Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Create Expectations!

(Radio Bristol Thought for the day)
                My thought today is about expectations. When it comes to the weather we brits tend to catastrophise, we expect the worst!  Summer comes; the cricket gets rained of, brollies at Wimbledon and a Glastonbury mudfest.  Of course not all our summers are quite such washouts but we think the worst so that we can make the best of whatever comes.  There are of course sometimes strawberries at Wimbledon and singing in the rain isn’t always number one at Glastonbury.

                Fearing the worst about the weather is one thing, it has no effect on the weather!  However, when we expect the worst of others we could be creating a culture of mistrust. Stories about child abducting teachers or failures in the NHS then become evidence that no one else can be trusted, and when people do let us down it becomes only what we expected.  

                                Of course nothing I say today can change the weather. But we can change our expectations of others, perhaps that begins when we acknowledge our own weaknesses. I read recently of an encounter between two early church fathers.  One commented that a certain brother was a really good man, because he “hated evil.” The older man, Abbot Poeman asked, “What do you mean, he hates evil?” The younger brother thought for a while and had no answer, so he asked, “Tell me Father what is it, to hate evil?” Abbot Poeman replied, “That man hates evil who hates his own sins and looks upon every other brother as a saint, and loves him as a saint.”  I’m not sure about “hating evil” but here’s my thought for today: treat all those around you today as though they were saints, you may well get a pleasant surprise!


Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Wrong Green Trousers Day

Thought for the day on Radio Bristol 20th June


                                Are you wearing the right trousers today? Apologies to listeners wearing skirts or dresses, but wearing the right trousers can be a pretty big deal. Personally I seem to dress for yesterday; so the day a heat wave ends, I’m in shorts, and after a storm, I’m all geared up for it! Perhaps Bristol’s most famous trousers are the red ones worn by Mayor George Ferguson, except that just at the moment he’s wearing green to celebrate Bristol becoming green capital in 2015. But are these the right trousers? If the recent decision to halt the roll out of parking zones and the battle crazy that will probably meet the suggestion of a central Bristol low emission zone are anything to go by, perhaps we should doubt it.


                                Tomorrow is actually quite specifically “wrong trousers day”.  A day when in celebration of Bristol’s other great innovators, Wallace and Gromit, people are invited to wear the wackiest trousers possible to raise money for sick children in hospitals and hospices around the country.  So by the sound of it, the right trousers today may well be the wrong ones tomorrow! You see just like the weather, things do change.  So George’s green trousers and Bristol’s status as Green Capital may act like a weather warning; change is coming and we need to get ready. I for one think green are the right trousers to wear. As a recent convert to cycling I ask myself why we all propel ourselves around using an engine when God in his goodness gave us legs. So there’s my thought, wear the right trousers and take them out for a walk or a run or a cycle sometime, and leave the wrong trousers of the combustion engine at home if you possibly can! 

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Jesus and Culture

I’m not quite sure what to make of the depiction this week of a giant breakdancing Jesus opposite an iconic Banksy painting. At one level I’m thrilled, Jesus for once isn’t all gentle Jesus meek and mild; he’s standing upside down on one hand for goodness sake. In words my daughter might use he looks pretty hench!  On the other hand this is Jesus we’re talking about and I guess some people might be offended.  Or worse still this is Jesus opposite a Banksy, perhaps some Banksy fans might be offended!

                In the end though I’ve decided I like it, we all, including us religious need a bit of shaking up occasionally. Actually that is exactly what Jesus did, the main criticism he received was that he partied too much… hardly an accusation levelled regularly at his followers!  When people moaned at him he responded, we played the flute and you didn’t dance we sang a dirge and you didn’t mourn.  That’s the real trick we need to learn; when is it right to let your hair down and party and when are the times to go easy, to sit quietly, perhaps even to mourn and reflect on the people or things we’ve lost. Generally speaking we tend to do one or the other. Either partying all the time, not appreciating the struggles others go through, or down in the dumps, not really enjoying the beauty all around us. So there’s my thought if you’re a misery cheer up and if you’re a hedonist grow up. Or as Jesus put it weep with those who weep but really laugh with those who laugh.  I reckon if we try hard enough we can even do that standing upside down on one hand!