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Showing posts from March, 2017

Friday- learning about love from the Japanese

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In traditional Japanese dress, a kimono is worn by wrapping it around the body and tying a sash, or obi, around the waist to secure the clothing. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimono) The writer Joni Eareckson Tada is married to a Japanese man, and explains how this traditional Japanese image helped her to make sense of Paul's words in Colossians 3: 14: And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. How beautiful, that by learning about a different culture we see something that helps us understand God's purpose for our lives! Surely this underlines the idea we first met in Genesis, that we are all made in God's image and each culture hides within it things that point to that image- even something as simple as a sash to hold your clothes together. If the obi is fixed properly- not with great strength or lots of pinning and gluing, but just fixed in place the way it should be, then the whole kimono can be worn gracefully. Th...

Testing Times

Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other;  just as the LORD has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Colossians 3: 13 It seemed that Aristotle's virtues were strong, manly things designed to equip those whose life was lived in public service on the battlefield or running affairs of state. Did the Christian virtues sound a bit...well, pathetic next to them? The virtues of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience don't sound quite so exciting. But in the very next verse, here in verse 13, we are reminded that these virtues are in fact just as difficult to aspire to, and if mastered may give us a more real strength. The reason they are so difficult is other people. It would be easy to be kind to kittens, patient while waiting for the kettle to boil and humble when reading biographies of Mother Theresa. It is far more difficult to show humility, patience and kindness to those who share our bathroom and leave towels...

These would be good clothes to choose for today

As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Colossians 3:12 Ancient writers such as Aristotle thought carefully about the virtues they would hope to see in a man of good character (and it was only the men they were interested in, of course!). Aristotle proposed four cardinal virtues, which he said were the most important aspects of character to practise in order to become a complete, flourishing human being. His cardinal virtues were: courage justice prudence temperance These virtues sound a bit like the clothes a soldier or statesman would choose, as he faced the tasks that lay ahead of him that day. That's not surprising, as that was the context in which Aristotle lived and wrote. But his list is very different from Paul's. Paul's world was not very different- he was writing to a Hellenized, urban audience which may well have included both soldiers and statesmen. Why did he suggest s...

New Clothes!

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Today the sun is shining, and in the Northern Hemisphere it's a sign that Spring is here, and Summer cannot be far behind. At last we can put away our thick Winter coats, fold up jumpers and warm woolly clothes, and with a smile search for the brighter colours and softer fabrics of Spring. The stores would like us to think that we have to shop for a whole new wardrobe- but sometimes it's enough to find clothes that we already have, that we used to wear, but haven't worn for a while. I wonder if the virtues we have been considering can be a bit like this? We know that we should be behaving with kindness, honesty, patience etc.....but have we forgotten about these things, pushed them to the back of our wardrobe and replaced them with the behaviours of darker and colder times? Paul uses this image in Colossians 3, where he writes Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the...

Mary- learning character from her heavenly Father

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Mary's song in Luke chapter 1 v. 46-55 is well known. My soul magnifies the LORD and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour The entire song looks away from Mary herself, towards God. She praises Him for who He is, highlighting His character. He has looked with favour on the lowliness of His servant... holy is His name His mercy.....His strength.... He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He helps....He remembers His promises Taking truth and turning it into a song can be very powerful. As Mary sang, was she reminding herself about the God who she worshipped, the God who had just visited her in the form of an angel to give her a most remarkable job to do? Was her song a way of repeating to herself, and all who heard her, just what this God was like? Mary sang of how the ways of God are so often opposite to the ways of the world- and she must have been thinking that she herself was such an unlikely choice to be the mother of Go...

Friday's diversion- Character and personality traits

Brian Little is a Cambridge research professor, who is interested in the psychology of personality. He explains some of his ideas in a fascinating TED talk- find it here  Who are you, really? He has also written a book about his research, "Me Myself and Us: The Science of Personality and the Art of Well-being" where he uses the phrase "acting out of character". He explains that the phrase can mean two different things- we usually use it to describe someone who is acting differently from what we might expect. In this sense, we use character to mean their personality- if a grumpy person acts in kind and thoughtful way, we might describe this as uncharacteristic behaviour. Or if someone who normally is patient snaps and loses their temper, we assume that something unusual has happened because this is not their real character, and maybe the circumstances or provocation was extreme to cause them to behave 'out of character'. But Little suggests that another w...

