God Ever Present. Made in His Image

Sometimes I look around and feel a sense of despair when I consider what we humans have done to God’s creation. We only have to watch the many nature programmes on TV to understand the impact of industrialisation and humanities greed for stripping the earth of its natural riches. The book of Genesis tells us that when God had finished the creation it was good; alas it took humans to spoil it. However there is more than enough of the original creation left to allow one to look around with a sense of awe as one studies God’s creation. So as I look around and realise that God is in everything, which means also that everything is in God. Two weeks ago I was in the English Lake District for a short holiday, we had taken our dog who decided that at 5AM she needed the toilet, so as I was outside holding her lead I looked skywards; there, right there, was the wonder of God in creation. For with little background light the whole of the night sky was laid bare in front of my eyes, what a wondrous and breath-taking sight! Now we have not managed to mess that up yet.

It is true that we can also see God in other people, not just a few, but in all. Now that is a challenge, we often see faces on the news of murderers and others who have done great evil. How can God, and His beloved Son Jesus, be in there also? Well we are all created in God’s image; not a physical image, but the image of the spirit, that part of us that can think, love and make decisions. It is alas sometimes the terrible decisions that bring us down, but God does not control that part of us otherwise we would be just puppets to His will. He has given us the ability to make a choice, and becoming evil is a choice. I do believe that Christ is there for each of us, and loves each of us. But it is we that reject Jesus, and reject Him time and again; yet Jesus never gives up on us, and remains in each of us, until that time when we are prepared to accept God’s grace, and return that love.

The idea of ever present God is a challenge when things are difficult, I know, and how can an ever present God stand by and see so much pain and suffering? God suffers with us I am sure; He knew the pain of rejection and physical torture and death on a cross. He sees every day the pain we go through as we mourn the loss of those who have gone before. Can all of this be fixed by a wave of His wondrous hand? Well I am sure it could. But what would we become, would we think the same, act the same having never experienced ‘freedom’ from an ‘almighty power’? I do not think so, and so we labour on in this life finding our own way to understanding so that we may be prepared for our relationship with the one in whose image we were made.

Thomas Merton sums this up far better than I could ever do:
“There is not a flower that opens, not a seed that falls into the ground, and not an ear of wheat that nods on the end of its stalk in the wind that does not preach and proclaim the greatness and the mercy of God to the whole world.
There is not an act of kindness or generosity, not an act of sacrifice done, or a word of peace and gentleness spoken, not a child’s prayer uttered, that does not sing hymns to God before His throne, and in the eyes of men, and before their faces”. (Thomas Merton: The Seven Story Mountain)

Serving God means serving each other

How can we give ourselves to God’s service, fully, without thought for ourselves and our wants? How do we stand before God and say we were true servants, true in heart, always serving Him by serving each other? How can we be the people of God when injustice stares us in the face day by day?

In the west we have become very used to a certain life style, we have become used to comfort and as time passes we find that we are given more and more comfort for our money; and so as time goes by we expect more and more comfort. As a child I remember the metal window frames in my bedroom, they were wonderful in summer for they allowed in lots of fresh air even when the windows were closed. But in the winter, even with thick heavy curtains, the biting wind would find me under my bed covers. Today the vast majority have double glazing which keeps away draughts, of course now we are told we now need triple grazing which is environmentally friendly and saves us money, all a far cry from my council house bedroom.

This week Birmingham Train station, in the UK, has its grand opening, those that have been involved seemed so proud to speak about the £600 million pounds spent to upgrade the station, to make it a much more comfortable experience for its customers. In sport the Rugby world cup tickets are selling for over £500 to well in excess of £2,000. Also in sport we read that Chelsea football club in London are considering spending £100m on two footballers. Whilst writing this missive I had a quick look using Google at what the rich have been spending their money on well one young lady spent a staggering £1.3,m. ($2,m) collecting Birkin bags (by Hermes). She was had a Gold iPhone 24-Karat which cost £1,286.($2,200). Then I read about another celebrity couple who reportedly paid £493,000 ($767,000) on four gold-plated toilets; of course the couple are supposed to be worth between themselves in the region of $155 million.

Now I do not know if any of these fine people believe in God, or Christ, but if they do I would have to ask them how they manage to live the lives they do and balance this against the Gospel. Because to be gifted with such great wealth and to do so little with it is, well, it is such a great shame. I know that these people do do great things for charity, I am not ignorant of that fact at all, I would also argue that perhaps their money making brand is the fact they are who they are; and by raising money they can give more to charity. But let us never forget Christ said to the young man; to follow me you must sell everything. So such waste is perhaps more than we can bear in a world that suffers so much poverty.

