CPAesthetics @Faces&Smiles and @77 Newmarket Road Norwich: Moving away from simply correcting the signs of ageing to the management of the entire ageing process
Monday, November 8, 2010
On death row
Mon 8 Nov 1784: This week, I visited the societies near London, a very heavy but necessary work. Thursday 18, I visited two persons in Newgate who were under sentence of death. They seemed to be in an excellent temper, calmly resigned to the will of God. But how much stress can be reasonably laid on such impressions it is hard to say. So often have I known them vanish away as soon as ever the expectation of death was removed.
Hymn for the Week: Before reading the Scriptures
Father of all, in whom alone
We live, and move, and breathe, (Acts 17:28)
One bright celestial ray dart down,
And cheer thy sons beneath.
While in thy Word we search for thee (John 5:39)
(We search with trembling awe!)
Open our eyes, and let us see (Ps. 119:18)
The wonders of thy law.
Now let our darkness comprehend (John 1:5)
The light that shines so clear;
Now the revealing Spirit send,
And give us ears to hear. (Matt. 13:9)
Before us make thy goodness pass, (Exod. 33:19)
Which here by faith we know;
Let us in Jesus see thy face, (2 Cor. 4:6)
And die to all below. (Gal. 6:14)
We live, and move, and breathe, (Acts 17:28)
One bright celestial ray dart down,
And cheer thy sons beneath.
While in thy Word we search for thee (John 5:39)
(We search with trembling awe!)
Open our eyes, and let us see (Ps. 119:18)
The wonders of thy law.
Now let our darkness comprehend (John 1:5)
The light that shines so clear;
Now the revealing Spirit send,
And give us ears to hear. (Matt. 13:9)
Before us make thy goodness pass, (Exod. 33:19)
Which here by faith we know;
Let us in Jesus see thy face, (2 Cor. 4:6)
And die to all below. (Gal. 6:14)
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Hebrews
Sun 7 Nov 1742: I concluded the Epistle to the Hebrews, that strong barrier against the too prevailing imagination that the privileges of Christian believers are to be measured by those of the Jews. Not so: that Christians are under ‘a better covenant’, established upon better promises; that although ‘the law made nothing perfect’, made none perfect either in holiness or happiness, yet ‘the bringing in of a better hope did, by which we’ now ‘draw nigh unto God’—this is the great truth continually inculcated herein, and running through this whole Epistle.
Looking to the future facing backwards
Looking to the future facing backwards
{This sermon was based on the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel reading for Sunday, 7 November 2010. Although I would hope the sermon makes sense in any context, it was preached to my congregation which I leave in 3 weeks and which is still facing uncertainty regarding my successor}
Text: Luke 20:27-38
This is quite an interesting story, but one which we can easily gloss over, saying to ourselves that it's not relevant to us in the 21st century. We might even read it and be a little disgusted by the idea of a brother being compelled to marry his dead brother's wife!
It is however one of the laws that is set forth for us in our Bibles. It is called the law of levirate marriage and it is set out for us in Deuteronomy 25:5-10. The law is basically that the brother of a man who dies without children is expected to marry his brother’s wife in order to maintain the family line, and this is exactly what the Sadducees set out in verse 28 of our text. The first born son of the new marriage would count as the dead man's child for inheritance purposes. Should the brother-in-law refuse to marry his brother's widow, Deuteronomy 25:7-10 provides for a ceremony which both humiliates him and releases the widow from her obligation to marry him. The stories of Onan and Tamar in Genesis 38 and Boaz and Ruth in Ruth 4 are respectively biblical examples of levirate marriage and of the refusal to marry. Both these women appear in Jesus’ genealogy of ancestors, which makes them great great great etc grandmothers of our Lord.
Interestingly, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel today has declared that levirate marriage is now banned; so a brother may not marry his brother’s widow. It's interesting, isn't it, how we adapt the Bible to suit our modern culture; so we read the Old Testament and say "thou shalt not kill"…. Ahhh, that's a good one, we’ll keep it, and then "thou shalt marry thy dead brother's widow"… no, let's ignore that one….. and all those laws about homosexuality….. we’ll keep those….. but those laws regarding how much of our money we must give to God… no, we won't bother with those.
