Greenbelt 2012 Dave Tomlinson “Bad Christians” and a dazzling darkness.

For a copy of the book try Amazon How to be a Bad Christian: .. and a Better Human Being

On Greenbelt’s first evening I went to a “meditation” titled “a deep but dazzling darkness” prepared by St Luke’s the church lead by Dave Tomlinson.  There were two things which I found off putting.  First this meditation turned into a Eucharist, re-reading the blurb in the programme there was no hint that this session would have a sacramental element.  Now I would not want to appear to be critical of the Eucharist but the way it was celebrated did not, for me, connect with the theme of the meditation, it was not an encounter with the awful and unknowable God, it was a fairly causal encounter and gave me the feel they had run out of material and just needed something to fill the last 20 minutes of the session and thought “you can’t go wrong with a Eucharist let bung that in…” The second issue was perhaps more fundamental, the whole thing didn’t really seem to have the courage of its convictions. This darkness of God kept being watered down, we were told on more than one occasion that “some people” have an experience of God as darkness or absence – that is to say some OTHER people and not us ourselves, we need to help this poor unfortunates – it was nice that they felt that the encounter with God as darkness was OK but the session didn’t rest in the dark it kept trying to move us to the light.  Two days later I listened to Dave Tomlinson speaking in the Big Top – now I have never had much success with talks in the Big Top in part due to the same neurosis which blocks me connecting with mass worship events so to give Dave his credit he kept me listening for the full talk and I didn’t wander off part way through.  This talk was the plug to his new book “Bad Christians”.  The big news which he has discovered is than 1) there are spiritual people outside the Church 2) many of these spiritual people were Church goers but exactly because of their spirituality the religiosity of the Church drove them away 3) the Church would be a better place with more questions and less dogma.  The jaw dropping moment is when you realize that he is one of the brightest hopes for the Church and he has only just worked this out!  As a “Modern Catholic” I can call on generations of witnesses to these facts – we have been living them and our congregations have collapsed while dogmatic Evangelicals have set the agenda for the Church.  Dave Tomlinson has the right answer but I am not sure that he has worked out what the question is yet …

The Union-Castle and the War 1914-1919 By E. F. Knight

This is a forerunner to Sea Hazard (1939 - 1945) and includes both a Roll of Honour which runs to 11 pages of those who lost their lives and a account of the Union-Castle's role in the world.

It is clear that this is a two-fold act of propaganda as much as commemoration.  The way the narrative depicts the gallantry of "our" sailors in contrast to the "evil Hun" makes uncomfortable reading, even within those accounts of German actions which were criminal, such as the sinking of Hospital Ships and destruction of lifeboats.  To paint these acts, these atrocities, as resulting from the inherent nature of "the Hun" is distasteful.

There is also a heavy dose of racism within the narration, at one point it is commending the officers of vessel for there actions in the face of enemy action, the storm weather, and the ill disciplined and cowardly passengers who were "aliens of a certain type" and call the reader to think of the action of "our East End foreign Jews" in air raid shelters to get the idea of the sort of behaviour the crew were up against. This is not just shocking but sickening.

Later within an account of the desperate attempt to save a sinking vessel there comes a distinction between "the native" and "the white" crew - given the incident is happening somewhere in the middle of the North Atlantic the question native to where springs to mind but of course the category "native" has nothing to do with geography.  As things get worse the "native" crew are transferred to another vessel while "the captain, officers and white crew" continue their efforts to save the ship.  The writer feels quite happy to ascribe a lack of heroism, cowardice even, to these "native" crew members with out casting a shadow on the Union-Castle Line because within his mindset you couldn't expect anything more from them. 

I find it sad that this jingoistic and racist account unavoidably tarnishes the Roll of Honour it is bound with, I even wonder if that Roll includes the "native" crew who must have laid down their lives.

It is a fascinating document which questions the picture of the inter-war years as bohemian, enlightened, and peace loving.

Summons to Life by Martin Israel

Summons to Life: The Search for Identity Through the Spiritual

Once I start a book I like to finish it but I have abandoned this one on p117 of 154,

Writing in the early 70s there is a stylistic barrier to get over, especially the gendered language which given the topic is "Humanity" and what it is to be truly "Human" leads to the book being full of "Man" and "his" search for the ideal life even though at one point Israel does himself problematise the use of the male pronoun for God "... thought it is more questionable whether the masculine qualities rather than the feminine should be exalted in the pronoun commonly used."

Overall I found the book tiresome, Israel's argument is almost entirely polemical with little or no evidence or reasoning, his notion that there is a single spiritual existence which unites all human souls might be attractive but seem rather fanciful.  He is a pains to show he is not privileging the soul over the body yet everything about his idea of the ideal human life runs counter to that assertion.
What I think I found most frustrating is that at its core I would agree with his argument, (the spiritual barrenness he sees in society has only increased in the last 40 years, and it is an enriching of the spiritual life that is the only way to address the deep discontentment within our society), however he makes this argument in such an obtuse and contrary way that so having started of agreeing with him for every page I read I became less and less sympathetic.  

