christmas weekend sermons

My sermons for the Christmas weekend are now availalble: Advent 4 preached to the community of Anglicans at St Agnes, a chapelry in Stanza Bopape (Mamelodi); Midnight Mass and Christmas Morning preached at Corpus Christi Anglican Church in Garsfontein, Pretoria.

Rennie D
31 December 2006

sermons by mark long

My sermons are now availalbe on the net at http://www.twango.com/channel/markrdlong.sermons. The sermon for Advent 3 is availalble.

Rennie D
17 December 2006

the second commandment

English is a strange language: to like and to love, to dislike and to hate – there is a synonymous discord in these words. Often, and (I suggest) incorrectly, like is seen as a lesser form of love, and dislike as a lesser form of hate. To like or dislike a person is to render that relationship superficial. The Biblical command to love, especially to love one’s neighbour as oneself, is a call to take relationships beyond superficiality to a more profound level of being. To love is to supersede all other responses and to interact not with a perception but with the image of God implanted in every human being. To love is to consign that relationship into the presence of God; to hate is to eliminate that relationship from the presence of God. It is a profound place of being with another person.

To love oneself is to recognise the perspective of God, to see our lives through God’s eyes, and to acknowledge that God loves us despite our imperfection. The second commandment is a call to build our self-awareness not on what we see in the mirror; not on our awareness of our selfishness, wrong attitudes, and poor self-image; but to build on the perfection of our image carried in the mind of God. This brings us into the presence of God, and so enables us to bring our relationships into the presence of God, and to find a profound place of being with God and with another person. We are called to build on a different, a holy, foundation.

Rennie D
5 November 2006

spiritual nourishment

While Rennie D appreciates Frank Wilson's accolade, it is of concern that an occasional blog can have greater impact than regular warming of a physical pew. It is encouraging, though, to see literary critics and reviewers experiencing the need to speak out about faith, especially in a world that is increasingly focused on, and disillusioned by, the polarity of fundamental religious fanaticism that derives from Islamic-backed terrorism and the disquieting response of modern American colonialism and empire-building.

Frank Wilson's Great minds ... is worth a read, as is another link that Frank points to: a kind of self-interview by John Derbyshire God & Me. Also worth reading is and article by Richard Morrison What the sneering legions of atheists need to remember.

Rennie D
5 November 2006

... only consequences

In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments – there are only consequences (Robert Ingersoll)

Adam and Eve, having eaten of the forbidden fruit, are questioned by God (Genesis 3:8-19), “Where are you?” and “What is this you have done?” A common response is that it is their disobedience that leads to them being driven from Eden. But … is God angry?

“Where are you?” is more than a question of physical whereabouts, it is a deeper query of being, it is “Where are you now that you have made this choice; how has it affected you; how are you changed?” Adam’s response, “I was afraid because I was naked” speaks of self-awareness, of God-awareness, of being naked in every way before God, and of no longer being confident in this state of emotional and moral nakedness in God’s presence. Adam’s wisdom, gained through disobedience, distorts his relationship with God, makes him uncomfortable before God.

“What is this you have done?” is God giving Adam, giving Eve, the opportunity to take responsibility for their choice and subsequent action. Both miss this opportunity, neither accept responsibility: “My wife …”; “The serpent …”. Both give excuse, attempt to pass the responsibility elsewhere for the choice they have made.

It is tempting to assign the consequential curse and humanity’s exclusion from Eden to Adam and Eve’s disobedience in seeking wisdom (a gift God did not yet believe them ready to receive). However, having gained wisdom, they are cursed and excluded for failing to accept responsibility for their choice and subsequent action. Rather than a punishment dictated by God, this is a consequence brought about by humanity’s unwillingness to accept responsibility.

Much of humanity’s suffering is due not to wrong choice, but to our failure to accept responsibility for those choices ... there are neither rewards or punishments, only consequenses!

Rennie D
15 October 2006

the de villiers code

The De Villiers Code (a South African take-off of The Da Vinci Code) by comic writer, Tom Eaton, begins with the wonderful words:

FACT:

At least two thousand people believe that the Earth is flat.

Five million people believe that they have been abducted by aliens.

Twenty million people have bought The Da Vinci Code.

All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in this novel are accurate. Entirely fictitious, but accurate.

It goes downhill from here … which is part of its allure!

Rennie D
4 October 2006

... to be alive is a grand thing

I came across the following quote from Agatha Christie in Encyclopaedia Britannica’s “On This Day”:

"I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing."