The Sadducees were a somewhat disgusting and disgraceful bunch of people who picked and chose what they would use from the Bible and what they would discard, and so they were hypocrites of the first degree, obviously constantly at loggerheads with Jesus and so, unsurprisingly, Jesus calls them (on various different occasions) wicked, hypocrites, and a generation of vipers.
One of the things they felt particularly strongly about was that there was no resurrection from the dead. Full stop. Finish and klaar. The fact that the Scriptures, our Old Testament, seems to suggest that there is a resurrection from the dead, was rejected by them and their interpretation of the Scriptures. The fact that resurrection from the dead had actually occurred in their history….. (both Elijah and Elisha’s ministries included resurrections which pointed to, and prepare us for, with Jesus’ resurrection miracles, the glorious hope, which is now fact, of resurrection)… the fact that these heroes of Jewish Scriptures had opened a doorway to the possibility of a resurrection from the dead, did not deter them from rejecting outright the belief in a resurrection from the dead.
The Pharisees on the other hand believed absolutely in the resurrection of the dead, and so, theologically, the Pharisees and Sadducees were theological enemies of each other.
I'm going to wonder a bit now, but it's very amusing to see how Jesus and his followers would use this enmity between the Sadducees and the Pharisees when it suited them. Here's just one example: in Acts 23, Paul is on trial and listen to verses 6-10:
When Paul saw that some of the group were Sadducees and the others were Pharisees, he called out in the Council, "Fellow Israelites! I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees. I am on trial here because of the hope I have that the dead will rise to life!"
As soon as he said this, the Pharisees and Sadducees started to quarrel, and the group was divided.
(For the Sadducees say that people will not rise from death and that there are no angels or spirits; but the Pharisees believe in all three.)
The shouting became louder, and some of the teachers of the Law who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and protested strongly: "We cannot find a thing wrong with this man! Perhaps a spirit or an angel really did speak to him!"
The argument became so violent that the commander was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces. So he ordered his soldiers to go down into the group, get Paul away from them, and take him into the fort.
Quite amusing isn't it, how enemies “become friends” because they share another common enemy? But let's get back to our text.
So the Sadducees bring this hypothetical situation to Jesus of seven brothers who can't have children. Now the real lesson here is that this family needs to visit an adoption agency or a fertility clinic, probably both, but for them the point is that Moses, who gave these laws, obviously did not contemplate any resurrection, because if he did, his doctrine leads to the absurdity which they mention.
And I think this is where the message lies for us today….. the Sadducees, living as they did in the present, interpret or predict the future based on the past. To put it another way:
They look to the future facing backwards
I don't want to go into Jesus’ answer to them whereby He indicates that there is, in fact, a resurrection [in other words life after death] because the truth is that in Judaism at the time of Jesus there was no clear doctrine on the issue of life after death, hence the deep divisions in Jewish scholarship on the issue at the time of Jesus. The Old Testament on its own is not that clear on the issue of eternal life.
So I won't point a finger at them for their position on the resurrection of the dead, but I will point a finger at them for looking to the future facing backwards, thinking that the only determinant of the future, is the past. I will point a finger at them for not listening to the God who spoke through the prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah in particular, and called his people to be a people always on the lookout for the “new thing that God is about to do”.
Of course, we will only take the speck out of their eyes when we have made sure there is not a log in our own eyes, so let’s look into our own eyes in this regard:
Do we look to the future facing backwards, or do we look to the future ‘facing forwards’, looking expectantly and hopefully for the new thing we believe God is about to do? This applies in all walks of life: in our homes, our marriages, our careers, in our church as we wait for a new minister, in all these areas,…. do we look to the future facing backwards, remembering the past and the way things have been, or do we face the future looking eagerly and expectantly,… and then preparing in faith for the new thing our God is always ready/willing/and able to do?
The Sadducees (and many/perhaps most in Judaism) could not see Jesus for who He really was, God with them, Emmanuel,…. because they were not looking for the new thing that God was already doing in their midst,…. because they were so fixed on the past,… and interpreting the present and expecting a future based on that past. Let’s not be like them.
Look, hopefully and expectantly,… in your marriage, your home life, your work situation, your church, your country, etc, etc, etc,… for the new thing that God is waiting to do, or perhaps is even already doing.
Remember, our God is not the God who was, He is the God who is and the God who will be.
