Seminars, Conferences and Visiting Friends

I'm glad I don't have to commute regularly to London, though when I do I enjoy walking down Borough High Street. During the day the get the delightfully exotic aromas of the coffee bars - in particular the Moroccan one halfway down. At night, it's like a seen from Dickens' London.

I was on a 2 day seminar on Transforming Conversations - about to shape conversations to be more purposeful and intentional. This is not to be used at the breakfast table, but when helping people to make decisions and move forward. It surprisingly hard work and tiring to listen carefully in order to reflect back and help people formulate their own decisions. Both days I was falling asleep by 9 pm. And we have 2 more days in May to finish the course. I hope it will help me help others process their own thoughts about the future when they need to.

Tomorrow I'm off to Harrogate for a 2 day New Wine leaders' conference. I believe two of the speakers will be Nicky Gumbel and Justin Welby, plus others from the Vineyard Church. I usually find something to challenge and encourage me at the conferences, though my capacity for long uninterrupted sung worship sessions seems to be diminishing.

In between I've visited two old friends in Leeds. John and I were in the church youth group together in the 1970s in Twickenham, and having this sabbatical has been a great time to catch with friends. It's good to see people who were on fire for God as teenagers still on fire today, and we were able to encourage one another. As an added bonus I was treated to the most fantastic sunset on the train from Leeds to London.

'Wait for the Lord'

Theseus and the Minotaur

We' were in Cyprus last week - our first visit - and I was amazed at the rich variety of landscape, culture and history of the country. The local people are friendly and welcoming, and I can quite see why so many British people choose to live there.

One of the sites we enjoyed was the archaeological parks of Paphos and Kourion. So many complete and almost complete mosaics have been discovered from the Hellenist and Roman periods. Some depict very human scenes of hunting or drinking, and many others scenes of heroes and gods with great ingenuity and beauty.

I'm afraid my knowledge of Greek mythology is rather limited, but the little I do know tells me that the gods were not at all interested in the affairs of ordinary mortals, and neither were the great writers such as Homer - preferring to compose epic poems about heroes such as Odysseus and Achilles.

In contrast stands the witness of the bible to the God who loves and cares for his people, even to the extent of living among them. Today's psalm set for the 2nd Sunday of Lent says, 'The Lord is my light and salvation; whom shall I fear?' Here is a promise of protection and guidance, not as a reward for heroic deeds or in response to oblations or libations, but simply out of covenant love. I don't think there is any idea in Greek mythology of a god making a covenant with humans, that would bind both parties equally. But the Lord, Yahweh, did just that with his people Israel, and renewed and extended that covenant to all people through Jesus.

The 'Earthquake House'

In the archaeological site at Kourion there is a house that was destroyed by an earthquake in the 4th century. It collapsed so quickly that many of the inhabitants were killed instantly, as at Pompei. Zeus or Apollo would have nothing to offer them.  As we wandered round the ancient buildings I tried to imagine the ordinary people who lived there 2000 or more years ago. They must have had concerns just like us - about family relationships, health and old age, work, and so on, and I wonder where they found consolation and help? In the bible the psalmist could write: 'The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit' (Psalm 34). That's where I find help in time of need.

Jesus, be the centre

Welsh sunset

Last week I was in North Wales at St Beuno's Spirituality Centre, with days spent in the weak Welsh sun. This week I'm in Cyprus where I'm typing this in the intense Mediterranean sun. Last week I experienced some magnificent sunsets, but here the sunrise is worth getting up early for. I don't think I've seen the sun actually rise above the sea's horizon, getting hidden for a moment by the clouds, and then come blazing out in all its glory. But it's the same sun that makes us screw up our eyes at its intensity in Cyprus as it is that brings a pale yellow glow glow to the green Welsh countryside.

The picture in the centre is of the labyrinth at St Beuno's. I didn't discover it until my last day, but, I'm glad it waited until the end, because my experience of it provided just the insight I needed to make the transition from a calm spiritual oasis to the distractions of Croydon. I was recommended by my spiritual director to walk the labyrinth from the centre outwards. The thing about a prayer labyrinth is that there is only one path, unlike a maze in which there are many false paths which you may or may not choose. The other difference is that the route of the labyrinth is plain to see whereas the maze is hidden by tall hedges. 

