10 Years On...

Yes, its ten years on (not since my last blog post, but close...)... Ten years on since the world changed in profound ways as the result of the terror attacks on the Word Trade Centre and the Pentagon in the US. It's hard to remember life before the very bizarre "the war on terror" that followed and remains with us to this day.

One of the things that has changed, of course, is the perception of Muslim people in our world. 

Research has shown that there has been a dramatic rise in the levels of demonisation that Muslim people have experienced across the globe since the 2001 attacks. There seems to be a new xenophobia in town, or at least new expressions of old xenophobia that has been lurking not too far from the surface of our communal life. This developing mindset has coloured our own our nation's views on worthwhile pursuits like multiculturalism and the processing on asylum-seekers.

Personally, I don't know that many people who identify as "Muslim". I could count them on one hand. But when you know someone, it certainly cuts through all the xenophobia that swirls around you... When I was a school chaplain, one of the teachers at my school was a devout Muslim - a lovely, lovely man. One day, I was preparing to do some religious teaching in a class that this teacher was presiding over and he asked me if he could say something before I began. I wasn't too sure if I should let him (him being "Muslim" and all) but it was his class, what was I going to do? Besides, he was such a great guy... So, he spoke to the class for two or three minutes about the importance of God, and that even if God wasn't high on their agenda at the moment, if they listened, maybe later on in their lives their agenda might change and something they heard today might come back to them and be useful. He then handed back to me... but I was at a loss for words... I felt as thought the religion lesson had been well taught - well, it had been to me at least... 

I was so impressed with his words and his inclusion of me in his spiritual world. He had been far more gracious towards me than I would have been towards him. Something quite profound changed in me as a result of that exchange... It helped me to see that while we can spend a lot of time trying to work out who is "us" and who is "them, that mostly, I think, in a lot of ways, it is just all "us" out there, trying to work it all out and make the most out of our lives.

My encouragement on this suspicious anniversary is to go and hug a "them" today... Well, at least say "hi"... particularly if you are planning on hugging them next... Anyway, I'm sure you'll work it out...

Shalom

Steve

It's the End of the World As We Know It...

You might have heard that the end of the world  has been predicted for tomorrow... Harold Camping, a Christian radio broadcaster from  America, has made the call, after making a calculation of some kind  based on Biblical data. Unfortunately, in a pretty big hit to his credibility, he has been here before, predicting that the world would end in 1994...

...but it didn't, in case you were wondering why you are still here.

For some more info on this, you can watch a news video on the The Australian website by clicking here and/or go directly to the Family Radio website and read all about it (from the horse's mouth, so to speak) by clicking here... 

People are having a lot of fun with this, and it is hard to blame them. Having said that, this latest prediction provides an opportunity to ask the more serious question, "Where is it all actually heading?" The Jews of Old Testament times did talk about "the day of the Lord" - a time in the future when God would finally make everything that is wrong with the world, right again. A big part of this day would be  the judgement  of all people and the permanent establishment of God's new order of things... There are all kinds of theories about when this is going to happen and what it will involve, but most of the information used to work this stuff out comes from the New Testament book of Revelation, which is a pretty crazy read. You would have to be pretty game to make a hard call on anything based on the material in this book.

Jesus also referred to this "day of the Lord"; the time when the "Kingdom of God" would come once and for all. But his unique take on "the Kingdom" was that it was not just a future event to be expected or hoped for, but that is was something that was also happening in the present. He said things like "the Kingdom is near" and "the Kingdom is among you" and that he was at the centre of this activity. So, maybe Jesus' take on "the Kingdom" should inform our own take on the subject. Maybe we could focus on being a present day  outpost of the establishment of God's future rule over the cosmos. 

One of the things that Revelations does say about "the day of the Lord" is that there will be no more crying, sickness and death - that these "old things would have passed away" and that God will make "all things new". Now that sounds like something worth focusing on in the present. Let's get on with making God's future vision a reality in our own lives and world today.

That would bring about the end of the world as we know it and help to usher in a new world that we all might enjoy living in a whole lot more. 

You could say it might be like living in a kind of "heaven on earth"...

Shalom

Steve

     

Well Done, James...

Like all real men, I took only a cursory interest in the Royal Wedding. I sat at the kitchen table doing anything else while my beautiful wife Megan watched the wedding from prime position on our comfy couch. This arrangement suited me just fine. I was happy with the amount of wedding I was not tuning into... but then you can't help but pick up a few bits and pieces along the way in this kind of set up no matter how hard you try...

When James Middleton started to read the Bible Reading from Romans 12, I was drawn away from my not so important business at the kitchen table, and over to the TV... and this is what I saw and heard:

This reading from Romans 12 is one that I have read or heard many times before. It is the kind of reading that is easy to take for granted... I found James Middleton's reading of this passage very moving. There was a certain power to it that can't just be explained by the coaching he received . Anyway, it got me thinking about how the Bible and its message, in the right hands, can be powerful and moving... and also I guess, how in the wrong hands, it can be hurtful and repugnant...

So, thanks to all those who made the royal wedding possible so that James could deliver that great reading. It was worth the effort if just for that... I'm sure there were some other good things about it too...

Shalom... 

A Flood of Questions...

Homes lost; businesses gone; babies torn out of the arms of mothers; parents washed away in torrents... For some, lives have been ruined. For many, life has been put on hold, at the very least... We are by now, quite familiar with the images and stories of the flooding in Queensland of the past week, and underneath the many questions we have about this natural disaster is one question really - "Why?"...

In the Old Testament of the Bible, people saw everything as ultimately being of God's doing; as part of God's plan that He was working out. Natural disasters were seen as judgements from God for some lack of fidelity or the general wrong-doing of a people. "Why is this happening?", people would ask. "We are being judged for our wrongdoing." would come the reply. As our scientific knowledge has grown, we don't see this view expressed as robustly as we once did, but it is still out there...

Even if God is not doing something deliberate by sending a flood to devastate a community, surely if God is GOD, He might consider doing something about stopping or diverting the flood waters, mightn't He...? "Why is this happening?" people ask. "God doesn't care, is powerless to help, or isn't really there." comes the reply. God is seen as distant, uncaring, impotent and maybe even just plan evil. In the existential sense, we are alone in this...

If God is not there, then we are still left with the questions of "Why?" We can  strip the whole event of any meaning and talk about La Nina, flood plains, flood mitigation levels and dam management, and while there are concrete answers there to be found to our questions, they don't completely satisfy the yearning behind them. Our hearts still twitch for a deeper answer; for some meaning to the events and their consequences. We still want to know, "Why? Why? Why?"...

On one level, the answers to the question of "Why?" seem beyond our reach.  We may never fully appreciate "Why?" such things happen. But at another level, people seem to have instinctively found a response that is fitting for the moment...

Q - "Why?"

A - 7000 volunteers lined up on Saturday to help strangers across the city - more than the Brisbane City Council could handle...

Q - "Why?"

A - Lines of people, neck deep in water, removing precious possessions to higher ground for strangers, at risk of injury and sickness...

Q - "Why?"

A - Countless stories of people risking their own lives to help strangers or to reduce future life-threatening risks to others... 

Q - "Why?"

A - The lady who turned up to New Farm the other day with a plate of muffins for the volunteers working in that unit complex...

You know what I'm talking about. You've seen and heard all the stories... The best answer to the sometimes sob-ridden question of "Why?" has been presented over and over in the past week. There will be plenty of time to discuss all the other stuff over a beer later on...when all that smelly mud has been cleaned up...

Shalom

Steve

21st Century Christmas

Happy Christmas to all... Thanks to those who have engaged with this blog this year, even when my posting has been so erratic. I hope you have found it interesting or useful from time to time. I know it helps me to think through things, so at least it certainly has been useful for me...

For my final post of the year, here are some 21st century Christmas stories that others have sent me that I thought were worth passing on. You may have already received these... I thought they were great...

A Social Network Christmas

The Digital Story of the Nativity

"Shalom on earth and good will to all"

Steve

Turn the Other Chook

This is one of the best tag lines I've ever seen / heard / read... and for a great product / cause.

Given that Christmas is coming, Tear Australia has once again launched it's "Arguably the World's Most Useful Gifts - Christmas 2010" catalogue to give folks a non-consumerist option for their Christmas present buying this year.

Here's how it works...

Check out the link and have a look around the site. "Useful Gifts" is not limited to buying useful gifts at Christmas time, there are ways contribute throughout the year and even the opportunity to run your own "Useful Gifts" shop.

Check it out...

