"That's our motto here at the Tyrell Corporation - more human than human".
Dr Eldon Tyrell, in the Ridley Scott film, Blade Runner.
"See to it that you do not become a captive of empty and deceitful philosophy which detracts from the substance of the faith. Watch out for those who would woo you with such 'spiritual' teachings, for they would draw you away from the truth.
The whole fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in Christ, and He is within you, allowing you to put off the old and avoid the false, so that you can live in the faith...
So mark those who seek to pass judgment on you regarding what you eat and drink or your 'spiritual' activities, for these are nothing compared to the reality now yours in Christ....
No one must be allowed to disqualify or berate you because you are not an ascetic or dualistic about spiritual things. You are united to Christ, so reject submission to their taboos regarding what you shouldn't touch or taste which derives from their folly.
They may have an appearance of piety and godliness, but they are of no value to your faith".
Paul to the Colossians.
Ever have a moment in the theater or the cinema where you encounter a sense of wonder at something 'larger than life'? It usually happens for me when I'm engaged with Science Fiction, and, because I have a pretty vivid imagination, I've found it can and does occur when I'm reading a good novel or enjoying a piece of music or a work or art. There's nothing wrong with that - in fact, some aspects of creation are most certainly 'there' to assist us in elevating our thinking to a place of astonishment and reflection. There's a difference, however, between something that makes us truly engage with reality and a device which encourages us to totally escape from it.
I'm currently re-reading Umberto Eco's dazzling series of essays, 'Faith in Fakes', in which he reflects upon the growing popularity in our times of what he defines as 'hyper' reality - experiences or frames of reference which are deemed 'better' (more stimulating and engaging) than what they represent - a trend evidenced, for example, in museum exhibits, total immersion entertainment and holographic development. Whilst much of this is fascinating and intriguing, Eco raises the question as to why we are so enticed by the entirely false - devices which are deliberately engineered to deceive us.
Such a propensity has to be a consequence of our current condition.
"in some sense", notes C S Lewis, "as dark to the intellect as it is unendurable to the feelings,
we can be both banished from the presence of Him who is present everywhere and erased from the knowledge of Him who knows all - utterly and absolutely outside. On the other side, we can be called in, welcomed and received: we walk along that razor's edge between these two possibilities. Our longing is to be re-united with something in the universe from which we know we have been cut-off" (the weight of glory).
The deep need is for remedy, but the spoiling of nature - of the very fiber and propensity of each of us - means that the 'pull' is towards a fake rather than substance, to revel in the 'appearance' of wisdom rather than the astonishing and actual embodied appearance of THE reality.
Christianity leaves us with no confidence in our own abilities or activities.
If we fall prey to the conceit of self righteousness to any measure, the scriptures make it clear that
we have totally fallen prey to the illusion of being 'good' when whilst we avoid His explicit summation of what and where we are whilst so distanced from Him.
Salvation is not in ourselves - we must be found and rescued to be called and welcome.
Christ in the flesh - and the profound ramifications of this - is where the Gospel begins.
The same is true amidst the earthly church.
Deceit leads us to seek harbor in the perilous zone of our notions, dreams and aspirations, to view godliness as something we acquire by Gnosis or obtain by pious merit. Reality is something both far more troubling and truly correcting.
"We can truly become human because He became so - to conform us to life through His death and resurrection. We were never intended to become gods. That is the illusion".
(Deitrich Bonhoeffer - Ethics).
Longing has it's place. Dreams can allow us to look further and deeper, to remind ourselves there is more behind the daily grind, but such gifts must never bend us away from the true nature of life, or deeper still, the reality and nature of our redemption.
Sunday, 29 March 2009
Monday, 16 March 2009
Seeing the Splendor
"The world is a smiling place, when we recognize the one who lavishly furnishes it with such good gifts". Augustine.
I find myself often being reminded these days how easy it is for spirituality to be deemed 'right' in such a manner that it essentially 'falls between two stalls ' - that of the Gnostic, on the one side, who teases with the promise of a higher existence or purpose if we abandon the material, and the legalist on the other, censoring anything and everything with an 'infallible' list of things that are never allowed. The language and methods may vary, but the results are always the same - closure of the material world as the principal means to us of conveying the spiritual.
