Sunday 18 June 2017

Spirit of Love: Loving God

I didn't intend for there to be such a gap between blogs. Life has been pretty full on since the end of May, and last weekend we were away in Liverpool, so my usual blog-time was lost. It was a great weekend though: time with George & Chloe, two of our grandchildren, and then (an early Fathers Day treat for me, my two sons and son-in-law) a visit to Haydock Races. I'm not an habitual race-goer by any means - probably only the 3rd or 4th time I've been to the races - but I have to say it's a fascinating experience. Very good for people-watching for one thing; and the whole atmosphere is very exciting. I set myself a strict budget for betting, and came away with 50% more than I spent. I'm quite good at this!!

Since I last blogged, there has been another terrorist attack in London, and the horrific fire at Grenfell Tower - and, of course, the General Election. Cumulatively, these have created a mood of profound unease nationally, a sense of being let down by government and those in authority. I can see the potential for widespread civil unrest.  The burnt-out tower block is almost totemic for a divided and unequal society. The trouble is that government just don't seem to get it. The Conservative Party's evident desire during the election for one-party rule showed a complete disregard for how that party is viewed by many in our population and an unawareness of just how divided we really are. The old binary system of government is surely over, and it is time for that hitherto dirty word 'coalition' to be rehabilitated. We urgently need a leader who has the integrity and the confidence to rise above the current divisions and offer a new kind of government. I'm interested that France seems to have managed just that!

In the past two weeks, post-Pentecost, we have been thinking of how the Holy Spirit inspires and fills the people of God. The Spirit both produces Christ-like fruit in us, and is the means by which we may live in the love of God. As Brian McLaren says, Life in the Spirit (is) being in love with God  - true aliveness indeed. I am struck by his analogy of a tuning fork, which when struck, produces a particular note. Put another identical tuning fork alongside it and it will start to resonate in precisely the same way, without any action on our part. Just so we 'resonate' with the love of God, if we walk in the Spirit.

How important it is that Christians live this life in a time of social unrest.