Hi folks, I hope you are doing ok? This week we will head back to Platform 2 on Tynemouth Station, meeting at 7.30. We are having a break from the Beatitudes with something slightly different. We were going to see a movie at the cinema, but it’s not currently on at Jam Jar and the other option was going to be a bit pricey.
We would like you to watch a movie called Opal Dream on iplayer, here is the link:
The movie is about a young girl and about her relationship with her imaginary friends as it resonates throughout her town in the Australian Outback. Sounds good! It’s just shy of an hour thirty long.
We haven’t watched it yet… So based on nothing at all, here are some questions!?!
Did you have imaginary friends when you were growing up? If so, tell us about them…
What did you think about the movie? What score would you give it?
Who did you relate to most in the movie and why?
What does the movie teach us?
In what way do you think it had any spiritual resonance?
Rob Wylie is the founder of BeachcomberFX and guides its leadership team. He has worked in the North East for over 20 years and has vast experience from various roles he has held. He has a passion for Fresh Expressions of Church and Pioneer Ministry as well as beer, beaches and Miniature Schnauzers.
Hi folks, I hope you are doing ok? This week we are travelling around again, and are meeting at 7.30 at The Brewery, at the top of South Parade in Whitley Bay. I hope you can join us.
This week we continue our walk through the Beatitudes and are thinking about a theme that dominates life across the world right now: blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. As we continue to watch scenes unfold in Ukraine we ponder on political realities, not only on our own shores but in the United States. Not to mention the situations in Afghanistan and Iran, the tensions in and around North Korea and numerous difficult situation across Africa, particularly in Democratic Republic of Congo and its’ tense relationship with Rwanda.
And of course that doesn’t even touch the surface of the amount of broken relationships between family members and friends. It also doesn’t take into account the continued struggle for racial equality and issues around the equality of the sexes, never mind the church and its various struggles.
In other words when we talk about peace making, we have lots of work to do! Now of course most of these things we won’t be directly involved with or begin to be able to resolve… but their may be things that are going on with you that you can influence, that you can change.
In preparation for this I listened to David’s flipped preaching pre-amble he did a couple of years ago. He reminded me of another phrase we use in society – Peace Keeping. If you are a parent you will know what that means! You may also remember the UN Peace Keeping forces that have been deployed in various parts of the world. The idea of peace keeping is not to sort the issues out, but rather to stand in the gap and keep the peace between two situations.
We also have a phrase that the Romans used – Pax Romana, which means Roman Peace, this was the time when Rome was at its height of imperialism… so in reality this meant it was Rome’s way or no way! Some peace eh?
But peace making is different… this is about actively trying to resolve issues that you are aware of to bring things together, this is about trying not to take sides, this asks us to listen and to try and understand where people are coming from, it means loving and dare i say even forgiving!
If we add into this mix another saying that Jesus says further down from the Beatitudes is ‘Love your enemies’ Matt 5:43-48:
43“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Then it becomes extremely challenging.
Some questions:
If you were to form a Peace Committee, who from the past or present would you choose to be on it?
Where do you keep the peace?
What does peace making mean to you?
Where are your Peace makers?
Who does it mean to have enemies?
How/where can BFX become more involved in Peace making?
Rob Wylie is the founder of BeachcomberFX and guides its leadership team. He has worked in the North East for over 20 years and has vast experience from various roles he has held. He has a passion for Fresh Expressions of Church and Pioneer Ministry as well as beer, beaches and Miniature Schnauzers.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” – Matthew 5:8
Hi folks, I hope you are doing ok, this week we mixing it up a little and going to meet at Platform 2 on Tynemouth Station at 7.30.
If you are doing the reverse advent calendar you can bring some of your items on Sunday night.
I am really thankful that others feel that they can write our blogs from time to time, it takes the pressure off, with that in mind i’m thankful to Naomi who has written this weeks.