'Jesus, be the centre'

As I walked away from the centre I was aware of leaving something precious behind - my eight days spent listening to and talking with the Lord, knowing the love of God, the companionship of Jesus and the quiet prompting presence of the Spirit. It was with some regret that I began the journey, but after the first few metres the path took a sharp turn and, much to my surprise, I was back almost to where I had begun, looking straight at the centre again. Walking further on there were times when I turned away from the centre, and times when I turned towards it. Times when I thought I was getting nearer but ended up further away, and times when I thought I was about to leave the labyrinth but found myself walking towards the centre again. It may sound like a pious cliché but this describes my experience of life?

Cyprus sunrise

There is only one path - I only have one life - and sometimes I think I'm doing all the right things to make me feel closer to God, but I find myself feeling further away. But at other times there can be the unexpected moment of consolation when God is vividly present. It may be an inner warming of the heart, a sense of Jesus' companionship, or a moment of natural or artistic beauty that makes me catch my breath and say, "Thank you Lord for your grace." During the day I may find myself naturally turning towards the Lord and consciously seeing the 'centre', and others times I am preoccupied with daily chores and can't look at the centre.

But one more thing struck me - as I walked round the labyrinth I could see the centre nearly all the time out of the corner of my eye. I knew it was there and that I was never far from it. As I finally left the labyrinth I felt the Lord say to me that I would not be bringing a memory of my eight days' retreat back home, but the reality of the Lord's presence.

So it's the same SUN in Wales and in Cyprus though experienced quite differently. Jesus is the same SON whether experienced in the spiritual oasis of St Beuno's or the less obvious spirituality of Croydon. And for that I thank God!

I find the hardest thing about writing is making a start. For me it's to do with finding the form or pattern. How am I going to shape the idea that I've had? It's like the composer who may have many melodies in his or her head, but has to work out a form to contain them.

I've been reading through Paul's Letter to the Romans, alongside Tom Wright's commentaries. I keep connecting it with Jesus' parable of the prodigal son in which we see a father concerned for the salvation of his renegade son. Paul writes about the God who is concerned not only for his 'son' - Israel, but for the one who will become his adopted son - the Gentiles. I've often wondered, as many have, what happened to the father and his sons after the return of the prodigal? I imagine that the father had work for them both to do - working on his estate to make it prosper. Paul writes about God's plan not just for the salvation of individual people, but the redemption of the whole of creation - the cosmos. Israel's mission was to be a light to the Gentiles and bring the message of salvation to them, but Israel preferred to keep it to themselves.

So I toyed with the idea of using the parable of the prodigal son as a theme to which I would write variations based on Paul's letter. In musical terms this is not uncommon: Theme and Variations are a frequent form used by composers through the ages. The theme is stated, and then ideas are developed from it, but at the same time the integrity of its melodic or harmonic structure is maintained in each new variation. I went on to wonder if this had ever been tried in literature, and after a short search discovered a paper written on this very subject where the author discusses four novels all taking their inspiration from Bach's 'Goldberg Variations'. A series of some 30 highly structured by also highly imaginative variations based on a simple theme.

Now I have a structural idea with which to work. In fact it will be a Prelude, Theme and Variations and Finale. The Prelude describes the world created by God but polluted by sin - this corresponds to Romans 1 and 2. The Finale will concern God's ultimate plan for the salvation of Israel, all humanity and the cosmos. And the Theme and Variations will begin with Jesus' parable. Each variation will take as its starting point the phrase 'There was a man who had two sons...'

Paul himself writes in a variation form to some extent, often coming back to the same theme but from a different viewpoint, so I hope that in my own way I can do justice to his ideas, but also create something that will help people engage with these great motifs of creation spoiled and redeemed, Israel provoked by jealousy of God's grace to the Gentiles, the importance of family relationships and and calling God 'Abba' - Father.

This week I begin an 8 day retreat at St Beuno's near St Asaph in North Wales. I won't be blogging, posting on FB, tweeting, or communicating in any way. I think my very first blog in 2007 followed a similar retreat. It will be interesting to see if I have a similar experience of meeting with God through his word as I did then. I'll let you know.

Today is the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul, and as my namesake I feel a particular affinity. I was reading his letter to the Romans all last week, accompanied by Tom Wright's majesterial book 'Paul and the Faithfulness of God'. Last year I wrote to Tom Wright to ask for some suggestions about my sabbatical project, and he replied, like most of his writing, with a densely worded email suggesting I read Chapter 7 of his book. It's taken my 2 weeks to read that chapter, so I don't think I'll have time to read the whole TWO volumes during my sabbatical - let alone digest it. But this chapter has been helpful in showing how Paul has a background narrative - a 'back story' - against which he does his theology. The back story is in several layers: God and creation, God and humanity, God and Israel, God and Messiah. In Romans Paul shows that God's plan was to work through Israel to redeem mankind and ultimately the whole of creation. But Israel's rebelliousness made it part of the problem, so God raised up one who would fulfil all that Israel should have done - the Messiah. And through the Messiah Israel's mission is fulfilled to bring salvation to humanity and ultimately creation.


