The Hedgehog Review on Work and Dignity

The latest issue – 14, 3 (Fall 2012) – of The Hedgehog Review is now available, this one devoted to ‘Work and Dignity’.

A few sample articles are available online, including:

• a piece by Benjamin Snyder on dignity, the body, and truck driving:

‘My experiences with truck drivers... have shown me that what appears on the surface to be “unskilled” labor actually relies on a professional attitude toward the body that calls on workers to cultivate highly specialized forms of corporal expertise.’

• a conversation between Mike Rose and Matthew Crawford on work and dignity.

• a book forum on Michael Sandel’s What Money Can’t Buy.

When God Made Creation

One of my family members was whistling a tune today which reminded me of this hymn I used to sing at school. I was struck by its simple narrative unfolding:

When God made creation,

In true adoration

The stars of the morning all shouted his praise;

The sun in his splendour,

The moon, young and tender,

Sang: ‘Praise to the Lord, the Ancient of Days’.

That God loved his children

And happiness willed them,

The stars and the beasts and the flowers knew well;

But wilful man only,

Preferred to be lonely,

And turning from love, to darkness he fell.

But God would not leave him

In sorrow and grieving,

And came down to seek him in meekness and love,

And gently he taught him,

And dearly he bought him,

And raised him again to glory above.

Then sing of God’s glory,

His wonderful story,

O sing out his praise all you Children of Light;

Through worlds never-ending,

Your praises ascending;

O sing of his love! O sing of his might!

M.E. Rose

Mission Frontiers 34, 6 (November-December 2012)

The November-December 2012 issue of Mission Frontiers, published by the U.S. Center for World Mission, contains a number of articles around the theme of ‘Peoples on the Move’.

Here’s part of the summary blurb:

‘In this issue we examine the realities of an increasingly cross-cultural world as the nations are coming to us, be they refugees, business men and women, or international students. What does this increasing reality mean for missions? What does it mean for Christ followers in the nations welcoming these peoples on the move?’

Individual articles can be accessed from here; the whole issue can be downloaded as a pdf here.

Centre for Public Christianity (November 2012)

The most recent newsletter from the Centre for Public Christianity contains links to a video interview with Michael Schluter on life through a ‘relational’ lens, an audio discussion between Simon Smart and Jusine Toh on the significance of stillness and silence in a world of busyness and noise, and a piece by John Dickson exploring the origins of Halloween, and seeking to make the case that ‘Halloween is no more “evil” than Christmas’.

Theos and The Grubb Institute on English Cathedrals

Theos and The Grubb Institute, Spiritual Capital: The Present and Future of English Cathedrals (London: Theos, 2012).

Theos have produced another interesting-looking booklet, this one in partnership with The Grubb Institute, on Church of England Cathedrals.

There is more detail here, it’s available for download here, and here’s the back cover blurb:

‘Church of England cathedrals have a unique and widely admired position within English society. Praised for their architectural magnificence, aesthetic appeal and historical significance, this report shows that their impact on and significance for English life extends far beyond their role as tourist destinations.

‘Based on an extensive and detailed research programme carried out by The Grubb Institute and Theos over 2011–12, Spiritual Capital looks at cathedrals in contemporary England, assessing the breadth, depth and nature of their activity and appeal, with the objective of helping those who run and work in them to understand and respond better to the challenges of the 21st century.

‘Visited and enjoyed by millions, research shows that cathedrals are also uniquely able to reach beyond boundaries, to communicate a sense of the sacred, and to enable and sustain a range of connections – between the tourist and the pilgrim;

between people and the traditions from which modern life cuts them off and between the diverse organisations and communities that share the same social and physical space and infrastructure yet rarely meet.

‘At the same time, cathedrals are recognised as Christian institutions. As such, they have their own distinct logic – of generosity and grace, of hospitality and holiness – on which they draw in order to serve their communities, and live out the message of Jesus Christ. Rather than alienate people who are not Christians, however, this authentic Christianity is widely respected and appreciated.

‘Spiritual Capital shows how cathedrals stand at the heart of contemporary English life – geographically, socially, civically and spiritually – and hopes to help those connected with them to identify and respond faithfully and fruitfully to the opportunities of a new century.’

Lausanne Movement on Creation Care

During October, the monthly focus from the Lausanne Movement on the issues raised in The Cape Town Commitment has been Creation Care.

There is a summarising piece by Naomi Frizzell – ‘This is My Father’s World’.

October saw a team of international specialists on creation care meeting in Jamaica for a consultation on ‘Creation Care and the Gospel’. Abstracts of the Theme Papers and Interest Group Presentations are available from here.

Mystery and Blessing

[I contributed today’s ‘Word for the Week’, a weekly email service provided by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. It’s the sixth in a series on Jesus’ parables. Somewhat foolishly perhaps, I chose the passage about why Jesus speaks in parables, and I fear the reflections below are barely adequate for the issues involved.]

The disciples came to him and asked, ‘Why do you speak to the people in parables?’ He replied, ‘The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them... But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.’

Matthew 13:10-11, 16

How, we might ask, does God exercise his kingly power in the world? And Jesus responds with stories of a farmer sowing seed, of yeast in a lump of dough, of treasure hidden in a field, of a net full of fish, of a man hiring workers for his vineyard, of a wedding banquet, of ten bridesmaids... Puzzled? Jesus’ parables are bound up with his announcement that God has begun to exercise his longed-for reign on earth – but it’s not always easy to see the links. Even the disciples found it difficult to draw the dots between the one and the other.

Jesus’ parables are often thought to be down-to-earth stories illustrating points which people would readily understand. But in many cases, instead of making the message clearer, they appear to make it harder to get! And there lies the challenge: implicit in every parable is a question – are your ears and eyes open to what God is doing?

Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question gives us a clue – maybe even the key – to what’s happening when he teaches in parables. The disciples are distinguished from the crowds not by their instant and intuitive understanding of the parables, but by their seeking of explanations, and by having the ‘secrets of the kingdom’ revealed to them. So it is that they are ‘blessed’, says Jesus, not because they are cleverer than others, or more deserving than others, but because God has given to them what he has not given to others – just as God granted Daniel access to the divine ‘mystery’ that the Babylonian sages were unable to understand.

In this case, the disciples witness God fulfilling his promises of salvation, even though it’s not happening like most people thought it would or should. One day God’s rule will embrace the whole earth, but he is already at work in unexpected ways – and each of the parables in Matthew 13 illustrates something of this tension between the ‘already’ and the ‘not yet’ of God’s reign.

For us too comes the challenge and incredible privilege of discerning God at work in the everyday, perhaps in quiet and unanticipated ways. Now as then – for those blessed with eyes to see and ears to hear – it’s possible to detect the extraordinary in the ordinary. Where will you see evidence of his reign today?