BeachcomberFX

Author: David Wynd

  • The Bible’s True Purpose

    The Bible’s True Purpose

    We are often most disappointed or disillusioned with something when it fails to live up to the hype.  So that latest tv show you have been told is a must see turns out to be slow and boring so you lose trust in the persons opinion.  The band that are the next big thing play repetitive generic music and you feel the disappointment.  The new political leader with charisma and charm who will change the world and save us all turns out to be the same as all the others so you decided never to vote again.

    Or that book that you were told would solve all your life’s problems.
    That you just needed to read and it would give you all the answers you ever needed.
    That if you used the handy index at the back would give you a sure fire solution for fixing any issue.
    And you read it, wrestled with it, searched the index and found it never really did what you were told it should do. So you put it down, lost trust in it and those that said it was the answer and walked away or maybe just left it on the bookshelf as an ancient relic with no use today. Because you were promised so much and it just didn’t do what you were told.

    To quote Pete Enns “The problems we encounter when reading the Bible are really problems we create for ourselves when we harbour the misguided expectation that the Bible is designed primarily to provide clear answers.”  The church (particularly in the west) has spent a lot of time telling us that the Bible works a particular way but when put to the test in the reality of everyday life this turns out not to be the case. 

    So it isn’t a user guide or instruction manual. What is it then?

    Words we might of heard or used ourselves to describe it included Holy, inerrant, infallible, inspired, perfect, clear, and sacred. 

    If I asked you to describe it now I am sure some would use other words like confusing, outdated, questionable, weird and at times horrifying.

    Pete uses three. Ancient, ambiguous and diverse.

    Ancient – it is really, really old! It deals with things that happened over thousands of years ago.  If we forget that this is an ancient text we allow it to become familiar and we lose sight of the significant differences (and sometimes similarities) between then and now.  The questions alone that these ancient people were asking and the world that influenced them is very different from the one we live in today.

    Ambiguous – We have already established that the Bible isn’t a helpful cheat sheet with all the answers to all life’s questions laid out in an easy to follow system.  It very rarely tells us out right how to deal with a situation (there may be the odd occasion).  What it does do is offer us a collection of books containing everything from poems to stories to long lists of people and we are invited to work things out as people of faith.

    Diverse – The bible is written by a whole load of people, in fact even individual books are often the work of a number of people.  These people all have different voices, lived at different times and had very different lives.  This diversity means that sometimes writers disagree with each other… sometimes (I’m looking at you Proverbs) a verse can put forward to completely opposing views.  

    These things aren’t problems to be solved but instead invitations for us to approach the Bible in a way that opens us up to the conversations that are taking place between God and his creation. Conversations that at times can be contradictory and confusing and at other moments inspiring and revolutionary.  How we approach them is the important bit.  

    So, if we expect the Bible to be a user manual then we will always be disappointed. If we approach it as an ancient, ambiguous and diverse book that brings us the stories of God’s relationship with people throughout the centuries and seek to use wisdom to help us seek what is happening and hear what God is saying. Then maybe we might discover that the Bible has something to say to us.

    Questions

    What book, film, tv show, band, artist, politician have you expected so much of and been left disappointed?

    What words or phrases have been used to describe the Bible to you in the past?

    What words or phrases would you use to describe it now?

    What do you make of the words ancient, ambiguous and diverse?

    How does seeing the Bible as more of a mystery to be solved rather than a user manual, help you? or not?

    What do you hope for by the time we get to the end of this theme? (probably in June with guest posts and other bits in-between as well)

    We will be meeting at the Crescent club in Cullercoats at 7:30pm this week. Everyone is welcome to join us.

    Photo by Expect Best from Pexels

  • Soothing the Suffering

    Soothing the Suffering

    Soothing the suffering is nothing new, especially during the last two years as we’ve navigated our way through the pandemic.  Suffering will mean something different too each of us depending on the external and internal situations we find our self in. A phrased used a lot on social media during the first lockdown was ‘We’re all in the same storm but not the same boat.’ For some suffering is the stress of balancing work and family, for others is the living daily with psychical, emotional, mental and/or spiritual illness. For others it the responsibilities of caring for others through the pandemic and making decisions about when things should reopen, for others it’s about the loss of a job and having to ask for help with providing the basics necessities for they child and for others is the suffering of grief as love ones have passed away. 

