Tuesday 31 July 2007

Unchurched, mon amour!

I live in a heavily secularised society, where Christianity is a tiny underground stream within a lot of people. My friends are lapsed Christians, closeted Christians, once-a-decade Christians, Catholics who don’t go to communion at their friends’ wedding (and who wish they did) and a full array of sincere, idealistic cynics.

And I love them more than I can say. To me it is blindingly obvious that they are the tax collectors of our day. I want to remain “understated” enough so they’d still count me as one of them. I never want them to think that I’ve got something that they haven’t. They are my church.

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' Lk 18.13.

Love it!

Most of you will have seen these already, but they're hilarious, and they're by a Spurgeon enthusiast as well (even when I don't agree, I *love* Spurgeon's abrasive tone!). Do check out the others as well!

Monday 30 July 2007

World's Worst Bible Interpretation: 1

It's time for a bit of humour in here, so my blog will be hosting a little "worst of" of things I've heard about the Bible. Feel free to add your own. Our first contestant is my friend Sergei:

S. The Bible says you should turn the other cheek but, but only once. That's what I'll do, but after that I'll break their neck.

D. Um...

Doing without desiring

One of the reasons why I love Nietzsche so much is because he’s amazingly good at bringing to light the nasty subtext which accompanies many Christian endeavours. He does a grand job of debunking Christian do-gooding: we mimic a couple of gospel stories and then think ourselves as “Christ followers”. But we haven’t grasped his broader vision, and we certainly wouldn’t subscribe to it if we did, let alone die for it.

Occasionally, I engage in “doing without desiring”: I do not have the vision, but I do the “right thing” anyway. I do this because I honestly do not know any better, and because I believe that God blesses our genuine attempts, and that he might even walk us there.

So recently, I was chatting with a guy on the street while waiting for a train, and some nasty subtext ran through my mind: “hell, this guy does not speak any of the main European languages, we can’t communicate at all and I’m bored, we're going to run out of things to say, shit I didn't think of that, and how do we inscribe this into the future? He better have e-mail”.

I do not have a clear idea of why I decided to strike up a chat with this guy. I had no vision: to my dismay, Christ's is Chinese to me. Still, I thought that we might learn to interact with each other and to care about each other and that, if we were going to do that, we simply had to start somewhere. So I forced things a bit, hoping for the best.

The social distance hit me like a punch in the face: the whole thing felt much more like a collision than an encounter. But I’m still hoping, because several of these “collisions” have, by the grace of God, led to the most beautiful relationships.

Still, I’m tired of operating without vision, I’m tired of being genuinely ignorant of it, I’m tired of not knowing where to learn it from: I want to understand the mind of Jesus! (And maybe Nietzsche felt the same when he wrote that the only Christian died on the cross. I can relate to that).

Recently, I was reading some stuff by Jean Yves Leloup, a French theologian, on Matt 10.38 “anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me”. Leloup, based on the Greek version of the NT, seems to think that we could understand this passage in a new way: “anyone who does not take his cross yet follows me is not worthy of me”*.

This, in turn, could mean: “embrace the full vision, don’t follow bits of what Jesus said without taking on his full holistic vision, and without the full consequences of pursuing it”. I really want to know what this vision is now! And I want to know where the hell I can learn it from!

Wednesday 25 July 2007

Love is looking together in the same direction

Does anyone else loose patience with the notions of “being Christ to your neighbours” or asking “what would Jesus Do”? I’m sure these can be useful concepts on some occasions, but I find that they seriously mess up my subject positions and introduce a huge distance between the poor and me. For the record, I’m a sinner redeemed by grace. My place is right there kneeling on the pavement with the guy who does so in Munich, begging for God’s grace. We are all poor, some of us are also poor economically*.

Maybe God will give us the grace of obeying his will. Of all prayers I like the blind beggar's best. I'm not sure whether it's the appealing to Jesus which I love or the knowledge that He will, in fact, have mercy on us beggars.


* I realise that this last line has sometimes been used to attack liberation theology. This is not the way I mean it, and I am not saying that economic poverty is irrelevant to the Kingdom. Just that I don't like bourgeois alms-giving, a moment in which we get to feel all good and righteous while this is the very moment at which our humility is most needed. How do we dare feeling like the good guys? No one is good but God.

Monday 23 July 2007

Handel and cognitive dissonance

Cognitive dissonance affects my complexion and my ability to play Handel... And I love playing Handel, so off the cognitive dissonance goes.

What is solidarity?

1. My intuition was saying don’t seek to be righteous, don't engage in do-gooding.
2. Someone else wrote that no-one cares about your personal vices; it’s about the harm inflicted on other bodies.
3. A third person said “build relationships”.

The three ideas are very good. Taken together they could be even better. I kind of feel like transcending Luther and James while bringing in some Paul. Maybe later.

Friday 20 July 2007

Gift of tears anyone?

Oh fuck, I could not help crying (probably for joy) as I read Sarah's story on Naked Pastor. The rest of the blog is incredibly beautiful too.

Christocentricity

Among Quaker Meetings some are more "Christocentric" than others. Edinburgh Central Meeting seemed fairly Old School. By contrast the Durham Meeting is very seeker friendly and has lots of non-Christocentric worshippers revelling in the Lord's presence. It's never really been a problem: I believe that we all experience the same God, and it doesn't really matter which names we attach to Him, or whether we call this "God" at all. The reality is the same.

I must be the world's most relaxed Christian when I'm around people who profess atheism or some other form of religion/philosophy as I'm forever devoted to the Love that lives in them. I get asked lots of questions, mostly by lapsed Christians who are really struggling (and boy, do I like them! Much more than many who don't hesitate to "claim the name"). I'm often tempted to quote Blaise Pascal: "you would not look for me if you hadn't already found me". But since that sounds a bit heavy, a paraphrase is probably better.

The quote of the day is by Maxi Jazz, the vocalist of Faithless, a Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist:

Quiet, still, you feel there's nothing going on
Until you realize the space behind your eyes
Is filling up with something like peace
As your thoughts cease and
Pleasure grows in your soul.
I ain't a Christian, sometimes
I feel like dissing em, but listen
I'm just trying to tell ya what I know
If you would once relax, chill to the max
These words on wax will cause sweet bells
To ring in your soul.
If I say God is alive I know you wanna know why
Babies die, food don't grow, why trains smash, planes crash
Situation mash and slam bam your fellow man
Money's in fashion, huh, it ain't rational,
Because damn it, he didn't just give us the planet
And its wealth, deep inside your soul he left a piece of himself
The lord is in here. His voice is small.


From the album "Reverence".

Thursday 19 July 2007

Are you man enough? by Adrian Plass

Are You Man Enough?

When I became a Christian I said Lord, now fill me in
Tell me what I’ll suffer in this world of shame and sin
He said, well your body may be killed, and left to rot and stink
Do you still want to follow me? I said amen, I think
I think amen, amen I think, I think I say amen
Look I’m not completely sure; can we just run through that again?
You say my body could be killed and left to rot and stink?
Oh yeah that sounds terrific Lord, I’ll say amen … I think.

But Lord, look, there must be other ways to follow you, I said
I really would prefer to end up just dying in my bed
Well yes, he said, you could just put up with sneers and scorn and spit
Do you still want to follow me? I said, amen, a bit
A bit amen, amen a bit, a bit I say amen
Look I’m still not entirely sure; can we just run through that again?
You say I could put up with sneers and scorn and spit?
Well yes, I’ve made up my mind, and say amen … a bit.

Well I sat back and I thought a while and I tried a different ploy
I said, Lord, now the good book says that Christians live in joy
That’s true, he said, you’re gonna need the joy to bear the pain and sorrow
Do you still want to follow me? I said amen, tomorrow
Tomorrow Lord, I’ll say it then, that’s when I’ll say amen
You see, we’ve got to get it clear; let’s just run through that again
You say that I will need the joy to bear the pain and sorrow?
Well yeah, I think I got it straight, I’ll say amen … tomorrow.

He said, look, I’m not asking you to spend an hour with me
A quick salvation sandwich and a cup of sanctity
The cost is you, not half of you, but every single bit
Now tell me, will you follow me? I said amen. No, I quit!
I’m awfully sorry Lord, I said, I’d like to follow you
But I don’t think religion is a manly thing to do
And he said, forget religion then and you think about my son
And tell me if you’re man enough to do what he has done.

