MAKE … US … GREAT AGAIN

So the cry goes out, and so others are drawn to join in the chorus – make us great again!  And I, like others, wonder what it actually means, what attracts people about that cry?  Make America, France, Britain, Israel, Germany … great again!  Is it that people don’t feel great, or that they want others to think that their country is great, or that they look back to some mythical ‘golden age’ when it seemed everything was ‘great’?  What does it mean to be ‘great’?  Is it linked to memories of a time when standards of living for most (white) Americans were reasonably high; when (white) people knew they were special because other ethnic groups were side-lined; when Coca-Cola culture ruled the (air)waves? When we could project the dark side of our persona onto ‘communism’?

In 2018 research showed that roughly 70% of white evangelicals in the US supported Trump (the percentage had fallen over the previous two years and was much was lower amongst other Christian churches).  ‘Social scientists have proposed a variety of explanations, including economic dissatisfaction, sexism, racism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia. The current study establishes that, independent of these influences, voting for Trump was, at least for many Americans, a symbolic defense of the United States’ perceived Christian heritage.’ (Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review January 2018)   So is the cry, ‘Make America Great Again’ a veiled call to make America (here slot in any other nation) economically wealthy, white, Protestant-Christian with men in control and looked up to and feared by others?  In view of all that it seems appropriate to ask how Christ might respond to the cry – make us great again.  Here are some thoughts.

When it seemed Jesus might be the one to lead the Jews to freedom (Matthew 11.2ff) he responded to two of John’s disciples by saying: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”  This reflects what Jesus taught about how to live in the Reign of God in the Beatitudes:

              “Blessed are you who are poor,
                             for yours is the kingdom of God.
              “Blessed are you who are hungry now,
                             for you will be filled.
              “Blessed are you who weep now,
                             for you will laugh.

              “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame      you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is  

              great in heaven, for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

              “But woe to you who are rich,
                             for you have received your consolation.
              “Woe to you who are full now,
                             for you will be hungry.
              “Woe to you who are laughing now,
                             for you will mourn and weep.

              “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false

                 prophets.   (Luke 6.16ff)

That was echoed by the Mother of Jesus when she sang her Magnificat:

              “His mercy is for those who fear him
                             from generation to generation.
              He has shown strength with his arm;
                             he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
              He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
                             and lifted up the lowly;
              he has filled the hungry with good things,
                             and sent the rich away empty.” (Luke 1.50ff)

Mary does tell of the greatness she experienced, and why?  Because she was chosen to bear Christ.  So the first thing we can say is that those who bear Christ in the womb of the heart need to realise their greatness.  The second thing is a consequence, that any society which seeks to incarnate – give expression to – the Beatitudes needs to realise the greatness of how it seeks to live. 

              The kind of ‘greatness’ shown by Trump often seems accompanied by acts of bullying, denigrating others, using lies and fabrications, nurturing a culture of hatred towards any who hold different views (especially if they are in the media) and disregard for any concern for Mother Nature.  It seems to me that, just as Christ was quick to condemn certain powerful Jews:

              ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.’ (Matthew 23.27f)

he would have been quick to condemn these views and actions.

Christians can only be great to the extent they are prepared to put themselves aside, take the lowest place and wash the feet of others.  Our greatness comes from recognising that we are to live in this way, knowing that we are loved by God and precious in his sight; that in the eyes of the One who made us in his image and likeness, we have immense value.  Our greatness cannot come from something outside of us, it comes from knowing and believing that I am loved and precious in the sight of God.  It comes from knowing that God gazes on me, loves me and believes that I have all the potential he has given to me.  It is something we have to realise; it happens when we know that our Maker sees the wonder of our being. Then we are to live in the light of that realisation and know, as Jesus said, that our greatness is connected to the way we are to be the servant of all (Mark 9.35) and see the image of God’s greatness hidden in all things. 

Greatness is humility, the humility that comes from putting the other first, from knowing that I am dust, but dust destined for glory.  When our ego demands recognition, it will never find peace; Christ teaches us to set our ego-self aside and follow him.  There is great danger in tempting others to seek greatness, a temptation relished by Satan for it opens the way of corruption and the only weapon that Satan cannot defend himself against is the weapon of humility.

