I met an old friend and mentor from my college days this week for a meal and a chat. He has been a significant person in my life and education helping to form many of my views on a host of different topics. However now in his mid 50’s and despite a formidable teaching career in International and UK law he is very vexed about his future and the both hidden and open ageism he is seeing and experiencing for himself. The fact that he is also black may have something to do with what he is experiencing though he feels it is predominantly to do with his age and the cost of providing for his pension. As a result he is feeling increasingly isolated and rejected despite being a very bright, caring and experienced man.
On another front a number of friends and acquaintances of mine seem to be feeling under pressure from being single and Christian. It’s a feeling I know well myself and often makes itself felt around Valentine’s Day, Christmas time or when someone I know my own age gets married. I also find it interesting that according to the most recent demographics I’ve seen for the UK the number of single occupied households is very much on the rise and now rapidly approaching about 40% of all stock. If the trend continues then married couples will soon be in the minority. But again this leaves many people I know feeling isolated and questioning God’s love for them.
In my home town my church was very big on practicing hospitality perhaps because of the high proportion of students who worshipped there from the local university colleges. However since first coming to London about a year ago I can only think of one occasion when I have been offered hospitality by a person who I didn’t already know from my past in some way. It seems to me that we are perhaps in the big cities loosing the art of showing hospitality to strangers which any reading of the bible will show was considered very important in the ancient world.
In the mean time I offer below some words I read recently for those who may be feeling isolated or rejected.
“Do you feel as though God isn’t answering your prayers? Are you tempted to doubt His goodness? When I feel this way, I have to remind myself that my circumstances aren’t the barometer of God’s love and goodness – the cross is”.
Life and the devil may try to convince us that God doesn’t care for us but he has shown how much he does by dying on the cross for us. We can’t rely on our feelings - so get out there and practice some hospitality yourself!
Wednesday 27 February 2008
Friday 22 February 2008
Juno
Having seen this movie I find I can't stop thinking about it. I had mixed feelings after seeing it as I’m not sure a 12A classification is right for it. I would not feel comfortable say taking a group of 13 year old girls to see it. But that said, I felt it was well made and thought-provoking with some the frank and very funny sexual references. Vaguely pro-life it was more graphic than I felt comfortable with, although the way the kids talk in the movie is probably pretty realistic for the US, and where they lead the UK usually follows unfortunately. In the initial stages of the film I thought Juno's unplanned pregnancy was treated very flippantly, and found the parents' reaction was hard to credit, but as the movie progressed the plot and characters thoughts and motivations become more fleshed out. I appreciated the fact that the teenage pregnancy and abortion clinic scenes were not glamorised. The ending was poignant. I was mostly saddened that so many teenagers today have the same attitude about sex as that portrayed in the movie. I meet a lot of unfulfilled kids who are looking to relationships to provide what they are lacking in their family life. In the film Juno is abandoned by her mum, and it seems like she has learned what she thinks is a good way to get at some form of love and attention from guys. Many girls today it seems have learned the same thing.
Wednesday 13 February 2008
You never know when!
Yesterday I was waiting to try on a new top and some other items in a local boutique in a very long queue that seemed to have stopped moving because they only had three cubicles and one of them seemed to being used to store stuff. I couldn’t see anyone coming in or going out of the other two cubicles.
The woman in front of me in the queue started moaning and complaining about the wait. I looked at her and felt really sorry for her, as she seemed so stressed. ‘This is really getting to you, isn’t it?’ I said sympathetically.
‘Yes, it is,’ she agreed. She had just come from work where people had not done their jobs properly, and that was stressful, and she was in her lunch hour and in rush to do go to the post office where she thought she would have to queue again.
‘I used to be like that,’ I said. ‘I was always running from one thing to another feeling stressed.’ ‘I’m always like this,’ said the woman. ‘This is my life. But you seem so serene and peaceful’
I started to tell her about my life, about how I had often kept myself busy trying to find fulfillment in friends and my work, and nothing had seemed to do the trick. I told her how I came to understand through someone that my continual striving was an attempt to fill a gap in my life that could only be filled with Jesus.
