Waiting to die or to be raised? From Good Friday to Easter to Good Friday.

Waiting to die or to be raised?

“The Good Samaritan” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Living in isolation, more or less, is particularly hard if memories of a previous time of abundant social contact, and happy contact often, become a constant reminder of the contrast in what was and what is.  The attempt to take an interest in other things, study, creative activity (painting, writing, reading) is difficult without any ‘end product’ being discernable.

I am made acutely aware of the situation that so many people endure in societies globally and in particular here in England, and I am especially mindful of the isolation that older people experience.    This ‘loneliness’ is perhaps harder to bear if one is living on a low income and more so if one is suffering from chronic depression.  I think it is reasonable to suggest that such isolation may contribute to increased depression if not become the actual cause of depression for many.

The desire for social interaction (and maybe the simple reason that I am writing this) is strong, but one can easily become ambivalent about the prospect of social contact.  Whether there is any real opportunity for being with others is another thing.  The needs of the socially isolated are complex and become more involved as time goes on.  The desire to be with others is opposed by the fear of being unable to successfully interact with others.  One feels out of practice, and even unworthy, though this may be more to do with my own particular case.

The failure to develop regular and meaningful relationships leaves the isolated person without the normal support that we might take for granted.  Simple activities, paying bills, dealing with authorities and even what to eat, are never shared; the only advice one has is ones own.  Easter is indeed a time for rejoicing and the resurrection from death of Jesus is a great fact that fills us with gladness and thanksgiving.   For the isolated person, though, it may also sharpen the contrast of how sparse ones existence truly is.

The Church is a vehicle for hope and it has been given a wonderful task, to declare The Resurrection of Jesus Christ anew to every generation.  One issue that today’s Church of England, and others in the Anglican Community share, is the proclamation of that Resurrection to today’s world and today’s people.

The Samaritan, the leper and the prostitute were welcomed and blessed by Jesus.  Today, we have the task of declaring welcome, on equal terms, to women, to all sexual orientations and to those whom society vilifies perpetually.

How will the Church declare the Gospel?  To whom will it speak?  Will it be able to do God’s work? Will it speak to everyone?  If it does then how will it enact that Gospel?  How will it welcome the isolated?  Will it be generous and give the isolated bread, or will it keep it tightly locked up in the tabernacle, in its exclusive rites and laws, in its fear of popular villification?  Do we hear the cock crow thrice still?

MrC

Anbody want to employ me?

Among more than 1,400 adult females, childhood sexual abuse was associated with increased likelihood of drug dependence, alcohol dependence, and psychiatric disorders. The associations are expressed as odds ratios: for example, women who experienced nongenital sexual abuse in childhood were 2.93 times more likely to suffer drug dependence as adults than were women who were not abused. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The experience of not having a job, for whatever reason, is not a good one.  The dependancy on state support can be very debilitating, not least because of the self-image one soon aquires.  A sense of irrelevance and uselessness, especialy if you are isolated from freinds and family is sometimes quite overwhelming.  It can demand a huge effort to break out of this self-perception and even then one tends to fall back into it quickly.

In my case, I do not complain, but nonetheless the hoplessness is real and trying to face the prospect of dealing with a legacy of childhood sexual abuse by making formal allegations is hard to face.  Added to this, not being part of a christian Community (other than you good people) is a constant stress as worship and support that I have had all my life is no longer there.

I want you to pray for all who are unemployed and all who are isolated, and if you can, look at what you can do for those in your own community who are in this sort of situation.

My life has been dedicated to helping others, both as a Social Worker and as a Priest, and I believe that God has a purpose for me, and for us all.  As our country faces more job losses the need is great but we are part of a worldwide family and it is important for us to think also of those in other countries who face isolation and have no work, people who live in countries where the state does not offer support of any kind.

MrC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8a7GMR_ke0

Mr C’s Christmas Surprise (or more accurately Epiphany.)

WATCH VIDEO VIDEO HERE

Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy: The Three Wise Men” (named Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar). Detail from: “Mary and Child, surrounded by angels”, mosaic of a Ravennate italian-byzantine workshop, completed within 526 AD by the so-called “Master of Sant’Apollinare”. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Script…..