“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”  (Matthew 16.24ff)

MINDFULNESS AND THE CONTEMPLATIVE HEART

According to much Christian teaching the heart is the centre of our being, the focus of our thoughts and feelings which is the locus of the soul.  This challenges a culture which has made the mind – the place of our reasoning faculties – the centre.  Much spiritual teaching has long been concerned with creating a ‘right – clean – heart’ for the heart can become corrupted and so needs to be re-fashioned, re-focussed.  I need to make sure that my heart is focused in God, the source of all goodness, and underlined the need to live a recollected life, a life where the heart, the habitation of the soul, comes alive. 

MINDFULNESS

The recent interest in ‘Mindfulness’, those practices which NHS online says can improve mental well-being, by ‘paying more attention to the present moment, to thoughts and feelings and to the world around you’, has connected with many people estranged from Faith.  Echoing Christian teaching ‘Mindfulness’ is the ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or over-whelmed by what’s going on around us. 

From its use in prisons and schools its benefits are becoming more widely realised.  Yet it draws on practices older than Christianity which, unfortunately, became generally forgotten at the Reformation.  Christianity has taught these practices as aspects of contemplative prayer, practices which encourage us to enter the caverns of the heart as we let go of our thoughts and feelings and descend to our soul.  Unfortunately, our Faith became caught by notions of ‘onwards and upwards’ rather than ‘stillness and descent’, yet the great mystics of the Church always knew that this was the better way.

This ‘prayer of the heart’ is one of the simplest ways in which we can open ourselves to that ‘ground of our being’ which lies beneath the surface of our lives.  It’s a way of praying which is intended to cultivate that interior silence which can calm the raging seas of life and we can overcome the fear of our own hidden depths.  It requires of us nothing more than developing a deep inner stillness and silence as we seek to focus into our desire for God.  At a time when people are beginning to waken to the importance of their inner world the Church needs to re-discover its treasury of contemplative prayer where we can find the most important ‘fresh expressions’ of our Faith which speak to the actual needs people have. 

St Paul recognised the importance of Mindfulness when he prayed that ‘with the eyes of your heart enlightened you may know what is the hope to which (God) has called you.’  The 3^rd century Desert Mothers and Fathers taught that we need to focus into a word which we can gently repeat beneath our breath, which is often spoken of as Centring Prayer; Lectio Divina, taught by the Benedictines, allows words of scripture to enter the heart, and in the 17^th century Brother Laurence taught the importance of living in the Present Moment.  In fact, these practices might be more rightly called ‘heartfulness’ for as St Theophan the Recluse, a 19^th century Russian monk, reminds us:

‘To pray is to descend with the mind into the heart, and there to stand before the face of the Lord, ever present .. within you.’

That reflects a far older teaching that if we gaze deep within our heart, we shall find there the ladder that leads to heaven. (St Isaac the Syrian)

THE HEART OF CHRIST

This reminds us that we need to give far greater attention to the heart.  We need to re-discover the importance of the Heart of Christ, the Sacred Heart of Jesus for His Heart reveals what our heart might be like.  ‘The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and of great kindness’ says the psalmist (145.8) and reveals aspects of the Heart of God which it can be so hard to incarnate in our lives.  Can I be merciful, compassionate and kind?   If that’s the nature of God’s Heart, and if we were created in the image and likeness of God, then this helps to identify what being human is all about. 

We resonate to these human qualities which pierce beneath the shell that we can build around us and invite us to fix our heart upon them.  Yet they’re only emanations of the nature of the invisible and unknowable God whose nature must be greater than these describe.   To fix the heart on the Heart of God involves deepening our desire to reflect the Sacred Heart which doesn’t just call us to devotion to its physicality, any more than devotion to Christ is about tribal loyalty.  Rather, devotion to the Sacred Heart slowly opens us to the fullness of divine life.  I want my heart, my life, to be like His.  That’s what makes the saints so attractive, for they are people whose lives reveal something of the attractive beauty of God. 

God gently invites us to ‘fix our heart’ on His, to be awakened by and to Divine beauty.  To cleanse our heart that it might shine with the beauty in which it was created.   To recollect this call, hear its echoes and resonances.  This fixing of the heart means I’m being drawn out of my-self into the Sacred Heart.   Yet the heart can be distracted, can become enslaved to another who will lead me away from the Light of Love and needs cleansing, liberating and renewing in the image and likeness of the Sacred Heart.

