On The Level

Mission requires that we engage with people in an appropriate and equal way.  We need to value those whom we are encountering.  Martyn Atkins warns against what he calls a "sloping" approach to mission (Martyn Atkins: Resourcing Renewal, quoted in Michael Moynagh: Being Church, Doing Life).

On this approach we see mission as sloping downwards from the church towards other people.  The church sees itself as in an elevated position, dispensing mission.

Jesus rather took a level approach.  He met people where they were, engaging with their needs.  There is no hierarchy in doing mission.  It is likely to be effective when we are able to engage as equals.  What we share with those we are encountering is the most likely source of an effective relationship and that is what is going to allow us to share our faith in a meaningful way.  Back in the 17th century one of the groups of Christians were called the Levellers.  Let's level things for and with God!

Leaving Nazareth

I have just started reading Andrew Mayes' "Beyond the Edge: spiritual transitions for asdventurous souls".  In the first chapter he explores the idea of transitions and the impact they make.  He refers to some of the big transitions that will happen for all of us at various stages in life.

He emphasises the point by comparing what we may face with the impact that starting his ministry and leaving all the familiarities of Nazareth will have had on Jesus.  The Nazareth of the time will have been a fairly small village.  Setting off on an itinerant ministry of preaching, teaching and healing was a big step to take.

Mayes highlights the importance of being rooted in prayer to take us through the times of transition and uses some helpful imagery - "prayer - experienced now as a turbulent place, with eddies, whirlpools, rapids and unexpectedly strong currents; a torrent where boulders, other detritus and rubbish get forced along.  The river of prayer becomes a place of attrition and erosion,. where stones get their corners knocked off.  But prayer can at the same time be experienced as a place of profound transformation and creativity, where a new identity is being shaped and formed - waters can break down and build up."

The Truth Dentist

Margaret Coles' novel "The Greening" is a fascinating interaction between three stories.  The key character of the main story, Joanna Meredith, is a journalist who wishes to combine effective writing with an ethically sound approach.  She is strongly influenced and supported by what is effectively the second story which enters her story by means of a journal which she is reading her way through.  The third story is some account of the thinking and writings of Julian of Norwich.  Julian is a meaningful and positive influence on Anna, the writer of the journal, and comes to be also an important influence on Joanna.

There are lots of things to be drawn from the novel, but I was particularly struck by a passage where Joanna has a conversation with Ismene, one of the novel's other key characters.  Ismene perceptively recognises what Joanna is trying to achieve through her journalism - "You, Joanna, are what I call a truth dentist.  By that, I mean someone who is determined to extract the truth of the stories she reports, who will not be fobbed off, who will not let go.  It's all there, in the quality of your work.  You notice the details.  ....  It takes the persistence to be a truth dentist and the courage to pull one's own teeth.  It takes the determination to keep going when you are the only one who can see the point of the story."

Where do we need to develop our capacity to be truth dentists?

Prayer - a few thoughts

I have been reading Dave Tomlinson's How to be a bad Christian (Hodder, 2012).  It has some really good and interesting advice about down-to-earth Christianity - but I was particularly interested in some of what he says about prayer.  Prayer is the way in which we engage with God.  It is how we communicate - the expression of the relationship.  Tomlinson makes the point that God can cope with how we are feeling - "Sometimes prayer means having to shout at; at other times, someone to lean on; most times, a mixture of both."  Another time he says: "Prayer is one of the most democratic activities I can think of.  No one owns prayer.  No one can dictate how prayer should be offered, or by whom.  Anyone can pray: anywhere, anytime, and in any fashion they choose."  And one more comment - "I think most of us already pray quite often, whether we think of it as prayer or not: the stammer of pain at someone else's pain; the sparkle of joy at someone else's joy; the silence within when something very beautiful is happening, or something very bad; whatever it is we feel when we sense deep longing or deep happiness.  All this in its own way is prayer - the soul talking."

The wonder of prayer is that God is really interested in what we have to say!

When Prayer Gets in the Way of Praying ...

Henri Nouwen, in his journal from his months in a Trappist Monastery, The Genesee Diary, does quite a bit of reflecting on prayer - how it can be a struggle, how much it is  needed, the ways in which it enhances our living. 

However, in the end, perhaps it is simply something we need to do.

We like to explain things, but there is a sense in which prayer is beyond explanation.  Equally, we like to understand things, but there is a sense in which prayer is to be experienced, rather than understood.

Nouwen writes this: "Writing about prayer is often very painful since it makes you so aware of how far away you are from the ideal you write about.  ....  While it is true that in order to pray you have to empty your heart and mind for God, you also have to empty your heart and mind of your feelings and ideas on prayer.  Otherwise, prayer gets in the way of praying.  ....  It is hard not to desire good insights during prayer and not to fall into a long inner discussion with myself."

Of course, it is good to reflect about prayer sometimes - but the really important thing is to pray.

Prayer as a Sneeze

I really like Rowan Williams' image of prayer as a sneeze in his little book that covers the essentials of the Christian faith - "Being Christian".  He writes: "Prayer .. is .. like sneezing - there comes a point when you can't not do it.  The Spirit wells and surges up towards God the Father.  But because of this there will be moments when, precisely because you can't help yourself, it can feel dark and unrewarding, deeply puzzling, hard to speak about."

It is interesting that so many people would admit to struggles in prayer - and yet it is through prayer that we can actively engage with God, listening as well as speaking.  But, yes, it is true - sometimes we just have to pray!

Men Behaving Badly

I have been reading John Goldingay’s ‘Men Behaving Badly’ (Paternoster, 2000) in which he explores the male characters in 1 and 2 Samuel.  The third chapter talks about the Philistines and their god Dagon (1 Samuel 5 – 7).  It points out that politics and religion often get mixed together.  In particular, Goldingay comments on our many attempts to pin God down, trying to enforce a conformity to what we want.  But God is always beyond.  God is not to be bound by our restrictions.  As Goldingay puts it with reference to the desire to restrict God to God’s house: “The nature of a house is to be in a fixed location.  Yahweh liked being flexible, being on the move, able to go off and do new things.  Human beings prefer God to be predictable.  If you can get God to settle down, then you know where you are with God.  ……  When a human being like David wants to build God a house, that implicitly reverses the relationship between God and human beings.  It turns that relationship into one whereby you look after God instead of God looking after you.  It is another aspect of control, of the human desire to domesticate God.” (p. 41/2)
 
We might think that our understanding has moved on from such ideas – but is that really so?  Are we not still just as inclined to want God to do things our way?  So how can we break out of that kind of thinking?