In the ancient manuscript of the Peshitta there is an extensive account of the fourth wise man, and more, which the Church has suppressed.

The ancient Syrian document tells of the start of their journey beginning with a lengthy debate the night before they set out.

Gaspar.           Go we now to follow the star? (as he smoked his woodbine)

Melchior .        No Gaspar, on the morrow for tonight we have matters to sort out first, prithee.

Balthasar        Yay, verily t’is true Gaspar for we are sore vexed and all awash with dissention.

Gaspar.           How then?  Whence comes this untimely discord?

Balthaser.       You were outside round the back when this tension was revealed,

Gaspar                        oh right, sorry about that lads.

Melchior.         Philip has said he will not ride with us this night.

Gaspar.           Why not dear Philip, were we not agreed on the date?

Philip.              Yay verily we were anon, but hie thee without me, for it is a bad omen that we travel under this cloud of disunity.

Gaspar.           Disunity?  Why this is news to me, what is up Dear Philip?

Philip.              I am unsure that we will be welcome in all lands and this vexes me sore.

Balthasar.       Philip thinks we need to include a woman in our number lest the lands we travel through think us biased and unbalanced.

Melchior.         T’is true dear Gaspar, how think you on this matter my old mate?

Gaspar.           I don’t know to be honest, what do our followers believe on this matter, have we consulted with them at all?

Balthasar.       Of course we have, as on all matters that bother them, but they have been hoodwinked by a few who believe that women are somehow peculiar to God.

Gaspar.           Bathasar, you have been our voice to them, what believe you about women?

Balthasar.       I too think a woman cannot ride a camel very well and it would be awkward for us if one of us rode side saddle.  I believe that it impossible to ride side saddle on a camel and thus no woman should accompany us on this arduous journey.

Melchior.         Forgive me brothers but I am not certain that all women ride side saddle anymore, I have reports of women riding camels as we do.

Philip               This is blasphemy for surely God ordained it so, that women ride side saddle and men do not.

Gaspar.           I have heard tell of some men, in forign lands, who have taken it upon themselves to ride side saddle in secret, and more….

Melchior.         Go on Gaspar pray tell…

Gaspar.           I have heard that in the northern kingdoms some men are riding side saddle openly, and that the common people do not find this amiss.

Balthasar.       I don’t believe it, say it is not so Gaspar…

Gaspar.           T’is true, I have letters from one of my cousins saying as much.

Philip.              I cannot condone this behaviour but our journey must succeed.  What are we to do?

After more deliberation and much puzzling Melchior spoke out.

Melchior.         I have it.  Let us take into our number a fifth, a woman.

Balthasar.       A Woman!

Melchior.         Hear me out friends.  If we compromise we can take a woman with us who would not ride side saddle and if we come to a kingdom that gives women equality we would be able to show her to them and appease them.  In our journal, however we will make no mention of her and our own followers will not be scandalised.  I know of such a woman who may fit the bill.

Philip.              If we are found out, we would be a focus for disunity, I cannot agree.

Gaspar.           Sounds like a good idea to me.

Balthasar thought and then spoke.  It is a good compromise and we might get away with it if were careful.

Melchior.         Philip, I entreat thee to reconsider.

Philip.              No my mind is made up, I will remain here and tend the followers as before.

Baltasar.         Than so be it.  Take our blessing dear Philip and go back to your former work.  Melchior, who is this woman?

Melchior.         Her name is  Katharine, a woman of clear vision and well versed in the use of the astrolabe and knows the powers of the Pebbles, shells, twigs and feathers.

Balthasar.       Fetch her and be quick.  We have no time to loose.

Noah, The Koala and Fundamentalist Evangelicalism

English: Noah’s Ark in Iğdır (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To what extent is evangelistic ‘Christianity’ allied to the literal interpretation of the writings of the Bible?  The abandonment of reason in favour of rejection of science in order to adhere to literal interpretation is worrying.  Koalas and Kangaroos are clearly not animals that would be occupants of the Ark, and their demise would be assured in a world wide flood.

