I'm OK Right Here

Si(mon) King and Dave Myers - aka The Hairy Bikers

At the moment there is a series on television with The Hairy Bikers as they ride through northern Europe, eating the local cuisine and making dishes from local foods for other guests.  I love to watch them, partly because they are not what you expect from cooks/chefs and also of course being a Geordie myself, it is so lovely to hear Si's Geordie accent.  (He's the one on the left in the photo)  Although I have lived in many other parts of the UK and abroad and my own accent has changed somewhat over the years, I do love to hear that accent genuinely spoken.  It's somehow comforting when lovely memories of childhood days come flooding back to my mind.

Dishing up a meal to some of Muhu's inhabitants

This week the adventures of The Hairy Bikers took them through Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.  Having visited friends in Latvia about 4 years ago, I was interested to see what they showed and cooked.  It was all very interesting but the thing that really caught my attention was when they went to Estonia (sorry Jo and Ian - my friends in Latvia)  They went to the island of Muhu off the Estonian coast and thought that one of the restaurants must have a difficult time obtaining all the ingredients that they would need to make a first class meal.  As it happened, the chef showed them how they gathered wild sea kale and other herbs and ingredients that were growing wild virtually on their doorstep.  Along with fish freshly caught by a friend from the waters surrounding the island, they served up a delicious meal using only the things that were round about them.

Wise words from Arthur Ashe

How often we spend time wishing for this or that without noticing the richness that we have on our own doorstep.  It's so true that often visitors will tell us of things they have seen that we barely notice because it is so familiar and to us seems nothing special.  On a spiritual level we so often say that if we were like so-and-so or had such-and-such a talent we could do great things for God.  I am reminded of when God called Moses and he kept making excuses for not going to Egypt.  God''s reply was simply, 'What have you got in your hand?'  With the staff in his hand, God showed Moses how powerful he is when we just give him what we have and are.  Many times Jesus told people just to go back home and tell others there what he had done.  It's not everyone whom God asks to leave everything and go to the ends of the earth (although for some he does ask this and for those they should do just that)  How often we think, when this happens or when I'm in a certain situation then I'll be able to do something for God.  Don't worry and wish your life away wishing you were something you're not.  He made you the unique person that you are and asks you to use just what you have.  Don't go looking and coveting what others have and do.  Be yourself, where you are.  The wise words of Arthur Ashe the great American tennis player come to mind - see picture on the left.

Imperfect

Every Wednesday morning I help out at the luncheon club that is held in the church hall just further along the street where I live.  We had a break for the summer during the month of August but this week we were back again.  Someone had donated a large bag full of apples they thought we might be able to make some use of.  As it happened, on the menu this week was pork and gammon so some freshly made apple sauce was just right.  There was plenty left over that was partly cooked and put in the freezer to use at some future date in some dessert.  What caught my attention was that they were all apples that you would never have been able to buy at any store.  

They weren't perfectly formed.  Some had bruises from their fall from the trees and some had a few bits that had to be cut away and discarded.  Having said all that we made good use of what we had, imperfect as they were.  It never ceases to amaze me just how much food must be discarded just because it is not perfectly formed or has some bruising or is maybe a little overripe.  What a waste!  We don't know because such merchandise never actually gets into the shops for us to buy even if we wanted to.  

It seems that nowadays everybody looks for perfection in all things.  Nobody wants to tolerate anything less than perfection, whether that be the shape of fruit or any other merchandise we may want to buy.  Anything that is even slightly damaged is discarded.  We would be in real trouble if God thought that about us though!  'If you're not perfect, you're not welcome here in heaven' is not something that God who is love would say to anyone.  We sing the song 'Just as I am' and that's how God accepts us.  

Stories from the Old Testament should really open our eyes to the overwhelming love and grace that God has for his creation.  King David who is held in such high esteem was a murderer and coveted the wife of another.  Lot got drunk and had incestuous relations with his daughters (even though it was their idea)  Samson was a womaniser.  Gideon kept asking God for proof of what God was asking him to do.  Joseph was an arrogant show-off, always taunting his older brothers.  Jacob was a cheat, finding a way to steal his brother's birthright.  Rahab was a prostitute.  And in the New Testament, Paul, who is so revered and quoted by Christians, aided and abetted in the extermination of Christians, ruthlessly hunting them down and gloating at the stoning of Stephen.  These make up many stories in our Scriptures - God's word.  The murderer David and the prostitute Rahab are mentioned in the lineage of Jesus, the perfect son of God.  

Nobody's perfect!  Yet God loves and blesses and uses us.  He does not discard us because of our imperfections.  I need to remember that whenever I see something not quite perfect or before making some judgmental remark about someone.    

Don't Hold Your Breath

The phrase 'Don't hold your breath' as we know, refers to the fact that something is very unlikely to happen.  We shouldn't expect a certain result or we will probably be disappointed.  The truth is that holding your breath can, in extreme cases, be quite dangerous.  I know someone who as a young child, used to hold his breath when he cried.  This was a cause of constant concern for his parents.
Whenever he started to cry, they had to watch him to make sure that within a few seconds at most he would start breathing again.  Otherwise they would need to take some action to make him stop holding his breath.  Holding your breath like this could cause serious physical harm.

