Welcome to Col's Blog….. Fàilte oirbh gu Bhlog a’ Chailein

If you would like to comment on Col's blog, mail me at colin@colinsymes.co.uk

Back to the Home Page

Blogging for Beginners?

A blog, in the newspeak of the noughties, is an abbreviation of web-log - in my case, it means an online periodic burble, (sort of stream-of-consciousness thing) of daily/weekly/monthly doings. So, here's Col's blog, with things deep, light-hearted, thought-provoking and generally celebratory of life.

I am now a Facebooker so if you have comments about the blog, you can put them on my page at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=606686059 (though I’ll have to be your friend for you to do so!) Or you can email your comments to me on this link.

Ma tha Gàidhlig agaibh , bhithinn mi glè thaingeil ma tha sibh a'cuir thugam ceartachaidh mo iomrallan

Monday 19 December 2011/Diluain 19 an Dubhlachd 2011

Happy Christmas to all!/ Nollaig Chridheil gu h-uile duine!

I have become so dissatisfied with the translation of the French version originelle of ‘O Holy Night’ (Cantique de Noël) into English that I am offering here an alternative, which is designed to be closer to the powerful French rendering. The original version follows my English one, so you Francophones can check it out.

Christians, be still, the midnight hour is chiming,

When God as man comes among us to dwell;

Cleansing the stain of our first sin, restraining

The wrath of God and the shadows of hell;

The earth in awe and hope is gently trembling

On such a night that brings a Saviour’s birth –

People, bow down, behold your liberation!

Nowell, nowell, your Redeemer comes to earth!

Nowell, nowell, your Redeemer comes to earth!

 

Oh, may the light of faith within us burning

Now guide us all to the child where He lies,

As long ago the star so brightly shining

Led Eastern princes, beholding the skies;

The King of Kings, laid in a lowly manger!

O rulers all, full of your pomp and power,

Against your proud disdain, from thence God is speaking,

Before your Redeemer, oh come and humbly bow!

Before your Redeemer, oh come and humbly bow!

 

See, our Redeemer from oppression leads us,

The earth is free, heaven’s gate opens wide;

Those once enslaved are brothers now to Jesus,

His love unites those who once were chained and tied;

How shall we tell the gratefulness we owe Him?

For us He came, He suffered, bled and died!

People, arise, proclaim your liberation!

Nowell, Nowell, the Redeemer glorified!

Nowell, Nowell, the Redeemer glorified!

Trans © Colin Symes 2011

 

Minuit, chrétiens, c’est l’heure solennelle
Où l’Homme-Dieu descendit jusqu’à nous,
Pour effacer la tache originelle,
Et de son Père arrêter le courroux.
Le monde entier tressaille d’espérance,
À cette nuit qui lui donne un Sauveur.
Peuple, à genoux, attends ta délivrance
Noël! Noël! Voici le Rédempteur!
Noël! Noël! Voici le Rédempteur!

 

De notre foi que la lumière ardente
Nous guide tous au berceau de l’Enfant,
Comme autrefois une étoile brillante
Y conduisit les chefs de l’Orient.
Le Roi des rois naît dans une humble crèche;
Puissants du jour, fiers de votre grandeur,
À votre orgueil, c’est de là que Dieu prêche.
Courbez vos fronts devant le Rédempteur!
Courbez vos fronts devant le Rédempteur!

 

Le Rédempteur a brisé toute entrave,
La Terre est libre et le Ciel est ouvert.
Il voit un frère où n’était qu’un esclave,
L’amour unit ceux qu’enchaînait le fer.
Qui lui dira notre reconnaissance?
C’est pour nous tous qu’il naît, qu’il souffre et meurt.
Peuple, debout! Chante ta délivrance.
Noël! Noël! Chantons le Rédempteur!
Noël! Noël! Chantons le Rédempteur!

 

 

Wednesday 7 September 2011/Diciadain 7 na Sultaine 2011 1742

Just back from lovely holiday in the south-west of France (the Corbières, in the Languedoc.) Very warm, bathing in the Med, peaceful and reflective walking on the Cathar Path, visiting the birthplace in Narbonne of France’s most prolific songwriter, Charles Trenet, writer of my very favourite French song La Mer. (Hear Trenet sing it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHYj1-3QrrY) Visited Carcassonne, mediaeval walled cité  and some of the étangs, the lagoons south of Narbonne, (see left) watching flamands roses, the flamingos, in their beautiful plumage and flight.

Now back into the saddle; on Monday evening, a good meeting of Street Pastors’ management group, with James Duce and Sandy Scrimgeour of Ascension Trust Scotland encouraging us in the ongoing vision. And today, at Network Leaders Prayer in Bishopbriggs, a wonderful tme of encounter with God by His Holy Spirit in worship, just freewheeling with Him in tongue-song and psalm-reading and singing. Great to be in His presence together.

Monday 20 June 2011/Diluain 20 an t-Ògmhios 2011 1034

Musing on the recent remarks from the Church of England about the possibility of the appointment of openly gay bishops, subject to their living in celibacy, brings for me into even sharper focus the insupportability of the territorial church concept. Being by conviction and practice a believer in the believers’ church principle, I cannot begin to imagine how you can conduct church on the basis of including all-comers, whether disciples of Jesus Christ or not, and of whatever belief system, and keep the nation happy. The legacy of the magisterial reformers to the national churches has been one of compromise, infighting and political control of the Body of Christ by the ‘empire’ all through its experience. The state invariably seeks to mould the believers into its own shape and belief, and this results in vast amounts of time being spent negotiating a way through the untenable compromises which these systems have created.

The Church of Scotland in particular has suffered from this malaise since its inception. Given that I have vast love and respect for brothers and sisters who are Presbyterians, from the word go, I see that the ideals of Calvin for a Christian polity where church and state would work together were immediately sabotaged in Scotland by a megalomaniac monarch in James VI and I who continually bit the Presbyterian Church in the face, and were then exacerbated by his Stuart and Hanoverian successors who only fleetingly let go of their hold on power. Only in the Disruption of 1843 did the Scottish church at last rid itself (temporarily) of the terrible dead hand of government interference, coming then the nearest she ever could get to a gathered, believers’ church conviction.

The current situation for the Kirk is terrible to behold. But it is not unexpected, given the history of the territorial churches and their need to keep the nation and wider society happy. It is worthy of note that the Roman Catholic church, having divested itself of this need, is able to be far more outspoken and prophetic than any of the national churches are able to be, which is giving it something of an edge on taking a clear,uncompromising but Christ-echoing stance.

