Lord, whither goest Thou?  (John 13:36)

A good question and one that the members of congregations may well consider asking of the Anglican Communion.  Christ’s response was ‘Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.’

I am sure I am not alone in worrying about the constant internal strife in Church and its consequences for the future.  I am increasingly worried that I, for one may find it goes down a route I cannot follow.

As some may remember in my last piece for the magazine, I was concerned about the trend to alternative beliefs and therapies and why so many seem to need this as a prop rather than conventional religion.  I believe that some of this may lie in the apparent wish of the Anglican Communion to accommodate, from my perspective, highly unacceptable views for the sake of unity.  To the external observer ‘we’ appear to have no direction and are hugely divided across the world.  The very public wrangling over matters such as women and gay bishops is highly destructive.  To me, it does not follow the command to ‘love thy neighbour as thyself’ (Matthew 19:19) and that one of the prime attractions of the Church, tolerance, is under threat.  A dichotomy, in that it is tolerance of intolerance that is really the issue.

We wish to attract more people into the Church, especially the young.  We wish to stand against extremism and intolerance across the World but for the sake of unity, we appear to be being intolerant ourselves.  This is not attractive to anybody.  Statements such as that by Archbishop Akinola of Nigeria that homosexuality is a “satanic attack” on the church appal me, as does his recently backing of Nigerian government plans to penalise gay and lesbian activity with jail terms.  This is not something that I, as a Christian, wish to be associated with.  I do not care about the sexual orientation of anybody, as long as they behave in a loving Christian manner.

Schism now seems inevitable but I am not sure that it is a wholly bad thing.  I would rather be a part of a Church that upholds what I believe to be Christian values of tolerance and understanding and states them firmly with no fear of the consequences that one which tries to accommodate intolerance within its wings and be all things to all men.  Tell people what we believe to be right without compromise.  This gives a clear message and a definite choice both for me and for the rest of the World.  Sadly I think that the Archbishop of Canterbury for whom, in general, I have a massive respect is, on this matter, misguided in trying to patch over such irreconcilable views at what appears to be all costs. 

I am aware that many may disagree with me and would welcome the debate.  In my roll as editor all comments would be greatly appreciated either for or against my highly personal views and I will publish them in the next magazine.

Alison Garrett

See also: "History of Lent".

“The King has one more move!”

Lent is a time for questions and mystery; the mystery of a God who can become man, of life that comes out of death, or healing that can come from brokenness.  It is that period when God whispers in our ears that the day is coming when we celebrate new life and new beginnings. 

The third verse of the Easter hymn, “Christ is Risen!” has the line: “We are Christ’s, in Him forever we have triumphed over all”.  It doesn’t always feel like that does it?  There seems to be so much evidence to the contrary in all of our lives, whether it’s the petty irritations of everyday life or the really big issues we all face at one time or another.  Does it frustrate you as much as it does me, that so often we allow the petty things to get to us, when there is so much REALLY tough stuff going on?

The news headlines daily present me with hideous atrocities and unimaginable human suffering around the world.  Closer to home, I share with those who face the challenges of tragedy and loss, financial problems, health issues, emotional struggles and family pressures - and yet I still allow myself to get irritated over lost keys and traffic jams, hurt by the odd unthinking and unkind remark, unsettled by tiny, insignificant events, haunted by the inconsequential ‘what ifs’ of my life.  ‘What if I had said that better, been there sooner, reacted more wisely.  What if that person had treated me better, understood me properly, agreed with me more readily?’

“in Him forever we have triumphed over all?”

I’m glad that a woman called Martha is in the Bible.  She got just as ratty as I do with the small frustrations and petty irritations of life, and wasn’t afraid to share her less than gracious thoughts with Jesus.  And when it came to the big tough stuff, when her brother Lazarus grew sick and died, she didn’t hesitate to face Jesus with her ‘what ifs’: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died”. 

I’ve been there – I’m sure you have, and maybe you’re there right now – “Lord, why did you let this happen?  If you cared… why didn’t you answer… why did I lose that job… why doesn’t my wife listen … why has my child rejected me?  If only you had been there God, it would have been so different”

Jesus’ answer to Martha’s ‘what ifs’ was “Your brother will rise again… I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” - “do you trust me, will you believe, that whatever your situation, no matter what you face, even death, you are not on your own and you can deal with it if I am in your life?”

A former world chess champion was taken by a friend to see a picture which had been hung in an art gallery.  The picture was of two chess players.  One of them sat despondently looking at the board, whilst the other had an almost demonic look of triumph on his face.  The title of the picture was "Checkmate".  The chess champion spent ages pondering over this painting, then grabbed his friend and said urgently "we’ve got to find the man who painted this picture – either he must change the picture or the title.  It’s called Checkmate, but the title is wrong.  Because the King still has one more move.”

As we go through Lent and anticipate Easter, the message of Easter is that the King still has one more move.  The authorities arrested Jesus, flogged him, insulted him, spat on him, crucified him and left him in a tomb to rot, and thought that was it, checkmate.  They were wrong.  The King still had one more move.  Whatever situations you and I face today, or tomorrow, large or small, the promise of Jesus is that there is always hope, because the King still has one more move. 

“We are Christ’s, in Him forever we have triumphed over all!”

Gill Lee