Carrot-Gate

Catherine wrote this a while ago...   

Carrots. One of the few veg both my children enjoy. Fortunately, carrots are a basic food item. You can find them everywhere.... 

Simple I thought. Easy. Just go online, type in a list, select the ones you want from the vast selection that will undoubtedly be displayed, pick a delivery slot and Bob’s your uncle. Or aunt – I don’t want to make assumptions. (speaking of which, no, I haven't gotten lazy, Asda was being rebuilt following a fire...)

Online I go. Typed in ‘carrots’. Nothing. So I dropped the 's' and searched for ‘carrot’. Nothing. I searched for ‘bag of carrots’. Yay, result – except it was a bag of peeled and chopped carrots. So I searched for ‘loose carrots’ – I mean, I’d prefer carrots with sound morals, but if loose ones were all they had, then I was getting desperate. 

But still nothing.  I searched for ‘root vegetables’ for ‘orange vegetable’ and on and on....... Nothing. I took a deep breath and moved on. I searched for loose tomatoes, tomato, tomatoes, salad vegetables... but the system clearly had an aversion to orange things unless they were frozen or cut up already!  

Life’s too short, I could have driven to the Stevenage store and picked them myself by this point, so, I put the rest of the order through because I saw you could add stuff later.  Guess what? Having placed the order and booked the slot, when I tried to add items to my order – nothing. So just for ‘fun’, I started a new order and miraculously carrots, tomatoes and many other orange items appeared, but I didn't want a new order.  I wanted them added to the order I had.  

Naively, I called the helpline.  Here's how it went. Think Basil Fawlty: 

Me: “I want to add carrots, unpeeled, plain, basic carrots to my existing order”

Help: “Just put it in the search and add them” came the reply. 

Me: “I don't think you’re understanding me. I have searched 15 different ways, logged in and out, but it won't show me any carrots, unless I create a completely new order”.  

Help: “Please type in carrots in the search.  Have they appeared?” 

Me: “Nope, like I said it isn't working!” 

Help: “Can you turn off your phone?” 

Me: “Not without stopping this call” 

Help: “Try typing in carrots.”  

Me: “Yep I just did...no plain simple carrots are appearing” 

Help: “ok type in this code.” 

Me: “Yep done that and it just says ‘sorry we can't find that product number...please try a different search.’”

Help:  “Ah...what code did you put in?” 

Me: “Look I put in the code you said, but it isn't working. All I want is carrots and tomatoes added, if you can see them, please just add them to my order.” 

Help: “I am sorry I can't do that.” 

Me: “Well what can you do then?” 

Help: “Sorry we are not authorised to add things to orders - or do anything really” 

and with that, they hung up.

Well, this isn’t a rant against Asda or Customer Service staff (although if any of you are reading, please can I have some carrots and tomatoes?)  It’s about systems and assumptions that prevent relationship.  Now I get that systems can help relationships but if the system replaces relationship, it doesn't work.  It doesn't allow individuality.  And everyone is trapped, unable to solve the problem because often, it requires relationship to solve problems.  It requires listening ears without assumptions or reacting to the surface frustration but hearing the heart. I realised that the ‘helpline’ person was relating as if to an incompetent customer and I was relating to an inflexible system with a patronising ‘front-end’.  But I’m not incompetent and no doubt they are nice, probably stuck in a thankless job supporting a pretty poor system.

That’s the tragedy. So often we end up not relating to a person, but to the assumptions we have made about the person. So often the juggernaut of the system imposes itself between the actual people. When the problem became more complicated than following the script, the person hid behind the system “not authorised, can’t help” and hung up. How convenient it is to blame some external force, how easy to hide behind the impenetrable shield of the ‘rules’. We pick up the phone and a person speaks to us – it appears like a relationship with another human being – one with intelligence and feelings, one capable of empathy and action. Then situations arise outside the system’s parameters, insecurity drives us further into the system making us less and less a person. In the end, we close ranks, follow protocol, we cease to speak as an individual and hide behind policy. Suddenly we’re no longer relating to a person, we’re relating to a system.

There’s one other thing that people have over systems. They can acknowledge that they are wrong. Systems assume that if something isn’t right, you are the one causing it. Just like in Carrot-Gate. Obviously if you type in ‘carrots’ the system will display carrots. If it doesn’t, you must have made an error. Or 15. And the individual trying to help you is trapped by the system and the system mentality into assuming that you are incompetent, and therefore capable of being disconnected. By contrast, it was great to hear the second person I spoke to admit there was a problem with the system. I still didn’t get any carrots, the outcome was the same, she still had no authority, but she apologised on behalf of the company and it made all the difference. She didn't hide behind the system, she was honest about what was abundantly obvious to anyone looking in.  She had no solution, but relationship doesn't always need a solution. Honesty and empathy dissipated the frustration.  It said “I have heard you. I have heard your heart. I have heard your frustrations. I have heard your story and we agree on the truth.” How I wish the guy I spoken to earlier had got this instead of making me feel incompetent before cutting me off!

Why am I going on about this?  It is the saddest thing when you start out relating to a person, growing in friendship and trust, only for them to morph into an impersonal, inflexible system. Deeply sad when people relate to you based on who they assume you to be rather than who you actually are. When the rules, the system, is all you can address until finally, they hang-up.

If you relate to any of what I've written, know this. God never relates on the basis of assumption. He knows you, He gets you. He adjusts to who you are and relates to you personally. And when you relate to Him, you are relating to a Father who loves you, not a system. You are relating to the person of Jesus, not the rules He came to displace. You are relating to the Holy Spirit who isn't constrained by pre-set solutions. He never hangs-up on you.

Anyway, enough for now, I need to go and hunter-gather some carrots...

Guilty

The good news is not that we won’t die, we will. The good news is that death does not have to be the final word. We will all die, but in choosing to ‘die to self’ in this life, we become alive in Christ. In believing in Jesus we are raised to new life. The death of our body is no longer the defining moment, no longer the end-point of our existence.

Similarly, with guilt and condemnation. The good news is not that we will never have to feel guilty or condemned, we will. If we hurt someone, if we let them down, speak badly about them, lie to them, abuse them in some way, then we should feel guilty. What we did was wrong and if we have any goodness in us, our conscience will condemn our actions. And rightly so. The good news is that these do not have to be the banner that is written over our life.

I’m not talking about things we feel guilty about but for which we have no responsibility. The enemy loves to weigh us down with guilt and condemnation that is not deserved and sometimes we receive the burden rather than rebuking the enemy and brushing ourselves down. I’m talking about those times when we know we got it wrong, when we absolutely were the cause of the problem, the pain, the hurt. Times when we rightly feel the weight of guilt, because we are guilty.

The good news is that the agony of these feelings no longer has to define us or control us. Because of Christ’s work there is a means of forgiveness. A means by which we can be forgiven by God and by which others can forgive us. We can confess our sin and repent of it – to God and to those who we have hurt. We can offer restitution and we can be forgiven and set free.

At the risk of making us feel guilty, I wonder though, if we have become too keen to absolve ourselves and others of these painful feelings, quoting “There is now, no condemnation….” but applying it too quickly, short-cutting the process by which we receive that freedom.

I don’t believe that the Gospel is a ‘get out of jail free’ card. It doesn’t give us a licence to behave selfishly without facing the consequences, it doesn’t mean we can do wrong, press the ‘I am saved’ button and have our painful feelings of guilt and condemnation removed without due process.