It is time for the original vision of Luther to be grasped, for the church to be a visible assembly of believers, a gathered body of disciples, as at the beginning, to which people feared to join themselves because of the weight of the presence of God among them, yet still fully engaged and in mission to a world in the grip of nihilism and the culture of death. The Lord is undoubtedly pruning the dead branches away from His people, and this can only be aided by a rejection of a church set-up which has always shown itself to be at odds with the costly way of the cross of Jesus Christ.

 

Friday 17 June 2011/Dihaoine 17 an t-Ògmhios 2011  1035

Col In Europe 26/5/11 to 7/6/11

This feedback is intended to give you the chance to scan or read in depth more. The highlights are in bold and the detail in normal type. So if you want to know the highlights, rather than the detail, please go for bold.

 

Thurs May 26

 

Plane to Paris; surprise link up with Paul Stevenson

Paul was on his way to live in Paris near his girlfriend’s family. He is going to be trying some urban mission there in a Paris suburb.

 

TGV to Dijon for evening meeting

Arriving at 2040, it was straight into a meeting of the housegroups of the Eglise Evangelique Baptiste de Dijon  pastored by Assene Merabti, who is an old friend. I was working with a dear brother, Philippe Delplanque, who has a prophetic ministry , originally from Roubaix in the north, but now living with his wife, Monique in a mobile home in the beautiful Ardeches area of south-west France. I opened the subject of covenant for the weekend and Philippe shared words for people, starting with Fr Jerome, priest of the RC church in which we were meeting!

We prayed for all the housegroups, and listened to God’s word for them. A great start. I was glad to be staying again with Jean-Claude and Annie Petit, in their lovely house up in Fontaine-Lès-Dijon, near the birthplace of St Bernard of Clairvaux.

 

 

 

 

Friday evening May 27 Meeting with Responsables, Dijon

Meeting with key people in the church.I spoke on the face and presence of God, and coming near to Him and He to us. Philippe shared words for a number of folks.

 

Saturday morning, May 28 meeting with youth, Dijon

I spoke on the character of Mephibosheth from 2 Sam 9, and the principle of hesed; Philippe had a number of dynamic words for young folks, and we prayed with some after the meeting. Then we went to Subway opposite the station for lunch, which is run by Jean-Claude’s son-in-law, Silver. (pictured below)

 

Saturday afternoon and evening, May 29 meeting with leadership team, Dijon

I spoke about the adventure with God and seeing it through with Him. Philippe shared a number of words. We were at Florence and Jean-Yves’ house, to the east of Dijon. A very lovely setting, where we ate outside.

 

Sunday morning, May 30 main fellowship meeting Dijon

I spoke on God’s hesed and the Holy Spirit making us ready for Christ. Philippe also had a number of words for folks there. A lovely sense of God’s presence. Jonathan Cordelier led worship (son of Bruno and Catherine, whom we have known for a number of years.) Particularly powerful was the singing of Chris Tomlin’s ‘Our God is greater’ (Dieu admirable in French.) Fellowship meal afterwards, good time to chat and share. Philippe and Monique left by train to Lyon mid-afternoon.

 

Sunday evening, Flannigan’s Pub, opposite Dijon cathedral.

Time to relax and reflect with some of the guys; strong discussion and sharing about future, against a loving background.

 

Monday May 30 Tracing Anabaptists in Zürich and Zollikon

Leaving Dijon by TGV to Lausanne, thence by tilting train through Switzerland to Zürich, started exploring the sites connected to the Anabaptists for my research. Found the memorial to Felix Manz’s martyrdom by drowning on the Schipfe Quay,(pictured left)  only a few minutes’ walk from the station. Sat and reflected there a while in beautiful sunshine – see video for more detail. Amazed by view of snowy Alps in distance from city centre.

Visited the Grossmünster, Zwingli’s church at the start of the 1500’s, where with the original Swiss Anabaptists he led Bible studies which led to their radical views on believers’ baptism and severing church-state links. No mention of the Anabaptists, although saw a copy of the Zürich Bible, printed by Christopher Froschauer who later became an Anabaptist and publisher to Balthasar Hubmaier in the move to Moravia.

Visited the Neustadtgasse behind the church, where Grebel baptised Blaurock in Manz’s house (exact number not known). Going down to the S-Bahn station, found an Evangelical Free Church in Trittligasse, just down the hill from where first baptisms took place; the witness continues.

Caught the train two stations south along Lake Zürich to Zollikon, beautiful and peaceful village. Just three or four minutes’ walk from station is 23 Gstaadstrasse, (pictured left) first meeting place of Anabaptist congregation, with Gedenktafel (memorial plaque) on side of house. Then walked uphill in serious heat to cool down in the portico of Zollikon Reformed Church. The plaque outside reminds that this was a centre of the Wiedertäuferbewegung, the Anabaptist movement from 1523 to 1525. Unfortunately the church was not open, but very much worth the journey. Returned to Zürich centre for train to Feldkirch in Austria. Overnight there, passing en route through Liechtenstein, whose ruler Leonhard afforded the Anabaptists shelter on his lands in Moravia.

 

Tuesday May 31  Feldkirch Austria to Bratislava via sites in Innsbruck and Vienna

Left Feldkirch to travel on Railjet train through the Arlberg Pass. Was engaged by a delightful Austrian eight-year-old who sang and drummed well on the table, though it was a challenge to follow his Vorarlberg accent! Arriving in Innsbruck, made for the Goldenes Dachl (the Golden Roof), where there is a plaque to the 1536 Martyrdom by burning of Jakob Hutter, founder of the Hutterites. A beautiful city, surrounded by the Alps.

Continued by EC train, ‘Rote Nasen’ (Red Noses) named for the clown doctors’ charity in Austria, heading for Vienna. Train passed along the Inn Valley, then crossed part of Bavaria in Germany to go round the high Alps, and on to Salzburg, where it re-entered Austria. Although at one point the train was eighteen minutes late, by Vienna it had reduced the delay to five, having raced along the new high-speed stretch around Linz.

Just time in Vienna to visit the memorial plaque in the old city wall at the Stubentor to Balthasar Hubmaier, leader of South German Anabaptists who had set up the colony in Nikolsburg (Mikulov), Moravia, but who had been captured by the authorities on his return to Austria and burned for his faith. The quote on the plaque is powerful and still relevant – ‘Christus ist nicht gekommen, dass er metzge, morde und brenne’ – ‘Christ did not come to butcher, murder and burn.’ The plaque is one things which has stuck in my recall of this trip overall.

Underground line 3 passes below the Stubentor, and getting back on it brought me to Simmering, at the end of the line, and the interchange station for the regional train to Bratislava in Slovakia. Thinking back on how fraught this crossing used to be in days of the frontier, it is amazing that one can get on a local suburban Vienna train, and end up fifty minutes later in the capital of a neighbouring nation! We crossed the Blue Danube, and headed west until we crossed the Morava river and into Slovakia.

Greeted by Father Rasto at Hlavna Stanica (Central Station) we quickly went round the corner to the Redemptorist monastery for the regular weekly meeting of Calvary Community. I shared on the need for the refreshing presence of God, and prayed with folks at the end. The worship was good, led by Jana. It was strange to be immersed immediately in another language and tradition, yet feeling completely at home in the Lord with them.

After the meeting, supper and a catch-up with Rasto, which was great, then off to bed.

 

Wednesday June 1st Bratislava, visiting Anabaptist lands and meeting with couples

 

One of the fullest and busiest days of the trip; at 8am, my good brother, Dr Tomas Veselovsky came and fetched me in his car, and we headed north to Velke Levare, where the EU has designated the Anabaptist Quarter there (Habansky Dvor) an area of special historical interest. Arriving early, we had time to look around in the morning sunshine at the beautifully kept former Hutterite settlement, with its meeting house and museum, now part of the Zahorskie Muzeum.  A phone call to Pani Michelikova brought a smiling lady on pushbike from the town hall to specially open the museum, as I had pre-arranged. The museum was fascinating. (pictured left)  What was most surprising was that, although many of the Hutterites converted to Catholicism in the 1700s, they still kept their traditions and structures into 20th century, continuing with the Elders council and even a school for the ‘Habani’ community.

In the museum were artefacts of the Hutterites, including examples of their fine carpentry, textile and ceramic work. They also had a knife-making forge, powered by a mill in the village. Upstairs in the house, it was possible to see the beamwork marking off the bedrooms of the families, running the length of the house.

 

Finding favour with Pani Michelikova, we were able to arrange for the meeting house also to be opened, allowing us to see where the community worshipped; it has since been turned into a Catholic chapel, but the simple wooden pews are testimony to a more radical story. We also got a peek into the parish house next door, which was originally the Prediger’s (Preacher’s) house.

 

As we were leaving the chapel, it was explained to us that the gentleman opening the chapel for us was a Pan Kleinerdle, (pictured left) and his name bears witness to his descent from the original Hutterites of Velke Levare. This was an extraordinary turn, and I was able to capture the moment on film, shaking hands with a descendant of Anabaptists in Slovakia!

 

From Velke Levare, we headed north into Czech lands, and to Velke Bilovce, where the winemakers called Habanske Sklepy (Anabaptist Cellars) are located. At first, there was little sign of life, but then a lady emerged and sold us some bottles of the company’s label. Tomas asked then if it would be possible for me to view the original seventeenth century cellars, as I was researching for my thesis on the Anabaptists. A gentleman was then kindly sent to escort us, showing us down into the underground vaults of the Anabaptists’ winemaking industry, when they were here centuries ago keeping the vines of the local tolerant landowners. (pictured left). This was a very special moment for me, and I soaked up the atmosphere of the musty, brickwork cellars, where Christ’s disciples had followed the motto displayed in the new reception Give to your wine all love and time, and you will win the heart of each to whom you offer it.’

 

Heading south again, we lunched at the Patronka Brewery, enjoying home-brewed beer, and I, a trout, tasting of the river. Tomas left me after lunch to go back to his daughter, as this was Children’s Day in Slovakia. I decided to follow some childhood interests, and visited the Bratislava Transport Museum in the original Bratislava railway station, dating from 1848, just between the monastery and Hlavna station. At that time, the Vienna to Pressburg service (Bratislava was in Austria-Hungary then, and called by its German name) was one of the earliest steam services in this part of Europe; a horse-drawn service then ran on to Trnava to the north.

 

A very enthusiastic old gentleman in an engineer’s cap took it upon himself to show me round the railway exhibits, which I yielded to, since he seemed to know which covers to open to reveal inner workings of locos which I wouldn’t otherwise have seen. I couldn’t help sensing a yearning in him for the old socialist system as he proudly pointed out the noble Czechoslovak steam giant with the communist red star on its nose. He also showed me a fascinating inspection vehicle, a motor car without tyres or steering wheel, to ride the rails to check their integrity. I was only disappointed there were no old trams or trolleybuses in the museum; they are kept in an old city depot elsewhere.

 

In the evening, I shared with the families and married couples of Calvary Community on the space between us in marriage, stealing some of Ann’s material, which was very well received. I then also prayed with some of the couples after. Present at the meeting were Villo and Eva, the couple who had first hosted me in Bratislava years ago en route to Podolinec. They invited me to a second meeting of the evening, of their small group in Dlhe Dely, up on the hill to the west of the city. I had such a great time with them, a group of folks in their fifties, like myself, some of whom I had met years ago in Lanckorona and Presov at family conferences. I shared again with them the message I had given earlier, and then we prayed for one another, each couple coming for prayer. Such a close and tender time with Jesus. It was a late bed, though, and Villo ran me back and let me in to the quiet monastery, having the key as his job is as a receptionist here.

 

Thursday June 2nd Bratislava to Lanckorona, Poland

Continuing across the continent, I joined the international Budapest to Warsaw ‘Moravia’ express at Bratislava just after ten in the morning, and was soon heading out of Slovakia and across Czech lands, following the Morava river up through the vineyards which we had visited the previous day.

Conversation with my fellow-passengers, two young Hungarian men, was not possible, so I settled down to reading. Rasto had given me Christoper West’s commentary on John Paul 2’s Theology of the Body. As the train rattled through Ostrava and on to the border, I was so gripped by the late Pope’s insights into the integration of spirit and body in man, and his flesh as a sacrament. For him, the nakedness of the Sistine chapel was not shameful, but glorious, given that the original, unashamed man and woman were icons of God’s glory, not to be hidden away. The terrible curse of pornography, he says, comes from the animalising of human flesh, denying that the body abused this way is a somebody. Only in the integration of body and spirit can we truly know another human being. Marriage is the imaging of the unity of God in Himself, the nuptial reality of Christ and the Father. I soaked up what I was reading, and time flew as we eventually reached Bohumin on the Czech-Polish border.

 

At Bohumin, we spent a leisurely hour, being detached from the rest of the train which had brought us, leaving just two coaches bound for Warsaw, (see left) bereft of an engine. After a while, an express from Warsaw drew in, whose loco would take us back into Poland. Eventually, the neighbouring platform was taken up by the arrival of the Prague-Warsaw express, to the front of which our coaches were carefully attached, the Czech motorman giving directions to the driver reversing us onto the leading coach, until the couplings kissed with a satisfying click, like joining up my old model trains in days gone by. Then it was off again, at something of a reduced rate. The Polish railway system seems to be ailing, and the state of its tracks mean high speeds are not possible.

