Deeper, and deeper in dialogue

I've started reading about the phenomenon of Deep Church in the UK which is proposing itself as a dialogue partner to Emergent church. Just what is deep church? Professor Andrew Walker seems to the lead figure editing Remembering our future - explorations in Deep Church. He writes:-

“Deep church is far more than an ecumenical dream of coming together across the barriers of ignorance and prejudice: it is predicated upon the central tenets of the gospel held in common by those who have the temerity to be “Mere Christians.” This commonality in the light of post-Enlightenment modernism is greater and more fundamental than the divisions and schisms of church history… Deep Church, as its name implies, is spiritual reality down in the depths - the foundations and structures of the Faith - which feed, sustain and equips us to be disciples of Christ.”

In these early days of investigation of Deep Church Robert E Webber jumps to my mind and in particular Ancient-Future Faith. The tension between the past and the future is fully realized in the present. John Stott for decades has talked about double listening both to the Bible and to culture. My intellectual home is very much LICC and it was founded to do this double listening. You may care to visit them through the panel places to visit.

I am struck by J R Woodward at Deep Church who writes about issues surrounding having the gospel be relevant in a particular place and time and yet remain faithful.

One of the ways to engage in the art of bilingual theological reflection [aka double listening] and thereby better construct a local theology would be to have the local congregation consider four primary questions:

1. If God’s reign were to be fully realized in our neighborhood, what would be different?
2. What are the kinds of idols in our neighborhood that need to be unmasked?
3. What aspects of Christ’s rule do people in our neighborhood need to experience or see?
4. What narratives, practices, convictions and institutions might challenge these idols and more faithfully express the kingdom of God?

Thoughtfully asking these questions would provide the local congregation with much understanding in how to construct a practical theology that is faithful to the good news of Christ in their location.

O that local faith communities were seriously willing to do discuss this, and I think especially focus on the fourth question. Discernment is not simply naming spirits or recognizing the hand of God rather it necessarily leads to judgments, decisions, and actions. I believe Soren Kirkegaarde used to speak having a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. Yet another double listening.

Kirkegaarde, I believe, also told a powerful story called, "The Domestic Goose." A flock of geese are spending their summer in a farmer's yard up north. They are very happy here. There's plenty to eat, and every week they gather to hear the preacher goose tell them about the wonderful trip they will soon make. They will eventually fly above the earth and soar high into the heavens, and will come to a warm and wonderful place. But they like this place in the farmer's yard so much, and they enjoy so much hearing the preacher goose, that they stay too long. December comes. The farmer kills them and they get eaten for Christmas dinner!

Many local churches are like the geese, and instead of a good preacher they need a good dialogue partner like Emergent church. However Emergent church also needs a good dialogue partner to make sure the whole group don't fly north for the winter! Just think about it!

A Reworking of Psalm 84

Somehow working poetically forces me to embrace and think more deeply about a psalm. This is my reworking of Psalm 84 from earlier this year.

Psalm 84 - adllto
O how desperately lovely is your presence O God
My heart, my soul, my earthbound being
yearns and faints with longing
for your life-giving presence and sovereignty
Even the little bird has her place and the traveling one a nest
near your altar
O Lord of Hosts, my king, my God
At home are those who live in your presence
responding in everlasting praise
Happy are those who find strength in you
whose heart is on the pilgrim’s way
passing through the vale of weeping
seeing it as a place of springs
As if early rains had brought pools of blessing
From strength to strength,
Life-giving moment to life-giving moment
to stand in glorious presence
Alone, a longing in my prayer
Hear me, O Lord, God of hosts
Give me your attention
Look at our shield, Look on with favour on your chosen
Better one day with you than a thousand somewhere
I would rather stand out in the open, close
than live in the shelter of the wicked
For God is warmth and protection
For God is grace and glory
Never holding back goodness from those walking uprightly
O Lord of Hosts - Happy is the longing one – trusting in you

Through a Glass Darkly

Wednesday night's movie in the series The Love of God was Pan's Labyrinth (Spanish: El Laberinto del Fauno; literally The Labyrinth of the Faun). The movie was written and directed by Guillermo del Toro and it won 3 Oscars among many other awards.

