Thought for the day, 2nd March; St David’s Day

March 1st is St David’s day, the patron saint of Wales. He lived in the 6th century and was possibly a grandson of one of the kings who ruled South Wales. It is always difficult to know for certain the history of figures such as David who lived in the Dark Ages, but he seems to have been a genuinely popular figure in South Wales, where he lived and worked as a Bishop. He founded a number of monasteries where he taught his followers a rule of particular austerity; they were to live only on a bread and water diet. I doubt this was any more attractive in 550 than it would be today, but David led by personal example and was loved for his integrity and the simplicity of his own life. Famously on his death bed, he told his followers to “do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about”. In a violent and brutal age, David was a force for good. Many miracles have been attributed to David; modern observers may be sceptical of these. However, there is one tradition about David that in its own way, is miraculous. David was said to have been born after his mother Non, was raped. Out of an act of violence and brutality, a voice of holiness and goodness spoke, a rebuke to evil. As a Christian, that is a pattern I recognise as Christ-like.

Thought for the week, 24th February; RIP Aleski Nevalany

The picture below is of Aleski Nevalany, who many will know has just died in unexplained circumstances in a Russian penal colony. He spoke out against the rulers of Russia. At his original trial, he quoted words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”. I have taken the picture and the accompanying text from a Facebook posting. Those on Facebook may wish to post it.

Thought for the week, 17th February; miserable sinners

I finished my sermon for this coming Sunday a few days ago. It will be the first Sunday in Lent, the time when Christians are called to be especially disciplined in their spiritual life, to prepare for Easter. And the sermon does include some stirring words on this topic. Then I heard “Thought for the Day” this Wednesday, Ash Wednesday. The speaker talked about what she called “that unfashionable topic” of sin. And I realised I had forgotten something in my sermon… The word “sin” often has negative associations; of a vengeful God, taking our his anger on us; in some presentations, killing his own son to satisfy his own wrath and indignation. Particularly those like myself who would consider ourselves to be liberal Christians find it much easier to talk about God’s unconditional love. There is however a danger in this, that we ignore part of who we really are and our need to change. Each day we are all faced with moral choices with our words and actions; if I am honest, by this evening I will probably have said something, however briefly, that I will regret. I can pretty well guarantee I will have had some ungracious thoughts about individuals. Hopefully there will be no great consequences as a result of any of these, not least because the people I may speak harshly to, or think of badly, will probably have done the same themselves, if not to me then to someone else. At its heart, sin is about our own inevitable failings. Lent is an opportunity to think about the big questions of existence and that includes are own inability to act and think as we know we should. Sadly, this is one of things that binds us all together; it is part of our common humanity. I am called to be honest about myself, but my faith as a Christian is that, with the help of God, I can daily work to change who I am and be forgiven.

Thought for the week, 10th February; Valentine’s Day and Lent

This year, Valentine’s day falls on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Anyone for a romantic candlelit dinner with the beloved, but no wine and certainly no chocolate? I suppose, if it were all by candlelight, your beloved might not see you surreptitiously drinking a glass of wine and eating a chocolate bar. Perhaps thoughts like that explain why I’m single… There is not an obvious connection between Lent and Valentine’s Day, but fortunately my colleague, the Rev Val Smith has been thinking about this and, slightly adapting her musings, I think I can see a link.

On Valentine’s Day, we celebrate romantic love which is grounded in commitment between two people. It is not about a one-night stand; all passion but no love.  It celebrates love that involves commitment, that requires work and sacrifice and it is not to be entered into lightly.  Likewise Lent  is a celebration, of commitment, in this case, commitment between God and ourselves. It is a time when we are encouraged to explore more deeply our own spirituality; to recognise it needs discipline and perhaps sacrifice. But from a Christian perspective, it is about mutual love and a God who, through the man Jesus, sacrificed himself out of love for us.

