BeachcomberFX

Author: Guest Blog

  • Following the Wild Spirit of Christ :
 How a trip to the forest lead to me leaving Methodist ministry

    Following the Wild Spirit of Christ :
 How a trip to the forest lead to me leaving Methodist ministry

    I came into the church as a teenager with no background in Christianity or any kind of religious framework in my upbringing. However, I had always had a sense of something beyond that was drawing and beckoning me out of my limited self. The Christian faith gave me a framework to understand and nurture that sense of beckoning. In time I was baptised, began preaching and was ordained as a Methodist minister and for decades this felt as if my spiritual life had finally found its home. Indeed, for the most part Methodism has provided for me a hospitable dwelling: warm and nurturing it has been a place to live, grow and share.
    Nevertheless, in seeking the way of Christ there is always a sense of opening to new vistas, a breaking open of boundaries and boxes that bind us. Carefully formulated over centuries, we are offered categories that we can put people into, separating one from another, boxes within which we constrain our own unfolding sense of self as well as clever definitions of who God is and how God speaks and acts.
    Although they may be useful for a 5me, the Wild Spirit of Christ and our own vibrant souls cannot be contained by any of these boxes. When it is not channelled along concrete culverts the flow of a river shifts its banks, unconstrained, and twists in new ways. And so, in the summer of 2019 I felt the draw of the wilderness and I found myself camping alone in a forest in Cornwall. I’m not instinctively a person for such outdoor pursuits but I felt compelled as if that land had something to teach me.
    I spent time in the woodland naked, meditating and reaching out to the Wild Spirit that was still beckoning me forward after all those years.
    In the shifting shadows of the night forest, I felt a deeper opening: an ancient communion with primal energies. Rhythms of moon waxing and waning, seasons in constant flow, all the elements in flux outside of my control: rain, sunshine, rain. And the call of the Wild Spirit of Christ was to open up my body/ soul (for these two aren’t separate) to welcome all of this.
    The fecund fertile ebb and flow of creation/destruction and the primordial forces in the soil, trees and rocks found an echo in the depths of my own body.
    This did not feel safe. There is a raging power, passion, desire and will to life in our muscles, bones, and churning organs. Once opened to be seen and experienced this is a door impossible to close.
    The bright orange ball of fire that resides in the bowl of our pelvis is a source of such creative energy. It loves fiercely and seeks connection to others as it urges life out into the world. But institutions teach us to be wary of our bodily sensations and to mistrust them as a source of authority, instead we are taught to seek an external voice to guide our ways. Be it a book, a set of doctrines, a man in a pulpit, or a list of rules of practice and disciplines. This is not surprising because, however benevolent an institution may be, it relies on control to maintain its form just as a city needs laws and boundaries to maintain decorum and a sense of identity. Who knows what might burst out if members started to trust their own deep drives and sensations? Equally it feels much safer for us to rely on that external authority, there is no need to take responsibility if we subcontract our important thoughts and decisions to something outside of ourselves. Within the institution the warm maternal bosom nourishes us as long as we stay close. And this is no bad thing as there are times when we need the maternal holding to heal and grow.
    The structures hold us safe but if we turn our attention to that supernova exploding inside of us then who knows what havoc that could wreak in our lives? Rather than incline our ear inward it’s so much safer to let the heavenly father tell us what to do: he’s up there watching over us to protect us and guide us for our own good (or so simplistic religion would have us believe).
    As I sought to understand the ramifications in my life of these newly discovered sensations, I found a dilemma: How do I live in faithfulness to this raging wild creative spirit that I have found in communion with Christ by entwining my body with the earth whilst also dwelling within an institution called the Methodist Church with all the frameworks that this necessarily entails?
    There are many good things about the Methodist Church and many wonderful faithful people who live well and are called to minister within its structures and yet it is the nature of institutions to always hold boundaries: limits of acceptability of thought, behaviour, and ways of being. I know that many people do flourish within these boundaries and wonderfully so, like a city with strong walls that protects its citizens with structures to keep them safe and healthy. But for me the Wild Spirit kept beckoning outwards, what I had thought was my home for life became a staging post on the way, a welcoming community to whom I owe a lot and to whom I have given thirty years of my life.
    But the full moon always wanes and rather than remaining still she tracks a path across the sky. The tide turns in the estuary to reveal new channels and complex fresh landscapes in the salt marsh each day and so came a new act of trust for me: to let go of everything I’d been clinging to, everything that had helped me find form and identity in faith and self since I walked through the welcoming doors of a Methodist Church at the age of 14. To set out into the wilds, away from well-trodden paths into rich and tangled undergrowth. I don’t know whether this space will consume me or nurture me as such things are outside of our control when we give ourselves to that wild flow.
    Uncertainty is the very nature of this path but it has the potential to open up new ways of connecting to others, conduits of love and creative life that atrophy in the framework of institutions. If we choose to venture into the wilderness, the self-willed place beyond city walls, then we risk our own destruction.
    Some questions:
    • What resonated with your experience? what did you disagree with?
    • In what ways has the church enabled you to grow and flourish? in what ways has the church hindered your growth?
    • What does the idea of the “Wild Spirit of Christ” mean to you?
    • What does it mean for us to trust the instincts and sensations of our bodies? What opportunities might this open up for you? what dangers might there be? what is holding you back from listening to these instincts and sensations?
    • In what ways has connecting with the natural world nurtured your spiritual life?
    • What do you think the writer means when he says, “If we choose to venture into the wilderness…we risk our own destruction”?
    • How might the Wild Spirit of Christ be speaking to you today and what would it mean for you to follow that Spirit “out into the wilderness”?
  • Losing your keys