The film has two settings interwoven together, a fairy tale world where the Princess Moanna has moved from the underworld to the earth and lost her memory, and 1944 Spain where the Fascist Franco government has almost totally defeated any opposition. Ofelia, a young girl loves fairy tales and travels with her pregnant mother to meet her new stepfather a captain assigned to destroy the anti-fascist rebels left in the mounatins. A large stick insect, which she thinks is a fairy, leads her into an ancient labyrinth next to the old mill where they are billeted. Here she meets the faun/Pan who declares her to be Princess Moanna. He gives her the Book of Crossroads from which she will receive 3 tasks to complete.

Back in the mountains, the captain proves himself to be a brutal, self-determined, and demanding soldier willing to do anything. The most violent scenes (and they are violent) involved him and the soldiers. In fact the visual violence of this warfare is even more brutally portrayed than last week's film!

This movie reminds me of issues raise in Paprika (see earlier post), the nature and difference between reality and dreams/fairy tales. I surprised at the juxtapostion of the violence of life and fairy tale. Pan's Labyrinth basically came from Guillermo del Toro's notebooks, which he said were filled with "doodles, ideas, drawings, and plot bits." It, like Paprika, also synthesizes a large pool of iconic symbols and allusions to many stories of childhood. The soundtrack is basically draws on a lullaby hummed to Ofelia because the words are forgotten. Somehow while gentle it maintains a more hopeful tone, than a sleepy withdrawal, throughout the film.

Both J R Tolkien and C S Lewis believed that fairy tales are important as a medium—however dark and troubling they are, they can help us explore spiritual mysteries and understand a reality of grace which can shine through a glass dimly, or in this case a screen darkly. It is significant that while del Toro turned down the opportunity to direct The Chronicles of Narnia, yet in this movie the Christian overtones are still present and strong, e.g. temptation, disobedience, sacrifice and redemption.

The end of movie is ambiguous because reality itself is ambiguous but I felt the alternative reality in the world of Ofelia to be more real, more hopeful, more life giving than the world of Franco's Spain. For a while I wondered whether this fairy tale world was merely otherworld escapism, but when I really look inwardly at myself I find a deeper and lasting reality.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 1 John 1:1-2

Music as loud gesture

On May 27 1992, 22 people were killed by a mortar shell while queuing for bread during the Siege of Sarajevo. Vedran Smailović played his cello every day for 22 days to honour them, playing in the crater surviving the gun battles around him. Smailović became known as the cellist of Sarajevo because of this act of protest. The action was one of protest and music as protest has a long history.

The oldest protest song recognised is "The Cutty Wren" from the English peasants' revolt of 1381. A steady stream has continued to flow through history. One of the recent well known examples is of course "We Shall Overcome" was a song popular in the labor movement.

Vedran Smailović was asked by a CNN reporter if he was crazy playing his cello while Sarajevo was being shelled, he replied, "You ask me am I crazy for playing the cello, why do you not ask if they are not crazy for shelling Sarajevo?". Somehow he has drifted back into obscurity but his act of protest, of defiance against the violence of war and sectarianism is not forgotten.

Sometimes it is the small insignificant that can span time and space. A soft encouraging word can not just bring protest, but life itself. Yo Yo Ma has recorded a solo cello piece, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra has remembered him, his story has been told in books and magazines, there is even a fund to remember his action through The Cello Cries Out a charity started by 10 year old Jason Crowe in 1997. Jason went on to be given the Culture of Peace Award at the 2000 World Peace Ceremony in Tokyo, Japan. Vedran Smailović's small stone ripples across the world and history.

Music or worship can protest or at minimum reveal a disparity between the way things are and the way they could or should be. Richard John Neuhaus is recorded as declaring that Christian liturgy (aka worship) should intensify the cognitive dissonance between the community of faith and the world surrounding it. Marva Dawn equally as assertive said

Our goal is that worship practices will form character so that believers respond to God with commitment, love, thought, and virtuous action. The Scriptures make it clear that God wants his people not just to feel good, but to be good.

With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? ...
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:6,8

Dreams and hopes

Friday evening I decided to watch a Korean movie Do You Like a Spring Bear? 봄날의 곰을 좋아하세요? with actress Bae Du-Na 배두나.

Bae Du-Na plays a supermarket worker who has lost many boyfriends because of her less than traditional feminine traits. One day she find a message in a library book of art linked to a painting. "You're like a little bear awaken from hibernation. I am starting to fall in love with you..." She begins a paper chase from book to book captured by the mysteriously attractive words convinced the words are from Vincent for her. In the pursuit of this imagined love she almost misses and almost loses the love of someone much closer. It's very definitely a chick flick and almost a mirror image of I Wish I Had a Wife 나도 아내가 있었으면 좋겠다. Both epitomise the idiom that 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush'.

