So, do I write another blog?
Is there anybody out there who would read it? Or benefit from it? Who do I let know about it, and how? And why? There must be as much that as unseen and unread in the world as there is that is seen and read. Does that make it of any less value? I guess if our ultimate audience is God himself, sometimes all that matters is that it is ultimately done for his glory, whether seen or unseen, read or unread. I guess that one of my problems is that when life gets tricky, I like to process stuff in writing, with the increasing risk that, at some point, some of that unfolding process will end up being let loose on an unsuspecting public. And for me, that moment has surely come. Recently, I came across a wonderful and moving ‘lockdown’ version of ‘Mad World’ performed by Curt Smith (of Tears for Fears) and his daughter. Here it is: https://youtu.be/NEpfvTdR5-U In part, it reminded me of the first time I attempted a blog on this website – you may even be able to find it somewhere embedded in the Archives. This might even be a link to it (2 Jan 17 – 3 Apr 17): https://thecairninnscourt.weebly.com/phils-new-blog/archives/01-2017 It is perhaps important to emphasise, in such challenging times, that the song (for me, at least) actually captures a strong note of hope and optimism … expressed by Roland Orzabal in the following way: ‘some of the most dramatic dreams we have … release the most … tension … so we can have this ridiculous dream ... and wake up feeling a lot better. So “the dreams in which I’m dying are the best I ever had” doesn’t [necessarily] mean ‘I can’t wait to die’”: https://youtu.be/kdCLnwIkkps ‘Mad World’ is an important song for me in that it helps me reflect on the sense of dissonance that I often feel between the kind of ‘work in progress’, ‘still broken’ parts of me (and the world around me) and the lingering sense of unresolvedness associated with them; and the parts of my life where I have seen God work in incredibly miraculous and restorative ways. ********** Strangely, perhaps, another recent song that has encouraged me in a comparable way is Elle Limebear and Sarah’s version of an amazing Hillsong song with incredibly profound lyrics (written I believe by Chris Davenport, Benjamin Hastings and Ben Tan). A sequoia, by the way, is a giant redwood tree. This is the song: https://youtu.be/9RkMYPglTvE And these are the full lyrics, which are worth spending some time reflecting on, particularly in this season of Advent: Like the frost on a rose Winter comes for us all Oh how nature acquaints us With the nature of patience Like a seed in the snow I’ve been buried to grow For Your promise is loyal From seed to sequoia I know Though the winter is long even richer The harvest it brings Though my waiting prolongs even greater Your promise for me like a seed I believe that my season will come Lord I think of Your love Like the low winter sun As I gaze I am blinded In the light of Your brightness Like a fire to the snow I’m renewed in Your warmth Melt the ice of this wild soul Till the barren is beautiful I can see the promise I can see the future You’re the God of seasons I’m just in the winter If all I know of harvest Is that it’s worth my patience Then if You’re not done working God I’m not done waiting You can see my promise Even in the winter Cause You’re the God of greatness Even in a manger For all I know of seasons Is that You take Your time You could have saved us in a second Instead You sent a child And when I finally see my tree Still I believe there’s a season to come Like a seed You were sown For the sake of us all From Bethlehem’s soil Grew Calvary’s sequoia (c) 2020 Provident Label Group LLC, a division of Sony Music Entertainment ********** Finally, I had the unexpected privilege of training for ministry In Bristol in parallel with my nephew, Chris Harwood (me at Bristol Baptist College, Chris at Trinity) and was intrigued to discover that Chris has recently released a series of booklets about New Monasticism from his family’s hospitality house in Cumbria. These are really worth checking out, and cover: Hospitality, Simplicity, Peace, Resistance & Prayer, as well as an Introductory booklet. They are all available to download via this link: https://www.godforall.org.uk/new-monasticism/ ... and some words of encouragement from Isaiah 55: 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
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And so to the autumn … when did that happen? … who knew??
