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I am hoping to get along to this event, which is in three short months time…
If you fancy getting involved, or just showing your face, check out their site, and get involved. Be the change you want to see…
“He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.”
How true.
Those kind people at Zondervan sent me a copy of Jesus for President to review, so here goes…
I regard this as one of the best, most challenging and thought provoking books around at the moment. Despite it’s American target audience (we don’t have a president here – yet) this makes great reading for any reader, as its themes are universal.
This is unlikely to look like any book you have ever read before, it’s got nearly as much in common with a graphic novel as it has with a standard text book. The best comparison I can give, and it is quite inappropriate really given the anti consumerist approach of the authors, is with a Howies clothing catalogue. It has that same earthy, lived in, thoughtful, artistic and engaging feel, but thankfully without the pictures of models wearing expensive clothes.
Put simply, this has got to be one of the most beautifully designed books on the market – working with the writing, the design emphasises the creative, radical spirit of the text, and the provocative joy of the authors. Quite rightly the designers, Holly and Ryan Sharp, are credited at the end of the book along with the writers. The colour is full throughout the book, with design elements interacting with the text throughout, which adds immensely to the value of the content. If you liked the look of ‘Irresistible Revolution’ then this is a quantum leap forward, like as if the publishers suddenly realised what this thing was all about…
In some ways it reminds me of an illuminated manuscript, from back in the day of monkishness, when religious texts were coloured and illustrated by devoted scholars. This fits with the fact that the authors are part of the new monastic movement – and perhaps this could be seen as the contemporary equivalent.
But aside from a fantastic design job – what does the latest offering from our dreadlocked brother actually contain? Well first point to make, there are very clearly two voices audible in this book. Claiborne and Haw have coinciding views, but different emphases, or perhaps just different experiences, which while bringing occasional difficulties to the academic niceties of the text, actually helps lend weight to this book. Actually – if you count the design, then add in one or two more voices as well.
Written throughout in easily digestible chunks, the book begins as a dissection of a theme of radical God politics which the authors show running through the bible. It sidetracks through stories of friends, writings of early Christians and reflections on current affairs.
It’s a book of stories, parables, and prophecy, it is not supposed to be a tome, or a text book, or a prize winning essay – this is a work of love, an object of discussion, a catalyst (for want of a less clichéd term) for renewed engagement with the themes, and an encouragement to live a different way.
Rather than taking an easy option, such as a single standpoint, of a Christian anarchy for example, or an anti war vote, Claiborne and Haw manage to turn the whole idea around, arguing for a radical Christian engagement with politics and society in a way that is at once submissive and subversive. American voters wanting to know who the writers say they should vote for, will find themselves left with the same choices, but hopefully looking at them through new, or perhaps ancient lenses. I suspect also that this will help many bring a new creativity to their decision making.
Pacifism and anti (or non) consumerism are key themes, but they each form only part of the overall principal argument, which is to see God’s people as a people set apart by God, called to live another way, and to follow only one leader. It critiques the philosophy that one can serve God, and walk in the way of the world.
This clarion call to a subversive and renewed people of God is a creative and stimulating read – it’s not without its problems, one cant help thinking that if Claiborne authors another book, he will have come close to being part of the system which he so clearly wants to work against, but at the same time, I like many others would be happy to read anything he writes. One might also question how the authors can happily work with others such as Jim Wallis who argue for a more conventional approach to politics… clearly McLaren is not the only one with a generous orthodoxy these days.
Some readers may find biblical references to apocryphal books troubling or confusing, I don’t, in fact I like it. Some factual discrepancies may exist within the text, (numbers of dead in Iraq, or etc) but these are minor when looked at in context, and can be put down to the issue of dual authorship.
It’s a beautiful, peaceful, challenging, affirming, prophetic, subversive and creative book, well worth reading, sharing, mulling over… likely to become a classic.
Links:
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| What’s your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com |
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| You scored as Emergent/Postmodern
You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don’t think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.
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I took this entertaining quiz, what is your theological worldview?
Pretty funny stuff, as probably the two spheres I operate most in are the charismatic/pentecostal and the reformed evangelical… ho hum.
ht: hamo
I enjoyed the conference on New Monasticism, jointly organised by the Anabaptist network, and the Northumbria community.
Not being part of either of these networks, but interested in both, we went along without much of an idea of what the event would be like. We found it both encouraging and inspiring.
The morning sessions included a time of worship led by the Northumbrians who took us through their morning office. Then Pete Askew of the community introduced Stuart Murray Williams of the Anabaptist network, and Roy Searle of the Northumbria Community. Roy plays cricket with my old P.E. teacher!
There followed two talks - one about Anabaptism, which I went to, and one about the Northumbrian community which Kel went to. I found the explanation of the history of Anabaptism very interesting, and was able to corner Murray Williams at lunch time to quiz him on whether Anabaptists, with their adherence to non violence and peace making, can take an active part in politics outside of anarchism. His answer boiled down to: “there are a number of different opinions about that!”
I also bumped into Mark Berry, the emerging church leader from Telford, who I recognised from his dodgy hair do. It was nice to have a chat, after having commented on his blog occasionally and read a lot about what he’s doing over there.
Other emerging church types knocking about included Ian Mobsby from Moot in London, and Ian Adams from Maybe in Oxford among others.
