Quote for the Day

Anne Lamott writes in Traveling Mercies that our two best prayers are, "help me, help me, help me" and "thank you, thank you, thank you" (p. 82).
http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=7/25/2010&tab=4

Between: The Dark Knight Rises

Between: The Dark Knight Rises: Having watched The Dark Knight I commented that it was the theme of sacrifice and substitution, which runs throughout the film, that set up...

Quote for the Day

"The Spirit of Cruciformity is the Spirit of Christian community, and it is by means of cruciformity that the Spirit produces unity."
Cruciformity, by Michael J Gorman, p 61

Sabbatical - Concluding Reflections

At an informal level, I began with the inspiration of Thomas, who's true knowledge came from being overwhelmed by the knowledge of Christ.

In fact, though I 'met' Thomas on many occasions, I lost sight of him as a 'hero'. But looking back, perhaps I did indeed follow in his footsteps.

Geographically, probably yes (and I have since learnt that current debate is as to whether he went also to China); but spiritually, yes as well. For I was overwhelmed - out of my comfort zone for virtually the whole time, totally dependent on my new friends in India, whom I will never forget. India carries you along in a wave of life, and it was great to be helped on that experience by those who gave us such a welcome and embraced us. I will be forever grateful and transformed by that experience, and grateful to my supervisor for advising me to let that happen. My instinct is to head-knowledge (Thomas, and yes, I learnt much with my mind); but this was something I learnt from the heart most of all. Looking back, that remains with me. The writings of David Ford provide me a theological basis for what I have experienced. I dare to think and hope that this will be one of the lasting personal legacies, perhaps the biggest.

More formally, I began with the awareness that Indian Christians I have met in Harlow have a lively faith and are well-taught in Christian things. Their faith is generally more vibrant than that of Christians in the UK. I was asking what is distinctive about The Church of South India's liturgy, its worship and spirituality that we can learn from in Harlow.

To some extent, it is perhaps fair to say that anything Indian is likely to be more vibrant than in England. That is the nature of Indian life, which teems with energy. To explore that is outside the brief I have set myself and would probably demand a book in itself.

But within my more limited aims, what may I say?

1. Deeds and words go hand in hand in mission. Faith is to do with the whole of life. Therefore it has to be more vibrant if it is to mean anything. I hear a fresh call to whole-life vocation.

2. There is no sacred-secular divide. This is rooted in European culture. The call of the western church must be to address this.

3. A practical commitment to evangelism by the church at large, in its structures and institutions - certainly the parts of the church that I met.

4. The value of knowing the 'tradition' of the church, of sensing one's part in the stream of Christian history. This is not the same as being 'traditional' - much of the church was far from that; but there is a sense of knowing one's place in the stream of history. Much of this is virtually innate, eg the inspiration of Thomas. But it is important. I need to explore what this might mean for us in England.

In closing, thank you India. Thank you to the Church of South India. Thank you to Jayaseelan and Ramila for organising our visit, and for all your time; and thank you to all God's family in Chennai.

One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. (Psalm 145:4 KJV)

I am humbled as I think of the faith of those younger than me.

It may be someone in training in the church, or a member of our family, or someone else, but I think, you are streets ahead of where I was at your age in terms of faith and Christian maturity.

It may be someone working for a charity in Africa, or the excellence of Christian ministry to students, or someone moving to a difficult area so they can be a witness thee for Jesus. I think, 'wow'

I see too how faith is passed down the generations. Not that faith is inherited, but that the Christian upbringing provides a foundation which can be built on.

One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. (Psalm 145:4 KJV)

Pastor Bill Johnson speaks of how the faith ceiling of our own generation should be the floor of the next.

I also had one of those Wow moments when I saw one of our children's leaders waiting outside St Paul's. They were just back from SOLID, an activity day for our children. It had been a long day, they had mud up their legs, they were tired, but there was a smile on heir face!

"One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts."

