A message of hope from the Queen at Christmas

In her Christmas speech today which is broadcast live to over a billion members of the British Commonwealth worldwide, the Queen spoke about Jesus as the bearer of forgiveness and with the power to heal.Finding hope in adversity is one of the themes of Christmas. Jesus was born into a world full of fear. The angels came to frightened shepherds with hope in their voices: ‘Fear not’, they urged, ‘we bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

God sent into the world a unique person – neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are, but a Saviour, with the power to forgive.

Forgiveness lies at the heart of the Christian faith. It can heal broken families, it can restore friendships and it can reconcile divided communities. It is in forgiveness that we feel the power of God’s love.

It is worth watching.

The Secret Life of Bees

Having just finished the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd in advance of our book group meeting tonight, it just leaves me enough time to write a quick review of it. I have actually read this book before, about five years ago after coming back from a long summer of work experience and holiday in South Carolina, where the book is based and where the novel is set.

It is also, following Generation A by Douglas Coupland, the second book running that our group has read where some of the major developments rely on bees.

Set in the deep south the 1964 , the year the civil rights act was passed, it follows a young teenage girl called Lily Owens who lost her mum when she was four. Her father was a bitter and angry man who ran a peach farm. Since her mother died she was being brought up by Rosaleen, one of her father’s black workers who he plucked out of the fields to work as a nanny. Lily misses her mother and misses real love and affection from anyone except Rosaleen and she treasures the few trinkets she has as a memory of her mother – including an icon of the black Madonna which bears a handwritten inscription, Tiburon, SC.

One day when Lily was about 14, she was accompanying Rosaleen into the nearby town to register to vote. Many of the white men didn’t want blacks registering and Rosaleen gets herself into a scrape which results in her being charged, beaten up and jailed. That night, afraid of the fury from her father, Lily breaks Rosaleen out of the hospital where she is being held and they run away  - towards Tiburon.

There, they stumble into the place which was the origin of her mother’s Black Madonna icon, a pink house of middle-aged black sisters, August, June and May, who keep bees and make Black Madonna honey.  Lily lies about who she is but it later transpires that they knew from the outset – as her mother had been there ten years earlier. She is welcomed and is slowly healed of her hurts and pain, and gradually learns the truth about her mother and the accident that killed her.

It is beautifully written, with deep characters and rich descriptions of the pink house, the process of keeping the bees, and the rather odd rituals of the sisterhood of women. There are also two scenes of racial tension which transport you into the mood of the time. The novel speaks of out need to be loved and accepted right from early on in our lives. When this isn’t there it pervades and colours everything else and one cannot really move on until it is dealt with. In the house, Lily is loved and accepted. There is no pressure for her to tell the truth about who she is but the sisters allow that to come out in her own good time, only after she knows she is safe. Lily had to learn how to trust, receive love without feeling undeserving, and ultimately, to forgive herself for her unwitting part in her mother’s death.

There are many phrases and quotes of the book which I liked. For example, when Lily first enters Tiburon and finds herself staring face-to-face with the same picture of the Black Madonna which is adorning a honey jar in the general store, Lily muses:

I realized it for the first time in my life: there is nothing but mystery in the world, how it hides behind the fabric of our poor, browbeat days, shining brightly, and we don’t even know it.

Some of this mystery comes alive in the author’s description of keeping the bees.

She was also looking for herself. As August was telling the story of a statue of the Black Mary whilst they were both preparing the honey jars, Lily reflects:

I was so caught up with what August was saying I had stopped wetting labels. I was wishing I had a story like that one to live inside me with so much loudness you could pick it up on a stethoscope, and not the story I did have about ending my mother’s life and sort of ending my own at the same time.

Everyone needs a story greater than themselves: this is, I believe, a universal truth of human nature. However, so often, the stories we do construct for ourselves are uninspiring or unhelpful and merely obscure the person we were created to be. Lily learned that she had to own parts of her true story and come to terms with it, as the same time as realising that this story didn’t define her. There was another story of who she was and what she could become.