I think both movies reveal that there is an important difference between hope and dreams. The main characters in both movies have to lay aside dreams to find something more concrete, someone right under their nose. Both movies are also open ended as to whether the relationship will really happen and therefore all there is, is hope. They both do not have as yet good endings rather bring new beginnings.

So many people want solutions to situations (including myself!). Recent conversations with those hurting for different reasons has made me want their situations changed. But all I can do is listen, pray and give them an insight or vision of God's love. We want quick fixes. But really things are more about opportunities, seeing situations as a gift perhaps to be creative or hopeful or trusting of God. To dream in a situation is to escape it, to hope in it is to live it out.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

Listen Hard

The night of Oct 1, 2003 I had a dream. I was about to say something and at that very moment I dreamt my legs were covered by small leeches which were sucking my blood. I couldn't say anything. Somehow mysteriously, I had salt and I poured it on them and they began to let go and drop off! (This seemed to be a prophetic dream as I look back!)

That morning I recorded in my journal.

Truly God is good to Israel to those whose hearts are pure. But as for me, I came so close to the edge f the cliff! My feet were slipping and I was almost gone. For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness. They seem to live such a painless life. Their bodies are so healthy and strong. They aren't troubled like other people or plagued with problems like everyone else. psalm 73:1-5

A few days later my bike was stolen. I remember going to where I'd left it and then doubting I'd left it there and wondered where else I had locked it up! In this same time period I recorded bitter and cutting words in my journal and their effect on me drawing life from me. But I also noticed a clustering of grace that was going on around me as I struggled to understand what was going on and yet also words of encouragement from a young student who reminded me of our purpose and callings in life.

I wrote in my journal Don't let anyone condemn you by insisting on self-denial Col 2:18a.

It was probably around this moment I was at my lowest and still I noticed clustering of grace from others: a young Korean violinist struggling with hearing loss and several Japanese students struggling with their studies. Only now I notice how important they were.

I read just before Thanksgiving this by A J Gonzalez:

"Knowing that the heart of God is my home and the heart of the universe, makes alienation and homelessness impossible. This sounds utopian and leaves me with the experience of exile with its uprootedness and suffering. Yet I am called to welcome strangers."

The exercise of reviewing my journals and choosing to post bits is part of listening to the activity of God. But sometimes it takes years for me to hear... Thanksgiving Day in 2003 I was given a replacement bike by extended family.

Blackout - two kinds of darkness

The morning of the famous Northeast blackout of North America on August 14, 2003, I wrote this startling comment in my journal.
(I am right in the centre.)

"Prayer can be dangerous", says Robert Faricy, "when it is real, prayer pits against me all in the world that rejects Jesus."

Furthermore "until a person has developed a kind of sense for the action of God, it is difficult for him [or her] to make use of these signs [peace, love & joy] with any sureness. There is a complacency that may pass for peace, and there are false joys and wrong kinds of love that maybe mistaken for those of the Spirit."

That day was the largest blackout in North American history. It affected 10 million people one-third of the population of Canada, and one seventh of the US i.e. eight U.S. states.

There are two darknesses in the spiritual life, one is a darkness because of false light because the person has exercised prudence phronesis (see my earlier post) and confused that with discernment. The person is complacent in their relationship with God and do not seek to be familiar with God to know love and be loved. The other is that of faith, a true darkness. "The Holy Spirit leads me to a loving knowing, to a knowing through loving and being loved. This "knowing through love" can take the form of dark knowledge, a knowing in obscurity that seems a non-knowing, a blank. It will often be a groping in the dark, a knowledge in the darkness of faith...".

We can be like the house sparrow which was determined to carry on flying around inside my kitchen, trying to fly higher rather than fly towards the window and darkness. "Discernment differs from prudence. Both concern making decisions, but prudence judges the act itself, whether a given action or option is wise, prudent under the circumstances. Discernment judges the impulse to act, judges whether the idea to do this comes from God or from elsewhere." What seems darkness may in fact be where God is calling us because our faith will grow. Yet if we know we are loved by God and love God so then we trust God in the darkness.

We know that "We all possess knowledge." But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God. 1 Cor 8:1b-3

Flying in the dark isn't so bad

On Wednesday night I came home tired and climbed the stairs to hear a flapping sound. One of these had got into my kitchen and was flying around. I took the window panes out but the bird continued to fly around. After half an hour of trying to catch it I began to despair. I was beginning to wonder if the only way would be to kill it. (As I tried to identify it on the internet and in a bird book, I found out that in Canada, it is one of three birds not protected by law.)

