The Queen’s Christmas Address - 2011

I do not usually read the various Christmas messages from Church leaders or watch the Queen’s Christmas Address. However this year was an exception, not out any deliberate plan, but either because I saw them by accident, or was curious. In the case of the Queen’s address, we were together, with not a lot to do, so the Television was switched on to watch the speech.

The main leaders traditionally make addresses of some kind at Christmas. The Archbishop of Canterbury is one, but in his Christmas Address, he made no reference to God or Jesus.

The Archbishop of York, another important spiritual leader within the Anglican Church, made a short Christmas address. He concluded with “So this Christmas, may you be blessed in giving of yourself to God, to those in need, and to those you love, and may you also be blessed by knowing the love of God, given for you.”

Just before Christmas (but not directly connected to Christmas), the Prime Minister, David Cameron used the occasion of the 400^th Anniversary of the King James Bible to argue that the United Kingdom is a Christian country and that the bible had an important role in shaping our values and beliefs. He admitted to having stepped “into the lions’ den”. The public / press response was brief and died down as quickly as it arose.

It was the Queen’s comments that most clearly struck the note, that for all the social responsibilities that a Christian faith may bring, the central message of Christmas and Christianity is that a personal response is required from us towards God.

It was very well done, even more interesting than I had expected, with some of the key events an occasions of the Royal Family during 2011. In case you were wondering, it is 7 minutes 24 seconds long and can be seen on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olEp_3Spc1g

Just slightly less than 5 minutes into the speech, The Queen reminded us of the Christmas story, and a traditional Nativity play, probably from a school, was shown. Following this, the Queen stressed to us that the Christmas message is about a Saviour who came to earth with power to save. She called our attention to the fact that in forgiveness, we feel the power of God’s love.

Her prayer for us was that, on this Christmas Day, we would find room in our lives for the message of the Angels and for the love of God, through Christ our Lord

It was noticeable that the press did not report the Queens speech (that I could find) and for the others, the press reported none of the parts that referred to God or our response to God. I am not surprised by this.

How will most people, who have no contact with the church ever hear God’s message to them?

Acknowledge What We Are

We are on to (Key Belief) number 6. After the most recent two, we may be left with the knowledge or belief that God exists, and His universe is impressive, but with no more than that.  The knowledge could be academic or theoretical. It could be a belief sincerely held, but of no more significance than knowing Queen Elizabeth II became Queen in 1952.

This knowledge, at least, is current or topical. Knowing that the Spanish Armada arrived (or rather didn’t) in 1588, in the reign of the other Elizabeth is knowledge that is more remote.

These might be interesting facts, but of no direct impact on daily life, unless you are doing a history exam. They may something to be debated, the same way as discussing whether Chelsea Football Club will recover to win the Premier league (currently 5^th in the table, as I write the first draft of this). 

But there are other forms of knowledge that have more of a direct impact on us. For example, whether or not our home exists and will be there, when we return is of direct relevance to us. Whether we were paid by our employer is, for most people anyway, of considerable importance. We live according to these beliefs, even though we are hardly conscious of them.

Into which category is belief in God? It is very comfortable to believe in a God, and then to carry on one’s life as before. It need make no difference to one’s life or one’s attitude to oneself. I know that most people regard God as having some moral characteristics (which I have not written about in these blogs). From here, we might regard it as logical to have some form of moral code that derives from this. This is a very civilising influence of society and communities and families and is not to be ignored. Nevertheless, it still keeps God at arm’s length. The knowledge is still academic.

But “Key Belief number 6” is that the knowledge of God is like knowing another person, even a friend. In that sense, it is nothing like knowing your house at all. It is a personal encounter. Of course, it is not possible for me to prove this. This sort of knowledge cannot be proved. It must be experienced.

What form does this personal encounter take? I can think of four ways, which are really all similar.

1.  It would start along the thought that we are “things” that God has made. We are “creatures” and He is the creator. We are part of His creation, which He made and we acknowledge this fact before him.

2.  Actually this may not be the only way forward. The Old Testament, in some places, describes the relationship between God and His people as that between “master and servant”. God lays down rules for their lives and they are expected to follow this. If a person makes this acknowledgement to God, then this too is the beginning of a correct relationship with God.

