Breakfast with Jacinda

The sixth of February is Waitangi day – a national holiday and a celebration of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi), the founding document of Aotearoa New Zealand. This year, we had the privilege of attending a dawn service at the Treaty Grounds in Waitangi – as the sky slowly brightened and the sun rose over the Bay of Islands. We joined others in reflecting on the country’s history and its ongoing journey to truly embrace the unity, justice and hope enshrined in the treaty.

After the service, we (along with a few thousand others) were treated to a wonderful outdoor breakfast of bacon, sausage, eggs and hash browns graciously served by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and several of her fellow Ministers.

It was a wonderful, simple and genuine gesture that, for me, somehow embraced the spirit of that treaty, and the character and integrity of this national leader. There was something very human and natural about her smile as she dished out dollops of scrambled eggs that seemed totally in keeping with the genuine commitment we’d heard in her voice earlier in the week as she spoke at a Powhiri (traditional Maori welcome ceremony) on the same spot.

Seeing and hearing Jacinda in person has confirmed to me that she is a true leader: someone who is prepared to listen; who readily acknowledges that she hasn’t got everything right, but is determined to do her best; who sincerely wants to be held to account by those who have been marginalised or discriminated against.

Today, I have been reflecting on the Beatitudes – the qualities of character espoused by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. One translation of the Aramaic word, ‘blessed’ used by Jesus is ‘ripe’:

Ripe are those who find their home in the Spirit;

they shall be attuned to the inner reign of God.

Ripe are those who mourn for people who are suffering;

they shall be united inside by love.

Ripe are the gentle;

they shall be open to receive strength from the earth.

Ripe are those who hunger and thirst for justice;

they shall be encircled by the birth of a new society.

Ripe are the compassionate;

upon them shall be compassion.

Ripe are those who are consistent in heart;

they shall contemplate God.

Ripe are those who plant peace in each season;

they shall be named the children of God.

Ripe are those who are persecuted for the sake of justice;

the reign of God is in them.”[1]

This concept captures something of maturity, fullness, wholeness and goodness, a sense of having reached a stage of the fullness of the person I am meant to be. And above, all of nourishment – those who are ‘blessed’, ‘ripe’ bring nourishment and goodness to others. The qualities of the Beatitudes: meekness, poverty of spirit, gentleness, grieving, are not what we typically expect of our politicians. But when we do see them, they are truly nourishing.


[1] This version of the Beatitudes is taken from a translation from the Aramaic text of the New Testament by Dr Patricia Fresen. A fuller exposition of this can be found at https://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-beatitudes-as-translated-from.html

Moving On: An ancient manifesto for a new world order

‘The signs of haunting are all around us. Conflict rages between groups and nations. The gap widens between the poor and the rich. So many are displaced, left out, or left behind. Due to our actions, even the future of the planet is threatened.

If we aren’t disturbed, then we haven’t been paying attention.

The time has come for us to be WOKE.

The system is broken, and we are that system. If we want change, it will have to begin with us – with our hearts and minds, our actions and our voices. Let’s imagine and make a whole new world.

A growing number of us have begun to wonder if the beatitudes might contain the keys to our liberation. These ancient sayings, spoken by Jesus, offer a nine statement manifesto for a new world order. Hidden in plain sight and so often ignored, even by those who call themselves followers, the nine beats offer a radical alternative to the broken system we’ve created. In them we hear the whispers of another world.’

(Mark Scandrette – The Ninefold Path).

As our country continues in some form of lockdown and social distancing, and just taking hesitant steps towards the easing of restrictions, we at Breathing Space sadly remain closed to the public.

We are, however, continuing our daily evening prayer – every Monday to Friday at 5.30pm.

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Finding a path through the wilderness

Over the next few weeks we are going to focus on the Beatitudes – those incredible, unsettling words of Jesus. We will be using some material from the Nine Beats Collective which we discovered at Greenbelt a few years ago and which bring the Beatitudes alive in a fresh way that is full of meaning for our world today – particularly as we dare to dream of a better world beyond the realities of our current situation.

As we enter into this rhythm, we encourage you to take a look at the material of The Ninefold Path, including some inspiring videos, reflections and suggestions for putting this way of life into practice.

And join us for our evening prayer, live at 5.30pm, or catch up later, on our Facebook page.

(you don’t need to have a Facebook account to join us, just click on the link).

