Seasons to be cheerful!

I’m sat in the garden feeling the seasonal change that is settling into the UK. The sun is still warm for the beginning of September, even a balmy 28 degree's today, but a cool breeze has developed. In the shade it is distinctly cooler. I find the autumn weather that hangs onto the heat of the summer to be my favourite time of the year but I find that the onset of t3he night’s drawing in add to a sense of melancholy when contemplating another cold winter. In the UK we have daylight saving time where in October, we roll the clock back an hour. I find this to be a totally spurious activity now that I am older and can see that there is no real gain in the amount of daylight we experience as a result of the change.

Why make the evening darker by changing the clock to an earlier hour, as if bringing the night into the day? Where it once got dark by 6pm before the change of the clocks, it is now dark at 5pm. How futile is it to try to add light to the mornings by robbing it from the evening, when for most people preparing to start out on their journey for work, they experience the same level of darkness as before. I can spend the my whole working day under artificial light; waking in the morning before the dawn light, getting to work in the gloom of the dawn, and going home again… in the dark.

I read an interesting article in the news (1.8.13: online issue of Current Biology, Kenneth Wright, of the University of Colorado) that our natural body clocks have been completely corrupted by artificial light. When we lived on the land outside of our urbanised society, we would rise with the dawn and lay down with the light of dusk. Our bodies were in tune with the earth and our sleep patterns were much better for it. Obviously the advent of fire and the use of torches and later, candles for light, extended some of the day, but our bodies naturally know when it is time for sleep… we are just out of tune with it!

The news report went on to state that the advent of artificial light had extended our daily routines that are now so alien to our natural state, that the rise in mental health issues and depression could be linked to these patterns. I know that SAD syndrome seems to be a very modern expression of our bodies’ need for the natural rhythm of night and day, and the levels of light we are daily exposed to; yet our working and social lives extend these beyond that which our minds can accept.

Some see the slow decline in the level of light in autumn as a signal to a psychological winter in our lives. The closing-in of the world around them establishing a natural constraint on their sense of liberty derived from the exuberance and warmth of the summer sun. Sir Winston Churchill used this analogy of winter bringing in a sense of unhappiness, taken from Shakespeare’s Richard the III, when speaking during the war with his often quoted line: “Now is the winter of our discontent…” Even in history, we have a period of time we refer to as the ‘Dark Ages’ - A point in time where it is harder to quantify the progress that humanity has made in its quest to grow beyond itself.

The way that we view ourselves can be attributed to how we view the seasons: ‘Get that Bikini Body for the beach!’ or the gym advert to ‘Get in shape with a New Year resolution…’ Spring obviously is the point of new beginnings and of making a fresh start, with the summer a season to relax and holiday – to pamper ourselves in the sun before the autumn. Winter always has the idea of hibernation – of a period of time waiting to come into bloom due to the obvious constraints of the colder weather and darker nights.

Some of us live, hoping that something better will be around the corner… I know when I worked in a factory manufacturing car parts, the workers would always want to secure the overtime bonus so that they could purchase that holiday in the summer – it broke the monotony of the repetitive nature of the operation the workers performed; it gave them a sense of purpose greater than that which they were employed in. We learn to endure life, rather than live life.

Some who find it too hard to accept our ‘lot-in-life’ find ways to express themselves in sometimes extravagant ways, to break the cycle of sleep-work-eat-work-sleep. We all seek antidotes to the insecurity that life isn’t as we hoped for, or that we haven’t attained all that we could have… like some form of eternal winter of depression. Joy is temporal and memories can be forgotten. We can often look back and wonder how did we get here? We can have those mid-life-crises where the enormity of expectation with life is undermined by the reality of our experience.

We learn to deal with these emotions because we are all now consumer vultures, trying to pick up the best deals through the satisfaction of gaining a bargain. As we experience the different seasons of our lives, we try to medicate our souls from the negative experiences we encounter by filling it with alternative stuff. Unfortunately our experience of using different things to medicate us from the trials of life can leave us feel a bit short changed, so we try something else.

My daughter has a perfectly good Blackberry mobile phone, but she has begun to want an iPhone now for a while, so I was happy to buy a used iPhone 4S for £170 from eBay. The purchase was a celebration of our prudence as we could use our existing SIM and not be committed to a long contract. Unfortunately, the phone appeared to have been previously damaged, so after a week of being left ‘on-charge’ whilst on holiday, the phone appears to have developed a fault which was described by an engineer as having ‘fried itself’.

