Off to Greenbelt

Well, we are, as a family, preparing to trek off to Cheltenham Racecourse to Greenbelt 07. The weather forecast is looking good. We can't wait. I might blog from the festival but I'm not making any promises as Greenbelt is full on, Mach 3, wall to wall stimulation. But don't take my word for it, have a read of Jonny Baker's blog posting to get a flavour of what is happening.

What is the Point of Being a Christian?

This is the first book by Timothy Radcliffe that I have read. I bought it at Greenbelt Festival last year on the basis of some talks he did there. My copy still bears the scars of Cheltenham Racecourse mud. I don't know much about Catholic speakers and writers, since a good deal of what I have read to date tends to be recommended by friends of the Protestant tradition. We Catholics either do not read books with religious/spiritual themes or we guard our reading habits jealously. I also think that the Protestant writers have the marketing sussed. Their books are not necessarily any more interesting, they just package them better.

Anyway, I digress. I went to see Timothy Radcliffe speak on the basis that (a) I'd heard of him (just about) and (b) he is a Catholic. I felt duty bound to drop in on a fellow Catholic. The only other alternative that I knew about was James Alison. As his talks were veering into the arena of homosexuality I thought I would give them a miss. This was not for reasons of homophobia, I hasten to add (though for one or two self-indulgent seconds I thought the world at large might get the 'wrong impression' about me!); no, my reasons were that the whole 'gay' issue can be a bit bandwagonish and so I thought that on this occasion I would give it a miss. To be fair, given another opportunity I probably would go along and listen.

Radcliffe was extremely popular. They opened up the side of the tent so that people would not be disappointed. I had to sit outside but was able to hear him clearly. I was immediately impressed by him. He is well-spoken, erudite and humourous. The realm of his experience as a widely travelled Dominican Friar and theologian lends an air of authority to what he has to say. In spite of his academic prowess, he is a great communicator and is able to convey complex ideas in simple language. His practical experience as Master of the Order means that he has seen a great deal of what life in this world has to offer to the most disadvantaged and so his message is one of hope mixed with realism. So I bought the book...

The title of the book is What is the Point of Being a Christian? In one sense, this is a personal quest but there is much in Radcliffe's search to which I felt able to respond affirmatively. He begins with what was, by his own admission, the glib response of "because it is true" but in the chapters of the book the deeply complex concept of Christian truth is unpacked. Central to the notion of Christian truth is the role of the individual within the community and the difficulties which arise within human relationships. Radcliffe tackles the fact of and theories for the polarisation between faith groups, within the wider Christian Church and indeed within the Catholic church itself. He considers the impact of the 'Now Generation' and the concept of 'Liquid Modernity' as expounded by Zygmunt Bauman. Liquid modernity is the point we have reached in post-modern culture whereby we are no longer dealing in the concrete but the abstract - we deal in a currency of signs and symbols - think of the golden arches of McDonalds, the Nike swoosh. He explores the changing role of sabbath in the 21st century.

This book is intelligently written, balanced,well researched and shows a solid grasp on the complexities of the modern world. Timothy Radcliffe OP may be an academic but dry he is not.

What is the Point of Being a Christian? ISBN 0-86012-369-3 available in Christian Bookshops or on order from any good bookshop.

Comic Relief Day - the flippant bit...

I'm not a big fan of the telethon thing but if I have to engage with one then it would be Comic Relief. I can't stand that Pudsey Bear thing - not that I disagree with charity fundraisers per se (oops, Sorry about the Latin, it's a Catholic thing!) I guess it is the whole "let's take a look around the BBC regions to see what people have been up to - Over in the Midlands Quantity Surveyor Colin Wilkinson has spent the day surveying quantities whilst immersed in a bath of Heinz oxtail soup and raised £7.50 for Children in Need" And all the waving of the 'big cheques' gets up my (big, red) nose. At least Comic Relief is entertaining AND they have the good sense to only do it once every two years. There were a number of highlights in last night's show. Of course, I was eager to see who had won the Fame Academy title. It was, as (sort of) predicted here the delightful Tara Palmer-Tomkinson with her 'kinky boots' routine. In terms of voice, Tricia Penrose should have won it, without a shadow of a doubt. She did a great rendition of the immensely talented Alicia Keys' If I Ain't Got You. (As I click, I am listening to the original) But as in all these things it is a popularity contest and Tara was the bigger personality. What really matters is that loadsa money was raised for good cause.

