Still Quarrying 81 - Preparing For The King.

I managed to sit through the Downton Abbey movie the other day.  It brought to mind a conversation I had with my English teacher at school.  I told him that Jane Austen was ‘not my scene.’  Through a pained expression he said: ‘Not your scene?  You mean it is not your cup of tea?’  I may say that I changed my mind about Miss Austen.  A few rough edges knocked off my sensibilities and I realised she was actually pretty good.  But I’ve still got a way to go with Downton Abbey.  Whether ‘scene’ or ‘cup of tea’, it’s not mine.

You probably know the basic plot.  King George V and Queen Mary are to visit the Crawley family and while the preparations reach fever pitch various sub-plots simmer away.  Everything has to be as near perfect as possible for the coming of the King.  

It’s still that way with a Royal visit.  My two years at Glasgow Cathedral saw the visit of the Queen Mother to present new colours to the St John’s Ambulance Association.   Security preparations started weeks in advance and were tight on the day itself.   My earliest experience  of a Royal visit, however, was in 1962 when King Olav V of Norway made a state visit to Scotland.   On his way to the Fairfield Shipyard he was to pass through Pollok so plans were made for my school to line part of the route down Braidcraft Road.  We spent a whole morning learning interesting facts about Norway and making Norwegian flags to wave.  In the event the KIng’s motorcade just flashed by us.  I caught a brief glimpse of a bemedalled  chest and that was that!

In the apostolic mindset the Christian life was a preparation for the coming of the King.  And that Day would not be a fleeting experience:

‘Look, he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him ; and all peoples on earth will mourn because of him.  So shall it be! Amen.’  (Revelation 1: 7)  

This would be the climax of God’s plan for the whole of human history, the birth-pangs of the present having given way to a glorious New Creation.  It would be a Day of Judgement when everything that has ever cast a shadow on human experience would be removed and goodness, justice and love would be established for all eternity.   There are some breathtaking descriptions in the visions of the prophets and apostles:

‘The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way;  say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”  Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. ‘ (Isaiah 35: 1-6)

‘Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!’’  (Revelation 21: 1-5)

This places the Church in between times, a waiting people.  We wait in confidence that the world will not end with a whimper but in the celebration of glorious climax which Paul seeks to convey:

‘Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.  According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.’  (1 Thessalonians 4: 13-17)

It is for this great completion that we wait as the people of God.  In the meantime, however, we are called to live as people who already inhabit the Kingdom of God, to give the world glimpses of what it means to live in harmony with the Father’s values, with the Spirit in our hearts, living in Christ.  We prepare for the coming of the King not just by waiting in faith but by living as His subjects now.  

Still Quarrying 80 - Every Day A Birthday!

It was good to see Don and Rachel McKie at Dobbies promoting the work of The Brain Tumour Charity on Wednesday which would have been their son Graham’s birthday.   As with many people their bereavement has led to a commitment to ease the pain of others.  One positive that so often emerges from dark and difficult days.  

Something else that caught my attention at Dobbies was the proliferation of Santas, reindeer and silver trees.  This is something of a record for me.  The earliest I have seen evidence of Christmas was the middle of October.  A shop in Dumbarton.   It sure is getting earlier and earlier.  And yet something else came to my mind that I read in a recent Obituary.   Some years ago Free Church Minister Rev Angus Smith made a name for himself nationwide when we lay down on the slip of the Skye Ferry to prevent Sunday Sailings.  But he was also known for his forthright views on a number of subjects and became a favourite ‘rent-a-quote’ for several journalists.  He was once asked to explain why his Church did not celebrate Christmas.  According to one Obituary he ‘growled’:  ‘We celebrate our Saviour’s birth every Lord’s Day.’  

There is something in this.  We have come to associate Jesus’ birth as John Betjeman would say with ‘caroling in frosty air’ and all the other ‘sweet and silly Christmas things’.  But what Betjeman went on to call ‘this most tremendous tale of all’ is not something that can be confined to a few weeks every year.  If God became a human being and lived amongst us then this needs to be at the heart of our personal devotions and our public proclamation.  What would be the implications for the life and mission of the Church if we only sang about the Crucifiction and Resurrection of Jesus at Easter?   And yet if we brought out ‘See! in yonder manger low’ in July it would be regarded as more than just a little odd.  

