Where there’s no vision…

As we enter a new year, some of us will have taken on resolutions and some, perhaps, embraced a vision for 2022. Can I encourage us to hold tight to the latter – the vision on our hearts and in our minds for a better tomorrow for ourselves and those with whom we have been called to serve and to live and work alongside?

Interview challenge

I remember, as part of my interview for a Headship post, being asked: ‘Mr Reid, what three things would you change if you were appointed as Head here?’ It flashed through my mind that this was a key moment in the appointment process: I sent a quick ‘arrow prayer’, took a deep breath and said: ‘Firstly, building on the work of my successor, I will do all I can to make this a more family-focused school.’ (Safe ground, I felt: there was a general desire to slow down the pupil expansion and consolidate.) ‘Secondly, I’d like to put in an Astro-Turf field hockey pitch.’ (Also safe ground: my love of hockey was well known and this much needed facility would benefit boys and girls as well as have wider community use – and there was money in the school ‘kitty’ for it.) Then, taking an even deeper breath and realising that what I said next was ‘make or break’, I looked round the interview room (actually the small school chapel which had been turned into a multi-faith classroom) and said: ‘Thirdly, I’d remove much of what’s on the walls in this room and return it, sensitively, to being a school chapel at the heart of the school.’ My first point had been greeted with knowing looks, my second by encouraging laughter and my third…by a dramatic pause, almost a gasp, and then a collective sigh of agreement. I got the job!

I mention all this because I know that ‘vision’ can be contentious and unsettling at times. It can also be life-changing and energizing – so long as we have the courage to embrace it.

Don Quixote

Many will be familiar with ‘The Adventures of Don Quixote’ by Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra. There is a musical based on his story, too, called ‘Man of La Mancha’. In this there is a scene where Don Quixote and his servant stand gazing at a dilapidated inn. When Quixote describes his vision of turrets and magnificent gates, his servant tries hard to see the same picture but all he can see are ruins. When he attempts to describe them, Quixote say, ‘Stop! I will not allow your facts to interfere with my vision!’

All too often great visions are undermined by those who can’t see beyond the hurdles, difficulties and ruins of the present. Look up and look out – embrace your God-given vision for 2022 and be blessed!

A journey justified

As the Omicron virus variant begins to bite, again the question lurks in our minds in this merry month of December: ‘Will journeys be curtailed to keep Christmas alive?’ As travel cancellations escalate and holidays are again delayed, there’s a growing fear that visiting relations and friends may be reduced to avoid the ‘Déjà voodoo’ of a hapless lockdown.

Journeys, however, feature strongly in that first Christmas story, and risks were taken – well beyond the realm of the sensible, sanitised, modern mind-set of the West. Firstly, through the demands of a Roman census, a heavily pregnant mother was forced to travel seventy miles by donkey through the dangerous Samarian countryside which would have taken four days at its smoothest – not quite the 1 hour 50 minutes that it takes today by car from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Joseph, who would naturally have wanted to protect his wife, might therefore have opted for a safer route, but this could have extended the journey to a week, despite knowing that she was ‘great with child.’

Then there was the epic journey of the Parthian magi from the borders of Afghanistan and Syria guided not by sat-nav but by the stars, or rather, one in particular. It had been their conviction after much soul and sky searching that a regal birth had been ushered in, and a sense of mystery and divine curiosity goaded them on to cover the 500 miles, taking them eighteen months or more.

For the shepherds out on the Judean hills, the journey was not nearly so long – but they were ‘under the influence’ of angels and bright lights, and this caused them irrationally to abandon their flocks, potentially to the ravages of wild animals.

For all the central figures that first Christmas journey was fraught with risk and danger, but they were put aside for greater purposes: the celebration of a new-born king who would ‘reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever,’ as the prophet, Isaiah puts it.

It is a similar sense of daring and abandonment that the Christian message calls us all to make: to go with haste and inquire into what this story could mean for us in our hearts. Of course, it might mean disposing some of the excess baggage that we’re so tempted to carry at this festive time – an over-emphasis on self-indulgence, a preoccupation with consumerism and ‘stuff,’ and a scant regard for how the poor and marginalised might be coping as they languish in Yuletide shadows. Our travelling to meet the Saviour face to face, like the crib figures, is down to will power and a heart-felt conviction. Do we want to make that journey? For those who are making it now and have done for centuries it needs no justification. As Ralph Washington Sockman once said: ‘The hinge of history is on the door of a Bethlehem stable.’ History was changed by that journey, and ‘his-story’ for each one of us can begin there too… and transform us.

