On 23rd June 2016 I celebrated my 28th birthday. On the same day I also voted to Remain in the EU. My wife and I celebrated another year of life with a good old fashioned Northern Irish chippy, followed by French cheese, Spanish wine and Italian bread, and I went to bed really hoping I would get the birthday present I voted for. Alas, it was not to be and the contentment of an evening of good food and company soon passed away to be replaced by a feeling of unease. Continue reading
Next week will see the first anniversary of the UK Referendum and our collective national decision to leave the EU. The vote was finely balanced with Leave edging Remain by a margin of just 52 to 48. Brexit remains a source of formidable passion on both sides of its divide and will dominate political life in the UK for many years to come. Continue reading
I admit to not appreciating clouds – we simply have too many of them in this corner of the globe – although we had a welcome cloud-free few weeks in May this year. Sunlight is usually in short supply; plant and crop growth are hugely dependent on it. It’s a very different story in most other parts of the world where the sun shines relentlessly, where plant growth is instead limited by lack of water and urban communities either do not have water at all or else it’s in short or interrupted supply.
But I’ve been prompted to re-think my attitude to clouds when recently a Bible teacher said that ‘clouds signified God’s power’. So I went in search of clouds in the Bible….
As well as being a visible sign of God’s presence to the Israelites as they wandered in the desert for 40 years (Ex. 13:21), clouds – black, dark, dense – appear in the poetry of the OT authors as they strive to portray God’s otherness (Deut. 4:11; 2 Sam. 22:11; Ps. 18:9 & 11; Ps.97:2; Nahum 1:13, etc.). And it wasn’t just clouds but also darkness that was associated with God – ‘deep darkness’ (Deut. 4:11), ‘thick darkness’ (Ps 97:2). I wonder how much of our emphasis on God as being light comes from our living in a relatively cloudy and dull part of the world. We really don’t see much that’s positive about clouds at all.
In dry regions clouds promise rain – think of Elijah scanning the horizon after telling Ahab that God was sending rain. Where rainfall is low, clouds are noticed when they appear. They’re rare and they’re conspicuous. Clouds also provide shade and even create their own breezes, so providing a welcome relief from the brightness and the heat of the sun.
So what, we might say, in the context of our cloudy skies? In the clear blue skies that are normal in the Sinai and in Israel, any cloud appearing would be remarkable and dramatic. They might even make the occasion memorable.
Realising this helped me read some Biblical stories with fresh eyes: the cloud covering the Tent of the meeting (Ex. 40:34-38; Numbers 9:15-23); the Transfiguration; Jesus’ ascension being hidden by a cloud (Acts 1:9); Jesus’ return in a cloud (Matt. 24:30 & 26:64; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27; Rev. 1:7). It’s intriguing how clouds are a significant part of these accounts where the Three-in-one is present to and with us on this planet.
I’m reminded of Joni Mitchell’s song:
I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It's cloud's illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all
Might my awe at who God is be increased if I understood clouds better? Joni Mitchell went on to look at love and life in this song, having been inspired to write it by watching clouds from above in an airplane. May we be stretched in our knowledge of God and be inspired to worship Him more deeply through being willing to look at familiar objects, etc. in fresh ways.
Ethel White.
Ethel White is a research scientist in agriculture.
In 2012 a furore erupted across South Africa following the public exhibition of a painting by a ‘white’ South African artist, Brett Murray. Expressing a strand of public perception relating to the numerous scandals surrounding Jacob Zuma, the current President of South Africa, it depicts the President in a Lenin-like fashion with his genitals exposed. As well as the painting being vandalised shortly after it was displayed, some even called for the artist to be stoned to death for the way he had insulted the President. A fascinating debate followed raising the question of why something one might have thought as an acceptable form of political commentary within the context of a democracy could provoke such an impassioned response. Continue reading
Nepal’s new Constitution, adopted on 20th September 2015 established it as a secular state and provided freedom to profess and practice one’s own religion. The Constitution prohibited changing one’s religion and so any activities considered to be encouraging a person to convert from one religion to another can be deemed illegal. Religious behaviour disturbing public law and order and behaviour contrary to public health, decency and morality was banned. Minority religious leaders and human rights’ lawyers have expressed concern that the ban could make religious minorities vulnerable to persecution for preaching or public displays of faith[1].
Continue readingTruth and mercy have met together. Justice and peace have kissed. (Psalm 85:10)
“Christians frequently differ on important issues, and it is a mark of spiritual maturity if they handle those differences creatively rather than engage in damaging verbal warfare.”1 (Raymond Brown)
In rediscovering what it means to live for God and His glory alone, Contemporary Christianity seeks to support Christians and the church to serve their communities at critical points of: cultural contention; communal conflict; and social change. We aim to engage Christian minds with issues in the public square, to inject new perspectives and provoke discussion. Continue reading