'Merry Christmas your arse' and the hypocrisy of being a Christian

Yes, it is true...I am well known amongst my friends and family for being a cynical, miserly old git, especially in relation to Christmas. I wont deny this, and there are many good (and not so good) reasons for this. However, I have been feeling very challenged of late, due in no small part to the work I have been doing in the local High School. In the last few weeks, we have dealt with issues such as the plight of the refugee, genocide, natural disasters and conflict (of many kinds). In each area, one thing has held true-in every scenario, there are always people whose lives have been irrevocably changed by the events they have experienced. For many of these people, there is incredible loss and suffering on their part.

What has really troubled me is just how hard it is to really connect with these people in their suffering, not just on the part of the kids I teach, but also if I am truthful, for myself. Natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis don't happen in our wee corner of the world. Organised and mass genocide has not touched our shores. Even if we think of the Troubles, and the cost in both human and material terms, they pale in comparison to the troubles suffered in places like Rwanda in the mid 90s, and Sudan now (although that is not to belittle the suffering of the many thousands whose lives were directly affected by the Troubles). Needless to say, apart from the aforementioned Troubles, or wee country has got it pretty easy. It is such comfort that I feel numbs us to the plight of others!

At this time of year, thoughts inevitably turn to Christmas, buying presents, attending parties, eating food, enjoying the company of friends and family, crap television, and a whole host of other associated things. And yet as a Christian, I am deeply disturbed that for many of us, Jesus is no where near the top of our list (if he is even on it in the first place). I have come to ask the question 'what is the point of Christmas if Jesus isn't even in it?' Don't get me wrong, my understanding of God allows me to imagine the great delight he takes in when we encounter real and genuine community that happens especially at Christmas. This is a good thing and should be encouraged more often. However, in the same sense, I imagine his heart breaks when he sees us becoming so focused on trivial things.

The incarnation was such a dramatic and radical act within the span of human history. Here we have God himself, in the form of Jesus, coming to earth to exist as one of us, to live for us and show us how to live in turn, and then finally to die and resurrect for humanity. Such a profound and powerful act has been boiled down to what is essentially an orgy of selfishness.

As a Christian, I sometimes feel ashamed; not only at society at large, but also at myself. How can I have let myself, and those around me, focus on such selfish things. Is Christmas really about presents, or overeating food, or complaining about how bad television is? Is that what it has become? What happened to the radical and life changing act that was the original incarnation?

If you haven't already figured it out, you will by now notice my blog is often full of questions I don't always have answers too. By no stretch of the imagination am I trying to exist in an ivory tower passing judgement on others. I know I am just as complicit in the creation of a festival that is often as anti-christ as a coven of Satanists (or should that be Santa-ists?!). Am I suggesting we do away with Christmas, and have just a normal day (sounds nice!). Joking aside, of course I am not. However, what I am suggesting we do to do (Christian or not) is to set aside the self and consider the real reason of Christmas-that God would come to the world for mankind, to bring hope and redemption. There are an awful lot of people in this world who right now need a little hope and redemption. Perhaps we as a society and as individuals have an opportunity-strike that-a responsibility to ensure that such people find some hope. I hope that we can shake ourselves and hear the challenge to not become desensitised and numb to the plight of others whose Christmas will be more about surviving famine, or disease or death squads than it will be about buying presents, or complaining of what is on the TV.

Happy Remembrance of the Incarnation!

The arrogance of youth

I was getting out of my car one day, a week or so past, and I see this kid walking past me with his mobile phone out, and tunes blaring out of the damn thing. It was a funny moment, as his music was just pure AWFUL, but I didn't have the heart to say anything to the poor fella, who probably thought he was the 'dogs' as he walked past me listening to his totally radical music (or insert a more culturally relevant word than 'rad'-thinking about the 'Turtles' at the moment). Anyway, a very normal everyday occurance made some impact on me. You see, I have encountered this quite a lot-young people using their mobile phones as an open air disco, for all the world to 'enjoy', and to be honest, it strikes me as quite arrogant! I mean, what makes these kids think that I really want to listen to their music, which quite often has the musical quality of a hammer banging on a sheet of metal whilst someone runs a screwdriver down it! Don't get me wrong, I happen to think I have a pretty decent taste in music, and it is as varied as it is good! But kids these days?!!! Sheesh, most of them have an awful sense of what constitutes what makes 'good music'!

Anyway, I promise this is not a rant, and there is indeed some kernal of a point in this (apart from the 'grumpy old git'-esque rant on young people). As this kid walked past me listening to his music, I thought to myself, 'what the heck ever happened to earphones'?! I mean, I encounter this phenomenon quite regularly, where a young person will have the music playing over loudspeakers, and often think this. And on this occasion I came to the conclusion that it is because young people (and I do include myself in this) are essentially arrogant! Now, we could recriminate and justify and argue all we like, but I think that those of us under 35 can probably recognise a little bit of truth in this. Oh I am sure many of us continue to 'respect our elders', but we often consider that they are wrong on many issues, and we are right. I mean, as we shifted from modernity to post-modernity, many of us looked to our parents and especially our grandparents and sometimes consider their worldviews and experiences to be 'antiquated'! Come on, most people over the age of 50 struggle with common concepts such as i-pods, gaming on consoles; even tuning a VCR (which has itself become obsolete) is a struggle for some. Now I do stress that there are exceptions to the rule, but I draw on my experiences, especially with my parents, who seem to be almost pre-historic in their understanding of technology! So as we show respect to our elders, we often think that we probably are at a more advanced level in our understanding of the world and how things 'work'!

