Coffee Theology

Mark 7.24-30 From there [Jesus] set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ But she answered him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ Then he said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’ So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. I wonder what Donald Trump would make of Jesus’ words here? Let the children be fed first Or, in the New Living Translation: First I should feed the children—my own family, the Jews. "My foreign policy will always p...

This is a good film which made me feel very uncomfortable indeed.  I often like to read a few reviews of a film after I've seen it, especially if it has impacted me in some way.  I find myself quite perplexed by the Telegraph reviewer who dubbed this film 'cosily enjoyable'.  It's a good film, but cosy is not a word I'd choose in describing it. I thought it would be both cosy and enjoyable.  I saw the trailer when The Lady in the Van came out in 2015, thought it looked a delightful comedy romp, and made a mental note to see it.  It's a dramatisation of the true story of a destitute old lady, Mrs Shepherd, who lived in a camper van in the driveway of playwright Alan Bennett's north London house for 15 years.  When it popped up on iPlayer over Christmas I was pleased. But this story is a bit too close to the bone for me.  We actually ended up watching it in two sessions as we found it so depressing.  Unfortunately we were eating dinner during one...

At the carol services I prayed that we would all hear God speaking to us in the Christmas season, as he spoke to the wise men in the stars. If you have had a joyful day, may God deepen your joy. If you have had a stressful day, may God bless your rest. If you have had a restful day with no work demands, may God bless you in this gift of sabbath. If you have felt excluded and alone, may God meet you in the margins. If you have had plenty, may God give you the gift of seeing the needs of others. If you have not had enough, may God fill you up. Whatever the day has held and whatever tomorrow brings, may we all become more and more aware of the God who walks alongside us.

In a comment on my last post I wrote about human brokenness and how limited we are in our capacity to do good.  Today I spent a whole day running the church coffee shop and lots of good things happened: A lady from the Catholic church opposite donated a large box of Christmas crackers to the winter night shelter for the homeless, which the Southend churches are running. Towards the end of the day a man came in to say he had three bags of good quality winter clothing for the night shelter. Nearly £150 was donated to suspended meals.  This was made up of lots of smaller donations.  Several people came into the coffee shop specifically to give to suspended meals, without ordering anything themselves.  Some people added a few extra quid onto their bills.  Several asked how much they would need to give to pay for a whole meal, and I explained that most of our homeless customers choose the all day breakfast at £6.60. We also received a cheque for £100 fo...

I was reading the Huffington Post today and came across a blog post by Andrew Copson, Chief Executive of the British Humanist Association, on the real meaning of Christmas: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/andrew-copson/meaning-of-christmas_b_13653684.html?utm_hp_ref=uk Apparently, a survey by YouGov has revealed that going to church at Christmas comes bottom of the list of most people's priorities, with spending time with friends and family, giving gifts and nice food and drink being the considered the most important things to do at Christmas.  Copson argues that Christmas has no supernatural meaning and yet still fulfills an important human function.  He also correctly points out that Christmas predates Christianity. I have a lot of time for Humanists, who endeavour to live good and meaningful lives despite seeing no compelling evidence for the existence of God.  They believe (if I've understood Humanism correctly) that human beings have enormous potential for good...

  The wise men lived at a time when the most intelligent, well-educated people in the world did not understand and could not control their environment.   N o one knew why some people became ill, and there were few effective treatments.   P eople lived at the mercy of the elements – bad weather could destroy a crop, sweep away a village, and there was little they could do to protect themselves.     Pe rhaps  if they could know the future they could try to prepare for it. The wise men were ‘magi’ – they were seekers after special knowledge which was hidden to most peopl e.  Perhaps they interpreted people’s dreams, advising the rich of the hidden meanings (for a price).  P erhaps people came to them to know their future, to receive visionary messages or hear predictions of things to come.  P erhaps they were magicians, developing special rituals to produce a good harvest.  W hatever else they were, they were almost certainly astro...

The passage that was read to us tells a very well-known part of the nativity story, which you have probably heard before.  The carol ‘We three kings’ is very popular at Christmas.  We know about the presents of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  But I wonder if we all know this part of the story as well as we think we do?  Here are some multiple choice questions to test our knowledge… Firstly, how many kings went to see the baby Jesus?  A. Three? B. Two? C. None? D. No one knows? Hands up for each option…  The answer is… C – None!  Although the carol is called ‘we three kings’, in fact they weren’t kings at all!  Although they usually wear crowns in nativity plays and on Christmas cards, the Bible doesn’t tells us they were kings, it says they were ‘magi’ – wise men.  It may be because of the rich gifts they brought, such as gold, that we’ve got the idea they were kings.  You may have answered ‘no one knows’ because it is true t...