May that truth bring you hope.
Another fault of the Sadducees that we must not fall into in 2010 is just this: they were silly…… we see it in their argument… they took things to a silly, absurd, extreme. We are often tempted to do this.
“Feed the hungry!!!???......., well if I feed every hungry person I will soon be among the hungry on the streets of Parow begging for food and asking you to feed me!
or
“Give the thirsty something to drink… it won't be long before they want water to wash their clothes or bath their babies and then I'll have a whole neighbourhood at my tap
or
“Welcome strangers… they are all just on the bum you know, and too lazy to work, always looking for something for nothing, and as for giving money to the beggar (the Bible calls it giving alms) we don't give money because they just spend it all on booze and cigarettes you know!”
We can be tempted to take things to the extreme, and then to live in a present which is based on the worst of the past and thus condemn ourselves to a miserable future. This is what happens when you look to the future facing backwards.
And so the Sadducees present this clever but silly argument. What they are really saying is this: “We won't change the way we think just because of you, Jesus”
Do you and I say this?
And they go on: "So we will devise sound but silly arguments, to show you why it makes sense to us to disagree with you and therefore not follow or believe your teaching."
Do you and I do this?
And so, in conclusion, they were… Sad… you… see… (Gettit?) …Sadd…u…cee…!
And you and I will be as well if we don't learn to be people who believe in and then look for, the new thing that God is always doing and waiting to do, in our midst.
Face the future…Face your future....looking forwards.
{This sermon was based on the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel reading for Sunday, 7 November 2010. Although I would hope the sermon makes sense in any context, it was preached to my congregation which I leave in 3 weeks and which is still facing uncertainty regarding my successor}
Text: Luke 20:27-38
This is quite an interesting story, but one which we can easily gloss over, saying to ourselves that it's not relevant to us in the 21st century. We might even read it and be a little disgusted by the idea of a brother being compelled to marry his dead brother's wife!
It is however one of the laws that is set forth for us in our Bibles. It is called the law of levirate marriage and it is set out for us in Deuteronomy 25:5-10. The law is basically that the brother of a man who dies without children is expected to marry his brother’s wife in order to maintain the family line, and this is exactly what the Sadducees set out in verse 28 of our text. The first born son of the new marriage would count as the dead man's child for inheritance purposes. Should the brother-in-law refuse to marry his brother's widow, Deuteronomy 25:7-10 provides for a ceremony which both humiliates him and releases the widow from her obligation to marry him. The stories of Onan and Tamar in Genesis 38 and Boaz and Ruth in Ruth 4 are respectively biblical examples of levirate marriage and of the refusal to marry. Both these women appear in Jesus’ genealogy of ancestors, which makes them great great great etc grandmothers of our Lord.
Interestingly, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel today has declared that levirate marriage is now banned; so a brother may not marry his brother’s widow. It's interesting, isn't it, how we adapt the Bible to suit our modern culture; so we read the Old Testament and say "thou shalt not kill"…. Ahhh, that's a good one, we’ll keep it, and then "thou shalt marry thy dead brother's widow"… no, let's ignore that one….. and all those laws about homosexuality….. we’ll keep those….. but those laws regarding how much of our money we must give to God… no, we won't bother with those.
The Sadducees were a somewhat disgusting and disgraceful bunch of people who picked and chose what they would use from the Bible and what they would discard, and so they were hypocrites of the first degree, obviously constantly at loggerheads with Jesus and so, unsurprisingly, Jesus calls them (on various different occasions) wicked, hypocrites, and a generation of vipers.
One of the things they felt particularly strongly about was that there was no resurrection from the dead. Full stop. Finish and klaar. The fact that the Scriptures, our Old Testament, seems to suggest that there is a resurrection from the dead, was rejected by them and their interpretation of the Scriptures. The fact that resurrection from the dead had actually occurred in their history….. (both Elijah and Elisha’s ministries included resurrections which pointed to, and prepare us for, with Jesus’ resurrection miracles, the glorious hope, which is now fact, of resurrection)… the fact that these heroes of Jewish Scriptures had opened a doorway to the possibility of a resurrection from the dead, did not deter them from rejecting outright the belief in a resurrection from the dead.