May each of us consider making that personal journey this year and keep Christmas alive– a very happy and joy-filled season to you all!

(With thanks to Revd Alex Aldous, chaplain of Prestfelde Prep School, Shrewsbury)

A timely word

A recent daily devotion led me to Proverbs 15:23, ‘A person finds joy in giving an apt reply – and how good is a timely word!’ In the NLT version it reads, ‘Say the right thing at the right time’.

I was in London this week taking my 88 year old mum to a musical as a birthday treat. Mum is a Londoner and she hadn’t been to the City, let alone live there, for many years. She is proud of her place of birth and it didn’t disappoint! Looking somewhat lost in the street, someone stopped and helped us find the theatre. On the crowded tube, Mum was given a seat three times and, on the last occasion, the young man who had given up his seat took the time and trouble to wish us a pleasant evening as he left the train. Mum was thrilled with ‘the timely word’.

Whilst from a radically different era and setting, our experience this week reminded me what Victor Frankl, a former concentration camp inmate, wrote: ‘We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances’.

Let’s choose to smile and to give that ‘timely word’, even to strangers, even if we are rebuffed or ignored. I suspect we shall find our attitude and our words accepted many more times than they are ever refused or scorned.

Coping with the unexpected

Across the news this week we have seen terrific volcanic eruptions in Palma,
Canaries, an earthquake in Melbourne, Australia and the increased threat of
energy companies shutting down around the country. In each of these
situations, no-one could have anticipated any of these intrusions in our daily
lives; and the same could be said about so many life-events that cross our
bows – whether it be accidents, illness or, perhaps, the more positive news of
an unexpected rise in one’s salary!


Despite how many risk assessments that we might make in schools, industry,
government or in our own personal lives at home, life always has the
propensity to throw us a curved ball. Aside the need for each of us to take
responsibility for how we conduct ourselves in relation to our world, it is a
challenge to see how we can better cope with the unexpected. Even if we play
ostrich or genuinely hide ourselves away in our homes, we can never be sure
that a roof tile doesn’t strike us! To follow such a line can only lead to a prison
of neurosis, which binds, breaks down human relationship and prevents vision
and confidence in a world to explore and enjoy.


Whilst Jesus was on earth, in his Sermon on the Mount, he pointed his listeners
to nature: ‘Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store in
barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more
valuable than they? Who by worrying can add a single hour to their life?’
Worry is not only unhelpful but can itself be a source of harm, as any
psychologist or neuro physician will concur. But what Christ is underlining here,
positively, is that we have a heavenly Father who genuinely cares and loves us,
in the midst of the unexpected as much as in the humdrum, and as he reminds
us earlier in that Sermon, we are all called to be light and salt in the world, not
hiding away but shining, supporting, and demonstrating God’s love to our
hurting neighbour.


There is, conversely, within the Christian message, the need for us to be
vigilant and watchful and knowing that we need to be prepared for eternity.
Life, unlike what some may say, is a dress rehearsal – the three score years and
ten, or thereabouts, is never guaranteed but can be viewed as an opportunity
not for obsessive indulgence in good works, but rather permission for God to
have his way in our lives by his grace, seeking what the day given to us might
hold, according to his will. That, I believe, will give us a divine perspective on
the unexpected and a readiness to greet each day with joy and gratitude and
our life in the next world, whenever that might be.

(With thanks to Revd Alex Aldous, Chaplain at Prestfelde Prep School)

Commitment that never changes

Last week I was preparing to give a speech at my sister-in-law’s wedding. As my mind turned to 1 Corinthians 13 for inspiration – a ‘typical wedding reading’ – I was struck again by Paul’s incredible words about love which ‘believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things’ (v7 NAS). Whatever it is we are preparing for in the months ahead – perhaps a new role, a new school, a change in our family, a new home location (etc.), or ‘just’ staying the same – this remains an immense challenge. I wonder if we might take some encouragement and direction from a commitment given by those who come into membership at a church in Washington state, USA (whether or not we are people of faith)? What follows is a promise mutually given by the existing members of the congregation and by new adherents:


‘You’ll never knowingly suffer at my hands. I’ll never knowingly say or do anything to hurt you. I’ll always, in every circumstance, seek to help and support you. If you’re down and I can lift you, I’ll do that. If you need something and I have it, I’ll share it with you. If I need to, I’ll give it to you. No matter what I find out about you, no matter what happens in the future – either good or bad – my commitment to you will never change. And there’s nothing you can do about it!’