No doubt, with this beatitude, as with all the others, the first question we find ourselves asking is what does it mean when it talks about being “pure in heart”. For some of the earlier beatitudes, we discussed the idea that they’re not necessarily aspirational, but rather they are consolation for when we inevitably find ourselves, “poor in spirit” or “those who mourn”.
It is hard to see this one in the same light as I’m sure most people would aspire to be someone who is “pure in heart”. When researching into this verse, the main idea put forward is that suggesting that to be pure in heart is to have good intentions, rather than good behaviour. It appeals to the idea of God being concerned on what is going on internally, rather than what we choose to show externally.
As a teacher, I sometimes (often) get frustrated at the way we assess and give feedback to students. We are so obsessed with data and what “success” looks like that we only give value to a percentage on a test. All that percentage tells you is how a particular student performed on a particular task on a particular day. It doesn’t tell you how much effort they put into the classwork in the weeks leading up to the test, nor the time spent on revision. It doesn’t tell you if they tried their hardest on the day or if they decided they just couldn’t be bothered. A list of GCSE grades on a CV doesn’t tell you if a student gave their best for “mediocre” pass grades or if they sailed through to top grades with a minimum of effort or desire to do well. In short, we assess and give credit to the external behaviour, rather than the will and intentions of the heart. When I speak to parents at parents’ evenings I always focus on talking to them about their child’s attitude to learning and participation in lessons rather than their attainment – I can’t expect all students to get 100% but I can hope that they will give 100%.
For me, this verse speaks of God blessing those who strive to do His will, even if they don’t always achieve it. In a world where Facebook and Instagram enable us to only show our best sides, where we can paint a picture that displays a false reality, God sees our hearts; He knows our intentions, we cannot deceive him. It should also be noted that none of us can be truly “pure in heart” without allowing God to make us that way – that we must accept we aren’t perfect and are all in need of His help in this matter.
Questions
At school, what kind of student were you? What was your school report most likely to say?!
What do you think it means to be “pure in heart”?
Do you think good intentions and good behaviour go hand in hand? Is one more important than the other?
Do you think this world values intentions or actions/results more?
What do you think it means when it says “for they shall see God”? Why does this blessing go with this beatitude?
Rob Wylie is the founder of BeachcomberFX and guides its leadership team. He has worked in the North East for over 20 years and has vast experience from various roles he has held. He has a passion for Fresh Expressions of Church and Pioneer Ministry as well as beer, beaches and Miniature Schnauzers.
Hi folks, I hope you are doing ok, this week we will be meeting at the Crescent Club, upstairs in the Seafront Lounge at 7.30. Rememberer its the fireworks in Whitley Bay so give yourself a bit more time. This weeks blog is written by Pauline.
Keeping in mind David’s previous comments about looking at the beatitudes not as a list of rules or things that we should become before we can be blessed, but rather as being more about what God’s kingdom might look like particularly at that time, for those struggling with life and all it might be throwing at them. The blessings of God’s kingdom were available then (and are now) in Jesus to those who might find themselves at the bottom of the heap or those maybe struggling with issues of the day such as persecution, conflict, occupation or oppression.
This fifth ‘blessed’ links the mercy that we receive from God to the mercy we extend to others. So it is about how they/we live it out. (Maybe all the beatitudes are about how we live it out and maybe the wanting to is the first step).
There seem to be a few different ways of looking at what mercy is:
Compassion: Kindness and care given to someone who needs it, someone who is hurting or suffering (we have the power to withhold it). An example is the good Samaritan. The kingdom is like this!
Giving to charity or volunteering can be called acts of mercy, but not everyone can do this.
Forgiveness: The biggy! Mercy and forgiveness is the heart of the gospel. (They are not just what God does or gives but who God is… I love that thought)
The experience of forgiveness is about a magnanimous and gracious God who says ‘come in’ it’s ok, never mind your mess, let’s start again, I love you and will never stop loving you. The word used in Hebrew for mercy apparently means “the steadfast, enduring love which is unbreakable”; sometimes it is translated as “ loving kindness” or “covenant love”. It’s the way of the kingdom.
