant said to him, "Sonny, don’t cry! Look at the mangoes on this tree and all the pretty, pretty flowers in the garden. Come, I am going to get some for you." But the child cried out, "No! No! I want my mother. The food she gives me is nicer than all the mangoes, and her love is sweeter far than all these flowers, and indeed you know that all this garden is mine, for all that my mother has is mine. No! I want my mother!" When the mother, hidden in the bushes, heard this, she rushed out and, snatching her child to her breast, smothered him with kisses, and that garden became a paradise to the child. In this way My children cannot find in this great garden of a world, so full of charming and beautiful things, any true joy until they find Me. I am their Emmanuel, who is ever with them, and I make Myself known to them (John xiv.21)." (Sadhu Sundar Singh, At the Master's Feet)

Seek first God's kingdom and all he requires of you, and all the things shall be added to you as well.

May that be true. Amen.

Sugarcane growing (the sap is very plentiful and tasty, and not sirrupy) and tender coconuts. God faithfully provides.

(Photos from last Sunday)

At Kingsbury, Jayaseelan has kindly produced an order of service in English especially for Many and myself - a lovely touch with helped me follow and take part in the service.

At St Peter's I am invited to administer the wafers and hit a record for the number I distribute at a service. There is a tented area. and another overflow area outside and am told there are 500 maybe 600 present. This is not an unusual figure for church life as I discover for myself later in the day. (I had guesstimated 90 plus at Kingsbury, but this was at 7.30 am!)

After the service, time is spent briefly with the Sunday School and the Women's Fellowship, plus the Youth Group. They near after the main service. There is also a fairly large group of (I think) men who are ex-drug addicts and meet together after Sunday's worship. Then a late breakfast in church.

For lunch, a visit to the Church of Jesus Christ at Palavakkam, ECR, (South) Chennai, then on to Injambakkam for a visit to the beach around sunset and supper. A tender coconut with a straw makes a delightful drink after the journey on quite a hot day (- am told summer is coming early).

St Paul's and St Mary's Harlow made a gift around 4 years ago to the church to help towards the purchase of some new land. They wanted to express their thanks. Today they are celebrating their 12th anniversary; they have grown to 300 or so families. The new land is presently being used for outdoor celebrations and meetings such as today, and car parking. 2000 people were catered for; anyone in the community is invited to this Fellowship Meal, whatever their faith. In the evening they showed a film of the life of Jesus in the open air (it gets dark around 6.30). The land has also made a contribution to church growth through providing car parking. More have been enabled to attend. In the longer run there are plans for further church buildings development on the site.

It is lovely to see the land being put to such good use. After a wonderful welcome, a presentation of thanks was made, which I received on behalf of St Paul's and St Mary's, adding that the church would be delighted to see from the photos how the gift has helped make such a wonderful difference in God's kingdom.

Sabbatical - Day 20 Saturday

2012-02-04T13:04:00.001Z

This morning spent working on the sermon for tomorrow, Sunday.

Then, after an adventurous time trying to change travellers cheques on a Saturday, a very helpful branch of Thomas Cook just happened (!) to be near a restaurant called 'Little Italy'. It would have been a shame not to research Italian restaurants Indian style!!

Photos below are of yesterday's visit to St Thomas Mount. The statue is of Pope John Paul II who visited in the mid 80s.

The view from the top of St Thomas' Mount, over Chennai.

Then a visit to St Thomas' Basilica, and onto St Mary's Fort George, the first Anglican church East of Suez (below), built if I recall for employees of the East India Company (there were chaplains on board their ships for the sailors).

As ever, wonderful hosts in their generosity of time, both in organising and acting as guides for much of the time.

Sabbatical - Day 19 Friday

2012-02-03T05:21:00.001Z

I feel as if I am treading in the steps of Bishops. Everywhere are references to Lesslie Newbigin (especially churches dedicated by him - he is mentioned in a plaque shown on the first photo below). At the wedding was the Bishop of Tirunelvely, the position once held by Stephen Neill.

[Wikipedia: "Stephen Charles Neill (1900–1984) was a Anglican missionary, bishop, and scholar from Scotland. He was proficient in a number of languages including Greek, Latin and Tamil. He was educated and later worked in Trinity College, Cambridge. He moved to Tamil Nadu and assumed as bishop of Tirunelveli.

"He believed in unification of all churches in South India and communion beyond denominations. He wrote several books on theology and church history.

"Neill retired to Wycliffe Hall, Oxford but still regularly visited America on preaching and lecture tours. It was at this time he authored his magnum opus History of Christianity in India among many other of his works. He could achieve this task since he suffered from insomnia which kept him awake most of the night allowing him to write more."]

I also watched a video of Archbishop Rowan William's visit to Chennai in October, including his sermon at St Peter's, where I am to preach on Sunday (also at Kingsbury, see below).

Yesterday I visited St Matthias Church. Entering seemed like entering an English church moved to Chennai; the memorials spoke of great missionaries of the past including one who came to India when young and died aged 83 in the early 19th cenury, having completed 60 years. The present building was completed in 1826 but a previous building links us to French friars. The plaque on the floor near the entrance speaks of SPCK, a vital part of early missionary work here (see the photograph below).

We also visited two of Jeyaseelan's Pastorate churches - Kingsbury Memorial Church (Vysarpadi, Chennai), of Orthodox tradition (I hadn't realised that Orthodox churches had become part of CSI)...

The baptistry, for adult baptisms. There is a font inside for babies etc.

And St John's, which Jeyaseelan's described as more of a chapel...

Interesting conversation about touching. Prayers of blessing are valued ie making the sign of a cross on someone's forehead with a prayer of blessing.

Touching is important:
- as valuing an Untouchable as a brother or sister in Christ
- as overcoming the colonial supremacy of a white person, who would not touch someone.

On occasion, white people are touched simply out of curiosity. Basically, leaving aside those at the YWCA, I am not seeing any other white people. This reflects the fact that we are not visiting the normal tourist spots.

I will read the Gospel's references to the touching of Christ in a new light.

I enquired if progress is being made in overcoming the caste system. At a surface level, yes, I was told, but underneath no. It is engrained. A pastor tells me it is worse than apartheid, The government and the church (and no doubt others) take a stand, but in practice, I am told, people live by it. He says it makes no difference if a person has made a success of life, is wealthy, or is well-educated. I am though aware that this is only one person's view of how things are.

Lunch was at the home of one of the wonderful people we are getting to know, together with their wider family.

A shack we went past in the car in one of the slum areas... All I meet seem outwardly content but I am told that people worry - about food, clothes.

Sabbatical Day 18 - Thursday

2012-02-02T05:24:00.001Z

Some thoughts and reflections on ministry.

In the rural areas, society I presume is fairly stable and almost of not totally self-sufficient. I would guess that the role of ministry is one of evangelism and teaching in the basics of the faith, not least living a Christian moral life. The work of the catechist would seem very appropriate, with sacramental ministry being offered around once a month. In UK history I sense sometime of the early Methodist ministry.

In the towns and cities life is much more complex, and in this respect more akin to what we experience in Europe. There moral issues are more complex, the moral pressures to do wrong all the greater as people are cut off from roots and family.

Perhaps I see together two patterns of lifestyle and hence ministry needs that in the UK are separated, in broad terms, by hundreds of years.

Over 6000 baptisms in the Madras Diocese last year, and there have been increases every year for several years. Around 60 churches founded last year in the Diocese, and again there have been increases every year for several years. There is a conscious encouragement of evangelism (focused I think towards the villages), church members being encouraged to prepare the way evangelistically for the 125 paid evangelists who subsequently visit.

Yesterday we shared in the joy of a wonderful wedding. At the church, the style of service and church - I think this link shows it - was not unlike that you might expect for a large wedding in the UK, with necessary adaptations eg the blessing of the tali (by all the pastors present) not the rings, electric fans and church windows that open. Though in Tamil I was able to follow the flow of the service (in effect, a wedding liturgy followed by Evening Prayer).

Afterwards we went to the reception. This is where everything changed. There were I am told 10,000 guests. We have nothing like it in the UK. I understand this was a large wedding. More normal ones have 1-2000. The photos do not show the full extent of the gathering but hopefully give a flavour. (The two photos of hall areas are NOT different views of the same area, though the man serving is in the eating area shown in the photo above.) There were three eating areas not shown, including a large buffet area.)

Apparently Christian wedding receptions are large scale, an opportunity for the church to gather to celebrate. Many churches we represented, the family being well-known. Hindu weddings are more family affairs I gather, sounding more like UK size (- this ties in with my experience of attending a Hindu wedding in the UK many years ago.)

Sabbatical Day 17 - Wednesday

2012-02-01T05:19:00.001Z

I have been invited to preach at two of he churches of Jeyaseelan's Pastorate this coming Sunday. The readings are:
Psalm 104
Job 38
Ephesians 1:3-14
Luke 12:22-34
Theme - Creation: Sign of God's Providence.

From conversation, I understand that ecology is an issue. Temperatures are rising in the summer; Superstars advertise eg Coca Cola which becomes popular to the detriment of locally produced fruit juice; you have to pay for pure drinking water whereas God gives it freely.

Christians are encouraged to get involved in politics and this has been happening. We met yesterday a Christian politician.

With reference to the Luke reading, people worry about what they will eat and wear. The majority of the congregations (around 500 in each case I gather) come from the slum areas.

On a visit to the slum area yesterday I was introduced to some of the Christians. Theirs is a lively faith. I'm told that there used to be many murders and much crime but this has changed since people have become Christians. I understand around 75% are now Christians. This speaks for itself. As well as at the Pastorate churches they worship at the many churches in the slums area, which I think are Pentecostal.

The homes in the slums area vary. Some are shacks around the size of a garage. Built on land belonging eg to the railway there is no security.

Other homes are more substantial, children going to College. I'm told that the (a?) definition of a slum is the overcrowding. Certainly this was true of the more substantial home. We kept being introduced to more and more people who lived under one roof.

Building going on at two of the churches: Sadhu Sundur Sing (named after the Indian evangelist of early in the last century) and St Peter's (new building, new Parsonage respectively).

In the gospel passage Jesus will have been speaking to people whose lifestyle and security were perhaps not a million miles removed from that of those we visited yesterday. It will be a challenge to speak to so many with real cause to worry, though outwardly all are well-dressed and have a real sense of dignity.

Interesting to speak on Job so soon after seeing The Tree of Life (see Day 11)

Great to have the Ephesians passage, which I have been dwelling in.

And Psalm 104 is a favourite, as the basis of the great hymn: Praise my soul the King of heaven. I have a sense God is preparing me for Sunday,

Prayers valued.

A view of the slum area. These are more substantial homes..

I didn't take any photographs in the more deprived areas for fear of prying. I did note in one area water down the middle of the street which from the smell probably included sewage. Other homes are little more than flimsy shacks.

Plans for later today: a trip to the shops and a wedding.

Sabbatical Day 16 - Tuesday

2012-01-31T16:23:00.001Z

Monday was mainly a rest day, but late afternoon there was a shopping trip, traveling for the first time by auto.

I am seeing the great work of the church in education and health especially, running many many schools and hospitals. Soup, Soap and Salvation ministry continues today.

On Sunday late afternoon, there was a visit to The Foster Memorial Hostel, a hostel or around 72 children in especial need eg orphans. The 5 staff provide daily assembles, oversee education at local schools and colleges, provide accommodation etc.

Here first hand, we see the impact of a gospel that has transformed a society and which is valued for this. In the west we have forgotten the impact of the gospel and give the credit to technology and science, forgetting that these arose from the impact of the gospel.

The assemblies at the hostel follow the lectionaries for the Diocese. Everyone follows it. The Bishop had spoken when we met of the need for strong leadership in India, a nation that is easily fragmented. This is perhaps an example.

Today I visited the CSI "Puthuir" Special School & Vocational Centre for Mentally Handicapped Children (designed for those between 2 and 18), a school for those with mental challenge. Puthuir means 'New Life').

After conversation with the Correspondent and Headmaster, I saw some of their exercise class and was treated to some dance. They sang a couple of Christian choruses with actions and I led in 'Jesus' love is very wonderful', with the actions. I found they knew it when they told me to jump at the relevant action!

After lunch I visited the children in their class rooms.

I note the strong lead by the Bishop in chairing committees and making appointments. And generally administration is pretty key. I note the importance of knowing where to go to raise funds etc. In the school , some comes from overseas charity, pupils can be 'sponsored', and there is funding from CSI. Donations by individual churches is important and generally there are close links between the arms of ministry and individual churches. Achieving anything needs lots of networking.

In conversation I hear about the Bible Women, encouraged by the Bishop' wife. They go door to door in evangelism amongst non-Christians, t god effect I understand.

The Board shows something of the structure:

There is much to learn from. I have visited a rural village church where most if not everyone probably has a self-sufficient lifestyle (rice grown locally, the chicken was killed especially for our lunch, etc.). In contrast we are staying in Chennai with the hustle and bustle of a modern city.

We are seeing the church being salt and light, not least as it gives hope to those outside the caste system. In Europe, society has forgotten what the gospel has done for society. Here it is recent history and continues to be a powerful force.

Everyday we are reminded of the great legacy left by the missionaries of the 19th and 20th centuries. We are reminded of their sacrifices and hear of the sacrifice that becoming a Christian can mean today (e.g.being cut off from family, finding it hard to get work).

