CURIOSITY

A significant part of Poole has been in gridlock the past two days, with the opening of John Lewis. It seems to have attracted considerably more attention than the unveiling of any of our recently installed sculptures.

As the traffic was backed up from the store to outside our church building yesterday, I decided to take a walk down the hill (and up the other side) to see what all the fuss was about. And there were hundreds of people there.



It is possible that most of those queuing to get into the store were, like me, simply interested in observing the cultural phenomenon unfolding before us. But I think most of them actually wanted to see what was in store, in the store. As I had got there, I joined them and went inside as well. And you know what? It’s a shop; that sells things.

Hard to get excited about. Although some people obviously were. Grace reported that one of the other mums at the school gate managed to attract a large crowd simply by announcing, “I’ve been to John Lewis!”

But whatever the ostensible motivation for visiting the store, the underlying reason is little more than curiosity. We humans are a curious lot. If we weren’t curious we would still be living in caves and eating our buffalo fresh carved from the carcass. It is our curiosity that has led us into all our discoveries and social development, as well as often leading us into trouble.

It was curiosity that led to four times the normal audience tuning into Question Time last night to see how Nick Griffen would come across.

I’m not sure there was anything more surprising about what the BNP leader said than there was about what was inside John Lewis. But we do like to look.

Often, though, the most interesting things happen where we are not looking, or, as Jesus put it, "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."

Subtle.

PLANTING ARTISTRY

There is a certain fluttering amongst the Poole shopperati (or should that be 'shoperati' or maybe shopperratti?) as John Lewis is opening in our midst this week.

To accompany this auspicious event, yet another sculpture has been erected - Yes, try to hold your excitement, incredible isn't it?! I quite like this one, but am concerned it will look rather jaded and naff in 10 or 20 years time. John Lewis is on the site of a former pottery, and there has been some disquiet locally that the sculpture doesn't reflect that once important industry, rather than Poole's maritime connections (the 'flowers' are the props of a boat engine, you see).

There has also been concern that it is just a bit, well, Teletubbies.





Art is meant to provoke discussion, stir emotions, connect us with the sublime. Public art, like sculpture, usually has a hard job winning universal approval. It would be impossible now to imagine Trafalgar Square without Nelson and the lions, but if someone proposed building a similar structure in Poole today I'm sure it would be howled down in protest.

But strangely, no-one objects to the opening of a new John Lewis - instead the response ranges from enthusiasm to indifference, and seems to miss out vitriol. And that is one reason why I think art has greater significance than shopping.

This also makes me think about what happens when we start a new church. There should be some artistry about it, something that leads to strong reactions - that's what happened in the book of Acts. More often though, a new church provokes rather less response than even the opening of a new shop.

So perhaps we need more artists planting churches, even if sometimes that means we get flowers sprouting boat propellers.

DOING BETTER

Back in August I posted about a piece of 'art' that has been installed at the end of my road. It was quickly vandalized, then repaired, but the light strips on/in it don't seem to be working, and it is starting to look rather stained by all the dog pee it is receiving - it must be an irresistible marking post to the discerning canine.

But not all is lost for public art in Poole. There are some much better and interesting pieces being installed.

I was passing the RNLI headquarters earlier today and paused to snap the new sculpture installed there, which I think is really rather good.



I keep thinking about volunteering for the RNLI as a crew member, but am not sure it would work with my other responsibilities. The Poole crew get called out very regularly, and inevitably the call would come just as I was getting up to preach on a Sunday, or taking the kids to school. So I'll just to have to admire the crew, and the sculpture, from a distance.

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

So, I’m sitting here listening to Muse, and enjoying a glass of west country cider and the smell of rendered sheep fat fills the air, as I am dealing with the off-cuts of a whole Dorset lamb I bought today. And I have been laughing at my father’s blog (if you are not yet reading it, you should – if only because it is funny) and I am feeling aggravated by my house.

I haven’t blogged about the house, although it has taken up too much of my time, and money, these past months. Put our house in glorious SE9 up for sale in July 2007, took a year to sell, during which time we moved to BH14 and rented a house. Stressful. Bought a house in BH14 in December 2008. It was a wreck. Meant to be refurbed and ready to move into summer 2009, but various problems meant that schedule slipped and we are now moving in at the end of next month. And its not going to be as finished as we would have liked when we move in. “There’s going to be a lot of water in it still – it needs time to dry out,” says my builder.

Still, in for Christmas, even if its on a bare concrete floor and with no kitchen.

Hardly Zimbabwean levels of deprivation.

And I’m such a recidivist that I’ve even snuck the heating on, despite it not being November yet. I had to put it on last night as we had our Life Group here, and I couldn’t expect them to exhibit the same levels of hardiness as us, and once on, the dam is breached, and all is ruination.

And today I watched a dvd of Tim Keller preaching about the prodigal God at a Willow Creek conference in our local Anglican church, which was weird enough in itself and my frustrations were compounded by the obvious fact that those around me didn’t get it at all, and so simply confirmed what the great man was saying by their very lack of understanding.

And I’m trying to read Dostoyevsky.

But we had a great time praying for Zimbabwe at Prayer & Fasting. Those guys are the real deal.

