Category: Theology

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Theology

Saint Patricks Day

There are many debates about Saint Patrick, and many various ways in which he is remembered. There will be a lot of people #SensingMeaningfulness through remembering ancestral links. Perhaps there will also be a lot of self medication as people grasp onto the day to counter unexamined feelings of alienation and lack of meaningfulness.

Celebration is good though! And there is much to celebrate. Whilst enjoying the feed of shamrocks, guinness and nostalgia which will emerge today, why not take some time out to practice #SensingChallenge too.

Intrigued? Patrick wrote a letter around one and a half thousand years ago. You can read the text, and explore how he thought and felt all that time ago. It is a heartfelt letter condemning slavery and declaring himself alien to all who tolerate it.

His anger burns through the screen now as I read the text. This is not a hate letter though. In paragraph 4 his frustration with the whole situation stands out to me. His love, and desire, that all should be free from slavery is easy to miss. If you miss it though, then the letter reads judgementally. He makes himself alien to the slave owning status driven culture he lives in, but his desire is that all should experience the freedom of the way of Christ. All should be free from slavery, whether to another human or to the vice of avarice that makes us into slavers.

Read for yourself here.

https://confessio.ie/etexts/epistola_english#

We still haven’t sorted the problem. From the clothes we wear to the services we buy, it is always most difficult to recognise the injustice taking place under our noses.

Where does our identity lie? In stuff or in experiential capital?

In one nationality, or in a way which transcends identity politics?

What binds us in a vice, and what builds us up to exercise freedom with integrity?

And as well as all the abstract reflection, there is still a very real challenge.

https://www.scotlandagainstmodernslavery.co.uk

Categories
creation Theology Thought of the Day

The classroom of creation

The following quote comes from a translation of the life of St Mungo as told by Jocelin of Furness early in the 12th Century.

The robin in the story is the one on the coat of arms of Glasgow, and its story is well known. What is perhaps less well known is this discussion about why a serious churchman of high standing should pay attention to sparrows, rock pigeons … or a robin redbreast.

Now a certain little bird, which is called a redbird by the common people because of its ruby-colored small body, was accustomed to receive its daily food from the hand of Servanus, the servant of God, by the command of the heavenly Father, without whom not even one sparrow falls toward the earth. And having accepted such intimacy, he displayed familiarity and tameness towards him. Sometimes he was even accustomed to rest upon his head, or his face, or his shoulders, or his lap, assisting him as he prayed or read, and by the striking of its wings, or by the sound of its inarticulate voice, and by whatever gestures of affection, it would exhibit those towards him. And sometimes the face of the man of God, overshadowed by the acts of the bird, was covered with cheerfulness, admiring truly in the small creature the great power of the Creator, by whom the mute speak and irrational things are known to experience reason

And because many times this bird came near to him or departed by the command and will of the man of God, it reproached the unbelief and hardness of his students’ hearts, and exposed their disobedience. And let this lesson not seem unsuitable to anyone, seeing that God, by the voice of a mute animal and one used to the yoke, rebuked the folly of the prophet, and Solomon, the most wise of men, sent the slothful man to the ant in order that by contemplating his labor and diligence, he might shake from himself his stupefaction and sloth. And a certain holy and wise man summoned his religious to consider the work of the bees, so that in their little bodies they might learn the beautiful discipline of ministry. But perhaps it will seem a wonder to some that a man so holy and righteous would take delight in respect to the play or gestures of a little bird. But let it be known to those of such thoughts that righteous men at times need to be softened from their own sternness so that those who in spirit go out to God are more temperate to us at times Even the bow must sometimes be loosened from its excessive strain, so that it will not be weak and useless for sending the arrow when the time of need comes. For birds seek with outstretched wings to fly in the air, and then once again with these same wings they descend to settle down to the lower earth.

Read the full translation here…

Have a look for the stories referred to in the text (the first prophet mentioned is Balam). More importantly, keep an eye on your garden, or the park when you go for a walk. God has been speaking with humans, teaching, a lot longer than we have had words to write about it.

Picture cc attributation

Categories
Theology Thought of the Day

The horror of the cross


Exposing the scandal of sacrificial Violence

https://twitter.com/Schwarzenegger/status/1348249481284874240?s=09

This photo and video that goes with it are the response by the governor of California to the violence recently seen in his country. He is speaking to his public and party, rather than composing a sermon. However, he does refer to his Christian education, possibly because are still people outside the White House (and on worldwide news channels) praying for the election results to be overturned and presenting their right wing nationalism through a veneer of Christianity.

Praying for those in Authority is a well established Christian practice. We are also called to pray for those who persecute us, as Jesus did on the cross. So, are Trump supporters acting in imitation of Christ? They are willing to suffer, some are willing to kill, for the greater good they believe in. They believe that their president is the victim of an injustice, and that their actions are to preserve the constitution of their nation. High political ideals, but how do their actions compare with the Way of Christ.

Jesus dying on the cross for our sins is core to Christianity. But do you think that God wants sacrifices? Such a God is at worst a sadist, and at best a masochist. I suggest that a deity constructed in such a way is an idol of authoritarianism bound up in a cycle of violence. There is no room for forgiveness in a mind enslaved by this sort of thinking. With no forgiveness, there can be no healing or satisfaction. Even if everyone is left with their eyes poked out and hands cut off in sacrifice for justice. This is not the way of Christ, and if you value Scripture there are some reference to verses at the end to support this claim, starting with Micah 6:6-8

Having a servant’s heart is not about sacrifice. To be a martyr is to be a witness to another way of being. The Truth of Jesus did not demand sacrifice, but those enslaved by lies bound themselves into a chain of events that escalated to the extreme of death, and the killing of God incarnate. Rather than imitating them, by practicing the presence of God we can develop an attitude which looks out for those we are estranged from and welcomes them into community.

 No promises that this will be easy however! Films often show a shocking lack of understanding about to work steel. The genius of steel is that unlike iron or bronze it is possible to produce a blade which is both hardened (the quench) and softened so it can bend and won’t shatter (the tempering). In the film “Conan the Barbarian, 1982” the riddle of steel is left, for the audience to work out. The less mystical saying of “even gold which can be destroyed by fire, is purified by fire” is perhaps a more immediately accessible gateway to understanding. Refining doesn’t sacrifice gold to the fire, evil is not necessary, you pass through it and come out truer to the best self you can be. That which is incumbent within you, ready to be released.

There are many, some of whom are US citizens, for whom the USA does not represent a beacon of hope, or even a struggle for justice. Hope and Justice are built into human being though and learning to live in society can be the fire we pass through to reveal it. As Christians we can imitate Christ. Not by sacrificing ourselves or others for a greater good, but by cultivating a servant’s heart and giving from an abundant timeless grace. Tough enough not to yield under oppression, sharp enough to cut free from social media bubbles of falsehood, tempered to recognise the common good, and bend from self-interest to serve without shattering.

To study the themes in this post further here is an introduction to “Mimetic Theory”
https://www.movement.org.uk/resources/introduction-mimetic-theory


The following article is not the easiest read in the world, but it expands more on this theme.

https://mimeticmargins.com/2020/05/18/the-god-of-christ-equals-the-pinnacle-of-narcissistic-sadomasochism/

A selection of verses on the theme of “why sacrifices are horrific, rather than a necessary evil” starts with the story of Cain and Able, but here are some more verses for further reflection and study.

Micah 6:6-8

Psalm 51:16-17, Proverbs 21:3, Mark 12:33, Matthew 9:13