Being forgiven for what we have deeply felt and owned – all of the responsibility, the grief, the horror, the guilt, the right condemnation, is a transformational experience. Forgiveness received in this way isn’t on the glib basis of “it’s alright, it doesn’t matter”, or a trite response to a favourite verse. It isn’t an analgesic to hide the pain without dealing with the cause. It is a true and deep cleansing, won at immense cost.

And knowing that does two things. It builds a barrier to us doing the same again and it deepens the love we have for those who have so graciously and expensively, forgiven us. Then, and only then, can we experience the wonder of guilt removed and condemnation replaced with acceptance and renewed relationship.

A New Way To Balance the Budget

I read through all the manifesto’s last week. Well, I glanced at them. Ok, I saw the headlines about them. My conclusion, based on this detailed analysis? They all cost a lot of money. Which invites the question ‘How do we raise such a lot of money?’

The standard approach seems to be through taxation.  Basically, you charge people for the services that they benefit from, in return for which they get access to those services and the right to vote. Sounds like a plan to me. Except within that there seems to be an untested mantra that those who have more money should pay more. Now I’m the one who used to take a copy of Socialist Worker into the Insurance Broker that I worked for and have never voted for anyone further right than a Lib Dem. But this strikes me as not well thought through. Maybe it's one of those things that we’ve all heard said so often that it becomes received wisdom.

But why? Would this be reasonable anywhere else? If I go to Asda (reopening soon, hurrah) and buy the same items as the person next to me, how would they react if they were charged more, simply because they had more disposable income than me? If they want a better product, they are free to choose to go to Waitrose and spend some of their disposable income there. But why should they have to pay Waitrose prices for Asda quality, just because they have the money?

The well-off don’t receive better education if they use the state school system or better health care through the NHS, nor are they better defended by the Army, just because they are rich. Of course they can buy private education or health-care and they may buy security by paying for insurance or a nice living location. But in making those choices and not using public services, they reduce the burden on them, freeing them for others to use. In which case an equally sound (ie not very) argument could be made that those choosing to spend their money in that way should pay lower, not higher, taxes.

Now, I know some will bridle at such a thought, because it seems unfair. The rich can afford to make those choices, the poorer cannot. But that is an argument about whether the rich deserve their riches or not, it’s a “We don’t have as much as those rich ***** so we’ll find a legal way of redistributing the wealth”. But this lacks integrity. If the problem is inequality, then justify that position and spell out policies that address it, don’t hide behind the urban myth that it is intrinsically right for those who have more to pay a disproportionate amount more than those who have less. (The argument “those who have more should contribute more” is entirely sensible – but they already do, even if they are taxed at the same rate.)

There are other pragmatic considerations too. Not just that the rich will push off to somewhere friendlier, but also for those who stay. If a company has 110 employees, 10 of whom are on the higher tax rate, then in order to give everybody £75 more in their pocket requires the company to increase the pay of the higher tax payers by more than that of the lower paid. (£125 vs £100) For the same outlay, if everyone was on the same tax rate, all the employees would receive a £77 after-tax increase, £2 more than they would otherwise have received. Given a fixed budget, most employees lose out by having some on a higher tax rate, even if the company is seeking to be egalitarian!

A thought then on how we might fund the manifestos: Each party starts a crowd-funding page via Facebook. The party that gets the funding for their policies first, becomes the government. Not only does it solve the shortfall, it could replace the election entirely.

Genius, I think.

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

And all the King’s Horses and all the King’s men

Couldn’t put Humpty together again

Profound stuff, an egg, fallen from a ledge, splattered on the floor, the shell in pieces, the yolk and white mixed, no wonder it was beyond anyone to fix, including the King!

But it isn’t about an egg, it’s about you and me. We fell too, not from a ledge, but from loving relationship with God. And it cracked us open, breaking our bodies, spilling our souls and leaking our spirits. 


And all the NHS, all the celebrity advice, all the world’s wisdom can’t put us back together again.

The good news is that the God, who we rejected, still loves us, still knows how we were uniquely knit together still knows how to unscramble us and make us whole. 

There’s never been anything more broken than Jesus on the cross. So disfigured in body and soul that he barely looked human anymore, so utterly forsaken that His spirit cries out in agony. Yet having borne our sin and shared our suffering, He is completely healed and even though He was dead, becomes alive again.

The Humpty Dumpty that is me, seemingly broken and beyond repair is eminently mendable by that same God. “The power that was at work, raising Jesus from the dead, is now at work in you”

Identikit

Imagine that a dangerous criminal had escaped from a nearby prison. The news is full of it, warning people to be prepared. They show a photograph and advise anyone who sees the fugitive to stay clear and call the police immediately.

Later in the day there is an unexpected knock on the door. It’s insistent and disconcerting. Your awareness is heightened and you leave the security chain on as you gingerly open the door a fraction. With relief, you realise it isn’t the escaped convict. The identikit photograph was of a young man and this is a middle-aged woman. She is obviously distressed. She says that she felt like she was being followed and had heard the news about the escaped prisoner. She asks if she can come in and call the police. Sympathetically you open the door and let her in, seeing too late the gun being brought up, ready to use. Your final thought is to wonder how you were supposed to be prepared when the person was so different to the picture.

When Jesus comes ‘as a thief in the night’, unexpectedly and suddenly, I wonder if people will have the same reaction? As church, we are ‘the body of Christ’. We are supposed to be the living photograph of Jesus. If we got people to describe Jesus from what they saw of church, what would the 'identikit' look like? A well-meaning group, trying to do some good with limited resources? An insular, fractious and judgemental group that lost any relevance it might have once had? 

Or would it look like Jesus - one who is self-sacrificing, willing to give up dignity and reputation for the sake of the poor and vulnerable. One who is willing to die for the worst of people as well as the best. One who despite betrayal, injustice and abuse cries out forgiveness. One who fulfils the heart of the law whilst dismissing the legalism. One who endures loneliness, despair and suffering, for the joy of restored, loving relationship with people. One who allows himself to be judged and condemned. One who speaks up for the oppressed. One who lifts others, who gets his hands dirty in the messiness of life. One who overcomes in the power of God and defeats, even death.

This isn’t a sideswipe at church from someone perched on their lofty, holier than thou, mountain top. I'm part of the problem. It isn’t a complaint against so many of the wonderful, Christ-like individuals who comprise the church. In truth, there is much to commend, both in the present and the past – a truth often overlooked by the media and hidden by people’s general disinterest. Yet the question persists in my mind. What picture does the world see, what image of God do we display? 

For those of us 'in' church, who have met with the extraordinary love of Jesus, how can we so misrepresent that passion, that person, by such a timid and tepid response? For the sake of those who don't yet know Jesus, how can we more accurately represent the one whose church it is? Doesn't it require something more radical than a slightly tweaked personal agenda? Doesn't it need an unbalanced, slightly unhinged, faith endued madness that is willing to risk everything for the sake of others? Can we truly represent a God who invades enemy territory as a baby and wins victory by being crucified, by living like everyone else? 


I know this heart-cry stirs in many -  the question is how, what do we do? Let's not still be asking the question this time next year.

Fractured

The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).

We are fractured people: Our bodies are fractured from our souls, our souls from our spirit. Our bodies grow old and sick, our souls lose hope and suffer depression whilst our spirits, hidden from view most of the time, are deeply yearning for relationship with their creator and the person they truly are.

