Sadly due tio blogger technical problems which blogger seems unable to help with, the very happy relationship dating bate to 2004 is seemingly coming to an end.

I don't really want to, but I have had to,  move this blog to a different platform.

The Shiny headed prophet may now be found here

please update your feeds

el azúcar

Tonight I had the pleasure of attending the private viewing of Andi's exhibition at Deaf Cat. Andi had taken the Mexican Day of the Dead theme and produced some fantastic and beautiful work - if you are in Rochester at all this week you really need to pop into Deaf Cat to see this amazing work.

Some people without looking may dismiss the exhibition thinking it to be too morbid. But it isn't. It is bright, vibrant and strangely alive. The festival itself is about continuation of life and the celebration of life ... the complete opposite to halloween.

The picture … oh meet El Azúcar, my new monacled sugar skull. I think he looks amazing sitting on my desk, although I need to find a place to show him off proper.

rolling reformation a year on!

Yesterday I got to again deacon in a pretty unique (and technically illegal ... sshhh!) service in the Rochester Bridge Chapel. I blogged about the service and experience here last year. The service we used is based on a pre-reformation text and last year the experience caused me to start to think about the idea of a 'rolling reformation' ... trying to capture the idea that we need to be constantly undergoing reformation type acts as language and symbolism changes with time. A year on I find myself feeling this even more strongly as technology and communication seems to be fuelling a language revolution which is constantly morphing and re-morphing as it takes words that I once thought I knew how to use and give them a totally different meaning.

At the time Annie was kind enough to comment, suggesting that the idea of a rolling reformation should not be limited to religion but that the rolling reformation mindset could apply to other spheres of our life.

I liked Annie's comment: 'It is our nature to question and grow and evolve, and it is natural that our faith should do the same - while retaining the central core belief.'

I think that hits the nail on the head pretty much. Our understanding, our language, our expression, our living out should evolve as we grow in our learning and understanding. I wonder if this means it pulls our 'absolutes' to the bear minimum as it throws up in the air how we should live as Christians. Events of history, past (such as the slave trade) and very recent (such as Occupy London), show that our faith and interpretation of the Bible can be very very different and seen from totally different ends of a spectrum with both sides using the Bible in support of their stance.

I talk with a lot of people in my role - it is one of the things I love about this job at this time. I talk with people of no faith, Christians and post Christian. We talk about lots, agree and disagree about lots as well. I guess the thing that is open to debate, as I find in conversation with my new friends is what is, in fact, the central core belief that needs to be retained and what is, indeed, up for the light of a rolling reformation reinterpretation!

soul chat?

Last night's pub theo was a pretty special event. Great atmosphere, great people, a fair amount of disagreement and challenge but always laced with a massive amount of respect, care and interest in each others views. If only church could be like this!!

The opening questions was something along the lines of 'So come on then you Christians ... what is so bad about celebrating Hallowe'en?'

The conversation moved around the belief or not of ghosts, spirits, afterlife and in particular of the soul .. and what the soul is, whether it exists, whether it lives outside the body and what happens to the soul upon death. Jade sent in comment via twitter (are you impressed how multi-faceted pub theo can be!!??) saying the body loses approximately 21 grams and  asked whether this could be the soul?

The conversation, both face to face, and the via twitter/facebook comments  was fairly fascinating and engaging. I've cut and paste some below ... fee free to join in here or on facebook:

Sorry I couldn't be there tonight :( Point to maybe lob into conversation, reportedly at the moment of death the body lightens by 21 grams - the weight of a human soul perhaps?




I think it misses the point to weigh the soul. The soul as the 'ghost in the machine' is a Greek import into Christianity. I don't think the Hebrew faith known by Jesus would recognise it. We have the word 'soul' in English translations of the Hebrew Bible but again it's an import. Belief in the eternal soul allowed Christians to do truly dreadful things to people's bodies. I'm a monist when it comes to anthropology. We *are* our bodies. The soul/spirit are emergent properties of our brains. I believe in the resurrection of the body not the soul's ascent to heaven. The troubling implication of this point of view is that death is truly the end of this experiencing self. And brain injury and disease truly affect our real self. Jesus approached his end with fear and trembling unlike Socrates (a believer in the soul) who took hemlock willingly. I'd be interested to know if this view emerged at Pub Theo. I threw it in when we discussed something similar at PUB:FAITH. Profound and fascinating stuff. Enjoy.