Breathing is something we do without even thinking.  We breathe in fresh air so that oxygen can be extracted from it by the lungs and pumped around our bodies through our blood stream.  The air is made up of many things but mainly oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide.  The lungs processing this air we have just breathed in, as well as extracting the oxygen that our body needs to stay alive, also expels the unwanted carbon dioxide as we breathe out.  So, no matter what we are doing, our bodies perform the act of breathing in and out, taking in what we need and expelling what our bodies reject.  It's the same with eating.  We need to feed our bodies with energy but with everything we eat there is some waste that must be expelled in order to remain healthy.


We take into our lives so much, not only in the daily, physical bodily functions that keep us alive but in the things that we acquire.  The trouble is that we humans have a habit of hoarding stuff, 'holding our breath' as it were with material things.  Those who have moved house will know just how much we accumulate without even realising it.  Some people move into a bigger house so they can have more room to stash their accumulated stuff -  and then get more.  It would probably be cheaper to 'breathe' with our material wealth and as we take in more maybe we should get rid of stuff that we no longer need or use.  Some things might have been useful at one time but are no longer necessary.  And yet we hold on to them! 

Saddest of all though is when people hold on to negative emotions or memories.  Holding onto to such feelings can really be harmful to our spirits.  If something is no longer needed, breathe it out or you run the risk of becoming hurt and damaged.  We want to be blessed by God and often experience such blessing but at the same time seem unwilling to let go and breathe out the negative resentments, attitudes, disappointments and grudges.  Holding your breath can be harmful, physically, materially, emotionally and spiritually.  Breathe in the fresh air of God but don't forget to breathe out what you no longer need or what negatively affects your spirit.  You'll feel better for it.    

Recipe for Life

Although I have my own recipes for certain dishes and my  own way of making them, occasionally I like to look online to see just how other people make them.  The other day I was looking for a recipe for pasta carbonara and another one for curry.  We are quite happy with the results of my own way of doing them but I was curious to see if other people did things in more or less the same way.  Often we follow a recipe that has been handed down from previous generations or the way we learnt it.  We like things 'like mother used to make'!  So I wanted to see what other people did.  It seems that everyone has their own particular slant on things.  Each of the different celebrity chefs came out with their version.  I got so tired of looking at the seemingly endless list of curry recipes that in the end I just switched off the computer and went back to my own tried and tested method of always.  And we enjoyed it - as always.

So many variations on a theme!  What was evident, however is that all of the recipes for a given dish had some basic ingredients that were included in every version.  But then each one had some extra something, a vegetable, some special herb or spice or added cream to make it more luxurious (and fattening)  But the basic ingredients were in all of them.  So the question some would ask is, 'Yes, but which one is the true version?  Which is the authentic recipe?'  Well I guess that depends on your particular taste buds.  In the recipe for pasta carbonara, some wouldn't dream of making it with any pasta other than spaghetti.  The bacon has to me smoked.  Well, actually, we don't like smoked bacon so I use unsmoked bacon because that's our particular taste.  So is our version not authentic?  It is for us.

It reminds me of the fact that I can get 3 different buses to go to visit my sister, each one going a different way but all ending up at the same bus stop a few yards from my sister's house.  So which one is the right one?  All of them, of course.  You hear people saying that this or that version of the gospel is the only true version.  Their particular recipe for a Christian life is the real authentic one and anything else is a deviation.  Well, I guess if that particular way is to your taste then maybe it is - for you.  The Bible says, 'Taste and see that the Lord is good'.  So if I don't feel comfortable with a particular way of expressing my faith then maybe it isn't good for me and I need to look for what corresponds to my taste.  Some people like it quiet and organised while others like it happy clappy and noisy.  Ahh! but which is the true version?  Well, as we said it depends on your taste - and often depends on what you have been taught from childhood and learned from previous generations.  Sometimes you're happier with what you;re used to and don't want a new or different version.


Having looked at a number of different faiths lately, including those of Buddhism, Sikh, Unitarian Universalism, Baha'i, Muslim, Jew, Pagan, I have discovered that there are certain basic 'ingredients' found in all of them.  They all seek to worship a Supreme Being.  Many of them accept and follow the teaching of Jesus.  They all acknowledge the need to fight injustice and help the poor and broken, seeking to make life better for humanity and caring for the planet, the world that God has given us as our home.  Most people follow the religion that they have grown up with.  We look to, admire and accept people of other faiths, often quoting their words of wisdom like Confucius, Gandhi, the Dalai Lama among others.  Their recipe for life depends much on geography and their cultural background.  Who am I to say that my recipe is the only true, authentic one?  It is for me but might not be for someone from a different background and upbringing.  There are so many different recipes, different ways to the same end goal.  I have come to accept that you have to find the one that is right for you even though it might not be right for everyone.  

The 3 Ls

Our beautiful magnolia tree with many buds still to open.

We have a rather large evergreen magnolia tree in our garden.  It was getting bigger than we really wanted so after the end of last winter, in early spring, my son pruned it back a bit.  They say that you shouldn't prune it too vigorously all at once but stage the pruning out over a few years.  So that's what we (he) did.  Last year we had a few flowers but this year, since pruning, the tree has produced no end of flowers and continues with more buds well into late summer and the beginning of autumn.  Yes according to the calendar we are nearing autumn.   

