Psalm 39 - A Meditation

Dumb, silent and still - A Meditation In Hospital: Psalm 39 Wednesday, 30 October 2019 8:41 AM 

"Creation is made subject to futility ... but not without hope". Romans 8.20 (Cf Jeremiah 29.11: "for you, a future full of hope"). 

Not much else is possible when confined to a hospital bed; one is an object for examination and interrogation, all for one's own good, of course. Outcomes are calibrated in mg., mls., bps ., to reveal the mysteries of life under pressure. Confronted by "the wicked man" (the world?), the Psalmist says he is "dumb, silent and still" because, angered by the prosperity of the godless (an injustice), it "stirred my grief". He knows, however, in God's sight possessions are as nothing, even a man's life "a mere breath" (elsewhere, the Psalmist declared "precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints" - Ps. 116) 

The curse of the devout can be the temptation to strive for perfection, to delve into the mysteries of the Creator's ways and judge others according to a faux standard; far better to be satisfied with what the mind can hold onto: 

"Ye, blessed be alwey a lewed man 

That noght but oonly his believe kan!" (Chaucer, "The Canterbury Tales") 

Conscious of life's brevity ("in your house a passing guest") and pondering the mysteries of the Creator's unfathomable ways, the Psalmist rests all his hope in the Lord, anticipating Jesus' words found in the Gospel: "Let not your heart be troubled ..." (John 14) To possess Christ ("the way, the truth and the life") is to have nothing of one's self, yet all of Christ. 

George Herbert (17th Century), who was guaranteed the impossibility of following by God's "strict decree", expressed poetically what it means to have 'nought': "To have nought is ours... but we belong to Christ, and all things are more ours by being his; what Adam had and forfeited for all, Christ keepeth now, who cannot fail or fall." ("The Holdfast") 

If, in signs and wonders of old, God "guided your people like a flock" ("no one saw your footprints"), under a new and better way (Covenant) Christ leads us under the sign of the cross; "whom we see now through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known". 1 Corinthians 13.12. 

A Meditation-The greatest mystery of all is surely the mystery of God's eternal purpose accomplished in Christ; that through faith in him we may approach God "with freedom and confidence ..." (Ephesians 3); no need to be discouraged or upset in the face of injustice or suffering, be it our own or the world's injustice or suffering: we have 'nought' but freedom to believe in God's plan - "a future full of hope". 

Evangelicalism and Practical Necessity

Practical Evangelicalism

"I needed food and you fed me, 

clothes and you clothed me"

Matthew. 25 35-40

I was ten years old when I overheared my recently widowed mother engage in conversation with an unexpected visitor.  A Christian, and ardently evangelical in outlook, the caller's clerical collar would not have impressed her given 'priesthood', in her view, was likely 'of the devil'. After the gentleman left she made a surprise aside: "a really nice man; even loves the Lord!". Surprised that an Anglican Cleric (curate) could talk so earnestly of a  'personal' faith, she must have put aside her normal prejudice to share her own witness.  More than fifty years have passed since I 'moved on' from the Church of my up-bringing, but I recall that Baptists, who clearly identified as 'Evangelicals', were sometimes quick to demean the faith of others (or more likely, ignore them!). My personal story is linked closely with an outstanding Evangelical Minister who came to our aid at a critical point in my family's life. Rev. Colin Campbell, Pastor of the Baptist Church at Gladesville, assumed many responsibilities on behalf of my mother following her diagnosis with terminal cancer and necessity for full-time care. This left my brother and I to fend for ourselves, facing the many issues that needed to be resolved given my minority (I was fourteen at the time, my brother eighteen).  Orchestrated by Mr Campbell, an agreement with another Church family was reached whereby they moved in with us, a practical solution that satisfied their need for accommodation as well as our need for domestic help (and legal status). My  mother died eighteen months later. Mr Campbell remained a close friend and mentor, in many ways filling the gap left by my deceased father, as well. After gaining the Leaving Certificate, employment with the Bank of NSW (Westpac) was suggested by Mr Campbell, himself a former 'Wales' man.  Returning from war service with the RAAF he had spurned his outstanding prospects with the Bank (he was academically gifted, as well) in order to train for the Ministry. Colin Campbell's only aspiration was to serve Christ, which for him meant 'caring for people' in fulfillment of our Lords' injunction. Rev. J.C. Campbell served the Baptist Church and the wider community in many ways during his long life, eventually receiving an OAM for his services to Church and community.  I can testify to no finer example of the Evangelical spirit; if "Public Prosperity" escaped him as an aspiration (the Bank might have best achieved this), simply the well-being of individual lives in the Spirit of Christ was his singular desire. Colin Campbell died in Brisbane in 2009, aged 92 .

Temple of The Spirit

Saturday, 16 November 2019
5:50 PM

Temple of the Spirit

"In him we move and have our being" - Acts 17.2

If you prefer 'Maccas' to KFC, you might pick up a Big Mac at Gladesville McDonalds on Victoria Road. Use the drive-thru facility and you will be roughly on the site of the former Gladesville Baptist Church (relocated to Ryde 1958). This was where I attended Sunday School and Christian Endeavour and worshipped with my mother, and where her life was celebrated prior to interment.

Just in front of the pulpit a Baptistry - i.e., a tank - was located under the floor, and this was where I was baptised by immersion at an evening service "in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit", as the congregation sang "Fo-ollow, fo-ollow, I will follow Jesus". Later, my brother sang (solo), "I need Jesus", and opportunity for individual testimonies given. A joyful occasion, but solemn as well.

