St Luke, Health and Human Rights

Sirach 38 1-4,6-10, 12-4.  2 Timothy  4. 5-13. Luke 4 14-21  

The book of Ecclesiasticus, now known as Sirach, is unusual, in that it has a prologue. From which I quote

‘Many great teachings have been given to us through the law and the prophets and the others that followed them, and for these we should praise Israel for instruction and wisdom. Now, those who read the scriptures must not only themselves understand them, but must also as lover of learning be able through the spoken and written word to help the outsiders.

You are invited therefore to read the book with goodwill and attention.’

So we have a reading telling us to  Honour the physician. Medicine is one of God’s gifts.  Which in this instance I take to include all the branches and disciplines that modern health care includes. A number of whose practitioners have been leading our worship today or are looking at me right now!

St Luke – ‘evangelist and physician of the soul’, would have been aware of the breadth of care. Treatment in the pre Christian Aesculapian temples included a wide range of things including poetry, music and drama. The origins of my secular profession.

We know Luke to be a friend of St Paul, usually regarded as the author of the Acts of the Apostles. In his letter to Timothy, Paul specifically mentions that ‘only Luke is with me’.  He sounds quite plaintive!

I would like to see you again. It’s actually quite a poignant letter, coming from someone who has been so strong and active. ‘I have finished the race’ has the ring of preparation for the end. He wants a chance to say a proper farewell, to hand on the responsibility of leading the young church.

So, from his distant location, he gives advice to Timothy, who has been holding the fort in Ephesus, which was not an easy place to be, given the religious distractions and dubious morals of the people. He probably did need encouragement to keep well and as we might put it in present day terms, hang in there.

Physical health is one thing. But like the Prayer Book description of St Luke, the WHO definition goes wider. It includes social, emotional, psychological, as well as spiritual, aspects of health – in order to consider the whole person.

This holistic approach is acknowledged in the new sustainable development goals, an almost all 17 of them relate to health, including

Goal 3   Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

Goal 2   End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote  sustainable agriculture

 The goals relating to gender equality, human rights and, linking to our recent celebration of creationtide, care of the environment, also have a bearing on health.

In our welfare state, we tend to take the health care system for granted. However much we complain about it, we are fortunate in what we have. Believe me! I am going to take you elsewhere.

Twelve years ago I went to Belarus to join an international group of therapists piloting an education programme there. Like, I suspect, most people here, my knowledge of the country extended to some understanding of the after effects of the Chernobyl accident, the re-election of the president and tennis players.

So I did some homework by putting Belarus, mental health and rehabilitation into a search engine. I got some surprising results.

My subsequent visit to the psychiatric hospital in Minsk revealed a situation similar to my experience of other post soviet countries. A mix of regimes familiar from the beginning of my career, and committed staff trying really hard to improve care in a context of limited resources. The concept of individually focussed treatment plans was a complete novelty. Honour those physicians, they have a difficult job.

And the surprise? Remember this was over a decade ago. Several hits advertising ‘sexy Russian women’. What has that got to do with mental health? Obviously sexuality is important, but I met people working to reintegrate women who had been lured abroad by false offers of employment. Returning home to face shame and rejection is no route to joy or positive self esteem.

There are others who cannot feel that society values them.

Today is designated as national Anti slavery day.

I was horrified to learn the monetary value of a present day slave when I read Christopher Hall’s update on Zanzibar Cathedral in our Cornerstone magazine. Slaves exist throughout the world. Child soldiers, tea pickers, sex workers. All grim and we need to register the fact.

Not nice, and perhaps you don’t like to hear me talking about it from the pulpit, but it is a reality. And in the site of the original slave market beside the cathedral, they are promoting awareness of today’s victims.

Here, it might be the gangs of Roma women we see on the streets, fruit pickers, bonded labourers in building sites and, apparently workers in nail bars. 

International Justice Mission, which we supported in the Bishop’s Lent appeal, is working to combat such misery and give children, and adults a happier and fairer place in life. A chance for a healthy existence. There has been a lot of consciousness raising activity by various organisations south of the border during the past few weeks, but not so much here.

I found reference on the SEC website in a post festival comment, mentioning St John’s, written by our own Bishop. (Rt Rev’d Dr John Armes, former Rector of St John’s) Who had been participating in IJM events here during the Just festival.

We need to do more! It’s a year round issue.