The Pharisees on the other hand believed absolutely in the resurrection of the dead, and so, theologically, the Pharisees and Sadducees were theological enemies of each other.
I'm going to wonder a bit now, but it's very amusing to see how Jesus and his followers would use this enmity between the Sadducees and the Pharisees when it suited them. Here's just one example: in Acts 23, Paul is on trial and listen to verses 6-10:
When Paul saw that some of the group were Sadducees and the others were Pharisees, he called out in the Council, "Fellow Israelites! I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees. I am on trial here because of the hope I have that the dead will rise to life!"
As soon as he said this, the Pharisees and Sadducees started to quarrel, and the group was divided.
(For the Sadducees say that people will not rise from death and that there are no angels or spirits; but the Pharisees believe in all three.)
The shouting became louder, and some of the teachers of the Law who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and protested strongly: "We cannot find a thing wrong with this man! Perhaps a spirit or an angel really did speak to him!"
The argument became so violent that the commander was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces. So he ordered his soldiers to go down into the group, get Paul away from them, and take him into the fort.
Quite amusing isn't it, how enemies “become friends” because they share another common enemy? But let's get back to our text.
So the Sadducees bring this hypothetical situation to Jesus of seven brothers who can't have children. Now the real lesson here is that this family needs to visit an adoption agency or a fertility clinic, probably both, but for them the point is that Moses, who gave these laws, obviously did not contemplate any resurrection, because if he did, his doctrine leads to the absurdity which they mention.
And I think this is where the message lies for us today….. the Sadducees, living as they did in the present, interpret or predict the future based on the past. To put it another way:
They look to the future facing backwards
I don't want to go into Jesus’ answer to them whereby He indicates that there is, in fact, a resurrection [in other words life after death] because the truth is that in Judaism at the time of Jesus there was no clear doctrine on the issue of life after death, hence the deep divisions in Jewish scholarship on the issue at the time of Jesus. The Old Testament on its own is not that clear on the issue of eternal life.
So I won't point a finger at them for their position on the resurrection of the dead, but I will point a finger at them for looking to the future facing backwards, thinking that the only determinant of the future, is the past. I will point a finger at them for not listening to the God who spoke through the prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah in particular, and called his people to be a people always on the lookout for the “new thing that God is about to do”.
Of course, we will only take the speck out of their eyes when we have made sure there is not a log in our own eyes, so let’s look into our own eyes in this regard:
Do we look to the future facing backwards, or do we look to the future ‘facing forwards’, looking expectantly and hopefully for the new thing we believe God is about to do? This applies in all walks of life: in our homes, our marriages, our careers, in our church as we wait for a new minister, in all these areas,…. do we look to the future facing backwards, remembering the past and the way things have been, or do we face the future looking eagerly and expectantly,… and then preparing in faith for the new thing our God is always ready/willing/and able to do?
The Sadducees (and many/perhaps most in Judaism) could not see Jesus for who He really was, God with them, Emmanuel,…. because they were not looking for the new thing that God was already doing in their midst,…. because they were so fixed on the past,… and interpreting the present and expecting a future based on that past. Let’s not be like them.
Look, hopefully and expectantly,… in your marriage, your home life, your work situation, your church, your country, etc, etc, etc,… for the new thing that God is waiting to do, or perhaps is even already doing.
Remember, our God is not the God who was, He is the God who is and the God who will be.
May that truth bring you hope.
Another fault of the Sadducees that we must not fall into in 2010 is just this: they were silly…… we see it in their argument… they took things to a silly, absurd, extreme. We are often tempted to do this.
“Feed the hungry!!!???......., well if I feed every hungry person I will soon be among the hungry on the streets of Parow begging for food and asking you to feed me!
or
“Give the thirsty something to drink… it won't be long before they want water to wash their clothes or bath their babies and then I'll have a whole neighbourhood at my tap
or
“Welcome strangers… they are all just on the bum you know, and too lazy to work, always looking for something for nothing, and as for giving money to the beggar (the Bible calls it giving alms) we don't give money because they just spend it all on booze and cigarettes you know!”
We can be tempted to take things to the extreme, and then to live in a present which is based on the worst of the past and thus condemn ourselves to a miserable future. This is what happens when you look to the future facing backwards.