Of course, for much of the time, this brokenness is invisible, both to ourselves and to those around. For a start, we develop coping mechanisms: medicines and cosmetics for the body, busy-ness, CBT and more medicines for our soul, Eastern mysticism, new-age, religion for our spirit. It makes the underlying malaise feels normal, to be expected, just part of life.

But Paul, writing to his friends in Rome, points to something profound. It isn’t ‘part of life’ it’s a form of death. Life isn’t supposed to be a constant round of patching up or covering over or enduring the brokenness. 

In the Bible, righteousness means ‘the state that is acceptable to God’ and peace (shalom) means wholeness. Brokenness is not a state that God intended for us nor one in which He is content to leave us. Something much better has been won for us through Jesus. In His life on earth He experienced first-hand the full extent of that brokenness. Through His death and resurrection, He broke brokenness and killed death. ‘By his stripes, we are healed’

When the love of God comes in to our life, healing comes. Increasingly we are knit back together; body, soul and spirit. Then the life-giving, strengthening joy of God can flow once more. Through our souls, through our bodies and cause our spirit to soar. 

Which bird are you?

When faced with difficulties we generally respond as one of three birds. The Ostrich, the Robin or the Eagle.

Personally, I tend to go Ostrich. Denial is my defence mechanism of choice. Head in the sand, pretend it isn't there, presume that it will go away if I don't look at it. You would be surprised how well it has worked. Only last Saturday, faced with the impossibility of the Asda 'fast lane' we discovered that if you ignore the 'unexpected shopping in the bagging area' message for a few seconds, it just lets you carry on. Top tip. Of course that's to ignore the excruciating times when Ostrich doesn't work out. But of course, as an Ostrich, ignoring the bad outcomes is all part of the deal.

Others though go for the Robin. As in 'Brave Sir Robin ran away' from 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'. His trusty bards could be relied upon for adding another verse to the ballad of their Master's deeds, describing in detail how at every opportunity, 'brave sir Robin' did indeed, run away. A problem in a relationship, avoid the person. Uncomfortable in church? Go to a different one. Vision a bit too demanding? Dream a less challenging one.

Neither of course is what we are called to, both are very tempting. Often, we wish the Bible had recorded:

And the Lord said to Joshua “Be expedient and pragmatic, tell the people that in three days you will go through the camp with an action plan for them to discuss, although if three days seems a bit hasty, feel free to defer it to a more convenient point”

or

And God said to Abraham “Leave your people and go to a land that I will show you. (Defining 'leave' as take who you want, 'go' as a metaphor for 'stay' and 'I will show you' as 'you get to choose the destination and the route')

But inconsiderately, it doesn't. Instead, God says “Take up your cross daily” and makes many other impossible demands that cause us to adopt our favourite bird.

So, what of the Eagle? Well, we're supposed to soar like they soar. Not head in the sand seeing nothing, not running away so that we can't see the problem. But soaring on high where we can see the bigger picture, the clearer route. From Eagle's wings we see the smallness of the problem in the bigness of God's perspective. Our nose isn't pressed up against the impossible, we are flying high above it.

Great image, so much healthier, but how? The problem is real, the people don't want to enter the land, they really are scared of the giants, and frankly, so am I. If I'm honest, I don't think I have the energy to restore that relationship, the skill to manage that issue, the strength to face that hostility. Everything in me shouts 'hide your head in the sand, run away, find an easier ministry'

Isaiah 40 tells us that the answer is 'waiting' on God. Not a passive, finger drumming waiting. But an active, spending time with Him, putting relationship with Him ahead of the problems. Choosing to focus on Him rather than the issues, worshipping Him not idolising the problem.

In the end, Joshua was able to achieve the impossible because he was 'strong and of good courage'. Not because of his own gifts and experience. Not because he drummed up some steely eyed self-willed strength. But because God was with him, and he knew it. It caused him to fly.

Lofts & Loftier

So, Simon and I needed to put some things in the loft today. Cue an afternoon spent reorganising the things that were already up there to make space for the new. “Don’t look in that box” I cautioned. “If we start looking in boxes we’ll be here all day” Too late. A Combine Harvester (toy, not full size – it’s not that big a loft…), some Hornby Dublo trains and various bits of old electronics too late. Also discovered some old school reports, a pool table for Benjamin to try, all the children’s first shoes and Ruth’s GCSE artwork pieces. “This seems to have taken a lot longer than I expected” said Simon as we emerged just in time for Pointless.

It dawned on me as we came downstairs that I had spent an afternoon rearranging stuff we don’t use in order to create space for more stuff we don’t use. Put bluntly, mostly, we had rearranged junk to make space for more junk. “A metaphor for much of my life” I muttered. And whilst that was the sentiment of a slightly grumpy 5x year old, there is a salutary level of truth in it.

Isn't that what we do a lot of the time? Rearrange the junk in our lives in order to make space for a new bit that we have acquired? A new hurt, a new slight, a new ‘fact’, a new disappointment, a new anxiety, a new unattached emotion, a new jealousy, a new lust, a new sin?

We know in our hearts, just as I do regarding the loft, that what it really needs is a good clear out. You know what? As I moved stuff around in the cramped, hot confines of the loft, I even took the trouble to sweep the boards where the old stuff had been. Yep, you wouldn't want new stuff that you don’t use standing on dust would you? You don’t want the junk getting messier than it already is….

So here I am, moving junk around in my life, sweeping underneath it so that it has a nice clean place to sit. When Simon heard my muttering, he wisely said “Yeah, but it’s the best we could do in the time” And of course he was right. Sometimes, with the junk of life that’s the best we can do. We know we should forgive that person, deal properly with that pain, spend time with God understanding what just happened so that it doesn't fester. But we've got the kids to pick up, that deadline to meet and whilst we know all sorts of good Biblical principles, in the pressure of the moment, the best we can do is create some space for this new piece. But as with lofts, so with life. Eventually we need to set aside time to go through it properly.

Time to sort through what are happy memories, the things that are no longer in current use, but which have great emotional value. We need time to reflect on childhood days with the Combine Harvester, the joy of seeing our children in their first shoes. Time too to look again at things that used to be too painful to have on open display, to have a moment to reconnect with God as we rediscover the album of the one no longer with us. Good and precious moments all. But also time to do the hard work of sorting through the old paper work, of bagging up the real rubbish, of dragging the junk down the steps, of making the trip(s) to the tip and actually being rid of what is just clutter. It’s tiring, physically and at times emotionally. Just like with life.

Lent of course is the traditional season for Christians to be ‘shriven’, to reflect, to confess, to repent, to engage with God in removing the rubbish. A time to bring the junk of the year to the rubbish tip of the cross, where Jesus can miraculously redeem it, reuse it and make it beautiful. But we don’t have to wait for a particular season. If your loft is full of stuff, determine to deal with it soon. Get a friend to help you, it’s more fun that way. Share the good memories, hold hands in the painful ones. Allow them to encourage you to let go of things you might otherwise hold on to, but which you both know are unhelpful.

Don’t forever keep just moving it round, cleaning underneath it, sweeping in the gaps. Eventually you run out of space and you find your hands full of junk, with nowhere to put it down. Do you know what happens then? Either you cram it in the loft anyway, until it all comes crashing down in a catastrophic moment, or you find a use for it, a place to display it. The rubbish of our life becomes our life.

See you at the tip….