And a sense of deja vu (again). No Saturday footie (for Bristol City). No Sunday gathering, as we look to review current guidance and formulate (yet another) new plan; and so, I guess, a very good time to blog again. Eek, the rest of the website is looking a bit neglected!! Better look at that next … which is good really … it could do with a bit of a revamp. I have come across, and been enjoying, a thoughtful series of blogs (5 so far) from Scott Brennan, about the Celtic Way of Mission. Do have a read of them, as much of what is said bears a strong resonance with our own vision, ethos and approach here at The Cairn: https://www.voiceoftheevangelists.com/post/the-celtic-way-of-mission-an-introduction https://www.voiceoftheevangelists.com/post/the-celtic-way-of-mission-patrick-pilgrim-apostle-of-ireland https://www.voiceoftheevangelists.com/post/the-celtic-way-of-mission-learning-from-the-gentleness-of-aidan https://www.voiceoftheevangelists.com/post/the-celtic-way-of-mission-disciples-rather-than-just-converts-learning-from-the-wisdom-of-hilda https://www.voiceoftheevangelists.com/post/the-celtic-way-of-mission-5-creating-strong-missional-centres-learning-from-st-cedd In addition, ‘Christian’ songs (if I can make that somewhat clumsy distinction) have often been a source of spiritual life and health to me, and remain so in this present season. Here are my current top 5, with grateful thanks to Elevation Worship, Bethel Music, Bright City of course (to name just a few). Fire’s Gonna Fall remains a current favourite, and here is a recent video link: https://youtu.be/7XJTFyTVR4U While on the subject of Pentecost, do check out Acts 2 and Ezekiel 37 for the inspiration behind many of these songs: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2&version=NIVUK https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+37&version=NIVUK Here is a great acoustic version of RATTLE!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rzhPg9697k Pentecostal fire stirring something new You're not gonna run out of miracles anytime soon and Friday's disappointment Is Sunday's empty tomb can only lead to the amazing Come Out of that Grave: https://youtu.be/KVYO9KsVGI4 Graves Into Gardens: https://youtu.be/KwX1f2gYKZ4 and, Revival’s In The Air: https://youtu.be/u9TCQuni5Jw Do enjoy … and draw faith, hope and encouragement from these songs. Right, now for the rest of the website. OK, so I still love RATTLE! and Elevation Worship’s ‘Graves into Gardens’ but … … like busses … what an incredible joy to be able to celebrate the launch of Bright City‘s new album, Change, a week or two ago, via YouTube. There are many things I liked about this evening, celebrating the 10 year anniversary of St Peter’s Church, Brighton. For big fans (like me!!) the whole premiere presentation (about an hour and a half) is the only way to go: https://youtu.be/ubdjpb6fVIY For the half hour option (48.00 to 1.21), discover that: Jonny Bird is a captain; Sarah (my eldest) stole a book from my study; Martin Smith went on holiday with his 80 year old dad and wrote an amazing song, inspired by a visit to Mount Carmel, called ‘Fire’s Gonna Fall’ which is sung by Sarah (with Martin choosing to be part of ‘an ordinary choir’)!! Who knew?? Here is the lyric version of the song: https://youtu.be/fTfNGo1ba5I And who knew that, when in 1997, I tentatively took a lunch time detour (from my mundane job at Tollgate House, now a big car park) to HMV to buy an album called ‘King of Fools’ signed by Delirious?, ostensibly on behalf of my daughters – and feeling like a bit of a fool myself – that things would turn out like this?? And, incidentally, who knew (middle daughter) that we were heading for such a big fire a week or so ago here in the heart of Knowle West?? Let the fire fall here too!! There is a change coming in Bristol (as well as Brighton!!), a city I am particularly proud to live in this week after its exemplary handling of the iconic toppling and dunking of the statue of former slave trader, Edward Colston (since retrieved quietly for a future museum context). As one national commentator observed the following day: ‘Today is the first full day since 1895 on which the effigy of a mass murderer does not cast its shadow over Bristol’s city centre.’ That is some change. Here is the full article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/08/edward-colston-statue-history-slave-trader-bristol-protest?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other In another Guardian article, Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees is reported as, rightly, praising the wise handling of the demonstration by Avon and Somerset Police: “There were 10,000 people and no violent confrontation, no big smash-up of shop windows, no lines at accident and emergency.” “What they have left us with is a platform for us to have a constructive conversation about our city’s future.” Here is the full article: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/13/bristol-mayor-colston-statue-removal-was-act-of-historical-poetry?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other That conversation will, I am sure, include fresh consideration of the nuanced and complex connections between private wealth, philanthropy, and state wealth. As we look to move on from lockdown, my prayer is: ‘… let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5:24)’ To blog or not to blog?