“We do not attain anything by our own holiness but by ten thousand surrenders to mercy. A lifetime of received forgiveness allows us to become mercy: That’s the Beatitude. We become what we receive, what we allow into our hearts. Mercy becomes our energy and purpose. Perhaps we are finally enlightened and free when we can both receive it and give it away—without payment or punishment.” (Adapted from Richard Rohr with John Bookser Feister, Jesus’ Plan for a New World: The Sermon on the Mount (Franciscan Media: 1996), 136, 137-138.)
The mystery of forgiveness is that God in Jesus was willing to come into our world to die as he did so that we might know it and receive it and with his help live it.
There is another interesting thought about the mystery of forgiveness also from the book referenced above and I wonder what you think about it?
“The mystery of forgiveness is God’s ultimate entry into powerlessness. Withholding forgiveness is a form of power over another person, a way to manipulate, shame, control, and diminish another. God in Jesus refuses all such power.
If Jesus is the revelation of what’s going on inside the eternal God (see Colossians 1:15), which is the core of the Christian faith, then we are forced to conclude that God is very humble. This God never seems to hold rightful claims against us. Abdicating what we thought was the proper role of God, this God “has thrust all our sins behind his back” (see Isaiah 38:17).”
Questions:
Should the Bounty in ‘Celebrations’ be given mercy? – Argue you’re case.
How many times are we supposed to forgive? And where does it say that?
How can we practice being merciful?
Do you think there is a difference between big acts of mercy and small ones?
What do you think about the idea of “the mystery of forgiveness being God’s ultimate entry into powerlessness?”
How do you go about forgiving those who hurt you personally by words or actions?
How can we forgive those who attack our liberty and way of life, or those who start wars, hurt innocent children or who rape or murder?
Rob Wylie is the founder of BeachcomberFX and guides its leadership team. He has worked in the North East for over 20 years and has vast experience from various roles he has held. He has a passion for Fresh Expressions of Church and Pioneer Ministry as well as beer, beaches and Miniature Schnauzers.
Hi folks, I hope you are well, this week we are taking a break from looking at The Beatitudes by having a walk from Cullercoats Crescent Club to the Head of Steam in Tynemouth. This will be a nighttime walk because of the clocks going back, so wrap up warm. So if you would like to come we will see you at 7.30 in the car park at the club.
Here are some questions for the walk….
Where is your happiest place?
What places are mysterious, or eerie, or spooky to you?
What places are sacred, holy, or at least special to you, or to others?
Rob Wylie is the founder of BeachcomberFX and guides its leadership team. He has worked in the North East for over 20 years and has vast experience from various roles he has held. He has a passion for Fresh Expressions of Church and Pioneer Ministry as well as beer, beaches and Miniature Schnauzers.
Hi folks, I hope you are doing ok, this week we will be meeting in the upstairs seafront lounge at the Crescent Club at 7.30, it would be great to see you if you are able. If you have never been on a Sunday night you would be very welcome to join us.
What a week it’s been, so much going on, and so I had to smile when I realised that this weeks text from the Beatitudes was this:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6
It does seem very apt to read these words in the light of all that is going on, not just on our own shores but across the world. And there is a lot going on in this verse, ‘hunger’, ‘thirst’, ‘righteousness’, ‘filled’. It seems that this verse will never not be relevant!
I wonder what comes to mind when you think about hunger and thirst? I suspect we have all experienced this, but maybe not in a way that equates to hunger and thirst found during extreme drought and such like. But really what we mean here is a sense of lack, an emptiness or craving. And of course this is not about food or water, but about the world around us and things that are going on.