    Losing your keys

    It’s Wednesday morning and I decided to read the chapter on lost keys one more time before sitting down to write this blog. I read the chapter and decided to mull over what the author has written regarding how the un-pretty side of her emerges when the ordinary daily routine is interrupted, held up or completely changed. She speaks about getting ready to leave the house but when she goes to get her keys they are not in their designated space and now begins the search for the lost keys. As she talks you through her desperate search for the keys she allows herself to be vulnerable in showing what her thoughts are during this time, “stupid keys, stupid me”.

    Maybe you recognise these initial thoughts when your daily routine is interrupted.
    Here is how my Wednesday progressed after reading that chapter that very morning.
    I decided to paint the wall in the study with the testing pots I bought. Opened the first pot of paint and thought the lighting could be better to see what I was doing, so I move the lamp. And that is when instead of the paint hitting the wall as intended, it flowed out of the tub on to the desk and onto my new white t-shirt. Within less than a second I exclaimed “Horlicks”, well something that sounds very similar, and as I sat on the chair pulling at kitchen roll to wipe up the paint my mind was on the very edge of going to my instant reaction, “stupid me, why am I always so dam clammy? Why can’t I just be good enough and do things without something going wrong?”
    But instead I started to laugh out loud as I remembered what I had just been reading. As I was laughing and wiping up green paint, there was a familiar sound out on the landing, one of the cat’s was being sick. I admit I stopped laughing at this point but didn’t go to my next instant reaction “oh you have to be joking, really, can nothing go right just once?” So I cleaned up the paint and the cat sick, thinking to myself actually, the paint spilling was a pain but it was not going to be the end of the world, and the cat being sick, while that’s not his fault, we’re all sick at one time or another.
    Later in the day, I was putting the dishes in the dishwasher when I went to close the door and nipped my fingers in the plastic that needs mending. Let’s say even though my husband was not home his ears would have been burning as I blamed him for not fixing it. And then the chapter came to mind again. It was not my husband’s fault that my fingers where nipped, he wasn’t even there, and was reminded that he had tried to fix the problem before.
    During the day I realised that it’s during the daily ordinary inconveniences that I can and do show “the neediness and sinfulness, neurosis and weakness that I try to ‘pretty’ up and manage through control, ease, and privilege are suddenly on display” as the author writes. It was at this point I realised in the past that I would have made the majority if not all those daily inconveniences personal, that they were an attack at me. So yesterday’s inconveniences would roll in to todays, and both would roll into tomorrows and so on until I would be weighted down in my mind and emotions that everything was against me. And then when there was a true big life crisis put on top carrying all the other small things it became too much to carry, eventually I would become sharp in my words and tone with people, mainly those closest to me. Over time this would exacerbate the mental health illnesses of depression and anxiety within me.
    These small daily inconveniences show the other side of me, the anxious wanting to be in control, to be ‘good enough’ need within me and it is at this place that I find myself needing God’s amazing grace and love. I have come to find that if I can deal with and take to God what is really happening inside of me, what the root of my true reaction to the situation is really about, I can deal with the situation a whole lot better. I find I can first ask God to forgive me for my reaction or outburst, and then speak to him about what is really going on within me, anxiety, lack of confidence, wanting life to be easy. I have found that the quicker I can do this and recognise what is being triggered within me, the quicker I can leave it and not have to carry it around inside of me all day, which can make or break the rest of the day.
    What I have come to find, as the author had, is that God is interested in every aspect of my life, every second, every activity, everything big, small, convenient, inconvenient, happy or sad, good or bad, God wants to be living every moment with us. Why? Because it is during these daily tasks, those daily inconveniences God can use to bring light to my inner being, my heart, my spirit and help me to work through those reactions enabling me through His grace and love to become whole.
    I want to finish with the authors final thoughts to this chapter:
    “When Jesus was approached by some “pretty good people” who were offended that he hung out with sinners, he compared God to a women who had lost something. God’s eager love for us ventures into the undignified and outsized, like the woman who is a little over the top about a lost coin, sweeping out rooms and looking under the furniture until she finds it. God searches more earnestly for me than I do for my lost keys. He is zealous to find his people and make them whole.”
    Questions:
    • What has been the most precious object you have lost? (now have Smeagol from Lord of the Rings saying ‘My Precious’ in my head) Did you find it again? If so how?
    • What has gone wrong today? (Or if you are having a perfect day, this week)
    • How do you cope when the little things go wrong?
    • Do you think your reactions is more to do with the situation or more to do with what’s going on inside you?
    • Do you think God is with you in those moments and in what way?
    • What do you think regarding the closing paragraph?
    Photo by George Becker from Pexels
  • St Paul – Prophet, Influencer

