The Durham Diaries

Birthday Lunch

Chris — Fri, 27 May 2011 15:05:56 +0000

Birthday Lunch, originally uploaded by alalsacienne.

Birthday Lunch

Sorrowful Mysteries: The Scourging

Chris — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:42:59 +0000

So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. Matt.27:26
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+In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I imagine many of you will have seen Mel Gibson’s no-holds-barred portrayal of the events that Mark refers to here. Unlike the evangelists, whose references to the scourging are brief, The Passion of the Christ takes a very different approach in which the physical assault on Jesus is placed centre-stage. The film courted controversy on its release, with criticism made of (amongst other things) alleged biblical inaccuracies and anti-Semitism. Scholars, film critics and religious groups queued up to give their opinions. It would seem that Gibson had set out to provoke a reaction.

The cinema-going public was, and remains, divided on the subject. While the film was acclaimed by many for its depiction of the brutal realities of the punishment meted out by the authorities to condemned criminals, it was deplored by as many more for the very same reasons. Setting questions of biblical and historical accuracy aside, the stated aim of provocation seemed to have been achieved in spades. One doesn’t have to look far to see why. In spite of all the talk about how desensitised society has become to violence in the media, the realities of scourging, or flogging, is still not something that we in the so-called “modern” world are terribly familiar with. It’s something that these days most civilised countries have outlawed as cruel and inhumane. Thankfully, this means that most of us are able to go about our daily lives safe from the fear that such suffering will ever be inflicted on us or our loved ones. I am certainly grateful that neither I nor my family are likely to go through anything like this level of physical abuse. The security of this knowledge means that I, and perhaps many other people are able to avoid having to think about the realities of what it must be like to suffer in this way. But, if you have not already, try for a moment to imagine what it must have been like to be in Jesus’ place.

To have a whip of leather thongs, studded with sharp pieces of bone, repeatedly hurled against your tired, battered body.

Some people have argued, as they did when The Passion of the Christ was released, that the depiction of such extreme and gratuitous violence is unnecessary: that those like Mel Gibson are simply out to shock people for their own gain, be it publicity, money or both. Often we shrink away from such things, just as the disciples fled following Jesus’ arrest. But I would suggest that as Christians with a calling, as Paul says, to be imitators of Christ, we ought not to shy away from going where Christ went. We should seek to model our lives day by day into the pattern of our calling, that is Christ. This means entering into his sufferings, frightening and abhorrent as they might seem to us. Perhaps this is an unnatural thing to do: the shock-value of films like The Passion of the Christ would be much poorer if it were otherwise. But in taking the decision to follow Christ, to seek to become imitators of him rather than of the other celebrity icons of our age is already to make a rather counter-cultural statement. Are we prepared to follow this to its natural conclusion?

Christ’s suffering is not merely counter-cultural, but transformative. His self-offering in freely giving himself over to be tortured in this way, turns the actions of those who scourge him on their heads. The confrontation of extreme evil with passionate, divine love changes the rules of the game. Jesus knew that whatever happened to him, he was not alone. Alluding to the great sufferings he has endured in the course of his ministry, Paul teaches that whatever comes our way, there is cause for hope: “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed” (2Cor. 4:8), he says. Paul held onto the example of Jesus, identifying with him rather than resorting to anger, self-pity or blaming others.

I don’t think that this means that we need to seek out opportunities for physical suffering. It might simply mean accepting, as Basil Hume suggests, whatever comes our way as our share in whatever Christ wants us to accept and endure for his sake, and to “fear nothing”. Often the burdens we bear do not leave physical scars, yet they can be just as painful as those which do. In accepting suffering in obedience to Christ’s example, as Paul did, it is possible to draw closer to Christ and deepen our fellowship with him. Just as in sharing Christ’s body and blood, broken and shed for us in his great sacrifice, so through the breaking of our own bodies and shedding of our own blood, physically or otherwise, we are formed into his likeness.

However we suffer – be it physically, emotionally, even spiritually – by entering into it as part of the reality of discipleship, we also enter into the mystery of the incarnation. When we see Christ suffering, whether on the cinema screen or in the afflictions of those around us, we know that we have fellowship with God, through him. And nothing God has made is ever worthless or incomplete. Just as the agony of Good Friday was followed by Easter Day, so there is hope of renewal for us in turn.

In trusting that we have nothing to fear, in knowing, like Jesus did, that God is with us and for us, even in the midst of the darkest times of our lives, we are reminded that we are never alone. We are held. We are loved. And nothing anyone can do to us can change this.

