Securing Freedom: Reith lecture part 1 Liberty

Inspirational stuff from a lady who displays such dignity in the face of so much oppression.

Stairway to Heaven: Jacob's dream

This painting: 'Jacob's dream: Stairway to heaven' is one I did based on Sieger Koeder's painting. I've been inspired by him before. He is a German, Catholic priest-painter. My small A6 oil pastels do not do his paintings justice. His are painted on a large canvas with great attention to details. Mine are much more approximations.

I'm from the Led Zeppelin generation, brought up on Stairway to Heaven so the very name carries certain meaning ....... ' Oooh, it makes me wonder'

The image of dreaming is a powerful metaphor of engaging the imagination. 'Dream dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly'

Dream Dreams

Individuals dream but what about organisations. How do you capture the corporate dream of a group? The whole not just a part…..

Acts 2:17 “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

One methodology is Appreciative inquiry. We have used this is many contexts to enable groups to explore their joint vision of what they want to achieve together.

Think Positive

Phil. 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.

Appreciative inquiry works in four stages:

• Describe: the best of what is by telling individual stories of what has worked within their context and then drawing out principles. This is based on the belief that organisations turn to what gives them life. It is NOT problem focused.
• Dream: about what can be, though thinking about what these ideas and principles will look like in the future through a simple exercise
• Design: ‘what could be’ - a road map for the future
• Deliver: ‘what will be’ small actions that bring about change

This can work for groups of 10-20 people or even congregations of 150-200. Larger groups just take more time. The key is handling the process and enabling all present to have a say in what is being produced.

Back to the Future

Having shared stories of what works in pair, get pairs to join together (4-8) in the group –depending on the size) They then review the principles and are given a task of producing a newspaper dates 3 to 5 years into the future (depending on your vision process). They are invited to produce a Newspaper – with a name, headlines – small articles / pictures, This can include International News, local news, sports, cartoon, obituary, award ceremony. Anything. The idea is to be creative but to connect it to stories of what has already worked.

The groups are then invited to share their Newspapers with the rest of the people present. Creativity can generates lot of hilarity and laughter, which in turn produces a sense of energy and connectedness.

From Dreams to Reality

These newspapers then form the basis of group discussion on if that is where we want to head and what we want to see in the future then how do we get there. Groups are encouraged to start to get concrete and focus on what is achievable

The final stage is agreeing next steps. These become corporately owned and provide rich material for leadership teams to craft into vision statements and strategic plans. But the voices of the people have been heard and they can recognise their input.

It is also helpful to finish with individual commitments / public statements (to complete a sentence: ‘as a result of this time together I am moved to …….”

Which is what after all church is about: “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” Eph. 4:12

Angel in the Town Square

The oil pastel picture is of Christchurch with the Woking Angel on the war memorial in the foreground, so it looks a bit like a tower on the church.(see picture on Woking Surrey Online Gallery)

Since joining the Street Angels, this Angel in the Town Square has become something of a symbol for me - a Guardian Angel keeping watch over the Town.

It is on top of a memorial to men and women of the town who gave their lives in service to their country, during the wars, defending freedom. And that in a sense says it all: 'Greater love as no one than this, to lay down their life for their friends' That sense of service for the freedom of others.

Going out on a Friday night isn't exactly 'laying down your life', but it can be a bit inconvenient at times. We go out from 10pm til 4am focus on the Chertsey Road area where most of the pubs and clubs are: Quake next to HG Wells Suite, Big Apple, O'Neals, and Yates, Weatherspoons, R.S.V.P., The Chameleon and the BED Bar.

After they close, revellers will also frequent the fast food shops, numerous Kebab, and burger bars, KFC, MacDonalds, Subway in search of sustenance.

There are no loos after the pubs and clubs close they are also searching for dark corners and flower beds. I am intrigued why the public toilets behind Weatherspoons are firmly closed after 5:30pm. It wouldn't take much for them to be opened up (maybe the Angels could act as guardians of the keys!?)

Friday night was generally quiet. (We are consistently told Saturday in busier and Thursdays on Student night) The Imam from the local mosque was visiting with the Angels and the team he was with encountered a very disturbed girl, who was definitely not having a good night. Two female angels were able to accompany her back to her house in a taxi (arranged by the Imam) and make sure she was settled.

We were unusually 2 blokes in a pair, which is probably more threatening than a mixed pair, especially when approaching young, potentially vulnerable ladies. We did manage to give out one pair of pink flip-flops to a young woman who had lost her handbag and shoes whilst in BED bar. But others indicated in no uncertain terms that they didn't want help

We had a long chat with one young man who just wanted to talk, and picked up quite a few bottles and gave out the usual lollipops.

