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CREATING COMMUNITIES OF WHOLENESS WITH CHRIST AT THE CENTRE
Blog Archives: April 2008 - March 2008 - February 2008 - January 2008 - December 2007 - November 2007 - October 2007 - September 2007 - August 2007 - July 2007 - June 2007 - May 2007 - April 2007 - March 2007 - February 2007 - January 2007 - December 2006 - November 2006 - October 2006 - September 2006
20 October: 9:45pm
South Africa have won the Rugby World Cup - as at least half of me wanted. We ask Muslims living in this country whether they support Pakistan or England in cricket and seem to take their answer's as some kind of test of whether or not they are English. Would anyone throw that accusation at me because I couldn't decide whether I wanted a South African or an English victory at rugby? In truth national identity is so complex and for so many of us, so diffuse and divided that it's very hard to give just one answer when asked where you come from, or who you support. The only real answer I can give to the 'where do you come from' question is 'here' where I am right now. Because if I don't come from here, at the moment Swindon, then I don't come from anywhere. But that doesn't stop me loving South Africa and feeling a huge identification with that amazing country.
13 October: 10:40pm
Below are the texts of my thoughts for a day from 8-12 October - for those who haven't been up at 6.45am listening to BBC Radio Swindon.
NON ELECTIONS
Monday 8th October
So we’re not going to have an election. In many ways, what of it! Except for somewhat sad political junkies like me who love the soap opera qualities of the Westminster Village and revel in Election Parties and Peter Snow’s swingometers, there doesn’t seem to be any particular desire to go to the polls. But the pundits and politicians have taken us very close to the brink before it was finally revealed yesterday that it was all off.
There are many kinds of leadership.
At one end of the scale there is the model of the Burmese Generals or any dictators, who fear those who they suppress so much that they will kill them before they even let them speak. Imprisonment, torture and murder takes over from life giving freedom; and the oppressor and the oppressed are locked behind what Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa described as ‘which white walls of fear’.
Whatever we think of our politicians [and I’m astonished at how low their stock is] we can be very grateful that they are in a different league.
Jim Wallis, author of God’s politics, speaks of a very few politicians who will do anything to retain power, a few who will do what they believe is right no matter what the consequences, and the vast majority who walk around with wet fingers in the air, wanting to do good, but waiting to see whether there is enough of a wind behind them. It is up to us to ensure that the wind blows in the right direction.
Jesus did it differently. He walked through the towns, he ate in people’s homes, he heard their concerns and he responded to them. But he also told the truth, he challenged us to change and grow, to stop doing wrong and start following him.
And he promised us abundant life, and he delivered it. However, it only works, we can only really live the abundant life of God, if we listen to Jesus just as much as he listens to us.
JUGGLING ACTS
Tuesday 9th October
I have occasionally almost envied people who get into the office at 9am, work through to 5pm and then go home again. I’ve worked in cafes and bars, shops and community centres, but the closest I’ve ever got to a 9-5 life was when I was Chaplain to the University of Newcastle. But even that job tended to overflow to evenings and weekends – and for one mad week of each year expanded to over 20 hours a day.
The very fact that I’m at work [along with everyone else in the Studio] at 6.45am and that my day won’t end until at least 10pm tonight, but will include: running, clubs for the children, cooking tea, and whole lot of work – painting a mural with children in school, meetings, visits and the rest – speaks volumes about my insane diary – hence occasionally wishing that I could work 9-5.
It’s so tempting to hide behind the cliché that, as a man, I can only do one thing at a time. Whenever that comes out Anna, my seven year old daughter responds, ‘No, you can eat your breakfast, read the newspaper and listen to the radio – all at once.’
In truth many of us spend much of our lives with far too many balls in the air, just praying that we won’t drop them. Most of the time, we don’t do too badly. But we often allow the God shaped ball to slide silently to the floor. And we forget to ask, when faced with yet another complex situation at work or at home. ‘What would Jesus do?’
But when we do begin to ask that question, when we do begin to let God into our lives and out of a Sunday shaped box, amazing things can happen. Of course it’s not just about asking the question, it’s also about listening for the answer and that can sometimes be challenging.
However God isn’t just there with us in church or in the midst of a crisis. He is with us 24/7, he’s passionately concerned about every aspect of our lives and he longs for us to be with him as he is with us.
None of the balancing act of work and family, friends and home and faith is easy; and there are times when we drop things.
Kathryn, our youngest daughter was baptised on Sunday. Having led the Sunday morning service, cooked lunch for eleven and baked three cakes I got to church a few minutes late, and almost immediately dropped Kathryn. She woke up, screamed, my wife, Jane got a bottle in her mouth and we got on with the baptism.
When everything is up in the air and when we drop things God is there with us in the juggling act of work and home and faith.
GETTING INVOLVED
Wednesday 10th October
A friend was fishing for carp near Cheltenham last week. He saw a heron apparently trapped on the island in the centre of the lake. It was getting ever increasingly distressed and tired; and in the end my friend could no longer stand just watching it and not helping.
He stripped off, jumped in, swam to the island and approached the Heron. He thought that the Heron had its head caught in fishing wire, but his attempts to free the bird were rebuffed with a sharp tap on the head. The Heron wasn’t exactly welcoming its rescuer and its beak was its most powerful weapon.