Shalom

Steve

Doubts and Loves

I recently finished reading a book by Richard Holloway called "Doubts and Loves: What is Left of Christianity". I have blogged on Richard Holloway before. I like his stuff. I think he has a lot to offer...

Richard Holloway used to be the Bishop of Edinburgh with the Scottish Episcopal Church, but resigned in 2000 after attending a Bishop's conference where he was appalled by the overall attitude of the conference to people who identify as gay and lesbian. Now, he calls himself an atheist or agnostic, but still attends and even preaches in a church. He's not sure about God, but he still loves Christianity and the church, and believes that it all still has something to offer. So, he is an 'outsider' of sorts. An outsider who has been on the inside and now likes to have a foot in each camp. I don't know if he would be pleased with that assessment of his current position, but it gives you some idea of where he is at... I hope...

Throughout "Doubts and Loves", Holloway outlines his current theological positions. He's not completely sure, but he doesn't believe there is a God;  he thinks religions are extremely insightful conversations humans have been having with themselves; there are and were no miracles (EG - no virgin birth, no water into wine, no healings and no resurrection etc ); there is no heaven and hell etc etc... you get the idea. His belief is that the gospels were heavily edited later on to include all the God claims and miracles of Jesus. But even without these, he still wants to be a part of "what is left of Christianity". He thinks that if people followed the way of Jesus, in terms of how he lived and what he taught , that even without all the spiritual and miraculous stuff, the world could be transformed, the Kingdom would come, and heaven would come to earth.

I was really challenged by that. Christianity is a faith that has spent a lot of time and effort getting it's beliefs right ("orthodoxy"). But what Holloway is suggesting, is that Christianity should be defined by it's "orthopraxy", that is, it's right practice and ethical living. So, here is a man whose theology is completey "not right" by orthodox standards. He doesn't subscribe to any of the orthodox creedal positions on God, Jesus, the Bible etc, and yet he believes that if we literally follow and imitate Jesus, we'll change the world and make Jesus' vision of the world a reality.

That's all I really wanted to say about that (how very Forrest Gump of me)... I just thought it was a great 'outsider" observation that we could get something from. Francis Schaeffer once asked the question (in the title of his well known book), "How should we then live?". Maybe rather than "What should we believe?", this is most important question of all?

Shalom

Steve

Beware the "Theological Flummery"

I am not at all sure about prayer, and I know I'm not alone in this... 

What is prayer? What and who is it for? Does it get results? I'm not going to really try and answer these questions in this blog post, because I don't know the answers. I know what some of the answers a supposed to be, but they do not always ring true for me. Many answers to the above questions, can in my opinion, be put under the heading of "theological flummery" - a term I have borrowed from Phillip Adams (this week's "outsider")  and his Weekend Australian column from a few weeks ago, entitled "Island of the gods".

We have had a good week as far as prayers go. My mum has just had an operation to remove a cancer from her brain and hundreds of people across the country and world prayed that this operation would go well, and it did. What role did our prayers play in that? Would the operation not have gone well if people didn't pray? I'm not sure how it all works, but these are the kind of questions that jump into my mind, especially during tough times that draw me into prayer. Don't get me wrong, I was happy to pray in this last week and very happy with the outcome of the process. But... I also know that many prayers prayed by people this week did not get answered favourably, and this is what prompts my questions...

Lately, in a humorous attempt to deal with my own questions about prayer, I've been joking about praying to the "milk bottle" for things. This is a reference to a Youtube video I watched called "the best optical illusion in the world", where the narrator challenges the "thinking Christian" to pray to a milk jug for $1000 and see how it answers. The punchline is that it answers in the same way that God apparently does, with either a "yes", "no" or "wait". It's meant to be serious, but it is kind of funny, peppered with some potentially flawed assumptions about the purpose and nature of prayer and some spurious logic. But the value of videos like this, articles like "Island of the  gods" and the convictions of their authors, is that they give serious pray-ers an "outsider's" view into the world of prayer.

They help us to see that most people do not appreciate simple, inadequate answers to the complexities and disappointments of life, and that we should be suspicious of any such simple answers that come our way, as well as those peddling them.  They also challenge us to ask questions about the nature and purpose of prayer, and to reject any assumptions about prayer that reduce it to a "Christmas wish list" for our lives (no matter how important the wishes), and consequently, God as "Santa Claus". It is possible that something a little beyond that, and us ,is going on when it comes to prayer.

