Pen and Ink Reflections - Pen and Ink Reflections

When God is Naked - Sex and Gender Storms on the Sea of Faith

11/10/2018

Storms about sex and gender increasingly rage around, and, importantly, within us. In the face of this, what stories are we telling ourselves, and living into? How are we negotiating the tempests of faith, fact and false news? Where are we headed and what hope do we have? Let us take time to consider. For the sea of faith of which we are a part is in much turmoil because of sex and gender waves. It is likely to remain so, and even grow more turbulent. What options are among us then, and, most vitally of all, where is God in all of this?

slaves of all - letting go of privilege and entitlement

10/20/2018

The story is told of a village where Western ideas of competition were unknown. A western researcher offered the prize of a box of lollies to a group of children – ‘whoever runs to that post over there first, can have this’, they said. They got the children to line up; Ready steady, go , and the race began – but to their astonishment the children simply joined hands and ran together, so that all crossed the line together and then proceeded to share the sweets.

In our culture we have been taught to compete from an early age. Somewhere along the line we have imbibed the idea that some of us are better than others, at any rate at some things. We have also taken on board a notion of entitlement – if I work just a bit harder, or play the game according to the rules, at some point I can expect to be rewarded – perhaps with a pension or a nice house.

It is very clear from today’s passage that Jesus wants us to think and behave differently. James and John come full of demand and entitlement. “We want you to do for us whatever we ask’, they say. Quite extraordinary hubris really – James and John set no limit to their demand. Most of us, if a friend says, ’can you do me a favour/’ are wise enough to say, ‘well it might depend on what it is!’ But Jesus also sets no limit. Perhaps he remembers that he has said, ’Ask and it shall be given to you.’ He responds with the question that he often puts to those, like blind Bartimaeus, who cry out to him for help, “What do you want me to do for you.” He puts himself totally at their disposal...

crumbs for the dogs? - on church blessings of LGBTI+ people

10/8/2018

an address in favour of blessings after civil ceremonies for other than traditional male and female couples
at the Synod of the Diocese of Brisbane, October 2018...

The Freedom of Francesco

10/3/2018

One of the names I was given when I was born was Francis, in its masculine form. So, over several years, I pondered it. well.Today it is not one of my legal names. However it is still very valuable to me. According to the dictionary it means, particularly in its Latin form ‘Frenchman’, which is a lovely little challenge of inclusion for some of us brought up with centuries of conflict and xenophobia between England and France. In its Teutonic, and American usage, it also however means ‘Free’, which seems particularly life-giving to me, and certainly one beautiful way of considering our little brother Francesco, St Francis, the patron site of this college and its site. So what are the features of this freedom which Francesco lived and encourages in us? What difference may walking with St Francis make to us and our world today?...

to be Christians - gentle, angry, loving people

8/12/2018

How do you feel about anger? I say feel, because anger is not so much something we think about as an emotion we sense, sometimes extremely powerfully, in ourselves and/or in others. It is a deeply challenging feeling too, isn’t it? It can disturb us terribly and cause all kinda of repercussions. It affects our bodies, minds and spirits: sometimes producing violence or illness in, towards or from others. So when we read today, in Ephesians chapter 4 a little about how to deal with anger, we recognise scripture speaking into the realities of our lives. How helpful then is this advice? Well, I don’t know about you, but some of it seems very helpful and some of it a little lacking in the fullness of how to manage anger…

Cascading love in Ephesians

7/28/2018

I thought we would take a look at the epistle today and perhaps over the next few weeks continue to make our way through Ephesians. This passage is particularly beautiful and I think gives us an insight into the spirituality of the community following on from Paul and of their care for the churches that were being founded, in this case at Ephesus. As Elizabeth pointed out a couple of weeks ago, there are various stylistic and theological matters in Ephesians that cause scholars to doubt whether this is the work of Paul himself, but that really doesn’t matter. What this brings us is an insight into the understanding that the author had of God in Christ, at a still very early stage of the church’s development...