This is truly revolutionary and life changing! Dare we embrace such an approach in our day-to-day lives – in our workplaces, our homes. If not, dare I ask myself (and yourself), why not? It’s easy, perhaps, to say that this approach is unrealistic but it has clearly worked for the aforementioned church (membership rose from a handful to over 4,000 in a matter of a few years). It certainly worked for the Early Church in the First Century which ‘had everything in common‘ (Acts 2) and gave to anyone who had need – freely. My personal challenge, taken from the church commitment above, is this: If you’re down and I can lift you, I’ll do that. What will yours be?

Dealing in Hope

Napoleon once said that ‘a leader is a dealer in hope’. During the Tokyo 2020 Olympics I have been following the progress of the Indian women’s field hockey team. (I served in India for nine years and all three of my children played representative hockey there.) I have been inspired by the incredible story of hope from Rani Rampal, the Indian ladies’ hockey captain. In her own words…

“I wanted an escape from my life; from the electricity shortages to the mosquitoes buzzing in our ear when we slept, from barely having two square meals to seeing our home getting flooded when it rained. My parents tried their best, but there was only so much they could do – Papa was a cart puller and Maa worked as a maid.

There was a hockey academy near my home, so I’d spend hours watching players practise – I really wanted to play. Papa would earn Rs 80 a day (under 80 pence) and couldn’t afford to buy me a stick. Every day, I’d ask the coach to teach me too. He’d reject me because I was malnourished. He’d say, “You aren’t strong enough to pull through a practice session.”

So, I found a broken hockey stick on the field and began practising with that – I didn’t have training clothes, so I was running around in a salwar kameez. But I was determined to prove myself. I begged the coach for a chance.

But when I told my family, they said, ‘Girls are supposed to do household work – and we won’t let you play in a short skirt.’ I’d plead with them saying, ‘Please mujhe jaane do. If I fail, I’ll do whatever you want.’ My family reluctantly gave in.

Training would start early in the morning. We didn’t even have a clock, so mom would stay up and look at the sky to check if it was the right time to wake me.

At the academy, it was mandatory for each player to bring 500 ml of milk. My family could afford only 200 ml; without telling anyone, I’d mix the milk with water and drink it because I wanted to play.

My coach supported me through thick and thin; he’d buy me hockey kits and shoes. He even allowed me to live with his family and took care of my dietary needs. I’d train hard and wouldn’t miss a single day of practice.

I remember earning my first salary; I received Rs 500 (under £5) after winning a tournament and gave the money to Papa. He hadn’t ever held so much money in his hands before. I promised my family, “One day, we’re going to have our own home,” I did everything in my power to work towards that.

After representing my state and playing in several championships, I finally got a national call up at the age of 15! Still, my relatives would only ask me when I was going to get married. But Papa told me, “Play to your heart’s content.” With my family’s support, I focused on doing my best for India and eventually, I became the captain of the Indian hockey team!

Soon after, while I was at home, a friend papa used to work with visited us. He brought along his granddaughter and told me, ‘She’s inspired by you and wants to become a hockey player!’ I was so happy; I just started crying. 

And then in 2017, I finally fulfilled the promise I made to my family and bought them a proper house. We cried together and held each other tightly!

And I’m not done yet; this year, I’m determined to repay them and Coach with something they’ve always dreamed of — a gold medal from Tokyo.”

They didn’t win Gold this year (GB won the bronze medal match against the Indian ladies) but I wouldn’t be surprised if they do in 2024 in Paris if they all demonstrate such determination and passion as Rani Rampal. She is truly ‘a dealer in hope’ and has now inspired many to dream their dreams into reality.

Love conquers all

In the wake of the last-gasp failed penalties at the Euro football finals a week ago, most of us were appalled at the racist comments on social media and then the defacing of footballer Marcus Rashford’s mural which followed. (For those reading this who are not British, Marcus Rashford is a Premiership and England footballer – soccer – who is black and has been vocal on a number of key social issues in the UK, not least securing school lunches in the holidays for the most disadvantaged children.) However, I was then moved this week by the positive response to the defacing of the Marcus Rashford mural in Manchester – messages of hope, love and reconciliation with pictures of hearts, flags and flowers. In Proverbs 16:7 we read: ‘When the Lord takes pleasure in anyone’s way, he causes their enemies to make peace with them’ – and I pray this happens with those who have lashed out with abuse, unkindness and hatred.

One of the greatest examples of someone who responded with love in the face of hatred was Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the USA. Born into poverty, Lincoln was faced with adversity throughout his life. He lost eight elections, failed twice in business and suffered a nervous breakdown. He could have quit many times – but he didn’t, and because he didn’t give up, he is now considered to have been one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States of America.

One of Abraham Lincoln’s earliest political enemies was Edward Stanton. In one speech he called Lincoln a ‘low, cunning clown’. In another he said, ‘It’s ridiculous to go to Africa to see a gorilla when you can find one just as easily in Springfield, Illinois’. Lincoln never responded in kind and, when elected President, he appointed Stanton as Secretary of War, explaining to the incredulous that ‘he’s the best man for the job’. Years later when Lincoln was slain and his body lay in state, Edward Stanton looked down with tears in his eyes and said, ‘There lies the greatest ruler of men the world has ever seen’. His animosity had been broken by Lincoln’s long-suffering, non-retaliatory spirit.

It is so easy to gloss over the poetry of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13, but let’s remember that these are the words of someone who was frequently thrown into prison for doing good, given 40 lashes five times, beaten with rods three times, shipwrecked three times, starved, denied water, stoned and left cold and naked (cf 2 Corinthians 11). As we re-read what Paul wrote about love, let’s see what we can do to apply at least one of these actions to our daily lives – and thus be part of the fight to ensure love conquers all:

‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails’ (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 NIV)

Fallen from grace?

It will have escaped few people’s attention over this past week that another figure in the public eye has been shamed by his own actions and ‘fallen from grace’: a seemingly small indiscretion which then revealed family betrayal and a display of double-standards to a watching world. The old smoothly-shaken cocktail of money, sex and power in varying proportions is an age-old tripping-rope which can seldom be eluded in this camera-present world.

In uttering the phrase ‘fallen from grace,’ two assumptions seem to be evident: firstly, that grace has been the code of life by which we live normatively, and secondly that grace is something from which we fall. In addressing the first idea, here is a reminder that there is a givenness to life, that we come into the world with nothing and to nothing we return, and the life that is given to us is through the handiwork of God and Spirit-breathed, and not something that should be taken for granted. The very word ‘grace’ – meaning, ‘undeserved love’- is itself suggestive of a Being who acts beneficently, who wants to bestow good gifts on humankind, but redolent of the fact that we as homo sapiens are not in ultimate control – something which has been a painful lesson over this pandemic. For some, whose sole compass in life is a secular mindset, then the concept of grace is anathema: we simply make of the ‘stuff of life’ what we will and any moral bearings that we acquire are learnt responses to improve the lot of the species. For such, grace has no place.

However, we now turn to the second concept that someone can ‘fall from grace.’ We are all aware of reputations that can be shattered, trust broken, and perceptions altered of those we formerly held in higher esteem. Notwithstanding the fact that we all make mistakes which are pardonable and so-say, ‘acceptable,’ society appears to have a collective pool of moral obligations by which it judges people, and if that code of behaviour is breached then it is regarded as a ‘fall from grace’: a person was something and now he or she is not. But whilst one is not advocating a compromise of standards, and that there is a place for punishment and a ‘cooling-off period’ where those holding responsible positions should have time to reflect and show genuine remorse (and not just for being found out) how does grace operate if not in forgiveness and with the hope of redemption?

