Chasing peace and love

If we were to really start to think about the Gospel message then we begin to understand our paucity of knowledge. In the Gospel passage from John (14.23-29) there are three things that need to be noted and for us to know in our hearts as if they were a natural part of ourselves. The first is love, the second is peace and the third which is between these two is the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide. I can hear it now but we do know love; we do know peace; and perhaps we will acknowledge that the Spirit is a little bit beyond our comprehension. In saying that I think we need to look at our definitions and our knowledge a little more closely and ask ourselves the question: What is (peace, love, the Spirit)? I think that at the end of the day we will come up with a zero sum answer that tells us that we actually do not KNOW these things that we speak so glibly about.

Let's take peace first. The peace that Christ gives to us through his presence for this is truly what peace is about. In speaking about peace we often use war as a referral as the opposite to what we wish for. This is perhaps the violent option and the peace that comes with the cessation of violence in our lives is a harbinger of peace in terms of what we are striving for when we think along the scriptural lines. If I was to ask, Can we have peace in the face of and in the presence of violence? I wonder what our response would be? Many I am sure not all but many would suggest that this is one of the pre-requisites for peace that there be no violence. Yet, Christ offers us and indeed gifts to us something that is greater than this paltry expression. I would suggest that there are greater moments of peace than just security from violence. I would also suggest that the moments of peace that are found outside the absence of violence are often greater than those that are found as a result of the absence of violence. Of course the latter helps but it does not mean that when there is no violence that there is peace within the community or even the individual. We must strive towards the understanding that peace is so much more than what we believe.

True peace is not found in the absence of violence

If we move on to love, can we really say that we know what this actually is when it is in our lives? Indeed can we have true love in the absence of peace? Many people would see love as being something that is either tacky or mushy depending on the age group we are speaking to. We may even conceive of love as having something to do with cooperation or openness to the other. However, our practice of love is often the opposite of the openness that Christ showed. Our love is protective and a jealous love. We do not want others to be part of our love and push them to the outside if they do not conform with our ideas and our ideals. We are jealous of others that appear to have a deeper love then ourselves and moan when we are unable to achieve what we aspire to because of our own jealousies. God's love is freely given to all and encompasses a diverse population. Christ opens his heart to those who are shunned and in need. Christ does not preference any one group and is as sharp with his commentary of his disciples as he is of those that are not. This is the completeness of love to be able to be fully open sharing your thoughts fully without fearing condemnation from the other.

Where does the Spirit of God fit in? The Spirit of God is the one that shows us the difference between our conceptions and those of God. When we are filled with God's Spirit we are able to fulfill the demands of God's peace and love without condemning the other. The manifestation of the Spirit is not necessarily showy and effusive. It may be a simple opening of our hearts to someone that comes into our lives and needs the tender care of God's presence through God's love and peace and we become that conduit. God is not showy. God works on the periphery of life bringing hope into the hearts of those who are shattered and without hope. It is when we begin to recognise the fullness of God's presence that we begin to understand what it means to have God's peace and love in our lives.

Punishing our children's children

The recent elections and the various headlines that have resulted led me to the text in Exodus regarding the sins of the fathers, which can be found in various Exodus and Deutoronomic texts. In looking at the commentary, much has been written about the fact that the government has failed with regards to its perceived obligations towards long term sustainability. Certainly many pundits saw this as an election that was going to be determined by the climate change debate rather than anything else. It turns out that rather than the long term future a more crass and selfish understanding drove the political markets on Saturday. I certainly have not reached an age where I have the ability and luxury to look back on a life well lived but with each passing year we all move in the same direction. For myself it is fairly obvious that God speaks to me about the future through the works of my children and their children and their children. If there is little in the future for them there is little in the present for myself, irrespective of how well or how poorly funded I am.

We are all prone to a basic selfishness when we look to the future. This is manifest in all sorts of situations usually towards change and our own customary position of comfort or perception of the future. No matter what institution we belong to or what institution is in the frame of commentary our perceptions and biases keep us from making decisions for our children's children. Let us, for example, look at the generation of power in this country. Current governmental policy, from all accounts, is an investment in a finite resource to the benefit of a few whilst other countries that are not as rich in the abundant resources of God's generous creation have changed their own power facilities to more sustainable resources. We have, for example, abundant resources in sunlight, water (salt and fresh), wind, etc to provide for a long term future of power, yet do not strive to utilise them or invest in them to boost the economic welfare of the people. However, current monetary considerations that line the pockets of a few (including the government) are of greater priority than their children's children.

