A message from Leicester to the world

Sue and I were in Leicester yesterday morning.  Nothing unusual about that, apart from a very noticeable proliferation of the colour blue.  It seems that the whole city is waiting in eager anticipation for Leicester City FC to be crowned champions of the Premier League.  Just one victory from their remaining three games will see the impossible accomplished.  I had to go into Specsavers for an eye test, and noticed that a number of the staff were wearing Leicester City football shirts.  Many of the city centre shops have Leicester City displays in their windows, with messages of support for the boys.  A significant number of people out and about were wearing Leicester colours. Even some of the public buildings have been highlighted in blue.

When the current season kicked off last August, Leicester City were 5000-1 outsiders to win the league.  Indeed, according to the bookies there was more chance of the Loch Ness monster being discovered or Simon Cowell becoming Prime Minister than Leicester City winning the league title!  Almost no-one, probably not even many of their most faithful supporters, believed that they had any chance of being crowned champions.  For some years, it has always been one of the top four or five of the wealthiest clubs who were in with a chance of becoming Premiership champions.  We all thought that scenario was destined to continue.  Even former Leicester player, Gary Lineker, didn't believe that Leicester had any chance of becoming champions, declaring that if they won the league he would present Match of the Day in his underpants!

Now, Leicester are within striking distance of achieving what everyone though impossible.  If and when they are crowned champions, it will become one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of team sport.  So how is it that a team like Leicester has pulled off such a feat?

I was listening to the BBC's sports reporter Mike Bushell on the TV this morning.  He had spent the day in Leicester yesterday, and his observation was significant:  He stated that the city and the team are "so united together, bonded by one dream."  I've managed to watch Leicester live twice this season, and it is clear to me that it is that team spirit, unity, and commitment to the cause and to one another which has driven them on to such a great accomplishment.

I can't help thinking about a recent fellowship meeting at our home, when we were thinking about the prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17.  At the heart of his prayer for of his followers was that they may 'be brought to complete unity.'  Jesus knew, just as Claudio Ranieri knows, that a bond of unity is so powerful, and a key to success and fruitfulness.  What a message, both for the Church and for the world.

An historic achievement

In the great scheme of things, my recent achievement won't even be worthy of a footnote in the annals of history.  But in my own personal history, it amounts to something quite significant.  The fact is that within the past couple of weeks I've realised that, as I approach my 61st birthday, I've finally conquered my fear of dentists!

My memories of childhood visits to the dentist are, thankfully, rather vague.  Having said that, those rather dim memories aren't at all positive.  I do remember having "gas" to knock me out prior to a procedure, and I also remember my mum taking me to a toy shop to buy me a corgi model to compensate for the pain of a dental visit!

For whatever reason, I developed a mainly irrational anxiety about visits to the dentist.  Even in more recent years, when dental procedures have improved considerably, a visit to the dentist would fill me with trepidation.  Just sitting in the dreaded chair, I would feel myself going faint; my temperature would rise and I would lose all strength in my body.  All my efforts to control such a response were to no avail, and I saw no way of overcoming the problem.

 Until, that is, I had a conversation with a fellow church leader who happened to be a former dentist, and he gave me some advice which was in due course to lead me to victory over my fears.  What my friend suggested was this: Think of a story in the Gospels, perhaps one of the accounts of Jesus' ministry, and imagine yourself as one of the characters in the story.  Focus your mind on the story, imagine how you would be feeling and responding as that character as the events unfolded.  If Jesus is part of the story, imagine how you would be responding to him.  In other words, don't focus on the dentist and what is happening to you in the dentist's chair; focus on being part of the story.

The next time I went to the dentist I did exactly as my friend had advised, and the result was remarkable.  I found myself lost in the story, and focussing very much on the character I had chosen and their relationship with Jesus.  Apart from helping me overcome my irrational response to being in the dentist's chair, I have found it to be a helpful method of meditating on a gospel story.

My most recent visit to the dentist was within the past couple of weeks.  I didn't exactly repeat the previous exercise, but I did try to focus my thoughts on God during the visit.  As the half-hour procedure came to an end, the realisation dawned on me that I had finally overcome my fear of dentists.  Visiting the dentist is still not something I would chose to do, but at least I can cope with it.