It is wonderful to find someone who, despite clearly walking some very dark trails through life, was able to remain so commited to life.

Rennie D
15 September 2006

forging a real-world faith

I have just picked up Gordon MacDonald’s book Forging a Real-World Faith for a second time. This book had a profound impact on me some six or so years ago, and needs a second look. I am struck in the Introduction by his following statement:

“I created my own word – real-world – and I assigned three dimension of reality to it. First is the place the Bible calls Heaven where the Everlasting God, Creator of everything, dwells. The second dimension is the inner space of the human being with all its darkness and its potential beauty. And the third dimension is the streets upon which we live out our lives as we work, play, love, and struggle.”

This book had deep impact on my world-view, and requires further reflection.

Rennie D
12 September 2006

principles of giving

What underlies the Christ-follower's call to give, and why is Christian Stewardship so often a focus on finance?

Jesus, when questioned about his attitude to the Law, pointed to love as the underlying principle of the law (Love God with all that you are and love your neighbour as yourself). And what is Love other than God (God is love)? It is our response to this principle of the Law, to God himself that defines our levels of commitment to God and to the building of his Kingdom.

Proverbs 3 (from verse 5) points us to three principles of giving in the Christian context:

The first is Trust. The question is, “Do we trust God? … to be our provider, sustainer and source of abundant life? What relationships in life are immune from the Trust factor, what relationship can grow and mature without Trust at its core? Jesus points to the poor widow in Matthew 12 (from verse 41) as an example of supreme Trust in God to be her provision and abundance. Paul reflects in 2 Corinthians 8 (from verse 1) how, despite extreme poverty and severe trial, the Corinthian Christ-followers are able to respond with rich generosity (and it is not about the amount, but the act). It is easy to give out of wealth, it is much more challenging to give out of poverty – the ratios are so much closer!

The second is Submission. This is not – and probably never has been – a popular concept, except for those who have the resources to command it. Christ-followers are called to Submit their lives to the will of God, to God’s agenda, to forfeit self-interest, and to look beyond the self to the needs of others, and to the requirements of the Kingdom.

The third is First-Fruits. This is a call to give off the top, not from what is left over. In Jesus’ day a family, having reaped their field of corn, were required to give the first-portion of it to the temple. A responsible family would then have put aside what was needed to plant for the next year’s crop, and the left-over corn would have been divided up for eating over the next twelve months. The demands of modern life have us responding in a reactive manner, often driven by self-interest, easy access to credit, and an over-extended budget. Our modern lifestyles demand that we enjoy the First-Fruits, the needs of others and of the Kingdom forgotten, or marginally acknowledged.

If the above principles undergird our lives, they put priorities in place that help us live lifestyles that place God, his Kingdom, others, at the centre of our concern: relationally, emotionally, financially.

Rennie D
12 September 2006

dreamers of the day are dangerous

Encyclopaedia Britannica’s “On This Day” gave the following quote from T.E. Lawrence (born 15 August 1888), The Seven Pillars of Wisdom:

“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did."

I find these words profoundly powerful, and am challenged to dream with open eyes …

Rennie D
24 August 2006

rennie d "a good man"

Frank Wilson hails from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - in the United States - and is The Philadelphia Inquirer's Book Review Editor. He writes an "Editor's Choice" column each Sunday in the Books section. Frank blogs @ Books, Inq. and occassionally points to Rennie D's postings. For this, and this comment in particular, Rennie D is much appreciative!

Rennie D
15 August 2006

the great white

In anticipation of “Port & Poetry” @ Rivermeade Farm – in line with a Rugby expectation – I have reflected on the Springboks disastrous recent Tri-Nations away fixtures against Australia and New Zealand these past two weeks (hopefully the upcoming encounters will yield more positive results):

the great white

a country waits
with baited breath
a team to make us proud
or groan, defeated
at the end

what strategy
what plan
to see the battle-weary
Bokke snatch defeat
from Wallaby
extinction
in the Kiwi-nest

and of the White
we call him Great
our strategist
our planner
his jaw is clenched
his teeth are ragged
outwitted to the end

rennie D
22 July 2006

the family

Some recently taken photos of the family: rennie D and Mrs (who have recently confirmed their ancient Roman majority), and the young ones!

seek good, not evil ...