This is central to our living out our lives as Christians. It is inherent in the message today’s gospel is giving us.

Good news for the poor. Which is highlighted in the verses from Luke’s gospel. No parables here, but rather, a recording, for the first time, of the words of the adult  Jesus as he commences his ministry. He began to preach in Galilee, but here he is in Nazareth – his home town. 

In the synagogue where people know him, standing up reading the words of the prophet Isaiah and making a momentous pronouncement - ‘I have come. I am here. This is why.’. I’m not just reading the scroll to you, this relates specifically to me.

Jesus is indicating the focus of his future ministry. Tackling the issue of spiritual poverty, spiritual health. The challenge we saw for the rich young man in last week’s gospel. You can’t just go out and buy health in any form.

 But we have the opportunity to share in the healing of this Eucharist, where we are sustained by bread and wine, and in the hope of eternal life. Ultimate health.

I have come. This is why.

The poor are everywhere.

Belarus and Zanzibar have more things in common than you might imagine.

Disparity of wealth, expanding tourist industries and dominant belief systems - Islam and secularism, though the latter can hardly be described as a faith. Within these contexts, the small Christian populations carry on. Not without challenges. For example, bricks thrown at the cathedral windows (I daresay we can identify with foreign objects more easily right now after the benches on the church roof) and the issues of living as a minority, and less wealthy group.

They need that message – I am here. The hope of the gospel. The promise of the jubilee year - when slaves are set free. Recorded by St Luke so that ‘the diseases of our souls may be healed through Jesus Christ’.

A final note - I was encouraged, asking Google for an update on mental health. Lots of apparently positive hits, including, to my delight, a subsequent occupational therapy project.

And the Russian women? They are included in a European programme for the rehabilitation of victims of trafficking. There IS hope.

A last health warning. Slavery is not compatible with full health, so I will keep raising the issue.

We can all do that.

Clephane Hume

Reflection on the Feast of the Transfiguration

Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; but whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Exodus 34:29-35


About eight days after Jesus had foretold his death and resurrection, Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"--not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

Luke 9:28-36


What great texts! What awesome readings!

I love these kinds of biblical readings, the kind offered today. They give me goose bumps as they reveal the glory of our triune God. These are great and awesome indeed, because they proclaim a glorious vision, a glorious vision of God.

Even though these readings speak of things we can never fully understand until God is all in all and even though the words on the pages of our sacred texts can never fully explain, fully paint the whole picture, fully reveal the truth behind these events, today we get a glimpse of God’s truth, God’s reality, and God’s plan and hope for us.

These are visions of the divine mystery in all its glory, of the heavenly reality in all its awesomeness, and of things to come for us as we let ourselves be drawn into this vision of God. It is a vision of life in abundance, of life lived, and of life loved. It is a vision of God’s life and love as it encompasses the heavenly realm, as it comes to us in Jesus Christ, and as it springs forth from Jesus to embrace the whole world, each one of us, whoever we are and wherever we find ourselves on the journey.

For this is the feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord. This is the feast that celebrates the heavenly glory that came to be with us. The feast that reveals the divine light as it shone forth from the hilltop in a forgotten province of the Roman Empire. It is a light brighter than the sun, that radiates throughout the cosmos piercing darkness, evil, and death, It is a light that announces the reign of our triune God. It is a glorious vision. It is an awesome light. It is the vision and the light of our God.

And I wish all creation would just recognize and trust this the divine light. But we know better, don’t we.

70 years ago, another light lit up the countryside of an unknown town in the Japanese Empire. It was also a light that shone brighter than the sun and that not even the Tenno, the Japanese Emperor, could contain. But it was a different light.

As the first atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima August 6, 1945, it didn’t bring life and love. It brought destruction and death. Hundreds of thousands were killed. Buildings collapsed, whether they were used for military or civilian purposes. Hospitals and schools were eradicated as much as houses, factories, and installations of the Japanese Imperial Army. The bomb didn’t discriminate. And to this day unnumbered are suffering from the effects of that one bomb dropped 61 years ago.

Now I know that there are still some, who will argue that the atomic bombs brought the Japanese Empire to its knees, sped up the war, and thus saved the lives of many Allied soldiers. But I have my doubts. Especially if I think of the second bomb that detonated three days later with that same bright light bringing about as much carnage in the city of Nagasaki. Was that bomb really necessary?