 

Changing trains at Katowice, the poor state of the network in Poland was even more obvious. The station is dirty, unkempt and with few staff in view. Some Australian tourists were getting help from Polish travellers, looking for the Krakow train. Eventually it arrived, a sorry sight, going under the name of ‘Cheap Railway Lines’, and living up to it! It was dirty and very slow, crawling along for no apparent reason other than the poorly-maintained rails. Compared to the Slovak intercity coach just left behind, this was an apology for a train.

 

To make it worse, I was misinformed on the train as well. I had noticed the train was headed for Krakow Plaszow, an alternative terminus in the south of the city. Enquiring, I was told that the train would go back to Krakow Glowny, the central station, after a five minute stop. However, eventually arriving, having crept around Krakow at a speed slower than the tram I subsequently caught, it was clear that everyone was detraining, and the staff going through the train confirmed that this was journey’s end!

 

Striking off into the city by tram, I was quickly in the new tunnel tramway station under Central, and into the Galeria Krakowska, the shiny new consumer temple of Poland. I was vexed to find there were no trains to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska after five in the evening, so I made for the bus station, and found a comfortable PKS coach to take me in fifty minutes into the Beskid Hills, and to today’s destination, Lanckorona. 

Later, after I had spent some time over tea with Jurek and his wife, the team arrived from Edinburgh. Chris and Sarah, Donald and Ashley came down the drive in Andrzej’s car and the happy reunion took place over a late kolacja.

 

Friday June 3rd

This morning, having free time, we decided on a walk up to the pilgrimage site at Kalwaria Zebrzydowska. (left) The impressive seventeenth century Catholic centre was the vision of Nicolas Zebrzydowski, who built two pilgrim paths, one of Jesus and one of Mary, leading to the Basilica of the Resurrection, the last point. By a miscalculation, we missed the path, and ended up at the Basilica without seeing any of the key chapels! It was also growing hotter as we went.

Having spent a while resting at the end of the path, we decided to trace the Jesus’ path in reverse, looking into the finely decorated chapels on the way. One of the most impressive was the heart chapel, built in the shape of a heart, depicting the meeting of Jesus and Mary on the way to the cross.

By the time we got to the Cedron Brook and the end of the walk, we were exhausted, but the looked-for restaurant turned out to be closed, and so we trudged, Ashley painfully, back up the hill to the base in sweltering sun. ‘Mad dogs and Englishmen’, they say – as well as Scots…

 

By late afternoon, folks were arriving for the weekend conference on ‘Worship and Nations’; they were coming from near and far – Krakow, Tarnow, Warsaw, Silesia and Kielce – to hear teaching on how we can be priests and kings to our God. The first session in the evening was less well attended, some folks being still on the road to get here. It was a good first time together, and Chris shared on the theme of the weekend ahead.

I was sharing a room with Wojciech, one of the kitchen staff, who is going into orders, and Stasiek, whom I have met before, a young guy from Krakow.

 

 

Saturday June 4th Lanckorona

The first full day of the conference. I was opening up with a session on the intercession of Jesus, and spoke of His wounds interceding for us in the presence of the Father, and when we intercede, we are joining in His intercessions for His bride, for whom He has paid the price, and awaits only the time for the Holy Spirit to have completed her preparation for their meeting together at His coming.

Bohus arrived from Slovakia around 1000, and shared in the second session of the morning. He was fulsome in his honouring of Andrzej’s role in the work in Slovakia, and I felt something beautiful in the room as he told their story. It was good to have him there.

During the morning, I had been asked if I would serve at the altar for mass that evening. For some reason, I felt a check, perhaps worrying about my reputation.  But when I realised that it was the first mass of Father Marcin, a dear Francsican brother and leader of the ecumenical section of the brothers in the Krakow monastery, I melted and knew I needed to serve him in this most memorable moment. Chris had already said yes, anyway and reminded me that we ahd first done this together in 1984 at a leaders’ mass in Kadłub!  I realised then that the Holy Spirit is no respecter of our divisions.

In the afternoon, Chris shared on the state of the world at present, and the need for mission, and how the world population has increased exponentially.

After dinner, then, in the lovely balmy cool of the evening in front of the Lanckorona house, Chris and I enrobed, and served the elements to Father Marcin at his first mass. John was our skilled teacher. He knew all the symbolism by heart, and what touched me particularly was that the putting of the hands together in prayer in front of the server symbolises the integration of body and spirit in humanity, and in Christ.

We got through without too many mistakes, and when we kissed the hands of Fr Marcin at the end, he graciously returned the honour. It was a glorious moment of unity under the trees in the evening calm.

We prayed with folks well into the darkness after mass; with some with serious illness, with some to be encouraged in their gifts. What a sense of God’s presence there!

 

Sunday June 5th Lanckorona, Poland to Podolínec, Slovakia

Saying goodbye to all at Lanckorona, Bohus and I set off south for the mountains and Slovakia. It was a quick transit, the roads to Zakopane being greatly improved in recent years.

 

Passing through Nowy Targ, Bohus took a detour to a small village in the Podhale, on the way to the border. This was Łopuszna, and in the cemetery there is the grave of Professor Jozef Tischner. (pictured left) It blessed me so much that Bohus shares this love of place and memory, knowing that I would appreciate this stopping at the place of resurrection of a great man. Tischner was a friend of John Paul 2, and a partner in conversation with him, leading to a sharpening of the blessed Pope’s thinking in many areas. Tischner spent much time writing in secret in a bacówka ( a bothy) in the forest near the village, and is now openly recognised by a prime place in the graveyard in this Podhalski village.

 

As we drove on, we passed a sign saying Harklowa and I realised we were a short hop from the village where teams from Edinburgh spent so many happy days in the eighties, in underground Oaza camps. We drove up into the village of Szlembark, and I recalled the building of the new church there, now with a lovely wooden spire, and the barn where we met, now a newly rebuilt house. It was wonderful to see it again, having not been there for so long.

Passing on from Szlembark, we headed past the Czorsztyn Lake, made by the damming of the Dunajec valley about a decade ago; this was not here when teams came twenty five years ago from Scotland. And high on a rock overlooking the lake is the castle of Niedzica, which I had first encountered in the novel ‘Poland’ which so caught my heart up in the story of this nation.

 

Quickly over the border, unimpeded by guards or barriers, we were soon above the Poprad valley, looking down on Podolínec from above, before running down to be there for dinner.

 

It was lovely to see Bohus’ family again; Janko, Klara, Jozue and Rachel. Janko has won a place at university to study French and English, and will begin there next term. He is a fine young man. Jozue showed me his tiny baby trout caught in the potok (the stream) which was swimming around in a plastic bowl in the bath!