Are you man enough to see the need? Are you man enough to go?
Are you man enough to care for those that no-one wants to know?
Are you man enough to say the things that people hate to hear?
And battle through Gethsemane in loneliness and fear?

And listen, are you man enough to stand at the end?
The moment of betrayal by the kisses of your friend
Are you man enough to hold your tongue? Are you man enough to cry?
And when the nails break your body, are you man enough to die?

Man enough to take the pain and wear it like a crown?
Man enough to love the world and turn it upside down?
Are you man enough to follow me? I ask you once again
I said, oh Lord, I’m frightened, but I also said amen
Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen
I said, Lord I’m so frightened, but I also said amen.

Adrian Plass

Hospitality Carnival

When I started in Durham, I took to reading plenty of academic blogs written by professors so I could pick up their habitus in a whim (it sort of worked, too!). One thing I really enjoyed in the academic blogosphere was the habit of hosting a "teaching carnival" once a month.

A "blog carnival" is a longuish post which links to the best posts written on one topic in that month. For one it is a great resource in and of itself, but it also introduces readers to exiting new blogs. The person who posts the carnival assumes responsibility for the final post, but people are welcome to suggest links to them in advance.

So I've been thinking that it's high time that the radical Christians out there start having some carnivals too. And, in that spirit, I would like to welcome you to the web's first hospitality carnival (inaugurated ten seconds ago). For now, it's only got a few entries but I'll keep filling it in, and post a short update when it gets better.

As a starting point, here are some links:

Kate at Born to Kneel:http://borntokneel.blogspot.com/2007/03/banquet.html
Scot at Jesus Creed: http://www.jesuscreed.org/?p=2510
Tyler at The Space Between My Ears: http://spacebetween.blogsome.com/2007/06/20/theological-reflections-on-home-ownership-6/
Steve at Harvest Boston: http://harvestboston.net/20070623/exiles-at-the-table/
Jen at The Pile I'm Standing In http://www.thispile.com/archives/traveling-hospitality
John at The Bikehiker http://bikehiker.blogspot.com/2007/05/journey-into-hospitality-part-3-of-3-it.html
Joe Bob at The Wittenburg Door: http://www.wittenburgdoor.com/archives/homeless2.html
Ben at Conversations of a 22 Year Old Idealist: http://benrey.blogspot.com/2007/05/sacrament-of-hospitality.html
Russell at Withdrawals of a Theology Junky: http://russwarren.blogspot.com/2007/01/hospitality-and-cafe.html
Espiritu Paz at Parables: http://modern-parables.blogspot.com/2007/02/how-i-got-tangled-up-in-loving.html
Dan at Poserorprophet: http://poserorprophet.livejournal.com/108749.html
David at Naked Pastor: http://nakedpastor.com/archives/1250 and also http://nakedpastor.com/archives/669
Paul at Showers of Blessings http://showerofblessings.blogspot.com/2007/03/offering-hospitality-to-active-life-of.html
Phil at The Canaanite's Call: http://canaanitescall.blogspot.com/2006/12/holy-eucharist-catholic-worker-style.html
The table fellowship groups at St Timothy's Episcopal Church: http://sttimothyschurch.org/101/table-fellowship-groups-2/

Punk Girl 1 – Dany 0

Berlin, March 2007. I'm walking back to the hotel at night and it’s absolutely freezing. A girl is begging on a bridge with her dog a mere 100 metres from where I'm staying. Bloody dog! I was thinking: food, a steamy hot shower, a movie, some beers, and let’s see if we get on. But there is no way in hell I can check her into my hotel with a dog. And I don’t know Berlin well enough to know about other options*.

It’s our last day on the course fieldtrip and it’s my free evening. We’ve got lots of leftover pack-lunches which students did not take with them in the morning, preferring to go to restaurants. I guess that the profs and the students won’t mind, so I pack the whole lot, add some clean skiing-socks and make my way back to the bridge, feeling weird, wondering if I can find the right tone.

