Thought for the Month August 2025

“Not not a Christian”

Home (where, as Paul Simon says, my thought’s escaping) figures a lot in the Bible. In the Old Testament, the House of God travelled as a tabernacle with the Israelites as they searched to find and secure a homeland (an ongoing narrative, as we know only too well) where a permanent Temple home for the deity could be established. In the New, it features in three of Jesus’s best known stories – the man who leaves his Jewish friends with their easy prejudices against Samaritans for a difficult journey; the man who leaves his Jewish family and home to experience life in another land; the lamb lost without sheep-nav. I write this having recently watched the BBC series about Pilgrimage. It is easy to mock these spiritual travelogues – like Michael Portillo with a dog-collar – but I have been fascinated by the way in which they encourage participants to face the big questions of the meaning of their lives. Herewith three moments from the most recent series that made me think, and I hope will you.

Some of the most moving points came when the comedy actress Helen Lederer talked of her family. She was christened and her home ethos was generally Christian, but her Czech father was Jewish, and many of her family, she discovered, had died in the concentration camps. She hardly considers herself Jewish and certainly does not follow orthodox practices, yet this link to the past troubles her, and the prospect of the pilgrimage brought the issue to the fore. Thank God if we do not have such a traumatic link to history, but nevertheless I felt the message was the same for us all: who and what we are is partly a product of people some of whom we will know or have known, or heard about; many will be nothing but a name, many more not even that. And this confers responsibilities on us towards them; and if so, then we too have responsibilities to those who come after us, both known and unknown. We tend perhaps to think of our lives in terms of their individual span.  The people of both Testaments, including Jesus himself, think more of a past that made them and a future they can – just about – foretell. And, perhaps, so should we.

An encounter thus with my inner Jew was followed by a contact with my inner Moslem in the person of Nelufa Hedayat, adamant she could be nothing else but a Moslem, but who nevertheless expressed her anger in this programme at many things being done in the name of Islam, in particular in her home country, Afghanistan. And this struck a chord with me. I cannot remember a time when I was not a Christian, and cannot imagine not being one, yet almost everything I read in the media about the Church in England makes me angry too. In the weeks around this programme, the papers covered the story of a vicar who sacked her church choir and organist (take note, O world!) and lost almost everyone in her congregation as a result; and the last Archbishop of Canterbury resigned following the Church’s lamentable handling of accusations of sexual abuse. At least he won’t be replaced by the current Archbishop of York who, in his time in Chelmsford, struck me as an uninspiring amalgam of Francis Urquhart and Phil Mitchell. So I am left wondering how far I can be said – or want – to belong to this gang, how much I can accept of the doctrine and dogma and practices of the Church and why I cannot help smiling at the verse of the hymn: “And I hold in veneration / for the love of Christ alone / Holy Church as his creation / and its teachings as his own.” As if.

Perhaps inevitably – certainly predictably – the majority of people on these programmes came under the heading of “agnostic” – a sad word that always makes me think of those who declare themselves “don’t knows” in polls. (How can you be a “don’t know” about Donald, for example?) Their spiritual side can be summarised as thinking there is possibly more to life than meets the eye; that we ought to try to live a “good” life; that something of this life goes on after death. They clearly struggled in this programme, sensing there was a meaning to be found in the pilgrimage but uncertain whether or how to take it further. It is a measure of the failure of our education system – no more school assemblies, no more RE except as the study of arcane myths – and of our churches, which shut their doors in the biggest national crisis of recent years – and of our society in general – that they are given precious little guidance in how to move on into a deeper knowledge of God and truth.

Still, a couple of more encouraging notes to end with. Firstly, Giles Coren, the food critic of The Times; born a Jew but now a regular attendee at High Mass – loving the liturgy, the music, the appeal to the senses – if not necessarily believing in it all. He describes himself as “not not a Christian”. Microsoft Word doesn’t like me typing that, but I love it. So anyone reading this who is not sure, think of yourself not as an agnostic, but as “not not a Christian”. It’s a starting point on the pilgrimage.

