Love me till my heart stops

... so I read on a t-shirt for sale in a high street fashion store today. That sure got me thinking!

We are created by Love for love. We are by nature social creatures, needing interaction and relationship with others around us. Without love, we can't function fully in this world - one need only reflect on the horrors witnessed in the Romanian orphanages or the so-called 'dying rooms' of China - babies and children caged in cots, driven insane by a lack of human interaction and love.

However, even in the material world, where we may experience human love in its various aspects, many of us never get to know the higher love - that by which we were created and which would, if we allowed it, flow through us and fill every part of our lives and touch the lives of others whom we encounter.

That's the unselfish, all-giving, sacrificial love - love which just 'is' and allows us to just 'be' - the kind of love which gives for its own sake, rather than out of calculated human reasoning - the kind of love which doesn't count the cost and doesn't give up in the face of opposition.

That kind of love reaches beyond this plane of existence.
So yes, I can happily request that you love me till my heart stops.
But my prayer is that God will love me beyond that - so I can love totally freely - He can love me to death and into eternity!

"Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned." Song of Solomon 8:6-7

What if God was one of us?

I was reminded of this song whilst writing tomorrow's sermon which has the theme of 'God of the ordinary.'

How often we look for God in the miraculous, the spectacular - wanting signs and wonders and amazing 'times of worship' and all the spiritual gifts we can think of. Alternatively, we seek Him in symbolism, as if He'll suddenly appear if we follow this or that ritual, ceremony or liturgy.

... and all the while Jesus is standing, waiting on the shore, fire lit, cooking breakfast for us.

The God of the ordinary.

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20

One in Christ?

So, with all the ongoing uproar within the Anglican communion about homosexuality and also whether or not we should have female Bishops, I'm left wondering this...

Which bit of ONE in Christ do we still not get?!

I was at a lecture on Anglican spirituality the other night. Apparently there are five key elements:

1. We're saved by grace, not works.
2. It is Scriptural.
3. it is Sacramental.
4. It uses reason.
5. It is experiential.

All these elements are about the core being of humanity. They are about the relationship between creature and creator.

They cut through all the labels.

So why aren't sections of the Anglican communion living it?

I suspect the problem is that when these five elements aren't held in balance, then our understanding too becomes unbalanced. So, for example, if too much emphasis is laid upon Scripture, there is a risk that reason and quite strangely perhaps, God's grace might go out of the window.

Or again, if we write off individual experience, we are on shaky ground. Friend, your experience of God's grace is not mine, you cannot therefore expect me to base my life and faith upon your experience! Neither will I expect you to base yours upon mine.

By causing such imbalances, we risk living again by the Law and judgement instead of by God's grace. To paraphrase Paul:

"You foolish Galatians Anglicans! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?" Galatians 3:1-2

The sooner we stop playing at labeling one another, and instead, start accepting each other as we are - created in God's image and saved by His grace, the better.

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female,(lesbian, gay, straight or bi!) for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3: 26-29

Wrestling with God

If there was ever a song which summed up the serious faith crisis I was having a few months ago, this would be it!

It starts on a high - yes God is there and I know it, I experience His presence somehow...
But then the tune 'drops' into turmoil - 'My mind is in a state...'
And then the silence...
Before the beat picks up again - coming through the other side.

In some strange way, although I sense the different feelings as the song progresses - there is something else running under the entire piece - a sort of constancy. From the faith perspective, that speaks to me of a God who remains there, unchanging throughout whatever hits me.

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever. Psalm 73:25-26

Since this is a musical blog...

...I suppose I ought to muse on something musical!

I love music. To me it is the language of the angels. Music has the ability to reach the depths of our spirit and and consciousness where nothing else can. For example there have been many cases reported of severely brain injured or traumatised patients who, when all else failed, responded to music being played.

There is just something about music.

My own response when listening to music is that I can somehow get totally immersed in it. It becomes almost tangible to me as not only do I hear it - I smell it, taste it, see it and yes, feel it. Emotional response or spiritual connection - or maybe both - does it really matter how its defined? Definition won't change the effect.

Sometimes music 'possesses' me - it rips my heart out, tears it to pieces, scrunches the bits into a ball, bounces it off the walls - and then reassembles it and puts it back. Whew!

On other occasions it becomes an experience in which I can totally lose myself - maybe joining with the angelic hosts and the rest of creation around God's throne.

This does on occasion make me look a bit silly - especially in places like church when I'm still standing 5 minutes after everyone else sat down - or vice versa! But hey, if I'm gonna be a fool for Christ then what the heck?!

'Day and night they never stop saying:
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.'
Revelation 4:8

Real worship

Jesus told the Samaritan woman that the day would come when true worshipers would 'worship in Spirit and truth' rather than in a particular place. So where does that leave the temple, the mosque, the church?

I'd thought about this one for a long time, having explored a few different religions as well as denominations within Christianity - each one claiming to have the 'right' way to find and worship God.

The answer (for me at least) came one day as I sat staring out of the window in a moment of boredom idle contemplation.

I saw a cherry tree in full blossom, the wind,quite strong was blowing the blossom from its branches. I'd seen that tree through every season - from bare branches, to buds, blossom, then the leaves going through the various colour changes until they fell and the tree returned to its bare state once more.

What was it about that tree?

Simply - through all the seasons, it was being what it was created to be - a tree.

That was the answer to true worship...

Maybe our best, truest worship is not about the things we do, or where we go, but about who we are. When we ourselves, like that tree, are being (or becoming?) who we are meant to be - who God intended us to be, then we're offering Him the very best of ourselves.

