7 Quick Takes Volume 2

1. 

My baby turned one yesterday (a little more on that later) but the most profound thing of yesterday was an unexpected visit from a 9 year old Belarus girl who has been staying with Rebecca's godmother for two weeks. The stay has been challenging for them all, and I could not begin to comprehend how huge it is for a child that young, who speaks very little English, to be here without her family, in an alien environment, amongst people chattering on around her. She did smile at my few words of (very poor) Russian, but ultimately struggled acclimatising even to the play with dolls, dominoes and colouring pens that was going on at ours. I know that my 40 year old Japanese friend struggles to adjust when she visits England every summer, and her English is great! Ultimately, the provision of summer holidays for children from disadvantaged and contaminated areas of Belarus still suffering post-Chernobyl is a wonderful idea, and I am assured that when reunited with her friends for days out the little girl chatters incessantly. It also reminded me that as well as the very real and immediate problems in East Africa, that there are areas of the world whose post-disaster environment still requires attention, funding, and care.

2. 

Similarly, over at Elizabeth Esther's blog are frequent reminders that in every pocket of every land, there is poverty, addiction, violence and pain that we may not know about, or may turn away from. I can comprehend that the visceral, up close suffering that Elizabeth is experiencing wants her to mobilise everyone to help in this specific situation in Bolivia, and get frustrated that contributions aren't coming. Most of us don't feel able to give to everything that calls out for help; we know we can't fix the bigger picture, and experience helplessness in the face of something that hasn't touched us personally. But I think this is why God calls people like Elizabeth to act as mouthpieces for the disenfranchised - so they can move us, and get us to ask ourselves, "Can we find it in our family to sponsor (another) child?". What's the true cost of providing hope?

3. 

On a lighter note (because we need lighter moments to navigate us through this broken world!), one of my favourite bloggers, Permission to Live, alerted me to something new, and I was entertained by the Top 8 Crappy Laws of Parenting today. Somehow they really resonated with me!

4. 

Yesterday was a wonderful parenting day however - ThirdSister, my littlest girl, the delightful Rebecca Mary (who is already toddling) turned ONE YEAR OLD! I think the best part of the day is that it drew expected and not so expected visitors - we had the opportunity to see all four grandparents together, feed them cake and let them enjoy the girls. One of FirstSister's godparents also dropped in with her 7 month old and it was an amiable atmosphere. Nothing big or showy but a lovely celebration of a first year.

5. 

I also discovered a quick and easy way to get some digital photos printed out by Truprint (UK) so I can put them in a photo album Rebecca received as a baptism gift (and she has her first year documented in the same way First- and SecondSister do!). Such an easy way to do things - no added costs such as VAT to surprise me at the checkout, and I could easily pay by Paypal. The prints have been dispatched, so if they are as good as the service, I would recommend them!

6. 

As a holiday update, over the past week we have been: handwriting; reading; visiting the library; been to one of favourite haunts, Newstead Abbey, with our cousins for a picnic; seen Cars 2 with the prize tickets my sister-in-law gave to us as she is in Spain; had a pyjama day; learned about Ramadan; and seen an exhibition and an animated film by children at one of our favourite galleries.

7. 

Finally, I don't know quite what to expect, as an Anglo-Catholic, from our first visit to a Methodist church on Sunday. Learning about other denominations is part of our family's Christian education every summer (we visited a local Baptist church last year) and yes, I am hoping to go to Mass as part of this very soon. Some of my best friends are Methodists, we attend a Carer and Toddler group there, and our singing group performed a concert for Christian Aid at the church in May. I have loved learning about the Methodist traditions as part of my ministry training. They are amazing at outreach work - many of their summer services involve work and worship at their Tramstop Garden, a community enterprise, but we are attending a more traditional service this time. So I look forward to taking the children to see their friends' church, and learn more about what goes on there (after I've been to our Anglican 8am spoken Eucharist service) - I'm excited but a little apprehensive as it's a new thing - and something I'm sure I'll blog about.

Have a good week, everyone! Thanks as always to Jennifer at Conversion Diary for hosting.

Ramadan

The kids are off school, and it's hot. The entire month of August holds a promises of parks, visits to an art gallery, theme parks and the city of London; of calming the pace so we aren't rushing to dance lessons or hastening out of the house for school; of eating together at lunchtime instead of me hurriedly packing lunchboxes and filling water bottles before we leave in the morning. At the moment I am embracing the rest - in fact today, the girls are having an entire day free from scheduled jobs and activities, and staying in their pyjamas for as long as they want (I'm already dressed and showered of course; I won't stay in pyjamas for long, especially when it's hot!).

Although we regularly attend our home Church during termtime, and at Christmas and Easter, the summer holidays also allow us to go church-hopping; as long as I fit in Holy Communion, it gives us a bit of leeway to try something different, or watch VeggieTales - face it there is no shortage of religious education in this house! Next weekend we are visiting some friends at our local Methodist church, and then later on in the month there is the opportunity for sung Eucharist or Evensong at the oldest church in our city. That's my/our Christian education for the holidays!