    Suffering comes in all forms and is different for each of us, as is how we deal with suffering. How we sooth the pain of suffering in the moment.  For some its that glass off wine at the end of the day, spending time with family and friends, it’s that run with their favourite music playing to the beat of each step, or its that bar of chocolate in the cupboard and for others its yoga or sitting in meditation.  For all of us it could be a combination of so many things.  Self-soothing can be helpful but like everything it can become more of a negative and less helpful when seen as the only way to cope with life. 

    During December I read a book call ‘After the Rain: Gentle reminders  for Healing, Courage, and Self-love’ by Alexandra Elle, and which this blog takes its title from Lesson 3: Soothing the Suffering. It is beautiful written but at the same time doesn’t hold back. It challenges the read to stop running from whatever it may be for that person, face it allowing themself to acknowledge the emotions and thoughts, to accept they presences and then to begin to work out what needs to be done to bring healing and move forward. Again this process depends on the individual and it may be that we do this work in private, it maybe taking a step of vulnerability and asking for help from family, friends and/or professionals i.e. Counsellor. 

    Alexandra writes:

    “Hold your hurt, rest in your pain more often. Stop running from fear. Don’t be afraid to touch and face what scares you the most. Asking for help doesn’t make you weak. Collapse into vulnerability: that is where you will find resilience. Take care of the soft and tender spots of your grief and process and bandage them up slowly. Rushing to rebuild won’t make you heal any faster…

    Emotional hardship does not have an end point… triggers will present themselves and that may mean I don’t know what to do. But comfort is found in knowing that I have the ability to learn new ways to self-sooth.”

    As we come out of the pandemic and life begins to gather pace again, I was opened to a depth of warning for personal healing and growth, family and friends, my community and the world  “Rushing to rebuild won’t make you heal any faster.” I find it interesting that the next Lesson in the book is on Time. 

    When I stopped to think about this Philippians 4: 6-7 held out its arms to embrace me once again and give me comfort, courage and encouragement:

    “Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything (every circumstance and situation) by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your (specific) request known to God. And the peace of God (that peace which reassures the heart, that peace) which transcends all understanding (that peace which) stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (is yours) APM.

    How many times has my own self-soothing replace going to God. This is what I wrote in my journal.

    “I need to pray, worship and give thanks to God, asking specifically about the situation, the pain and asking how to address it so I’m not in limbo. I am not to be double minded (James 1:5-8) and tossed around in my mind by ‘what ifs’ or even will God answer me?  But I can pray about the double-mindedness, ask for forgiveness and ask God to help steady my mind, emotions, to lean into Him in my vulnerability, to believe that God, my Heavenly Father is willing to stand with me in all experiences. Each step taking is a step, a day towards healing, towards being able to stand ‘After the Rain’. Having trusted God to guide me through to the other side and that He has given me His power and  strength to walk through the process, not rushing but taking in all of the journey.”

    Questions:

    What got you through the pandemic? 

    How do you self-sooth? 

    What does the quote by Alexandra say to  you?

    What are your thoughts regarding “Rushing to rebuild won’t make you heal any faster.”?

    How can we remember to invite God into all of our situations? 

  • Coming Soon

    Coming Soon

    As we slowly move through January and cast of those silly resolutions we promised we would stick to only two weeks ago and prepare ourselves for what 2022 has to bring we thought it would be good to do a little preview of the theme we are going to be tackling over the coming months (with some guest posts in-between to break things up).
     
    So drum roll please……
     
    From the beginning of February we are going to be looking at some of the themes in a book by Peter Enns. Peter is an Old Testament scholar (don’t let that put you off) and you can read a little more about him here (https://peteenns.com/about/). In some Christian circles he would be classed as a heretic and in others who may not want to use the H word, he is considered controversial (maybe his bad boy status has got you interested again).
     