I replaced the battery with no joy, took it to an aftermarket specialist with no joy there either. So we went to: ‘The Apple Store.’ The helpful ‘genius’ took one look inside the phone and said, ‘yes you have tampered with it (I did electronics as part of my degree), and so our-hands-are-tied with the level of support we can offer you – sell it on eBay.’

Suddenly the joy of the bargain was lost and additional expense was expected. Some fortune came to us as my phone network provider could assist us with a new phone at a much reduced contract cost, but the handset was only an iPhone 4. Oh no, which one was best – 4 or 4S? My wife and I were thinking ‘limit any more expense’ so plumped for the 4 on a contract we could afford! Within 2 weeks however, the iPhone’s volume button was broken. Unfortunately we were one day outside of our 14 day exchange time limit, so now have to go back to the apple store.

Hopefully you can see where I am going with this… The iPhone is a ‘want’ and a desire, not necessarily a ‘need’. My daughters joy at having her desire fulfilled was to my parental eye, a building of her self-esteem – yes I know we cannot build our esteem on a ‘product’, but I can remember as a teenager how I felt when dealing with the disappointment of knowing that my desire for a pair of Nike Air trainers when they first came to the UK in the early 1980’s would never be fulfilled.

I felt I was able to provide that which my parent could not, and in so doing, banish the negative feelings that she may have felt by not having the possessions what those of her peers may have had. I knew from experience, what it felt like at her age to not be able to ‘fit-in’ with my peers because of my perception of unworthiness due to having the wrong labels. So yes, the purchase was a bit of my stuff too.

When my daughter presented the malfunctioning phone to us as parents, she appeared as though she was going to have a panic attack. This was for two reasons: The first being that she felt somehow responsible for the failure of the previous phone and now, she had to deal with the emotion of the failure of this new phone. You could see that she found it hard to reconcile her emotion with a rational sense that it was just a phone that had broken. The emotional investment we place in ‘things’ can be all consuming when something we desire does not meet expectation or our expectation of ‘it’ is found to be misplaced.

Hopefully the experience will help her develop a ‘healthier’ relationship with her observations of peer relationships and teenage social interactions with objects that project status, and the real relationships she has with her friends. It’s funny too, how our pursuit of what we desire is all consuming and can blind is to more rational choices. Many of the phone shops we visited said that she could have a much better and ‘newer’ phone but her heart was set on an iPhone. She could rationalise the finances and the expense of the phone against a 24 month contract and the age of the technology within the phone in her mind, but her heart kept saying iPhone.

We do not ‘need’ these things in our lives but the societal pressure of modern living seems to demand that we can materially at least, show our status within it, through the collection of our belongings. I have seen hungry children whose parents appear to have the latest technology, but not have enough to stretch to feed their children… just this morning I went to the assistance to a lady who had tripped in the park as she read her iPad. I asked if she was ok, to which she replied, ‘Yes I am ok, but my iPad I bought only yesterday, is broken.’

In the western world, our view of what is essential to life is completely faulty; we have to look good in public and have the latest fashions; have to have a car for transportation, and definitely need branding to show our status. We have to say we like the things that are currently in vogue and go with the flow of popular culture. Challenging popular culture or going against current trends, can quickly ostracise us from peer groups and we can find ourselves at a distance from those around us. The church is in a similar position as this today. Societal change towards greater secularism has gathered such momentum that people see no need of God and can quite easily equate those who still believe as foolish.

There has been a trend in polite society to attempt to humiliate those who profess faith… ridiculing their belief as being childlike, lacking in reason and seen as being in-tolerant of those groups of people seeking equality, where there was once a religious argument against such behaviours in lifestyle. Preachers too, tend to put the focus of the gospel too much on identifying people’s sinful nature, rather than offering the love of God and the hope that faith in him brings.

There are some in the church who would be happy to be in a position where they see themselves as an upholder of traditional evangelical values in-spite of what popular culture may say of their views. These people and church leaders may even complain about not being able to express their views in public, while seeing any formal response to what is stated in public as seemingly hostile. Those who have heard the way that the church has traditionally presented its views, feel that the church is intolerant of alternative viewpoints and therefore irrelevant.