Other than that the most exciting moment was watching the landlord of Weatherspoons trying to get a pigeon out of the netting above the pub doors with a long bamboo pole Quite a crowd puller that one.

So the evening was spent keeping an eye on things, making sure people were OK and able to get home, which means following some as the wiggle and giggle their way down the street. We must have looked like we're a couple of old stalkers ! (except for the Angel jackets)

As we were finishing we encountered a Czech man who was celebrating his 23rd birthday in Woking with a friend he knew from school. But he had lost him and had no idea where his house (and all his gear) was.And he wasn't answering his mobile. We went with his to the local hotel to see if they had space. But it was full and expensive. So in the end we walked back to the Station canopy with him and left him with a bottle of water and a space blanket (cos it was getting rather cold) He was simply thankful for the company and that people had taken an interest. ..

These things I warmly wish for you:
Someone to love,
Some work to do,
A bit o' sun,
a bit o' cheer,
And a guardian angel always near

~ Irish Blessing

Cycling through Europe... to Kenya!

The bike painting is based on one by Bob Dylan. I saw some of his pen and watercolour prints at the Woking Lightbox a year or so ago. And they inspired me, in that I thought: 'I could do that!' I wrote a blog about it in Jan 09: Drawn Blank

The bike makes me think of 'the Continent' as we Brits call it. The idea of leaving your bike propped up against a tree, whilst you have a coffee and croissant in a street cafe. There is something very appealing about it all.....

My son Tim and his mate Mat have just set off from Woking to Kenya on an epic 6500 mile cycle2kenya. You can follow their cycle2kenya blog or Facebook group and Facebook community or track them on twitter. You can also donate online via Just Giving to the Turning point trust. They are cycling to raise money for farms to rehabilitate mamas from the slums of Kibera Mat's sister Emily works for TP and has written a blog about her brother Woking-2-Nairobi tandem adventure. I also wrote an older post on this improbable bike ride

(If you are a firm and are interested in sponsoring, then be in touch by email cycle2kenya@gmail.com)

So this painting evokes something of the beginning leg (or wheel) of their journey through Europe. Except they are riding a tandem not a normal bike.

We're off soon for the Dover-Dunkirque channel crossing and on to Brugge/Bruges to meet them on the first leg. This was partly inspired by the darkly humorous, violent comedy thriller film in Bruges (2008) which we watched together - you can read a review by Philip French in the Observer.

With its cobbled streets, Bruges is not so good for bikes. But then with Africa in view, who's worried about a few cobbles.....

'Two States of Marriage'

'Indian Bride' is a sketch I did on my last trip to India, trying to capture something of Indian culture and custom.

An Indian Wedding as a celebration is the mainstay of the Indian social calendar for the whole community. Hospitality in abundance. They are colourful, lavish affairs.

And so often, it all comes together at the last minute, just like the Delhi Commonwealth Games
(I came across this poem along the same lines and some great pictures.)

The painting is based on a photograph used by an Indian NGO and it suggests something quintessentially 'Indian', indigenous. Maybe a little is 'lost in translation' but there is a sense that somehow this reflects the culture of organisation

Chetan Bhaghat's book '2 states: the story of my marriage' suggests that an Indian wedding is not so much about the coming together of 2 individuals, but more the coming together of 2 families, 2 cultures, 2 states..... As the book cover suggests:

Love marriages around the world are simple: Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy. They get married.
In India, there are a few more steps: Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy. Girl's family has to love boy. Boy's family has to love girl. Girl's Family has to love Boy's Family. Boy's family has to love girl's family. Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married.
Welcome to 2 States, a story about Krish and Ananya. They are from two different states of India, deeply in love and want to get married. Of course, their parents don’t agree. To convert their love story into a love marriage, the couple have a tough battle in front of them. For it is easy to fight and rebel, but it is much harder to convince. Will they make it?

It feels a bit like that as we consider the future of CMS in Asia. The coming together of 2 different cultures. Socially as well as organisationally. East and West. The desire for AsiaCMS to be indigenous, culturally appropriate. Clearly Eastern in all its structures, governance, leadership, projects, programmes. But with people from different cultures. even just within India - North and South, East and West. So many languages and cultures.
Somehow it is about embracing the best of all worlds. A sort of fusion

In Monsoon Wedding (2001) the film culminates with a great dance sequence: young and old, male and female, all celebrating and dancing to the same colourful tune.. Maybe that's as good a picture as any.

And like an Indian Wedding, we plan and trust that it will all come good on the actual day. But there is an awful lot to do in the meantime....

It is often quoted: 'East is East and West is West and ne'er the twain shall meet' and it is left there ... that there is somehow an unspanable gulf between the two...