But we are also re-learning about Islam, another of the Abrahamic religions, because the entire month of August is the holy month of Ramadam for Muslims, prior to the celebration of Eid-Al-Fitr. It's probably doing Ramadam (and Christianity) a disservice, but I have compared Ramadan/Eid to Lent/Easter or Advent/Christmas to simplify things for the girls, who do learn about other faiths at their Church of England school, but don't come into direct contact with other Muslims. The period of self-denial, giving something up, trying to get closer to God and thinking more about giving to others is something that they can identify with, even if their education is currently through children's books.

Although Christians usually respect the Jewish faith (and certainly the Torah) despite their refusal to recognise Jesus as Messiah, skewed interpretations of Islam, particularly through the perpretation of terrorism in recent years, have caused us to be fearful of those who speak of Allah, and wary of their traditions. Yet, it was a friend's devotion to Islam, and her devoutness in following cultural and religious rules coupled with an intellect and a desire to embrace aspects of the Western world, that helped further my realisation of opening up to believe in God. The friendship of Muslim girls from Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Lebanon, who were prepared to take me on my own terms and accept me, British and godless, as a person, still resonates with me. So, along with learning about different aspects of Christianity, this summer we are reminding ourselves that Muslim children will be fasting; we will be teaching ourselves about Islamic countries and their traditional foods, and recognising the importance of Ramadan to others, as well as worshipping Jesus Christ ourselves.

Bread of Life

OK, so it struck me that many recent Gospel readings in the Lectionary have been about food, one way or another - seeds growing, plants being sorted, Jesus feeding the five thousand. It may be coincidence, but this sits uncomfortably with me in the light of the East African crisis. In the parables that we have heard recently from the book of Matthew, it's clear that harvesting sustenance from land and sea were resonant metaphors for peoples of the New Testament. Two thousand years ago, people often lived hand to mouth, relying on the vagaries of climate to provide them with nourishment. Many of us in the Western world rarely think about food production. The importance of bread as a physical source of fulfilment, of course, still resonates through the Eucharistic expression of spiritual nourishment by Christ himself as he taught His disciples, to take and eat - "this is my body." Praying "Give us this day our daily bread" refers to asking and thanking God for both physical and spiritual fulfilment.

The emphasis on this metaphorical depiction of Jesus as the bread of life, and our disconnection from our food sources, may have also lead us to neglect the Old Testament histories that tell of peoples who were starving, searching for a fertile area in which to settle. Yet, it's important for us to underpin the spiritual dimensions of the Eucharist with the real physical hunger of the wandering Hebrews, for whom God provided manna to sustain their bodies as well as their souls. Revisiting the story of Jacob's family in Genesis reminds us that Jpseph was God's instrument in alleviating the problems caused by famine at that time. Then, as now, being unable to access food and clean water was a matter of life or death. People trusted in God to provide.

It is this sort of faith in God controlling the elements, of choosing to bless (or punish) with the provision or lack of sustenance, that some people (including some Christians) associate with Christianity. Do good deeds, and you will be fed. Trust in Him, and you will be safe from drought and famine. Similarly, many wonder where God is in a time of crisis. If so many are dying, where is He in this? Many of those who are starving will also be praying. Does the persistent failure of crops and added complications including civil war in a region mean that God has abandoned it and its people, as the Hebrews wrote in the Old Testament books of Kings?

But reading this through a New Testament lens, things are absolutely clear - God IS here, He IS doing something about the crisis, because He is working through humanity -  we are doing His work, here on earth. When people fail to donate to famine relief, are unable to see what a difference even a small amount can make or think that it is up to someone else (God or otherwise) to sort out these problems, they need to think again. Jesus, as God in human form, showed us how it is possible to help others in the world simply by loving and taking care of one another. Whether in the form of a divine miracle, such as feeding the five thousand, or a small act of kindness, such as giving what we can to charity, it can still be enough. View every meal we eat as a gift from God. And pass it on. BE God's instrument in this.

After attending two church services yesterday which referenced the loaves & fishes, Exodus & other lines about to the bread of life/heaven, and partaking in the Eucharist, I felt powerless myself. Other than throwing money at (another) seemingly insurmountable East African crisis, I felt there was little else I am unable to do, which frustrated and saddened me. PRAY, said a friend, which is one answer. But I think another answer is - we need to get past frustrated. We need to get past our feelings that things like this keep happening, and that we can't fix them We just need to PERSIST. We need to persist in promoting taking care of one another as a familial, local and global responsibility. We need to recognise that we can't do it all, but that all of us can do something. We need to self-educate, and hope, and pray, and continue to hope. And we need to ACT.

I'm not saying that God has passed the buck and that He isn't hard at work in East Africa right now. Nor am I suggesting that Western politicians or charities have it sussed and that their attitudes and policies towards dealing with persistent famine always work - they don't, and there needs to be more research, and more long-term investment, and yes, possibly these areas where people and their ancestors have lived for thousands of years may not be viable places to live. But the fact is, people are living - many barely living - in harsh conditions and they need help. And we CAN do something to help them.

Christian Aid East Africa food crisis information

Information from World Vision charity

Oxfam

Save the Children East Africa Appeal info

Information from Tearfund