Teamwork

Hello World

I’m using my daily thoughts and encounters to discover as many things as possible which bring together, rather than divide, our various belief systems and cultures.

Something on which many many folk around the world have in common is that the weekend equals sport. Amongst other things, for me this involves participation too, as I play hockey. This week I started thinking about something which I’ve touched on before – how teamwork in a sporting context could help us better understand each other in real life too.

Sport is one of those things that transcend outward appearance. No matter how big, small, handsome, ugly, tall, short, with the right application and hard work anyone can achieve in sport. And being part of a team carries extra rewards in the form of support and friendship. So why can we be so quick to judge in other aspects of life?

Many years ago I stumbled across a TV game show called Trust Me. The premise was simple – two pairs of contestants were each sat in isolated rooms, and would find out what they could about the other pair before deciding on the fate of a cash prize at the end. Each pair had to decide whether they wanted to ‘Take’ the money for themselves or ‘Split’ it with the other pair. If they both said Split, they shared. If one said Take, they got all the money, but if both said Take, neither pair won anything.

What fascinated me was how two poker players and two professional gamblers all ended up with nothing; whereas in the second game two ballet dancers and two nightclub bouncers successfully split the money. Clearly the latter pairings had far less in common with each other, but were able to see past that, whilst the first pairings had outthought each other, failing to look beyond the mechanics of the game itself. The idea was for each pair to realize that they are actually half of a team of four trying to learn to trust, and in return exude trustworthiness.

This shows us that teams are often not teams in isolation, but teams within larger teams. The difficulty is when a ‘sub’ team protects itself to the detriment of the larger team. A department might look after itself instead of the office in which it works; the office instead of the company of offices; the company instead of its business sector; the sector puts itself ahead of the country, and the country ahead of the rest of the world.

What if my hockey team decided to work to the same principle? If the midfielders lose the ball, should the defenders shrug their shoulders and refuse to put things right, because the impending goal isn’t their fault? No, of course not. So why does such a ridiculous mindset become more prevalent in our daily life?

We are in fact all part of one huge team. Our own species – Human Race United. We all have to look after each other and help pick up each other’s pieces if things go wrong. Let’s not be distracted by who we are, what we look like, how stupid we’ve been, what we believe. The Lord knows I’m saying this to myself as much to everyone else, because we can all improve. If we do more for others, we may find that others do more for us than we as individuals could do for ourselves.

Thanks for listening, and take care.

Laughter!

Hello World

I’m using my daily thoughts and encounters to discover as many things as possible which bring together, rather than divide, our various belief systems and cultures.

“You have a gift for bringing joy and laughter to the world. I know, I created you.” – God (Morgan Freeman), Bruce Almighty

Humour. If there’s anything which everyone in the world should be able to share, it’s the ability to laugh. Yet it is such a paradoxical concept. Your favourite joke might have your mates in stitches but the next person you tell it to might find it silly, offensive, boring, or might just not get it. And some jokes are only funny if told at the right time.

One rather disappointing perception is that humour is not welcome alongside religion. I read an extract from The Spiritual Practices of Rumi which asked, “Why is there no place for Laughter at the banquet table of organized religion?” It goes on to ask, “What has happened to all the smiling Buddhas?” Have they all gone somewhere, then?

If they have, it’s news to me. Moreover, although the extract doesn’t specifically mention Christianity, it has conveniently forgotten to inform us that modern church services are full of smiling, friendly people. Our warden loves to warm us up at the start with a selection of funnies. And if we want to laugh in church, why shouldn’t we – as the above quote points out, if we are funny, it’s because God made us that way, so why would He then require us not to be so?

The science of laughter is intriguing. Everyone knows the old saying about how it takes far fewer muscles to smile than it does to frown. The responses in the brain, which lead from hearing something funny to the end result of laughter, follow similar patterns to those used for problem-solving. And laughter, as we all know, is the best medicine, relieving stress, triggering endorphins and relaxation, boosting immune cells, and even protecting the heart.

Socially, laughter brings us together because we are all sharing the same joke. This is important of course, but even more so, smiles and good humour are infectious. How many times have you seen someone random in the street smiling or grinning away to themselves, or laughing with their friends, and you yourself have felt a little more cheerful as a result? The point is we all have it within us to spread good humour and laughter. We don’t have to think we are or aren’t funny just because we do or don’t know a great joke about a rhinoceros. Laughing itself is a gift we were all given, whether you believe by a God or not, and which multiplies and spreads in all the right ways. So let’s take advantage of this gift and use it well.

At the risk of giving you all far too many quotes today, I shall leave you with one more, from 1 Corinthians 4:21 – “Shall I come to you with the whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?”

Use your gift of good humour and laughter to communicate with each other; we all respond much better to this than we do to ‘the whip’!