All the energy in the body does not disappear. Energy has to go somewhere even if it dissipates to a thin layer on the earth's surface. The energy in the body is a result of complex chemical generation lending us our personality. Even the body if one thinks of it as our 'matter' has a psychodynamic relationship with our energy. Is all or part of the energy in our bodies representative of the soul?




So ... want to add to the discussion?

take shape

I have had the week off.
I have had time to think, to reflect, to read, to watch movies.
I have also done a lot of walking as I 'tweeked' the old back after preaching last week.

As the week unexpectedly opened up for me I decided on one day that my walking should be around the Tate Modern. I love the Tate and, apart from various coffee shops, I really miss just popping in and out of this creative space like I used to be able to when I was a member and working in London twice a week when with YFC.

Personally, for me, I find I hear from God through film and art just as much as I do through Bible study.  I find wandering through the galleries of the Tate, and just wandering around the Borough Market area of London to be quite an inspiring space for me, especially when I am feeling dry as I have for the last few weeks.

I found a number of exhibits to be amazing to study. I found myself mentally climbing the stairway. I'm not sure where it is leading, and I'm not sure where I was going as I climbed ... but the piece itself was stunning, captivating and drew you into its space.

I was particularly struck however by an un-named piece by Robert Morris. Morris' piece captivated me and got me thinking as he has exerted minimal control over it's appearance, effectively giving up control of how the art appears. The piece consists of a number of strips of felt which are suspended and allowed to form their own shape under their own weight. Effectively this means that the shape changes each time this work is displayed. The material determines it's own shape.

I was challenged by this as I wondered whether God had a message for me in this for the gathering. Sometimes I wonder whether we try to control things, events, maybe even God, just too much. In our fear to not offend, or in our obsession with accountability, or our ideas on what should and needs to be included, there is a tendency to try to force things into particular moulds.

We have been trying to create something new with the gathering. Some of what we do is very creative and different. Certainly some visitors, who are very very comfortable in the Christendom mould, have not coped with our openness, our inclusivity, our vulnerability and our desire to move forward together, learning from each other and encouraging each other.

What we do, however, still looks like a church service ... a very relaxed and fdcreative one, but still one nevertheless.

I guess when you try to create something new it's hard to break out of the mould that you have grown up with. When you have been so used to doing something one way, and so used to hearing that a b and c need to be included or done in a particular way, it then becomes very different to see any other way to do things.

So I wonder ... whether in some way, and I don't know how, that we need to let the weight of our ideas, our dreams and our passions find their own shape. In order for this to happen we need to find out how we can give them the freedom to relax into their own shape.

I'm not sure we know how to do that ... ... yet!

... space ...

Due to one thing or another I have fallen behind in keeping up to date with my blog reader. No real excuse, other than I seem to be feeling very tired and quite unenthusiastic for many things at the moment. My writing here is becoming sporadic; I have a desire to write, but do not feel I have anything valid to say at this particular point in time. It's not a painful or  bad space to be in .... it's simply a nothing space I guess! But .... I am a firm believer that ides need space to be birthed into .... so I am waiting!

There is some good stuff out there which I have been pleased to catch up with over the past few days.

Near the top of the list is a great Nomad podcast interview with Tom Wright ... well worth a listen. He says some good things about the future .... some people who were quite freaked at pub theology a while back about some views of the future might benefit from listening to Wright's podcast.

There is also a great series here from Jonny Baker ... again well worth a read.

If you are looking for a great Bible resource then people up there in Nottingham have come up with Bibledex. This looks pretty good with a short video introduction to each book of the Bible. I'm sure there are lots of ways to make use of this .... if only I was still a youth worker!

