You don't miss the water...

I was recently talking to a friend of mine who is not a believer and he was talking about his brother who tends to isolate himself. ‘We are social animals,’ he said. He is right.

However, I have just spent two weeks with hardly any time on my own. I was on holiday. On the last day I my cousin and I had to kill a long time in an airport together. I always thought airports had chapels and eventually I found a meditation room. It was called this so it could function as multi faith prayer room. No problems. After two weeks without much privacy and being almost exclusively with people of no faith, finding this room was like a drink of cold water in the desert if you will allow a bit of hyperbole.

I just wallowed in the quiet and sanctity of this plain room. Next to me a Moslem was at his devotions.

My friend is right, we are social animals, but we are also spiritual animals as well.

You don’t miss the water, the old saying says, till the well runs dry.

Making an ass of yourself

The BBC recently ran a very interesting radio programme on the philosophy of science. It sounds deadly dull but it was not. The presenter interviewed researchers who spend most of their time in a cubicle peering down a microscope or amassing seemingly never to be used data. The researchers were asked whether they lost their sense of self in this situation and could they still see the bigger picture of what they were working towards, in this case, finding cures for various medicines.

I was taken by one interviewee. He spends much of his time in a wood doing research into the biology of trees or somesuch. He said how fortunate he was. When we are amongst people, he said, we are always stressed to a certain degree as they are demanding something of us. When he is in his wood there is nothing demanded of him and he finds himself blissfully peaceful.

Recently I spent a week in semi rural part of Hertfordshire. I had to be part of a team and also minister ( well, sort of ) a small group of people. I did not sleep well at first and found the demands of a new routine, new people and new challenges a bit wearing. However, I had the days mostly free and found walks along a canal bank with birdsong, greenery and the company of a pair of donkeys that I found in a field nearby restored whatever the demands of the week took away. This is not the first time I have found these chaps therapeutic.

Of course all this is something our Lord knew all to well. Retreating to the quiet of the hills was how he coped with the demands of the people he was ministering to as in Mark 6.46. As Christians we have all been given ministries and a responsibility to others. However, we have all, I believe, been given a responsibility to preserve ourselves. Incidentally, this is why donkeys are so ‘stubborn’ sometimes and will not go where they are led. It is because apparently they have an acute awareness of situations that might endanger them eg they see the danger of the mountain ledge they are asked to travel along. We humans, however, go blithely on putting ourselves under more and more stress, taking on punishing schedules until sometimes we crack. In the light of this I am not sure why we use the word donkey as a simile for stupidity!! I rather like the fact that donkey was our Lord’s preferred means of transport apart from Shanky’s pony of course.

Bit part player

I was in the actors' church in Covent Garden, the atmosphere of which I find very prayerful, and was looking at the plaques of all the famous actors who are remembered here. I came across this sign. How rarely I thought do you hear of people especially in the arts, where big egos can be the norm, who are willing to be well down the cast list. It is election week and on Monday I went to the hustings and I listened to three men, Brown, Cameron and Clegg, who want to take on the biggest part in UK.

I then thought of Ananias who has pretty much a walk on part in Acts ( 9.10 to 17) to anoint Saul to his ministry as Paul. After that he just gets a commendation from Paul and that is it as least as 'reviews' go. What I like is that Ananias who is called via a vision is immediately up for the work though he does show a bit of nerves at the part he is asked to play. Who wouldn't considering Saul's reputation for repression of Christians?

What I have found important in life is that we do not take on situations beyond our ability. I work with a woman who every year takes on a role that is wrong for her. She flaps, panics and makes life for herself and those around her difficult. When she takes on or is given a lesser role she is relaxed and good company but in the harder role she is stressed and not good company.

Basically, she goes beyond herself.

God knows what Ananias and Paul are capable of. The small role he plays is important. It is possible that Ananias was the only one brave enough or worthy enough to go and see Paul and he has the honour of anointing one of the greats of Christendom. Also he gets his name in the billing. Not at the top but he is there for sure as an enthusiastic player of small parts.

Snapping

One of my hobbies is photography. What I like about it is that it gives me an end product to spending a day in the country. The other week I went to the London Harness Horse Parade. I have a great fondness for horses especially the humbler beasts of burden rather than the pampered race horses.

A rather posh horse carriage stopped and when we 'snappers' started photographing a man on the top of the carriage started berating one of our number in a rather self important, pompous manner. His gist was that he only wanted bona fide photographers snapping his rig so that it would be seen in a quality newspaper or magazine. If he was trying to be humorous he certainly did not pull it off. He seemed to be trying to humiliate the photographer.

