Virtual Methodist

I'm taking a brief break from the insanity that is my run up to Christmas and the series of "funnies" that I had set up to post this week as I reflect on this week's advent theme of the Coming Kingdom of Joy, to vent my spleen... During advent we quote a lot from the prophets, and last Sunday, in a reflection based on Isaiah 61, I spoke about the good news for the poor that the prophet proclaimed... Amos, a prophet we don't often hear much from in advent, probably because his prophecy is not so much "tidings of comfort and joy" but "tidings of condemnation and judgement", by contrast speaks of bad news to the rich who oppress the poor... Among other things he says: You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine. For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There...

In honour of those running foodbanks and putting together emergency Christmas hampers in this season of conspicuous consumption and even more conspicuous inequality... Conspicuous to all but the government. Selah

I posted a link to a Guardian post including this video in last week's Saturday Supplement , but it is worth posting in its own right. On the same day I also retweeted a friend's post about news of a new foodbank opening in Dennistoun, Scotland a week or so ago saying "With each new foodbank I don't know whether to cheer or weep." That is not just because of the appalling need/generous response dichotomy, but also because of the refusal of some establishing foodbanks to engage their brains as well as their hearts. I was at an event on Thursday night past where our President, Heather Morris said that she longed for a day when Christians do not throw up their hands and say "I'm not a theologian". As Christians we need to think theologically - bring "God words" to bear on the world in which we find ourselves. But we also have to think politically - not necessarily party politically (though at times that is necessary, and perhaps the...

HUGE backlog... so much so that when I went back to my list of links I couldn't think why for the life of me I would have wanted to pass some of them on... Ah well, such is the ephemeral nature of the interweb... But there is still a huge collection here... So I will keep my comments to a minimum and just throw them out there under a few broad headings... Some are, as the signpost says, useful, others merely funny, and just because I've put them up here doesn't mean I necessarily agree with everything in them... but they are worth thinking about or will at least give some of you a giggle... OBITS I said the last time that there would probably be lots of pieces on Seamus Heaney in my next Saturday Supplement following his sad demise. Sorry to disappoint. I only offer this one by Roy Foster in the O bserver, as well as another one from the Guardian the next day by Mark Lawson on David Frost who has gone to the great eternal interview...  SYRIA One of the areas ...

I may be on sabbatical, but I'm not completely lounging around with my feet up... just taking a break from my circuit, connexional and chaplaincy responsibilities, freeing me up to to a few of the things that I enjoy doing and more reading and writing. Hence it was that I still found myself sitting in the green room of BBC Radio Ulster this morning at stupid o'clock to do the following Thought for the Day (for the next week you can listen to it here at 25 and 85 minutes in ) It's on a theme I've been touching on more than once here recently... Last week a number of banks posted their annual trading results, and as has been the case every year recently, the figures have been uniformly in the red… However, that hasn’t stopped bank executives being awarded hefty performance related bonuses, on the grounds that the losses weren’t as bad as last year! It strikes me that it’s a weird world where we don’t cap the bonuses of the bankers who got us into this mess, but do ca...

Another round-up of internet articles that have caught my eye. Pope Benedict's Resignation...  If you have been away on a mission to Mars this week you may have missed the extensive coverage and may need the BBC produced   list of 10 helpful facts about the whole thing ... if not, you're probably bored with the whole thing and I'll not mention it again... But if you fancy going on a mission to Mars, you may get the chance soon , although you and your partner may appreciate this helpful article, also produced by the Beeb on how to avoid killing each other after 500 days in a confined space ... Lies, Damned Lies, the DWP and the Daily Mail...  I know, I know, I know, I said I would keep this positive over Lent... but there are some things that test my resolve to the uttermost... Especially the scapegoating of the poor, ill, infirm and immigrants for our economic ills... Yesterday the BBC (again) picked up on a report by the Methodist Church in Britain, t...

Most of the pieces that have caught my eye this week follow on from some of the pieces I pointed to last week... First and foremost being ye olde flags issue... 9 weeks and counting... It must be serious in that even Seamus Heaney, has said something , despite his self-enforced rule of "whatever you say, say nothing." He argues that the whole thing was unnecessary and badly handled, but I would be wary, as some have done of taking from his words much succour for the unionist/loyalist cause, without also hearing his critique of the Unionist "caste" system. One of the pieces on this subject I highlighted last week came from a former youth worker at the East Belfast Mission, while this week one of the best was by the Director of EBM's Skainos project Glenn Jordan, on Crookedshore where he points to this as possibly the end of a political era and, perhaps the emergence of a new one with new voices and emphases. Meanwhile Jude Hill, UTV reporter and the driving f...

I was just going to include this story with others in another linkdump on Saturday, but the more I've thought about it, the madder I have become... After David Cameron announced yesterday at Prime Minister's question session in the House of Commons, a Downing Street source is reported to have said that food banks were to be welcomed as an example of "the big society"; so far, so predictable. But then she is said to have added: "Benefit levels are set at a level where people can afford to eat. If people have short-term shortages, where they feel they need a bit of extra food, then of course food banks are the right place for that. But benefits are not set at such a low level that people can't eat." The last statement may be currently true, although with below inflation increases to benefits already proposed by the government for the next three years against increasing food, fuel and transport costs, together with announcements today about council...

This morning I'm off to a meeting with mixed feelings... It breaks my heart that I have to go to it at all, but it is  also a wee ray of hope against a fairly bleak background. The background is created by an economic environment where people are facing mounting debts and are facing the choice of feeding or clothing their families, or heating their homes, and where small charities that have been seeking to help such people, such as our own Dundonald Family and Community Initiative, are having to fold due to lack of sustainable funding. So much for the BIG society... The ray of hope comes in the form of community food pantries... I first came across such ventures in the US on various fact-finding tours including one 5 years ago with a group of church leaders and civil servants under the auspices of CCWA, where we visited programmes in Pittsburgh and Washington DC. Many of us were impressed with what we saw but roundly dismissed the need for such ventures in the UK with our much va...

On Thursday the First Lady Michelle Obama became what a number of British copywriters called the " First DinnerLady " as she took time to help out at Miriam's Kitchen , a not-for-profit food pantry in northwest Washington DC. It reminded me of the tour I led last year to the US as part of CCWA's "Unlocking the Potential" programme, which seeks to show church leaders what they might be able to do for the local community, taking them to visit faith-based initiatives that are operating in a context where the division between church and state is constitutionally reinforced, unlike here where there is much more opportunity for collaboration between the faith and public sector. I led a team to Pittsburgh, while my colleague led one to DC. Both teams visited programmes similar to Miriam's Kitchen, and both were amazed by what they did, as well as by the need for such programmes in the richest nation on earth. We all reflected that inspiring though they were, th...

Last night found me and my family eating sloppy burritos with friends before taking a dip in their pool and then sitting and chatting on their deck in nothing more than a tee shirt and swim shorts. Slightly different from my normal 11th night of recent years which has involved walking around the local bonfires and chatting to people in various states of intoxication. But that was not the only dramatic contrast with home yesterday. During the day Sally and I also went on a tour of 3 social engagement programmes/programs of Methodist origin... Community House , a family support centre in south west Grand Rapids, and both NECOM and SECOM (the North End and South End Community Outreach Ministries respectively). The former programme could have been any one of a hundred similar ones back home (although much better thought through and professional than most... but then they have been around for over a hundred years, giving them time to get their act together.) However, the two Community Outre...