Thanks for listening, and take care!

Our Choices

Hello World,

I’m using my daily thoughts and encounters to discover as many things as possible which bring together, rather than divide, our various belief systems and cultures.

A couple of things have happened this week which I wanted to talk about and share with you.  Firstly, a familiar question was posed to me recently, a question not just for Christians to field but one which we have all asked at some point: “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

Of course, the real question being asked here is “How can there be a God?”.  The assumption the asker makes is that no deity would really allow so much suffering to happen seemingly indiscriminately to anyone in the world, whether they be ‘good’ or ‘bad’, but would instead ensure their faithful followers were protected from harm.

My response to this question began with the Bible and ended up tying in rather neatly with the subject matter of this blog.  I said initially that the human race had its shot at Paradise, but Adam and Eve were tempted into sin, and so we lost the right to live in a world where nothing bad would have happened.

But to a non-Christian, secular or otherwise, this needs more clarification.  How can one make an ancient Biblical legend relevant to everyone whether they believe it really happened or not?  The answer lies in something fundamental to our existence – freedom of choice.  Every one of us can choose the path we follow, and an important choice we make is that between right and wrong.  Do we hold a door open for an old lady struggling to get into her favourite shop, or do we steal her purse?  Those who follow a religion would say that choosing the latter option would mean being tempted by their Devil.  Temptation, though, exists for us all, religious or not.

The choice we make between good and evil may be ours to make, but the consequences of such a choice invariably affect more than just the one person.  If we stole that old lady’s purse, she would then be the victim of a crime, a ‘wrong’, and if she herself is a good person, then a bad thing has happened to a good person – but through the actions and choices of another, not caused by God.

The second thing which happened this week was my attending induction for a local winter night shelter.  I figured that, given I’m used to staying up all night as part of my job, there’s no reason why I can’t do the same during some of my free nights and help those less fortunate.  The volunteers don’t consist solely of Christians, by any stretch of the imagination.

Once the shelter gets under way, I imagine I will meet various types of people from different walks of society, and they will probably all have a different story behind why they are homeless.  Many if not all of them, we were informed at induction, are good people.  Bad things may have happened to these good people, but now we have a choice as a community to put that right.  The volunteers, regardless of their individual faiths or creeds, have all chosen to do something good, and if that goes some way towards helping others, then that choice is vindicated.

Religious or otherwise, we all have this choice to make.  Good or bad?  Right or wrong?  Lawful or Chaotic?  Perhaps if we made our choices with a greater awareness of how others are affected, a greater percentage of our number would make the right choice.

Thanks for listening and take care.

War

Hello world!

I’m using my daily thoughts and encounters to discover as many things as possible which bring together, rather than divide, our various belief systems and cultures.

“War is a continuation of politics by other means” – Capt Ramsay (Gene Hackman), The Crimson Tide

I’ll come back to that quote a little later.  But this week, war has been a poignant theme with Armistice Day having taken place over the weekend.  And war is a difficult reality for religion and peace to come to terms with.  After all, how can horror and killing be justified, and you may be asking what place such a subject has in a blog that is trying to find common ground when war divides both figuratively and literally?

It may surprise you that I’m not actually a pacifist.  No matter how many of us on this planet agree that living in peace is right, it only takes one person with the wrong ideas to get too much power.  So countries need to have reasonable means to defend themselves.  What our history shows us is that war has been the catalyst for a surprising amount of ultimate good, such as medical and surgical advancements which had to race to keep up with the number of injured needing treatment.

War has shaped our political planet and helped point us past our intrinsic ‘we are best’ mindset.  What we all need to be mindful of is the high price in lives that has been paid for this evolution in our societies.  And that’s what occasions like Remembrance Day are all about.

One of the most solemn moments of the year is when the Last Post is played on Armistice Day, followed by the traditional 2 minutes’ silence.  The meaning of this is to remember those who died for their country.  But it’s important we spare thoughts for all those who have fought in wars around the world.  It doesn’t matter whether they are or were British, French, US, German, South African, Japanese, Argentine, Allied or otherwise.   Wearing our poppies with pride is not a way of blowing raspberries at the Germans.  Neither is celebrating Independence Day in the US intended to be a slight on us here in the UK.  So let’s remember how the courage and conviction of duty of all soldiers on both sides of every war has helped us be what we are today, and let’s cease bearing any residual grudges.

As for Capt Ramsay, he hit the nail on the head when he said politics.  Should it be a continuation of religion by other means?  I’m not here to force too many personal opinions on you all, but I hope that one day everyone in the world comes to the same answer.  And I’ll leave you with a short piece of wisdom from the apostle Paul, in Romans 12:14 – “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse”.

I’d be interested to know if something similar appears in other holy texts around the world.  If so, decide for yourselves whether or not the values of religion should themselves be defence enough.