    St Paul – Prophet, Influencer

    Hi folks here is this weeks blog… This weeks blog comes from Noreen, looking at St Paul:

    All of you, I’m sure will have some insight into the life of St Paul, and his influence on the early Christian church. Travelling around Europe it’s difficult to avoid him, in the statues and references to his presence there. In Rome his statue stands-together with St Peter-on top of the Vatican, and I remember feeling dizzy attempting to look at it, so high up, and St Peter’s square so vast. On a sea cruise off Malta I thought we were going to replicate St Paul’s shipwreck there! My most memorable ‘encounter’ was at the ancient church of Agia Kyriaki in Paphos which is also known as the place where St Paul was whipped by the Jewish leader Elymas (there is a stone column outside which is supposed to have been used for this). There is an active congregation at the ancient church which is shared by both Greek Orthodox and Catholics for separate services which must make it quite unique. So, I’d found out the times of the services and made my way along the mosaic pathway to the church. The door was open (it was at least 30 degrees outside!) and I went in, to find myself standing in what felt like a cool, dark cavern, lit with candles. Despite the service being in Latin, a language I barely understood (sadly there was no ‘Pentecost fire’ giving me insight into what was being said) it felt a really holy space. There was definitely a spirit moving in that place.

    Bio notes

    Paul was likely born between the years of 5 BC and 5 AD. The Book of Acts indicates that Paul was a Roman citizen by birth. He was from a devout Jewish family based in the city of Tarsus, one of the largest trade centres on the Mediterranean coast. Tarsus was the most influential city in Asia Minor, renowned for its university.
    Modern theologians agree that Paul was educated under the supervision of Gamaliel in Jerusalem, and spoke both Hebrew and Greek. It was reported that he was present at the stoning of St Stephen after his trial by the Jewish Sanhedrin court. Paul (or Saul as he was then) held the coats of Stephen’s executioners. He then went on, as a representative of the Pharisaical community, to be responsible for persecuting ‘Followers of The Way’ as the early Christians were called.

    Then everything changed for Saul and according to the book of Acts, Chapter 9 it took place on the road to Damascus, where he reported having experienced a vision of the resurrected Jesus. The account says that he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?’ Saul replied, ‘Who art thou, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom thou persecutes.’

