View From The Basement

Hello are you?

I was sitting on my own in Rainy Hall (the guys I was with had started lunch before me, so left before me) when I guy sat beside me and asked "hello, are you Brodie?" A bit startled and surprised I replied, "er, um yes...and how do you know who I am?" "Oh" he replied, " I recognize you from your photo on your blog".

I'd like to say that we had a deep and meaningful conversation and are now life long friends, but given that I'd eating my lunch and had stuff to do for my German class, we exchanged pleasantries and I left. (If the young man in question reads this then I apologies for leaving so quickly. Please say hello again).

So what random meetings have you had as a result of your blog?

God Bless America

A friend pointed me towards this fascinating documentary that went out on Channel 4. It's called, "God Bless America" and looks at the association of the religious right in the US with the republican party and how that relationship changed over the recent presidential election.

You can watch it on Channel 4's play back service.

It features many of the main players, those who ran the "faith teams" for the respective candidates. It interestingly points to how many conservative evangelicals where changed politically by going to New Orleans to get involved with relief projects there. It also highlights a "new bread" of evangelical leaders such as Richard Cizik and Joel Hunter (Pastor of Northland, Orlando) who have a broader agenda than that of the traditional narrow issues. It also shows Don Miller (author of Blue like Jazz) endorsing Obama.

Worth a look.

Blog Reading Level

I don't know if this is true, but it made me feel good.

Learning from Africa

For a long time I've been convinced that Pastor's in the UK should be trained first and foremost as if they were going overseas in mission. To "do" church in the UK, and therefore implicitly to be involved in witness, is a cross-cultural activity. I'm not particularly thinking of how the ethnic make up of the UK has changed, although that certainly is a factor, but that our culture has changed which means any engagement outside of the church is cross-cultural.

Here's a story to illustrate. An Australian friend commented that some people in his homeland upon encountering a "biblical nativity" scene angrily exclaimed, "would you look at that, these Christians are trying to take over Christmas now!" I think this could as easily happen in Glasgow as Sydney.

Someone recommended I read Jean-Marc Ela's "My faith as an African". I've only read the first chapter but I'm loving it. Here's some quotes to wet your appetite...

"True inculturation of the faith cannot make use of outmoded cultural forms"

"before any experience of faith can be celebrated in community, we have to ask ourselves about symbols and gestures, the attitudes, and the translation of the message we use. Everything must correspond with the center of peoples' lives, taking into account their tradition and history"

"I did not feel called to become the manager of a form of decaying Christianity, bound up in its doctrine and discipline, so I decided to keep my distance from a model of a church designed elsewhere by people who do not know the conditions of the mountain peoples"

You can watch Ela speak here.

Brian McLaren in Scotland

Brian McLaren is doing a series of events here in Scotland (Perth, Edinburgh & Glasgow). I've only read one of his books but have heard him speak a couple of times. So what can I say? Well he's an engaging speaker and I think for many church contexts in Scotland will bring a "Prophetic" challenge. Yet in saying that he's not actually that cutting edge in his practice (and does not represent all that is to be said of or by the emerging church - if indeed we can still use that tag), and it will be interesting to see if the medium of the message is juxtaposed with the message.

I recently went to an event where people where "sharing their stories" of innovative ways of church/mission. One of my big issues with the event was that they did not seem to understand the difference between presenting and sharing. The presentations verged on sales pitches and while the seating was informal and there were the ubiquitous break out type group moments the medium of the event was in contract to the idea of sharing and of the kinds of ways of doing mission that were being talked about. Don't hear me wrong - the things that those who were presenting are involved in was by-and-large good stuff - it was the way that it was communicated that got me, which is ironic as they were all involved in innovative ways of communicating the Gospel etc. Perhaps the Soliton Sessions in Belfast & Portrush (2007) spoiled me with regards to how to do an event about mission and church that is inclusive, inspiring, encouraging and and has the potential to generate friendships and support.

Anyway - whatever the format of the McLaren events take - I'd encourage you to go along. That said I think when it comes to talking about ways of doing mission and church I'd rather have coffee with "the skinny".

Am I too old to have a go?

This appeals!

Post-emerging church - NT Wright

Came across this on YouTube - don't know where it is from but here you have Tom Wright, Richard Rohr and Brennan Manning around a table talking. Wright is the only one talking in this clip. He shares his thoughts about the decline of the church in the West, it's growth in the "developing world", and the possibility of a post-emerging church.

November Therapy

We went for a nice walk on Sunday afternoon at Chatelherault. The light at the Cadzow Oaks was great - the watery light and the smell of autumn is good for the soul, so I called this post November Therapy which is of course a play on Yvonne Lyon's song October Day Therapy.

Lament - can a pacifist remember?

Today at 11am marks the 90th anniversary since the signing of the Armistice in a railway carriage in Northern France that brought World War I to an end. As such it has become the day when we remember those who have died in war. Over recent years I've struggled about wearing a poppy, about what to do on 'remembrance Sunday' and how to mark Armistice Day. Can a pacifist, should a pacifist remember? Is there not something hypocritical in a pacifist remembering those who fell in war?

I've decided that a pacifist can and should remember and that it's not hypocritical. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, our remembering of those who fell in war is not restricted to soldiers but to all who died. As such our remembering brings into view again the horror of war. This memory can be redemptive in that while it may not turn everyone into pacifist in remembering we say 'never again' and thus resolve to find other means than war to solve our problems. Secondly in remembering the service men and women who died we remember those from both sides. Remembrance is therefore not an act of solidarity (especially for a pacifist) but an act of Christian love for the neighbour (I'll try to post on the difference between solidarity and neighbourliness another day). Thirdly, it is an opportunity to express forgiveness, to reflect not just upon international conflicts but personal conflicts we may be part of. Fourthly, remembering is not a glorification of war but a lament. Lament is a very scriptural practice and one that at times for the health of a nation needs a national expression.

The Flowers of the Forest is a traditional Scottish lament. It was popularised by Mike Oldfield on his album Tubular Bells but is still best sung or played by a lone piper. The actual song refers to the Battle of Flodden Field in 1513 where 10,000 Scot's fell in battle with the English. Here's a YouTube video someone has made using the Flowers of the Forest song and tune.

Aesthetic Triviality

Do we live in an age of hyper aesthetic triviality as an anesthetic against meaning and reality?

Answers on a postcard to the comments section.