A new era

I've had a bit of a clear out. The old blog has gone, I've stored it away in a metaphorical attic where it can safely rest among metaphorical dust and cobwebs. In its place is a new website.

I'm hoping for a less bloggy feel with this new site because then I won't feel guilty for not writing regularly. I am planning to do some longer articles instead.

With my previous blog I got most comments and attention when I wrote things about the church. However, with doing my MA in all things churchy and with lots of people talking about churchy stuff, I soon got a bit tired of it. I'm planning on spending some time talking about Jesus instead.

enjoy.

Bread of Life

I'm reading Douglas Coupland's new book 'the Gum Thief' at the minute. Coupland always writes interesting books and he manages to cover very deep and meaningful themes while all the time talking about lego and microsoft. This book is based around a friendship that develops between two employees at Staples. One of the two is forty-something Roger whose life is tinged with tragedy and alcohol. This is the advice Roger receives from the funeral director after the death of his son:

"He told me that most people who come to arrange services don't believe in anything. He said that if he's learned anything from doing this job, it's that if you don't have a spiritual practice in place when times are good, you can't expect to suddenly develop one during a moment of crisis. He said we're told by TV and movies and Readers Digest that a crisis will trigger massive personal change - and that those big changes will make the pain worthwhile. But from what he could see, big change almost never happens. People simply feel lost. They have no idea what to say or do or feel or think. They become messes and tend to remain messes. Having a few default hymns and prayers at least makes the lack of crisis-born insight bearable. The man was a true shepherd of souls. Why don't men like him run for public office?"

I was in Morocco recently. We ate bread with almost every meal, and it was very nice bread. We had rolls that looked like barm cakes but with a slightly heavier, spongy texture, a bit like ciabatta. There may be parts of the world that don't rely on bread as a staple of their diet but there are plenty of places that do. Up in my north-east home, it's the stotty cake that is the regional speciality. In the north-west it's the barm cake. But whether your bread of choice is a seeded wholmeal loaf or a french stick, bread is recognisable all over the world.

Jesus said 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.' (John 6:35)

Bread is nothing special really. Jesus could have said he was the sirloin steak of life, the dom perrignon, the treacle pudding and custard ... whatever it is that gets your tastebuds salivating. The thing that you look forward to and treat with reverence. He could have said that, but then he would only be saved for special occasions. He equated himself with bread. Somthing you eat day in, day out. Something you might get a bit bored of but something that essentially, keeps you alive.

What our fictional funeral director said was true. If you don't develop a spiritual practice today, you will be lost when it comes to a time of crisis. Faith doesn't protect you from tragedy, but those who believe have help when tragedy comes and are less likely to get messed up. But belief takes work. There are many who think that you either believe or you don't. That's not true. At least, not from my perspective. Belief begins small and it always ebbs and flows like the tide, you can question it and wrestle with it. If you ignore it, it will flow away but if you practice it, it becomes stronger.

After Jesus said he was the bread of life, some of his followers couldn't believe him and they stopped following. But those who knew him the best chose to stay with him. Peter, the spokesman, said 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.'

That practice of belief looks different in different places, just as their are many types of bread. But they are all recognisable - whereever people are saying 'You are the Holy One of God', in whatever words or pictures or music they make. There is the church.

Silkworm

A new era

Bread of Life