Rising Dawn

Forgiveness

“What, I wonder, do Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and all the other professional atheists who make good money out of knocking people’s religious faith make of the behaviour of Margaret Mizen in the immediate aftermath of her son Jimmy’s murder?” 

Justin Thacker, Head of Theology at EA, writing in The Friday Night Theology 

The brutal unprovoked killing of Jimmy Mizen left me wondering if anyone was safe in this advanced corner of civilisation called Britain. Then I heard his mother speaking coherently about the love of God and of the people in her church and how she had been supported by their care. I remember hearing similar voices from close family of victims of violence here in my own country. Safety from violent and evil men isn’t guaranteed either here or anywhere else in the world. But universal access to the love of God and the power to forgive is. It’s up to me to accept it.

The Friday Night Theology is a weekly piece from the Evangelical Alliance designed to provoke discussion over the weekend. It’s usually based on a significant event in the news - so it’s topical.

Simon Jenkins: When it comes to kissing and telling, you cant beat this 15th-century gadget
I am baffled as to why this medium is still so derided by futurology gurus. My bulging file marked “death of the book” stretches back almost half a century. Alvin Toffler in 1962 declared in a book that the practice of smearing ink on dead trees was “the last smokestack industry” and would die. A decade ago, Geoffrey Nunberg, in The Future of the Book, declared that “if by books we mean bound printed volumes, then most books will likely disappear soon”. He wisely proffered no date.

I was listening to another series of comments inspired by Cherie Blair’s memoirs as I was reading The Guardian (electronically) and came across Simon Jenkyns column. I’m fascinated by the way our thoughts so often lead us to the medium rather than the message, and here again it’s the book that’s more interesting than the memoir.

Christians were once known as the people of the book, but in their case the message is far more dynamic than the medium. As someone said recently in his observation of Christians, before he became one himself. ”

Christians are these people who are so judgemental, incredibly dull and uptight and yet they believe in something that is so insane it makes Lord of the Rings sound like a dull episode of the Archers.

 If you want to hear the whole talk it was given by Charlie Mackesy at Holy Trinity Brompton recently. You’ll love his jokes!

New Technology is still a million miles away from displacing the book - even now the only advantage of reading on screen is the immediacy - otherwise old tech print wins hands down for me.

BBC NEWS | UK | McCanns mark Madeleine’s birthday
McCanns mark Madeleine’s birthday 

Madeleine McCann has been missing for just over a year
The parents of Madeleine McCann have been marking the fifth birthday of their missing daughter with a low-key party at their family home.

Today is the fifth birthday of this little girl who went missing in The Algarve last year.

Let’s pray for her family and trust that she may yet be found.

Up To 250k Lottery Cash For Church Restoration Is Spurned
A church in York is putting its money where its mouth is - by rejecting lottery funding for its rebuilding work.

St Michael le Belfrey, next to York Minster, is raising money for a major restoration of its west front. But the church council has decided not to seek money from the Heritage Lottery Fund, because the fund promotes gambling. The church needs about £500,000 and says it is relying on its congregation to raise the money, without the need for lottery grants.

 

This is my church - and while I don’t agree with the PCC’s decision not to accept lottery funding, I believe we do have a responsibility to maintain this ancient building in working order. The congregation was delighted to move into it when David Watson was made the rector in the ’70s, so now we have to do our part in a long line of history to repair the stonework so that we can pass it to the next generation as our heritage.

What most people will find staggering is that we have pledged to raise double the sum needed so that we can give away as much as we spend on repairs. Watch this space.

Ruth Gledhill - Times Online - WBLG: Zimbabwe: ‘The devil came late today.’
This might not look like the average Mothers’ Union meeting as we know them in Britain, but in terms of peacefulness, good works, child-centredness and Christian goodness, the Mothers’ Union branch in Harare is no different from its UK counterparts. Having known more hardship, its members are probably even more good than the unsung English stalwarts who keep the churches here upright in every sense. There can be no true explanation then for why, shortly after this photograph was taken, this meeting was broken up by Zimbabwe riot police.

Evidence of pointless intimidation in Zimbabwe, and the resilience of The Mothers Union!

Anglican Communion News Service: World Day of Prayer for Zimbabwe on Sunday 27 April 2008
A desperate cry from the hearts of Zimbabwe screams across the world

It calls upon all Christians of every denomination in every nation to focus their prayers, in churches, halls, homes or elsewhere, on Sunday 27th April, 2008 on the critical situation in Zimbabwe, a nation in dire distress and teetering on the brink of human disaster.

Let the cry for help touch your heart and mind. Let it move you to do what you can immediately to ensure this Day of Prayer takes place in your country and neighbourhood.

A plea for help from Bob Stumbles, Chancellor of The Anglican Diocese of Harare. If you pray make the people of this oppressed country the focus of your prayers on Sunday.

Suddenly I’m totally incensed. But only in a good way | Comment is free | The Observer

Miranda Sawyer, writing in her column in The Observer today, confesses she is finding a new perspective on life by attending church with her young son. In the final paragraph she allows the idea that there may be something more to challenge the routine of everyday life.

I dont want to leave everyday life entirely - I like everyday life - but the niggly specifics of it can mean you spend your time fussing over the detail rather than considering the bigger picture. Its nice to stop microscoping and, instead, spend some time pondering other people, charity, the world, old stories. To silence the minds circular chatter about deadlines and whos taking the kid to the childminder and have we got any milk and whither mortgage rates, and open it to the possibility that living might be about something more.

Bishop Alan’s Blog: Bully pulpit — On baiting of the Clergy

An interesting piece about bullying in the church. There’s an article in the Church Times too. I can’t help but feel that we’re in sad times when congregations and clergy need protection from each other through guidelines and the threat of legal action. While these things raise awareness and positive action can be valuable in reducing incidents, legal action is never a route to resolution - just division, bitterness and even  retribution.

As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you;
now and for ever.
from Morning Prayer

Despite forecasts of bad weather and earlier snow the baptisms went ahead in the open air.

Making A Splash (from York Press)
CROWDS watched as the Archbishop of York performed open-air baptisms in the city as part of an Easter Sunday celebration.

In the specially-erected pool outside the church of St Michael-le-Belfry, next to York Minster, Dr John Sentamu welcomed 25 people into the Christian faith in a ceremony.