Clearing away some of the lawn to plant more produce

As now in the garden there are only  a few bulbs of garlic and the blackberries left to pick, I am beginning to think about next year and planning where I want to put what.  I have decided to get rid of a little bit more of the (quite large) lawn and move some of the strawberry plants in order to make room for more vegetables higher up the garden.  It seems that every year I'm learning new things about what grows best where in the garden.  Things I haven't had much success with then I have to admit defeat in that area and let them go while turning my hand to something else instead, something that will give us some fruit or vegetables.  I'm only an amateur gardener but I do enjoy my garden and am happiest when I can potter around it.  Basically I learn by trying, sometimes failing and discovering through experience what works where and what doesn't.  I am also aware that although I still manage to do about 1-2 hours gardening at a time, it might not be too long before these old bones won't let me do even that.  So each year I re-assess and plan for next year. 

The first signs of fruit on the fig tree.

Happily this year I have seen signs that our fig tree, bought from being a young sapling a few years ago, will indeed next year actually give us some fruit.  It has obviously matured enough now to produce the much awaited fruit.  There are small bud-like figs just appearing and this means that although they won't mature and ripen enough to eat this year, they will survive the winter, as long as they are covered and protected from any frost and continue to grow and ripen next year.  Here's hoping!  I just love fresh figs.  When I look at the fig tree I often think of the story of Jesus when he cursed the fig tree.  Knowing that small fig 'buds' usually appear during the autumn and ripen the following year, maybe Jesus knowing this saw that that particular tree had no signs of producing fruit and if it was a mature tree then he would know that it was indeed dying.  We tend to think of that story as Jesus condemning that tree to die, almost in anger but I like to think more that actually he was pointing out that it was a tree that wasn't giving any fruit, it wasn't fulfilling its purpose and would surely die.

 Sometimes we have to take a look at our lives.  There is a danger that our lives get so full of busy-ness that we leave too little space to actually flourish.  Maybe there are some things that need to be pruned back, cut out in order to open up into greater splendour.  Maybe we need to re-think what we're doing and if it's having the results we are looking for and maybe change direction somewhat, leaving some things altogether and learning new ways of growing and giving fruit.  We are all different and produce different fruit and need different types of soil in which to grow, having a variety of end results if we're nurtured and grown according to our individual purpose.  My garden preaches many sermons to me if I have the eyes to see and the ears to hear what creation is saying.  The 3 Ls - Look, Listen and Learn.

Being Jesus

This week I have finished reading another of Jim Palmer's books - Being Jesus in Nashville.  In it he sets out trying to find out what it would be like living in his home town of Nashville daily submitting to the now well-known phrase 'What Would Jesus Do?' WWJD?  Originally he thought that maybe he should start some project or plan to do something special.  When he studied the life of Jesus though he discovered that Jesus didn't set out to implement some plan but just went about his day-to-day living.  He got a bunch of friends to hang out and travel with and helped people he encountered along the way.  So instead of setting up some sort of help group Jim decided to just carry on as normal but always with the WWJD thought in mind.


He used to frequent a particular coffee shop and through regular visits there met a young woman who introduced herself as someone who had been involved with the media and had made a film about homelessness.  Jim was intrigued.  They chatted regularly when they were at the coffee shop.  Jim had for a long time been involved in helping the homeless, helping out at the shelter and donating money.  It was a cause close to his heart.  So it was a surprise when one day his friend revealed that she was homeless.  She went to the coffee shop so that she could use their free wi-fi.  That was her office.  The owner knew her and made sure that she had at least one meal every day.  Jim was a little taken aback as he had in his mind certain ideas about homeless people, what they were like and why they were homeless.  And suddenly here was this woman with whom he had struck up a friendship and she didn't fit into any of the ideas that he had about homeless people.  She still worked within the media setup but did not earn enough to cover a rent and pay for all the utilities, as happens in many countries without any sort of welfare system.  So here she was, a working but homeless young woman.


One day she offered to buy Jim a coffee.  At first his reaction was 'no way'.  How could he accept even such a small gift from someone who was homeless?  Should it not be the other way around - him buying her a coffee?  She insisted that she really wanted to buy him a coffee as a friend.  She then went on to explain that what a homeless person wants most of all is friendship, to feel accepted and not judged, seen as part of the human race and not some 'outsider' who is excluded from ordinary life.  She wanted to have that feeling of self worth being able to carry out the simple gesture of buying a friend a coffee  It's good that people give money or volunteer at a shelter for the homeless or help by giving a meal to a hungry soul but what they crave is real friendship.  People help but at a distance.  It was then that WWJD came to Jim's mind.  Jesus got involved with people.  He spent time with them, talked to them, where they were.  And so Jim realised that being Jesus in Nashville was not so much about helping out (although that is also necessary) as being a friend.


For most of us, I guess, the way we help is by giving money or being involved in some project.  Sadly when this is done through a religious setup it usually involves trying to convert people and getting them to join whatever religious group is carrying out the project. It's almost used as some outreach programme to get people in.  And many are left feeling that out of a sense of gratitude that maybe they should.   What would Jesus do?  Well I don't read anywhere that he insisted that anyone he helped should tag along to their nightly study group or join with them on their journeys.  More often that not he told them to go back home and remember their encounter and what he said and did.  He saw their real need and met it without any obligation on the recipient.  He was being a real friend when they were in trouble.  It's good to give money and get involved in some charitable work.  This is greatly needed in the world we live in.  It seems though that being Jesus in ... (wherever you happen to be) is not about money so much as it is about making someone feel wanted and included, learning about them as people and not just 'some needy soul'.  It's about giving them a sense of value as a human being and self worth.  It's being alongside them and not just about hand outs.  'What a friend we have in Jesus.'  Being Jesus - being a friend.