Go Set A Watchman

No, not a blog about Harper Lee's last book, but some thoughts based on Isaiah 21.

As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on, it comes from the desert, from a terrible land. A stern vision is told to me; the betrayer betrays, and the destroyer destroys.

Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labour; I am bowed down so that I cannot hear, I am dismayed so that I cannot see. My mind reels, horror has appalled me; the twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling. They prepare the table, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink.

Rise up, commanders, oil the shield! For thus the Lord said to me: “Go, post a lookout, let him announce what he sees. When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, let him listen diligently, very diligently.” Then the watcher called out: “Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and at my post I am stationed throughout the night. Look, there they come, riders, horsemen in pairs!” Then he responded, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground.”

O my threshed and winnowed one, what I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you.

Something happens, things are said and they bring anguish. It feels like a whirlwind has hit you – out of the blue comes the least expected. Unemployment, the end of a relationship, sickness, bereavement, disappointment, hope unfulfilled. It feels like a betrayal; it feels as if your very life is being crushed out of you.

How does God expect us to react in such circumstances? After all, he made us, He understands how we are meant to work – and more, He understands the fall and its effects. How does He anticipate our body, soul and spirit responding to such violence?

Does He expect us to brush it off as a light affliction? Does he expect us to be British and carry on with suitably stiffened upper lips? Are we supposed to wear a good Christian smile and say ‘The Lord knows best’?

Not at all. He anticipates us going into shock, for us to be overwhelmed with pain and to be unable to act rationally. It’s no good our friends pointing to what God has done before – we are incapable of seeing it. It is no use them recounting all the good that he has done, we are unable to hear it. We can present as many reasoned arguments as we like to them, but their minds are frozen and incapable of rational thought. We can pray for God’s light to shine on them, but right now light only makes more visible the horror that is before them.

God doesn't criticise them for this. He doesn't berate their lack of faith, their inability to see the bigger picture. Instead He appoints a watchman. In kindness and compassion, He instructs the leaders to provide someone to do what they cannot at present do for themselves, to look out for additional danger, to listen to the words of God on their behalf, to defend them and encourage them.

In this way, the individual is protected whilst the shock subsides, safe until they can begin to see, to hear, to think again about God, about truth, about love. Finally, they can hear the words of their God “O my threshed and winnowed one… fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground.” Those who oppressed, those who were the root cause of the anguish, lie fallen at their feet. Finally, they can receive healing and hope from the God who loves them, who understands and bears their pain. 

Who is your watchman? Who are you being a watchman for?

Snow vision

Catherine writes....

So, I had a retreat day all lined up; plan in place, where to meet, how to get there, how to pick up kids at appropriate time. Then it snowed, not much, just enough for school to be starting late.

Still, off I trotted in my car on a little adventure in the snow.  The roads had all but cleared – amazingly even the side road tracks (like someone had gone ahead and brushed all the snow away). But the countryside was a blanket of white and the snow was lying heavily on the trees, bowing branches, beautiful.  As I got within a mile of the agreed destination, I came across a barrier, complete with keypad. No problem. I’d been warned about the barrier, just drive up to it and it will open.. So I did. Twice, slowly. No movement on barrier and no code to get through in my car. I thought it was a little odd, no mention of this in the instructions, no-one around near the barrier to ask, no intercom to get help.... Because of the snow,  I was a little later than expected, so I rang about 20 people to try and see if they were already there, to see if they could help me get past the barrier.

I spoke to lots of answer phone messages......but no luck in speaking to an actual person, so ditched the car (not literally thankfully) and had to walk.  A mile down the road through the snow, finally arriving at the venue. No-one there. I began to think that I had missed something, a text, or voicemail, an email or Facebook message cancelling.... But the roads were clear, there were no problems with the snow and when I rechecked, no messages. Still the countryside was stunning, so I walked back to the car, a little wet, a little surprised, asking ‘Lord what do you want to say through this......’ I loved the trees, took some pics, thought ‘what a beautiful place this is’, sensed God dancing, saying ‘have some fun, enjoy where I have brought you, make fresh tracks in the snow, I have made you for this adventure.  Just follow me......’

It turned out that I’d been missed out of the communication loop, a new plan had been formed because of the perceived problem of the snow. A new venue, revised times and of course, because the plan was to ‘retreat’, all phones and possibilities of contact were off and closed.

As I reflected on this, I began to see a bigger picture. I thought about the barrier in the road, the perceived problem of the snow, other people not following through on the agreed vision. I thought about how easy it is for some to then be left isolated.  I sensed God saying this is how things are, the vision was there, others didn't follow where I could have taken them, didn't step on the adventure, and because they haven't stepped it has created a barrier/difficulties for you who have.   They are man made barriers, I have cleared the way. Don’t be put off from following what I have said – the obstacles might hold you up a little, you might be stopped for a while, but I called you on this adventure and even though it is more difficult than you might have thought, there is a way.

When big vision is communicated typically three groups of people emerge. One group enthusiastically embraces the vision and they are joined by those who, whilst less excited, nevertheless hear God in the vision and step out on the adventure. The second group are those who agree intellectually and seem to buy in to the vision, but there is no emotional response, no heartfelt commitment. So when problems, real or perceived arise they are quick to amend the process or the outcome of the vision. Of course the last group are those who are ambivalent or opposed to the vision and who throw up obstacles, hoping to keep the status quo.

In this it is like my trip to the retreat. The plan is agreed, the outcome enthusiastically embraced. Some buy into it fully and are prepared to follow through even when obstacles are raised. Others desire the outcome, but are put off the process when faced with challenge. They change the process or the outcome but forget those who left earlier on the full adventure. In the midst of the change, the early adopters, those who willingly follow the full path risk becoming isolated. Just like me on the retreat. At first, I felt I had missed out, missed out because I had followed where led, had followed the agreed vision. When the vision changed I was left in the lurch. But then God said, ‘don’t be disappointed or feel like you got second best, they missed out on adventures with me and they missed out on you, my beloved child.

The truth is that God loves those who take the full adventure and those who don’t, but when we hold back people get hurt and the full blessing that God intended is reduced. He says ’you must fly where I send, you were built for adventure, whether people follow or not I am with you, and I will prepare the way,  I will clear the path.’

Elections, Snooker And A Cat

Ooh, my head.... still no result (in the UK general election). Did Labour win? No. Did they lose? No. Did the Tories win? Yes. HAve they formed a government? No. The markets are going crazy – they and most people like the certainty of a simple yes / no, on / off. Turns out that some elections say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ at the same time.

Reminds me of Quantum Mechanics. No, really. In this microscopic world a particle can both be here and not here at the same time. It can have radioactively decayed or have remained stable at the same moment. Things exist as unresolved possibilities – until we try to observe them, at which point they are forced to be one thing or another. Don’t switch off, there’s a bit about cats later on... but first some sport.

In the week when the World Snooker Championship ended (watching it has been banned in many enlightened countries as constituting cruel and unusual punishment), I thought I’d mention Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle. Steve Davis prepares to take a shot (don’t worry, I’ll fast forward) – the cue ball strikes the
red and it moves towards the hole. Will it go in or not? The tension is unbearable... how could we tell without having to wait? Well, to decide, we need to know how fast the ball is travelling and in what direction. To discover this, we could fire some light at the ball and detect where it bounces to. The angle of bounce and the time taken for it to reach the detector can be used to work out the speed and direction of the ball. Except it
doesn’t. The beam of light is a form of energy. When it hits the ball it exerts a small amount of pressure on it, thus changing its speed and direction – the very things you were trying to measure. Of course, in this case it will be a very small amount that makes little practical difference – it’s Steve Davis, he was going to miss anyway. (sorry Steve). But it does establish a principle – the act of measuring something changes what you were measuring.