 

At the First Sunday fellowship before the main meeting, I shared with the community about the vision to be a pan-generational people who see the vision through to where all generations can enjoy community life in the Spirit together, in the presence of the Lord. As we then worshipped and shared in preparation for the evening gathering, a theme of river, well and spring emerged in the pictures.

In the evening, the church was packed for adoration; it was so good to be in Christ’s presence with so many worshipping people. At one point, a spontaneous song in the Spirit rose up and carried on for a long while – you alone are all I need…  I cannot describe how the glory of God comes in these times. It is so moving to be in.

 

I shared on the intercession of Jesus, but that He has broken through the dam of sin holding back the Spirit, and now the river of God is inundating us, culminating in the tidal wave of the Spirit at Pentecost, whose sound is the gift of tongues, the sound of the rushing waters of God.

Having greeted a few of the friends who had come, including Hanna from Sabinov, I made a quick move to bed, as next day was to be very long and full.

 

Monday June 6th Podolínec to Zahorie, then to Bratislava

 

Waking up at 0300 was more like waking from a quick nap than a proper sleep. However this was a full day ahead, and at 0330 we set off. Seeing the Tatras at this time of day though was awesome, the pink of dawn touching the blue of the mountains. (see left) Mist hung in very valley, like clouds that had fallen out of the sky. We stopped for coffee, and then headed on, going for my benefit through Cerchoviec, where the Slovak Robin Hood , Janosik, was arrested and despatched. (Jozue has a small pigtail which recalls that of Janosik, like many small Slovak boys!)

 

We arrived at the Parish House in Rodošovce, slap back in the lands of the west of Slovakia settled by the Anabaptists. Vineyards again were everywhere. We spent the morning sharing the good news of Jesus with all the kids in the local Skola Zakladnaelementary school. Palo was amazing with them – especially the older boys. He would pick the obvious ringleader in a class, and make them interact with him – he had them eating out of his hand. They do this all so well, and the kids seem to enjoy it. Almost the whole school was in the church at 12pm for the mass. I, meanwhile, was lying down!

Having had lunch in the Mill Restaurant, we set off for Bratislava and TV Lux there, the Slovak Christian TV station. It was on the way to the interview that I found out this would be a live interview! I had assumed it would be recorded, but no, we were doing live TV. I gulped, but realised this was just another part of the adventure. In fact, when we arrived at the studio, a big placard announced that this was ‘dobrodruzstvo z televiziou Lux’, the adventure with TV Lux! OK, Lord, I hear you!

 

The interview was on the theme of John Eldredge’s books, Wild at Heart and Sacred Romance. He had been in Slovakia in April for a conference, and this was a follow-up to that event. I was amazed to hear that in Slovakia, a country of five million, thirty five thousand copies of Wild at Heart and Captivating have been sold. That is a real saturation level for a book in one language!

 

The presenter was named Zuzanna, and helped is through the format. I was going to speak in English, and Bohus would translate. But it was great to be able to follow the Slovak, with the Holy Spirit’s help. I always find in these situations the Lord helps comprehension amazingly. I shared about how John’s books really impacted us in Edinburgh and myself personally.  You can see an archive recording of the programme on http://www.tvlux.sk/archiv/play/3688  (programme 190 of Doma je Doma – ‘Home’s Home’ but only with Internet Explorer)

 

Before we knew it, it was over. As we were leaving, the presenter’s husband came in. He asked if I remembered him, and in the ‘small world’ moment that followed, I learned that he was Jaroslav Chanas, brother of a priest friend of mine, Stefan, from Kosice, and that he had come and visited us in ’97 in Edinburgh at ECF! This was a lovely moment of God’s linking heart as we realised the journey that God has had us on to bring us here. Jaro now works for the TV company, helping to deliver great quality Christian television for Sklovakia. Would that we had as good here!

Just when I thought I had an evening free, Rasto mentioned that there was a little ‘informal gathering’ back at the monastery, since leaders from both River Fellowship and Calvary were together, and were wanting to share a little. It was a wonderful time together, sitting outside in the warm air of the monastery courtyard as hearts and hopes and fears were shared.

 

Being invited to share my heart, I was just able to encourage them concerning the unique communities they had, and the way that God has led them so far. We then considered what God was doing among them, and prayed for one another, Rasto dismissing us with his blessing.

After a beer, being so overwhelmed with the long day and many wonderful meetings, I crept off to bed, leaving the others to chat on.

 

Tuesday June 7th Bratislava to Krakow and home to Edinburgh

Another day, another few hundred miles! We left Bratislava just after eight, and headed up the motorway to pick up Andi from her home near Trnava, where her dad had made us a second breakfast, including cucumbers and peppers from his extensive garden. It was a good hour before we got under way again!

We crossed Slovakia by a new route for me, passing Trnava, the original mission base of Cyril and Constantine (better known as Methodius).  I listened carefully to Bohus’ recounting of their story, coming as a mainly lay team (only Cyril was a monk) at the invitation of Prince Rastislav to bring the best of Byzantine scholarship and mission to the Slavic peoples of the region, giving them an alphabet and written language. They also got Slavonic accepted as a liturgical language by Rome, something unheard previously in the Latin-dominated west.

 

We continued along the beautiful River Hron, past Banska Bystrica and Zvolen, before heading up and up into the Low Tatra mountains, which despite the low cloud were beautiful and imposing. Down the other side, to Liptovsky Mikulas, and we were shortly in Poprad, on the new motorway, before gaining the familiar Tatra-dominated road to Podolínec.

 

After a meaty soupy lunch, Bohus and the family decided to accompany me to the bus at Nowy Targ, before going for a treat to celebrate Janko’s birthday. This time we crossed the border into Poland by the Jurgów crossing, which takes the pass through the magnificence of the High Tatras at Zdiar, still with snow on the peaks.

 

Across the plain to Nowy Targ, and we arrived within minutes of the departure of the Kraków minibus from the oh-so-familiar bus station, with its memories of Szlembark days and packed buses to Zakopane and Harklowa! Saying goodbye to the family, I hopped aboard a minibus which was in Kraków in quick time given the new roads, and soon was sitting in the early evening sunshine on the Market Square under Adam Mickiewicz’s statue, listening to the fireman-trumpeter proudly playing the six o’clock Hejnał, (pictured left) recalling the Tatar invasion of the thirteenth century. Then back along Florianska Street, where a young Russian accordionist moved me to tears with his beautiful voice and plaintive song; he earned his five złoty so well.