    According to the account in Acts he was blinded for three days and had to be led into Damascus by the hand. During these three days, Saul took no food or water and spent his time in prayer to God. When Ananias (a Christian of Damascus who had been led to Saul through a vision) arrived, he laid his hands on him. Saul’s sight was restored. He got up and was baptized. (Acts 9:18). It is often thought that Saul changed his name at that time, but scholars have disputed this. In Acts 13:9, Saul is called ‘Paul’ for the first time on the island of Cyprus—much later than the time of his conversion. Luke indicates that the names were interchangeable, and as Paul was a Roman name he may have chosen to use it when meeting with the Roman leaders. Adopting his Roman name was typical of Paul’s missionary style. His method was to put people at their ease and to approach them with his message in a language and style to which they could relate.

    Writing and Influence

    Thirteen of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament have traditionally been attributed to St Paul.
    There are many famous quotations attributable to Paul, perhaps the best known is in 1 Corinthians 13, verses 4-7 which is often used in Christian marriage services—‘Love is patient, Love is kind. Love is not boastful or envious or arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.’

    He also wrote about one body having many parts (1 Corinthians12 verses 12-27) saying that in the church everyone-whatever their talents and skills-have a part to play. Also in Corinthians is my own favourite spiritual inspiration verse about running straight for the finishing line (1 Corinthians 9 verses 23 to 27).

    Some of Paul’s writings have caused controversy, particularly with regard to the role of women in the church. ‘I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.’ (First letter to Timothy, Chapter 2 verse12,). However supporters of giving women power in the Church most frequently cite the letter to the Romans, Chapter 16 as giving the opposite view. In its list of nearly 30 active early Christians, at least eight are women. Some commentators stress the fact that one, Priscilla (Prisca in the original Greek), is named before her husband Aquila.
    Much of Paul’s output in terms of letters to the early church gives very specific advice on how to run it. In the final verse of Timothy 1 Paul says, ‘Timothy keep safe what has been entrusted to your care. Avoid the profane talk and foolish arguments of what some people wrongly call ‘knowledge.’ Good advice now as then! Over the past few weeks our understanding of what is church has been upended. I wonder if Paul’s views will be revisited in the near future and his ideas for organising a church community renewed?

    Questions
    1. Have you ever been handed a daunting task that you felt inadequate about tackling. Did you feel spiritually guided in this task? How did it feel?
    2. Over his lifetime Paul wrote letters to many different early Christian communities (‘Followers of The Way’ at that time). What is the most important letter /email/message you’ve ever received? Did it change your life and how do you view that moment you received it in hindsight?
    3. Paul travelled widely and met many people, setting up small churches as he went. Is there somewhere special you have travelled to which has influenced your faith?
    4. Timothy was ‘mentored’ and befriended by Paul. Have you ever mentored/nurtured another person to encourage them to become a Christian, and how did it go?

    St Paul Image – Public Domain – Painting by Diego Velazquez

  • Eva Peron aka Evita… Prophet… Influencer?

    Eva Peron aka Evita… Prophet… Influencer?

