secret life of chaos

Watched this programme on bbc4 last night, exploring the spontaneous, self-organising patterns in nature. Order and chaos found to be closely linked. We’re constantly learning more of nature’s beauty and surprises, and are curious, fascinated. And in some ways nature does appear to be conducting a slightly messy experiment. The presenter insisted the picture emerging suggests random process, not ‘an active interfering being‘ - but an alternative response would be a more enlightened exploration into the nature of the kind of God who could be behind such phenomena. Intellectual interest in this developing knowledge doesn’t stop my heart being warmed when I read scripture or pray; underlines for me that these are distinct arenas of enquiry and experience: the scientific, and the spiritual.

haiti: God in the dark?

We say ‘God is in control’, but how do you square that with a disaster like the Haiti earthquake? A tide of human lives, not only taken quickly and mercifully, but ebbing away, water from a burst skin seeping wasted into parched ground, because there is not enough help to stem the flow…fifty thousand, a hundred thousand… where is God in this cruel, desolate place on the margins? Perhaps his Spirit is at work in the surrounding surge of human compassion that propels help on its way; but that is so slow and limited, and cannot halt the relentless clocking of lives being snuffed out. What of the victim buried but still conscious beneath the rubble, alone and in pain?
A passage from ‘the shack’ hints at the possibility of light in such darkness. Comforting the father of a young girl kidnapped then murdered, the Spirit tells him that while she was alone in the back of that dark van not knowing where she was being taken, and even in the depth of her ordeal, she found strength and comfort: ‘she and I know each other well’. Could not the Spirit similarly minister to the forsaken earthquake victim buried in the rubble - where there is, and maybe even where there is not, the flicker of an inner cry for help?

magnetic

mark 2:13-17 I’m thinking about the attraction jesus held for tax collectors and sinners. They felt comfortable in his presence - he exuded acceptance and love. Painfully aware of their ‘badness’ - seen in the mirror of others’ disapproval - they felt acutely their need for cleansing and wholeness, and were drawn to the warmth of divine welcoming presence in jesus. An inner recognition… in contrast to the Pharisees and scribes, whose external righteousness blinded them to their need, kept them fixated on keeping up appearances, and aroused their contempt for this man who allowed his image to be so soiled.
Am I sufficiently aware of my need to draw closer to God? Do I see past appearances and reflect the love of God to people with a less than shiny image?
What one ’lowly’ person in my life shall I seek to love more, and how will I do it?

I’ve got hooked on the tynchy stryder with amelle berrabah 2009 hit ’never leave you’. I’m intrigued by the creative synergy between this poster boy of black urban street cool, and poster girl of modern western ethnic chic, a beautiful young woman, of muslim Moroccan descent, utterly conscious of and relishing her sexual magnetism.

notting hill moment

Watched Notting Hill last night. Key moment: she - ‘famous actress’ Anna Scott aka Julia Roberts - says to bumbling bookshop owner Will Thacker - aka Hugh Grant: “fame, it means nothing really. Don’t forget that underneath it all, I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her”. interesting. Fame can give the illusion a person is on a pedestal, rich, has all they could want.. But she’s saying, it’s external show and façade, I have the same human vulnerability everyone else has, the same desire to be loved, facing the same risk of rejection. She’s even dressed in a simple skirt and cardy that makes her look like a little girl
I’m intrigued by correspondences between human reality and relationships, and the heavenly/earthly. We could explore how the human soul before God is like that little girl, seeking to be loved. How the layers of earthly paraphernalia, like the trappings of fame, keep the soul from awareness of its vulnerability and desire for that surpassing love, and how they might be stripped away.
I don’t mean to be a complete big softie. The other classic scene is of course the rhys ifans buttock clenching one.

does 'king jesus' need deconstructing?

Bradford at its more picturesque early this morning, its rooftops mantled in snow, clear and crsip, the sun a molten burst of yellow peeping shyly over the horizon. I like this cold snap; I’ve never liked the idea the world is probably warming up with the concomitant threat of more monochrome weather, a flattening of the seasons, slow death of cold white winter.
Back to ‘king Jesus’. Just started reading though Mark’s gospel. ‘immediately’ pops up a lot. A narrative of swift action - Jesus healing, casting out demons, ‘doing stuff’. power evidently was at work in this man. And it’s all very concrete - it doesn’t look made up. This is why partly why the idea Jesus never existed doesn’t look credible - as cs lewis said, the gospels have the character of journalistic reporting, vivid and real. When I read about Christ and his actions, especially in the morning, fresh in body mind and spirit, I am inspired and motivated. But ‘king jesus‘… I feel uncomfortable and doubtful sometimes in church, with people in a state of adoration, eyes shut, hands in the air, jesus I love you, you’re beautiful.. I’m just not making the link between the man of wisdom and action who inspires and this ’invisible love object’. I’ll come back to this…
To answer billy’s question, what Wayne meant by the word ‘christian’ having become compromised was that it has become tainted in popular consciousness by various bad associations where it’s been negatively expressed and lived out.