Brother Samuel from the Aglican order of Franciscans added a touch of gravitas and extra dollops of wisdom. Although he’s not a ‘new monastic’ it is fair to say that his order is less than ancient itself! I really agreed with his remark that one of the key things for a committed ‘monastic’ type community is that they work together manually. His comment ‘there is some very deep spiritual wisdom in making bread’ is so true.
After lunch there was a choice of workshops - I went to a discussion between Ian Mobsby and Brother Samuel - conparing and contrasting the old monastics and the new. Just how monastic are the new monastics? Good question. One of the main themes coming out, and well made by Mobsby and others, was that its more about being frianrs than being monks.
The distinction being that Monks tended to seclude themselves, while friars went out into the community to live out their faith. This is true to a degree, but of course only really applies to certain streams of monkism. Anyhow, I liked the concpet of ‘re-friaring’ the church, but it’s easier to say re-monking!
This session allowed more of a discourse between those in the meeting and the speakers than the first session had - which was very valuable.
More conversations and question and answer sessions followed, with a final session of worship in an Anabaptist style, which included a lovely way of singing the Shema Yisrael among other things.
In all, Kel and I were both really encouraged by what we saw, and the people we met. There were a lot of different types of people there, from the rather posh, to the decidedly not posh - from the emerging church smoothies to the Jesus Army. I’d have liked to have seen some more of the missionary community there, and perhaps some of the 24/7 folk, but that would have just been more icing on an already rich cake.
Well done to all the organisers, I thought it provided a good platform for those who are interested in finding out what others are doing in this area, but arent perhaps able to make all of the connections themselves! Looking forward to more.
I’m in Grimsby now, having eventually got up here last night after a thoroughly enjoyable, if slightly tiring wonder around the UK. In edited highlights - the trip consisted of a cup of tea with Wes Sutton, leader of the Oasis Trust ‘church.co.uk‘ network, at the Oasis base in Waterloo. I was really impressed by what the network is doing in Waterloo, and excited to hear their plans for other projects, some alreadty on the go. Later that evening I returned to the same building, to hear Shane Claiborne speak about his experiences living as an Ordinary Radical. I found out about that event by signing up to a Chrisitan Anarchists mailing list, even though I’m not really an Anarchist. (Shhhh! Don’t tell!)
That night (Wednesday) was spent with Kyber and Mrs Netikos, at their flat in South London. Conversations ranged from virtual reality, to killlng sheep with bolt guns, to archery. And places in between.
Next day, I got to spend some quality time with a friend who wants to expand his clothing company to include a fully ethical range. He’s already working as hard as he can to ensure his suppliers meet the hghest standards of looking after their workforce, and is trying to integrate organic and fairly traded materials into his supply chain. Seems like I’ll be able to help him, which is great.
A bit of a rush over to Euston station then, where I was able to grab a few minutes with Dan Radice of Cokoon. It was good to find out what he’s up to, and to consider what possibilities there are for the future.
Off on to Northampton then, to spend some time with Julie, who is planning to join World Horizons in the summer. I also got a chance to meet Julie’s church, which is an interesting ecumenical fellowship in the heart of the town, very engaged with their community, and offering a whole load of services, from a shoppers coffee shop, to counselling rooms, and various other things throughout their five separate congregations.
On Friday I headed to Shrewsbury via Birmingham - Shrewsbury is home to Ian Matthews and his family. Ian is now working for Zondervan in the UK, but I remember him from our first meeting over ten years ago, when he came to work on a late and unlamented Christian magazine that I worked on at that time. Ian became a friend then, and has remained so, despite not having seen him for a long time.
It was fascinating to see how he and I, through very different paths and in relationship with very different people, have arrived at a very similar place theologically and philosophically (although he’s a left wing libertarian, and I’m not) - it was as surprising as it was encouraging. We both share the same desire to find a way of living in community as families that really works well - I think we agreed that the ideal scenario would be for a group of families to form an open cooperative, the co-op would then own the property, and the families would pay rent to it. Given that it nullifies the effects that personal ownership of property have, and allows for a vaiety of people to live in community in a wholesome way, it seems like the best option. Now, if we could find some other families in Grimsby who were up for that…
A reunion with Kelly and the kids (hooray) meant a short journey to Walsall where we spent the night, and after dispatching the kids to their Grandparents, we went off to the New Monasticism conference in Coventry - which was excellent. I shall blog further details of that soon.
A last laid back drive along the A46 took us all the way to Grimbo - and tea.
Yup, read it here first… he’s given up.
No comment, because apprently ‘the internal pilgrimage continues…’ hmmmm.
there’s a really good interview with Pete Rollins, of the Belfast based Ikon, on the Wittenburg door at the moment. It’s well worth a read, as it is fair to say he’s ‘quite clever’.
For example, when askedabout his ‘belief that the truth in Christianity is not described but experiential?’ he responds: “In a sense I would not even want to say that the truth of Christianity is experiential in so much as the truth of Christianity is life and life is not experienced.”
hmmm. yup, good point.
Or when asked what it means to be a Christian: “It means entering into a journey of becoming one. It does not mean accepting a world view but rather entering into a healing journey of life. To be a Christian also means that one is committed to exploring this life through the Judeo-Christian tradition, wrestling with it, learning from it and being transformed by it. Being a Christian means learning how to be the opening of life into the world.”
nicely put.
I first heard about this on Jonny Baker’s blog, but since then I’ve seen it mentioned elsewhere too. Well worth a read.
