A List

A list means that a blog is the genuine article. Not having a list on this blog has caused hours of introspection and anxiety for this little blog, and as an act of kindness, I its benevolent patron will now provide a list to soothe the sensitive feelings of the blog.

The List
Top Five Things I Like About Church
1. In some strange way I wind up caring about a bunch of people some of whom I really like, but some of whom really annoy me. And yet it really matters to me how they are and how well they are going. I like that because it is certainly not something I could do myself... definitely God at work!
2. Music. I never really sing outside of church and even though I don't always really like the music and sometimes even think it's a bit dreary, I enjoy singing songs about Jesus with other people.
3. Liturgy. I like praying the same prayers each week and out aloud with a group of people. The theology behind the liturgy is first-rate and therefore though they are prayed each week, the prayers are enriching and good to pray. The pattern of thanksgiving and confession, the creeds and the final prayer commending ourselves to God give us all a framework to think about God and respond to him, doing things we might not normally do during the week (even though we should).
4. Good sermons. I've heard a lot of good sermons, which have been well preached and changed me, even when I haven't known it or noticed it particularly. A lot of these have been preached by Levor, who is, it must be said, a great preacher. I could be biased on that point, but I really miss it now that he hardly ever preaches.
5. Bible reading. This can be done badly of course, but when it is done well it really rocks. Especially when we read more passages than we need for just the sermon. It's good to have Bible readings which intersect with what I might be reading or be completely different, and reading them aloud slows us down so we really pay attention.

Top Five Things I Hate About Church
1. Silly petty people. There aren't many but it never fails to amaze me how some people can be so nasty over such meaningless things. I guess you find them everywhere, not just church but it is always especially disappointing to find them at church because we're supposed to be a group of people learning how to love each other. And I walk away from encounters with these kinds of people wondering if they are even interested in trying to learn to love other people.
2. Poorly exegeted, badly delivered, shoddily applied, boring sermons. This is hard because often I get quite angry and spend the time I should be listening deciding how I would do the sermon better. Sometimes a great deal better. The challenge is to still listen and sit under the word rather than stand above it and rearrange it. Because it is still a sermon and I still am responsible to listen and let the word of God sink deeply into my heart. I guess it's one of those tricky temptations to think that because I could preach it better I don't need to listen to it. It's hard to remember that it doesn't work like that. (And its futile to pretend that I couldn't preach it better; there is probably pride there, yeah, but hey, it's true and I'm not going to pretend that I couldn't preach better sermons than some I've heard.)
3. Service leaders who think they are actually stand up comics. They aren't. They should connect with their inner comedian elsewhere.
4. Too much ball-dropping. Some informality is fine. When there is mistake after mistake after mistake, it just gets hard to keep engaging. And when so many of the mistakes could be easily prevented, it's hard to be patient because there is a sense that the people responsible for the mistakes haven't really cared.
5. Technology that doesn't work. I know, computers make it all easier and shinier. And when they don't work, it's worse than using an OHP.

There we have it. Not one list but two, and on the one post! My little blog can now feel actualised.

Now we are 12!

12 years goes very quickly and it turns out that on the 4th March, Levor and I had been married for 12 years. Our wedding anniversaries are pretty much always a disaster because one of us gets sick or something, so we know not to try celebrating on the actual date. True to form, I was sick on the 4th, so we celebrated last Sunday and had a most excellent day.

We went to Bundeena and had a picnic on the beach, and then climbed up through the bush to the cliffs which overlook the ocean. And there we sat and watched the waves crash and the wind whip the water and toss the boats. It was good.

Then we went home and rehydrated (it was hot!), and walked over to the park near us where the Sydney Symphony Orchestra was playing for free. It was so hot they had to start an hour late (to preserve the expensive violins from the heat, apparently). We were worried it would be trashy classical music, but it was robust stuff (including the Lark's Ascension by Williams) and they played really well. We sat on the grass and shared cheese and port as the sun set and the air cooled. The ants were pretty happy about the cheese as well, so it was good that we could provide added protein for their diet at the same time.

It's a good surprise to be married for this long. The stats said we'd only make 4 years, so to get this far is humbling and makes me very grateful. And we've lived 2/3rds of our married life in Sydney, which is unexpected. And given we're in our early thirties, we've been married about 1/3rd of our lives, so I expect we are now completely different people to when we were married, having influenced each other for that long. Marriage is such a big thing, in this regard - you really hand yourself over to someone and risk all your emotional space for them, and take on their hurts and triumphs and sorrows and you can't remember where you stop and they start sometimes. I think if I'd realised how big it was 12 years ago I would have been too scared to say 'I do'.

But it still feels like no time at all! So, I'm glad that being married is for a lifetime because even a bit over a decade doesn't feel like long enough. Or maybe I'm just sentimental about Levor, whose company is so enjoyable and who is, on some days the only sane person in the world.

Little people

I thought it was time to put some photos of my nephews up here. They like pulling faces and are very talented at this. It seems a shame to waste this talent, so here it is..

Beauty of holiness...

I discovered something recently while reading Ezekiel.

