Rector’s Blog – day 68

Those of you who can remember being teenagers, or who have had adolescents in your household, will find the memory familiar of wanting to be grown up, wanting to make your own decisions when you don’t have the experience or the life skills to be able to do so effectively.  ‘It’s my money!  I can do what I want’, forgetting that while you want to blow the whole of it on a pair of branded trainers it doesn’t leave you enough to be able to buy lunch.  It seems to me that this attitude is almost as prevalent with adults as it is with children.  When debt becomes acceptable, debt rises.  When one holiday a year becomes standard, it is human nature to start to want two.  When you’ve bought something for £20 and then see it online for £12, it is natural to feel a little bit cheated.

I hope both that a lot of this does not ring bells with you, and also that perhaps a little tiny bit does!  Because we live in a consumerist society where money matters.  We live in a society where you are held in esteem if you are busy.  (I remember giving my apologies for a meeting in London last year and citing that I had rather a lot on.  The chair of the meeting, looked at me in surprise and said, “Oh, Good!”)  We live in a society where it matters whether you have had your hair done recently (think of the comments you have made about BBC news reporters over the last weeks).  We live in a society where people are held to account and mistakes are not forgivable (think of the expectations of the public about politicians who have erred).

All this places demands on us and enslaves us and however removed from the hubbub of life we are, it is virtually impossible to keep our hands clean entirely or even partially.  To what extent are you enslaved to all this?  And how much would you like it to change.  Focussing on Christ and his values can help us to see the values of the world for what they are.  And it isn’t always comfortable!  Perhaps the very people who think themselves most free are the ones who, unbeknownst to themselves, are in the greatest danger of all.  Sometimes it’s only when you take a step back that you can see the bonds that were tying you down.

St Paul does suggest a way in which orientating our lives in Christ helps counter the effects of living in a fallen world.  Instead of enslaving yourself to the values of the world through self-indulgence, become a slave to each other through love., the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’   That leads to real freedom because by consciously living for others as much as we are living for ourselves;  by living for Christ as much as we live for ourselves it really does help to put things in perspective.  But then, I hope you know this already!  In what ways does it come naturally?  In what ways do you struggle?

Tomorrow we’ll talk about cucumbers!

A prayer

‘Love Your Neighbour’ Prayer

Oh Lord, our Father,
In a world turn apart by fear and suspicion,
each us your children that Love is the only means to conquer fear:
The Love we encounter as we search you out,
The Love we encounter as we accept your embrace.

Oh Lord, the Son,
In a world full of anger and frustration,
Teach us, your servants, your friends, your sisters and your brothers,
To overturn the tables and tear down the fences
Which turn away the hungry and homeless:
To feed and house the disciple that knocks on our door
In the guise of the stranger,
And to find the Love we seek in loving others. 

Oh Lord, the Holy Spirit,
Mother of Wisdom,
Teach us, your children, to be caring of one another,
To protect one another,
As you gather the nations under the feathers of your wings.
Help us to know peace that steals gently in through quiet acts of kindness.
Amen

And here is a much loved hymn about the joy of finding freedom through turning to Christ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQeIGbKqiw8