Reflections on Mr Bean's Nativity

MR BEAN & THE NATIVITY

This is a scene from Mr Bean's Merry Christmas video when he interacts with a Nativity Set in a department store - it is full of deep theological meaning !  Do watch it and enjoy.....  It is full of exotic imagery and wild imagination........ just like the book of Revelation!

I particularly like the appearance of the 'Dragon' in the form of a Dinosaur. And a 'war in heaven' that is fought over the Nativity scene, represented by the appearance of Tanks and a Dalek,  before the child and holy family are whisked off by an angel / helicopter to a place of safety. Well more likely to have been a 'Wilderness' in Egypt than a comfortable palace/ doll's house.  

There is even an earlier hint when the Dalek attacks the vulnerable lamb and exits laughing, thinking it has won, which clearly is a reference to the cross and 'the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world'  and Satan's apparent victory at Calvary!

Whilst this is all very 'tongue-in-cheek' the Revelation account is a parallel story to the 'normal' nativity scene and show another dimension to the narrative.  Worth thinking about


DUNGEONS & DRAGONS

The picture is from a blog for "nativity scene with dragon," which points out the extra Biblical Nativity Narrative which is not normally read out in Carol services! It seems more appropriate for a Dungeons & Dragons style fantasy game.
'The Birth of Christ was designed to overcome doom and gloom, and the dragon belongs in the Christmas story.'

  1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.  2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.  3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.  4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.  5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,  6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. 7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back..... (Rev. 12:1-7) 

WAR & PEACE

I received an email which quoted an extract from a Christmas news letter by a Christian worker in Afghanistan: 

"This Christmas, we pray for places of ongoing conflict in the Muslim world, like Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan... Even as we are grieved with the senseless deaths of young children in Connecticut, we also wept over 10 young girls in Eastern Afghanistan who were senselessly killed when a landmine exploded while they were gathering firewood. Across the border in Pakistan suicide attackers killed more people on the same day and vaccination workers were senselessly killed for doing a polio eradication campaign...
The one who wages war on earth, the Great Dragon of Rev. 12 is also part of the Christmas story—although not usually a part of the nativity scene (!)—he is clearly seen in the murderous fury of Herod and his soldiers. In Rev 12, this Dragon is thrown from heaven, that ancient serpent who seeks to destroy the Child and make war on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus (Rev 12: 17)... But his time IS short, and we know how it ends:
"Salvation and power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down..." (Rev 12: 10)
In a strange way the "peace on earth" announced by angels at Jesus' birth is mingled with the wrath of the Great Dragon. But our salvation is near and our eternal home is secure. Emmanuel is with us."

Christmas is seen as a time of Peace, but all peace must be fought for, it carries a price.... a laying down of life, a sacrifice.  Hopefully not literally for most of us, but at least involving a struggle, an effort.  ' Indeed we are encouraged to 'strive together for peace' (Heb 12:14)   

So may you strive for and experience that same Peace the Angels proclaimed to the Shepherds (and there are is a lot of emphasis on sheep in Mr Bean's Nativity): 

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2:13-14  

Thanks, Mr Bean for making it all so clear.......

O Little Town of Bethlehem

I came across this video made by a church in New Zealand of the Christmas Story told by Palestinians in the 'Land of the Holy One'. It has a real sense of authenticity about it and we will be using it in the International Carol Service at Christchurch, Woking on Sat 22nd Dec 2012

Published on 16 Dec 2012

The story of the birth of Jesus told by the people of Bethlehem. Made by St Paul's Church, Auckland, New Zealand. Anyone is welcome to show this film publicly, but not change it in any way, nor publish it, nor make money out of it.

St Paul's Auckland  by St Paul's Arts & Media (SPAM)

 

 

Nasruddin: Cutting off the branch he's sitting on

LEAVING CMS
 

As you may know, I have been due to leave CMS for some months now following the successful launch of AsiaCMS based in Kuala Lumpur. So now it really  is 'time to say goodbye' (have a look at the YouTube video)

I finished my formal contract with CMS as a Director on 31/July 2012  And since then have been working as a self-employed Mission consultant.

For the past few months this has included helping CMS 3 days a week with transition. I have also been teaching the CYM Diversity Module and doing an engagement survey with SAC  I have also done some Appreciative Inquiry workshops with Tearfund and have engaged with a change process with a  church in Quinton, Birmingham. I am open to other work as part of a developing portfolio,  so if you know anything....

There are lots of opportunities and I am also starting to raise a ministry fund (via Stewardship Services)  so I can continue to engage with work in Asia through AsiaCMS and Faith2Share

Some people have asked if I'm retiring!  to which I usually reply that I am far too young.  And there is far to much to do. So I am developing a portfolio of global-local consultancy. 