I got to the bit where God is explaining what is holy (chapter 46). He goes through everything he's given Israel and says, 'This bit is mine, this is mine...' about land, people, etc. A bit like a bridal register I suppose, except that God owns already what he is saying is his.

The thing is though, God can't get through the chapter before he's already giving it away. It's not as everything he is claiming is just going to sit there unused while people go without. God takes some land, and then immediately gives it to his priests. He takes food, but gives that to his priests. And so on.

There are a whole raft of reasons why this is sociologically a good plan: priests less likely to become exploitative if they are provided for, priests less likely to depend on rich patrons and so become their mouthpiece, and so on and so forth. But this doesn't detract from God's generosity, even as it highlights his wisdom.

This has implications for us. We are supposed to be holy as he is holy (I Peter 1), and this means we belong to God and our first allegiance is to Jesus in all things. But becoming holy doesn't mean that we become distant from the people around us. In fact, as we become holy, we become better at and more willing to love others. So God imprints us with his brand, as his property, and that is then seen in our losing ourselves in the great task of loving others.

Ownership of things and people is an aspect of God's holiness. But it's not exactly capitalism, because God's way of owning things is to promptly shower gifts on any and everyone. God's way of 'doing holiness' isn't insufferable self-righteous smugness.

God makes holiness look beautiful.

Jindabyne

Jindabyne is the place of many thunderstorms. We were there last week for a holiday and we got a thunderstorm (or two!) every single day. Lots of omninous thunder, stark flashes of lightning and the marvellous sound and smell of rain - every day. We stayed at a friend's house with views like this...
We did walks around the lake and I dreamt of wind-blown galleons in full flight.

I played lots of Civilisation IV and indulged my fantasy of taking over the world; Levor played lots of Galactic Civilisations and indulged his fantasy of taking over the universe. There were many glorious victories.

And I ate chocolate every single day. (I only eat chocolate on Sundays). It was an excellent week.

Now we're back in reality. We aren't in control of our own world. There is no lake outside our window. And it's four whole days till I can eat chocolate again.

Juxtaposition

On Saturday we went to an ordination ceremony and watched while men and women in fancy dress were made deacons. It was stirring and good to see so many making promises to serve God and his church and to hold out the Gospel to all, even the 'indifferent'. It was in the cathedral, there was fabulous singing and we saw heaps of people we know and don't get to see much. It was great to see the Abp doing such good work - so many more people have come forward for ordination since he's been at the helm. And he welcomed all the families so graciously, and used the liturgy the way it should be used (IMHO - liturgy was made for man and not man for liturgy).

And then we went to church and saw what happens when those promises are broken. And we went to small church and saw what happens when those promises are broken. This is a problem which we have only started to deal with. There are so many contexts in which this situation has brought the Gospel to shame. And so many people are hurting. It was horrible.

At both services - at church and at the ordination service - the sermon was from 2 Corinthians about how ministers of the gospel are jars of clay. At the ordination service it was a reality check: these bright, beaming people are not perfect and have faults which will be all too obvious. But this will not stop the spread of the gospel, because God has set it up like that. At church, it was a message of comfort, not whitewashing what was happening, but pointing out that the bad choices of some won't destroy the gospel and that we all have this capacity: to choose evil and dishonour Jesus.

A very big day of celebration and grief. And a day to reflect on the unstoppable purposes of God in his Son.

Oxford - a great place to move cattle across a river

And, if all goes well, we're going there in a few months for three years, so that Levor can take his brain out for a good hard gallop, which will make him even smarter! I am less excited than trepidatious at this stage. There are many, many things which can go wrong! But I decided that I should list the things I know about Oxford. So, here goes:

From Inspector Morse:
1. Oxford is dangerous. It is the place of many murders. (Tho' not nearly so many as Midsomer)
2. All heads of Colleges in Oxford are either murderers or are up to something as serious as murder. They are not to be trusted.
3. Only young, female, good looking clergy are to be trusted in Oxford. The rest are either murders or seriously unhinged.
4. Any Oxford woman who is attractive to Inspector Morse has committed a felony of some sort.
5. There are a lot of pubs in Oxford, frequented by policemen. Policemen in Oxford cannot think without beer.

From Terry Pratchett (his 'Unseen University' in the Discworld series)
1. Food is the basic raison d'etre of Oxford, and falling asleep in one's pudding is a glorious moment.
2. Everything requires a ceremony. The best events are accompanied by ceremonies so ancient and so meaningless that no-one has a clue what is happening or why.
3. The most visible people are the most important, and demand to be treated with respect.
4. Achievement and learning is not encouraged; pomp and ceremony, and due regard for the honour of the university and its respected leaders is far more important.
5. Women are an interesting species not unknown to the university, but certainly not a part of its important and visible life. However without women the laundry simply would not get done.
6. There is no logic to this world. If you don't know what is going on or you don't make the appropriate response, you are clearly not worthy to be here and need to go elsewhere; to help with the laundry perhaps.

Maybe this year we'll get there. It will be like Alice falling down the rabbit hole into a whole 'nother world.