Colourful Dreamer

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I have just finished watching Band of Brothers about Easy Company in the WWII. I really enjoyed the portrayal of those involved, the reality Spielberg brought to the story. No gun-ho heroes, just ordinary men who gave a lot for what they believed in. Flawed people who did things I struggled to agree with and yet I sit in the comfort of my living room watching this.Men who grew tired and angry that this war was even fought. I give thanks watching this that I have not had to experience what these men and so many others through the centuries have experienced. I am grateful that they did volunteer, and I grieve at what it cost them. I am grateful to those who made this series that allows me to honour all those who went to this war.

I am interested in how much store we put on what we do rather than who we are. I was with someone today in Spiritual Direction where this came up. We were talking about how to be obedient to the Word, which she interpreted to mean directly applying what she read in scripture that day to her life. Not always easy! I asked her about how she experienced Christ the Word, which she was able to articulate, and then how she was obedient to the Word experienced in that way. That was a much harder thing, and yet in the end so much more life giving. God is at work in her, moulding and shaping her, inviting her into a much richer relationship with God. And yet, that is often not the focus of our attention. Instead we want to do more. Lent is surely a time to pay attention to who Christ the Word is changing us to be, how we experience God's life giving love, and to be obedient to that.

So it is lent! Bishop Victoria in Christchurch recommended that we do less meetings and pray and study more. I like that idea. But in this role, the only response is "Yeah right!" Since the 18th of January this is the first week I have not been away at least part of the week attending meetings and such. And I have two weeks more of this. I long for the day Lent can be all it might, and Bishop Vitoria recommends.

A comment about St. Matthew's in the City's billboard. Firstly, well done! No other church bill board has or will make it on to national news, nor will they provoke the outcry and discussion this one has. They have achieved their aim. Having said that, I wonder if this really is what I would want to talk about at Christmas. I understand their passion about the theological issue, but it seems to me that of more significance is the celebration of good news coming among us, and what that might mean for individuals, and communities at this point.To be honest it all felt a bit like a well staged publicity stunt, that some groups should have just ignored, rather than attracting more attention to it. Anyway, here is what the Bishop of Auckland has to say about it all. The Bishop of Auckland, the Right Reverend John Paterson says there are a multitude of issues for a city and the wider church that he would rather focus on in the season of Christmas than a billboard. The Bishop is disap...

I was at a youth service the other week. A youth band from one church did the music, and they were good. Except all the songs were praise songs. Even the last song was a praise song. There is a place for praise songs, it is the beginning of the service. But to have every song praising God felt like it took away from what else was happening in the service. And at the point where we were supposed to be being sent out to join God in mission we again praised God. Somehow musicians need to work out that they are not the centre piece of worship but add to what is happening. The clear message I got was "this is the real worship, everything else just fills the space." I know that is not what the guy leading it does think, but we do need to do better with the choice of music played.

I was at a service a couple of months ago. The leading musician, or "worship leader" welcomed God to the service at the end of one of the initial set of songs. I have heard this phrase before, and maybe have used it. But what struck me this time was, who are we to welcome God to worship? Isn't worship something God invites us into, and welcomes us to? Isn't God at the center of worship? When we welcome God, suddenly we are the center of the act of worship. We call the shots. It becomes about us!!! and not about God. And then I listened to the songs, and while they talked about how great God is, they all pretty much described God in relationship to the central figures of us. I was surprised by all this, and shocked. It reinforced for me one of the the things I wrote about in my dissertation, that those who have responsibility for leading and organizing worship (in its fullest meaning and not just singing praise songs) need to be biblically and theologically literate, a...