Life, disappointments, prayer - this is sacred ground. Beware the "theological flummery"...

Shalom

Steve

Challenging the Chaplains

I remember going to the cricket one day with a group of friends, and one of them asked me how work was going (I work in the training department of SU Qld, the largest employing authority for state school chaplains in Queensland). I got about one or two sentences into my reply when he said, "You know, I really wish you guys didn't do what you do. I mean I like you and all, but I don't like the idea that there are chaplains in schools." Quite an interesting conversation took place after that. It is not the last one I have had, nor am I the only person who has been having these conversations. There has been a bit going on about it in the media over the last few years. 

The first 'outsider' view I wanted to share as part of my blogging 'come back' is about chaplaincy - a subject that is close to my heart. Not only do I work for SU Qld, but I have also worked as a chaplain in a high school. Compass, the ABC program that looks at issues of spirituality and religion in Australia, recently did a program called "Challenging the Chaplains." It looks at both sides of the "Chaplaincy debate" and challenges the place and value of  School-based Chaplaincy. 

I haven't got any comments I want to make about the program particularly. Maybe just to encourage you to watch the video, read some of the comments that people have made afterwards and reflect on it yourself.

To go to the Compass website and watch the program, "Challenging the Chaplains", click here ...

Shalom

Steve

The View from the Outside...

Well, only one post in four months, and that one was really just an apology for not doing any posts... Not a great record in recent times, but one I hope to rectify over the next few months at least. My study is over for the year, and my plan is to allocate some of my freed-up mental real estate to greenspacey type things, at least between now and mid-Feb 2011 when it will all start up again...

There are a few things on my mind today, and they all relate to "outsider" views on faith and spirituality and so that is what I want to start up on today. I have spent quite a bit of energy in the last few years reading about and listening to views on faith and spirituality from those outside of it, and I have had a number of chats with people who currently sit in this place. For those who hold faith of some sort, this is an extremely worthwhile yet threatening experience. Worthwhile in the sense that there is nothing like an outsider to help you to see your blindspots, and threatening in the sense that their is nothing like an outsider to help you see your blindspots.

In the recent subject I taught at Christian Heritage College (WE301 - Reflections on Human Services) we looked a lot at Michel Foucault's ideas around "discourse", which is essentially about worldviews and ideologies, the associated power arrangements, and the concepts, language and structures infused in those ideas and associated power arrangements. You often hear the terms "dominant" discourse or "competing" discourses in the literature on this stuff. It is very post-modern... One of the quotes I loved was that any kind of ideology or worldview we adopt is a "kind of violence" done on reality, because as soon as we begin arranging 'what is' into some set of ideas about 'what is' we have to  do a fair bit of cutting, pasting, blocking out, focusing on, ignoring this and emphasising that etc etc to make it fit in well enough... So in this way, none of us can have it totally right and none of us can have it totally wrong...

Another related set of ideas we talked about was Paulo Friere's material on "dialogue", which is basically about a  way of approaching and engaging with the different ideas, worldviews and discourses of others. This is done in such a way so as to genuinely consider the views of others, what value they might have in themselves, and even what value they might have for ourselves. In some ways it is an acknowledgement that each of us only have a particular worldview or discourse on life  that we are working with, and that others might have picked up on something that we've missed - like a blindspot for example...

One of the things we talked about in this class was whether Christianity was simply another discourse; that is, another way in which the cosmos can be arranged in our minds, communicated to others, argued about and used as a power tool (so to speak)... Some thought this could be right, others thought that something like Christianity sits above all discourses. We considered the "Big T" truth claims of faiths like Christianity and put them up against the "little t" truth claims of postmodernism and tried to locate ourselves in this apparent dichotomy. I wonder if people of faith, at best, can claim that they believe in "Big T" Truth (EG - God, the Bible etc) but have to admit that they can only ever know this in a "little t" truth kind of way (IE - through their own set of 'life goggles'). There is nothing wrong with this position. But if it is "true", then it is a good thing to acknowledge. It might help to keep us humble, with our adopted truth claims in check, open to what God has been revealing to others about 'what is'.

Over the next few weeks, I want to blog on about some examples of outsider views that are out there at the moment and challenge us all to consider what it is that we might need to consider and take on from these views. After that, towards  the end of November, we're going to engage in a few reflections for Advent in the lead up to Christmas. You are most welcome to come along...

Shalom

Steve