Wearing Roses?

I think most of us, as we get older, tend to forget names.  We remember faces from the past in their droves.  Where we met them, what they said, what we did together, their attitudes, likes and dislikes and so on; but somehow the name just won’t come to mind.  At least, it might with a great deal of effort, but often not at all.  One of my colleagues is presently in the habit of making a very sad journey every weekend.  He pays a visit to his mother, who suffers from dementia and is living in a care home.  He remembers with joy the time when she knew him ‘properly’, and took an interest in everything he does, just like any other mum.  Gradually, as her recognition faded, although she clearly knew him, she couldn’t remember his name.  That didn’t really bother him: a name is just a label, after all.  And Shakespeare expressed this same notion, “What’s in a name?  That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” (Romeo & Juliet, II:ii.)

Now, though, my friend’s mother just doesn’t know him at all, and it’s this that hurts him deeply.  He has learned a harsh truth about names and recognition.  Much of our clothing has labels: not to tell us that a shirt is a shirt, or a dress a dress, but to convey to us its nature, often the company who made or sold it; a more important label specifies the conditions under which it should be washed. 

The Jews appreciated this concept of names as well.  To them the name itself was an important indicator of the nature of the one named.  If you look in Genesis, for example, you will find that Jacob and his family all had names that told the circumstances of their birth, or their personal characteristics (Gen. 25 & 29.)  And when it comes to the name of God Himself, we find that the word ‘name’ often referred to God’s presence, in a place such as the Temple (I Kings 8-9), or with someone, like the angel who said, “Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. (Gen. 23:21.)  Just as that cartoon policeman might say, “Stop in the name of the Law,” so the angel would speak to the Israelites in the Name of God, and shouldn’t be ignored!

St John the Evangelist took up these ideas when he warned the young churches about false prophets.  He was anxious that the people should discern whether a particular orator was speaking on God’s behalf or not.  He went on to point out that these misleaders were “from the world, and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them” (I John 4:5).

It is just as important for us, in the twenty-first century, to make that same distinction.  It is easy to pay attention to a message that comes to us from many different speakers (or web sites!), but however often we might hear or read it, we should always follow John’s advice to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (I John 4:1).  As one writer put it recently, “the popularity of a message is no indication of its truth – no reason to jump on a bandwagon!”  Perhaps the forthcoming election campaign will prove a time for some to put this into practice in an important and far-reaching way.

Like the "Windmill"

The plain white postcard was fixed onto the pub door with a single shiny drawing pin.  Its message was clear, “Closed today and tomorrow due to family bereavement.”  Although a passing schoolteacher had angrily applied a red felt pen to correct the grammatical error (it should have been ‘owing to’ and not ‘due to’), its message was clear.  Old Jack had died, and there would be no boozing here on account of it.

As the family gathered in the living room on the first floor, the silence was so intense it could be felt.  Grandpa had been sitting in the corner as quiet and miserable as everyone else.  He could stand it no more and, assisted by his gnarled walking stick, he clambered to his feet.  “It’s all wrong!” he declaimed, “The place shouldn’t be shut up like this.  My father kept it going all through the war, through bombs, doodle-bugs and all the rest – folks used to call it the ‘Windmill’ instead of the ‘Fox and Goose’.”  As he rose to his theme, his youthful interest in motorbikes provided further evidence for his argument. 

“It’s like having a bike,” he continued, “either you keep it in the yard, cleaning and polishing it, and admiring it through the window, or else you get on it and go places.  Use it to see the world.  Yes, it’ll get a bit mucky, but isn’t that what you got it for?  And what about that Dankworth fellow?  When he died the other week, on the afternoon of the show, his wife and daughter didn’t cancel it – didn’t even tell the audience until the interval, so the news shouldn’t spoil their enjoyment!”  He collapsed into his armchair, exhausted, and the room fell into an uneasy silence once more.

Then, without saying a word, his son-in-law, son of the deceased and landlord of the ‘Fox and Goose’, stood up and walked slowly and purposefully downstairs.  As he opened the door, removed and tore up the notice, he looked up at the sunshine, and a verse came to mind that hadn’t penetrated his conscience since he’d attended Sunday school many years before, “Just as Christ was raised from the dead ... we too may have a new life.” (Rom. 6:4).

As the landlord walked back into the bar, wiping a tear from his eye, I invite you to take an Easter look into his past, and read again from Paul’s letter to the Romans about the significance for us all of Jesus’ death on the Cross, and the promise held out by His Resurrection.

