Monthly Archives: August 2011

Shared journeys…

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We had a lovely evening last night with Si and Sue Smith, who are up here on holiday at the moment. Above is a picture of Si by his son Jonah- who is obviously following in his talented father’s footsteps…

Si works as an illustrator/artist/all round creative person, and was responsible for the ’40’ images that I wrote some meditations for (See here.)

Last night however, we shared stories of faith journeys- through churches, experiments with new forms of church, leaving church, alternative worship groups and our concerns about our kids in all of this. It was a good conversation, because in many ways our stories are similar. And there is something about the path that we have found ourselves on that at times makes us think that we are alone.

I think the truth is that we are very far from alone- there are many of us who have been ‘activists’ within the church who have found that the institution form of organised faith has become simply impossible to remain within- and so we have set out alone- at least for now.

That is not to say that community and connections with others with whom we can share life is not important- in fact it is all the more so, hence the deep goodness of conversations like last night…

(Happy anniversary to Si and Sue by the way!)

The law, or the Spirit?

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It has been said that cricket was exported by the British Empire as a way of selling some kind of idea of ‘Britishness’- characterised by fair play, individual skills realised in a team context and adherence to rules. Cricket has moved on a long way since then- the seat of power has shifted firmly towards India, and there is a hard edged professionalism to the game.

However, the high drama of the international arena still has a way of throwing up controversies- there is a great test series being played between India and England at the moment- and yesterday one of the England players, who was batting brilliantly and playing his team into a potentially match winning position, found himself in the middle of a conflict with the laws of the game, and what cricketers still call ‘the spirit of the game’.

In case you are interested, this is what happened-

All very interesting if you are a cricket fan- but also, I think there is a useful theological parallel here. Much of the letters of Paul in the Bible constantly debate the primacy of the LAW as against the NEW KINGDOM- and the rule of love. More recently, this whole controversy has surfaced again with the discussions about what might happen to we sinners when we die (eg Rob Bell’s book ‘Love Wins’) and also all this discussion about homosexuality (see yesterday’s post.)

Our ‘modern’ interpretation of the law is characterised by an idea of inflexible, unyielding black and white rules, and whilst many who practice the law might suggest that this may well be an illusion, we assume that this is the kind of law making that God adheres to also.

But what if the universe has a higher court- not of law, but of principle- you could say the ‘spirit of the game’? What if ultimately, the rule of love will indeed overcome all- not to condemn the law, but to fulfill it. Not to ignore the law, but rather to dwell in the midst of the laws purpose?