What 5 things could you not live without?

Here are mysuggestions.

1. My friends & family.

Has to be number one for me.

2. My sense of humour.

It has seen me through some tough times and helps me to see the world through a happy lens.

3. My spirituality. I'm not religious as such, but it teaches me that we are all somehow connected to each other.

4. My music. Both listening to music and composing, playing and arranging music. Especally world music.

5. Tea. Anybody who knows me will know that that has to be on my list.

Why I support the fairtrade movement.

My wife and I have for some time now supported the Fairtrade movement. It is a very simple thing to do by choosing to buy fair traded goods when they are available. Many supermarkets now stock a good variety of fair traded goods like tea & coffee, sugar, jams, chocolate, and even clothes. The importance of all this came home to me when we watched a recent documentary series on BBC3 called "Take-Aways - Blood, Sweat & Tears" A team of young British teens went to Indonesia and Thailand to experience working in the food industry and how poor the conditions are for the workers. It was a sobering watch!

One mother, for example had to work in the city to support her family back home in the country. She had not seen her one year old son for over a year since he was three months old. She was only able to make a trip back due to the documentary and her three year old son did not recognise her at first. What a sacrifice so many people have to make in order to provide cheap food for Western consumption. Workers are paid a few dollars a day only - and have to work in the most difficult conditions. They even consider themselves to be the lucky ones since at least they have work.

Fairtrade work with local communities to ensure stability of employment, a fair price for the goods traded and also contribute to a fund to help the local communities general needs.

And all this can only happen when we choose goods with the Fairtrade logo over other brands. They are often no more expensive and are of equivalent quality. Now doesn't that make sense?

Adoption group criticised for 'retarded homophobes' comment

I felt I just had to blog my thoughts about this. This is what the British Association for Adoption & Fostering (BAAF) had to say: Children need good parents much more than retarded homophobes need an excuse to whinge, so don’t let your worries about society’s reaction hinder your desire and ability to give a child a loving caring home.
Now let me say that I think the language used is inappropriate and offensive. Among those objecting to this statement are a number of Christian groups who are saying that Christians are being labeled as having a mental illness. One can see the point and how offense may be taken.

The question of adoption is a complicated one and what is in the best interests of the child should always be uppermost in the minds of all concerned. I am not taking a view here, but I will say that those Christians who complain at being marginalised might consider also how homosexuals are also being marginalised by society and especially the Church.

Christianity Today http://www.christiantoday.com/ whilst running this story also ran the following story contemporaneously.

Church of Scotland minister warns against inaction on homosexuality

This is what one Church of Scotland minister had to say: Rev Watson was speaking ahead of next week’s crunch meeting of the Church of Scotland General Assembly, which will rule on the appointment of openly gay minister Rev Scott Rennie, who is being supported by the Aberdeen Presbytery.

Almost one third of Church of Scotland ministers have signed a petition calling for a ban on homosexuals being appointed as clergymen. A motion has also been put forward saying that the Church should not “train, ordain, admit, readmit, induct or introduce to any ministry of the church anyone involved in a sexual relationship outside of marriage between a man and woman”.

In his sermon, Rev Watson compared inaction over the issue by traditionalists to the policy of appeasement to the Nazis, a strategy which only emboldened Hitler to make more demands and ultimately led to the Second World War.

Pretty inflammatory stuff too eh? One can also see how homosexuals might be offended with language of Nazis and the like.

So my point? Well, let's be sensible about all this. Everyone has a right to their point of view, but we must be careful not to use inflammatory language which can only hurt and make matters worse.

Salad Bar Christianity

Those who say that liberal Christians are practicing a form of salad bar Christianity are, I believe, missing the point. They would say that liberals are picking and choosing what bits of the Bible they like and dismissing those that they do not like; sometimes referred to as pick 'n mix Christianity. But in my opinion ALL Christians and Churches do the same. Indeed, the Bible would be incomprehensible if some level of interpretation or discernment were not made. What is important is to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. So, it is not really a matter of personal preference it is a genuine enquiry as to what is Truth. It is not about accepting blindly dogmas and doctrines handed down by our Church Fathers without proper reflection and personal enquiry. We must also remember that the Bible itself is a collection of writings that were canonised by our Church Fathers. They had to decided what went in and importantly what gospels and letters were to be left out. Was this a form of pick 'n mix?