    The book is called How the bible really works : In Which I Explain How An Ancient, Ambiguous, and Diverse Book Leads Us to Wisdom Rather Than Answers—and Why That’s Great News and can be bought for about £2.99 from all good electronic book suppliers if you want an e-copy. If you need to feel the paper between your fingers then you can pick up a paperback copy for around £8. You don’t need to buy the book to follow along but the option is there. Each week we will be looking at a theme from a chapter and giving you a run down of the ideas, our take on it and offering some questions to help us tackle this age old issue of the Bible and what we are suppose to do with it.
     
    So here I am going to list some of those odd bits, the bits we just choose to ignore because it makes our head hurt and we aren’t sure what the solution is. I am sure we could all add more to this list.
     
    Balaam’s Donkey
    Multiple creation stories
    The end of Mark
    The end of Job
    The bit where bears protect the honour of a prophet with a receding hairline by killing children
    Paul seems to think a rock followed the Israelites around in the wilderness
    Jesus tells the disciples to buy more swords
    Proverbs isn’t sure how you should deal with a fool
    God doesn’t appear or speak in the book of Esther
    God seems to be ok with the idea that there are other gods – just that they shouldn’t be worshipped or followed
    God tries to kill Moses after sending him to free the Israelites
    Jesus gets angry with a fig tree
    Jesus causes a lot of pigs to drown
     
    Questions
     
    Which book of the bible have you never read or if you have read them all always avoid?
    Which is the strangest bit of the bible? (Not just from the list above)
    If Hollywood was going to turn part of the bible into a film/series which part would you want them to look at?
    How would you describe your relationship with the bible?
    We are meeting Sunday night at 7:30pm for those who wish to join us at Cullercoats Crescent Club. Please remember to do all you can to help keep everyone safe – Masks, space, hands, test and trace – you all know the drill now.
  • Making the Bed

    Making the Bed

    Do you make the bed?

    Once upon a time the answer to this question would most definitely have been no.  I would wake up (that was last weeks blog), crawl out of bed and go about getting ready for the day by washing, putting on clothes and eating cornflakes.  At night I would then collapse in to the bed again, exactly as I had left it that morning, pull the duvet over me and sleep.

    I am a changed man.

    My wife always makes the bed.  Every morning with out fail she will make sure the bed is made before she has left the house.  When we lived in Manchester this was sometimes an issue because I wasn’t always up before she had left for work so the bed remained unmade and so she began to make the bed with me still in it (she still does on some occasions).  Over the years though I have been transformed into a bed maker. The first thing I do once I have stepped out of bed is make sure the duvet is straight and “show” pillows are back in place.  It isn’t every morning (sometimes my wife is still asleep) but on those mornings I’m the last up I make sure the bed is left made.  

    There is a wonderful routine to this habit or practice. It creates a little bit of order at the beginning of the day, ordering the messy bed into a nice smooth and ordered space (a little like Genesis 1). It also means I achieve something within the first few minutes of being awake and it may go downhill from there but at least I can say I managed one thing at least.  In the book Liturgy of the Ordinary the writer shares here journey to becoming a bed maker and how she develops making the bed into a spiritual practices by taking a few moments to sit on the freshly made bed in silence. Sometimes she reads or prayers or just sits.  My bed making doesn’t have this intentional focus to it but it does act as an anchor point in the day which begins my other routines and time of focus (I walk the dog each morning and listen to lectio365).

    Now before you all start to think I am a domestic hero I should add this in at the end.  I don’t make the bed everyday, it’s a shared effort with my wife that means the bed is always made before we all get on with our days.  I also don’t make the bed at other times (like afternoon snoozes) or generally when I am on holiday. There is probably lots of reasons for this but those times are different and I haven’t yet taken on board the importance of making the bed in all scenarios.

    So if you haven’t discovered the ordinary, everyday practice of making the bed why don’t you give it a go.  You can use it as primer for some silence or reading or you could use it as the anchor point for your day. Give it a go and see what happens. You never know it may be a simple act that changes your life.