What a Life!

Ben Fogle in Laos

I am currently enjoying the miniseries on television with Ben Fogle - New Lives in the Wild (Mondays channel 5  at 9 pm - UK)  He visits people who have opted out of the rat race and spends a week with them discovering just why they do what they do and have decided to live where they live.  The first one in the current series was about a 31 year old former financier from London who one day decided that there was more to life than work and the financial world he lived in.  He was searching for a place where he could be happy.  He bought a one-way ticket and set out for Asia.  He eventually settled in a hand made bamboo hut on a hidden jungle island on the Mekong river, Laos.  He lives like all the other people there and is accepted as one of them. 


Another 61 year old woman from Europe has lived alone for the past 8 years (since her husband died) in a part of the remote outback in Australia caring for the wildlife surrounding her home and a herd of wild horses who come to her when she calls them.  She also was looking for something more than what money can buy.

I saw somewhere this week the words - Making a Living or Making a Life.  Sometimes they are the same thing but more often than not there is a big gap between the two phrases.  Of course we need to work in order to have the things that we need.  Most people work at ordinary jobs so they can enjoy a form of reasonable life.  There our times when our lives seem to be governed by money - paying for this or that essential. (or what we in 21st century Britain accept as essential for life).  Do I buy because I need something or because it's the latest in thing, a 'must have' in order to have some sort of acceptance in society (if that is important to us)?


The thing is that in time most people come to realise that all the stuff that money buys us may make us comfortable but often there is still a space deep down, yearning for real happiness.  The things money can buy are of this world and this life and  have to stay here when we leave this life.  We cannot take them with us.  We have to leave them behind.  So why do we do it?  Why do we work ourselves to the bone so we can have more money to buy more stuff?  If that is your dream and it really makes you happy, fair enough.  But as the Beatles used to sing, 'Can't buy me love'.  You can buy diamond rings or flashy cars or dine out to impress but they don't guarantee love.  You can't buy peace.  You can't buy a happy homelife.  You can't buy acceptance or understanding.  I'm sure you could add more to the list.  So what do we do?  We need to make a living  to a certain extent but do we need to do it at the expense of making a life with things that money can't buy?  




I am reminded of something Banksy shared on Twitter (picture right)


I think that's a good note to end on and leave us thinking about our lives and what are the important things for us.    

Identity Theft

The other day I received an email from an online friend (whom I have never actually met in the flesh).  At least that's what it seemed at first until I read the email.  It said that he (supposedly) was in the Ukraine and needed some money if I could help.  Of course the alarm bells sounded and more or less at the same time someone else wrote on his facebook page words to the effect that he also had received a similar email.  The poor soul had had his address book hacked and someone was trying to get money under false pretences saying they were him.  We hear a lot about identity theft and are warned to be on our guard against such scams.  The sad thing is that there are many ordinary people who pretend to be someone or something that they aren't - a kind of identity fraud.  They want you to believe things about them that are just not true.  They put on a 'mask' and appear to be a certain type when deep down their thoughts are quite different.  Or they exaggerate their job description to imply something a little different from the real truth.  It's meant to impress others.

We are adamant that you and I would never do this.  What you see is what you get, as they say.  Sadly I have to admit that taking on the name of Jesus and calling myself Christian has so often fallen short of what Jesus was really like.  The general view of a Christian by a non-religious person is someone who is homophobic, church-going, straight-laced, exclusivist who lives by a lot of rules that start with the word 'don't ...'  They live in their own religious bubble and don't have much idea of what goes on in the 'real' world, or so the thinking goes.  Not someone to have much fun with, a bit miserable really, someone you need to watch what you say when they're around in order to avoid a glare of disapproval.  But the real Jesus that we read about in the Bible was nothing like that at all.  He was known to like a drink of wine (or two, or three), was often invited to people's homes, was open to all regardless of their upbringing, reputation or background.  People travelled to see him and hear what he had to say.  For many he was like a breath of fresh air.  He understood them and always wanted to help.  There was no place he would not go or person to whom he would not speak.  

His friends were a mixed bunch from all walks of life.  They included the calculating tax collector, one who was a bit of a dreamer, the rough fisherman who seemed to lurch from one blunder to another, the quiet thinker, the competitive brothers, one who was a bit of a sceptic and the one whose over-zealous nature trying to force his hand caused the death of Jesus.  So different yet they all hung out together, travelled together, talked and discussed things together.  Some may have been quite observant of their Jewish religious traditions but others were most definitely not that religious at all.  I have to consider honestly just how many people I can count as real friends (not just acquaintances) who are not Christian.  Many Christians don't have any close friends who are outside of their particular church group let alone outside of the religion altogether.  It's very much the scenario of 'us and them'.  Those 'outside' are even referred to as 'in the world'.  They are not included.  How different from how Jesus related to people.   

  
Jesus said that he had come to serve, telling his disciples that the first shall be last and the last shall be first.  Oh dear!  How we exalt the big names in preachers or worship leaders.  The well known ones attract the crowds as they flock to hear them preach, almost to the point of idol worship.  (Reminds be of young fans going to see their favourite pop idol)  They are put on pedestals and regarded almost as 'the untouchables' - until they are caught out doing something wrong, that is and then they are thrown on the scrap heap of religious has-beens.  We still struggle to really accept that in God's kingdom there is no hierarchy.  There are no reserved places at his table.  All really are equal in his sight.  The person who cleans the hall is as important as the best known preacher.  Yet how often we judge people by the size of their congregation or following and those who have more 'followers' are deemed more successful.  I have seen people more impressed with someone who has a degree or title than someone who doesn't as though having been to university somehow qualifies you as a 'better' sort of Christian.  (I'm not against a university education but we must not confuse education and knowledge with spirituality and following Jesus.  They are two different things) Friendship is so often sought more with the well-heeled, well-spoken person with a certain lifestyle than a poor manual worker struggling to make ends meet.  Yet Jesus said that as the prophet Isaiah foretold, he had come to bring good news to the poor.  Everyone is  welcome, not in a patronising way but as friends.

There are many more aspects of Jesus' life that we could think of but this is enough for the moment for us to really consider deeply, personally and honestly.  So in retrospect we need to consider and ask ourselves  Am I really a follower of Jesus?  Am I reflecting through my life just what God is like?  Can people see God's love shining through my day-to-day living?  Am I taking his name in vain?  Do I call myself Christian, take his identity, saying that I'm like him but not taking on board some of the fundamental things that he taught and lived?  Have I committed spiritual identity theft?      

Cherry Picking

Our cherry tree laden with fruit (inedible to humans)

When we moved into our current home I was pleased to find there were two large cherry trees in the back garden.  The first spring we were here, they both blossomed and so we looked forward to the fruit later that year.  Ah!  Oh dear!  One of the trees didn't give any cherries at all - nothing, zilch, zero, nada!  It was unbelievable, after all that lovely blossom. After 6 years we still get loads of lovely blossom but haven't seen any fruit, not even one very small cherry on that tree.  The other tree however was absolutely laden with fruit.  Oh, good.  That sort of made up for the disappointment of the other tree.  I picked a couple to eat - well you have to try things before you give them to others in the family!  Ugh!  They were so bitter.  I was determined to make use of them so I decided to pick some and cook them in a pan with a load of sugar and then make a cherry pie.  Well, that went down a treat - very nice.  Until the next day that is, when both my son and I spent much of the time in the smallest rooms of the house (thankfully we have the bathroom upstairs and a downstairs WC) until the cherries had completed their journey through our digestive system!  Needless to say, we haven't had any cherries from the garden since then,  The birds seem to enjoy them so we leave them for the feathered population that visit our garden.  It seems that cherry-picking doesn't always have the results you hope for or expect.

Life's like that.  You look forward to something.  You make plans in your head of what is going to happen and what you're going to do when such and such happens ... ... but then it doesn't turn out the way you hoped.  You're left with a strange feeling inside, not the experience you'd hoped for.  But you deal with it, learn from it and life goes on.

The problem I find though is that so many people look at circumstances and ask 'What did I do to deserve that?'  'Why has God allowed this to happen to me?'  It's as though God is some sort of super Santa Claus who's checking us out to see who's been naughty and who's been good and gives rewards accordingly.  God is not a Santa Claus for grown-ups!  He's not in the business of rewarding us for 'good works' and punishing us if we fail. That's not how he is or how he works.  He simply loves us no matter what.  C S Lewis said,

 'If God is love, he is, by definition, something more than mere kindness.' 

In Matthew's gospel we read that God sends the rain on the just and the unjust and that the sun shines on the good and the evil in like measure.  Some things are just the stuff of life.  And things happen to us whether we are believers or unbelievers.  Religious faith and belief are not an insurance policy against bad things happening.  What is in the 'insurance policy' of faith though is that God will walk with us through the difficulties.  When Jesus talks about leaving his peace to his followers, he didn't mean peace as in lack of turmoil, difficulties, heartache or problems.  It's a different sort of peace.  It's the sort of deep-down peace.  If you picture the ocean in a storm and the wind and waves are lashing about, tossing about anything on the surface of the water.  But deep down underneath, there is calm - no wind, no waves, no tossing about.  Just deep peace.  I don't need to spiritualise the picture - you get it.

On Twitter I follow a man called David Hayward.  He has a blog called nakedpastor.com  He describes himself as a graffiti artist on the walls of religion.  (Click on the link to check him out)  The other day he wrote on Twitter 'I certainly can't rely on external circumstances to achieve peace.  Peace must begin in my mind.' 

We can't cherry-pick our life's experiences.  We can plan ahead but don't get upset if things don't turn out the way you hoped.  Disaster has a habit of rearing its ugly head.  No matter who you are or what your beliefs are, life happens!  It's how we react and deal with the situation that matters.  But we don't need to struggle on our own - God wants to walk with us.  His love wants to envelop us and give us that deep peace amid the storm.  Accepting his offer of peace doesn't stop the storm but it helps to get through it.

