Monday 25 February 2013

Reflections on Sunday - and a Discovery

Three churches and three very different services yesterday. The early morning service was at Mossley Hill. A random collection of people, individually dotted around the church, but coming together at the Lord's table. Friendly conversation to follow, catching up on people's health and family news.

The main morning service was at St Barnabas, Penny Lane. We experimented a bit: a service of Holy Communion, seated in a square around a smaller table in the middle. You can do these things with a smaller congregation! There were about 40 people present, and I didn't pick up any complaints (which doesn't mean there weren't any, of course.) This idea came from our Leadership Team, as a way of expressing 'Christ in the centre' and ourselves as a community of blessing. I would say it worked in both ways. Singing was great, and the liturgical responses tremendous! It also made for a sense of greater informality when it came to preaching, and we all stood together around the square to receive communion.

Not only is there a growing sense of community at St Bs, with a readiness to accept change, but we are beginning to attract some young families. Hallelujah! So after the service, I had coffee with some of them to hear how church works for them. It was all positive, all appreciative of the hospitality of  St Bs. The main desire is for a designated creche area as there are quite a few infants; also some kind of provision (I don't say Sunday School) for 7-10s as there is a handful of these now. Both requests we should be able to meet. I am so thankful for the way this church is moving on, ever ready to consider ways in which we can be more outward looking and fulfil our sense of call to be a 'civic' or neighbourhood church. There was even a conversation afterwards about removing all the pews, but I suspect this is not our first priority right now. Tempted though.

The afternoon was spent largely preparing an address on 'the church at prayer' for the final service of the day at All Hallows. This also was in an informal setting (about 20 people, gathered in a semi circle on the dais at the front of church) for a Taize style act of worship. It was very atmospheric, very prayerful. And special thanks to Ian, our trainee Reader, who had never been to a Taize service before (never even heard of it!) but did his homework via YouTube and the internet to lead the singing. Brilliant.

Then, to finish the day, I discovered Skype. Wow! I have a former schoolfriend (I didn't say 'old', as he'll probably be reading this) who has emigrated to New Zealand. He has often encouraged me to Skype but somehow I have never got around to it. (In case you don't know, it's a kind of internet-based video telephone via computer). So last night, we finally got connected. Incredibly clear, next best thing to talking to someone in the same room. Peter (my friend) is something of a techno-whizz - always was streets ahead of me in the intelligence department! - and gave me a tour of my own computer. This is rather scary, actually: someone thousands of miles away can 'see' your computer screen and navigate you around it by remote control. You can see how vulnerable we are to hackers. Good job I can trust Peter totally. It was an exhilirating end to the day. I was ready for bed!

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Another Fallen Idol?

If you get the chance, go and watch The Misanthrope, currently at the Liverpool Playhouse till 9 March then on tour. It's Roger McGough's adaptation of Moliere's 17th century satire of French society. Very clever script and very funny. The poet Alceste hates the world in which he lives, with all its pretence and affectation, but in the end cuts a rather lonely figure as he dissociates himself from it.

I wrote last time about Lent as a time for engagement. How does one engage with a world which at times seems so far from what the Creator intended? Separation, like Alceste, is not really the answer. Christians are 'citizens of heaven' (next Sunday morning's reading from Philippians 3.20) living, as it were, in exile here on earth. Like foreign ambassadors, we extend the courtesies due to the host culture but also bring something of our own.

The current 'horse meat' scandal is revealing I think, fuelled by much media hype. Actually, there's nothing wrong with eating horses is there? - not if you're a carnivore anyway, and the meat is not contaminated in any way (yet to be proven, I think). Mind you, there's a strong argument for vegetarianism in the book of Genesis, and more of us may be turned that way after this! It's just that a) we Brits seem to have a love affair with the horse which makes the thought of eating it distasteful (though it was ok during the War I gather) and b) we have been misled by sharp practices in the food industry. I wonder whether the fuss is greater because of a rather deeper issue: we idolise food. We seem to be satiated with thoughts of food as much as we are by images of sex: most magazines have recipes in them (often with obscure and expensive ingredients), there are countless books about food, and there is endless advertising offering us more and more choices, seasonal and otherwise. Meanwhile, 1 in 8 people in the world still suffer from chronic hunger. Christian Aid (www.christianaid.org.uk) have just launched a new campaign: ENOUGH FOOD FOR EVERYONE IF, which says it all.

If our love of food is a kind of idolatry, then we will not only pay any price to get it (note the prices charged in fancy restaurants - although we prefer it cheap!) but we will also care little for those who go without. We lose our sense of perspective. Most idols are good things in themselves but have become perverted by assuming an importance greater than they are worth. And in our culture, one idol after another is falling: money (the banks), power (politicians), sex (the media - of a certain kind), celebrities (e.g. Oscar Pistorius) and even religion (the Church). Who or what can you trust?

I heard yesterday of the latest diet: the 5:2, which involves 5 days a week eating what you like and the other 2 a severe calorie restriction. Also known as the 'intermittent fasting' diet, because the 2 fast days are not to be consecutive. Although this could be a diet of ridiculous extremes - gorging one minute and almost starving the next - the more serious-minded are looking carefully at the discipline of fasting, which religious people do know a thing or two about: Muslims, Buddhists, Jews and Christians in particular. The virtue of this diet seems to be that of restoring some kind of balance to one's eating habits, if considered seriously.

Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder? The key to the balanced life is to ensure that one's centre is healthy. As Jesus said, 'if your eyes are good your whole body will be full of light' (Matthew 6.22) so be careful where you fix your sights. No idols!

Wednesday 13 February 2013

Ecclesia curvata in se

Well, that title may have got your attention! I just hope my Latin is correct. If Pope Benedict can give his resignation in Latin, perhaps a Latin response is called for? (Translation to follow).

I like to think that the Pope's resignation was a selfless act. There comes a time when a leader needs to admit that he or she is no longer up to the job and it would be in the best interests of their organization for them to move on. I hope that is what the Pope, guided by the Holy Spirit, has concluded. However, the Vatican does rather have a reputation for manipulative and shady dealings and I can't help wondering whether Benedict is simply making sure that another conservative like himself is elected - having already loaded the College of Cardinals with men after his own heart. Pity the next Pope anyway with this eminence grise in the background!

There now follows a period of intense activity behind the scenes in the Vatican, and across the Roman Catholic Church until a new Pope is elected. Because the whole process is so secretive, we have no idea what the job description is, nor the person spec, nor the priorities which the new Pope will identify. One simply hopes that the new Pope, like his predecessor but one, will have a real heart not just for the Church but for the world. It is so easy for a Church to be preoccupied with its own agenda.

Perhaps that is the sin of the Church? Luther described sin as curvatus in se - 'turned in on oneself', hence the title of this piece. Is that the Church's problem? And we in the CofE - and in the Mossley Hill Team - can hardly afford to throw stones. It is a constant dilemma, one with which I have struggled for years.

Yesterday, I was present at a 'Streetfaith' meeting: a gathering of people of faith and of none to share together concerns and action for the homeless and destitute in Liverpool. (Did you know there is a hard core of some 20 people in Liverpool at the present moment, who have no proper home?) I sit at these meetings uncomfortably, knowing how little I actually contribute. I am humbled by the work that is done by some local churches, by organizations like the Basement and the Whitechapel Centre (not faith organizations); I am indignant at the conditions in which some people find themselves either because of their own poor choices, or because of circumstances not of their own making (seriously exacerbated by Government cuts); and I feel helpless to know what to do myself. At least, I can be informed to help defend the cause of the weak and to pray, rather than join the chorus there often is about it being 'their fault'.

Today is Ash Wednesday. Lent can so easily be a time for an increase of religion, feeling better about oneself  because of whatever rigours, deprivations or disciplines one has taken on. Increasingly, I feel it is a time for engagement, for confronting the powers of negativity, hopelessness and despair both in one's own life and in the world around. Luke's account of the Temptations ends somewhat ominously: The Devil left him until an opportune time. The battle is not over. It never is - till Kingdom come.

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Rough Huhne and a Truer Beauty

The downfall of Chris Huhne fills me with sadness and indignation. It's the oldest sin in the Book: 'it wasn't me, it was her.' And to compound that 10-year old lie, he has lied ever since. A marriage destroyed, a family divided, a career lost, and a man completely dishonoured. It further brings politics and politicians into disrepute: others must have known, or at least suspected, that this man was being untruthful and yet political friends stood by him, hoping the judicial system would work in his favour. Thankfully, it didn't and he was exposed. Where is the integrity in politics?

It's easy to become cynical and to presume everyone is cast in the same mould. They are not. Coincidentally, the same news bulletin brought an item about Justin Welby's confirmation as Archbishop of Canterbury - a post he had most certainly not sought, which (among other reasons) makes him an ideal candidate!

Last week, Aung San Suu Kyi (the Burmese political leader) was 'cast away' on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. One of my favourite people on one of my favourite programmes! She was inspirational, not just because of what she has endured with such good grace but most of all because of her passion for her country and for human rights and democracy. Such is her dedication, that everything in her life - including marriage and motherhood - have been subjugated to this one cause: to see her people free. She said openly that she wanted to be President, because every political leader should want the opportunity to work out their vision in practice, so why pretend? Kirsty Young, her interviewer, was incredulous: 'the first time I've heard a politician admit this!' But if one's ambition is truly for the good of one's people, why not be ambitious? Tellingly, Aung San also said 'I did not come into politics to be popular'. There speaks the true visionary, the courageous leader whose vision is not for power and glory but something much higher and greater. Watch the film 'The Lady' for the story of her life so far.

We cannot ignore the implications of all this for ourselves, just because we are not in the public eye or assuming high office or ambitious in that sense. All of us must take responsibility for what we have been placed on this earth to do, be it high or low, and do so with the highest standards of honesty, integrity and concern for the common good.

Forgive the pun, but a famous prayer of George McLeod comes to mind:

Jesus, Master Carpenter of Nazareth, who through wood and nails won our full salvation, wield well your tools in this your workshop, that we who come to you rough hewn may here be fashioned into a truer beauty by your hand. Amen.