I am becoming more and more convinced that one of the most significant problems in our society is money.
The story goes that Jesus told his disciples, ‘its easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’
There’s a lot about that which makes sense to me. I honestly think that one of the pronciple reasons we arent a fairer, more just society is that we are too obsessed with getting and keeping money.
This follows on from my previous post, which groaned about the way our society is totally based upon the need for a growing economy, and the fact that the government exists in no small part to look after the interests of big business, as they are inexstricable from the needs of society as a whole.
My view on this is that we are too rich in our society. We have too much. If we had less, we would still be able to make do. But instead we have a lot, and we tie ourselves in to needing more. To get the nicer house, in the better area, we must work a bit harder, in a better paying job.
As we give ourselves over to work, we abandon the needs of others, who come a poor second to us when it comes to doling out the loot. It was love others AS yourselves, remember?
As we separate, living increasingly isolated lives, out of community with one another, leaving old people alone in their houses until its time for them to go into a home, as more and more single people make home by themselves, as marriages break up and divorcees become single parents, we all find ways of getting what we need to make our lives better.
But in doing so, we are participating in an unjust system, we are bringing war on people many miles away (war over oil, over gold, over collapsing brain drain economies), and we bring misery.
The kingdom of God, we are told, is justice, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Our rich lifestyles bring the opposite. It really is harder for us to enter the kingdom of God, than for us or a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.
Until we can collectively turn our backs on this way of living, we can never exepect to see the Kingdom of God on earth.
Our freeconomist friend Saoirse, he of the pilgrimage to India fame, managed to cross the English channel… twice.
After making it over to France, Saoirse and companions realised that actually they dont speak french, nobody knows who they are or what they are doing, and the French dont get it.
I really feel sorry for Saoirse, I have mixed feelings about his pilgrimage, I admire the freeconomy principle, and thus I have a lot of time for the notion of raising awareness for it, but there are elements of his plan, which I feel are either too naive at best, or at worst ignorant and patronising.
In this instance, I am not sure which is the case, perhaps lets err on the side of naivete. But to cross to France, and once there to realise actually not many people speak English, and they all think you’re a freeloading backpacker…? Yeah, that’s a problem.
So Saoirse and his friends, after some soul searching, gave up. And bought tickets to come home. Oh dear. Once back in Blighty though, our man has a change of heart, buoyed by the encouragement of his friends, he confesses his sins, and renews his vows, he will continue his pilgrimage, but first he will walk around the UK…. oh and learn French.
Assuming Saoirse stays true to his plans, and in a year or so heads back over to the continent, I am hoping that he will have taken the trouble to consider wide cross cultural communication issues, not everyone speaks English or French. Some borders are not crossable legally without a purchased visa too, something else to overcome.
As much as I support his principles, and agree with the basis on which he wants to do this pilgrimage, I fear this is not going to work. The reality is that in some ways the French are right, he is just another freeloading backpacker. He is depending upon gifts from well wishers rather than trading skills and so on for his dinner. Moreover the food he eats is produced as part of the global economy - it is not so easy to opt out of the system. That’s why it is ‘the system’.
There are many who make prophetic statements, and I hope there always will. But this one has a number of problems which I fear will not do the philosphy of freeconomics much good.
If you want to read what the man himself has to say, go here.
One thing I’m unclear about though, and it would be good to get someone elses take on this, is he saying he did get a free ride over the channel to France? Or did his friend’s mum pay for it? I found that part a little confusing.
There’s been a lot of talk about Fidel Castro over the last few days, after he announced he would no longer be continuing as president of Cuba. Most of what I have heard, has been in general negative towards Cuba, Castro, and Communism.
An american friend told me today that he thought the US should lift the embargo on Cuba (so do I actually, I think its an act of war) - his reason was that it was the best way to defeat communism, by allowing Cubans to catch the capitalist bug.
This in part sums up my reason for respecting Castro. He’s anathema to today’s capitalist world. Cuba stands alone as a place where a form of socialism is actually working (not without problems - some of them big ones). I would suggest that all of our capitalist societies are just as flawed though as the socialist Cuban society.
Fidel with his fatigues, his work ethic, his unflinching attitude of revolutionary defiance, his eschewing of personal glory through conventional means, his resistance to the temptations of personal wealth (ignore what Forbes say about him - its propaganda) and his general ballsiness in taking on the world’s biggest superpower (and greatest oppressor) and surviving, is admirable.
Not so admirable are the human rights violations, the murders, internments, vilification and imprisonment of gays and jehovah’s witnesses amongst others, all of which have occurred since the revolution - over the last nearly 50 years.
But it must be said in his defence that the majority of these crimes were carried out long ago. Castro is not the same man he was back then. The days of Fidel, Raul and Che overthrowing the Batista dictatorship are long gone. Now Castro is better understood as the man who led Cuba to become a country of extraordinary achievement.
A literacy rate of 98%, a very low infant mortality rate, a strong emphasis on environmentaly friendly technology, an organic farming revolution, he even reintroduced Christmas…
And on that note I would say that the idea of banning Christmas as a national holiday is one that I actually rather like, its a lot better than the commercialised hell that we suffer each year in the name of the homeless rabbi who died a squalid death after being abandoned by his followers… anyway… it got reinstated in the end, rather like Jesus.
I know that my perspective is vastly different from that of the many cuban emigres who fled the country in boats, to get to America where they could be happy capitalists, its certainly different to those who were imprisoned for ‘counter revolutionary thoughts’. Again, I dont claim Castro, Cuba, or communism are perfect.