The Dwelling of the Light by Rowan Williams

The Dwelling of the Light: Praying with Icons of Christ

This is a little book full of big ideas, written in Rowan Williams' usual thoughtful and insightful way. In his introduction he gently explores the status of Icons which I would hope allows all but the most puritanical to see that Icons can be encountered as a devotional tool free from idolatry.

One of the joys of this book is that it offers an introduction to some icons which are unfamiliar to Western eyes while also allowing you a fresh encounter with others like Rublev's "Trinity" which have become so ubiquitous in recent years that they have been diminished almost to the status of wall paper. 

Each chapter takes an Icon in turn, but is structured in paragraphs which can either be read continuously or dipped in and out of from time to time (which is how I read it).

Making the most of the Lectionary by Thomas O'Loughlin

Making the Most of the Lectionary: A user's guide

This book has a very simple aim, to move Anglicans and Catholics from the near universal indifference to their current Lectionary to a place where it is encountered and its presentation of scripture enriches their worshipping lives.

Lectionary provision is oddly one point where Catholics and Anglicans have shared much common ground, with the BCP and pre-Vatican II Lectionaries being largely aligned (albeit a week adrift).  Therefore the adoption of Vatican II's Revised Lectionary as a basis for the Revised Common Lectionary in the US and for the Common Worship Lectionary in England is a continuation in a happy vane.

But why try and celebrate the Lectionary at all?  Firstly O'Loughlin deals with some general issues about the Bible and the relationship many Christians have with it - this might be old news for many readers but it is a key foundation to the book - it will equally be a radical challenge to the understanding "The Bible" of others and causing some never to get to the end of chapter 1.  There is also important distinctions made between the liturgical reading (and hearing) of scripture and "Bible Study" or a whole range of other modes of engagement.

This general discussion takes up about half the book - and having taken on board the message of this first half the examination of the Lectionary itself becomes pretty self explanatory - I made me feel a bit like the first half was a waste of time, however on reflection I see that I would not have got the second half if I encountered it alone.

O'Loughlin, in the second half, sets out the aim of those who put the Revised Lectionary together, it is a revelation that there were such strong aims given the output has become so widely accepted inter-denominationally (to often it is the bland that becomes universal - and with the Lectionary I think the assumption of many is because it is universal it must be bland). Even with new insights on the structure and the message of the Lectionary, what remains a challenge is the sheer scale of the encounter given its three year cycle, how many of us, even the most regular of church goers, can really hold three years worth of  liturgical experience in tension before us? However I think I will look with fresh eye at the reading before me Sunday to Sunday - and also when I now argue against the setting aside of Lectionary readings for this or that 'special' service I can arm myself with reason rather than just my reactionary spirit.

Salvage by Gee Williams

Salvage

For the most part this is a highly engaging story, each part is told by a different character, the one in part musing about the next, this is really effective and leads you into the depths of the story.
The other really interesting thing about these different viewpoints is that you build up a picture of events in the round, each one shares their understand of what has happened - and you end up with the realisation that the "truth" has perhaps escaped them all (or perhaps truth just does not exist in abstract at all...). 

That it is set in Chester was also an interest for me, as my parents over the past 8 or so years have lived there.  I think this mean I know Chester well enough to validate the descriptions of it as authentic but not so well that I would spot the slight geographical anomalies that are bound to be present. That Parkgate features is also a little delight (the seaside town which is no longer by the sea - as the estuary has silted up and a grassy marsh has replaced the beach) it is a surreal place and so a great setting for some of the more surreal moments of the story.

I began by praising the work only for "the most part" - it is perhaps only the last dozen pages or so for which I have qualified my statement. I think the story could have been left unresolved but Gee does a bit of unnecessary tidying up - added a devise where one of the characters is a writer and you are lead to believe that some if not all of what came before is this writer's fictionalisation of events which may or may not have happened.  This adds a pointless layer of complexity to the story and I felt devalues the journey which I had been on with the characters - my advice is enjoy this but stop at around page 200... 

The Eucharistic Liturgies by Paul F. Bradshaw and Maxwell E. Johnson

The Eucharistic Liturgies: Their Evolution and Interpretation

One of the great delights of membership of the Alcuin Club is the arrival of its annual "Collection" - of which this is the 87th volume - they range widely over Liturgical Studies and so challenge you to read and think about areas which might not always be you first preference.

The arrival of this volume was a little intimidating, at 350+ pages it looked little something of a "tome", while the stated ambition in the introduction to have written the standard text book for the study of the Eucharist added to the sense of gravitas.  I doubt I would have picked this book up myself preferring something a bit more "sexy" therefore it was pleasing to find this a highly readable and engaging work.

The 'myth' of the linear development from Jewish Passovers to the Last Supper and on into the Christian Eucharist is deeply embedded in our psyche as a worshipping community, but Bradshaw and Johnson gently and skilfully in pick this myth and show the much more complex and therefore much more fansinating story.

This is written as a text book and so most of the content is drawn from the work of others, but while the work may not be original the ability to bring the full scope of 2000 years of mainstream Christian Eucharistic practice (both Western and Eastern) into a single view is a great and valuable achievement.