While I inhabit this temporary stage of confusion and un-creativity, I have found the photos of Den and the creations of Zara to be both inspiring and restorative of my faith in the creativity of people.

An I can't forget Naked Pastor ... he keeps me sane and makes me laugh ... especially on October 19th!

few words ...

'A nations greatness is measured by how it treats it's weakest members'       Mahatma Ghandi

(for those outside the UK some context is here and here )

do it anyway!

This piece of truthful wisdom just seemed to grab, or resonate, with me today:

People are often unreasonable and self centred.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of alterier motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you.
Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough.
Give your best anyway.

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.

Mother Teresa, 1979 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

vote for Gillingham YFC

Many of you will know that my Christian ministry roots really lay with YFC. I will unashamedly say that I think YFC is the best, by a long shot, Christian mission agency working with young people.

I was director of Gillingham YFC for a while and it is now both an honour and a pleasure to be able to work with them in a different way by becoming a trustee.

Why am I telling you all this .... well just by using a few clicks on your mouse you can help Gillingham YFC to be awarded with £6000 from the Nat West Community Force.

With £6000 Gillingham YFC can do more of the good stuff they are already doing .... you can check them out at their website.

But please .... use just a minute of your time and go to the Nat West Community site and vote for Gillingham YFC .... it would be really cool if you did ..... and if you are in Rochester and find me drinking a beer well I'd love to buy you one as a thank you!

Go .... click the link and vote!

sunday reflections

Sarah was away at the weekend in Florence with friends celebrating Jo's birthday. Sounds like they had a great time.

I did as well! Being home alone with the children (for just a weekend!!) it's quite a cool experience as my children are so amazing.  I don't know whether it is true for most children, but in the main, ours will tend to run things past Sarah rather than me. With Sarah away stuff came to me and it was a joy being involved in their lives in a slightly different way.

We also took the excuse to catch up with friends either over takeaways or at Nandos ... and that was great too. I think this was massively helped by myself not being on the rota for Sunday ...

Not being on the rota gave an indication of what life is like for others who do not have a church connection that requires some form of attendance on a Sunday morning. The word that summed up the experience was 'relaxed'. With no rush to get out the door there were no arguments among people and the day was relatively stress free and happy.

With time being so precious today for families, and for most Sunday being the day when families can get together (I know this is not the case for everyone as people work Sundays too ... I know!!) I have been thinking for a while that maybe 'church' needs to view Sunday differently.

With the gathering I am wondering whether our Sunday's together should be more social, with less emphasis and worry on doing something that is worshipful and teaches us ... so that the Sunday can be a 'sabbath' experience where rest, fun, socialising and eating together can be really embraced. I guess to do that though, we would need to take on a commitment to worship at another time during the week, and that could well be costly and difficult itself ... or would it?

Would church on a Wednesday tea time, or a Monday evening really be any more of a challenge than church on a Sunday morning or afternoon? Do we need to think wider than we are ...?

Any comments ....

consumed by truth

Some people have the gift of praying amazing prayers with poetic language that sometimes transports you to heaven! Neil Thompson, our precentor, is one of those people. Neil led the daily office this morning and during the prayers he said something that I have been mulling over for the last hour and a half or so ... and which I will take into my day today.

I cannot now remember the exact words but the essence was something like:

'Lord, let us not be overly focussed on finding truth, but let our lives be consumed by truth'

A simple line, in a simple prayer, but with great volume and amplitude that seems to penetrate the soul.

As I consider this, lots of questions flood into the mind:
'what is truth?'
'surely truth is in Christ?'
'but what about this ...?'
'...or that?'

I have written, no doubt many times, that people's infatuation with defining, and seemingly great desire to protect, the truth are at the root of a lot of the disunity problems and arguments within the church, maybe even within the world. Certainly, the outspoken supporters of some of the arguments boomeranging around the church at this time do not, on occasions, seem to reflect the love of God which surely will be obvious wherever truth exists?