But this brings me very much to this particular essays point, one I cannot, and must not sidestep. How can any of us avoid that which is taking place in the east of Western Europe. We are seeing not migrants; people who have chosen to leave their countries of birth for somewhere they feel may be better. Not better because it will give them greater wealth, they are not walking west to live the dream; they are walking west to escape the nightmare. We are witnessing something much more terrible, we are seeing refugees, people displaced through fear of death. What they want is safety. All they are asking for is safety, a roof, some food, clothing, and medical care. They are the person on the other side of the road, beaten and in distress.

How are we responding? With razor wire and new fences that say you are not welcome, you are not our problem, you do not matter, we do not care. Now if I know just one thing about the Goodnews of Christ is this; He cared, loved, and was always welcoming. We have no choice here, no choice, No choice!

We must act, our little island of Britain will never sink, and it will never become overcrowded like the small minded would have us think. If we care, then we must care!! We have no Choice. Those who are in the East are not them; they are us, we are the same, created by one God, saved by one God.

So now if our sisters and brothers from the east are lying beaten and in distress we have to decide who are we to be. Do we walk on by and say yes to the razor wire? Or, do we do as we were called to do and stop and give love and support; be the Samaritan.

I appeal to you be the Samaritan!

British Red Cross Appeal: http://www.redcross.org.uk/

It's 'Us', not 'Them'!

All too often when we speak about migrants and refugees we begin to use the plural; ‘Them’. Them seems to be a summation of the issue, it rolls up the problem neatly into a well-ordered little bundle that can be labelled them in reference to ethnicity, religion, or origin and so many other ways humankind finds of differentiating between its own species. Often we do this instinctively from learning, and for the majority mean no harm; but the moment we do think of those in need as them then we have a problem for we begin to dehumanise the situation; we begin to dehumanise ‘them’. For at that moment they can just become a problem to solve, a numbers game, and those separate and very precious life stories that each person has are lost.

The truth is, the them is actually us, for we are them. In any other circumstance we could quite easily finds ourselves the ones in need, the faces in the crowd. Just imagine that all of your life story, everything that you are, have been, have achieved should in the matter of a minute suddenly account for nothing. You just become a number, a lost soul in a sea of lost souls – them wondering around wanting someone to listen. But those who seem to have power, those who are organised the together ones, the ‘us’ ones, they are so busy dashing around throwing blankets out taking names, they do not give you the time of day. Then when you say you have skills that could help they say you can’t for different reasons, but you know it’s because you’re not one of ‘us’.

We are no different we are all the same made in God’s own image. If we think we are then we are no better than those who supported apartheid in South Africa. Or the Nazis, or just about anyone who thinks they are better than others, and goodness knows the world is rife with it. But the real problem are those desperately trying to save their lives, is that such a crime?

Light your candles, pray your prayers for those who are reaching out to us their sisters and brothers, and take action. Write and lobby your politicians and remind ‘them’ that the refugees are all ‘Us’!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24583286

Light a Candle for our Dying Sisters and Brothers ... they need our help!!!

How do we start to even imagine the desperation of our sisters and brothers from across the oceans, from across the continents, who seek to get themselves and their children away from wars, and away from those that would do them great harm? How do we respond? How do we truly respond? The truth is we respond badly, we cannot deny this because the death toll speaks for itself. We respond so often by just looking away or by tutting at the TV when we see so many people crowded into boats screaming for help and shouting at those trying to save them. Perhaps we even fall for the line that some politicians spin that it is their own fault for getting themselves into that predicament in the first place particularly those dashing to get onto trains and Lorries heading for Great Britain. Yet we choose to forget sometimes the great evil that they have faced and now run away from. Of course no can be allowed to threaten a driver with a violence that is not right at all. But the truth is the world is looking in the opposite direction when hundreds and thousands of people are dying day by day in boats and on land as they try so desperately to just find a life that they can lead in safety. Not even a life of great wealth not necessarily a life with the TV in a big house; just a life of safety is all they want.

This must stop these are our sisters and our brothers we cannot look away! We can no longer think that it is somebody else's problem! It is not it is ours. Yours and mine.