Hitting the Bullseye

I’m sure we’ll all be glad when winter is over again.  We saw enough rain and snow last year to last another ten!  A few weeks ago, as I looked out of my window at the miserable wet road, my mind drifted back to Sunday mornings of my childhood, when my dad, a farm worker all his life, would take a rare moment of leisure to watch the farming programme on our newly-acquired TV.  One of the adverts that accompanied this broadcast showed a man walking across a farmyard through the pouring rain.  His colleague said to him, “Mornin’ Jim, I see you’ve got your ‘Bullseyes’ on!”  ‘Bullseyes’ were a quality brand of rubber boots, identified by a distinctive target emblem stuck onto the front. 

For farm workers, working as often as not in either falling or standing water, such quality was imperative, and this set me thinking about other essential footwear.  A year or so ago, I was requested to equip myself with safety boots with protective toecaps, because they are essential these days in order to gain admission to many industrial premises.  And if you enjoy walking in the countryside, you will readily recognise the foolhardiness of going along muddy tracks in city brogues or flimsy sandals, preferring instead stout boots with warm and comfortable socks.

But consideration of appropriate equipment is not confined to footwear.  Our garments and tools, too, have to be suited to the purpose if we are to be successful in our endeavours.  St Paul gave the early Christians some important advice, often referred to in Bible shorthand as ‘the Armour of God’ (Ephesians 6:13-17.)  Let’s remind ourselves of those key virtues that Paul said were indispensable in our fight against the forces of evil: truth, righteousness and faith.  Now, if we were painting a wall, we wouldn’t use a toothbrush; similarly, if we are to use these virtues to their greatest effectiveness, we have to have the right equipment: the gospel of peace to protect and direct us; the helmet of salvation, the ‘protective clothing’ of the enterprise, and in our hearts and minds the Word of God to which, in his military metaphor, Paul accords the title Sword of the Spirit.

Having read these verses, what do they mean to us in practice?  Let me suggest three quick possibilities – although I’m sure there are more, and deeper, interpretations.  Truth and righteousness can be harsh cleansers if applied ‘neat’ like disinfectant straight from the bottle.  They need diluting in the soft waters of peace that we can find taught in the Gospel.  It would be easy to think we’d bitten off more than we could chew if we started out in battle against any kind of evil without remembering the Salvation won for us by Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross.  This thought can provide us with the strength we need.  And finally, we must know our Bible.  Although sometimes it might be inevitable, imagine the embarrassment, in a heated discussion, of saying, “can we adjourn, so I can look that up?”  By the following day or week the key moment to make that reference would have been lost.

So, next time you’re caught in a storm, whether physical or spiritual, be sure you have your ‘Bullseyes’ (or appropriate equivalent) with you.

It's a Free Vote!

I started writing this article before the UK general election, expecting that, by the time it was read, the whole affair would be over and done with, and everyone could breathe a heavy sigh of relief.  Now, as it appears around the time of the opening of the US presidential campaign, it's once again a good time to read it.  The delay in forming the UK government in 2010, and the accompanying anxiety, prompted even deeper thought about freedom, choice and trust.  In this country, we can campaign publicly for almost any cause, whether it is inspired by our faith, concern for the public good, or simply to give vent to personal opinion.  In general, we’re quite free to attempt to influence others for good or ill, provided it doesn’t offend public decency or cause civil unrest.

And we can take part in elections.  Since 1872 we have enjoyed the privilege of voting in secret, allowing our choice of candidate to be known by no one but ourselves.  I never knew how my dad voted, for example, although a couple of clues to his views came to my mind in recent recollections.  Revealing though these memories might be, I never received any instruction about which way to vote.  This was, and always has been, my own decision, freely made with neither coercion nor censure.  And I feel that all of this reflects something about the nature of our Christian faith, too.

My knowledge of other faiths is limited, but I understand that many require their adherents to do ‘stuff’ to obtain blessings: in the manner that an oppressive nineteenth century employer might dictate, “You’ll vote the way I tell you or there’ll be no job for you next week!”  The Christian belief, on the other hand, is that blessings are already provided; Jesus’ death was “for all” (Rom. 6:10, 2 Cor. 5:14-15.)  The Bible readings I’ve followed this week have been based on Exodus 31 &32, and the choices the people made when Moses seemed to be taking a long while up the mountain.  They just didn’t trust that their future and well-being was safely in God’s hands.  In his summing up, the writer of the notes says, “Freedom implies having a choice ... when we use our choice to pursue what God wants ... he promises so many benefits.”  We are free to accept or reject the salvation available to us through Jesus’ death and resurrection.  If we accept it, then our grateful response should be to behave in certain ways, or do good works to help others.  Jesus himself spoke of people hearing His words and choosing to follow them or not (Matt. 7:24-27), and James wrote of one who didn’t react to God’s love that he was “like someone who gazes at his own face in a mirror.” (Jas 1:23.) 

