If
you do a search on the Wikipedia website for July you do get some interesting
information. Several that caught my eye especially were the amount of wars,
revolutions and battles that occurred during this month. Of course that could
be true of any month and within the aggressive events there were others that
marked more auspicious occasions such as the first international telephone call
in 1881, 1960 saw Ghanaian independence and the unification of Germany in 1990.
So
why do we want to remember things? Why do we feel the need to mark these
events? I would hope that not many of you would have wars, revolutions and
battles to remember but you may have more positive things to mark. Births and
especially marriages are a good starting point. We all go through our lives
being touched by many many situations and circumstances. They all shape us but
we do not choose to celebrate them all. It seems I only mark those that have a
huge affect on me. Much like the events
described above, they indicate something that has had an enormous impact on
individuals or the world around us.
There
is something that has had a very major impact on my life and could do for all
of us. It is a record of situations and events that have shaped the world we
live in and the lives of so many people. It speaks of a relationship yearned
for and a desire to see people and situations transformed. A series of stories
marked with despair and joy in equal measure. A great record of love found in
war and peace. A love that was willing to give everything. A love story? Yes I
would say so. Or even more, a love letter that has been read in times of
suffering and happiness but a love story nonetheless. If you haven’t got it by
now I am talking about the bible. It is all of the above and much more. Try it, I dare you!
Love
Jason
The Man in the Manse
June 2011
For
someone who came to university later in life I have been fascinated by the
furore surrounding the latest push from government regarding fostering
opportunities for those from “less well off” backgrounds. The quote on the BBC
News website from Nick Clegg goes “no-one should get an unfair advantage
because their parents have met somebody at the tennis club or the golf
club". The phrase “it’s not what you know but who you know” is the one we
know well and we have also experienced that come true to differing degrees.
I
am not going to enter the argument for nor against in this instance but just to
say that, hasn’t this always been the case. First of all we are so very
obviously shaped by “who we know” from a very early age. The biggest influences
are our parents and the circumstances we have grown up in. The “who we know”,
and our relationships with them, from parents to grandparents, from siblings to
friends, have a huge effect on our character, our view of the world and how we
relate to that world (warts and all). The “what we know” is swayed by the
impact of “who we know” and the way our character and life has been formed by
them.
My
life was changed when I came to know someone who looks at life from a greater
vantage point than mine, one who knows us all inside out and shows no regard
for himself but gives up all to give us the prospect of seeing life from a very
different angle indeed. An angle that,
when we are inevitably faced with the “what we know” not being all that we
would expect, enables us to respond to fear with faith, offer grace for
resentment and choose hope instead of despair.
Love
Jason
The Man in the Manse
April 2011
There
are several events that I could mention that have happened over the last few
months and many have a similar theme. But the uprisings or revolutions that
have gripped the Middle East have reminded me of the fall of communism and the
fledgling democracies that sprang up after the Berlin wall was torn down. It is
not surprising that what first appeared in Tunisia began to form in many other
countries across that region and the call of the population for freedom has a
mind of its own. The sheer volume and intensity of the gatherings must have
been quite something. The collective will of the people to come against years
of hardship and fear was breathtaking.
Some
were successfully nonviolent but, at the time of writing, some were not so and
I can’t help but notice the worry in the faces of many leaders in the west. We
are all told and know of our reliance on oil and it does seem that many
decisions are made with reference to this need or our advantage. This means
that maybe our strategic choices have not always been, well let’s say,
honourable. Freedom comes at a price but that price seems to be higher for some
than others and we have chosen to be pragmatic at best, blind at our worst, in
our dealings with some who have not lived up to our standards?
The
cost of freedom is actually a lot higher than we think. True, real and lasting
freedom is not given to us by governments or man. The cost of freedom has been
paid and paid in full. Easter shows us that it isn’t our own self-determination
or anything bestowed on us from others that frees us but the death of Jesus and
his resurrection that actually takes the burden of anger, greed and selfishness
from us. Freedom to live the life we should although circumstances may seem
otherwise. I wonder if those attributes may have a lot to do with why some in
the west are worried about freedom in the Middle East. God only knows. All I
know is at Easter, God in Christ, frees me from those worries and if God frees
you are free indeed.
Love
Jason
The Man in the Manse
March 2011
March
: An organized walk or procession by a group of people for a specific cause or
issue. Of course there are many other definitions of March and I won’t bore you
with the details here but this one in particular caught my eye. Why? because
there is a sense of a shared purpose, a mutual experience and a collective
will. How many of us can say that there would be enough people we know that
shared a purpose? The knowledge that those involved are together in a common
cause. Can we all pinpoint an encounter we have had with a great number of
others? The euphoria and excitement that comes from such an occasion. Would we
be able to express a time when everyone seemed to be going in the same
direction?
A
lot of people are said to crave this type of experience, that desire of a
common bond and a community life. It is equally said that society is sorely
missing it and far worse off for that very fact. We have to be careful though
not to generalise because many do share these experiences. We may not recognise
them because we do not get the signs. The signs are often the Hoodie and the
iphone (one of which I do not own), the football scarf and the chants and the
grumpy old man syndrome. The only problem is, not all of us can take part in
these because we do not identify with them. That does not make them not
worthwhile or less meaningful.
The
challenge of the church is to cross these barriers. Note: I did not say break
them down! Our call from Jesus is to reach across, so that everyone knows there
is no longer a restriction to learning that we all, in the end, need the same
thing, God!. A March as described above does not need to be at a prescribed
pace and in a certain style, we just need do it together. So... anyone for a
walk?
Love
Jason
The Man in the Manse
February 2011
February
can be a boring month. Maybe that’s the wrong word to use? Maybe it is better
to say February is a bit odd? I don’t know how to put it really because, I
guess, February does that to you. It sits there not quite winter, not quite
spring. The days are longer but not too much longer. It’s getting warmer but
not too much warmer. The grass is greener but, you guessed it, not too much
greener. We have had the excitement of Christmas. We have survived the
celebrations and resolutions of the New
Year. When it comes down to it February is an average sort of month.
However
I have to say I like average sometimes. Average is comfortable. Average is
safe. Average is easy on the heart. It does not get the blood going. It doesn’t
stress you out and it is neither high nor low. It’s just, well, average. I
think another way to say it, is “just kick off your shoes, take to a cosy chair
and relax”. Actually I am beginning to not like average when I think about it
in those terms. I’m not sure I like comfortable or safe. I quite like my heart
and blood to be going a little. I want to be high and low at times because it
is then you know you are alive.
We
can be mistaken into thinking that we are average sorts of people and I ‘m sure
we don’t like that feeling. We don’t like to think we are comfortable and safe,
neither high or low, a bit cosy and relaxed. Well let me let you into a little
secret I know. You may not realise it but you are far from average. You are
quirky, a little strange, exciting and well not like February at all. You are
the most interesting person in the world. Why? because you are wonderfully and
fearfully made. You are created in the image of God. You are the likeness of
the almighty and everlasting, awe inspiring, powerful, creative and the most
un-average person you are ever likely to meet. There, doesn’t that sound more
like it. You are far from being February. The challenge now is to live up to
your top billing.
Love
Jason
The Man in the Manse