Roots

This week has seen the return of a TV programme that I really enjoy watching - 'Who Do You Think You Are?  For those who don't know, it traces the ancestry of celebrities and uncovers some very interesting and sometimes unusual and hitherto unknown facts.  There are always surprises and often tears as the stories unfold about their forbears.  Sometimes the celebrities begin to understand just why they are, feel and do as they do as they clarify some mystery from the past.  A couple of years ago I decided to trace my ancestors on both sides of the family, right back to the 1700s.  I remember as a child that two of my uncles had a shoe repair shop in our local town and I used to love to go and watch them mend the shoes and breathe in the smell of fresh leather.  I was told that the shop originally belonged to my paternal grandfather but looking further into the family history I discovered that there had been bootmakers in the family since the early 1800s, the business having been handed down from father to son over several generations.  The roots of the shoemaking business lay way back in the roots of our family history.

When I am weeding in the garden, I prefer to dig the weeds up by the roots in order to get rid of them instead of spraying them with chemicals all the time.  Occasionally though that is not so easy, on the paths and the front drive where you can't really dig them up.  The alternative is to get some weedkiller and spray them and let the chemicals do their work.  The best ones of course are the ones that you spray on the leaves of the weed and the chemicals go to work reaching right down to the roots underneath the ground.  Otherwise the weed seems to die but then comes back again as the roots go on feeding the plant.  To be effective, you have to get to the roots.

A close relative of mine has recently been in hospital and undergone quite a big operation.  She had been in a great deal of pain for a long time, months becoming years.  She has taken pain relief to relieve the symptoms until eventually the pain was becoming so bad she was sent to see a specialist at the hospital.  Various tests and scans were done in order to look deeper and ascertain the real cause of the problem.  Eventually the day came and she went to the hospital, a bit nervous but really having reached the point of just wanting the pain to go away.  After a time of recuperation she is now well on the mend but more importantly is without the constant pain that she had to put up with for so long before.  Once the specialist was able to get to the root of her problem, then the situation could be dealt with effectively.

The trouble I find in life is that too often we concentrate all our efforts on the symptoms that a problem produces.  A few decades ago, people weren't so eager to visit a psychiatrist or counselor to talk through problems in case they were thought by others to be a little deranged.  In fact such professionals were sometimes considered a bit suspect and often referred to in a rather derisory way as 'shrinks'.  Nowadays we understand that they saw the importance of going back in order to dig deep and find the root cause of a problem.  This often turned out to be not a physical problem at all but some hurt, fear or sense of inadequacy or exclusion or maybe loneliness, things that are hidden so deeply inside that others are not aware of itheir existence.  We think that we are sorting out a problem when the real problem is something quite different, hidden and not obvious until we delve deeper.

I feel that so many problems in the world, on both an individual and group level, whether that be family, friends, tribes or nations, could be solved if only we really addressed the root of the problem.  We waste so much time and effort treating and reacting to the symptoms when the real problem is still there often festering underneath so that the problem we think we have dealt with crops up again and again.  So often we ask the wrong questions!  There is no point in doctoring and treating the hurt and pain if we don't deal with the root cause of that pain and hurt.  Jesus knew that very well when he told the crippled man that his sins were forgiven.  He then told him to get and walk.  He knew that the man was concerned that his physical limitations were because of some sin.  He needed to know that God had dealt with that problem.  People are hurting and in pain and we waste time on superficial symptoms instead of really dealing with their root point of need and giving them the help they're silently crying out for.  Let's not waste time looking at the outside, the symptoms, the appearance of a situation but go to the roots and see where the help is really needed.
  

Give us a clue

Those who are familiar with quiz shows and magazines will know of the sort of quiz that gives clues and you have to guess the connection.  Small children are often engaged in such activities in order to teach them about different animals and what they're like, for example: 

Who am I? 
1) I live in Africa.                                            
2) I eat the leaves of tall trees. 
3) I am a sort of orange-y brown colour with dark brown patches.         
4) I have a very long neck. 

Of course the answer is the giraffe.  More points are awarded for the fewer number of clues required to guess correctly.

If a clue is 'they like to eat pizza and pasta' then it's a safe guess to say the Italians.  Likewise if the clue says 'They have been known to eat frogs' legs' then the answer would be the French  I began thinking about this in relation to people groups and their way of life and thinking.  Below is a set of clues that the average person in the street think and relate to:


1) They sometimes seem a bit standoffish.
2) They think they are better than everybody else.
3) They can be quite judgmental of others.
4) They don't like or accept gay or lesbian people, telling them they are wrong.
5) They are restricted in the things they are allowed to partake in so don't join in much.
6) They believe their sacred book and their leaders must not be questioned - they are infallible.
7) They join with others in a special building on a Sunday.