The message of the Christian faith is that ‘All have sinned and come short of the glory (or standards) of God’ – no-one can stand blameless before a perfect God; but St Paul continues in the following verse in Romans chapter 3: ‘and are justified (put right ‘just-as-if-I’d never-sinned’) freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.’ With Christ, there is no concept such as ‘falling from grace’: this is a human construct, for with Him, whilst there is no dumbing down of sin and wrongdoing (since all have fallen because of a bias in our human nature), nevertheless, there is hope because of the underserved love shown by Jesus through his cross in offering total and complete pardon, forgiveness, mercy and redemption. The message of the Christian faith is that if we choose to accept it, there is always hope and the offer of a new start, because there is always grace.

(With much thanks to Revd Alex Aldous, chaplain at Prestfelde School)

Smoke alarm moments!

I recently attended an excellent conference organised by CCE (Centre for Chaplains in Education) on the theme, ‘People of Hope in times of change‘. One of the workshops was led by Dr Kate Middleton (not a royal personage!) who spoke engagingly about mental health issues facing young people today. It was an upbeat message but she did relate, from her work with teenagers especially, how some no longer look forward to the future with keen anticipation but consider it may now be ‘rubbish’. Many adults perhaps also share this jaundiced view of the future. She then encouraged us to consider how we might help change this perception.

Wired brains

Our brains are wired to recognise three ‘systems’ in particular: threats, a drive for pleasure and a sense of clam and soothing. Unfortunately, perhaps, the only one ‘turned on’ all the time is ‘threat’: whilst a necessary response mechanism to perceived and real danger (a speeding car, an aggressive dog, a sharp drop…) it is also increasingly engaged by a negative and scaremongering Press which causes a ‘smoke alarm’ reaction in us. We rush to detect the danger which we then spend time analysing, dwelling over and imagining further. There may indeed be a ‘fire’ but more often than not it’s a false alarm – an insect walking across the sensor, a battery which has run down or a faint wisp of harmless moisture. We need to find ways to balance threat’s adrenalin with dopamine, stimulated by a drive to engage in pleasurable hobbies, sport and work routines. In addition, threat and desire are best aligned with the soothing effects of oxytocin which is released through positive social connections and love.

Hormones

I am no scientist and won’t pretend to understand what these hormones are, but I do relate to the need for all of us, and not just young people, to engage each harmoniously. Dr Middleton recommended three measures whereby we can take control of our wellbeing and, in modelling them (particularly to family members and young people damaged emotionally by the lockdowns and the pandemic), help others to do the same. The first is doing something over which we can exercise personal control: this might be engaging in art, building a Lego model, tidying out a cupboard or completing a puzzle. The second suggestion involves ways to stimulate endorphins, chemicals released by the body to relieve stress and pain: exercise, social connections and engaging in ‘awe’ such as watching birds soar, clouds move and stars sparkle. Finally, we should pursue joy (safely and legitimately!) by making time for those hobbies and pursuits we so enjoy.

Listen

I believe there is every reason to expect that we shall emerge from the difficulties of these past two years stronger, resilient, more caring and complete but we need to be gentle on ourselves, take sensible advice and listen wisely (and not just to the ‘smoke alarms’). As it says in Proverbs 16:4, ‘Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones’.

Where is home?

‘Home is where the heart is’. How often have we heard this expression when being reassured that our physical surroundings are not necessarily vital? Working for many years with TCKs (Third Culture Kids) whose passport identity hardly matched the reality of where they were born or where they had spent much of their life, I recall many a conversation about where home really was. (Tip: never ask a TCK ‘where are you from?’ unless you want to cause significant introspection!) I am a TCK – born in Nigeria, brought up in Ghana and schooled in Scotland – and I know something of what it is to wonder where home is.

Some of you will have seen the Oscar-winning film, ‘Nomadland’, and no doubt others hope to return soon to seeing it on the big screen in a cinema. Spoiler alert… The central character, Fern, wrestles with the idea of home. She has lost husband, job and house but insists she is not homeless, just house less. ‘Home, is it just a word? Or is it something you carry within you?’ is the refrain in the film.

For all the sense of community, generosity and beauty of nature experienced by the characters in the film (and many are real life modern nomads), there is little sense of the Hope Christians have of life after death – merely a vague sense of afterlife. Christians have confidence in a glorious homecoming to our real ‘passport country’, where a place has been prepared for us. Let’s do what we can to share this Hope with others as we journey through our nomadic life on earth.

(With thanks to an article by Rachel Smith for LICC)