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The dividing wall of hostility – and the Crucified God

I've just watched news pictures of massive explosions in residential Gaza, fired by Israeli aircraft. Then I watched a doctor wipe blood and remove fragments of shrapnel from a child's face. The photos are available on the Internet – I see no acceptable reason to exhibit them here – such anguish. When tears and blood mingle on the wounded face of a child, I find the political rhetoric and the mutual recriminations and vengeance talk of Hamas and Israel evacuated of all moral justification. And I find it the more outrageous that our own Government has so far offered only words, and muted uncommitted words at that.

I don't mean I want to hear words of condemnation directed at either side or both sides. I mean that I want those who represent me to stop the impotent camera viewed hand-wringing, and speak up on behalf of that child. Want? No, I require. I require of those who represent me that instead of hiding behind the undeniable political complexities, ancient enmities, religious and ideological hatreds that make this war an arena of violent despair, I require that my government cease all arms trading with any and all of those engaged in this conflict. The history in recent years of millions of pounds worth of weapons sold to Israel may well mean that some of the ordinance being so graphically demonstrated as if in a sick sales pitch, came from British manufacturers. Hard to do multi-million pound arms deals and still retain any credible moral authority to say in open and unambiguous terms, that the blood and tears of children, in Gaza or Ashkelon, is always intolerable and must not be deemed inevitable let alone acceptable.

In one of the finest older protest hymns in our hymn books, Harry Emerson Fosdick urged, "Save us from weak resignation, to the evils we deplore…Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the facing of this hour." Amongst the virtues absent from much political theatre today, is wisdom and courage. Repeated calls for a cease fire on both sides, when dealing with two intransigent combatant peoples, will require more than mere repetition. So far I've searched amongst the various statements and announcements, without much success, for wisdom and /or courage from those whose veto could stop this.

Meantime, I am on the side of that child, and her brothers and sisters on both sides of that obscene Gaza wall, that "dividing wall of hostility." (Ephesians 2.14 and see Colossians 1.20) Two of my favourite texts, not least because they speak of Christ the peace maker, who through the blood of the cross, demolishes dividing walls of hostility. So while my political representatives use words to avoid causing offence, I'm into another kind of speaking – I'm still praying, for that child and her family, and for other families whose homes and lives are being obliterated on both sides of that, I use the word advisedly, that bloody wall. Because I don't believe for one milli-second, that the blood and tears of that child and all those caught up in this cycle of rage and outrage, are meaningless to the Crucified God who makes peace by the blood of His cross.

Save us from weak resignation

to the evils we deplore….

grant us wisdom,

grant us courage

for the living of this hour.

P.S. My friend Jason points to John Pilger's article, The Death Of Gaza. This is journalism with a conscience, words used as articulated anger and moral scorn, and the heartening refusal of some to be silenced in the face of what are by even the most diluted and qualified definitions, and despite all the politico-ethical gymnastics, war crimes.

13 January 2009
Word centred aspiration and radical peacemaking: Anabaptist Spirituality.

Some time ago I was asked to lead closing devotions for a group of newly settled Baptist ministers. Decided to use some of the material from several books on Anabaptist Spirituality to compile a closing act of worship. Haven't used it since but thought it might be interesting or useful for others – if not, nothing lost.

The etching is of Dirk Willems, (Asperen 1569), an Anabaptist condemned to death for his convictions, who escaped across the castle moat, but his pursuer fell through the ice. Willems turned back to help his pursuer, was recaptured, and then burned. The Anabaptist respect for life, reverence for human flourishing and literalist approach to the Sermon on the Mount are hard to capture more faithfully than in such an act of mercy. Out of that tradition that seeks to follow faithfully after Christ in performative discipleship and radical peacemaking, ideas and words like these come – not only prayer, but Word centred aspiration.

The first gift …

is called the Fear of God,

it is the beginning of all
wisdom

which prepares the path to
life for us.