Living It

I have to admit that when I was at school (many, many moons ago!) I was more of a Maths person.  I loved Algebra.  To me it seemed more like a game, solving a puzzle.  What I never really liked was the science subjects. (Sorry to all you scientists out there.)  We had to take at least one science subject so I decided on Biology.  I always found reading the scientific books very hard going, especially when they used Latin terminology.  But I did enjoy the practical lessons.  After carrying out some experiment, the dull, boring books somehow came to life.  On doing the experiments and discovering the results, the written word began to make some sense.  Even now I love watching nature documentaries and seeing things that you can only imagine when you read about them.

The written word, although necessary and good for reference is only part of the whole picture.  So many people refer to sacred texts as though they are the be all and end all of religious thought.  We call the Bible the Word of God.  Many take that to mean that there was no word from God before the Bible or has been since.  For them the written word in the Bible is the sum total of what God is and what his truth means almost to the point of worshipping the written word.  But God's first words were of creation - and God said ... ....  Throughout the Bible we have stories of God's word.  He gave the commandments, written words, rules of dos and don'ts as a guide.  He spoke through prophets in order to bring his words alive.  Often the prophets would actually live out their prophecies so people could see what they meant.  And then of course, Jesus came to show us what God is like - the (written) word made flesh.  We can read something and not really grasp the full meaning until we actually see it lived out.

I like to think of nature as the first Bible - the spoken word of God as opposed to the written word.  Our faith should not be just about the written word, theology, the things that we believe.  It's not about reciting creeds, dogmas and belief systems.  The written word should always point to the living word.  We are each a living example of our faith.  The Celtic British monk Pelagius (c 354 - 418) once said, 

'It is not what you believe that matters, it is how you respond with your heart and your actions.  It is not believing in Christ that matters, it is becoming like him.'  

Red Admiral butterfly

We learn from nature, the living word of God how all of creation is interdependent.  One species does not exist to the exclusion of all others.  Even within a species there is diversity.  A white cabbage butterfly is not 'wrong' because it is not coloured like a red admiral butterfly.  We smile at that ridiculous thought.  Yet we look at others who look, think and act a bit differently from us and presume that they must be wrong.  No!  They're just different.  Jesus (the written word made into the living word) shows that God's love is all-embracing.  As Richard Rohr in one of his meditations this week says,

Unfortunately we moved all-knowing of God largely into the realm of argumentative words, which extremely narrowed the field of knowing and actually experiencing.

I wish we could take on board God's living word and learn from it more and not be so dogmatic about our personal and particular interpretation of the written word so that our experience of him becomes deeper and more meaningful - his living word becoming flesh in and through us.

Growing and Evolving

It's that time of year when many young people are in transition.  They have finished school or college, completed their exams, some already knowing the results and are contemplating the future.  With each year, they have moved on, moved up into the next year at school until now when their formal education is all but finished.  And such is life.  Everything has a season.  Things change and evolve.  We change and evolve.  Our lives are not the same as they were 10 years ago, or even 5 years ago.  Sometimes the change is so gradual we don't even notice it while at other times it is a result of certain decisions we have made.

At the moment in the garden we are enjoying our strawberries.  They started off a few years ago as very small plants.  In the spring we look for the flowers appearing, a sign of what sort of harvest we might enjoy.  The more flowers should produce more fruit.  If the plants did not produce flowers then I would be tempted to dig them up and discard them. They are obviously not going to come to anything, certainly not produce the fruit that we planted them for.   We look for the first signs of those small buds and then for the flowers to open.  But on the other hand it wouldn't be natural for the plants to keep flowering all summer, even if they do look nice and the bees like them.  In creation the buds have to give way to the flower.  Then the flower must die in order to allow the fruit to grow through.


Each stage is necessary and we build on it for the next season.  That doesn't make the original stage wrong, it's just that now we need something more, something different.  A baby begins by drinking milk.  But if an adult consumed only milk, we would know that there was definitely a problem.  Just because the total milk diet was right and proper at the beginning doesn't mean that it must always be so.  An adult needs more than milk to be healthy.  The milk was right for that time but not now.  It reminds me of the words of Paul when he says to the Corinthians, 'I gave you milk not solid food, for you were not ready for it.  Indeed you are still not ready.'


I have on occasions asked why certain things are done in a particular way only to hear the reply, 'Well we've always done it that way'.  Sadly in our church system we find that we can go week after week, do the same things in the same way and nothing changes.  Change seems to be frowned upon.  Many seem stuck in a time warp, not willing to grow and evolve.  I have even heard church leaders saying things like,'We've been here before', and yet they continue to go around in circles coming back to the same thing again and again.  It's as though in our spiritual lives our growth is stunted as we continue to drink the milk and haven't progressed to solid food.  We are happy to just sit passively and be fed.  We just drink what is easily digested instead of taking in real meat to chew on.  On many occasions Jesus said that even though Moses had given them the Law, he was saying something different.  He came to fulfil the Law, in other words to move on from it.  It was right at the time but now they need to have a different way.  It's not natural or right for mature adults to have their parents keep telling them what they can and can't do or organising their lives for them.  They have the maturity to make their own choices. 


We can't go in to the next chapter if we keep on re-reading the last chapter.  The questions I need to ask myself are - am I just going round in circles in my spiritual life? what have I learnt about God that I didn't know or understand before? do I prefer to just sit and be fed or am I willing to seek food for myself? am I still holding on to and reliving past experiences or am I continually moving on? have I grown in the past year?  

