Make it Stop

Earlier this week the jarring chatter of a concrete cutter woke me from my dozing reverie.  Groan … What is that?  At this time of the morning.  Make it stop!

What’s the point of setting the alarm for nine if the Council is going to start their machinery at eight thirty?

Not thinking a call to the Council would be well received, much less a threatening scowl at the big man in the fluoro jacket at the roadside, I closed my curtain again and checked my Facebook while the concrete cutter cut on.  Suddenly I realised my earworm had gone.  My wife calls it that, although I think of it more as a brain invasion, with its own associated concrete cutter.  That tune has occupied my brain with its sweet noise, like a neighbour’s stereo at 3am, since 3am the day before last, it seems.  But suddenly it’s gone.  One concrete cutter shocked out of residence by another.

Oh, no, wait … it’s back again.  My sudden realisation of an empty-head has invited the damn tune right back in again.  I draw my curtains again, hoping the roadside concrete cutter will displace the inner one once more.

It’s a pretty tune … that’s not the point … but … stop thinking about it!  Make it stop!

Unlike my crisis tunes, which are prized.  Does anyone else have crisis tunes?

Crisis management began for me in my final year of school.  At the end of couple of days of studying (one had not the skills in those days) and a fortnight of Bursary exams, I remember escaping to the top field and lying back luxuriously on the grass, gazing luxuriously up into the blue sky.  Such delight, such flight, after such suffocating masochism all fortnight in the exam hall.

I’ve done that many times since, post-crisis; and I’ve bolstered my toolbox with pre-crisis things like music, squash and guitar – the commonality in the second two apparently the wild thrashing of hands and arms, racquet and pick – all guaranteed to purge any built-up lactic acid in the brain cells.  Works for me.

And in case a reader would like to sample my medicine, my particular crisis musical infusions are Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and Diamond’s Jonathan Livingstone Seagull.  Stomach-calming, firmament-soaring masterpieces that, now I think about it, involve a certain frenzy of hand waving and thrashing too, if more disciplined.  Conductor-like.  Risky when you’re driving though.  But wonderful before a big test; or a wedding.

Oh, yes, there are some things one wants stopped – tooth-drilling, headaches, late night parties, earworms, political blather, memories of the 2007 Quarter Final …  Cowering in a bath or basement, head covered, in the middle of a hurricane …
Concrete-cutting at 8.30.  Getting to the end of pointless blog articles.
But other things, one wants to go on and on.  The trick seems to be to displace the one, fuel the other.

I shall take my own medicine now.  Stopping typing.  The machinery out there is silent.  The neighbours seem to have gone to bed at last. The earworm … no! … is back.  Putting the 1812 on.

Sweet relief.

Ken F

Jesus is Truth & Jesus knows Truth

by Sue Collins

(Based on John 18:33-38)

Phew! We are privy to a most amazing conversation!   What a message Jesus is bringing!
But, it is a message which is incomprehensible to Pilate.

Let’s see what we can take from this conversation between The Lord Jesus, who is Truth, and Pilate the sceptic who asks, “What is truth?”
Pontius Pilate is portrayed as a cynical vacillating politician. He recognises that Jesus has not committed any criminal act; but he seems to acknowledge, within himself, that there is something attractive and real about this Jesus – he doesn’t want to condemn him to death.

But as Governor of Judea, he stands at a crossroads: he is far more concerned about his own well-being and safety. He is aware of the dangerous power the Jewish religious leaders carry, and he is deeply concerned about their threat to accuse him of disloyalty to the Emperor. (To put it bluntly, Pilate’s own life is in danger unless he supports the Jewish leaders and hands Jesus over.)

Pilate’s deep and tragic dilemma is shown by the way he approaches the Jews at the end of this interrogation. He declares Jesus innocent, offers to set him free, and yet makes what can only have been a provocative reference to him as “The King of the Jews”.
There is a lot of detail we don’t know but the theological points come through precisely and clearly. The real King of Men confronts the rulers who would try him. This encounter cannot be read without realising how profoundly the roles of judge and prisoner have been reversed.

Jesus says, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” And here, in this statement, lies a deeper truth. The claim distinguishes his rule from those various forms of power that mark most earthly institutions: where, all through time, including this time we live in, domination, violence and economic exploitation are common, and are perhaps openly justified as necessary weapons of maintaining power.

But Jesus’s power comes from a different source. He wants to talk about TRUTH – an utterly strange topic to Pilate, and to most imperial figures.
Pilate operates in a carefully maintained world of illusion.  And the presence of Jesus, whose mission is to strip away those illusions, points to what is really true, and poses an enormous threat.

In contrast, our human knowledge of ‘truth’ is conditioned by the world we live in.  By habits of self-protection, by egotistical struggles for superiority and power, our circumstances often alter or colour our understanding of the truth we know and live by. As we look around this world today we are aware of the danger that is engendered by any claiming of possession of the truth. We put ourselves in a position of having to defend, to guard and protect that truth. We promote and impose that truth on others and lines are drawn and walls are built. Conversations become reduced to monologues of rhetoric, relationships break down into isolation or domination, then violence arises through words or actions which wound the human soul.

In our living, in our practising of life, in our faith and our relationships, we find that claiming to be the sole possessor of the truth is never as simple as we want it to be, or as we try to make it.

Pilate wanted a straight answer from Jesus.
Jesus knows that truth is never as absolute as we might assert it to be, and never as exclusive as we sometimes claim it to be. He knows that truth is more than a fact. It is more than an answer – or an experience – it cannot be possessed.