And for the end? I turn to Father John Bloomer. I have played for a lot of funerals recently – it hasn’t been a good year for mortality – and I am frequently amazed – or rather appalled – at the way the Church has turned over these services to the family and friends to say what they like regardless of doctrine. Cue references to saintly individuals trampling fields of barley, just out of sight but still around, baking cakes or playing golf in the hereafter. But Father John redressed the balance of sense and taste, saying of one dear departed recently that she was, after life’s pilgrimage, home with God. Home – just so.

Pedantic postscript: to all those who say that punctuation doesn’t matter, if you try to punctuate the title of this Thought any differently, then you change its entire meaning. So yah boo sucks to Bill Gates!

David

Thought for the Month – July 2025

Last Sunday at Cooksmill Green, we celebrated our 160^th anniversary. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, we had an inspiring service and enjoyed a picnic lunch together in the garden after. All ages together, everything it seems was in harmony – some might say it was even a little taste of heaven…

One of the nuggets I personally took away from the service was that, what we do and the decisions we make today will affect our tomorrow and beyond. This being true in both our worldly and spiritual lives.

Depending on our power and influence, our decisions and actions today will not only affect us and those closest to us, but others too, not just for tomorrow but possibly the next few years, decades. In the case of world leaders, they can affect generations to come – we only have to look at current world events! Consider, for example, a young science graduate looking for a career path, do they work on a cure for cancer or the development of more effective weapons? Do they make moral or economic decisions?

What will you and I do today? And what is it that will guide our actions?

Rules and regulations! What is their purpose and who decides on what they should be?

Sadly, on occasions, many of us think that rules and regulations are for others, not for us, but where would we be without them? Take sport for example, if there were no rules, regulations or boundaries; games and competitions would descend into utter chaos. In the case of extreme activities, these need to be regulated by sound safety regulations and guidelines. If you’re going to go skydiving, you want to know that your parachute has been designed, made, packed and strapped to your body according to strict procedures. Original rules get refined and developed over the years taking advantage of new technologies and expectations, using the knowledge and experience of those who understand a particular activity. Generally speaking, these changes are for the better (with a few exceptions) and lead to safer and more enjoyable experiences.

However, in spite of what some may think, there is one activity where the original rules and regulations need no refinement. The activity of life itself. At one extreme some will say we should always be free to choose, anything goes. If you applied that to skydiving and were told “Oh just stick the parachute on however you like, on your back, on your front, you choose. If the straps are too tight just undo them, whatever suits you” not much imagination needed! At the other extreme totalitarian regimes inflict harsh rules on their people to supress and control them. Their lives are miserable, they live in fear, some even die trying to escape. These days we have the questionable benefit of social media ‘influencers’ some I fear (with perhaps a few exceptions) having little or no experience of real life, but are ready to tell us what we should think and do. Those that do have experience often have agendas, not always designed for social harmony and cohesion.

So where do we get our rules for life? I’m not talking about tax laws, the highway code, and such like, all of which need changing over time given new circumstances and technologies. I’m talking about the way we live our lives, basic social and moral responsibility. What are the rules? Where do we go to set our moral compass?

As Christians we believe that when God created us He set out the original rules and regulations for life, with all the appropriate boundaries, none of which will ever need changing. In addition, he gave us freedom. Sadly, mankind abused that freedom thinking that with knowledge and experience we could change the rules and do better. And thus it has been ever since. Once the original rules were changed, distrust, inequality, injustice, pain and so much more have become the way of life for so many.

God, in His infinite wisdom and grace, still gives us pointers back to the original rules and regulations, be it through the words of the prophets, or better still through the teachings and actions of Jesus.

My oft quoted passage from the prophet Micah:

Micah 6:8 (N.I.V.)

⁸ He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.

Jesus on the law:

Matthew 22: 35-40

³⁵ One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

What will you and I do today? And what is it that will guide our actions?

How can we help those around us experience harmony, even a little taste of heaven, not just today but tomorrow and beyond?