D. Hi. I’m here with 25 students from England. We’ve got all those leftover pack-lunches and we‘re leaving tomorrow, was wondering if you would like them...

PG. (smiles) Hey cool, people keep giving me stuff today, thanks!!!

D. It’s so damn cold. Why do you stay here?

PG. It’s not that cold, you get used to it.

D. It’s fucking freezing if you ask me. Do you live near here?

PG. Yeah, we’re in a squat with some friends. No heating, but works just fine. In the evening we cook stuff. The other day, someone cooked a full Indian dinner. It was delicious. Looks like it's going to be good tonight with all that stuff. What do you do?

D. I’m doing a PhD in social sciences and I get to teach undergrads and take them to Europe to observe the "city revanchism" in Berlin.

We chat for another 25 minutes. I’m freezing my ass off on that bridge. After a while, she says:

PG. Hey, it’s great talking to you, you stick around a lot longer than folks! But look, you’re shaking, you should really get back to your place. Say thank you to your students and have a great trip back to England!

I've never felt like such a failure. Yet in a sense, I’m very glad she framed the situation in that way: it was wonderfully refreshing. There was not an ounce of dependence in her conversation, she was an amazingly resilient and extremely clever girl.

I was charmed. Now I often think of her and I wish we'd stayed in touch somehow. I wonder if she’d let me into her world. But she probably meant: "you’re sweet, but you don’t know shit". And she was right of course. Similarly, selling all you have is not a "faithwalk" which you do in you late twenties, for the thrill of it, before you can walk back into line. The point is not to give to those in need, it is to share their destiny.

* though I could have asked HER. Durrrrrr.

Wednesday 18 July 2007

Handbag story

Milan, the world’s capital of fashion, I skip the high street to go shopping in a slightly gentrified area. Four years ago, there were more antique shops kept by old ladies and there were more shoemakers. They’re pretty scarce now, and are increasingly being replaced by soulless “Hello Kitty” boutiques. I feel sad. In Britain the high street is so boring that I don’t even like to go shopping. But Milan?

I buy a pair of shoes in a shop that still reminds me a bit of La Vita e Bella, it's a small shop in which the guy is making shoes all day long. Then I enter a similar shop that sells bags. I’m all set out on adding a touch of Italian style to my usual attire. In a corner, there’s a beautiful sequin handbag.

I grab it, looking for the label which I can’t find, so I ask the old lady whether she can tell me where it was made. She says she made it herself. I find this hard to believe, so I ask her again, she confirms. I ask which other bags she made in the shop. She shows me some of them and, again, I don’t really believe her. I said I really like the red sequin bag and I end up buying it, congratulating her on a beautiful work.

I get out on the street, carrying my new handbag. Well, it does look handmade, that's for sure. But honestly, where’s my brain? The brain of a young woman soon to be awarded a PhD in Durham Cathedral? Why don’t I sport my new Italian handbag right in there, now that would be a good idea!

Isn’t it freaking obvious that the lady had lied? And even if she hadn’t, would the hours put into making it not be worth more than six euros? I don’t know what to do with my sequin handbag now. Maybe wear it when I go shopping. Wear it with all the ambiguity now associated with it. Wear it as a red-hot reminder.



P.S. I'm in Munich now, shopping is fantastic and I'm so tempted to shop without thinking. I'm tired of thinking all the time, my desires are way out of line. I'm going to cling to that handbag!

Tuesday 17 July 2007

Ethical Man 1 - Rowan Willams 0

JR: ...The church owns shares in oil companies

ABC: ... the church owns shares in oil companies

JR: ...have you sold those shares?

ABC: No we haven't - I think what level of investment in that is appropriate is complicated, as the whole field of ethical investment is complicated, and we're only just waking up to some of that complexity.

JR: But the shares have proved hugely profitable

ABC: and we've been reminded very forcibly of that. There's no quick, guilt-free solution to all of this.

JR: well, selling them would help, though, wouldn't it?

ABC: Selling them would help; it would also create and raise a number of other ethical issues, knock-on issues about work we do elsewhere. You don't just instantly move a vast percentage out of your income out of your regular work, pastoral, regnerational so not easy, I'm afraid; I wish it were.


