It’s all over now baby blue

I do try to sometimes just watch the telly without thinking of metaphors for the demise of the church. Last night I watched the BBC4 Arena programme featuring Bob Dylans 3 appearances at the Newport folk festival. As a massive Dylan fan this was quite a treat. I had read many times about these concerts and to see them in such good condition was thrilling.

Dylan was indeed a musical genius, always one step ahead of those around him. When Medger Evers was killed by a white rascist in the early 60s there was a plethora of songs written about the victim, Dylan chose to see it from the killers side, declaring that he too was a victim of a system that was in white folks interests to maintain at any cost.

He was loved at Newport, he was their hero, championing a musical movement that prior to this time had the likes of Peter Paul and Mary singing ancient English songs about outlaws being hanged or Pete Seegers lamenting the plight of the negro in the 19th century slave industry.

Dylan made it cool to be a folky.

And then he plugged his guitar in and started protesting in different ways about different things and how did they treat him? What support did they give the man who had for all intents and purposes was American Folk music? None. They booed him off the stage until he came back with his acoustic guitar, seemingly humbled back into the Dylan they wanted to see. But this was a different Dylan, one who had moved on and was not going back.

“…the vagabond who’s rapping at your door,

is standing in the clothes that you once wore.

Strike another match go start a new.

And it’s all over now baby blue”

Priceless

He not busy being born is busy dying

I have always liked that line. It’s from one of my favourite songs of Dylans off one of my favourite albums. I remember as a youth that it was the tag line to one of those athena posters that used to be everywhere, this one had an image of a dandelion.

It came to mind after a conversation with our new soon-to-be-minister last night. Anne and I went round to their house to  enjoy a very pleasant evening of beer, curry and chat. They seem to be a very nice family and I am sure we will be friends for many years to come (just as long as he doesn’t read this:-)

We were talking about the future a bit and moving up to the Meths buildings and he said something like “we have to make sure we keep BCLC when we move”. I know exactly what he meant by this, BCLC is a very positive part of our church and as such needs to be nurtured, cherished and enjoyed. BUT anyone who has read this site extensively will also realise that  BCLC works because it is of it’s time and place. Remove the place or the time and it potentially becomes something else.

This led me on to think more generally about how churches (and this is not exclusively their problem) still persist in judging the success or failure of something by either numbers or longevity. A church group or event is successful if they geta ‘large’ number of people there or it lasts for a billion years (if it does the latter then the numbers can go down to single figures, you only need to satisfy one set of success criteria). We did the holiday club last week and the first thing I was asked was how many people came.

If, as is inevitable one day, BCLC ceases to be when we move churches then so be it. There is no shame in it. It will have served it’s useful purpose and died allowing something else to be born in it’s place (or another place).

With God on Our Side

I have a problem with God. Or rather I have a problem with some of our notions of God.

Take the whole parent non-intervention malarky. I am a parent and there are times when it is a good idea to let your children try something and potentially fail at it. It would be a fairly harsh regime if I continually let them fail without lending a hand here and there or maybe doing it for them so they know the pitfalls now and again. So why doesn’t God jump in and help out now and again? What’s that, he does intervene, did you say? Well then why does he let bad stuff happen to seemingly good people? You can’t have it both ways.

Then there is the ‘he shall be praised at all times’ approach to worship. Can we really only ever find good things to say about God? Doesn’t he just annoy the hell out of us once in a while? Of course He does so why then don’t we tell him?  Someone I read once described their relationship with God as being like living with a abusive partner. She was always making excuses for the bad things or the things He didn’t do and saying things like, ‘he’s not like that all the time’, or, ‘I must have upset him’.

Is it time to start telling it like it is?