And so the Sadducees present this clever but silly argument. What they are really saying is this: “We won't change the way we think just because of you, Jesus”
Do you and I say this?
And they go on: "So we will devise sound but silly arguments, to show you why it makes sense to us to disagree with you and therefore not follow or believe your teaching."
Do you and I do this?
And so, in conclusion, they were… Sad… you… see… (Gettit?) …Sadd…u…cee…!
And you and I will be as well if we don't learn to be people who believe in and then look for, the new thing that God is always doing and waiting to do, in our midst.
Face the future…Face your future....looking forwards.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Pascal Paoli
Sat 6 Nov 1784: I was an hour or two in conversation with that truly great man, Pascal Paoli, who is a tall, well-made, graceful man, about sixty years of age, but he does not look to be above forty. He appears to have a real regard for the public good, and much of the fear of God. He has a strong understanding and seemed to be acquainted with every branch of polite literature. On my saying, ‘He had met with much the same treatment with that of an ancient lover of his country, Hannibal,’ he immediately answered, ‘But I have never yet met with a King of Bithynia.’
Friday, November 5, 2010
So Please, What Day Is It, Really (and does it really matter)
This is the first in a series of posts on what might also be called: Scriptural Timing. I write it because I have been blessed as I have explored Scriptural concepts of time and applied them in my own life and I want to share that blessing with others. As I will show over the next few weeks, Scripture (both Old and New Testaments), but dare I also say God, has a different clock and calendar to the ones we have inherited from the Greeks and the Romans.
The timing I find in Scripture begins in the very first verses of Genesis where we read over and over, "...there was evening and there was morning - the first (second, etc) day." So this means.....a new day begins at sunset! So what, you might ask? Well, that is what I intend to explore.
Just for starters though, this helps me understand why people sometimes waited for sunset before going to Jesus (eg Mark 1:20). This reading will also lead us to explore the scriptural concept of Sabbath....but let me hasten to add that the important issue with Sabbath is not so much when you keep/celebrate it, but whether you in fact really keep/celebrate it at all. But, I get ahead of myself.
Hopefully you can see how interesting a subject this can be. As I write this, the sun is about to set behind Table Mountain and over the Atlantic Ocean here in Cape Town, South Africa on Friday, 5 November. A new day is about to begin, how wonderful that the Biblical day starts...with the promise of rest.
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Friday is of course the day our LORD was executed, and about this time they were rushing about to get Him buried before the Sabbath started....at sunset. Those who were with Him (the women) would go home and mourn. On Saturday, their (the) Sabbath they would continue to mourn. Then, early in the morning on Sunday, the first day of the week, they would go to the tomb, find it empty and announce to the world that HE IS RISEN and soon that day (the day after the Sabbath) would become referred to in Scripture not only as the first day of the week, but as the LORD's Day (Revelation 1:10).....but I am getting ahead of myself.
A new day is about to begin and that means....it is time to get down and rest.
The timing I find in Scripture begins in the very first verses of Genesis where we read over and over, "...there was evening and there was morning - the first (second, etc) day." So this means.....a new day begins at sunset! So what, you might ask? Well, that is what I intend to explore.
Just for starters though, this helps me understand why people sometimes waited for sunset before going to Jesus (eg Mark 1:20). This reading will also lead us to explore the scriptural concept of Sabbath....but let me hasten to add that the important issue with Sabbath is not so much when you keep/celebrate it, but whether you in fact really keep/celebrate it at all. But, I get ahead of myself.
Hopefully you can see how interesting a subject this can be. As I write this, the sun is about to set behind Table Mountain and over the Atlantic Ocean here in Cape Town, South Africa on Friday, 5 November. A new day is about to begin, how wonderful that the Biblical day starts...with the promise of rest.
Friday is of course the day our LORD was executed, and about this time they were rushing about to get Him buried before the Sabbath started....at sunset. Those who were with Him (the women) would go home and mourn. On Saturday, their (the) Sabbath they would continue to mourn. Then, early in the morning on Sunday, the first day of the week, they would go to the tomb, find it empty and announce to the world that HE IS RISEN and soon that day (the day after the Sabbath) would become referred to in Scripture not only as the first day of the week, but as the LORD's Day (Revelation 1:10).....but I am getting ahead of myself.
A new day is about to begin and that means....it is time to get down and rest.