Like my daughter desiring an iPhone despite its costs and limitations, society does the same with that which it wants. I never go into the high street on a Sunday morning for obvious reasons, but today we did a prayer walk to kick off a week of prayer for the new season of church. Suddenly it was clear where all of the people were! It’s not that I didn’t know that people chose to shop rather than attend church; it was the revelation of seeing what life outside of Sunday morning church looked like that got me thinking.

I was brought up in the UK prior to the Sunday trading regulations established in the 80’s. Shops closed on Wednesday afternoons because shop keepers and workers had to work on a Saturday, so they took a half-day on a Wednesday in-lieu of this. Only a handful of newsagents opened within restricted times on a Sunday– certainly, alcohol was not sold on Sunday’s! It is a good 20 years since shops began opening for 4hrs on a Sunday, and the transformation to the weekend has been dramatic.

Changing shift patterns and working patterns means that Sunday has become an essential day to do those things that we couldn’t get completed in the week. I believe that even Christians appreciate the few extra hours of trading on a Sunday. Yet at the time, the ‘Save Our Sunday’s’ campaign was quite a vociferous movement because of the contravention of the commandment to ‘Remember the Sabbath by keeping it Holy’ (Exodus 20:8).

The trade unions got involved because they wanted to protect workers’ rights to have the option to work or not. They feared that the once traditional ‘Double-Time’ pay for having to work on a Sunday would be eroded, with staff being forced to work on a Sunday, and staff receiving standard pay. You can see their point as workers would lose valuable family time and social time, yet not receive payment in respect of the inconvenience. Today, modern contracts in the retail and leisure industries do not differentiate the days of the week as they are always open for business.

So the church was defeated in principle but managed to secure some concessions to all week trading, partly through religious observation, and partly through trade unionism. The slide into this more secular working pattern further disassociated those of faith from those who would prefer a cappuccino in the local coffee shop. So why is this? As we enter a new season in the church calendar, what can we do to draw people to Jesus? What is it about church that people are repulsed by? For some it is the historical evangelical approach to mission where preachers would tell all that they were sinners and needed to repent. For a time, this message would encourage those who were sensitive towards their lifestyle choices by drawing them to the promise of forgiveness.

However, after over 60 years of peace time in Europe, the growth of society, modernity, education, sanitation, housing, healthcare, consumerism and capitalism has encouraged us to believe in our own abilities. Scientific and technological achievements have seen seemingly impossible events dreamed of in the past, come to fruition. As you know, I am a Star Trek fan and I can be confident in saying that handheld computer pads and memory sticks were dreamt up by ambitious sci-fi writers, dreaming of what the future would hold… Bones, Scotty and Mr Spock all worked with wooden props that simulated today’s iPad.

In the west, we live in disproportionate luxury to those in the world marginalised by poverty; those living in countries with corrupt regimes or with such limited resources with which to trade with the rest of the world, that what they do have is exploited, and the returns the average worker receives for their labour, is disproportionate to their effort. Where we are waiting for that ‘new’ gadget to sustain our boredom with the product in our hands (Ifa Consumer Tech Show; Berlin), we lose sight of what is really important.

The church can point out the negative aspects of using ‘things’ to sustain our diet of consumerism, but it has to come up with a strategy of how the gospel can be presented to a world that seemingly has no need of God. There, I’ve said it. Some in the church will not like the fact that I have said this because of their belief that each of us is designed to worship God, not ‘things’… yes, I would totally agree with that. Without God, the transient nature or lure of the new and seemingly exciting piece of technology or entertainment, cannot sustain my joy of life. But for many; those middle class professional, socially literate, educated people; life offers boundless possibilities and there is contentment in what they have.

However, for many, the ease at which we can be fed; the ease at which we can be entertained; the accessibility of our social network to keep us in-the-loop of what our friends are doing; this can be sustaining, even if we have to admit that for a little while at least, we can feel lonely and disconnected. Equally, we are prepared to accept a pattern or lifestyle that we are comfortable with because our aspirations of life are superficially met at least, in what we have… and I am going to say something else controversial too – Christians have also become consumed by this lifestyle and have a duality to their lives that constrains what God could do through us.