When do we start concerning ourselves over our debt to our children's children?

Christ says that we must suffer the little children not make them suffer and yet when we look at our own organisational efforts we so often look only for ourselves and not for the future. I have known some places that have overlooked their responsibilities to the maintenance of buildings to such an extent that the children's children have been burdened with the needed repairs. It is a temporary thing that can be covered over with a bit of plaster as the cracks in the wall continues to expand. Only when we start, organisationally, to begin to think of our future do we begin to manage correctly our current burdens. Too often we put them of years down the road when we think we will not be there. Then the neglected issues have to be faced by those ill prepared to face them at a time of crisis. Even when we look at our familial relationships we sometimes neglect to look to the future by not setting up appropriate mechanisms to cope if we ourselves are unable to. Currently our legacy to our children, let alone our children's children, is debt: fiscal, economic, environmental, political and faith.

What would it mean for our future if there was no such thing as party alliance? What would it mean that we had to work with each other as a community rather than build strongholds of independence? What would it mean when we had to vote for a person's own policies and how they were able to work with others rather than a party? What would it actually mean if the future was open to change rather than a dependence on old thinking and old ways of doing and lining the pockets of those who have lived well? We need to begin at least to start thinking about our present vision of a future that only makes people already rich richer whilst not considering those who are poor and their continued degradation. We need to understand that it is we who impose on the generations to come the consequences of our current actions, whilst failing to take the burdens upon ourselves. We want the easy life but do not want to think of the future consequences because we will not be here to bear them. Our mistakes are only borne by those who come after. Christ asks us to bear our cross. He does not ask us to leave it for others to bear.

The call of love

Christ's call to love is a call that is placed upon us at baptism. As his disciples we are charged with the commandment to love one another (Jn 13.34). In this commandment lies all our personal interactions within and without the community in which we live. It is the basis upon which we as Christians and Christ's followers must (this imperative is essential) produce a stability to the increasingly diverse community of the modern age. It is not something that we can neglect and it is why we empower Godparents and parents to bring up their children in an extraordinary manner. We encourage and indeed command those who take these vows on for children to live to a standard that is far beyond what is common practice in today's world.

This extraordinary means of living is demonstrated within the story of Peter in the Acts of the apostles (Acts 11.1-18). Despite the requirements of Jewish law around dietary matters God's vision is a turning point in how Peter sees the community in which he lives. For us it must also be a turning point in how we live our lives and is an instruction to those who look to guide young people in their formative years. By accepting that which we automatically shun as a result of our own inner convictions with an act of love is the true beginning of living as Christ;s servant and disciple. Those who follow Christ are asked and are asking their compatriots to put aside their own deep prejudices and open their hearts to the community in which they live. To often we see this as but an excuse to create havens that are conforming to our own ideals and our own believes. No leadership and no form of politics if it is to be truly Christian can abandon people to live without care and love. This applies to a familial level as much to an international level.

Only when we come together do we expose love

We cannot abandon the least of our families, communities or other groupings for the sake of our prejudices and incoherent beliefs. The commandment that we obey is the one that is inclusive of all not just for some. This is something that we need to ultimately understand for ourselves as Christians especially within the present climate of expediency and denial that affects our everyday lives. Only when we have plumbed the depths of despair do we find the hope of the risen Christ in the love that is shared with our neighbours in humility and hospitality. Peter destroyed everything that he knew as being part and parcel of his faith to show the ultimate love of God for those we despise. It is only when we throw away our iconoclastic views and embrace the flow of love that comes from God through Christ can we manifest the remarkable changes that God's grace brings into our lives.

We can change the world, we may not have the will to change governmental policies that create an increasing divide within countries and between countries, but we can change the world by ensuring that the Christian message of love is carried into the future in the hearts and minds of the youngest members of society. We have been poor at undertaking the charge that Christ gives throughout the history of the Church establishment but as individuals it is up to us to ensure that the basis of our own lives within the community, not only of the Church but also of the seculam in which we live In doing this one thing we establish within our families and our communities the true understanding of God's love for us as we manifest God's love in our own communities. In encouraging that love in our youngest through the encouragement of godparents and parents perhaps we will strive towards a better and more loving society.