Prayer for Friday from Book of Common Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen.
I saw her, but in her coffin
6 Nov 1762: In the way to London I read "The Death of Abel." That manner of writing, in prose run mad, I cordially dislike: Yet, with all that disadvantage, it is excellent in its kind; as much above most modern poems, as it is below "Paradise Lost."
I had hopes of seeing a friend at Lewisham in my way; and so I did; but it was in her coffin. It is well, since she finished her course with joy. In due time I shall see her in glory.
I had hopes of seeing a friend at Lewisham in my way; and so I did; but it was in her coffin. It is well, since she finished her course with joy. In due time I shall see her in glory.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
I have better work to do
5-8 Nov 1773: I preached at noon to the warm congregation at Loddon, and in the evening to the cold one at Yarmouth. I know there is nothing too hard for God; else I should go thither no more. Monday, 8. I found the society at Lakenheath was entirely vanished away. I joined them together once more, and they seriously promised to keep together. If they do, I shall endeavour to see them again; if not, I have better work.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Methodist Itinerant Ministry and Ridiculously Colourful Bishops
[This is the second post in my series on the Itinerant Ministry which I will be blogging on during our move.Visit here for the first, Methodist Itinerant Ministry, Monthly Shopping and Schnorrers]
One of the many advantages of the itinerant ministry is that one gets to encounter different types of bishops in different parts of our connexion. The one thing they have in common is their propensity to be ridiculously brightly coloured at times, while at other times, they are plain and undifferentiated and cannot really be told apart. This need that they have in certain seasons to be seen as different, to stand out boldly, almost as if they are saying: “Look at me” or “Take notice of me” is one which (although in a different context) intrigued Charles Darwin. He was fascinated by the peacock, whose huge and colourful plumage Darwin thought should have been a hindrance to its long-term evolutionary survival because of the hindrance it was when needing to escape predators. And yet it was clear that the survival of ridiculously colourful and overdressed peacocks had somehow been achieved. Southern African bishops have been known to survive as long as 10 years (1). Evolutionarily speaking (whether or not you agree with it) ‘stand out’, ‘notice me’ and ‘look at me’ type individuals should not survive for long, let alone return year after year after year to strut their stuff.
How can a peacock, whose brightly coloured and flowing plumage is a hindrance when trying to escape a predator, survive and in fact flourish? How can a bishop in full ‘look at me’ plumage survive in the wild where they stand out to predators who are lurking everywhere, waiting to rip them to shreds? But survive and prosper they do!
Darwin's realisation was that it is not survival of the fittest but rather reproductive success which is the determinant of long-term survival. How many little me’s I can successfully produce is more important than whether I am the fittest, best qualified, best suited, little sparrow/bishop/peacock in this particular field of lilies, where God has called me into being. (Wow, talk about mixing metaphors!)
The itinerant ministry introduces one to different bishops in different places. Southern Africa has three distinct species of bishop: Red, Golden and Fire-crowned (2). According to distribution maps, the Reds are all over the connexion, Golden's are mainly in the interior parts of our connexion, northern Botswana and Namibia, and the Fire-crowned almost exclusively in parts of the Mozambique District north of the Save River. Wherever I've seen them, bishops have brought me much joy, although in my current district the bishop has been a very elusive creature. Bishops were the first beautiful birds that I ever identified in the wild and in the Free State they were almost two for a penny along the river banks and roadsides of the town where I grew up, lighting up an otherwise drab Free State landscape. Bishops of course cannot be Christians because they are not human and God has in fact given us, ordinary humans, dominion over them (Genesis 1:28), but what joy, beauty and proof of God’s presence in our midst they can be, and have been in my life.
I thank God for ridiculously bright coloured bishops, my favourite small Southern African bird. (My favourite large Southern African bird is the Fish Eagle) The itinerant Methodist ministry has taken me to three distinct bird habitats, the Free State, the KwaZulu Natal Coast and the Western Cape. The Western Cape has by far been the least exciting birding experience, although having the most beautiful places in the country to actually go and look for birds makes up for the lack of birds. Now we prepare to itinerate to Gauteng, the Place of Gold, and a chance to see more of the beautiful, ridiculously bright coloured bishops which have been so elusive here in the Cape.
In season they shout out “Look at me” and look at them I will, and when I do I will most definitely thank God for them as well!
