Winners?

There's a short Brian Friel play beloved of younger actors entitled "Lovers: Winners." I performed in it many times myself until I was far too old to fool someone into thinking I was a schoolboy... Actually "Winners" also has a partner-piece entitled "Losers", but it is often performed on its own... What makes one set of "Lovers" into winners while the others are losers is that in the former, (SPOILER ALERT) the young lovers die early... while in the latter the lovers live on into an acrimonious old age...

Towards the end of last week a news story all over the TV was that 12 town centres were "Winners" of a government initiative aimed at regeneration, dubbed "Portas Pilots", because of the involvement of TV retail-guru Mary Portas. She is now dubbed the "high street Tsar" - boy I loathe the use of the word "Tsar", given that Tsars were autocratic despots - just what you need for a sustainable grassroots mindset change, a few well-targeted pogroms! Well Mary is going to assist them with their plans to rejuvenate their tired old town centres... and presumably make a TV programme out of it! They get around £100,000 each, but it is being emphasised that it isn't about the money, which is a good job since that amount won't go far in this day and age.

But I'm intrigued by the use of the word "winners" - they are only winners in this particular process, where they have had to force their way to the front of a fairly substantial queue of equally run-down town centres... They are the winners of the losers...

It's a bit like the bizarre phenomenon here in Northern Ireland when an area suddenly finds itself in the bottom 10% of electoral wards on a series of socio-economic measures (the unfortunately named "Noble Indices" - has there ever been a more ignoble index?)... When that happens local community, voluntary and statutory bodies are suddenly torn between compassion for the real life impact that such measures represent (which they were probably aware of anyway) and rejoicing that such a statistic will make it marginally more easy to draw down funding... Hence losers, become winners...

Now that may be less true in today's economically straitened times... indeed it may be that there will need to be a competition between groups in such areas now, with each requiring an action plan that might have a TV spin-off (so Jeremy Kyle-esque dysfunctional families may counter-intuitively become an asset)... We're not that far off the Hunger Games at this rate...

Winners?

We'll see...

Cheers

Daily Bread

No Saturday supplement today as most of the stories that caught my eye this week were anything but edifying or encouraging, many of them marking out the church at its most divisive and toxic, and while I have put my lenten discipline of "whatever is good" behind me, I don't want to spread vitriol, animosity and shame on the name of Christ on a sunny Saturday morning. Instead I thought I would pass on my find of the week (with a hat-tip to my wonderful wife who pointed me towards it). It is a short series of 15 minute documentaries about bread on Radio 4... It is available here on BBC iplayer and, so far as I see it isn't on a timed self-destruct fuse. It looks at the role of bread in the history of society, culture, religion and science.
Although every nation has a different cuisine, with different emphases, nearly every nation has a form of bread as a basic. It may be a Mexican tortilla, Italian foccacia, pitta bread or nan bread, it may be German ryebrot, or French baguette, it may be a soda farl or a sliced white, it may be Nutty Crust or Mother’s Pride. Bread is available almost everywhere. And that is one of the reasons that Jesus used bread on a number of occasions as a metaphor: the request for "daily bread" in the Lord's Prayer that gave this series its title, and stood as shorthand for all our daily needs (bread, not cake); his claim to be the bread of life, the universal source of eternal life; and the use of bread to represent his broken body in the last supper.
This is Pentecost weekend, the time when we celebrate the "birthday" of the church through the coming of the Holy Spirit, and sadly, the use of bread in the sacrament of communion, which should be a unifying focus in the church and a powerful metaphor to the wider world, has been the single most divisive factor in church history; whether it be debates about frequency of celebration or who is welcome at the table, the huge schism between the Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions over "transubstantiation" or, the schism between east and western churches, which ultimately came down to whether the bread should be leavened or not! It is this last schism which is latched onto in the first of this series, where the commentator rightly points out that really these, and other theological debates of the time were really flags of convenience, or smokescreens for what were effectively political power struggles. I would argue the same today - whether the issue be the evolution-creation culture wars, the debate over same-sex-marriage, or the role of women... Whilst Bible verses are wielded as weapons, and there are people of integrity on both sides of every debate, often at the core of the clashes are people using the issues to gain power and influence... In the midst of whatever battle we find ourselves in we need to remember that the church should be defined by what lies at the centre, not what is on its periphery... In the light of that, let me finish with a quote by Jonathan Kent from the first episode of this superb short series:

"It never fails to amaze me the capacity of religious people to disagree about things you'd thought they have in common."

