Here is this weeks blog! hope you enjoy it. We are meeting at the Enigma Tap on Sunday at 7:30pm see you all then.
Claire and I have recently got an allotment. During half-term we started to clear it off and we had many of our neighbouring allotmenteers pop around to introduce themselves. All of them advised us to: “take our time…don’t rush things…divvent sicken yersens”. But, under their tentative welcomes and gruff advice I sensed a weary cynicism. They all told us the story of our plot, and it was a story of people who started, but didn’t finish. Full of good intention, but no sticking power; big ideas, but little tenacity.
As this was happening, we had just come back from our weekend away, and as part of our story telling sessions I was stuck by the fact that some people had joined after having some doubts about the group (in fact, some people still expressed doubts). IS this really the new thing we need, or should we invest in traditional church? Does what we do help to answer our questions or disrupt our answers.
Certainly, my own experience has seen many people respond to change and newness with the cry: I’ve seen it all before…new things come and go…we may as well just stay the same. And, to be honest as I get a bit old I can understand what they’re saying.
So, my question is: Is it healthy to hold some cynicism about change and new ventures?
I want us think about 3 stories from Jesus’ life. Firstly, we have the old chestnuts Anna and Simeon (Luke 2). They’re waiting for the new thing to appear. They are hoping it’ll come during their lifetime, and when it does, they are open to seeing it and rejoicing in it.
Secondly, Nicodemus in John 3. He goes in the night to see Jesus, which probably implies he’s a bit embarrassed to be going to check out what Jesus is about (and a not-so-subtle literary device for John to show light and dark). He’s open to what Jesus is saying while being sceptical at first.
Lastly, grumbling pharisees (Luke 5 & 15) just don’t like what Jesus is up to, all this eating and drinking with sinners is winding them up. So, they tend to be hanging around outsider or at the edge of the party muttering and grumbling.
A bit on-the-nose I know but I think it’s safe to say – “plus ça change”. Things have always been this way. Some people love change, and some people are cynical of it. But, again, is a little cynicism a good thing? Is it just being realistic? Or should we accept the rest of the quote “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” the more thing change, the more they stay the same.
Questions:
What’s your favourite downbeat character from literature or film i.e. Moaning Myrtle, Eeyore, or Marvin the paranoid android etc.?
Who are the most cynical people in the Bible? What might this tell us about cynicism?
What the biggest change you’ve seen in your lifetime?
Are you: Pessimistic or Optimistic? Questioning or see how it goes? A change maker/ a change adopter/ a change cynic/ a change resistor? Glass half empty/ Glass half full/ Glass empty/ Glass broken on the floor/ or glass scourged by the fire of brutal reality and melded into an indistinguishable lump?
Is cynicism healthy?
Is there a spectrum of cynicism? Where would it start and end, and what points are along the way?
Where does hope fit in?
What can we do to make sure we have a good balance in our questioning of new things?
I’ve been a member of BCFX for about 2 years. I love it. It’s home and hearth, welcome and challenge, ebb and flow.
