The Archbish on relationship and community…

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I usually find myself more or less in agreement with Rowan Williams these days. He has a way of saying important thing but, delivered in his dry academic oratory style, I wonder if enough people actually take the trouble to listen? Despite the fact that I have not been part of the CofE for about 25 years, in many ways, I still see him as a spiritual leader for whom I have the utmost respect.

My mate Simon pointed at this Christmas sermon, as the theme of relationship and community is likely to be a central one for me this coming year.

This year the Archbish started with a fairly standard Christmas theme-

God has always been communicating with humanity, in any number of ways; but what we need from God is more than just information.  The climax of the story is the sending of a Son: when all has been said and done on the level of information what still needs to be made clear to us is that the point of it all is relationship.

He then goes on to speak about the dependent nature of this relationship-

So the important thing is not that everyone gets to stand on their own two feet and turns into a reliable ‘independent’ consumer and contributor to the GNP.  What we expect from each other in a generous and grown-up society is much more to do with all of us learning how to ask from each other, how to receive from each other, how to depend on the generosity of those who love us and stand alongside us.  And that again means a particular care for those who need us most, who need us to secure their place and guarantee that there is nourishment and stability for them.  As we learn how to be gratefully dependent, we learn how to attend to and respond to the dependence of others.  Perhaps by God’s grace we shall learn in this way how to create a society in which real dependence is celebrated and safeguarded, not regarded with embarrassment or abused by the powerful and greedy.

God has spoken through a Son.  He has called us all to become children at the cradle of the Son, the Word made flesh, so that we may grow into a glory that even the angels wonder at.  To all who accept him he gives power and authority to become children of God, learning and growing into endless life and joy.

Well said Rowan.

Christmas at our house…

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So, another Christmas season comes and goes. We have had a lovely time, I hope you have too. Those moments of delight on the kids faces…

We have had Michaela’s Mum and Step-Father here this Christmas, which has been great as Robert has not been well. They had an epic journey up from Derbyshire- a 5 hour train journey became a 10 hour one, with cancelled trains and all sorts of problems because of the snow.

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.”