Alternative Source of wisdom

Psalms 24:1-2

Entrance into the Temple

Of David. A Psalm.

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,

the world, and those who live in it;

for he has founded it on the seas,

and established it on the rivers.

Ignore Sat. Nav.

Narrow bridge ahead

This sign, on a local road between Hamilton and East Kilbride, always makes me smile. The bridge to which is refers is barely the width of a car and at a crazy angle. The sign was put up after a spate of road blockages because there is nowhere for HGVs to turn around on the approach to the bridge - and they certainly cannot cross.

I am very reliant on Sat Nav and would be, quite literally, lost without it - I often struggle even with its' assistance! Map reading is a mystery to me!

There have been occasions when I have followed Sat Nav instructions to a completely different town simply because the street name I've requested is the same as one in another area and I've failed to realise that I'm not heading where I intended.

It's relatively easy to follow blindly. It requires little effort.

That is not the nature of faith.

Faith demands investigation on our part, resourcefulness that enables informed choice, not a slavish following that may lead us in the wrong direction.

Faith emerges as a response to something deep within us - the beating heart of God, that can only be discerned by looking and listening deeply within. There will be many external voices that seek to distract or to lead in the wrong direction but there is no mistaking the whisper of God when we seek to follow the way God leads.

Ignore Sat. Nav.

Narrow bridge ahead

What is truth?

John 18:37-38

Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”

In the church calendar yesterday, we celebrated the Reign of Christ, celebrated that Christ models a different kind of reign in the world - one based not on power or oppression - but on service and love.

And now, as we head into advent, we have the opportunity to share a message of hope, of love, of joy and of peace.

We have the opportunity to model those themes in our lives.

In a post-Brexit, pre-Trump world, where fear and hatred abounds, spilling into our streets and neighbourhoods, where those who are perceived as other are persecuted and reviled, where darkness seems to eclipse the light, those traditional Advent themes need, not only to be heard, but to be modelled.

And the story of God breaking in to a world covered in darkness, seized by fear, longing for something new and radical, is a story that needs to be shared more than ever, holding out the hope for transformation today.

Advent calls for us to step up and share an unlikely story in these unlikely times.

A story of a baby, of questionable conception, being born in unfavourable conditions, in a far from obvious place, being God's response to the cries of the world.

A story that reminds us that we do not have to settle down and simply make the best of what we see happening around us in the world today.

Still God breaks in - quelling fear, fighting hatred, defying oppression, calling us to be instruments of hope and joy and love and peace.

It was just as inconceivable 2000 years ago as it is now, yet, today, God invites us to join the Spirit's subversive action in the world.

This Advent, will we choose transformation- for our lives and the life of the world?

Will we choose light over darkness,

Love over fear,

Inclusion over hatred

Freedom over oppression

Joy over sorrow

And hope over despair?

Will we choose a baby in a manger over politics of tyranny and power?

This Advent will we choose the subversive Spirit of God as the rule in our lives?

And will we share truth with the world?

The Reign of Christ takes on flesh - in you and in me.

The world that was

Matthew 5:3-11

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

"In his book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas Kung popularised the term Paradigm Shift. He made clear that, even in the scientific field, a paradigm shift is tantamount to what religion often calls "major conversion." And it is equally rare in both science and religion...

Kuhn said that paradigm shifts become necessary when the plausibility structure of the previous paradigm becomes so full of holes and patchwork fixes that a complete overhaul, which once looked utterly threatening now appears as a lifeline."

Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell in The Divine Dance

That "great rummage sale" of which Phyllis Tickle spoke, that happens every 500 years is surely here. We're at the bottom of the cereal box, shaking out the last crumbs, looking for the prize.

Folk are kicking against establishment, against the institutions, even and especially if that leaves them coming up empty. What has gone before is not sufficient for this age.

When the real extent of the darkness that is racial, gender, ability and sexuality discrimination is uncovered, it seems that there is nothing left with which to fight.

Until today, I would have been the first to assert that love triumphs over all.

Love has not triumphed when those on the margins, those with whom the church is called to be, who have, for some time, been living in fear, have that fear reinforced, rubbed in and tamped up.

Even love is, quite simply, not enough today.

We need new weapons with which to counter such darkness, such a changed reality, such a decisive voice of protest at establishment, such oppression of those who are other.

We need a new story to tell, not only to our children but to those kicked while they are down today.

We need new expressions of faith, new actions, new ways of being, new ways to stand alongside those to whom and with whom we are called to invest in the reign of God.

I have faith that those new ways will be revealed.

I have faith in the reign of God.

But, right now, our call is to commitment to reach out to and to stand with God's beloved children of whatever political, racial, gender differentiated, sexual oriented hue - to reach out to the other and, in time, to discern a way forward, a way out of the miry pit.