I latched onto Ricky Gervais' spoof appeal video instantly, having spotted the blue screen technology. Nevertheless it will remain, I suspect, one of those supremely wicked comedy moments for some years to come. True comedy pushes the boundaries and this was pure genius. Even as I was protesting at its inappropriateness I was laughing.

Peter Kaye came up with a good one - a remake of the old Proclaimers hit 500 miles. I'm not a big fan of Peter Kaye, partly because he is too popular (here I reveal one of the many complexities of my personality). There are certain people that I use as a guage in this. I like to catch on to new talent early on. As soon as I began to hear middle-class mums and 12 year-olds saying "yeah, I know" and "I'm the only gay in the village, see" I knew it was time to move on from Little Britain. Kaye has a very retro act and his humour is quite unsophisticated - he's a bit of a one trick pony really. BUT, he enlisted the help of the extremely talented Matt Lucas to add some comic credibility. And of course, cameos from everyone in comedy, current faves and has-beens alike. The inclusion of the Proclaimers themselves should give their career a boost. I saw them two years ago at Greenbelt Festival and I remember how, when this song was played, spontaneous singing and dancing seemed to break out across the whole festival site with no generational boundaries. This bodes well for sales of the Comic Relief version. This should partially make up for Amarillo which I hoped had been consigned to the 1970's archives forever but has since been adopted as an anthem by lovers of tat everywhere.

Best laugh of the night goes to Catherine Tate. Stroppy teen, Lauren, goes to 10 Downing Street on her work experience placement. When PM Tony Blair (the REAL Tony Blair) turns the tables on her and says "Am I bovvered?" I almost lost control of my bodily functions. Well in, Tone, mate, the boy done well. George Bush may have his Barneycam videos, but you were real class!

Somethin' Wonderful

Today's photo is of last night's lunar eclipse as seen in Pensby, taken on a very ordinary compact digital camera. For once the night skies were clear enough to observe the moon turn copper as all but a smidgen of the sun's light was blocked by the Earth. It amazes me that this is not an uncommon occurrence but it is the first time that I have seen it. As a family we spent a good ten minutes standing, open mouthed in awe looking at it.

Today's gospel reading was the Luke's account of the Transfiguration. Fr Simon's homily opened up the idea of seeing the wondrous in the mundane. He illustrated this by reading a passage from An Evil Cradling by Brian Keenan who was held hostage in Beirut by Hezbollah. The passage described how a humble orange transcended its mundane state and was transfigured in Keenan's eyes as a result of the deprivation he experienced in captivity. This put me in mind of a book I once read by Columbian novelist Gabriel García Márquez. One of the features of the writing of García Márquez is magical realism. Ordinary things, such as umbrellas, are described in such a way that they become extraordinary, the magical sits comfortably alongside the everyday.

This concept intrigued me when I was engaged in an important stage in my spiritual journey. It opened my eyes to the importance of giving everything appropriate attention. I suppose it could be described as the art of being 'fully present' or 'living in the moment'. It taught me to be attentive to the fragrance of lavender on a summer evening, the lush greenness of the grass after a spring shower and the song of a solitary bird at dusk.

The playwright Dennis Potter was interviewed by Melvyn Bragg when in the advanced stages of terminal cancer. It is no secret that when we accept life as finite, we see things though different eyes. Potter described this phenomenon to Bragg between pauses to take sips of liquid morphine from a hip flask. He said that outside the window of his study at his home near the Forest of Dean there was an apple tree. He went on to describe his impressions of the spring blossom on the tree as the "blossomiest blossom". This ordinary blossom had transcended its natural state. Potter probably hadn't noticed it until he realised he would never see it again. The certainty of death had enabled him to be fully present. There is wisdom in that.

Coincidentally, the theme of this year's Greenbelt is Heaven in Ordinary. If you would like to explore these ideas further, you could do worse than to be fully present to the muddy fields around Cheltenham racecourse over August Bank Holiday weekend! Click here for information.