It trembles at the Word of
God

and enters through the narrow
Gate.

It drives out sin and a
godless life,

diligently watches and
protects its house


The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…

     guard your heart carefully,

       for from it
flow the issues of life.

We are created anew out of
God,

born
of his seed, 1 Pet. 1.23,

made
in his image, Col. 3.10,

renewed
in his knowledge,

become
partaker of his divine nature, Eph. 4.24,

having
new being of the Spirit, John 14.17, 16.13.

In God’s great mercy we have been given new birth into a living hope

     through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

and into an inheritance that can never perish
or fade –

kept in heaven for us who through faith
are shielded by God’s power….

Christ is everywhere
represented to us as

                humble,
meek, merciful,

              just,
holy, wise, spiritual,

            long-suffering,
patient, peaceable,

          lovely,
obedient, and good,

       as
the perfection of all things;

    for
in Him thee is an upright nature.

   Behold,
this is the image of God,

     of
Christ as to the Spirit

        which
we have as an example

          until
we become like it in nature

            and
reveal it by our walk.

   To this we were called, because Christ
suffered for us,

leaving
us an example that we should follow in his steps…

He himself bore our sins in his body on the
tree

so
that we might die to sins and live for righteousness…

   by his wounds, we have been healed

Just
as one bread is made from many kernels,

And
one drink from many berries,

    So
all true Christians

      Are
one bread and one drink,

        Without
deceit or duplicity,

          In
Christ the Lord.

            He
nourishes us,

              Multiplying
true love and communion.

   How good and pleasant it is when we dwell in
unity,

   devoted
to one another in love,

   honouring one another above ourselves.

Just
as natural bread is made of many grains

    Pulverised
by the mill, kneaded with water,

        And
baked by the heat of the fire,

                  So
is the church of Christ made up of true believers,

        Broken
in their hearts with the mill of the divine Word,

      Baptised
with the waters of the Holy Ghost.

   And
with the fire of pure, unfeigned love, made into one body.

12 January 2009
Evangelical Disenchantment, David Hempton.

David Hempton is one of the best writers on nonconformity and the impact of modernity on various religious traditions. His previous book Methodism. Empire of the Spirit is a superb distillation into one volume of the origins, impact and fortunes of a genuinely world class Christian tradition deep rooted in the Evangelical movement. It is written by a scholar steeped in the sources, critical in the best sense of being informed, and neither so sympathetic nor so antagonistic to those he critiques that he loses sight of their humanity. And Hempton can write – lucid prose, uncluttered by the overfussy ifs and buts of pedantic carefulness, and with the persuasive authority of someone whose attention to detail enriches the broader cultural context. You just know he knows what he's talking about!

So when his new book, Evangelical Disenchantment was announced it became an automatic buy and I'm waiting for that brown cardboard package from you know who. Below is the publisher's blurb. When it arrives it will be an immediate read – not least because I am teaching Evangelical History and Theology this semester. As you will see, this book offers an important and unusual perspective which needs to be heeded, and heard above the orchestrated triumphalism of much contemporary evangelical claims and counter claims.

Here's the blurb:
In this engaging and at times heartbreaking book, David Hempton looks at
evangelicalism through the lens of well-known individuals who once
embraced the evangelical tradition, but later repudiated it. The author
recounts the faith journeys of nine creative artists, social reformers,
and public intellectuals of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,
including such diverse figures as George Eliot, Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
Vincent van Gogh, and James Baldwin. Within their highly individual
stories, Hempton finds not only clues to the development of these
particular creative men and women but also myriad insights into the
strengths and weaknesses of one of the fastest growing religious
traditions in the modern world.

