While earth abides

“While earth abides, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter and day and night shall not cease. ” (Genesis 8: 22)

This is the season of Harvest Festival - a good point in the year to look back, take stock, count our blessings and be thankful for all we have and enjoy.

Every culture has their own tradition of celebrating what is most basic to their survival: the food that comes from the earth.  For those of us who do not make our living from the land, we have some distance to travel to connect the meaning of harvest to our daily life. Without thinking, we may end up believing that we are what we are, and have what we have, because of our own hard work, a good education and a decent upbringing. Yet achievement and possessions are not why we are welcomed and embraced by the God who offers sunshine and rain to all people.

I believe that each of us is created and loved by God regardless of who we are, out of love alone. At harvest time, we come simply to say "thank you". 

So what are you thankful for?  How about jotting down a list each night before falling asleep?  

Being mindful of all the things for which you can be thankful boosts your well-being and immune system, research suggests. In a series of experiments detailed in a 2003 study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, listing all the things you are thankful for is linked with a brighter outlook on life and a greater sense of positivity.

To close, a Franciscan blessing: 

"May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our heart.  May God bless us with a righteous anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom and peace.  May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that we may reach out our hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.  May God bless us with motivation to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done. With God's help, Amen."

When did we forget that church is for broken people?

When did we first forget that church is for broken people?

When did we start to think that church is for people who are sorted and OK? 

Two men go to worship God. 

The first is a good man. He is respected by his fellow worshippers. He is familiar with the patterns of worship. Above all, he is confident because he knows that he has done everything expected of him. He is not like the scumbag next to him. No, it is from his confidence and the way he lives that he now prays to God.

The other is not a good man. Everyone else going to worship that day is astonished to see him there. They hate him. This man collaborates with the enemy. He fleeces people of their hard earned money, turning over the bulk of it to those who have invaded their country but keeping a good margin for himself. He is ill-at-ease with worship, for he has not been to worship for oh so long. He is far from confident. In fact, he is quite literally beating himself up, smashing his hands against his chest.

Which of these guys truly encountered and engaged with God in that place?

You can read the story here and listen to the full talk here.

Please....de-baptize me

"Please de-baptize me," she said.
The priest's face crumpled.
"My parents tell me you did it," she said.
"But I was not consulted. So
Now, undo it."
The priest's eyes asked why.
"If it were just about belonging to
This religion and being forgiven,
Then I would stay. If it were just
About believing
This list of doctrines and upholding
This list of rituals,
I'd be OK. But
Your sermon Sunday made
It clear it's
About more. More
Than I bargained for. So, please,
De-baptize me."
The priest looked down, said
Nothing. She continued:
"You said baptism sends
Me into the
World to
Love enemies. I don't. Nor
Do I plan to. You said it means
Being willing to stand
Against the flow. I like the flow.
You described it like rethinking
Everything, like joining a
Movement. But
I'm not rethinking or moving anywhere.
So un-baptize me. Please."
The priest began to weep. Soon
Great sobs rose from his deepest heart.
He took off his glasses, blew his nose, took
Three tissues to dry his eyes.
"These are tears of joy," he said.
"I think you
Are the first person who ever
Truly listened or understood."
"So," she said,
"Will you? Please?"

                      - Brian McLaren

A tale of two Gibsons

I was up early this morning to take delivery of some fencing panels, which meant that I was standing outside the house when Gibson was taking his grandma for their morning walk.

Gibson is the black Labrador who lives round the corner.  Though he enjoys a friendly fuss, he always wants to get about on business of his own, so he gives an impatient bark if Gran spends too long chatting with neighbours.

When first introduced some months ago I had assumed he was named after Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC DSO DFC of the Dambusters, who himself had a chocolate brown Labrador, which [spoiler alert] doesn’t make it to the end-credits of the film. Guys of my generation were raised on black-and-white British war movies, with heroes that don’t say too much but go out and give Jerry a good pasting. You can watch the film's original trailer by clicking here.

It says much about us Brits that we cry buckets for the dog but not so for the thousands affected by the successful raid on the Ruhr dams. But then if the Germans had sensibly elected a Labrador instead of Hitler, things would have taken a very different course. I mean, we sometimes think of Churchill as a bulldog. And listen to him speak. The clues are all there...

As it happens Gibson is named after the Gibson Les Paul guitar. Hmm.