So the church is in a bit of cul-de-sac. Its traditional Sunday service format is ‘foreign’ to many who have never experienced church. There is now in the UK a generation of young people who have not heard the Gospel stories as church attendance is in decline and schools do not readily teach the stories of the bible. The time is now. The time is now to reach out and save those that are lost in a society enslaved to lives in the pursuit of the consumption in the next-best-thing… we need a season of change and renewal.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently as we enter this new season. It would be easy to look at the statistics and feel that we are powerless. We could set up coffee shops so that we can draw people into the church community or we could set up mother and baby groups to build community with parents and families… we could offer entertainment so that people can connect to the church through social occasions that draw people in. While all well and good, what we need to do is to present the Gospel!

I was trying to think of a reason why I couldn’t take my guitar into the high street on a Sunday morning and play a few worship songs to the passing shoppers – perhaps have some invitations to church events… or maybe I could collect money through playing the songs for the Storehouse project; to purchase food for those in need – perhaps advertise how the Christian faith can be expressed through social justice? Then I would rationalise this with the commitments I have made to do the sound for the morning service one week or playing guitar for the children’s work on another week, so I wouldn’t have the opportunity or even have a free Sunday to go out and do this…

So clearly my desire to reach out to my community is not as convincing as my ambition… it will result in me continuing as before and those people who I could be reaching out to with the Gospel, preferring instead to have a latte in Costa. There is much we must do to alter our mind-set so that we would desire to tell people of the Gospel, despite the personal cost to us or the season we feel that our life is in. How much do we desire to serve God with all of our body, mind and soul?

The church is very good at servicing itself, almost like some kind of event management programme; but how is this going to draw new people to Jesus? Why are we so limited or constrained in declaring our faith in God? How has the church got itself into the recent public relations disasters of finger pointing at other people’s sin rather than one of people loving? Our pastor read out the lyrics to UK artist Emeli Sande song at the start of our prayer walk today. It goes like this:

You've got the words to change a nation
but you're biting your tongue
You've spent a life time stuck in silence
afraid you'll say something wrong
If no one ever hears it how we gonna learn your song
So come on, come on
Come on, come on

You've got a heart as loud as lions
so why let your voice be tamed?
Baby we're a little different
there's no need to be ashamed
You've got the light to fight the shadows
so stop hiding it away
Come on, come on, come on

I want to sing, I want to shout
I want to scream till the words dry out
so put it in all of the papers,
I’m not afraid
they can read all about it
read all about it oh, oh…

At night we're waking up the neighbours
while we sing away the blues
making sure that we remember, yeah
cause we all matter too
if the truth has been forbidden
then we're breaking all the rules
so come on, come on
come on, come on,

Let’s get the TV and the radio
to play our tune again
its 'bout time we got some airplay of our version of events
there's no need to be afraid
I will sing with you my friend
Come on, come on

Yeah we're all wonderful, wonderful people
so when did we all get so fearful?
Now we're finally finding our voices
so take a chance, come help me sing this
Yeah we're all wonderful, wonderful people
so when did we all get so fearful?
And now we're finally finding our voices
so take a chance, come help me sing this

(Emeli Sande: Read all about it prt III)

When we love something enough, we can forsake all else in our pursuit of that which we know to be true. We are willing to make sacrifices in order to protect the truth and we are willing to defend that which is right. We also recognise that when things are tough, we are compelled to turn towards that truth and the comfort contained within it, rather than push away that which we know to be best for us.

In this new season I encourage you to find your voice. With God going before you, who can stand against you? Find new ways with your family, your neighbours and your communities to reach out and change the lives of those around us for the better. Show others the sort of people you are… how compassionate you are towards the world and those we love. How our love of Jesus binds us together with bonds that graft us into the truth of our existence on this earth. Build community so that we can celebrate together, go through the seasons with each other, and live in the expectation of the hope to come, rather than the shallowness of the consumer generation.

Let us all pray for our nations… asking for a fresh out-pouring of the Holy Spirit like tongues of fire; spreading out from person to person as we lay hands on each other and ask the Lord to bring forth his healing. Lord we desire to see you at work winning our nation back; build your kingdom here in our churches, in our communities, in our towns and in our cities. Lord teach us your ways so that we may walk in your truth and live lives that are a blessing to all.