God is at work in his world

A neighbour, the Indian Palm Squirrel. Note the stripes.

Sabbatical Day 15 - Thanksgiving for Sunday (yesterday)

2012-01-30T15:30:00.001Z

Thank you for the Indian church; thank you Lord for the Christians we met yesterday, in the nearby State of Andhra Pradesh

The wonderful welcome...

Their exuberance in faith, including through the dance after the service.

The roughly 100 who gathered for worship (women and younger children on one side, men and some at least of the older boys, on the other, reflecting the general practice in all aspects of life. Roughly 50% of the village are Christian. There seemed to be roughly the same number as men as of women. Presumably whole families attend.

The liveliness, the vibrancy, of their singing (cities have Hymns, and villages tend to have Lyrics (songs)).

(From what had been described I had expected something like Morning Prayer. In fact, it was lively singing for around half an hour, then the scriptures were read (one in Telagu, one in Tamil, one in English), and then I spoke, with translation, for just over 30 minutes.) We concluded with prayers including, I think (!) the Lord's Prayer.

Their evangelism. The Diocese pay around 120 evangelists who spend their time with non-Christians. The two we met yesterday visit the Hindus of the village and those of surrounding villages.

Their ministry and the dedication of the ministers. Jayaseleen ministers in 4 churches. Previously he had oversight of 42 village churches. A minister seeks to ensure each church has communion once a month (weekdays of Sunday not possible). Catechists take services other weeks. They have a key and vital unpaid ministry. Their role sounds not unlike that of Readers.

Praise God for the missionaries who established this church in the 19th century (the baptistery was made from the 'altar' in the original church) and all who minister.

Their devotion to the scriptures (I note that there is only one obvious commentary. Books are very expensive, around £50 as far as I can tell. Why are they so much; can we not provide cheaper in these days of Amazon etc?)

The desire for prayer...
(for some, hospital is too expensive)

For their hospitality

The service of God's people by their elders

Their sacrifices of service. We had a "conventional" offering but earlier there had been one of rice (shown), grown locally.

For the contentedness of their lifestyle. Most work in the fields. There is chicken for lunch. I presume it had been killed especially.

Pick Your Own 'tender coconuts' Indian style. The milk from each filled a glass.

I base my talk around Psalm 110:1, seeking to keep concepts very straightforward. The other passages set have complexities like baptism and sacrifice and I am unsure what I will be heard to say if I stray into complex territory. As a structure I adopt the different levels of the caste system. I take a bit of a risk, speaking of Christ who allowed people to touch him (most are of the Untouchable caste) and who makes the first last and the last first.

[Wikipedia: The Indian caste system is a system of social stratification and social restriction in India in which communities are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups called Jātis.

The Jātis were hypothetically and formally grouped by the Brahminical texts under the four well known categories (the varnas): viz Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (kings, warriors, law enforcers, administrators), Vaishyas (agriculturists, cattle-herders and traders), and Shudras (menials, Artisans, labourers, craftsmen, service providers). Certain people like the chandalas (who dealt with disposal of the dead) were excluded altogether and treated as untouchables. Although identified with Hinduism, in the past (1883 year data) the caste-like systems were also observed among followers of other religions in the Indian subcontinent, including some groups of Muslims and Christians, most likely due to common cultural elements.

In 2001, the proportion of Dalit population was 16.2 percent of India's total population. The Dalit population of India is officially recognized and protected by Indian government as Scheduled Castes. The term Dalit includes all historically discriminated lowest castes of India such as Shudras and Untouchables.]

I speak of Christ who is more bigger, wiser, etc than anyone, supreme over all, yet who shows to us a new greatness, the greatness that is greatest of all and that conquers even death: that of servanthood, and the final greatness, that of being last of all in this word, for Christ makes the last first.

Ramila was an excellent translator. Plus I thought I'd better prove I did something!...

I make reference to heroes, drawing on what I have learnt of the Ramayana.

Wikipedia: "The Ramayana... is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon (smṛti), considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata. It depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters like the ideal father, ideal servant, the ideal brother, the ideal wife and the ideal king.

"The name Ramayana is a tatpurusha compound of Rāma and ayana ("going, advancing"), translating to "Rama's Journey". The Ramayana consists of 24,000 verses in seven books (kāṇḍas) and 500 cantos (sargas), and tells the story of Rama (an avatar of the Hindu preserver-God Vishnu), whose wife Sita is abducted by the demon king of Lanka, Ravana. Thematically, the Ramayana explores human values and the concept of dharma.

"Verses in the Ramayana are written in a 32-syllable meter called anustubh. The Ramayana was an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry and Indian life and culture. Like the Mahābhārata, the Ramayana is not just a story: it presents the teachings of ancient Hindu sages(Vedas) in narrative allegory, interspersing philosophical and devotional elements. The characters Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata, Hanuman and Ravana are all fundamental to the cultural consciousness of India and Nepal."

The Tamil version is known as the Ramavatharam. Wikipedia again:

"Ramavatharam is different from the Sanksrit original in many aspects - both in spiritual concepts and in the specifics of the story line. This historic work is considered by Tamil scholars as well as the general public as one of the greatest literary works in Tamil literature...
The epic is quite well known, both in the Tamil literary world and in the Hindu spiritual world, for the colorfulness of its poetry and for its religious value."

Incidentally, the Indian Superstars of the day are also well know. One of the dances after the service is based on I guess a video.

Lord Jesus, help me to learn. There is much to reflect on, not least that the pattern of ministry (ie not having sacramental leadership in each congregation is) not one that commends itself to me for the English church. Yet here I see it working effectively and missionally.

And may I remember to pray for them, as they asked, and as I agreed.

Amen

On a lighter note, enjoying seeing Indian Palm Squirrels.

Ian Black: Pigeons and Turtledoves, Bishops and Benefits

2012-01-30T07:25:00.000Z

In the debate on poverty, thank you to Ian for this:

Ian Black: Pigeons and Turtledoves, Bishops and Benefits: Poverty has been in the news this week, not least because on Monday our bishop introduced an amendment in the House of Lords t...

Sabbatical Day 14

2012-01-29T17:35:00.001Z

Some images from Saturday. Comments refer to the photo(s) beneath.

St George's Cathedral, Chennai, where the memorials are a history of Christian mission in India since around 1850.

It is said here that the missionaries brought soup, soap and salvation.
Soup - food to live on
Cleanliness
Salvation.

That combination is very much echoed by the church's involvement in schooling and hospitals.

The gospel is explained to a Brahmin (one from the highest caste)

Memorial to Lesslie Newbigin

Below: Saris are offered to Mary at this shrine in thanksgiving for prayers answered (near Velankanni church). The statue of Mary is dressed in a sari in thanksgiving. Other offerings can also be made eg a small 'lock' is attached to the metal surround as a prayer for a house - these can be seen in the photo below. I am told that this is not very different from a nearby Hindu Temple.

Mary takes centre stage, while images of Christ seem to be less than central. It is said Mary appeared to fishermen out at sea. The shrine was built in response.

There is need for the gospel to relate to culture and I guess that this is what is being sought. Making use of the sacramental is helpful for prayer, eg if at Good Friday we write down prayers and place them on a cross. However, we always need to make clear in our use of the sacramental that our prayer depends on God's grace and is not dependent on our sacrifice. The context of Hinduism and the centrality of Mary (Hinduism has a focus on the worship pf mother gods, I think) makes me think that this is indigenisation gone too far. But I know I have much to learn.

Scenes leading to the seashore and of the fisherman and beach. This area was affected by the Tsunami and homes lost. There is much poverty though those with more money pay for better education for their children. But they do not seek themselves to leave the area.

Back home afterwards for supper and to finish off preparing for the sermon on Sunday.

Sabbatical Day 13

2012-01-28T04:38:00.001Z

Yesterday Friday I met the Bishop of Madras, The Rt Revd Dr Devasahayam Vedanayagam, bringing greetings from the Diocese. Bishop Stephen has written a dedication in two of his books for . A shawl of greeting was placed around my shoulders. I mention that I have met Bishop Lesslie Newbiggin. He tells me that Bishop Lesslie had encouraged his own vocation to Christian ministry, and present me with a biography of Lesslie Newbigin written by a CSI pastor.

The church of South India, Wikipedia tells me, "runs 2000 schools, 130 colleges and 104 hospitals in South India. In the 1960s the church became conscious of its social responsibility and started organising rural development projects. There are 50 such projects all over India, 50 training centres for young people and 500 residential hostels for a total of 35,000 children. the CSI south kerala diocise also runs a medical college at karakonam, Trivandrum."

"The School for Small Farmers is a specific agency catering to the needs of the farming communities in their Dalit and Adivasi congregations."

"The Church of South India was inaugurated at St. George’s Cathedral Chennai in 1947
The CSI was inaugurated on 27 September 1947 at St. George’s Cathedral Chennai, only a month after India achieved its independence from the United Kingdom. It was formed from the union of the South India United Church (itself a union of churches from the Congregational, Presbyterian and Reformed traditions) and the southern provinces of the Anglican Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon and the Methodist Church of South India. In the 1990s, a small number of Baptist and Pentecostal churches also joined the union."

Encyclopedia of Christianity Online:
"Protestant missionary work (Mission) early demanded close cooperation among Indian churches. Many national Christians felt that the multiplicity of denominations tended to be a hindrance to the evangelization of Indians and worked for union in their country. This trend became stronger in 1905 with the formation of the National Missionary Society.
"The first step to negotiations for union came in 1919 at a conference for pastors in Tranquebar, when 26 pastors of the South India Church and 7 Anglican representatives affirmed their readiness for union. On the basis of a manifesto drawn up there, the Anglicans and the SIUC began negotiations. The manifesto took as its basis the four points of the Lambeth Quadrilateral, which listed the elements to be honored in any reunion plans: (1) Holy Scripture, (2) the Apostles’ and Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creeds, (3) the sacraments of baptism and Eucharist, and (4) the historic episcopate, adjusted to local situations. Five years later the Methodists joined the negotiations. Agreement about the bishop’s office and the status of nonepiscopally ordained ministers (Offices, Ecclesiastical) was reached in 1929. The bishops would conduct new ordinations, but ministers already in office would be recognized without further laying on of hands. In 1941 the mother churches agreed to the draft of a constitution. On September 27, 1947, the new church began life at a solemn service in St. George’s Cathedral, Madras."
"...The organization of the CSI includes pastorates (comprising one or more congregations) and dioceses (with more than one pastorate). In 1994 there were 21 dioceses and 9,000 congregations. To understand the CSI as a model of union, it is important to grasp that there are church councils and diocesan councils made up of both clergy and laity. The church thus combines various structural elements. Representatives from all the dioceses form the synod, the supreme ruling body. The diocesan council in each diocese has representatives of all the ministers; the president of the council and the diocesan committees is the bishop. A bishop also presides over the synod, elected by the synod as moderator for a two-year term. The CSI recognizes three offices: deacon, presbyter (Pastor, Pastorate), and bishop. Women have been ordained since 1982. Only ordained ministers may administer the sacraments."
"...The organizational unity of the CSI, whose members speak different languages and belong to different social strata and castes, is seen as a symbol of the unity of all Christians. One of the challenges to the CSI is to preserve this unity in the face of the tendency to fracture, which is undeniably present. The much-debated episcopal office has served as an instrument to maintain unity, even as serious questions have arisen regarding its functions and effects.
The gospel is being preached to non-Christians, and the CSI is growing and becoming more significant. Dialogue with other religions must continue. In spite of its minority status, the CSI has made an important contribution to the solving of social problems by its broad ministry of education and development. The movement for the uplift and liberation of the Dalits (untouchables/outcastes) deserves special mention."

The unity, the Bishop confirms, is a unity of diversity. Each church maintains something of its own tradition within the greater unity.

He is to take a confirmation service and we talk in the car. I enquire how many confirmation services he attends; 3 or 4 a week. There are 6-7000 new Christians each year, mostly I think in the rural areas. Today's service is on the outskirts of Chennai. Most if Will have been baptised as children. The age for confirmation is 18 and the preparation lasts 6 months.

Recently the Bishop took the baptism of I think he said around 500 Christians. It is exciting to hear more first hand of the worldwide growth of the church.

We drive past a Hindu funeral procession. Cremations often take place on the same day as death.

At the church there is a fabulously warm welcome. Photographs with the candidates are taken before the service.

The service follows roughly the same liturgy as in England. One hymns is O Jesus I have promised. I recognise the tune of the other but can't remember the first line or words. The Bishop preaches on the prayer of Jabez, and runs through it on the way home - the service was in Tamil. He stresses how God gives us new names,new identity in Christ (referring to Jacob), and how important this is for the 'Untouchables' who make up, he informs me, around 75% of the church.

Once a person becomes a Christian they face the loss of caste, with the loss of the dignity of caste and alienation from family, and finding employment is harder. An "Untouchable" has less to lose, and they find a new dignity.

The wonderful hospitality continues as we share in a meal after the service.
Afterwards, we stop off at a wedding. Weddings quite often take place later in the day with celebrations in the evening. The happy couple:

I have been asked if I would speak at a service on Sunday. A privilege, a joy,a responsibility - and pretty scary!