Now I am not saying that we should have our halls decked with boughs of holly all the year round but every day is a day to remember that in Jesus God became one of us, immersed Himself in our lives with all its joys and sorrows.  He knows what it is like to be human and therefore in our worst of times we can open up to Him in prayer and He understands.   We don’t know for sure who wrote the Letter To The Hebrews but we can understand why the early Church became convinced that his words were the Word of God:

‘Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.  Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.’  (Hebrews 4: 14-16)

Furthermore, it is from the Incarnation (literally the Enfleshment) that we take our model for mission.  Some years ago the former MP and now member of the House of Lords Roy Hattersley wrote an article in which he declared his atheism and opposition to some aspects of traditional Christian morality.  But he conceded that wherever there is suffering in the world, even when it is caused by people’s personal choice, you will find the Church in the forefront of supplying help and support.  This is the immersive mission of the God revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus and He calls His people to show His Kingdom  where they are. Where there is sickness to bring healing, providing a voice for the voiceless, showing there can be a new beginning for lives broken by addiction, proclaiming hope even in the face of death.  

This is why we need to celebrate our Saviour’s birth every day and why I have a small icon of Mary and the infant Jesus close to my study desk.  A reminder that while He was uniquely born of God He took His humanity from a woman subject to all the limitations of flesh and blood.  He is ‘God With Us’.  

So two things came together last Wednesday.   A reminder of the coming of Jesus, though unintended, and the inspiration of people of faith like Don and Rachel working in the midst of a broken world to tell His story and share His love.  

Still Quarrying 79 - Grateful For Wounds.

There have been a number of portrayals of Vincent Van Gogh in movies but surely none surpasses Willem Dafoe in the recent Eternity’s Gate.  Beautifully shot in a hand-held camera, documentary style it gets closer to the heart of Vincent than any I have seen.  Near the end of the movie, as he recovers from the ear severing experience, we see Vincent working on a portrait of his friend Dr. Gachet and at the  same time engaging in a conversation with his subject.  He speaks of the joy that is to be had in sorrow and how ‘an angel is not far from those who are sad’.  He shares his conviction that sometimes illness can heal us and that personal distress is ‘the normal state that gives birth to painting.’  With a smile he says: ‘Sometimes I hate the idea of regaining my health.’  

I think the words are probably taken straight from some of the many letters Vincent wrote throughout his life, principally to his younger brother Theo.   You might think that words like the above are evidence of a disturbed mind but this debt to suffering can often be found in the lives of poets, novelists, painters and other creative types.  The Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgard has written a series of memoirs in which he confronts the dark side of family life in his early years and his own personal demons.  He has said: ‘Reading does not help me understand but writing does.’  The pain leads to writing which itself brings understanding.   (Hmmm.  Is that why people write blogs?)

Simon Weston is another who has found creativity of another sort in personal suffering.  He was on board the Sir Galahad when it was bombed during the Falklands Conflict.   He sustained horrific burns to his face, hands and body to the extent that his mother failed to recognise him when she first saw him in hospital.  But there were deeper wounds which were to cause him greater pain.  The days of rehabilitation were accompanied by debilitating depression, the end of an important relationship, a growing alcohol dependency and powerful suicidal thoughts.  Eventually he found a way back and established the charity ‘Weston Spirit’ to help people like himself  come back from their  worst of times and to face the future with new hope.  Sadly the charity ran into financial difficulties in the early 2000s and had to fold.  But Simon still devotes substantial time and energy to similar charities and is in great demand as a motivational speaker.  

He was once the guest on ‘Desert Island Discs’.  (One of his choices was the theme tune from ‘Match Of The Day’.  Now there’s a man after my own heart.)  He was asked about  the things he was most grateful for in his life.  He mentioned family, friends, doctors, nurses and other health professionals but he rounded it off by saying: ‘But most of all I am grateful for my wounds.  Without them I would not be half the man I am today.’  

There it is again.  This discovery that the worst of times can see the birth of great creativity and personal growth such that you can be grateful that they have come.  Vincent and his mental illness.  Simon and his physical pain and disfigurement.  And don’t forget the Apostle Paul.  I don’t feel I fully understood his attitude to suffering until now.  I could tell you what it is.  But a head grasp is very different from a heart experience.  

In 2 Corinthians 4 Paul speaks of that fundamental Christian experience when God shines the light of His truth into our hearts ‘to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.’  (verse 6)  This is the realisation that in Christ we have found the fulness of God.  But he goes on:

‘ . . . we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.’  (vv. 7-9)

What we see in Christ is the most important revelation we will ever receive, a gate to eternity, and yet we hold it in bodies and minds that are limited and fragile.   There is though for Paul a purpose in this:

‘We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.’  (verse 10)

The death of Christ carried physical pain, mental anguish and spiritual dereliction but from this came the salvation of humankind touching men and woman with the hope of forgiveness and renewal and eternal life.     Similarly from our suffering can come the ‘life of Jesus’ in our words, our attitudes, our values.  As Paul discovered in the rigours of his ministry the weaker he was the stronger became the evidence of Christ in his life reaching out and touching the lives of others:

‘For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.’  (vv. 11-12)

If I am hearing Paul correctly he is saying that sometimes we have to be cut back in order that Jesus may be more fully seen and heard and experienced through our lives for the benefit of others.  Remember that startling image in John 15: 1-4 of the Christian being like a vine and God  with His pruning knife cutting us back to make us more fruitful, more like Jesus.     In that sense Paul would understand Vincent being grateful for his illness and Simon for his wounds.  