The answer to the clues is 'Christians'.  Christians reading those clues would be adamant that it certainly doesn't describe them.  They are nothing like that.  The sad truth is that most people who are not members of a particular denomination or organised religious group do have that impression of what Christians are like.  Over centuries they have been given a very negative portrayal of Christianity.  And sadly nothing like what we read in the Bible about how or what Jesus was, thought and did.  Christians are more often than not thought to be intolerant, homophobic people who consider themselves to be 'holier than thou', better than the rest and separate themselves from those who are not part of their exclusive Sunday club.  You can join their club only if you change who you are and become a clone.  This sadly is what others see.  


In contrast if we take each of those clues and refer them to how Jesus lived we would get something along the lines of the following:
1) He will talk to anybody.
2) He identifies himself with the poor and needy.
3) He accepts people's shortfalls and cares about them anyway.
4) He loves everyone and accepts anyone who wants to be his friend.
5) He goes wherever he is invited or people need his help or advice.
6) He has often quoted from his sacred book and law and tells people to think about it in a  different way.  He insists that the only true lord and master is God.  All others are fallible  humans.
7) He has been criticised for spending time walking in the fields with his friends and breaking religious rules on his special day of rest.

So it begs the question - how do we put that right?  Maybe we should go through each of the clues in turn,comparing the first and second set of clues and being honest as to which really describes us.  People are crying out 'We would see Jesus'.  As Jesus followers we need to set the record straight and show Him to others by the way we live.  People are not interested in going to a building - God is everywhere.  They don't want to listen to someone preaching at them, telling them how wrong and sinful they are.  They don't want to hear about Him, they want to see Him living in us.  So forget all the theological arguments, dogma and splitting hairs.  We need to have the mind of Christ and really put Jesus at the centre showing God's all-embracing love at work through our actions and attitudes in our daily living.  

Say what you see.

I like to watch quiz shows and puzzles on television.  There is one at the moment called 'Catchphrase' where you have to try and guess what saying is represented by the picture that is unfolding.  The presenter often says 'Just say what you see'.  Ha!, but that's not always so easy.  Sometimes contestants seem to say just about anything other than the correct answer, all the time of course we are shouting the answer at the television.  I also have a number of books called 'Dingbats' that are the same idea of guessing what saying is represented by the picture.  This only works of course if you have heard of the sayings otherwise you could be guessing for a long time without getting the right answer.

Then there are the puzzles that seem to be two different things depending on how you look at it.  In this picture on the right do you see some columns or six people?  There are many of this type of picture.  Some years ago there were computer generated pictures where if you looked in a particular way you could see a 3D image emerging from what seemed to be just a chaotic scene.  What you see is not always apparent immediately.  Sometimes you need to take a long hard look.  


I once saw all the letters of a sentence written altogether - GODISNOWHERE.  That could be interpreted in two ways depending on where you place the spaces between the words.  You could say GOD IS NOWHERE or GOD IS NOW HERE.  You've probably seen that before.  The point is that not everything is at it seems and people often see things differently.  Jesus was curious as to how people saw Him and so asked his disciples 'Who do men say that I am?' There were various answers but Peter saw the truth when he recognised Jesus as the Son of God.  

I was reminded recently at Easter of one of my favourite Godfrey Birtill songs:

When I look at the blood all I see is love, love, love
When I stop at the cross I can see the love of God.

But I can't see competition, I can't see hierarchy.
I can't see pride or prejudice or the abuse of authority.
I can't see lust for power, I can't see manipulation,
I can't see rage or anger or selfish ambition.

But I can't see unforgiveness, I can't see hate or envy,
I can't see stupid fighting or bitterness or jealousy.
I can't see empire building, I can't see self-importance,
I can't see back stabbing or vanity or arrogance.

I see surrender, sacrifice, salvation, humility, righteousness, faithfulness, grace, forgiveness.

How often do people seem to be one thing but turn out to be quite different when you get a closer look.  Or as a friend of mine says 'the outside and the inside don't match'.  It's not just about appearances of 'going to church' or abstaining from certain things/places/language.  Those things aren't the same as showing the love of God in our actions of daily living.  Reading again those words of the above song, as a Jesus follower I need to ask myself 'When people look at me, what do they see?'  

In the Wilderness

When we hear the expression of being ‘in the wilderness’ or having a ‘wilderness experience’, it immediately conjures up negative overtones.  We think of being in a bleak place where we struggle to make any progress.  There also seems to be an overwhelming sense of loneliness, of being disconnected or somehow excluded from the life enjoyed by others around us.  It reminds us of a great desert with apparently so little life. (although wildlife documentaries now show that there is much life in the desert if we look for it).  One positive outcome of this sort of desert life comes from the example of the Desert Fathers, as they were known.  They were the forerunners of the monks and nuns who set up monasteries and convents so as to separate themselves from general society.  They became known as people of great spiritual awareness and left a lasting legacy for the church.