Shalom

Sing when you're Afflicted with Anxiety

Last year when I was just coming out of a period of prolonged depression, and pronounced and unexpected anxiety (which is something I had never experienced before) I was involved with a discussion where someone suggested I read a book entitled “Respectable Sins” by Jerry Bridges, which describes many of the emotions that we have been discussing in the light of the Psalms as “sins” including anxiety. Now before my illness I might have done the same, and had preached, slightly glibly, on worry, more than once. But in the light of my illness I saw anxiety or worry not as a sin, but as an effect of being a limited mortal being living in a fallen world… Maybe I was making excuses for myself, but actually I don't think so and have come to believe that to describe those who cope with chronic anxiety as “respectable sinners” is, for me, pastorally and morally repugnant… God repeatedly tells his people not to fear, not because they are miserable sinners in this area, but because anxiety is a natural condition of mortal creatures in a corrupt world… But one which limits what we were created to be.

In Psalm 55 we find the Psalmist feeling that he is at the end of his tether. Much time has been wasted trying to identify the exact context for this Psalm in the light of David’s lifestory, akin to Psalm 51 and the adulterous affair with Bathsheba: was it the conflict between David and Saul, or between David and his son Absalom. We do not know.

Whatever the situation the Psalmist was in BIG trouble, beyond his human resources to cope. If this is David we are talking about, then the man who slew Goliath had no shortage of courage, and the man who wrote the 23rd Psalm had a close walk with God… so us lesser mortals should not feel guilty when we face certain situations with worry.

What follows below is another of my paraphrases of the psalms, and, for the first time, not a reblog... We don't often turn to this psalm, probably, I believe because:

a) the idea that anxiety is a sin is prevalent in the church;
b) some of the language used about enemies sits uneasily within the context of cosy, comfortable Christianity and seems slightly at odds with Jesus' instruction to love our enemies;
c) it is all over the shop structurally... which is a perfect picture of the mind and prayer pattern of someone suffering from anxiety,  with thoughts and emotions flying all over the place like a ball in a pinball machine (which is another useful analogy in that everything comes crashing to a halt at the slightest "nudge").



Within the psalm we hear the Psalmist:

1) Begging God to listen to him ("Listen to my prayer, O God…") perhaps fearful that even God has given up on him... 

2) Exhibiting Paranoia ("I am distraught at the voice of the enemy, at the stares of the wicked") The aphorism “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that they aren’t out to get you” could have been written for this situation. A real situation of tension has produced a situation where the psalmist trusts no-one.

3) Displaying Physical Symptoms of Anxiety... The NIV translation isn't alf vivid enough with its "My heart is in anguish within me..."

4) Desiring Escape ("Oh, that I had the wings of a dove…") How did this ever become synonymous with a cherubic choirboy who has never experienced gut-wrenching fear, singing a high pitched soprano solo... The Psalmist is actually saying "Beam me up Scotty! Get me out of here. Stop the world I want to get off." Temporary escape or retreat is at times helpful to help you gain perspective… But permanent escape schemes drawn up in the midst of anxiety can be disastrous. You can’t run away from your feelings.

5) Calling for Rescue and Retribution ("Confuse the wicked, O Lord…") Throughout the next passage there is pure hostility and hatred on show… because that is what has been experienced by the Psalmist, and at the hands of those he trusted most. Betrayal of trust is devastating because the very people you would normally have gone to in difficult circumstances suddenly become part of the problem rather than part of the solution… contributing greatly to anxiety.
This is not just the Psalmist flying off the handle; he believes that his enemies are God’s enemies… But this is not just based on personal betrayal, but what he sees his erstwhile friend/s doing to his city/community. This leaves him feeling profoundly angry… Anger is NOT always wrong, especially in the face of injustice. But impotent anger can be devastating. Therefore it is important to hand such feelings over to the God who can do something about their causes.
His reference to “confusing” the wicked could well be an allusion to the Tower of Babel, while the request to take them alive into the grave could be a reference to the judgement of God on Korah and his fellow rebels in Numbers.
But if it really was David who wrote this psalm and we look at the life of David in dealing with his enemies, he rarely enacted these feelings of vengeance when put in a position of power over his enemies. Was this because he was all talk and no action, or because he had vented his anger with God? Recent research shows that venting our anger or frustration alone actually leads to greater aggression not less in the long run. However, expressing, or working through our fears, frustrations and anger with God in prayer is akin to working them through with a skilled counsellor…. The Psalmist is practising what he preaches:

"Cast your cares on the Lord…" 

Listen to my prayers, O God, 

Please don’t turn a deaf ear to me.

hear me 

answer me. 

