I am not nobody

My wife is currently busy on the task of sermon preparation; the verse which provides the starting point for her exploration is taken from the book of Exodus, chapter 3 verse 11: But Moses said to God, “I am nobody. How can I go to the king and bring the Israelites out of Egypt”.


Whilst I am impressed with the amount of preparation that has gone into the draft of her sermon, I suddenly realized how differently I would tackle the same text; she prepares, I burst into a polemical rant!

**************************

Moses was raised in the corridors of power and, duly appointed to (or at least inherited) a position of authority. This is the man who professes “I am nobody”! Perhaps he feels that life has not really been so kind to him, as he’s now working as a shepherd, having been forced to flee from his “regal” position following his act of “terrorism”.

Perhaps he has begun to question his own motivation; the slaying of the Egyptian may have stemmed from his moral outrage at the way the taskmaster had treated the Hebrew slave; on the other hand, it may simply have been that he lost his cool and so, let his temper prescribe the action rather than any sense of justice. An awareness of the injustice that surrounds one demands a response but, will we respond out of love or with hate?

Maybe this is reading too much into the situation and, his feeling of unworthiness is quite understandable when exposed to this theophanic vision. But, God is soon going to pull him up short; this is the task that God has ordained for you and, I God will be with you; how dare you call yourself a nobody. God recognizes that this man, disguised as a Shepherd, is capable of the task to which He calls him!

For God, there is no such thing as a nobody. God himself became incarnate as Jesus, the “Son of Man” and, this man did far more to transform the world than any abstract notion of God. He drew on a rich tradition of justice, from the Jewish community into which he was born and, re-vitalized it, redeemed it from the hands of the pious. Unfortunately, piety can so easily result in dehumanizing attitudes.

Jesus came and consorted with publicans and sinners, he even prevented a brutal and brutalizing death of an adulterous woman. Her life was of value to Jesus, she was a “somebody”. We are none of us perfect but, we are all worthy, worthy of love and respect and opportunity.

Jesus demonstrates to us our “worthiness” not our unworthiness. Perhaps in earlier phases of his life Moses had been consumed by his own ego, whereas now he was a broken man and, God tells this broken man “I have a task for you; the labourer is worthy of his hire”. We are all important to God and, are worthy to represent him in our struggles against corruption and injustice. It is time we all laid claim to our worthiness and forgot our self-denigratory posturing.

As we lay ourselves open to God’s call, we hear the voice of love; we are all His children!

A Matter of Time

I have long been worried by these (sizeable) Christian factions who seem determined to hasten the advance of the “End Time”. Surely, as Christians, they believe in the incarnation, which for me is the greatest symbol of the importance of this world. Constant speculation on “The Rapture” seems to me an exercise in life denial.

So, I must express my interest in reading Charles Moore’s article, “Worried About Being Left Behind?" on the Bruderhof web-site, a lucid exposition of varying attitudes towards such climacteric events.

Why Does Heterocon Wonder?

Heterocon has been "wondering" at Helen's conversion to fish dishes. As his alter-ego and, having just re-read Something Fishy, it's all too easy to tell.

I'm quite modest really, honestly!

Taking A Thought For A Walk

Just been listening to the Jeremy Vine show (Radio 2), where part of the time was spent discussing the letter of a 12 year old (Catholic school educated) girl objecting to the proposed opening of a sex shop in cozy middle-class Altrincham.

The letter, whilst reasonably eloquent, was wildly extreme in it's sentiment; it seemed an equation was being made that saw all clientele of such establishments as either paedophiles, rapists or perverts! Ultimately though, it all smacked of adult inspired NIMBYism; the girl when questioned, acknowledged that there was "a place" for such shops but, not in the centre of Altrincham. A spokesperson for the company concerned quite rightly commented that, if they are full of the 'types' suggested by the letter, there shouldn't be a place for them.

Several callers commented on the fact that paedophiles are more likely to be found at the schoolgates or swimming pools; why should they go somewhere where children aren't allowed?

My real worry is that she may simply be be passing on 'received' information that sex is not for pleasure but, solely for procreation. Sex, as solely for procreation, is a little bit like alcohol being only legitimate if one intends to get 'legless'!