In this experience lies an important principle.  When you face the big problems in life, don't let fear overcome you, don't focus on the problem, focus on God who is far bigger than any problem.  As Jesus said to his disciples,  'Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.' (John 14:1).  We have a choice to make: our lives can either be dominated by fear or sustained by faith.

One final question: Why do dentists seem to think that when your mouth is numb following an injection, and it is also wide open and full of their instruments, you can still carry on a normal conversation?  (Answers on a postcard?)

The facts about the EU?

I have found myself rather disgruntled by matters political this week.  Incidentally, those who say that religion and politics don't mix have got it wrong.  As Mahatma Gandhi said, "Those who say that religion has nothing to do with politics don't know what religion is."  Authentic Christian faith will impact every area of our lives and how we relate to the world around us, and that includes the world of politics.

The lesser of this week's frustrations came when the voting form for the local area Police and Crime Commissioner came through the door.  All we have been given is a voting form with several names on it and which political parties they represent.  I really can't see why this has to be a party appointment.  Surely the best thing is to do is to decide which candidate is likely to be most suited to the role and then vote for him/her?  I guess that many people will vote merely along party lines, and we may not therefore end up with the best candidate being elected.  After trawling the Internet, I did eventually find some information on the candidates, but I wonder how many other people will be inclined to do the same?

My main frustration this week has been in relation to the forthcoming EU Referendum, in particular with the Government's decision to spend over £9million of taxpayers money on producing a leaflet setting out their arguments in favour of staying in the EU; this at a time of severe austerity.  I have witnessed for myself the consequences of austerity in terms of the withdrawal of important local community services.  Surely that money could have been put to better use?

The Government argues that many people have asked for some of the "facts" about Europe in order to come to an informed decision.  Fair enough, perhaps, but the leaflet actually produced is 50% glossy pictures (more like a brochure for a new car), and contains a lot of conjecture rather than fact.  I have written to my local MP to complain and I am one of over 200,000 people who signed an online petition protesting against this waste of money, but I feel very frustrated.

I have to say that currently I am in the "don't know" camp as far as the EU Referendum is concerned.  Like many others, I long to see some of the real facts in the debate.  I have talked to people whose opinions I trust and respect, but that's been no help at all because I have friends equally convinced on both sides of the argument!  (I did wonder whether on the ballot paper, as well as there being the "In" and the "Out" options, there should also be a "Shake-It-All-About" option, as even those in favour of staying in the EU can see that it is in need of a good shake-up!)


Before I finally cast my vote, I am determined to try to discover as much as I can about the implications of Stay or Leave, and to listen to the debates.  And I am encouraged by the words of James in his letter in the New Testament, 'if any of you lack wisdom, you should pray to God, who will give it to you; because God gives generously and graciously to all.'  I could certainly do with a bit more wisdom!

Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/mahatmagan135298.html

Light, Dark or Medium?

My wife is a wonderful person and I am truly blessed to be married to her.  Having said that, I am resigned to the fact that I will never fully understand the way she does some things!  Take, for example, the way our dirty laundry is sorted (not that I really want to wash it in public!)  We have 3 laundry bags; one for dark clothing, one for light clothing and one for medium coloured clothing.  So far so good.  It all seems fairly straightforward, doesn't it?

But it really isn't!  To be truthful, the system does work in a fairly straightforward way in many cases.  But there are some cases when logic (or my understanding of it, anyway), is defied.  I regularly get chastised for putting items in the wrong bag, but don't let Sue know that I said so!  For example, if I have a heavy light coloured jumper, I would naturally put it in the bag for light clothing.  However, such a jumper should apperently be put in the dark bag, simply because it is thick (or have I misunderstood the rules?)  Even more complications arise when I have an item of clothing which is multi-coloured!

Yesterday I wore a hooped polo shirt with elements of dark blue, red (medium), with a white collar.  So which bag does it fit into?  I struggled to decide, so in the end I asked for advice, and was told that it should go in the medium bag because of the white collar (I was tempted to ask for a more detailed explanation, but erred on the side of caution).  I guess I will just have to accept that I won't ever fully understand the system.