My thoughts are in turmoil 

and I am driven to distraction: 

Every voice I hear I assume to be plotting against me;
Anyone who looks at me I presume to be wishing me ill.
I’m buried under anguish
And feel like everyone is against me.
My heart is constantly in my mouth, and my guts are knotted up within me;
I feel the cold hand of death on my shoulder.
I quake with fear
And tremble with terror at the slightest thing.

"Oh, if only I could fly like the birds!
Soar away from the source of my sorrows –
I would fly far away to some oasis of calm;
To a place of peace and quiet, free from storm and strife.

PAUSE 

Thwart the plans of the wicked, O Lord,
Stop their rabble rousing.
Their words and actions have divided this city,
Scarred it with violence and hate.
Night and day they prowl its streets looking for a fight;
Seeking to spoil and destroy;
Intimidating and insulting and slandering.

If this were an obvious enemy insulting me, I could cope with it;
if I had done anything wrong, I could accept it.
But it is one of my own, my friend, my trusted confidante,
We laughed together and we worshipped together.
But now I wish only death for him;
May he be buried alive for evil flourishes within him.
But I call to God, O Lord save me.
Morning, noon and night I cry out in anguish, and he hears my voice.
He rides to my rescue me in the midst of battle,
I am completely unharmed despite the hoards besieging me.
God hears from his eternal throne and brings judgement on those who do evil,
But they’re set in their ways and have no fear of God. 

PAUSE 

My one-time companion turns on all his former friends;
he breaks faith with all his promises.
His silken speech hid the violence in his heart;
his words were like soothing oil, but they burn with hatred and violence.

Pack up your troubles and place them on the strong shoulders of the Lord;
he will support you when others let you down.
He will sustain the good and crush the wicked;
The ruthless and liars will have their lives cut short.

But as for me,
I trust in you.

Psalms 55:1-23 

Selah

The Youth of Today...

Here is a link to yet another video... but this is substantially longer than the others I have posted recently, and, as it leads to a programme on BBC iplayer, has a limited lifespan (only 3 more days as I write).

I was feeling a bit off colour this morning and rather than pollute my brain with what passes for daytime TV I looked up this programme as I had heard some good things about it, and I wasn't disappointed. Too much of the media today portrays young people as feckless and feral, and programming aimed at them is usually aiming at double digit IQs (at best)...

This, however, showed 9 young people between the ages of 13-15 tackling Shakespeare monologues in front of a large audience at the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon, and a panel of 3 judges: Sam West, Imogen Stubbs and Simon Schama. These were the best of thousands from across the country who had entered the "Off by Heart" competition and represented young people from all sorts of backgrounds. It was particularly pleasing to see Amy McAteer from my alma mater, Sullivan Upper School, doing so well in the competition (though there were 2 annoying factors there; first, her participation prompted the worst punning headline I have ever seen on the BBC NI website, so bad I refuse to repeat it, and second, Sullivan is not, as the narrator of the programme states, either a catholic school or in sectarianly divided Belfast, but rather a mixed (majority protestant) grammar school in Holywood, North Down).

When I was at school an aeon ago, I did a lot of Shakespeare, both in class and in performing a full play every December. The class work was generally stultifying, but the challenge of performing it has helped to shape and stretch me mentally and emotionally... It isn't for everyone, but it made a big difference to this former working class boy from East Belfast, and I would love to see more people, especially but not exclusively young people, wrestling with the bard's texts... I am told that, sadly the weight of academic work has made full productions impossible at my old school these days... So the work of groups like the Schools Shakespeare Festival, where pupils can perform abridged productions becomes more important. 

Shakespeare is also used in other ways outside of schools, notably in the work of the Educational Shakespeare Company, that works with prisoners and ex-prisoners, work-shopping, adapting and filming Shakespeare plays.

But back to the production... I missed the original broadcast on BBC2 because I was watching the Champion's League Final, which had its own "To be or not to be" element. But it contrasted more notably with the programme on BBC1, "The Voice" - which, frankly, I enjoyed in the first few audition weeks, with it's gimmicky rotating chairs etc., but which has, in my estimation descended into the same genre as the X-Factor and the like... Sadly it has become less about the voice, and more about the image, and the competition between the coaches egos, where hype is everything... every performance is "nailed", "owned" or "dope".

Thankfully there was no such hyperbole on "Off by Heart"...  There was measured praise and appropriate, constructive criticism. It was also free from any reality show gimmickry, and who will it be eliminations, although I could have done with the Apprentice-like shots of the competitors wending their way round stainless-steel railed walkways at the beginning. At the end of the day it was down to one young person wrestling with the words of the greatest writer in the English language... All of the finalists deserve great praise, but the well-deserved winner (NO SPOILER) was simply spell-binding...

Pah... the youth of today...