That is the question … or at least a question. Probably a more important question relates to the sense of being somehow uncomfortably stuck in a kind of cultural ‘Easter Saturday’ experience, with no obvious or apparent end in sight. No doubt, for me, that feeling has been exacerbated by (for these current times) a relevantly minor (as in, non-Covid related) health issue; necessitating a trip to the eye hospital last week, and blurry eyes as I recover this week. I am very grateful for the very nice people at the eye hospital and for the M1 bus driver who enabled me to get there and back. For that matter, I am grateful for a whole variety of workers and volunteers, from a whole variety of sectors, all skilled but many poorly paid, who have helped the nation through the current manifestation of this ongoing economic crisis. Delivery drivers, security guards, shop workers (to name just a few). I am grateful for my wife (far less cynical than me) and the committed and passionate teachers at Holymead School who have put in countless hours of their time (sometimes it seems pretty much round the clock). Much of it made necessary, in my view, by poor Government planning. I am cautious of treading further on this territory and greatly admire the courage of people like Jonathan Freedland in The Guardian who are still committed to calling out systemic injustices in our society. I will let his latest article speak for itself: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/22/nhs-surcharge-debacle-government-cruel-useless-coronavirus-boris-johnson I have had mixed feelings about ‘The Thursday Clap’, which I understand may be ‘paused’ for a while - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52773032 - and am far more interested in which way people have voted these last 10 years or so and why. Hey, I might even give myself a clap for keeping my own mental health together!! Here is the issue at heart, in my view. People are fundamentally interdependent, not independent. And all of our economic systems, locally, nationally and globally, should reflect that in a just and equitable way. Although taken out of context, for the sake of brevity, here are some words from the Bible which we would do well to consider at this time: 2 Corinthians 8:13-14 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality. Here is a link to 2 Corinthians, Chapter 8 if you want to read further: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+8&version=NIVUK Sometime ago now, I read a book called The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone (2010, Penguin, Wilkinson and Pickett). I was struck by one of the central observations: that the sense of unease in a society often equates directly with the levels of inequality, even in relatively wealthy societies. Why not check it out? https://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/resources/the-spirit-level https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/179/179241/the-spirit-level/9780241954294.html AND LAST, BUT DEFINITELY NOT LEAST, congratulations to Elevation Church for producing what must surely be the most dramatic Christian song since Noel Richards’ fabulous Thunder in the Skies. RATTLE! is an absolutely stunning song. Do have a listen (and check out Ezekiel 37 for the full story): https://youtu.be/xrAdbH28gIg I have not been so excited about listening to a new Christian album as Elevation Worship’s ‘Graves into Gardens’ since ‘Save us O God’ (Vineyard) or Cutting Edge (back in ancient history)!! I began writing this late on a Friday evening, here at The Cairn, after an incredibly warm and beautiful day, sitting in the back garden and enjoying all the local sights and sounds (with the help, I might add, of a particularly fine Lockdown discovery, Keller Pils, courtesy of South Bristol brewery Lost and Grounded). Long, sunny days has brought forth gardening from me, and a sudden yet irresistible impulse to clear the hedges at the boundary of our property. For many years, the ‘overgrown’ area has served us well as a place for nature to thrive, as well as the focus of quite a few Man Friday and Man Alive activities. Particularly memorable was the Sunday Funday about three years ago, when Tim from the Lee Abbey Community turned up with his chainsaw to chop down the intrusive fir tree in the front garden; and around 30 people came along to help shift it, piece by piece, into the back garden, where the barbecue area still has log stools in its memory. The enthusiastic Noise team’s support, the year after that, was another high point. As was the Man Alive scarecrow, terrifyingly presented at the sitting room window, far too late one summer’s night. Then there were the incredible poppies, the year after we moved in. Enormous heads and so numerous. I recall carving a trail through them and being completely awestruck. A timely recollection on VE Day. And also the butterflies and moths, and caterpillars, and the birds. And the sallow tree (I think) in the garden. As a small child, I used to chase butterflies and moths, with a large net, at great personal risk; and encourage caterpillars to roam freely around the house – a hobby that came to an end, partly through the trials of youth, and partly through the complete disintegration of my butterfly and moth collection (all bar the small pins). So, strangely, having my very own nettle patch has been strangely restorative to me. And I am pleased to report the success (to at least some degree) of cinnabar, tortoiseshell, peacock, comma, red admiral, painted lady, speckled wood, brimstone, common blue and small