Amos (5:14-15) declares, “Seek good, not evil, that you may live … Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.” To live, to be in eternal relationship with God, is to seek good and to hate evil. It is both a personal commitment, and a community commitment. To say, “I am in relationship with God, and I’m OK!” is not enough. The commitment to which I am called by God is inclusive of seeing to it that this goodness operates in, and is evident in, the society within which I live; that there is “justice in the courts”.

Too often as 21st Century Christians we focus on a personal relationship with God, and forget to take responsibility for societal sin: corruption, crime, violence. We are quick to blame others, especially Government and other community structures. We forget that it is our responsibility; that if these “other” structures are failing, it is you and I – fellow ambassadors of the Kingdom of God – that will be held accountable on the day of Judgement.

Sunday Worship (any Worship) is worthless if it doesn’t reflect positively in both our personal lifestyle and also in our community commitment and involvement, in our seeing to the values of God being instilled and upheld in our local and national Civil and Governmental structures.

Rennie D
7 July 2006

rumi

I came across a small volume, Gardens of the Beloved, of selected quatrains of the Sufi mystical poet, Rumi (Mowlana Jalaludin Mohamad born 1207 in Balkh), translated by Maryam Mafi and Azima Melita Kolin. For Rumi the essence of the Divine is the nature of love. I was particularly struck by the following:

I filled the garden with candles tonight,
set the table with wine and sweets
and called the musicians.
How I wish that you could be here!

In Rumi’s poetry “Garden” is symbolic of an inner space, depicting the outward beauty of nature and the inward beauty of Spirit.

Rennie D
1 July 2006

our lives: a place where others meet god

What does it mean for my life, and our community life, to be a place where others meet God? The Biblical equivalent is to be a “living sacrifice”. It is a response. It is a call. It is primarily a place of being. It is about friendship, about allowing my life, our community life, to be a place where others can discover friendship with God. Our lives become a place in which friendship with God is initiated, or restored, or enhanced. It is about allowing space in my life, our lives, where others may come – invited or not – and discover God’s presence and reality in relationship.

Rennie D
25 June 2006

problem "sorted"

The following just came in by email, and appealed to Rennie D's sense of humour:

After every flight, Qantas pilots fill out a form, called a "gripe sheet," which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humour. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Qantas' pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers.

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what friction locks are for.

P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny.
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.

Rennie D
20 June 2006

virtue a stumbling block

Yesterday I participated in the funeral of a person whose life was driven by her Christian faith, and difficult circumstance had taught her selflessness. Her selflessness, though, was precisely what caused her death, and disabled her friends and church community in their care for her. Her recent life, and even more recent death, highlights the chaos and confusion of life: we seek holiness, only to find our virtue is our stumbling point.

Western thought tends to follow a linear approach, which remains valuable while we experience progress and success in life, but falls radically short when we experience breakdown and failure. Hebrew (Biblical), and often African, thought patterns are more circular, and allow for more rich responses when life falls short of our dreams and hopes, and especially when life leaves us broken and destroyed. We need to see both success and failure as growth, and it is only in returning to our starting point that we can truly perceive the value of the journey. A linear approach to thought and life does not allow this, because it expects us to reach a different point, and end point dissimilar to our origin. A more circular approach allows, even creates, space for reflection. It allows, too, for our virtues to find counter-point in our vice, and vice in our virtue; and rather than condemnation, hope for the next journey.

Rennie D
18 June 2006

should marriage be legislated?

The question asked is: does one need to have legislation, given the principle of marriage and hence the spirit in which one enters into it? The answer much depends on what one means by the “principle of marriage”. I would define marriage as a close, intimate, relationship that is officially recognised by society, in which two people (preferably one female and one male) love, care and support each other.

Society needs parameters if it is to function and remain healthy, and legislation is the easiest way of setting such boundaries. Legislation, as we discovered in Apartheid South Africa, can set parameters that create an unhealthy and unjust society. However, having no parameters leaves space for chaos. Legislation should protect the rights of the individual, as well as create a healthy space in which inter-societal relationships (including marital relationships) are formed and nurtured. Legislation does not prevent misuse or abuse within relationships, but it does set bench-marks as to appropriate behaviour.

In terms of marriage, ante-nuptial (or prenuptial) agreements are all about assets, not relationship. Hollywood utilises this instrument to ensure the less wealthy partner gains as much (or as little) as possible of the wealthy partner’s assets at breakdown. A more healthy approach is to utilise this instrument to protect the individuals within the relationship from forces outside of the relationship (such as one partner entering into business agreements, that if unsuccessful, may harm the other asset-wise). Couples who cohabit, but don’t “marry” in the eyes of the State or the Church, often draw up similar documents for similar reasons.