But is this the case?

I am not really coming at this with any concrete answers. However, I have seen that young people today have lost something of what I had when I was a 'kid'. I see young people spending all their time on computers, gaming, social networking. Whilst things like the internet and modern technology can be an amazing resource in drawing people together, I think in some ways it can create a massive distance. And I do appreciate the irony in saying this in a forum which can only be accessed by such technology. However, I feel that something has been lost in the last 15 years. As a kid, I often went out and 'horsed about'-the less said about this the better for my reputation-but I can honestly say these were important times in my life, and particularly in the formation of who I was to be. I often smile when I recollect stories of my youth, and whilst I made many mistakes, I think I got through things all right (depending on how you judge the 'end' product). So if thats how I feel in my mid-20s, how must someone in their 50s, 60s or 70s feel? Do they feel the world has changed for the better? And when I say better, I guess what I am really trying to assess is our level for true and intimate community with each other. As someone who believes that our reason for living is community, if something doesn't add to community, then it doesn't make things better.

Like I said, no answers, but more a case of having some thoughts to share. Perhaps what we can learn is that awareness that we haven't got it all 'sorted'! That in the 21st Century, there are perhaps things we can draw down from previous eras, especially in regards to community. And perhaps instead of being arrogant about our knowledge of technology or philosophy or any other thing ending with -y, that maybe, just maybe, we haven't got it all figured out...yet ;)

Peace

Communion?

Chatting to fellow youth worker and profound thinker Saint Martin Montgomery, I suddenly realised that I shouldn't have to start off every blog with the usual round of apologies for not writing for months...I mean, do you, the reader, really care? And to be honest, why should I write useless drivel for the amusment of the mob?! Simply put, I have not had much I wanted to say these last few months; of course thats not to say I haven't been thinking about a lot of issues/topics. I want to share some brief thoughts that have been swirling through the grey matter!

This time, its about communion. I have long held the belief that communion is a very significant act for the Christian. Strangely for a "Protestant" (and believe me, I do use that term lightly!), I have contended that perhaps our Catholic brothers are a little bit closer in their understanding of the significance of the act. Now, let me say that theologically speaking, I do not believe that the bread and wine physically turn into the body and blood of Christ. That is in no way to criticise Catholic theology on the matter, but rather to make my position clear (and not just as someone who has been brought up a 'Prod' in Ulster to disagree with everything Catholic, but as someone who has thought and reasoned the issue out for themselves).

Back to the matter...In communion, I believe something very strange takes place; whilst Catholics may believe that the bread and wine transubstantiate physically, I believe that it is more a metaphysical transformation. That is, there is a very deep spiritual transformation that occurs, that allows us to connect with Christ on the cross through the Eucharist. An act it may be, full of symbolism, but I think we do it a disservice if we leave it as just an act! On some very deep level, we are taking the body and blood of Jesus into us, perhaps not on a physical sense, but in a very real spiritual sense!

Being brought up as a Presbyterian, the Lord's Supper (wasn't much of a meal-sip of ribena, and a piece of bread) was always a time of reflection that inevitably had to be a guilt trip. Don't get me wrong, I love my Presbyterian brethren (the rest of my family still go there), and respect a lot of things about that church, but communion should never have turned into a guilt trip-where you feel bad about all the naughty things you have done, and feel so unworthy to partake in communion. Jesus never wanted us to go on a guilt trip when we take part in the Eucharist. Jesus wants us to remember him; to celebrate his life, and rejoice in his death and resurrection. When we take part in communion, it should be with a party atmosphere (at least in my thought). Of course, we should always enter into some self-examination and reflection, but it should never be self-recrimination. That is just not the Jesus Way!

And then there is a deeper issue behind communion; what does it mean to 'remember him'? I think that Eucharist should not just be a piece of bread and some wine (or Ribena for our Presby friends), but that Eucharist should be a 'lifestyle'. When we walk out of church, do we 'remember him'? When in work, do we 'remember him'? With our friends and our family, do we 'remember him'? With the poor, the hungry, the oppressed, do we 'remember him'? The etymology of the word 'Eucharist' stems from two Greek words; eú- "good, well" and kháris- "favor, grace"...Good grace! Hmmm, I wonder what this is trying to say to us? Is it that Eucharist is about more than imbibing and ingesting Jesus (whether physically or metaphorically)? Is it that communion is about more than a sacred meal that helps us remember the events of Jesus' life and death? All these things are extremely important for the Christian...However, maybe Eucharist is actually about our 'good grace' or good works after we walk out of Church. Maybe the true power behind communion is that it is not just for us, but it is for the world. As we 'remember' Christ, we live like him, and show him in our lives (speech and actions). And as we do that, people are drawn to the truth of the Gospel-that Christ came to set us free and give us 'real life'! Maybe it is that as we engage in good works, we need a little more of the body and blood of Christ within us, so that we can be more like him to the world? Perhaps that is the real power, the real purpose behind communion? Can it be that communion is so much wider and so much deeper than we every thought it could be? I mean, with anything of God, it is entirely possible that we have only just scratched the surface!

So, as you take communion, I encourage you to think about what this means not just for you, but for those around you (Christian or not)! I encourage you to recognise that a very significant and spiritual act, drenched in symbolism, but full of power, is taking place. I encourage you to think of how this act may be changing you, and how in turn does that change the world around you. And I encourage you to enjoy it!

Peace