THE HEART OF THE OTHER

This drawing into the Heart of Christ opens my heart to want to encounter the heart of the other.  In fact, what I have found, like so many others, is that encountering the heart of the other – of all Creation – I find my–self profoundly moved out of that ‘self’ as I gaze on the other.  From the simplest leaf, tiniest insect or most fragile butterfly, to the grandest mountain, vastness of ocean or celestial panoply my heart is moved and drawn more deeply into desiring at-oneness with that ‘other’.  And in allowing my heart to be moved in this way I notice how my own sense of humanity is nourished and affirmed.  I am more ‘me’ as I allow myself to be embraced by the Other.  This seems connected to the way the early Franciscan, St Bonaventure, noted that the very universe is a kind of ladder for ascending to God (cf. ‘The Soul’s Journey into God’) only this is a ladder which takes us into the wonder of the Divine.

BEING AND BELONGING

St Francis of Assisi knew that at heart, we are intimately connected with the heart of all that is.   He taught that we are sisters and brothers with the whole of creation.  The reverence I feel when contemplating the stars connects me to them, for I am made of the same stuff; the fact that I am moved in my depths when I gaze on the animal world should remind me to reverence it - and if it doesn’t, then there is something wrong with my humanity.   If I am not moved it suggests that my heart is closed and needs awakening so that it can be fixed on wonder, love and praise.  I find my sense of belonging widens from the particular (this family, place, nation) to a greater sense of belonging as a creature in creation.  This seems to be what Jesus recognised as he reached out beyond the confines of family (“who is my mother...”) and Paul taught (“circumcision is nothing ... what matters is a new creation”) and calls us to have a heart large enough to embrace the whole.  Slowly the heart needs to break free of its constraints so that it can sing the song of freedom. 

This is what being a Christian is all about - realising myself as a new creation whose heart is fixed on mercy, compassion and love for all things.  I need to be ‘mindful’ of this calling – to recollect this attention in the depths of my heart so that I’m not given to distraction.  And when – inevitably – I am, to collect my attention to its roots in the Heart of God.  This needs to be my well-spring.  And even though I may have a particular love, it is that Sacred Heart of Christ which is to enable all my loving.  As I gaze on His Heart so mine can be warmed.  It can also be challenged to grow beyond the limits of the self; challenged to be renewed (“a new heart create for me, O God...”) and refreshed. 

THE HEART AND DIVISION

This deep and often unconscious yearning for union – at-oneness – which is endemic to our being as a part of Creation will inevitably find the notion of separation a threat and a challenge and it’s experience deeply disturbing.  Yet, at a deeper level, our union cannot be broken – I remain your brother or sister and a brother or sister to the whole of creation whether that is recognised or not.  That recognition was the great gift of St Francis and other saints and their insights need to be recalled at times when we experience brokenness.  The eye of our heart needs to be fixed on the Heart of God which enfolds the whole of creation as we pray: “may you be well; may you be happy; may you know the compassion of Christ.”

MINDFULNESS AND MEDITATION

At a time when people are beginning to awaken to the importance of their inner world the Church needs to re-discover its treasury of contemplative prayer.  Here we can find the most important ‘fresh expressions’ of our Faith which speak to the actual needs people have.  If we want to re-connect with them then why not begin by organising a contemplative prayer group – call it ‘Mindfulness and Meditation’ if you like, but let’s do something!  

OUR COMMON HUMANITY IN CRISIS AND IN SHAME

Like many I read the news and watch reports concerning the growing humanitarian crisis around Europe and on our borders caused by the mass exodus of people from war-torn and impoverished countries.  And, like many, I feel helpless.  I also fee a deep sense of shame as I sit in the security and wealth that being a citizen of the UK affords me and watch the only response that our Government seems willing or able to take being to treat these refugees like wild animals.  So I have done the one thing I can do - written to my MP and to the Prime Minister.  Here is what I wrote to the former:

I am writing to you to express my horror and disgust at the apparent lack of action by the Government in addressing the humanitarian crisis on our borders.  As a Member of Parliament you are in a better position than I to know what action is being taken to assist those fleeing persecution who have arrived at Calais but I am left with the clear impression that the Government is doing nothing more than erecting more defenses to prevent illegal entry to the UK.