Allowing his subjects to express
themselves in their own voices – through letters, essays, speeches,
novels, apologias, paintings – Hempton seeks to understand the factors
at work in the shaping of their religious beliefs, and how their
negotiations of faith informed their public and private lives. The nine
were great public communicators, but in private often felt deep
uncertainties. Hempton's moving portraits highlight common themes among
the experiences of these disillusioned evangelicals while also
revealing fresh insights into the evangelical movement and its
relations to the wider culture. It features portraits of: George Eliot;
Frances W. Newman; Theodore Dwight Weld; Sarah Grimke; Elizabeth Cady
Stanton; Frances Willard; Vincent van Gogh; Edmund Gosse; and James
Baldwin.

10 January 2009
Grace, Peace and Fibonacci shaped theology

A couple of theological Fibs. Not aiming at profundity – more interested in the process of packing transformative ideas like grace and peace into sentences shaped by syllable count, forcing a form of minimalism, and thus an interesting form of contemplative musing, theological reflection – perhaps even deliberately formed prayer. So I've also tried to write a few prayers in the same way, up to the 21 syllable line. Thinking of offering one to the congregation on Sunday, (going where this will be OK!), with brief prior explanation and then read together following one of the Epiphany readings on which the prayer is based. Might then post it.

The Van Gogh is there for no other reason than I think it's one of the most remarkable representations of light dispelling darkness, and of hopefulness as the rhythm of recurring vision and earth illumined under the dance of the stars.

Grace

Grace.

Love

emptied

of self-love.

Mercy entangled,

refusing to be free from us.

The giving gift of those inept at calculation.

Peace

First,

help

others

rebuild trust

from broken promises.

Then speak with hope of being heard

above the din of grievance-fed retaliation.

9 January 2009
Found it!

Well Ian has. and Bob has. My lost reference has been found. It's on page 64 of Grain of Truth. And whether or not there is rejoicing in heaven, there's a fair amount of positive and affirmative mood change going on here!

Thanks Ian – won't slay the fatted calf but I owe you a coffee. And thanks for the pointer Bob and the subsequent reference details – not sure how to send a coffee transatlantic.

8 January 2009
Not found it yet – keep looking.

My thanks to Andy and Derek (see comments on previous post), for looking at Google books and for their efforts to find that which was lost and redeem my literary lapses.

My pal Bob from New Hampshire tells me the Von Balthasar reference I'm looking for is in Grain of Wheat. Now this collection of Von Balthasar's aphorisms isn't on Google books as a preview volume, and I don't have a copy. So does anyone have access to a copy and is my elusive reference to be found there? I'm beginning to feel like the woman with the lost coin, unable to settle to those other responsibilities of life till I find the one that was lost. So I'm sweeping the house – figuratively speaking.

Here it is again – you can see why I want to place it – this is Von Balthasar at his most quotable. I don't know a better definition of that ecumenism of the heart that grows out of the love of God in Christ.

"Only in Christ are all
things in communion. He is the point of convergence of all hearts and beings
and therefore the bridge and the shortest way from each to each."

8 January 2009
I lost it. I don't know where. I was sure I'd put it safe. But I've looked in all the obvious places and can't find it. The annoying thing is I'm usually so careful with such things. I can't even blame anyone else for taking it, losing it, breaking it, stealing it, hiding it. I was the last person to see it. The responsibility is entirely mine that I can't find it. So can any of you good and patient people who frequent this blog help me find it?

I've lost a reference. It comes from Hans Urs Von Balthasar, I think from his book Love Alone is Credible. I've re-ordered the book but need the reference, like, now!? – for an article at the proof stage.

Here's the quote I need to pin down – any Balthasarians out there who can help find this – if you could love would indeed be credible (which by the way is a more reassuring statement than the bland overstatement that love is incredible!).

"Only in Christ are all
things in communion. He is the point of convergence of all hearts and beings
and therefore the bridge and the shortest way from each to each."

By the way – the guy in the photo isnae me – cos I hivnae got a moustache. But I liked the idea of a magnifying glass on a headband with a wee searchlight as a research tool for those who mislay important references.