Transcript of Rowan Williams' interview with Justin Rowlatt (Ethical Man) of BBC 2's Newsnight -4th May 2006 (full text here).

It seems that not even the Archbischop of Canterbury knows how to fund the welfare state (or in his case, Church activities) without being dependent on the big bad capitalist system. I was hoping he's come up with something good. Rats!

Tuesday 10 July 2007

This piece of celebrity news really got me to think....

Just what justification under the sun do westerners have for indulgences like this? And I'm sure CZJ gives plenty away to charity, and that this is just one of her much-needed consumerist indulgences. Still, WTF?

Why Catherine plasters her hair in caviar at £200 a time, in the UK Daily Mail

The Art of Portrait

While having a beer (okay, several beers) with one professor yesterday, I found him totally out of his zone.

This guy is the most compassionate guy I know. I literally take written notes about the way he handles people and I have done so for years. Duncan is the most people-loving person in my town: his generous spirit embraces practically everyone. He's the ultimate socialisator, he takes people as he finds them and he likes them so much that they can't get enough of him.

It’s very rare to find Duncan actively disliking someone, but yesterday night he was doing just that. I was talking about having had lunch with Lydia and he became quite somber. Lydia had unwittingly humiliated him in front of a tableful of colleagues by insistently asking about the antidepressant drugs he had been on, and passing judgment about whether he should have been taking them at all.

If there’s one character trait Duncan really dislikes, it would have to be a lack of empathy and attentiveness to other people, especially when found in adults who should know better (he does not mind it so much in eighteen-year-olds).

As it happens, I genuinely like Lydia. I find her charming and I have no problem seeing the huge amount of good will behind her awkward conversation. So as we were chatting about her, I interjected the stuff I liked about her. I painted my own portrait of a woman I like. As I expected, Duncan seized my vision in a minute and soon he ran with it.

Duncan had done the same for me a dozen times. He had depicted people I did not like in the most attractive light, and totally changed my view of them. When he and I meet over beers, we do this quite often. And secretly I think that we also use those portraits to convey just how fond we are of each other. Where would I be without the pub and some inspiring British friends?



Speaking of portraits, Andre Trocme has written a compelling portrait of Jesus as someone so passionate about the prophets’ call for Jubilee and so revolted by injustice and by lack of mercy that He was, in fact, quite tempted by violence. According to Trocme, Jesus was also tempted by a full retreat from the world.

Still, according to Trocme, Jesus lived with these two tensions and stayed tuned to the third vision he was trying to bring about. He was risking his life on a near daily basis, i.e. by healing folks on the shabbat, for the sake of each individal person who appealed to his mercy. It’s not often that I like a portrait of Jesus (in painting or in literature) but I loved the intensity of Trocme’s.

Trocme's book reads like an introductory textbook for those of us who have little background in the more socially radical strands of biblical exegesis. Anyone who picks it up can get the point in just one reading. Wow!

Oh, and yes... Andre Trocme is the pastor who turned a random village full of unsuspecting Frenchmen into Yad Vashem "righteous among the nations". That’s how I got interested in him. I found his book by following the link on Wikipedia, and the full text is free to read online.

Monday 9 July 2007

Tread lightly on the land

I'm not sure whether to fly or take the coach/train home for my friend’s wedding. I don’t know what to choose between:

1. Being decidedly part of the crowd that will continue to fly (and so we need to find a global solution, and let’s be realistic: that solution is not individual morality). People fly and will keep flying. I’m not interested in being better than the rest of my society; I’m interested in solutions that can include us all.

2. Being the green countercultural one that will not fly short distances. Because even though I’m not convinced, I tend to like the people who take that stand, so maybe they’re on to something. There is definite emphasis of changing one’s own ways in the New Testament. And I am definitely expected to be better than the rest of my society.

I got into studying politics because I always believed in intelligent global solutions. When I think of it, I don't think I'm prepared to rely on individuals choosing to do the right thing because it won’t happen and I don’t want the project to fail. Good old Roman sense, I guess.

Reg: All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us? Monty Pythons, The Life of Brian.

Sunday 8 July 2007

In some corner of England...