Whilst I personally believe that God can, has, and does, intervene in this world; I do not believe that God inspires stories as stumbling blocks to true understanding in His existence, yet millions, of various faiths, and fundamentalist evangelicalists appear to belong to them, adhere fanatically to stories in the Bible that are incomprehensible in reality.

How far the Church of England is influenced by such people is deeply worrying, for such blind faith leads to strange and dysfunctional thinking about the nature of God.  It should be of serious concern to all Christians that we may be governed by and influenced by such people.  General synod, priests and Churches allied to the World Council of Churches are infiltrated by people whose beliefs reject reason and common sense.

Whilst irrational stories, recorded in the Bible may have emerged from stories based on past social memories of ancient societies, and may hold truths about humanity and God, to accept them as literal, in the face of scientific revelations that show them as wrong, is to hold on to a mindset that is unsure of itself, a mindset that is insecure in its belief in the true God and an insecurity about God’s interaction with humanity throughout history, thoughout time.

The Church of today must abandon such literal understanding and accept the revelation of reason, accept the fruits of human discovery and revel in the gift of truth that God has given us.

The right of each individual to believe what they will, might be a reasonable aspiration, but to allow irrational fundamentalism to influence the growth of the church is to allow the church to appeal to the irrational and superstitious inclination of humanity.  Such an appeal is not honest, is not sustainable and is not worthwhile.

If Christ is to live in our hearts then our hearts must also be open to the truth and reject the irrational and the superstitious.  Our Church must do the same.

MrC

Challenge to you. Explain Christianity.

Christmas ball – Christianity (Photo credit: nabeel_yoosuf)

Why should anyone be a Christian?

What is the basic message that you would put to someone enquiring about the Christian Faith?

What are the essential pieces of information that one needs to convey the Christian faith?

Or is it something that is often socially and habitually acquired, perhaps from an early age.

Answers in comments please.a

 

The Church needs to Change

god (Photo credit: the|G|™)

If the church is to survive as a purposeful and positive factor in people’s lives then it is going to have to change radically.  The superstition and sectarianism that it has depended upon for generations must come to an end if it is to offer modern society a Gospel that is relevant and believable in a new age.  Essential truths about the nature of God must be decided upon with a new approach and old interpretations that are harmful, and in many scholarly places discredited, must be rooted out.

It is true that the church has moved away from much that it once taught and it no longer gives credibility to blatant discrimination of Government and economic policies; slavery, serfdom, fear and arrogance have been rejected at last.  Though not in every case, not for everyone.  We still promote traditions that are anti-gay and the church remains an establishment that holds secrets and shuns openness and truthfulness in its dealings with finance and morality.  It is flawed and often behaves in a way that Christ would condemn.

More fundamentally the attempt to include within itself a range of extreme values that are mutually opposed has resulted in a deeply divided house,  It needs to define what it holds as true and make those values known.  The church needs to be freed from the ill-conceived idea of unity and position itself clearly with the values that Christ taught.  It is time to reject the individualistic theories and interpretations that  those who are at its extreme ends hold as ‘essential to salvation’.

The church needs to be honest and admit when it is unsure, be humble and admit that it has, and continues to get things wrong.  The Church needs to confess its sinfulness and seek forgiveness, for example; when it is harsh and when it obscures the nature of God   from the eyes and ears of the people it is called to serve, when it presents instead a vision of God that lacks compassion and accessibility.

To hold on to a God, indeed a Gospel that is excluding of many and irrelevant to most is foolish and cannot be sustained, nor should it be.  To believe that access to God is reserved to itself alone is against the word of God and extremists who promote such a view are heretical and wrong.

Holding on to privilege and establishment is contrary to the way that Christ taught us and rejecting that which it believes is embarrassing or it believes is damaging to its own survival is to also reject the God who scandalised His own people by hanging on a cross, rejected and despised.

Maybe it is time for all Christians to review what the Gospel tells us about the nature of God in our world.  Perhaps it is a time for all denominations to be humbled by the story of Christ and revisit their thinking and divest themselves of fondly held beliefs that are unhelpful and contradictory.