But I do respect Castro, I respect the way he has kept going, I resepct the fact that in those early days he and the others lived the lives they told others to live, they spent their time off doing manual labour with the ordinary people, and Fidel’s children today work in factories, where they arent afforded the luxury and privelige that the presidential children of any other nation would be.
I truly deplore killing, I am a pacifist and a believer in freedom. But the freedoms we have in the democratic countries are often much less real than we like to think. There are plenty of ways this country will punish those who step out of line, albeit somewhat more subtle! I dont agree with the human rights abuses that have taken place in Cuba, nor do I support, excuse or condone the killings or imprisonment of many innocent souls.
So there it is, despite his and his regimes manifold failings, I still say that I respect Fidel, and all that he has acheived. And if any other leaders are as ready to put their life on the line, and walk the talk like Fidel has over the last fifty odd years, then I would probably offer them respect too. Trouble is, very few have.
There’s a good feature in the guardian about Saoirse, the guy walking to India from the UK as an ambassador for the freeconomy philosophy. The following quote from the interview sums up what I like in his mission:
“Look, if I’ve got £100 in the bank and somebody in India dies because they needed some money, then, in a way, the responsibility of that person’s death is on me. That’s very hardcore, I know, but I’ve got more than I need and that person needed it. And if you know that, then you’ve either got to do something about it, or you have to wake up every morning and look at yourself in the mirror.”
I’m following the progress of the freeconomy guy Saoirse, who is attempting a walk to India, using no cash, and looking for the kindness of strangers, and a barter economy, to get him all that he needs on his journey.
He says: “My name is Saoirse and I am walking from Bristol in the UK to Porbandar in India without any form of money because I want my life to be my message. We live in a media packed world, where politicians and corporations market the talk, but don’t walk the walk. So one day I decided to, literally, walk the walk.”
So far he seems to have got as far as Portsmouth, and his site reports that he has been well supported by fellow freeconomy types. His first big challenge will be getting across the channel, and then I suspect his road will become somewhat more difficult, as fewer people will have heard of him, or understand what he is doing. On the other hand perhaps he will find that the kindness of strangers increases as he goes east, as this Guardian blog suggests… as an addendum to that, the writer of that blog talks mistily about the Cambodian buddhist monks who stand and beg, never asking, coughing, or etc.
The writer seems to ignore the fact that most people give to the monks not out of the goodness of their hearts, but rather out of superstition, and/or a hope that it will benefit them in a tangible spiritual way.
Anyway, his blog should chronicle most of his journey, apart perhaps from the wilderness parts…
I like the freeconomy concept, I’m sadly convinced though that we’re too far the other way for this to work in this current age, but we could certainly take some steps towards it.
So this weekend I had the delight of celebrating my old pal Kyb’s 30th, and meeting his wife and some of his other friends.
We had a great time, it was good to see the old boy again, although he is looking pretty old and wizened, its all that city living 
Anyhow, I was kind of intrigued by the job title of Roo Reynolds, one of Kyb’s other friends, he works for IBM as a ‘Metaverse Evangelist’. I dont think I have knowingly met a metaverse evangelist before, so it was quite a thrill… well you know.
Anyhow, Roo’s site is worth a poke around, although his extraordinary collection of lego leaves me a little worried. At the party I almost got drawn into a potentially troublesome discussion on the nature of consumption and the importance of efficiency, but felt that it might ruin the mood, besides there was really nice cake to eat.
Anyhow, the whole metaverse thing got me interested. I first came across the notion of a metaverse in Neal Stephenson’s novel ‘Snow Crash‘ which was one of the many pieces of Cyberpunk literature that I devoured during my student days. Stephenson and his more famous counterpart William Gibson formed an important part of my higher education, and informed some of my later writings. Notably of course Gibson is credited with the invention of the notion of cyberspace, which is considerably better known than metaverse.
The Metaverse is easiest to understand as a virtual world, in which you can act and interact with others, the kind of thing that is manifested in stuff like second life. I dont use any kind of metaverse myself, unless you can count what I’m doing now, which I dont think you can strictly. Metaverses require avatars… so perhaps this is a metaverse then. I dunno, but it sure aint cyberpunk!
So there we are, a good ten years or more since I first studied metaverses, I meet a metaverse evangelist. Interesting. Evangelist is often synonymous with missionary…
Politics of the environment have long been associated with hippies, ‘new agers’, wiccans and others who combine a reverence for the earth with spiritual aspects - the earth as divine for instance. But many people from many faiths and none recognise a spiritual aspect to care for the physical world around us.
Quite an interesting piece on the Guardian where a former Jain monk, turned anti Nuclear activist, turned enviro spirituality guru talks about his beliefs. I like the suggestion that those who say ‘you’re being unrealistic’ should evaluate where realism has got us all thus far. But I’m somewhat hesitant to agree with the whole of what’s said - mind you that’s true of most things.
I’m not into the gaia type theories, but I am interested in reflection of divinity in all of creation, and this should in my view be one driving force behind our care for the planet.
Episode 2.
When I emerge from the hotel a flurry of baseball cap wearing men stare at me excitedly.
“Moto sir?”
“Te, Arkun.” (No thank you.)
“Sir, moto-bike?”
“Te.”
“Moto?”
“No, arkun.”