Now, where’s the cat... put it in this box with a special little device. (Cat lovers may want to skip to the next paragraph). The device is a radiation detector linked to a gas canister. There is a radioactive particle in the box which has a 50% chance of decaying within a fixed period – say an hour. If the detector is triggered by a decaying particle, the gas is released, thus poisoning the cat. (I said you should have skipped to the next
paragraph). Quantum Physics says that at the sub-atomic level, particles (like electrons) behave like waves – with energy, but no specific location. The probability that the particle is actually at some specific place at any time is described by the equation defining the wave. Only when we try to actually observe where it is do we force it to actually be somewhere! Similarly, the probability that the particle has decayed remains just that – a
probability, until we force it to be ‘yes’ or ‘no’ by observing it. You may well say that this is both confusing and academic. But the cat certainly wouldn’t. If the particle decays, the cat is dead. If not, it remains alive. Whilst the particle is a probability wave, it is neither and therefore the cat lives. However, the moment we try to observe whether the cat is alive or dead, we force the probability wave to collapse into a definitive ‘yes’ or
‘no’. The act of observing, the act of knowing, forces the particle to ‘decide’ whether it has decayed or not.

Checking to see if the cat is alive has a 50% chance of causing its death. Observation can seriously damage your health (or that of a cat).

If the whole universe had been observed already, everything would now behave in a deterministic manner – there would be certainty, everything would behave as a ‘proper’ particle with no ambiguity. But we know that there are countless quantum states in the universe - it is filled with this uncertainty. Which means that it is as yet unobserved, as yet undetermined. At the very least, God has created a universe filled with possibilities. He has created it in such a way that as he observes it, such observation does not interfere with the possibilities. His interactions do not collapse possibilities, He has built openness into the very fabric of the universe.

Love does not insist on its own way.

Of course that doesn’t mean that He has no plan, no knowledge, or no means of achieving His goals. It does mean that these are not accomplished in a deterministic framework in which we are simply pawns in a cosmos of certainty.

No cats were harmed in the production of this blog.

Door knockers, falling and guns

I remember when I was a student (yep, long memory...) up in the wilds of Newcastle. It had snowed and the ground was pretty icy. (It was probably June or July...) I stepped off the pavement to cross the road and slipped. It was one of those slow-motion moments where your brain has more than enough time to process the fact that:  a) you are falling and there is nothing to grab on to, b) you really should have bought those better shoes and c) it’s going to hurt a lot anytime soon. As those thoughts unfurl I’m conscious that my feet have left the ground and that I’m in free-fall backwards.

Then it stopped. A friend with better footwear had stood behind me and caught me. Pushed me upright again. No pain, no predicted trip to A & E, not even the embarrassment of sprawling in the street. Just the amazing relief and euphoria of having escaped what seemed like the inevitable.

Fast forward thirty odd years. Front door is stiff, have to pull on the door knocker to get it closed far enough to lock the door. Been meaning to plane some wood off for a couple of weeks now. Give the knocker a good yank, it comes off in my hand and I go flying backwards. Same time-lapse sequence as before, but this time it’s Janet I’ve flown into and we now both go over backwards – except she is stopped by the hedge, and I am stopped by her. No damage to either of us, no pain, lots of laughter and a Janet shaped dent in the hedge. I put the door knocker back on and a couple of hours later go out to take the dead Christmas Tree to the recycling area in the local park. Try to shut door, won’t, so give big pull on door knocker.... This time there are no arms to stop me, no Janet or hedge to cushion fall. Fortunately the garden is soft after all the rain (remember the hose-pipe ban a few months ago?) and the result is laughter and a sense of my own ridiculousness.

I’ve felt like God reminding me of how God’s grace works. In the early days of faith, despite our unreformed character, we are close to the God we love. Close enough for His “wings” to enfold us and protect us (Ps 91). Even when we place ourselves in danger, He is there, mitigating our folly, standing behind the foolish student with the dodgy shoes, waiting and ready to catch when he inevitably slips and falls... We may have chosen the wrong shoes, but we’re still near enough to be caught...

But so often then, we continue to ignore the warnings. Having been caught and saved we keep presuming that we can go on making foolish, lazy choices. We still don’t buy the right shoes, or having been spared injury by our wife and a hedge, we still don’t sort out the door. In our heart we say “God saved me last time, he loves me, He will save me next time” As Paul puts it  “...we sin all the more that grace might abound...”

We start out close to God’s heart, right by His side. But when we act outside His character, when we ignore the warnings, we move further and further from His heart, further from His side, becoming more distant from His protection. Even then, He does what he can to save, but our distance limits His options. So, when we pull off the door-knocker we go flying, there’s no-one around to catch us, there’s not even someone to act as a cushion. Just the ground. God still loves us, still longs to protect us and we may find that even now, the ground is soft and the only injury is to our pride.

But what if then, I still don’t plane the door, what if I persist even after all this, in my presumption of grace? Well, God’s heart towards me doesn’t change – he still loves me, still yearns to protect. But I have moved myself completely outside of His shelter. My choices remove permission for Him to help. Today, as I close the door, if I haven’t responded to his grace, to the opportunity to change, I can no longer rely on people or soft ground to mitigate my folly.

We see this in the People of Israel. Their calling was to be distinctive, different to the nations around. For generations God warned, cajoled, protected, gave them victory, despite them rejecting His plan for them to be “blessed to be a blessing”. He sent prophets to remind them, He used world events to highlight it, He gave them law and scripture to reveal His love and desire for them. But they would not listen. They grew used to His grace saving them, they relied on it, presumed on it. “We are God’s people, nothing really bad can happen to us.”They continued to make ungodly choices, believing in their pride that God would continue to dig them out of the messes that they got into – that there would never be any real consequence to their choice.

But in their folly they moved themselves further and further from where God was, from where His heart always is. They removed themselves from protection. Ultimately they get what their persistent lifestyle had chosen. God had called them to be distinctive from the other nations, they chose to be the same as the other nations. Eventually, ten out of the twelve tribes get exactly what they had asked for down the generations. They become so like the other nations that they become absorbed into them, becoming lost as a people group to history.

And so to Connecticut. Did God want those kids to die in the school shooting? Was it part of His divine plan? Was it a judgment against something that offended Him? If God is love and love means anything close to what Paul describes in Corinthians, the answer is categorically ‘no’. Why then did He not intervene and prevent it?

Scripture suggests that He longed to. That everything in Him cried out to act. That such things represent the saddest, most heart-breaking moments for a God of love. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem” cried Jesus “How I longed to gather you into my arms. But you would not let me”. Everything within the Father wanted to intervene as His son was brutally murdered. Everything within the Father wanted to intervene that awful day in Connecticut. But then as now, human choices constrain grace. Eventually, we, and so often, the powerless, face the terrible and tragic consequences of our folly.

Might it be that, at least in part,  the choices made down the generations to uphold the ‘right’ to bear arms, disabled Almighty God from doing what His heart longed to do? Time and again the warning signs and indeed similar tragedies have revealed, what to most of the world is the blindingly obvious, that the availability of guns is a contributing factor. Time and again, pride has blinded (the latest response being to have armed guards in schools as opposed to changing the gun laws), each decision a step moving us out from under His wings....