Mary of Magdala - new life beyond silence, suppression and stigma

7/22/2018

Have you ever felt silenced, not being heard, when you have shared your story and your truth? Have you ever been suppressed in some aspect of yourself, your love and understanding? Have you ever been stigmatised, misinterpreted, or presented as something you are not? If so, or if anyone you know has ever suffered any of these things, then this day – this feast of Mary Magdalene - is for you. This is your day, our day, everyone’s day: for every silenced, suppressed and stigmatised person who lives, or has ever lived. For though herself silenced, suppressed and stigmatised, throughout Christian history Mary Magdalene has always remained the foremost witness to the Resurrection, the ‘apostle to the apostles’, the first bearer of that astonishing hope which, through Christ, transforms all the silencing, the suppression, and the stigma of our world. In so far as we can identify with Mary Magdalene, we too are set free from our demons, and from our fear. We too can find our voices, step out of our tombs, and live the truth of God’s image, call and naming of us. So, rejoice my gorgeous siblings! This day – this Mary Magdalene Day - is such good news for all of us and all of God’s wider, wondrous, Creation…

Macrina the Younger - outstanding sister in faith

7/18/2018

If we ever need to show how important relationships are in nurturing love and faith, Gregory of Nyssa, Macrina the Younger, and their family must be high on the list of examples. For on 19 July we particularly remember Gregory and Macrina, but other members of their family are also notable official saints in the Christian calendar: not least their brother Basil the Great, their mother Emiliana, and grandmother Macrina the Elder. This is a powerful reminder of how the relational webs of our lives are so crucial to us. Not least those women's names are also highly significant, as they point us to the usually deeply buried history of so many women in Christian Tradition, and to the vital contributions they made to the growth of the Church. Sadly, of course, even these we almost always receive through the records of men, who have filtered, through their own perspectives, the full female story. So, on 19 July for example, in the Anglican lectionary, we are able to honour Macrina the Younger. Yet this is only alongside one of her brothers, Gregory, and essentially it is by his references to her, and not through her own work directly, that we know something of her at all. This a great shame. For Gregory wrote both a hagiography, entitled the Life of Macrina, and a profound reflection, entitled a Dialogue on the Soul and Resurrection, which he dedicated to Macrina, purportedly describing the deep conversation he had with her on her deathbed. These are wonderful, for they show to us a quite remarkable woman who was clearly a central spiritual influence and model for her family and the wider Church. Spiritually and intellectually, she shaped, in her brothers Gregory and Basil, two of the greatest Christian thinkers of all time. In addition, within the limits of her times, she created new space for women. Yet, we might then wonder, despite Gregory's fine tributes, how much more is there which we may never know about her and about other women of her day. What we do have remains an inspiration to us today. For Macrina shows us what it is to be an outstanding sister in the Faith...

fear and faith

6/23/2018

Fear and faith, chaos and calm – these are the poles around which this powerful story revolves. No wonder that this story is told in all three of the synoptic gospels. For these are things that we all recognise in our own lives and the lives of others. This is not just a miracle story from long ago. This is our story, both as individuals and as communities. The fear and the faith, the chaos and the calm, they all play out in our daily lives. This is a story that has real, physical actual details. It is also a story whose motifs resonate at the level of dream energy and the deep unconscious...

standing outside or inside?

6/10/2018

I want to talk about craziness and what makes us think that someone is crazy or even demon possessed;
I want to talk about being ‘cracked’ and how inevitable and how life saving that is;
and I want to talk about companionship and who’s at the table. And I have some questions about insiders and outsiders.
So craziness, being ‘cracked’ and companionship
- these are all in our gospel today. But before I come to those three things, I want to point out a couple of things about the structure of today’s reading, because I think that Mark is talking to us through the very structure he has chosen. For Mark makes use of two clever literary devices to tell today’s stories. The first is something technically called ‘intercalation’, that is to say ‘a story within a story’. So what we have here is the story of Jesus’s family and their relationship with him under stress, interrupted by the story of Jesus’s conflict with some scribes sent from Jerusalem. When a writer puts one story inside another like this, it serves to intensify both, and to create parallels and comparisons between the two. By doing this, Mark is also able to create what is called a ‘chaistic’ story, that is to say one that has a shape that goes in and then comes out, a bit like an hourglass. Think of it as going A1, B1, C, B2,A2. So what we have is the first bit about the family, then a bit about the scribes, then Jesus parables and teaching, then another bit about the scribes and finally another bit about the family. What does that do? Well it helps us know that the really important bit, the bit that makes sense of the rest and transforms it, is in the middle, - not surprisingly in Jesus parables and teaching. This is the inside teaching, aimed at making the outsiders the insiders. You will see what I mean as we go along...