It's amazing, when we consider the vital truths of our faith - of God making the material, inhabiting it in the staggering event of the incarnation that He might redeem it from a real event - the fall - that we can be so closed to the testimony of the 'natural'. The Psalmist knew how immediate this testimony is in so many of the deepest moments of worship, and the Prophets follow suit, often using this canvas as the backdrop to bringing the word of God. The Apostle begins his major apology on the very nature of essential truth by starting here (Romans 1) and Jesus Himself teaches us often about what the coming kingdom is like by drawing from this source.
The reality, of course, is that like those outside of the faith, we often chose a course of detachment from these aspects of the physical because they bring God too close - they make the measure of the message of the Word too immediate for comfort - that He is here, and walking amidst what we encounter.
In a world which is constantly drowning out the 'message' of creation through urbanization, we can often stifle or almost entirely silence that testimony, but it leaves our souls bereft of wealth.
The beauty of life is indeed seductive - it is easy, as Solomon notes in his observations, to become woven into a revelry in the tangible benefits of life which numbs the truth they point to,
but they can also awaken and refresh the soul to the abundant supply of the one in whom we 'live and move and have our being'.
As we travel through this realm, enjoying all the grandeur, the sensual richness of its diverse tapestry of 'moods' and treasures, let us engage with such in a manner that makes us, as those truly made free by the one who is renewing all things to Himself, delight in our Lord and Saviour, that the wealth we share now, may become but the foretaste of the marvel that is fast approaching.
I find myself often being reminded these days how easy it is for spirituality to be deemed 'right' in such a manner that it essentially 'falls between two stalls ' - that of the Gnostic, on the one side, who teases with the promise of a higher existence or purpose if we abandon the material, and the legalist on the other, censoring anything and everything with an 'infallible' list of things that are never allowed. The language and methods may vary, but the results are always the same - closure of the material world as the principal means to us of conveying the spiritual.
It's amazing, when we consider the vital truths of our faith - of God making the material, inhabiting it in the staggering event of the incarnation that He might redeem it from a real event - the fall - that we can be so closed to the testimony of the 'natural'. The Psalmist knew how immediate this testimony is in so many of the deepest moments of worship, and the Prophets follow suit, often using this canvas as the backdrop to bringing the word of God. The Apostle begins his major apology on the very nature of essential truth by starting here (Romans 1) and Jesus Himself teaches us often about what the coming kingdom is like by drawing from this source.
The reality, of course, is that like those outside of the faith, we often chose a course of detachment from these aspects of the physical because they bring God too close - they make the measure of the message of the Word too immediate for comfort - that He is here, and walking amidst what we encounter.
In a world which is constantly drowning out the 'message' of creation through urbanization, we can often stifle or almost entirely silence that testimony, but it leaves our souls bereft of wealth.
The beauty of life is indeed seductive - it is easy, as Solomon notes in his observations, to become woven into a revelry in the tangible benefits of life which numbs the truth they point to,
but they can also awaken and refresh the soul to the abundant supply of the one in whom we 'live and move and have our being'.
As we travel through this realm, enjoying all the grandeur, the sensual richness of its diverse tapestry of 'moods' and treasures, let us engage with such in a manner that makes us, as those truly made free by the one who is renewing all things to Himself, delight in our Lord and Saviour, that the wealth we share now, may become but the foretaste of the marvel that is fast approaching.
Thursday, 5 March 2009
The Sweet Foretaste
"Whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is lovely, whatever is pure, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things".
Philippians 4:8.
We all have them - those moments of deep 'stillness' and reflection, usually when we're sitting amidst creation, soaking in something of the majesty and wonder of this place we inhabit. My late wife often spoke about how 'getting philosophical' (considering what we are) often seems so natural when we're in those times.
The psalmist, of course, knew all about this.
From the cry of a babe, to the magnitude of the expanse above, David observes the significance of a divine work which both humbles and delights his soul.
Whilst beneath the throne of heaven, we have been given a place amidst creation that literally 'crowns' us with a role and value that is astonishing - to be able to understand and express the marvel of being the handiwork of God.