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An address delivered at Stations of the Cross and Benediction in the Church of St Mary Magdalen, Oxford on 23rd March 2011 (Wednesday of the Second Week in Lent)

Super Moon

Chris — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 23:01:10 +0000

DSCF5558, originally uploaded by alalsacienne.

My best shot of the Moon this evening, from our front porch. We were blessed with clear skies and relatively little light pollution tonight, when the Moon was at its closest to the Earth for some time (a mere 230,000 miles, apparently).

Hilary Term at Cuddesdon has now ended, and I promise to blog soon with an update on how things are going. For now though, I hope you like this picture.

And so, it begins again…

Chris — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 20:33:36 +0000

So, another term begins. As usual it’s been far too long between posts, but I think I am going to have to stop apologising for this. I’m sure that you, the reader, would prefer quality over quantity!

Christmas has been and gone all too quickly – there was the usual coming and going of family and friends, both new and old. Now that college has returned to some semblance of normality, we have welcomed back some others who have been away for the holiday and begun our term’s studies together.

I say “some semblance of normality” because this week was not part of the full Oxford term, and the college community have been taking part in various Themed Study Weeks, or TSWs as we affectionately call them. As a BA student I don’t have many of these during the first two years I am here, so it’s been quite a change to my regular routine. There are quite a few different things we can do, ranging from a week experiencing other faiths, to a residential visit to a hospice. I focused on marriage and family life, the “matching” part of the “hatching, matching and dispatching” that are at the heart of parish ministry.

There’s been a lot to take in this week. After a morning looking at the wider picture with the theology of marriage, we had an afternoon looking at the actual service itself. There’s a bewildering array of choices for any couple to decide on, although many of the differences are quite subtle. There’s the obvious choice about using the word “obey” in the bride’s marriage vows, but these days it’s possible to leave out any reference to children from the preface (where the minister essentially explains the “point” of it all – so that’s a pretty significant departure from previous prefaces which have made the bringing up of children a central aspect of marriage), and many other choices besides. The work we began on the Monday was continued on Thursday, when we had a visit from a very knowledgeable parish priest (and author of an impressive-looking marriage preparation course) who took us through the whole idea of marriage (and wedding) preparation. In between, we spent two days working with two people from Relate, looking at the wider issues around relationships and issues couples might have.

All in all, it was a useful reminder that after these three years of training are up, we are going out into the world to be alongside people at these great moment in their life. It’s a really exciting prospect, and I think there was a great deal of enthusiasm in the group to be looking at one of the “bread and butter” aspects of ordained ministry, especially in how it relates to the theology that we’ve been studying. Just this morning, we were looking at how the Church’s understanding of marriage can be related to a social doctrine of the Trinity (since our relationships reflect the essential social nature of God in God’s relationships within the three persons of the Trinity).

There were plenty of questions unanswered at the end of the week, and I’m sure this won’t be the last time we discuss marriage. After this weekend though, it’s back to reality with a bit of a bump: I have a collection (mock exam) on the Old Testament on Monday morning, and a tutorial on Paul’s attitude to women timetabled for Wednesday afternoon.

Best get back to the books, then…

So far, so busy…

Chris — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:49:05 +0000

Term has definitely started. This week saw the addition of Oxford lectures to the programme, as well as a Thursday afternoon community-based placement for everyone. On Sunday those of us who haven’t already will be starting placements at a local church, too! On top of all that we are still required to produce a tutorial essay, attend two hours of Greek tuition and several hours of college classes each week. There is the round of services to attend, too. Lastly, but by no means least, there are the rotas for various duties in college.

This week, our group has been on worship duty, which means we have to provide an officiant for each service: Morning and Evening Prayer four days per week, a College Eucharist each Wednesday, the daily Eucharist (except on Wednesdays when we worship in our groups), and Compline each night except Saturday. I led Evening Prayer this evening for the first time, which meant I have finally used my cassock and surplice! I’ll be repeating it tomorrow evening, as well as officiating at Compline which is slightly scary as it will be the first time I have sung a service.

Oh, by the way, did I mention I have a family? I’m supposed to fit time with them as well.

So…with all this work to do, why am I sitting here blogging? Part of our college tuition is the area of pastoral theology, and we’re looking particularly at the moment at the area of human development. We’ve been asked to keep a journal, and I thought this blog would be a pretty good response to this challenge (if I’m wrong on that, feel free to let me know). The question we have been asked to consider is

“What stage of your life has been most critical for your overall personal development…what metaphor would you select to describe the effect of that period?”