This morning as I watched the TV it reported that thousands of people had died in boats that had sunk or that they had been crammed into, and then that seventy one bodies have been discovered in a lorry in Austria. These were people being smuggled through the continent. Yet the biggest story seemed to be the stock markets and how much money two men who were investing in stocks and shares had made or lost this week;  there was of course the other big story about how one cooks beef burgers. We have it so badly wrong; so very very badly wrong. This is our problem. It is our problem, I cannot restate that enough. We must remind our MP’s constantly, we must lobby them all of the time that these people are us! There is no difference, the only differences is where they were born. They may have a different language, a different colour to their skin, but why should this separate them from us; this is just a convenience, a convenience for us, for humankind which has always been a opportunity that we have exploited so that some can get richer while others get poorer, some live and while some others will die. Well this must end.

Today I light a candle it may seem a small gesture but I light it in prayer and prayer is never small gesture! I light it for each one of those that have died because they are my brothers and my sisters, they are my father's and my mother's, they are my sons and my daughters; though I will never know them in this life I love them truly! And live with a heart that is breaking, and therefore I will keep this light burning and it will burn always, always until we get it right. We may only get it right when we learn to be true human’s true humanity.

When Christ was on the cross when he was there dying, he turned to one of the prisoners being crucified with him, though this man had failed in life Christ said today you will be with me in Paradise for that man was his brother. If Christ can reach out if he can do that, so can I, so can you. And so can our governments and it is up to you and me to force our government to take action now, not tomorrow, now. We must save lives today.  

Let us also all light a candle say a prayer, or just stop and think for a moment, about those who need us right now. Let us all lobby our MPs and our governments and let us the people save the people, let us stand tall and rescue ourselves, because we never know when we too may be in a situation when we are the ones at sea.

Human Rights, Jesus Style

The UK general election surprised many pundits as we ended up with a majority government, many say that it does not matter who gets in really, but does it? Shortly after the election I was sitting in my study reading an Oxford undergrads paper on human rights, and I must say she has done a very good job of it. Next read some case law involving the Human Rights Act, not quite so gripping as the former reading material. Some of you very sensibly are asking; why, what is wrong with this man, has he nothing better to do with his time? Well no actually this is what I do, so get used to it.

            Many of my friends know that I that I am a keen student of law, more sad facts, and also a disability advisor and campaigner. So human rights sit at the very heart of everything I am and do. As a Christian I know all people are equal and have the same rights as each other regardless of where we are born, our skin colour and the many differences God has gifted us with. Of course this also includes our religion and indeed denomination within that religion. Yet we still seemingly have to create laws to establish that very basic fact of equality. Abraham Lincoln in the 1860’s when dealing with a war, and ensuring that at the end of the war slavery would be no more, had to turn to law. At Gettysburg after such terrible loss of life he said of the United States “… a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”. We must note that women’s full equality in law had yet to come. But Lincoln was a true politician, perhaps even one of the first of his kind. He understood before so many the importance of the role of politics in the everyday life of citizens; and he knew that the outworking of politics was by law, and in law; and that it was in law that all people could achieve true equality.

            How does this fit with the UK’s recent general election? Well the current Government promised before gaining power that if it was returned it would sweep away the Human Rights Act and replace it with something different. Many of us who are either academic lawyers or practice law worry about this. Even though it was not mooted in the Queens speech the threat is still there, so fortunately for the present nothing is happening, however we watch with concern. Particularly those of us who are also ‘disabled’ for we have lost much over the past five years, to lose some legal protections is something very much to worry about.

           

Jesus saw through all of this, He recognised the importance of equality, that imbalance could

Ability, different ability, differently-abled and disability

It is now three years since I realised that I was ‘disabled’, i.e. physically when I tried to run for a bus I just stopped still, completely. It sounds funny, and I guess it was, at first. But up until that point I had been a very active person cycling, running and walking. My main love being walking, of which I aimed to do at least 25 miles per week, OK a little excessive I know! And so I always took full ‘mobility’ for granted.

Until a fluke accident I had never contemplated ‘disability’ or as I would much rather describe it; ‘becoming differently abled’. But here I am, now having to mobilise with two walking sticks. Though this I can only do for a for short distances as standing is so very painful, and so using an electric wheelchair (no not an electric chair) and a mobility scooter are my preferred modes of getting around.