Regardless of one's own predilections, it is always good to be exposed to a plurality of opinions. The views and values of any given religion are there for the followers of that tradition and, not to be imposed on society at large. For myself, the primary value is to have respect for my fellow human beings, which entails the rejection of any abusive relationships in everyday commercial/political or personal life. Faith and Hope I cannot live without and, most importantly, I long to share that love which I am fortunate enough to have received.

The Christ I follow was made incarnate (en-fleshed) so that we may have life and, have it abundantly.

Recap

Pure delicious delight, that just about sums up the wine finally decided on last evening even though, a couple of glasses was all either my beloved or myself could manage. The bottle in question; Finca Antigua Crianza, La Mancha, 2000 - a superb blend of Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot - one to be slowly savoured.

The 'Wycliffe' episode was one that we'd seen in the past few months but, nonetheless enjoyable for that. By the time we got to the third of our selected programmes, I was fighting off sleep ....

Sleep followed ... my, my,... did it follow ...? Perhaps Heterocon will be better informed on this score!

Whining On

Well, so far this has been a good day and, I even got around to doing s water change for the aquarium. Unfortunately, as it’s so densely planted, I couldn’t help disturbing and uprooting a little of the vegetation. By the time I’d completed these minor manoeuvres, my thumb seemed to be telling me it hadn’t fully recovered from its recent upset.

Tonight’s TV looks very promising for my better half, although I must admit I enjoy much the same programmes concentration permitting! ITV3 has an episode of ‘Wycliffe’ and, immediately that has finished, it’s across to Channel 5 for ‘CSI: Miami’ followed by a repeat ‘CSI: NY’. So it’s a night in with the cops!

Having had another case of wine delivered this afternoon, methinks I should check the cellar for tonight’s lubrication. At present, I seek the necessary energy to peruse the Wine List.

It's The Same Old Story

Despite an 'always on' broadband connection, both the main PC and Helen's laptop far too regularly come up with the "Cannot find server" messages regardless of using IE, Firefox or even the mail programme. At present patience most certainly is a virtue (what's more it's a necessity!). It is however strange that my new laptop isn't sharing this dilemma.

Re-cap: one (ethernet) wired PC and one wireless laptop are experiencing these connection problems; one wireless laptop using the same router is not experiencing such problems. Before acquiring the wireless router, both PC and Helen's laptop were functioning (with the previous router) without any of these faltering connections. These idiosyncrasies are, presumably, the reason that 'Blogger for Word' doesn't function on my PC!

My rational interventions in the process have come to nothing; it's almost as if by dwelling on these glitches (and reporting them on these hallowed pages) I'm expecting the magical incantatory effect to somehow restore normal service!

A Televisual Lure

After a Pasta meal, settled down with my beloved to watch Agatha Christie’s Poirot : The Double Clue (ITV3), a quite enchanting episode in which it seems Poirot has found love. What he has in fact found is a kindred spirit on the other side of the law. David Suchet is always a very convincing Poirot, in almost the same way Jeremy Brett is Sherlock Holmes.

I am currently watching, and recording, The Masque Of The Red Death (BBC4) some 40 years after I last saw it at a cinema near Maida Vale. My beloved was also enjoying this film but, overcome with tiredness, she has now retired for the night. It’s just as well I’m recording the film really!

Were it not for the ‘digi-box’ neither of tonight’s televisual treats would have been available …I trust this brief plug has significance for The Oxcliffe Fox!

Mission Accomplished

Wel, I've just got back from a 30 minute bbw and, I don't feel too bad. It really is wonderful to manage a little bit of exercise without falling into (my default) fatigued-wreck mode! Perhaps the preceding period of total-rested-idleness, in this instance, proved advantageous. What would be even more wonderful is to have a rest period by choice rather than necessity.

A temporary energised period is a prize not to be scoffed at; for this I give thanks!

A Type of Advisor

Have you ever received some sincerely intended advice from a person who would do well to sort out their own problems? Have you ever known someone who knows absolutely everything about whatever topic is currently doing the rounds?

Some people seem to feel they have the gift of being able to diagnose a problem of which they don’t know half the details! No matter how well intended the “advice”, thoughts of motes and beams come readily to mind!

The tetchiness referred to by Heterocon on 20 August was largely brought about by such a caring friend.