This does not mean that I do not acknowledge that the Japanese military committed horrendous atrocities throughout the Pacific Rim. I do not want to diminish the horror of the Japanese occupation in Asia. To this day, Koreans, Chinese and other nations are waiting for a formal and consorted reconciliatory effort by Japan. I am glad the Axis lost the war and I am grateful to all the Allied troops who sacrificed so much to end the terrors and evils of fascism and Nazism in order to liberate Europe and Asia.

However, we humans seem to not be able to bring about good without harming others, hurting innocents, and playing along with the devil and into the hands of death. Scripture might urge us to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21), but we do not heed its call. At the end of war, of any war, of any conflict between people for that matter, it is the devil who laughs and celebrates.

I do believe there are rare times when using military force is justified in this dying age. Yet, I equally hold that war is always a sign of our failure to follow our Saviour. It is sin. And I believe we will have to face the judgment of our Creator for the harm we have caused, even when we were pursuing good. God will have tears in God’s eyes as those come forward who vanished in Auschwitz, Dachau, Manila and Nanjing, but there will also be divine tears when God hears from those who died in Dresden, Coventry, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki.

The light we bring about is light that pierces our hearts indeed, but it will pierce it with pain and death. The light that burned images of dying men and women into the walls of Hiroshima is a light that is full of destruction and death brought about by us. We forced that light on the people of Hiroshima, each and every one of them. They had no choice as the light of destruction and death brought about our will, our wants, and our needs.

Hiroshima points to how we light the cosmos. And we all know it hasn’t stopped. The light of Hiroshima still shines forth as bombs rain on Mosul, as rockets detonate in Haifa, as civilians die in Dornetsk, and as girls and women are treated like objects not only by militants in Nigeria. It is a light indeed full of power and full of might, but it is self-serving power, self-serving might; selfish power, selfish might; sinful power, sinful might.

And it is not the light of the Transfiguration.

Peter, James and John witness something so different from the human experience that they cannot grasp even as they long to hold on to it. For once the light of the world is outdone. For once, the light that shines forth is not a product of our greed and self-serving interests. For once, the reality of God’s reign of love, peace, and justice revealed its glory: a glory greater than our strive to outdo each other, a glory more beautiful than anything we can ever come up with, a glory mightier than the temptations of this world all around us, a glory that overcomes our injustices, our sins, our carelessness, and even our culture of death, a glory uncreated, eternal, and imperishable.

The light of the Transfiguration is a light that brings about life and love in ways that are self-less and that focuses only on our well-being. It radiated from Jesus for our sake, focusing on us, on you, and on me, and on everybody else. For us and for our sake, this light even went forth into the deepest pit of our human existence, into our darkness, destruction, and death. And the light pierced the darkness, taking away death’s sting and the power of sin for ever.

But this was not a one-time event. The light of the Transfiguration continues to shine forth in ways that are quite different from the lights we create. Every time we minister to and serve even the least of our sisters and brothers, God’s light shines forth brightly into the universe. Every time we bring about justice and peace, God’s light radiates from our actions. Every time we overcome evil with good and do not buy into the psychology of war and revenge, God’s light embraces our hearts. Every time we put the safety of the planet above the greed of our age, God’s light infuses every aspect of creation. Every time we walk into the divine mystery through prayer or the reading of scripture, God’s light engulfs us. Every time we baptize a child we bathe him or her into this life-giving light of God. Every time we break the bread and share the cup, God’s light makes a home in us and among us.

The light still shines and pierces any darkness. Today. And Always.

Stephanie MacGregor - a long overdue memorial

Stephanie MacGregor, member of St John’s,

Born 1911 in Kingston, Jamaica

Died 1936 in Edinburgh

I have to admit, it doesn’t happen every day that as a priest in the Church of God one receives a request to do a memorial service for somebody who died 79 years ago. In fact, in 16 years of ordained ministry, it was the first time, I had received such a request a few months ago. No wonder then, that it did raise an eyebrow, when I first heard about it. When I then realised that we Episcopalians don’t have a liturgy for such a celebration and I didn’t know where to turn to find proper formulary, panic struck…

But this was followed quickly with raising the other eyebrow, because my curiosity was tweaked. Why would somebody come from the United States to Scotland to organise such an unusual service for a Jamaican relative? What had happened? And what was it about the person to be remembered that justified such a celebration.