Ultimately, the novel is about healing, redemption, self-awareness, forgiveness and love. Not romantic love, but the everyday love and stability of a close-knit community that does wonders for an individual’s self-worth and self-perception – the simple act of living life alongside each other. Lily needed to love herself and know that she was loved.

Score 4.5/5. I wonder what the group will think this evening!

There is also a rather fine movie of the book starring Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifa, Alicia Keys, and Sophie Okenedo

The eye is the lamp of the body – Bin Laden photos

This came through to my inbox this week from the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity. What particularly struck me was the assertion that the graphic and violent images of 9/11 have been stored up and re-emerged in the impromptu triumphal celebrations on the day of Bin Laden’s death. See what you think:

Political expediency it may have been, but Barack Obama’s decision not to release photographs of Osama Bin Laden’s body is a welcome act of national self-censorship that constitutes a significantly counter-cultural move.

Ever since news of the al-Qaeda leader’s killing broke, there has been an inevitable drip-feed of ever more graphic images through the media to the viewing public. Iconic portraits of Bin Laden first gave way to stills of the compound and the abandoned American helicopter, and then to video footage from within the house, including the heavily bloodstained bedroom where Bin Laden was shot dead.

The media are eager to capture such images because it is the image that stimulates and sustains public interest in the story, whether on television or online. It’s the ever-present promise of new pictures that keeps us enthralled. The Internet and a growing superfluity of high-definition, touch-screen devices are constantly reinforcing the lesson television first taught us: seeing is believing. Naturally enough, the corollary is also true: in the absence of images there is doubt, or outright disbelief.

So it is that some believe the US should release photographs of Bin Laden’s corpse by way of providing conclusive proof of his death. Nevertheless, the president has decreed that these very graphic images will not be seen. They have been censored on the grounds that their publication would constitute a threat to US national security. I, for one, am inclined to agree with his decision.

Doubtless, national and political self-interest influenced Obama’s decision, but perhaps we should allow for the possibility that so also did a genuine concern for the global greater good. Since the eye is ‘the lamp of the body’ (Matthew 6:22), and just one look can kill the divine image-bearing people we were made to be (Matthew 5:27-29), we all need to consider carefully the imagery to which we expose ourselves, and to which we expose others. Is it not in all our interests to look on that which will enhance our humanity, and to look away from that which will diminish it?

For proof of the compelling power images can exercise over hearts and minds, look no further than those who, having been inundated this past decade with the traumatic images of 9/11, and of the face of the man behind that atrocity, took to the streets this week to celebrate his killing.

Even in our visual age, there are things we really don’t need to see. Trust me.

Nigel Hopper

It reminds me of the much quoted phrase that one 9/11 survivor said – “I can’t find it in me to be glad that one more person is dead”. Forgiveness really does affect us as well as those we are forgiving.

Fight for your love.

Celebrity gossip doesn’t usually interest me but I was listening to the radio a couple of days ago and became intrigued by the new song from Cheryl Cole. I’m not usually a fan of hers, I don’t have any of her singles or albums and haven’t really paid her that much attention. But I had picked up snippets from her life so far.

For example,  I knew that Cheryl was born and brought up not to far from where I was brought up… just outside Newcastle. But I also knew she lived in an area that had a lot of problems with high rates of crime, addictions, teenage pregnancy, poor school attendance, and a high proportion of single parents. I knew that Cheryl didn’t have a good start in life.

I also knew that she managed to get on a TV talent show – Pop-Stars:The Rivals in 2003, which she won with the group Girls Aloud which instantly had a number one hit with Sound of the Underground. She now has a solo career and has become a judge on the X-Factor.

I was also aware that Cheryl was married to another famous person, the Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole. He proposed in 2005 and they were married in a lavish wedding ceremony in 2006, with exclusive photos carried by OK! magazine.

I had also heard, unfortunately, that Ashley was not a nice boy. I didn’t really like him anyway because he played for Chelsea. But, it was reported, back in 2008, that Ashley had been unfaithful to Cheryl. He had allegedly had an affair with a hairdresser called Aimee and with a model. So, after that Cheryl and Ashley had a brief separation during which, apparently, Ashley apologised and supposedly grovelled to Cheryl to take him back…which she did. Ashley wronged Cheryl but she was willing to forgive him and they are now back together.