"Dear Lord, please help me. I feel out of my depth. I am told there will be 100, perhaps quite a lot more, at the service. It will be in a rural community. Folk I know hardly anything about in a land and culture I barely understand. Help me to listen and by your grace cover my ignorance. Like Paul in Athens, may I find those points of contact. It will be a great joy that most will be new Christians - soundly converted and instructed I understand but young in faith: that for which we long with a deep longing in the UK. Stories I have heard of faith outside western Europe about to be experienced firsthand. The lectionary, followed throughout CSI is not the same as the UK, but the theme is a delight: the Supremacy of Christ - John 1:29-34, Rev 5:1-14, Ps110, Isaiah 41:1-4) I am unworthy; may I know your grace. Amen."

I began reading last week the Ramayan of Valmiki. Stephen Neill observed that one of the great missionaries read it early on and this was a good place to start, as this ancient poem is well known. It crosses my mind that are themes that are relevant eg to Psalm 110. This may help me find some language to use. I dig around Wikepedia and speak with the Bishop about Hinduism.

Sabbatical Day 12

2012-01-27T17:16:00.001Z

A lovely welcome at Chennai airport from Jayaseelan, his wife Ramilla (Jashua's sister) and other members of the Church of South India (CSI) that he pastors. In fact, I discover, he pastors 4 churches. Clergy stay in a given post for 5 years.

Happy hubbub from the roads (the day we arrive is Republic Day and the roads we understand are quieter). Motor bikes, cycles, autorickshaws, cars etc. compete for space on the road, weaving in and out, overtaking wherever there is a gap.

In the gardens of the YMCA a bright coloured bird flies off - the impression is as if a starling sized kingfisher. I wonder if it is from the starling family as I know the bright summer plumage of the starling betrays tropical roots. Bright green birds (if I were I England I would say parakeets, and perhaps they are) play in the trees.

On a later day I look both up online. Perhaps the former are Asian Glossy Starlings
And the latter are possibly the Rose-ringed Parakeet, though I need a closer look in both cases.

The weather is like a glorious hot summer day in England with a cool breeze. There is a test match (India v Australia) on the TV at the restaurant where we have breakfast.

A wonderful welcome - from the right:
Jerin, Jeyaseelan, Jefrin, Ramila and Martin
We talked about our itinerary for the coming days, including visiting some of the institutions run by the church; on Friday a confirmation service, with a busy day Sunday preaching at a rural church.

Sabbatical Day 11

2012-01-26T12:10:00.001Z

Heathrow airport is a meeting of the nations. Ephesians 1.10 speaks of God bringing all things together in Christ. All nations made one, a reverse of Babel. (May we have a wonderful foretaste at Praise in the Park in July coinciding with the opening weekend of the Olympics.)

Just as in Christ there are no denominations but rather rich variation, so also in Christ God makes us one people with boundless and wonderful diversity. How wonderful and glorious is our creator God. As a boy I grew up expecting everyone to be somewhat like me; but God has changed that in me and continues to change it. How blessed I am by that!

The inflight film I go for is The Tree of Life. It begins with Job 38.4,7: Where we're you when I laid the foundation of the earth...?

The way of nature and the way of grace: there are two approaches to life. We have to choose, whatever comes. But what does this mean in the loss of a child? The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. An act of nature; how does grace respond?

In the film, through a death of a son the whole world is seen in a different light, through the lens of memory and loss. What are we to you Lord in the vast universe of your creation? In the film images of deep space and the grandeur of this world, replace the poetic images in Job of creation. We are taken to volcanoes, echoing perhaps Job which speaks of God as creator of the depths of the earth.

As the film flashbacks through episodes of life bringing up family, attempts to be in control of one's own destiny through discipline and hard work are rendered useless by the vastness of God's ways (as loss of work, loss of home and loss of life intervene). 'Where we're you when I made the world?' Though we may kick against life, yet it is bigger than we are.

Yet it is a film of exuberance. Through loss, life is valued afresh, enjoyed, delighted in. What remains is wonderful, a fabulous gift from God, something to be overwhelmed by, with thankfulness.

I am being opened to the vastness of God's world, not only its diversity but it's incomprehensibility. My Sabbatical supervisor suggested I allow myself to be overwhelmed by my experiences. To be baptised by them perhaps is one way of putting it. I understand that. In visiting my mother towards the end of her life, the daily experience was of being overwhelmed, but there, day by day it seemed, I found, or better, was found by, God's grace. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

I note too a theme of this Sabbatical, the revisiting of loss (of my parents) where I know there is work to be done. In our baptism in Christ is our deliverance.

Sabbatical Day 10

2012-01-25T08:19:00.001Z

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

So Paul begins his praise of God in Ephesians as he expands minds and hearts to see the greatness of God over all things.

As I learn of faith on the other side of the world, I praise God with a renewed sense of Christ's lordship over all, and of the worldwide community of faith. One of the things that has flowed from praying using a psalm (I have found myself using Psalm 105) has been prayer for the suffering church.

John Stott spoke of his being converted to Christ and then converted to the church i.e. discovering the importance of the church. May I be converted to the worldwide church.

Sabbatical Day 9

2012-01-24T13:40:00.001Z

Thinking about my next photographic project. The one that appeals, of the options in the course I am following, is People and Storytelling. The images must convey the subject's personality, and have a narrative or story embodied in the image which add to our understanding. I will make this my working project and see how I get on.

I am increasingly aware of the importance of story in preaching the gospel. My recent thinking was sparked of by the Study Day on preaching last year (featured in a previous blog here) at the Cathedral at which Bishop Stephen spoke. Since then I have begun to be newly inspired by the parables. It has long intrigued me that so much preaching is very different to the way Jesus taught. All sorts of good reasons can be given, but I wonder...

Sabbatical Day 8

2012-01-23T19:05:00.001Z

Today I completed reading Stephen Neill's A History of Christianity in India. And what a rich history it is. A story of the meeting of empires, beliefs, faiths and much besides, and a history so closely connected to British history in recent years.

I do not yet have much insight into why Indian faith is so vibrant. But I am wondering whether it is to do with the fact that for those in India there is no distinction between public and private faith. This is I suspect true for Hinduism and Islam as well as for Christians.

A misreading, I suspect, of European history has led to the distinction being made in the West. Thus there are for example 'faith guests' on the radio, as if faith is something you can get out of the cupboard as and when you wish, but forget the rest of the time.

But Indian history is different. Maybe Indian history and faith will help me revisit how Christian faith should engage with all of life.

I am also becoming aware of the robustness and grandure of Christian faith as it engages with other faiths. I am not sure how aware we are of this in the UK as we teach and preach. But this is not so on the world and historical stages. So often our English God seems rather 'tame' (cp Narnia) in comparison.

But I am all too aware that I still see things as in a mist. I may end up having to change my mind completely.

It is though a starting point. My Sabbatical journey has begun.

The photo is of a Misty Morn near Butterley Station, Derbyshire, taken around September 2010. I was at Swanwick for a conference and got up at the crack of dawn to take some photos at and around the station.

Sabbatical Day 7

2012-01-22T22:18:00.001Z

More devotionally than most of my reading this week, I have been reading Finding the Groove - Robert Gelinas. He explores a 'jazz theology' of Christian faith. Noting that Jesus responds individually in his encounters in the gospels, he explores how we too might 'improvise', to use a jazz term.

Three quotes:

'What words do you use to describe God? Surprisingly, one of the first things that God reveals about himself rarely makes our top five: God is creative - the most creative being in the universe!'

'[W]e can use tension to lead us to places with God we never would have gone if all the tensions of our faith were to be resolved.'

'The apostle Paul describes God's creative process this way: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared for us to do." Workmanship is the Greek word poiema. This is where we get our English word poem. What an amazing thought to think of oneslef as a poem of God. How humbling to imagine God sitting down with paper and pencil and laboring over each verse of our lives. To the Greeks the word poieme carried with it the connotation of "fabric" or "material." This works well with the next phrase - "created in Christ Jesus." It is as if Jesus was the workshop in which God fabricated us into being."

One chapter draws in John Coltrane, whose music I have never understood. However, Gelinas' route into 'Love Supreme' has opened a door for me into his jazz which I expect to explore further.

Talking of being creative, I took this photograph of Rutland Water in 2007, but hadn't been sure how to 'develop' the rather more bland image so that it properly represented what we saw on a journey back from Loughborough. This captures something of the beautiful scene that spread before our eyes: a masterpiece by He who is Love Supreme.

Sabbatical Day 6

2012-01-21T22:34:00.001Z

I have up till now largely regarded the social reforms of the 19th century in India (eg the abolition of sati) an aspect of Empire rule and as such commendable but not perhaps something to trumpet too loudly.

What I am now realising through Stephen Neill's history, is just how much of it was driven by Christian conviction and faith. In ruling, toleration of different faiths, but in those matters which inform conscience and drive bottom line issues of right and wrong, Christian faith had a very large influence.

However, the modern missionary movement in India was closely related to British rule, in the form of the East India Company. It is interesting that the developing Protestant church does not seem to have suffered from this association in the early part of the nineteenth century at least. Was the sense of Christian faith being indigenous (the Thomas Church) a factor in this?

The meeting of faiths is of especial interest, with it's parallels to the UK today.

In my reading today, good to come across some old acquaintances, friends almost as I explore new things: Charles Simeon of Cambridge, in one sense almost a founding father of Anglican evangelicalism whose sermons I studied at theological College, and Henry Martyn, the Bible translator of the early 19th century, a friend of Simeon.

Interlocking branches, a bit like this tree:

Sabbatical Day 5

2012-01-20T20:52:00.001Z

Another attempt at my macro shot:

My macro photo project is something to do with bereavement, valuing all that I received from my father. The background text is might suggest he was an airman, which he wasn't. The letter I used probably went to all the armed forces. My father was in the Artillery.
Earlier in the week I went to see the Iron Lady. Much has been written but I've not noticed anyone say that the film is basically about bereavement and coming to terms with loss. Taken from that angle it is a very warm tribute to Margaret Thatcher. Whether it should have been made at this point remains a separate issue, but I think it is a tribute to her as being a genuine Iron Lady in bereavement as well as at the height of her powers.
By this I don't mean a stoical ignoring of loss but of a genuine coming to terms, after a fight, with loss. Perhaps this is being held in tension with previous political battles of will. This is a different kind of iron, one which echoes Paul speaking of strength being made perfect in weakness.
How true to reality the film is in this respect I have no idea, but the intent is I think warm-hearted.

Sabbatical Day 4

2012-01-19T16:24:00.001Z

I am grateful to Philip Ritchie for this prayer:

May you enter trustingly into this sabbath space
May you enter quietly into this sabbath space
May you enter joyfully into this sabbath play
Let your body unfold in this sabbath
Let your mind unwind in this sabbath
Let your spirit expand into this sabbath
May it reveal its secrets to you gently
May it embody its truth in you authentically
May it release new life in you abundantly
So go with gladness into this sabbath
Go with gratitude into this sabbath
And may the God who rests on the sabbath
look at his labours in you
and proclaim, 'It is very good.'

(Nicola Slee in R. Burgess, A Book of Blessings, Wild Goose Publications, 2001)

It is good to be reminded that this is a 'sabbath', full of all the theological richness of that word. I can be looking back at all I have become and am, as God does in his creating.

There is a need to trust when entering a sabbath. It is difficult to realise afresh that all I am is because of what God has willed, even if that willing is for one of partnership in and with me. My very freedom to be and to become are gifts of God's grace.

Study reflection: I am interested to read that our contemporary issues were also at the fore in Parliamentary debates as to the place of missionaries in India under the Charter Act (of the East India Company) of 1813. Wilberforce: "Shall we now, in defence of the common principles of toleration [of Hinduism], lay the religion we profess under such a restraint in any part of our dominions?"

Today my photo project is to work on a macro study of a medal of my father. That is part of my reflecting on who I am. The below is not my final effort but Is perhaps well on the way.

Sabbatical Day 3

2012-01-18T20:35:00.001Z

Amy Carmichael is remembered in the church's calendar today. Another example of someone who's life spoke powerfully in India, Dohnavur, Tamil Nadi.

This theme I find goes back to the stories of the Apostle Thomas in India. 'Stricken at the sight of countless poor and sick people living in dire want, and outraged at the profligate opulence of the rich, Thomas felt compelled to do all in his power to alleviate their plight' (Christianity in India by R E Frykenberg, 95).

A theme I note is the engagement by Christians of varying traditions with the social needs around. This is of course very much the case in the UK, and indeed is being rediscovered in our own day. However, Christendom has meant that European Christianity has perhaps been more closely associated with the state than in India, and hence distinctive social engagement has perhaps not been such a constant theme of public faith. Maybe in certain periods it has been more associated with monastic movements than the church at large.

But I am aware this this is probably a contentious statement. This is a thought in progress!

Today's photo: nothing to do with the above but an opportunity to work today on a photo I took last year of St Mary's Little Parndon on a beautiful evening.

Sabbatical: Day Two

2012-01-17T21:15:00.001Z

Some years ago, when living in Southend, and getting involved with Hope for Southend, I was exploring ways in which Christians has sought to engage with culture. One person I was instead in was William Carey. I read, The Legacy of William Carey by Vishal and Ruth Mangalwadi. Carey was involved in social reform in India. It is interesting that Bishop Lesslie Newbigin, who has been so important in the UK in just this area of Christian life, was formed by his experiences in India.