TOO MUCH INFORMATION

Rick Warren is a prolific man. This blog seems to be dying on its feet, with a combination of a full church program, young family, and major house renovation squeezing the time and creativity out of me. Warren, with his church of thousands and a myriad demands on his time, doesn't seem to have much trouble churning out blog posts and tweets though, as well as books and sermons. Hyper-eloquent.

Anyway, Warren's recent tweet about having a library of 20,000 volumes provoked a certain amount of fluttering in the blog and twittersphere. That's quite a collection. And his buying policy was interesting too - used hardback rather than new paperback.

I normally review what I read on this blog, but regular visitors will have noticed a dearth of such reviews recently. I read some stuff that didn't seem worth reviewing, and then I hit a kind of reading block - just couldn't get into anything for a couple of weeks, which is unlike me. And now I am into The Brothers Karamazov, which is going to take a while to get through.

According to a report from the University of California, The world produces between 1 and 2 exabytes of unique information per year, which is roughly 250 megabytes for every man, woman, and child on earth. An exabyte is a billion gigabytes. Printed documents of all kinds comprise only .003% of the total. That was a 2000 report, so doubtless the amount of info is now considerably more.

Its enough to make you never want to read a thing again...

BODIES

One of my daughters got upset the other day when she heard the new Robbie Williams song "Bodies" on the radio, with its line, "Jesus didn’t die for you, what are you on?"

If you haven't heard it yet, here it is, along with the lyrics:



God gave me the sunshine,
Then showed me my lifeline
I was told it was all mine,
Then I got laid on a ley line
What a day, what a day,
And your Jesus really died for me
Then Jesus really tried for me

UK and entropy,
I feel like its ****in’ me
Wanna feed off the energy,
Love living like a deity
What a day, one day,
And your Jesus really died for me
I guess Jesus really tried for me

Bodies in the Bodhi tree,
Bodies making chemistry
Bodies on my family,
Bodies in the way of me
Bodies in the cemetery,
And that’s the way it’s gonna be

All we’ve ever wanted
Is to look good naked
Hope that someone can take it
God save me rejection
From my reflection,
I want perfection

Praying for the rapture,
‘Cause it’s stranger getting stranger
And everything’s contagious
It’s the modern middle ages
All day every day
And if Jesus really died for me
Then Jesus really tried for me

Bodies in the Bodhi tree,
Bodies making chemistry
Bodies on my family,
Bodies in the way of me
Bodies in the cemetery,
And that’s the way it’s gonna be

All we’ve ever wanted
Is to look good naked
Hope that someone can take it
God save me rejection
From my reflection,
I want perfection

Bodies in the Bodhi tree,
Bodies making chemistry
Bodies on my family,
Bodies in the way of me
Bodies in the cemetery,
Bodies in the bodhi tree,
Bodies making chemistry
Bodies on my family,
Bodies in the way of me
Bodies in the cemetery,
And that’s the way it’s gonna be

All we’ve ever wanted
Is to look good naked
Hope that someone can take it
So God save me rejection
From my reflection,
I want perfection

Jesus didn’t die for you, what do you want?
(I want perfection)
Jesus didn’t die for you, what are you on?
Oh Lord
(Jesus really died for you) Ohh
(Jesus really died for you)
(Jesus really died for you) Ohh

According to the BBC, Bodies, has been described by the singer's PR machine as an "apocalyptic conspiracy-laden" song. The epic Trevor Horn production certainly backs that statement up, and brings the familiar Williams sound firmly into 2009.

Whatever.

I don't know about "apocalyptic conspiracy-laden" but Williams spiritual search has long been evident.

"Bodies" cuts to the heart of so much contemporary obsession - our juvenile concern with, "All we’ve ever wanted is to look good naked." You don't have to dig deep in the magazine shelves to see that this desire is high on many peoples priority lists, but what is more interesting is Williams' interaction with the gospel. He gets straight to it in the first verse - a recognition of the goodness of God in creating the world, "God gave me the sunshine." Then swallowing the satanic lie that it is all about me, "I was told it was all mine." And then the hope of the gospel, that Jesus is the only way out of our mess, "And your Jesus really died for me, then Jesus really tried for me."

The final verse brings us to Williams' dilemma - he just doesn't seem to be able to bite the bullet and submit to the grace of God in Jesus Christ as the only way he can achieve the perfection he so desperately seeks. So there is a defiant rejection of the cross in, "Jesus didn’t die for you, what are you on?" yet an echoing longing for what the cross can achieve in, "Jesus really died for you."

In this song Williams sums up the spiritual state of his generation. Which is great! Because salvation won't be found in a perfect body, or under the Bhodi tree, but it is to be found in Jesus. So whenever we hear a defiant, "Jesus didn’t die for you, what are you on?" lets keep the steady echo of truth bouncing back, "Yes, Jesus really died for you." That is the song our culture needs to hear.

ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

There is going to be a long campaign leading up to the next general election. If a candidate knocks on your door, looking for your vote, what questions should you ask them?

Before a previous election I (with the help of some friends) came up with the following list. I think its still a good one,

• What is your view on abortion?
• What are your plans for care of the elderly?
• What would you like to do to reduce the problem of debt in our society?
• How would you like to deal with the growing drugs problem?
• What is you position on euthanasia?
• Would you support policies that enabled churches to receive Government funding for social action projects without compromising their religious character?
• What is your policy regarding third world debt?
• What would you like to do to strengthen family life & marriage?
• Do you support more stringent controls on pornography?