7 January 2009
On discerning the right bandwagon to jump on

Been thinking about bandwagons, and the temptation to jump on them. Ever since the circus clown Dan Rice used a bandwagon to give Zachary Taylor much needed publicity in the 1848 American Presidential elections, jumping on the bandwagon has been popular as an easy approach to decision-making. If lots of other people are doing it, thinking it, buying it, it must be good so I'll do likewise. Nowadays being told you're "jumping on the bandwagon" has become a dismissive put-down, criticising the lack of independence of mind, ridiculing the crowd-following instinct, suggesting a lazy or too impressionable mind lacking individuality, initative and personal preference.

Now sometimes jumping on the bandwagon is the result of all or some of these. But supposing the bandwagon is going somewhere important? What if those on the bandwagon are indeed better informed, or have found a more interesting place to go, or are just a lot better company than I've so far found, eh? So I'm going to jump on a bandwagon currently on the make though still modestly proportioned, and already rolling. The William Stringfellow bandwagon. I first came across the name years ago in several contexts including the work of civil rights activists and early Sojourners writing. Never followed it up. Then a few weeks ago the name started to appear in blog conversations, including the ubiquitous Ben Myers at Faith and Theology. Before then Stuart had started to mention him in conversation and now features Stringfellow at Word at the Barricades.

Sunday past's Revised Common Lectionary Readings included the famous Ecclesiastes passage about time.

3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter
under heaven:

3:2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what
is planted;

3:3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

3:4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

3:5 a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to
embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

3:6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;

3:7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

3:8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

3:9 What gain have the workers from their toil?

3:10 I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with.

3:11 He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past
and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning
to the end.

3:12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves
as long as they live;

3:13 moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all
their toil.

So if there's a time for every matter under heaven, there's surely a time for learning insights from unusual directions. I haven't read the work of William Stringfellow. Yet. But someone who writes in the areas of political spirituality and lived faithfulness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and someone who believed his theology is best understood when visibly embodied in the story of his life – well that's someone whose bandwagon I want to jump on for a while.

A Keeper of the Word, is a reader which includes a broad selection of Stringfellow's published work. Don't know if this bandwagon will gather momentum and size, but whether or not, I want to go along for a while, for this part of my own journey, just to see.

6 January 2009
“Life is meaningless for young adults” – so what would be good news for them, then?

'Life meaningless for young adults'

Don't want to comment on this for now – I've simply posted it for further thought. I'll come back to it later. It raises ( I hate the word) "missional" questions for the Church, for theological education as preparation to engage with life as it's felt and lived. Above all it raises questions of how a consumer obsessed society can recover a capacity to see human beings as loveable, and see themselves as lovers of others. Now that takes me to the very heart of the Christian Gospel – but as I said – I want to let this seep into that place where thinking, theology and love for God coalesce in a prayer for wisdom and courage.

The following is from AOL and can be found here.

One in 10 young people believed life was not worth living or was meaningless, according to an "alarming" new report.

A survey of 16 to 25-year-olds by the Prince's Trust found a
"significant core" for whom life had little or no purpose, especially
among those not in education, work or training.

The poll of over 2,000 showed that more than a
quarter felt depressed and were less happy than when they were younger.
Almost half said they were regularly stressed and many did not have
anything to look forward to or someone they could talk to about their
problems.

The trust, which aims to help vulnerable young
people, said its study revealed an increasingly vulnerable generation.
Chief executive Martina Milburn said: "Young people tell us that family
is key to their happiness, yet too often we find they don't have this
crucial support."

The survey, described as the first large scale
study of its kind, showed that young people who had left school but did
not have a job or a place on a training course, were twice as likely to
feel that their life had no purpose.

Relationships with family and friends were
found to be the key to levels of happiness, although health, money and
work were also important.

Paul Brow, director of communications at the
Prince's Trust, said the study showed there were thousands of young
people who "desperately" needed support. "Often, young people who feel
they have reached rock bottom don't know where to turn for help."