Today I have been reading Stephen Neill's history of Christianity in India, including the coming of the Jesuits in the 16th century. In a very mixed story of 'Light and Shadows it is interesting how on the positive side, there were stories of 'acts of mercy', deeds which gave flesh to teaching, from the 'Misericordia' - a lay movement echoing that founded in Lisbon some years earlier. A Brahman, Neill relates, said that there were two causes of conversion to Christian faith: seeing works of charity, and the reading of spiritual books. (Neill, 220).

There was not an evangelistic aim and was directed to the needs of the Portuguese. Whatever may said about this limited aim, nevertheless, the compassion was noticed and had an impact, without parallel in European Asiatic colonies until modern times (Neill, 122, quoting Prof. C R Boxer).

It will be interesting to see whether it is possible to trace any link to William Carey and / or the modern Indian church. This applies both to the deeds of the Misericordia and also the Jesuit's emphasis on teaching.

Yesterday I met my supervisor for the first time. A very helpful conversation gave me one theme which might help hold all my thinking and questions together. Or to put it another way, I have a new hero to emulate in my learning: St Thomas, who came with his questions but also bowed to the revelation of Christ. As I keep bumping into the figure of Thomas in all my reading, he will be a hero I will be continually reminded of and glad to learn from.

And where do we find true knowledge? Is it in encounters with others, supremely God in Christ, or is it from the Tree of Knowledge?:

Sabbatical - Day One

2012-01-16T19:51:00.001Z

It is strange waking up today! In theory my diary is my own, though of course it is God's and who knows what he will put in it!

My first task is to set a Rule of Life for the Sabbatical, so here goes.

1. Get up normal time
2. Begin day with breakfast with Mandy and devotions in the normal way (I know how easy it is to let things slip and become soporific when the diary does not create constraints, so start each day as I mean to go on.)
3. Put something in each day to focus and energise my studies. Today I am going to see my supervisor in Southall.
4. Put something renewing and non-study in each day. I know that I could easily over-tire myself with too much reading and that is not how I learn best anyway. Today a rail journey will do wonders - that is always enjoyable! I will walk to the station and back.
5. Try to take and publish a photo each day
Don't download emails, or else I won't properly relax. I know the value of stepping back from the usual day-to-day things in order to listen to God's still small voice, that is easily drowned by busyness.
6. Set myself a study task for each day. A start: read Stephen Neill's History of Christianity in India this week (about 160 pages a day.)
7. Get to bed early so as not to put the mornings under pressure.

(Prayer is difficult. Prayer is such a corporate thing: private prayer is vital but not being at corporate prayer several days a week is going to be hard. And a diary with study as a focus is not one that inspires prayer. How the to pray?)

8. I need to draw on the prayers of others. That suggest the Psalms turned into prayer. So, in addition to a poem a day, a psalm prayed, not just read, each day. I join with God's people down the centuries, part of the great 'communion of saints'.

Liverpool Street Station - a reminder that keeping to the engineering rails can lead to a thing of beauty; not a million miles from a Rule for Life.

2012-01-14T08:05:00.001Z

A very enjoyable evening yesterday at the O2 yesterday at the FIG International Gymnastics, part of London Prepares. Rather lovely that Britain won a gold in the last event - horizontal bar: Kristian Thomas. You can just about see him below. The arena had been fairly full but quite a number left before the very end.

Celebrity Sin

2012-01-10T15:26:00.001Z

I really like celebrity chef Anthony Worrall Thompson who was arrested for shoplifting.

He doesn't need the money and can't understand his own actions. He has said he is devastated and that he needs help.

No blaming of anyone else! What a relief! The sin of Adam and Eve led to blaming others. Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent, and the serpent didn't have a leg to stand on, as the saying goes. I have long suspected some humour in the blame put on the serpent. After all, how can a snake make us do anything. It is stupid.

That of course is the point. Wrong doing is stupid. Much of the time we regret it afterwards. We don't know why we did it. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Once we realise our fault, we can either cover up and blame others, or we can stop the cycle and take the blame. This is what Anthony Worrall Thompson has done.

We may be surprised that someone like him should break the law. But it is not surprising at all. 'Sin' is stupid. And we are all weak and frail. The 11th commandment for all is 'Do not be found out'.

By now many will be regretting how they have failed to keep new year resolutions. Let's be like him, owning our failings and facing up to them.

He needs help, and so do I, and us all. This is at the heart of Christian faith. It was the Bible that began to make celebrities out of people who had failed. Think of Peter who denied Christ, or of 'doubting Thomas'. By contrast, the pagan world honoured the world of 'gods' who by and large didn't do much good to anyone, and heroes, who were the opposite of weakness. This was a world of 'celebrities'.

We can all turn to Christ, who longs and loves to give his help and forgiveness to all who acknowledge failure and ask for help. The cross on which Christ dies was a very public place. He stands alongside us in our guilt. He stands with us in our weakness, the very opposite of the pagan world.

Thank you Anthony Worrall Thompson for being a real Celebrity; someone I can celebrate.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-09T08:41:00.001Z

“Christian worship gathers the energy and focuses the motivation that transforms us from consumers who use work to get things into people who are intimate and in whom work is a way of being in creative relationship with another.” - Eugene Peterson, The Journey, commenting on Psalm 127

¹ Unless the LORD builds the house,
   those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD ^(B)watches over the city,
   the watchman stays awake in vain.
² It is in vain that you rise up early
   and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious ^(C)toil;
   for he gives to his ^(D)beloved ^(E)sleep.

³ Behold, ^(F)children are a heritage from the LORD,
   ^(G)the fruit of the womb a reward.
⁴ Like arrows in the hand of ^(H)a warrior
   are the children^[a] of one's youth.
⁵ Blessed is the man
   who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
   when he speaks with his enemies ^(I)in the gate.^[b]

ESV

Quote for the Day

2011-12-31T10:17:00.001Z

That man is perfect in faith who can come to God in the utter dearth of his feelings and his desires, without a glow or an aspiration, with the weight of low thoughts, failures, neglects, and wandering forgetfulness, and say to him, "Thou art my refuge, because thou art my home." ~George MacDonald, "The Child in the Mist," Unspoken Sermons

Photography and Prayer

2011-12-26T19:06:00.000Z

Thinking today about how photography and prayer can engage. I certainly often have the thought that photography is very close to prayer. If I am making a landscape photograph then in a sense I am not far from eg Psalm 19. I rather like this blog of Bill Walsh I came across:

9 Reasons I'm a Photographer
I'm not here thinking of using photographs as part of prayer (though that can be invaluable), but photography itself as close to prayer.
Take Psalm 8:

3 ¶ When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Making a photograph (as against taking a snap) involves considering. It involves stopping, looking, reflecting, seeing.
C.S. Lewis speaks of "the divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic reality in which we all live" (Preface to George MacDonald: An Anthology.)

Maggie Ross in The Fire of Your Life, p 16, who there seeks to widen our understanding of visions, to embrace the secular understanding of vision as well as the mystical, says:

"The mystics find the universe, seen and unseen, in hazelnuts, grains of sand, and wild flowers. Their visions communicate to us a vision, a perspective, that widens the lens of our hearts, enabling us to glimpse through their a depth of field we had not dreamed existed."

Although she does not mention photography, I can only imagine that the references here (lens, depth of field) are intentional analogies. And in fact, the photographer in photographing such and other items and events, is doing exactly the same thing.

So this takes us beyond photography as prayer to photography as vision.
Perhaps for me it can be a way of helping live out these
10 Resolutions for Mental Health

Beetbox Nativity

2011-12-24T21:18:00.001Z

He pitched his tent among us

2011-12-24T08:00:00.000Z

Willesden and Stepney: John 1:14: Christmas poem 2011 John 1:14 In the contradiction of the gods of Mammon and the lords of Misrule In the pavement legalities of occupatio...

Quote for the Day

2011-12-20T08:26:00.001Z

"Hope is a state of mind, not ofthe world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy thatthings are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that areobviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for somethingbecause it is good."
-Vaclav Havel

Between: It's time to embrace uncertainty

2011-12-17T07:58:00.000Z

A helpful and thoughtful blog by Jonathan Evens

Between: It's time to embrace uncertainty: It's time to embrace uncertainty Susanne Moore argues in today's Guardian : "The world is full of people proclaiming about stuff they don't...

Human Rights

2011-12-13T13:52:00.001Z

I found myself getting angry at the reports that's Devon Council is being taken to court for beginning its proceedings with prayers. The argument is that the human rights of those who do not believe are being abused.

To which I want to say, What about the human rights of those who do believe in God?

I am not suggesting this is a Christian or good response. But as news items do not often get me angry, I have been pondering it.

From time to time I am at a 'secular' committee where proceedings do not begin with prayer. It always seems that something important is missing, even if only the opportunity to stop and say to oneself: this is an important meeting; I must stop, focus, prepare, that I may make good decisions.

Unfortunately silence is not an option for the Devon Council. Even that is alleged to abuse human rights.

My anger? I realise how important words are to me. They create the universe we and I inhabit. By this I mean that they create a climate in our minds, individual and corporate. So, if there is not prayer, I am being required to live out a lie. This abuses me, if I may for a moment be a fool.

As a fool, I do not object to a majority decision not to have prayer. But I do object to a minority veto.

However, this leaves me wondering what my response as a Christian should be. The example of Jesus is to respond with grace, mercy and truth. How might we do this as a Christian community?

The importance of words for our health and well-being presses itself upon me. This is therefore a gift that I might offer others in a 'secular' context. (I use quotes since I don't subscribe to the sacred/secular divide but it is useful shorthand. But perhaps I need to challenge this language as well.) After all, Jesus said, You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

The lie being propagated is that to banish God-language is to somehow be more impartial, to use language that surely any reasonable person should agree on - neutral language.

At this point 'David Bentley Hart's book Atheist Delusions may be of help. At p 21 he writes: "Modernity's highest ideal -it's special understanding of personal autonomy - requires us to place our trust in an original absence underlying all reality..." "[A]ll judgment, divine no less than human, is in some sense an infringement upon our freedom."

Hence, he points out choice, not what we choose, is for us the first good (p 22). And thus we deny both a God who is beyond us and also a stable human nature which would confine our decisions within certain inescapable channels.

So what actually makes me angry is the folly of the situation. On the basis of a leap of faith, that there is no ultimate reality not even human, we are banished from using faith language. It is a poverty of thought.

But how then to speak? How do we speak to those who for the most part are blinded because of the culture around? For we can only use the words and the forms of thought that are to hand.

Perhaps a rediscovery of prayer may help. A friend and colleague is also careful to listen to what it is that others are praying about. This is a healthy corrective to most praying when we are anxious to speak, or to be silent, or to listen to God, but place less emphasis on the listening to one another.

But surely this is hinted at in John 20 (If you forgive the sins of others they are forgiven) and is implicit in Romans 8 when Paul speaks of God's Spirit praying through is. Incarnation is true in prayer as much as anywhere. God 'articulate' his purposes through us. And so it is that if two or three agree on earth it shall be done for them in heaven.

So how doe we speak of prayer in a 'secular' world. Perhaps we can speak of prayer as the ultimate listening to one another. The Christian sees this as part of the Spirit's work. But it is also true at a lesser level, when we truly hear each other. This is not merely beginning with silence; it is using that space of time to articulate what is in our hearts at a deeper level. If we are not ready for that, well, silence is a good start.

Festival of Preaching

2011-11-22T13:30:00.001Z

I attended on Saturday the Festival of Preaching at Chelmsford Cathedral, run by the College of Preachers, with Bishop Stephen as the key note speaker. What came across to me was his reality as to the hard work of preaching. But he then took us in to some very helpful insights. These are a few of his thoughts, though it is hard to get the flavour of a very inspirational address.

He quoted David Ford, 'I remember preachers, not sermons'. Sermons can carry great meaning, but the actual words fade. But we remember, say, the passion of the preacher.

How can we remain passionate in our preaching? For the best visual aid is the preacher themselves.

Are we seduced by the microphone? Probably best to assume it is not there at all. But more than that:

1. Regularly invite feedback - from someone who loves you! Have we had serious feedback since our training or curacy? 'Preacher is a gruelling business... Though it is an art it is also a craft' - Colin Morris. Look at today's Stand Up comics to learn about the craft of holding attention. The modern Stand Up comic tells stories, not jokes. Instead of a linear logical sermon, we casually stroll around it looking at it from different angles.

2. Dare to experiment with the form in preaching. Eg speak as a character in the gospel rather than about the story.

3. Rediscover and Recover confidence in the medium. Discover that preaching works. Be very clear who you are trying to please. Preaching ought from for time to time to irritate, to get under the skin. Don't be afraid to be naughty as a preacher.

4. Get yourself evangelised! Return to that first love.

Lots to do to put this into practice but I look forward to the challenge.

Between: Disabled people are being betrayed

2011-11-16T21:25:00.000Z

Between: Disabled people are being betrayed: Ekklesia has an excellent short research paper which maps out the contours of a revolution in Britain’s benefits and welfare system. Th...