Endlessly they vie with one another for my precious custom, ‘pick me, pick me!’
A little further away from the hotel where competition is not so fierce, a brief discussion and a bargain is struck, the driver will take me to the riverside, a trip of perhaps ten minutes, for a dollar.
We set off, he pleased with his pay packet, I pleased to be paying only a dollar. Taking the usual anarchic approach to traffic laws that is prevalent here, we sail the wrong way up a road, and squeeze through ranks of traffic to head off down a side street.
Cutting across another line of traffic, we get back on a main road and the driver accelerates, to little effect. His is not the most powerful bike on the road, and I am not the lightest of passengers. Hefting onwards we pass a long row of stalls all offering mobile phone sim cards, not for the first time I try and work out the logic of so many stalls next to one another, all offering the same product for the same price.
On the back of a motorbike is one of the few places one is free from the constant cries of ‘moto’ or the demented clucking of ‘tuk tuk, tuk tuk’ at every street corner and empty stretch of pavement I chance upon when walking around. I try and work out why the moto drivers adopt this approach, surely they can see I’m walking, and when they’ve seen me turn down half a dozen other offers, they know I’m not going to accept theirs?
Arriving at the riverside I enter the air conditioned café fresco which sits at street level beneath the famous Phnom Penh foreign correspondents club. I’ve come here because I noticed on a previous trip to the riverside that they offer free wifi access after 3pm with every purchase of coffee. I opt for a hot chocolate rather than coffee, and eagerly try and log on to the wifi.
Predictably its something of a damp squib, I manage to download about four emails, all spam, and cant quite get on to my blog to make a new post. I turn on skype and eventually it connects. I look eagerly to see who is online. No-one.
At that point I realise it’s actually about 8.30 am in the UK, meaning that Kel will be getting the kids to school, and wont be online for at least another hour or so. By that time my half hour token will certainly have expired.
I sit back, my plan has been scuppered, partly due to my own lack of foresight, and partly due to the vagaries of supposed wifi access.
Turning off the laptop which I have hugged to my breast all the way from the hotel I pick up a newspaper and flick through it, while enjoying the last half of my hot chocolate. A big story here at the moment is the rise in fuel prices, it’s heading up to about a dollar a litre, which is bad news for the various members of society who are dependant upon travel for work. A Cambodian teacher is paid about 160,000 Riel a month. This translates as $40. Little more than a dollar a day. By contrast a garment factory worker is paid 200,000 Riel per month. Which of course translates as $50. Or about £25 at current exchange rates.
Reading on through the article I read a little vox pop from a moto driver. Bemoaning the hike in fuel prices he points out that his average wage is about 5000 riel a day. Half of which goes on fuel. Leaving him on 2500 Riel to pay for food and housing for him and his family. That’s a little over 50 cents, perhaps about 30p.
I resolve not to haggle too hard with moto drivers, and to have more patience with the insistent cries of ‘moto sir?’
Reading on through the paper I notice that on November the 2nd, a week or so before I arrived, a 61-year-old German man was arrested in the hotel across the street from mine. He was charged with debauchery after he was found with a 14-year-old girl in his room, and pictures of four other young girls on his computer.
Evidently he had chosen this hotel because it isn’t popular with westerners, and he was less likely to be reported to the police. Makes me feel great about staying in this part of town.
All around this country are people living in desperate poverty, scratching a living in anyway they can, selling whatever commodity they can. Its unsurprising that Cambodia is a key fixture on the sex tourism circuit now. Even the disgraced pop star Gary Glitter spent a little time here on his recent tour of Asia. There’s plenty more who want to be in Gary’s gang.
It’s hard to tell sometimes where the line is between genuine relationships and economically motivated ones. Some are obvious, a pair of young looking girls fawning attentively over a grotesquely overweight man in a bar, seems like they don’t have all that much in common. On the other hand I know a number of western men who have found genuine happiness in relationships with Khmer or Thai women here. It’s difficult not to judge, and harder still to get the judgements right! After all, its only recently really that marriage wasn’t a primarily economic issue.
Walking back to the hotel from the riverside I notice yet again many large Lexus’ and other four wheel drives zooming their occupants through the rush hour. Their sleek and shiny silver or black paint jobs contrasting with the muddiness of much of their surroundings. Behind sleek tinted windows rich Khmer or foreigners are being whisked home, or perhaps to the aptly named ‘Lucky’ supermarket for a spot of grocery shopping. I too visit Lucky’s occasionally to pick up a bit of food – I always think that Lucky is a good name for it. Lucky to be able to afford to shop here.
Lucky’s is still the biggest chain of supermarkets here, although others are beginning to catch up. I remember seeing a Tesco in Bangkok when I was there a couple of years ago, and wonder whether they have people even now assessing Cambodia’s potential for investment.
My dad’s field of work is Leprosy. It’s still a massive problem, although most people don’t realise it. We’ve all heard of the cure that has been around for some time, which can rid the sufferers of the disease. But what is not so well publicised is that still the same number of people contract the infection every year, in fact it may be more, as I have a feeling it’s the same percentage of the population. I’ll have to ask.
Leprosy is a disease which principally affects the nerves. Someone with leprosy will not feel any pain if they cut themselves, their body simply doesn’t acknowledge the injury.
I wonder how much we in the west have a kind of institutional leprosy, tucking ourselves away behind the tinted windows and air conditioning of luxury, refusing to feel the pain which is eating away at the flesh of the world.