Re thinking the Gospel is not a novel idea, it has always been part of what we are as Church and history testifies to this, as do the writings of the New Testament themselves.  Change can be threatening but seeking a true understanding of the nature of God may demand change from each and every one of us.

I am tired of hearing the pomposity of fundamentalists in the church and the certitude of so many clerics, especially the most senior of our church.  There are those who twitter without thinking and I guess they live their lives in much the same way, but feel themselves right and justified by habitually adopting narrow thinking and by holding onto personal creeds that are far from what Christ taught us.

Somewhere in the Church of England there has to be a renaissance.  It is time for change and an abandonment of the shackles of tradition.  It is time for good people to  speak out and be heard, it is time to be open to new thinking and looking at Christ with new eyes.  It is time to cast off the bonds of slavery to the past and look seriously at what is relevant to God’s relationship with His people.

Moving on……

Moving Day (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Faithful followers of this blog know that MrC has poked fun at a lot of people and occasionally pointed out some really bad behaviour by others.  I am not without sin either and it is not a perfect blog by any means.

Still, defending those who are oppressed by others, exposing bullying by senior clerics, these are things we are all required to do, sinners or not, and each and everyone of us will, if we submit to to following Christ and walking the way of the Cross, offering ourselves for the betterment of others, we will all be redeemed, even Bishops and Archbishops.

We are all equal, we are all created by God and we will all be judged by Him.  How far we come to know Him here on earth and live according to His will, as best we can; indeed how far we are able to forgive, may be the deciding factor in how far we are able to live with Him in heaven.

MrC

 

I Have Sinned

 

Derivative work. Original image was taken by bobsh_t Flickr user. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I wonder how many of us have decided to go to confession as part of our preparation for Easter.  It is a good thing that works wonders for many of us, maybe it can help everyone.

There is something very particular and deeply prayerful about making your confession to God with another person, in my case, a Priest.

It is radically different in intensity to the General confession made collectively at a service, such as at the Mass.

This type of confession is quite hard to do, and for me is very daunting each time I go along to do it, but, as I say, the deep prayerfulness, the intimacy of the experience can be breathtaking.

For those of you who have not done it, you are missing out on an opportunity to be with God in a particularly intimate and powerful way and I hope that you do manage to find a way to access this blessed opportunity.

Mind you, there are things to be mindful of.  Go to someone who you know to be prayerful and in whom you recognise wisdom, and that may not be your local vicar!  It does not have to be a priest but I know of few lay people who offer this service, and the traditional catholic view would be that the absolution cannot be pronounced by a lay person.

This last point is something I would agree with but it is not an essential feature of confession and would not want it to stop you making your confession.  The absolution is secondary to the act of confession and good catholic traditionalists will remind us that the Holy Spirit is free to go wherever it wills.

MrC

Archbishop to Retire. MrC offers a prayer for the CNC that you can use today.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

So the cross hating Mr Williams has announced his retirement from kowtowing to the more lunatic  Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals of the Church of England.  We all knew he was bankrupt as an archbishop and we already knew he was going to retire in the next twelve months.  The next nail in the Church of England coffin will be delivered by the CNC.  That body of arrogant individuals who will chose the next poor victim of Canterbury.

For the sycophants who will find the above distasteful and disloyal I apologise, but the truth, as I witness it, is that Rowan has demonstrated his very bad temper, reduced the weak to tears, allowed others to manipulate the democratic process and has resorted to legal subterfuge to deprive people of their rights and God of His will.

The man came to us carrying hope for a better future and he has indeed had to weather some of the stormiest times in recent generations, but he has failed abysmally to lead us in the path of Christ.  He may have the beard of a kindly wizard, the voice of a kindly therapist and the demeanour of a saint but he is none of those things, (except the wizard thing, he is a spiritual descendant of Merlin since he officially became a Welsh Druid).  He held the hopes of many and dashed them against the wall of establishment.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the man in many ways and my heart does go out to him, I willed him to be better and I have appropriate respect for him, but he has not been good for us.