My role in CMS  has been handed over to Kang-San Tan the new Executive Director of AsiaCMS based in KL and Paul Thaxter the CMS Transcultural Director based in Oxford.     Olivia Jackson, the new Transcultural Manager for Asia has taken on the work that Adrian Watkins and John Hayward did, but in a redefined role that works alongside AsiaCMS .  I wrote about this earlier - the three Musketeers finding their D'Artagnon

LOOKING BACK

  
 





It has been a privilege to work with CMS these past 26 - Nearly 13 years in Pakistan as a Mission Partner and then as a Regional Director for nearly 14 years.  I wrote some notes for the speech I never did at CMS (I just told a Nasruddin story instead - see below) 

But just a few of the highlights since joining CMS in 1985: 

• CMS Training at Crowther Hall (and SIL summer school) in 1985
• IBTIDA drug Rehabilitation Project in Karachi – 10 years of ministry ‘heady days’ of rushing around the city trying to save heroin addicts from their addiction  
• Ordination as a permanent deacon in 1998 in Church of Pakistan
• Accused of blasphemy by the infamous Takhbeer magazine – a spiritual ‘high’  
• Moving to Peshawar and working with ORA  and the Afghan led NEJAT drug project (the start of my relationship with Afghanistan)
• 1998 taking on role of Middle East and Pakistan ‘secretary’ following Bob Wilkes (and John Clark before him) and doing  ‘Bob’s Job’ (I only got the job cos I was the closest look-alike!)
• Lots of CMS Residentials for strategic planning  and pub conversations   
• the RTA when I broke my sternum on the way to St Julian’s (now St Cuthman’s)  George got whiplash and Richard broke his ankle.
• President/chair of our partner organisation in Afghanistan for 8+ years with trips twice a year to Kabul
• The CMS move to Oxford from Partnership House (see  my blog on end of western mission)
• The AsiaCMS process and the setting up a new mission entity in Asia
• Flying well over one million miles of mission since I started (mainly with Emirates – Dubai lounge being my second home!)
• My kids still think my job was about taking people out for meals and giving them toblerone ....   (or maybe a spook – ‘MI5 not 9to5’)
• As I have travelled Nasruddin has been my constant travelling companion....
  

There are many other experiences over the years.  I have worked under 6 ‘General Secretaries’/ CEO/ Executive Leader

1. Simon Barrington-Ward
2. Harry Moore
3. Michael Nazir-Ali
4. Diana Witts
5. Tim Dakin
6. Philip Mounstephen
   

I feel CMS is in safe hands under Philip’s leadership and look forward to seeing what the new ‘radical continuity’ looks like.......

CONSULTANCY 

 Now back to that story about Mullah Nasruddin:

 

 Nasruddin is sitting on a  branch, chopping it off for fire-wood. A passerby warns him: 'What are you doing, if you cut that branch you will fall and die!'

The Mullah thinks: "This is some foolish person who has no work to do but go around telling other people what to do and what not to do." 

While his mind was on this train of thought, down comes Nasruddin together with the branch he had just managed to chop.

Lying dazed on his back, the Mullah realises the man must indeed be a prophet and that therefore he must be dead as he predicted. So he continues to lie down dead, wondering what would happen next. 

Passerbys see him 'dead' underneath the tree and lift him up and put him in a coffin to carry him to the graveyard. As they are taking him they come to a fork in the road and start arguing about which is with quickest way to the graveyard. 

After a while the irritated Mulla sits up, pointing and exclaims: 'When I was alive that was the right way.....'

The past few years helping to realise the vision of a new AsiaCMS has been like sitting on the branch that you are cutting off.  It involves an inevitable and predictable ‘fall’ and a sort of ‘dying’.  And I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way (except maybe finding another branch to sit on!)

And being a consultant is very similar to sitting up from the coffin when people are confused about the way forward and suggesting ‘well, when I was around we used to do it this way...’
Well that's one form of consultancy (diagnostic) anyway - I actually prefer helping people to think through and decide for themselves (dialogical).   But if any of you need a consultant to suggest ways forward just get in touch with ‘the Mullah’......

Addicted in Afghanistan

I was sent the link to a new film. It is based in a part of the world I used to work in and all about the type of work I was involved in......  

It is with great excitement that we can finally announce our multi-award winning feature length documentary "Addicted in Afghanistan" is now available to stream or buy to download here!
Thanks to Distrify you can watch this film and if you embed it on your own blogs or websites, you get to earn  revenue from film sales!  Please see the Addicted website for further details about the film.








"Addicted in Afghanistan" now available to stream or download! 
It looks like a  great movie  Let me now what you think about it ......

Still Point

I visited the Lightbox in Woking earlier and saw an excellent installation: Still Point by Suki Chan, a Hong Kong artist.

You can read more about it on stillpointfilm.co.uk and here

Suki Chan’s new work, Still Point, is a film installation that engages with sacred spaces and places of pilgrimage.

"Whilst filming in sacred sites in Jerusalem, I was struck by how some parts of the city have two names, one in Hebrew and the other in Arabic. How one population can ‘unsee’ another group. How one part of the city is closed off to another group – by borders which are sometimes physical and sometimes psychological."

Still Point transports the audience from the site of the humble wooden structures offering refuge along Pilgrims’ Way in Northumberland, to contested sacred sites in Jerusalem, and the interior spaces of abandoned Syrian villages in the Golan Heights.

Have a look at the preview on Vimeo  Well worth it.......