That is where righteousness comes in, a sense of things being ‘put right’ or a sense of justice, it’s hard to get your head around but it’s what we think about when we look at the world and think, ‘that’s just not right’! It’s a dream of something better. It is when we wonder ‘what would the divine want out of this world’, It’s about recognising the sacred worth of each human being, the sacred worth of what it is to be alive in this world, it’s that. And right now, we see many situations where that is the case, where we see a sense of lack and think, ‘it could be better’, in fact maybe each of us is hard wired to pursue a sense of righteousness and that is what we crave.
And then of course we have this sense of being filled, in other words a sense of satisfaction, like that satisfaction after a slap up meal or when something has gone well and you know, and sense it within you.
So where does this lead us? Well, it seems to me as we look at the world, at this life, that the world often actively works against this sense of righteousness, it overrides, sidelines, monetises, limits it, and assumes that it’s overrated and overstated and so this is where this beatitude reminds us of who we are.
Some questions
What is your favourite meal?
What is your favourite soft drink?
Can you remember the last time you were hungry or thirsty and what was it like?
What does this sense of inner lack feel like for you?
How do you understand righteousness, is it hard wired into our humanity?
What small things can you do to make changes to feed this sense of hunger and thirst?
Rob Wylie is the founder of BeachcomberFX and guides its leadership team. He has worked in the North East for over 20 years and has vast experience from various roles he has held. He has a passion for Fresh Expressions of Church and Pioneer Ministry as well as beer, beaches and Miniature Schnauzers.
Before I dive into the whole meek inheriting the earth bit I want to start with my take on the beatitudes as a whole.
Christianity has been pretty good at the old rules and regulation side of things for many centuries. We love a list of things that are prohibited and you should most definitely not ever do and those things that are good and the more you do them the bigger your mansion in heaven will be.The problem with rules is that it often oversimplifies things and creates a mathematic formula that puts the power into our hands.So as long as you don’t murder anyone or covet their wife you are all good but if you take the Lord’s name in vain then you are doomed.
When we read the beatitudes in this way, that is as a list of things we should become in order to receive the blessing. Then it just becomes another list of rules for us to succeed or fail at, another set of goals to achieve… or not.When I read the beatitudes I have come to understand them much more about what God’s kingdom is about and a message to those who find themselves with nothing.No one can attain the blessing by mourning more, making sure they have a really poor spirit, or getting themselves persecuted as often as possible. Instead the beatitudes offer a promise to those who are overlooked, undervalued, remain hidden or struggle to work out why God would care about them at all.
I like this quote from Dallas Willard in his book the Divine Conspiracy;
“The Beatitudes, in particular, are not teachings on how to be blessed. They are not instructions to do anything. They do not indicate conditions that are especially pleasing to God or good for human beings. No one is actually being told that they are better off for being poor, for mourning, for being persecuted, and so on, or that the conditions listed are recommended ways to well-being before God or man. Nor are the Beatitudes indications of who will be on top “after the revolution.” They are explanations and illustrations, drawn from the immediate setting, of the present availability of the kingdom through personal relationship to Jesus. They single out cases that provide proof that, in him, the rule of God from the heavens truly is available in life circumstances that are beyond all human hope.”
So! Blessed are the meek.
No one wants to be described as meek… I mean no one.
The dictionary definition says meek means – quiet, gentle, and easily imposed on; submissive. It basically describes the kind of people who are walked over by others.Look at those in any kind of power or with any kind of influence and ask yourself are any of these people meek? Or think about how you would feel if someone described you as a meek individual. Would you take it as a positive or negative statement.
When Jesus was sharing the beatitudes with the gathered crowd he could probably see the meek amongst them. Probably way at the back because others pushed in front of them to get a better view and they didn’t say anything about it.Some may have been forced into giving another a lift up so they could see and hear better whilst they have to bear the weight of them on their shoulders and only catch muffled snippets of what is being said.The meek would have been all around in that crowd and Jesus wanted to tell them about a God and a kingdom that was for them.
