I was asked (quite a while ago… :-\) to perhaps make a few comments on the 'Holiness and Justice' booklet that came out of this year's Methodist Conference, here on my blog. And so this post is just a few of those thoughts; though I would really like to continue delving into these topics a bit more deeply here in the future! Thoughts on the booklet: Well, it's well-designed and easy to use - the words and artwork flowing together nicely! During the week of conference, I'd somehow heard about the artwork which had been done for it, and so I was following along on the artist's blog, where he shared a new image for each of the 7 days of the week, alongside a bit of a description about how he'd developed that image and the particular themes it was depicting. Half of the pages in the booklet are these paintings - a combination of intense, emotional watercolours and firm, thought-provoking black spray paint, sprayed through various stencils - the combined force of which is very powerful. And the other half of the pages are corresponding introductions to the themes, Bible verses and other quotations, and questions for the reader. The themes given are:
It's not an easy relationship to comprehend - drawing together, so comprehensively, these themes of holiness and justice. And yet the booklet portrays the moulded-together-whole in a way that makes sense, and which remains true to all the hard work that went into choosing and developing these as the themes of the year. The artwork, alongside the brief descriptions, quotes and questions lead the viewer to actually partake in thinking about how those 2 aspects play out in their own life, and how they combine together. How our internal experience of abiding in Christ and daily living with God relates to how we live and interact with the world around us. For we cannot have one without the other. This booklet is a great starting point, to push us into thinking about how we do, might, could and should seek after holiness and justice in our lives. And I hope it can be built on in our churches and, ultimately, in our day-to-day lives, to shape us into the "holiness movement" that Methodism is at its core and bring forth a new wave of people standing up for justice. 'Holiness and Justice' was the theme for the year that the President and Vice-President of Methodist Conference have chosen. Numerous addresses were given on this topic over the time of conference itself (I'd really recommend watching both the president's and vice-president's addresses, on holiness and justice respectively!), and hopefully people across the country's Methodist churches will have reason to keep delving into it throughout the year. As I pointed to, this booklet was one of the things to come out of that desire, and I intend to keep coming back to it, to spur me on in reflecting on how better to seek to be holy as God is holy, and stand for justice as he weeps against injustice.
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So... despite having so many things to tell you all over the summer, and even some time which I might've used for blog writing - my updates about what I was doing in the DR have been few and far between. And now, I am back in England, still trying to adjust back to all the many differences to life here. I may at some point write a blog post more about that in particular, but right now, I'd like to jump back to my last couple of weeks in-country and tell you about what I got up to then! I was in the Dominican Republic for 2 weeks after our final team went home. And in that time, I worked alongside Claire (our country manager) in 2 main jobs: we were creating sponsorship profiles for the children in the school in the village where she works, and we were viewing possible land on which we would like to build a new Nazareth House. On Sunday just gone, I got the chance to preach at my own church in the evening. The evening services are usually quite small, and cosy, and nice; and the lectionary reading was part of John 15. So I extended that reading to look at the whole of John 15 > 'I am the Vine, you are the branches... remain in me and I in you... that my joy will be your joy and your joy may be complete... follow my command... love each other...' etc. etc.! And I talked a little about Sister Mercedes (who I've talked about LOTS on this blog!), and I talked about Claire as well. About how working with her, I have been learning about what it is to remain in Christ, and to see him growing fruits in your life. Claire had spent last year working on the documentation process to legalise a whole community (plus more) of people of Haitian descent to enable them to (1) remain in the country, and (2) be allowed to go to school past grade 8 (into secondary education) and be allowed to work. And that was a HUGE task - Claire was running around finding witnesses, going to various departments and embassies across the country, writing out and translating various documents. And she was SUPER-glad when that was all finished, when the date came which was the cut-off for that process. So then she had a few months, before the teams started in the summer, settling back into what might be the "norm"! She could look at what other projects she wanted to keep going in the village where she works, trying to enable that community to become self-sustainable and to get out of the cycle of remaining in poverty. She, alongside another organisation she partners with, opened a clinic once a week in the village. She's looking at starting an English school, and having educational sessions at the clinic, teaching people how to better care for themselves. And these things on top of supporting the school programme and enabling students to stay in school for longer, particularly through providing transport to high school. And then... around mid-August, the organisation that runs the sponsorship of the school in her village emailed the school director, saying they wanted to close down their operations in the country, and this was their only school there, so they would not be sending any more money. Obviously, this would make it impossible for the school to keep running. So Claire emailed them back, and got them to at least agree to keep sending the money until January, to give her a chance to find another organisation which would take over the sponsorship. And then she started trying to find one which would do just that! She started talking to a couple of organisations, but they wouldn't even consider taking it on, unless all the children had new profiles, as the old ones were really out-dated. Which is why Claire and I spent those 2 weeks desperately interviewing and photographing every child, translating those conversations and creating profiles for the children. And as Claire continued those discussions, it became clear that this job was growing and growing, and that they would like Claire to organise the letter-writing 3 times a year, the translating and the sending, if they are to take on the school with their organisation. And Claire turned to me and said, "God just gives me the next job. The next thing I need to do. Last year was documentation, and now it is this!" I often think about what the job might be that God wants me to do next, or 'in this place' or in my overall future - and it stresses me out sometimes, because I feel like I'm searching for something in particular, like a hidden gem, and if I don't find it, it will be lost forever! But actually, remaining in Christ, and following his command to love as he does - trying to love in every situation, even those who seem unlovable and make it very difficult, and even those who are behind barriers to us and whom it takes effort to love; those hidden by prejudice, social structures, injustice, so on. Remaining in Christ, means that he supplies the work and he grows the fruit. I just need to be willing to see where he will lead me, and to follow in loving obedience in those moments. And it doesn't mean I shouldn't have ideas of what I could do, because all those ideas and plans Claire has for Esperanza (the name of the village) are all great ways that she is working there. But it also means I certainly don't need to worry about what fruit I shall bear - for 'Christ is the Vine, and I am a branch, and if I remain in him and he in I, I will bear much fruit'.
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AuthorI'm a recent Cambridge Theology graduate now studying for a Masters in Biblical Studies and blogging about all sorts of things! I'm interested in faith, Church, theology, social action, the great outdoors and being creative, and all of those things - along with many more - come through in my posts!
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