Saturday 29 July 2017

Spirit of Power

Today, I have been to the Cockermouth (Agricultural) Show - a major event in the local calendar.  It's the first time I have been, as in the past two years here I have been away on the day.  I entered another world - that of farmers, and real Cumbrian culture. And I loved it. We saw varieties of sheep and cattle being judged, and I learned from a farmer-member of one of our churches what the judges are looking for. Including, for example, 'a leg in each corner'! We saw show-jumping and Cumbrian wrestling, which is different from any other as the combatants must remain in contact with each other at all times, with arms around each other, and hands clasped. We also saw a large amount of very expensive machinery: tractors and implements, Land Rovers and other suitable vehicles for off-road transport. The most expensive tractor on view cost £80,000!

And of course we had to sample the brews of our own Cockermouth brewery, Jennings. Not that I haven't tasted them before!

Tomorrow's theme is 'Spirit of Power, and the key text is from 2 Timothy: 'God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and love and of self-discipline.' It reminds me of what is stated at a baptism service, that we should fight against 'the world, the flesh and the devil.'  Militancy is something that we tend to eschew as Christians these days, but I have always been impressed that Iona community members are encouraged to see themselves as 'soldiers of Christ' - fighting against evil and injustice in all its forms. We are not meant to be push-overs as Christians, and there are certain things we must resist, whether in terms of our personal morality, or in terms of social trends. For example, McLaren reminds us that there are invisible realities like racism, greed, fear, ambition, nationalism, religious supremacy and the like - forces that capture people and pull their strings as if they were puppets to make them do terrible things. (p256)

The Holy Spirit gives us the 'power' to stand against these things, inspiring compassion and understanding.  Nowhere is this more obvious today than in social media. This somehow seems to give people permission to give vent to a whole torrent of abusive and hateful language, which needs to be assuaged by bold, truthful, compassionate responses.

Saturday 22 July 2017

The Spirit Conspiracy

I've been 'home alone' this week, while Les went with a friend to a Hymn Society conference in South Wales. While there, they visited Ffald-y-Brenin - a Christian retreat centre in the remote Welsh hills outside Fishguard. See www.ffald-y-brenin.org to get the story. Amazing experiences of healing and transformation for some who have been there. As I type this, I'm awaiting Les' return to hear about the week.

The week has been very full, and I realise when you're on your own, you have to make your own space as you don't have your spouse around to spend time with. To be honest, I have been watching Fawlty Towers on DVD at the end of the evening. Great way to relax, and I still laugh as if it was the first time of viewing.

There's been an interesting conundrum on the news this week, which I'm surprised (at least to my knowledge) no one has picked up. There has been the tragic case of baby Charlie Gard, whose parents are fighting through the courts to keep him alive with possible new treatments; while at the other end of 'life', Noel Conway (67) continues his legal battle for the right to die before he dies as a consequence of his motor neurone disease. It seems strange to me that, on the one hand, there seems to be no acceptance that such a poor quality of life (even in the best case scenario) should be a reason for nature to take its course; while on the other there seems no reason to hope that medicine can actually enhance life expectancy. In both cases, it seems to be more to do with 'my rights' than anything else. A complicated world we live in, where so much more is possible and complex choices need to be made.

Our theme tomorrow is 'the Spirit conspiracy' with an invitation from our author, Brian McLaren, to conspire with the Spirit to bless others. 'Conspire' means to breathe together, so the first consequence of this idea is the need for cooperation if the world is to be changed in a Christ-like direction. Conspiracy also implies secrecy, because of the risk of being found out. Secrecy features often in Jesus's parables (seeds, yeast etc) and I love that sense that, as Christians, we do not seek publicity but quietly speak and act to bring God's kingdom. The word also implies risk: it's a dangerous business, working together in secret, and sometimes being found out can be costly. Ask Tim Farron!

Saturday 15 July 2017

Spirit of Service

A whole month has gone by since the last blog! This is largely because Les and I have had a fortnight's holiday up in Northumberland, which was restful and refreshing. We so much love that part of the country, with its wide open spaces and wonderful coastline. Once again we did the Farne Islands boat trip, and returned to Lindisfarne.




















We also returned to Durham, where we met (can it be?) 47 years ago, and walked the city walls of Berwick for the first time. Maybe another North-eastern holiday next year? Perhaps back in Alnmouth, which we slightly preferred to the property we rented is Alnwick this year. Needless to say, Barter Books - a huge second-hand bookshop in Alnwick, was one of our first ports of call. Unfortunately, the box of books I intended to try and sell back to them remained on our kitchen floor when we left. So they will go to a charity shop instead.

Just before we left, we had a brilliant parish conference, where each of our four churches reported to members of the other three where they were at, in terms of our recent 'conversations'. I have to say it was one of the best meetings I have ever attended, with thoughtful, honest and colourful presentations from each church. There were 8 tables, and on each one were 4 sheets of paper, so members could doodle or write their thoughts and comments about each church in turn. Thus, each had 8 sheets of encouragement to take away with them for further thought, prayer and discussion.  Vision is emerging!

Today, we completed our 'Worship4Today' course, which has been running since last September. 20 people have seen it through to the end, and we are hopeful that in each church, this will lead to a refreshing and greater creativity in our worship, as well as the releasing of these wonderful people into their own ministry.

We are coming to the end of Brian McLaren's book. Tomorrow we think about how 'the Holy Spirit leads us downwards', in contrast to the upward mobility many seek in today's culture. Just today, I was reading how celebrity couples now seem to be trying to outdo each other in the luxuries they lavish upon their children, so that these little ones become part of the accoutrements of their parents' success. Learning to accept a lower place in society, to promote others rather than ourselves, to stand up for the weak and powerless - these are signs of the Spirit of God.