 

Finally, the last train on this trip, the airport shuttle to Balice, John Paul II airport. The last ten minutes of the journey again are at snail’s pace, because of the parlous state of trackwork, but the trains are modern and comfortable, and a bus connects to the terminal.

I did have Fr, Marcin’s magisterial dissertation out to read, his work on the Lanckorona School of Evangelisation as a response to John Paul II’s call to a new evangelisation, but sleep got the better of me, and as we flew, I was dreaming of the joy of this adventure, this dobrodruzstvo with God that we are all part of….

 

In this amazing thirteen days, I realised that I had crossed fourteen borders, into France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, back into Austria, Slovakia, Czech, back into Sloavakia, back into Czech, Poland, Slovakia, back into Poland, and UK! And I had shown my passport just three times (in and out of UK and once into Switzerland….)  How different to thirty years ago, when we first crossed overland into Poland with so much time spent at border points, most of which no longer even exist (and even one state, East Germany, has disappeared off the map!)

 

Friday 20 May 2011/Dihaoine 20 a’Chèitein 2011 0908

The time of my departure draws nigh, to Europe. I find myself thinking over so many things about the trip – the journey through the Alps, the visit to the Anabaptist dwelling-houses in Slovakia, the sharing among friends I love.

I was meditating this morning on a hoped-for visit to the Grossmünster church in Zürich, where Huldreich Zwingli gathered a group of students around him to study the Scriptures in the original Hebrew and Greek, as well as Latin and German. I realised a great similarity to our modern desire to find Christ and His ways through the Scriptures. These young men were not ready to just accept a systematised form of dogmatic tradition, which made the Bible out to be a ‘closed book’, all worked out and codified by the hierarchy of the Roman church. They wanted to wander in the texts for themselves, and hear the Spirit of God leading them, into risky and even dangerous places (in terms of punishment meted out to those who dared to oppose the ruling elite) where they would drink from the water of life in their own cupped hands.

It is inspiring to consider how every generation must take that same journey they took, and how still we can tend to present to one another the Scriptures as a systematic, easily- apprehended set of propositions, rather than as the deep and mystical narrative of the unfolding relationship of God with mankind, as well as of mankind’s terrible failure to comprehend Him.

For the radicals in the Grossmünster, in the early 1500’s, Scripture had been presented as a neatly-manicured garden, surrounded by wild forests. They refused to stay in the confines of the garden, and found that the forest was full of beauty, adventure and danger; and they met Christ there, a Christ who sustained them through death itself.

Friday 15 April 2011/Dihaoine 15 a’Ghiblein 2011 1556

This morning I was at one of the most impacting funerals I have ever attended, that of Father Roland Walls of the Community of the Transfiguration in Roslin, who died on 7th April and whose funeral was at St Mary’s Roman Catholic Cathedral. I knew Fr. Roland as one of my occasional lecturers, first, at New College. I remember, as a young, quite fundamentalist evangelical being very impacted by this warm, glowing, dishevelled, humorous man who was, of all things, a protestant turned Catholic! In several visits to Roslin with friends from New College, I was even more bemused by his way of living in the tumble-down wooden bungalow, as I remember it, and the garden sheds in which he and Brother John Halsey slept. But what most impacted me was the chapel, two garden sheds knocked together, walls covered in icons, where Fr. Roland invited us for midday office. I know now that it was this more than anything which sowed in me what was referred today as ‘the Roslin seed’, the heart for ecumenical involvement, and the idea that there was more to Christ’s people than my narrow tradition had told me.

The funeral mass, led by celebrant Cardinal Archbishop Keith Patrick O’Brien was notable in that it was also attended by the Episcopalian Bishop of Edinburgh, Rt. Rev Brian Smith and addressed by a former Moderator of the Assembly of the Church of Scotland, John Miller. The homily was given by a young Franciscan father, Johannes Kupper from Germany, and in the congregation were people from across the church spectrum, including Roy Searle, Trevor Miller and Andy Raine of the Northumbria Community whose foundation was so influenced by Roland’s input. I was accompanied by Iain Archibald also of Community Church Edinburgh, and met after the service Mike Taylor, of Haven Fellowship, whose connection with Fr. Roland went back to YWAM days on the Isle of Cumbrae in the 1970s! Thus, as well as Catholic, Episcopalian and Presbyterian brothers and sisters, there was a former president of the Baptist Union and leaders of New Churches as well! I know Fr. Roland would have been thrilled at that.

Particularly moving, during the eucharist was to see Bishop Brian praying for Cardinal Keith Patrick, and vice versa, and then John Miller, former Moderator, laying hands on the Cardinal and praying, and again, vice versa. On reflection, it left me thinking that, despite our divided practices, the Spirit of God seems to be jumping over our doctrinal walls and joining our hearts. The Eucharistic division was always a pain for Roland – it was one of the reasons he joined the Roman Catholic church, to bring the experience of the broken body of Christ into the Community at Roslin.

At the end of the mass, Brother John Halsey read something Fr. Roland had written some years ago, his ‘testament’, which bears recording here for those who are reading this; it was a wonderful legacy to leave those of us there this morning, as we retired into the busy Edinburgh daylight to see the hearse bearing his coffin awaiting the final journey to his burial in the cemetery at Roslin.

Testament to My Sons and Daughters

Whom I bless in the Threefold Name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

I bequeath to you my vocation which I received from God and unworthily fulfilled in this life. In His mercy He called me to shew His Love for all creatures and His Compassion on poor Man. He called me to sing the Praises of His Love, to study and to speak of His Love, in words but also through silence. He shewed the quiet tenderness of His Love which is Himself.

Keep therefore LOVE to be praised, shewn, and treasured in silence – bring all things, all mankind, all circumstances into the Light of that Love. Keep to the poverty of LOVE which is the secret of joy, and by which you will make many rich. So great is this calling that I leave you that to fail in it is worth more than success in any other. Keep to Love as LOVE keeps you and still keeps my poor soul that in earthly life so often betrayed HIM whom it loved.

May He who was transfigured by LOVE, transfigure us all as He brings us to GLORY. AMEN.

 

 

Thursday 14 April 2011/Diardaoin 14 a’Ghiblein 2011 1824

Came across an interesting Hebrew expression last evening, tikkun olam, which means ‘making the world straight’, or repairing the world.  The concept is found in the aleinu  prayer at the end of the Jewish prayer service, and Jews believe that mitzvot or fulfilment of the Law contributes towards to the tikkun olam. What grabbed my attention is that there is a Jewish interfaith magazine called Tikkun to which several leading Christian speakers are contributors, including Brian McLaren and Richard Rohr. I came across it, because Ann’s current marriage counselling doyenne Hedi Yumi, a lovely Jewish woman, calls her training in marriage Tikkun as well (although the pedant in me would prefer to see it written tiqqun as the middle letter is a doubled qoph!)  While finding it attractive, my only slight hesitation is that it could tend to present our efforts as the means to ‘repair’ the world, in a rather humanist way, rather than seeing Christ as the Rescuer from the bombsite of even our best efforts.