Their love and faith is being passed on. Thank you for giving that time. Thank you for nurturing our young people in the faith. They will build on our faith. Well done!

Celebrating Christian Learning

At the Cathedral tonight we celebrated gifts of learning. Certificates were presented to those who have completed the Course of Christian Studies. From St Paul's and St Mary's Harlow we we celebrated with Kingsley Yeboah.
And we celebrated with those who have completed the Evangelist Course and the Pastoral Assistant Course. Bishop Stephen spoke of the importance of the ministries of evangelists, pastoral care and preachers.
Roger Matthews in his sermon spoke of how though we may finish studies but God has never finished with us!
He spoke of how a key part of 'CCS' is how we learn from one another. In Romans 12, Paul writes in the plural. What might it mean for us to be 'a living sacrifice'?
Paul puts his teaching in the context of he has said in his earlier chapters, a response to the mercies of God. In the Greek, Paul begins with the offering of ourselves (sacrifices). He then goes on to speak of our minds, so that we might respond to him and say a bigger and a bigger yes. He offers this as a circle. It is a now and forever thing. God has not finished with us yet.
God's call may come thorough someone else. There is a part for everyone to play and we need each other's support, as we each play our part. This is what a healthy church needs. We all have a vocation.
God can use 'even me'. Will we support one another together so that together we might serve our Lord more faithfully.
'You did not choose me but I chose you'. And he continues to choose. Tonight is but a beginning. Will you say, 'Here I am, send me'.
We also celebrated those who have completed the Evangelist Course and the Pastoral Assistant Course. Bishop Stephen spoke of the importance of the ministries of evangelists and pastoral care.

Deep Security - first thoughts on The Age of the Unthinkable

Yesterday, scientists gathered to hear confirmation thesis overly of the Higgs boson. A new vital an key part of 'quantum' physics is in place.

Quantum physics deals with the fact that at the very tiniest level we are surrounded by huge uncertainty. The laws of nature that hold for the everyday and indeed for the universe as a whole do not hold at the smallest level. In the everyday, this means that eg there is increasing uncertainty as to how reliable a computer might be. It is impossible to be totally sure what the tiny electrical charges that make it work will do.

And how true this is of life as a whole. 200 years ago we we beginning to think that we could control the world - scientific theories, treaties between nations, and so on - but Freud, Einstein, Global Terror, weather patterns (I could go on) show us how wrong we can be. The Titanic sums it all up.

Sometimes human pride gets the better of us. The Paris Peace Conference after the First World War was an example of politicians thinking they could solve the problems of Europe by paperwork (and it imploded into World War II.) Some fell for it thinking that Iraq would be easy to sort out, and we have discovered our error.

In The Age of the Unthinkable, by J C Ramo, the author explores what the answer might be. How can we know the 'deep security' of an immune system in life that, like that of our bodies, is flexible and powerful enough to cope with the random and uncertain risks that come our way. He suggests cubism as a image to help understand modern complexity - we need to learn to see things from every angle. He says we need to learn:

Flexibility

- you may have a dream of what you want to do, but unless you constantly refine and update it, your chances of success are limited.

Seeing

the big picture, understanding that all sorts of things are interconnected, and learning to spot the potential. "Context is everything."

Empathy

opening your mind to others, and their ideas, even those you dislike.

What is Ramo's solution? The answer he suggest is to hand power over to as many as possible, so that you get an explosion of "curiosity, innovation and effort". You spread power instead of hoarding it. He offers the example of Wikipedia: "The average time between vandalism of a Wikipedia page and its repair is now less than five minutes. The average time to fix an error in that version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica you have on your shelves is, well, never... (And even if you bought a new edition, you'd have to wait years between version.)"

I'm not sure Ramo is totally right. Just to take the example of software, it is far from obvious that open source software is better than 'commercial'. However, perhaps there is much truth here, especially as we learn to be humble in the world God has made, and as we seek to value one another as free children of God..