Virtual Methodist

Another 4 Corners prompted post before I go back to my reflections on Living under Empire, although like that series this draws on the wisdom of Walter Brueggemann... After my slightly frustrated read of his book "Out of Babylon" and because of the themes of Imagination and Generosity that stand behind this year's 4 Corners Festival , I have turned back to Brueggemann's inspirational "Prophetic Imagination"   where he says:  "It is the vocation of the prophet to keep alive the ministry of imagination, to keep on conjuring and proposing alternative futures to the single one the king wants to urge as the only thinkable one." For king we can read zeitgeist/powers that be/popular culture/tradition... But I believe that we as Christians have a responsibility to offer an alternative hope-filled vision to the pessimistic, apathetic and/or selfishly individualistic perspectives of much of the media and/or political parties at present. And in terms of ...

Prompted into lurching back to the blogosphere for a series of short thoughts by a number of things... Recently reading Brueggemann's "Out of Babylon" with my church Book Group which looks at living with the reality of empire... reading a number of pieces on Martin Luther King Jr. last weekend... currently reading Tom Hartley's book on Belfast's City Cemetery "Written in Stone" which points up how intertwined the history of industrial Belfast was with British Imperial history... thinking about the J.G. Ballard book/film "Empire of the Sun" about a boy living under the Japanese occupation of China... talking with my lounger son about "Lord of the Flies..." the letter of the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles to British imams asking them to explain how Muslim values fit within British values... preaching last weekend on the politically provocative proclamation of the nearness of the Kingdom of God by Jesus at the beginning of Mark's...

Yesterday afternoon I caught Creideamh's rant about Tom's shoes and pseudo-charitable capitalism. Now I wouldn't know a pair of Tom's shoes if they were in front of me... (actually - in looking for the photo on the left I have seen a number of them and doubt I will buy some any time soon... neither my podiatrist nor physiotherapist would approve.) I buy shoes on an absolute need to basis. Indeed that is my approach to all clothing... Wear it until it is no longer fit for purpose (and probably long after), no matter how unfashionable or, at times, unflattering it is... But perhaps I have missed an entrepreneurial opportunity... Perhaps the is a gap in the market for "Peace apparel." Where does this hare-brained scheme come from? Well in preparing for last Sunday's sermon on "The Coming Kingdom of Peace" and this week's one on the "Coming Kingdom of Justice" which features John the Baptist and his unique approach to couture, I ca...

OK... I'm back... My lack of blog output over recent months was partly by design (taking a break) and circumstances (requiring the prioritisation of other things in the real world). However, I'm back on the beat again, and fully intend getting back on the blog. Those who are fortunate enough to be my friends on facebook or followers (makes me sound like some sort of guru) on twitter (which I still don't really understand), will probably have noticed the unending stream of complete rubbish that I have been reading over the summer. Generally on holiday I go for a blend of trash fiction, usually of the historical or detective-type, some biography and a bit of history with a single theological book thrown in there to allow me to keep my mind from going totally flabby. Well this summer my theological work-out was Walter Brueggemann's "The Prophetic Imagination" a book which I first read 20 years ago as part of a 3rd year theology degree "Prophecy and ...