Marriage is both a relationship and an institution: as relationship it requires love, caring, support, empathy, selflessness, sacrifice, patience …; as institution it requires legislation.

Rennie D
14 June 2006

reflections on pentecost

My Ascension/Pentecost journey of the last two weeks has been an insightful one:

Power

In his closing comments to his Disciples at the Ascension, Jesus promises them “all power” from above. At our recent Clergy Day in Lyttleton we were challenged to be “power hungry”, and it strikes me the reason the disciples staggered drunkenly around Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost is that they were “drunk with power”. These are concepts of power we normally see as negative due to the inherent misuse, even abuse, of power by politicians and others in positions of authority in government and civil society. However, the dictionary describes “power” as “the ability to act”, which from a Christian perspective is a God-given gift. As a child of God I need to hunger for a greater ability to act.

Spirit

The Hebrew word for “breath”, “wind” and “spirit” is a single word: Ruach. In Genesis 2 God forms the primeval Adam who remains but a clay form until the “breath of God” gives Adam life, symbolic of humanity’s gift of eternal life. The eternal nature of life is wasted and then lost in the disobedience of “the Fall”, but restored at Pentecost as the Spirit, or “breath of God”, overcomes the disciples, and their drunkenness is symbolic of their abundant experience of life and relationship with God in that moment, and the restoration of eternal life as a gift to humanity.

Tongues

The Pentecostal movement and subsequent Charismatic response in the Anglican Church with its emphasis on the gift itself, has taken the focus away from the important symbolic content of the event, the restoration of what was symbolically lost at Babel: the gift of communication with all people - that God may be made known to the Nations!

Rennie D
4 June 2006

reflections on marriage

As an Anglican Priest and State Marriage Officer I do not solemnise many marital relationships, perhaps two or three a year. Recently, in preparing for a marriage service, I had some opportunity to discuss – largely “our” – marriage with my wife, Dawn. In addition I remain intrigued as to why people marry, especially when – in Western dominated societies – many no longer do … when living together is socially acceptable … and … easier? What is the draw of marriage that human beings return to it generation after generation, century after century? The answer – for me, anyway – lies in the colossal challenge of the Christian call to selflessness:

The Judeo-Christian Scriptures apply the symbol of marriage to the relationship that God shares with his people, and they with him. Why?

The common denominator appears to be the selflessness that God demonstrated continuously throughout Old Testament times in regularly calling his people back into relationship with himself – despite their disobedience, waywardness, and whoring after other gods – demonstrated finally in the key action of God in Jesus in the Crucifixion … and Resurrection.

The human experience of the environment that marriage creates is a remarkable and adventurous one: in this environment two individuals are faced with the opportunity to lay aside their selfish natures and practice selflessness.

Christian marriage is defined as a lifelong – “till death do us part” – commitment: it takes that long to gain the thoughtfulness that leads to selflessness. Marital relationships that survive a lifetime do so, not because the partners involved miraculously become more than human, but because between them there are enough acts of selflessness in the morass of selfishness to build hope.

Marriage (as defined by Scripture, not Hollywood) is the only relational environment that human beings enter that creates space for this particular experience. This is true precisely because it is a lifelong commitment. Any relationship that does not offer an “until death” clause does not offer the long term dedication, loyalty and devotion necessary for this attentiveness to selflessness to develop.

Rennie D
4 April 2006

the trials & tribulations of rennie d

Two months ago I experienced an unexpected revolt by my gall bladder, which took a general surgeon and a hospital visit to put down. I am able to report that our campaign was successful, and, apart from a few scars, I have survived! In reflection:

memoir of a gall bladder

a gentle caress
grows to acute child-birth ache
muscles clench in referred concern
bile stone-stoppered seeks
a duct to flow
restless movement
no relief wrapped in sweat-beaded
grimace
an hour two four
colic-gurgle
marks a shifting pain
disbelief muscle ache
somnambulant relief

airport waiting
in surgical haute coutier
theatre seven air-conditioned sterility
burning sleep courses through
breathe deep
sleep

confused awakening
jostle
knife-pain deep and spread
groaned and muttered
pinprick dulls the spread but
focuses the knife-hurt
more
shoulder ache restlessness
pinprick relief
dried-mouth muttering
a gentle hand whispering
her presence