3.  Here is a further way. Jesus, in one of the New Testament stories, allows children to come to him. He says that unless we become like children, we cannot enter God’s world. (Matthew 18.3.)  Jesus repeats this, when He teaches us the first line of the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father, who is in Heaven…….”

4.  I can think of a fourth way of approaching this. The Old and the New Testaments teach that God sets us standards, which we fail to live up to. In fact it is in our nature to breach these standards. When we acknowledge this, we are able to move forward into a relationship with God. If we deny that this is the case, then progress here is not possible. (Romans 3.23.)

Any one of these four approaches sees a change in our relationship with God. We recognise God as who he is and what we are. We need to make this acknowledgement to God himself and this is not an academic exercise. It cuts to the core of our pride and it is here that most people stop. It is the personal encounter with God, which is necessary and which forms the basis of the knowledge of God in the same way as you know your friends.

There is no way or short-cut through here. Unfortunately, God is very uncompromising on this.

I Couldn’t Believe in a God, who…

In my earlier “Key Belief Number Five” http://colinhawkersother.blogspot.com/2011/12/god-made-universe-to-show-extent-of-his.html, I wrote about how God shows His greatness through his creation of the universe. I also said that, for the most part, if you don’t believe in God, then this does not make much of an impression. Further, I said that the bad that people see in the world, develops into a reason for not believing in God. This is typically expressed as “I couldn’t believe in a God who…….”

In some ways, we start with a disadvantage in our childhood. Sunday Schools give or can give the impression of a Father Christmas figure of God. He answers prayers. He loves the world. He does good things. He is someone to whom we can talk. He is the Jesus in the Manger, meek and mild (to quote a Christmas Carol). It is correct that he should be portrayed as such, when we are talking to children, whose grasp of complexity and ambiguity is very limited. But life, as we know, is more complicated than that.  

At some point in their lives, people, as they grow up, have to deal with the ambiguities that are created.  We see and learn how the world really works, what happens in other countries (or our own), in peoples’ lives, and our own immediate families and lives. We resolve these ambiguities by changing our view of the world. In most cases hopefully, we stop believing in things are not true. We no longer believe in Father Christmas. We learn that people lie, car drivers do not always stop at zebra crossings and supermarkets do not always charge the correct prices. We don’t trust politicians and God does not answer our prayers.

Our views are altered and amended. The view we hold of ourselves, our friends, our families and workplace evolve. They may evolve so slowly that we barely notice, until we look back and say to ourselves or friends “Did we really think that?” Sometimes these views change abruptly as some painful truth becomes apparent.

In the same way, earlier views and beliefs about God may be rejected totally, evolve or remain unchanged.

For many, what takes place is a total rejection of earlier beliefs. I have not thought through the various reasons why this might happen. But for many, the rejection is expressed as an inability to believe in a God who causes or allows events to occur which should not happen, at least in terms of the old beliefs. A common ways that this is expressed is “I could not believe in a God who…….”

We might have had a particular view of God. If this view is correct, why does he allow these things to happen? This might be expressed as “If he is a God of Love, why does he allow suffering?” We would like to believe in a God, who does not allow such things to happen, whether these events affect me directly (such as the death of a close family member) or are external to me (such a war in another country). What does not happen is a modifying of the view of what sort of God we are dealing with here.

If there is a God, and there is suffering in the world, then clearly He is a God, who can allow this. This may be important to us. However, the fact that we do not understand this is not essential to its truth. There are many things in the world that that are important and which, we do not understand. This does not mean that they are not true and we have to accept the truth of these, if we wish to continue to function and stay alive.

We have come to think of God in terms that we can approve of. We do this rather than accept the uncomfortable fact that He is whatever He is. Refusing to believe that God is whatever He is a futile exercise. We cannot demand that God conform to an image that we have created or, which was created for us when we were very young.

The Bible makes very few statements along these lines. Rather obscurely, buried in the middle of the Bible, is the Book of Job (immediately before the Psalms). Job is afflicted by God, and although he never directly accuses God, he is confused and puzzled in his heart.