    Questions

    If you make the bed, why? If you don’t, why not?

    What is the first thing you do when you get out of bed?

    What is your anchor point for the day? The one thing that starts you off to face what ever lies ahead.

    How can we build ordinary practices in our routines and rituals that will help us put life into perspective?

    Do you think these acts are spiritual?

    Photo by Monica Silvestre from Pexels

  • Collector

    Collector

    Collector

    Our final BFX focus is that of Collector. The words we have for this are as follows.

    WE WERE ALL CREATED

    SO WE CREATE

    We live in a world that was created for us.

    So we make cake and beer, paint and knit, and draw lines in the sand.

    We also put right, by picking up, recycling and seeking to look after the world we live in.

    Some of you will have joined us at our recent BFX Creative events. We have held three so far (next is in June). These were formed during lockdown and have been a great place to explore creativity. 

    Now I know some people don’t think they are creative. That drawing, singing or writing just isn’t their strong point. But creativity is more than being able to create art. The definition for creativity is that you create something! Anything!

    The most common understanding of creativity is in the artistic sense. Creativity though is how we solve problems, how we transform our neighbourhoods, how we change the world we live in. We use creative to think of new ideas and new ways forward. 

    As BFX we will continue to encourage us all to be creative. For some that will be in an artistic scenes but for all of us it will be looking to think in new ways about the world we live in. 

    1. creative challenge 
    2. What is the best thing you have ever made?
    3. Are you an artistic creative an idea creative or a bit of both.
    4. What issue in the world do you think we need to solve in creative ways?
  • Family

    Family

    “You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family.” I wonder what would happen if we could choose our own family?! Life might be a lot simpler… but I think overall something important would be lost. When I think of family, many words spring to mind but right now I just want to focus on 2 of them…

    1. BELONGING

    Recently my dad who is nearing 70 years old was able to make contact with his sister for the very first time. Having grown up in care and with foster parents he has always had big questions about his own family background and in recent years, and with the help of a DNA ancestry website he has been able to find out a lot more about some of his blood relatives. Last week he received a message from a woman who it turns out is his sister and since then they have been in regular contact finding out all about each other. It has been wonderful to witness and one of the main things that comes across in both their correspondence has been a shared desire for finding a blood relative – a family unit to “belong” to, which had been missing all their lives. Whilst families come in all shapes, sizes and variations, the one thing that seems to define a family is this idea of “belonging’. What is important isn’t actually the blood we share, but the bond that holds us together – even when we don’t like one another. There is a sense of loyalty to the family unit that doesn’t exist in the wider world. Friendships come and go – the good ones last. When friends become close we use the phrase “they’re like family” – implying that sense of a deeper, long-lasting connection; sticking together when things get tough; sacrificial and costly love.

    2. COMPLICATED

    I’m yet to meet someone who wouldn’t describe some aspect of their family as “complicated”. (Another word that springs to mind is “messy”!) So why is this? I wouldn’t describe my relationships with my work colleagues as messy or complicated… I think it has something to do with being real. At work, or even with friends we usually present a front, whether it be because we’re being professional, or just because we make the extra effort with people when we socialise. During lockdown we were starved of those interactions, and whilst I missed seeing people, I realised that the benefit of being with family ALL the time is that you can be 100% real all the time – no need to worry about how we appear, either aesthetically or in our behaviour. There’s no judgement with family, we just accept each other, warts and all. The downside of this, of course, is that we often see the worst sides of each other. Tensions rise because we don’t hold our tongues and we allow ourselves to say hurtful things we wouldn’t dream of saying to friends. We know that for the most part, family members forgive and forget (not always I realise), because we have to. The family bond is strong, we can’t just walk away from it easily. 