It's strange how little incidents can set one's mind off on all sorts of tracks.  As I was pondering the mystery of the laundry bags, and how items of clothing are separated, it got me to thinking about how society so often wants to compartmentalise people.  We talk, for example, about the elderly, the homeless, the disabled, the immigrants, the poor etc.; we divide people according to gender, colour, nationality and in all sorts of other ways.  It seems to me that there are two major problems with this approach.

Firstly, if we group together people with common features, we can so easily forget that each person is a unique individual.  We hear a lot of talk in the media these days about "the refugee crisis."  But we need to remember that although there are probably millions of people seeking refuge around the world, those numbers consist of individual people, each of whom are precious in the eyes of God.  Jesus himself demonstrated a willingness to 'stop for the one'.

The second danger in classifying people into groupings is that it can emphasise differences and reinforce barriers between people.   The apostle Paul had to deal with divisions within the early Church, and particularly with the tensions which existed between the Jews and the non-Jews.  This is what he wrote in one of his letters: 'We are no longer Jews or Greeks or slaves or free men or even merely men or women, but we are all the same - we are Christians; we are one in Christ Jesus.' (Galatians 3:28).

All those who follow Jesus can rejoice in the diversity which is so apparent in God's creation, but also celebrate the unity we have in Jesus.  We must also remember that our calling is to continue to work and pray for greater unity in God's world.  And that seems a long way from laundry bags!   

The truth about beauty and contentment

Easter is one of the most significant periods within the life of the Church and, like Christmas, can be a very busy time, with lots of different services taking place.  Though I thoroughly enjoyed being able to share this Easter in different services with the three churches of which I am Minister, I welcomed the fact that Sue and I were able to take a 3-day post Easter break in my favourite place, Scarborough.

It was great to be able to take in the sea air, and just enjoy a change of scenery for a short period.  We were able to meet up with some members of our family and also some friends from Doncaster who were in Scarborough for a Christian conference.  On the way home we called in to visit my Mum, who is 93 today.  She is a remarkable woman in many ways (not least in that she survived bringing up 6 children!)  Though she is rather frail, and has to use a zimmer to get around, she phones me regularly to tell me how happy she is.  To live in such a state of contentment as my Mum does is a wonderful thing.

When we arrived home after our time away, I noticed that a Slimming World flyer had been put through our letter box (nothing personal, I hope!)  The headline on the flyer immediately took my attention: "Live happy with Slimming World."  The clear implication is that losing weight will somehow bring happiness into a person's life.  A report in the news this week highlighted the major problem we appear to have in this country with obesity, and it seems fairly clear that for a significant number of people (myself included), to lose some weight would be a positive thing in many ways.  But would it really, of itself, bring happiness?

We live at a time when many people seem to be obsessed with body image.  How a person looks is often prized above all else.  In 2013, 50,000 cosmetic surgery procedures were performed in the UK alone.  Perhaps as a society we are forgetting the old saying that "beauty is only skin deep."  I think of the line from the famous speech of Martin Luther King: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character."  To paraphrase those words, we might say that we look to a day when it is recognised that the most important thing about a person is not what they look like but by whom they really are and how they live (i.e. their character).

In the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel we read about a time when the prophet Samuel was instructed by God to anoint a new king for Israel.  Samuel knew that it was to be one of the sons of a man called Jesse.  Samuel naturally thinks that God's choice is likely to be one of Jesse's older and more experience sons.  In fact God has chosen the youngest, David.  God reminds Samuel, 'I do not judge as people judge. They look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart' (1 Samuel 16:7).

My Mum is frail, she is more-or-less restricted to her flat, she can't do many of the things she once could do with ease, her health isn't great, she isn't outwardly as beautiful as she was in her youth.  Yet she is incredibly content (she puts it down to "my faith and my family").  True contentment, true worth, true beauty has very little to do with a person's outward appearance.  If only our society would realise that fact.

I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/martinluth297516.html

I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/martinluth297516.html

I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/martinluth297516.html