Shrodinger's Theological Cat

I am writing this in hospital. I was having some seizures, down my left arm; when after one particularly painful incident, I went to A&E. Here, they diagnosed focal epilepsy, caused by tumours in the brain. At the moment, therefore, the staff are investigating to discover if these are primary cancers or secondary ones, derived from elsewhere in my body.

Ignatian Spirituality

Ignatius Loyola wrote his Spiritual Exercises, as a guide for discernment. Through them, we are encouraged to interpret our feelings, before God, to detect signs of whether we are moving towards, or away from, him.

Over a period of time, we examine our responses of consolation and desolation. Consolation is given by the Good Spirit, as an encouragement as we make intentions towards God. Desolation comes from the Bad Spirit, to discourage us, and make us move away from God. 

Contemplation and Combat

When I arrived in the inner city for ministry, it was common to recommend contemplative spirituality, the cultivation of silence, as a spiritual discipline. Digging into the works of Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen, would offer greater deeper resources for dealing with the stresses of urban mission. So, I built a practice, in my 20s and 30s, of regular retreats, and personal meditation. 

The Trees. The Trees.

The government permits one hour a day for outside exercise. But it sometimes feels more like a compulsory command. Nevertheless, it guarantees that I leave the house each day. Otherwise, on a Sunday afternoon, like today, when the weather turns cold, I might be tempted to stay inside all the time. And I do need that head-clearing, mind-refreshing, wind-blowing, it brings.

A Covid Revival? (This should come with a health warning to whoever reads it!)

Apparently there is an upsurge in British people reporting that they’ve prayed during the epidemic. Others have joined online-services. The trend has even been noticed by secularist, left-wing, media, like New Statesman and The Guardian. Among Christians, there is consequently much rejoicing, as they/we seem to identify signs of an impending revival, a nation returning to God.

Prayer and the Present Moment

It’s become a cliché to say that this crisis is ‘unprecedented’. Of course, it is. The initial response for many of us was frantic activism, trying to devise our immediate pastoral response. For me, this involved: setting up a pastoral care system, organising online small groups, uploading regular Bible devotionals on YouTube, feeding homeless people, and supporting my leaders. Inevitably, despite encouraging my leaders to take a day-off, I failed to do so myself! Eventually, I ‘hit the wall’ (to illlicitly use a marathon runner’s metaphor, because I’m not a runner), and had to stop. Spirituality is also about rest.

Crying over Corona

I have seen some Christian preachers online, who are calling this Covid-19 epidemic a sign of God’s judgment on the world. Another group, among which I suspect I sometimes fall, don’t go that far. They just say it’s a sowing and reaping of what we have produced in our way of life.

The problem is that, whether true or not, there is a gleeful delight in many of these commentators; an apparent pleasure in the disaster, a satisfaction that sinners are getting their comeuppance. But the proper stance of the prophet is to weep.

Learning to Pray

It is easy to criticise those who pray for healing or material provision, especially when we come from a comfortable, suburban or academic, social location. Sociology often shapes theology, frequently unconsciously. Prosperity teaching appeals frequently to the urban poor and immigrants, who desperately need God to come through for them.

It was in the inner city that I learned to pray, for example, for finances, not when ministering to rich millionaires, but asking God to provide for people’s rent, bills, and debts. Low level stuff. Prayer ministry lines developed, to intercede for immigration visas and housing problems, not goose-bumps for middle class charismatics.

Prosperity Theology's Dirty Little Secret

It’s common for evangelicals to decry so-called ‘prosperity theology’ or ‘health and wealth teaching’. Many of us have had to pick up the pieces of people, whose hopes have been raised, and then dashed, by false promises of financial provision or physical healing. For some, this has led to a rejection of Christianity as such, because they now identify the faith with this particular distorted deviation.

Prayer Walking

We’ve just hosted a mission team from Hunter Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Our good ongoing relationship with them helps us impact our post-Christian city. One of their activities is Prayer Walking – when I say this, I realise it’s often just sitting around, and praying silently, while they observe the spiritual dynamics around them. However, their Pastor, Spencer Knight, earths this, by asking them when they debrief, “What spiritual needs did you notice in that location?”

I also once led a team to Turkey, where the evangelistic opportunities were slight, largely because of we couldn’t speak the language! The trip, however, turned into a Prayer Mission, as we interceded for the nation, and the particular towns we were visiting.