It seems then that by taking away the customary props of everyday living, we are able to gain a different and sometimes deeper sense of the world around us.  Things that become a force of habit can have a sort of drug-like effect of dulling some senses and create a dependency culture.  Often denying those things that have such comforting results can often heighten the other senses.  This of course was the original idea behind the giving up of something for lent – not in order to cultivate a spiritual smugness mistakenly thought of as a sort of martyrdom and self-denial.  It is the freeing ourselves of those hindrances that tie and limit our curiosity that can allow us to explore and heighten our spirit to new possibilities.  It has a way of clarifying our spiritual vision.  John the Baptist, Jesus and Paul all spent time in the desert before they began their important life’s work.

According to Wikipedia though, a wilderness is not just a desert place that appears barren and fruitless, it is ‘a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity’.  The word ‘wilderness’ is derived from the notion of wildness.  In other words something that is not controllable by humans.  Looking at wilderness this way would include areas within which natural processes operate without human interference.  So wilderness is not only the desert places but also jungles or places rarely visited by humans where nature is allowed to follow its natural flow.  I can’t help comparing it with our well-kept gardens with their manicured lawns and plants all in neat rows or as part of a larger collection making a particular display, so controlled that anything that dares to step out of its allotted place is plucked out and dealt with.  What a difference with the freedom of the wilderness to just go with the flow.

It is fascinating to watch such programmes on TV that show such places.  Only a few native tribes remain in such places and it is amazing to see just how they adapt their lives to correspond with the ways of the land around them.  They have found different ways of living from anything we know in our big towns and cities.  They respect their surroundings and have learnt to live with and from the land.  Adventurers like Ray Mears show how to find new and different ways of finding food and how to cope in such a wild environment without the home comforts we are used to.  So the wilderness experience would seem at a closer look to be not a thing of barren despair or loneliness but a place of freedom and exploration, making discoveries, finding new and wonderful ways of doing things and different foods to sustain us, learning to live with the cosmic ways of the universe and creation instead of forcing creation to accommodate our fads and fancies. 

In my onward spiritual journey, I find myself in a new landscape - with challenges, yes - but instead of hankering after the controlled environment and being content to simply exist in old and comfortable ways, I want to embrace the wilderness, follow the freedom of the wild and discover more of God that until now has remained beyond my sphere of activity.  I am curious for more.    

One Way or Another

Lately we have been aware of much discussion over the rights of Christians to wear a cross at work and also for a particular council to pray before a council meeting.  There have been arguments both for and against.  I do not intend to discuss those matters here as they have already been talked about at length and I'm sure we all have our own point of view.  It seems at times that the Church is being targeted from all sides, whether it be about being open about our faith as in the cases above or about our stance on things like abortion, and same sex marriage.

I have been watching a programme lately about doing up the house of someone who has worked for some deserving cause without thinking about themselves.  In one of these programmes, one young girl wanted to help decorate a lady's house as in her words 'she introduced me to church and bought me my first Bible and for that I'll always be grateful'.  The presenter of that programme on another occasion when they were having difficulties getting a hot tub in situ and when it was safely put in place, clasped her hands together and looking upwards saying, 'Thank you Lord'. 

This morning on the news about the footballer Fabrice Muamba who suffered cardiac arrest on Saturday on the pitch while the game was in progress, they showed that over the weekend many had shown their support for him in various ways as he lies in intensive care .  One footballer had the words 'Pray for Muamba' on his football shirt.

Today Catherine, wife of prince William wore a cross when on an official engagement!  I wonder if she will be told that she can’t wear it when she’s working?

I thought that was all very interesting.  There are those who try to eliminate talk of Christianity and try to pass laws to stop Christians from living out their faith in the way that they feel they should.  But GOD WILL NOT BE SILENCED!  He will find ways of letting His name be heard and bringing people's attention to Him and often does it in the most unconventional and unexpected ways!  What a great God!

Sweet Answers

The answers to the fun quiz about confectionary:

1.  You find them in Quality Street.

2.  They go to Mars Bars.

3.  They are called Smarties.

4.  They are Dolly Mixtures.

5.   That pleasure is know as Turkish Delight.

6.   He takes them down the Milky Way.

7.   That’s in a Dime Bar.

8.   They are Jelly Babies or Jelly Tots.

9.   You could say that they are After 8s.

10. They’re Pontefract Cakes.