Nelson and Brexit

Inevitably on such a momentous day as Brexit Day the mind turned to Anniversaries.

If you are of a Brexiteer mindset the gift to Brexit Day appeared to lie in the very heart of London.  For January 31st was the anniversary of the unveiling of Nelson'e column (1867) in Trafalgar Square.  

And what greater affirmation of Britain's independence from - and hostility to - European domination could Brexit Day want than that?

Nelson's story is a lot more complicated than that though.  It illustrates why it is hopeless to deal with issues like Brexit in a binary way.

Here is one of his later life signatures, and following his appointment as a Duke in Italy he proudly added Bronte - he was Duke of Bronte - to his signature until the day he died.

Europe, for Nelson, was a mixture of good and bad; sometimes an enemy, sometimes a friend - both his proud boast in Naples and his personal nemesis at Trafalgar.

For every Christian this world is always something like that.  As 'strangers in the world' and citizens of another (heavenly) country the journey here is filled with good and bad.  Our Lord was feted at feasts and crucified at Calvary, listened to by crowds and disobeyed by close disciples.

No delight or disaster in this world is of the depth of being rightly or wrongly positioned for the world to come.

The European Union (3)

After reading some of the comments in social media it is a relief to get to this:
http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/articles.php/5743/eu-referendum-statement-by-archbishops-of-canterbury-and-york

The European Union (2)

My posts have temporarily been absent after the death of my Mum.  In another post or two I'll write about her.  She died at the beginning of June.

So disappointed

I don't have any words left.

I'm just too upset

It is a sad day

am deeply saddened

Just some of the kind of sympathetic, caring things friends and believers wrote to me in my bereavement.

Except that these quotations are not from my sympathy cards but are some of the more repeatable extracts from various believers - including pastors - posting their responses to the electorate making a decision they didn't like about the EU.

My Mum was a believer in Jesus who was saved by God's grace, blessed me, my daughter and very many people over very many years.

The European Union is a politico-economic bloc of 28 nations.

I fail to appreciate why an unwelcome political decision in a democratic country is attributed the same language that folk write in their condolences to me.  But if they think that the UK outside the EU is going to be like me without my Mum then they have a very poor grasp of death and bereavement.

The European Union

Much Christian hand-wringing seems to be going on over the approaching European Referendum.  Several normally opinionated friends of mine have appeared bewildered because, well, they cannot get opinionated about it.  In a Cathedral notice I saw online they are diligently arranging for a Christian from each side of the debate to answer questions in a forum.

I think earnest Christians suffer more in such circumstances because they are very desperate to be politically serious  (if this is you please stop reading now).  While a neighbour might vote on the basis of the niceness or nastiness of the latest East European worker they have met or others on the basis of their favourite or least favourite politician's stance or others because now Stephen Hawking has told them what to think (again) the Christian tries to (and here I quote a friend's conversation) discern what the Spirit is saying to us at this time.

I've decided to stick with my friend's quotation and to wonder whether the Spirit of God is saying anything about how to vote in the EU referendum. 

The juxtaposition of earthly nations' treaties is not irrelevant to salvation history.  It forms a kind of wallpaper in the room of God's activity; it sets a mood, provides a backdrop and is caught unmistakably in any snapshot of God at work.  Most memorably in the Gospel story the Roman Empire and its granted but fraught Jewish autonomy region is there, spreading on into the events of the Acts of the Apostles.  The Old Testament is full of treaties and because Israel was in a Covenant with God these treaties sometimes take on a foreground, theological significance.  This is because an international treaty in that Testament often signified a lack of faith in the covenant with God.

I have read some heavily reasoned arguments  by earnest Christians but if you want my advice it is to trust the Holy Spirit whichever way the vote goes, ignore Stephen Hawking (who is planning a spaceship to get away anyway) and carry on discussing your options with the guys at the pub.

Oh bother.  There goes my last vestige of hope of being invited onto the Baptist Union Faith and Society Team.