Beware Organising at Work

To Ripon tonight and a gathering of the Bishop’s Council, a select bunch and a kind of think tank for the bishop. Tonight we listened to Martin Wainwright who I think is the Northern Editor of the Guardian who rambled in a very Anglican way around lots of topics throwing out pearls before swine who gobbled them up eagerly.
One thing he said set me thinking, it was about organised religion, which he kind of winced about. “When religions organise then humanity is let into the divine and then it starts to go wrong.”
I wonder if you could have religion without organisation?
Religion is all about the business of organising people’s spiritual lives…
or religion is all about the business of collecting together people who want to express their spirituality in community which involves organisation…
or religion is all about changing the world on the basis of principles which is also involves organisation
Hmmm, whichever way you look at it we end up with an organisation
Perhaps the trick is to acknowledge that, embrace it even , we need to organise, to be organised
Whilst embracing organising we do so with care, knowing that’s where the danger might be.
So perhaps our slogan might be: Organising, handle with care.
It's a bit of a worry because tomorrow we are having a discussion about Transforming Communities and how we might organise it!

Effect and Cause

Went to the interfaith council and discovered that buddhists base everything on cause and effect. If you do X, Y will happen as a result. Many people think this way hence our outrage when bad things happen to good people. It's as though a universal rule has been broken.
I don't think this is the christian view. Grace means that God gives to all good and bad. Good things are not dependent on good deeds.
God is good to many and some repond by worship, by serving, by giving to God because he has given to us.
It's a scandalous idea... Shocking!
"god so loved the world that he gave his son..." what outrageous generosity.
Rather than cause (what we do) leading to effect (what God does), we get effect (what God does) prompting cause (what we do)!

Hmmm

It's the morning after the vision thing and I have to go to Mirfield to meet with the Bishop (again) and Rural Deans for a facilitated discussion. My guess is that whatever we are facilitated to discuss the main topic of conversation may well be last night.
Lasts night's meeting was a bit of a disaster with lots of fundamental errors in organisation... turning a vision sharing exercise into a whinge fest... hmmm!
Today's meeting much better.

Vision

A big problem tonight when twice as many people as expected turn up at a diocesan meeting to hear the bishop outline his vision. Vision is very attractive... it transforms us, we get a sense of direction, or rather a correction in our direction.
The bible is very clever in seeing people as sheep. Communities and people are like sheep. We don't, usually spend our whole lives moving forward. There are patches when we do the business of living... Eating the grass: feeding and growing. There's not much need for vision, a bit of management, making sure we don't overgraze.
Eventually there comes a time when communities develop a sense of unease. The sheep shuffle, become restless, they lift their heads, and look around.
We need a vision not management.
280 people turning up to the bishop's vision suggest that the sheep are shuffling.

waiting

Dad's on the mend and this afternoon after an exhausting funeral laden day I set at his bedside and listen as he tells of the economic rising and falling of his life story. I find it relaxing as with the wisdom of having been there he soothes my anxieties by saying "Have patience, wait and things will come round."
Leaving his bedside I feel better and I am not only ready to wait I am also more able...
Thanks dad... Get well soon.

Evening brings fellowship group and a discussion of a local hymn which seems to fit my discussion with dad.

Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.
Before our Father’s throne
We pour our ardent prayers;
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one
Our comforts and our cares.
We share each other’s woes,
Our mutual burdens bear;
And often for each other flows
The sympathizing tear.
When we asunder part,
It gives us inward pain;
But we shall still be joined in heart,
And hope to meet again.
This glorious hope revives
Our courage by the way;
While each in expectation lives,
And longs to see the day.
From sorrow, toil and pain,
And sin, we shall be free,
And perfect love and friendship reign
Through all eternity.

The Final Frontier

It's been a long day and much of it has been taken up with remembering and honouring the dead.
Death is the last frontier in our society and one which we don't really want to think about let alone speak about.
It's one of our role as priests in society to talk about death: to look death square in the face and somehow to enable others to do the same.
So tonight we gathered with those who had lost people this year, as our liturgy says "the beloved and the bereft" not to seek answers rather not to deny the reality of death.
It's hard, but in so many areas of our national life we are in denial about death, not least the dying parts of our economy and society. In looking into this death we somehow find life, maybe our communities would too.

Dad

Dad's a lot better at least he's in hospital and seems happy that they are getting on with it.
I met with my brother as our two families went to the fireworks spectacle that is the Hebden Bridge Bonfire. Talking about dad we both talked about our surprise that my dad was an old man. When did that happen? For so many years he had seemed to be a constant in our lives, never changing. Now he was changing again, perhaps we need to change too. Sometime soon I will ask him what we need to change into.
It's our all saints service tomorrow, I will light a candle for one old saint who is dear to my heart.