    Hi folks, I hope you are well, this week we are meeting at new venue to try it out… The Dolphin Pub, on King Edward Road, NE30 2SN. Hope to see you there from 8.00pm. This weeks blog is written by Sue.
    Maria Eva Duarte was born in 1919, the youngest of five children. Her father was a wealthy man and it was not uncommon at that time for such men to have more than one family. When Eva was one year old her father returned to his legal family, leaving Eva and her family in extreme poverty and forcing them to move to a desolate place of abject poverty. At 15, She left home to arrive in Buenos Aires to become a stage, radio and film actress.
    She met Colonel Juan Peron at a charity event in benefit for the victims of an earthquake in 1944. They married in 1945 and in 1946 Juan Peron was elected as President of Argentina. Over the next six years Eva Peron become powerful within the pro-Peronist trade unions, speaking and working on behalf of the labour rights and leading the Ministries of Labour and Health. She founded and ran the charity Eva Peron Foundation, championed women’s suffrage in Argentina and developed and ran the nation’s first large scale female political party, the Women’s Peronist Party.
    1951 saw Eva announce her candidacy for the Peronist nomination for the office of Vice President of Argentina. With support from the Peronist political base, low-income and working-class Argentines, known as Descamisados or ‘shirtless ones’ she faced opposition from the military and Bourgeois. It was due to Eva’s declining health that she withdrew her candidacy. This is beautifully captured by the music and words of Weber and Rice in Waltz for Eva and Che from the musical Evita, echoing Eva’s quote “Time is my greatest enemy: Oh what I give for a hundred years, But the physical interferes, every day more, oh my Creator. What is the good of the strongest heart in a body that’s falling apart, A serious flaw I hope you know that”.
    In 1952 she was awarded the title of ‘Spiritual Leader of the Nation’ by the Argentine Congress. Eva died shortly afterwards from ovarian cancer aged 33. She was given a state funeral generally reserved for heads of state. For some Eva was a saint but to others she was a sinner. Again, the genius of Weber and Rice capture this within the same song Waltz for Eva and Che “What are the chances of honest advances, I say low, better to win by admitting my sin than to lose with a halo”.
    During her European tour King George VI sent word that he would not receive her regardless of advice from the Foreign Office. Eva saw this as a snub and cancelled the trip to the UK giving her reason as exhaustion.
    Two years after Eva died a military coup saw her husband exiled and corpse stolen. After being moved around a deal was finally reached between her husband and the military which saw Eva’s body returned to him. He then returned to Argentina and become President once again. Two years later he died, and Eva was moved from her resting place back to Argentina to be laid to rest with her husband. Another military coup erupted and both Eva and her husband’s bodies were taken again. It was not until 1971 Eva was finally laid to rest in her family’s mausoleum within a heavy structured fortress never to be disrupted again. So even in death Eva was powerful to influence.
    Eva is quoted to have said “my biggest fear in life is to be forgotten”. This fear may have come from feelings of abandonment from her father as a child. But Eva took her childhood experiences and understanding of abandonment and abject poverty, thoughts, feelings and pain to ignite her work and fight for those she knew needed the help. She used her position and power to achieve freedom for those she grew up watching struggle. Eva did this in ways she believed to be necessary although she was accused of doing so for selfish gain. Regardless of the significant opposition Eva faced from childhood to adulthood she fought to survive and bring freedom to those she could understand and connect with, the low-income, poor and women of Argentina. She is quoted as saying “I have one thing that counts, and that’s my heart, it burns in my soul, it aches in my flesh and it ignites my nerves; that is my love for the people and Peron.”
    Questions:
    Do you like musicals? What is your favoured musical and why? If not, why not?
    Having read about Eva what inspires you? What concerns you?
    Does Eva remind you of anyone else or someone in the bible?
    Are there elements of your past that can be used for the good of others?
    What fears do you have? Are they holding you back from life or stepping into your purpose?
    How can others help and support you?
    Like Eva, what one thing counts to you? What is burning in your heart, soul and flesh?
    Pray for each other, specifically regarding accepting who we are past, present and future, finding our
    unique place in life and having the confidence, like Eva to stand for what we believe and help those
    people or causes our hearts are calling to support.
    Peace.
  • Greta Thurnberg

    Greta Thurnberg

    About 9 years ago, in a classroom in Stockholm, a quiet schoolgirl was taught about climate change. She and her classmates were encouraged to recycle, and switch lights off, and the curriculum moved on.
    Disoriented, she did not move on. If what had been said was true, why wasn’t anyone doing anything? Why did people around her act as though there were no crisis if, in fact, they all knew there was one? “To me, that did not add up. It was too unreal.”
    Deeply confused by what she was hearing Greta Thunberg started reading about climate change.
    About 7 years ago, Greta fell into a deep depression. Convinced by the strong scientific consensus on the climate crisis, she could see little hope for the future. Her parents took time off work to be together and get her help. Eventually she was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, OCD and selective mutism.
    Greta, meanwhile, began campaigning her parents to give up flying, eating meat, and dairy. When facts and figures didn’t work, she took a more emotive approach. In her own words, she made them feel “so so guilty” for what she saw as their hypocrisy, and for stealing her future. After about two years, her parents gave in, her mother giving up an international opera career. According to her dad, they were more motivated by saving their daughter and family than saving the climate.
    Less than two years ago, in May of 2018, Greta won a climate change essay competition in a Swedish newspaper. A youth climate change organisation got in touch with her following its publication, and one of them came up with the idea, inspired by the Parkland students, to ‘strike for the climate.’
    A year and five months ago, re-energised by success at home and inspired by the idea Greta decided to strike from school for three weeks in protest against the adults “shitting on my future.” As she couldn’t convince anyone to join her, she started alone.
    A day later, she was no longer alone.
    A week later, international media was reporting on her strike.
    A month later, she was joining demonstrations throughout Europe and making high profile speeches.
    Two months later, she gave a TedX talk in Stockholm.
    Three months later, strikes had been held in at least 270 cities, and Greta addressed the COP24 United Nations climate change summit.
    And so it has continued from there. The, rest, as they say, is history (in the making).
    Greta has just a handful of key messages:
    This is a crisis: “I want you to act as if the house was on fire, because it is.”
    Science and facts should take precedence over self-interest: “You only speak of green eternal economic growth because you are too scared of being unpopular…You are not mature enough to tell it like it is.”
    Adults should be deeply ashamed of the mess they have made for the next generation: “This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope? How dare you?”
    To say she has been influential is an understatement. If a prophet is someone who speaks truth – and often uncomfortable truth – as a wake-up call to a lost people, then Greta is surely a prophet for our times. And yet, as she sees it, until concrete action is put in place to avert disaster, “We have achieved nothing.”
    Like many prophets before her, Greta is a reluctant spokesperson. She dislikes being the centre of attention and believes that others should be taking this responsibility so that children can safely go back to school. She is also seen as a sufficiently influential wake-up call from denial, that multiple world leaders have mocked and attacked her.
    But, tired of empty “hope” she continues to take action, saying “When we start to act hope is everywhere. So instead of looking for hope – look for action. Then the hope will come.”
    Questions
    Have you ever won a competition?
    How different was your life a year or two ago than it is today?
    Do you agree with Greta that “one thing we need more than hope is action”?
    Long before Greta was a global activist she was learning, getting demoralised, struggling with mental health and loneliness, campaigning to persuade those closest to her to change their behaviour, entering a competition, connecting with others, trying (and failing) to convince others to join her in a bold idea, and finally going it alone despite nearly unanimous disapproval, including from her parents. Do any of these parts of her story surprise you?
    Do any them represent particular ‘hurdles’ for you in your own life?
    Last week we talked about an issue you want to understand better in order to do something about it. What’s your next step?
    What is holding you back from that?
     
    Photo from here no copyright restrictions stated.
  • What is Truth?

    What is Truth?

    Hi everyone 👋🏼 this Sunday we are meeting at the Crescent club at 8pm. 

    Peter Johnson has written this weeks blog:

    This blog arises from a rather bruising discussion I had a few months ago. Things got really heated when I suggested that reason cried out that not everything in the Bible should be taken literally. That inconsistencies existed and were to be expected given the way the Bible had come to be written. I said that this didn’t in any way affect my belief in God. 

    Their reply was quite cutting… The Bible was God’s divine truth and authoritative word and was never to be questioned. One couldn’t pick and choose – to question any one bit was to question it all and in doing so one was calling God a liar. 

    Afterwards I felt rather grubby. Was I calling God a liar? Was I doubting His word and questioning His integrity? Did I actually trust Him? I talked with Rob about it and he thought it would be a worthwhile topic for discussion. 

    So here goes:
    Q1. We begin with a question which seems especially relevant to our times, given that truth seems to be an increasingly rare commodity – the same question Pilate put to Jesus. What is truth?

    Q2. Can there ever be justification for not telling the truth. Do you think God would ever do that? 

    Q3. A Christian who lived in Indonesia was arrested for having a Bible in his possession. He was taken to a correction camp and after being beaten was forced to tear out the pages and drop them down the communal latrine one by one. He was then released and warned of the consequences of being caught with a Bible again. That night he broke into the camp, crawled into the latrine and extracted the pages of his Bible. He took them home and cleaned them up before putting them back together again, for the Bible was his most treasured possession. How do you feel about that story?

    Q4. How do you feel about the viewpoint that in not taking everything literally you are calling God a liar. 

    Q5. Do we just accept that God is truthful because of who He is, or is it ok to look for re-assurance? If so, where can we find that re-assurance?

    Q6. For the people I spoke to, their faith was dependent upon a literal acceptance of the Bible and was so precious that if you took it away, they doubted if their faith would survive. Does your faith have the same basis and if not, what would you regard as most precious to your faith? 