While the outward appearance is the same between one who responds in this way, and one who hopes to earn his salvation, the motives and thought processes involved are vastly different.  We can’t be saved through our own efforts.  St Paul ticked off the Galatians for trying this (Gal. 3:1-3.)  We should be careful to remember why it is we are doing good things, and always to give thanks for our freedom to choose.

Peter's Passing

When I first wrote this article, Peter Rowe had died a few weeks previously.  Once I'd written about this, I felt that some kind of pressure had been relieved.  I couldn’t share this news with my son – it would mean nothing to Mike because he grew up in the village where we lived as a family: his mother, sister and I.  Peter, on the other hand, had lived, for more than fifty years by my certain knowledge, in the town where I was born.  I couldn’t tell my cousin either, because it was she who had told me, having seen the ‘Family Notice’ in the local paper.  I suppose this is something I shall have to get used to as I get older – the deaths of people whom I remember, but who mean nothing to those who are around me now.

So who was Peter?  I first encountered him during my early years when he was a local collector for the National Deposit Friendly Society.  It was he who called once a month to collect the 5/- or whatever subscription my mother paid into her account ‘for a rainy day’.  I believe he was a toolmaker or machinist by trade, working for a firm of agricultural engineers in the town.  Certainly his neat appearance and precise manner of conversation were in keeping with the precision of such an occupation.  Many years later, when a time of spiritual searching led me to the Quakers, I met Peter again, for he was an Elder of the local Meeting.  His quiet, efficient manner at that time aligned in my mind with the engineering precision I remembered from childhood.  I learned that he had died in a nearby nursing home at the age of 92, a widower, and much loved by his sons and their wives, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

And why should I tell the the readers of my article, and now of this blog – a virtual, and world-wide community amongst whom it's almost certain that no one will have any connection to these events – about his death?  It was, after all, just one more of so many such statistics in any month. No reason at all ... apart, that is, from the fact that I wanted to share my treasured memories of such an unobtrusive and somehow overtly holy man, and the news of his passing.  As I mused on this desire to tell someone about Peter, and his devoted and equally quiet wife, Muriel, it occurred to me that One who would love to hear my recollections is God Himself.  He loves us to talk to Him, to share with Him all that is going on in our lives.  Each of us is precious to Him, and every little bit of all of our lives is important to Him.  As an indication of how fine is the detail of His care, Jesus told us, “even the hairs on your head are numbered” (Luke 12:7).

So Peter is dead.  Long may he live in the presence of the Lord Jesus.

A Good Dose of Guilt

My cousin and I had just spent most of the day in the company of her grandchildren.  After they’d gone home, we sat over a cuppa, reflecting on this experience.  We compared the behaviour of these two youngsters to what our rose-tinted memories recalled of our own upbringing in the ’fifties, and one of us said casually, “There’s nothing like a good dose of guilt!”  Sadly, although born into, and brought up in, a loving Christian home, this pair had been uncivilised and undisciplined brats.  They climbed, they spilled, they broke; no respect was accorded the fact that they were in someone else’s house, and neither was any tolerance shown for one another.  They had no awareness of any kind of guilt.

As my mind digested this experience, and our subsequent thoughts, the idea of guilt prompted fond thoughts of a friend of long ago.  Daphne was one of twelve daughters, all named after flowers, who were born towards the end of the nineteenth century.  She had spent some years as a novice in a nunnery, before her life changed direction in wartime and she saw service in the WRNS.  The faith and discipline of those earlier days never left her, however, and in her old age she was a spiritual light to all who knew her.  Daphne just loved the dignified phrases of the Book of Common Prayer, and one of her favourites came from the service of Holy Communion.  Once, when sharing with me her sorrow that the service had been revised, she told me, “I did so love to be reminded that the burden of my sins is intolerable.”  In the years since her passing, I think I have come to understand why.

 
It is one thing to recognise certain things that we do as being ‘sinful’; perhaps such actions and attitudes earn a tick on a mental list of ‘Things to Avoid’ learned at church, in Sunday school, or from our parents.  It is quite another to have some appreciation of just how abhorrent such behaviour is in the sight of God.  Just as my cousin and I had found the children’s antics intolerable, we need to be reminded from time to time that our sin is intolerable to God.  This recognition is important at three levels.  Firstly, if we don’t see the sins, we cannot confess them; secondly, if we don’t confess our sins we cannot be forgiven for them; and thirdly, a sense of our sinfulness (over and above the sins themselves) acts as a kind of lens to show us more clearly than ever just how much we constantly need God’s forgiveness.  By refraction, as it were, we then get an idea of the extent to which, God’s natural disgust for our sin is overcome through His love and goodness, and the redemption won for us by Jesus on the Cross!