But Kipling's poem goes on to suggest the possibility of mature relationship, before God, standing face-to-face:

East is East and West is West
and ne'er the two shall meet
Til Earth and Sky stand presently
At God's great judgement seat
But there is neither East nor West
Border nor Breed, nor Birth
When two strong men stand face to face
Tho' they come from the ends of the earth

Self Portrait - free of heart

This is a self portrait I did recently - my 'Afghan look' - an image I feel very comfortable with. It is part of my identity.

I have just been in Kabul where I chair the board of a partner NGO. I travel every May and November. It is something I enjoy immensely. There is something about Afghanistan and the Afghan people that gets inside you. It is a privilege to be involved in some small way.

The NGO work is demanding, with many projects designed to serve the people of Afghanistan. And sorting out governance and management We have just had a consultant with us helping to restructure the board governance. There was an overwhelming sense of agreement in the direction we are going. But it all takes time and is necessary. And sometimes seems a distraction form the real work.

Afghanistan is not an easy place to be. The demands are high, with constant security threats and the need to be vigilant. I recently wrote blog on the Mazar UN murders

There is a lack of infrastructure - so many basic things to do. Yet there is a sense of excitement in what some have called the Wild, Wild East.

I remember reading the classic 1960s novel set in Afghanistan - James A Mitchener's 'Caravans' with stories of play readings in Kabul and packs of wolves wandering the streets, of Nomadic Kuchi peoples wandering the Steppes on Camels, of a German engineer learning about how flexible Afghan bridges survive better than solid Western ones. There's a lesson there...

'I love Afghanistan. Who cares about the dysentery and the loneliness? For I knew that Afghanistan was the toughest assignment on record. Here was the post which sooner or later tested a man and for me the preliminaries were over. I was about to plunge into one of the world's great cauldrons' James A Mitchener: Caravans

People get romantic about Afghanistan and see enormous significance in its untamable wildness. Maybe none more so than Mohammad Iqbal (1876-1938) Pakistan's Poet laureate:

Asia is a living body, and Afghanistan is its heart.

In the ruin of the heart lies the ruin of the body;

So long as the heart is free, the body remains free;

If not it becomes a straw adrift in the wind.

A reminder to us all to be free of heart, free spirits ...

like the young woman in James Mitchener's 'Caravans' in spite of the trouble it may get us into.

London: 'Sun breaking through fog'

I did this version of Claude Monet's Houses of Parliament, Sun breaking through fog (1904)

He used to live in Lower Norwood, not far from where we used to live in Penge. ( seperated by a couple of generations!). The Houses of Parliament were one of his favourite. He did a series of 8 painting, all on the same size canvas, since they were the same view from window. But all very different. His last, more impressionist painting is startling for its more liberal, less literal use of colour. And that certainly suits me ! Mine is but a pale reflection of a part of his picture. But it is still evocative of London and the Thames.

It also evoked T S Elliot's poem about his journey to London, part of his 'Choruses from the Rock' Collected Poems 1909-1935 (97) The poem remains a wonderful reflection on the relevance of the Church, in the City, in the suburbs and in the country ......

I journeyed to London, to the timekept City,

Where the River flows, with foreign flotations.

There I was told: we have too many churches,

And too few chop-houses. There I was told:

Let the vicars retire. Men do not need the Church

In the place where they work, but where they spend their

Sundays.

In the City, we need no bells:

Let them waken the suburbs.

I journeyed to the suburbs, and there I was told:

We toil for six days, on the seventh we must motor

To Hindhead, or Maidenhead.

If the weather is foul we stay at home and read the papers.

In industrial districts, there I was told

Of economic laws.

In the pleasant countryside, there it seemed

That the country now is only fit for picnics.

And the Church does not seem to be wanted

In country or in suburbs; and in the town

Only for important weddings.

Given the Royal Wedding this week the last line seemed particularly pertinent. And it was a Very Important Wedding. The Nation seems to want the Church then ... for State occasion and National functions. Mind you I did like the pagentry and bits of the service - the reading from Romans 12: 1-2, 9-18 and the talk by the Bishop of London

I attended another, family wedding this week in the country, in Pembrokeshire in S Wales. Whilst it took place in a URC Chapel, it was effectively a secular wedding. The singing was superb and lots of fun. With popular songs like 'I'm a Believer (The Monkeys)' and 'That's Amore' (Dean Martin) The congregation put their heart and soul into it. And a lot of imagination had gone into the poems and readings. It was a great wedding .... but God hardly got a mention. And that felt somehow empty.

I suppose it was a 'more liberal use of colour' which I enjoyed... But as in the Monet painting, I continue to look for Sun breaking though that fog.........