Get Around GodSpeak

 

Follow Me on Pinterest

Read Up
  • Unreconciled?: Exploring Mission in an Imperfect World
    Unreconciled?: Exploring Mission in an Imperfect World
    by Ann Richards, Mission Theology Advisory Group

    This book is the reference resource for the 2012 Lent courses at All Saints Ealing and St Martins West Acton. The focus is about making our theology of reconcilaition personal not just a matter of Christian duty. It is all too easy to pray for reconciliation for war torn countries "out there". But what about the reconciliation needed "in here"? What about the Unreconciled in our homes or on our doorsteps who feel left out, unheard, wounded or ignored? How can the local church offer the gift of Christ's reconciliation to those whose problems we are not even aware of?

  • Why Sacraments?
    Why Sacraments?
    by Andrew Davison

    A very thorough overview of the 7 sacraments and their relationship to the doctrine of the incarnation. Davison's writing is accessible, scholarly and succinct. 

  • Elements of Rite: A Handbook of Liturgical Style
    Elements of Rite: A Handbook of Liturgical Style
    by Aidan Kavanagh

    Essential source book for any liturgist. Kavanagh unpacks basic very profound principles informing healthy Echaristic worship.

  • Why Go to Church?: The Drama of the Eucharist
    Why Go to Church?: The Drama of the Eucharist
    by Timothy Radcliffe

    How the Eucharist brings us into slow work of faith, hope and love.

  • Creating Uncommon Worship: Transforming the Liturgy of the Eucharist
    Creating Uncommon Worship: Transforming the Liturgy of the Eucharist
    by Richard Giles

    This book highlights the great richness, variety and imaginitive potential of modern sacramental worship. A must read for liturgists.

  • The Art of Worship: Paintings, Prayers, and Readings for Meditation (National Gallery London)
    The Art of Worship: Paintings, Prayers, and Readings for Meditation (National Gallery London)
    by Nicholas Holtam

    An excellent collection of spiritual reflecions on selected artwork in the National Gallery. This is Nicholas Holtam (one time Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields and now Bishop Salisbury) at his best.

  • Difficult Gospel: The Theology of Rowan Williams
    Difficult Gospel: The Theology of Rowan Williams
    by Mike Higton

    A must-read for anyone who wants to understand the fundamental principles behind Rowan Williams' theology.

  • The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger
    The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger
    by Richard Wilkinson, Kate Pickett

    A compelling statistical study about equal societies and the broad based social benefits enjoyed in these nations. The numbers are easy and so is the read; but the implications are hard to swallow.

  • The Shattered Lantern: Rediscovering a Felt Presence of God
    The Shattered Lantern: Rediscovering a Felt Presence of God
    by Ronald Rolheiser

    What does authentic Christian spirituality look and feel like? This book explores these very relevant themes and will leave you deeply enriched.

  • Tradition and Imagination: Revelation and Change
    Tradition and Imagination: Revelation and Change
    by David Brown
  • Discipleship and Imagination: Christian Tradition and Truth
    Discipleship and Imagination: Christian Tradition and Truth
    by David Brown
  • God and Enchantment of Place: Reclaiming Human Experience
    God and Enchantment of Place: Reclaiming Human Experience
    by David Brown
  • God and Grace of Body: Sacrament in Ordinary
    God and Grace of Body: Sacrament in Ordinary
    by David Brown
  • God and Mystery in Words: Experience through Metaphor and Drama
    God and Mystery in Words: Experience through Metaphor and Drama
    by David Brown
  • Poet and Peasant: Literary-cultural Approach to the Parables in Luke
    Poet and Peasant: Literary-cultural Approach to the Parables in Luke
    by Kenneth E. Bailey

    An outstanding study of the parables. Kenneth Bailey's profound insights into the Middle-Eastern culture of Jesus' day will revolutionise the way you see the parables. 

« Christmas 2012 at All Saints | Main | Anglican Church of Southern Africa Elects 2nd Female Bishop »
Sunday
Dec162012

Jesus wept. (The real meaning of Christmas?)

At the time of writing we are all still reeling from the devastating massacre of school children in Newtown, Connecticut. But this is not only because it was so unexpected and violent. How can we begin to understand (let alone move beyond) the cruel fact that most of those who were slain were children between the ages of 5 and 10? The wholesale slaughter of the innocent should rightly evoke anger, despair and even disgust at the dark power of humanity. As President Barak Obama said in his tearful address to the American people “Our hearts are broken.”

Reflecting a little more on this event and some of the reactions (appropriate or otherwise!) I wonder if perhaps what haunts us most about Newtown is the brutal, unavoidable reality of evil in the world and the devastating suffering it can produce on our very doorstep. It is easy to become desensitised to the bloodletting that erupts in global hot spots. The slaughter of the innocent is conveniently transformed into a tidy update on global affairs in an evening news broadcast. But Newtown is painfully familiar. This supposedly average middle class suburb with local institutions, challenges and comforts we would know all too well has been shattered by something unthinkable. Possibly what unhinges all of us a little is the realisation that this nightmare could be ours. And so could the devastation.     

Just by chance I was handed something at the early morning service on the Sunday following the shooting. It is a piece of Polish folk art called “The Weeping Jesus” which belonged to a long time parishioner of the church. Almost immediately, it brought to mind John 11:35 “Jesus wept.” This is the shortest sentence in scripture and as a result is easily glanced over or even ignored completely. However, this stark and simple description of Jesus’ reaction to the death of his friend Lazarus is a profound symbol of the Christian faith. In fact, it is to my mind the real reason why we celebrate Christmas.

These two words convey the compelling consequences of the incarnation – God through Jesus is not just with us in the sense of being present, God is actually fully immersed in human experience in a way that is as intimate and immediate as our own experience. To put it more simply, God doesn’t just suffer with us, in Jesus (and in particular in Jesus on the cross) we believe that God became the full potential of all human suffering.

As Christians we should not be tempted to offer trite or well-worn phrases of comfort for the bereaved families and community of Newtown. We do not believe in a God that simply speaks soothing words in the face of human frailty and devastation. Instead we believe in a God who was “crucified, dead and buried”; a God who was utterly soaked in human suffering. We proclaim the power of a saviour who enters the world as a powerless baby, wept when he finds his friend dead and was terrified by the excruciating execution that awaited him.

Do we have the courage to believe that God was soaked in the cocktail of terror, anger and heartbreak of Newtown on 14 December 2012? Can we risk believing that Jesus wept? And as disconcerting as it may seem at first glance, is our faith in the strange circumstances surrounding a squalid and forgotten stable in Bethlehem the very reason to sing with conviction on Christmas day: “Joy to the world, the Lord is come”?

PrintView Printer Friendly Version

EmailEmail Article to Friend

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>