This simple chapel, purpose built pre-war but destined to become a commercial enterprise, was for us a Temple, a holy place, sacred space where the faithful assembled Sunday by Sunday in response to the invitation inscribed high above the pulpit: "Worship the Lord In The Beauty of Holiness" (Psalm 96. 9-11).

Was not this the house of God?  Saint Augustine's 'City of God', the earthly Jerusalem - symbol of the 'Jerusalem' which is 'above'?  Not just a repository of remembrances such as Jeremiah's prophetic "word of the Lord" (ratifying a new covenant with the house of Israel: "by putting my laws in their hearts and minds.  . . I shall be their God and they shall be my people"), but a sacred space that gave God's people their unique identity ("It is he who has made us and not we ourselves, we are his people . . . " - Psalm 100).

This new covenant was, symbolically, to be kept within the Temple; secure, but only so long as secure within the heart of the nation, that temple not made with hands representing both the Divine transcendance and immanence: almighty in power, great, yet unsearchable, for "we know him not"  (Job 36.26).

Jeremiah had a difficult time getting his message across to the rebellious Israelites, his anguish palpable: "I will not make mention of him nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back and I could not". (Jeremiah 20.9)

For the Rev. J C Campbell, Pastor of the Church at Gladesville in those days, his Congregation was no less difficult (although they didn't attack him or put him in the stocks), but like Jeremiah, the word was always in his heart "like a burning fire", and he persisted, even as he agonised.

Relating this little bit of my early history relies on the subjective, but it's also about relationship, how the 'I' becomes an 'us'. It raises the question of identity and religion; how identities are fluid, subject to adaptation (consider the sociologist's theory, 'Identity and the Sacred'; vide the late Prof. Hans Mol's landmark opus).

In time I would drastically, if not radically, adapt my own religious associations to changing circumstances (after all, "the way of a man is not in himself" - Jeremiah 10.23).  Regardless of what we think we know "of things too wonderful", we also have the promise "that all things work together for good to those who love God . . ." (Romans 8.28).

Pastor Campbell was a gifted man who encouraged wider reading (not a common trait amongst older generations of Baptists) as well as Bible study. At least the second part of a Franciscan saying held true: "In books we seek God, in prayer we find him . . . prayer being the door that opens God's heart."

Geoff Wellings

Artarmon

November 2019

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Look! Jerusalem!

Sunday, 8 December 2019 8:45 AM

"Our feet have been standing
  Within your gates, O Jerusalem" - Psalm 122.2

The names of Sir Ross Smith and Sir Keith Smith are synonymous with aviation. Remembered in the main by an older generation, these WWI flying aces have been celebrated in many ways, in film, books, countless geographic names across the country, commemorative coins and other objects. A documentary screened on Sunday night (8th on SBS), "The Greatest Air Race", is narrated by Australia's first man to enter space, the astronaut Andy Thomas.

Not a celebration of war, but recollection of a largely forgotten 1919 Air Race that captured Thomas' imagination as a boy, the story also brings to mind the deeds of the Australian Flying Corp. (AFC), formed in Palestine 1916-18. The Smith brother's were both famous airmen, Keith Smith with the RAF and Ross Smith, a Squadron leader (1 Squadron AFC) with the distinction of piloting the celebrated Lawrence of Arabia in his many actions in Arabia that culminated in Allied victory in the Middle East. The story of these two aircraft pioneers and their epic post-war journey is remarkable, as also their involvement as airmen in the Desert Warfare, Ross Smith in particular. The Air Flying Corp. - precursor of the RAAF - hastily formed in 1916 from mostly volunteer Light Horse Infantrymen, was tasked with providing air support for the mounted Regiments as they advanced across the Desert. A major Allied objective was reached In September 1917 when Jerusalem City was entered and secured, ending centuries of Islamic occupation.

Commanding a regiment of Light Horse troopers in the days before the final march on the City, Colonel A.C.Olden DSO., could only observe a derelict backwater. "It was at Soba", he wrote in 1932, "about six miles from Jerusalem as the crow flies, but considerably further than that in actual distance to be traversed, that we were afforded a first distant view of the Holy City. The Sheikh - or headman - of Soba approached our troops and, with a profound Arabic salutation, indicated a desire to be on friendly terms with the ''Ingleesi". Beckoning our men to follow, the Sheikh led the way to the summit of the hill on which the village stands, and, pointing eastward, exclaimed ecstatically 'shouf El Kuds' (Look! .Jerusalem!).#

In the Middle Ages, "traditional Christian 'mappae mundi' placed Jerusalem at the centre of the world", and for different reasons the Holy City again became a centre of attention in the 20th Century (and still is) with hopes of unifying the Arab World. Briefly, following the Allied victory in 1919, it may have appeared possible, a hope that was dashed in 1947 with the post WWII settlement.

Sadly, a prophetic voice from the Middle Ages rings true; Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400), that erudite man of Letters, courtier, raconteur and poet ("father of English Poetry"), opined that achievement of "reunification in the Middle East is impossible".¥ Nothing seems to have happened since to prove otherwise, yet, "Reconciliation" it might be said is on-going, in a manner, by tourists of "every Nation" who still "stream to Zion".

Look! Jerusalem!

#'The Holy City', a story by Colonel A.C. Olden, DSO, from 'The Listening Post' of 1932 - quoted in 'The RSL Book of World War I' - Edited by John Gatfield with Richard Landels. Harper Collins, 2016. ¥ "Chaucer, A European Life" p .411 - Marion Turner: Princeton 2019