These aren’t the acts of a wrathful God, they aren’t in some perverse way what God wanted. The awful reality is that we chose a society in which it can happen, then moved out of God’s protection from the folly of that choice.

Nor did God did  have these children killed out of anger or in a fit of wrathful judgement – judgement is not executed on the vulnerable, the helpless, but on those who for generations have had light, had grace but who have squandered it in pride and wilfulness. Ezekiel 33 warns those who could and should have acted but who didn’t that the blood of those who died needlessly will be required of them.

Perhaps in their evangelical zeal, the NRA might want to reflect on that.

And in the meantime, I’ve borrowed an electric plane from my co-blogger.

Honour

I  was thinking about this recently, God calls us to honour our mothers and fathers, our leaders, and ultimately to honour God.  In our society, it’s easier to see  what dishonour is. A dictionary definition says that dishonour means to treat with disrespect, to not esteem rightly, to shame, to discredit, corrupt, degrade, blacken, sully, debase, debauch, defame, abase.  It is an action to put down, to not treat rightly.   We see this in many different spheres of life.

Sex in our culture has become debased. Instead of being an expression of honour, care and love, it has become the one night stand, the casual affair, the inescapable end to a date. Increasingly it seems that the process of building relationship, of finding out about the real person – a process that implicitly honours them, has been discarded. It’s about ‘pulling’ someone for sex rather than honouring them. Love and honour have been reduced to mere pleasure seeking sex – or worse.  The removal of someone’s choice, or making choices that they are unable to contradict is the ultimate dishonour. Rape is about degrading and dishonouring, it imposes one persons choice on another or takes advantage of their inability to make their own choice.

The same with media, it is all about dishonouring, finding the best gossip, the media taking pictures of people in compromising positions – such as with Kate and William.  Blaring all mistakes out to the world too.  It often does it in subtle ways, getting us to see entire people groups as dishonourable and worthless – blackening their names (Muslims, asylum seekers, travellers, Christians, different races, teenagers etc..).  Putting others down so we appear better.  We live in a ‘mock the week’ environment where it is easier to pull down than build up. We’ve seen recently how easy it is to defame people almost on a whim.

In the political arena we see just the same. Parliament and PMQ’s is now often more reminiscent of the school playground than a chamber for honest debate. Point scoring, making the other side appear crass has become the modus operandi. Even when people try to engage, they are held up as ‘holier than thou’ or their words are taken out of context and twisted into parody.

In the bible it says about Jesus that we esteemed him not.  The son of God was on earth yet we did not honour him.  He was despised, rejected, his name blackened, betrayed.  The prostitute who wiped his feet with her tears and poured huge amounts of expensive perfume knew about honour – and Jesus honoured her in front of her enemies. ‘What this woman has done will be remembered in all generations’.

So to honour is to treat with respect, to esteem, to raise up.....   not to ignore problems, not to elevate for the wrong reasons, but to look for what is good and honour that. This verse sums it up:

Philippians 4v8

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

So to honour God means to acknowledge who he is, and what he has done.  It’s more than just words.....it has action too.  If you are to honour someone you don't do stuff that may dishonour them.  You put them in a deserved place.  To honour our forefathers is to build on what they have started, and the same with God, we build on what he has begun, but it is more than the building it is also about rightly attributing stuff to people/God – rightfully assigning value to what they have done

So why don’t we honour like this? Is it because of our own insecurity? Do we seek power and status over others in order to feel better?

We dishonour, lower others in order to feel higher. But Jesus says he has lifted us up to the height of his throne. We don’t need to be any higher than we actually, already are. To attempt to lift ourselves is to deny what God has already done and in our minds we lower him. In reality, we debase ourselves from where God has placed us.

Prejudice gives us a convenient set of people that we (and others) find it acceptable to dishonour. Who are we lifting up? Who are we putting down? Are their groups of people that we instinctively despise? Who are we in reality dishonouring.

Jesus said ‘if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to me’. Our world desperately needs to get honour.  It needs to get what it means to honour each other. We, I need to learn the art of honouring.

So with all that in mind I would like to honour David my fellow blogger (hopefully without sounding soppy and gushy cos he wouldn't like that, and he hasn't read this bit!)  I would like to honour him for bearing with me through writers block and not just looking for another blogger to replace as in a consumer society.  I would like to honour him for seeking Gods way in things, and for courage in jumping off the cliff.  I would like to honour him for the God given wisdom he has imparted to me and many,  many others.  I would like to honour him for the trust he places in people around and the way he empowers so many people to live out of Gods purposes.  I would like to honour him for sharing words of knowledge and prophetic insights.  I would like to honour him for his humility and ability to listen to honest feedback from others.  I would like to honour him for the way in which he sacrifices things – often with difficult consequences (job/money/position) to head in the direction God has shown him.  I would like to honour him for trusting in God to provide.

Honour in a consumer world

I was thinking about this recently, God calls us to honour our mothers and fathers, our leaders, and ultimately to honour God.  In our society, it’s easier to see  what dishonour is. A dictionary definition says that dishonour means to treat with disrespect, to not esteem rightly, to shame, to discredit, corrupt, degrade, blacken, sully, debase, debauch, defame, abase.  It is an action to put down, to not treat rightly.   We see this in many different spheres of life.

Sex in our culture has become debased. Instead of being an expression of honour, care and love, it has become the one night stand, the casual affair, the inescapable end to a date. Increasingly it seems that the process of building relationship, of finding out about the real person – a process that implicitly honours them, has been discarded. It’s about ‘pulling’ someone for sex rather than honouring them. Love and honour have been reduced to mere pleasure seeking sex – or worse.  The removal of someone’s choice, or making choices that they are unable to contradict is the ultimate dishonour. Rape is about degrading and dishonouring, it imposes one persons choice on another or takes advantage of their inability to make their own choice.

The same with media, it is all about dishonouring, finding the best gossip, media taking pictures of people in compromising positions – such as with Kate and William.  Blaring all mistakes out to the world too.  It often does it in subtle ways, getting us to see entire people groups as dishonourable and worthless – blackening their names (Muslims, asylum seekers, travellers, Christians, different races, teenagers etc..).  Putting others down so we appear better.

Politics...

In the bible it says about Jesus that we esteemed him not.  The son of God was on earth yet we did not honour him.  He was despised, rejected, his name blackened, betrayed.  The prostitute who wiped his feet with her tears and poured huge amounts of expensive perfume knew about honour – and Jesus honoured her...

So to honour is to treat with respect, to esteem, to raise up.....   Now obviously this doesn't mean raising someone up who has acted dishonourably and then honouring them, but this verse sums stuff up well when we honour

Philippians 4v8

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

So to honour God means to acknowledge who he is, and what he has done.  It’s got to be more than just words.....it has action too.  If you are to honour someone you don't do stuff that may dishonour them.  You put them in a deserved place.  To honour our forefathers is to build on what they have started, and the same with God, we build on what he has begun, but it is more than the building it is also about rightly attributing stuff to people/God – rightfully assigning value to what they have done

Why don’t we honour – because of our own insecurity... so we seek power and status over others in order to feel better... we dishonour, lower others in order to feel higher.

