These Lively Oracles

Those who know me may also know that for a long time I have had an interest in learning some things about Church and Christian symbology. It is called “Iconology”, and at various times in history these symbols were systematically destroyed by people who were known as “iconoclasts”. These Christian symbols can be seen almost everywhere in traditional church buildings. And in times gone by they served the purpose of teaching people about Bible stories, themes and principles. In days gone by it was quite common for people to be unable to neither read nor write, so the symbols on the doorways and windows served to teach the stories from the Bible by illustration. Remember the old adage, “A picture paints a thousand words”? And although the practise of symbology is largely dying away I still love to go around these old cathedrals and older buildings and look for the signs and symbols that can show and teach lessons from the Bible. One group of symbols that I came across were that of a group...

This is going to be a difficult blog to write. But there is a question that I have been dwelling on for quite a while now. And it is this – “Why does God allow suffering?” It is a question that a lot of people ask but not everyone can answer fully. How do you tell people that “God has everything in control” when those very same people don’t actually believe in Him? I have personally found that although no one can fully answer that question in a totally satisfactory way, the question is also a loaded and totally unfair one. For instance, how does the evolutionist answer the question? What answer have they got about war, sickness and suffering? Would they say that humanity is just the next stage of the evolutionary process and that same process has always been built on the stronger/smarter overcoming the weak? How does the humanist, or the athiest answer the same question? They believe that you are nothing, then you’re conceived and born, you live your life, you die, and then...

I always enjoyed the movie City Slickers. It tells the story of three old school friends who worked together and occasionally still met up but their get-togethers had become stale and boring. So they decided that they needed to all go away on an adventure activity break. They decided on a cowboy themed weekend driving cattle across the desert. During the movie storyline they were overseen by a haggard old cowhand played by the inimitable Jack Palance. His character, called Curly, was a rough, outback, wise old cowboy who seemed at peace with his lot. During the course of the movie plot there was scene were Curly was talking with the city guys. They were talking about peace and contentment when Curly said that all they had to do was remember one simple thing. Just one. When the city slickers asked Curly what that “one thing” was, he replied, “You’ll have to figure that out for yourself”. And the same can be said of our Christian walk. All we have to do is remember one thing. Or to be mo...

In fourteen hundred and ninety two. Columbus sailed the ocean blue. He had three ships and left from Spain; He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain. And so the poem by Jean Marzollo goes. It’s a glamourous and fantastical poem about what was a dangerous and hastily threw together journey. I was listening to a sermon by my favourite online preacher when he spoke of Christopher Columbus. He said…..               When he set out, he didn’t know where he was going.                When he got there, he didn’t know where he was.               When he got home, he didn’t know where he’d been. Our “faith journey” as a Christian is very much like that. Everything starts out at some point in our lives. And we do the things that we do to join in with other Christians and churches. But most of the time our journey leads us on twists, turns and detours that we coul...