Undefended Leadership

2011-11-15T13:42:00.001Z

Last night I dreamt that I was being threatened in my home on behalf of someone who wanted to live here in my place. In my dream I found myself ashamed of how all too easily I could become aggressive.

Fear quickly controls us all. Johnny Cash could sing powerfully of "The Beast in Me". We all know that beast.

Sometimes I and colleagues share about the loneliness of leadership. There are pressures that we bear alone.

Simon Walker's book, The Undefended Leader, speaks of leading out of who you are.

He contrasts the authority of the Nelson Mandela's of this world with commonplace leadership. All leadership is based on the use of power. But great leadership he suggests involves being honest about vulnerability, involves being willing to lift the veil on one's own weakness.

This is not easy. Leadership often involves not only dealing with conflict but also navigating around situations that sometimes are barely understood. In such situations it is difficult to understand one's inner psyche. Control and dominating seem to offer an easy and safe escape from chaos. The result is the creation of communities in the image of the leader. This is the temptation for those who tend to regard the world as a favourable place, which can be influenced. It is safe - on their terms. For those whoe see the world as unfavourable the temptation to define the world in their own image is much more explicit.

An alternative is to adapt to circumstances around: leadership that sees which way the wind is blowing and leads in that direction. It is difficult to influence people do you 'go with the flow'.

Both those that adapt and those that seek to shape their communities in their own image lead out of a need for approval. And for those who see the world mainly as a dangerous place, and who have little trust in themselves or others, the tendency will be towards caution and defensiveness.

What is the solution? It comes in finding a proper source of approval. Billy Graham was once asked how he felt about speaking to the Queen. He responded that it was no different to meeting anyone else, for he spoke with the King of Kings every day (my example).

How can such security be nurtured? In a discovery of who God is.

"[I]t is the compassion and unconditional generosity of God that compels him to reach out to those in need, even though they do not deserve it. This idea, of course, turns religion on its head. Religion is the social phenomenon in which human beings offer service to various divinities. According to Jesus and the writers of the New Testament, this activity of religion has nothing to do with God at all. God is not someone who is served, but someone who serves." (p118).

At p.119 he says that there is a choice to be made. "Do we choose to experience life as a possession that may be taken away from us, or as a gift generously bestowed on us?"

Quote for the Day

2011-11-08T11:25:00.000Z

"Apostolic ministry is authenticated by suffering and empowerment, not by claims of positional leadership. with its institutional levers." - Alan Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways, 159

Quote for the Day

2011-11-05T08:43:00.000Z

"Leadership in the Church has to be both missionary and pastoral. The separation of these from one another us always a distortion of churchmanship. They are one insofar as they are rooted in something still more fundamental, in discipleship, in following Jesus along the way of the cross in such a way that those whom he calls may be enabled to follow too, and that so God may be glorified in them (17:20-23)."

Lessle Newbigin, The Light Has Come - an Exposition of the Fourth Gospel, on John 21:15-19

St Paul's Cathedral - see and hear this

2011-10-20T08:43:00.000+01:00

http://postmodernbible.blogs.com/postmodernbible/2011/10/a-visit-to-st-pauls-encampment-occupylondon-occupylsx-digicreativity-gb11.html

I was really impressed by Giles Fraser of St Paul's the other evening on the news. It is bearing fruit - visit Pete Philips here for the art, and prophetic comment of the demonstrators.

The banner 'grow the real economy' is a heartening cry. Gathered around St Paul's, there is a poignancy to the protest. Eugene Peterson reminds us of the "Apocalyptic Pastor" ('The Gift') In an earlier chapter he writes of what we all as Christians believe: "... I believe that the kingdoms of this world, American and Venezuelan and Chinese, will become the kingdom of our God and Christ, and I believe this new kingdom is already among us."

The demonstrators rightly remind us of the crisis this world is in. How apt that they are camped right next to St Paul's. And thank you St Paul's.

PS For more, visit Phil Ritchie here:
Phil's Treehouse: Segment of lost gospel scroll found: ‎'On reaching Ludgate Hill, Jesus entered the precincts of St. Paul's Cathedral and began driving out those who were speaking out against th...

Thank you to Phil Ritchie for this...

2011-10-14T17:22:00.000+01:00

Click on the picture for Phil's comment

Psalm 111 verse 1

2011-10-09T08:29:00.000+01:00

Hallelujah! I give thanks to God with everything I've got—
Wherever good people gather, and in the congregation - The Message

A great verse, and a great verse for those of us preaching today.

Famine in Somalia

2011-10-02T09:41:00.000+01:00

This brings it home:

Famine in Somalia [Infographic]

Being Coached

2011-10-01T12:58:00.001+01:00

Just back from an excellent 5 days at 'Renewing Vision' conference with other clergy at Glenfall House, Cheltenham. Amongst very good input was that by Claire Pedrick of 3D Coaching. We had all completed a survey (mine just in time), not knowing what it would reveal about ourselves - always a bit of a worry!

In the event it was extraordinary how helpful the insights were. There was a 50 minute coaching session together with other input. I found myself being mirrored to myself with extraordinary accuracy after only a few minutes' conversation. But that wasn't the point of it of course. The value was that I able to seek advice on the basis of the insights revealed

3D coaching use DISC as a tool - details here:
www.3dcoaching.com
I won't try to explain though it is quite straightforward - the link should give what you need if you want to find out more.

Some years ago I discovered how important it is for me to give time for study, refection and planning during the week. I seek to give 2 sessions to this per week. It is a time of stepping back, catching vision hopefully prayerfully) and then doing diary work on the basis of this.

But I now realise how important both sides of the equation are. The 'Catching Vision' ('I' in the survey - but not the same as Myers-Briggs) side of me needs then to be able to translate that into planned action ('C'). Otherwise I simply become frustrated or overwhelmed by a sense of what needs to be done. I now understand why it is that is easy for things to hang over me. When catching vision, I need to be able to give it back to God through, in part, what I then do. I also need to be able to trust that my organisation is up to it and things do not get lost in the darkened places of my study or computer or business.

It is freeing to realise that the things that can be a burden reflect two aspects of who God has made me both struggling to be heard. I need to spend time with God on both. Rather than simply asking for God's peace (a prayer which was rarely fully answered) I now find that God has answered my prayer in a much more profound way. This will though mean me changing my pattern of life, with an understanding of what is needed.

To a significant extent I have known this all along. At one point I was told -'You know what you must do". Indeed, 'tis true. The advantage of 'time out' is that you can listen to the still small voice, and then hopefully act on it.

When I said 'yes, but', the response was - 'so you want to run on an empty tank'.

Starkly put, incredibly helpful, and proving to me how important it is that we all learn to mentor (disciple) one another. As Bill Hybels says somewhere (I think), he takes the important decisions of life within a few feet of someone else

Certainly so this week. May I know the grace of God to indeed Go in peace' and I put this into action in serving the Lord in his way, not mine.

Bishop David gave the keynote address of the Study Day at St Paul's Harlow on the value of public art.

2011-09-18T21:09:00.001+01:00

Bishop David gave the keynote address of the Study Day at St Paul's Harlow on the value of public art.
The first example of Public Art in the Bible is the bronze snake of the book of Numbers. Moses said, Look at it and live. A good inspiration for any public artist.
The bronze snake prefigured the death of Christ on the Cross.
The symbol of the Cross is probably the most used symbol around the world.
Why Public Art? Some opening suggestions as to why it is really important for all.
1 it helps provide an identity, a rallying point.
2 It raises aspiration.
3 It lifts our eyes beyond the humdrum of daily life.
In our own time there is no better example than the Angel of the North, which has raised the aspiration of the north-east.
Andrew Motion's poem 'What if?' at Sheffield station reproduced in huge writing is another example. And Banksy teaches us that there is no distinction between high and low art - just good and bad art.
Public art is especially important now. So many of our communities are dominated by multi-national global images e.g. KFC, Costas etc. Theses are overtaking our communities so that the individual identities of our communities are being crowded out.
What makes human beings distinct?
1 Hunan beings need to be inspired, a vision beyond little old me
2 The need to belong to and aspire to something different.
3 There is that in is that nerds beauty
4 We need contemplation.
The arts point to God, the essence of beauty.

Together We Stand on Commn Ground

2011-09-15T13:23:00.000+01:00

A very interesting evening yesterday thinking about the cultural context for mission. What thing are fundamental to the Christian gospel and should not be changed, and what should be adapted as part of mission? Hudson Taylor adopted Chinese dress, and there was great controversy. How do we reach across the cultural barriers in England today?

Pastor Wiseborn of the Church of Pentecost shared Revelation 7:9ff. Wiseborn shared his vision that a day is coming when we shall be a multitude of people from different nations, tongues etc, worshipping God together.

He then spoke of the Ghanaian church where his own church was authentically Ghanaian as against an imported (my word) style e.g. Anglicanism. The Church of Pentecost was founded by someone from Northern Ireland. He contextualised the gospel, as Jesus did in becoming a man. There had been great growth as a result. As major denominations had gone down a similar course more recently they too have known growth.
Hence for example we need to sing songs that have a contemporary ring. Otherwise, people will say that church is boring.

This means we all need to make sacrifices, all give up things we value. We will do this better as the black and white churches learn from one another The white church is good at bringing care, the black at speaking to the spirit. We need to have both together. We should seek to bring our strengths together, which will help us understand our cultures and reaching out.

Thus an African is from a status-related culture. Hence we need to value them by quickly giving them a role in the life of the local church.

Revd Philip Jenson (from Ridley hall Theological College, Cambridge) spoke about what he has learned through the Old Testament, his specialist field.

1. Corporate v Individual. We are a very individualistic culture. The African culture is much more corporate, as is the Old Testament.

2. Suspicion v Trust. Westerners are very suspicious of everyone and everything, because there are so many things around. Thus the English come across as cold. But any strength also has it's dangers. We need to learn that God made the world good.

3 The Psalms - these include laments and praises. We perhaps need to recover the laments since so many lives are full of hurts and guilt etc. Need both cross and Resurrection - Praise and Lament.

I then concluded by thinking about how we deicide what is essential and those things in which flexibility is needed. The Book of Acts gives us good examples. The Christians, in struggling with these things, valued:

a. The Scriptures, inspired by God. In being obedient to the scriptures we are part of the Community of Faith over time
b. The Works of God. In Acts these included e.g. the gift of the Holy Spirit to Gentiles. The work of Christ is obviously central, something which they would have taken as read
c. The Present Community of Faith, as we take counsel together, seeking prayerfully to rely upon and listen to the Holy Spirit at work in our midst.

Uncomfortable

2011-09-06T15:49:00.000+01:00

This week's lectionary readings from Micah have got me thinking about the fact that Gospel can be (nay, always is) uncomfortable. The message of judgment for Jerusalem was not welcomed. Nevertheless, the Old Testament always (I think) mingles grace with its judgment. The tree is cut down but there will be new growth from the stump (Isaiah)

This strikes me as apt for our society at the moment. And I look forward to reading David Bentley Hart’s The Atheist Delusions (see also Nick Baines' blog) as to what that might mean if his thesis is anywhere near correct.

The today I come across the words of David Bosch in the magnificent Transforming Mission, quoted in Alan Hirsch's The Forgotten Ways:

"Strictly speaking one ought to say that the Church is always in a state of crisis and that its greatest shortcoming is that it is only occasionally aware of it... Let us know that to encounter crisis is to encounter the possibility of truly being the church." This makes me look upon the idea of the Reformation Church as continually being reformed in a new, much more dynamic light.

I realised some time ago that I have lived much of my life seeking stability. If only I can understand this or that, or achieve the other, then all will be well and there shall be peace in my soul.

How tempting it is to want to preach the same message to the world, in these days of crisis.

But Micah and Bosch will not let us do either, either to the wider world or to the church - and indeed in myself. The continuing crises and struggles are part of our Cruciformity (to quote the title of an as-yet unread book.) Gospel means embracing these, wherever they may lead. Be it in church life, or personal struggles, or the way that I find myself more and more challenged to really 'see' the huge struggles of those I meet every day (echoed in newspaper headlines).

I must not flee these challenges but meet them head on. This is the calling of Christ.

Opportunity Knocks

2011-08-30T22:18:00.000+01:00

It was fascinating to hear the Bishop of London, following the riots, referring to churches as (I think I heard) 'Community Hubs'. This may be a very helpful phrase as we seek to express what 'church' is about. 'Church' has become a religious phrase, which the equivalent wasn't in the early days of the church.

'Religious' language reinforces the public / private divide, which we need to take every opportunity to overcome.

There are vast needs in the communities of which we are part. God always provides though there are deep challenges as we step out in faith to serve him. This is for example true for Foodbank in Harlow which is seeking to expand.

Foodbank and Street Pastors draw us together in Christ. 'We do together those things best done together and apart those things best done apart.' Healing on the Streets offers another opportunity. Dave Welch and Ron Kingsmill are giving a lead.

We face many challenges, but we face them together as we step forward in Christ.

Let us be in prayer for Zimbabwe

2011-08-18T08:21:00.000+01:00

This is the text of a recent Press Release the Anglican Communion Office:
Posted On : August 16, 2011 9:30 AM | Posted By : Admin ACO

ACNS: http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2011/8/16/ACNS4925

An Anglican priest in Zimbabwe and his family have been evicted from their home by priests loyal to excommunicated bishop Dr Nolbert Kunonga. Others across the diocese have also been ordered to leave.