skipper. But another part of our journey has been to do with seeing a building that, for a while at least, had a negative and challenging recent history, transformed again into a place of warmth, welcome and hospitality. Part of that process has involved making bold steps and deliberate physical changes that represent a departure from a fortress mentality and an embracing of a more open and trusting physical environment. Clearing the hedges at the edge of the garden, which had grown to around 20 foot high and 10 foot deep in places, and revealing for the first time an impressive 8 foot boundary fence that is still largely intact, has felt strangely liberating. It is all now so much lighter and more open; and we can see, and be seen by, our neighbours in a way that feels very similar to when we first arrived here and began to make changes in 2013. We were also interested in a recent, well written, Bristol Post article, entitled ‘The nine oldest buildings in Bristol that date from before 1500’, which described The Cairn (by its former name, Holy Cross Vicarage) in this way: 'The first of the buildings on the list not to be a church or part of a religious complex - although it was a vicarage - and it's not to be found in the old city or leafy Westbury or Clifton, but in one of the areas of Bristol that is the most deprived - Inns Court.' 'The estate fills the corner of land between Knowle West, Imperial Park and the ring road, but in the centre is an old vicarage whose central core staircase dates from the first decades of the 1400s. It is believed to be the oldest residential building in Bristol'. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/nine-oldest-buildings-bristol-date-4074105 We are intrigued and amused, I think, rather than concerned, about being described as: ‘not … a church or part of a religious complex’, albeit that we are technically both of those things!! And, if our medieval tower does indeed represent ‘the oldest residential building in Bristol’, that is some privilege, and one that we do not hold lightly. We are drawn, once again, to these words (from Isaiah 58:11-12): The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. I hesitate to write about Bright City again. But there are some ideas associated with the song ‘Change’ which, for me, seem to have been continually highlighted during this very unusual season of cultural, political, social and economic upheaval.
Bright City, Change: https://youtu.be/bvixJ0cKDro I have often been struck by the contrasting church situations at St Peter’s in Brighton and here at The Cairn, and wonder at the grace of God in enabling such difference and diversity. Last time I was in Brighton, just before travel became difficult, my eyes were drawn, in a ‘vintage’ book store, to a large hardback book with the word ‘INEQUALITY’ across the spine. At the bargain price of just £2, I felt this was the book for me!! And this led to some really interesting conversations about the song ‘Change’ which seeks to express hopes around revival but also to capture some broader questions and themes around equality issues. This is then helpfully picked up, for me, in the discussion about the song, which was released this week. I hope you find it of interest too: https://youtu.be/SAzf6ThlvWc Here in Bristol, it was a privilege to be connected widely with church leaders again, and to hear encouragement from Bristol Mayor, Marvin Rees, to persevere in these challenging times, with the helpful reminder from Romans 1:3-5 that: ‘… suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us’. Issues around inequality are key in Bristol too, and it was good to see a report from Andy Street (one of our Trustees) about the incredibly positive work of Feeding Bristol in addressing food poverty, with a commendable commitment of: ‘driving systemic change to increase food security across all social and cultural communities of Bristol – ultimately striving for ‘Zero Hunger’’. Do have a read about it yourself (below): https://thebristolmayor.com/ https://www.feedingbristol.org/ ‘Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen’ (Ephesians 3:20-21). In the midst of challenging times, it was an unexpected pleasure this week to hear Sarah and Jonny on UCB2 Radio, where Bright City were featured as the artist of the week!! ‘Christ In Me’ is a great Easter song. https://youtu.be/di5NZtRnV-M The opening sequences in the video also have significant resonances, for me, with the scenes from the Notre Dame devastation which you may remember from this time last year, and about which I recall speaking here in the garden at The Cairn. Here is one of the pictures from Notre Dame, as a reminder: And here are the pictures from St Peter’s Church, Brighton (from a building which now stands empty, due to current circumstances): Strange circumstances, both years.
But, in a sense, both serve to demonstrate the same central point about Easter, that: ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever’ (Hebrews 13:8). The Word of God is, truly, more reliable than the ground underneath our feet. ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away’ said Jesus (Matthew 24:35). So, as believers in Jesus, we carry this great hope of the Resurrection and of a New Creation. And we draw fresh confidence and courage this Easter that: ‘since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire’’ (Hebrews 12:28-29). And this may be a helpful place to start in responding to that; Bright City’s Easter song from last year, ‘Hope Lives’: https://youtu.be/xj61gedgLx4 Happy Easter! Well, it would seem so!!
