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A Skinny Fairtrade Latte in the Food Court of Life - Page 763

  • All Quiet

    Nothing much happening in my world this weekend... I need to tidy and clean my flat before I go to be redesigned but otherwise there is a strange emptiness and aimlessness caused by the need to avoid nasty bugs.  I am perseversing with IBRA's two weeks on suffering even if it annoys more than it edifies!  I have finally got round to setting up RSS feeds on the blogs I follow, so if your daily stats go down it's partly because I'm no longer visiting 'on spec.'  Should have done it yonks ago, but never mind.  Otherwise it is mostly a time of waiting and trying not to worry.  So, very quiet... highlights likely to include a trip to the recycling centre one day in the week!

    On a more upbeat note I have successfully eaten cheese, proof I'm now 'off' the mounttain and I am sleeping better, if not brilliantly.  Hurray!

  • Redemptive Suffering?

    Yesterday's Bible reading focussed on Paul's "thorn in the flesh" postulated as some kind of physiological problem.  This was linked by the commentator to participation in the suffeirng of Christ.  This makes it sound like redemptive suffering and therefore somehow 'good'.  Which gives me a bit of a problem because seeing suffering or sickness as good is contrary to common sense and even anything found on the Bible.  I am also not quite sure what is redeemed by the physical suffering of a child in Africa or an elderly person in a care home.

    Paul said his thorn in the flesh was 'to keep him humble' (an attribute that isn't always self-evident it has to be said) but the same surely cannot be said of the person with Alzheimers or the child with severe learning difficulties nor yet her parents.  Yes, in some of these cases they can 'grow' as people, can learn new values, can discover new definitions of worth or beauty... but it is only ever 'can' not 'will': their suffering is not de facto redeeming anything.  And sometimes the opposite is true - such suffering can be utterly destructive.

    I'm not quite sure how we are to understand 'participation on the suffering of Christ' but I'm convinved that it should not in any way be equated with disability or disease.

    Of course, I read these Bible notes through the eyes of a person living with disease, and that skews my vision; whilst I do hope I am growing in some ways through this experience, I don't see any 'redemption' going on!

  • Beware the Irish Stew

    A week on from my pre-op visit to the hospital and just about over my cold/infection I have been starting my preparations to enter the 'forest' on 2nd Feb.  As it gets closer I am relieved to say that it is looking a little less dense and dark but every now and then a grey cloud passes overhead.

    One of the lighter moments of the visit was that not one but all of the nurses I saw warned me that the food is bad in that hospital, one even saying 'beware the Irish stew.'  I was advised to bring in non-perishable snack food and to get my visitors to bring in sandwiches!

    So, yesterday I filled up a plastic tub with my survival kit...

    • a small jar of marmite - surely they will provide edible bread!
    • small packs of Fairtrade cashews, brazil nuts and fruit.
    • small cartons of apple juice (not risking citrus just yet)
    • bottle of elderflower cordial (the only non-citrus dilutable I like) (too big for the box but anyway...)

    Obviously I will also be taking a pack of wet wipes, some puzzle books, a novel, a notebook and pens, my trusty Bible (as distinct from a non-trusty one) and my MP3 players.

    I wonder what emergency rations/supplies you'd take into the 'forest'?

  • Wrestling with John 9

    Yesterday IBRA set John 9:1-17 as its daily reading as part of its theme of 'suffering.'  John 9, for those whose memory it has slipped, is the story of the man born blind whom Jesus healed by sending him to Siloam and who was subsequently ejected from the synagogue; the story of a man who moved from seeing Jesus as a 'man' to a 'prophet' to 'messiah.'  I well recall working with this passage in an NT class and exploring theories that it reflected the experiences of a postulated Johannine community or early church.  I have preached on the man's 'faith journey' and how we shouldn't expect people instantly to name Jesus as Lord.  But I have always struggled with the first few verses...

    As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.
    His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
    Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him.  John 9:1 - 3 NRSV

    The ancient worldview seemingly equated sickness and disability (and 'bad things' in general) to sin, either personal or parental. The question asked by the disciples is therefore a fair one... why was this man born blind?  There may be some philosophy going on... can a birth defect pre-empt personal sin?  There may be a justice question... why should this man suffer as a punishment for his parents' sin?  The first part of Jesus' answer, the part we latch onto, is radical - this birth defect has nothing to do with sin by the man or his parents.  Separating suffering in a disordered world from personal sin was, and is, dramatic.  Even today people ask themselves "what have I done to cause this?"  The answer "nothing" is vital in helping people cope.

    It is the second part of the answer that has always bothered me, and which I have never found anyone handle helpfully (including both sets of notes yesterday): it occurred "... so that God's works might be revealed in him."  This reads as if the man is a mere pawn in some divine show of strength.  Put crudely, "this man has suffered all his life just so that God can show how powerful He is."  Nah, not buying that, sorry.  What kind of a God is that?  And what does it say to people whose children are born with awful defects or to people who become ill?  It's OK you are a tool for God to use...? Not a helpful image of God I'm afraid.

    I found one hint of redemption for these opening verses in one of the IBRA sets of notes which observed the frequent use of the word 'send' and 'sent' in the story.  Apostle - one who is sent - has the same linguistic root.  The man to whom these things happened became in a way an apostle, or certainly a witness, to what he had experienced in Jesus.  That doesn't make it alright that he was born blind, doesn't make it right that he become a pawn in a divine show of strength, but it does allow the story to make a bit more sense.

    Suppose I re-write the verses...

    As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.
    His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
    Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents did anything to cause this, it is just 'one of those things'; but even though he was born blind God's works might be revealed in him, showing that he is not forsaken, and he will be a witness for me.

    It's still not entirely satisfactory, the man is still left a bit pawn-like but it's better.

    And so I come to my own story and try to place myself in the shoes of the blind man...

    As he walked along, he saw a woman with breast cancer.
    His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this woman or her parents, that this occurred?"
    Jesus answered, "Neither this woman nor her parents sinned, it is just 'one of those things' in a damaged and disordered world.  Yet within it all, God is present giving skill to medical professionals, hearing the prayers of those who love her, giving her courage and strength to carry on.  And, God willing, she will be one of my sent-ones, telling her faith story to others.

    Let's not dimish suffering with trite and ill-considered theology that says it is somehow God's purpose or punishment, heaping guilt on those who cannot experience it as such.  Rather let's be willing to accept we may never know 'why' and focus instead on walking together, with God, through the dark valleys.

    And a 'hmm' moment... PAYG this morning was Mark 3 calling of the twelve... I intuitively knew it would be even before I listened!

  • Song for Today

    This song was used by PAYG today.  Similar in some ways to the more widely known (in circles I move in) Michael Frye's Jesus, be the centre, which I also like, but this is easier for congregational singing and a tad more reflective...

    You are the centre, you are my life,
    you are the centre, O Lord, of my life.
    Come, Lord, and heal me, Lord of my life,
    come, Lord, and teach me, Lord of my life.
    You are the centre, Lord, of my life.
    Give me your Spirit and teach me your ways,
    give me your peace, Lord, and set me free.
    You are the centre, Lord, of my life.
    You are the centre, you are my life,
    you are the centre, O Lord, of my life.
    Come, Lord, and heal me, Lord of my life,
    come, Lord, and teach me, Lord of my life.
    You are the centre, Lord, of my life.
    Give me your Spirit and teach me your ways,
    give me your peace, Lord, and set me free.
    You are the centre, you are my life,
    you are the centre, O Lord, of my life.

    Margaret Rizza (born 1929) © 1998 Kevin Mayhew Ltd.

    Instrumental version can be heard here, words and music in The Source volume 4 and RC and Anglican Hymns Old and New

    For those who may be interested the Rizza song was published a year before the Frye one.