                                  Rather, it is a Life to be Lived!

The truth to which Jesus testifies is the Good News for all ages and all times. The wonderful truth, that the God who is beyond the circumstances of this world is ever present in the circumstances of this world.

This is the world Jesus came into, to tell us about that truth, to show us what it looks like in human life, and to teach us how to be part of, and how to belong to, that truth.

To evade this truth is the tragedy of Pilate! And, evading this truth is the tragedy which continues down through time.

All glory be to God who sent us ‘Christ the King’.

Acknowledgement to authors/works used in this piece:

  • John for Everyone, Tom Wright
  • Interrupting the silence: the truth does not belong to us, WordPress.com
  • The Gospel of John: Life through believing, Dr. Alfred Martin
  • St John, John Marsh.

Freedom is Conditional

What about these recent anti-vax, anti-mandate, placard waving, irresponsible gatherings of malcontents and illegal road blockages, decrying our loss of freedoms?

The only freedoms we’ve lost have been forced on us by a pandemic, not a government decree.  Free education and health endure.  Freedom to live where we choose, provided we can afford the cost of a house or rent. We can friend and marry anyone we choose, we are allowed to work at whatever occupation we choose, provided we have the appropriate qualifications and skills.  Most of us can still enjoy the beach and the (usually) blue sky.

To drive a car or fly an aircraft we need a licence which proves we are competent, for the safety of the public. To become a nurse or a doctor or a school teacher, we undergo significant training and pass examinations to prove we are capable and responsible. Most employers mandate special conditions of employment, even to the point, in many cases, of requiring regular staff drug testing.  An employee surrenders his/her rights and freedoms in these scenarios for the greater good, and, fail these tests … no job.  Pfizer certificates are no different.

It’s legal to play our stereos loud, and mow our lawns, but if it’s three in the morning (especially if I’m mowing my lawns at that hour), rules and restraint have to come into play.

And, what’s the big deal about “Stay home if you have symptoms”?    We should be doing that for ordinary viruses.  It’s right and proper and common sense if we want to protect work colleagues.

Even the very claim to freedom.  Where does it say freedom is an absolute right?  No rights are absolute; all are bounded to some degree, particularly in time of war or civil emergency, and we are in the midst of a serious civil emergency.

A friend says, “No government’s gonna tell me what to do!”  Well, wake up.  The government already tells you what to do, in so many ways.  That’s a bogus protest.  It’s the government’s job, and the judiciary’s, and the police’s, to ring-fence our lives all over the place – for our own and others’ protection.  Freedoms we enjoy in easy times go if times become more precarious.  For the greater good.

Some claim a legal right to refuse medical treatment – standing on the Bill of Rights.  But can’t the Bill of Rights be subjugated in times of emergency?  Don’t circumstance and context have some bearing on a normal right?  Even if not, claimers cannot reasonably expect others to forgo their right not to be associated with them, or employ them.

Used by permission of The Spinoff’s Toby Morris

The bottom line, protesters, is … no, wait … this is the bottom line for all of us: we are free to choose – do, even – whatever we wish – comply or not comply, curse the government or praise it (remembering that Covid is the enemy, not the government), trust the science or the Fakebook echo chamber, rail against the sky falling on our heads or just enjoy the sky … but there will be costs and consequences to every choice.

Count the cost and accept the consequences.  Don’t whinge, and put others’ needs before yours.

Ken F

But if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)

Jesus’s last sermon

by Liz Young

(Based on Mark 13:1-8)

What would you do if you knew that Jesus was returning at midnight tonight? How would you spend the next fifteen hours? Praying, asking for forgiveness for all the things you’ve put off doing?
What if you knew he would return a week from today? How would you prioritise doing all those things you haven’t got around to doing? What matters most?

The disciples were occupied with when will Jesus return. Jesus doesn’t respond to their question ‘when?’, but warns them and encourages them with three instructions:

  1. Don’t be deceived! Follow Jesus’s teachings.
    The implication that the disciples may follow false leaders reminds me that the early Christians did split into so many different sects – that by the time Mohammed arrived he felt he had to create a new true interpretation – without the certainty we have of the help of our belief in Jesus, and the help of the Holy Spirit, to live as he advised us.
  2. Take heed to yourselves. Don’t worry about the things happening around you. It’s enough to love the Lord our God with all our heart and mind and strength; and to love our neighbour as ourself.
  3. Be alert! Don’t get distracted. Oh how easy it is to be distracted by material things, comfort food, escapist books or whatever else takes your fancy.
    I find that I get distracted more easily each year I get older: so my first action after I get up is to have my quiet time, and after my reflections I write my plan for the day. I usually follow the prayer plan I was taught in my youth: praise, thanksgiving, ask for forgiveness, intercessions and ask for help in planning and putting into practice my plans for the day. (Which always include two hours of gardening.) But some of that gets hurried by my need for breakfast!

I’ve always felt that the kingdom of God is all around us. Jesus is with us now in our daily lives. How often do we make ourselves aware of him? Ask for his help in our daily decision making and actions and difficulties.
I tend to think quickly, and speak and act without thinking. Pray that we can ask for his help, moment to moment of each day. To be alert to each other’s needs, listen and look for the unspoken words in body language.
Take this simple message home this week. I hope that its brevity will help the message stick. In the Name of God the Father, his Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen