Think Question Believe

• The road less travelled

  We all know, much as we push the thought away, that our own lives are finite.  But also, most of us thankfully, do not know the day or the hour of our ending. But the downside of that is that sometimes we can act as if we have all the time in the world.All too easily our lives drift along, lots of activity, but sometimes little change. Plenty of tasks and busyness, but if we are not careful those can simply be external distractions, we can really be drifting, simply marking time and avoiding the internal work that is required.Part of the problem is that we can get to a place in life that may not be the most comfortable, the most at ease with ourselves and our lives that we could be, but at least it is comfortable enough, or even uncomfortable, but not enough for us to risk shaking it all up and making changes, and who knows in any case what the new life would look like?And this failing is not just in the life of faith, but in every life; for in reality there is no continual oasis of normality to return to, no state of perpetual tranquility to be reclaimed – all lives are in reality, in a perpetual state of flux, of challenge and testing.

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  10:44

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• How can we be truly rich?

  Possessions had and still have a profoundly symbolic function for humanity. If life feels fragile and precarious we seem to think that possessions will render it more secure; even though the possessions themselves are even frailer than life itself. Whilst the rich man in the parable of the rich fool was supposedly rich in goods, his soul was impoverished. His purse was full, but his heart a desert.By contrast, Jesus calls us respond in faith and loving trust; and manage our goods, be they many or few, in accordance with that faith. We are to share what we have, and who we are with others, rather than indulge some insatiable need to accumulate.It is the insatiable, pathological pursuit of wealth, the desire to merely possess, deaf to those in need, and the suffering in our world, that represents the true poverty of heart and soul.

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  11:39

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• How can we defeat hate?

  The early church was itself puzzled by the Spirit, and unable to make much in the way of theological sense of this area of doctrine. And even today the Holy Spirit is an area fraught with competing interpretations.  So, what is the Holy Spirit? How might we recognize it? How might our lives be touched, shaped and directed by the Spirit? Where do we start to take on the awesome responsibility of discerning quite where the Spirit may be leading us?And when we pray, if we pray, do we really understand what we are praying for – and what we should be praying for?And how do we even begin to defeat hate, cruelty and indifference, not only in our world, but also within our own hearts?

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  11:50

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  11:50
• Juggling our lives away.

  Jesus staying with Mary and Martha is another story told only by Luke, and it continues a theme that is clearly dear to him. The breaking of cultural and religious boundaries and a declaration of radical acceptance and inclusion.And, of course, the story is not really about doing the dishes, and it's not really about Martha and Mary – but about us.In our lives, what do we place first – keeping busy, getting lots of things done, perhaps keeping even intentionally distracted by the mundane and unchallenging, convincing ourselves that we are working hard, or getting on with the real task, the real and more difficult work of our lives?Isn’t it so easy – just to juggle our lives away?

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  10:33

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  10:33
• Looking behind or looking ahead?

  Tensions have always been intrinsic to the Christian Church, think of the controversies surrounding slavery, race, divorce, women’s role in the church, one could go on.On the one hand there are those, like Peter, who believe the Church should have boundaries and borders, acting like a fortress, which can only care for and protect those within, by defining, identifying and excluding those who are without. That the old ways need to resist the challenge of the new, if not forever, then certainly for as long as possible – church as a perpetual rearguard action – holding back the winds of change and compromise – fidelity to the past.On the other hand, the modern counterparts of Paul, who believe that the Truth the Church professes can only be so if it is universal; that to be the Good News, it must, of necessity, be so for all.That the central revelation of Christianity is that all notions of tribalism, social, ethnic and gender distinction were swept away, by the life, teaching, ministry, and new life in Jesus.Could we not learn from the example of Peter and Paul? After all they too believed they were fighting for the future of the Church, and their visions were very different indeed.Each would come to pursue their own mission, their own calling, trusting that Providence would, in time, resolve any inconsistencies, reservations and doubts that they might harbour.They had neither a shared policy, nor shared theology, but simply a mutually recognised commitment that each would serve the Gospel, as best he could, in his own way, and what the Holy Spirit would bless, it would bless.

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  11:42

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