So, no, I don’t really follow her life, but this is what I’d picked up.

Now, what caught my attention was the song that was on the radio. It was a love song, but a love song with a difference. It’s called, Fight for this Love, and it’s as if all of Cheryl’s experiences of her life, and her relationship with Ashley Cole, have been rolled up into this song.

The song recognises that in relationships, things aren’t always rosy

“Now everyday aint gon´ be no picnic
Love aint no walk in the park“

It recognises that relationships are difficult, as in her case when her husband has wronged her. But even in relationships where there is no unfaithfulness, the song recognises that there’ll be good days when the feelings of love are wonderful, and there will be bad days when you have to muster up every ounce of energy that you have to forgive the other one.

Anything that´s worth having
Is sure enough worth fighting for
Quitting’s out of the question
When it gets tough gotta fight some more
We gotta fight fight fight fight fight for this love

Relationships are not easy, but they are worth sticking at and working at. Because it is in the forgiving, the discussing, the working together, and the thinking of the other person that the relationship is deepened. As each partner recognises their failings and comes to the other in humility, the sense of dependance and consequently, the marriage relationship is deepened. A deep long lasting relationship needs to be worked at.

When we think about it, that’s true of all the good things in life, why should marriage be ay different? If we want the best things from life, we need to commit to them and work at them. If we want to have a good career, we need to commit to that goal, and work towards it. If we want to play a musical instrument, we need to practice. Want to be good at sport, we  need to work at our skills. Apparently David Beckham used to stay back a long time after training was over just practising taking free kicks.

Likewise, if want a good, long-lasting, deep relationship we must be prepared to prioritise it and put into place good practices: spending quality time with each other, doing kind acts for each other, buying gifts that show appreciation every so often. And, most importantly, being prepared to forgive a when there is genuine repentance.

All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. (Prov 14:23)

Amazing Grace

A beautiful video demonstrating the reality of God’s transforming power.

The Shack

This new novel by first-time author William P Young was brought to my attention from a number of sources. It has been riding high in the bestsellers lists at Waterstones and Borders and is currently in the top 20 on Amazon.co.uk. It was also recommended by many Christians as a must-read. So what is all the fuss about? Plot spoilers follow.

The Shack works on two levels. First it is a novel: a story of a family man called Mack who had a troubled upbringing with a difficult Father,  but settled into normal family life in a small town in Oregon. He and his wife, Nan have a perfect suburban life including five beautiful children, John and Tyler in their twenties, teenagers Josh and Kate and a late arrival, Missy. They have a firm faith and are regular attenders at their local church, although Nan’s faith always seems more personal than Mack’s, due to his difficulty in relating to his Father.

Everything is going well until a fateful camping trip. Whilst Mack’s back is turned, Missy disappears. She is never found, and her disappearance is put down to the work of a serial killer who has abducted before, and who had never been caught. The next day, Missy’s dress is discovered in an abandoned hunting shack in the mountains of Oregon. This marks the beginning of The Great Sadness, a depression in Mack where he is unable to open up to anyone, let alone God. Why would God have taken Missy away from him? William Young describes this whole incident wonderfully, drawing you into the story and empathising with his sadness.

But then Mack receives a letter which is simply signed Papa – Nan’s personal name for God. It reads: “I’ve missed you. I’ll be at the shack next weekend, if you want to get together”. Secretly, but reluctantly, Mack makes arrangements to go alone to the shack. It has been transformed. There, he meets God, in extraordinary form, and they literally spend the weekend together. At this point, the story begins to stutter. The scene where the shack is transformed is, frankly, a little cheesy, and in the following few chapters very little happens.

The second level that The Shack tries to work on, and probably the reason why Young wrote the book, is the conversation with God, depicted by three separate characters. Here, the author is on difficult ground. Depicting the Trinity in bodily form, and putting words into God’s mouth is always going to be theologically inadequate. But as Mack spends time with God in the shack, he is transformed. He is forced to face up to issues in his past life – his absent Father and the abduction of his daughter. He is begins to open up to God, to understand him more clearly and to know he is loved. He starts to forgive and be forgiven.

