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A large, Perpendicular Gothic church,
serving the
Parish of Thirsk in the Diocese of York
The Benefice of Thirsk
Rector: Revd. Canon Richard Rowling |
St Mary's Church Thirsk: Food for Thought
January 15th 2012 : I do not know about you, but I’m not very good at “doing” Change… yet constantly as if I have no say in it, everything around me changes. For instance even in the relatively short time that I have been Curate at St Mary’s my daughter finished University and came home again, I have a few more grey hairs, and I have put on quite a few pounds! We have seen the Arab spring- the demand in countries such as Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and ongoing Syrian effort for democracy- I never thought I’d see that. We have seen the financial position of many in this country diminish, a new suspicion of banks and bankers, of senior executives who award themselves 50% pay rises and earn over a hundred times more that their workers! We have had a new Government, a new Royal Duke and Duchess and we have many new things in London for the Olympics. We have Euro monetary difficulties and national debt problems.
We try to insulate ourselves from Change because change can be and often is unknown. It comes upon us. It looms from the horizon, can be difficult to control and all our instinct tells us we should maintain the Status Quo. I am soon to go on holiday to Goa, and I have taken many precautions because although all will be well (I am sure), I need to be prepared and control as many things about going there as I can. I have a friend who went last year and she took no precautions, no injections, tablets nor insurance. She went and lived in a beach hut for about £5 a day!!! I am going to the same place and have International travel insurance. I have had Diphtheria, Typhoid, Tetanus, and Hepatitis A injections!! I have spent a small fortune on Malaria tablets; and have packed for nearly every contingency- spare batteries, first aid kit…shark repellent etc. etc.
The other day I was explaining all the wearisome preliminaries to my father in a very frustrated and tedious tone detailing the complexities of planning this difficult and, need I say, intrepid trip in India! “I thought you were going to the Highland beach resort, with its 7 pools and a 50 yard walk to the beach? my father said, “It’s not exactly the most intrepid foreign expedition I have ever heard of....what shall we call you when you come back? Edmond Hilary?” For a moment I wondered when exactly it was that my Father developed such a sarcastic temperament, but then I managed a retort. “That’s all very well but Edmond Hilary had Sherpa Tenzing and wasn’t restricted to 20 Kg of luggage…was he?” I chirped rather pleased with myself.
The point of all my anxiety however is probably misplaced. I will have a wonderful break in a wonderfully exotic and culturally exciting country. So why the anxiety?, well I know that I am going to find the grinding poverty and inequality of the place a real challenge and not be able to do anything about it. I know I am going to want to adopt every little street urchin/orphan I come across, I know if I am not careful I will end up promising to send money to all sort of enterprises, schools hospitals, charities….etc. and if you are reading this and thinking well why is he going then? Believe me so am I!!
Jesus said in Matthew 26.11 That the poor will always be with us, but this is an idea taken out of context actually; Jesus was saying he would remember a certain women, the quote is sort of an aside, but it is a powerful thought, and perhaps reminds us that whilst the poor exist, the new creation the Kingdom we as Christians are working towards has not yet arrived. For the Christian poverty cannot ever be acceptable and to love your neighbour means wanting the very best for them and never writing them off or ignoring their needs. There is no dignity in poverty and what ever can be done is better than doing nothing.
The Christmas, the Epiphany, the Easter stories are all about change, the change of God breaking into His own creation and changing everything utterly. W.B Yeats in “Easter 1916” put it “All changed, changed utterly: a terrible beauty is born”. Everything when Christ came to save humanity was changed and at a personal cost to God Himself. The “terrible beauty” is the price that was paid so we can be redeemed and called heirs to the kingdom, heirs to the promise heirs to paradise.
