Wednesday 27 May 2009

3 Days to the 100k Trailtrekker (62.14miles) - eek

Just 3 days to go till I do the non stop 100k Trailtrekker combining the pain of multiple blisters with the glory of the Yorkshire Dales.

I am doing it for Oxfam, who are helping stockpile aid for emergency relief that can be on a plane to where ever its needed in just 13hrs - they specialise in toilets - not only is losing sanitation bad for disease but also for dignity. So if you want to get 'toilets on a plane' (a great film to be had there!) then sponsor me and my work colleagues here

Here to find out more about trailtrekker

Thursday 21 May 2009

The Sacrifice of Isaac

The story of the ‘almost’ sacrifice of Isaac has, over the centuries, remained both one of the most evocative and also highly contested tales in the Bible. How could God ask Abraham to kill his son? It appears to teach that we should do as God says, without questioning the ethics of the demand, and in the end, God will prove himself just. Is it really right that we do not question the ethics of God's apparent commands? - an argument that could be used to justify all manner of atrocities from the Crusades to 9/11. Here, though, I suggest an alternative, probably thought of by many others before me.
It strikes me that the story probably arose at a time when child sacrifice was common. It was inevitable that any conscientious person, who wanted to appease their deity, would assume that this is the thing to do. Abraham, brought up in such a world, was no different. He would have accepted the received wisdom that God wanted him to sacrifice his son - he even ‘heard’ God command it. However his instinct for justice and his love for his son meant that it did not sit easily with him, to say the least. As he heard the sound of a ram in the thicket he had something of an epiphany. “Maybe God wanted him to sacrifice a ram instead.” The tale, I suggest, became important for later Judaism in defining the distinctiveness of their religion. It explained why they sacrificed animals, while the religions around sacrificed children. Thus, when Jews told the story of the origin of their faith, they told it as a story about the rejection of the inhumanity of child sacrifice.

Rather than reading it as a story that encourages blind, unquestioning obedience, I suggest it should be read as a tale about the ways in which we can all hide behind God’s ‘command’ and thereby do evil in God’s name. It is also, though, a story about the rescue of a loving, caring father from the brink of a murderous act in the name of God. It is about the possibility of rescue for all of us from harmful belief systems. To quote one of my favourite poems,
“ the awareness of things ill done
and done to others’ harm
which once you took for exercise of virtue”

It is about the human capacity to mishear (sometimes genuinely) and find ourselves, in the process, culpable of dehumanising. It is about the human discovery that God always works to make us more human and that any conception of God that dehumanises is to mishear or misunderstand.

I’m hoping to read “Fear & Trembling” by Kierkegaard over the holiday, which I think picks up the image of the ‘sacrifice’ of Isaac. Hopefully I’ll learn more after reading it.

Saturday 9 May 2009

Church on Fire!


"set your holy church on fire"


Is it just me, or does this line from a Matt Redman song ask God to be an arsonist?


Surely, there must be some budding lyricists out there who are capable of meaningful metaphor!

Friday 8 May 2009

Gori Gori Hallelujah

Click pic to see this great story and don't forget to go to his page

Monday 4 May 2009

Great day...light

H gave me a day to myself today so i read, had coffee with my mother, went for a great fell run (in horizontal rain but that didn't include an asthma attack :-) and went to loads of artists studios as part of the Open Up festival - Great day. Loved the art and thoughts included:

:-( Sad that a number of the representations of a generic idea of violence were taken from the Christian religious tradition

:-) I LOVED this guy's stuff above. The views are some of my favorite views and his use of light (in street scenes as well - check Eccy rd) really impacted me - an evocative joy. It reminded me of a line from my previous post about light. Light in these pictures and in everyday reality is truly transformative. Even though the physical reality remains the same, somehow everything is different (dynamic, animated, pregnant with potential/meaning...etc?).

Acts 8 v 12 Then Jesus spoke out again, “I am the light of the world. The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Sermons?

More knowledge (hearing?) = progress? - good old Jon

Sermons...discuss?