1. A.J.F.K. Craig in The Complete Book of Southern African Birds, 1991 page 669. Published by Struik Winchester.
2. G.L. Maclean in Robert’s Birds of Southern Africa, 1985 page 733-736. Published by the John Voelker Bird Book Fund.
One of the many advantages of the itinerant ministry is that one gets to encounter different types of bishops in different parts of our connexion. The one thing they have in common is their propensity to be ridiculously brightly coloured at times, while at other times, they are plain and undifferentiated and cannot really be told apart. This need that they have in certain seasons to be seen as different, to stand out boldly, almost as if they are saying: “Look at me” or “Take notice of me” is one which (although in a different context) intrigued Charles Darwin. He was fascinated by the peacock, whose huge and colourful plumage Darwin thought should have been a hindrance to its long-term evolutionary survival because of the hindrance it was when needing to escape predators. And yet it was clear that the survival of ridiculously colourful and overdressed peacocks had somehow been achieved. Southern African bishops have been known to survive as long as 10 years (1). Evolutionarily speaking (whether or not you agree with it) ‘stand out’, ‘notice me’ and ‘look at me’ type individuals should not survive for long, let alone return year after year after year to strut their stuff.
How can a peacock, whose brightly coloured and flowing plumage is a hindrance when trying to escape a predator, survive and in fact flourish? How can a bishop in full ‘look at me’ plumage survive in the wild where they stand out to predators who are lurking everywhere, waiting to rip them to shreds? But survive and prosper they do!
Darwin's realisation was that it is not survival of the fittest but rather reproductive success which is the determinant of long-term survival. How many little me’s I can successfully produce is more important than whether I am the fittest, best qualified, best suited, little sparrow/bishop/peacock in this particular field of lilies, where God has called me into being. (Wow, talk about mixing metaphors!)
The itinerant ministry introduces one to different bishops in different places. Southern Africa has three distinct species of bishop: Red, Golden and Fire-crowned (2). According to distribution maps, the Reds are all over the connexion, Golden's are mainly in the interior parts of our connexion, northern Botswana and Namibia, and the Fire-crowned almost exclusively in parts of the Mozambique District north of the Save River. Wherever I've seen them, bishops have brought me much joy, although in my current district the bishop has been a very elusive creature. Bishops were the first beautiful birds that I ever identified in the wild and in the Free State they were almost two for a penny along the river banks and roadsides of the town where I grew up, lighting up an otherwise drab Free State landscape. Bishops of course cannot be Christians because they are not human and God has in fact given us, ordinary humans, dominion over them (Genesis 1:28), but what joy, beauty and proof of God’s presence in our midst they can be, and have been in my life.
I thank God for ridiculously bright coloured bishops, my favourite small Southern African bird. (My favourite large Southern African bird is the Fish Eagle) The itinerant Methodist ministry has taken me to three distinct bird habitats, the Free State, the KwaZulu Natal Coast and the Western Cape. The Western Cape has by far been the least exciting birding experience, although having the most beautiful places in the country to actually go and look for birds makes up for the lack of birds. Now we prepare to itinerate to Gauteng, the Place of Gold, and a chance to see more of the beautiful, ridiculously bright coloured bishops which have been so elusive here in the Cape.
In season they shout out “Look at me” and look at them I will, and when I do I will most definitely thank God for them as well!
1. A.J.F.K. Craig in The Complete Book of Southern African Birds, 1991 page 669. Published by Struik Winchester.
2. G.L. Maclean in Robert’s Birds of Southern Africa, 1985 page 733-736. Published by the John Voelker Bird Book Fund.
Dandala returns to the fold
This story is from the Mail and Guardian in South Africa, I hope the link works. I haven't quite worked out links on Blogger just yet.
Click here for story
Click here for story
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
‘Prophets’ desired to speak with me
Wed 3 Nov 1742: Two of those who are called ‘prophets’ desired to speak with me. They told me they were sent from God with a message to me, which was that very shortly I should be ‘borned’ again. One of them added that they would stay in the house till it was done, unless I turned them out. I answered gravely, ‘I will not turn you out,’ and showed them down into the society room. It was tolerably cold, and they had neither meat nor drink. However, there they sat from morning to evening. They then went quietly away, and I have heard nothing from them since.