D. Lord, I thank thee that I should be allowed to sit in a lovely Quaker meeting and not with the morons next door who think that Gandhi is in hell “if he has not accepted JC as his own personal savior”.

D. Okay, yes, I'm joking. I’m pretty wowed that you should deign to be present amongst us, who claim your name yet break all your commandments. Opulent Durham is the last place on earth where I’d expect you to turn up. I can’t believe you haven’t given up on your middle class flocks. Lord, have mercy, the people here are not hypocrites, at least I don’t think they are. Show us what it looks like to follow you. Give us teachers and give us models. Bring us back to life, save us too. (Of course, this includes the morons next d the children of God next door).

J. Shhh...

Saturday 7 July 2007

Borrow my mum!

There's this project for which I have tons of arguments, all of them excellent. A project that I would like to see realised. A project discussed with friends and they all liked it. A project I'd like to expose here and elsewhere with flamboyant verve.

But really it is quite simple: it's time to pair up the groaning places with the healing places. The idea: the kids who never had a chance get to spend some time in the now deserted quarters of the twentysomethings who have moved on with their life, leaving their parents with a bad case of empty-nest syndrome. In short, you can borrow my mum!

I mean this, and I've done it. I've plugged kids with my mum and her partner by simply asking them to take them in. They could live in my former room, dabble in my books, play my guitars, stroke my cat, love my friends, go to my school, hear my preacher, learn to ride horses... you get the picture. And by the time they meet, the hosts have become experts at nurturing young people anyway, so they're not beginners either.

Another family of empty-nesters welcomed Rob, one of my best friend, when he was 16 and war broke out in Rwanda. You should see the love that developed between them. My mum misses my crazy borderline friends, she now loves them in a very real sense, and they love her too. It was the best time of her last five years, in the evenings she was looking forward to coming home to the sempiternal spaghetti they would cook. Rob and his German family share the most inspiring love relationship. This works and it is that easy!

You know, I love mainstream folks. During the Second World War an entire village became heroes because someone had encouraged them. Someone let them believe that they could be just that. That's the greatest gift you can give anyone: to see the flame in them and to passionately believe in it. And when I see my contemporaries on a Saturday afternoon, buying crap pseudo-spirituality books in their desperate search for God. I love them so much I could scream.

Should I read books?

This may seem like an odd question, but it is a real one. I’m scared of books that resemble my own thought-process too much. This one in particular could kill off my reflection by having it all laid out. The book looks very good; I would no doubt enjoy it. Still, it’s the same sense of uneasiness I mentioned in a recent post. I’m not prepared to trade my fresh croissants for defrost, microwaved ones. Quakers listen to their Shepherd’s voice, Friend, and that’s what Quakers do!

Not all readings fall in that category though. There are some books (and internet resources) that I want to read to pick up a new conceptual toolkit, or to "know that I am not alone" doing this stuff. Maybe I'll still get it, pick up some ideas and then move on. Is it just me or is anyone else concerned about crowding out their prayer lifeline with books?

Friday 6 July 2007

Coffee number seven: "What are you talking about?"

D. The state, Sina, the state! I don't want to give up the state. Collective achievements, Scandinavian social democracy, the "European Dream". We all pay taxes towards the welfare of our fellow citizens, surely if we take part in this we're not wicked, collectively, I mean.

S. But that's not Christianity. You know, Christianity is this (he grabs his shirt): you take only the T-shirt and jeans you're wearing right now, and you start trusting in God. That's Jesus. What you're talking about, well... I don't know what you're talking about, he says with his charateristic wicked smile.

Sina is a practicing muslim who could barely hide his disappointment when his Irish girlfriend and I chose "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" over "Luther" as our movie of the night. Ah, shallow girls! He proceeded to make some Lebanese peppermint tea (with pine nuts) for said shallow girls and to serve it himself.

Coffee number six: " that sounds interesting"

With Paul and Rebecca, my theologian flatmates...


P. How was Glastonbury?

D. Amazing

P. What did you like about it?

D. Everything, you HAVE GOT TO GO THERE!!!!!!!!

P (smiles at my huge enthusiasm) Just what is so good about it?

