Goverment Cuts versus Morality

I have been watching the announcements on Government Cuts and have downloaded the actual papers from the Treasury Website.  http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/spend_index.htm

We all accept the cuts in public expenditure are necessary, but how the cuts are made is my question.  Where is the morality of targetting the poor, vulnerable, elderly, unemployed or incapcitated in our society when there are so many more, better off or rich, who can afford to pay others to help them avoid or evade paying their fair amount of taxation.

Where is the morality in targeting these groups, when you are prepared to go on funding policies that damage the environment and potentially destroy the planet, I refer of course to the obscene Trident Nuclear Missile system.

Where is the morality in targeting these groups, when you are prepared to collude with rich, global institutions in exploiting the poorest  and the resources in the developing world to produced cheap goods for consumers in the developed world.

Where is the morality in targeting these groups, when you accept that financial institutions and those in government have been found to be either corrupt or so negligent that they almost bankrupted the world's financial and fiscal security, while paying themselves obscene bonus's or expenses.

I suspect that ideology rather then principles are behind much of what is being done in our name, I had hopes that a coalition of liberal and conservative might be able to restore my faith and confidence in good government - I seem to have been sadly mistaken.

The country now has two choices, either accept it and get on with life, or to protest and to proclaim from the roof tops the unfairness of some of the proposed cuts.   I wonder if I will feel called to be on the barricades or to spectate.  I am not a natural demonstrator, but social justice might for the first time provoke me.    I must see what the Green Party says about all of this, they seem to be the only ones talking sense that I can understand at the moment.

Christian New Media Conference

Reflection on attendance at Christian New Media Conference:

 I attended the conference held at City University in London last Saturday.  The reasons for going were: first, I am a member of i-church, which utilise the internet for mission and evangelism. We also have a presence on facebook and use twitter to communicate online, about our activities. Secondly, I have an interest in what the church, itself, is doing online and the different approaches to being the church in a digital age.   Thirdly, I am aware that my parish website is outdated, not particularly user friendly and using outdated technology to get its message out; I felt that I might learn something of use in this context.  Last, but not least, I wished to meet some of the people with whom I regularly communicate on-line, face to face.

The conference was lively; the atmosphere was electric and full of excitement.  The backgrounds of those attending was of all ages, and denominations, with the common features of being Christians and interested in the use of New Media to advance the work of the church through this medium.   I met  some of those I know online and it was a worthwhile for that alone.

A number of things struck me about the content of the conference and the people participating:

• The wide, disparate backgrounds of those involved, ranging from professional Christian media journalists, through Priests of various denominations to Christians and Evangelists (Dave Roberts). All united in one community for the day – seeking to serve God better through New Media.
• The sincerity and openness to knowledge, but the questioning and challenging that went on, especially when they felt patronised, e.g. when speakers covered ground that they already knew about, but also if they felt what was being said did not add up to them.
• The stance taken by speakers that while we were familiar with what they were putting over, we need to address the lack of confidence and suspicion of others within our churches, who are uncomfortable or unfamiliar with the Digital Age.
• The inspirational speaking from people who are confident in their subject, who are subject matter experts, but who remain willing to take risks,  to try new things, to get the knowledge and presence of Jesus out onto the internet,  and to share their joy in him with anyone who was willing to listen and to join in.
• The statement that changes has always been a fact of life in the world and the church from day one.  Comparisons with changes following the introduction of the first printed bibles to today were well drawn to help us appreciate that.   The impact of the changes now underway is far reaching, it will require a change of culture at the heart of the church, if it is not to be left behind and become irrelevant.  The task is huge and the workers are few – but committed and motivated to push on with change.
• The emphasis that New Media requires a New Theology, worked out in the light of these changes as they happen, not worked out in isolation by theologians with no knowledge or experience of New Media.  Authority and authenticity are key elements being worked out for the digital age.

  
How has attendance affected my vocation?

I felt humbled and inspired by both my lack of knowledge or experience, but uplifted by the knowledge that there are so many people available to help me to learn more and to participate.   Part of my feeling of a call to ministry has always seemed to involve some sort of evangelist role, which my Parish priest spoke to me about recently.   I do not feel that the call has changed in that respect, but rather it has been expanded to acknowledge that parish based ministry can use new media in mission and evangelism as a new tool, which with imagination and the Holy Spirit working can help people to come to know Jesus in different, complementary ways.  The scope is vast and open ended. I see this as a blessing for the church and a support for any future ministry that the church may discern for me. 

 

I have grown in knowledge and experience through this conference – sharing with so many other Christians made being in their company virtually worship in its own right.  Discussing how we may serve and worship God through the Digital media is inspiring and fulfilling.

Blog Action Day - Water

Today is the annual blog action day where bloggers cooperate to focus on an aspect of the environment. Today's theme is water and the competition and shortages across the world. Millions live without direct access to a safe source of on of the most basic commodities necessary to sustain life.

Watch the video from Water Aid and imagine a life without safe water - can you help

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D1mVg_FglM&feature=player_embedded

Being Brought Down to Earth

My latest DDO meeting was a reminder that complacency is inappropriate in the process of discernment. My reflection submitted last month was basically an Essay, with insufficient depth and content. In particular there not enough reflection on mission and evangelism and how it is active in my ministry and life.

I came away feeling that I had let down both the DDO and myself and knowing quite well, I had not given sufficient thought to what I had written and had perhaps concentrated to much on an Essay rather than writing as I feel and know I can.

Everyone is supportive, knock backs are part of the process, I just need to pray and reflect carefully on what I am hearing, before picking up and starting over.