I will leave you with a poem written by Eugene Peterson (creator of the Message translation of the bible)
The Lucky Meek
“Blessed are the meek”
Moses, by turns raging and afraid,
Was meek under the thunderhead whiteness,
The glorious opacity of cloudy pillar.
Each cloud is meek, buffeted by winds
It changes shape but never loses
Being: not quite liquid, hardly
Solid, in medias res. Like me.
Yielding to the gusting spirit
All become what ministering angels
Command: sign, promise, portent.
Vigorous in image and color, oh, colors
Of earth pigments mixed with sun
Make hues that raise praises at dusk,
At dawn, collect storms, release
Rain, filter sun in arranged
And weather measured shadows. Sunpatches.
Questions
Are you a rule keeper, rule bender or ruler breaker?
What is the most trouble you have ever got in?
Who is the most famous person you know that you would describe as meek?
How would you feel if someone called you a meek person?
If you are joining us to discuss this blog we will be at Cullercoats Crescent Club from 7:30pm – see you there
Photo by San Fermin Pamplona: https://www.pexels.com/photo/bird-s-eye-view-of-group-of-people-1299086/
Has been a part of BeachcomberFX since his arrival in the North East in 2014. He is well travelled (at least in the UK) having lived in Manchester, Nottingham, Derbyshire, Southport, Doncaster, Berwick and Edinburgh. Supporter of Newcastle United, will watch any sport.
Hi folks, I hope you have had a good week, we will meet as usual In the Sea front lounge at 7.30. This week our blog is written by John Morley.
Well, they chose the right person to talk about loss. Last Sunday at the pub I lost my wallet, just an example of a theme running through my life. At 12 I left a camera on top of a mountain
So Rob said “can you do a blog?” “OK (too quick there) What’s it on?” “your job – bereavement” .”Whats the passage” “blessed are those who mourn” I’m thinking. ‘Ahhhhh’!
Well its a music link first to lead us into the topic today. I’m suggesting that we listen to the track first then think about the topic but if that way round doesn’t work for you please prepare by looking at the text first then listen to the music.
What did Jesus mean? Mourning can cover a range of circumstances e.g loss of employment, relationship breakdown, refugees who have fled their homes experience loss, even trauma .The most obvious and in many ways biggest loss is the death of a loved one which we’re focusing on today. Which loss Jesus is referring to though is hard to judge, maybe all of them.
I would like to suggest we bring to mind someone we can talk to and can trust with our most personal feelings for whatever these thoughts, discussions and questions may bring up in case we need someone’s help.
It’s said that people go through various stages when someone they are close to dies. I want to reflect a bit on those stages myself in this ‘blessed are they who mourn ‘ discussion. As I said I want to reflect on mourning. Bible scholars may accuse me of missing the point that the sermon in the mount is a whole package addressing people in a particular 1st century context of trauma and oppression from military occupation. Well there I’ve considered it. Rob told me to do this on bereavement though.
Looking at what happens to us in the death of a loved one there are considered to be 5 stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. I’d like to briefly share with you a bit of my experience.
My Mum died in 2016 of a brain tumour .The 18 months leading up to mum’s death was a time of suffering for her. She chose to live with the cancer, the treatment and all that meant. A time that was obviously very very hard to live with and was hard to watch. After mum died I didn’t go to see her at the funeral directors and even now I don’t go that much to the grave at the woodland burial site or talk with my family about it. When I look back to the immediate days after mum died with myself in a dazed state, I remember listening to a brass band playing a Frank Sinatra song and what really hit me was that the song was a called ‘someone to watch over me’ A lot of these stages overlapped in my situation and because my mum was ill for over 18 months some of these stages happened while she was still alive. I remember too after mum died as arrangements were being made for the funeral, my family were getting cross with each other about who did what or who was taking over. I think I was more depressed before my mum died and angry after about how she died. I think I’m very good at denial and burying too and certainly haven’t reached a stage of acceptance yet. This was 7 years ago and in opening up here over this it still looks like a jumble of confused feelings, hurts and loss.