Lord help us to follow Your ways

So that today,

We can help to make a better tomorrow

Amen

Steve

Thought for the Month – June 2025

“Man’s ethical behaviour should be based effectually on sympathy, education, social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary.

Man would indeed be in a poor way if they had to be restrained by fear of punishment, and hope of reward after death” – Albert Einstein

Einstein the scientist, presents us with a very humanistic ideology on what it takes for humankind to coexist in social harmony, whilst also taking the opportunity to have a swipe at the religious establishment, and to be fair, one it probably deserves for the things it has done and is still doing it would seem.

Interestingly, the secular behaviours that he lists for a Utopian existence, are pretty much the same as those found in most faith cultures, and in particular, those of Christianity, where you might also add into the mix such things as empathy, selflessness and importantly, love, which for some reason he does not. Maybe it’s the rationality of his scientific mind that prevents him and others, from exploring the more complex human need that many call spirituality, the inner, life-affirming understanding of who we are, why we are here on this planet and how we connect with the world around us. It’s something you cannot write a concrete existential equation for, providing tangible evidence as to its authenticity, especially to the scientifically driven, and also capable of proving that spirituality is both real and rational to those who perceive it, thus allowing it to have an accepted place in our lives, accepted by all that is.

Spirituality means different things to different people whether that is found through faith or not, it does though, I believe, require a focal point, which could be faith, or nature, or humanism, or science, or literally anything that is the personal go-to place to find moral and ethical guidelines for all the things we do in life. These focal points can be regarded as good or bad to the observer, but to the individual that owns them it’s what makes them who they are, so any interference by perceived religious zealots trying to make change, is bound to be met with resentment and a reluctance to engage, especially with something that imbues control or coercion rather than freedom of personal choice and an unconditional acceptance for who we are.  

This is the acceptance that I believe Jesus taught us to have for each other, to not be judgemental of others but to have love for each other despite our differences, not to love someone solely because they belong to the same faith group but to love them even more because of their indifference to the focal point that we hold onto so dearly. It is not our purpose to force a person to change their focal point to that of ours and by force I mean the manner in which we communicate the Good News of The Gospel, that somehow doctrine and dogma are the only way to experience the awesome spirituality found in knowing our God, and worst of all is the hurtful rejection for all those who do not conform to the establishment view. This is the very point I believe Einstein was trying to make when he talks of constraining human behaviour through rigid religious principles, enforced through fear of God’s wrath for non-compliance and a promise of salvation for those who do as they are instructed by the Church, rather than allowing people to trust in the guidance of the Holy Spirit felt from within, a chance to relate with God rather than just have blind obedience to Him.

The sad part is that the universal Christian Church has indeed made much use of this method in the past and some elements still do, and it is clearly potent enough to have influenced Einstein’s, and many others view of religious ideology. I too would fail to see its appeal to anyone in current times, especially for a generation who have already experienced a freedom of expression, one that allows you to identify within society in any way you choose. Our faith tells us that God is a constant within time and is a God full of love, forgiveness and hope, but especially of love, and the teachings of Christ show us all just how to do that for each other and for the world in which we live, we are truly blessed to have such an amazing focal point to guide us in life. It’s so good, that we really should want to share it with others, and there, in my humble opinion, is where the issue lies for how the Church goes about doing that, for it should never be doctrine, creed or dogma that solely brings us to God but a sense of relationship with the universal concept of love, a love from which all other utopian values can grow, it is the tiny mustard seed that Jesus talks of, we can recognise it as fellowship, and it is the foundation for God’s Kingdom.

The Church is struggling to be relevant in society in the way it once was, and perhaps if we’re being honest, it is more than likely due to that perception of control rather than one of relationship, and that can be a barrier for the curious wanting to explore their own sense of spirituality, their inner nagging sense that there is more to being human than simply ‘existing’.