Thanks for listening, and take care!

Honour

Hello world...

I’m using my daily thoughts and encounters to discover as many things as possible which bring us together, rather than divide, our various belief systems and cultures.

Today an old university friend of mine got in touch from the Far East, where he has been spending time on his own spiritual journey.  I thought to myself that the Far East would be an excellent place to take such a journey, particularly given the high regard in which the Japanese hold honour.

That got me thinking, what has happened to honour?  Does it now exist only in Japan?  What does it mean?  Like most words, and certainly like every abstract noun, it has various meanings to different people.

To a linguist, it means the dictionary definition, ‘personal integrity’.  To a Knight of the Round Table, honour would have meant chivalry – protecting the weak, innocent, and people of their kingdom.  To a Scout, Guide, Cub etc, honour is an assertation that the promise you have just made will be kept.  To a golfer, honour is being the first to tee-off.  To a lady, honour is staying true to your virtue and/or to your partner/husband.  To a card player, an honour might be the Ace of Trumps.  To the Queen, honours are to be bestowed twice a year on those most deserving.  And to a Christian, honour plays an important part in the Ten Commandments.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with any of these meanings.  But honour once played a far more significant role in our societies than it does today.  Honour was once a way of showing respect to each other and their families, property and livelihoods.  It was so important that sometimes it was fiercely protected, but as time went by honour became more like a badge of pride to be squabbled over, rather than anything people could respect in each other.

I say bring honour back.  I do not mean pistols at dawn to settle a dispute, or ‘hara-kiri’ for a loss of honour.  I mean let us honour each other in the way the Bible intends us to.  It doesn’t matter if you are Christian or not, respect for each other as members of the human race is always applicable.  Such behaviour would filter down to our children, who would learn easily how to respect property as well as their peers.

Still need further convincing?  OK, imagine a car journey where all the drivers show honour and respect first, rather than anger and frustration.  Suddenly your journey becomes easier, stress-free, and the roads are a whole lot safer.  Imagine applying this ethic to all situations.  Wouldn’t it be so much easier to work with rather than against?

No, negative emotions will never be eradicated (and nor should they be – God made us Humans not Vulcans), but let’s only use them when we really need to.  Let us honour each other, as we might honour our fathers and mothers, even it’s just with a nod and a smile to the person you see every day but never speak to.  And let’s just see what happens.

Thanks for listening, take care.

Our inspiration

Hello, world!

Well if you’re back for more after reading my first two posts, then I am honoured, and I thank you for reading.  If you’re new, I hope you continue this journey with me.  Based on my daily encounters, findings, news, etc, I am searching for what can bring the world together rather than divide, and how we can be happier if we change our focus.

Today I want to talk about something inspired by a Fanbox ad and a conversation I had with one of my colleagues.  Firstly, the Fanbox ad.  This ad was pointing out a fellow who was claiming to be God, and inviting us all to pray for him in order that he does not end up in Hell, or some such words to that effect.

Now he isn’t the first, and won’t be last, to make the controversial assertion that he is the embodiment of God or Jesus.  And such assertions always lead to either ridicule or accusations of heresy, depending on how offended one is on hearing his claims.  But – hold on a moment.  We Christians do believe in something similar, that the Lord is within us all.  I ask Him for inspiration every day.  And we are not the only ones.  Maxi Jazz, the lead vocalist of Faithless and a Buddhist, states during Reverance that “The Lord is in here” and we should cease to “continue to view the Lord as being separated”.

During a Christmas sermon at my parents’ church a couple of years back, the idea was put across to us that we can become better people if we let Jesus into our hearts.  So, although these fellows who claim to be God have gone OTT with the wording, they aren’t actually that far off what we all believe anyway – that He is indeed within us all.

What about other beliefs, I hear you ask?  Well I do not profess to be a theologist, but I do know that Christians, Jews and Muslims alike believe that all things are possible through God.  And chi or chakra, theories which my colleague pointed out during our conversation as forming part of other belief systems, also teach that inspiration and energy comes from within.  Whether you view chakras as essentially Atheistic in nature or not doesn’t really matter.  We all have something in common here.

And the fruits of our inspiration can be enjoyed by everyone, whether you believe they were inspired wholly, partly, or not at all by God.  What we read, watch, hear, so often comes sincerely from the heart.  Let us celebrate that as a species, and we may find that our enjoyment of others’ creations is reciprocated back to us when we create.  What better motivation for us?

Thanks for listening, take care.

The God Delusion - rebuttal

Hello world,

I have returned, as promised, to share more of my thoughts on why we should actually be relating to one another rather than being suspicious of our differences.  I’m looking to draw my inspiration from my daily encounters, musings, findings, or what I read either in the news or other blogs, etc.