The house sparrow, Latin name passer domesticus, isn't meant to live inside a house and definitely is not a pet! This bird is a problem in North America destroying the eggs of native birds to seize their nests. It isn't even native to North America. How was I to get it out? I'd tried using a box and plastic bin. As I desperately looked for a solution the two of us were getting tired. The bird was trying to crawl along the edge of the wall and countertop. I threw an old towel over it. It didn't have enough strength to struggle. It complained as I trapped it in the towel. But as I threw it from the window it flew off. It's flying instincts took over.

The bird could have easily flown out the window if it had been willing to fly lower down and not at ceiling height and secondly if it could face the darkness outside. Recently I've been listening to those for whom God's presence seemed more distant, they were flying lower down. I shared that growth involves times of deeper trust and sometimes it is a dark trust, a trust without vision, a flying in the dark knowing it is better here than where you were.

We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 2 Cor 5:7-8

Kelzmer and the human voice

A 19th Century Klezmer band in action or at least that was the caption to the photo. There is enough in the picture to suggest an ethnic band of travelers who play music together and its believable but not necessarily provable. This is specifically Jewish music the music of Klezmer כּלי־זמיר(yes I can read a little Hebrew alphabet though this is Yiddish which is a fusion of medieval German and Hebrew)

Following the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70, musical instruments were discourage in synagogues. But other aspects of life needed music such as weddings, and the klezmorim filled that gap. They filled a similar position as the Romas/gypsies and acquired some of their techniques. Klezmorim were accomplished musicians and they had a diverse repertoire in fact Christian churches would sometimes use them and even Italian classical violin virtuosos learned from them. In particular Ukrainian restrictions right into the 19th century forced them to play the violin and other string instruments though nowadays we hear the clarinet a lot.

Klezmer is distinctive because of its melodies sounding like the human voice, imitating both laughter and crying. The style imitates the singing of the synagogue from which they had been excluded. We can find the language of the Psalms in the style and tones. In fact Klezmer means instrument or vessel of song referring to both music genre and musician. Klezmer attracts me for its vox humana for it speaks in human tones, without words, of the highs and lows of life. I have enjoyed Ashkenzi festivals and the different fusion styles but its voice remains.

As I reflect over Klezmer, I think spirituality, which is a human voice; any spirituality that cannot accommodate both celebration and commiseration, both tears of joy and sadness, in the togetherness of community is lacking.

Empty meaningless hope

On soft gray mornings widows cry, The wise men share a joke; I run to grasp divining signs, To satisfy the hoax. The yellow jester does not play, But gentle pulls the strings And smiles as the puppets dance, In the court of the crimson king. - King Crimson

In the series the Love of God, Wednesday night's offering was The Children of Men.

“The Children of Men,” is directed by Alfonso Cuarón, who is also one of five screenwriters credited with adapting P.D. James's book. The film felt relentless and exhausting and energetic, and yet captivating in its story line, but it was extremely dark and ominously familiar. I believe these to have all been Cuarón's intent and he was successful.

Set in 2027, global humanity has lost the ability to produce babies for 18 years. The United Kingdom is full of illegal immigrants who are being caught, caged and deported. In this apocalyptic world we see chaos and the stench of impending human extinction.

Theo, because of a number of events, assumes responsibility for the care and protection of a pregnant woman, Kee in this world of infertility. She and her expected child become a symbol of gentle hope for some and of political power for others. However the movie's language is strong and this vision is filled with a lot of violence and we are presented with a world without hope. In fact this hopelessness is basically heading violently to termination and yet this little baby following it's birth stuns for a moment a pitched gun battle between rebels and authorities. This baby offers hope but a jaded strange hope in the 'Human project' an offshore haven away from this fascist state asserting itself against the unwanted and the anarchic disorder.

There were a lot of obvious symbols and lingering shots reflective of the nativity, the birth of Jesus. One could have predicted John Tavener's minimalist music, but there some surprising ones as well . Around the visit to the government fortress the presence of the flying pig balloon from Pink Floyd's Animal, the use of music from King Crimson's In the court of the Crimson King, can give us an insight into the director/screenwriter's mind. It appears PD James' novel is by far more explicitly Christian than the film. In fact we find many characters have been appropriated to fit an intrinsic critique of unbridled political power and the portrayal of a fascist state. (One cannot deny the film's strong allusions to Nazi Germany.)