On this level, the book works adequately. In the earlier chapters where Mack first meets God, the story stutters as the author gets across what he wants you to know about God. The dialogue between God and Mack is a little inauthentic, with God constantly responding in ways that Mack cannot understand. But as the conversation continues, the relationship with Mack that God yearns for comes through and the benefits of facing up to the past in forgiveness is demonstrated.

Who is the book for? Before reading it I had considered giving it to some atheist friends who were suffering from similar difficulties to Mack. However, after reading the book I became sure that it would be not appropriate. The leap of imagination required as Mack starts to talk to God, combined with the lack of reality that seems to be present in so many other ‘Christian’ novels would just be too much. Some of the answers it gives to difficult and painful situations are also a little too simplistic and the storyline isn’t quite strong enough to carry it through. For these situations, I would instead recommend a book which gives a true life account such as The Shaming of the Strong by Sarah Williams.

But if read by those who are open to the concept that may be a God who loves, such as non-believers who are searching, or Christians, The Shack would make an excellent gift. It certainly emphasises a constant, daily relationship with our Trinitarian God, and when read as a novel rather than as systematic theology, it offers an excellent starting point for conversation and thoughts about God.

On Chesil Beach – a book review

I have just finished reading British author, Ian McEwan’s latest novel, On Chesil Beach. I have read two of his novels before -  Atonement, which I enjoyed mostly (the middle section languished a little), and Saturday, which I loved.  In Saturday, McEwan writes about one family during one event packed day in London. In On Chesil Beach, McEwan bring the focus in even further, concentrating on just one evening and one couple. He doesn’t miss a detail. As McEwan’s writing focusses on a more closely defined moment, his writing seems to get better. There are spoilers in this post.

The setting, Chesil Beach in Dorest, England, is a spit created by the action of the tide over many centuries -  long expanse of sand and stones which stretches for 18 miles along the Dorset coastline. It creates numerous lagoons behind the strip of sand and pebbles and it is considered a World Heritage site.

So, a lovely backdrop for a novel. On Chesil Beach is about a young couple, Edward and Florence, on their wedding night, in 1962, who take their honeymoon in a (fictional) guest house near Chesil Beach. 1962 was a time before the sexual revolution and societal freedoms that came at the end of the 1960s. McEwan artfully describes their thoughts and actions that come out of an English stuffiness, some would say, repression. As the couple eat their evening meal on the day of their wedding in the dining room of their private suite in the guest house, their attention is drawn to the bed in the adjoining room. Interspersed with flashbacks from their childhood and courtship, McEwan gives the background that leads to the events to come, fleshing out the characters of the two honeymooners. But it all goes terribly wrong. As expectations are dashed, sexual disappointment is confounded by blame, and the way they react.

There are many ideas in the book, some to do with the sexual freedoms of another age, which McEwan implies lies behind the difficulties. But these could have been overcome had the characters reacted in different ways. Edward chooses to be offended with Florence near the end of the book after she runs out on him. He could be seen as rightly offended, but he chooses not to forgive, but to allow his anger and hurt build up inside him. At the end of the book as Edward looks back on his life, the reader can’t help but wonder if he regretted it. Florence likewise – it could be argued that she was at fault, but then she chooses to run away from her problems. Again, as we hear about her later years. there is that lingering regret.

Granted, the characters are young – dealing with such events like these takes a certain maturity and is always easier in the cold light of day, when emotions are more detached. But both characters, moreso Edward than Florence, had to try and save face in front of each other and we unable to show the humility that would have led to them being reconciled.

I guess, like Atonement, McEwan has described an event which requires forgiveness, but which, within his worldview, is not possible. On finishing the book, I was left with a cold disappointment for what became of the characters. Somehow, It all seemed so avoidable.  A wonderfully written book.

BTW: If you want to know what the hissing and clattering of the waves on the stones sound like at Chesil Beach, which McEwan describes well, watch this video: