Wednesday, 6 February 2008
Dust thou art
..... and to dust thou shalt return. Ash Wednesday today. I should have been prepared for what happened when key members of the congregation asked me if there was a service. Sixteen turned up tonight. Our regular Sunday congregation is around 60. I’m old-fashioned enough to still think of such occasions as “days of obligation”; in other words, you turn up. I can see that contemplating one’s mortality and sinfulness might not be everyone’s idea of a Wednesday night entertainment, particularly when there is competition from England v Switzerland footy on the telly, the youth club and the pantomime rehearsal. The pantomime producer put a three-line whip on which was much more successful than my injunctions, but then he is facing a crisis as the performances are next week, and the leading characters apparently know less of their lines now than they did when they started back in October. There may not have been many of us in church, but we all knew our lines. And at least we didn’t have the usual business where a crowd turn up on Shrove Tuesday and scoff plates and plates of pancakes and then don’t turn up on the Wednesday. No-one thought of organizing pancakes this year, so it didn’t happen. So Lent has started without us.
Bath & Bach time
The bean counters and box tickers continue to nip at our flanks out here in the countryside. Like many parts of the country we have been engaged in an growing campaign to stop wholesale closures of small primary schools. These schools make very little economic sense, but provide high quality education and are at the heart of living villages. We have a school in one village which is the descendant of previous schools dating back to 1668. In a few months it could be gone. And while we fight for its survival, OFSTED inspectors have announced that they will be here on Thursday to inspect the school, so voluntary governors already under pressure fighting for its survival will have to clear their diaries again to support the school and justify its performance.
I have a barometer mercury column to measure the atmospheric pressure, and a spinal column to measure the working pressure. I have a set of scales to measure the culinary balance, and a set of vertebrae to measure my work-life balance. Today I could feel the creaks and groans of a system under some strain. Bach’s Goldberg Variations and a hot bath at 5pm.
I have a barometer mercury column to measure the atmospheric pressure, and a spinal column to measure the working pressure. I have a set of scales to measure the culinary balance, and a set of vertebrae to measure my work-life balance. Today I could feel the creaks and groans of a system under some strain. Bach’s Goldberg Variations and a hot bath at 5pm.
Sunday, 3 February 2008
We'll See
A young man grows up in a beautiful home in the country and is given a horse for his birthday. “How fortunate I am!” he says to the Zen master, “God has indeed been good to me!” The Zen master says nothing.
The young man falls from his horse, and is paralysed, confined to a wheelchair. He rages against the God who has allowed this to happen to him. The Zen master says nothing.
War breaks out, and all the young men of the district are marched away to fight. “But for my accident, I too would have had to march away. God has saved me from the dangers of the battlefield!” says the young man.
The man studies and becomes a great scientist. He gives thanks to God for giving him these gifts. But the government of the day uses his discoveries to create weapons of terrible power to use against innocent people. “There cannot be a loving God if he allows such things to happen!” says the man.
“We’ll see”, says the master …. And so the story goes on, throughout the life of the man.
………………………
Another story comes from the Shoah, the Jewish Holocaust. A group of Jewish prisoners in one of the death camps decide to put God on trial for allowing the disaster to come upon them and on so many thousands of innocent people. All night long the arguments range back and forth, but eventually the conclusion is reached; God is guilty, God has abandoned his people, God is dead. The rabbi looks out of the window of the hut, and sees that morning is breaking. “Come along”, he says, “It is time for our morning prayers”, and the group go to their devotions as they have done every morning since their arrival.
Is this an example of great wisdom, or great foolishness?
……………………..
A train journey looks different depending on whether we are sitting facing the way we are going, or the way we have been. As we travel forward we do not always have time to see the detail of what is coming towards us, or to interpret its meaning. Facing backwards, we can see much more of where we have come from, and the major milestones along the way, but we have no idea what lies ahead. It is only when the journey has been completed that we, and others, can have any hope of coming to any conclusions about what has taken place in our lives, or assessing the significance others, and ourselves, might want to place upon those events.
The young man falls from his horse, and is paralysed, confined to a wheelchair. He rages against the God who has allowed this to happen to him. The Zen master says nothing.
War breaks out, and all the young men of the district are marched away to fight. “But for my accident, I too would have had to march away. God has saved me from the dangers of the battlefield!” says the young man.
The man studies and becomes a great scientist. He gives thanks to God for giving him these gifts. But the government of the day uses his discoveries to create weapons of terrible power to use against innocent people. “There cannot be a loving God if he allows such things to happen!” says the man.
“We’ll see”, says the master …. And so the story goes on, throughout the life of the man.
………………………
Another story comes from the Shoah, the Jewish Holocaust. A group of Jewish prisoners in one of the death camps decide to put God on trial for allowing the disaster to come upon them and on so many thousands of innocent people. All night long the arguments range back and forth, but eventually the conclusion is reached; God is guilty, God has abandoned his people, God is dead. The rabbi looks out of the window of the hut, and sees that morning is breaking. “Come along”, he says, “It is time for our morning prayers”, and the group go to their devotions as they have done every morning since their arrival.
Is this an example of great wisdom, or great foolishness?
……………………..
Charlie Wilson's War
When I got back from the course, we both went off to see the film Charlie Wilson’s War. Highly recommended, if you haven’t seen it. When American movies do take a dry, wry sideswipe at their own culture and political system the effects are always entertaining and thought-provoking.
A disgraceful, hard-drinking, womanizing congressman, for reasons he himself doesn’t fully understand, decides to use the political system he knows how to manipulate in order to influence the American response to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Though not himself good or virtuous, he is able to do good, by devious means. Or so it would appear. The law of unintended consequences is there, lurking throughout, and steps forward into the spotlight as the Taliban and co rush into the vacuum left by the departing Russians, sent packing by the Muslim warriors armed with American-funded weapons. The movie ends with one version of a famous story, about a Zen master (but could be a rabbi or priest) who is asked for his opinion on a series of events in the life of one young man.
A disgraceful, hard-drinking, womanizing congressman, for reasons he himself doesn’t fully understand, decides to use the political system he knows how to manipulate in order to influence the American response to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Though not himself good or virtuous, he is able to do good, by devious means. Or so it would appear. The law of unintended consequences is there, lurking throughout, and steps forward into the spotlight as the Taliban and co rush into the vacuum left by the departing Russians, sent packing by the Muslim warriors armed with American-funded weapons. The movie ends with one version of a famous story, about a Zen master (but could be a rabbi or priest) who is asked for his opinion on a series of events in the life of one young man.
Voices in Conversation
More notes from the Jeremiah sessions with Anders Bergquist;
“the swirling of several interpreting voices in conversation” (Brueggemann);
“the Book is the Jupiter of the Biblical planetary system” (Bergquist)
Here we have poetic justice and the law of cause and effect; the recovery of the concept of natural law. The Jews considered themselves to be a people exceptionalised by God – so how could this happen? And who is still saying something similar to this today? Here we can also find the law of unintended consequences, there in the sixth century BCE, waiting to help us in post-2003 Iraq and Afghanistan. Here we have the answer to today’s spin-doctors who spray optimism over our fears and misgivings, telling us not to worry, all will be well, and to the box-tickers, who show us the system to follow if we wish to be saved. It is Jeremiah who points out that it ain’t necessarily so, that there could be a more complex, a darker narrative in store for us, without necessarily denying a loving God behind the story.
“the swirling of several interpreting voices in conversation” (Brueggemann);
“the Book is the Jupiter of the Biblical planetary system” (Bergquist)
Here we have poetic justice and the law of cause and effect; the recovery of the concept of natural law. The Jews considered themselves to be a people exceptionalised by God – so how could this happen? And who is still saying something similar to this today? Here we can also find the law of unintended consequences, there in the sixth century BCE, waiting to help us in post-2003 Iraq and Afghanistan. Here we have the answer to today’s spin-doctors who spray optimism over our fears and misgivings, telling us not to worry, all will be well, and to the box-tickers, who show us the system to follow if we wish to be saved. It is Jeremiah who points out that it ain’t necessarily so, that there could be a more complex, a darker narrative in store for us, without necessarily denying a loving God behind the story.
Saturday, 2 February 2008
Publication of the Month 2
Now back to “Borsetshire Bride and Groom”, our publication of the month, “produced in association with the Church of England” (it says on the cover). I think the idea is that we shove this at couples coming to book weddings, having first taken note of communications from our diocese suggesting we promote marriage in churches by using posters with phrases like “we’ve got four hundred great venues just waiting for you!”. Hmm. One or two slight drawbacks to that, such as Church of England marriage law.
The magazine is full of glossy photos of everything you could possibly think of for a grand wedding, plus an number of other things you would never think of, such as personalized slogans on umbrellas to hand out to all your guests (“No-one Rains on My Parade!”). What it is short on is much mention of prices. There are few pound signs to be seen. You have to go all the way to page 125 before you get a breakdown of costs for a series of possible wedding scenarios; Bronze, Silver and Gold. For the tightwads amongst you, you can do a Bronze wedding for £6,135. Silver comes to £13,145. But if you really want to push the boat out, go for Gold at an eye-watering £31,510. You could buy a house for that not long ago. In very small print in the corner, you can find the cost of a “minimalist” wedding, which is just the cost of legal fees, at around £200. Or just give ’em the train fare and encourage them to run away together.
The magazine is full of glossy photos of everything you could possibly think of for a grand wedding, plus an number of other things you would never think of, such as personalized slogans on umbrellas to hand out to all your guests (“No-one Rains on My Parade!”). What it is short on is much mention of prices. There are few pound signs to be seen. You have to go all the way to page 125 before you get a breakdown of costs for a series of possible wedding scenarios; Bronze, Silver and Gold. For the tightwads amongst you, you can do a Bronze wedding for £6,135. Silver comes to £13,145. But if you really want to push the boat out, go for Gold at an eye-watering £31,510. You could buy a house for that not long ago. In very small print in the corner, you can find the cost of a “minimalist” wedding, which is just the cost of legal fees, at around £200. Or just give ’em the train fare and encourage them to run away together.
Judgement and Hope
Two days “continuing ministerial education” (that’s in-service training to everyone else). Six lectures on the Book of Jeremiah. That’s, let me see, yes, that’s six more Old Testament lectures than I have been to in the entire preceding thirty five years since leaving university. Not bad. And, in case you were wondering, it was entirely voluntary. No force was used to get me into the lecture room. I went willingly and enjoyed myself! And the food was good too! In fact, doing a degree in theology seems like a very attractive option. OK, I’ve already got one, but I bunked and flunked my way through it. The pints-of-beer to essays-completed ratio was seriously skewed. University is wasted on the young.
Anyway, Jeremiah. Defined in the dictionary as a “doleful complainer” (and he is listed just above another OT character, Jeroboam, who gives his name to an enormous bottle of champagne).
Jeremiah is seriously brilliant stuff. Completely relevant to today’s world, and to much that I’ve been doing later. Anyone having a ministerial crisis of confidence should read the so-called “Confessions of Jeremiah” (before you all rush, this is not confessions as in “Confessions of a Window-Cleaner”; it’s more thoughts, poetry, personal reflections and musings on matters personal and spiritual). Some of the most honest and challenging personal theology in the entire Bible. Jeremiah is not afraid to tell God EXACTLY what he thinks of him and the mess he has got him into.
Think that no-one listens to what you have to say? Jeremiah knew all about that. Think you can see exactly where society is going wrong, and that you can accurately predict the consequences? Jeremiah too? Yep. Fed up with people telling you to shut up and stop being a miserable bugger; God wouldn’t let it happen? Check.
Jeremiah is a meditation on disaster and aftermath which speaks into the modern world. You can read Jeremiah with profit when considering the Shoah/Holocaust; climate change; Al Qaida and terrorism; and much else besides. Walter Brueggemann has written powerfully on this, setting Jeremiah’s reflections on the destruction of Jerusalem in 587BCE alongside the destruction of the World Trade Centre in 2001CE. What about this?
“Taken as an act of brutality, the 9/11 event is not overly spectacular because in the end it entailed a relatively modest number of deaths. No doubt, that modest event has gained enormous symbolic importance because of its locus in New York City, a locus that invites perpetual media attention and commentary. Taken as a symbolic event … 9/11 is of enormous significance in US culture, for it has introduced into US awareness a dimension and depth of vulnerability that was heretofore unthinkable…. I submit that the loss of 9/11 is powerfully analogous to the loss of Jerusalem and its temple in 587BCE.”
Anyway, Jeremiah. Defined in the dictionary as a “doleful complainer” (and he is listed just above another OT character, Jeroboam, who gives his name to an enormous bottle of champagne).
Jeremiah is seriously brilliant stuff. Completely relevant to today’s world, and to much that I’ve been doing later. Anyone having a ministerial crisis of confidence should read the so-called “Confessions of Jeremiah” (before you all rush, this is not confessions as in “Confessions of a Window-Cleaner”; it’s more thoughts, poetry, personal reflections and musings on matters personal and spiritual). Some of the most honest and challenging personal theology in the entire Bible. Jeremiah is not afraid to tell God EXACTLY what he thinks of him and the mess he has got him into.
Think that no-one listens to what you have to say? Jeremiah knew all about that. Think you can see exactly where society is going wrong, and that you can accurately predict the consequences? Jeremiah too? Yep. Fed up with people telling you to shut up and stop being a miserable bugger; God wouldn’t let it happen? Check.
Jeremiah is a meditation on disaster and aftermath which speaks into the modern world. You can read Jeremiah with profit when considering the Shoah/Holocaust; climate change; Al Qaida and terrorism; and much else besides. Walter Brueggemann has written powerfully on this, setting Jeremiah’s reflections on the destruction of Jerusalem in 587BCE alongside the destruction of the World Trade Centre in 2001CE. What about this?
“Taken as an act of brutality, the 9/11 event is not overly spectacular because in the end it entailed a relatively modest number of deaths. No doubt, that modest event has gained enormous symbolic importance because of its locus in New York City, a locus that invites perpetual media attention and commentary. Taken as a symbolic event … 9/11 is of enormous significance in US culture, for it has introduced into US awareness a dimension and depth of vulnerability that was heretofore unthinkable…. I submit that the loss of 9/11 is powerfully analogous to the loss of Jerusalem and its temple in 587BCE.”
A Theology of the Book of Jeremiah: Walter Brueggemann 2007
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