lurchersontheedge

Maybe I am wrong. I admit it. Maybe, just maybe, my support of the Labour Party is misguided. Maybe those who have led the Labour movement fail to understand British society. Maybe the Labour Party will have to decide what it stands for. That is for them. I used to be a member, but I am not now, although I think the movement that gave us Atlee, Bevan and Smith still has something to offer.

I have a hunch though that passion of social justice is both thoroughly human and resonant with the gospel that I believe in. That does not mean that there is not a disconnect between Labour and those who I might believe would want to vote for them.

I am sure though generosity and hospitality to those in need are values are cherished by many.

I am certain that people want not just a safety net for those who are poor, but a place where those who are vulnerable are allowed to flourish. This does not mean that those who are wealthy are not cherished but understand that if another is diminished so too are they. I happen to believe this comes from a Christian worldview, but it also secular, Jewish, atheistic, Islamic etc etc etc.

I am convinced that whilst most of us secretly might want an extra few pounds in our pocket, we want not want cuts to cause more to go to food banks or those living with disabilities to despair at going to a medical. That is not the community that many would want to belong to.

Maybe the UK has to look long and hard at the question of immigration. But I am sure that most of us would embrace those fleeing death, and if we will not, perhaps we have to take a long look at ourselves.

Lots of maybes. Lots of concern. Lots of prayers.

and I guess hope that together people of all shades might want to converse and work together to build something better, not Labour, Tory, Green, Plaid or SNP shaped… but a place that I might say reflects who God wants us to be

I have been reading H is for Hawk. If I am honest when I set out on my Lenten journey, I should have finished it by Day 5, but here I am at the end of Mothering Sunday, still not quite finished. I am savouring it.

What is it about? You will have to read it. It is ostensibly about the relationship between a Hawk and its Human. It is about bereavement. It might possibly be one of the best books on grief since the timeless A Grief Observed. It is about becoming human. Or the discovery of what it means to be human.

Today, the Human discovers that the Hawk plays. It does. As I read it, I began to chew on another delicious idea. God plays; and invites us to do so too.

Horses and Men defeated

I am afraid for a variety of reasons my Lent went splat. I will blog about it one day.

I have had more time that I might have expected to on my own. The noisy silence of the early mornings have captivated me. It has helped that at 11 years old, my capable canine companion, Pippin is happy to linger a while to smell and leave wee-mail.

I have listened to the spray of the rain under gently moving tyres

the gentle call of a bird

the stillness of a feline hunter

the jump of the pheasant

the wind chimes in the middle of the sheep field at Trearddur (you will need to visit to know that this is not an illusion)

the dance of the static on the topic of telegraph polls

geese taking off and the noise of the water swishing at they escape its embrace

the noise of fog horn

crash of wave

cry of an infant

It is a noisy silence… and in the noise I have found a rhythym and pace to begin Lent all over again.

Day 13 saw a trip to Sutton Coldfield. The signs for Lichfield set me thinking. Lichfield is the home of Chad’s great Cathedral, and March 2nd is the feast of Chad.

After the celebrations of March 1st of David, Patron of Wales, I did wonder about the commalities of the two saints: simplicity would be one, commitment to community (monastic) would be another.

So, as Day 13 ends: how committed am I to community?

Almost immediately after Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah, Mark has Jesus begin to redefine what Messiah is. Jesus is the one who follows the way of the cross. This would have been scandalous to the first hearers of Jesus and also sat uncomfortably with those listening to Mark. Messiahs did not die.

As importantly for those of us following Jesus today is that Jesus begins to redefine discipleship. It would be costly. The early followers of Jesus, like us today, had to unlearn many things.

It is like learning a language. I am learning Welsh: Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant Hapus i pawb means Happy St David’s Day to all. I can do this with relative ease now. A year ago, I would have been tempted to begin the sentence with Hapus… and end up saying St David is happy. With learning a language, I have to unlearn how I think it should be done. This is perhaps the hardest act in learning anything new; you need to reconfigure the old.

Lent is a good time to engage in that reconfiguration.

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant Hapus i pawb

May Lent continue to be blessed

my steps

The Archdeacon of Bangor when reflecting on ministry offered the following thought: most of us are caught between grace and guilt.

That set me thinking. I, being me, wanted to reject the notion completely. Upon consideration, he is right. It is also food for thought during Lent. Many of us have given things up or taken things on. All of them will be to some extent worthwhile; and yet sometimes I do things because I think I ought to or have to (guilt) rather than in response to the overwhelming love of God