We interact with the world and its domains in a manner that is unique - for either good or ill - something we perhaps are beginning to appreciate as we take in a small amount of the astonishing diversity and splendor which surrounds our days.
The marvel does not end there. As we consider our own existence - the well-nigh miraculous manner in which our own bodies and minds are woven, we can again agree with the poet that we are designed with a gently present yet awesome intent - to be creatures which truly honor our relationship to our Creator through the realization such reflections provide.
We witness futility and wickedness in ourselves and the world, and we know that it requires release from these evils, due to our waywardness and refusal to seek peace with the one who adorns all things with beauty in its time, but we cannot run from the tug (which He has placed) of eternity in our hearts.
There is mercy and freedom from the tyranny of sin in His redemptive work in Jesus Christ, and this alone allows us to truly begin to inter-act with life once more as those adopted into the joy of it's approaching redemption.
This is the context, the framework, which allows us, when we taste the excellence of the earth, to turn heavenward with our musings, and marry them to genuine thanksgiving for who we are, and what is to come.
Philippians 4:8.
We all have them - those moments of deep 'stillness' and reflection, usually when we're sitting amidst creation, soaking in something of the majesty and wonder of this place we inhabit. My late wife often spoke about how 'getting philosophical' (considering what we are) often seems so natural when we're in those times.
The psalmist, of course, knew all about this.
From the cry of a babe, to the magnitude of the expanse above, David observes the significance of a divine work which both humbles and delights his soul.
Whilst beneath the throne of heaven, we have been given a place amidst creation that literally 'crowns' us with a role and value that is astonishing - to be able to understand and express the marvel of being the handiwork of God.
We interact with the world and its domains in a manner that is unique - for either good or ill - something we perhaps are beginning to appreciate as we take in a small amount of the astonishing diversity and splendor which surrounds our days.
The marvel does not end there. As we consider our own existence - the well-nigh miraculous manner in which our own bodies and minds are woven, we can again agree with the poet that we are designed with a gently present yet awesome intent - to be creatures which truly honor our relationship to our Creator through the realization such reflections provide.
We witness futility and wickedness in ourselves and the world, and we know that it requires release from these evils, due to our waywardness and refusal to seek peace with the one who adorns all things with beauty in its time, but we cannot run from the tug (which He has placed) of eternity in our hearts.
There is mercy and freedom from the tyranny of sin in His redemptive work in Jesus Christ, and this alone allows us to truly begin to inter-act with life once more as those adopted into the joy of it's approaching redemption.
This is the context, the framework, which allows us, when we taste the excellence of the earth, to turn heavenward with our musings, and marry them to genuine thanksgiving for who we are, and what is to come.
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Fit for Purpose?
"Every time we make a choice, we are 'turning' the central part of us into something a little different to what it was before". C S Lewis - Mere Christianity
How would you feel behind the wheel of a formula 1 racing car,
or an armored vehicle,
or an articulated lorry?
For most of us, such an experience would be totally out of our depth
(if it isn't for you personally, just 'up' the example - a captain of a super tanker... an astronaut of a space shuttle...a pilot of an huge airliner).
The fact is that we all face experiences, often in our daily lives, which totally overwhelm us, and they can be in very ordinary moments - starting a new job, dealing with a family crisis, the experience of getting older.
Usually, we just sigh and seek to do the best in these moments, but we often feel deeply 'out of step' with the frustration such points of change - often painful or very difficult moments - bring upon us. We sense a real and deep lack or 'rightness' about all this, as if something is seriously out of step, leading to such events.
Christianity teaches that the reason such 'indecency' constantly breaks in upon us at every level of life is because life itself now has been twisted by a malady, so that whilst we recognize within that things shouldn't be this way, we are also chained to this labyrinth of futility.
Some of my recent postings here have looked at the reasons behind this state - that real people, in real events, set things in motion that have impacted upon us all,
but the good news is that because of the life and work of Jesus Christ, a resolution to this has been put into motion, and the day will come when we're no longer living chained to futility.
We all encounter the trails of this life,
but God wants us to know there is an answer!