A spokesman for the Department for Children,
Schools and Families said: "The Government wants to make this the best
country in the world to grow up and the Children's Plan sets out how we
will do this with more support for families, world class schools, and
exciting things for young people to do outside school, and more places
for children to play.

"We want all young people to play an active role in society and gain
the skills they need to succeed beyond school. The number of 16-18 year
olds in education or training is at its highest rate ever and since
1997 we have halved the number of young people leaving school with no
qualifications, while the proportion gaining five good GCSEs has risen.

"This is evidence that we are successfully engaging some of our most vulnerable young people in learning."

5 January 2009
A beautiful day, a beautiful country, pity about the razor wire.

Saturday was a full day. Up at 5 a.m. to deliver Andrew to Glasgow airport bound for the furthest extremities of England to carry on the fish management studies. Which meant back in the house at 6.00 a.m, bright eyed, feeling skeich, ("in high spirits, animated, daft", according to the Scots Dictionary!), and wondering what to do with a day that the weather woman said would be bright, cold and clear.

By the time it was daylight we were in the car and heading north west. The sunrise in the rear view mirror was a glowing orange advert for the new day, a dazzling copper gold diffused by low mist – the kind of effect Turner strove for but only now and then came close – which is saying a great deal. By the time we were crossing Erskine bridge the sunrise was a far too beautiful distraction from driving, so I only glimpsed it. Decided to go via Helensburgh, then Rhu (a favourite place forever associated in my mind with John Macleod Campbell, one of Scotlands greatest theologians).

Then up the loch. Gareloch's beauty is now permanently disfigured by miles of metallic link fence topped by razor wire, boasting our capacity to look after our weapons of mass destruction, and keep them safe – just in case we need to use them! The incongruity of such natural age-old beauty as those Scottish hillsides and glens, co-existing with state of the art weapons techonology, concealed and incalculably lethal, is a parable of our lostness; an admission that pushed far enough, our fears might prove more decisive than our hopefulness. For surely the decision to use nuclear weapons could only betray the distorted preference of those who would risk no future for any of us, rather than the future they don't want – a form of moral and political nihilism. Of course I know there are complex arguments justifying all this. But they aren't where I've chosen to stand – and they don't make me less outraged by what all that razor wire is for.

But with that ugliness behind us, parts of the drive to Arrochar were sublime – the beauty of hills carpeted in shades of brown, green and those colours on Scottish hills that seem only to come alive in a bright winter sun, and all of this reflected on the mirror surface of the loch – disturbed at one point only by a seal breaking the surface to breathe, eat, bother the seagulls, or just admire the view. Inveraray as always was set against that kind of background that looks like a shortbread tin cliche – but which on a morning like this is the real thing. Brambles was open for business by 10.30 and we had near perfect coffee and the just out the oven rock bun, while I read the Herald Supplements. How hard does life get?

So on slowly to Crianlarich, Ben More (Photo not mine – a freebie), and then the packed lunch simply looking while we ate. The drive back down was pleasant enough but by then the sun was going down, we were on the shadow side of the hills, and everybody else by this time was up and about and in a bigger hurry than me. So home by 3'ish.

Decided in the absence of a long walk I'd do the exercise bike for a while listening to my new CD of Beethoven's 7th Symphony.
I defy anyone to cycle slowly during the last two movements of this raucous celebration of dancing sound and orchestral frenzy. By the finale I was approaching knackered – but what a madly generous piece of music. No wonder some of the critics suggested Beethoven had had too much to drink when he composed the final movement. The argument between the brass and the strings is one of my favourite musical shouting matches.

The rest of the evening was good food, a read at the book, preceded by a long hot soak. All of which is a way of saying that the Sabbatical is now all but done. Back to College on Monday and ready to try to remember what it is I do there……!?

4 January 2009