Boundary Marker

Wednesday evening and time for Vespers at St Mary's. However this was different. Along with the usual, wonderful calming tunes that permeate the environment, and the sound of the bells and the ringers practice their changes, this Wednesday had a visual component, the work of two local artists. Christine had an installation that explored the link between clothing and boundaries. It was the words "boundaries, real or imagined" that caught my imagination. I thought about the many boundaries that exist. Particularly our imagined boundaries. Or maybe not imagined, maybe they really do exist, in our own minds. 

Boundary Marker

Where is your boundary marker?

What is your boundary marker? 

A row of pebbles, or a painted line in the street? 

A fence topped with barbed wire, 

A brick wall with broken glass, set in concrete?

Is there an entry or an exit, or is it entirely enclosed?

Is it it a sanctuary, a place of safety and solace,

Or are you serving a sentence, self-imposed- 

Of solitary confinement - shutting society out?

Do you stay within your gate, 

Or do you sometimes venture out,

To encounter and discover

What lies around about?

Are you, perhaps, in permanent exile - 

detached and disconnected - from yourself?

Locked out and excluded - 

Like a leper - unwanted - on the shelf?

We all need our own space,

That special place

To be free - To be "me". 

We also need connection

To touch, to talk, and be listened to

To love and to be loved too!

Yesod - Connection/Belonging

Connection

Counting the Omer, usually it goes from Passover to Tabernacles, but I have decided to "Count the Omer" from Easter to Pentecost. 

Well,we reached the end of the second last week yesterday and the focus for last week was:

Yesod (יְס֖וֹד)

which is translated as "Foundation" which is the attribute assigned to God. The emotional quality in humans linked to Yesod is "Connection" 

What follows is my thoughts on Connection:

I saw a Tweet which asked the question, 'Is loneliness a cause of mental illness. 94% of the approximate 700 respondents said it was. 

Loneliness is not simply the lack of company. If it were there would be a simple and straightforward solution - find company. Put all the lonely people in a room together and they wouldn't be lonely any more.? Company can relieve the pain of loneliness for a while, but it is not a lasting or permanent solution. 

I believe that at the core of loneliness is the loss of connection. The feeling that "I don't fit in", that "I am not wanted." (whether that feeling is based in reality of actually not being wanted, or entirely imagined -  it is still real to the person experiencing it), feeling or being physically or emotionally shut out, unwelcome, and unaccepted. In short "I feel like I do not belong."

A sense of belonging is a BASIC HUMAN NEED

So everyone wants to be part of something. That something might vary culture to culture, person to person, but sadly the desire to belong is not enough, it is necessary for the group to be willing to accept, welcome and incorporate the person hoping to belong. 

The basic social grouping is the family unit - parents, possibly siblings, grandparents, possibly wider family. The family should be a group in which love and acceptance is unconditional. Sadly, this is not always the case and people do face rejection by even close family members. There are many supposed reasons, or possibly excuses for someone to reject a family member. It might be that the family member has chosen to join a religion which the family hates. Or they might support a political party or cause which the family does not understand or accept. It might that they choose a partner who the family does not accept. 

This occurs a lot for young people of the LGBTQI+ community whose family cannot aspect of their lives.  

Failure to give a child that love and acceptance that they need and deserve is a crime - it may be neglect or it might be emotional abuse.  

However the family is only one group which people might choose to associate with and there are very many groups that  we might belong to. 

One major association for many is the religion they belong to.  Again, you would think that a religious organisations  would welcome all those who want to belong, but the truth is many religions and sub-religious groups want people to belong on their turns and will not tolerate the slightest diversity or independence of thought. And will reject people who do not conform to their prescribed rules and rejection. 

Sadly, as a Christian, the Church has been complicit in many rejections of people to did not conform to their "standards" = yes they perceive them as "standards" but  in fact thery just an excuse for discrimination, and that is not acceptable, and I do not believe it is in line with the message of love and acceptabce that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

When we read the Gospel texts carefully, we see that the only people Jesus seems to “exclude” are those who exclude others. Exclusion might be described as the core sin. Don’t waste any time rejecting, excluding, eliminating, or punishing anyone or anything else. Everything belongs, including you. 

Richard Rohr 

If loneliness is eating you up - look for the connection - there IS one - that;s how we have been made - look for the connection. Reach out to a family member, a religious group, or a friend - you do not need to do it on your own. 

Flies in the face

It flies in the face
Of the Gospel of Grace
To turn to your neighbour and say
If you're not straight,
Trad-married or celibate
Then Jesus won't have you today.

Take the Good News to every creature
That is what Jesus told us to do,
So that they may know God, trust God
And be God's child too.

God, by the Spirit  leads the way
And as God's disciples, we follow.
We know that the journey through life can be slow
We are not perfect; we stumble and over we go
Over and over again.
But God  loves us so much he  helps us to keep going on.