Prayer for the week from Book of Common Prayer
Almighty and merciful God, it is only by your gift that your faithful people offer you true and laudable service: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
JW's Notes on RCL Gospel reading for Sunday 7th
Sun 7 Nov Luke 20:27-38
Luk 20:34 The children of this world - The inhabitants of earth, marry and are given in marriage - As being all subject to the law of mortality; so that the species is in need of being continually repaired.
Luk 20:35 But they who obtain that world - Which they enter into, before the resurrection of the dead.
Luk 20:36 They are the children of God - In a more eminent sense when they rise again.
Luk 20:37 That the dead are raised, even Moses, as well as the other prophets showed, when he calleth - That is, when he recites the words which God spoke of himself, I am the God of Abraham. It cannot properly be said, that God is the God of any who are totally perished.
Luk 20:34 The children of this world - The inhabitants of earth, marry and are given in marriage - As being all subject to the law of mortality; so that the species is in need of being continually repaired.
Luk 20:35 But they who obtain that world - Which they enter into, before the resurrection of the dead.
Luk 20:36 They are the children of God - In a more eminent sense when they rise again.
Luk 20:37 That the dead are raised, even Moses, as well as the other prophets showed, when he calleth - That is, when he recites the words which God spoke of himself, I am the God of Abraham. It cannot properly be said, that God is the God of any who are totally perished.
Calvinism had torn the society in pieces
Mon – Wed 1-3 Nov 1773: I set out for Norfolk, and came to Lynn while the congregation was waiting for me. Here was once a prospect of doing much good; but it was almost vanished away. Calvinism, breaking in upon them, had torn the infant society in pieces. I did all I could to heal the breach, both in public and private; and, having recovered a few, I left them all in peace, and went on to Norwich on Wednesday.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Prayer of the Day: Feast of All Saints
Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Hymn for the Week: Before reading the Scriptures
Come, Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire,
Let us thine influence prove,
Source of the old prophetic fire,
Fountain of life and love.
Come, Holy Ghost (for moved by thee
The prophets wrote and spoke); (2 Pet. 1:21)
Unlock the truth, thyself the key,
Unseal the sacred book. (Isa. 29:11; Rev. 5:9)
Expand thy wings, celestial dove, (Gen. 1:2-4)
Brood o'er our nature's night;
On our disordered spirits move,
And let there now be light.
God through himself we then shall know, (1 Cor. 2:11; 2 Cor. 4:6)
If thou within us shine;
And sound, with all thy saints below, (Eph. 3:18)
The depths of love divine.
Let us thine influence prove,
Source of the old prophetic fire,
Fountain of life and love.
Come, Holy Ghost (for moved by thee
The prophets wrote and spoke); (2 Pet. 1:21)
Unlock the truth, thyself the key,
Unseal the sacred book. (Isa. 29:11; Rev. 5:9)
Expand thy wings, celestial dove, (Gen. 1:2-4)
Brood o'er our nature's night;
On our disordered spirits move,
And let there now be light.
God through himself we then shall know, (1 Cor. 2:11; 2 Cor. 4:6)
If thou within us shine;
And sound, with all thy saints below, (Eph. 3:18)
The depths of love divine.
All Saints’ Day
Mon 1 Nov 1756: Was a day of triumphant joy, as All Saints’ Day generally is. How superstitious are they who scruple giving God solemn thanks for the lives and deaths of his saints!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Bickering about JW
Sun 31 Oct 1742: Several of the leaders desired to have an hour’s conversation with me. I found they were greatly perplexed about ‘want of management, ill husbandry, encouraging idleness, improper distribution of money’, ‘being imposed upon by fair pretences’, and ‘men who talked well, but had no grace in their hearts’. I asked who those men were. But that they could not tell. Who encouraged idleness? When and how? What money had been improperly distributed? By whom and to whom? In what instances I had been imposed on (as I presumed they meant me), and what were the particulars of that ill husbandry and mismanagement of which they complained? They stared at one another, as men in amaze. I began to be amazed too, not being able to imagine what was the matter, till one dropped a word, by which all came out. They had been talking with Mr. Hall, who had started so many objections against all I said or did that they were in the utmost consternation, till the fire thus broke out; which then at once vanished away.
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