What kind of society do we want?

Crumlin Road Presbyterian location

The call came at 6.30am on Sunday, 1^st October to tell me that the church minibus had been torched and all that remained was the shell. My first reaction was one of thanks that no one had been hurt or worse. But now I would like to ask a very important question- what kind of society do we want? Another question is what are we prepared to do to get that society?

We were only one of a number of incidents that night in the district around the church and the damage that is done by this affects the whole community. What we struggle with is the fact that we are really trying to develop projects to work for a better society. Crumlin Road Presbyterian has been one of the lights in this district all through the troubles- on Friday night I was at the Boys Brigade Company section where there were teenagers meeting in the upper hall and next week the plan was to take these boys to Dundonald to go ice skating. Every week there are groups of people meeting in the church and the bus is used to collect and return people of all ages to church. Over the years we have taken people on various trips and outings,. Only this summer we hosted a team from the USA who worked with local people to clean up the district and to improve the environment by helping with gardens and giving flowers and plants in window boxes. We took a large group of local residents to the Giant’s Causeway for the day. The bus was used every day to ferry the team to various places to help them do their work

In our reading of the bible we understand the Christian’s calling is to serve and to help to rebuild civil society. Over the last 12 months we have been asking questions about how we can best serve our community- we are not going away, not to the suburbs, not to the green countryside, we are staying because this is where we are called to work and serve. We have had many meetings where we have considered whether or not we should sell the bus just because of the expense of it upkeep- the insurance alone costs £1,800 a year- but we have always decided that the need and the use has outweighed the cost and so we have made a commitment to keep it.

Thankfully there was no one hurt. Thankfully all that was lost was a material asset but we need that asset to do this work. This is not the time to talk about those who did this in negative and harsh ways because, like it or not, they are part of this community and an outburst of moral indignation will serve no one, even if the temporary feeling is good. What we do want to say is that it is completely counter-productive to destroy the work of those who want to help. Yes the bus was insured but that will not be enough to buy a new one- we do not have the money-you will not find big expensive cars parked outside our church. We do not have the professional people with the healthy salaries. Any that we did have, have left for the more comfortable places- we are a truly indigenous church and that means we have ordinary working men and women struggling to keep above the debt line. We are running an overdraft. Earlier in the year our data projector was broken – it cost £1800 four years ago- to day the same model costs about £500 but we do not have even that amount to get a new one and will have to hope that the insurance company pays up.

Is this the kind of society that we want? Yes we can turn the other cheek because we know that in the end no one gets away with the consequences of their actions but if we are to continue working for the community we need help.

ALL PEOPLE MATTER TO GOD ALL THE TIME

Crumlin Road Presbyterian location

As a child I went to two primary schools: the first one was in Danube Street just a few doors up from my granny's shop and the other was Cliftonville Primary. The head teacher in my time at Cliftonville was Mr McLaughlin and the two teachers most etched on my memory were Mrs McGaughy and Mrs Flanaghan. I remember Mrs McGaughy because I experienced her "discipline" all too often and Mrs Flanaghan , partly because that was a happy time but also because her classroom was different. My memory tells me that it was a semi-circle of glass and so was a very bright place to be.

When I begin to think back the memories come to the fore - it was a year when my friend at that time and myself looked longingly at one of the girls in the class but she was much cleverer than either of us. We played kiss-tag in the playground and sometimes we even followed her home but the relationship never developed any further. Then I remember the injustice we boys felt because our toilets were outside while the girls were inside the school! Every morning about 11am the senior boys of the school would come round with a crate of school milk, free to everyone. I'm sure that some people will remember those 1/3 pint bottles with milk which was cold in the winter and warm in the summer, enough to put some people off for life.

If you remember the milk of those days you will remember that the cream was always at the top of the botttle and so the custom was to give the bottle a shake so that the cream was mixed though with the rest of the milk. Some people, on the other hand, liked to drink the cream off first. Today our children do not get any free milk and there is a variety of milk to choose from. Go to the shop now and you have to choose from "whole milk", "semi-skimmed milk", "skimmed milk" and even "1% Milk".

When I look at our society today I see much the same kind of divisions. The United Kingdom and Ireland is quickly coming to look like that plural society that many have talked about for some time. I recently heard that there are over 60 different languages spoken in Northern Ireland today [ not to mention Irish and Ulster Scots]. That being so we have to ask the question: what do we want our society to look like? Do we want to see people keeping to their own territory or do we want to become like the homogenised milk where everyone is mixed together? We often talk today about a growing ethnicity within our society and when you register for the doctor today you are asked to complete a form which deals with your own ethnic origins. Few people want to see a society were there are ethnic ghettoes of people but would prefer one where it is possible to be different yet respectful of others. Jesus did not recognise ethnicity just people and people matter to God and to His son and to His people. This is certainly a more difficult road to travel because each of us has our own political, social and traditional zones of interest but the rewards of a society where people are the primary importance is a society worth having.

Jesus never forced people to believe and it is no different today but he loved people because they mattered to him. He was not judgmental or patronising but caring. In Sunday school we used to sing, "Jesus loves the little children, all the children in the world red and Yellow, black and white all are precious in his sight Jesus loves the little children of the world". And its not just the children either but the men and women as well, the rich and the poor, the powerful and the weak, the protestants and the Catholics. the Hindus and the Jews and He is "not willing than any should perish but that all SHOULD come to eternal life".

Grist to the Mill

Crumlin Road Presbyterian location

Thursday 13^th July 2006 and we can all rise after a very successful and peaceful 12^th. “No tidy up and no inquisition” was the report from the BBC. The quietist 12^th for many years without the help of the army. Like other congregations our prayer last Sunday was for a peaceful day. Thanks to the grace of God and the good work of many people at political, community and church level we are able to enjoy the 12^th as well as the 13th.

As a child the 13^th of July was always one of my highlights of the year. The reason for this was that it was one of the days of the year when our shop was closed and we went away for the day as a family – that included my mum and dad and my aunt and uncle and my sister and cousin- and we usually went to Donegal. That meant making the mysterious and magical journey “across the border” as if it was like a bridge connecting two separate islands. We children got really excited in the anticipation of that “exciting” event and going to another country complete with trip tick and customs officers

Sometimes life is great but sometimes it is anything but great. Life can go sour without any warning when the sunshine turns to rain. Because of this we need to be equipped to face the difficulties as well as the joy. When Jesus tells us we can have “life to the full” and be friends of God He intends that friendship to be more than fair weather camaraderie. His desire is that we remain his friends forever.

The other week we went to visit our daughter who lives in Dublin and we took the opportunity to visit the Guinness factory, a vast complex of 55 acres which tells the story of how the drink is made and of the great success that has\resulted in Guinness being a trade mark recognized world-wide. The process of manufacture requires that the barley is milled so that the flavour can be released – it’s from this process that we get the phrase, “grist to the mill” and it brings to mind the crushing of the barley into a grist. Its all too evident that there are people among us who seem to be crushed by life’s experiences. I have met inspiring people who have gone through so many tough situations and come through as better people but there are also others who just seem crushed.

There is a popular myth around which tells us that if you take the decision to follow Christ your life will be full of joy and success without a cloud in the sky. Nowhere, absolutely nowhere does the bible make this promise. In fact Jesus tells the disciples to take up theirs and follow after him. We do no one any favours by telling half truths or by spinning them a line to get them into the kingdom, what we need to understand is that he has promised us is that he will never leave us.

Street Level Christianity

In our church we have a stained glass window which puts our challenge and vision very well. In the fore front there is a big Jesus standing with his palms open. In the background there are the industries of old Belfast- the two giant cranes, Goliath and Samson, once used to build and repair major ships and then there are rep[resentations of the linen mills and the engineering works.

They remind us of the days when Belfast was famous for industries and made her name for the Irish Linen used in so many homes within and outrside of this island. The congregation came into being because of the expansion of linen which, in turn , came about because of the American Civil war which resulted in the rising price of cotton leadiong to the diversification into Linen- at one time there was a mill on every street corner but now all those industries have gone. At one time there were over 30,000 men working on ships but today there are less then 200 and the mills have gone and too too have the machine shops whih have been priced out of the market.

BUT Christ is still here- he is notsome far removed icon but the LIVING Christ who has remained with his people and has no intention of leaving until he returns in the flesh to declare that the time has come and the end is nigh.

Here we have the Christ of the street who has called all Christians to play their part in fulfilling His commion to go into all the world and make disciples for him. here we have the God who wants His people to be his followers wherever they find themselves. That means in the neighbourhood, in the leisure centre on the city council, wherever. We are to play our part in making Christ known and i teaching men and women what it means to be a Christian at street level.

In the early church the believers were of one heart and mind and no one considered his possessions to be his exclusive property, when there was a need they pooled their money to help their brothers and sisters. Being a Christian at street level means rejecting sectarianism and racism and all kinds of unacceptable behaviour like homo-phobia. It means leading an honest and ethical life-style, caring for what happens in Africa and Asia as well as in little old Northern Ireland. It means taking the lessons and exortations of the bible and applying them to every day use. While we reject the idea that anyone can win their salvation and that all men can be saved only through the grace of God in Jesus Christ we also believe that life-style is important.

Crumlin Road Presbyterian location

Tenants not Owners

A good few years ago now John B Keane’s novel was transferred onto the big screen. The central figure of the story is a man called Bull McCabe, whose family had farmed a small piece of land in a remote part of the west of Ireland for many generations. The time came when Bull had enough finance to make this arrangement permanent and so he entered the auction not knowing that a wealthy American with very big pockets had the same idea. The result led to tragic consequences!