    Q7. How do you think God feels about such discussions?

  • Feet of Clay

    Feet of Clay

    Hi folks, i hope you are well, this week we are meeting at 8.00pm in the upstairs room overlooking the bay at the Crescent Club. This week we continue to think about the saints of old and i’m thankful to Noreen for writing this for us.

    I’ve recently been researching the life of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church (though is only existed after his death) who was undoubtedly a great Christian leader and evangelist. I had assumed that because he was such a busy man that he had remained single, particularly as he preached that ‘the single life is a gift of God’ and deterred his preacher colleagues from marrying. However in my research I discovered that in 1751 when aged 48 and opposed by his brother Charles, he married to a widow with five children! Her name was Mary (known as Mollie) Vazeille and although you can find information on Mary online, within the Methodist Church she seems to have been airbrushed from history.

    There may be good reason for this. Early in the marriage, Mary began to create problems and division. Because of John’s long absences preaching all over Britain and beyond, and because of his spiritual counselling of women, Mary felt she was being sidelined and neglected. She was also jealous of the attention that John gave to women in the congregations he visited. If she hoped to be recognised as John’s wife for posterity this was unlikely. In John’s famous journal, his wedding isn’t even mentioned, even though John was staying at Mary’s house at the time, having injured himself falling on an icy path. As their marriage progressed, it must have hurt Mary that there was precious little mention of her as his wife in Wesley’s correspondence (which of course she read, as John had given his permission for her to do so, perhaps unwisely!).

    Mary did accompany John on some of his preaching journeys, particularly with her daughter Jane. As an aside, Jane is mentioned—as well as John–in a plaque at St Andrew’s church, Newcastle as Jane married local preacher, John Smith and they worshipped at St Andrew’s.

    In the early years of their marriage it became clear to Mary that John was not going to change. His evangelism for the kingdom, and his preaching duties around the country would always come before her. However, she became suspicious that this was not the only reason John was travelling around. Sometimes Mary set out after John had departed to check up on him! Although John had given permission for Mary to open his letters in his absence, she didn’t help her cause by occasionally rewriting them! She also passed the rewritten copies onto John’s critics, and occasionally publishers. That can’t have gone down well with John, who I feel was at heart probably a humble and private person.

    As time went on they led separate lives, though they did have some uneasy truces. John appeared to get on well with Jane and the rest of the Vazeille family. He also had an agreement drawn up that he would not touch Mary’s inheritance from her late husband, nor she be responsible for any of his debts. However, there were several occasions when Mary was an embarrassment to John. One was witnessed by John Hampson who came into a room unexpectedly, and found Mary dragging John around on the floor by his hair! In another, during the Methodist Convention of 1757 the housekeeper at Bristol, Sarah Ryan (whom Mary detested) was serving dinner when Mary announced, ‘The whore who is serving you has three husbands!’ Certainly that would liven up a Methodist Conference these days!

    So, my reading of the Wesley marriage is that there were faults on both sides—jealousy and scheming on Mary’s part; excluding Mary from the important parts of his life, and being naïve in his relations with women on John’s. Before Mary there had also been women that John had formed relationships with but these did not progress to marriage, though at least two were headed that way until John got cold feet (and Charles had his say). So, although John is a revered figure in the Methodist church and beyond, and was a man of exceptional gifts, particularly for preaching; someone who challenged authority by preaching to those on the lowest rungs of society, and someone who as we know left a lasting legacy not just in Britain but in the world. Nevertheless, he was a man with feet of clay.

    1. Which people in the public eye have you admired then were very disappointed by?
    2. Have you ever felt a work colleague was treating another colleague in an unprofessional manner? Did you say anything/act on your concerns?
    3. Have you ever counselled anyone/been counselled and felt uncomfortable at the way the sessions were proceeding?
    4. Have you ever felt unappreciated either in the workplace or at home? Did you make your feelings known and was it resolved?
    5. Have you (or someone you know) ever misrepresented/misquoted something another person has said in order to make yourself (or the someone you know) look good?
    6. Theresa May famously said that the naughtiest thing she ever did was run through a field of corn. What’s the naughtiest thing you’ve ever done, that you’ll admit to?