The Bible Society recently published an article that talked of an upsurge in the purchase of The Good News Bible by those born as Generation Z and Alpha, which represent children born in the last 28 years, with Alpha regarded as the first generation to be fully immersed in technology. The reason for the upsurge was apparently that many of these young people admit to having developed a spiritual self-awareness whilst also being curious about the mysticism of the Christian faith, but, and here’s the nub of it, they want to explore it on their own terms, hence the preferred language style found in the Good News Bible and most notably, their strong rejection of the Church establishment as a means of experiencing it. The Church it seems, needs to find a way to engage with the new generations on their terms, if they ever hope of seeing congregation numbers increasing again.

Human beings can and still do, flourish as good people without signing up to a divine creed, they just chose to see spirituality through a different life lens. If we Christians continue to live our lives in the manner that Jesus showed us, demonstrating by what we do and say that our faith has a focal point built upon love, respect and tolerance and not establishment dogma, then maybe, just maybe, they’ll want to come have a peep through our life lens too.

Danny

Heavenly Father we pray for the young people trying to grow up in

this challenging and rapidly changing world

and we ask you to enlighten our minds and strengthen our hearts,

as we endeavour to find new ways to nurture them, and to

find a way to bring your love, grace and hope,

to each new generation of your children.

We ask this through your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ,

Amen

Thought for the Month May 2025

In these days of financial and political turmoil, you might well be considering an evening of relaxation at the theatre. In which case, I imagine that Shakespeare may not necessarily be your first choice of escapist entertainment, and even if he is, then his greatest tragedy, “King Lear”, is unlikely to have you singing its hit song and dancing in the aisles. But perhaps you should reconsider. Shakespeare is dealing in his startlingly modern way with the same problems that America -like us – is facing today.

The roots of the problems of his time could be reduced to three elements: the Black Death, printing and Machiavelli. An epidemic changed society for ever; technology equipped it with an explosion of thought, learning and communication; and one man turned accepted norms upside down. Ring any bells?

What Machiavelli’s book “The Prince” did was to recommend to those in power to behave without principle or morality – to be ruthless in the pursuit of power, ruthless in hanging on to it. You can lie because you can control the truth. You do not need love – you can buy it or compel it. You do not even need to bother about the trappings of wealth – power in its purest form is even more intoxicating. And you should use this power in random and cruel ways simply because you can.

How do you deal with this kind of deception? Shakespeare loads the dice. His Machiavellian characters are attractive – people want to be their besties. They are funny – they laugh at their dupes and encourage others to share the joke. They are skilful in attracting sympathy, convincing in conveying their sense of entitlement. By contrast, the goodies are worthy but dull, easily deceived, even misguided – who wouldn’t vote to see the back of a dodderingly incompetent ruler?

So there they were, here we are.

The first answer Shakespeare gives us is that such politicians and their oligarchies carry within them the seeds of their own destruction. Not only will, eventually, a rival Machiavel use their own methods against them but, more to the point, people will turn against them because what they offer to the people they rule is not what as human beings we most desire and need – contentment, peace, stability, justice.

Secondly, while the qualities of those opposed to the Machiavels can initially seem impotent, the rise of a tyrant brings focus to opposition, because what joins us together as a society and unites us as human beings is greater than any megalomaniac ego can comprehend or destroy. Insofar as their actions force us to choose, those choices may run counter to reason, counter even to our own interests. So, in the play, one character chooses love for his king despite his arrogance and folly; one character chooses to love both his sons equally, though only one is part of his legitimate family and only one loves him back; one character chooses love for her father despite his rejection and banishment of her. For each, finally, they could do no other.

For love does not work in a Machiavellian way. We don’t love our children because we want them to look after us in our old age; we don’t love parents because we want our share of the inheritance; we don’t love our spouse because of their culinary or DIY skills – sometimes it’s in spite of these… We don’t love God because we want to book a place in Heaven, and he certainly doesn’t love us because we put a note in the collection plate.

Love is more than unselfish; it does not simply demand sacrifices – it is, by its nature sacrificial. It finds its apogee in the Easter story of Christ’s sacrifice of the life that God gave him and our response has to be – in the words of the prophet – to break the chains of injustice, to remove the burdens of those who suffer, to free those who are oppressed.