    So where am I going with all this, you ask? I’m not really sure myself except that I’m realising more and more the importance of family, in whatever context it comes. I don’t think God designed us to live and exist in solidarity – family units are important, they make sure everyone is cared for and we all have a place to “belong”. I think if we could all choose our families eventually things would still end up being complicated and messy, as we would realise that in order to truly belong we must feel accepted for who we are and equally to accept others for who they are. Friendship is easy – to be in relationship with people who share our interests and opinions. Family is hard – it requires us to love people at their worst, as God loves us, “God shows his love for us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

    Questions:

    1. If you could choose any famous person to be an honorary family member, who would it be and what relation would they be to you?
    1. If you could be part of any fictional family, which would it be and why?
    1. What does “family” mean to you?

    4. How has being in lockdown affected your relationship with your family? (both those you live with and extended)

    5. How should we as “church”/ BFX community relate to one another and with others? Are we a “family”? Should we be and if so, what should that look like?

  • BFXCreative 2

    BFXCreative 2

  • Gather

    Gather

    EXPLORING TOGETHER WHAT IT MEANS TO EXPERIENCE GOD
    We want to experience God in ways that are authentic to us.
    We come together and experiment with worship both old and new.
    We seek to experience moments of meaning in the ordinary.
    Over the past few months we have been looking at our BFX foundations. There are four altogether and this week we are looking at Gather : Worship Together. The words at the top of this post go alongside this word as a brief explanation of what it means and what it is about. I am going to try and avoid the word worship throughout the rest of this as it often comes with baggage and for many people that can get in the way. At some point you may want to take a look at the website and check the Gather tab and the work of the people stored there.
    For me the important words in this are gather, explore/experiment, experience, authentic and ordinary. I will briefly describe why and then we can get stuck into questions.
    Gather – It is about people coming together. Maybe to a particular place or at a particular time. In person or online. To gather together with others is how we build community and connection.
    Explore/experiment – Slightly different words but with similar meanings. When you explore you are going into the unknown. There is no map, or if there is the thing you are looking for isn’t marked on it. The same goes for experiment. You are testing something, trying something out you haven’t done before. Both of these have the possibility of success of finding what you are looking for or discovering something new. They both also have the possibility of not finding that which was sought or the experiment not quite working. Yet you have still experienced the process.
    Experience – What you feel, see, taste, smell, think, hear and sense. These things happen all the time but sometimes taking the time to acknowledge these opens us up to something much bigger than ourselves.
    Authentic – What we do has to be true to who we are. The words we use need to have meaning. The actions or signs we perform have to be relevant. There are ancient ways of doing things and there are new ways. It is about finding those ways that are honest and reflect those gathered instead of those inherited by others.
    Ordinary – It isn’t about always chasing the mountain top experience. We can always try and replicate that moment when we experienced something amazing, but it often disappoints. Seeking to experience something of God when we are walking the dog or on the metro to work or sat watching TV. In those moments we can be surprised by what we find.
    Questions
    • What was the last gathering you went to with over 50 people present?
    • Which word in the first bit struck you? Why?
    • What makes a gathering authentic for you?
    • Have you ever experienced God in a place you didn’t expect? Where/when was it?
  • BFXCreative 1

    BFXCreative 1

  • Self-Care

    Self-Care

    We are meeting at 8pm on Zoom this week and if you want to join us please message me and I will send the link (Rob Wylie is resting!). This week Sue Hutchinson Has written our blog so take a read and see you Sunday.

    Self care is trendy, modern and ‘everyone is doing it now a days’ is the concept. On Instargram alone there are over 18 millon posts with #selfcare. In 2019, it was estimated that the health and beauty industry will be worth £26.7 billion in 2022. The majority of self care is aimed at women but there is an increase of men taking to self care. And if you google ‘self care in a pandemic’ the search will find 794,000,000 results.

    The popularity of self-care has had a positive impact encouraging more people to be open, honest and talk about mental health and state of being (www.dazeddigital.com).

    Self care can range from physical, emotional, social, spiritual, personal, space, financial and work, to name a few. Self care is seen as a medical necessary, luxury, self-indulgent, political and an individual preference. Nicole Stamp (2019), in her blog ‘The revolutionary origins of self-care’ and BBC4 (2020) ‘The radical history of self-care’ gives a insight to the history:

    1950s – to allow institutionalised patients practice physical independence and self-worth through exercise and personal grooming, the term self care was created.