Thought for the week, 3 February; Singing

Many years ago, I used to attend a church in Finchley in London. One Sunday, the vicar, Pat Brock, preached on the valley of the dry bones; the prophet Ezekiel has a vision of a valley full of scattered human bones that miraculously come together to become again living people. Pat was a marvellous preacher and he finished his vivid description of this with a detail of his own; “I know, that once it had happened, there would be singing”. Pat was drawing on his own experience as a soldier in the “Desert Rats”, the 8th army that fought in North Africa in the Second World War. He had been in the great battles, for four days he had been adrift in boat, escaping the advancing German army. Pat knew how people respond to crisis, death and danger. Snging is an important part of that; it releases emotions, binds us to others. Through the music, it communicates in ways that spoken words alone cannot, it connects those singing. There is no such thing as a person who cannot sing; some may be better able to hold a tune than others, but we all can make our own music when we open our mouths and that is precious.

We sing hymns in church for a reason. There have been many services where the only thing that has spoken to me has been the hymns. We of course, do not need to go to church to sing; just go to a football match to see the power of singing. And in church, we do not restrict singing to services. Some churches host community choirs, where people can sing all kinds of music, simply for the joy of singing. In our local churches, we have the Daddy’s Hat events. From Spring to Autumn, usually on the 3rd Saturday of the month, for an hour from 3pm, local musicians will come to one of our churches to perform. They do so for the joy of making music. And at all those events, we sing together; it may be a hymn, something from Leonard Cohen or the sounds of sixties; it has even been “Just one cornetto”. It really does matter. It uplifts all of us who take part. Just sing.

Thought for the week, 20th January; Judge not?

The scandal of the sub-post masters continues to unfold; as I write this, the latest revelation is that people at Fujitsu, the company that supplied the software to the post-office, were always aware that it had faults. It also seems incredible that nobody at the post-office suspected this when the number of sub-poster masters being investigated reached getting on for 1000. There are calls for repercussions for those in authority, especially at the post office.

I can understand the anger of a person wrongly convicted who wants justice and I have no problem with those who have been found to be negligent or worse having proportionate action taken against them. I do however have some unease at the way there seems to a rush to judge and condemn some individuals before due judicial process has taken place, particularly when the cheer-leaders are politicians who seem to be chasing popularity rather pursuing justice. Jesus condemned those who condemned others without first reflecting on their own shortcomings. Humility is a virtue and my personal opinion is that the court of popular opinion is not always the best forum for justice.

Thought for the week, 13th January; Friendship

As I write this (12th January), I see that in the church’s calendar today we commemorate Aelred of Hexham, Abbot of Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire, who died in 1167. Aelred is chiefly noted for his writing on friendship; the value of a deep relationship between two people. Friendship, as a virtue, has been elevated above love; and there is something special about a bond that draws two people together, so they feel that they gain from being in each other’s company. This of course can have sexual aspects; their have been attempts to portray Aelred’s attraction to his closest friends as such, but these seem to me to be misguided. Whatever Aelred’s sexuality, he celebrates the way two people gain strength and can even find a new, mutual identity as they celebrate each other’s company. As a person not in a relationship, I am especially dependant on those who offer me friendship and  that carries me in good and bad times. Aelred saw in our human relationships a model of what he considered to be the ultimate friendship; that between Christ (or God) and the individual. As a Christian, I agree with this, but even those who do not call themselves Christians can celebrate the joys of friendship.

Thought for the week, 6th January; here comes the sun

We can apparently anticipate a new sight in the sky for the next couple of weeks; a bright orange disc. For those who have forgotten, this is called “the sun” and it seems to have been largely absent for the last month of rain and gloom. Sunlight is welcome, both for our physical and mental well-being; there is something very enlivening about a bright winter day, with the sun shining through the bare hedges and trees and the promise of better weather ahead.

The return of the sun coincides with the Christian festival of the epiphany, on January 6th. This celebrates the visit of the wise men to the infant Jesus, but it is more than a chance to sing “We three kings” and the time to take down the Christmas decorations. The wise men were not Jews and yet they were called to worship the infant Jesus and the word epiphany has the meaning of a revelation of God’s light to all humanity. It is not easy to find causes for optimism in the world at the moment, but just as the days lengthen and become brighter, the sun increasingly shines throughout the day, epiphany reminds us to look out and celebrate in that whatever sustains us spiritually.