Gratitude

"If there are always biscuits in the time, then where is the treat in biscuits"

I have been pondering the topic of gratitude in our churches recently; that is, our affluent western churches, and specifically this middle-class bubble in the Home Counties where I work. This has been mainly from my selfish perspective of being a 'supplier' to a consumer society.

About three weeks ago a Bishop in another country (sorry, I can't remember where) was being interviewed on the radio about the poverty in his area and the work he was doing among the homeless. The interviewer spoke to him about the defined topic, and then asked him about his views on the debate within the Anglican Communion about the appointment of homosexual Bishops, and the argument about that.

His reply was in a tone that sounded quite frustrated that the media reporting really doesn't address the real issues of Christianity, preferring to focus on easy headlines. He said that his daily life was spent living out  "Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." (Psalm 82:3-4) and that this was so far down Maslow's hierarchy of needs that he really didn't give much thought to issues that occupied Western media, and that we would all be better off when we focused our attention on the biblical imperative to 'do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God'.

I wanted to cheer.

The moral matrix

h/t Lesley Fellows
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind.html

Children's Eucharist

A week ago I held a Communion Service for our younger people (upper end of primary school) and the others who attend their evening service - youngest person was a babe in arms, old was in their eighties. Looking for a child-friendly Eucharistic Prayer (I didn't find one), I came across some references to a trial going on in some churches, of a prayer that  may be authorsied soon.

Does anyone know any more about this prayer?

Happiness, happiness, the greatest gift that we possess

When 'Yeah, right' is not the right answer.If the picture below does not work, try clicking on this link.

Dynamics of church life

During the sabbatical there are some relationships that must never be upset.

This CartoonChurch.com cartoon by Dave Walker originally appeared in the Church Times.

New life

Saturday 9th April 2010.

In mid-winter of 2008/2009 we had bitter frosts and snow.  During this time the family of geese that live on the canal next to Berkhamsted Railway Station laid a clutch of 10 eggs and mananged to sit on them for about 2 weeks.  Unfortunately their nest was too close to the railings, and effectively underneath the pavement. Many people saw the nest and peered with interest over the side.  The geese found this to be stressful and honked loudly at the intrusion.  Sometimes we heard shouts at night and shrieking from the geese. Eventually we noted with sadness that the nest had been abandoned, and several of the eggs were smashed.  Was it by human hand? Or is this something that the geese themselves do to infertile eggs?

In March 2010 the geese once again moved out of public view; this time their nest was a little further along the bank, less visible and more protected, behind some foliage.  Metaphorically, we crossed our fingers and held our breath. Last week there were rumours that the eggs had hatched, and sure enough, we eventually saw some balls of fluff.  Seven goslings, two unhatched eggs, and one smashed. What an Easter present that was.

On Wednesday afternoon of last week I went out to photograph the family, and found they had moved to a garden further along the bank, and further away from the station.

By Friday, three of the goslings had vanished. Fox, pike, human, heron? We don't know. There are four little fluffy goslings left.

Last night and today I managed to take some photographs of the new family. These are the first eggs to have hatched from among the water birds.  The coot, moorhen and swan are all still sitting on their nests, and I haven't seen any ducklings yet either.  The timing is superb; the weather has just turned from winter to spring, and yet it was bitterly cold when these geese started to incubate the eggs. How do they know?

The geese are normally very friendly, but have been alternately reclusive and aggresive during the incubation time, hissing at anyone coming too close.  Today they seemd quite relaxed to be out in human company, and were pecking the bags of passers by for food just as they always do.  I stayed still and they came up to greet in their normal sociable way, with no apparent concerns at all, hence the photographs. 

The goslings were inquisitive and one in particular seems quite brave compared to the others, going further, and eating more of the bread thrown by onlookers. You can see his little yellow wings stumps against the brown fluff of his body. By the end of the year I hope the wings will be covered in long white feathers.

Abstract ideas and flexible thinking

"The idea that a truly objective, entirely scientific and factual history can exist is an Enlightenment ideal that most would now recognise belongs to an unattainable fantasy of disinterested objectivity. On the other are the thoroughgoing post-modernists, such as Keith Jenkins, who holds that history is a personal and ideological story as much about the present as the past."  Clayboy

In 1986 I wrote my first essay for the Open University, the title of which was, "Science is the objective pursuit of truth. Discuss"

A couple of years later I attended a mathematics lecture which opened with the words, "I am going to show you that two plus two does not equal four and there is no such thing as a straight line."

In a world of uncertainty that requires flexibility and the ability to link abstract ideas, it is no wonder that some people find refuge in those things they can measure and weigh, in 'repeatable' experiments and in linear thinking. 

My challenge is to find ways to make is safe to think playfully, and experience the dance of the real - and much larger - world, not simply to learn the formulas of which some parts are made.