If all this sounds too heavy and you would prefer an Easter smile, then head instead to YouTube and seek out the Monty Python Merchant Banker sketch. It makes the same points as the above: just pray that Western civilisation doesn’t go the same way as the charity collector there!

David

Thought for the Month April 2025

Here we are, two thirds of the way through Lent, just two weeks to go before the glorious celebrations of Easter Sunday. But will we be celebrating? We’ll come back to that.

Last Month Danny reminded us of the three pillars of Lenten observance offered by the church, abstinence, prayer and alms giving. I wonder how we’ve all been getting on. Among other things, for me personally, he made two very important points I needed to remember, that the purpose of Lenten observance is for us to focus on our relationship with God, and that honest reflection in that process provides meaningful spiritual value.

Those who have heard me speaking recently will know, that at the forefront of my thinking in recent months has been how our actions need to reflect a response to Jesus’ teachings, His examples and above all His death and resurrection. It’s something James speaks about in his letter – one I’ve quoted and spoken about many times!

James 2:14-17

Faith and Deeds

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶ If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

We all know, I’m sure, that our actions have consequences, be they good or bad, large or small; consequences for the here and now and for the future, even if we don’t always see them they will be there, for better or for worse. It’s why it is so important we try, at all times, to make our actions reflect our faith in Christ, His teachings, and perhaps most importantly, what he did for us on the cross. Honest reflection during this Lenten period has led me to see something else more clearly. Our actions that are bad today not only have consequences now and in the future, but also have consequences in the past. No, I haven’t fallen into the world of ‘Dr Who’, I’m talking about a very specific time in the past, just over 2000 years ago. As we head towards Easter and as I’ve reflected on my relationship with God, the journey His Son took to the cross, the humiliation and agony, the unimaginable death He suffered, I’ve also seen the part I played in it and sometimes still do! An uncomfortable thought, but a reality for all of us.

But then I see the love and forgiveness that poured from the cross, the tearing down of the metaphorical temple curtain that separated us from God, and I feel humbled and grateful.

Surely this deserves a response from us.

At the start of this thought I questioned whether we would be celebrating. I did this because, as we all know, we’re living in a world of dramatic change where people, communities, even countries are seen by some as things to be controlled, dominated, owned, who knows with what ulterior motives; people are suffering in more ways than a Thought for the Month can begin to explore, through wars, earthquakes, famine…

So, in this final run up to Easter let’s not wait until Easter Sunday to begin our response to the cross, and let’s not make it a once a year event, but a daily one where we shine a light on God’s grace and forgiveness in a world that desperately needs to see it. A world that needs to hear the voice of compassion, forgiveness, reconciliation, healing and Hope.

We can’t do it all by ourselves, but if, as followers of Christ, we don’t do our part, with God’s guidance and as Jesus instructed, we can’t blame God for the mess!

Let’s finish with the famous words of Reinhold Niebuhr (emphasis mine)

God grant me the serenity to

Accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can

And the wisdom to know the difference.

A little early, but I wish you all a Very Happy and Peaceful Easter. And may God bless each one of us, today and into the future. Amen

Thought for the Month March 2025

Feel like giving up?

In a few days we will be into our seasonal observance of Lent, hopefully each making our own commemorative journey towards that most precious moment in time, when a sacrifice, borne out of love, was given to save the world, a life freely given in suffering to save each of us, a pivotal moment in time from which we now choose to call ourselves Christians.

So, with that in mind what have you decided to do for Lent in recognition of such a significant moment?