I am told that I am being tried - but I wonder if it is me doing the trying, by not being fully what I feel that I am called to be - someone seeking to test a vocation.

Being Brought Down to Earth by the DDO (5th Meeting)

Today's meeting with the DDO was perhaps a timely reminder to me that there is still a long way to travel and a lot more to do, before he will even contemplate putting me forward for the Bishop's Panel in January 2011.

The issue is my apparent inability to put sufficient enough of myself into reflections on the different criteria. On this occasion, the one on mission and evangelism. I had clearly defined mission and evangelism, had quoted the five marks of mission and had provided some examples of it from my ministry experience in the parish - but as he said, "you have read a book and presented an Essay, but that was not the question".

He admitted that he was being tough and critical of me, as he believed that I could do much better. Things missing were:

1. Insufficient depth of explanation on what I had drawn from the ministry experience, and critically, what had I learned from it, how had I grown from it and how could I see it shaping my future ministry.

2. I had described my experiences, but it was considered superficial, with no distinctiveness. I might well just be a nice person, helping out, but it did not speak of a distinctive ministry to him.

3. It is all very well reading and quoting others, but what is needed is a perspective on the book, in particular those things which resonate and a reflection on how they might impact on my future ministry, and how I had gron and learned from reading the book. He called it reflecting theologically on the book before putting thoughts and feelings on paper.

4. He had particular concerns about my understanding of mission and evangelism. The overarching role of mission as the work of the church, providing opportunities for outreach and contact and for evangelism to be ready, as part of the 'mission toolkit' to answer any questions arising from the outreach activity itself. The same arises from pastoral situations, where care is provided unconditionally to all - but where opportunities might arise, if the spirit moves in someone's vocation to open them up to ask or explore further.

I felt a little disheartened by this time, and apologized. However, he came back to me in a supportive way to assure me, that I was not the only one. Others had similar problems, but his role was to prepare, test, challenge me, to seem me grow through the process before he could recommend me to move on further. I felt a little better after that.

The outcome and task for this months is for me to:

a. Reflect on the mission and evangelism criteria, and if I have time, to
produce a new version for next month.

b. To return to the vocation criteria and to my journal and to reflect on
the call, how it had been received, how it had changed and grown and
where I am at now. He urged the use of my journal in this exercise, in
particular, looking back on what I might have written some time ago, and
how things have developed and changed since.

We are to meet again on 8th November. I left to find a quiet space and spent an hour reflecting on what he had given me. Feelings of inadequacy and lack of ability flowed through me, but I prayed and wrote down my feelings and experiences and felt a little better. I than rang my SD, who invited me to come for lunch.

The one thing that is clear to me is that I am not articulating what is needed to show that the call is both genuine, distinctive and valid. I used the term, trust in God, but I wonder for myself, whether I have turned that trust into a crutch, which has fueled my complacency, given the past 4 positive meetings.

Lunch was something to relax me in convivial company. Shared with my SD and a ordained, Franciscan, a lifelong friend of my SD. I was able to relax a little and release some of the tension and feeling of uncertainty in stimulating conversation. I have a session booked with my SD next week, and I feel that it will be an interesting one.

I wonder if I need to regain a sense of proportion and to just let my words flow, instead of over editing (apart from grammatical and spelling) and let them speak for themselves. A question perhaps I need some guidance on, before I answer it for myself.

Time Management

One of the things I have had trouble with is time management. When I was working it was critical to my work and running a tight schedule was second nature. Retirement has somehow shot that to pieces and I now find that the lack of urgency in some things means that I perhaps procrastinate and tend to put off things, I should be getting on with. Of course the internet is a major distraction, I enjoy interaction on social networks (twitter, facebook etc) and also on i-church, where I am a community member and volunteer. The thing that is not obvious to those speaking to me about time, is the amount that I learn and grow through these interactions. Also exploring the resources of the internet has given me much insight into other faiths, other Christian denominations and has helped me to formulate some ideas on doctrine, theology and pure human issues.

But God is calling me to offer for something, which I believe to be Ordained Ministry and while he does not seem to be in any rush - I am being encouraged to manage time spent on other activities to give more time to quiet times, prayer, reflection, reading and study. OK, I know it is essential, but some sort of balance is needed between time for God, time for family and friends and time for leisure. I have started a schedule to see how I am actually spending each day, to perhaps measure the time given to God, which I feel needs to be more, and shared with other activities. It will be interesting to see how this works out and I will post again, once I have completed the survey in a couple of weeks.

So, I am going to leave my family tree alone (5325 members, grown over the past few months) and perhaps socialise a little less, though I enjoy it.

So, nose to the grindstone for the next two weeks.

Criticism

I have been trying to deal with criticism. Some of myself and my work rate and how I go about research and writing. But some from others, meant in a loving, helpful, constructive way for me to improve. However, it can become overwhelming and cause you to lose your place in the scheme of things.

I have asked for criticism and have felt that I was dealing with it well. Taking it to heart to try to improve and to learn where I have been going wrong. Latterly, I have been feeling a little introspective and wondering if the criticism is actually doing any good.

Off course, along with the criticism I am receiving praise, which I am thankful for, but the balance seems to me to be skewed more on the down, rather than the upside.

I have faced it and spoken to those directing criticism towards me. They are hurt and feel perhaps that I do not appreciate the help they are freely giving me. I just want to respond openly to them, but I am finding it difficult.

Time for more prayer and being open to God in this, criticism can be destructive and lower self-esteem, I don't think that I am at that stage yet and I need to do something to either stop it or to deflect it with explanation and thought.

I am sure that I will come back to this again.