We have made some tweaks to the liturgy we are using, drawing on material from the Corrymeela Community in Northern Ireland and from the New Zealand Prayer Book. We hope you find the refreshed words helpful and inspiring. You can download our liturgy from the resources section of our website.

Rebellions are built on hope

Rogue One

Earlier this week I went to see Rogue One, the new Star Wars movie, with two of Lois’ grandchildren. It is a great movie and fills in one of the crucial gaps in the whole Star Wars nonet (although perhaps it should now be a decet?)

 

 

 

 

How did the Rebel Alliance get hold of the plans for the death star in the first place?

 

The audacity of hope

The overriding theme of the movie is one of hope: Rebellions are built on hope. It is hope that keeps the rebels fighting for what they know to be right. In spite of the seeming futility of their task; In spite of the overwhelming odds of failure that the droid K2-SO keeps reminding them of – they keep striving to overcome.

Hope is audacious.

And yet, the characters in the movie cling to that hope, ultimately sacrificing themselves for it.

A crucial turn in the narrative occurs when the Council of the Rebel Alliance votes on the course of action they must take. The options before them seem bleak: they can rally arms against their invincible foe, using violence to combat violence; or they can submit to the Empire’s dominion, each person looking out for themselves and hoping to stay under the radar enough for some sort of oppressed existence.

 

A third way

jyn_ersoOr they can trust the audacious testimony of one young woman, Jyn Erso, who claims to have been given a message of hope. That third way will inevitably lead to sacrifice with no guarantee of success.

In the end, the Council rejects Jyn’s third way and each chooses to go their own way: to fight or to submit.

Except for a small group of rebels who have the audacity to hope.

 

 

Hope in a post-2016 world

I wonder whether – in our post-2016 world – we, too, have similar choices ahead of us. The violence and greed that has seemed to dominate our global culture threatens to overwhelm us all. Democracy seems to have failed and our politicians have let us down. Fundamentalist beliefs continue to rise, exacerbating the terror, injustice and oppression.

In the face of all that we can respond with yet more violence and greed: individuals protecting their own; nations responding with an escalation of violence, a renewed arms race that promises yet more destruction. Or we can accept the status quo, believe the myth that there is nothing we can do, and live within the prevailing culture, each one of us making sure that we are ok, and never minding everyone else.

 

A non-violent rebellion built on hope

But as we go into 2017, perhaps there is a third way: the way of rebellion built on hope.

week3_13-nativity

And maybe that is what the Christmas story brings: the unbelievable testimony of a young woman who had a vision; of insignificant shepherds who heard an angel’s message of peace and goodwill; of a vulnerable baby who became a vulnerable man, proclaiming a message of non-violent resistance – neither submitting to the oppressive culture of his day, nor responding to it with yet more violence, but bringing instead a gift of hope.

This third way is a way of sacrifice, of going against the status quo, but I believe it is the only way of hope.

It is the way of people like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, the Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi, Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

It is a non-violent rebellion built on hope.

The Beatitudes: The promise and the praxis of hope

Re-reading the Beatitudes

Last week I read again the Beatitudes – Jesus’ famous pronouncements of blessings in his Sermon on the Mount. I’m not sure why I had failed to see it before, but this time it was staring me in the face: The Beatitudes fall into two very disparate groups.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

(Matthew 5: 1-10)

 

The smaller group (Beatitudes 1, 2 and 8) offers a promise of hope to those who are victims – of suffering, violence and greed. The other five present, instead, a challenge to all of us to take on attitudes that counter our dominant cultures of violence and greed and to become part of the solution rather than the problem.

Seeing the Beatitudes in this light seems to me to address one of the fundamental problems thrown up by these sayings – that they just don’t seem to be true. The reality is that those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, and those who are persecuted just aren’t blessed in any of the usual senses of the word. And even those who are meek, merciful, pure in heart, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (justice), and the peacemakers far too often seem to be trampled on or taken advantage of rather than blessed.

But if we see the Beatitudes as holding out a very real promise of hope for victims, and a very pragmatic challenge for the rest of us, they start to carry a very different meaning.

 

The promise of hope

In speaking to those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, and those who are persecuted, Jesus seems to be speaking directly to those who are the victims of suffering, violence and greed:

  • Blessed are the poor in spirit: those who are broken, crushed, weighed down; the victims of abuse, those who have had their spirits trampled on, who have been fed the lie that they are worthless, unloved and unlovable; those suffering with mental illness, depression or fatigue; those who are lonely, hurt by broken relationships; the disabled, the homeless, those with addictions; those rejected by society as somehow unworthy.
  • Blessed are those who mourn: the grieving, those who have lost loved ones; those who mourn the loss of their own innocence; those suffering from physical illness; those who have lost their homes or possessions; those made redundant or who have lost a sense of their own purpose or significance in life.
  • Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness (justice) sake: the innocent victims of violence and war; the displaced, refugees; those who are unjustly exploited or oppressed; the victims of racism or other prejudices.