    1960s – First responders experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) were encouraged in three areas for self care, physical: good diet, sleep and proactive action regarding medical care, emotional: journaling and self reflection and spiritual: meditation, actively seeking spiritual community and enjoying nature. Women started to take back their own bodily health and strength.

    1970s – Self care come to the for front with the Black Panther Party as ‘a means for all Black citizens to stay resilient while experiencing the repeated injuries of systemic, interpersonal and medical racism’. It was the Black Panthers who created free community health care clinics and in 1972 campaigned to have not only they illnesses treated such as sickle cell but also to develop preventive medical programs for survival. The Black Panthers understanding of how oppression affected health has now been demonstrated by science.

    1980s – Audre Lorde, self-described as ‘Black, lesbian, mother, warrior poet’ (wikipedia), living with cancer, become influential within self-care writing ‘I must not surrender my body to others unless I completely understand and agree with what they think should be done to it, I’ve got to look at all the options carefully, even the ones I find distasteful.” And in her 1988 book ‘A burst of light’ she writes “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is a self-preservation and that is an act of political warfare”.
    Andre Spicer (2019) writes, that which was once radical is now being stripped of its politics to make more pleasant to mass market. What was supposed to be an invitation to collective survival has become another form of individualism, another word for ‘me time’, an excuse to get out of any commitment.

    And she is right, self-care can be used as an excuse to not engage, participate, or be involved and I have used this on occasion where what I wanted was to be left alone, undisturbed, and not have to make the effort or give the energy to engage, participate and be involved. In other words, to stay in my comfortable place. What I am say is that I can put my hand on my heart and say that in these times it was more to do with ‘I just don’t want to’ more than to do with I need to protect/care for me. What experiences, conversations, connections, and opportunities have I missed by doing this as Andre expresses.

    And here is where I find myself in an awaking of the power of and for self-care. While I must at times insure to make time and practice self-care for my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and feel no shame or guilt for doing so. I must also be aware that at times my reasoning for ‘self-care’ is more to do with comfort rather than care. And I must ensure my practice of self-care does not lead to “becoming increasingly isolated or enjoying less and less nurturing human connection intensifying loneliness and mental illness (Nicole Stamp 2019)”. We will give her the benefit she did not know we would all be in a worldwide pandemic a year later. However, she is right, even in the pandemic it has been even more important to stay connected wherever possible and yet the fight to do so has left many tired, weary, and needing to practice self-care.

    And her is my finial thought: Reflecting on my life I can see that I got self-care wrong is many ways. My early years I did not wanted to practice self-care as this meant facing things I did not what to face, namely me. I then give time to practice self-care for my physical health and lost weight, however still not dealing with my mental health and gained the weight back. In the past five or so I have had no choice but to deal with my mental health and this had led me here. A place where I will very happily make time and practice self-care, acknowledge at times I can get comfortable in this and my own company which can become unhealthy. I also need to practice self-care as part of a collective, to help raise the challenge to the injustice, oppression, stress, and anxiety within the world, to raise love, hope, mercy and grace just as Jesus did; he took time out with or without his disciples, and he led the collective to love, challenge and change the world too.

    What is your ‘guilty pleasure’ to watch on TV?
    What is your perspective on self-care?
    Do you practice self-care? If so how?
    What are your thoughts about self-care being part of a collective?
    What do you think God makes of self-care?

    References:
    Nicole Stamp (2019) The revolutionary origins of self-care,
    https://locallove.ca/issues/the-revolutionary-origins-of-self-care/#.YEFkzWj7RPY

    Andre Spicer (2019) ‘Self-care’: How the radical feminist idea was stripped of politics for mass market, The Guardian.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/21/self-care-radical-feminist-idea-mass-market

    ‘Why the commodification of self-care might actually be a good idea’.
    https://www.dazeddigital.com/beauty/soul/article/44463/1/commodification-self-care-good-thing