The Revd Dzikamai Mudenda at Mabvuku, his wife and their extended family, were forced to leave St James Mabvuku in Harare in the wake of a High Court judgement that Dr Kunonga had interim custody of church properties.

Other priests living in parish rectories have received stamped copies of the High Court judgment from supporters of Dr Kunonga who, in one case, were accompanied by the police. The priests, including Friar Joshua from Bishop Gaul College, have all been told to move out.

The Rt Revd Chad Gandiya, Bishop of Harare, said yesterday that alternative accommodation has been found for Revd Mudenda and are preparing for the eviction of their other priests.

“Our parishes are busy finding alternative accommodation for them,” he said. “We don’t know who he is going to put in these houses. This is not going to be easy at all. It will disrupt their family life and ministry. I have been busy this evening getting in touch with my priests and encouraging them.”

A recent judgment in Zimbabwe’s High Court that upheld Bishop Chad appointment as Harare’s bishop also gave Dr Kunonga custodianship of all church properties—ones that actually belong to the Church of the Province of Central Africa.

“Kunonga was given custodianship of CPCA properties when he no longer a member of our church and province and he is now evicting CPCA priests and we don’t know who he is going to put in these houses. God help us.”

The Anglican Church in Zimbabwe has been under attack from the excommunicated bishop, Dr Nolbert Kunonga, since 2007. Kunonga, with the support of police and henchmen, has seized CPCA church property and used violence and to break up church services. In a recent media interview Dr Kunonga was quoted as saying he aimed to control the 3,000 Anglican churches, schools, hospitals and other properties in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and Malawi.

Question Time

2011-08-13T09:29:00.000+01:00

The Archbishop's words are well worth pondering...

Archbishop speaks in House of Lords

... not only for what he says but for the manner of his speaking.

Someone blogged elsewhere a helpful reference to David Ford's excellent book 'Christian Wisdom'. One of the things that Ford there points out is that Job's comforters represent God as being judgemental (p 103). But in fact for much of the book God is "powerfully interrogative. In the Prologue his first to statements are questions, and his whirlwind speeches are pervasively interrogative without much hint of answers or directions.. Both history and creation generate more questions than answers. But they also generate cries and despairs."

Much of Ford's book is a reflection on the cries and despairs of scripture, not least in the experience and life of Christ. In the context of Job he points out how God's response in the whirlwind to Job's desire for annihilation is to evoke and revel in the limitless possibilities of all creation (p109). This is not a cheap comfort. Ford writes: It is as if an almost unthinkable hope can only be suggested by a delicate opening up if the imagination through reworking the very images that had earlier powerfully expressed despair."

A brief summary can do nothing like justice to Ford's wonderful book; the danger is that these brief quotes will misrepresent his subtle and nuanced writing. The best think is to read it as a whole.

And I can't help but think that our Archbishop has read it and has sought to apply it's thinking in his response in the Lord's.

Tomorrow I am speaking on Matthew 15:21-28 (the Canaanite Woman's Faith). I think that at the heart here is Jesus raising a question (for the benefit of his disciples). A move is made from 'stigmatising' the woman as being an outsider to someone who is welcomed. The danger at the moment (eg BBC Question Time) is to come up with quick solutions that stigmatise and judge. This all too easily fails to listen to the cries of despair and offers easy answers.

When I have faced bereavement, 'comfort' comes as the grief does its work. I rarely find solution in intellectual answers but rather in a deep-wrought change which means that old answers and problems are seen in a new light. We too need to let grief do its work. Thank you Rowan for your lead.

Publish Post

Prayer for our Cities

2011-08-09T16:25:00.000+01:00

Evangelist Changing: A Prayer

And how to pray for our cities and towns

Prophets of Gloom

2011-08-07T09:16:00.000+01:00

The prophets of doom and gloom are those who are surprised by the repeats of history – reality intruding into the fantasy of permanence – and whose hopes are limited to the recovery of what got them into the anxiety in the first place. Security is not to be found in such fantasy, but in living now in the light of the future, having learned from and built upon the past. - Bishop Nick Baines

Tribute to John Stott

2011-07-28T09:07:00.000+01:00

Phil's Treehouse: The faithful preacher/teacher: "As a Christian teenager in the 1970s there were two writers who had a major influence on my discipleship, C S Lewis and John R W Stott. Over..."

I would add that John Stott's last book, The Radical Disciple, is a wonderful distillation of a life's ministry rooted in scriptures and the love of our Lord and his people.

Quote for the Day

2011-07-19T13:07:00.001+01:00

"We must seek, not to speak of God, but rather to be that place where God speaks."
- Peter Rollins, How (Not) to Speak of God

Prayer and the Press

2011-07-19T08:31:00.000+01:00

Around us swirl accusations and counter-accusations. Empires and governments seem unsafe. Where does power reside? Where is there safety?

True power lies with God, and the person in prayer knows more about power than anyone (albeit it a very special sort of power, true power, not usurped power.

Eugene Peterson is poignant in his book on Revelation, Reversed Thunder:

'Out of the silence, action developed: an angel came before the altar of God with a censer. He mixed the prayers of the Christians with incense (which cleansed them from impurities) and combined them with fire (God's spirit) from the altar. Then he put it all in the censer and threw it over heaven's ramparts. The censer, plummeting through the air, landed on earth. On impact there were "peals of thunder, voices, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake (Rev 8:5). The prayers, which had ascended, unremarked by the journalists of the day, returned with immmense force - in George Herbert's phrase, as "reversed thunder". Prayer reenters history with incalculable effects. Our earth is shaken daily by it.'

- Eugene Peterson, Reversed Thunder, Ch 7 (a commentary on Revelation, relating to Revelation 8:1-5. I am not quite sure if I would interpret the phrase 'reversed thunder' as he does. He seems to suggest it is the prayer returning to earth; I think George Herbert in the poem from which the phrase come - see below - has in mind that prayer is thunder rising from the earth to the heavens cp thunder which comes from 'heaven' to earth. But the introduction of the image is helpful and it is easy to adapt Peterson appropriately.)

It is worth quoting George Herbert's wonderful poem Prayer (1) which Eugene Peterson refers to in the phrase "reversed thunder":

Prayer (I)

Prayer the Church’s banquet, Angels’ age,
God’s breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth;
Engine against th’ Almighty, sinners’ tower,
Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
The six-days world-transposing in an hour,
A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear;
Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss,
Exalted Manna, gladness of the best,
Heaven in ordinary, man well dressed,
The milky way, the bird of Paradise,
Church-bells beyond the stars heard, the soul’s blood
The land of spices; something understood.

Text of Address for today's Civic Service at St Paul's

2011-07-17T16:33:00.000+01:00

There were three readings, but I spoke to Deuteronomy 6:1-9.

Building Societies often use an image of children to encourage us to start planning for the – their – future. I have one here: ‘me&my little ones’ Inside it says ‘I’d like to give them a good start in life’.

What are we going to give our children? What inheritance are we giving, for example to the choir who sang so wonderfully today? An important question for us all whether we be Chair of School Governors somewhere, as our Chair of the Council is, a teacher, a parent, as we are here as we seek to strengthen our children’s work – SPYK.

Last week I was in a school and had with me this painting, done by my daughter when she was in about Year 11. I was waiting for something when a child came up to me and said, ‘Wow, that’s wonderful’. We started talking about it. ‘I could never do anything like that’. ‘Well’ I said, ‘my daughter was around 16. You are 9. In a few years, perhaps you could’.

He got to showing me his art workbook. In it was a fabulous cartoon. ‘Did you do this?’ ‘Yes’ and he took me to show me more in his classroom. On the wall was a large cartoon. ‘That’s mine’. ‘Wow’ – and I meant it. It was like a character out of a Hannah Barbera cartoon. But with its own distinctive look and character

In my small way I was giving him an inheritance. I was setting his hopes in the future. Maybe one day he will go on to produce great art or cartoons, because I or much more likely his teachers have encouraged him.

Our words are powerful things. There was an Enid Blyton ‘Famous Five’ book on the table. ‘I’ve probably read this’ I said, ‘I know’ he said. ‘You told us in assembly so we’re reading them’. Oh dear, the educationalists won’t be pleased with me!, I thought.

Our Old Testament reading included these words:

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.^[a] ⁵ Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. – Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Some of our young children are binding the commands of God on their foreheads. Or better to say, in their foreheads, as they learn our memory verses or other parts of the Bible

Mums and dads are giving their children an inheritance. I see the value of that inheritance when I take funerals. What people have learnt in their childhood stands them in good stead in the crises of life.

When one of our daughters was on a French trip in Boulogne, she and a Hindu friend and a Jewish friend got lost. So they decided to pray and ask for help. Our daughter prayed not because we or she are especially holy. Rather, that is what you do. You ask God’s help at each moment of the day. If you are in difficulty, you pray. And after they had prayed someone said, ‘I know where we are’, and their prayer was answered.

My father passed an inheritance to me.

· Orphaned

· Brought up by Barnados

· Not allowed by his family to take up the job he wanted in the early 1930s

· D Day and Dunkerque, surviving the war

He then studied and worked hard and sacrificially, and made a home for mum and myself. He was determined that I should have the opportunities he did not have. And he succeeded, and passed onto me all that I am. I am the inheritance my father passed to me.

The biggest inheritance we give to our children is ourselves.

An ancient Jewish saying goes; "With each child, the world begins anew."

We give that new start as we provide as much as possible, like my parents did for me, a stable home where love endures over time because of the faithful constant love of mum and dad. Where both mum and dad’s love is invested in their son or daughter because she or he is their offspring. The old saying ‘Blood is thicker than water’ contains much wisdom.

I remember once for fun playing off mum and dad. I told each that the other wasn’t happy about something, and stepped back to watch what would happen. Well, it stayed at the fun level. But what their love hadn’t been secure? What if I had caused a row, what if that row had broken their marriage, what guilt would I carry now?

This of course is the Christian ideal. And the ideal for many other too, not least Judaism on a day when I will quote the Chief Rabbi. Things go wrong. We must as a society know how to welcome not judge those for whom life is less than best – every one of us here.

But we must also never forget that it is less than best – that there is an ideal for which we all strive even if none of us succeed. It is good that we do not condemn, but there is a difference between condemnation and discernment.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

I must begin to close:

It takes faith to have a child. I guess we have all known people without some sort of faith. I recall a woman I knew decades ago for whom life must have gone very wrong. ‘They shouldn’t bring children into this world. It is a wicked world’ – as she pointed out every piece of litter on the pavement.

It takes faith to have a child . It takes faith that there is a future for them in the world. To quote the chief Rabbi:

faith that we are here for a purpose, that we are part of a larger story that began long before we were born and will continue long after we are no longer here, that we have duties to the past and to the future that are not of our making… Times Online May 21 2010

Faith is not something for Sundays, or Saturdays, or any single day come to that. Faith is either to do with every day, every family, everything we do, or it is not faith.

Maybe the biggest deception has it that you can put faith in a compartment, in a box. That is your private affair. That is a matter of opinion. That we, in this context, should not bring up our children in any faith but let them decide when they are older.

An oak tree once decided to have an acorn. But the oak wasn’t convinced whether it should be an acorn or the seed for some other kind of tree. It decided to let the acorn decide for itself.

Thought for the Day - Blessing

2011-07-17T07:40:00.001+01:00

It is remarkable how easy it is to bless others, to speak good things to and about them, to call forth their beauty and truth, when you yourself are in touch with your own blessedness. The blessed one always blesses. And people want to be blessed!

Silence

2011-07-09T08:32:00.000+01:00

'The perfect never say anything of themselves.... They only say what the Spirit suffers them to say.'
- The Monk of Mount Athos, Archimandrite Sophrony (his biography of Father Silouan, quoted by Michael Ward, Planet Narnia, 250.

In occasional better moments, I seek to discern what God's Spirit is doing through the day, seeking to follow Christ's example. But often I wonder where God is at work, or whether I have lost the plot of faith. No doubt I often have, but perhaps sometimes it is because I need to trust to the silence: those moments of waiting for God's words or acts, like Jesus waited when confronted by the woman taken in adultery.

Sometimes perhaps I need simply to wait. "The meaning is in the waiting" - R S Thomas: Kneeling

I sometimes worry how this links to prayer. Despite what I write and read and find in the scriptures, I find within myself a sense that I ought to be asking, or at least, ought to be asking more. I think of verses such as Paul's 'pray all the time' (1 Thessalonians 5:17). I guess there is a balance here, but Stephen Cottrell (our Bishop) is helpful. I quote from CPAS's Church Leadership for Summer 2011: "In that slightly irritating way of hi, St Paul says 'pray all the time'... I don't think he means 'do that activity we call prayer all the time'. I think he means 'make your life a prayer' - arrive at that point where you are so inhabited by the Spirit that your life is translucent of the gospel."

In the Lord's Prayer, we pray 'Your kingdom come'. This is a request, but it is also very general. I must say, I find that God 'answers prayer' much more when somehow I am in that state of being alert, prayerful in myself, to God's kingdom coming. Especially I learnt of this when I was visiting my mother in her final illness in hospital. There would every day be some sort of 'God moment', if I may put it that way' which came out of the blue.