The only thing you or I can really consider a constant is that God loves us….. And that “the world is charged with the grandeur of God”. (G.M Hopkins)
Every blessing Graham
| Curate's Comments : Recently I was talking to someone who said they were very interested in my jottings for this Web site . Thrilled I was, thrilled someone was that interested. They asked me “How do you set about getting your thoughts down?” I told them that one of the joys was in fact there was no plan. I have no idea what I am going to say before I start. They informed me they feel exactly the same way after they read my jottings. Ooch, that hurt. Still any of you who know me will realise this minor blip will not dent or deflect me from my primary mission which is metaphorically to wrestle with my faith and hopefully get you to do the same. I use the word metaphorical because I’m too old now to actually do any wrestling and do not fancy putting my hip out like Jacob – only he wrestled God, ha what he was thinking!!! I’m only wrestling with my own silly self. The thing is the wrestle for me is the fun bit.
Lately I have been doing a great deal of reading. It seems everywhere I walk in my house these days there is a book half read begging to be finished, held, appreciated, loved and added to my lovely library. A few weeks ago I found myself in well known book shop in Darlington. My wife’s eyes glazed over and only the lure of the coffee shop and a big chocolate cake reminded her that all things must end…..sadly even trips to book shops. Anyway the book I wanted “God Collar”, was written by Marcus Brigstocke. I had seen him interviewed on breakfast telly and was intrigued that he, a proclaimed atheist, was compelled to write a book about his search for God. I visited the Theology section, actually in this shop known as “religion” which to my mind is arguable in many cases, then Literature…I know that was a long shot but I found it very difficult to find this book I desired so much. Eventually I was forced to “imitate the action of a tiger, stiffen the sinew, summon up the blood, disguise fair nature with hard- favour’d rage”……….and ask - boy what a humiliation for a bloke. Anyway the assistant, a rather pleasant looking lady, looked me up and down and said in a very platonic tone “It’s in Humour”. “Of course it is. I know that I’m a humorous guy. I buy all my books from the humour section all the time.” I bleated to the young woman dressed in her “Oshkosh B’gosh” romper. I also bought another book - this time from ‘Religion’- about Heaven and the experience of Colton Burpo a four year old who, it is claimed, during three minutes of death had gone to heaven.
The two books take a polar stance in their search for understanding of Christian doctrine and theology. Brigstocke uses many of the Old Testament narratives to condemn our particular brand of Abrahamic faith – he rather likes Jesus he tells us, which is nice, whilst “Heaven is for real” doesn’t question in any sort of academic sense, but is very reassuring in its message. I will admit I found it to be rather compelling. I did not enter the reading of this book with a very open mind; I was convinced it was to be child like, simplistic and nauseating. It was!! It confirmed every stereotypical depiction of heaven you can imagine. Halos, white robes, sashes (I rather like sashes) wings and the neat and unquestionable truth/conclusion that If you know Jesus then you are saved. It is very quiet on the question of what happens if you live in a rainforest or Swindon and have yet to hear the message of Christian salvation. Brigstocke’s atheistic wrangling offers a diametric opposite to my own wrangling from a perspective of faith, but does little to dissuade me that the greatest gift of all is to be a Christian with personal faith and know that the universe and everything in it is not condemned to a nihilistic extermination and godless, cold, pointless existence, but rather, that although we be rather little we have an advocate in heaven (wherever and whatever form that takes) who will not abandon me or humanity because we are all loved and made in the Father’s image, even me, and isn’t that a challenge to faith!!
PS. this year I have embarked on a module of study at Sheffield University about Christian doctrinal and theological understandings of heaven. I will be doing much exploration and reading about the subject - so if I find anything out I’ll let you know. Revd. Graham Bowkett
| Graham’s Thought Provoking Piece : Since the last time I wrote we have seen some extraordinary things happening in our country. We have had major rioting and looting in some of our major cities and we have had the continued threat of a double dip recession which has led those with assets and wealth to protect to abandon the stock market and venture into the economies of metals - gold prices moving therefore in an upward trajectory whilst our economy and that of many other “advanced” western economies have wobbled and stagnated. Uncertainty and fear is everywhere which as a consequence has troubled many sections of society, and led to the rise of unemployment to two and a half million people.