The day approaches when we'll once again be able to live, to work and play, without feeling the pinch of a world imprisoned by fear, pain, misery and death.
That certainly brings hope in the days when we're just trying to keep above the waves!
How would you feel behind the wheel of a formula 1 racing car,
or an armored vehicle,
or an articulated lorry?
For most of us, such an experience would be totally out of our depth
(if it isn't for you personally, just 'up' the example - a captain of a super tanker... an astronaut of a space shuttle...a pilot of an huge airliner).
The fact is that we all face experiences, often in our daily lives, which totally overwhelm us, and they can be in very ordinary moments - starting a new job, dealing with a family crisis, the experience of getting older.
Usually, we just sigh and seek to do the best in these moments, but we often feel deeply 'out of step' with the frustration such points of change - often painful or very difficult moments - bring upon us. We sense a real and deep lack or 'rightness' about all this, as if something is seriously out of step, leading to such events.
Christianity teaches that the reason such 'indecency' constantly breaks in upon us at every level of life is because life itself now has been twisted by a malady, so that whilst we recognize within that things shouldn't be this way, we are also chained to this labyrinth of futility.
Some of my recent postings here have looked at the reasons behind this state - that real people, in real events, set things in motion that have impacted upon us all,
but the good news is that because of the life and work of Jesus Christ, a resolution to this has been put into motion, and the day will come when we're no longer living chained to futility.
We all encounter the trails of this life,
but God wants us to know there is an answer!
The day approaches when we'll once again be able to live, to work and play, without feeling the pinch of a world imprisoned by fear, pain, misery and death.
That certainly brings hope in the days when we're just trying to keep above the waves!
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Beauty amongst the ashes.
I'm no great fan of contemporary Christian 'worship' music - it generally lacks both the depth and sublime majesty of the great psalms and hymns of previous times - but there have been some very 'on track' Christian musicians over the last 30 years when it came to "speaking" the truth (both to our times and to the church), using the medium of the day -rock music - to do so.
Here's a recent find that confirms that just such an art is alive and well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhfvfyQEOmI
Christians can, indeed should, engage with the culture well, and artists like this show we can 'say' something today.
Here's a recent find that confirms that just such an art is alive and well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhfvfyQEOmI
Christians can, indeed should, engage with the culture well, and artists like this show we can 'say' something today.
Sunday, 8 February 2009
W a r Z o n e
“Next to a battle lost, the greatest misery is a battle gained.”
The Duke of Wellington.
The daily grind - facing the weather, the stress, the ups and downs....all that life tends to throw at us, whether we're ready for it or not. It can be hell, but then, what else would you expect on the front line?
It's pretty amazing, when you consider the amount of sheer misery and grief many of us encounter that we miss that - life doesn't make much sense otherwise. This planet and our race have been at the very heart of a conflict which literally is about the true nature and identity of existence itself, yet most days the 'gray' of our current condition keeps us looking at the pain and chaos like spectators at some diabolical and twisted version of the Roman games - something we're almost content to observe until we discover we're next into the arena!
It's those 'you're next' moments that quickly shock us to our senses. Just look how close we all are to that precipice of death - the pain-numbing mantras of atheism don't seem anywhere near as good when that reality bites: life is pointless, and the universe is just a fluke - what a comfort when you're facing such a moment!
The only place we gain true insight into this war is at the Cross.
Jesus Christ takes all the darkness - the pain and misery of our fallen lives, our scorched world,
and quenches it in His death and resurrection. He lays down His life to terminate the hostilities, to open the way back to a world where His scars, His emptying of Himself, insures that ours will be gone.
Life is pretty bleak here sometimes, but just like the moment when the allies arrived on d-day, the entire nature of this war has changed - the victory is certain, whatever comes now.
Thanks be to God, who has given us this great victory through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
M e r c y
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is…
We are more sinful and weak than we ever dared to admit and…
We are more loved and accepted than we ever dared to hope.
(Tim Keller with thanks to J Spadino)
So there we all were, a group of Christian men, aged from early twenties to late forties, on a gorgeous summer day in London attending a theological conference. It was the lunch break, and we we're heading down the main road towards a sandwich bar, passionately discussing the content of the morning papers, when the mood changed.