My sabbatical project is to turn some of this teaching into stories that children and adults can connect with, bearing in mind that Paul already has a back story - a 'meta-narrative'. There's a limit to how much I can read and study at one go, so I've found that walking has become an essential means of breaking study time into manageable chunks. I was pleased, therefore, to read this article on the BBC website: The Slow Death of Purposeless Walking That is walking whose purpose is simply to think and reflect rather than to travel from A to B. We are so fortunate round here to have easy access to the edge of the North Downs. I can walk up to Farthing Down in about 20 minutes and see cattle grazing, and in the distance The Shard, The Gherkin, and Canary Wharf. So I can be in London and the country at the same time.

And it was to London that Nicy and I travelled yesterday, to worship at Southwark Cathedral at the morning sung eucharist. What a lovely mix of people: families bringing children to be baptised, gay men in their slim jackets, old ladies, the actor Timothy West and his wife Prunella Scales - regular members of the cathedral congregation, black and white. Surely a realisation of Jesus' own picture of the kingdom of God as told in his story of the great banquet. "Go and invite everyone you can find, both good and bad, and bring them in," the master said to his servants. After a tasty lunch in the Cathedral Refectory we made our way through the lanes and alleys of the south bank to the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse for a concert of Viennese Salon Music. Not just küchen or bons-bons but 'meat sandwiches' of Schoenberg, Richard Strauss, Berg and Bach. But we were treated to some delightful bons-bons of Lehar and Oscar Strauss brought to us by the ever-charming Felicity Lott. Lehar's 'Komm zu mir zum Tee'  was about anything but tea! London is simply the best city to wander through on a warm afternoon by the river - and it was warm...I even saw some shorts.

And back to St Paul. If I was asked my favourite verses of his letters I would think of 'God has poured his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us' (Romans 5), 'I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection' (Philippians 3), and those words set so powerfully to msuic by Handel in 'Messiah': 'Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep but shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye. The trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible.' That is the hope to which all whose faith is in Christ are heading.

The difference between Karma and Grace

Well worth reading what Bono has to say about Karma and Grace. I guess that the majority of people live according to unspoken Karma philosophy. Bono shows, in his own edgy style, how liberating is Grace.

The difference between Karma and Grace

A Walk in the Parish

The first week of my sabbatical has been a 'tidying up' week - literally tidying up my study and throwing away great quantities of paper, books that I've never read and never will, reorganizing my desk and generally decluttering. Sorting out the remaining matters of my late father's estate, and attending to our flat in Purley. In between I've had time to read a fascinating book by Patrick Leigh Fermor about his travels by foot from Calais to Constantinople in 1934 - it made me wonder if I should have planned to travel like that during these 3 months. But I have enjoyed walking up to Farthing Downs and imagining myself a country parson as I pass the cows grazing up there. Later today I'll be joining my Italian class in Croydon.

Yesterday I visited the first of the other churches in the deanery of Croydon South - The Hayes Church. As part of the mission of St Barnabas and All Saints' Kenley, the congregation there has been meeting since November in The Hayes School. I received a warm and friendly welcome and was struck by the sense of the presence of God among the people there. A congregation of about 30 adults  of all ages, and a dozen or 15 children. Simple but direct worship, engaging preaching, a real sense of fellowship, care and prayer. I wish them all the very best, and hope to see more signs of the church growing like this round the deanery.

From tomorrow I will be working on my main creative project: writing fables based on the teaching of St Paul. The idea for this sprang up some years ago when I became aware of the lack of any material from the epistles in most children's bibles. It's easy enough to tell stories that are already stories, that is in narrative form. But to unfold adult didactic teaching for children is quite a challenge. My experience of taking assemblies at our church school has taught me the value of story telling, and that a well-crafted story can really draw people in, both young and old. So my aim is to write stories that draw on St Paul's teaching. I use the word 'fable' because a fable doesn't have to be rooted in a historically accurate setting. Part of my project will involve reading children's fairy tales, and fables such as those collected by the Grimm Brothers. These are stories that have stood the test of time because they have a timeless quality about them, and have powerful themes. i don't know if my efforts will stand comparison with them, but I'm going to have a go anyway!