It is easy to dwell on everything that is bad as it seems there is a never ending list of things to worry about, little to delight in at the moment and the best one can hope for is to somehow navigate all that is bothering our country, society and community and get through as unscathed as one can manage.
I was thinking about this a week or so ago. Our readings on Sunday prompted me to think about responsibility and in particular our responsibilities to others, to our fellow human beings. This is, I fear, quite a complex question, much more difficult than one might initially think. How we deal with people and how we understand our responsibilities are mixed up in our attitudes, our social identities, our education, our wealth, our faith, our identity - to name only some of the things that might influence our understanding – it is as complex a situation as there is.
I pose this question, ‘As Christians should we forgive all those involved in the rioting?’ Prior to all the rioting in our cities I heard an interview with an economist claiming that social equilibrium will usually be maintained in times of hardship if all parties of that society share in the adversity of the community. For example, even though the rich are still rich, if it can be shown they suffer some financial hardship along with the poor then an element of solidarity, of equilibrium will follow – society will continue to function along the usual lines.
Well so much for that theory! The criminal justice system has sprung into action and sent mixed sentencing messages to those silly enough to have participated, unlucky or stupid enough to get caught in the rioting - many lives and many futures ruined for a few moments of madness, selfishness and greed. I found it interesting that two of the constant questions asked in the media were “What can have led to such displays of greed and violence?” and “Where is the sense of community and social unity amongst our youth, our poor, our disenfranchised?” but to ask the questions necessitates an acceptance that there is a disenfranchised, poorly educated underclass – and if you accept this then you have to ask why has nothing been done about it? Therefore another question might be “Have the economically poor, the less well educated, the greedy, the violent not bought into the shared misery model of social cohesion?” as proposed by the economist(s.
The trouble for Christians is we are required to maintain a moral compass based on compassion, understanding, forgiveness and love, which on initial inspection seems quite easy to navigate in this case – to condemn the rioting is easy, because the riots need to be condemned. The problem is that the riots were perpetrated by the mob, a collective - look at the individual and we get the student, the mother, the social worker, and the teaching assistant who should have known better, as well as the violent criminal and the criminal opportunist. I know they need to be judged, but should all be condemned in the same manner? Should they not be forgiven? One young rioter asked how he would have felt if he had been burgled and had his things robbed said he would have considered it an “Outrage!!” This idea that people only want to protect society when they have a stake in it does not seen to hold water - the poor and the disadvantaged and the marginalised if they are not ridiculed in the media as the ‘Viki Pollards’ of our society, are vilified and made out as the “Other” the “unknown and the dangerous”.
Criminologists would argue that the rioters, regardless of educational or social or any other pressure on them, were simply playing up to their role as “other” and by doing so they fulfil the function of actually maintaining the power structures of society. This allows the rich to maintain their hold on power because the poor divert the attention away from the source of the real injustices and therefore maintain the status quo. In fact some criminologists argue that without the marginalised poor to divert the attention away from the source of real poverty in this country – the tax evasion and defrauding, the abuse of power and authority for personal gain of the governing elite (as illustrated so admirably by our bankers, politicians and Lords of this realm) - then society in its current form would
not exist, power structures would be weaker and the ruling elite would not have a strangle hold on the judiciary, civil service, and policy makers.
To end…..because I must, I contend we must judge but should not condemn. We should be wary of categorising people as undesirable, or un-anything, and we should not be fooled by all the tough talk and the posturing. There are swathes of economic theft that no one takes notice of because it isn’t perpetrated by the poor and the powerless - we are supposed to be in it all together are we not? To suspend condemnation takes effort; to look with compassion on all those who, for whatever reason, let themselves or society down seems “responsible” to me -and by this I do not mean “let off the hook”- but it does avert anger and resentment and stops wedges being driven through communities so that dialogue between people can take place as well the work required to identify the symptoms and avert similar things occurring again.
Revd. Graham Bowkett
| Just One of a Curate's Many Duties : 
Graham hard at work selling raffle tickets at a Parish lunch. |
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