Westminster attack- two characters under the spotlight

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Yesterday PC Keith Palmer lost his life when a terrorist attacked him with a knife after driving a van right into people on Westminster Bridge and attempting to attack the Houses of Parliament in the centre of London. Many people were killed and injured, and the attack has shaken British people. The Prime Minister, Theresa May, said this, "The terrorists chose to strike at the heart of our capital city where all nations, religions and cultures come together to celebrate the values of liberty, democracy and freedom of speech." At the centre of the tragedy are two men whose actions highlight extremes of character. At one extreme is the police officer who lost his life. In the moment of crisis, he displayed courage- courage so strong that it cost him his life. Was this a value worth dying for? Yes, surely it was- many people have taken to social media to praise and thank him for his remarkable character. We recognise in his actions a person who, when it counted, showed us ...

Love

Yesterday we thought about the songs we sing in worship. Lots of them are about love- our love for God, and His love for us. But how many of them are about our love....for our enemies? You have heard it said "You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy." But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Matthew 5: 43,44 Matthew records these words in chapter 5, right near the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. The Sermon on the Mount is like a manifesto, making it clear what sort of people Jesus is calling us to be. In John's gospel, we hear this call to love again as Jesus speaks to his disciples in the last week of his life. I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should also love one another. By this will everyone know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13: 34, 35 Is love a virtue? Is it part of our character, that we should cultivate? Or is it a...

Character or Comfort?

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I wonder what it would look like if we compared the songs that we sang last week in church with Jesus' Sermon on the Mount? How often did we sing of God's mercy, grace, forgiveness...and of our need for Him, our desire to feel His love, our assurance that we were special to Him? Our songs might convince a visitor that our faith is all about our emotions- our needs, our desires, and our happiness. Jesus does not seem too bothered with feelings in this, his most famous sermon. Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said to those in ancient times 'You shall not murder".... But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister then you will be liable to judgement; and if you insult a brother or sister you will be liable to the council; and if you say 'You fool', then you will be liable to the hell of fire..... You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that anyone who looks at a woman with lus...

A pinch of salt

“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavours of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.   “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill."         Matthew 5: 13, 14 The Message Jesus gathered a group of only 12 disciples to learn from him, in his short public ministry on earth which lasted only 3 years. It seems that after thousands of years of Old Testament history, God intervenes personally in a way that is, humanly speaking, insignificant. One human being to change the world? With a team of only 12? Born at a time with no rapid way of spreading his message? Why didn't God wait until Twitter had been invented? Jesus often tells stories about the impact of small th...

Daniel-life before the lions

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The story of Daniel in the lions' den is a well-known one, probably because we heard it as children. We have seen over the past few weeks that the Bible is unflinchingly honest in its portrayal of human failings, so it is with relief that parents and Sunday School teachers seize on this story of a young man who does seem to set a good example. Here are the virtues in action- Daniel acts with integrity and courage. If we want to discover how Daniel was able to act in this way when it mattered, we need to go back a few chapters in his story, and see how he was cultivating character. Daniel continued to go to his house, which had windows in its upper room open towards Jerusalem, and to get down on his knees three times a day to pray to his God and praise him, just as he had done previously. The conspirators came and found praying and seeking mercy before his God. Daniel 6:10,11 Daniel and his friends had been taken into exile, and were living in Babylon. The society which ...

A song for Friday....

Crimson Paul says "Therefore just as one man's trespasses led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification for all. For just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. But the law came in, with the result that the trespasses multiplied; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more so. so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might also exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:18-21

If the Law is killing us, what hope is there?

The Law does a good job of pointing the way to death- and produces a theology that is all too familiar. If we are good, we think, God will like us and may decide to be gracious to us. But if we are not, if we fail to keep His commandments, then we have only ourselves to blame when our lives go wrong. This was the thinking of Job's comforters, who assumed that the reason his life fell apart and terrible tragedy surrounded him was his failure to keep the commandments of God. In Job 4:7 his friend Eliphaz offers his explanation for the troubles that Job was experiencing: "As I have seen, those who plough iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed."  This thinking was still evident in the New Testament, when a blind man met Jesus. The disciples asked Jesus, " Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" It is not surprising that many people have given ...

The Ten Commandments- a Health Warning

It is common practice for businesses, organisations, schools and even families to draw up a statement of their vision and values- a mission statement, a set of goals or core beliefs. Schools are the businesses that I am most familiar with, and even young children can be involved in making a statement of what is important for their classroom. There is often an effort made to frame such statements in positive terms- We care for each other, rather than Don't hurt anyone. The core guidelines that God gave His fledgling people on Mount Sinai were not couched in this positive language, however. Do not make an idol, do not take the name of the LORD in vain, do not murder, do not commit adultery.....most of us are familiar with the Ten Commandments and their uncompromising prohibitions. These stark statements colour what many people see Christianity as representing- a whole list of "Thou shalt not"'s, signalling an end to freedom, flexibility and fun. Maybe we can unders...

Character- a personal or collective responsibility?

A headline in one of today's UK newspapers announces  "Schools to trial happiness lessons for eight year olds"  https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/mar/12/schools-to-trial-happiness-lessons-for-eight-year-olds There is growing concern among many who work with children and young people about the rise in mental health issues, and the UK government has decided to put funding into programmes which offer mental health training in schools. This news raises questions about the role of government, and education. Is the mental health of a nation the responsibility of its government? How effective is it to offer lessons in mindfulness at school? Who developed the programmes that are being introduced, and what is the underlying vision of a healthy person that they present? This next week of Lent I want to consider how God began to deal with a nation, to form a people who would be a witness to the world of how to live a good life. Their education began not in a classroom ...

Ruth- a story with a happy ending

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Ruth is one of my favourite books of the bible. Partly, of course, because it is all about women. But partly because it is a short, simple story full of ordinary people coping with the sadnesses that their lives bring them. It is a story of such truth and honesty, that it does not need the theological density of Romans, the poetry and beauty of Psalms or the dazzling apocalyptic imagery of Revelation to speak of God- instead, it speaks His name and His character in the actions and character of His people. It is a story about seed-time, and harvest; travelling, and finding a home; sons and daughters; emptiness and fullness. It might be a particularly important story to tell at this point in history, with its themes of immigration, of migrant workers, of a community who accepts and provides for a foreigner among them. This weekend, I encourage you to find some time to read the book of Ruth. It is a short story, only 4 chapters long, which can be read in less than half an hour. Bu...

It's Friday! Time for a diversion.....

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This week I received an email from a colleague who had obviously pressed "send to all" and fired it off without thinking....and probably just as quickly regretted it. As I read it, and listened to others discussing how foolish it was, I remembered Aristotle's virtue of prudence . Prudence- it sounds such an old-fashioned word, difficult to define in the abstract, but yet we recognise straight away when an action lacks prudence. A little prudence before hitting "send" would have saved a lot of trouble for my colleague. Prudence in this instance means taking time over a decision, thinking through the consequences of your actions, considering what the effect is likely to be, asking yourself if this is what you really mean to do. Our culture, especially when we look at how we communicate with each other, seems to be in danger of forgetting prudence and elevating immediacy to the position of a virtue instead. Messages arrive instantly, can be read instantly a...

Why does character matter anyway?

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Why cultivate character? Especially if it's a difficult thing to do? Why not focus instead on enjoying our lives? Perhaps a better goal would be to cultivate happiness? Pursuing happiness encourages us to look at ourselves, and at the moment. It promises short term pleasure, selfish pleasure, and often blinds us to the longer term consequences. Genesis gives us story after story of people who were not very good at cultivating character, and shows us clearly the consequences. First of all, there is Adam and Eve- the results of their inability to resist temptation are laid out in detail in Genesis 3: 16-19. Life would never be so good again- there would be struggle and tension between men and women; distance between humanity and God; struggle to make a living and banishment from Paradise. Cain and Abel's story comes next; it is the story of the first murder.  Cain has fallen far from the image of God....rather than creating life, he has destroyed it. The disastrous ...

Is cultivating character easy?

A tree appeared in Psalm 1 as a symbol of a flourishing life....and in the beginning of Genesis trees are also important. Genesis 2:9 tells us that the garden of Eden was planted with trees that were pleasant to the sight and good for food, but then mentions two trees that seem to have a different purpose. Out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.   Genesis 2:9 These two trees are a mystery. God commands the man and woman not to eat of the tree of knowledge, telling them that if they eat its fruit, they will die. So why put this deadly tree right in the middle of the garden, and then tell the man and woman that they should not eat its fruit? It sounds unfair, or unkind.....The serpent does not need to work very hard to convince them to ignore God's command and eat its fruit- So when the woman saw that the tree was good ...