I received the latest edition of the international magazine of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, edited by my friend Dr. Maria Kantor. It has a fascinating article in it reporting on an award ceremony in recognition of work in improving Jewish-Polish relationships, but what hit me was the sentence about the Podgórze ghetto being liquidated in 1943, with 300 being shot on site in the Kraków suburb and the rest being taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau. The aftershocks are still there in the earth.

Spent this afternoon walking through Dumbiedykes in prayer with Ben Williams. (The pic is of the lovely ceramic at 45) number plaque We sat a while in the Bauks View gardens, a beautiful little haven in a very urban landscape, - the picture is of flowers in the garden - and spoke to Tom Bonallo, whom I know from Southside Association, who was tidying up the garden by shifting a fly-tipped mattress from the grounds. As we were chatting, Liz Dixon happened along, just coming from her volunteering at the Braidwood Centre with mums and toddlers. Ben, Liz and YT retired to the Richmond Café and shared a brew, which was a lovely happenstance. Lord, thanks for such moments.

Wednesday 13 April 2011/Diciadain 13 a’Ghiblein 2011 1137

I was in the west yesterday, south of the Clyde in the morning with Neill Shaw in Paisley, and north of the Clyde in the afternoon with Alistair Macindoe, interviewing them for my dissertation research. It is so fascinating, hearing the different stories of churches from their leaders, yet finding there are common threads joining us together, and linking us to the first free believers’ churches of the early sixteenth century. Alistair really surprised me when he shared that his New College PhD supervisor described to him what we were doing as akin to the Radical Reformers – that one is definitely finding a way into the thesis!

Last evening, it was great to get together with a number of other intercessors to pray together at King’s Hall. Coming out of it, this morning, I felt inspired to make a new facebook page called so that people can add their own prayers, or join in the threads of others, to increase our engagement with prayer.

Chaidh mi an-dè gu h-iar na duthcha airson chèilidh air mo chàirdean ann an Phàislig agus ann an Cille Phàdraig, ri taobh na h-Aibhne Chluaidh. Bha e glè inntinneach a bhith gan eisteachd na eachdraidhean aca mu dheidhinn thùis nan eaglaisean aca.

Monday 11 April 2011/Diluain 11 a’Ghiblein 2011  1023

Just some more on my plans to pilgrim across Europe in the trail of the Anabaptists at the end of May/beginning of June; I shall be an interrailer again for a few days!

Leaving Dijon on Monday May 30, having had a weekend there with the folks at Fontaine d’Ouche, I shall be travelling by TGV (quel chagrin!) to Lausanne, thence by SBB Neigezug (tilting train) across Switzerland to Zürich, arriving there early afternoon, to visit the Großmünster, where Zwingli, Grebel, Manz and Blaurock studied the Scriptures together, stopping on the banks of the River Limmat to reflect at the place of martyrdom of Felix Manz, drowned there for his teaching on believers’ baptism on 5.1.1527.

 Then I hope to make a short visit to the nearby village of Zollikon, on the banks of the Zürichsee lake, where revival broke out and many were baptised in the wake of the choice to break with the state church. A plaque on the house at 23 Gstadstrasse there marks the place of one of the early meetings of the believers’ baptist assemblies.  Returning to Zürich, I will be taking an ÖBB (Austrian Railways) Railjet service to stay overnight in Feldkirch, just across the Austrian border and a stone’s throw from the tiny state of Liechtenstein.

The following morning, taking another Railjet from Feldkirch, there will be time for a quick stop off in Innsbruck, to visit the place of the martyrdom of Jakob Hutter in 1536, in front of the Golden Roof (Goldenes Dachl) there. Thence, a later Railjet will take me to Vienna, to briefly see the plaque there at Stubentor where Balthasar Hubmaier was burned at the stake in 1528. I should arrive in Bratislava, Slovakia in time to share at the evening meeting of Calvary Fellowship at the Sts Cyril and Methodius church, linked to the Redemptorist monastery.

On Wednesday morning, 1st June, I have the foray into Hutterite lands around Veľké Leváre, visiting the Anabaptist house (Habánsky Dom) there and if time permits, to visit the vineyards of the Habánske Sklepy (Hutterite Cellars) just across the border into Czech Republic, where the wine of that name is still produced. I then return to share with the Calvary Fellowship families on Wednesday evening, leaving Slovakia on Thursday morning to travel north by Eurocity train to Katowice, and thence to Kraków to join up with the team from CCE for the weekend with the community at Lanckorona. I am also hoping, lastly, to end the time away with a First Sunday at Podolínec, Slovakia, before flying back to UK with the team on Tuesday evening 7 June.

Sunday 10 April 2011/Didomhnaich 10 a’Ghiblein 1758

I’m excited to have been granted a special opening of the Habánsky Dom (Anabaptist House) museum in Veľké Leváre, Slovakia when I’m there on June 1st during my pan-Europe Radical Reformation trundlings... It’s one of a number of buildings that were part of the Hutterite settlement there in the seventeenth century, to the north of Bratislava. There are pics of it on the site of Zahorske Muzeum at http://www.zahorskemuzeum.sk/?q=page/38

Friday 8 April 2011/Dihaoine 8 a’Ghiblein 2011 1015

Spent the evening yesterday at the Polish Community meeting at King’s Hall; it is so amazing being able to walk into a little piece of Poland on our doorstep, and I so appreciate worshipping in Polish. Stefan Boron was speaking last night on the wheat and tares (chwast i przenica) and it was fascinating what he brought out about the similarity between the two, and how until they are full grown, it’s hard to tell the difference. But the wheat has the fruit, while the tares grow tall but spindly. There’s a lot in that.

The Catholic folks are preparing themselves for the big occasion on May 1st – the beatification of John Paul II; there will be special vigil prayers and masses over the few days leading up – I may well drop in to the the cathedral and pray.

I was thrown in at the deep end at one point last night, leading a small group for prayer, but nothing improves language ability like having to take responsibility! And the folks in the group were so gracious, putting up with my pidgin Polish. Bogu niech będą dzięki!

Thursday 7 April 2011/Diardaoin 7 a’Ghiblein 2011  1246

Actually rode this freshly reliveried 334 from Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh Waverley last week coming back from EA meeting at Cowcaddens. It was the first time I had seen one out of the old SPT carmine and cream which looks so out of place east of Airdrie.