Of course, the last of these queries is a false question. In the end, I had to eat my own words: at every funeral I remind the congregation that God has not forgotten those, who have died and never will. No, they rest in God’s bosom, cherished and loved as before, but safe from any terror of the night, any pain and illness, any strife and tears. And one day, when our Lord Jesus will return in glory they will rise to new life on a new earth, where sin and death will be no more, where weeping and crying will be no more, and where we will be united with those we love, but see no more. So, yes, even 79 years on, Stephanie MacGregor is precious to God – and will remain precious to God forever more. Even without Stephanie’s curious and mind-blowing story, it is good to remember a precious and beloved child of God – whether they died 79 minutes, 79, days, 79 years, or 79 centuries ago. In God’s economy time plays no role. God’s love is stronger than death. Or to put it into the words of the Apostle Paul: Love never ends.

But, there is also Stephanie’s life-story.

And what a story it is. What a life well lived it was.

Stephanie must have been quite women to set sails from sunny Jamaica to come to rainy Scotland. In the end, it is probably what killed her. Her body, used to sun and warm Caribbean winds, could not deal with the coldness and dampness of a dreich Scottish winter.

She had come to Edinburgh in the early 1930s to study Medicine, to be helpful for people in pain and misery. Together with three other bright Jamaicans (all men!) she had been sent on a mission: As a daughter of her country she came to Edinburgh University to study, in order to serve the people of her island nations. Yet, she would never return, but find an eternal resting place at Piershill Cemetary.

And, still, despite of her untimely death, Jamaica can be proud of her. And not just Jamaica. Her academic achievements were outstanding and she was posthumously awarded her medical degree on 4 July 2015 – hence the request to do another memorial service.

I will leave the academic laudatio to people at the University, who are the experts in this field, but I would like to share a few thoughts why not just Jamaicans should be proud of Stephanie MacGregor.

First of all, Stephanie’s memorial on 3 July 2015 brought together people from the Jamaica, Scotland, England, the United States, and Germany. From far and not so-far people came together. This beautiful young woman at whose grave we stood bridged huge distances and gathered “rainbow people of God”, as another Anglican, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, would call it. And what a beautiful thing it was! It celebrated the strength of the human spirit that can overcome adversity and distance – and this was Stephanie’s gift for us. In her own live she probably had to do this over and over and over again - overcome adversity and distance, and she is even doing it in her death.

When Stephanie came to Scotland, the British Empire was still functioning quite well and race played a different role in the minds of people. Even in post-Enlightenment Scotland, black people’s place and also the place of women was not necessarily at the same, or even at an equal table as that of the white colonial masters… Slavery had been abolished in the British Empire for quite a while, yet, the legacy of that evil and the not-so-subtle injustice of colonial imperialism affected peoples’ life even in the 1930s. And I wonder how Stephanie was able to cope with it all. It is indeed a testament to her strength and her character – and a testament of her faith that good will conquer evil, that life is stronger than death, that injustice and oppression will be conquered, and that the God of love, who created us all in Her image regardless of our gender, race, nationality or other identity will have the final word. And we all have a part to play in establishing justice and equality for all, in ensuring that all have access to such basic rights as health services, and in working for an end to oppression and exploitation for those who come to our shores – even today.

St John’s, Stephanie’s chose congregation in Edinburgh, has for the past decades tried to claim all this. Advocacy on behalf of those who have no voice is very much at the centre of our identity and we now more than ever understand that justice is a Gospel-imperative.

But it’s not always been this way.

When St John’s was founded, large donations were given from people who had become rich in the African-Caribbean slave trade. It is an evil that sits at the foundation of our church-community.

One could argue that Stephanie’s membership at St John’s therefore was ironic. But I believe it was probably providential – and maybe it was even God’s plan to send Stephanie as a prophetic voice to the sometimes stuffy and ignorant establishment of Edinburgh of the time. She might have lived shortly, but she touched hearts and opened ears and eyes – and opened even minds and hearts.

And this is why commemorating her memory was indeed a good thing.

Barack Obama recently at the funeral of those martyred at Emanuel Church in Charleston, SC spoke a lot of “grace.” I believe that Stephanie was gifted with the kind of grace the U.S. President spoke about. It was grace the infused her life and that impacted the lives around her. She never made it back to the shores of her native land to be a servant to those in need. But I do not think that her life was wasted. It just impacted the people of Jamaica and many others differently.