This is a wholly inadequate response given the fact that so many are from Christian and other minorities in Iraq and Syria who have fled persecution in their own countries.  As a UK citizen I feel a deep sense of shame at inhumane response of Mr. Cameron’s government.  I realise that Parliament is in recess at this time but cannot understand why, in the face of this crisis, it has not been recalled to debate how we can assist those in need of our help and protection. 

I would be grateful if you would explore how Parliament might be brought into session and demand that we act with compassion and mercy towards our fellow human beings in need.

You may like to do the same.  Mr. Cameron's email address is: camerond@parliament.uk

THE MIDDLE EAST - a short talk at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church

THE MIDDLE EAST

A Brief Guide

This is the region known as the ‘Cradle of Civilisation’.  Great empires came and went: Egyptian, Assyrian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and – lastly – Ottoman.  And a region where one cannot ignore the effect of the Crusaders who wrested parts of the Near East on the edges of the Mediterranean from Islamic rule and established kingdoms which lasted from 1099 to 1291.

Here is where we find what is known as the ‘Fertile Crescent’, arching from Arabia to Israel: that geographic span which enabled civilisations to develop and provided routes for traders and armies.  And here, of course, developed Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  Christianity flourished in the region for 600 years during the dominance of the Roman and Byzantine empires. 

IRAQ was evangelised by Ss. Thomas and Thaddeus (Addai)

EGYPT by S. Mark

TURKEY by S. Paul

Christianity was not as we know it today.  It was in a developmental process when arguments raged over the principle question – just who was Jesus?  A man chosen by God?  God in the appearance of man?  God and man?  And, if so, how?  Various tribal and political groups adopted one or another theory and it wasn’t until 381 at the Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea that the disparate churches adopted an agreed statement of Faith – the Nicene Creed.  Even then some did not, notably the followers of Nestorius, the Patriarch of Constantinople (Istanbul) from 428 to 431.  They rejected the title of Mary as Theotokos – God-bearer because they believed that Jesus was not God AND man but God IN man. 

Nestorian Christianity flourished throughout the East eventually reaching as far as China and it’s fairly evident that the development and acceptance of Islam was, in part, made possible because it inherited this view.  Islam does not accept that Jesus is God-made-flesh, nor that he died and was resurrected and it is argued many Christians in that region, faced with the growing Muslim influence, accepted Islam as it seemed close to their understanding of Christianity. 

Mohammed was born c. 570 in what is now Saudi Arabia.  The experience he had which led to the writing of the Koran took place c.610 and, subsequently, he began to attract followers to his new ideology and gathered an army together which, eventually, forced most of Arabia to accept Islam.  After his death in 632 the community was ruled by powerful caliphs (rulers) whose armies quickly took control of much of the Middle East. 

A Muslim army, for example, invaded Egypt in 639 and the country fell under their control a year later.  This was a time when the Byzantine Empire was becoming weaker through a series of invasions and Christians who did not convert were forced to pay a special ‘protection’ tax (the ‘Jizya’) which gave proof of their acceptance and subjection to the Islamic state.  It is required by the Koran (9:29) and is still enforced in certain places.  In fact, the tax is being demanded increasingly. 

The basic teachings of Islam are to:

1) worship the one and only one God and believe in his oneness.

2) witness that prophet Mohamed as God's prophet and messenger.

3) believe in, and practice, ritual prayers, paying the compulsory charity, fasting Ramadan, and performing Pilgrimage if possible.

4) have faith in God, all His angels, all His holy books, all His prophets, day of Judgment, and destiny.

5) fully obey God and his messenger Mohamed by obeying what they order him/her to do and what they order not to do. 

6) do good deeds for the benefit of his community, nature, and mankind.

7) observe the rules of the Quran and Islam morals. 

But Islam did not remain a united force for long.  After Mohammed’s death the question of his successor arose. Some soon rejected the view that he had appointed a successor and held that the position of caliph could be attained democratically.  They held that Mohammed had appointed Abu Bakr, a friend of the Prophet and father of his wife Aisha. These became known as Sunni’s and form the largest denomination: in the Middle East they are a majority in Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey. 

Those who believe Mohammed appointed his son-in-law, Ali, to be his heir and supporters became known as Shi’ite, or Shia, and believe their ayatollah’s (leaders) as God’s representative on earth.  