On a matter of discipleship and carrying the Gospel to the people, I think that the good folk of north Wolverhampton perhaps see something many others would not, a priest in black shirt and ‘Dog Collar’ tootling around on his mobility scooter sharing many a good day with the people he meets. I do think it a great shame that we do not see many priests out and about in their clerical wear, for some reason it does not seem vogue anymore to dress like a ‘vicar’, or is it too ‘Roman’. All nonsense, it is like the stole, the yoke a priest and deacon bears from the time of ordination, it becomes a symbol that we are the Church right there in the midst of the people. Oops, getting off track … back to disability …

                But what is ‘disability’? Well it is only when we really think about it, I mean; ‘Really’ think about it do we realise that it is a ‘dis’ word. Dis means less than, and when coupled with ‘ability’ it means less then abled. OK we may say that sounds reasonable as a definition; but No there is so much more to a person than whatever it is that has created an impairment of sight, mobility, hearing or any other functionality. So for example when I am in my wheelchair out with my wife why do people insist on talking across me and asking my wife, ‘would he like coffee or tea?’, ‘is he ready to come through and see the doctor?’, help me I think, it my back that has stopped working not everything else. Anyway, there is no such thing as the perfect human being, let’s face it even Jesus cannot claim that; because He was also of God and it would be cheating a little in this context anyway, so theologians hold on to your ink. But if we are to take Genesis as read then God created us, and we were ‘Good’ – not perfect, but good. We are in His image but that is the Spirit the glorious self that loves, has faith in God and hopes for a better tomorrow. But today we live in bodies that are good and so are likely at times to change, to break, to age to wear out. Not only may they change but some of us may be born in a way that some would describe as ‘different’.

                What is this difference? Difference is that which humans ascribe to that which falls outside of the average, or perhaps we might use a mathematical term and say the ‘mean average’. The mean average would be made up of the majority of people, and those who are ‘different’ would fall outside of this mean average. Well of course this is a man-made construct and allows for total nastiness towards those who do not fit into this ‘average’ and this is where we as a race get ‘mean’ from.

Unfortunately we end up using the term disability because it is the word used in law. But this should not stop us using it with great care. But it is society that decides if a person is disabled, because it is society in the form of our churches, shops, schools, theatres, sports stadia, etc. that create the facilities for people to get in and out and around. Also to use the facilities fully, or at least experience as much as can be within ‘real’ physical constraints. Now I say real. Two years ago my wife and I made it to the top of the Acropolis in Athens with the help of some wonderful guides; now if that can happen, well go figure.

So many of our places of worship need to stop and think long and hard. I am a husband and father, and son and brother, I am a priest; and oh by the way did I mention I am also mobility impaired. The last bit does not define me at all I only mention it in case I come to visit your church because sometimes  we do have to move things around a little, that’s fine.

Church; People, Buildings or what?

We hear the word church all so often, it rolls off the tongue with little thought to the true meaning, especially within the ‘church’ setting’. I have always had it in mind that church with a capital ‘C’ is the people, the worshiping community, those that follow Christ and share the Gospel.

Church with a small ‘c’ is the building, the place the Church (the people) come to meet to share in prayer and praise. In the Acts of the Apostles and also in many of the letters in the New Testament we read about people meeting in each other’s homes. Well it is likely that those who were Roman would have had much more space than most have in our humble homes to accommodate large numbers, if large numbers did actually come together. But over the centuries as the Christian faith grew and the need for larger spaces became inevitable, church buildings were erected, like the synagogues of the Jewish people, for people to meet and worship together.

Now as time passed some of these structures have become extremely elaborate and adorned in great wealth; not quite the Christian message, and certainly not the humble path the wondering Jewish teacher named Jesus had in mind I am sure, particularly in a world where so many are starving to death. Of course today we have inherited these buildings and in many cases have to try and maintain them with little finance coming in.

So we have to ask, what is the priority the building or the people? The church; or the Church? Do these often ancient and beautiful buildings serve the purpose for which they were once built? Or are they now relics of an age when the rich were truly masters of the poor and demonstrated their wealth in these great monuments that they hoped would become their lasting marks upon the world. Is it time that we followed in the steps of St Francis of Assisi and turned away from worldly wealth and turned to heavenly wealth? Maybe Pope Francis himself has seen this mismatch in the failure of the church as a worldwide body to serve and look after the poor, because it has become so heavily laden by the weight of the worldly good it possesses.

As a Priest my Church is the next person I meet in sisterly and brotherly love and friendship, it is the person who I will kneel by because they need my prayers; it is the person homeless and just needs me to buy them a warm drink and a sandwich.