Walking towards us in a short dress which fitted in all the right places, was a totally stunning blonde. In a moment, the conversation had virtually stopped, as our attention was clearly taken elsewhere... for a few seconds.... then we all smiled at each other, and carried on.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not giving this example to lecture on looking at women (actually, when things were good in the garden, we were certainly meant to look), but to touch on what we looked at last time - how when Adam and Eve took their eyes off of how things were meant to be and then neglected this due to a 'promise' of something else, the whole world spun out of control.
It's a reality that is often pretty well dismissed as incorrect today - we're not the way we are because of a some story about naked forebears stealing fruit from a tree! We're just, well, naturally selfish - it's just part of what makes our species good survivors.
The whole point of the Genesis record, however, is to say we didn't survive.
We were alienated totally from our true humanity, our true connection to life, creation and each other. Everything became tainted with death because of that one catastrophe, which then lead to countless others (just read through from Genesis 3 to 11 to get the big picture).
The point here is that rebellion has made everything rotten to the core, and there's no known remedy for that. You can seek inner peace, work down to your bones doing good deeds, be as pious as please, but it won't change what's true at the heart of us. As Bob Dylan once phrased it so well, "I was stone cold dead when I stepped out of the womb".
We have to start there. We have to start there, because only then, when we see just how far away we are from what is meant, when we understand how far we have fallen, can we really have our eyes open to the answer.
When you're in a hole that deep, then you understand that the only way out is rescue - someone has to come to your aid, and that is what the message of Jesus Christ is all about.
We're pretty good at distracting ourselves, often for all sorts of 'good reasons', but God wants us to look squarely and deeply into this reality, so we go running to him for mercy - for rescue.
Look hard there, and then turn and look at the person of Jesus Christ.
He came that we might know life again, and know it in all of it's beauty.
We are more sinful and weak than we ever dared to admit and…
We are more loved and accepted than we ever dared to hope.
(Tim Keller with thanks to J Spadino)
So there we all were, a group of Christian men, aged from early twenties to late forties, on a gorgeous summer day in London attending a theological conference. It was the lunch break, and we we're heading down the main road towards a sandwich bar, passionately discussing the content of the morning papers, when the mood changed.
Walking towards us in a short dress which fitted in all the right places, was a totally stunning blonde. In a moment, the conversation had virtually stopped, as our attention was clearly taken elsewhere... for a few seconds.... then we all smiled at each other, and carried on.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not giving this example to lecture on looking at women (actually, when things were good in the garden, we were certainly meant to look), but to touch on what we looked at last time - how when Adam and Eve took their eyes off of how things were meant to be and then neglected this due to a 'promise' of something else, the whole world spun out of control.
It's a reality that is often pretty well dismissed as incorrect today - we're not the way we are because of a some story about naked forebears stealing fruit from a tree! We're just, well, naturally selfish - it's just part of what makes our species good survivors.
The whole point of the Genesis record, however, is to say we didn't survive.
We were alienated totally from our true humanity, our true connection to life, creation and each other. Everything became tainted with death because of that one catastrophe, which then lead to countless others (just read through from Genesis 3 to 11 to get the big picture).
The point here is that rebellion has made everything rotten to the core, and there's no known remedy for that. You can seek inner peace, work down to your bones doing good deeds, be as pious as please, but it won't change what's true at the heart of us. As Bob Dylan once phrased it so well, "I was stone cold dead when I stepped out of the womb".
We have to start there. We have to start there, because only then, when we see just how far away we are from what is meant, when we understand how far we have fallen, can we really have our eyes open to the answer.
When you're in a hole that deep, then you understand that the only way out is rescue - someone has to come to your aid, and that is what the message of Jesus Christ is all about.
We're pretty good at distracting ourselves, often for all sorts of 'good reasons', but God wants us to look squarely and deeply into this reality, so we go running to him for mercy - for rescue.
Look hard there, and then turn and look at the person of Jesus Christ.
He came that we might know life again, and know it in all of it's beauty.
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