The lyrics for the introductory song cover many of these stages for me but make it personal we are real people with emotions not text book processes.
“How Could You Be Gone” (from Dark enough to see the stars)
I keep starin’ at the clock
Stumblin’ round the house in shock
I don’t know what I feel
I can’t believe that this is real
I don’t know what to wear
I don’t know who will be there
I wanna call you, I wanna cry
I don’t wanna say goodbye
Turn the key make the drive
Park and watch the cars arrive
Friends I never knew you had
It’s movin’ slow, it’s movin’ fast
I walk by your photograph
I hear your voice, I hear your laugh
Everybody’s dressed in black
I still think you’re comin’ back
How could you be gone
How could you be gone
I’m sitting in a plastic chair
The preacher’s words hang in the air
A cross of roses, pink and white
Slideshow pictures of your life
Children run across the lawn
They don’t understand you’re gone
I’m lookin’ for you in the crowd
Lookin’ for you in the clouds
How could you be gone
How could you be gone
We all hang our heads to pray
Preacher tells us what to say
I don’t know what I believe
I just know I have to leave
I walk alone back to my car
I go before the goodbyes start
I have always been this way
You were the only one who could make me stay
How could you be gone
How could you be gone
How could you be gone
How could you be gone
Mary Gauthier
Some Questions:
What do you remember losing, where was it and how do you feel when you lose things?
In what ways have you experienced loss?
Do you recognise the stages of grief in your experience of loss of a loved one?
What sort of mourning was Jesus referring to?
What sort of comfort was Jesus referring to?
When we meet to discuss this no one will be put on the spot to talk about anything they are uncomfortable about but if you join us we hope you will find some comfort and the group loving and supportive.
Rob Wylie is the founder of BeachcomberFX and guides its leadership team. He has worked in the North East for over 20 years and has vast experience from various roles he has held. He has a passion for Fresh Expressions of Church and Pioneer Ministry as well as beer, beaches and Miniature Schnauzers.
Hi folks I hope you are all doing ok? This week we meet at the Crescent Club at 7.30 upstairs in the sea front lounge, i hope you can join us. We are about to start a new series of blogs, based around the beatitudes, if you want to read them they can be found in Matthew 5:3-12. We will tackle each one over the next few weeks up to Christmas with other things threaded into our program.
The beatitudes form the start of the Sermon on the mount give a snapshot as to what is to come in the following chapters.
Now of course these were ‘meant’ for those who were listening to Jesus at that time, but it doesn’t mean to say that they do not speak to us today.
We are going to think about the first one, verse 3 of Matthew 5. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
David has already done some work on beatitudes and he suggests that some of these are not something we would want to aspire to, I suspect many of us don’t want to be poor… we don’t want to become poor in spirit now, or it maybe that’s exactly how you feel, but it would be a strange thing to want to aspire to.
Different translations also put a different spin on this term ‘poor’, some say ‘hopeless’, ‘depend’, ‘those who know they are spiritually poor’, ‘humble minded’, ‘at the end of your rope’.Each one offers something different.
Sometimes the way this text is interpreted puts a positive spin on this by suggesting that it recognises our need of God, which of course there is an element of truth in, but it may mean more than that. The amplified version says this – ‘poor in spirit [those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant]’
Could it be that it means there is hope for us if we are struggling to find a connection with spirituality, could it be that God or however you want to describe God actually holds us?
Could it be that this refers to our former self, that you used to be poor in spirit. It could also refer to the present tense, that right now that is where you actually are… But the hope here is that wherever we may be spiritually that this otherness makes us special
Some Questions
What is your favourite spirit? (alcoholic or ghost)!
How do you understand ‘poor’ in this context given the different ways it has been translated?