Anyways G, with his sense of smell up to 100,000 times more acute than mine, immediately detected that I had just eaten a bacon sandwich.  This was reason enough to put the walk on hold while he quickly identified the fact that it was smoked bacon, Danish from western Jutland, from the right-hand loin of the pig. A few moments more and he would have identified the donor pig by name (Labradors are pretty clever). But for once Gran wanted to make some progress and so they set off once again.

This week Dr Michael Mosley set out the startling fact in the excellent BBC TV science series Horizon that eating bacon may well curtail your life by up to 2 years. I like and respect Dr Mosley.  We are roughly the same age and he seems to know a thing or two. I admire the fact that he experiments on his own body, for example by infecting himself with tapeworms or by trying the 5:2 diet. I see no reason to doubt his claim about the foreshortening of life.

Guy Gibson in the centre. He was only 26 when killed in action

Moderation is key to diet, I feel. "Steady on, old chap," as the Wing Commander might have said. "Not bacon every morning." And, of course, I don’t.  Mostly it’s toast or muesli or grapefruit when I can get it.

But the Dambusters of 617 Squadron (like all RAF crews on ‘Ops’) tucked in to bacon before taking off on their fateful flight.

So I thought I’d share that neither Gibson nor I have any intention of eschewing the occasional rasher of back or streaky, whatever the medics may say. If that means clocking-off a tad early, then 'cheerio'.

What are you doing here?

Have you seen the film High Noon?  

It's an Oscar-winning 1952 western starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. In black and white and in real time, the film tells the story of a town marshal forced to face a gang of killers alone, when everyone else deserts him – including all the ‘good’ townsfolk. Throughout the film is the haunting melody of Tex Ritter singing “Do not forsake me Oh my darling…”  You can watch the original trailer here.

This is the kind of western where the hero is a loner, usually driven towards a showdown with the bad guys against his will.  It comes down to the hero versus the rest. He's generally a reasonable man, pushed that little bit too far. And then he has to face down the baddies.

I love the story of Elijah in the bible, not least because it shares some of the same themes. Ancient Israel has been under the rule of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. The Bible tells us that Ahab was more evil than all of his predecessors. Bad stuff is happening. It is against that backdrop that God sends Elijah, the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, to go and stand in front of King Ahab and announce a drought which, it turned out, was to last for nearly three years. 

Elijah must have been quite a character.  All that we really know about him is that he was from Tishbe, which can mean “pioneer town”.  He was a settler, maybe quite rough and ready - probably ill-at-ease in the sophistication of the King’s palace. 

Ahab and Jezebel got pretty fed up with Elijah being the spoilsport, who insisted on reminding them of their obligation to live life with a moral dimension. It got messy. It all came to a head when, in chapter 18 of the First Book of Kings, Elijah steps forward in front of all the people and asked them how long they were going to sit on the fence?  They have to make a choice for God. There then follows quite a shootout…

And yet, not long after in the story, we find Elijah lying under a bush praying for death.  And here is another reason why I love the story of Elijah.  Despite the very different culture and context, it rings true to human experience.  Elijah experiences the whole of life – he is not a cardboard hero. There are not only the mountaintop experiences but also the valleys; the peaks and troughs that human beings experience as part of ordinary life. Just like us.

And now, in chapter 19 (which you can read here), we see that the greatest of the OT prophets finds himself in the wrong place.  He’s lying feeling defeated, curled up in the foetal position,

anxious and hidden.  But God then gives him the three things he most needs: sustenance, company and encouragement.  With the strength of the food and encouragement, Elijah is able to take a step forward in his recovery. 

In life, of course, we have to start from wherever we find ourselves.  As human beings we often make a mess of things and often we are not in a place where it’s easy to see a way forward. We sometimes feel anxious. Yet while he is most in need, in the story God asks: “Elijah, what are you doing here?”

I wonder if any of you reading this are in such a place today? Down a hole. In a pickle. Can’t see the way back or forward.  Like Gary Cooper, facing something that you dread.

God who speaks and reveals Himself to His people at all times and in all places, not in a loud and noisy way but in a gentle whisper, says to you today, “why are you in that place where you find yourself right now?” Not a finger-wagging, blame-laden question but one that brings with it the offer of sustenance, company and encouragement.

Is that where you are today?

It is part of life that we experience the peaks and troughs; the mountaintop experiences and the places where the light finds it hard to reach. As the next part of the story unfolds, not all of Elijah’s questions were answered. Yet God gave Elijah the opportunity to carry on journeying with Him. He gave him nourishment, company and encouragement, some tasks and a purpose for living.

Though we may lack answers to our questions, the place where we most can hope to receive clarity is in the company of the God who still seeks relationship with people today. People like us.