It's based on the poem by T S Elliot   The Still Point in a turning world.   
I loved the 2 sacred:spaces visited:  Lindisfarne and Jerusalem... Holy Island and Holy City

Bob the Builder: 'Entertaining Angels'

There were 6 street angels (WSA) on duty on Friday night in 3 equal male-female pairs. Perfect....

 Angel based on Van Gogh drawing

Our pair spent the initial time (first 2 hours) chatting, clearing bottles, greeting people. We talked to Pakistani Taxi drivers and an Afghan pizza man,  as well as Nigerian and Eastern European Bouncers. Woking is becoming much more multi-cultural.  We were offered a glass of green tea by one taxi driver who had once driven me to Gatwick and remembered me by name. I didn't recognise him at first. 'cos he's grown a bushy beard.  The sweet 'kava' was served by a restauranteer from Gilgit in N Pakistan. I had visited there in 1987, even visiting his village of Kaplu in Baltistan, so we had lots to talk about.... 

Since it had been raining, and because of the general recession, there were not that many people out  but we still had a significant evening of encounters and conversations.

A recent BBC article  claimed that anti-social behviour was down by 21% in Woking since the StreetAngels had been out on the streets.  This was due to a combination of good Community Policing and more visibility by WSA and groups like Outside Lights.   They were under the station canopy, giving away tea and literature. Interestingly some of the police thought we were the same group. 

By the way,  you can now follow the local Woking Police on Twitter @WokingBeat.  And Woking Street Angels also have a Facebook page

We had a number of encounters, in particular a fascinating conversation with 'Charles'* (*all names have been changed or made up*),  a well-spoken young Trader, someone learning the fast paced lifestyle, currently in £500 a month as a student, but soon expecting to earn £500 a day, if he could keep up with the highly pressured lifestyle.  

We came across one man, 'Pete'* sitting on a bench with his head in his hands. He had been kicked out of  pub for disturbing bahaviour and was feeling very low indeed.  He had lost his job and had lived rough a few time in the past and had also been in a drug rehab years ago.  He could see himself sliding back down and was talking of harming himself. So we walked him back to his house. It was difficult to leave someone who was talking of getting a knife to cut himself. Walking away can also be an act of faith.

The police seemed particularly helpful on this occasion going round to check on him.  We later got a message that he was OK and sleeping it off.

We also me someone  'Neville'* who was obviously very high and had great difficulty drinking from the bottle of water we gave him.  He did seem to really enjoy his lollipop.  'Bob the Builder'*  and his mate were looking for a place they could get a pint at 2 in the morning.  We all ended up staying with 'Neville' and helping him walk towards the centre of town, (he certainly couldn't walk very straight at all). They even rolled him a fag.  Bob the Builder said he had been an addict himself years ago, and had been off for 11 years and now had his own family and a good job.  He was really helpful with Neville, who said he had nowhere to stay cos he'd been kicked out.   We gave him a blanket and he bed down for the night in a  doorway near BHS,   The police, who knew him well as a PPO  (Persistent Petty Offender), said they wouldn't disturb him and let him sleep it off for a bit. I thought that was great.....   

I mentioned to 'Bob' that he had missed out on that extra pint on his Friday night out. He responded that helping Neville was much better than a pint. It had reminded him of where he had been and how far he had progressed. He may have been a rough diamond in the past, but he certainly shone that night. The Bible talks about practicing hospitality and entertaining angels unawares. Actually I think we saw an angel at work that night in the guise of Bob the Builder.......
 

The Fourth Musketeer

 

Alexandre Dumas' famous Musketeers as in this 1894 image by Maurice Leloir

The Three Musketeers (French: Les Trois Mousquetaires) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, first serialized in March–July 1844. Set in the 17th century, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris, to join the Musketeers of the Guard. D'Artagnan is not one of the musketeers of the title; those are his friends Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, inseparable friends who live by the motto "all for one, one for all" ("un pour tous, tous pour un"), a motto which is first put forth by d'Artagnan.^[1]


There have been numerous films that retell the tale of D'Artagnon  and the 3 Musketeers
one of the most inappropriate being Barbie and the 3 Musketeers! And there is a lego set to boot.... 

Even made famous in Asia through Slumdog Millionaire as the final million dollar question....

And I suppose any group of 3 men can easily be nicknamed 'three Musketeers'  which is exactly what happened to us in CMS.  It was at our Nepal Conference in April that the 3 Musketeers were first farewelled - Adrian, John and myself who had all worked for the formation of AsiaCMS  : 'One for all and all for one'

Since then we had been looking for a D'Artagnon to pass on all our skill and experience. Until finally the new musketeer has been chosen  .... and all is revealed  ..... 

















 Athos (Adrian)  Porthos (Phil)   D'Artagnon (Olivia)  and  Aramis (John)  

Olivia now joins us  as the forth musketeer.....  and will be looking after CMS work in Asia as the new mission manager.   And I understand she has had a certain nickname.  So maybe that 'Barbie and the 3 Musketeers' was not as outrageous after all!  

This now means the other three can start enjoying their 'retirement plan'. Mind you any sighting of Cardinal Richelieu will bring them all running to defend the Kingdom ......

All for One and One for All !    ('un pour tous, tous pour un')