It’s been a strange few days. Some of these links might have been shared before.
An article by Joseph Tainter.
Space and Time are NOT the reward for getting your priestly ministry done: they are the necessities for getting your priestly ministry done.
The importance of Evensong.
How the Tea Party organises without leaders.
The most spiritually literate films of… (follow links on bar on left)
The 50 funniest scenes in the history of film.
The habit forge
On the one hand, several friends seem to be being liberated to pursue God in all sorts of exciting ways:
Joe down in Devon
Tess at Freeland
and another has just been appointed as Rector of this church in California.
That’s my theological and ecclesiological envy covered. On the other hand, my secular envy points out that many of my unversity peers and friends are now fully established as partners/senior managers in major global firms and earning six figure salaries (and yes, I know about the green grass and I harbour no illusions.)
So I am at one and the same time envious of those with lots of money, and also of those with absolutely no money. This is not a post about consistency of thought.
I guess it’s a sense of restlessness or dissatisfaction. Of not quite fitting in my seat. If only I could hear one way or another from a certain publisher.
Then again, perhaps it’s just time I bought a Porsche.
NB please note that sleeplessness played a small part in the composition of this post. Wrestling with another blinking cold played more. So I’m a bit grumpy ;o(
Found this in Shane Hipps’ ‘Flickering Pixels’ – great book, review coming prob over the weekend.
Agreeing and disagreeing in love –
Commitments for Mennonites in Times of Disagreement
“making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph 4.3), as both individual members and the body of Christ we pledge that we shall:
In thought
– Accept conflict – acknowledge together that conflict is a normal part of our life in the church (Rom 14.1-8, 10-12, 17-19; 15.1-7)
– Affirm hope – affirm that as God walks with us in conflict, we can work through to growth (Eph 4.15-16)
– Commit to prayer – admit our needs and commit ourselves to pray for a mutually satisfactory solution (no prayers for my success or for the other to change but to find a joint way) (James 5.16)
In action
– Go to the other… – go directly to those with whom we disagree; avoid behind-the-back criticism (Matt 5.23-24; 18.15-20)
–…in the spirit of humility – go in gentleness, patience and humility. Place the problem between us at neither doorstep and own our part in the conflict instead of pointing out others’ faults (gal 6.1-5)
– Be quick to listen – listen carefully, summarize, and check out what is heard before responding. Seek as much to understand as to be understood (James 1.19, Prov 18.13)
– Be slow to judge – suspend judgements, avoid labeling, end name-calling, discard threats, and act in a non-defensive, non-reactive way (Rom 2.1-4, Gal 5.22-26)
– Be willing to negotiate – work through the disagreements constructively, celebrate small agreements along the way, cooperate with the emerging agreement (Acts 15, Phil 2.1-11)
In Life
– Be steadfast in love – be firm in our commitment to seek a mutual solution; be stubborn in holding to our common foundation in Christ; be steadfast in love (Col 3.12-15)
– Be open to mediation – be open to accept skilled help. If we cannot reach agreement among ourselves, we will use those with gifts and training in mediation in the larger church (Phil 4.1-3)
– Trust the community – we trust the community, and if we cannot reach agreement or experience reconciliation, we will turn the decision over to others in the congregation or from the broader church (Acts 15)
– Be the body of Christ – believe in and rely on the solidarity of the body of Christ and its commitment to peace and justice, rather than resort to the courts of law (1 Cor 6.1-6)
~~~
Amazing stuff.
Let’s start with the positives:
– context is realistic, and being an ex-East End vicar myself it was great to see some familiar locations being explored;
– Tom Hollander can act;
– it did make me chuckle a good deal, and I’m sure I’ll watch the whole thing.
BUT
Why oh why did we have to endure yet another presentation of a vicar as a downtrodden and browbeaten big girl’s blouse? When I was first called to the ministry I resisted the call for as long as humanly possible (two days of arguing directly with God; yes I am that stubborn) and that was simply because I had absolutely no desire to be a Derek Nimmo. He still represents for me all that is most spineless and useless about the church (the established church in particular) – the reduction of ministry to social work, to – in one of the sharpest moments of the programme – the need to devote all our energies to ‘wiping people’s arses’.
You’d never glean from a programme like this that Jesus was incredibly courageous and manly – a bloke’s bloke if ever there was one – that he was often astonishingly rude to people he disagreed with, that he was angry and aggressive – and that there are a great many clergy who follow that path. In short – there is nothing prophetic about this presentation, it was entirely lacking in theological substance and truth.
Grrr.
However, having got that off my chest, there was at least a sign of the worm turning at the end of the programme. It will be interesting to see if that represents the way the series will go. How wonderful it would be if there was a robust presentation of the reality of God in a vicar’s life. I won’t get my expectations up.
All in a good cause, of course 🙂
(Book I’m reading from is ‘Smartest Giant in Town‘. Thanks to Pat for the photo.)
