A propos of nothing much really - just a thought that flitted across my brain and provided five minutes distraction from a backlog of admin.

As part of my research into Habakkuk, I looked him up in the Revised Common Lectionary - he doesn't feature much.  I recalled a work colleague telling me about a nun he knew who set out to list, and then read, those parts of scripture not covered by the Lectionary.  They tend to be the tricky bits - the odd rape or murder, insightment to violence against babies, and accusations of satanic parentage by none other than JC himself - and the boring & puzzling bits - long lists of names, numbers or objects and obscure rules about vomit, excrement and other bodily emissions.  But what if we did engage with these 'texts of terror' (as Phyllis Tribble titled her work) or texts of boredom or puzzlement.  How might that impact our thinking?  Hmm.

I have long been struck by St Augustine's words...

You called, You cried, You shattered my deafness.

You sparkled, You burned, You drove away my blindness.

You shed your fragrance, and I drew in my breath.

Therefore, from now on, I will pant for YOU alone.

 

This week, as I researched stuff for my prayers, I found a website on the Hebrew names of God that said that "Jehovah Nissi" does not simply mean 'God is my Banner' - the standard that flies above me on the battlefield - but effectively  'God who Glistens.'

I like that.  I like the idea of a sparkly God, though I'm not entirely sure what that means visually!  It helped me to make a bit more sense of Augsutines powerful and beautiful words.

I still need to work with what it means to have a sparkly God in the greyness that Habakkuk speaks of, but I'm sure it fits somehow.

It's a while now since my decision to preach on Habakkuk.  As I have studied this book, read some commentary and pondered what God might be saying through it to me, to my congregation, I have also been struck by the relentless level of bad news on the television.  Am I just more attuned to it, or has this been a summer of almost unrivalled awfulness?  Every day, it feels, there's another murder report, another fire, another natural disaster, another soldier killed - and the cry of Habakkuk 'how long' seems ever more pertinent.

Today was a rare event - one of those times when I felt it right to abandon my written sermon and just talk.  I retained the main threads - a faithful God and the need for faithfulness in the face of struggle - as we explored the idea of authenticity in church.

Some people got it, some people didn't - the only comment I got was that I spoke too quickly!

Next week we move on to theodicy - the defence of a good God in a world marred by evil.  It had not clicked until now that the weekend will be overtaken by Diana stuff, so it will be the more important to move beyond the mawkish to some real engagement with tough questions.  I will be attempting to get people to think a bit, and to move beyond simplistic views I have heard expressed that "these are the end times so such things must happen" and/or "well it must be down to their sin." (Think of Luke's gospel and the tower that fell on people if you need to challenge such views)

Before the service, one of my folk told me she felt that God was speaking to her about the need to open the door between church and world, I have felt that we need to allow the realities of real life to enter our worship (something that Habakkuk expresses).  Many non-Christains I know use the questions of evil and suffering as their argument for the non-existence of God; I feel that we need to see that an engaged and provisional theodicy is actually part of mission - authenticity and trust in God despite all, not in a naive way, but one that is implied by Habakkuk's words that 'the people of God will experience life in all its fullness because of their faithfulness' (my paraphrase of some stuff I've read).

It is a mystery how sometimes things seem to fall into place,  As one of my Regional Ministers sometimes says, with a twinkle in his eye, 'if you were religious you might think God had something to do with it'!

I am due to lead worship at an upcoming biggish event and I'm trying to find an easy to learn Portuguese language worship song (for any local folk who know me, the local Portuguese speakers are simply not answering my request!).  Does anyone have anything - words and music - that I could have a copy of?

I have lots of non-English stuff but nothing in Portuguese, which is the one language I really need this time.  (And, no, Spanish won't do as 'near enough')

This programme on ITV on Sunday evenings will, this week, show Housteads Fort on Hadrian's Wall.  You ought to watch it, if only because we were walking by when they were doing a bit of early morning filming last week.  Quite a strange sight to see a 'cat on a stick' as you climb up a hillside.  It was tempting to make a loud noise and spoil the shot, but we were well behaved!

I looked at the website today and was intrigued and a bit disappointed how few of my own favourites were there.  The choices for London were, I guess, predictable, but for me one of the best views is from Blackfriars railway bridge, the city to the east and the 'Post Ofice' tower west and north - London in an instant.  Not sure what my favourite Manchester view is - I always look out for the spire of St Mary's in... Hulme?  Moss Side?  Not sure which!  Where I used to live - sentimental twaddle really.  The view from the platform in the Imperial War Museum North is impressive but I actually prefer some of the lower down views.  I have a post card Jim Medway's cartoon 'Oxford Road' of some cats catching a No 42 bus near the railway bridge on Oxford Road which is certainly one of my favourite views of Manchester - not pretty but authentic.

Watching last week's programme, I was struck by how many of the views were those people associated with childhood - a kind of nostalgia driven preference.  My own favourite childhood views are no more - "Blackey Moor" was our favourite place as children, a very long walk through a farm, over a brook to the grounds of a once grand house where a dogs' graveyard (complete with head stones) lay hidden behind a pond that was great for 'fishing' for tadpoles.  Now it is covered in houses, a whole generation has grown up not knowing the simple pleasures we enjoyed.  Sad?  Maybe, but my own special places have shifted and changed as I have moved around the country.  I don't know that I have one 'favourite view' or one special place any more, rather I have places and peoples I love, sometimes despite what they look like.

It is interesting to see what various people consider their favourite view and to hear the stories of why it is so, not so much because of the places chosen, but because it reflects the wonderful diversity of this tiny island we are blessed to call home.