This film struck a raw nerve in Ireland because we live not only in an island of small fields but because while we share the territory we spend a lot of time fighting over its ownership. Each community is able to present its title deeds to whoever is willing to listen- one looks back to the plantation and the other to the rebellion in an attempt to make their case clear and unambiguous but failing, perhaps, to realise that history is seldom that simple. While giving America back to the Indians seems to be a simple matter and not without logic and justice there have been an awful lot of people living and working on those land since the first while man arrived and settled.

Today the fundamental question for us is this: how are we going to share the shared space that everyone can be at peace with each other? Various ideas have been tried in various parts of the world; in Israel the government has built a huge wall to keep one set of the sons of Abraham out and the others safe. In the Balkans ethnic cleansing was tried and in Africa it was apartheid .Each and every logger-head attempt has failed to bring better relationships.

When we look at the bible we discover the answer to the land question- we are all wrong. The land “belongs to the Lord and everything in it”. The story of the bible is about the attempt of men to take this land off God and make it their own. Jesus tells a parable about a landowner who left his land in the hands of some tenants. The story tells about how even the son of the owner was not safe. Right at the start when God made Adam and Eve they attempted to rebel against God and take the garden for themselves. That had tragic consequences also and we are living in the shadow of them today. Ever since that day there has been a fault line of selfishness and rebellion in the heart of us all. The prophets warned of the judgement of God and yet, God was not, and is not “willing that any should perish but that all should come to eternal life”. No one could have complained that the owner of the land should have his justice and he will have it yet but before that is meted out He has given grace and mercy and new life to anyone who is willing to take it accepting that God is the only sovereign Lord.

Tennent Street is a permanent reminder that this land does not belong to Protestant, Catholic or dissenter but to God and we are his tenants.

Crumlin Road Presbyterian location

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Hello young lovers were ever you are

Learn to think!

Crumlin Road Presbyterian location

About a year ago Dr Jonathan Saccs, the chief Rabbi for Great Britain said on BBC radio's "Thought For The day":

If discipline is a problem in our schools it isn’t only because of the schools. Teachers are just one of the many influences to which our children are exposed. There are parents, neighbours, culture and society and if discipline isn't a value there, then schools can't create it alone.

There’s a moment in the Bible that's long fascinated me. When Moses addressed the Israelites as they were about to leave Egypt after two centuries of exile and slavery, he didn't speak about freedom, or about the land flowing with milk and honey. Instead he spoke about the duty of parents to educate their children. Why? Because to defend a country you need an army; but to defend a civilization, you need education.

When we pay our taxes we don't always do so with delight but my guess is that there are some things which most people would be fairly happy about forking out for. The National Health Service would be one and another would be the education of our children. The area of North Belfast is a part of the realm which stands, not so proudly, at the top of the , not so sought after, table when it comes to social deprivation. We have a very low expectation when it comes to education and very few of our children go on to third level education. Not all children can go to university or college but all children should be given the opportunity to learn to think for themselves while they are in full-time education. All children should be inspired to read and to discover the world of imagination and knowledge. In recent days we have had local politicians and independent members of the various Education and Library Boards being forced to make stringent cuts in the schools' budget. Only a few people are in the position to decide why the boards have been unable to balance the books but surely we owe our children and young people a sound education beyond the "3 rs".

Today the film industry and the television companies are often blamed for capturing the reading audience but, at the same time, the successes of movies like Harry Potter, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and the Lord of the Rings etc can also be used to inspire the movie goer to be a reader as well. Our school libraries need to have the money to buy the books and allow teachers the time to read to the children, using the picture medium as a spur and bridge into the literary world.

C.S Lewis, the Belfast literary giant says that to read is to learn to think- that’s what we want, men and women who can stand on their own feet and think for themselves. In our society it is imperative to move beyond the accepted thinking and even identities to develop our own thoughts and be able to express those thoughts in coherent and acceptable ways. We are a society which is hardly at peace with itself. We re-act to opposition and to the opinions of others without allowing our thought processes to take control and this means that we are often aggressive to others and very much an "in-your-face " people. We need to take the time to study what we read and we need to read and re-read until we understand and formulate our thinking and we need to allow what we read to make a difference to our lives. we will not always agree with what other people say but the way we disagree is important. too often we loose the debate, not because of the substance of what we are saying but because of the way we are putting the case forward.

When we read the bible we discover that because we are entering a world which is so distant from where we are today that the temptation is to give up or to stick to the passage we love so much to the impoverishment of our daily walk with God and the building of our spiritual character. Today we are led to believe that education should always be fun but that cannot always be the case, sometimes we have to do the long hard slog. We live near to the Cave Hill and we often take a walk up to the top. The walk is fairly steep at the end, especially for the not so young any more but when you get to the top the effort is all the more worthwhile. Standing at McArt's Fort the whole city lies at your feet and the view and experience is breath-taking every time. So it is in learning, we need to make the effort and not to give up. When you finally understand what God is saying it is very special. As someone has said, if it wasn't my father, "if a thing is worth doing its worth doing well!

Education will not change the world, only Christ will do that but it is well worth paying for and even being happy to pay for it. What do you think?