Author Archives: Chris Goan

This Fragile Tent Christmas card, 2009…

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I’m going to take a few days break from blogging. If I can. No-one reads blogs at Christmas anyway- we have far better things to do!

Like most of us, I have been busy- cleaning shovelling snow and grit, and wrapping.

We were out carol singing yesterday, and I really enjoyed it- it has become a Christmas tradition that is increasingly important to me- we take out trumpets and trombones and pianos that most of us only play once a year, and we visit some old folks homes and sing…

It is such a blessing to give- and so may you find much blessing…

And to all of you who read this blog, may this Christmas be wonderful.

And may you discover Emmanuel. God with us.

Above all the neon blaze

And electric flicker

May you still

Be blessed

By starlight

Amongst all the old recycled songs

And the fake sleighbells

May there be a moment

When peace

Falls like perfect

Snowflakes

But when we’ve overfed

And over drank

When all the gifts are given

Let us remember

That the child

Became a man

You know who your mates are…

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Ahhhhhhh- that’s me.

Off work for a week.

And boy was I ever ready. I had a day from hell yesterday, topped of with a migraine in the evening. I know myself well enough to understand when I need headspace on my own, and when I need to be amongst people.

But the fact is, to a various degree, we all need both. In particular, we all need to be with people who are willing to love and accept us as we are- in short, we all need mates. It is a physical, spiritual and emotional pull on the core of us.

I have enjoyed these adverts recently- and smiled ruefully- as a result of awareness of my own frequent failings, and the pain I have sometimes felt through a perception of others failing me…

And that’s about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure. Greet one another with a holy embrace. All the brothers and sisters here say hello.
2 Corinthians 13:10-12

Rambo, Hollywood and war…

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Rambo III was on this evening. I flicked past it, and found my eyebrows shooting upwards.

I have never been a fan of these films- which always made me laugh. The ridiculous plot lines, the wooden acting, the stereotypical bad guys- and the fact that no-one could shoot straight, apart from Rambo of course, who can dodge nuclear missiles. However, I had not realised that they could be prophetic- until just now.

So, a quick recap of the plot to Rambo III. Rambo’s former commander and side kick is captured whilst delivering missiles to some brave freedom fighters who are heroically resisting the evil Soviet invasion of their country- Afghanistan. The names of the freedom fighters? The Taliban. Of course, Rambo kicks much ass, kills all the bad people, and frees the Taliban from the oppressive heel of oppression.

Along the way, there is plenty of tub thumping American propoganda.

Check out this clip- and you will understand my raised eyebrows!

By way of further discussion- there is a good post by Brian McLaren in response to a recent speech by President Obama. He quotes Obama as saying this-

… mindful of what Martin Luther King said in this same ceremony years ago – “Violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones.” As someone who stands here as a direct consequence of Dr. King’s life’s work, I am living testimony to the moral force of non-violence. I know there is nothing weak -nothing passive – nothing naïve – in the creed and lives of Gandhi and King.

But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by their examples alone. I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler’s armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda’s leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism – it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.

The President of the USA has such  responsibility. The worlds only superpower, currently fighting wars in two foreign soils. But like many, I remain unconvinced that the response to violence should be greater violence. Jesus pointed us to a different way of being…

I loved McLaren’s comment on this-

I don’t judge the President; I’m just a citizen with a lot less intelligence (of whatever sort) than he has. But I wonder if someday he will see that he was right in his first assessment of Gandhi and King: they spoke not from naivete about evil and violence but from “a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.” Yes, one can be naive about the insidious reality of evil, but one can also be naive about the “germs of self-destruction” contained within our attempts to overcome evil through “the mass application of force.”Somehow we must live with vigilance against both kinds of naivete, Presidents and citizens alike.

Not for the first time, I find myself saying “Amen Brian, amen.”

Becoming the beloved…

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We watched a DVD in housegroup this evening, borrowed from Michaela Kast (Thanks Michaela!) of Henri Nouwen, great catholic writer, friend and companion of Jean Vanier and standing a great tradition of writers and Spiritual thinkers who are influenced by liberation theology.

Here is a clip from the DVD I discovered on you tube-

There were two more talks on the DVD, and we watched them all.

The second one talked about communion- how the breaking of the bread was an image for how we were to live our lives.

TAKEN- Chosen so that we might see the chosen-ness in others.

BLESSED- but blessed most through our encounter with the other- in learning how to give blessing, not through seeking to receive for our own sake. Speaking well of one another- not looking for evidence for the prosecution…

BROKEN- being aware of our own brokenness, but not living in fear of it- rather placing it under the blessing.

GIVING- our life finds real purpose when we practice active loving of others

The third one focussed on the discipline of becoming the beloved- and had three elements-

LISTENING to God- time aside to be alone.

COMMUNITY- not the dependent, mutually needy but friction related community, but rather a community of people who are aware of being the Beloved…

And finally- MINISTRY- which is the practical out pouring of the two above.

I will post some more about this some time later, as it is a central theme for me at the moment…

I first discovered Nouwen through our friend and former pastor Judith Warren, who was helping me through some counselling at the time. I was struggling to ever believe that I could be the Beloved of anyone- let along God. It is a struggle that continues in me at times still.

And it was not until I listened to Nouwen again this evening that I realised how much these teachings have become central to the way I understand God, and the life of faith. Not because I think these things are now sorted and OK in me- but rather because contained within the hope love and joy of these words is something ineffably GOOD and right.

It is a return again to simple things, running deep.

The beloved who are free to love.

Nouwen died in 2006, of a sudden heart attack.

It is perhaps worth noting that he struggled with clinical depression. His book ‘Wounded Healer‘ written in 1969, speaks of a way of reaching out to others through connecting with our own brokenness and pain.

His life and ministry is another reason that I am grateful for the Catholic tradition.

World of wonders…

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I was looking out at the night sky, now gloriously clear after the fog of the weekend. And it hit me again…

What an amazing place we stand in the middle of.

Transcendent moments like this always make me softer- more human, more alive.

At the same time, I want to share them with my friends and people I love.

And to celebrate them by allowing them to shape me into making something artistic and beautiful.

Most of all, they make me long to reach out towards the thing beyond- whom I poorly understand, but yearn for- and can only name as God.

Others tell this same story better than me- here is one of them. Forgive the Germans chattering in the background- they were not experiencing transcendence. They like prog rock over there you know…

Stand on a bridge before the cavern of night
Darkness alive with possibility
Nose to this wind full of twinkling lights
Trying to catch the scent of what’s coming to be (in this…)

World of wonders…

Somewhere a saxophone slides through changes
Like a wet pipe dripping down my neck
Gives me a chill — sounds like danger
But I can’t stop moving till I cross this sector (of this…)

World of wonders…

There’s a rainbow shining in a bead of spittle
Falling diamonds in rattling rain
Light flexed on moving muscle
I stand here dazzled with my heart in flames (at this…)

World of wonders…

Moment of peace like brief arctic bloom
Red/gold ripple of the sun going down
Line of black hills makes my bed
Sky full of love pulled over my head

World of wonders…