The Church offers us the three pillars of Lenten observance which are, abstinence, prayer, and alms giving, each designed for the purpose of giving focus on our relationship with God and on His presence in the world around us. In my own experience of Lenten tradition, the most commonly observed of the pillars appears to be that of abstinence, where people talk of giving something up, usually depriving themselves of personal treats or indulgent cravings, entering into a kind of pious Dry January event. To go without such superficial joys for six weeks is, I’m sure, both challenging and a great mark of personal endurance for the individual, but at the end of doing so, surely the question must always be, has it brought you any sense of being closer to God, to that special moment in time already mentioned, or is it really just a demonstration of one’s own fortitude and resolve in facing down your guilty desires? I suppose the answer is to be found in the honest reflection of your achievement that comes with Easter Sunday, because reflection is a very important part of the observance process, as it provides meaningful spiritual value as to what it is that you have actually achieved, not just for the preceding six weeks but also something to keep you going for all the weeks that follow and beyond, otherwise why do it?

If you fancy a change from abstinence then of course there is always the giving of alms or prayer, but of course it can also be anything else that achieves the same spiritual outcome of nurturing your faith, of reinforcing  your identify as a Christian, of having that inner sense of knowing that you are loved and of how to love another, and there are no rules on how you must do this in Lent, only tradition, which makes it seem like there are.

During Advent, which was not that long ago, I chose to be part of our church initiative to bring people of faith together in small groups, meeting in their own homes to simply be together in fellowship, also to pray, and most importantly, to talk about God in their life.  The first thing to point out is that every effort was made not to call this meeting a ‘course’ or to structure it like one, because the moment you do that you run the risk of imposing formality on how things should happen, it restricts spontaneity within the group and can inhibit a freedom of expression due to its content design, in essence it should just simply be about people with faith, being themselves in the moment, and that is exactly what it was. Sitting in a group of four, listening to others offer up their honest thoughts and feelings about God, about the meaning of faith and spirituality, revealing all their doubts and their certainties, was truly a wonderful personal experience for me, and none of it needed a prescribed agenda for it to happen. It was the first time I have ever had an open and honest conversation about faith, where nothing was out of bounds, everything said was accepted by those listening, it wasn’t put out there for anyone to challenge, but to just listen to, and so often they were the same thoughts and feelings of others sitting right there. It soon became clear that none of us wanted to be the owner of a ‘blind faith’ but instead wanted one that was as honest and relevant as it could be, even if that might leave us with questions that could not be completely answered and also to be reassured that it was normal to feel this way. Talking and thinking in this way about faith, somehow made sense of the words we often hear in church “a faith beyond all understanding”, a statement that requires us Christians to maintain a level of belief or trust in something that surpasses human comprehension, and yet I hardly ever hear anyone openly say that this is a difficult thing to do?

Anyway, the upshot of this experience is that we are being encouraged to do this initiative again for Lent and I for one can endorse this as an adventurous alternative to more traditional methods. Yes, you can of course travel through Lent by yourself and in whatever manner of your liking, and if it achieves what you want then that is a journey well-travelled, I only offer up that perhaps on this occasion you share that journey with a small group of others, it really does enrich the experience, it reveals God through the thoughts and feelings of others in a way you may not have yet witnessed and of course your own spiritual encounters have the ability to show a different way to faith for others too. Throw in friendship, fellowship and a nice cup of tea and I for one could not wait for the next session, something to consider if simplicity is your thing.

Well, as we approach the start of this year’s Lenten journey, I truly hope that however you have decided to participate and in whatever observance method you have chosen, that you will find it both worthwhile and fulfilling in its purpose. If you are not getting involved or are abstaining due to Lenten fatigue, then there is still time to consider a different approach, especially if traditional methods are leaving you feeling uninspired, there are others out there who feel the same I’m sure, so go find a way that motivates you and one that brings you to an Easter reflection with some benefit, no matter how small, designed to bring you a little closer to Christ and the purpose of His Passion, a sacrifice borne of eternal love for us all, a special moment in time.  Amen

Loving God,
During the sacred season of Lent, bring me closer to you.
Prepare a place in my home and heart for silence and solitude,
so that I may discover the joy of prayer and contemplation.
Help me to fast from those things that threaten the well-being of
body and soul and remind me of the joy of simplicity.
Enlarge my heart so that I give to those in need and in so doing so
discover the joy of caring, love and generosity.
May this Lenten season be filled with opportunity to strengthen
both my love and faith in you.

Amen