This week (because I promised to do a blog and have been really busy) I’m going to share with you one of the first blogs we’re going to do for Northern Shore – A sister community in Northumberland. Catching the zeitgeist, you could say this is a BFX x NSFX collab. Anyway, we will be meeting at the Tavern and Galley at 7:30pm – on with the blog.
This is looking at our first value – Embracing disorder and uncertainty.
I often walk into someone’s house that is a little messy and disordered and think, this is great. I remember walking into a friend’s house and there being piles of pages ripped from magazines. Obviously it was things that they liked or wanted to keep, and had piled up ready to read them. Or homes where there are loads of books, or plants, pictures etc. I admire disorder. However, I crave order. This is something I have reflected on a lot.
We’re probably all aware of the London Underground map – it’s a design classic. It was design by Harry Beck in 1931 to simplify the ever increasing complexity of the underground system. But it bears little resemblance to the topography of London. Claire always says that she prefers to walk when we go to London because you get a better sense of the city. The map may allow us to navigate the underground railway and its stations. To easily find out how to get from one station to another and work out the zones for fares. But it’s rubbish for understanding the actual geography of London.
We humans love to simplify things; it’s one of our traits. From art, to architecture, to rules, to social structures. From personality, to relationships, to life – you will find us simplifying to help us to make sense of it all. And that is not a bad thing, as long as we understand that is what we’re doing. We simplify to cope, and to manage all the input we get from life; but that doesn’t mean life or our place in it actually gets less complex.
So we decided that embracing life’s disorder and uncertainty was a good thing – it’s the reality of our existence.
In Matthew 11 there is this famous passage:
28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” The Message
Jesus’ message could be read to mean that everythings going to be easy and straightforward – but that’s not how I read this. He says he’s addressing those who are worn out and heavy-burdened. This isn’t a call to simplistic belief that everything is going to be sunny. Instead, it’s a promise NOT to add to the burden. Life is hard enough, complex enough, troublesome enough without more weight, or without unrealistic simplistic promises. Our faith should make sense of our human experience in all its messiness; not pretend life isn’t like that. And that’s why we have chosen to say that we embrace disorder.
Life is messy, together we embrace what it means to be human, and walk through it together.
Questions
- Where is the most disordered place in your house?
- Thinking back to the first section, do you admire disorder or crave order?
- Is simple: ordered or disordered; does it free us from complexity or allow complexity to happen; is it freedom or control?
- Does faith incline towards simplicity or complexity? How does this affect how you live your life?
- Where do you crave more order?
- Where could you grow disorder?
- Take some time this week to look at forms found in nature (trees, clouds, beaches, etc) and consider where there is simplicity and complexity.
I’ve been a member of BCFX for about 2 years. I love it. It’s home and hearth, welcome and challenge, ebb and flow.