The Shepherd's call

It is truly amazing when you think of shepherding and sheep. Yes, they are smelly, recalcitrant, have minds of their own, go off and do silly things, get lost, etc. However, it is the shepherd who is truly brilliant in the old style of shepherding, not necessarily in today's world. In old style shepherding the flocks were not necessarily as large as we see today. In a way this was advantageous as the shepherd grew to know his sheep and the sheep grew to know the shepherd. Even today this is often the case in some cultures and countries but is sometimes lacking in the manner we sometimes manage huge flocks. Christ relies on this understanding between shepherd and flock in his parable of the shepherd and the sheep (Jn. 10.22-30). It is also unfortunate that in some ways we have a mistaken understanding of the role of the shepherd and the role of the sheep. This mistaken understanding leads to unfortunate abuses as it leads to the concentration of power within a particular office that can be, and often has been, misused.

The role of the Shepherd is a role that has often been misimagined as we have moved away from the idyllic pastures of earlier pastoral societies. We imagine the leader of the flock and yet often pictorially the shepherd is seen at the back of the flock not at the front. The most important aspect is the sound of the voice as in the parable. If we place the power of the shepherd onto, say a political leader, what is it that we are expecting? Well in terms of the shepherd we expect someone showing the way out in the front. Controlling, directing and perhaps even being harsh with the flock to ensure that they bow to his authority. This imaginative is unfortunately, when we look to our shepherds in the political realm, the one we see regularly. In this thinking, we will find an old imagination that suggests that we the sheep must follow blindly where the shepherd leads. This is a recipe for disaster as we can attest by examining humanities varied history.

The shepherd gives pastoral direction with their voice. Let us listen to our Shepherd!

Let us go back to the text from John. Christ says "My own sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me" (Jn 10.27). The key words here is that the sheep listen to Christ's voice in order to follow to the green pastures that the psalmist refers to (Ps 23). The sheep listen to before following or moving in the correct direction by themselves. If we return to the image of the shepherd at the back of the flock this is perhaps the only way of directional control the shepherd has as the older sheep at the front listen for the words / commands that give direction. Many older ways of control are based on voice (carriage driving for example). These elders have learnt through successive generations. These are the words that a Christian hears from Christ and imparts to their family and community, so that they may learn to hear the words of the shepherd who calls from baptism onto a road that is straight and narrow. Yes, sheep wander and this is where the pastoral (as we know it) work of the shepherd is prominent to bring comfort and ease to those that stumble. The imagination we need to build in ourselves is the listening mode to guide us along the straight way towards those green pastures.

The role of the shepherd needs to be reimagined to enable ourselves beyond the sufficiency of those that think only for themselves and lord it over those who like sheep follow without thought. In coming days we will be placing ourselves in a place of authority when we cast our vote for our political shepherd. For us as Christians it is not and should not be our human shepherds who we listen to but the risen Christ who calls us into new life. In placing Christ's call upon our lives as shepherd we need to ask where is the risen Lord in the decisions that I make and am I listening to Christ's call to peace, love, harmony and reconciliation, am I listening to Christ's call to care for creation, am I listening to Christ's call into newness of life? Indeed we often neglect the fact that as Christians we are called by Christ in all aspects of our lives. So, do you enact the risen Christ's call within your marriage, family and work place or do you neglect Christ's call and need his pastoral staff to guide you back into the folds of his peace.

The frustration of non-understanding

Don't we all sometimes feel frustrated? Some of us find that frustration builds and builds and all of a sudden we go of on a rant. For others, the frustration builds and then we just turn away and give up. The sometimes, not often, but sometimes frustration leads us to a breakthrough in understanding as we approach the issue from an alternative viewpoint. I am not sure what Peter does with his frustration but you can see the levels increase as Christ asks him the same question and gives him different answers (Jn. 21.15-17). Yes, they all appear to be much the same but there are differences and I think that those differences matter as does Peter's growing frustration. If they matter to the writer of the gospel then they should matter to us. The gospel was written some years after the events so is not an accurate portrayal of events and yet they are important to us as they reveal views that were important to the followers of the Christ at an early stage in the burgeoning ministry of this new faith.

Whilst for us sheep and lambs would appear to be very similar there are differences, which we often interpret as being differences between children and adults. This anthropomorphic thinking I believe actually hinders us and in the end dregs up those feelings of despair that we see in Peter. However, as any good person who has handled a farm knows the feeding pattern for lambs and sheep are different but most importantly Peter was instructed to tend the sheep not the lambs. In deed the tending of sheep comes prior to their feeding. I suspect that all of our missionary thinking has been appallingly carried out in our over anthropomorphisation of this passage. Yes, I  can well believe that this is parable at its finest and yes I am sure that a certain amount of anthropomorphic interpretation needs to be done but not in such a fashion that we blind ourselves to the underlying realities of the parable.Peter is so lost in this dialogue that it is no wonder he has a rising frustration with the whole interlude.If we are perhaps to look at this passage with any relevance for society today then perhaps by looking at it at an oblique angle so to speak will help.