Interfaith Journeys

The family were all looking forward to the wedding.  Family members on both sides travelled from various places to be there.  We all know of course that there are different ways of getting from point A to point B.  People have different preferences of routes, some preferring the motorways while others opting for the less busy roads, even if it takes a little longer.  The groom's mother and brother travelled up from the south by coach while his aunt and cousin travelled from the same place but by car.  Others travelled by various means from equally various places.  It didn't matter how they travelled or which route they took.  The important thing was to get there and enjoy the festivities of the wedding. 

In case any reader is unaware, this is the time of year that Muslims fast for Ramadan.  A few months ago there was a movement during the Christian time of Lent when a number of Muslims joined Christians in fasting for Lent.  The group called themselves Muslims4Lent and now in mutual solidarity there is a group called Christians4Ramadan.  I have been following a blog hosted by a distant relative who converted to Islam a few years ago.  Having come from a Christian background, she has a passion for Interfaith dialogue, not just between Christian and Muslim but also among those of other faiths and none.  During Ramadan, she has guests to post something of their experiences on her blog every day.  So far we have had articles written by a Christian vicar married to a Hindu, a Christian married to a Muslim, a Sikkh woman, a Buddhist experience in Myanmar (Burma), a Wiccan, a Heathen and an ex-Muslim.  
I have found all of the articles very interesting and eye-opening.  You can check for yourself here, A Hotchpotch Hijabi in Italy. 
I can almost see many Christian hands going up in horror at the thought.  Surely I've now clearly lost the plot altogether!  Actually reading some of these blog posts has made me realise that the many different faiths are each trying to live good lives, aware of the deep spiritual dimension within themselves.  Each one is obviously influenced by their culture and life experiences.  But I have been aware that we are all on a similar journey to the same end goal except that we are travelling from different starting points and going different routes and preferring different methods of getting there.  Jesus showed his love for all with interactions with the Phoenician woman (the immigrant), the Samaritan woman at the well (the one who left the true Jewish religion), the centurion whose servant was ill (the enemy, invader, part of an occupying army) and so on.  He didn't tell them to leave their way of life but still had time for them, showing compassion and helping them.  The Old Testament also has examples of interfaith living.  We are familiar with the story of Naaman the leper, an important official in the country where the Israelites were taken captive.  Moses' father-in-law Jethro was not Hebrew and Abraham acknowledged Melchizedek as a holy man.  Contrary to what many Christians think, God doesn't actually belong to us or our religion.  It's the other way around.  We as his creation belong to Him - and that includes all of humanity.  


What has challenged me this week has been words of the Heathen on the above mentioned blog.  He helps friends find their own faith even if they disagree with him and end up believing something completely different.  Would I do that?  So often we make friends with someone of a different faith really in order to convert them to ours, if we're truly honest.  We think we are right and we have the only true way and we remain friends only as long as there seems to be some glimmer of hope  that they will convert to our way of thinking and come to our place of worship.  That's the main problem in the world, that there is upheaval and wars between those of different faiths, fighting it out as if that would prove who is right.  It's not about watering-down our own faith but it is about really accepting that maybe there is more than one way; that we all belong to God; that we are all on our own different journey of faith; that God loves us all.  Acceptance, not just tolerance.  Very difficult at times but much better than killing each other to try to prove a theological argument.  As Richard Rohr says in one of his meditations this week,  'If you really believe in the values you say you believe in, then put them into practice.  Don't waste any time trying to prove someone else is wrong or evil.  Just live what you believe.'  Amen!  We are all on our own faith path of discovery and I am sure that as God guides and directs me, so he is more than capable of doing the same in the lives of others, whatever faith they seek to follow.  Having listened to the horrors on the news yesterday, I am even more certain that interfaith dialogue is a need for our time so that we can have discernment and be able to know the difference between those who truly seek to live out their faith, cultivate that spiritual inner being and seek to help others and not confuse them with those who twist and misuse the name of a religion and words of Sacred writings in order to inflict terror and killing any who don't see things the way they do.  Such people are not true to the religion they profess.  Tit-for-tat killing gets us nowhere except deeper into the horrors of war.  So, those of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus, maybe it's time to put into practice the way he showed us, really follow him in actions as well as words and have a little more interfaith dialogue and understanding.  Love not hate.

Flightless

This week I watched a very interesting programme by David Attenborough.  The truth is that I find all of his programmes interesting.  He always seems to come up with new things and very interesting details about creation.  I like his style and way of presenting so when the new programme was televised, of course I had to watch.  It was about birds but not the usual garden kind or even exotic types like birds of paradise.  They were birds that don't fly.  The point was made that when we think of birds we think of creatures that fly, sing and have feathers.  But there is a group of birds that don't fly, can't sing and their 'feathers' are more like fluff and certainly not suitable for flying as the different strands don't have hooks to make them click together in an aerodynamic way.  In fact some of these birds barely have wings at all.  


Scientists still put them in the category of birds because of their DNA and evolutionary history.  Apparently they became land based after the dinosaurs died out and they were no longer predated and so didn't need to fly away to safety.  It was then that they were able to stay on land and grow really big,  unlike the birds that they had evolved from.  There are five birds in this group: the ostrich (Africa), rhea (South America), emu and cassowary (Australia) and the kiwi (New Zealand).  The point that got to me was that although this group of birds were not at all like the usual sort of bird, they were still categorised as birds.  Scientists accepted that even though they were nothing like their distant cousins, they were still birds.  


