There lying in a kitchen cupboard they sit accusing me.
I’ve realised that the time has come to throw them all away because it won’t work properly anyway any more.
About a dozen small packets. Orange in colour. Each stamped with a best before date that is now about two years out of date anyway.
I must have struggled to get them in the first place. And yet they sit there unused.
My guess is that I won’t be the only person to have such a collection lying doing nothing in a cupboard.
It is my Emergency Pandemic Yeast Stash.
That’s right. We all had ways of coping with the first days of the pandemic a few years ago.
Some things were in short supply.
And as soon as you know that something is in short supply, that’s the thing you want most of all.
In the first days of the pandemic bread was in short supply – not because people had stopped making bread but because those who were worried took a couple more loaves.
No problem – I know how to make bread. I have a breadmaker. All I need is flour.
And then the flour started to run out – not because there wasn’t enough flour to feed everyone in the land but because everyone who could bake felt more reassured if it was in their own kitchen cupboard than in the shop down the road. And suddenly there was no flour to be had.
And once you’ve got the flour you need something to make it rise. And then the packets of yeast started to run out.
You know – there’s a whole encyclopaedic entry in Wikipedia all about what happened to home baking during the pandemic. It is one of those things that people are going to study in years to come.
People will write PhD’s on the spread of banana-bread recipes on the Southside of Glasgow during lockdown.
There will be studies done on the resurgence of sour dough as a metaphor for coping in difficult times.
But it is probably time to let my Emergency Pandemic Stash go the way of all flesh. It is out of date. And I need to throw it away.
I quite like making bread, but my little stash of old yeast tells me that I’ve not done it in quite a while. Scarcity made making bread seem incredibly important. But that time is past.
In this morning’s gospel there is also scarcity. The big story is the multiplication of loaves and fishes. Clearly there is a lack of food that the disciples ask Jesus to address. We’ll come onto that in a minute.
But not before noting that other things were scarce too.
Jesus had a large crown following him because they thought that he could give them something and what they were hoping for was more than an unexpected sandwich.
It is tempting to spiritualise it all and to suggest that they were looking for a spiritual teacher who spoke with authenticity and that perhaps there was a scarcity of people who did.
Well there’s pretty much always been a shortage of people who spoke with spiritual authenticity and anyway, the gospel writer is clear about why they were all pursuing him. They were following him because of the signs that he was doing for the sick.
In an age and a place devoid of modern universal healthcare it isn’t difficult to see why people were pursuing him.
If you go looking for commentary on this gospel passage, pretty soon you’ll get into a discussion about miracles.
Was the miracle of the multiplications of the loaves and the fishes like a magic trick or was it a social phenomenon?
Was it that there was suddenly more food than people had brought with them. Or was it that the sharing of the wee boy’s barley loaves and fishes prompted everyone present to share what they had.
Does it matter what kind of miracle a miracle is?
I’m not convinced that it does.
During the pandemic, despite all the chaos most supply chains held up and notwithstanding some shortages caused by people stashing away extra loaves and fishes in the freezer and you know, that feels like the miraculous to me.
Not everyone has enough in this country even though this country has enough.
I want to see the end to food poverty in my lifetime. Will there be enough people who desire that in public life to make it so?
Even the desire to make it so is evidence of miracle.
Do people need to chase religious leaders across the fields looking for healthcare in the land that we live in. No – and thank God they don’t.
Is the NHS perfect?
No.
Is the common, heartfelt and persistent desire to provide healthcare free at the point of need for everyone in this land a miracle? You bet.
We would live in the age of miracles if only we had the grace to recognise them all around us.
When a twelve-step group organises to help someone find a way back to sobriety there is miracle.
When musicians band together to provide music that is balm to the soul, there is miracle.
When artists provoke and surprise there is miracle.
When educators educate, when activists get the rest of us to take action, when human kindness makes us cry…
Does it every matter what kind of miracle a miracle is? Our God is a God of abundance anyway.
There is grace enough for thousands
Of new worlds as great as this;
There is room for fresh creations
In that upper room of bliss.
Ah yes, the upper room.
Many have come to the story of the loaves and fishes and seen in it the same shape as the meal in the upper room that happened on the last night of Jesus’s life – the same meal we share here. Jesus took the bread, broke it and gave thanks for it and distributed.
And grace and love broke out. Broke out not just in the room he was in but in every room and in every place that the Eucharist has ever been shared in.
Today is no different.
As the bread is shared today, join with Jesus in givng thanks. Give thanks for the miracles around you. They may be things that other people wouldn’t see as miracles at all. Indeed, it is very likely that they won’t be.
Life can be tough. Living isn’t always easy.
But rejoice – God is good. And meets us with enough for today. There is no shortage of grace.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
37 responses to “Keeping the faith”
It was an inspiring recitation. Following the English translation in the service sheet provided added insight to the life of Mary. All the more so as the cathedral is dedicated to St Mary. You are reminded of Mary every time you walk into the building with the Gwyneth Leech mural over the High Altar.
Kelvin is quite right. The very self-righteous defenders of the Bible (including the ones who trolled a brave young Muslim woman, for days, with the most vile language, and those who did not reprimand them) totally ignored the Biblical instructions for raising concerns with a brother in faith (Matthew 18:15; 2 Tim 23). Very practical instruction too! As anyone who has ever lived in community can verify. Could all these obsessive men *please* stop trying to divide our communities in Glasgow. We will not be divided. At the first sign of trouble we rush out to embrace one another. These abusers have much to repent of, even if *just* standing by while others throw stones.