I saw red and was all for pulling this man off the carriage and giving him a humbling experience at the end of my boot. Later I talked to the photographer that had been targeted and reminded him of the incident. He told me his name and it being double barreled I joked that he was probably posher than the carriage driver. He was in fact an old Harrovian. That evening I went to his website and I could see that he was a photographer of great talent having travelled the world capturing horses on film. His name is Rupert Sagar Musgrave. I had seen one of his photos in a quality daily paper. I personally would have created a scene but he showed composure and with this and his talent rose above the situation. I do not know the carriage driver’s name. I did not even keep the pictures of his carriage.

A friend knowing my rather mercurial nature lent me a book by Daniel O’Leary.

Even if it is only for a split second, you will discover that there is an instant when you have the chance to choose- between the immediate, negative, thoughtless reaction or the aware response that changes the personal, hurtful charge into a mutually life giving moment. This is the only loving and wise thing to do. from Travelling Light

My reading that night was.

Be friendly with everyone. don’t be proud and feel that you are cleverer than others, make friends with ordinary people. Romans 12.16

Finishing The Race

I write this the day before Easter, the most joyous day of the year for Christians. Yet, a sad note I must introduce. Twice recently I have been amongst friends from churches I used to attend: one where I was baptised and one where I spent thirteen years. I asked after those I knew. ‘ O, he doesn’t come to church anymore.’ ‘O, I think he lost his faith.’ The fallout seemed highest amongst those who had married non believers.

There was a time when I was keen to see which celebrity had embraced the Christian faith. It was all about beginnings. I was not so much interested in the finishing tape. I came across a little booklet called ‘Finishing The Race’ by Peter Gillquist.

‘The heroes in modern evangelism are the living, contemporary Christians: the famous authors, evangelists, Bible teachers, born-again athletes or politicians, who are in the public limelight with their stirring testimonies of initial conversions. But in days gone by, it was those who had finished the course, those who- living still, to be sure- had gone home to glory, who were counted as heroes of the Faith.’

I would stress that I am not referring to people going through a challenging time, questioning what they believe, doubting or even backsliding. Competitors in a race go through all sorts of mental and physical trials. I am talking about folks quitting the race.

St Paul writes, ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith ( 2 Tim 4.7 )

I implore you, whatever the fatigue, whatever the cramp in the leg, whatever the temptation to stop, cross that line! Eternity is a long time to be a loser.

O Lord our God,

You reduced our human lifetime to a little while

because of our weak and defenceless nature;

but in return,

if we overcome the assaults of enemy,

you have promised us eternal joy

Eastern Orthodox Prayer

A Tiger's Tale

A Tiger's Tale

A while back I was in a pub having had a very pleasant lunch in good company. It was mid afternoon and I noticed people looking intently at the tv screen. I wondered what had captured their attention. It was the confession by Tiger Woods of his infidelity. Apparently USA came to a halt briefly with people listening to this confession. I heard more of this man in contrition yesterday.

Cynics say that he needs to appease the public and his sponsors to carry on playing and earning. However, having just had a year of British politicians mealy mouthed and self justifying when caught redhanded I found it refreshing to hear a full and complete confession. James 5.16 encourages us to confess our sins to one another (not just in the confessional ) and pray for one another so we may be healed. Confession is meant to be part of a process that leads to healing not to feeling humiliated.

What interested me was that Woods said looking back he saw the person who committed the infidelity as if they were another person. That is not that strange perhaps as we sometimes say to others, using the English idiom, ‘I don’t think you have been quite yourself lately.’ Of course we are technically always ourselves but I was taken by his sense of detachment. After confession perhaps we have transcended our own selves. Only time will tell if Woods has used the confession for his own ends and only God knows the secrets of his heart. To be honest golf fails to entertain me but I will see Tiger Woods as a different man from now on.

To the glory of God

The other day my friend and I who is a photographer went to the National Portrait Gallery to see an exhibition. We went for lunch in a MacDonald's, in Leicester Square, as mundane an activity as one could find. However, even in the most common place the divine can poke through the clouds.

One of the men cleaning the tables and taking the 'empties' away was a smartly dressed black man. I noticed how he was engaging cheerily with the diners at the next table who responded. I thought I had to talk to him.

He was from Nigeria and had worked in other European countries. I asked him about the trouble in his country where Moslems were brutally killing village men, women and children in revenge for atrocities by 'Christians' against Moslems. He had a diplomatic reply which now eludes me.

This man was a Christian. He seemed to want to just show his faith through his work. No empty rhetoric to make people uncomfortable.He really enjoyed engaging with the customers. I doubt if earned much more than minimum wage. His joy was infectious.

I thought of Brother Lawrence toiling cheerfully over his pots and pans.

I thought of the verse 1 Corinthians 10.31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Peter and I went back to our lunch. As we went out he was still chatting merrily to diners on another table. Peter, as usual, had his camera on him and the man was happy to have his pic taken. And yes I did write to his boss to commend this man to him. Good news, they say, spreads fast.