And, in Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, Jesus seems to go even more directly to the point, pronouncing blessings on those who are the victims of inequity, exploitation and injustice:

  • Blessed are you who are poor
  • Blessed are you who are hungry now
  • Blessed are you who weep now (Luke 6: 20.21)

And to all of these, Jesus seems to proclaim the promise of a future hope: that their present lot is not the last word: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; they will be comforted; they will be filled; they will laugh. Jesus offers the hope of something far better to come – of a time when there truly will be ‘no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ (Revelation 21: 4)

 

The Praxis of hope

banksy love and moneyWhich brings us then to the second group of blessings – those which challenge us to a new way of living, the praxis of hope – in which we adopt attitudes of non-violence, sacrifice and humility, attitudes which counter the suffering, violence and greed of our world.

And so Jesus challenges us to be meek – to stand up, non-violently for truth; to hunger and thirst for justice and righteousness, to speak out on behalf of the oppressed, to challenge the injustices of our society; to be merciful not judgemental; to be pure in heart, not hypocritical or duplicitous; and to be peacemakers.

 

By creating and maintaining our cultures of individualism, consumerism, fear and blame, we all (me included) carry responsibility for those who are harmed by or cannot cope with the inequalities and pressures they create.

None of that is easy – I know that I am so bound up in our culture that I too contribute to the ongoing injustices of our world and exploitation of the earth’s resources, that I enjoy the blessings and privileges of education, wealth and power, while others go hungry, are displaced and exploited. But the alternatives seem to be either that I continue to buy in to our individualistic, consumerist mentality, and remain a part of the problem, or I strive, continually to live Jesus’ way of non-violence (Satyagraha) and become a blessing to others – part of the solution, the praxis of hope.

It may be a hard path to take, but it is the only way that we can see the kingdom of heaven, that we can be filled, to see God in other people and in our world, to receive mercy and for all of us to become children of God.

The violence of the motorcar

 

 

Last night I ran over a cat.

There was nothing I could do as it dashed into the road and under the wheels of my car.

I pulled over, shaken and upset, and was relieved to find that the poor thing was at least alive and limping off the road to hide in a doorway. We managed to locate the neighbour and I just hope that the vet has been able to set her to rights, fix any broken bones and relieve some of the pain and shock.

 

I may not be a great cat-lover, but I really wouldn’t wish such suffering on any innocent creature. So it was somewhat pertinent that my meditations this morning brought me to Psalm 73:

 

‘All in vain I have kept my heart clean

and washed my hands in innocence.’

 

Over recent years I have found myself increasingly trying to walk a road of non-violence – to embrace Gandhi’s principles of Satyagraha; to embed the values of Jesus’ Beatitudes; striving to be meek, to be merciful, to be pure in heart; longing for justice; seeking to be a peacemaker.

And then I run over a cat.

 

So is it all in vain? My blogging on justice issues, voting to remain in the EU, urging my MP to speak out against the Trident programme, joining the Green party?

 

It seems to me that, no matter how hard we try, the reality is that we live in a culture of violence and greed. And I, too, have bought into that. I try to live simply, but the reality is that my lifestyle is extravagant, even by the standards of many in my own country. I speak out against injustice, and yet the luxuries I enjoy are bought on the back of oppression.

Even the car, on which I am so dependent, is itself a tool of violence: guzzling up fossil fuels with every mile I travel; pouring forth its CO2 and other pollutants into our atmosphere; disrupting the peace of my evening with its penetrating background noise; luring me into an ever-more frantic pace of life; and harming innocent felines as it goes.

 

Banksy on the mount I: The Beatitudes

Now when he saw the crowds,

he went into the urban jungle

and began to paint…

 

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The Beatitudes…

 

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

~

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banksy-trees_3460301b

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted

~

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banksy dream big

Blessed are the meek,

for they shall inherit the earth

~

.

Banksy dreams

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled

~

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banksy elephant

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy

~

.

banksy lovers

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God

~

.

banksy peacemaker.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God

~

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banksy way of the cross

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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Banksy on the Mount: a series of reflections