No disrespect

The "Every man remembered" sculpture, currently in George Square in Glasgow is striking. And the campaign by the Royal British Legion and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to commemorate everyone who died in the First World War is admirable. I cannot help reflecting on the women who will also be remembered - there are over 800 women in the CWGC records for the First World War - and the initiative was inspired by a young woman. And I wonder why, today, when women are as likely to serve in the armed forces as men, why "Every One Remembered" could not be the wording that adorns the sculpture. However, I fear that posing the question will be seen as a sign of disrespect alongside those who choose other ways to remember and reflect on war, those who wear white poppies and those who call for peace in our time.

In a world that is heaving with gender injustice, where misogyny is taking centre stage in US politics, it saddens me that the UK could not have been a little more sensitive.

I will remember the men and the women, military and civilian, of the past and the present whose service to their country has cost them and their loved ones dearly.

Every One Remembered.

For all the saints...

The deep conversations

The throw away remarks

The taken for granted wisdom

seldom, if ever, appreciated for its worth at the time

but now longed for and missed.

Just a few precious minutes more.

Questions we yearn to ask

Stories we long to share

Words of thanks we'd love to pass on

to those saints who have gone

whose lives affected ours

whose influence lives on.

Yet, still today, at every turn

there are those who inspire

those who teach

those whose example still helps us

reach higher

and be more than we ever dreamed.

Those saints are found

not often in the places we naturally look:

Not in those hallowed corridors

or sanctified buildings.

Not even in those set apart

or called to serve

although, if we look carefully

we might get lucky.

But today's saints surround us

in the morning commute

in the rush hour traffic

in the doctor's surgery

and in the hospital waiting room.

There, just at the moment we need

to glimpse the love of God

shining through the reality of life

that is ours this day.

This day

we give thanks

for the saints

of the past

and we look for

those saints who continue

to hold out God's love and light

in the world today.

This day,

we endeavour

to hold out

the light of Christ

for others.

For all the saints...

CEB Women's Bible - Review

Recently the publishers of the CEB Women's Bible approached RevGalBlogPals, suggesting that some of the women involved in this supportive community for women in ministry might review this new publication. 

I was delighted that they were prepared to ship a copy to Scotland so that I, too, could see what all the fuss was about.

Since it arrived, a couple of weeks ago, I have been drawn to this Bible time and again - checking out my favourite verses, looking for my favourite Biblical women and, generally, being both distracted and drawn in by the wealth of information and insight contained in this version of the text. Although the translation was prepared by both women and men, the reflections, portraits and articles that are scattered throughout the text were written by 80 women.

There are many women in the Bibile of whose stories we know so little. Some are named, others are referred to by insults - and others remain unnamed. How important it is to be named and, in the naming, to be recognised.

The CEB Women's Bible seeks to highlight those women who made all sorts of contributions to the story of God's people but who are rarely acknowledged for the difference they made. That feels just and appropriate.

Passages are interspersed with reflections on the text and with profiles of the women included in the stories as well as articles and portraits.

This is a great addition to the plethora of bibles I have - I like different versions for different tasks. This Women's Bible, as well as attempting to bridge those gaps of silence that surround the women in the text is excellent at drawing one in and stirring the urge to read on and find out more...and that has to be a good thing!

I am grateful for the endeavour and the vision behind this translation and thankful that I have been enabled to review it early in its publication.

I look forward to continuing to journey with this version of the word and to honouring those women whose names were not repeated, whose stories were overlooked and, without whom, the story of God's people through the ages would be sorely diminished.

Cultivating empowerment

For some time now, I've been pondering the difference between enabling and empowering. Often it seems as though these words are interchangeable.

This week, I may have discovered something of the fundamental difference between them.

In many ways it is easy to enable people, to make room for them to step into roles and be supported as they discover their particular gifts, even as they experiment to find their niche.

However, once that support is removed, for whatever reason, other forces come into play and, unless the one enabled has also been empowered, they will succumb to sabotage.

This is particularly pertinent in church settings, where there are often unhealthy behaviours at play. While ministers and/or leaders can mitigate the underlying sickness for a time, unless the root cause is addressed, once the leader moves on, people default to what they know best and, in a short space of time, good work can be demolished. Those enabled by a supportive leadership now feel disempowered and back down, deeming the struggle too much. And so the church loses out on those who have gifts to share but do not want to fight for their place in a corrupt system.

Ironically, those whose behaviour leads to division and strife are endlessly patient, largely content to wait in the wings until opportunities present themselves to assert (or re-assert) power and destroy any positive strides made. Often in the minority, they are nonetheless powerful in the tools they employ - undermining, disarming, spreading doubt and fear, insidious in their reach.

Empowering others involves addressing the systems and forces that seek to undermine. It involves setting in motion a cultural change that will withstand the temptation to default to previous unhealthy behaviours when a leader moves on, empowering folk to recognise and stand up to negative forces. Changing a culture takes time but empowering folk to recognise the signs and the forces at work will go some way to maintaining ground gained when leadership changes.

Regretfully, enabling is not enough without the work of empowerment.

A lesson learned the hard way.