seethrough

i read somewhere this week that the word “Sabbath” means “to cease”.  which kind of means that the symbol for Sabbath could be a “STOP” sign.

when i hear how orthodox jews approach the sabbath - making sure their alarm clocks don’t go off because turning it off would be regarded as “work” - i have sometimes regarded their laws and rituals as extreme.

but as I reflected on the “commandment” to keep the sabbath holy (ex 30:8) i have also begun to think about the invitation (from God) to stop my busy-ness and stop working.  while jewish laws about not working may seem extreme, perhaps they have grown out of the problem of where to draw the line.  left to my own devices i always sneak a little work into my day off.

(in fact here I sit on my day off, at a coffee shop, writing on my blog with 5 other applications open on my laptop - i’m editing a talk and writing it to mp3, checking email, researching for Holy Week and summarising our plans for a “way of the cross” meditation programme.)

when does stop mean STOP?  literally, NO MORE WORK!!!!

Maybe what seems like extreme (in the jewish tradition) is actually wisdom about the nature of us human beings…  that (some of us at least) really find it hard to Sabbath…

before apartheid, there came the idea of separate development. in essence, it’s the idea that people will do better if left to develop within their own groupings.

The architects of apartheid used this philosophy to justify the separate development of tribes and peoples within the country of South Africa.

what became abhorrent was the systematic oppression of some peoples and tribes, while others were given special benefits. This systematic separation for the purpose of ensuring the control of power and resources is what made apartheid so unjust, hurtful and ultimately violent - because the majority was not happy to continue to be controlled and restricted, allowing a minority to benefit from the wealth and resources of the country.

That system has been dismantled. People are no longer restricted in the way that they were under Apartheid laws.
But what has not changed - and this is to me far more significant! - is the idea of separate development.

I had naively thought that the “liberation movement” would deconstruct both the systems AND ideology of apartheid. But it seems that only the systems have been addressed. Further, it seems to me that very few are actually even interested in addressing the ideology of separate development.

An example.

When apartheid determined where people lived, church life was defined by apartheid boundaries. development happened separately. Now that those boundaries have been taken away, church life still resembles the separation that apartheid enforced. It seems that even church people are not sure about whether they want to deconstruct separate development - only the systems that enslaved. so the result is two distinct communities, worshipping in the same building on a Sunday, but having almost not contact with each other at all.

As we think about the future, few are imagining a time when this will change. The personal cost would be too high. For a new, united community to be formed, one would need both communities to relinquish some of their much-loved traditions and ways of doing things, for the sake of being together. Compromise would be required. Most communities would much rather continue to meet apart for the sake of comfort and familiarity.

Another example.

When contemporary Christian music began to get the attention of younger people, some churches acknowledged the need to make space for this music. So many churches allowed their evening services to become “contemporary” with bands leading music with drums and guitars. The rationale was that we needed to make a place for “both”. But the method was not to encourage the worshippers at existing services to compromise and embrace other traditions or ways. rather, the ideology of “separate development” was employed to avoid conflict.

the result is that we are a church that has embraced separate development to such an extent that we have multiple communities meeting in the same building on a Sunday who have very little to do with each other.

I want to question the ideology behind these expressions of community that avoid conflict by adopting an ideology that is not biblical. the biblical witness is a journey, painful sometimes, always costly, that leads to one faith, one baptism, one father of all, one people, one nation, one Lord!

I feel we have forsaken our prophetic witness and conformed ourselves to the world (Romans 12:2) - it’s fears and ideologies - and I wonder when we will stop.

what if the world’s currency were based on “a loaf of bread”.

There’d be no inflation.  A loaf of bread is a loaf bread.

economists and bankers may argue with me with fantastic arguments about how i don’t understand the macro economic dynamics.  but all that complicated talk is a well-developed screen to deflect the growing realisation that the current dominant economic system that our world has given itself to is fundamentally flawed.  not only is it doomed to collapse (and recollapse) - but it is also a complicated system of ensuring that powerless people stay subservient to the most powerful.  it is fundamentally enethical.

I first began to reflect on the nature of the economic system we are all subservient to as the crisis in Zimbabwe deepened.  As the economy of Zimbabwe dipped and inflation worsened, the signs were there (according to all the fundamentals of economic speak) that there would be a melt-down and that the economy would bring everything to a halt.  But things carry on.  The government prints money.  not recommended by economists who need the integrity of “currency” to be upheld.  But Bob prints money all the time.  And things carry on.  Inflation has reached the hundreds of millions percentile.  It’s beyond sense.  everything should be grinding to a halt.  But things carry on.

well trained in the religion of market capitalism (as i am) I assumed there must be a point at which all these factors cause everything to come to a halt, and Bob would have to bow to the forces of the market.  But he hasn’t.  And that’s because Bob knows something that few of us have realised.

That a loaf of bread is still a loaf of bread.  The market can use it’s language to “tell” us that the “value” of a loaf of bread has gone “up” (inflation), but in reality we know that the $1 loaf of bread we ate yesterday and the $2 loaf of bread we ate today is exactly the same.  it’s real value remains the same.

so i ask, what if the world’s currency were based on “a loaf of bread”?