Jesus spoke of 'watching and praying'. This is probably very similar, if not the same. C S Lewis, in Letters to Malcolm,, Ch 14, writes: "We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito. And the incognito is not always hard to penetrate. The real labour is to remember, to attend. In fact, to come awake. Still more, to remain awake" (- emphasis his.)

Between: Big Society mapping event

2011-07-06T08:33:00.000+01:00

As churches in Harlow seek to engage with all that is happening in town, this from Jonathan Evens is helpful:

Between: Big Society mapping event: "Today I spoke on the Big Society in Redbridge from a faith perspective at the Big Society Mapping Event which I have been involved in or..."

Thought for the Day

2011-07-06T08:32:00.000+01:00

"Where, except in uncreated light, can the darkness be drowned" - C S Lewis, Letters to Malcolm, Ch 13. I visited this chapter prompted by the final pages of Michael Ward's fascinating book 'Planet Narnia'.

Images, the Digital Age and Worship

2011-07-02T08:37:00.000+01:00

I love the hymn which I came across this last week from postmodernbible blog, especially these lines:

Where we nurse a fading image

of the Kingdom drawing near,

build upon our silent longing

make your vision crystal-clear.

Let our lives and lips reveal you

in the journey we’ve begun:

so that hope, in being faithful,

loves ‘til death is overrun.

Children and Society

2011-07-02T08:35:00.000+01:00

Came across this at postmodernbible blog from the Methodist Conference:

"1 in 3 children grown up in poverty. 13.5 m people in poverty. Sign of times is that increasing. By 2015 by 15m. Inequality increasing - incomes/wealth. If rate of increase continues, 15% will be owned by top 1,000 in country = return to Victorian society. Poverty in UK means that you have 10 years less life than others. Inequality increases as you go through school What is the witness in a community where poor and rich live side by side?"

These are notes taken by the official blog reporter at the Conference so though 3rd hand are likely to be reliable. The relevant paper is here:
Poverty and Equality.
This may be interesting on the Big Society: Big Society

Children and the Kingdom

2011-06-29T16:51:00.000+01:00

Our young people and children gave us a superb weekend. On Saturday it was 'Tea at the Savoy'. Savoy style tea served in a Savoy style way. On Sunday our two groups (St Mary's and St Paul's) planned and led both services.
I'm presently thinking towards a Civic Service when the theme will be 'children'. I've been pondering Jesus' words in Matthew 18 and 19. Though most sermons focus on the qualities of children we should develop I have never been over-struck by this approach. Children aren't, for example, especially humble or simple.
What strikes me is that Jesus commends childlikeness in all that it means. Dependant, rebellious, fearful, playing, and so much more. As children we will be all of these things - 'children' of our heavenly Father, just as the disciples were.
Perhaps at the root is dependence. Children are objectively that - even if they don't realise it some (much?) of the time.
Rowan Williams writes of how we need to protect children from early adulthood. They need space where they can play at adulthood without over-much responsibility. In that way they grow into it.
So, children grow up, and we need to grow down and learn to be children again.
I'm all for getting younger!

St Paul points to the Cross

2011-06-26T08:14:00.005+01:00

St Paul points to the Cross, a photo by Martin Harris in Harlow on Flickr.

Ephesians 5

2011-06-26T08:14:00.003+01:00

Ephesians 5, a photo by Martin Harris in Harlow on Flickr.

The Good Shepherd

2011-06-26T08:14:00.001+01:00

The Good Shepherd, a photo by Martin Harris in Harlow on Flickr.

Thank you to Jonathan Evens... Between: Art as prophecy and dialogue

2011-06-21T08:26:00.000+01:00

Thank you to Jonathan for this, especially as we are meeting today to talk about art in the parish...

Between: Art as prophecy and dialogue: "I've just read an excellent post by the Indian artist and theologian Jyoti Sahi entitled 'Dialogue and the Imagination' . I heard Jyoti spe..."

Jonathan links to: JYOTI ART ASHRAM,
who there writes, "The creative work of a Faith .... is not just about incarnation, or embodiment, but is directed towards human transformation, change, and Resurrection. Faith in that sense, is the imagination; it is a way of seeing another reality, and working towards its realization."

Quote for the Day

2011-06-20T08:01:00.000+01:00

"We don't know enough about the unknown to know that it is unknowable." - G K Chesterton

"Clean the Windows"

2011-06-18T08:01:00.000+01:00

... Not a note from my To Do list, but given to the Church Council as we met for our Awayday last Saturday.

"Clean the Windows", so that others may see in to our lives and see a Community that is different, that is holy. And so that we look outwards into the wider world, and God's call.

It strikes me today how much Bishop Stephen's words in his Pentecost letter, say something very similar. "[W]e need to be a people of prayer. We need to let our relationship with God in Christ shape our lives so that the way we live day to day is distinctively Christian. This isn't easy. We live in a beguiling and seductive world. Often our lives seem indistinguishable from everyone else's. We need to let the faith we celebrate on Sunday overflow into the lives we live on Monday".

This also links into our planned focus for the Autumn on onwards, seeking to learn how to 'mentor' one another in the Christian lives. This will help us get in Good Shape. In the new year we are looking towards studying a course called "Shape'. This helps us all think about God's call to us - what Shape we should be, in all of life.

May our Lord be guiding us. This is his work; but we are worker's together with him in his kingdom.

And a Thought for the Day

"I have spent my life watching, not to see beyond the world, merely to see, great mystery, what is plainly before my eyes. I think the concept of transcendence is based on a misreading of creation. With all respect to heaven, the scene of miracle is here, among us" (quoted in More on Marilynne Robinson by Roger Kimball)

Phil's Treehouse: To make things new that never were

2011-06-12T08:27:00.000+01:00

Phil's Treehouse: To make things new that never were: "We name you wind, power, force, and then, imaginatively, ‘Third Person.’ We name you and you blow… blow hard, blow cold, blow hot, blo..."

Between: New Statesman and Big Society

2011-06-09T19:50:00.000+01:00

Between: New Statesman and Big Society: "This latest edition of the New Statesman has been guest-edited by Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams , and has managed to put the..."

Having read something of what Archbishop Rowan actually said, as against what he is said to have said, a breath of fresh air from Phil Ritchie here:
http://philipstreehouse.blogspot.com/2011/06/rowan-round-up.html

The New Statesman article majors on a very real concern for the gospel - fear. References to policies for which we didn't vote etc., and to cynicism about the Big Society are not criticisms but factual observations. He points out the lack of public debate about key issues at the last election. There is discussion as to what priorities there should be. It strikes me as a thoughtful well-timed intervention.
Eliot's The Wasteland contrasts (I think!) the fragmentary culture of his day with the prophetic questioning of the Old Testament prophets. Here we have some genuine questioning.

The Emmaus Road

2011-06-08T08:06:00.000+01:00

Have read (well, skipped!, must delve deeper) Salley Vickers', The Other Side of You, in preparation for a sermon. An interesting article by her, also relating to the Emmaus Road of Luke 24 (and Eliot's The Wasteland) here:
http://www.salleyvickers.com/pages/books/the_other_side_of_you.htm
If we take her insights to a higher key (they actually did see the Lord), what insights does this gives into this key passage in Luke?

From here:
http://www.caxtonclub.org/reading/2001/Feb2001/musings.
(by Robert Cotner) we can learn how Eliot referred in The Waste Land to Shackleton (on whom I did something of a project some years ago). I quote from the site (but the whole article is worth reading):

"The link between poetry and exploration came full circle for Shackleton in the year of his death, 1922, of a heart attack in South Georgia as he was about to begin another trip to Antarctica. T. S. Eliot, in "The Waste Land," a poem which many consider to be the hallmark poem of that era, wrote:

Who is the third who walks always beside you?
When I count, there are only you and I together
But when I look ahead up the white road
There is always another one walking beside you
Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded
I do not know whether a man or a woman
—But who is that on the other side of you?

Eliot’s footnotes attributed this passage to Shackleton’s South (1920), in which, as Eliot wrote, "at the extremity of their strength, [they] had the constant delusion that there was one more member than could actually be counted." This "Fourth Person," as it came to be called in Shackleton’s writings, was the conscious presence of another being among the three explorers as they hiked the uncharted, never-before-traveled winter mountains in gale-force winds and knee-deep snows of South Georgia, on the last leg of the journey to save their marooned colleagues. This mystical experience, Shackleton wrote, must always be a part of the "record of our journeys."
By virtue of his unstinting love of his fellow men, Shackleton repeatedly gave up his dreams and risked his life to insure their safety and well-being. As an explorer, it seems to me, we should call him intrepid; as a leader, undaunted, as a person, perhaps, St. Ernest."

Can this give us insight into the book of Hebrews as well?

Great poem

2011-06-05T08:08:00.000+01:00

Great poem by Malcolm Guite posted by Phil today:

Phil's Treehouse: Ascension: "We saw his light break through the cloud of glory Whilst we were rooted still in time and place As earth became a part of Heaven’s st..."

Rethinking Spiritual Growth

2011-06-02T08:13:00.000+01:00

Rethinking Progress

"Our hard work, therefore, means coming to a greater understanding of his work. As I mentioned a few posts ago, in his Lectures on Romans Martin Luther wrote, “To progress is always to begin again.” Real spiritual progress, in other words, requires a daily going backwards." -Tullian Tchiviidjian

Phil's Treehouse: Consider

2011-06-01T08:26:00.000+01:00

Phil's Treehouse: Consider: "I first came across this picture Consider the Lillies by Stanley Spencer when Stephen Cottrell (now Bishop of Chelmsford) led a meditatio..."

Marriage

2011-05-31T12:29:00.000+01:00

Preparing for a wedding today, have revisited Bonhoeffer's 'Wedding Sermon' of May 1943.What wonderful words from a cell.
Especially struck by: "It is not your love that sustains the marriage, but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love".

Law and Gospel

2011-05-30T18:23:00.001+01:00

I enjoyed reading Julian Baggini's "Welcome to Everytown" three years ago - a study of the typical English person by reference to the most average post-code district (part of Rotherham) where he went to live as part of his research.
In the May edition of Prospect he writes an interesting study of lying - "The Whole Truth". In passing he refers to his book "Complaint: From Minor Moans to Principled Protest", where he argues that moral ways of thinking are increasingly being replaced with legalistic ones. "We think more of our entitlements, rights and strict legal obligations and less of what is required to be a good person" (shades of Nick Hornby here, who explores what it is to be good in "How to be Good").
It looks to be interesting and I'll add it to my long list of books I'd like to read. Is there a sense in which, when religious faith takes a back seat, we need more rules and regulations to keep society in order? Certainly Christian faith speaks of the heart, the will being renewed (Romans 7 and 8 come to mind). Christian faith which does not lead to more godly living is not true faith (James). But other traditions looks in this direction as well, not least Judaism. For example, my favourite Psalm, 19, speaks of delighting in the law of God. This is a renewal of the heart, which a view of the Old Testament as legalistic (within some strands of Christian theology) does no justice to.
Tom Wright and others are helping us see the Old Testament in a new light. It would be interesting to engage Tom Wright with Julian Baggini to seek insight into where our culture is going.

There is No One but Us

2011-05-24T08:20:00.001+01:00

From HOLY THE FIRM
by Annie Dillard

“Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? There is no one but us. There is no one to send, nor a clean hand, nor a pure heart on the face of the earth, nor in the earth, but only us, a generation comforting ourselves with the notion that we have come at an awkward time, that our innocent fathers are all dead--as if innocence had ever been--and our children busy and troubled, and we ourselves unfit, not yet ready, having each of us chosen wrongly, made a false start, failed, yielded to impulse and the tangled comfort of pleasures, and grown exhausted, unable to seek the thread, weak, and involved. But there is no one but us. There never has been. There have been generations which remembered and generations which forgot; there has never been a generation of whole men and women who lived well for even one day. Yet some have imagined well, with honesty and art, the detail of such a life, and have described it with such grace, that we mistake vision for history, dream for description, and fancy that life has devolved. So. You learn this studying any history at all, especially the lives of artists and visionaries; you learn it from Emerson, who noticed that the meanness of our days is itself worth our thought; and you learn it, fitful in your pew, in church.”

Kindle

2011-05-18T13:43:00.000+01:00

I am surrounded by fire.
Kindle on the adverts. Kindle - download from Amazon. Kindle what? A fire, that is what I kindle. Seems a long way from the cheap plastic I held in my hand when I looked at a Kindle.
'Words' - words too can seem cheap and plastic. But words can and do change the world. The Middle East - driven by words, words kindling fire in hearts.
The Word became flesh, and kindles fire with us. Like on the Emmaus Road. The fire is kindled every day, but sometimes we do not recognise it. But the kingdom of God is at hand (Mark), within us (Matthew), kindled.
G-O-D-I-S-N-O-W-H-E-R-E*
The still small voice, kindled within (as well as against the prophets of Baal) - there, waiting for us to listen.
*(suggested by Peter Rollins)

Thought for the Day

2011-03-25T22:27:00.001Z

... [P]rayer is fasting. When we pray, consciously or unconsciously, we make room for Christ's indwelling and the Spirit's work. In conscious still-prayer we gently exclude every conscious preoccupation in our lives: activities, thoughts, distractions. We are saying no to ourselves in order to say yes to God, so that Mercy may indwell and change us; we are gaining control of our desires so that in the moment when God kindles us into flame we will be able to lose control, to yield entirely, and not run in terror in the opposite direction.