rennie D
18 February 2006

a delighted rennie d

The following poem was ignited by some words of Oswald Chambers’ in his marvellous devotional My Utmost for His Highest. It came to fruition while wandering between rows of desks while young people slaved at exam texts:

delight

delight, i hear
a word, a life
dedicated to
being

delight, i hear
a place, a life
encompassed
possessed

delight, I live

Rennie D
4 September 2003

a branded family man

While on a Lenten Retreat in 1995 I had the opportunity to reflect on “belonging”, and the two poems below echo something of that reflection:

family

a desire for love
an opportunity
companionship and
sharing

a desire broken
selfishness
i the important
ignores the other

a desire for wholeness
sacrifice and joy
intimate and responsible
honours the other

Rennie D
21 March 1995

branded

i am branded
on his palms
a nail in his wrist
a cross not forgotten

i am community
with my family
they are branded
on my palms

Rennie D
21 March 1995
revised 15 March 2006

rennie d in the way

In 1988 I lost a friend, seemingly to the vagaries of the Apartheid regime. It deeply affected me, and others. I wrote this poem in her memory, to a friend who was more than a friend:

to a comrade in the way

not so long ago I walked in
a stranger among friends
you walked forward
and a friendship was forged
the warmth of your emerald eyes eternal
their depths unfathomable
in you I saw the nature of Christ
now you are gone

your life ended only to begin
in our pain the seeds you’ve sown
find their life-water
you died a prisoner of hope
and your blood cries out
for justice and righteousness
you call us to future hope
of freedom

our paths were not so far apart
you and i
now you are gone

shalom

rennie D
29 June 1988
revised 8 March 2006

the conscientisation of rennie d

In the mid 1980’s I found myself, a white South African recently freed from military conscription, living in a township and undergoing a disturbing, yet exciting, process of conscientisation. This was a reflection:

i walk in the depths of minds uncertainty
searching thoughts for paths to security
which way to turn or where to run
an impossibility

new ideas bursting out the old
what to accept to reject to hold to hate
excitement verses incomprehensibility
foot after foot I tread
a weary mile
mind in concentration
eyes upon the ground

answer lord
bring order to my troubled mind

“my boundaries for you have fallen
in pleasant places”

“your righteousness will shine
like the dawn”

rennie D
12 June 1986
revised 27 February 2006

the birth of rennie d

This poem, published in Vent Vol. 8, June 1984 (a Rhodes University Lit.Soc Publication), marks the birth of Rennie D:

my ears are plugged
deaf nothing
can't hear
can't understand
plagued with uncertainty

dare trust dare love
trust and love
understanding comes
knowledge ability bring
freedom love

rennie D
2 March 1984
revised 24 February 2006

and exactly who is rennie d?

Rennie D was born out of late teenage shy self-awareness and a desire for anonymity, married to my first attempt at having my poetry published in a university students' magazine. In this first attempt I used my two middle-names, the second of which is now reduced to just a single initial. Both names have their origin in my maternal family line, and Rennie is my maternal grandfather's mother's maiden name, and - according to sources that claim to know - is of Pictish origin, giving a "fantastical" element to my own musings. This "fantastical" element is provoked by my interest in fantasy literature, engendered through an early exposure to C S Lewis' Narnia series (which I have read at least five times) and J R R Tolkien’s Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy. I’m presently immersed in Terry Goodkind's The Sword of Truth series. I particularly appreciate the "parable" nature of this genre, and find it a faith-inspiring emersion.

I have never been a prolific poet, but find the multifaceted focus of words in poetry to be an occasional and valuable reflective tool in ruminating on the nature of faith and life in all its adventure. This blog is no attempt to share poetry (although there will be some), but poetic in the sense of contemplative cogitation on life's experience. Faith and life, the spiritual and material, the emotional and the rational, reality and fantasy are "Not one. Not two.":

“How does a person seek union with God?” the seeker asked.

“The harder you seek,” the teacher said, “the more distance you create between God and you.”

“So what does one do about the distance?”

“Understand that it isn’t there,” the teacher said.

“Does that mean that God and I are one?” the seeker said.

“Not one. Not two.”

“How is that possible?” the seeker asked.

“The sun and its light, the ocean and the wave, the singer and the song. Not one. Not two.”

This blog seeks to be "Not one. Not two." Welcome to the life and times of Rennie D!