It’s sad that the dominant economic system is so all-prevailing and has it’s tentacles so deeply in our lives - that we are so deeply invested in this system that any attempt to think sensibly about economics - and the value of things - will be dismissed as the talk of crazy wierdo liberal “communist ” extremisits.  “They probably don’t even believe in GOD!!!!”  …and side-lined along with talk of aliens and the illuminati.

And so the system carries on… well protected by it’s self-supporting principles of greed, aquisition, money-for-nothing, quick profits and world economic crises leaving the poorest of the poor without a pension…

i can’t win an argument.  but i can ask the question.  when your “investments” lost a third of their value last month (in the period of about 3 weeks) who said?   who says your “investment” is suddenly worth less?  and who is benefiting from that “loss”?

economists will blame “the market”.  but just press pause on that simplistic answer and interrogate the system for just a moment:  if the market crashes and everyone loses, why would everyone support that system with such faithfulness???  think about it…

simple, everyday, ordinary, (often poor) people are being raped by a system that allows 3 single individuals to acquire more wealth than the GDP of 45 (25%) of the world’s poorest countries.  

The chart to the left shows the balance of consumption:  that 20% of the worlds people consume more than a quarter (76.6%) ofd the share, leaving just 1.5% for another 20% of the world’s population.

Let’s not buy into simple lies.  “The market” is not deciding who gets what and how much.  Powerful people are able to use the market to their advantage, leaving other human beings to starve and rot.  It’s way past time to take stock and reconsider…

i’m too tired to write.

and yet i sit here in front of the computer trying to think of something to say.

in a way I want to write about weariness because it’s seldom really explored.  and yet, being in that worn-out state doesn’t leave one excited about “reflection”.

some of the world’s best poetry has been written during the most painful moments of people’s lives.

i have holiday coming up and leave due to me so there is light at the end of the tunnel.  but I also know how disastrous burn-out has been for so many friends.

one of the pressing voices in my life is the voice of responsibility.  consumer church has set professional pastoral workers up to take a large load of responsibility.  but it’s probably not fair to blame the church entirely.  what kind of people accept that kind of responsibility???  (a certain kind of person who starts out wanting to make a contribution and ends up trying to make other people’s contributions for them…?)

living from peace seems less thrilling to me.  conviction and passion are in many ways linked to the thrill of the deadline.

responsibility

and leading.  leading is tiring too.  seeing and reflecting on the life of a church community with the future in mind.  thinking beyond this week…  considering the “big picture”.  it’s often exciting!  but with a community so invested in the status quo - so reluctant to consider change, so slow to speak about growth and development…  it’s a tiring thing thinking about the future and realising that (in so many ways) we’re waking up about 15 years too late to address the “signs of the times”.  all indications are that a generation has all but given up on church.  and what do we think about that?  well, we haven’t even considered there might be a problem…

i agree that leadership is something of a idol in the church today - as if a leader can transform a church single-handedly…  that is probably the legalistic (perfectionistic, lacking in grace) idol that whips pastors till they burn out…  but leadership does take it’s toll.

then there’s the challenges of family.  (in some ways i see the wisdom of a celibate priesthood).  I can’t help the woman i am married to get the children ready for church, into the car, out of the car, mind them through a service with awfully long periods of silence…  and the incredible challenges of raising children, introducing boundaries and discipline and respect and dignity along with tenderness and grace and spirit and passion.

I think trying to work out how to balance discipline with flexibility as a parent to my son might be the most difficult thing I have ever had to do.  I have seldom lost my temper in the preceding decade, but have done so weekly for the past year.  It’s tiring trying hard and feeling that you’re not making too much progress.  (one thing that helps is being told he’s “an angel” when he’s with other people… nice comments on his report card from his teacher about his manners… etc.)  But it’s tiring having to face the emotions this boy stirs up in me!

hey!  and these are not unique challenges.  i know I’m not alone - as if my life of work and home, career and family are any more difficult than any other person who is trying to hold the tension of many varying responsibilities.

i remember SARK - in one of her amazing books - recommending napping!  maybe i’ll try that…

and let you know how it goes.

i’ve had a Task in my Outlook Task-list for some time now. it has no Due Date for completion. it’s just one word: “Write”

so i’ve decided, after some months, to get started…

there are a few values that have begun to shape my life. i find myself increasingly committed to them. lately i’ve been feeling that i’d like to write about them. For me, thinking comes after speaking - I speak before I think! somehow it’s in the speaking (esp if it’s a conversation) that ideas are born and values are clarified.

Some of the things i’d like to write about and explore are:

living sustainably - seeing the journey through, i’m interested in sticking around for the long-run. so many really good people have burned themselves out - not because they had the wrong ideas or intentions - but because they allowed the demands of activity to drain them of more than is possible for one person to give.
living transparently - risking living a see-through life and exposing the hidden and speaking the unspoken. I am curious to explore what happens when the personal and the public are allowed to mingle and wander into each other “territory”.
integrity - the integration of “opposites” that are the result of centuries of dualistic thinking…

• integration of my body life and sexuality into my life as a whole
• integration of spirituality into my life as a whole
• integrating values that I hold in principle into my life in practise - bringing theory and practice together.

so, I expect that i will want to write personal things and explore (even interrogate) myself. I will want to interrogate assumptions - my own, those of the environment in which i live - to see whether they stand up to scrutiny. I want to ask if our “taken-for-granted’s” deserve their taken-for-granted status. And I will look forward to participation from others who may offer words that help support and encourage these values.