Religious practices, whatever shade, with their rules and rituals - might help us to discover who we really are, but they still aren't the be all and end all.

We are made in the image of the God who said 'I AM WHO I AM', may we continue being transformed into His image once more until at last we are who we are.

'Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.' Psalm 150

Musing on the 'P' word

Dare I say it?

Predestination!!!

There, now that wasn't too bad.

My theology has shifted quite significantly since February this year, having being confronted by a serious life crisis which set off a whole series of questions in my mind and heart, culminating in the past three days with a further challenge to stretch my perceptions.

Here's the general drift:

Predestination in all its varieties has traditionally focused upon man's eternal destiny. It is based upon the concept of sin and God's judicial wrath against that sin - we either get called and saved or we get eternally damned.(the brokenlegged one's potted description!).

I've always thought this was a bit unfair, I mean, poor old Judas Iscariot! destined from eternity to betray Christ into the hands of the enemy - what chance did he stand against a God who had him marked out?!

Some theologians have tried to rationalise predestination with an element of free will - you can lead a horse to water... so does this mean that God had a 'Plan B' in case Judas decided NOT to betray Jesus?

For too long, I've taken the Pauline stance of trying not to question - who am I to question what God does?

But I think I'm just about set to toss it all into the wheelie bin where it may rightly belong.

What if predestination was simply about God's plan for the whole of creation rather than individual sinners? Does 'sin' even exist in God's eyes?

If a person is playing their part in God's overall plan - even those who 'sin' such as Judas, are they not simply obeying His will? And if they are obeying His will - then why would it be sinful at all anyway? Will God in His wrath send someone to eternal damnation - for obeying Him?

So what if there is no sin at all?
Then there is no guilt.
And God is not angry with us.
And there was no need for an atoning or propitiatory sacrifice.
And there may be no literal Heaven or Hell...
... only God.

My Islamic Studies teacher said that when reciting the Shahadah (Islamic creed), the first thing one does is become an atheist:

'There is no God...'

only then can you declare complete belief in THE one, true God,

'...but God.'

I confess that I have become an atheist several times in the last few days - but only in the cause of rejecting all the false gods I have set up over the years. I may yet have to profess my atheism several more times.

The journey continues...

'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD' Acts 17:23

Perhaps Quantum Theory Isn't so New!

"In this vision he also showed a little thing, the size of a hazel-nut in the palm of my hand, and it was as round as any ball. I looked at it and thought, 'What can this be?' And the answer came to me, 'It is all that is made.' I wondered how it could last, for it was so small I thought it might suddenly disappear. And the answer in my mind was,'It lasts and will last forever because God loves it; and in the same way everything exists through the love of God'." - Julian of Norwich (1342-1413)

Only one example of what those great mystics were saying - centuries before we started looking at the metaphysical and quantum theory. The mystics were long regarded as deluded, their experiences written off as being the result of excessive ascetic practices which pushed their physical and mental states to the very limit.

But maybe they were onto something...

I've recently being exploring the principle of the 'holographic universe' and how this might relate to my own faith and spirituality - here's a good link which explains it a bit more - but without all the maths!

http://www.crystalinks.com/holographic.html

It might seem quite worrying at a first glance but actually it isn't a threat at all to belief in God - or even the Gospel story - it might change the way we perceive them though - along with loads of other traditionally held beliefs.

John Lennon's song 'Imagine' might sum it up. In the holographic universe, heaven and hell might not exist - then again, they might...

Anything can exist and not exist at once - because there is only the 'eternal now' - we simply move from one plane of existence to another - does this explain the concept of an afterlife?

In the holographic universe we have the potential to be 'here, there, everywhere and nowhere' - all at the same 'time' - for time itself is a mere construct too.

Maybe we are held only by our earthbound need for the tangible - solid evidence and equations which tell us how it must be. We can't cope with the unprovable - but the only way we will ever find the proof is to cut loose from all the 'stuff' which holds us. Perhaps this explains the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ - he showed us that it can be done - that we can be wholly free from all this.

And as for God Himself? He's still the One who holds it all together.

'For in him we live and move and have our being.' Acts 17:28

'He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.' Colossians 1:15-17

What is Truth?

We are too much like Pilate. We are always asking, “What is truth?” and then crucifying the truth that stands before our eyes.

Thomas Merton

Having spent much of the day grappling with the doctrine of sin, atonement and the meaning of Christ's death on the cross,I took a well-earned break and found the above quote on my Facebook page!

I've never really seen truth as being something which is fixed - the truth that stands before our eyes is shaped by our own situation and ideologies. The truth is only as fixed as the very moment in which it exists.

So is it right or wrong to crucify that truth which stands before our eyes? Is it possible that we are called to crucify that truth in order that new truth may be raised from it. Perhaps the truth we see now is not truth at all, but only a shadow of it...

'For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.' 1 Corinthians 13:12

Different traditions, same God

Today I returned to my 'home' church, a lively Evangelical place - drums, bass guitars and the like... following a challenging four month stay at another much more traditional church - organ, choir, symbolism and the like...

I'm happy to say that we aren't as different as we might imagine! What a pity many of us struggle to get past our own preconceptions of how worship should be 'done.' Truly the church and its liturgy would be far, far richer if we would only share and learn from each other.

Like so many other situations in life, we can find greater unity, even in our diversity, when we focus on what we have in common instead of what divides us.

As for me, I'm off to prepare an 'Evangelicaditional' liturgy to 'inflict' upon my congregation sometime in the near future!

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." 
Ephesians 4:2-6