Creativity and Community

Genesis chapters 1 and 2 give us two accounts of Creation- chapter 1 is the big picture, written as poetry with the rhythm and shape of the writing mirroring the order and beauty of the act of creation. Chapter 2 tells a story, and in doing so reveals some ideas about the people we were created to be. The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. Genesis 2:15 One of the first things we learn about God from Genesis is that He is a creator. He creates the world with abundance, beauty, extravagance and at the same time, purpose and order. When man is made in His image, he is also given the task of creating beauty and order, in the garden of Eden. Then the LORD God said, 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.'   Genesis 2:18 At the beginning of John's gospel we read that God was not alone when He created the world- God was three persons, Father, Son and Spirit. Man also was not create...

In the beginning...

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If you were to grow a plant from seed, there would probably be a picture on the front of the seed packet showing you what to expect. The picture would be of an ideal specimen- your plant probably won't be quite like the picture, but if the picture shows you carrots you do not expect the seed to grow into a sunflower. If we are cultivating something, it helps to know what the end product is supposed to look like. Does this work when cultivating character? Can we see a picture of what the finished person should be like?  Philosophers from Aristotle to Nietzsche have argued about what this picture might look like. They asked questions such as -Who decides what is a virtue and what is a vice? Can a truly good person have some of these aspects of character but not all of them? Maybe the characteristics which we value are a product of culture? And if so, does that mean that each society is able to make up their own picture? The Bible gives us an answer which is at the same...

David- an imperfect person perfectly forgiven

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There is some confusion about whether Lent includes Sunday or not, so here on my blog I have decided to write a Weekend Post, to cover two days. Each weekend I shall be considering a person from the Bible, and asking what their story shows us about cultivating character. When you begin to ask questions about what a good person looks like, at some point you reach the realisation that you fall short. As Christians, we name this falling short ‘sin’, and one of the purposes of Lent is to make even more time than usual to consider our sin. Some of us don’t even need Lent to do this, as we spend most of our time feeling bad about ourselves and find it difficult to believe that we could ever be transformed. Some of us have had damaging words spoken to us, or things done to us, that have convinced us that we are unworthy and that we are beyond hope of change. Eugene Peterson directs us to the stories and Psalms of David. He writes “ The way of David is the way of imperfection. The ...

Good conditions for growing a tree

Psalm 1: 1,2 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. A tree cannot walk, or sit, or choose where it stands. It has no choice but to grow where it was planted. I wonder if sometimes we fall into thinking like a tree.....I'll just stand here and wait for God to get to work? Psalm 1 shows us that this type of thinking is misleading. It is certainly true that God loves us without us having to do anything- there is no way we can earn our salvation. Grace is all about God's initiative. But God saves us for a purpose- He has a plan for us, He wants us to begin to grow and bear fruit. And He asks us to be partners in that process of growth. We will have choices to make, and those choices will have consequences. If we choose to walk in step with the wicked, our growth will be stunted. If we choose ...

What does it take to grow a tree?

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Psalm 1 describes a blessed person like this: That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither- whatever they do prospers. I picture that tree blowing in the wind- it grew from a tiny sapling, and each year put out new shoots. Its branches grew up towards the light, and as it matured it began to bear fruit. There may have been times when bad weather or disease threatened the health of the tree, but its roots were strong and firmly planted in good soil, and it survived and flourished. It's an encouraging picture of what growing in Christ might look like. Maybe we feel like a tender, fragile sapling clinging on desperately, not sure if we will make it. Or maybe we feel as if it's winter, and we've gone into hibernation. Others seem to us to bear branches of ripe peaches while we are lucky if a wizened crab-apple grows. But what we are cultivating here is not cress or mung beans, sprouting in a f...

Ash Wednesday

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Jesus began his public ministry by withdrawing for 40 days to the wilderness- the reason why the season of Lent lasts for 40 days. The gospels record how he met the devil there, and was tempted to achieve his purpose by unholy means. Making space to examine our lives and our motives, to face our temptations, may not be a pleasant or easy task, but it is a necessary one. Socrates said 'The unexamined life is not worth living', and the current interest in Mindfulness seems to be saying the same thing. So Lent begins with time for self-examination. Traditionally, both Catholic and Protestant churches have held services today where those present are signed with ash. This imagery of fire burning up all that is impure to leave behind what is holy is an symbol of hope, of something beautiful rising from the ashes. The crucible for silver, and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart.    Proverbs 17:3 An Ash Wednesday prayer from the Church of England: ...