But for me the real point is that some things are non negotiable. To be a Christian we are called to be Christ like....to love others, even our enemies, to forgive and be non-judgmental. To be as a child to enter Heaven. To be peacemakers and so much more. We are not Christians because we have ticked off the check list of creedal beliefs if we do not practice the love that Jesus taught.

Salad bar Christianity? I don't think so.

Can you be sad and at peace at the same time?

One thing I have wondered about when reflecting on the nature of happiness is that in world so rife with injustice and oppression if we believe, as I do, that we are not so much human beings as a human family; then if my brothers are suffering in other parts of the world how can I ever be truly happy? I agree that happiness is a decision and has more to do with our response to events and circumstances rather than the events themselves. But if my brother is starving or living in appauling poverty how can I not be affected? How can I be happy in this world?

Happinness and sorrow are all a part of life. But spiritually I will need to dig deeper to a realm of faith and peace which can transcend my experiences. Here true peace is possible. But I think we need to take some practical steps too. I like to make a regular contribution to help those in need. I do a child sponsorship subscription. I also buy fair traded goods. I also make my self aware of my brothers suffering be taking interest in what is happining in the world. But then I need to ask Jesus to lift the burden of this from me. It would be an overwhelming burden otherwise. I am then freed up to be happy, and to demonstrate to others than happiness is a gift.

So, yes I can be happy and at peace or sad and at peace. But only with faith in tact.

Do you believe in God?

My answer to this is yes, probably! I cannot put it any stronger than that because I do not think it is possible to prove the existence of God beyond any shadow of a doubt. I do, however, think that if I weigh up the evidence of what I have studied and more importantly what I have experienced and witnessed, I am more persuaded that there is a God and an afterlife than not.

I think this is true for most of us. We are somewhere on the continuum of belief between radical atheist and fundamentalist religious believer. Some people do have what they claim to be an experience of direct communion with God or the afterlife, or to have had some "road to Damascus experience." Lucky them. I have had no such experience or proof.

Even so, I regard my self to be a liberal christian. What I do know is that I have a core truth and conviction that has been a part of my make up for all my adult life. This is a conviction that all people are worthy of love and respect and to basic human dignity. I believe passionately in social justice. Indeed I am a democratic socialist. I cannot really separate my spiritual "me" from this political "me". The two go together. I align my self with being a christian because of the person of Jesus. I find in Jesus also a passion for valuing all people and for social justice. I have never found it better articulated than in Jesus. So I follow his example and regard him as my teacher.

Of course Jesus goes on to say more. He claims that we are all the beloved of God, and he promises us eternal peace. This valuing of all people leads me to include all others as equally lovable, and, if He exists, equally beloved of God. This means all people regardless of race, religion, creed or doctrine, sexuality, gender etc. It also means I am committed to social justice. This does not mean we should all be the same; nor even that we should all have equal wealth. It does mean that we should seek to provide a basic level of dignity to all people which includes housing, economic means, health care, education and so on. That is my passion and I believe with all my heart that it was Jesus' passion too.

I am a liberal Christian and proud to be so

I would like at the outset to nail my particular colours to the spiritual mast. I am liberal christian although I do not belong to any formal church. This is partly because I have a chronic health condition which finds me largely confined to my home, but also in part that I have never found a local church I would be comfortable in. That is not to say that they don't exist, but this has not been my path.

Over more than 30 years I have placed spirituality at the heart of my life. I hope that I can share some of my journey in this blog as well as attempting to unravel what it means to be a liberal christian in today's world. I have encountered many faiths on my journey, and I graduated from an interfaith seminary to be ordained as an Interfaith Minister and Spiritual Counsellor. And so very much more.....but for now I will keep my posts brief and hopefully to the point. Some posts will be light-hearted; others heart-felt. I have no idea if anyone will even be interested to read them; but in a way that is not my concern. Somehow I feel a need to write and share. And that is the purpose of this blog.