Rob Wylie is the founder of BeachcomberFX and guides its leadership team. He has worked in the North East for over 20 years and has vast experience from various roles he has held. He has a passion for Fresh Expressions of Church and Pioneer Ministry as well as beer, beaches and Miniature Schnauzers.
Hi folks, I hope you are well? This week we will meet at the Crescent Club in the Sea View Lounge at 7.30pm. We will also pause at 8.00pm for the two mins silence. If that’s not for you just pop to the loo!!
Well, what a fortnight! I have to say being overseas when something momentous happens is rather bizarre. It’s interesting to see how other countries view major world events. So my blog this week is my reflections on my time in Estonia and brief thoughts of the events in the United Kingdom.
Some twenty-seven years ago I arrived in Estonia as part of a team to work in the church and teach English in Parnu. It was an incredible year. I went with two other Brits, Andy and Jane, and an Estonian girl named Helen.
Andy, the team leader had suggested we go back this year to catch up with folk and do some work as part of Andy’s sabbatical. When we contacted Jane and Helen, we discovered that they were going to be in Tallinn anyway to do the half marathon. This sounded like a great opportunity to make a bit more of it. So I reached out and contacted the (not so) young people we worked with as well as the church. The church advertised our return as an opportunity for those who might remember us to come along and catch up with us.
Estonian Seed Team
We organised a silly night of English club activities (Andy’s forte) and shared a little of where we were at in our lives. On Sunday, Andy and I did a short preach as part of the service. We had some great opportunities to meet people and chat about life and where folks were at.
It was a great opportunity to connect and reconnect, not just as a team, but to see where things were at in Estonia. It is a beautiful country with very old buildings merging in with the new. When we were originally there the poverty of mostly Russians was very clearly seen on the streets, with beggars. We didn’t see half as many as I was expecting this time.
When we first visited there was a great sense of optimism about the future, the influence of the West was seeping into their culture, and now it finds itself as one the most expensive places in Europe because of its proximity to Finland and Sweden and its connection to the Euro.
There was a sense of nervousness with some of those we chatted to about the situation in the Ukraine and the rumours about what Russia might do next. The relationship between Estonian speaking Russians and Russians that don’t speak Estonian can be problematic.
It was interesting having conversations with those involved in the leadership of the church – there are lots of big issues at play. They are struggling with communities that view organised religion and institutions sceptically. A few folks talked about a strong atheistic view although we also heard a desire to explore spirituality in new ways. There are still issues around mixing of Estonian and Russian speakers in church contexts.
Of course being in Estonia when the UK was going through so much was a great way to see how things are viewed from a distance. So much like the UK when things happen overseas, they are met with a token response.
There was also a sense of not really knowing how to feel. I’m not a huge royalist, but neither do I think they should be ousted, I find it hard to get my head round the sense of grief that some feel over it, and yet it’s clear they feel it deeply.
From a distance it was interesting seeing polar opposites appear on my social feeds. These polarised views, although helpful to make it clear where we stand, also cause a sense of pain for those who think differently. Even with the situation in the Ukraine, although I have no idea really, it could be as simple as Putin being a megalomaniac, or it could be viewed that Gorbachev gave too much away depending on your perspective.
Dealing with the amount of polarisation that is evident in our world leads me to wonder where we actually end up, we see it so often in our politics about left and right, we see it in our views of religion, surely we can or should be better that that, although I have no idea what that might look like!
Some questions.
Can you recall going back to a place you hadn’t been back to for a long time? What was it like?
How do you view the breakup of the Soviet Union?
What should we do with collective grief?
How can we deal with polarised views better?
What aspects of faith or spirituality could help us explore these things better?
Rob Wylie is the founder of BeachcomberFX and guides its leadership team. He has worked in the North East for over 20 years and has vast experience from various roles he has held. He has a passion for Fresh Expressions of Church and Pioneer Ministry as well as beer, beaches and Miniature Schnauzers.