This leads Paul to conclude:

‘Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.’  (verses 16-18)

Now we are getting close to an issue that I have touched on before and which some have found disturbing.  The whole question of the purpose of suffering and whether God can ever be regraded as its source, even if there is a good end in view.   We’ll get back to that. Trust me!    For the time being, let’s once again remind ourselves that under God some of the most powerful Christian witnesses have been those who have suffered greatly and who have testified to the loving purpose of God in that experience.  Some have been mentioned in my quarryings.  People though ‘jars of clay’ have been given the opportunity to show the glory of God in their service to others.  People who were convinced that ‘an angel is not far from those who are sad’ and who in the end were grateful for their wounds.  

Still Quarrying 78 - Cerebral Space Dust!

Do you remember Space Dust?   You used to get it in the Penny Tray (that great repository of E numbers and promoter of tooth decay) in the sweetie shop.   It was a bit like sherbet but when you sprinkled it on your tongue it sparked and fizzed.   It comes to mind quite often at present.  I feel as if someone has sprinkled Space Dust on my brain.   It’s probably due to the new medication, the biggest drawback being my lack of concentration.   When I am reading my mind seems to slide over the words without gaining much of a foot-hold.  The result is that that sacred principle of finishing what I have started has had to be abandoned.  

My Bible reading has been affected but I am too long in the tooth now to beat myself up about that.  The thing to do is to cut back.  Focus on a short passage, maybe even one verse, and pray that the Holy Spirit will work it into your inner being.  A colleague was once in hospital  and feeling very low.  He opened up his heart to a trusted friend, especially the difficulty he had with prayer.  ‘Don’t you think the Lord understands how you feel at present?’ was the response he received.  

I’ve never forgotten that.  Sometimes we need a nudge to open our Bibles or to create some space in the day for dedicated prayer.  But when you are ill, low in energy, wayward in concentration, befuddled with medication, that’s when we need to bear in mind that our God is not a dark, threatening shadow looming over us but the Shepherd who makes us lie down in green pastures, leads us beside quiet waters and restores our souls.  

Still Quarrying 77 - Sawtooth Experience.

After the success of the ‘harvesting’  it was disappointing to get the news that there has been an increase in the ‘bad stuff’ in my blood.  This means that more chemotherapy is required before I can go forward to transplant.   To go forward now would diminish the chances of a good remission.  

Eugene Peterson once wrote of ‘the sawtooth history of Israel’, how there were times when the people were ‘up’ with God and times when they were ‘down.‘   Going through the cancer experience can be like that but really that is much like the Christian life in general.  I was reading 2 Corinthians 1 recently and was struck once again by Paul’s account of experiences he had had in ‘the province of Asia.‘   He doesn’t go into detail but writes:

‘We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.  Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death.’  (2 Corinthians 1: 8-9)

But in all the sufferings he had to deal with Paul never doubted God’s presence and that His loving purpose continued to unfold even in the worst of times:

‘But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.  He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.’  (2 Corinthians 1: 9-11)  

We struggle with the idea that God might actually be the source of the troubles we have to endure, whatever good He may intend in those troubles.  Let’s leave that aside for the time being.  What is clear, however, in the testimony of people of faith in Scripture and beyond is that God is present in our troubles and able to take us forward according to His loving purpose.  I was reading just this morning:

‘The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him and I am helped.’  (Psalm 28: 7)

Last Sunday I managed to get out for the morning service at Strathblane Parish Church.  Under the ministry of my friend John Wilson I had a strong assurance that I would get through these days and return to ministry.  Then the next day came the news that further chemotherapy would be needed.   The ‘sawtooth’ experience of the Christian life.  Up and down.  And the question arises, how do I hold the two together?   The way forward is to take to heart the words of Moses to the escaping Hebrew slaves as the shadow of the Egyptian army fell on them:

‘The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.’  (Exodus 14: 14)

It’s a blessing to keep company with voices of faith like this.   Those who knew that even in the ‘downs’ of the sawtooth God is fighting for us, actively taking us forward according to His good and loving purpose.