G.K. Chesterton wrote: “Men who begin to fight the Church for the sake of freedom and humanity end by flinging away freedom and humanity if only they may fight the Church.” Slavoj Zizek on the film's website cites this and asserts "the same holds for the advocates of religion themselves." Obviously this is a potential risk but only when humans decide to fight for the church, and they decide how they will fight for the church. The Children of Men has a similar trajectory to Lord of the Flies by William Golding a descent into disorder. But nonviolent protest and the fight against injustice, provision of hope, has a deep recent history, e.g. Gandi, Martin Luther King, people power in the Philippines against Marcos and currently protest in Myanmar. It has a refusal to thrown away freedom and humanity.

However a scene with a banal meaningless discussion of the relationship of “faith” and “chance” betrays an ambiguity that is intended. Traditionally providence is to accept what happens as an act of God, chance is an empty acceptance denying cause and effect such that what happens has no meaning. Somehow this latter view pervades the movie and even the baby is only symbolic of hope, its birth is a chance event and not a seen as gift or opportunity. Cuarón's adaptation really offers only empty hope the religious is reduced to meaninglessness and inept practices just look at the taichi or meaningless rituals. There is no hope for change. for redemption, only escape. BUT Christmas (coming soon) and birth of the Son/child of God (rather than men) brings not just hope but Emmanuel, God with us.

Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. Luke 1:3-4

all about cello

The copyright for this belongs to Chow Tze Chun though choweggtart is his or her internet identity. It's widely available on the internet and eventually when I figure how to embed youtube and google video I'll do that.

How much is learning always in a communal context against a personal individual thing? All about cello needs an audience, the animator created is for a class assignment as far as I can see but it needed a greater audience. Even this blog is meaningless without readers, the same with books and any form of media.

I think published sheet music is different because the musician seems to have a different role. (I suspect poetry to be similar.) The musician is far less passive. In the pre-recorded music era many homes depended on family members being able to sing or play a musical instrument. You can note a level of proficiency just by looking at the vocal scale of the Victorian era against that of 21st century pop music. A level of proficiency was aspired to because of the communal context and engagement.

Nodame Cantabile (see my labels list) has many messages for me probably first and foremost is to be serious and to engage with music on its own terms (including the composer's style etc) but secondly is to understand how to catch. enchant or draw the audience into your world. Even then sometimes the audience isn't willing to listen or ready to listen. We all need to speak and be heard but it's not a matter of shouting. How come we rarely hear God? How come we rarely hear each other?

More on Compassion and competition

(left is a cotton furoshiki, wrapping cloth called the Rabbit and the Moon)

Sometimes a story leaves a deep crater when you hear or read it. Augustine Ichiro Okumura retold this Japanese folk story in his book Awakening to Prayer. (Click here to read it online) Everything below is his words.

The Rabbit on the Moon

"In our day and age children no longer believe in rabbits on the moon. But all Japanese know the charming legend and still see in the shadows on the full moon a rabbit threshing his rice. I believe that other countries see a woman reading or the man in the moon. All these legends show us that our ancestors looked for meaning in the universe. Here is the Japanese legend:"

Once upon a time long ago, a monkey, a rabbit, and a fox lived together as friends. During the day they frolicked on the mountain; at night they went back to the forest. This went on for some years. The Lord of Heaven heard about it and wanted to see if it were really true. He went to them disguised as an old wanderer. "I have traveled through mountains and valleys and I am tired out. Could you give me something to eat?" said he, laying down his staff in order to rest. The monkey went off at once to gather nuts that he presented; the fox brought an offering from his fish trap in the river. The rabbit ran through the fields in every direction but came back with nothing. The monkey and the fox made fun of him: "You are really good for nothing." The little rabbit was so discouraged that he asked the monkey to gather some thistles and the fox to set fire to them. They did so. Then the little rabbit said to the old man, "Please eat me," and threw himself into the flames. The pilgrim was pierced to the heart by this sacrifice, and wept, saying, "Each one deserves praise; there are neither winners nor losers. But the little rabbit has given an exceptional proof of love." So saying, he restored the rabbit to his original form and took the little body to heaven to be buried in the palace of the moon.

The utter poverty of the little rabbit is like that of the child who said, "Pardon me, God, I have nothing to offer." Both exemplify the attitude from which true prayer arises.

Whatever I offer God is really nothing in God's eyes: "Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" (Jas 1:17). [used with the open permission of ICS Press]