God’s answer is very uncompromising. (Job 38 – 42). You can skip the rest of Job if you want to. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+38&version=NIV God challenges Job to consider whether he really has any idea of who he is dealing with. God does not have to justify himself to Job or to us.

I will finish with a better known bible story, Moses and the burning bush. (Exodus 3.1 – 14). http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+3&version=NIV

Verse 14 is something of a puzzle. “I am what I am”. This is first time in the bible that this expression is used. God says that he is to be called the “I AM”. Very droll, we might think, but it was central for Moses to understand that God is whatever he is and not what Moses or the people of Israel wanted him to be.

God’s existence does not stand or fall on what we think he might be, but by whatever He is.  

God made the Universe to Show the Extent of his Power

I hope that you enjoyed the brief detour into the world of mountain flowers and gentians, in particular, as well as the tents by St. Pauls. Now it is back to the unfolding list of my “Eight Key Beliefs”.  We have reached one on which I touched lightly back in March 2010. It was rather disrespectfully entitled, “A Cosmic Joke”. http://colinhawkersother.blogspot.com/2010/03/cosmic-joke.html

Moving on the “Key Belief Number Five”, you will think that I have only three to go. You may be surprised or disappointed (depending on your point of view) to know that there are at least five to go and maybe more, proving that I am not very good at arithmetic.

I have already put forward the thought that God created the Universe, firstly because he is a creating God, and secondly as the backdrop or context to Man’s existence. http://colinhawkersother.blogspot.com/2011/10/he-is-creating-and-sharing-god.html

I also put forward the additional reason that God wants to draw Man’s attention to His existence. The Universe is so vast and our understanding and knowledge of it is so small, even if that knowledge is growing every year. It stands to reason that as Man looks out to infinity (and 13 Billion Light Years, and increasing, is nearly infinity*¹), his thoughts are naturally drawn to God, the Creator and Man’s own insignificance.

Actually, not one bit of it. From my (unscientific) research in talking to people who do not believe in God, none are impressed by this argument or thought that the enormity and complexity of the Universe proves that there is some kind of God. I don’t know of anyone who has looked out at the stars or considered some of the facts of the universe and been persuaded, to believe in God, from a position of not believing to God. Now, there probably is such a person, but I have not met them and I suspect that he, she or they are the exception (and anyway, it would spoil the argument that I am building up here).

If this is the case, subject to a few awkward exceptions which I shall ignore, then that leaves only people who believe in God who make the connection and are impressed. And by and large, they are impressed.

As a brief, but not unexpected side-track, I have no thoughts or theories on why might this be the case (assuming that it is the case). But if it is true, then I will further develop the idea, that a person’s knowledge of God comes only via a personal and even direct interaction with Him. (See Balaam’s donkey http://colinhawkersother.blogspot.com/2011/10/balaams-donkey.html)

It is only then then an appreciation of everything that God has done, both in our lives and in the world at large becomes possible.

(However, a side-track within a side-track. People often see what they do not approve of in the world as a reason for not believing in God. I will expand on this at a future date in one of my fillers*².)

At this point, Psalm 8 is worth reading and considering. Here is an easy link for you. It is very short. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%208&version=NIV

This is first psalm that praises God for his creation, and asks the question why God should care for man. A very good question, indeed. The Psalmist can hardly believe the extent of the universe that God has created, compared with the insignificance of Man. But the Psalmist’s starting point is one of belief in God. The extent of what he sees and the place where God has placed Man in relation to this, leaves him staggered and in awe.

So perhaps my title and Core Belief becomes “God made the Universe to Show the Extent of his Power to his People / to those who believe in Him”.

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*¹ People who understand Mathematics need not reply to this piece on nonsense – but you get the point.

*² A filler is one of Grumpy’s brother’s blogs which are not one the “Eight Key Beliefs”.

Tents by St. Pauls

I am writing this in the middle of November. We have just returned to Zurich, after a trip to England for our son’s wedding, having spent 17 days in England. I thought that I might get away from “Key Beliefs” and “Fillers” and write on something topical. It is always interesting to see what particular themes the English newspapers have taken up, to report on the daily comings and goings, repeating what has been said before (when there is not much new), together with the usual English comment and speculation, before they lose interest and move on to the next topic.