But Jesus says he has lifted us up to the height of his throne. We don’t need to be any higher than we actually, already are. To attempt to lift ourselves is to deny what God has done, in our minds we lower him, in reality, we debase ourselves from where God has placed us.

Jesus said ‘if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to me’. Our world desperately needs to get honour.  It needs to get what it means to honour each other.

Give them hell

So, there’s a book that was given out free at New Wine recently – ‘Revolutions in World Missions’. In the midst of some good insights, it’s a classic ‘American’s  are greedy, evangelicals are self-centred’ guilt-inducing polemic in the guise of a hard-hitting cry for the poor. A central theme is that every second someone in the two thirds world dies without having heard the good news and as a result, goes to a lost eternity of torment. And we are to blame.

Thinking Allowed has a number of problems with this. Firstly, if the fact that people are starving to death in a world of plenty isn’t of itself enough to shake you out of your complacency, it’s unlikely that their eternal destiny is going to make much difference to the response. But more importantly it’s the theology that has us worried.

In this bizarre worldview, people who have done nothing other than be born are deemed as deserving a punishment of such unspeakable magnitude as to make any earthly torture seem inconsequential. Even when these individuals have lived long enough to make their own moral choices, they have done so unwittingly, unknowingly because nobody has told them. Yet still, they are deemed guilty of such a heinous offence against a loving God that the right and just response is to torture them forever.

On the other side of this coin are those who have been saved from this unimaginable horror. Their job is to warn those who are unwittingly hell-bound of their impending doom. Now, what happens to those who fail to perform this critically important task? Surely, if the unknowing are consigned to hell, those who could tell but don’t must certainly face even worse? But no, ‘once saved, always saved’, they get to go to heaven...

Ah, but you can’t go on your feelings, the fact that it might seem outrageous to our flawed human view of justice doesn’t mean that it is actually unjust. ‘God’s ways are not our ways’. Our calling is to be obedient... ‘ours not to reason why, ours but to do or die’.

And yet... and yet, we were made for relationship with God. Jesus took on human form. If God is so other than us in such a basic concept as justice, how can we ever have a meaningful relationship? Shouldn’t we at least explore what other worldview scripture might support?

Might we not look past the fact (as quoted in the book) that Jesus spoke more of hell than heaven and acknowledge that his audience on those occasions was not the unsaved but the disciples or the religious leaders. It was often a warning to those who should know better rather than to the poor, oppressed or unknowing. Secondly, whilst not speaking about ‘heaven’ Jesus talked a lot about the Kingdom of God and the concept of bringing heaven to earth. He had both a temporal and eternal view when it came to the meaning of life. His calling was not to bring guilt and the fear of punishment, but claimed anointing to bring good news... healing, liberty, transformation – here and now as well as into the future. ‘I have come that you might have life in all its fullness...’ Why do we think, as ‘Christ’s body’, that we should do anything different?

When we look across scripture we see that in about half the instances where hell is discussed, it is described as an eternal punishment. In the other half, as a place of temporary suffering. We note that these comments were predominantly warning to believers. We read in Psalm 139 that even if we go to hell (sheol) that God is even there. When evangelicals suppose Jesus to be in hell after the crucifixion we note that Jesus told the thief ‘today’ (ie when he was in hell) ‘you will be with me in paradise’. We read Peter talking obscurely of Jesus ‘preaching to the saints in hell’. What does all this mean? There are some good learned books on this – David Pawson and Greg Boyd are particularly scholarly aurthors. The truth is there is genuine debate  over the nature and  extent  of hell, let alone its inhabitants.

Thinking Allowed suggests that a biblical worldview is that we get to make moral choices in this life. It’s the basis of a love that ‘does not insist on its own way’.  If in the face of death we are still making faith based choices, God seals those choices - for all eternity we get what we have persistently chosen in this life. With great sadness, though, a God of love who gives choice must also honour those choices even when they break his heart. For those who knowingly and persistently choose to be their own god or to make the enemy their god, the real and one God honours their choice. If we choose in this life to live outside the love of God, the God who is love must honour those choices.

But making choices for God doesn’t just affect our destination, it profoundly alters the journey. Poverty, sickness, death even – all can be transformed by the love of God, here in this life as well as for eternity. It is our responsibility to fully receive the transformation that is offered, because it is out of the drama of that that we genuinely become motivated to share the good news. It is out of our experience of good news that we have testimony and witness. Our lives have been changed, we personally know the love and grace of God. We yearn for others to know it, long for others to experience the freedom and joy that we share. That’s the spur, the imperative to evangelism, not some guilt induced story of a wrathful dictator with a warped sense of justice.

The scripture says ‘Will not the judge of all the earth do right’. Thinking Allowed is confident that He will.

Olympics

So, did we all enjoy watching the Olympics?  Were we inspired?

Personally, I was cheated. I wanted a Gold Medal, but I didn’t get one. I’d pictured it in my head; the tense moments before the event. The press speculation, the in-depth analysis, the hopes of a nation.  The drama of the event itself, the underdog somehow hanging in there until at the last, through a supreme effort of will, the crowning accomplishment of my glittering career. The crowd go wild, Steve Cram is off his seat in commentary, the Union Flag is thrown to me for the lap of honour...

But sadly it turns out that Pool isn’t an Olympic event and bowls aren’t even in the Commonwealth Games any more....

Still, the unfairness of me not getting a medal got me thinking... what is fairness in sport and what is it that  we are actually celebrating when someone wins? The Olympic motto of ‘higher, faster, further’ is all very well, but excellence surely needs to be underpinned by character rather than mere physical advantage. The increasing efforts to establish a fair competition seem to validate this view:

Drugs and the use of steroids clearly give an unfair advantage and so more and more money and effort is being expended ensuring athletes are ‘clean’.

In weightlifting, the amount you lift is subtracted from your body weight to give a fairer view of the ability of the athlete – and even then there are different categories for additional fairness.

Women are clearly considered disadvantaged when compared to men – they have separate races. We’d probably all agree that it would be unfair to insist that the best women 100m runners had to compete against Bolt et al.

The sad arguments that surrounded Caster Semenya hinged on this. At some point the natural advantage testosterone gives in terms of speed and strength is defined as unfair and you have to race against others with similar levels - men. At some point the credit for running fast moves away from you and onto biology.

The Paralympics confirms this principle, seeking to recognise that some people are disadvantaged over others and tries to create a more level playing field. It seeks to remove the inherent differences so that what you see in the games is the performance of the athlete themselves. Inevitably, you  will always have those at the edges and make a nonsense of it. Should Caster compete against men or women? Should Oscar run in the Paralympics or the Olympics? (I mean, I know he is a double amputee, but the fact that he can and does compete in the Olympics, surely means that in terms of 400m running, he is not disabled - so how come he gets to race in the Paralympics? In fairness, if there was an ‘able bodied’ athlete who trained hard and had enormous upper-body strength, would they be allowed in a Paralympic wheelchair race?) Anyhow,  the principle is clear – you do what you can to ensure that it is the underlying quality of the individuals you are cheering, not just their natural advantage.

No-one gets a gold medal just for being tall.

So, in looking at this issue of a flat, fair playing field, we’ve covered drugs, weight, gender and disability. There’s really only one area of political uncorrectness left to hit now...

Over 200 independent studies show that Black people have a biological advantage in running over non-blacks. Conversely they have a biological disadvantage when it comes to swimming events. In other words a black runner who puts in the same amount of effort and commitment into training as their white counterpart will likely do better because of biology... And vice-versa for swimming... Now, who is going to be the brave (or insane) person who suggests separate races for black and white athletes or swimmers?