Jesus is gentle,  Jesus is kind;
When we take our  time to rise up
And dust ourselves down
He does not mind.
Jesus always helps us to our feet
Dabs our eyes dry and
Leads us by the hand.

Why do we make a fuss
When others who follow are not like us?
Why do you insist
That everyone subscribe to your list
Of don'ts or dos,  of this or that?
It's salvation but with a caveat.

Our pattern-maker is Jesus Christ
Who came to give us eternal life.
Let us then as much as we can -
Live in peace with our fellow woman and man.
Loving,  as we are commanded to, one another;
Our  neighbour, our sister and our brother.

✏ J. Fairlamb

Found dead in Hoe Street 

A man was found dead in Hoe Street
A little plastic cup  by his  feet 
Murdered by two brutal thugs
Bludgeoned and stabbed by Poverty and Drugs 

Unemployed and homeless 
He sat daily at his post, outside the  bank
Downward he sank
Serving Heroin, his master, 
Not knowing his life would end in disaster 

Were there any witnesses to this heinous crime?
A person depleted daily by loneliness and grime. 
Will these criminals be brought to book, 
For the many precious lives they took? 

What's being done to stop their evil scheme? 
Or is that a fruitless dream?

Zecharia 4 : 10 
Who despises the day of small things?  

Lau Tzu, the founder of Tauism is supposed to have given us the saying: The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. 

We all have to start somewhere. Sometimes when confronted with a massive task it is really hard to get going.  It seems too overwhelming.  Actually the wise thing to do is to do something,  even if that thing seems like the proverbial drop in a bucket.

Do you need to save £100 for something?  Put those pennies into a jar. open a savings account even if it is a theoretical account  whereby you allocate it on a savings  budget. It might seem a silly thing to do when you consider how much needs to be saved, but you have made a start.

Also don't let people mock you and belittle you. Paul said to Timothy to not let people look down on you because you are young. - but set an example in speech, in life, in faith and in purity (1 Tim 4:12 ) . I other words he was saying Don't let anyone tell you that you are too young to do the job God has called you to do.

Saul - was surprised that he should be chosen as King because in his understanding he came from a small insignificant family of the tribe if Benjamin - the  smallest of the tribes of Israel.

"The Lord is with you mighty warrior. " the angel said to Gideon who was threshing the wheat in the winepress because he feared the Amelikites would steal it all.  "

Gideon said to the angel of the Lord "How can I save Israel? My tribe is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least in my family.  "

When God sent Samuel to anoint one of Jesse, Bethlehemite's sons Jesse lined up the older sons but David the youngest was not there. Jesse didn't think he was important enough.  Even Samuel thought it might be Eliab but God said to Samuel "Do not consider his appearance or his height. Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart. I am It was  "little David  who was anointed that  day (1 Samuel 16:7)  In the very next chapter we read of his confrontation with the giant of Gath,  Goliath the Philistine. Small "insignificant " David defeated the Giant, not  by his cleverness,  though he was clever and drew to a certain extent on his experience as a shepherd,  choosing to use that with which he was familiar rather than the the mighty sword of King Saul  and the armour which did not fit. But the key to David's victory was the source of his confidence. He said to Goliath : "You come against me with spear and sword and javelin,  but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty. ... I'll strike you down and cut off your head. " As we know,  that is what happened (1 Samuel 17 : 45 ).

I could go on to present many such examples: Esther,  Joseph,  Jeremiah.  Moses, most of the disciples, Mary the mother of Jesus.

Do you feel insignificant or unimportant - I say to you that there are no unimportant people in God's eyes. Samuel was just a young boy when God called him.  Paul put it this way- ii" When I am weak  He (God) is strong.

If you think that you do not have anything worth contributing to a bigger cause, know that that small gesture might make the world of difference to someone.

Be encouraged.

P U L S E

So I have been thinking about this poem for a few  days.  

The nightclub attacked in Orlando is called Pulse Nightclub 

I have written this to honour people affected by the attack.  

Pulse 
Beating hearts 
Excitement 
Beating fast 

Music Throbbing 
Lights Strobing 
Bodies moving

BANG  BANG BANG 
What's going on? 
Pulse quickens --
Place to hide?
I shivered 
Quick SMS -- Under attack !
I  cried 

BANG 
Pulse slows 
Pain enfolds
Vision fades 
Music goes
Blood flows 
Pulse stops

Sirens Blaring  
Flashlights searching 
Corpses limp.
People Sobbing 
Sobbing 

BANG
Why?

Salt ànd Light: an acrostic essay. Part II

Realising that the blog entry was becoming unwieldy, I decided to break it into parts, here is Part Two.

LIGHT

Jesus said, You are the light of the world. A light in a hill cannot be hidden. To be honest, I have not decided on what each of these letters will represent so this is a voyage of discovery, as much for me, as it is for you.

Love - The core of our faith is LOVE.