Congratulations to Keir Starmer on being elected Labour Party leader this morning. I never knew Keir personally at Reigate Grammar School, where we would have been among the last 11-plus entrants; before this most curious of schools(!!) transitioned from being a voluntary aided state school into an independent fee-paying grammar school in 1976 (my first year and Keir’s second). And I have never been a signed up member of the Labour Party, and felt it would be disingenuous to do so just in order to vote. Nonetheless, Keir Starmer’s name is sufficiently unusual that I have been able to follow his extremely impressive career, marked by great integrity and a strong social conscience, prayerfully and hopefully that this might indeed be the next step in his (and our country’s) journey. Never before in my lifetime have I so understood the importance of a strong Opposition and Opposition Leader to the proper functioning of our democratic system. I have also always been curious about the sense of destiny around the name ‘Keir’, which was almost certainly (at least in part) in honour of Keir Hardie, a founder of the Labour Party and its first Parliamentary Leader from 1906 to 1908. And aware, too, of the early challenges Keir must have faced in family life with his mother having Still’s disease. For me, all of this represents a lot of hope at a time when hope is such a vital commodity. So my prayer for our nation at this time is that we might know afresh the confidence that comes from the God of hope filling us: ‘with all joy and peace as [we] trust in him, so that [we] may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit’ (Romans 15:13). So here I am, Saturday morning and no football.
Hmm. At least the sun is shining. (Oh ... maybe not). What an incredible, and largely unexpected, privilege to be able to carry out an incredible Zoom-a-thon with all my closest family members this week. Well done, Zoom-makers – good on ya!! (Ice creams all round). The potential of Zoom for us inter-netters!! No wonder God was able to see deep into the future potential of all that he had made and declare with great joy and confidence that ‘it was very good’ (Genesis 1:31). But what about all the Non-Zoomers, all the Can’t-Zoomers, all the Hard-To-Zoomers out there in this big, wide mad, mixed-up world of ours?!? I sometimes find when there is a lot going on in the world, my tendency is to retreat, to process stuff, to weigh things up, to feel the highs and the lows of it all quite deeply – the negative possibilities and, in time, and in the grace of God, the many, many positive possibilities. Let’s face it, even in the times we had come to call ‘normal’, just drinking the morning coffee that I enjoy raised all kinds of questions around the deep injustices in our world that almost certainly exploit the growers and pickers at the other end of the process. (Just as one example). Or another example ... do we help the happy hens today (or at least the might-be-happy hens) and how do we really know what is going on behind all of our so-called consumer choices in a world driven by excessive profits for the fewer and fewer? And so I think I am going to do an occasional blog. I can cope with that kind of pace. I hope it is helpful to you. One who promises to guide me … and restore comfort to me.
One who is committed to creating praise on the lips of … mourners. One who proclaims: Peace, peace, to those far and near … And I will heal them’ (Is 57:18-19). It is well worth noting the following reflection of Roland Orzabal in the 2013 Quietus interview[1]: RO: I ended up doing primal therapy after Big Chair and during Seeds Of Love, and then I realised so much of you is your character, and you’re born like it. I think that definitely any trauma – whether it’s childhood or later in life – affects you negatively, especially when it’s suppressed, but there’s so much of us which is already in place. I believe that primal theory – which has been absorbed into modern psychotherapy practices – is very, very valid, but a good therapist is a good therapist. He doesn’t have to be a primal therapist. And here we dare to speculate that a Creator, if indeed we have one, may well be the best therapist of all. On my own Could you ease my load? Could you see my pain? Could you please explain the hurting? One whose words calmly echo through the ages: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-30) ‘could you please explain the hurting?’ One who may not choose to ‘explain the hurting’ but who does identify with the hurting, and even, over time, heal the hurting. ‘A father to the fatherless … … a God who ‘sets the lonely in families’ (Psalm 68:5) A God who is never an absent father. A God who understands a child ‘when he cries in pain’. [1] In Their Own Words. This Is Going To Hurt: The Mad World Of Tears For Fears’ Debut LP Wyndham Wallace, September 20th, 2013 09:28, http://thequietus.com/articles/13379-tears-for-fears-the-hurting-interview, accessed 12 April 2016. |
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December 2020
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