Fruits of the Spirit in Falinge

It's the same idea whatever words you use !

St Paul in Galatians (5.22-23) tells us that the fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. That's what the King James version says eloquently if somewhat mysteriously !.

The NRSV, witch is the favoured translation of vicars like me uses these words:

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

I quite like the Message Bible which expands, indeed adlibs:

But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

That's not a translation, an elaboration rather but it helps us think about what Paul may mean.

These are qualities which abound - in our Church life, yes, well we try, and also in our parish. We are blessed with many caring neighbours, sacrificial parents, praying older folk. These are also qualities that our Muslim brothers and sisters seek to live by. We believe in God made flesh and we know that our Creator places these qualities in every human being - they are there potentially, even if not developed. WE look for them in our community, find them and celebrate them !

You might not be aware of this if you read the papers ! I was directed to the Daily Mail article of 2014 about Falinge.  The heading is as follows:

Estate in Rochdale where three out of four people are on benefits named as most deprived area in England for fifth year in a row

• Government league table shows high levels of child poverty in Falinge
• 72 per cent of people are unemployed and seven per cent have never worked
• MP calls for action to halt the decline but the council plays down the data
• It is one of nine areas in Greater Manchester to be ranked in the top 50

It's a shocking article with some powerful pictures which reinforce the deprivation and hopelessness. I have heard this sort of writing called "poverty porn". That's a good description. We look and it reinforces all our stereotypes. It confirms what we think about those people, who live there.

But we know it's not like that. Well not completely like that. As Christians we want to do two things at the same time. I think Paul would approve of this.

First, look at the poverty and need, the drink, the drugs, the single parents, but not just look from a distance but weep for the way things are. We might, in prayer, confess our complicity, our lack of action to make things better.

Second, thank God for all the fruits of Spirit that are evident. We would more than the one sided picture the Daily Mail has given us. We know of many who live in the area and are loving, peaceful, joyful and so on.

I pray that God may lead us to know our neighbours, be angry at poverty and injustice, but always be grateful for the fruits of the Spirit so evident in the world.

 

Can't Dance Can

Originally published 2017

Well can you or can't you ? Do you have it in you or don't you ? Well you don't know unless you try do you ? Are you worried that people will laugh at you if you get it wrong ?

I came across the group Can't Dance Can this week. They use the space that is St Chad's church hall. I was immediately taken with the idea and the title. You may think you can't dance, but you can ! There are no doubt other applications. What about Can't Sing, Can or Can't Cook, Can ?

For a variety of reasons we get it into our heads that something can't be done. We tried it and did not succeed as we thought we might. Someone told us we could not manage it. Or maybe all the reasons not to came from deep within us.

If you look at their website you see the smiling faces of those who have discovered the joy of achieving something they never thought they could do. Dancing. There are pictures of older people dancing with umbrellas as well as children and people with disabilities moving around with joy in their eyes.

Some of the Seven Sisters by the Rochdale Exchange

We all know the story of the Good Samaritan. What was going on in the mind of the priest and the Levite that stopped them doing an act of kindness and humanity. They weren't bad people. They were physically capable of helping the man out.

I think that the priest and the Levite had lost touch with their human side.They told themselves: Can't help, Can't. Can't Stop, Won't.

We make who we are. We tell ourselves what we are like and what we do and what we don't do. We have constructed our idea of our selves and we have quite a lot invested in it. When are frightened of bringing down the whole house of cards. It's too hard to change.

But sometimes something happens which makes us think again. There comes our way an opportunity to do and be differently, more in line with the ways of God

The priest and the Levite missed the opportunity and the foreigner from Samaria grasped it. 

Can't care, Can ! Will stop by the side of the road, will !

Grace

The band U2 sing in the song titled Grace

Grace, it's the name for a girl
It's also a thought that changed the world
And when she walks on the street
You can hear the strings
Grace finds goodness in everything

In my first sermon at St Mary's in the Baum, Rochdale last Sunday I preached about Grace.

Here's the link if you want to listen to it. And here is a rather nice picture of the Church open for the heritage weekend. People were so welcoming (and grace-full) to visitors.

Pray for me Vicar !

We have landed in a new community. The Falinge district of Rochdale is very different from West Derby where we used to live. We have moved from bungalow to house, suburban to town centre and urban, private housing. It's a place of much diversity too. Down at the end of the street are some flats managed by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing. Here's a picture of one block - Glastonbury. Flats are currently available.......

Wendy and I attended the launch of Near Neighbours on Monday. It's a Church Urban Fund programme which distributes money to help Churches and other faith groups work across difference to build up neighbourliness. As we look at our new community, indeed our new town, we want to get to know our neighbours.They are near but we don't know many yet.

I bumped into a man on the way back from the launch. He said "Please pray for me Vicar" and went on to describe how due to drinking his liver was failing. He certainly had a jaundiced yellowy look about him. I was pleased to talk to him and one of his friends - I had passed by this group of the local drinkers (as I may have described them) on the street a few times on my way from the vicarage to the churches in the town.

We became neighbours at that point. My eyes were opened to him as a person. I was moved when he said to me "Never be afraid of us drinkers, Vicar, we won't hurt you". He reached out to me, and I was privileged to "give him a blessing" and remind both he and me that we are made and loved by God and precious in God's eyes.

In the Gospel of Mark we are reminded that the Kingdom of God is offered first to "the outcast". Those who are at the bottom of the social hierarchy  - in our day as in Jesus' day - are cast out by the rest of us. That's the ways societies do it, making someone into the other who is less than the rest of us. Jesus was always crossing boundaries, not afraid to meet those that the society deemed unclean. In Mark Chapter 7 he comes upon a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. Jesus touches this man, even puts his fingers in his ears and spits, and touches his tongue. He is not afraid to break all the social and religious laws that put a barrier between them. Jesus is the archetypal good neighbour, and inspires me to get to know all my neighbours.