New Kid on the Blog

 Continuing the series - nearly there with what I have recorded so far! Some further thoughts on Jesus - there could be many many more, but I think there's only two more to come. Comments etc welcome!

 Theology around Jesus is a whole discipline in itself, in fact called "Christology" - I can only dip into the ocean of words and thoughts on the subject, but even then (at about 8 minutes a video) I will have to divide these thoughts up into about three or four parts. So here's the first one relating to Christology - particularly to the ideas around what we call 'Incarnational Theology'

And here's a second short video about thinking theologically - none of this is definitive, nor do I claim to have a handle on it all, and as you may have seen in the first video, I sometimes stumble and need to backtrack (3 legged Stool vs Lambeth Quadrilateral, anyone?) Anyway, again, likes and comments and reflections and discussions very much welcome.

Over the past few weeks I've been doing a few Facebook live videos with some theological reflections in them - initially in response to a friend asking for some simple, (hopefully) thought provoking and accessible, introductions to theological thinking. I have put them up on my YouTube channel, and thought I would share them here over the coming few days (or weeks knowing my usual blogging schedule!). I started off calling them 'Rambling Rector' - probably part of my overly self-effacing approach and my attachment to the 'bumbling Vicar' persona that at one time I thought served me well. I am not in that place any more, so I decided to call them (after the first few attempts) Theology Bites. I hope they offer some food for thought. Likes (on the YouTube Channel) and thoughts would be very welcome... 

The spiritual practice of seeing through the lens of love : What does it mean to be loving when we hold a different viewpoint to another? Here's some thinkings I put down for the Faith Forum Column in our local Newspaper today.

So often in the Church, indeed in life, I see people taking sides, getting polarised, creating division. More often than not we hear false equivalence or other logical fallacy as the basis of this - stuff like "if you're liberal/conservative/whatever you can't believe/do x" or "if you're Christian you can't think y" or the joy of "if you really cared about y you can't do x"  What this so often stems from is a failure of imagination, an inability to see a different way of thinking or doing from your own, or a lack of empathy with others. Chimamanda Adichie describes this as the danger of a Single Story and it is the basis of racial and cultural prejudice and misunderstanding, a cause of division, and a barrier to progress and co-operation.  We have such issues in our church communities all the time. With regards to sexuality and gender identity I so often hear "if you believe in the Bible you will think...." With regards to soc...

There's so much life and vibrancy in this dance and in this classic Bollywood song re-visioned by Benny Dayal. I've been watching it repeatedly for the past two weeks, it's just beautiful. Admittedly, I've watched it enough times to see that Benny's spectacles really need cleaning. And to love the moment where the butterfly flutters past Rukmini. Also, if you want to watch the full band version, it's available here - recorded, as is necessary in these days of pandemic, in the different homes of the musicians. Along with the dance on Rukmini's rooftop terrance. Listen again? Don't mind if I do, ta.

Hi - remember me, and that Jan 3rd posting about blogging daily? Well, that hasn't worked out too well. So I am back, hopefully with some ideas to be kicking around and getting responses to. As I've mentioned before I do blog every now and then on our Church website St John the Divine Anglican Church  - in fact I did managed an Art blog every day through Lent there, and I do get to write for the local paper's Spiritually Speaking every few months with an article in the print edition and a blog post follow up. I'm also doing the usual round of preaching, speaking, leading etc, even in these Pandemic times - and there's daily prayers on our website and Facebook Page , and our Sunday Services are livestreamed to our YouTube page.  So it's quiet here, but I am not quiet. As my wife will probably tell you if you ask!  That aside - why the sudden urge to post?  Well #BlackLivesMatter and so does truth, and today I saw on a page a posting by someone who clearly doesn...

Just to keep things going - here's a poem from TS Eliot for this day of Epiphany The Journey Of The Magi A cold coming we had of it, Just the worst time of the year For a journey, and such a long journey: The ways deep and the weather sharp, The very dead of winter.' And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory, Lying down in the melting snow. There were times we regretted The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces, And the silken girls bringing sherbet. Then the camel men cursing and grumbling and running away, and wanting their liquor and women, And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters, And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly And the villages dirty and charging high prices: A hard time we had of it. At the end we preferred to travel all night, Sleeping in snatches, With the voices singing in our ears, saying That this was all folly. Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley, Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation; With a runn...

So I had the big idea of blogging every day - which would be something of a revolution considering I've only managed to blog about three times in the last year, but as you may have noticed, it's January 2nd, so I've already missed that boat... So I'm going to try and blog every day I am at work and in the office. If that happens it'd be a minor miracle, but am setting my sights high and hoping to share some thinking, some music, some art, some words which I hope will reflect a little of the life that is happening here in Victoria, BC, particularly at the Anglican Church of St John the Divine and in my own journey. Let's see how that goes. So, all best wishes for the new year in the Gregorian Calendar, may your 2020 be a place of growth, love, hope, and joy.