250 miles/24 hours

So you may have seen the latest cycling adventure – attempting to cycle 250miles in 24 hours.

Now I’ve done some pretty hairy bike rides in my life, but nothing quite like this. Sometimes my mind says it will be ok and we should be able to cycle further, other times I think it is probably impossible. Its going to be interesting to find out.

Chances are it will be as much a psychological test, as much as a physical one…yeah my bum is gunna hurt but as long as my mind is convinced I can do it I’ll be able to keep going.

The difference between this and my other ride is that the motivation for this is to raise money for charity – something we probably should have done before. I’m not going to deny that part of this is about the personal challenge and having fun, but we are getting sponsored and wanna raise some serious cash.

We are cycling for 2 charities and I have a third up my sleeve.

Our global charity is WaterAid – Water is really important and there should be no reason why people don’t have access to it. This is the work of WaterAid

Our local charity is Gear-Up – This is a new Birmingham-based community initiative, encouraging people to get their bikes fixed and ride them. I personally am involved with this project and hope to see it grow over the next few years.

The third charity is not really a charity, but my sister. She is about to pack her bag and move to Ruwanda, where she will work as a youth worker and teacher. She is going it alone and needs some finance support to get started. If you want to sponsor her please get in touch.

We have gone a bit mental with the sponsorship so have a website and video and stuff…check it out…and please support us – you can come down and watch on the 8/9 of October or, perhaps more importantly, please sponsor us…

www.250miles-24hours.webs.com

PART 2: A new kind of terrorist?

(Part 2 implies there is a part 1. This may make a little more sense if you read part 1 first…or you can risk it…)

Roughly a week ago many celebrated Good Friday, Jesus’ crucifixion. Today many are celebrating the death of Osama Bin Laden.

On the first Good Friday, some 2000 years ago, Jesus was murdered by the most powerful empire in the world, an empire of violent injustice. This empire reserved a special punishment for people who stood up to their power, for terrorists. This punishment was a very public display of imperial power, it was a sign to the rest of the world that said ‘if you stand up to us we will hang you on a cross and watch you die’. The story goes that Jesus was crucified alongside terrorist’s that stood up to the Romans. These terrorists employed violence as their weapon against the empire. Jesus, the terrorist, used servanthood and forgiveness to fight the empire, and that got him killed.

Today thousands have gathered outside the Whitehouse to celebrate the death of a notorious terrorist, Osama Bin Laden. Today America (and those collaborating nations) have stamped their authority over those who question their power, they have sent a message around the world that says ‘if you stand up to us we will hunt you down and kill you’. Today has been a “good day for America” (Obama) and “a great success” (Cameron). “Today we are reminded that as a nation there is nothing we can’t do” (Obama). “justice” (Obama) has been done, violent justice. The empire of the day has asserted its power and dominance.

Today, not that far from Bin Laden, lay another body, a plumber from Wigan. His only known followers have fled him, expecting him to ignite the war, not submit to its power. His message is one of fair distribution of power and wealth, of radical non-violent justice. He had been seen eating with Bin Laden and heard pleading for the forgiveness of his sins. He declares that there is a new Power, stronger than that of revenge and murder, one of reconciliation and peace.

Ok, so again I’ve made up a story which perhaps sounds crazy, but again the point here isn’t to sympathise with violent terrorism rather to offer a comparison to the familiar Jesus story so we can see it in a new way.

In my previous post (Part 1) I said Jesus directly confronts the powers of his day and he insists that their dominance and violence aren’t the way. Hearing the Bin Laden story today I saw how the powerful nations of our day, in some ways, aren’t too dissimilar – they still impose violence in order to control their power on the world. Jesus’ way is about imagining how to “overcome evil with good” (Paul) not using violence to combat violence. Today the circle of redemptive violence has been set in motion – having killed Bin Laden we are on high alert for other attacks. Jesus’ message compels us to think of an alternative, to make the first move in ending the violence.

My world, is your World, is our World

Today on Radio 1 Scott Miles was walking about the streets of London asking people when they last cried. A lot of people cried in response to something on TV, something fictional – the last episode of Lost or an emotional episode of Neighbours.

I think it’s sad that people are often more caught up in the lives of people on TV rather than those around them.

Yesterday I was helping out in a Year 7 citizenship lesson and the kids were asked to do a spider diagram of things they think would make the world a better place. As I went around the classroom I was reading ‘no war’, ‘no bullying’, ‘no guns’, ‘no money’, ‘no C0²‘. When I looked at this one lads it read ‘being able to leave lessons without getting told off’, ‘being able to bring my skateboard into school’.

I asked the lad ‘what about things that would make the whole world better, not just school life’

He wrote ‘being able to bring consoles into school’

I asked again ‘think not just about the school and this country, think about people in America, Australia, Spain, Turkey, India, China, Afghanistan and Iran’

He pondered for a minute and then wrote ‘access to water parks’ and then said ‘cos those people all live in hot countries and they need a place to cool down and have fun’

I had to try and hold back my laughter, as this kid seemed, so innocently, to try and find things he thought would make the world better. He was unable to extend his mind beyond his world into their world.

