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| Thomas Merton - The Sky Hook ‘The only known photograph of God’ (c) Merton Legacy Trust |
Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop. My name is Phillip Dawson. This reflection will last ten minutes. We begin with a short bible reading, which can be found on page 888 in the Old Testament section of the Bible.
Bible Reading – Amos 7.7-9
This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘A plumb-line.’ Then the Lord said,
‘See, I am setting a plumb-line
in the midst of my people Israel;
I will never again pass them by;
the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.’
Reflection
This month the Archbishop of Canterbury drew inspiration from the book of Amos in his address to the TUC Conference in which he, like the prophet, challenged us to consider whether we are in plumb with God; encouraging us to live a life of self-giving service and appealing to large corporations to direct their power toward the common good.
Amos was a shepherd and, like the Archbishop 2,700 years later, spoke to a society characterised by unparalleled wealth and striking inequality. He grew up in Judah towards the end of a time of great peace and prosperity. King Jeroboam II and King Uzziah had reigned over the northern and southern territories for nearly forty years and Israel, particularly in the north, had grown rich through trade. But not all had benefitted; people were selling themselves into slavery because they couldn’t afford to pay for minor debts; the rich were lavishing money on parties while huge numbers of people were homeless and destitute.
Amos saw this disregard for the dignity of human life as a breach of God’s covenant with Israel – but many Israelites believed that their wealth was a direct result of their special relationship with God. On the surface, this was a faithful culture - there was a great deal of religious activity - King Jeroboam’s father had established cultic shrines in Bethel, which were packed with worshippers. It was here, amongst the religious rituals, that Amos was called to prophesise; pleading with people to judge their culture by how they were treating the poorest and most vulnerable in society; challenging them to consider if they were true to - or ‘in plumb’ with – God – warning of the dire consequences if they continued to exploit the people and resources of the world.
Amos was a shepherd and, like the Archbishop 2,700 years later, spoke to a society characterised by unparalleled wealth and striking inequality. He grew up in Judah towards the end of a time of great peace and prosperity. King Jeroboam II and King Uzziah had reigned over the northern and southern territories for nearly forty years and Israel, particularly in the north, had grown rich through trade. But not all had benefitted; people were selling themselves into slavery because they couldn’t afford to pay for minor debts; the rich were lavishing money on parties while huge numbers of people were homeless and destitute.
Amos saw this disregard for the dignity of human life as a breach of God’s covenant with Israel – but many Israelites believed that their wealth was a direct result of their special relationship with God. On the surface, this was a faithful culture - there was a great deal of religious activity - King Jeroboam’s father had established cultic shrines in Bethel, which were packed with worshippers. It was here, amongst the religious rituals, that Amos was called to prophesise; pleading with people to judge their culture by how they were treating the poorest and most vulnerable in society; challenging them to consider if they were true to - or ‘in plumb’ with – God – warning of the dire consequences if they continued to exploit the people and resources of the world.
Despite stating clearly in his speech to the TUC that he was not lecturing as “one who has got it right”, The Archbishop of Canterbury was slated in the popular press as a hypocrite and; echoing the words of Amaziah (the Chief Priest in Bethel who sent Amos packing), Justin Welby was instructed to go and preach to his own, before lecturing others.
For us, as in the time of Amos, staying true to God is a struggle – it is all too easy to veer off course both consciously and unconsciously - even when we think we have His plumb-line in our sights. Hangman’s Hill in Epping Forest is an example of a ‘Gravity Hill’ where cars apparently defy the law of gravity by rolling uphill; a phenomenon created by the topography of the surrounding land. Just as our senses can be fooled by such optical illusions, studies such as the Milgram Experiments have shown that our culture and upbringing can form unconscious bias, leading us to believe that something that is wrong can be made to seem right; in acting on these instincts we steer ourselves away from God. The trials, which took place in the 1960’s sought to understand how, in the context of the Holocaust, people could act with such cruelty; and involved participants being instructed to administer electric shocks to actors sitting out of sight. The results showed that when faced with the competing virtues of compassion and obedience to authority, most of us have been preconditioned to opt for the latter.
To stay true to God, perhaps this unconscious bias needs to be put in check. How often do we blame “the system” for our own failure to bring about justice and righteousness? It’s not worth recycling because my bag of plastic won’t make a difference to the system. It’s not worth giving my spare pound to the homeless woman on the street because she will just spend it on drugs. In a climate where we delegate our value judgements to “the system” it is not long before we forget to ask the questions - what are we worth? What do we really value? Whatever our answers, they are unlikely to include spending more time supporting “the system.” As Rowan Williams reminded us when he preached here in July, most of us cannot extricate ourselves from our consumer society. Our well-being and those of our families are bound with those around the world through global trade – a world where we cannot create ‘exclusion zones’ around us. In the words of John Donne “No man is an island.” One of Thomas Merton’s favourite photographs was that of a plumb-line with a hook on the end. The Trappist monk described this as ‘The only known photograph of God.’ In Merton’s photograph, the ‘sky hook’ hangs alone amidst the Kentucky hills. In a world packed with plumb-lines, with no ‘exclusion zone’ to help us navigate towards that which is from God, where can we turn for guidance to ensure we are hooked on the right one?