It all starts with God’s love for us. Love is such a big concept that there are many words that are used. I am focussing on the big one - the God love - Greek Word - agapé. For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten son, that all who believe in Him, should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39) But God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) Those are just three scriptures of many that state the inescapable truth that God loves You. There simply are no caveats to that statement. God loves you. NO EXCEPTIONS. I know there are many sceptics, who question the very existence of God, let alone God’s love for us. Suffering, injustice, terrorism, natural disasters, religious abuse, and people understandably question how a Loving God can allow it. I cannot explain, but all I will say that speaking personally, I know God loves me, and I believe Him when He says He loves everyone. How do we respond to God’s love. We love God. I know we are commanded to love God. To me that is the easy bit, in comparison to the second bit, to love those who God loves: that’s it - everyone, even those hard to love people.

Love must be expressed primarily in practical ways. If that practical element is missing, we can justifiably question whether the love expressed is genuine.

Browsing Facebook the other day I came across one of those irritating posts of someone holding a written board asking people to like it. This particular one made me very cross : It was a photo of a little girl, and the sign said, "Daddy said that if I get (a certain number of) likes, he will stop drinking. " I realise that many of these things are made to pull at the heart-strings, but this was ridiculous. i did not like or react electronically, but I did wonder what kind of person would do that to their child. Surely, if he was ernest he would simply stop drinking, and so I question the love that Father would have for his daughter, assuming it is true.

There are many interesting Scriptures that describe what true love looks like. There was Jesus example that demonstrated on the night before he was crucified. He washed the disciples' feet, and then there were parables. The Good Samaritan parable was told to answer the question: who is my neighbour. The parable of the Sheep and the goats.

https://youtu.be/Ix8ddosjg-k

Some might get the impression, that we  show kindness to those  who àre for one reason or another, "the least" , i.e. brought low through circumstances out of their control, have been overtaken by poverty, perhaps homeless, perhaps starving, or brought low through illness, or imprisonment, that we do this through some reluctant sense of duty, for fear of the consequences of not doing it. I dare say, that that might be the case for some people, but I wonder if you can call that love?

I must say, I find it hard to think of these people in such abject situations as "the least" . I am sure that Jesus did not wish us to look down on these people, as if we were some how better than they, as if we were "higher up the tree" than they are,  In his saying "inasmuch as you did it for the least of these brothers and sisters, you did it for me" , Jesus was saying when you look at these "down-and-outs" you are looking at me, because they are no less important to me, than you are.  It is not only about what we do for people in bad situations, but the attitude of heart with which we do it. In our giving, in our sharing, do we build up the person we are helping, or are our so called acts of charity, done to to further humiliate and debase the recipient.

Do we dish up the scraps, and plonk them on a plate, or into a plastic bag? Or do we set a place at the dining room table, and invite them to join us. Do we throw the coins onto the pavement so the beggar has to scrabble around to pick them up?  How is our hospitality when it comes to people who are in difficult circumstances. It really does not matter how it is that a man or woman, and increasingly in this time, children, find themselves in bad situations, it does not matter, whose fault it is, but it was not what Jesus was saying. He did not say feed the hungry, if it is not their fault that they are hungry. They are out brothers and sisters - it does not matter if they share our beliefs about God and Jesus, they are still family.

Politics is divided into socialist 'left wing' and conservative 'right wing'. The right wing, which often claims to be the 'godly group' will often blame the poor for their predicament, and claim that the affluent are materially rewarded for their diligence.  The characterise the poorer people as scroungers and undeserving.  The socialists, or to a more extreme extent, the communists famously have revolted against religion and faith altogether, and they, being more concerned with this life, seek equality on every level, for every individual (although even where the leaders refer to themselves as comrade, their homes are more plush than most) but the general principle of socialist society is one that seeks to share resources equally.  I do not think either side has it right. The yawning gap between the wealthiest few and the poorest many is a disgrace. On the other hand, it is fair that the harder we work, the greater should be our reward. It is finding that middle ground that is the challenge. Interestingly, countries like USSR and Eastern Block Countries like Poland, which supposedly were all about equality, did not result in a happy society. There was a lot of dissatisfaction with that model. People were constrained to certain behaviours, and ways of speaking through strict laws and harsh punishment if you broke those laws. Many of the freedoms that we take for granted in the West, were and are denied the citizens of communist countries, and even though they claimed to be democratic, often the elections were complete farces, where no real choice was offered to the people. If we bought into the propaganda, it was a perfect world where everyone shared.

However the supposed shangrila of Western democracies show a less wonderful situation, when we allow ourselves to look away from the ostentation of the cities and the plushness of the huge country estates, and see the people who fall through the cracks.  Yes, we have all sorts of freedoms in the West. We can say what we like about our political leaders and criticise them in ways that would not be çountenanced in more restrictive societies, but even though society is more free in that sense, freedoms are often curtailed through lack of resources.

What it comes down to is that inequality is a reality that we have to accept, but as Christians we should have a  different way of valuing people, that is not as better or worse, but as a fellow human, worthy of dignity and love.

Brother (Sister) let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I might have the grace to let you be my servant too.