The real worry we have now is the process of selecting the next Archbishop.  Sentimoo is not going to go for it as he is not well and is too much of a bullying buffoon to fool the CNC a third time.  It is the CNC itself that we have to pray for.

Here is a prayer you might like to use in your own devotions.

Dear Father,

Help the CNC members to put away their own agendas and let them know that they, and their tribes have had their time.

Help them to listen to people outside of London and not to just give lip service to the northern folk.

Father, we just ask that you show them how to get their secretarial work right and pass on information.

Father, put your protecting power around their photocopier so that documents can be read.

Father, help them to remember more and more that Oxford and Cambridge are not the only universities in England.

Father, help them to show compassion and love, cast out any spot of arrogance and high handedness, and protect them from snobbery and pomposity.

Father, let your Holy spirit come down and work amongst them.  Let them know that you know the secrets of all our hearts and know even the secrets of the CNC.

Amen.

Bye Bye for now.  MrC

Planning to be bad today? Don’t be surprised if you are.

Image via Wikipedia

I had made plans recently, quite important plans in many ways, ones that would have altered the things I might expect to change most days of the week pretty radically for many years.  I had discussed the ideas around these plans with many people, friends and professional advisers and family.  I still have those plans in place and I am hopeful that something may come of them but last night something happened that has blown a hole through my plans and now they are fundamentally challenged.

A guiding principle of my life has been that discerning the will of God in all things is fundamental and should guide all that I do.  For most things this is quite insignificant really.  I mean how I trim my whiskers may not be high on the Infinite’s agenda but He may have an opinion I suppose.  Yet in the matter of what I do with my time, then that may be of great significance to Him.

There are times when we put in a good deal of effort to understand what God wants us to do.  It is a question that is as old as we are; “what should I do?”  This question, or more precisely the desperate seeking of advice that flows from it, has allowed sorcerers, astrologers, statisticians and many a religion to become wealthy.  It has given quite a few ‘agony aunts’ a living and can give rise to sects dictators and war.

This desire that we have, to want to know what we ‘should’ do, is an important desire.  The principles that we decide upon to guide us in getting the answer to the question shapes our lives greatly.  If you are immoral and find it acceptable to exploit other people, then what you should do might involve getting what you want at everyone else’s expense.  If you consider yourself to be a little bit more moral maybe you would still want to get it at another person’s others expense but desire not make it obvious.  This is the choice that I think most of us go for and it is the choice of preference in senior clergy circles, often.

Then there are those of us, psychotics perhaps, who believe that a God exists, who want us, indeed commands us, to behave according to His rules, his principles.  This is the way that I understand the God of the book, Yahweh, the God that became incarnate in Christ Jesus.

The rules that Yahweh has set out for us are there to be argued and debated about.  Nothing in religion and ethics is ever straight forward.  But for me the fundamental law is this; To love thy neighbour as thyself.  To that end any plans that I may entertain cannot involve the suffering of others, and as a very peculiar socialist I also believe that nothing I do should disadvantage my fellow human being as far as I am able to influence matters.

However that question “what should I do?” remains a thorny one, even for this Christian cat.  The plans that I make in my mind are mine and the truth is, I don’t have any way of knowing how the future will turn out.  And nor does anyone else, despite their certainty.  The evangelical nutter who is convinced that everyone else is going to hell really is a psychotic.  He does not know that for certain and those who believe him are deluded.

The truth is that we cannot know the future, we can only guess at what may come to pass.  Our plans are transient at best, constantly needing to be changed and rearranged.  What we do, when we become fixated on a plan, is to become inflexible and fixed, unavailable for change and unable to listen to the voice of God, who is going to share with you a better plan.

God reveals Himself to us in the moment, and He does this constantly.  We need to be ready to respond to his revelation and whilst plans may give us clues to prepare for tomorrows eventualities, we are fools if we worship our own ideas.

Like Abraham, we should be prepared, but God may surprise us.

It was Abraham who was prepared to sacrifice his son, he believed it was God’s will.  God changed the plan and lamb chops were on the menu that evening instead.

MrC