D. A hundred parties going on at the same time, and you’re invited to all of them. The world’s greatest vibe, a sense of joy, happiness and excitement to scream home about… I’ve yet to meet someone who does not use superlatives to describe Glastonbury. “The best experience of my life” is what people say. And they’re right.

P. Sounds good.

D. It is good! Get thee down there next year, take my word. You moving to Duke? That’s so exiting! The divinity school over there is mint. You’re gonna be surrounded by brilliant folks. I’m so jealous. You heard anything about the new monastics?

P. A little bit, did they not start there?

D. Yes, but they’re all over the place now.

P. What do they do?

D. They pair up in community houses with a bunch of their mates and they seek to be a presence in their neighborhood. They treat everyone like he was Christ and they assume that they themselves are the walking Church on the street. That is, if someone meets them, that someone is encountering the Church and the love of Christ, NOT a wall of indifference. (To Rebecca) You heard of them?

R. No, but it sounds really good!

D. You bet, it’s attractive as hell, it’s exactly like when you used to live at the catholic chaplaincy last year, with Father Tom and some other students from the Cathsoc, the nurturing love you got to share there! Well they’re just doing that beyond university. And they’re not morose types, they’re having a rolling time. Just like you in the Durham Chaplaincy. I suppose they do a bit more outreach, but really not that much, they just remain open to whoever is intrigued enough to “want some of what they’re having”. It’s like in Harry and Sally! And they’re our age! I can’t believe it’s our generation who’s doing something really cool like this.

P. Yes, that sounds interesting.

D. Oh you frikin' shut up you lucky sod! You’re gonna be bathing in it in NC. I wish I could find some in Britain.

Tuesday 3 July 2007

Cat power

I miss the days in which my inspiration was wordless. Then, I did not feel like trying to tie down my thoughts into words. It felt ridiculous even to seek understanding. My cat thinks it’s got me figured out. Well, it may have some concepts on the topic, but I don’t think it can figure me out at all. Similarly, I may have some concepts on the topic of God, but I certainly haven’t figured Him out. And there’s a helluva more ground to cover between my mind and God’s than between my cat’s and mine*.

So like my cat, I was busy being mellow and affectionate. Like my cat, if I was hungry, I just meowed my head out until I received some food. Like my cat, I *mostly* turned up when called. And such was life. I wish there were more cats in the Gospel because I haven’t got the first clue about sheep psychology. Maybe I should hang out with sheeps more.

* this idea is again borrowed from John Cleese.

Monday 2 July 2007

Quote of the day

“Atheism, true ‘existential’ atheism, burning with hatred of a seemingly unjust and unmerciful God is a spiritual state; it is a real attempt to grapple with the true God whose ways are so inexplicable even to the most believing of men and it has more than once been known to end in a blinding vision of Him Whom the real atheist truly seeks. It is Christ Who works in these souls. The Antichrist is not to be found primarily in the great deniers, but in the small affirmers, whose Christ is only on the lips. Nietzsche, in calling himself Antichrist proved thereby his intense hunger for Christ.”

Father Seraphim Rose

Sunday 1 July 2007

Guide to the Quaker language

"Quakerism, particularly in its corporate expressions, has developed its own peculiar patois. In an effort to help orientate new staff, the following translations of commonly used phrases are offered:

-I have a concern.
(I understand this subject better than anyone here.)

-Thee has a concern.
(Thee's stubborn isn't thee?)

-He (she) has a concern.
(He (She) gets hold of an idea and just won't let up on it.)

-Although I dislike being divisive, I cannot in conscience agree that this work
should go forward in the manner proposed.
(Over my dead body!)

-While we respect our friend's right to dissent, we hope he will feel able to unite
himself with the group in this decision.
(OK buddy. Over your dead body!)

-The name of that Friend would not have occurred to me.
(Good God! Not HIM!)

-I have certain hesitations.
(This always means NO!)

-Staff are encouraged to be present.
(You better be there... or else.)

-It has occurred to me while we have been discussing this...
(Stand back everybody...I've been thinking about this for weeks and I'm about to
give you all the word on it.)

-After a widely ranging discussion, the group was unable to reach consensus.
(It was a real knock-down, drag-out fight.)"

via this site: http://www.kvaekerne.dk/personal/HFH/humorquaker.html