Eternal Father bless Jamaica.
Guard her with Thy mighty hand
Keep her free from evil powers
Be her light through countless hours
To her leaders, Great Defender,
Grant true wisdom from above
Justice, truth be hers forever
Jamaica, land you love.
Amen

Adapted from words of the Jamaican national anthem

The Kingdom at Work

Tony Bryer is Edinburgh's City Centre Workplace Chaplain employed by our 3 churches working in ecumenical partnership. He reflects here on the relationship between the life of work and our spiritual health in an article originally published in Cornerstone Magazine in June 2015.

I recently came across the following statement: ‘It was requested that a corporate spirituality policy be prepared covering employees of the organisation......this report proposes the approval of an employment policy on faith, religion, belief and non-belief (spirituality)’.

From time to time, opportunities to talk about faith, faiths and spirituality arise in workplace chaplaincy. It may be a member of another world faith, interested to know something about Christian practice; it might be a practising Christian wanting to talk through an issue concerning the relationship between his or her faith and something at work; or it may be someone (of no faith) who is wrestling with a decision about the direction of his or her life, and the values that could shape the choices.

Such conversations are about faith, religion and spirituality – but they are not the sort of conversations we often have in church settings. It seems to me that here there are some challenges for us as the Together churches.

Do those of us in regular employment find that we are able to make the link between our faith and our work, in a creative and liberating way? Or are they kept in separate boxes? I wonder whether this is something we should try to address jointly. Exploring the idea of how the Kingdom (or Rule) of God relates to the world of business, commerce and service industries is surely an important task for churches who believe that God is present in all of life.

Some organisations do speak of the spiritual care of their employees. Again, what might such care look like? I am presently involved in one workplace with regular sessions set up to explore precisely this issue – through reflection, silence, guided meditation and sharing. Perhaps we too should be looking at what a spirituality of work (and spirituality at work) might look like.

If any of this interests you, please contact me. If you want to think more about the idea of God’s kingdom and work, I can send you copies of a bulletin that is dedicated to the practical and theological exploration of the idea.

tbryer.wpcscotland@gmail.com

www.togetheredinburgh.org.uk

Life with a capital L

Eleanor Harris is a member of St John's, local historian, artist, and champion of choral singing and environmental concern. She is currently spending time coping with an unexpected illness and reflects here on what is central to living Life - with a capital L.

Well, here's a thing. The cocky Eleanor, always bouncing off the walls and doing anything she wants to, has been felled by an autoimmune disease. You know when you bang your knee or sprain your wrist, and it goes red, hot and painfully swollen, and you lie awake at night groaning and demanding ibuprofen? My body has decided that any of my joints should inflame like that whenever I indulge in too much exertion – and the rest of the time should creak uncomfortably like a granny's. Over the past two months, the definition of "too much exertion" has descended from three-mile runs and all-day typing, to sending a tweet and going to the shop. It's also spread from my hands and feet to my knees, elbows, shoulders and jaw – and tongue, which seems an unfair classification of "joint". I'm off to see a specialist next week with blithe promises of diagnosis and treatment, hopefully before my immune system classifies my vital organs as joints. But right now, I feel as if I'm dying, and from my knowledge of autoimmune conditions, there's some chance that I am.

I've never been ill before, and it has afforded various interesting reflections.

One is, that for the first time in my life I'm quite impressed with myself. The autoimmune thing appears to have developed on top of a badly underactive thyroid. I've felt dead tired for years, but whenever I put it to anyone they said, look at all the things you do! You've done a PhD, bought Blair House, you sing three choral services on Sunday and go running and walking, and do all this environmental stuff. Last September I walked 20 miles over Lochnagar, and jogged the last four miles. There's clearly nothing is the matter with me: I'm just lazy. Well, it seems I wasn't lazy, I was achieving a considerable feat of mind over matter. I might have killed myself, but I'm quite impressed.