Today I spotted a blog post in Fanbox entitled ‘The God Delusion’.  You may be surprised, but I can identify with what it has to say.  Before I became a Christian, I was there.  I really was.  The blurb for The God Delusion states that questions we cannot answer can only be answered by faith, about which the dictionary definition of faith is quoted as a ‘rejection of all logic’.  The implication here is that without logic or proof, religion cannot be.  Also, the same blurb says that religion ‘divides’.  So it’s clear this video is going to reject religion as being worthy of playing a part in modern society.

This mindset is totally something I have experienced myself.  Seeing division between religions, sects, even different dioceses, I once dismissed religion in general as ‘The Church of Intolerance’.  Well, there is clearly a lot of that around.  But I came to realise that, whilst I may have had a problem with religion, I certainly never had a problem believing in God.  So I have cast off my fears and become a part of my Christian community – and discovered more unity than division.  After all, at a local level, community matters, and good people matter in those communities.  No, good people don’t have to be religious people – some of my dearest friends are Atheists – but that just proves my point.  Goodness is a word which can bind so many of us together, regardless of our backgrounds and regardless of the apparent illogic of faith.

My dictionary says something a little different about faith though.  And it’s only a little pocket Collins.  Sure, whilst one definition is indeed a ‘belief without proof’, another definition is simply ‘religious belief’.  The two are separate definitions.  And who says one cannot ‘prove’ the existence of God?  It certainly isn’t possible to disprove Him, regardless of what name you give Him.  Those who know me best have seen my demonstration of how I can show the Universe to be, in fact, a mathematical impossibility.  It would take a miracle for such a Universe as that in which we reside to exist.  Now, you can explore the physics of it in minuscule detail, down to the first beginnings, which famed scientists like Stephen Hawking have done.  But the further back you go, there is always a point where you have to concede – what caused this?  If you are one who wishes to scoff at the followers of the world’s major religions for answering this question with faith, then try answering it yourself.

You can’t.  And that, again, is my point.  There are countless questions which we cannot answer.  We believe we do know the answers to them, and our faiths in those answers give us our identities, whether you put them down to religious causes or not.  But if you wish to avoid religion because it ‘divides’, do not cause yet more division by stating that God is a ‘delusion’.  I’m sure you can all see the paradox here!

Let us instead embrace these questions.  Let us answer them as best we can.  And let us all enjoy our faith in them.  And who knows...when we exchange our answers, we may find we discover more about how wondrous the world’s diversity can be, rather than labelling diversity as evil.

Thanks for listening...take care.

Intro

Hello world!

OK, that may seem a little over-ambitious for my first post in my first ever blog, but this is something I want anyone to be able to read.  Is it possible to talk about subjects, particularly religious-based ones, which every one of the human race’s 7 billion strong members can relate to?  Well, there’s only one way to find out.

So this is my intro, I guess.  I am James, 36 years old, and I am a Christian.  By that I don’t mean I just dutifully write ‘C of E’ on the Census form every ten years and that’s that.  I go to my local church which is St Bart’s in Horley, Surrey, UK.  Or, if you like, the parish of Horley in the dioceses of Southwark.  But I haven’t been going for very long, I confess; in fact, I have yet to mark one year since my first attendance.

It’s fair to say, therefore, that I wrestle with lots of questions about religion, as I’m sure most of us do.  Sometimes our family, friends, colleagues, leaders etc can help us answer those questions.  But many are left unanswered, and we feel we either must work out the answers ourselves, or trust in our faiths that the answers will be revealed to us later in life, or perhaps at the end.

So who can answer this question: what is wrong with the world?  OK, sounds a little harsh I know, I’m not accusing the world of being intrinsically ‘wrong’.  But who feels, like me, that there is too much disharmony?  Whether it be domestic, local, national conflict, out-and-out war or a street scuffle?  No, these things will never go away completely, but are we really thinking about whether their causes are worthwhile?

So far in my ‘nearly year’ as a Christian I have seen varying levels of tolerance displayed by various types of individual towards one religion or another; both to and from my own religion, between other religions, and even between divisions within religions.  I wonder if the tension is mainly due to people wishing, for whatever reason, to focus on their differences rather than what could bind them together.

So that’s what I’m going to be blogging about here.  I’m going to take a journey, a spiritual one if you like, and really look at what people think about the factors which separate them versus those which, if they looked hard enough, could signal their kinship.  After all, if the human race were a sports team, yes it would be made up from people of vastly different backgrounds, cultures, creeds etc, but their ultimate goal (literally) would still be the same, wouldn’t it?

So I take a deep breath and commit myself to this work.  I have no idea how many, if any, of you will join, follow, or relate to me on the way.  But I look forward to finding out.

God bless, whoever yours may be.