Where is the shepherd who tends these sheep?

It is for me the central phrasing of this passage that is relevant and important. In the story Christ says "tend my sheep". This is an important message for us. Before Paul becomes Paul he is full of zeal and encounters the risen Lord in a vision that leaves him blinded (Acts 9). Before he continues he needs the acceptance of the community. The starting point is the community...he does not go out into the world to teach until such time as the community has become known to him and he to the community. This like Christ reminds us that we are beholden to the community first and foremost before we can even attempt anything else. Not our own community but the community in which we are embedded. Sheep are herd animals and if the flock is maintained i.e. not disturbed, driven or led, housed, kept free of predators etc., it will survive. There is no need to teach or feed for the community does this as it nurtures the group, leading the young to water and growth.

So why teach. We teach by and through the community. Peter's injunction to teach must be seen in this light. By tending the flock we teach the lambs the requirements and positive effects of community. Teaching the sheep we teach them where the good feed is and where the still waters are. This is not an indoctrination lesson but rather a leading and tending of the flock so that the communal fundamentals are taught. Not the individuality that we have come to express in western culture but the communal culture of the good society. In our failures to understand this we become increasingly frustrated as our teaching does not appear to have any influence on those around us particularly the young. However, if we place ourselves as a community within a community we will begin to lose our frustrations. In this we just have to look at a few different organisations around us and see that this is how they grow and how the church is growing in other places...it becomes the community.

Political blundering

I must admit I was not looking forward to the wrangling and one-up-manship of this election campaign. I believe that most of the rhetoric on display is basically dishonest, self serving and not in the best interests of the country. I was particularly dis-enamoured of the recent radio  interview with, I think Shorten, on climate change funding. Not only was the interviewer, in particular, a bit of a bully (aren't they all) but what was trying to be unearthed was even more disheartening and reminded me an awful lot of squabbles that are often featured in parishes, clubs and societies in general. It perhaps persuades me to understand that no matter what level of politics we are involved in the same scenario comes up and must be answered time and time again by each one of us.

This is the question of change or not to change. We seem to think that because all is well we need not worry about change. We seem to think that what has worked in the past is good to work in the future. We seem to have this stark belief that we cannot grow and change, yet surprisingly everything is about life is about change and growth. The cost of not changing is often for greater than the cost associated with change. The costs may not be financial, although this is always what is argued about, I might add, vehemently, but are more to do with our social lives and well being. For, if we do not change and we do not allow change to occur we stagnate. The stagnant pond is not an environment in which life grows well. The costs to our long term emotional and spiritual and physical needs is tremendously high when we stagnate. Some years ago when I returned to the UK with a new wife, for the first time, her comment was "This place has retired, even the youth" (that view did not change). Looking at the UK, now many years later, there seems little life left. Is this the road down which the world is to travel; a road that ultimately leads to death?

The difference between life and death, can we embrace radical change?

This may seem really pessimistic but until we really understand our hesitancy over change, very little will change and we will continue to moan and grumble. It is our attitude that is most important at this point in time. In looking towards our future what do you actually see? I suppose that there are two possible views that you can commit to, with an infinite number of variations to the theme. The first is not to use our imagination and just see the same things that have gone before. In other words a democracy in decline (see AC Grayling’s 'Democracy and its Crisis', 2017) with the same party structures offering the same party lines to which we must be beholden. The second is to actually use our imaginations and visualise something that is completely different. In other words a change to how we see our lives in the future. This opens up so many possibilities. I was asked recently what would happen if there was an independent who sat as the Prime Minister? Just think of that and what that would mean for the parliamentary system? Well, it would certainly indicate change but would it be bad or would it create some innovative thinking around how we should be ensuring a minority voice within the parliament. Perhaps, the majority party should not get to set the Prime Minister but rather the second majority party? This would certainly mean that the parties would have to work together...As Christians, can we see a really different way of making the presence of Christ felt within the political and social structure of our society without alienating vast numbers of people? We are so stuck within the imaginations of our past that we can hardly encompass the new and allow change to become an integral part of our lives.