This is the first of a series of posts on the responses of different people to the events of Easter- to Jesus' death and resurrection. Hopefully thinking about how the different actors in the story responded will help us think about our own response.
It's easy to condemn the disciples. They were with Jesus continuously for about three years, heard him talk, saw his miracles, and yet when it came to the test, they failed. Badly. All of them.
They sat at the last supper, listening to Jesus' talk of what would happen to him without understanding. They followed him to the garden of Gethsemane, but they fell asleep. They talked big about their loyalty to Jesus- but ran away when the authorities turned up to arrest him.
It's easy to condemn the disciples for their stupidity, their lack of action. But would we be any better? I don't think so, really. Maybe some of us would. I'm not sure I want to find out what I would do in a life or death situation. But I'm no hero.
The difference now is that we know what happened next. Jesus didn't stay dead, he rose! Knowing that, we have less excuse than the disciples for not doing what we know we should for Jesus because we know that he won. And we have the holy Spirit to help us.
And yet the disciples were forgiven, were accepted back into Jesus' friendship and given the task of building the church. Even Peter (more on that tomorrow). Despite their failure (and presumably the knowledge that they might fail again) they were still willing to take risks for Christ. In the same way God forgives us for all the times we let him down, all the times we pass up on an opportunity to stand up for him. Thank God for that!
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Sunday, 28 March 2010
This joyful Eastertide
It's nearly Easter again. I like Easter for many reasons. For a start, a few days off is always welcome, and it seems a long time since the Christmas break. Also things seem less rushed that at Christmas- you feel under less obligation to visit every relative you possibly can in a week and to go back to work feeling tired and full of turkey- probably you've enjoyed the Christmas season, but part of you is glad to get back to normal routine.
There's less pressure surrounding Easter, fewer expectations, less hype. I find it easier to celebrate the Easter season for its' own sake, for the meaning behind it, than I do at Christmas. That's not to criticize Christmas- in many ways it's a festival I love celebrating. But there's something to be said for the more relaxed way of celebrating that is demonstrated at Easter. And of course the weather's usually nicer at Easter- three years ago I remembe having a barbecue and egg hunt in a friend's garden on Easter Sunday. The following year, however, it snowed!
You might not realise it from popular culture, but Easter is at least as important as Christmas in the Christian calendar. Some reasons why I think it's not so popular I've already talked about on this blog. While at Christmas we think in wonder of the powerful God, huge beyond our imaginations, who chose to become a vulnerable, dependent baby born to a poor woman in a strange town, at Easter the mystery is different. And humanity doesn't come out of it so well.
On Good Friday we think in wonder about how God's son allowed himself to be tortured and killed by us, the people he created. It's the second part of the mystery of God becoming one of us that we celebrate at Christmas. Saturday is a day of anticipation and waiting, of thinking of how the disciples, the men and women who had followed Jesus, must have felt when he had gone and they were alone.
And then on Easter Sunday we think about the greatest miracle- that Jesus rose from the dead. We praise him for defeating death, for providing a way for us to get rid of the consequences of our selfishness and all the times we put ourselves before God. It's a time for joy and celebration. It always seems a shame to me that there are very few Easter 'carols' and that singing (in public, in services, in schools) isn't as common as at Christmas. There are Easter hymns, but they're nowhere near as well known as their Christmas counterparts. I expect the Victorians are to blame somehow.
So I'm looking forward to Easter. I've been struggling a bit with my faith and things lately. Christmas wasn't a relaxing time for me, and a few days now where I can focus on God- and in fact on my own needs, rather than trying to push myself to the side as I think and worry and pray about other people. I find it quite hard to pray for myself. Maybe this Easter I'll get a chance to work on that- as long as I don't get bogged down into feeling lonely as most of my friends celebrate time off with their partners or go back to their parents.
But most important of all, Easter is a chance to focus on praising God. Maybe this year I'll make it to the sunrise service at church, or maybe I won't. But I will spend some time trying to focus on God, praising him for the most awesome moment in history- the time when he gave himself to rescue us and shatter the power of our selfishness.
There's less pressure surrounding Easter, fewer expectations, less hype. I find it easier to celebrate the Easter season for its' own sake, for the meaning behind it, than I do at Christmas. That's not to criticize Christmas- in many ways it's a festival I love celebrating. But there's something to be said for the more relaxed way of celebrating that is demonstrated at Easter. And of course the weather's usually nicer at Easter- three years ago I remembe having a barbecue and egg hunt in a friend's garden on Easter Sunday. The following year, however, it snowed!
You might not realise it from popular culture, but Easter is at least as important as Christmas in the Christian calendar. Some reasons why I think it's not so popular I've already talked about on this blog. While at Christmas we think in wonder of the powerful God, huge beyond our imaginations, who chose to become a vulnerable, dependent baby born to a poor woman in a strange town, at Easter the mystery is different. And humanity doesn't come out of it so well.
On Good Friday we think in wonder about how God's son allowed himself to be tortured and killed by us, the people he created. It's the second part of the mystery of God becoming one of us that we celebrate at Christmas. Saturday is a day of anticipation and waiting, of thinking of how the disciples, the men and women who had followed Jesus, must have felt when he had gone and they were alone.