liquid gospel

In our HCJB team prayer meeting, we listened on DVD to president Wayne Pederson talking about the vision of the mission. He suggested that the word ‘christian’ has become compromised, and that what we should be seeking is to lead people to love and follow Jesus. There’s an impetus to use technology and current popular communication methods like twitter and face book more effectively as channels. The image popped into mind of the liquid metal T-1000 in Terminator 2, able to morph shape as circumstances required - as an image of what this nimble, adaptable communication aspiration is like.
I try to be honest about my own questions and doubts too. So here’s one: We sing about ‘king Jesus’ in church, celebrating the idea that this man who lived two millenia ago somehow rules and infuses the universe. So how is it that in the daily grind he can seem so peripheral: so far off the radar of my own consciousness in the rough and tumble of life, let alone in the mind of the secular masses? The notion that the church ‘made’ this man into Deity can at times appear a persuasive one. To be continued…

musings

I’m down in lymington, hants, at parents’ new house and near brother’s family. Cousin Ian’s wedding in dorset on Saturday.
Was at Carl and Gail’s church yesterday, Lymington Baptist. A very creative audiovisual presentation of the Christmas message of the incarnation. Apparently there are seventy ‘sextillion’ stars in the known universe (who said science couldn‘t be racy!). The point being made that God the creator must be pretty big. Now hold fire, atheists. I myself sometimes feel the connection between ‘awesome universe’ and ‘big God’ can be made a bit too easily and sound a tad trite. What followed was the point that at Christmas, the lord of the universe was humbled to a baby in a manger. Contemporary christian apologetic and communication has for some time treated such ‘radical paradox’ or ‘extreme dramatic irony’ as a one of its hottest playing cards, unique selling points. Another favourite is the concept of grace, that you begin with acceptance by God as a platform for joyful service and pursuit of holiness - reversing the widespread idea of ritual and discipline as a route to or condition for acceptance. No question that these counter-intuitive reversals and paradoxes are at the heart of Christianity’s attractiveness - what help make it a ‘big idea’. Perhaps their emphasis is a key way to break down prejudice and barriers?

I’m thinking about the nature of Cn witness, trying to grasp more of the big picture. I’m engaged in a constant process of integration, endeavouring to see how the message of the gospel intersects with vast and inevitable human processes, eg the reality that people get set in their thought patterns and views, as adults, and become increasingly closed to change, and are daily swept away in their thousands by the grim reaper. Cheery eh? The human heart gets wrapped up in material comfort, and as my minister uncle put it, it takes ‘hard times’ to recreate an openness to spiritual reality.
I’m reading Richard Holloway’s ‘doubts and loves’. he advocates a theology of praxis instead of a theology of positivism, by which he means it’s more important to follow the way of Jesus than to believe the right things about him. He’s inclined to regard much of what the bible says, including the resurrection, as metaphor. A problem here is that the gospel narratives themselves contain earthy, flesh and blood detail. And he is suspicious of doctrine about Jesus, wary of folk who insist on regarding him in a particular way, or as ‘Lord of all’. Behind this is a suspicion of totalising systems. Paul though - his imagination was clearly captured by the idea of Christ as all-encompassing, and it‘s difficult to see how you can be passionate about believing in and following Jesus if you limit him as holloway appears to do…

freewheeling

What has been going through my head lately? Have been watching ‘the history of Christianity’ on bbc4. The final part will look at the future of the faith in western Europe, where it was acknowledged there is currently widespread indifference. ‘should God be worried?’ I’m interested in rob’s comments under previous post considering how the life of faith is best understood in process and action. I agree that truth is often seen most plainly when it is embodied and lived out.
I’m intrigued by how all sorts of things that engage the public imagination relate to what life is ultimately about. Take strictly come dancing. Why is it so popular? (I watched it last night with a friend for the first time - won’t be making a habit of it, but…) so what are the elements? Well it’s obviously beautiful and spectacular to watch - well, some of it. I’m looking for the synthesis here, what are the core human desires, motivations, and how do they fit in the big picture? (obviously the x factor mines a similar well). The celebrity factor. What is the draw of celebrity? I’m a celebrity get me out of here? What is the magnetic attraction? Why am I not so drawn to it? People you see in the public arena, you get to know them, my life is ordinary, this person has an extraordinary life, a larger than life persona, and so I want to follow the person, their journey..
The endeavour. There’s a pursuit of excellence, a competition, a striving to overcome hurdles, to be the best.. We enjoy witnessing the human effort to excel. The judges. These are the authorities, the experts.. What did they think? Their view is the one that matters. My friend commented on the fairy tale quality, the escape. Escapism - what’s that about? The desire to see a world of beauty and drama. These are just freewheeling thoughts, but I’m intrigued by how they relate to larger but perhaps dormant human aspirations - for heaven..?

