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What makes us civilized?
It must be more than eating with the right knife and folk!
On Bank Holiday Monday we spent some time in the British Museum. I love looking at the vases and jewellery in the display cabinets charting the history of Ancient Greece – a place we often associate with the birthplace of civilization. It’s breathtaking to contemplate that some of these exquisite pots and beautiful golden broaches were being used and worn 1400 years before the birth of Jesus – and here they are on display in central London. I’d love to touch them!
Maybe the voting we are engaged in today is also a mark of being a reasonable and civilized people belonging to an old and well established democracy.
Here are some random reflections of some marks of civilization that have come my way over recent weeks.
* My church community launches an appeal for Christian Aid supporting Mother and Baby Care in Kenya – a project that will receive joint funding with the EU. We aim for £5,000 over two years and through the generosity of AFC we reach £10,000 in one year.
* Two hundred folk attended a Hustings in Amersham last week put on by Churches Together and in actually listening to the candidates we learnt something!
* We are preparing to celebrate the life of a much loved friend of our church, our late organist, with a concert full of inspirational music that Eric would have loved – musicians and singers all working hard to make this a splendid occasion.
* Our Tuesdays at our church LunchBreak welcomes a big group of mentally handicapped friends every week and together, with other friends from church and community, over ninety of us enjoy food and company.
* At the farewell meal for our local vicar on Sunday I sat at the same table as some Iranian Christians and we talked of our different church traditions and concluded Jesus’ command to love God and neighbour was the motivational force in our faith.
* In the sermons I hope to preach and the hymns I want to sing we proclaim our belief in the God who loves us, constantly gives us a second chance and welcomes us ‘home’. So if God treats us like that shouldn’t we be generous and forgiving to each other as well?
All of these, I feel, are marks of civilization as precious as any of the stunning Greek vases I saw in the British Museum on Monday!
Best wishes,
On Bank Holiday Monday we spent some time in the British Museum. I love looking at the vases and jewellery in the display cabinets charting the history of Ancient Greece – a place we often associate with the birthplace of civilization. It’s breathtaking to contemplate that some of these exquisite pots and beautiful golden broaches were being used and worn 1400 years before the birth of Jesus – and here they are on display in central London. I’d love to touch them!
Maybe the voting we are engaged in today is also a mark of being a reasonable and civilized people belonging to an old and well established democracy.
Here are some random reflections of some marks of civilization that have come my way over recent weeks.
* My church community launches an appeal for Christian Aid supporting Mother and Baby Care in Kenya – a project that will receive joint funding with the EU. We aim for £5,000 over two years and through the generosity of AFC we reach £10,000 in one year.
* Two hundred folk attended a Hustings in Amersham last week put on by Churches Together and in actually listening to the candidates we learnt something!
* We are preparing to celebrate the life of a much loved friend of our church, our late organist, with a concert full of inspirational music that Eric would have loved – musicians and singers all working hard to make this a splendid occasion.
* Our Tuesdays at our church LunchBreak welcomes a big group of mentally handicapped friends every week and together, with other friends from church and community, over ninety of us enjoy food and company.
* At the farewell meal for our local vicar on Sunday I sat at the same table as some Iranian Christians and we talked of our different church traditions and concluded Jesus’ command to love God and neighbour was the motivational force in our faith.
* In the sermons I hope to preach and the hymns I want to sing we proclaim our belief in the God who loves us, constantly gives us a second chance and welcomes us ‘home’. So if God treats us like that shouldn’t we be generous and forgiving to each other as well?
All of these, I feel, are marks of civilization as precious as any of the stunning Greek vases I saw in the British Museum on Monday!
Best wishes,
Ian
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