    Peace

  • A Pair of Jeans…

    A Pair of Jeans…

    Hi folks, hope you are ok… this week we are meeting back at the Crescent Club, 8.00pm for those who are around. This weeks reflection comes from Stephen… thanks mate!

    Having watched a documentary on the environmental consequences of fashion as well as the economic impact of fast fashion I have been struck by what we buy has a massive impact far beyond what you might expect. Making a pair of jeans can use up 7600 litres of water, which is over 760 full baths!

    Behind nearly every purchase we make whether food, clothing, electrical items there are ethical, welfare and environmental issues we often don’t consider.

    We all need to buy things to eat, and wear and I think we can all agree about the perils of a materialistic society, but this issue is how we approach ever purchase we make, not that we buy to much.

    I wonder what Jesus would say about our disconnected free market economics which let’s the market decide what something is worth but puts that in no context. If we knew a pair of Jeans takes 7600 litres of water to make would we see a price of £10 for a pair of jeans seem sustainable and what are the alternatives.

    Questions:

    How engaged are you in what you buy, where it comes from, what impact does it have on the environment or the people who made it.

    Does the free market economic model need throwing out wholesale or just fixing.

    What alternatives are there.

    When the really value of something like a pair of Jeans ethically made with good environmental values can cost £100 how do we balance this up as to most people that is a lot of money, the same can be true of ‘good’ food.

    How can we reset or re-educate our value systems to help us mark better decisions in what/how we buy.

    Peace.

  • Is the church relevant in today’s world?

    Is the church relevant in today’s world?

    Hi folks, I hope you have managed to stay cool in this fab weather! This week we will be meeting at 8.00pm at the Quarry Pub on the Broadway, we hope to see you there. This week we have a guest blog from John Morley.

    The month of August will be a laid back month, we will be continue to meet each week for those of you who are around but we wont be doing anything formal.

    Is the church relevant in today’s world?

    I suspect those reading this will have very polarised responses to this question but the more I thought about it the more shades of gray I came across.

    On the one hand many of us get a lot of our inspiration and motivation from outside the church…

    But many of us have been inspired and brought up in one sense or another by the church…

    Many, sadly may have experiences where the church may have been worse than irrelevant to them. Abuse issues are often in the news and when we think of issues challenging our society and world, where is the church?

    On climate change, immigration, lgbt rights, disarmament, inequality… where is the church?

    However the church rightly in my view claims many positives too. Personal testimonies of church inspired transformation are prolific and worldwide. Others include: Martin Luther King and Civil disobedience, Shelter for the homeless, anti- people trafficking charities, the Samaritans, Alcoholics Anonymous and food banks to name just a few church originated activities.

    So questions…

    What is the church?

    Is the church important to you?

    If there were no church would we have noticed it or missed anything?

    How has the church been most relevant to you?

    Least relevant?Relevant to what?

    What would your perfect church be like?

  • Shared Interest…

    Shared Interest…

    Hi folks, this week we are meeting at Hugos in Tynemouth, meeting from 8.00pm. This weeks reflection comes from Martin.

    Shared Interest: the Art of Enabling 

    Hot topics’ in recent years in the news have included:

    • The environment and threats to it.
    • A decade of austerity after the Lehmans-triggered crash (we’ll leave a critique of free capitalism for now!)
    • The Brexit debate.
    • Mental health issues.
    • The Wonga debate.

    I’ll venture that they may be all interconnected by the ideas of responsible human flourishing, living in community (local and global), and use of resources.  [You may make your own connections, I’ll not labour it!]

    Into that mix, may I introduce the work of ‘socially-responsible’ banking, which might be thought of as international relatives of Credit Unions. Websites of two examples (with which I am involved) are below:

    www.shared-interest.com

    www.oikocredit.org.uk 

    In contrast to ‘giving to charity’, these organisations function as banks which lend to people/groups, often in ‘developing’ nations, to ‘pump-prime’ businesses with small loans.  These may be to purchase equipment such as a sewing machine, or farm tools, or to fund training for new skills.

    The donor accepts that interest’ (which would normally accrue in a bank account) may be forfeited, but because of the shared risk of many loans capital is fairly secure.  Thus one can loan to enable others to flourish by using their skills: a mutual use of ‘talents’.  This seems to me a responsible use of ‘spare resources’, and a small contribution to global neighbourly-ness.  Does that make sense?  

    Martin Hood