So here’s my point. When we cheer the winner, what are we cheering? If a significant part of victory is due to biology, to circumstance, to chance, what are we celebrating? We don’t give a gold medal for the person who had the richest most privileged upbringing. Or just for being male or female, black or white, disabled or not.... Stronger, Higher, Further. But what if strength comes from more testosterone than your opponent? What if higher is because you are taller? What if further is because you happen to be from the Kalenjins tribe (half a million people who have won three times as many distance medals as athletes from any other nation in the world)....

Isn’t the thing we really want to cheer about more to do with character than attributes? The one who overcomes adversity, the one who takes the limits of what they have and through perseverance overcomes the natural barriers to defeat the more naturally talented?

Ultimately, don’t we want to be impressed by faithfulness more than ability? Isn’t Blake a more impressive person – performing at the limits of his natural ability and coming second than Bolt who could break records at will but who chooses not to? Aren’t we more impressed with Pistorius qualifying for the Olympic final than we will be seeing him win the paralympic race by 20m?

But all this is quickly drowned out by the cheer for the winner. The one who came first. We are so easily conned into being impressed with the obvious, the immediate, the outward. Easier to be impressed by the powerful preacher, the man with the Spirit filled ministry. But as Kenny Borthwick says ‘we shouldn’t be impressed when someone exercises their gifts to the best of their ability. That’s just them acting responsibly’.

Ok, if you’re still with me let’s get personal. Truth is, I can’t run as fast as Bolt. Two reasons come to mind, firstly, I’m in my 50’s, secondly I’m not that fit. I mean, I’m still pretty nifty over 60m, but Usain would have finished the 200m by then. Now I can see an obvious solution to the first issue – age is obviously a disability when it comes to sprinting, so we could have the vetlympics for those over 50. But most people would argue that my lack of fitness is really not a disability but more the result of a series of poor choices...  But wait. The choices I make are surely impacted by my upbringing, the character that was developed during childhood and shaped through my formative years. ... maybe my social background contributed.. Not only that, when I was very young I had my legs in plaster for the best part of a year – I didn’t walk till after two... that’s got to have been a disadvantage... And when I got to school we certainly didn’t have any coaches. Barely had a school bus...

So, if we’re looking for fairness and winners and have women’s events separate from men because of their disabling femininity (Bulgarian shot-putters notwithstanding), veterans tennis and golf tournaments, I think it is my human right to have a male, over-50’s, 60m sprint event for those who had early childhood problems, social challenges and poor school facilities. And whose birthday is in late February (well, you never know how that might have impacted me..)

Or maybe I need to give up on those dreams and face a better reality. God knows all the advantages and disadvantages. All the mitigating circumstances. He says there is already a stadium full of those cheering me on to the finishing line. That I get a gold medal, that I win an overwhelming victory. That against all the odds, I win. Not by virtue of being the fastest. But in his strength, taking every bit of what I have and giving everything I’ve got.

Announcements

So, on my way to the airport... train to Gatwick, standing on Luton Station waiting for train. Every 2 minutes the announcement comes 'If you are travelling with luggage, please use the lifts provided. If you are using the stairs, please hold the handrail'. Repeated three times followed by a two minute break. Then 'If you are travelling with luggage, please use the lifts provided. If you are using the stairs, please hold the handrail'. Over and over again... just about to find a way of disconnecting the speaker when behold, a new message! 'Staff on this station are here to help. Verbal or physical abuse of staff will not be tolerated'. Great, they only stop assuming I'm stupid or incompetent in order to assume I'm angry or violent. Which by this point is closer to the truth than I'd like!!

Still, made it to the airport. 'No photography, no liquids, no passengers....', 'If you are not at the gate in the next 2 minutes your bags will be removed and you will not be allowed to fly.', 'Very last and final call for passenger Smith. You are now holding up the on-time departure of your flight, you will be shot'

I may have misheard the detail of the last two announcements....

 

Finally, on the plane. 'Listen to the safety demonstration' (it's a BA flight and they haven't invented TV screens yet, so it's a live performance). 'Fasten your seatbelt', 'SIT down sir...'.  After usual Gatslow delays, flight finally in air where this is being typed... food flung at us... 'Quality snack' may contain traces of nuts. It is nuts. In every sense of the words.

We are inundated in everyday life with these kind of messages. Words that imply our stupidity, our tendency towards rage, our inability to think for ourselves. Add to that the snide remarks, the less than encouraging comments, the implied criticism, the guilt trips and emotional blackmail from Facebook posts or advertising campaigns.. We are swimming in a sea of negativity and if we are not careful it permeates our soul and becomes reality.

We need to be listening carefully to the great announcer – the one who declares truth. We are valued, precious, loved, protected. Significant children of the most high God. We are eternal, competent, empowered, delightful, co-heirs with Jesus. This is the truth we need to use to filter out the other voices. From railway announcers to the enemy of our souls, we need to take every thought they plant and hold it to the light of the truth. We need to allow the Spirit to take that which is subliminal – the incessant nagging of detractors; spouses, children, colleagues maybe, and bring the curses that have been unwittingly spoken into the light. We need to take them to Christ, we need to pray cleansing from them and a breaking of their power. And we need to replace them with God's holy, life giving truth.

In the meantime I have been instructed to sit back and enjoy the flight. It seems unlikely.

Gooseberry Fool

I have two gooseberry bushes on my allotment.  In the Spring, I managed to cover one with left over netting, but ran out for the second one. They are both the same variety of gooseberry, planted in the same soil, next to one another.  The one with the netting has a bit of support, some wire and a couple of sticks. But those are the only differences.

Today we went to see whether there was any fruit worth picking. As we approached we could see the uncovered one. Didn’t look hopeful. Not much fruit and what there was, was very small.

Then we lifted the netting from the covered one. We couldn’t believe our eyes. Huge fruit and laden branches sagging under the weight of the fruit. Yay! Gooseberry crumble for the next year!

What an extraordinary difference a bit of support and protection had made.  Made us think... how much more fruitful would we be if we had a bit of support and some good protection?

Support to stop us dragging in the wet ground, to stop us rotting in the mud. Support to hold our heads up to the sun rather than staring at the floor. Protection from the birds that nibble incessantly at the forming fruit, from the flies and ants chomping through the leaves. Protection from the vicious nettles... (I managed to sit on a clump whilst picking the fruit. Ouch – didn’t think it appropriate to rub it with a dock leaf...)

But amazing how often we wander through life, independently oblivious to how much of life and faith is getting sapped, choked or eaten. We’re so busy, sometimes with ‘ministry’ that we never stop to be accountable, to be supported. We rarely pray for our protection as a daily necessity.

One of the things we’ve found in c2b (our ‘beacon’ group) is the joy of mutual support and the transformation praying for protection makes. We've spent time looking at the armour of God, discovering the reality of 'living under the shadow of his wing'. Like Ruth, we're learning to ask the one who loves us 'extend the border of your garment. Cover me.'

Final thought, gooseberry bushes can’t pick themselves up and move, but we can. Maybe we used to be sheltered under God’s wing, under the netting of his protection. Maybe some of us have walked out of the centre of his calling, out of the netting.  Quick, get back under before the ants or birds get to you.

And watch where you sit down.