All stations between Bathgate and Airdrie now open, so we called at Drumgelloch, Caldercruix, Blackridge and Armadale en route home.

Thursday 7 April 2011/Diardaoin 7 a’Ghiblein 2011 0600

Here, creaking out of the engine shed, comes the old blog, steamed up for another run, a whole five months after the last entry! No way I am doing a retrospective, just some current things going on. Completed the Story notes (http://www.cce.uk.net/what-we-do/sundays/sermons/the-story/ which got up to 368,102 words at the last count! – now I can concentrate on the dissertation.

I am now a Facebooker so if you have comments about the blog, you can put them on my page at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=606686059 (though I’ll have to be your friend for you to do so!) Or you can email your comments to me .

On Tuesday, for the first time I walked the George Square labyrinth. A beautiful Spring morning, with the daffodils out. It’s a prayer grid, marked out along the same pattern of the labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral, originally a way of entering on a mini-pilgrimage, in a time when the wars of the Crusades meant that it was impossible to do the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

It was a great aid to intercession and prayer; an enforced, slow, winding walk, moving back and forth along the paths which eventually lead to the centre, which represents the journey into God, and then out into the world. As I was walking, I was aware of how akin to life itself this is, an intricate moving forward and back, sometimes nearer the centre, sometimes very distant from it. It could feel at moments as though it wasn’t leading anywhere, and then at others as though great strides forward were being made. I was using my rosary beads to lead me in with the chaplet of the Divine Mercy, and then using them on the way out, as is my wont, to intercede for those I pray for and care for.  The rhythm of the prayer synchronised beautifully with the reaching of the centre, and then the walk back out from it. The only other users while I was there were children with parents, fascinated by the pattern, one kiddie following the path around on his stabilised bike. I found it, though, a great way to pray and will no doubt be back.

Yesterday I was at Bishopbriggs for the regular monthly Scottish Network leaders prayer at Bishopbriggs; the guest speaker was Peter  Neilson, who brought us such a timely and thought-provoking Lenten meditation on ‘the parabola of grace’, the downward journey of Philippians 2, the kenosis (self-emptying) of Christ. Here are my notes from the talk;

Seasons of the church calendar can be a way of living in the Big Story – (good for new believers, for example) Lent is one of those seasons, so these thoughts are linked to that time of journeying with Jesus.

 Phil.2.5ff – Paul is possibly writing into a scenario of conflicted church in Philippi.

Story of Donald Eadie in wheelchair – forced by spinal condition into a place of vulnerability, unable to work conventionally, but he embraced God ‘in the darkness of holy Saturday’. God saying, beware of losing your soul in the midst of plans and agendas . What would it mean to choose the way of vulnerability, rather than having it thrust upon us?

When identity is tied up with what we do we find it hard to be vulnerable. We build walls so as not to be hurt, but we will try and save ourselves; we can't save ourselves and be safe The Celtic way is about living dangerously and not being safe. There is also a challenge to live locally rather than travel about. God says you will only hear me as you stay close to the edge. But what is the new edge the new shore which will keep is in the liminal place?

Phil. 2 is about the downward and upward journey in the parabola of Grace He comes down to lift us up. And then we are called to the  parabola with Him To sin is to disobey the downward and to distrust the upward call.

There is a call to be there and keep vulnerable among the poor, for instance By taking the downward call we make space for others to hear the upward call. He is able to lift from below. Our attitude should be the same as Jesus Christ who was willing to give up all. Is our leadership our opportunity for control and safety and identity? Or are we willing to let go and head toward the uncertainty? Leadership is about kenotic reality (story of St Aidan giving away the gift of the horse – a barefoot Christianity) What does it mean to be among people where our reputation counts for nothing or we are unknown?

Leadership is about being the servant of servants and being made in the image of man We are so seduced by leadership, by the temptation of living up to my own image.  Leadership is about staying close to the ground (the humus) What does it mean to be grounded Leadership - not about laying down the law but about laying down your life . Jesus asks ‘Do you love my people or are you just looking for others to fulfil your plans?’ The downward journey maps Jesus' journey and gives us the map for our journey. It's the Father who then lifts up , not us .

Richard Rohr - first half of life is about ascent then the second half is about descent, about humility and generosity. It’s a shift from life onstage to life offstage. God wants us to take the downward journey. Vulnerability is God’s call to us .

I had an image from the Lord yesterday which I am exploring; it’s really about how we can use Scripture as liberating or inhibiting. It comes out of recent study, and tussling with a relevant hermeneutic, particularly for some of Paul’s writing in the light of present-day context.

In Fig 1, the Scriptures are the pot in which we are rooted as the Church. They form the soil for our coming to Christ, bringing the story to us, we cannot do without the repository of their light.

In Fig 2, the Scriptures, or rather, the use of a restrictive hermeneutic of the Scriptures, inhibits growth, because we are forced to see the context of Scripture as sacrosanct, thus legalism comes in and stunts the development of the plant.

In Fig 3, the plant is transplanted into the wider garden, but with the same soil from the pot in which it was originally rooted. The roots still grow through that ‘storied earth’ of the Scriptures, but now are contextualising faith into a wider scope than the potbound plant allows. In this way, the Church is rooted in the Scriptures, but not inhibited to the context of first century history. This is why slaves can be emancipated and why slavery is now seen as injustice, where in the Scriptural context, slavery is part of the cultural wallpaper. It is also why women and men together express God’s image in the earth, both as necessary partners in the stewardship of creation, whereas the Scriptures are written in the context of keeping women in the background, in keeping with the cultural norms of the day, norms which we rightly today see as unjust in the same way as slavery is seen as unjust.

Sharing this with Jamie Davis yesterday, (who has landed a research post with N T Wright in St Andrews, a great outcome from a tough recent time for him) he reminded me of the picture of story, that we are continuing the narrative, faithfully, but in a new day and time.

I am still mulling this over, so if you are reading this and either a) feeling I am keeling over into heterodoxy or even heresy or b) this is making sense to you, let me know! You can Facebook your comments at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=606686059 if you a friend, or email them to this link if you are not a Facebooker.

Thursday 4 November 2010/Diardaoin 4 na Samhainne 2010

Just an entry update to put my blog back in orbit – I have been giving myself this year to my daily commentary on Scripture, which is on the CCE website at http://www.cce.uk.net/what-we-do/sundays/sermons/the-story/  I didn’t realise when I started how addictive Scripture can be – the overall work is now up to 258,000 words, and still with 57 days to go to December 31!

Anyway, back to the Bible….  Gum beannaich an Tighearna thusa!

If you would like to comment on Col's blog, mail me at colin@colinsymes.co.uk