I read an article in Christianity magazine October suggesting that ways of doing church there may not work here since the spiritual climates are so different. It suggested the US is in nt terms like Jerusalem at the time of revival, Britain more like sceptical Athens.

And finally, also been watching ‘life’ on the beeb. The beauty of a jellyfish, pulsating lace of infinite delicacy. Ethiopian wolf stalking a mountain rat, it’s low slung body a taut spring, ears pricked, a model of focus and precision in nature’s no safety net struggle to win and survive. Nature’s spectrum, elements that entrance and captivate, elements that disgust…

a hell of a dilemma

A recent post of Jonathan’s, ’babies in hell’ on his musings blog, has prompted me to offer an initial salvo of response. being in the missions business, in the arena of commercial radio, I guess it’s important to have a grasp, even if it’s a developing one, on what I think about such big picture concepts as hell.
At the root of the problem is the question of how we square the apparent bold simplicity and clarity of nt teaching that salvation is found in turning to Christ in repentance, and the complexity of the real human situation. For me intellectually to accept such a concept as hell, it helps to at least have some sense of how it relates to people‘s actual lived experience.
What is hell about? The bible does talk in places, in the nt especially, in apparently quite aggressive terms about eternal punishment and being thrown into a lake of fire‘ - this language is there. But who will go? The thrust of the nt is that this teaching is directed at those who reject the love of God, and eg in revelation 20, 21 it lists those who are hardened in an array of sins… Now this resonates with reality. Thinking, speaking, doing wrong does have a progressive, cumulative hardening effect on the heart, you lose sensitivity and joy. Eg I recall hearing teaching on the effect of habitual porn - it deadens and isolates cos it cuts you off from relationship, you become a shell of a person, as jesus warned about the path begun by a lustful look if not checked… so in real experience hell begins to be comprehensible.
God is not always and in every way obvious. It’s easy to caricature him as an evil sadist if you want to. But I can at times have a sense of the numinous, that I’m not alone, and of ‘eternity in the heart’, I feel drawn into a spiritual relationship, and yes I believe JC clarifies Who it is I’m relating to. But I have to follow that beckoning of awe and allow my whole being to unfold in response, not make an idol of science or rationality and so dull and close my sense of the spiritual. Parts of the bible are not easy to grasp, and without a willingness properly to engage with it, I can take an intellectual scalpel to it and set up my own horrible caricatures of a God as a baby torturer and so on. But with an open heart it is a vast house of light and treasure. And I don’t think you need me to tell you it actually says nothing about babies and hell.

remembrance day thoughts

In his remembrance day message this morning, our minister Robin Gamble at holy trinity idle described a visit to the Somme and referred to the inscription to all the men who had died unidentified, simply ‘known unto God’. a powerful moving thought. It also brings to mind a reason john piper in ‘desiring God’ gives for believing in heaven and eternity, that he finds it inconceivable that something as beautiful, complex and mysterious as the human personality, should at death simply cease to exist. Like the suggestion that there can be no ultimate or purpose or meaning in life because no God, the idea that death is the end, kaput, that’s it, is the kind of assertion made by atheists that stretches credulity because it flies in the face of what our deepest intuition suggests to us. The atheist of course can and does respond that this is a mere comfort blanket, that the believer is taking refuge in a delusion. But this is where the broad picture needs to be surveyed: the evidence that God has communicated, and the experiential testimony that he does prove faithful and meet need.

Robin also delineated three broad stages in the bible’s portrayal of and thinking about war: the accounts of apparently pretty blood thirsty behaviour in the early OT, around 3 and a half thousand years ago when the Israelites were carving out a place for themselves, and when cultural norms were very different. But then the later OT, the prophets, when a consciousness emerged in the jewish nation that they were called to model a radical peace - ‘swords into ploughshares’… culminating in the high point of Christ’s ethical teaching of forgiveness and love even for enemies. The question is, does this model of an evolving ethical consciousness have to conflict with the idea of a God who is eternally the same? Progressive revelation?

Saw some of the secret life of berlin on beeb 2 last night, about the years leading up to the fall of the wall. Struck by the prominent role of the churches in stimulating a peaceful revolution.