Secondly, I'm pleased at how quickly I've chilled out into the being ill thing. At first when I realised that this wasn't going away, I was hugely grumpy, frustrated, feeling that my only method of keeping demons at bay was a frenzied activity and exercise. I couldn't bear to let people know I was ill, and go through all the dreadful charade of people asking me how I am and screwing up their faces in socially-acceptable sorrow when I say I'm getting worse. As an alternative, I laid in angrily to my friends' political pronouncements on Facebook, but this was tiresome work. After about a month of this, I got bored of myself. The doctor had officially sanctioned laziness, and actually I quite enjoy staring out of windows, so I began to enjoy the luxury. I bought an iPad, which lets me write by dictation so I'm not silenced by my arthritic hands. It's only a small switch in attitude for the stupid things people say – whether politics on Facebook, or sympathy for illness – to seem comic rather than irritating. The weather is warm. My parents and friends are looking after me. The world has become a very chilled-out and funny place.

But the best thing – the best thing of all – is that after a week believing I'm dying, my attitudes to death are just the same. My integrity has passed the test. I still think it is a ridiculous waste of time to fundraise for cures for rare diseases when we are facing a once-for-all mass extinction of life on our planet. I am still far more frightened of ecocide than of my own death, which is why I can talk with what some people seem to find shocking glibness about the possibility of the latter. The ultimate horror all my life has been the growing expectation that I would die in an environmental catastrophe, aware that spring never would come again, future generations never would grow up, birds never would sing over my ashes, and worst of all, that I had been amongst the last generation which failed in its responsibility to restore life. The possibility that I might actually just quit the scene now, irresponsibly, while there is still ample opportunity for humanity to rescue nature, would be the ultimate skive.

When people get debilitating or life-threatening illnesses, people rally round. The religious people pray for their recovery, while the secular people, or the more practical religious, go for sponsored runs in aid of medical charities, and everyone proclaims how unfair it is that a talented young life should be cut off in its prime. From my perspective, any god who attempted to glorify himself by miraculously healing me would be a blinkered, pampered, western, middle-class idol. Anyone who throws themself into fundraising for autoimmune research need to sort their priorities out. And as for unfairness, I have lived one of the most privileged lives in the history of life on this planet. Any unfairness runs the other way.

This is why I have decided to take advantage of the interest and sympathy that attaches itself to illness, to ask you a favour: take a lead in making the restoration of nature society's first priority. At present, humanity is not life, but a rogue species. Focus all your prayers, practical effort, righteous indignation, ingenuity and energy on saving Life with a capital L. The destruction of nature and biodiversity is not an aspect of the environmental crisis (as, for example, climate change or overfishing is an aspect). The destruction of nature IS the environmental crisis, in all its aspects, and we are part of nature. It is time for us to stop being a rogue species, and become a restorative one. Raise money with sponsored events. Lobby Parliament: change the political agenda. Examine your lifestyle. Form societies. Plant trees, as if your life depended on it. Your life does depend on it. Don't weep and pray for me, I'm all right. Weep and pray for all endangered nature, and for yourselves, who are part of its endangering. There's still time for salvation. If you don't want to do it because you are convinced by my arguments, do it because I'm ill and I'm asking it as a favour in return for entertaining you on Twitter over the years.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about how the environmental movement could be more effective, and I had hoped to try out these ideas into practice before putting them in print. But I'm no more afraid of looking stupid in a good cause than I am of dying, so I hope to write some more on this subject soon and get the ideas out there. When I unexpectedly recover, try them out, and they all fail miserably, nothing will have been lost except my dignity. And that is a chance worth taking, on the offchance of saving Life. If you take them and improve them and make them work, I'll have done something worthwhile.

As my favourite philosopher John Ruskin said, "There is no wealth but life".

[Originally posted on Eleanor's own blog - http://eleanormharris.blogspot.co.uk (illustration our own!)]

On Rock or Sand

Jill Stavert is a member of St John's and lecturer in international human rights. Here she explores some theme raised in the recent book edited by the Archbishop of York. Copies of the book may be obtained from Cornerstone Bookshop (0131 229 3776)

On Rock or Sand, edited by the Archbishop of York, will resonate with many and pose serious challenges for the Church. 

Very broadly, the common theme throughout the book is that society has lost its direction. The ideals of solidarity and working towards a truly common good that includes freedom for all and social justice - values that the Church has traditionally espoused and supported - has been diluted by excessive consumerism and self-interest. The following are some generalised, and rather simplistic, observations arising from this.