I think the most critical period of time for me would be the transition from home to university. It wasn’t the easiest of times: I had to adapt very quickly from one form of family life, surrounded by parents and familiar friends, to a very different kind of family life – one in which I was not just an adult, but also a parent and a husband. This rather dramatic change took place many miles from what used to be called home, and the demands of my new family and my academic career pulled me in many different directions at once. The metaphor I would choose to describe this is a whirlwind, where everything is caught up, tossed about (and sometimes damaged in the process) and then dropped again. Sometimes things settle, sometimes they’re badly out of place.

But as always, the storm passes. And you carry on.

Reflecting further, I think it’s fair to say that the past few months have also been a bit of a whirlwind. Some things have been altered, often dramatically so. I do hope that this time, though, nothing has been damaged or broken. It certainly feels like these are the winds of change, not of destruction.

And with that, I must go. Compline’s in ten minutes…

Here we go…

Chris — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 20:17:25 +0000

Well, term has now started, after what has been a very long summer. We’ve had a great time settling into our new home and met lots of new people in the process. It was all change again on Thursday afternoon, as the rest of the college community arrived. It was great to meet people from such a wide variety of backgrounds and traditions, and to get to know them over tea (and cake). After the college Eucharist, we all piled into the dining room, families included, for a buffet supper together. Speaking of families, there is plenty for partners to do as well, and the children are loving their new-found freedom to explore the college grounds!

Friday started early with Morning Prayer at 7.30am which was followed by a dash back home to see the boys off on the school bus, and then a return to college for a quick coffee before a 9.30 start. A morning of more formal introductions led up to lunch time, and the afternoon session was devoted to an introduction to the common room. It’s really good to see how involved the student body is in the life of the college: there are officers and rotas for everything, and I’m sure that there will be something for all of us to offer the community here. With my enthusiasm for liturgy I’m hoping to have an opportunity to learn to be a cantor for the various sung elements of worship, and perhaps I’ll even be able to swing a thurible again at some point?

Whatever happens there is a great diversity here which is so important, as for me, this is one of the most important things about being an Anglican – the fact that in Oxford there are churches of every style within a short walk of each other, all (well, largely) happy to be members of the Church of England, is one of the great glories of the Church. It’s something I think we need to work hard to protect, and that’s why I’m so glad I chose Cuddesdon: it’s clearly a place which recognises and respects this great diversity. I’m sure my future ministry, whatever form it takes, will have been enriched by the experience of so many different people.

So, the morning brings a welcome service at the parish church, followed by drinks in the common room and a buffet lunch together. We’re hoping to find some time to be just a family in the afternoon, before the week gets going again with morning prayer at 7.30 on Monday. Having a full week should help to establish a little more of a routine, as more of a pattern ought to develop.

It’s all a little overwhelming at the moment, but I think we’re all of us finding our feet. Hopefully future posts on the blog will be a little more coherent – perhaps the rather confused nature of this post reflects the reality of the life-changing things that are taking place right now.

Moving On

Chris — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 15:42:18 +0000

There’s been quite a gap between postings. This isn’t the first time this has happened, but at the moment it is hard to find time to reflect on the momentous changes that are about to take place in mine, and my family’s lives.

In September, I will begin three years of training at Ripon College Cuddesdon. This is the most recent step on the journey for our family as we try to work out and respond to God’s call to us.

It’s going to mean quite a lot of change in our lives, as we move from the relative comfort of a routine we have developed over the last few years of living in Durham. Gradually, our family has expanded to the present three children plus two adults. For me personally, it will mean giving up the “nine to five” of a regular job for a return to full-time academic study. As someone who picked Modern Languages the first time around in order to escape long essays, I must admit to being a little nervous at the prospect of a 3,000 word one each week, with practical training such as parish placements on top! However, the discernment process has ensured that I have had plenty of time to reflect, learn and pray about the implications of this move. It’s impossible to know what the future holds, but I’m as sure as it’s possible to be that this is the right thing for me, and for the family. We are all really looking forward to it.

Little by little, things are starting to fall into place. It’s hard to believe that my BAP was in January and here we are in June. It really doesn’t feel as though six months have gone by. We now know what accommodation we’ve been allocated, the children know which school they’re going to, the removal companies have quoted and the inevitable questions about finance are being answered (and lots of forms filled in). Once we hear when our accommodation will be available things will probably start to fall into place a little more, as we’ll be able to confirm dates and start counting the days!

One of the things I hope to do is keep this blog active, as a way of reflecting on what should be a time of immense change and growth for us as a family.

Watch this space, as the adventure continues…

Waiting

Chris — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:40:13 +0000

Wallington sun-dial in the Snow, originally uploaded by alalsacienne.

Sorry things are rather quiet: I have some important news coming to me in the next few days – so here’s an appropriate photo to while away the time with!

Beginning Again

Chris — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:03:15 +0000

I’m restarting my blog. Watch this space!