I came back from a trip to the physiotherapist this morning – I have torn part of my achilles tendon on my left ankle – and the physio astutely enquired whether I had recently injured my right ankle. That occurred on January 6 this year, when I rather stupidly took the bike out in the snow and duly came off it, spraining my right ankle. It turns out that I have been compensating for a remaining weakness in the right ankle by using the left ankle more – and have now damaged that one. As the physio kindly pointed out to me, ‘this happens as we get older…’
I’m also currently recovering from a chest infection. In my usual way I resisted going to the doctor for as long as possible, but I find that I simply can’t get away with it any more. If I don’t get my maladies sorted out in a timely fashion, they now get worse, not better. No longer can I just amp up the willpower, adrenaline and caffeine, and power on through whatever is getting in the way. The body simply isn’t as resilient as it was, and I need to take more time and care in looking after it. ‘This happens as we get older…’
I was told recently that a phrase used in teaching art is ‘submitting to the material’. What this means is that in any medium certain things are possible, certain things are impossible. The materials that are being worked with dictate limits. What is possible for some blocks of marble are not possible for others; what is possible for an oil painting is not possible for a water-colour, and vice versa. For an artist to make any progress in their craft there is an essential humility that needs cultivating. It is no good having a wonderful vision for an artistic creation if the materials being employed are inadequate to the task. Actually, ‘inadequate’ is the wrong word – there is nothing wrong with the materials – ‘inappropriate’ is more precise. The inappropriateness lies in the judgement of the artist, in seeking to dictate to the material rather than cooperate with it. In a sense, what is needed in the artist is a spirit of service to the material, in order to enable the creation to emerge. Midwifery, not parenthood.
I’ve been pondering a similar lesson with regard to my ministry on Mersea, where I feel that I have been colliding with limits. I recently led an awayday for one of the PCCs here to talk about two things – how do we actually ‘speak truth in love’, and, how to discern the right way forward for differerent congregations, especially how they are to relate to each other. The most significant conclusion that I came away with was that I needed to abandon my vision for the congregations. I had seen the new congregation as being a bridge to the old one, which meant that the new service couldn’t get too complicated, and also meant that I had been pushing the more traditional service a little closer in spirit to the new. (Actually, I abandoned the latter some time ago – and that abandonment led to other developments – but there was probably still some remaining tension in the congregation.) Thing is, after more than five years, the people simply didn’t want to fit in with the vision – they were quite happy where they were, thank you very much – and my pushing the vision was simply amplifying friction. Letting go of it seems to be universally approved of.
I’ve been very struck by the nakedpastor’s posts on vision, especially this most recent one when he says “The greatest danger to the church is vision. Agenda. It is an idea for the church that certain people entertain that is the greatest danger to it. It is when different people have designs for the church, where they want it to be something other than what it is, that it destroys the fabric of the community. Even the most well-meaning people, believing that they want what’s best for the church, in actuality introduce what is worst for it.”
I have found letting go of the vision quite liberating, even though I don’t understand what is going on. My theology hasn’t changed – I still see the Eucharist as “’the richest and fullest expression of Christian faith” – but I’m realising that my view is largely irrelevant. What I want – even, what is most true – isn’t the most important factor here. I’m very fond of what Eugene Peterson teaches – work out what God is doing and then get out of the way – I just hadn’t applied it in this area fully (or, perhaps, I came here knowing it and then forgot). There is something kenotic in this, an emptying out, and also something very incarnational – a valuing of the local and specific. I am becoming more aware of the need to put my own desires to one side, ease off the willpower and drive, and take more care and time in simply maintaining the body. I need to learn to submit to the material.
Following his sabbatical Tom Wright feels it impossible to combine academic study and being a Bishop – perfectly understandable – and gives priority to what is most important (ie his vocation).
Nakedpastor steps down from his post – perfectly understandable given his reasons – and gives priority to what is most important (ie his vocation).
Hmmm.
However good our new Bishop’s book is, I don’t think it gets down to the roots of these sorts of problems.
“Do you worship the work?
… A great number of Christian workers worship their work. The only concern of Christian workers should be their concentration on God… A worker who lacks this serious controlling emphasis of concentration on God is apt to become overly burdened by his work. He is a slave to his own limits, having no freedom of his body, mind or spirit. Consequently he becomes burned out and defeated. There is no freedom and no delight in life at all. His nerves, mind and heart are so overwhelmed that God’s blessing cannot rest on him.”
(From today’s section of ‘My Utmost for His Highest’, Oswald Chambers, which a lovely parishioner gave me for Christmas.)
When it was announced that Stephen Cottrell was coming to be our Diocesan Bishop, I thought I’d best read a couple of books by him to get a flavour of his thinking. I enjoyed this, and thought it rather sound, albeit also extremely short (it’s meant to be read slowly I guess). Much of the ‘wisdom’ I was familiar with, but as always the real challenge is turning right knowledge into right action. I’ll get there.
When it was announced that Stephen Cottrell was coming to be our Diocesan Bishop, I thought I’d best read a couple of books by him to get a flavour of his thinking. I enjoyed this, and thought it rather sound, albeit also extremely short (it’s meant to be read slowly I guess). Much of the ‘wisdom’ I was familiar with, but as always the real challenge is turning right knowledge into right action. I’ll get there.