The recent HeartEdge Conference at Lambeth Palace brought together some of the country’s leading thinkers to discuss the place of the church within the commercial landscape. Paul Bayes, the Bishop of Liverpool, argued that the church needs to look back to Saint Paul who, as described in the Acts of the Apostles, stood in the agora in Areopagus and re-described the narrative of the marketplace in order to preach the Gospel. Bishop Paul explained that in recent times, the default position of the church has been to turn away from the shimmering world – the “diaphanous cosmos” of commerce – finding the language of desire used in the marketplace (whether it be for material goods – or sexual desire) to be paralytic.
In her book “Buying God” Dr Eve Poole, one of the Church Commissioners and a former Management Consultant, explains that “contrary to the popular view, consumerism is not about material goods at all” but about desire – a desire for what is next. She draws on a range of theological sources to suggest that consumerism and Christianity are profoundly similar in terms of the desires they cultivate but – unlike the proto-spirituality of consumerism, whose insatiable desire can never be fulfilled – Christian desire – our fundamental desire to return to be at union with our creator – can be. Desire, she explains “is part of the human condition, and our spiritual task is not to resist it, but to curve it away from materialism, back towards God.”
Her book offers scaffolding for us to deploy when we notice that our lives are no longer true to God’s plumb-line. A ‘Month of Virtues’ offers the opportunity to meditate on a single question linked to a different virtue – one for each day of the month. A Consumption Audit provides a lens through which to examine our lives in the context of the choices we make about how we use our time, money, talents and how we choose to treat the planet, other people and ourselves. Dr Poole calls on the church to invest more in the spiritual formation of its parishioners and for us all to be actively engaged in building our own characters, to confront our unconscious bias – making habitual the practice of that which we truly value. One way of doing so is to engage in social liturgy – active participation in altruistic acts and spending time in prayer. By seeking out more opportunities for us to show compassion, the likelihood of us acting in a compassionate way when we are faced with a choice such as those in the Milgram experiments, increases. Practice makes perfect! (Rowan Williams says church is a great place to state the obvious!)
With practice, perhaps we will stop chastising those for not practising what they preach – and instead focus on preaching what we practise. Because as the Archbishop reminded us in his closing remarks at the TUC, God has called us to change;
“if we all adapt, serving the common good, helping to establish justice, acting in righteousness, not frightened and self-protective and power-seeking, but courageous and self-giving, then we may expect with joy that in this land justice will flow down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
In a time of silence before we pray, perhaps we might consider whether our lives are following God’s plumb-line. What do we truly value? Which virtues would we like to practise more in our lives? How might we best “spend” our time today?
Prayers
As we join together in prayer, asking God to help us to change ourselves and each other so that we might change the world, the response to Lead me Lord, lead me in thy righteousness is “make thy way plain before my face.”
We begin our prayers with The Consumer’s Prayer, written by Eve Poole;
We begin our prayers with The Consumer’s Prayer, written by Eve Poole;
God my creator,
All that I have is yours,
Send me out to be salt and light in your marketplace.
Guide my purchasing today so each transaction does your will.
Hallow my footsteps, and guide my every meeting.
Bless me, mind, body and spirit, so that I radiate your glory.
Bring closer to perfection all that is in me,
so that I desire only you;
And lend me your grace and peace as I make life’s choices.
Lead me, Lord, lead me in thy righteousness,
make thy way plain before my face.
Lord, we know that our only true desire is to be with you.
Lead us by your spirit that in this life we may live to your glory,
and in the life to come, enjoy you for ever.
Lead me, Lord, lead me in thy righteousness,
make thy way plain before my face.
Lord of all goodness,
Guide us as we seek what is of value in our lives.
Give us the confidence to try new things,
to discover the talents you have given us.
Help us to spend time today sharing these with others;
building kingdom on earth.
Lead me, Lord, lead me in thy righteousness,
make thy way plain before my face.
Lord, when we feel powerless to change the system,
give us the strength and courage to change ourselves.
We know you have called us on a journey of transformation.
Help us to build our lives according to the plumb-line you have set before us;
to make us the person you want us to be.
Lead me, Lord, lead me in thy righteousness,
make thy way plain before my face.
Blessing
Remember all God has done.
Rejoice in all he is doing.
Receive all he shall yet do.
Walk with the God of past, present and future, wherever he may lead,
knowing that he will walk with you,
this day and always.
Amen.
Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop today. If you are interested in learning to sing, join our new Community Choir which meets this Wednesday from 1pm until 1.45pm. Our discussion group takes place from 5.30pm on Thursday evening. We would love to see you.
I hope you have a wonderful day and a great week ahead.
The next reflection will begin in a few minutes.
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