Few things hurt us, perhaps a rise in oil prices may cause us some minor irritation, but largely we’re well insulated. Especially when we can even appease our consciences by sending some helpful charity donations – this is made even easier when we can do it via the medium of a tv show or big concert! Wow, how great to be part of something which can make us feel like we’re all working together, we can give a substantial donation, give of our ‘excess’ (how do we define excess by the way? What’s left over after we have paid our household bills, including sky subscription and credit card payments?) We get thanks from all around us for all that good what we did, and then go home happy…
We prefer to remain in our leprous state, ignoring the pain of the world and slowly letting our global body decay.
The other day I took a quick trip down to Wat Phnom, the small hill with a temple or Wat in its centre, which is quite a big tourist attraction here. To be honest it’s a little underwhelming. Good for its novelty value perhaps, but not exactly fascinating.
At the bottom of the hill a wide walk way lined with benches is home to a whole range of beggars, kids, hawkers and gawpers. It’s also the day time home of an elephant, and presumably permanent home to a family of monkeys.
The elephant is a Phnom Penh fixture, taking tourists on stately rides around the hill. He looks tired and dusty to me. I wonder why a massive creature like that allows himself to be tamed – whether he occasionally has a yearning for the wild, and entertains thoughts of escape and rampage. Or perhaps he is a simple, gentle soul, happy with his quiet life, ferrying white people around the circular track. Maybe he is content in his friendship with the monkeys and his handlers, and has no need for adventure.
The monkeys on the other hand are full of mischief, some are old and grumpy looking, gazing at you as if to decide whether you might harbour some food they could purloin. Others are sedate, sitting quietly taking in the scenery before bursting into a run and disappearing up a tree. Baby monkeys seem like they are about one third eyes, which reminds me of my youngest daughter. They scamper delightedly around the ground, playing traditional monkey games with one another.
Nearby are sellers – some offering large bunches of bananas, ‘Sir, you buy banana for Munk’ee?’ Others with large cages housing dozens of tiny little birds. I think of the little birds which love my garden at home, and feel sorry for these tiny creatures in their cage home.
“What are the birds for?” I ask warily.
The bird seller waves her hands in the air.
“To let them go?” I query.
“Yes sir. You let go. Two birds, one dollar.”
Presumably this is some kind of activity related to the temple above me, whatever the reason I’m not impressed. I want to free all the birds, but can’t afford to. I stalk off huffing to myself.
When Jesus was presented at the temple, according to Luke’s gospel, his parents presented two birds for sacrifice – in accordance with the law of the old testament. The offering of birds in sacrifice was for the poor, for those who couldn’t afford a more expensive sacrifice.
This all reminds me that Jesus was a poor man, a refugee, from a poor family, not a man of position and influence, not a man of wealth, nor as some suggest ‘moderately well off’. That’s a load of crap. He was a wondering teacher, unwaged as the custom dictated. Homeless, with no place to lay his head. His disciples would eat corn they found growing in the fields. To pay temple tax Peter had to look in the mouth of a fish. Jesus has much more in common with the Khmer bird sellers, prostitutes and moto drivers than he does with us wealthy westerners with our tinted windows, air con, and nice churches.
Walking past a book shop I looked over the display of books related to Cambodia – along side the usual travel guides and historical explanations of the Khmer Rouge regime’s genocidal activities, one title proclaimed boldly ‘Girls, Guns, Ganja and Gambling.’
Well they are certainly all available here for a moderate price, although I think the guns are less widely available than they were a few years ago. At one point penniless soldiers would take tourists to firing ranges where they could have a go with AK47’s, Grenade launchers, the lot. Talking to a guy on the plane on the way here he told me that in his first week visiting Cambodia he saw two shootings. So far I haven’t seen any. I hope it stays that way.
It remains a terrible thought that this country is a tourist destination because of what it can offer in terms of the other three ‘attractions’.
I did see a homeless guy though, by homeless I mean a rough sleeper, as homes here are often merely a step away from the homelessness in the UK. In Heathrow the rough sleepers I saw all had a certain look – indicative of problems with alcohol or other substance abuse, and perhaps mental health problems. Clearly they had to be pretty skint to be sleeping in a tunnel near Heathrow, but how much more skint does one have to be to sleep rough in Phnom Penh? Later I passed the same spot where the homeless guy had been curled up. The tatty Khmer flag which had covered him was now hung in a tree, and where he had been lying was a few fragments of broken glass.
I guess he had been ‘moved on’ by the police or local shopkeepers.
I am unashamed of the fact that I am a fan of Marx.
I dont agree with everything he said - I dont agree with everything most people say!
But this quote alone is enough to make me respect him:
“Catch a man a fish, and you can sell it to him. Teach a man to fish, and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity.”
good joke on Maggi Dawn’s site - I’ve pasted it below for those unwilling to click through…
René Descartes is sitting in a pub, he’s had a bit too much to drink, and is beginning to feel the effects.
“Another beer?” asks the landlord. “I think not,” says Descartes, and promptly vanishes.
The Rainin in Paradize single from Manu Chao is getting a lot of play on 6music - and so it should, it’s a great track. I know Manu is a controversial figure - shouting about the system and living off it so they say - I can’t deny that he makes brilliant music though.
You can see the track on this video - it’s belting. Apologies to those who dont like youtube videos on blogs, or who havent got lots of bandwidth… I’m posting it anyhow.