One of the topics that ran during this time was the “Occupy” protest on the steps of St. Pauls. After visiting a friend near Blackfriars, I took a stroll past St. Pauls in the mid-afternoon. I was only there for about ten minutes, so can hardly claim that my experience was deep and profound, but I did enjoy the carnival atmosphere, watched a dance routine being rehearsed, saw someone practicing his juggling, and watched the free tea and coffee being dispensed at one of the more industrial sized tents (I regret that I did not have time to partake of this offer), together with a noticeboard, showing the more serious matter of lectures, discussions and talks.

The whole affair was lightly policed, in contrast with the (only slightly) more conspicuous police presence on Paternoster Square, the entrance to the Stock Exchange and at least two U.S. Investment Banks, being the symbol of those general activities against which the “Occupy” participants are protesting.

In all this (civilised) protesting, discussions about Health and Safety and the resignations of various St. Pauls’ staff, there was very little said about God. So I searched for some reference to God in all these reports and statements by St. Pauls’ staff, whether resigning or staying, by protesters, other public people, and clergymen, who might have had something to say on this subject. (*1)

Even the Archbishop of Canterbury seemed unable or unwilling to make any connection with this topic and God, although the Archbishop was reported as being in agreement with the proposal for a tax on Banking (*2). I say “seemed”, as the Archbishop of Canterbury might have made such a connection, but the newspapers, being generally bored with the topic of “God”, may simply have failed to report it.

One story from the New Testament that has been used in these discussions is that of Jesus and the money changers in the Temple (*3), although I do not remember what the context was. This was put forward as demonstrating that Jesus would have supported the protest.

I might have understood this point if the protest was against the entrance fee for a visitor to St. Pauls (although I am personally neutral on the subject) and that the Church had made St. Pauls, a place of worship, into a place of commerce. Also, if the stock exchange had set up business there, then the analogy might work. But at the moment, I am struggling to see who exactly the protesters think Jesus would eject from St. Pauls. The people who collect the money from visitors at the door perhaps?

There were other sub-stories, not least of which was that “Health and Safety” was given for closing the church. A very secular reason, the facts of which I found hard to get, but I think that I am right in saying that if you were just a visitor, who had come to look around, then it wasn’t safe. However, if you had come to worship, then it was safe. In a funny sort of religious way, this might make sense.

Overall though, the main point that I am missing is on what basis do the Clergy side with the protesters. There was, as far as I know, no appeal to the Bible or to God. Perhaps the clergy in question are not sure of their spiritual grounds (or perhaps it doesn’t matter anymore). After all one could look pretty stupid these days saying that “This is wrong, because God / the Bible says so”. I couldn’t help feeling that the whole statement from a Church viewpoint could have been more powerful, if God had been brought into the discussion, however unfashionable that might be.
So all in all, a jolly secular affair.

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Note 1 – I have avoided references to “The Church”, as I am not sure who speaks for it.
Note 2 - Guardian website on 2 November, reporting on an article in the Financial Times.
Note 3 – Mentioned in all three Gospels (Mt 21.12; Luke 19.45; Mk 11.15). http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2021&version=NIV

An Unseen Gentian

I wrote a blog a few weeks ago, “He is a creating and sharing God”. (11 October) http://colinhawkersother.blogspot.com/2011/10/he-is-creating-and-sharing-god.html

I put forward the idea that God is a creating God. He created all things, including Time, the Universe and everything in it. God created all this as a backdrop or context to Man’s existence. But I also suggested that God could have created and enjoyed the Universe, without it having to serve as a stage for Man’s existence. God can create and enjoy this creation without having any further purpose than the act of creation itself.

Having said all that, both alternatives are completely sensible. My personal starting point originally, was that that the Universe has no purpose in God’s eyes other than to be the context in which His relationship with Man is played out. The Bible is silent on this subject, or at least could probably be used to argue either view.

I had to think hard on whether God enjoys his creation for its own sake. I know the Creation for God was a trivial matter, but it still seems to me to be pretty marvellous.