One may be forgiven for thinking that self-interest and a desire for material gain are useful tools in the hands of politicians and governments. All too often appeals are made to our selfishness rather than our selflessness to gain support for their policies. Moreover, it is frequently believed that economic recovery can only be achieved, and social problems thereby resolved, by equating the value of people with their economic output. However, what this does is to fragment society. It is used to justify the lack of, or reduced, support for those who for reasons beyond their control are unable to contribute sufficiently to such economic output. The worth of those who are, for example, unemployed, suffer from physical or mental disability, unintentionally homeless and even those who do not create wealth but provide vital support and services (e.g. those working in social and pastoral care, nurses, charity and community workers) is thus diminished. Employers, commercial and financial entities tend also to favour this approach. Moreover, many in the electorate appear willing to collude. A reluctance to share that which is available, or lack of awareness, on the part of those who are deemed to be more ‘economically useful’ prevents pressure being applied to governments to redress the imbalance and provide a more equitable outcome. 

Human rights recognise the equal value of all human beings. They are essential in protecting people who are at their most vulnerable. Yet, even these can be manipulated and ignored with detrimental effects for social justice if we are not careful. For example, full recognition of socio-economic rights (e.g. to welfare benefits, employment and housing, and related support and services) is integral to the attainment of social justice. However, progressive governments refuse to give full effect to such rights, as they are identified in international treaties, in national law thus making them very difficult to implement where they are most needed. Civil and political rights are also important here and are, in contrast, given effect domestically. That being said, the current government and the media have a tendency to discredit them when it suits by disingenuously focusing on how they assist the perceived “undeserving” rather than on their undeniable benefit to all humankind. In addition, the current societal ‘climate’ makes it easier for the individualistic nature of human rights to be misinterpreted by those who think that it is their rights, and their rights alone, that must prevail over all else in society and this is also unhelpful.

To not fully recognise the richness that every human being brings to the world and to deny support to people who contribute in many different ways is to deny our Christian ideals. As On Rock or Sand argues, the Church most certainly must play a significant and proactive role in preventing any continuance of this and in restoring solidarity and the pursuit of social justice for all.

Jill Stavert

Lectio Divina

We conclude this Lenten series on forms of prayer with a pice on Lectio Divina. Orginally written for Cornersone Magazine by Cameron Abernethy...

The art of lectio divina, or divine reading, has a long history with the Christian tradition, and has long been practised by monastics as a way of deepening their prayer lives. There are traditionally four stages of lectio divina, namely lectio, meditatio, oratio and contemplatio.

Lectio involves reading or listening to the passage of scripture being read slowly and gently, allowing time to stop and notice anything that stands out or catches one’s attention.

Meditatio gives time for one to mull over the word, phrase, image or thought that arose during lectio; to unravel its importance or meaning as one sits in the presence of God. Through meditatio we allow God's word to become His word for us, a word that touches us and affects us at our deepest levels.

Oratio is an opportunity to have a conversation with God about the content of one’s meditations, to listen to God’s spirit and so allow our deepest selves to be healed and transformed.

Contemplatio is a time to rest in the presence of God in silence, and so savour one’s relationship with a loving and personal God. Out of such contemplation can also arise the impulse to respond in a more active way within the world in your life. 

A suggested way of lectio divina:

1) Choose a text of the Scriptures that you wish to pray. Many Christians use in their daily lectio divina one of the readings from the daily office; others prefer to work slowly through a particular book of the Bible.

2) Place yourself in a comfortable position and allow yourself to become silent. Use whatever method is best for you and allow yourself to enjoy silence for a few moments.

3) Then turn to the text and read or listen to it slowly two or three times. Savour each portion of the reading, constantly listening for the "still, small voice" of a word or phrase that somehow says, "I am for you today."

4) Next take the word or phrase into yourself. Memorize it and slowly repeat it to yourself, allowing it to interact with your inner world of concerns, memories and ideas. Do not be afraid of "distractions." Memories or thoughts are simply parts of yourself which, when they rise up during lectio divina, are asking to be given to God along with the rest of your inner self. Allow this inner pondering, this rumination, to invite you into dialogue with God.

5) Then, speak to God. Whether you use words or ideas or images or all three is not important. Interact with God as you would with one who you know loves and accepts you.

6) Finally, simply rest in God's embrace silently and passively. Consider if there is an action that God is leading you to from this time of prayer.

7) When you wish to draw your time of prayer to and end you might find it useful to say an ‘Our Father’ or the Grace.