And here’s the lyric:
Welcome to paradise (2x)
Today it's raining (4x) (Welcome to paradise)
Today It's raining (Welcome to paradise) (4x)
In Zaire, Was no good place to be
Free world go crazy, it’s an atrocity
In Congo, Still no good place to be
They killed Mibali, it’s a calamity
Go Maasai go Maasai be mellow, Go Maasai go Maasai be sharp (2x)
In Monrovia, this no good place to be
Weapon go crazy, it’s an atrocity
In Palestina, too much hypocricy
This world go crazy, it’s no fatality
Go Maasai go Maasai be mellow, Go Maasai go Maasai be sharp (2x)
Today it’s raining (4x), in paradise
Today it’s raining (4x)
In Baghdad, it’s no democracy
That’s just because, it’s a US Country
In Fallujah, too much calamity
This world go crazy, it’s no fatality
Go Maasai go Maasai be mellow, Go Maasai go Maasai be sharp (2x)
Today it’s raining (4x)
In Jerusalem, in Monrovia, Guinea-Bissau, today it’s raining (3x)
Welcome to paradise, Come to the fairy lies
Welcome to paradise
Today it’s raining (4x) fade out
It’s been great reading the guest blogs on backyard missionary from Jarrod McKenna - who has written eloquently about Ghandi - and the outworkings of what he said. The latest addition to the series is no exception!
McKenna seems an interesting an intelligent guy - and I was able to take a few minutes to read more about the work he does in Australia this morning. Seems like he’s in the same line as Shane Claiborne - the prominent activist from the US, and indeed the two reference one another here and there.
McKenna’s thoughts make inspirational and encouraging reading for anyone who wants to embrace the radical nature of the Christian faith - just as Shane’s book provides a good platform for those who want to learn what it means to live a Jesus following life - rather than just ‘be a Christian’. I did enjoy McKenna’s comment that if he were to write a book, it wouldnt be ‘how to live as an ordinary radical’ but rather “A how [not] to”.
McKenna also quips that: “Maybe our book would be called ‘The Resistible Revolution’ or ‘The Very Resistible Revolution’.”
I particularly like the focuses on peacemaking and community which both of these guys espouse - in my view this is integral to Christianity.
I would encourage anyone interested to read more about what Jarrod has to say in his guest blogs on bym, and to take a closer look at both the Simple Way community and EPYC in Oz.
We did a half hour devotional on thursday - based around the idea of journey, and using the voyage of saint Brendan as an outline model - I’ve pasted it below in case anyone would find it useful.
Our guys found this a really useful exercise - good for relationship, good for personal reflection - good fun, worth a try!
As followers of Jesus, we are all on journeys, both as individuals in our personal spiritual walk, and as a group – on an adventure together.
Navigatio…
Today’s devotional time is based around the concept of journey, and we’re going to use as a starting point the story of Saint Brendan the Navigator, who sailed from Ireland to America in a small boat made of animal skins.
To follow the voyage of Saint Brendan, we are going to split into groups to take our own journey. Each group will be given a number 1 to 5, and they will each start at the corresponding station in the journey (group 1 at point 1, etc.) At the sound of the bell, each group will move to the next station on their journey, one person should read aloud to the group whatever is on the sheet found at that station.
At each point there will be a small piece of the story of Brendan the Navigator’s journey, and an exercise to do, either individually or as a group.
After the 5 points have been visited, the groups will return to the meeting room.
Text for station 1) Brendan set sail from Ireland – not knowing for certain where he would end up. He embarked on a journey – desperate to reach the promised land. His desperation led to him setting sail into the unknown, in a boat made of wicker and cow hide.
Reflect for a moment on what lengths you would go to, in order to pursue God’s calling. Are there places you would refuse to go to, or lengths to which you would not extend yourself? Ask God to reveal these to you, and ask him to help you face your fears.
Text for station 2) Brendan chose fourteen monks to accompany him on his journey, but as they were about to set off, three others asked to join them. Two of these were motivated by wrongful thoughts, and were found out.
Reflect and ask God to reveal to you any wrongful motivations for things you are involved in, and ask him to root out of you any pride, selfishness, or desire for earthly gain.
Text for station 3) The story of Brendan’s journey was long regarded as totally fanciful, until someone attempted a similar voyage, and found it is actually possible to sail across the Atlantic in such a boat.
Reflect on the inadequacy of human knowledge – how little we know of the world around us, and how much less we know of God. Ask God to help you to hold your own beliefs in humility, and respect others – even when they seem crazy.
Text for station 4) One of the amazing parts of Brendan’s voyage is a story of finding Judas Iscariot on a rock in the middle of the ocean.
Share with the group the one Bible character (excluding Jesus) that you would wish to meet and talk to today…
Text for station 5) Brendan the navigator set sail with no map, no gps, no rescue service as back up. He relied on the courage of his firm convictions, and a dogged belief in his mission.
If you feel able, share with the group a challenge that you would like the courage to take on. Keep it short, and don’t elaborate too much – allow others to share the burden with you.
Note: If you are interested in reading about the voyage of Saint Brendan yourself - the translation of his famous account can be found here.
I have finally begun posting stuff on the green my world blog.
After setting it up, I had a crisis of confidence about how to approach the whole issue - whether to advocate small scale personal lifestyle changes, which have little effect in isolation, or to go for larger societal issues.