Cheers

Seen and Unseen

A continuing theme... this isn't quite a timelapse, but not far off one... This is a classic short film "Powers of Ten" which I first saw many years before the founder of fb was even a twinkle in his father's eye, never mind fb itself...
I had looked for it many times over the years without any success... but it was Roddy McDevitt, who also was the source of yesterday's gem, who posted it on Friday...
I can't watch it without thinking of the opening of the Nicene Creed:

"We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen."

Seen and unseen at both ends of the spectrum...

 Selah

Stable Euro?

To follow on from the nuclear timelapse video on Friday, here's another one (or rather two for the price of one). Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, suggested last Wednesday that the Euro-zone was "tearing itself apart." This timelapse shows that Europe hasn't been a particularly stable place politically over the past 1000 years... It is interesting that two of the most unstable areas historically have been the Balkans (nothing new there then) and interestingly, up until the mid 19th century, Germany and northern Italy.
Take a look at both the shorter video (with the scary music) and the longer one, with much more information...

 Cheers

Saturday Supplement

No supplement last week as I was a little too-pre-occupied to collate the few things that had caught my eye... But here are a few from  the past couple of weeks...

First is this news that, in the midst of the Euro-meltdown, the Greeks have apologised to the rest of the EU with a huge wooden horse...  I'm not an economic expert... indeed balancing my own chequebook stretches me to my limit (although I have to say I get a little frustrated with those who constantly compare maxing out their credit card with the management of sovereign debt... the two don't actually bear any relation to each other... unless we are using our credit cards to pump-prime potentially money-making ventures), so articles or programmes about economics and finance usually don't hold my attention for long... However, last September on Radio 4's More or Less I listened the whole way through a programme which explained the crisis in terms of Homeric myths and in the light of the above link I sought out and found the blog of the programme, entitled Debt: A European Odyssey. It's worth a look and/or listen whether you are ignorant of economics, Greek myths or both...
Bringing the effects of austerity and the debt crisis back home, this assortment of columns gives a slight flavour of what those at the bottom of the pile in Britain are having to cope: The Mirror's piece on the "Hidden Poor" looks at the unlikely range of people having to draw on the burgeoning range of food banks (a phenomenon we have witnessed locally), while the this Guardian piece looks at the real cost of sickness benefits cuts... again not hitting scroungers but people who have or are attempting to work for a living. Sir Tom Hunter's ill-judged comments re the poor in Scotland being "pampered" because of the benefits culture, have produced a massive backlash. There are issues regarding the dependency culture that has developed in some quarters through mal-administration of the welfare state and generational unemployment, but this piece, again from the Guardian, challenges the idea that it could be described as pampering the poor.
Moving from one bête noir of the right wing, to another... I was shocked, though sadly not surprised by this article regarding the execution of the wrong man in Texas... Personally I find state execution in general morally repugnant, especially since it has been demonstrated to have little deterrent power, but stories like this emphasise that until we can guarantee a perfect criminal justice system, the costs to the innocent victims of  miscarriages of justice outweigh any conceivable benefits to society as a whole.
Back on this island the criminal justice issue that has caught my eye this week relates to the activities of RAAD- Republican Action Against Drugs... the Provisional IRA splinter group which specialised in punishment beatings/shootings of alleged drug-dealers, seems to be branching out into dealing with other "anti-social behaviour" leading to the bizarre story of one person being threatened with shooting unless he went to "anger management classes." Some have poured scorn on this story, but what was more distressing was to read and listen to the account of a mother who shook hands with her son before he was taken out and shot in the legs by RAAD, telling the reporter that her son "had to be shot." Without condoning the actions of the son, or passing any judgement on the mother, any society where a mother will state publicly that her son "had to be shot" has been brutalised to beyond breaking point.
Its against that background that it is especially sad to mark the death of Walter Wink, who coined the phrase "the myth of redemptive violence." Far too few Christians have paid attention to his writings (hence the broad silence that marked his demise) which is why a Christian critique of retributive punishment, be it by the state or by vigilantes, has so little power... Wink would have scored a 7/7 in Michael Patton's "7 Marks of a Good Theologian". On a good day I might get 3.5!!
On a lighter note Prof. Billy McWilliams is doing his bit for Ulster-Scots culture and international relations. With the European Cup Finals coming up he is plotting how Northern Ireland could be joint hosts of the 2020 Finals with the Faroe Islands.
Finally, however, here's a wee something to help you while away a Saturday morning... A little reaction time test from the BBC... Go top up your coffee and see if you are bobbing bobcat or better... Thanks Jools for that one... I owe you... Or rather you owe me about an hour's work I didn't get done this week!

Cheers