S E V E R A N C E

 "How can you turn back again to the weak and impoverished assumptions of this barren world?" Galatians 4:9.

Leaven , when poisoned, can destroy with no compromise.

Some of you may know of the case of Anglican Minister Dr Bernard Randall. Two years ago, he was fired from an Anglican school teaching C of E children in respect to  dealing with the challenges of our present culture, and suggested that this would be especially difficult in respect to seeking to educate in relation to a "Protestant and Evangelical background". He was fired for making such a suggestion, and has remained unemployed in respects to ministry ever since, but this week, he discovered a far worse resolution may now be reached in respect to the future position of the church that ordained him.

In papers released in relation to the case, it has been revealed that not only is Dr Randall viewed as a 'safeguarding threat' in respect to educating young people, but the reporting officer in his case also states that the very position and teaching of the church itself may also fall under that very same danger. The reason provided for this conclusion is made clear - certain 'scriptures' and 'teachings' contained in canon law should be viewed in the light of this case as risks to 'safeguarding' the awareness of young people - in other words, Christian teaching that affirms what Dr Randall views as correct are to be uncoupled from the church's belief and practice.

Notice the direction of travel here.

A policy that is supposed to be used for genuine good in the church - safeguarding - is being turned into a device which requires the expulsion of any views or beliefs which argue with current prevailing narrative in respect to what is socially 'normal' for young adults.

Dr Randall, who is facing a hearing on the whole matter this week, has spoken of how although his personal faith remains strong, his relationship with the church itself has been almost surgically extracted from him in a fashion to someone seeking to remove vital organs and then expect him to remain unchanged.

Such "objectives" are an illness amongst us, as violent as the social mania of the likes of Me Too, Extinction Rebellion or BLM. They are as corrosive as the impositions, as one minister reminded me, of "Political Medicine" - an evil upon us all.

M a l a d y

"Even an invisible man has a socially responsible role to play" - The invisible man by H G Wells.

In another item, I found a perfect analogy for what has befallen the likes of English Anglicanism (and society in general). Writer Samuel Kronan suffers continually from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, commonly referred to a chronic fatigue syndrome. In this brilliant piece, he seeks to allow us some insight into what that really means in respect to health, activity, medical analysis and social attitudes, all of which clearly miss the mark in providing the manner of penetrating insight necessary to even begin to wrestle with the nature of what it is actually like to continually live with such a trial. What I found especially striking was Samuel's description of the total dysfunction of even his most basic bodily actions and functions this malady creates, and it is here we find a perfect analogy of what has befallen our society.We now seek to percolate everything down to the 'myths' of our own devising, and then presume all can be adjudicated by means of these notions, even though we feel entirely at liberty to change them as we change. Reality then becomes as fluid but equally as dysfunctional as CFS, never allowing us to even consider our actual potential, because the only encounters with something 'healthy' are when such a realm is being countered and dismissed by our delusional beliefs. There is no health in such a 'body', no means of recovery. 

D e p l e t i o n

 "The only way to end this nest of snakes is from the inside". Chief Anderson - Mississippi Burning. 

 We have witnessed the tearing down of every ideal that seeks to convey a statement in respect to goodness and virtue. Films and shows which once were deemed as purely for entertainment now carry this manner of standard Disney productions warning: 

 "This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together".

This continued 'hollowing out' of the past is essential to now, because only when such mediums are well and truly emptied (or better yet, entirely expelled), can we gain a 'vehicle' that reflects the void of the obsessed observer - that nothing is allowed to disturb or challenge their particular required standard.

D e e p  I m p a c t

"Sometimes, I see flashes of light - you know, like colours. I fall asleep. I dream, but now, there's part of me that's always awake. I'm seeing things differently". Astronaut Owen Morash - Deep Impact.

The experiences of both Dr Randall and Samuel Kronan tell us something key about this present moment. All of us will suffer, and all of us can either seek to destroy as a result of that trial, or we can seek to learn through it, and lead some around us to value something from that.

We are living at a moment of momentous change, filled with problems - so what is the lesson?

Perhaps it something as simple, as exquisite, as what is touched on in this scene, which spoke volumes to me.

God is in the business of restoring the dignity, majesty and beauty of what we have defiled. Let us seek to work, pray and minister in such a fashion that such splendour is once more evidenced in our day, that the astonishing Lordship of Jesus becomes the fragrance of our benighted realm.