In my mind, and I acknowledge I have a good chance of being completely wrong, wherever truth exists there must also be love. If, as Christians, we believe God is truth ... well God is love too ... so both must go together.

What is truth?
I don't know?
I'm not sure it is even definable or understandable!
But ... whatever truth is .... I want my life to be consumed by it!

if today was my last day ...

Bishop Alan blogs about two of the Steve Jobs quotes today. They are both worth pondering.

I was only a little aware that Jobs lived his life out in this way ... and I guess that is why he has been such an influential creative.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "no" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.


Remembering I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart ...


That is a pretty cool challenge and gutsy way to live
You can read the rest here.

direction

Today has been one of those slower reflective days. A walk with the dog this morning, and then an hours drive to the Sisters of St Andrew helped me prepare mentally for my time with Sister Diane, my spiritual director. The deal is pretty much that I talk ... and so I needed to think about what I wanted to talk about!

Having an hour with Sister Diane every 6 weeks or so is something that I really appreciate and value. She, like any good spiritual director, listens to a lot of what I say with an enquiring ear and gets me to wonder, or hear, what God may be saying amongst the stress and crap (sometimes) of what is going on. (Life is more of the confusing crappy stuff than the exciting stuff just at this point of time!) She helps me see things in a very different light.

The room pictured is the room we meet in. It is a calm comfortable space where both words and silence seem to be both accepted, nourished and welcome. As Sister Diane says, there is no agenda, the space is here for us to use as we see fit.  

Today I was able to reflect over the last few weeks. The highs of Antigua, the lows of an uncertain future, the struggles of wondering what to do next and the frustration of feeling that people really don't 'get it'! (That does not mean people don't ... just that I feel they don't; two different things!). Amazingly, through each of these, after my time at Edenbridge, I am starting to tune into what God may be up to. I'm not there yet - but I can see a way forward, whereas beforehand I was fairly blind to that.

One little exercise that Sister Diane offered was to read the lectionary text for tomorrow before I go to sleep, and then to pick this up again in my head as I pray on the dog walk the next morning. That's an interesting idea that I am going to give a go over the next few weeks. Tomorrows Psalm is 37 and verses 3 - 8 seem to talk powerfully into my situation at present. As I walk tomorrow morning I shall carry these words in my head:

³ Trust in the LORD, and do good;
         Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
 ⁴ Delight yourself also in the LORD,
         And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
    
 ⁵ Commit your way to the LORD,
         Trust also in Him,
         And He shall bring it to pass.
 ⁶ He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
         And your justice as the noonday.
    
 ⁷ Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
         Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
         Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
 ⁸ Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
         Do not fret—it only causes harm. 

Tomorrow I will try not to fret!

the grit of a psalm

I attended the Bishop's Study day today which was an event for Rochester Diocese clergy. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was a pretty cool day.

In the morning we had the privilege of listening to Dr. Susan Gillingham, who is pretty much a world expert on The Psalms. Her passion and interest were great to listen to and I think we all gained masses from just listening to the stuff she had to share. Her knowledge of the context in which the 5 books of psalms were written were particularly enlightening for me. Her lectures have inspired me to delve into these songs a little more than I usually would and consider their meanings and usage today.

In the gathering we have written our own psalms in the past. It has always struck me that many of the Psalms are quite gritty and real communication with God. They contain hymns,  thanksgivings, laments and even Psalms having a right old go at God. It's true to say they are written in a multitude of emotions.

In the gathering we talk about being more interested in how we believe rather than what we believe. In other words, how we live out our faith, or how we are trying to become Christ like. I think that to live out faith with integrity probably needs us to be real, and by that acknowledging that sometimes life is pretty crap rather than pretending everything is great when it is not.

From todays study day I have rediscovered the gritty honesty of the psalms and wonder whether the writing and reading of psalms may help us to live out our faith in a meaningful way. I can see great opportunity in both personal and communal writing of psalms that might simply allows us to be honest and open in our worship and relationship with each other and with God.

I wonder whether this is something we need to think more about ...