I opted for the former, as this was my original intention, and so I have now posted an article about something which has been described as ‘the single most effective thing that the average person can do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions‘ - I have blogged around this subject before particularly after a post on Steve Taylor’s site. If you are interested to read more, my original post is here, and my follow up to Steve’s post is here.
is this one by Andy Wilson of 24/7 prayer, who has moved to Canada to found an urban monastery. Monasticism and community expression of Jesus following has been something that has captured my attention very much recently, we’ve been delving into some of the old style meditation patterns at World Horizons, so expect more of that soon…
many moons ago I lived in Manchester and Salford, in fact Kel and I got married while we were students there. I was both a student there for three years, and also worked there as a hack for while longer - learning the craft from some serious old timers.
Anyway, I digress - one of the first people I knew there was a girl called Liz, we had both been on gap years with Oasis Trust, so we had stuff in common. When I was a fresher Liz introduced me to people and got me in to the CU etc, she’s a great person.
So when Kel and I flew out from Manchester in July, it was an obvious opportunity to see Liz, who we get to see much too little.
And it turns out that Liz and others who I used to know are now part of a cafe church thing going on in Manchester, she told me the name, but I cant find any trace on the web. It’s not Sanctus 1, who seem to be pretty well represented on the internet, but another outfit. The reason I found this particularly interesting anyway, is that its indicative of how so many of us, with similar backgrounds, but quite independantly have ended up going down this same road.
There seems to be a genuine consensus from people of my generation that what we are looking for in Church is no longer to be found best represented in the traditional situations - and so we improvise, getting messy with loose structures, and non hierachical leaderships - maybe there is something in this whole generation thing after all… even though depending on whom you read I’m either a Gen X’er or a Millenial, or even a Gen Y’er, or if you listen to the Jesus Army, I’m Generation J….
Whatever anyway, its encouraging when you find people you respect have come to some of the same conclusions as you, and I respect Liz!
I’m more and more fascinated with off grid living, perhaps because I’m in no danger of doing it.
I remember visiting my Aunty when I was a youngster, she lived in a bender, which is a house made of a tree bent to the ground, with a tarpaulin roof. It was kind of freaky and kind of fascinating at the same time.
Years later I had the opportunity to visit Mongolian nomads who live in Gers or Yurts, round felt tents, which they pack up and move with them.
I also enjoy wild camping, although I havent done much of that in the past little while.
Not far from where I live in Wales is a place called Tipi valley, where a lot of people live in alternative dwellings, be they Tipis, Yurts, cabins, caravans or whatever.
There is something very liberating about the idea of off grid living, but the reality of it can also be quite restricting, for me no broadband would be a real challenge for instance, and I dont have a wind up digital radio…
But off grid living does present a real alternative to the kind of overbuilt urban environments that dominate our society presently. Land prices for a bit of meadow or grazing land is vastly cheaper than prices for land with planning permission for residential dwellings, and an off grid dwelling can be constructed relatively cheaply too, so this could pose a potential answer to the lack of affordable housing out there.
This kind of way of life also is a much lower level of pollution, after all if you are using less, then you are emitting less.
But of course you’re up against the bureacracy which has no desire presently to encourage this kind of living… which is a shame. I remember learning about how madness is socially defined, if you dont go with the norms of society, then you can be called mad… which is a great way to control people huh.
more thoughts on this later… but you might like to read this article, by the guy who edits this website.
One of the first things I learned as a tabloid reporter, was that people always want to assign blame. If ever there is a big problem, a killing, a disaster - the cry goes up: “who’s to blame?”
So its kind of inevitable that in the almost aftermath of the flooding that has dominated the summer people are already demanding to know whose fault this is. The government who ‘knew’ the danger was coming? The polluters who have ’caused climate change’? Who?
An article this morning says that scientists have found a human fingerprint on the flooding : “
Chris Huntingford a climate modeller at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Wallingford, said: “It has now been confirmed that the burning of fossil fuels has altered rainfall patterns at the global scale. Next we need to understand how these observed large-scale adjustments translate to local changes in extreme rainfall events.
“These highly regionalised estimates of rainfall will be essential in aiding governments to prepare for what might, in some circumstances, represent dangerous climate change.”…”
I kind of wish the scientists would make their minds up. They used to tell us that climate change was going to leave us with wet winters and hot dry summers. My wife - a prescient person if ever there was one, has long declared she thinks the weather will become wetter in the winter, and wetter in the summer. She had no evidence for this claim. Until now
But the reality is that yes, there is more water in the atmosphere, but that hasnt made it rain in buckets. That is down to freak weather… these things happen every now and then. There is nobody to blame for the freak weather (unless a supervillain somewhere is controlling the weather) freak weather happens.
So what about the floods, are they inevitable? Well here’s the thing. Joni Mitchell sang: “they paved paradise, and put up a parking lot”, she could have sang: “they paved/concreted/decked/tarmacked paradise, and failed to maintain ancient ditches and dykes, which combined means that while there are lots of parking lots, there isnt anywhere for the rain to go.”
She could also have added that conventional farming techniques have damaged the soil structure, making it less able to hold water, which simultaneously means that we use more water than we should, and that when it rains the water isnt retained in the ground, and it puddles up instead.
The reality is that the kind of development we consider necessary to keep us at the dorefront of economic growth is not compatible with working hand in hand with nature. Its time more of us got hold of living in harmony with the earth, and quit paving paradise, and needing more parking lots…