Thus we can say that fasting, rightly understood, is prayer, the famous 'practice of the presence of God,' or heartfulness, an opening of our hearts to the full light of God, awareness of God at every moment in our deepest being.

- Maggie Ross, The Fire of Your Life, 'February'

Growing Up - from 'The Fire of Your Life' by Maggie Ross, 133

2010-11-18T09:02:00.001Z

"Growing up is hard.
"For us late bloomers, it takes most of our twenties for grief over hubris and callowness ti burn most of the rage out of us, to make us painfully aware of how careful we must be. We go from feeling that no-one pays attention or listens to us, to realizing he tremendous, sometimes terrifying impact that our words, actions, and, yes, our prayers have on others. The beginning, gnawing knowledge of just who we are - the price of our forgiveness - ceases being a source of rebellion and becomes a welcome, burning fire, a fire that sears and purifies, and yet does not consume."

Does Religion Matter?

2010-11-06T08:24:00.001Z

"Just because true religion is the best, false religion is the worst of things... Literally everything depends upon it as far as you and your worth to God and man is concerned. To say that it does not matter is to assert that, as long as you centre your whole life round someone or something, it does not matter in the least what it is. The enthusiastic and devout miser is as good as the devoted and enthusiastic minister; the devout hunter of honours, as same as the devout healer of men. That is manifestly absurd. Religion is a dangerous thing. It is mental dynamite which can either blow you to heaven or drive you to hell." - G A Studdert Kennedy, the Word and the Work, p 46

Those those who might respond, then et's do away with all religion, I would reply - if we define religion as that which a person organises their life around, that which is at their heart, then no one can avoid being religious. It all then depends on what your religion is.

Quote of the Day

2010-11-02T11:50:00.000Z

"The Big Society needs a Big Morality to back it up."

Prayer for Today

2010-10-30T08:05:00.001+01:00

Presently preparing for sermon on John 1. This prayer from Hebridean Altars (Alistair Maclean) is relevant to verse 2 ('He was with God in the beginning')

Thou hast destined us for change, us and all things Thy hands have made. yet we fear not. Nay, rather, we are jubilant. Hast Thou not loved us before the world began? What can change bring us but some better thing?

A Prayer for the Journey of Each Day

2010-10-27T12:47:00.001+01:00

- from 'Hebridean Altars' by Alistair Maclean

Saviour and Friend,
how wonderful art Thou!
My companion upon the changeful way.
The comforter of its weariness.
My guide to the Eternal Town.
The welcome at its gate.

The Big Society

2010-10-26T08:32:00.000+01:00

... is an opportunity and also a challenge for Christians. The ideal is not far from the Christian ideal, not least in the way that it seeks to value the local. For much of recent history discussion about society has focussed on the state, family, schooling - and perhaps not much else. All though has tended to be subsumed to the state. However, the scriptures see the state as serving those local communities that God puts us in. When society has a godly focus, the state finds its proper place.

Yet we must beware as well. At a simplistic level, the Big Society could easily become a political football, seen as an excuse for 'cuts'. But there are deeper issues at work as well.

For how can there be a Big Society without a Big God. Studdert Kennedy, The Word and the Work, pp 32f is perhaps helpful, albeit that its context is a different time (published 1925 - this is evident in the writing)

"There are just two alternatives that face the world to-day, either that life or agony and death. The enormous increase in population, and the conquest of space and time by increased rapidity of communication, both of which are only rendered possible by a continual divIsion and subdivision of labour, have locked and bound us all into a material unity of universal interdependence from which we cannot escape, and which we must therefore either acknowledge and respond to in spirit or perish. Our environment constitutes a self evident moral and spiritual challenge. We must either adapt ourselves to this intensely complex and delicate network of human relationships, which our environment imposes upon us as a necessity, or face the perpetual and inevitable alternative of death, which has faced all living things ever since the world began. That is no " high falutin " extravagant theory, but the plainest and most indisputable fact in the world of to-day. lt is the Lord's doing and is marvellous in the eyes of those who see. Once more we return to the prophetic view of life, and see it all as a matter of life and death, a crisis, a great choice which we must make now or never. And this choice comes to every individual soul, and his salvation here and hereafter depends upon how he answers to the call. The fate of the world depends upon the social responsibility of the individual, and his power and willingness to bear it. It is in form and content a social responsibility, arising out of the new relationship with our fellow-men and women into which the working out of God's purpose has brought us, but it can only be borne by individuals in the last analysis. Corporate action we must take, but right corporate action cannot be taken except as individuals hear the call and answer, acting as personalities responsible to God for their actions. The question of all questions is whether the ordinary individual man can bear the enormous burden of personal responsibility which the new world imposes upon him. At present it seems impossible. The ordinary man is bewildered and perplexed, trying to shift and shirk the responsibility, and to put his trust in mass movements and organizations. Mass movement and organization we must have; those who despise and decry them are mostly people who do not want to bear the moral responsibilities which they impose upon them, but desire what they call freedom, power to express themselves, independence of this crawling crowding mass of humanity, which they gratuitously assume is inferior to themselves...

The outcry against organization and rational regulation of our corporate life is largely the refuge of moral cowards from the insistent call of God. But mass movement and organization can themselves be used as a refuge from that call, they can be used to save the individual from the painful duties of thought and righteous action, and, when they are so used, they constitute the most terrible menace to which we are exposed. When an organization or mass movement becomes an end in itself, and mere loyalty to it is regarded as the highest duty, whether it be a nation, a class, a party, or a Church the result is the moral and spiritual degradation of the individual soul. Churches, nations, classes, parties, unions of a hundred different kinds, are necessary and inevitable, it is worse than useless to object to them, but they will be good or bad, constructive or destructive, exactly in proportion as they increase or decrease the sense of personal responsibility in the hearts and minds of the individuals composing them. The fate of a complex civilization ultimately depends upon the mental and moral quality of the individuals who bear it."

History of the World

2010-10-25T15:23:00.000+01:00

I am just catching up on this series, having now mastered podcasts for the ipod. About time too. It's great being able to listen to the radio again.
The History of the World in 100 Objects has as its earliest object a 2 million year old tool: a stone chopping tool from the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania - used for carving meat of bones and reaching the marrow within. Tools like this enabled humanity to develop in thinking by providing sustenance which enabled brains to develop.
The conclusion of the programme is that we are at heart a family who have grown up 'Out of Africa', from those who developed such tools. So that which divides is nothing as compared to that which unites. We spend much time creating division, whereas in reality humanity is a family.
Then I read these words, as I prepare for a sermon on John 1:
"The ultimate nature of the world was revealed to man in Christ as being, not a battlefield, but a home, and its final law as being, not the law of the jungle, but the law of the family".
- The Word and the Work, Studdert Kennedy.

Outline of Sermon on Isaiah 7:1-14, St Mary's 24th October 2010

2010-10-24T08:37:00.000+01:00

I saw a most beautiful rainbow this week. In fact it was part of a lovely holiday when despite the dire weather forecasts for virtually everyday at one point or another we had virtually perfect October weather for virtually the whole time. The day of the rainbow was well almost a case in point. There had been as shower or two but nothing very much. By late afternoon when we saw the rainbow – a double one, and both ends we saw, where we were it was not raining at all.

A rainbow is a strange thing. There is virtually nothing there. It is just the trick of the sun coming through raindrops. Yet it grabs our attention and we say, 'wow'. I grabbed my camera and I have the shots to prove it.

It was easy to ignore it. I had pulled the car to the side of the road to get out and enjoy and to take some photos. I was congratulated by a neighbour as her came out into his back garden. But most people continued to sail past in their cars, busy with other things.

In our Old Testament reading it is something like that. The king of Judah is under attack. The great Old Testament kingdom if Israel, founded by King David, has almost reached its end. The kingdom has split in two. The north: Israel. The south: Judah (hence Judaism, Jews etc.) Now the north has turned on its smaller brother, like children do in families, and has called on some of the local bullies, nearby kings, to help.

The king of Judah is paralysed with fear. I guess most of us know what it is to taste fear at some point in our lives. Some know the fear of warfare or or family being involved in warfare. Or perhaps the fear that comes from seeing our pensions begin to disappear or our secure Council house become a little less secure. Or the desperate worry that many around us will have at the moment following the government's spending review.

Then the king of Judah was offered a rainbow. He was offered the chance to look up to the heavens as it were and remember that God was with him.

10 The Lord sent another message to Ahaz: 11 "Ask the Lord your God to give you a sign. It can be from deep in the world of the dead or from high up in heaven." 12 Ahaz answered, "I will not ask for a sign. I refuse to put the Lord to the test."

But Ahaz would have none of it. He did not trust in God. We can read between the lines from the rest of his life (read Kings and Chronicles) that he was simply dressing up his lack of faith as godliness.

When you are afraid like this there are two alternatives.

• You can try to sort it out yourself. In this case, you'll probably either panic or seize up with fear like a rabbit. That is the effect fear has on us.

• Or you can turn to God prayerfully and with his guidance and help do whatever he leads you to do.

Ahaz decided up front that he would do the first.

But God decided that he would give Ahaz a sign anyway. God is bigger than our lack of faith. He doesn't stop working just because we stop believing. However, we lose out because our hands are no longer open to receive the gift of God's help.

Isaiah 7.14 Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him 'Immanuel.'

Immanuel means: God with us.

In the crises of this recession, or whatever else you face, God is with you.

But more: you remember I said that I has stopped to enjoy the rainbow. But most didn't. God's signs to us are like that. They are easily missed. He calls out to us, but mostly quietly, gently. He is asking us, like he asked Ahab, Do you want to trust me? If you do, I am here, I am here and will give you signs of my presence with you. But if you don't want my help, you can drive past in your car and you will hardly miss me. Indeed, you won't know what you have missed as we rush about and panic.

Are you and I spending those moments stopping and watching for the signs of God's presence? That is called reading the Bible, or prayer, or waiting on God. Anyone who has sensed God speaking through a scripture or through a spiritual gift or in other ways will know what I mean.

There is great comfort in knowing that God is at work, whatever our faith. We are so often tempted to think that it all depends on us. Here is Ahaz, the king. Surely he can get it sorted. Well, no he can't. Some things are too big for even the most powerful of people.

But God delights to use the small.

In the Old Testament, of all the nations in the world he chooses to work through the small nation of Israel

When the kingdom splits, he chooses to work through the smaller southern part of Judah.

When the king refuses God's help, he chooses to work through the small church of Isaiah and the other prophets of his day.

And God goes even smaller than that, for the sign Isaiah mentions will have an even greater fulfilment. In the birth of the child at Bethlehem. Who other kings will ignore and overlook or try to kill. Do not be discouraged if you find yourself small or alone as you seek to serve God. It is often the way.

For Christ, it was the way even to the cross, where he died virtually abandoned.

But in the strange topsy turvy logic of the kingdom, the small child, born of the virgin, arose from the dead and now rules over all.

Let us be those who today, born after the fulfilment of the sign, choose not the way of Ahaz but the way of stopping and looking out for not the rainbow (though that is good too) but all the signs of God at work in the world.

A Prayer for Today

2010-10-13T08:42:00.001+01:00

(from Hebridean Altars by Alistair Maclean)

The Cross is on My Shoulder
And I am at the door;
Open then in haste to Me
And be no longer poor.
Better than the yellow gold
Are My love-gifts three,
Truth and peace and power,
Thy will's true armoury.

Unemployment in Harlow

2010-10-13T08:40:00.001+01:00

Text of letter sent to the local press;

Dear Sir

Earthquake

Two years on from the financial earthquake the aftershocks continue to hit. Here is Harlow, as elsewhere, we are bracing ourselves for the spending round cuts. The worst is expected to hit in the first few months of next year but many already reel.

In our own town, announced redundancies and redundancies are part of the landscape. The heart is being torn out of many lives and families. A young woman in London said that unemployment "feels like being dumped fifty times a day." The mountains of debt makes this recession much harder to face.

The number claiming Jobseekers Allowance in Harlow from July 2006-2010 rose as follows:

45% for those 18-24
62% for those 25-49
76% for those 50 and over

It is possible to survive an earthquake. If buildings are structurally strong they will weather the storm. How can we weather the storm? There is much we can do.

We mustn't be afraid to face the truth. It is easy to deny how serious things are. But facing the truth is the first step in finding solutions.
The voluntary sector has much to offer, but inevitable funding cuts are already undermining good work. We need to be working together, co-ordinating resources as much as possible.
Local communities can set up support groups. They can signpost to those who might be able to offer advice and help.
There needs to be close co-operation between the voluntary sector and the Council. Pooling resources, addressing the problems together, can make a huge difference.
On Shrove Tuesday next year (8^th March), the new Bishop of Chelmsford is planning a Prayer Vigil for the unemployed in Chelmsford. We are planning our own vigil in Harlow. I invite all to join us for that event.

In the meantime, I would be glad to help gather together all who might be able to help, so that we can work together to fight this evil. Please contact me on:

martin.harris@messages.co.uk.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Harris (Revd)

Chair, Heart4Harlow

'Churches Working Together for Harlow'