In June 2003, my Hazel and I, being inexperienced hikers walked over the Julier Pass (2,300 metres / 7,500 feet). The temperature in the valley was 30 degrees, but unknown to us, the pass was still covered in deep snow. We kept going and are still here to tell the story. At the top, was part of a rock, peeking through the snow, with perhaps no more than a few square feet showing.

People generally admire the resilience of nature, but it can still be truly awesome to see something totally unexpected and out of place. In this square metre piece of rock, was a tiny gentian (a small lovely delicate deep blue flower).

But what is the point of this, you ask. It was completely possible that we were the only people to pass this point during that day, and the only people to see the Gentian. The Gentian was a beautiful work of God, and I guess, at that moment, created only for my benefit and that of Hazel. (I tend to be the one who says “Oh look at that pretty flower. Isn’t it amazing? Whatever is it doing here?” and “How long do you think it will survive?” and it is Hazel who knows that it is a Gentian).

Suppose for a moment, that we had not passed by. There would have been no one to enjoy it. I expect that there were thousands, if not tens of thousands, of Gentians blooming, at that moment, with no one to enjoy them (quite sad, really isn’t it).

I am indebted to my friend Richard Reincke for reminding me of the famous poem by Bishop Berkeley, about the tree existing at all times, as God was always there to see it. In the case of the Julier Pass, God would be the only person to see and enjoy all the gentians blossoming on the mountain top. I am prepared to stick my head out here, and assert that God does enjoy his gentians and other parts of Creation that are never seen, and which must make up 99.9999% of creation. Stars and Star systems are born and die, with no one to see them, except God himself.

God would have good reason to enjoy his own creation. It is pretty impressive.

God Made Man for Man to Discover Him

I am back to the “Key Eight Beliefs” again. I am sorry about the side tracks, but I can’t resist it. Anyway, we are on to Belief Number Four, in case you had lost track.

Belief Number Three put forward the “controversial” (see note 1) view that God created the Universe and Man, because…well…that is the sort of thing that He does. What is special about Man is another subject and seems to have its own purpose.

We think of ourselves as special, both as a species and individually. We regard ourselves as superior to the animals. We are each the centre of our own universe. If not exactly in control of our environment, we certainly regard ourselves as having some kind of influence here. People have shown that they have no need to have a God to explain what they see in the physical world around us.

All of which makes you think that God must have missed a trick here somewhere. He goes to all the trouble of creating the most incredible universe (Psalm 19 v1 to 6 – “The heavens declare the glory of God”) and we ignore him. We even say that He does not exist. I know that many might say that God has already shown his presence by the extent and beauty of the universe. However, the point is that there are no posters in the sky saying “God – this way”. There are (mostly) no voices saying “Hello, this is God speaking”. No obvious and conclusive proof.

Of course, if you believe in God, then it seems so obvious. The magnificence of everything that we see around us in nature and what we learn from others about the universe “proves He exists”. But if you do not believe in God, then all this proves nothing.

God’s presence, even his existence, is cloaked in mystery. God seems to conceal himself in the universe, hiding himself from us. It is like one of those “Where’s Wally” jigsaw puzzles. Even his existence is a subject of debate. He teases us.

So why is He so difficult to find? Is it deliberate?

I remember, in my mid-20s, being at a playground. A friend was supervising some children who were playing. A little boy was chasing a girl and my friend said; “The boy chases the girl, until the girl catches him”. “I don’t understand. That should be the other around”, came the reply. “You’ll understand one day”. She was understandably very puzzled.

The answer, of course, is that God’s hiding is deliberate. We are intended to look for him and if we look for him, we will find him. If we don’t want to look for him or find him, then we will not be disappointed.

Why would be we look for him? Perhaps we have a need, we are scared, worried, wondering (“God - are you really there?), because we are made that way, or as the source of an answer or perhaps as a last resort, because we do not understand the world.

Going back to my title, and fourth key belief, Man was made for this purpose, which is to find God. Just as God wants to share himself with us, so we must find Him. He does not force himself on us, which is something of a mystery, but wants us to discover him.
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Note 1: As everything in the news these days is “Controversial”, I thought that I would throw this in, although I don’t know what it means.