We humans tend to categorise other people all the time, whether it be by religion, politics, gender, profession, nationality, likes and dislikes, disability and health ... ... and so on.  We have cartoon images in our minds of a beret-wearing, onion-selling Frenchman, a loud American tourist, a pasta-eating Italian, a yodeling Swiss goatherd, a beer-swilling, wurst-eating German ... etc.  Of course we know that not every Frenchman wears a beret and not all of the Swiss yodel.  Just as we don't expect other nationalities to think that all British men wear bowler hats.  But there is a tendency that until we get to know someone then we have a certain image in our minds depending on the category we have placed them in.  I remember many years ago someone who didn't want to tell her Christian friend that she was getting a divorce because she thought that she would disapprove and probably give her a lecture about 'til death us do part'.  Actually the friend would not have reacted in that way, just the opposite but how often we prejudge what people are like because they have been given a label and put into a category. 

An ostrich can't fly, a cassowary can't sing and the 'feathers' and wings of the kiwi are almost non-existent.  Yet they are birds.  Not all Germans drink beer but they are still Germans.  People express their love for and relationship with God in different and varied ways.  Just because someone doesn't fit exactly into our thinking of what a Christian is or  should do doesn't mean that they are not Christians.  Doing things differently doesn't mean it's wrong.  It's just different.  It's a shame that we can easily accept such diversity in the natural world yet find it difficult to do the same with God's human part of creation.  Like the flightless birds, people grow, evolve and change.  God is BIG and all-encompassing and all of his creation is varied and that's the wonder of it.  

Some Hope!

Some hope!  When we hear that expression used, it often means that actually there is no hope as opposed to some hope.  It's like saying 'there's no chance that will happen'.  When we look at various situations in the world where there is so much pain and poverty, we could easily be forgiven for thinking that there is no hope for some people.  All efforts seem futile, especially if we're not in some position of authority where we can actually make a difference.  Some things are just beyond our control or our sphere of influence.  The problem is that when we think that we cannot make a difference on a world scale then it's pointless to try to make a difference anywhere.  So we just retire to our own little bubble and let the world go by.  I'm not suggesting that we should become an 'activist', join demonstrations or lobby members of parliament.  Not everyone feels they want to write to someone in authority to complain and often we have the idea that they wouldn't take any notice anyway so what's the point.


You know when a child falls and hurts themselves?  How often have we looked all sorry for them and promised to make it better.  We bend down and kiss the part that hurts declaring that now it's mended, the pain's gone and the tears stop flowing.  We know of course that a kiss doesn't actually heal the physical hurt (unless scientists come up with the theory that human saliva has healing properties) but the fact that you stopped doing what you were doing, paid attention and were prepared to sympathise made the child feel much better.  They were no longer suffering on their own.  Someone had bothered that they were hurting.  Part of the problem in society is that we are so busy doing stuff that we don't have time to spend just listening and sympathising with those who hurt when really that is what they need most.  It has been said that so often in a conversation, we listen only to think of what our reply will be when sometimes we need to just listen and let the other person offload their problems, share their situation with someone.  They don't always need you to find a solution, they just want to be heard or recognised and accepted.  

Making a difference doesn't need to be in terms of some mission far away in another country (unless of course you feel that is what you need to be doing).  Neither is it necessarily about being committed or involved in some project.  So the question is 'How can I make a difference where I am?'  Do you know your neighbours?  When was the last time you stopped and had a conversation with them, not just passing the time of day?  Do you disagree with some of the things that big corporations want to inflict on us?  Have you thought about signing a petition?  The more people who show they disagree, can have some effect.  Nowadays sharing things on social media can have long reaching results and has the potential to really make a difference. Is there a community centre where you live?  Or some charity you could give some time volunteering with or doing a charity run or walk or the like?  Do you go to any activity or meeting that is not connected to your particular church or faith centre?  Do you have any friends who are not connected to the religion you follow?  The answer really is - get out of the box, move out of your bubble.  There is a world out there that is desperate for someone just to listen and maybe lend a helping hand.  It's amazing the difference you will make just by saying, 'can I help?', or 'I can do that if you want.'  There has recently been a photo that went viral of a young police constable who helped to carry the shopping bags of an old man and accompanied him to his house.  What a shame that such things go viral because they are becoming more unusual and things like that happen less frequently.  We can reverse the trend and make the positive things happen more often.  

I read the other day words by the Dalai Lama from his Little Book of Wisdom entitled 'For the Good of All':

Even if only a few individuals try to create mental peace and happiness within themselves and act responsibly and kindheartedly towards others, they will have a positive influence in their community.

We tend to think that things work by trickling down from the top towards those at the bottom when actually it works the other way round.  When those on the bottom, the ordinary, everyday, move and are noticed making a difference then it influences those in higher places of authority. I finish with this video I saw the other day that caught my attention.  It is a very good lesson in that even the smallest can make a difference to the big picture.

You don't need to understand the science behind it in order for it to have an effect.  Never consider that what you do won't make a difference.  It can.  You will.  Be the answer.