This was quite cute and funny but I think in a way we are all like this little lad. We live in our world and ultimately that is what matters to us. Being able to extend our view into someone else’s world may be possible for us but we’d rather not. Out of sight out of mind.

We’d rather immerse ourselves into a episode of EastEnders and live that reality, than face up to the reality that we live in a world where millions of people live in ‘extreme’ poverty.

To quote sting again (something I’m doing a lot recently):

It’s a subject we rarely mention

But when we do we have this little invention

By pretending their a different world from me

I shed my responsibility

Vatican Views

Tomorrow I’m scheduled to be killing time on my own in London while Sam does brides-maid-ie things. So I thought ‘who do I know in London…the Pope!’ Tomorrow evening Pope Benedict XVI is taking a vigil in Hyde Park and what better to do than go and check out all ‘the action’ and see what all the fuss is about.

So I do a bit of diggin’ on the old internet to see what time it is and stuff and it turns out you can only go if you pre-ordered, paid and collected your ticket through your local Catholic parish. In other words you’re only invited to the public meetings if you’re catholic…brilliant!

I guess I got a lot of beef with the pope – things which I see in him that I feel are contrary to my interpretation of Jesus’ message…

His celebrity kingship - only kings have roman numerals after their name. Jesus came to be a servant not a celebrity. He rode a donkey not a purpose built Mercedes. He came to de-thrown the powers and institutions not simply put new ones in place.

His exclusivity – Only Catholics at a public meeting?! For Jesus there was no Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free which today may be like saying there is no catholic or protestant, Christian or non-Christian, gay or straight…

His distribution of wealth – According to Paul Velelli in the Independent the Vatican net worth is £2 Billion, Jesus walked around penniless.

This is to name but a few but this is also to talk about a subject I don’t know much about. I am a victim of the media (just like I was with Terry Jones) ¹. I’m playing the same game too – judging a whole institution on one man, or judging one man on my experience of the institution.  As I write this I feel myself falling into hypocrisy, letting the minority view rule the majority. I need reminding that the Catholic tradition is just as diverse as the Anglican, which it might as well be said is as diverse as Christianity itself, which is arguably as diverse as faith in general – are we not all but individuals…?

Is the pope pro-paedophilia just cos a few priests were? Is he pro-aids-ridden-Africa just cos he doesn’t agree with contraception? Is he a greedy lover of money just cos his organisation is rich, despite being one of, if not the, most generous organisation on the planet? ² Is he a king, or a servant in an awkward position of power?

I guess I got some respect for the pope – for things I see him doing which I think are helping build the kingdom Jesus’ spoke of…

His Catholic input – The Pope helps to sustain thousands, if not millions, of people in and into faith. A faith that is some ways, but not all (although this is surely true of everything), is transforming people for the good.

His resilience – The Pope takes a lot of criticism, from people like me and people who feel much more strongly, rightly or wrongly. I respect him for his resilience. Blessed is he when people revile and persecute.³

His Ethics – just today the Pope has reminded us that political and economic policy cannot just be based on pragmatism, pure social conscience and profit. Morality must play a part. Even the sparrows are important.

Despite my beef, I believe that the Pope is just like all of us, in a process of being made right. He hasn’t got it all sorted no more than the rest of us and I hope he is still up for, in his won words, continued “moral conversion” and the reminder “of the duty to live peaceably with our neighbour [and] the importance of living a life of integrity,” ⁴

¹ http://timmaundrell.wordpress.com/2010/09/11/minority-rules/

² See ‘Best Answer’ at http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100207003041AAXz8W0 for an interesting discussion of the Vatican’s Wealth.

³ see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/8008867/Pope-Visit-UK-2010-protests-in-pictures.html for some good protestors

⁴ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/the-pope/8009242/Pope-says-science-cannot-explain-meaning-of-life.html

(sorry, footnotes seem a bit excessive – but its good to share resources…)

Minority Rules

Today is the 9^th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America and I’m sure none of us have managed to escape this week’s series of events, mainly centred around Terry Jones and his small band of followers.

Obviously the events that took place 9 years ago are hugely significant. One of those events that stick with a generation. The sort of incident that you remember where you were when it happened. A history that will never be forgotten – like D-Day, the collapse of the Berlin Wall, or the death of Gandhi.

This year the anniversary has be scarred by allegations of an ‘international burn a Koran day’ from a community which claims ‘Islam is of the Devil’. For so many this is contrary to what we believe, whether religious or not, and we struggle to see how people can not only hold these views but act upon them in such inappropriate ways.

For me the saddest part of this whole saga is not that people think these things but that the minority have been allowed to speak for the majority.

It’s this that leads to the notion that Islam (as a whole organisation, including its own factions) is responsible for the 911 attacks.

It’s this that leads to the notion that all Muslim everywhere burn American flag’s and are anti-western.

It’s this that leads to the notion that all Americans (or the whole western world) are holding a burn a Koran day and are anti-Muslim.

And ultimately it’s this that’s leads us to declare war (whether military, spiritual, emotional, individual or global) on people groups and organisations without considering the individual, the human.

Terry Jones - The voice of America?