The woman plied me with loads of questions and before we knew it, it was her turn to go into a cubicle. What she did next really surprised as she said to the shop girl in charge ‘Can you let someone else go first? I’ve got to finish this conversation!’
Then she turned to me and said, ‘I know this is a really strange question, but will you have lunch with me?’ I readily accepted and we agreed to meet in 20 minutes time.
That wasn’t all though as whilst I was trying on my stuff I overheard one shop assistant say to another, ‘That woman just met another in the queue for the first time and now they are going to have lunch together to talk about Jesus.’
When I came out of the cubicle the shop girl asked me if I knew the lady I was going to lunch with. ‘No,’ I said, and gave her a huge smile.
We met later as agreed for a fantastic meal, which she paid for, and the whole time she was asking me more questions. By the end of it I felt as if I’d known her for years and we agreed to keep in touch. As she doesn’t live locally she is now going to look for a church in her area.
The woman in front of me in the queue started moaning and complaining about the wait. I looked at her and felt really sorry for her, as she seemed so stressed. ‘This is really getting to you, isn’t it?’ I said sympathetically.
‘Yes, it is,’ she agreed. She had just come from work where people had not done their jobs properly, and that was stressful, and she was in her lunch hour and in rush to do go to the post office where she thought she would have to queue again.
‘I used to be like that,’ I said. ‘I was always running from one thing to another feeling stressed.’ ‘I’m always like this,’ said the woman. ‘This is my life. But you seem so serene and peaceful’
I started to tell her about my life, about how I had often kept myself busy trying to find fulfillment in friends and my work, and nothing had seemed to do the trick. I told her how I came to understand through someone that my continual striving was an attempt to fill a gap in my life that could only be filled with Jesus.
The woman plied me with loads of questions and before we knew it, it was her turn to go into a cubicle. What she did next really surprised as she said to the shop girl in charge ‘Can you let someone else go first? I’ve got to finish this conversation!’
Then she turned to me and said, ‘I know this is a really strange question, but will you have lunch with me?’ I readily accepted and we agreed to meet in 20 minutes time.
That wasn’t all though as whilst I was trying on my stuff I overheard one shop assistant say to another, ‘That woman just met another in the queue for the first time and now they are going to have lunch together to talk about Jesus.’
When I came out of the cubicle the shop girl asked me if I knew the lady I was going to lunch with. ‘No,’ I said, and gave her a huge smile.
We met later as agreed for a fantastic meal, which she paid for, and the whole time she was asking me more questions. By the end of it I felt as if I’d known her for years and we agreed to keep in touch. As she doesn’t live locally she is now going to look for a church in her area.
Thursday 7 February 2008
Interesting Times
It's an interesting time work wise at present in the sense of the Chinese proverb with several things waiting on an outcome. Firstly although I only started this job at the beginning of 2008 it seems now that the funding for it after March/April could be in doubt. The church I am based at had a gift day last Sunday to try and raise funds for various building repairs and the stipends for the trainee cleric and myself. Despite being based in a fairly affluent area of London and with a congregation of around 200 it appears that not enough has been raised so far as was expected, although bits of cash are still coming in. I am told that some difficult decisions may need to be made around April time if things don't improve. My flat mate, the trainee cleric who is still just in his teens seems interested in me in a most uncleric like fashion which is proving a little awkward at times. That's not say I don't feel flattered. Then I am still trying to sort out a similar problem between two people I use to work with who appear to now be getting in hot water over it. I like and care for them both so it's difficult to know how far to go in what I say to them or even if I should stay involved now.
So all in all the times are interseting and the more I pray about them the more God seems to say wait on him. Probably wise advice but not necessarily easy given my nature.
So all in all the times are interseting and the more I pray about them the more God seems to say wait on him. Probably wise advice but not necessarily easy given my nature.
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