Today, as a rough guide, Sunni’s account for 80% of the Islamic population and Shi-ite for 20%.  In terms of countries, these are divided in the following ways:

LIBYA:                        Sunni                97%

                                    Shia                    2%

EGYPT                        Sunni                90%

                                    Shia                  10%

(Christian: 12 – 18%)

SAUDI ARABIA         Sunni                95%

                                    Shia                    5%

JORDAN                     Sunni                92%

                                    Shia                    2%

IRAQ                           Sunni                40%

                                    Shia                  40%

(Christian: 5%)

IRAN                           Sunni                10%

                                    Shia                  90%

(Christian: 0.2%)

SYRIA                        Sunni                 74%

                                    Shia                  13%

(Christian: app. 10%)

LEBANON                  Sunni                50%

                                    Shia                  50%

(Christian: 39%)

TURKEY                    Sunni                70%

                                    Shia                  25%

(Christian: 0.10%)

(Population figures taken from a variety of sources)

From this it can be seen that only Iran has a majority Shia population.  Egypt has a predominantly Sunni population and the Shi’ite community, along with the Christians (who form between 15-20% of the population), were increasingly persecuted under President Morsi with the backing of the conservative Muslim Brotherhood.  The goal of the Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928, follows the agenda of Sunni Islam – the restoration of the Caliphate and imposition of Sharia law over state and society. 

Syria also has a predominantly Sunni population but Pres. Assad belongs to the minority Alawite sect of Shia Islam. 

Whilst both Sunni and Shia’s consider the Koran to be divine they differ over the traditions that have developed to interpret and define Islamic faith and many believe violent divisions between the two are growing, as witnessed by what is occurring in Syria at present.  Some maintain that Sunni’s sense a loss of power and are seeking to regain their influence through violence and point out that both al-Qaeda and the Taliban are militant Sunni movements.

Whatever the outcome, the shadow of Islam has now stretched over the West and we need to understand it if we are going to live with it.

EXPLORING CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY

Spent the morning with Antonia Lynn developing the Course for next year.  Found our time together very positive and just hope that enough people sign up to make the Course possible (we need at least 8).  Just created a Facebook Page for the Course:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Exploring-Christian-Spirituality/114592351987343?sk=info.  Not sure how that works but hope it might promote the Course.

OF GODS AND MEN

On Friday, after the frustrations and annoyances of Christmas shopping in the West End of London , I went to see the film, Of Gods and Men.  Chris had told me about it some months away - but what I wasn't prepared for was the impact of this powerful French movie which tells the (true) story of a group of seven Cistercian monks who, in 1996, were abducted from their remote monastery in Algeria.  At that time there was an outbreak of Islamic terrorism in the country and it is this growing menace which provides the background of the narrative.

The title of the film comes from Psalm 82: 'Now I say to you, "You are gods, and all of you children of the Most High" and it deals with the personal response of these monks as they face the probability of violent death.  The story revolves around the daily life of this Cistercian community as they pray, study and work.  Much of the film is in silence and the only background music is that provided by the rich, modern French chant which is so hauntingly beautiful (and stands in stark contrast to Anglican chant) and the choice of texts used helps to highlight the dilemma of these Cistercians.  This is a film which uncompromisingly deals with ethics and morals consequent upon theology and faith which is centred on the celebration of Christmas.  Therefore is asks the viewer to contemplate the choice which these religious must make as they consider that God incarnated Himself in our humanity.  And, over the years, around this community has grown a village of Muslim peasants who are unable to leave their homes as the Islamic terrorists draw closer.

The title seems to point to the fact that these Cistercians are completely human whilst called to embrace divinity.  There are moments of high human drama and the monks exhibit all the emotions one would expect in such a situation.  To leave or to stay; to save their own lives or live out their monastic calling.  This is the agonising choice they must make individually and as a community. 

The film reaches its climax after they come to the conclusion that they will stay.  Having made the decision the brothers are shown sharing in a meal: to the crescendo of  'The Dying Swan' from Tchaikovsky's 'Swan Lake' this is, movingly, their Last Supper, with its overtones of Passion of Christ. 

One is not shown the circumstances of their death and the final moments are taken up with them being marched into the forests one snowy day.  No doubt Xavier Beauvois, the Director of the film, was aware of the full text of Psalm 82 from which these two verses provide the title:

'Now I say to you, "You are gods,
and all of you children of the Most High.

'"Nevertheless, you shall die like mortals,
and fall like any prince."'

Arise, O God, and rule the earth,
for you shall take all nations as your own.

Of Gods and Men