And then on Easter Sunday we think about the greatest miracle- that Jesus rose from the dead. We praise him for defeating death, for providing a way for us to get rid of the consequences of our selfishness and all the times we put ourselves before God. It's a time for joy and celebration. It always seems a shame to me that there are very few Easter 'carols' and that singing (in public, in services, in schools) isn't as common as at Christmas. There are Easter hymns, but they're nowhere near as well known as their Christmas counterparts. I expect the Victorians are to blame somehow.
So I'm looking forward to Easter. I've been struggling a bit with my faith and things lately. Christmas wasn't a relaxing time for me, and a few days now where I can focus on God- and in fact on my own needs, rather than trying to push myself to the side as I think and worry and pray about other people. I find it quite hard to pray for myself. Maybe this Easter I'll get a chance to work on that- as long as I don't get bogged down into feeling lonely as most of my friends celebrate time off with their partners or go back to their parents.
But most important of all, Easter is a chance to focus on praising God. Maybe this year I'll make it to the sunrise service at church, or maybe I won't. But I will spend some time trying to focus on God, praising him for the most awesome moment in history- the time when he gave himself to rescue us and shatter the power of our selfishness.
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Don't feed the trolls?
I expect you've come across the advice: don't feed the trolls. With the growth of web forums, discussion boards, blogs, Facebook groups, there is always an argument going on somewhere online. Reading the comment threads on some news articles or the wall posts of some Facebook groups is possibly the most depressing experiences on the internet. I'm not going to post any links because I don't want to give them publicity, or to depress readers!
People argue over everything from government policy on immigration or war or religion to whether Dr Who is better than Twilight (what's to argue?) And, sooner or later, no matter how seriously and mild tempered the discussion begins, it will very often descend into argument. Often this will be accompanied by personal insults and unpleasant language (let alone spelling and grammar inconsistencies!). Some people just argue for the sake of it. They don't, in the view of more sensible respondents, deserve 'feeding.' You can't win an argument against a troll. You might as well not start.
Sometimes I feel that politics can be like this. The parties (and even more media coverage) often base their arguments on little evidence, or on evidence that is skewed to their own point of view. Of course, all the parties are now trying to get to grips with online media and to use it to spread their own messages. If that leads to discussion board commenters becoming more aware of what they're actually talking about, good.
Often we complain that people don't bother to vote in elections, that they're apathetic, that they don't care about politics. Fewer people are involved in campaigning these days, the unions aren't as big a political force as they were in the past, many people don't seem to be interested in- or know much about- political discussions. So perhaps all those people who comment on newspaper and BBC articles aren't a bad thing after all. Perhaps that's where this country's political discussion is happening in this new online world.
Wow, that's quite a scary thought.
Unfortunately, most comments seem to come from the extreme points of view on any issue. Extremists are always more active than moderates, it seems, whatever method they're using. Moderates are more likely to retreat, and not feed the trolls. There is little point engaging in an argument when the other person isn't actually interested in hearing your views. It's hard to be moderate in such circumstances.
Perhaps, though, it's not quite as scary as the idea that there is no political discussion going on at all, outside the parliamentary elite. People do care about things- things which, if they thought about it, are political issues- they just don't seem to connect this with voting.
How can we connect these people to the political process- and how can the political process change to connect with these people? I don't know- but I suspect the internet has something to do with it.
People argue over everything from government policy on immigration or war or religion to whether Dr Who is better than Twilight (what's to argue?) And, sooner or later, no matter how seriously and mild tempered the discussion begins, it will very often descend into argument. Often this will be accompanied by personal insults and unpleasant language (let alone spelling and grammar inconsistencies!). Some people just argue for the sake of it. They don't, in the view of more sensible respondents, deserve 'feeding.' You can't win an argument against a troll. You might as well not start.
Sometimes I feel that politics can be like this. The parties (and even more media coverage) often base their arguments on little evidence, or on evidence that is skewed to their own point of view. Of course, all the parties are now trying to get to grips with online media and to use it to spread their own messages. If that leads to discussion board commenters becoming more aware of what they're actually talking about, good.
Often we complain that people don't bother to vote in elections, that they're apathetic, that they don't care about politics. Fewer people are involved in campaigning these days, the unions aren't as big a political force as they were in the past, many people don't seem to be interested in- or know much about- political discussions. So perhaps all those people who comment on newspaper and BBC articles aren't a bad thing after all. Perhaps that's where this country's political discussion is happening in this new online world.
Wow, that's quite a scary thought.
Unfortunately, most comments seem to come from the extreme points of view on any issue. Extremists are always more active than moderates, it seems, whatever method they're using. Moderates are more likely to retreat, and not feed the trolls. There is little point engaging in an argument when the other person isn't actually interested in hearing your views. It's hard to be moderate in such circumstances.
Perhaps, though, it's not quite as scary as the idea that there is no political discussion going on at all, outside the parliamentary elite. People do care about things- things which, if they thought about it, are political issues- they just don't seem to connect this with voting.
How can we connect these people to the political process- and how can the political process change to connect with these people? I don't know- but I suspect the internet has something to do with it.
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