The bird was eventually freed, the fishing wire was round its legs and like all good fishermen my friend had scissors. The heron flew off and all that was left was to swim back through the freezing muddy water.
Within the next hour my friend has caught the biggest fish of his life – it was THIS big! God rewards the righteous!?
The perfect ending to the story would have been if the heron has flown back and carried off the fish! But that’s just my imagination.
There are times when it’s very tempting to sit still on the sidelines, not to get involved, to stay safe, and dry and warm.
But we’ve been listening all though the week on the Breakfast show to what’s happening in Rodbourne, line dancing and Brownies, lunch clubs and toddler groups.
From Penhill and Highworth, to Old Town and Wroughton, from Priory Vale to Gorsehill, Parks to Lawn, Purton to Moredon to Rodbourne, our communities couldn’t and wouldn’t keep going if we all sat on the sidelines.
Jesus calls us to be there for our neighbours and especially for the lonely and vulnerable. Whether as School Governors or helping with amazing projects such as Swindon Food Bank we have the opportunity and the call to get involved and to help build our communities. If you’re already doing that, thank you; if not, now’s the time to start.
TARGETS vs RELATIONSHIPS
Thursday 11th October
As our political leaders slug it out in a wrestling match that seems to be getting ever more intense [even without the election], and more and more and more is demanded of us at work, it often seems as if the only thing that matters is the result, its all about winning and don’t worry about what you have to do to get there.
Fishermen [two stories in one week – and you might not believe this but I’ve never fished in my life] – Fishermen never boast of the fish that express an interest in their line, only those that they catch.
But when Church leaders recently met with the Chief Exec of Swindon Borough Council he was talking more of the journey than the destination – of relationships rather than targets.
I heard once again yesterday of the colossal threats of global warming – perhaps Swindon should be building a coastal marina rather than re-introducing its canal
If there is ever a need for targets it’s when we come to limiting our carbon emissions and stopping, or at least slowing, global warming. And yet, for once, business and especially government [at every level] is ducking out.
We make small symbolic sacrifices and revel in our recycling levels – but how many of us are willing to take the bus rather than drive, or take the train instead of flying? Quite apart from anything else how many of us have the time to cycle?
Of course the journey matters. We’ll never be able to make the sacrifices involved in reducing our carbon footprint unless we do it together. But we also have to set targets, and then focus on achieving them. The only difference about these targets is that they’ll challenge us to stop doing things rather than leading to yet more money, possessions and power.
As a Christian I don’t believe in survival, I believe in death and resurrection – it’s what Jesus did. There are times when there are things that need to stop, so that we can start again. This is one of those times.
But if we do start caring for God’s world, then we will find that all that we give up will be replaced a thousand times over by what we discover.
TAKING A BREAK
Friday 12th October
After all of the work, voluntary and paid, in offices or clubs or at home, things you love to do and things you can’t wait to escape from; after all the work, its nearly time for a break. And even if you’re running the Swindon Half Marathon this Sunday, you’ll still need to take Saturday off in your training schedule – have a break.
We’ve heard a fair amount about work and faith this week; and you’ve heard a bit about my diary up in the churches in North Swindon and some of its idiosyncrasies. I guess that there aren’t many who have much more time to play with than me.
But it’s one thing to try to hold all of the balls up in the air during the week – to work the 12 or 14 or 18 hour days and then somehow pick yourself up the next morning and start again. But after doing that Monday to Friday [or Saturday] you really do need free time.
In the beginning, in the very beginning, God set us an example that we should work six days and take a day off – it doesn’t have to be a Sunday [and as a Vicar mine never is] but it’s a great principle and if we miss time out too often we’ll notice, or if we don’t others certainly will.
We’re getting obsessed with the working thing, but seem to be forgetting how to relax.
And it isn’t about work hard, play hard. Playing hard and long, in Old Town, New Town or anywhere else might be fun but it doesn’t give us much of a rest. Spend time with your family, with friends, even quietly with yourself – however scary a thought that might be. Sleep – and draw in some of the resources that you have given out through the week.
And as you slow down and relax, listen to what is happening in your mind and body; listen to the sheer silence that is the sound of the love of God.
5 October: 9:30pm
I've heard it so many times [but its still true] but ten compliment can be completely outweighed by one word of criticism. What I hadn't thought of through was that in a community in which some view half full glasses and some see only half empty glasses there will be a constant source of tension.
I'm still trying to get some words down on paper [or screen] for thought for the day next week. David Cameron opened his speech at the Tory party conference by saying that it might be a bit messy as he wasn't using a script. I'm tempted to open my thoughts for the day by apologising if its slightly stilted as a result of using a script - its something that I hardly ever do. But we'll see how it goes. And as Jane so kindly put it, if its a disaster, they won't ask me back!
BLOGGERS NOTE
You'll notice in this blog that I use clauses and sub clauses and square brackets and lots of other grammatical aberrations! Also that I can't spell. Jane sometimes compares my sentence structure to St Paul, going on and on and on... I'm afraid that you're going to have to live with it. I try to edit it all out when I'm writing for print, but I'm going to indulge myself here.