some thoughts on death

Today I buried a man I only saw once in Church - for his daughter's wedding - in seven years. We gave him a Christian funeral, in gold and white. And celebrated his resurrection with Christ. The Church was full.

Too often we judge people not by the standards of their life, but by the standards of a Church seeking to maintain itself as an institution. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31; TNIV). The Church often suggests God is against us, and we preach a Gospel that limits the love of God. Yet where does the Bible teach such things? Yes, God made a covenant with one man: Abraham. Yes, God made a covenant with one nation: Israel. Yes, in Revelation we read that only 144,000 will be saved. However, Abraham was called that a nation would serve God; a nation was called that the nations would know God. 12 is a number of Biblical perfection: 12 Patriarchs, 12 Tribes, 12 Disciples. What does perfection x perfection = ? And multiply that answer by 1000. How wide and broad is the love of God?

This man embraced life, and over 130 people came to celebrate and give thanks for a life well lived, a life that had inspired them, a life they now miss.

We limit God's love. We decide who may or may not be worthy of God's love. And who may be worthy of eternal life. We consign many to the fires of hell, largely because they do not fit our definition of holiness, and because they choose to avoid the strictures of organised religion and regular penance in the pew. We seek to maintain an institution when we should be seeking to sustain a Faith.

I visited this man in hospital last week. His body was ravaged by pancreatic Cancer, and his lungs were filling with fluid. I found a man facing his disease bravely, largely ignoring it in his stubborn desire to live. He was at peace when I saw him, able to smile and laugh. At peace with himself and with God. We prayed together.

Death took him. And God welcomes him into all the fullness that is life beyond the grave.

Cheers, Tom. Greet the Saints for us.

"... I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39; TNIV)

Rennie D
20 July 2012

addiction

Hello, I’m a recovering racist … and a recovering sexist. My name is Mark.

In July 2012 I attended an international conference is Johannesburg hosted by the Jesuit Institute entitled Spiritual Direction in the African Context. The above comment stems from a paper presented by Prof Susan Rakoczy, IHM, Women and Spiritual Direction: The Many Dimensions of Co-Discernment in which she challenged us to recognise the formative nature of society upon us; that while we may not – or no longer – consciously hold to racial or sexist dogma, if we have grown up in a society that has formed us in these ideologies (she grew up in the USA) we, like alcoholics, are never truly free of these social diseases. Her paper focused more particularly on the struggle women directors and women seekers of spiritual direction experience, influenced by the patriarchy of church and society; and how this is often a barrier to women in growing into a true sense of self in a world where male experience and needs often define our spirituality, theology and praxis within the church and the social environment.

Racism in the South African context has devolved in our post-1994 democracy into classism and xenophobia. Whenever, we find ourselves talking about, “Those people …” or saying to someone in some way different from ourselves, “Your people …”, we are guilty of spreading these social germs. We often react with surprise when we are challenged for making what is perceived to be a racist, classist, sexist, homophobic or xenophobic remark, and are sure we are not. However, if we have been exposed to these social diseases – and if we are honest, they are prevalent globally in most cultures and societies in some form – it is likely that we are in a continuous process of recovery (unless we consciously choose to promote these evil attitudes), hopefully moving to greater wholeness as individuals and societies, but recovering nonetheless. This process of recovery impacts on our spirituality, our awareness of self, of God, of community, and is often at the root of social and community breakdown. It stunts our spiritual and emotional growth as persons. An awareness and willingness to acknowledge that we are recovering – as opposed to recovered – is a first step towards relational and social health.

The Anglican Church, with our wonderfully cosmopolitan and intra-cultural diversity, offers an ideal Alcoholics Anonymous-type space to begin to deal with these negative issues and attitudes that affect our society. The question, ultimately, in our parish context is whether we are able to trust one-another sufficiently to create such a space where our antibodies to these social diseases can be strengthened? One of the Wesley brothers described the church as a microcosm of the greater world, a thought that I find helpful when we have to deal with social and relational pain within the church and Christian community. If we create this space for each other there will be times when we are hurt by fellow Christians

Is God’s power strong enough to sustain us through these actual or potential hurts that we may truly be a transformed community transforming our world? I believe it is possible.

So what are you recovering from?

Rennie D
5 July 2012