Principalities, powers and potential in Glasgow ...

Ok, so was out 'playing' today and was so much less intense than I thought it would be ... in many senses it was much 'safer' and less risky than I had imagined. There was much less of the reading aloud Scripture than I thought there would be and comfort zones were maintained. Yet that did not make it unchallenging.

First were two different spiritual exercises - being fully present and attentive among people and then identifying and discerning any principalities and powers that may be at work. I remember when I lived in Stokesley one of my favourite activities was having my daily latte (ususally hazelnut) and people watching. Sitting in one of the window bars I would watch people as they passed trying to guess their emotions and stories as they passed by, judged just on what I could discern from the way they were dressed, the way they walked, the expressions on their faces and what, if any, contact they had with others around. Today's exercise was similar in many ways, though it surprised me to learn that I found it much easier to be present while being still than while moving. While I walked or rather sauntered it was much easier to be distracted, and in a sense I became a part of that which I was trying to observe and be aware of rather than being present in any of objective yet empathetic sense.

It came as no surprise however that most people were not smiling in the slightest and actually most communication happened electronically (despite lots of background noise!) with many people on the phone or with headphones on. Even those people that were 'together' did not appear present to one another. Take for example a couple I saw walking and holding hands. Neither seemed happy in any sense and actually neither seemed to even be aware of the other at all, desite having the physical contact of holding hands. Later this contrasted even more with a couple who were also holding hands but were 'present' with each other and aware of each other, as well as an elderly couple of women huddled together, holding one another up almost.

There was an overwhelming sense of hopelessness amongst the people. A tiredness, drearyness, distant disconnectedness. No one made eye contact with anyone else, and no one smiled at any one. Each was totally caught up in their own world, passing many other people by totally unaware of them. Unaware of the girl that looked as though she had been crying and was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Unaware of the small gentleman selling the Big Issue outside two of the biggest companies around ... Starbucks and Apple. Visible yet invisible. Present but not 'present'.

It saddened me. It challenged me. After all, how do I respond to that? How can I be good news amidst such seeming 'bad news'? And what shape does that good news take? Actually, while its about me its also not about me, its about 'us' ... the church, the community of God's people (specifically those of us called to 'ministry' this morning). How do we respond? Do we 'see', are we 'present' and aware? How can we be good news to these people in these places?

After dsicussing the first exercise we went back through the street observing / discerning the principalities and powers at work and in competition for people and amongst people in the street. For me the most immediate one was the demon of conformaty. People in their search for belonging have become homogenous - from where they shop, to what they buy, to how they look. The structure of the shops, from their archetecture to their products and everything in between add to the demons, embody the demons and feed the lies. The thing is, most of the time, actually people don't feel more connected or that they belong in any more of a real sense. In fact this principality often feeds into others. The obvious demon of consumerism was present, as were the more subtle ones of domination, isolation and many more all setting themselves up as the antithesis of what they actually are - false gods. In fact the imagery, language and symoblism used reflected something of these religious overtones as the false gods lure people into their false worship. Someone reflected that the street for many represents their place of worship and the products their new gospel ... and though many would not explicitly name it as such, I can't help but agree in some measure.

And yet ...

There were little pockets of hope ...

The Help the Aged people, the Care people ... all with good causes that aid rather than hinder humanity and creation. Though the people representing were most definately recieting speels, still there was hope. People were verbally claiming some of that 'contested space' for good ...

Another class mate reflected that we are quick to point out all the negative aspects of what we sense in these spaces, yet we buy into them none the less, as do many of the people we minister amongst. And therein lies the challenge, for me at least.

Sitting on the steps of a closed down bank we did a kind of Bible study / how would you preach thing based on Luke 12:22-34. Much was discussed, there were many challenges and observations made ... some more heatedly than others it has to be said. Yet what struck me the most was this simple verse:
Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.
(Luke 12:32)

Maybe empire is an unhelpful term at times. Perhaps kingdom would be better. There are two kingdoms - that of darkness and that of light. It is impossible to be of both. You are either one or the other, for darkness and light cannot co-exist ... light drives out darkness. It has pleased the Father to place in believers the kingdom of light. Our challenge is to live and embody that kingdom in the here and now, being aware that it will not fully be realised until the time to come - called to be Kingdom of Heaven people living with the great eschatelogical tension.

Does that mean we remove ourselves entirely from the kingdom of darkness. No. But it does mean we model the alternative Kingdom of Light in the darkness. We live out the Kingdom values amid the kingdom (empire) and draw others to Jesus, the one who places this new Kingdom within them as He calls them to follow Him.

There was much debate today about how we do that ... and today will not in any way, shape or form have ended our debate. What the meaning of becoming poor is, what it means to be good stewards, all of that will continue to be talked about. At the end of the day though none of the talking does any good until it takes on some form of action.

For me that will mean total dependence on God, being a peacemaker in the truest sense, sharing and being good news, viewing people as made in the image of God with great potential, and calling people to an alternative way of life than that which the kingdom of darkness calls acceptable and desirable, all the while seeking to live out that Kingdom as best I can. Ezekiel was called and commissioned, as was read to us at the start of the day, to proclaim what the Sovereign Lord says (Ezekiel 2) ... and then later the Soverign Lord showed him that dry bones can live again and that the word of the Lord causes them to rise up again (Ezekiel 37). It may be one of my favourite passages, and there may be many different interpretations ... but maybe, just maybe, some of the dry bones that I saw walking around Glasgow today could live again if they just heard the Word of the Lord ...