I HATE it when the wrong tune is picked for a hymn … it is simply an abomination before God.
However, helping people to think about how we share hospitality, welcome and learn from each other is the WAY of God! Blessings on you Kelvin.
Some reasons why this time was different:
1. The other quaran recitations you mentioned happened at Nine Lessons and Carols, or special ecuminical and interfaith events. While 9L&C was originally a modified Evensong, nowadays it’s usually considered a seasonal community musical recitial with a religious tinge, so having a Muslim from the community recite something from their faith would seem natural enough. Civic and interfaith services will likewise naturally include representatives of every faith in the community. By contrast the Eucharist is the central act of Christian worship and people expect to hear ONLY Christian doctrine proclaimed in the Holy Eucharist. In other words, this was the wrong venue for showing hospitality to Muslim neighbors. You did not intend to practice syncretism, but I think the outcome was syncretic despite your good intentions.
2. Post Brexit (and post Trump) British Muslims are now seen as alien invaders rather than fellow members of the community.
3. Because hostility to Muslims is now fashionable, the Express and rest of the gutter press decided that this was a story worth reporting. Since conservative Americans often read the online editions of the British gutter press, the story then went global.
4. Because you are gay and out, your every action is scrutinized for any possible hint of heresy by GAFCON and Co.
Of all these reasons, only reason #1 is a legitimate criticism, but I hope you do think about criticism #1 as well as defending yourself from other, illegitimate criticisms.
Thank you for your comment Whit J – all the more because it is a thoughtful criticism.
I’ve plenty to reflect on about the how and the when we do things like that and I do hear loudly and clearly that many people think this was an inappropriate context. Though of course, I’d be bound to say that some are saying that the Eucharist is precisely the place indeed there are some saying that is what it is for.
I’m not going to get into a back and forth with all the comments on this post and I’m deliberately not letting through things that have already been said but be assured that I’ve heard the criticism and will reflect on it not simply now but over coming months. (I’ve learned a lot about where God is this week that will take a long time to process). I’m grateful for the way you’ve made your point.
I think there is a good deal in what Whit J says, although I am not sure the effect actually was syncretic. I think one does perhaps have to be a regular worshipper at St Mary’s to understand how totally orthodox the worship there is, and how much Jesus is the focus of worship – how utterly unlikely it is that anyone there would make the mistake of thinking he was not revered by the congregation as a whole as very God from very God. It would be impossible for them not to realise that all the clergy there rejoice in this belief. The congregation saw the words of the Qu’ran in an English translation which portrayed that book’s far-from-easy-to-follow account of Islam’s view of the conception of Jesus, in which there was nothing offensive, and heard a very beautiful voice singing in a strange and glorious language. These were clearly indicated to be the beliefs of another faith. We certainly neither saw or heard or understood any insult to the person of Christ. I am sure none was intended, either. Whereas, and this bears repeating, I am totally sure that many of those commenting (not of course by any means all of them, and nobody whose comments are published here) simply wish harm to relationships between the great faiths in Glasgow.
I have spent my whole adult life in dialogue with people of other religious traditions, it has been deeply rewarding. However I feel that what happened at this service was profoundly wrong. When we are truly ourselves we allow other people to be profoundly themselves. The truth of Christianity is not compatible with any other religion. To avoid that incompatibility is to avoid reality. Worship of Jesus is the fountain of our faith the Qu’ran is opposed to that. I love Jesus and therefore cannot conceive of reading the Qu’ran in an act of worship – no problem doing so in other contexts but not in worship. I am profoundly disturbed that you cannot see this Kelvin.
There are so many things aren’t there, not just around this issue which we hold dear in faith and which we can’t see from another perspective?
I can hear and see that people are upset by this and clearly there are many people not upset by it too. And obviously, at least I hope obviously, I love Jesus too.
The trouble with religious questions and the questions that religious people have I think is that so often that our love for our faith can make it impossible to comprehend others who also claim to love the same faith but who take different views about things. We can hear them claim that love but be intellectually unable to process it because it leads them to different conclusions.
I’ve found the same thing to be true in the sexuality debates very frequently though I perceive that to be changing sometimes now. Similarly with other identity issues and some political issues. Israel/Palestine conversations for example often seem to be conducted (when they are conducted at all) by people who seem to behave like ships passing in the night.
I happen to have views about Church Schools which are pretty intransigent and negative. You are one of the few people, no the only person, who ever made me really think there might be a point of view about them other than mine which might have an integrity I could respect. And I’m very grateful for that.
Kelvin, thank you for your reply. I have enormous respect for you. I have no doubt that church schools can be argued against from perfectly respectable positions. Worship of Jesus is simply a different order, it cannot include a reading from the Qu’ran. Worship is one thing, study, dialogue, relationship something else.
I am really grateful to Richard for the phrase “When we are truly ourselves we allow other people to be profoundly themselves” which reflects my experience of interfacing with sincere people of other faiths. Is a Christian Eucharist a place this should happen? I can understand some Christians feeling it is not, but as long as everything was clearly labelled as what it was and the integrity of the liturgy was intact, I can also understand some feeling it is.
Brother Kelvin,
Although I do not agree with allowing the Koran to be read in our Christian churches, I truly appreciated your firm and resolute stand for the deity of Jesus. He is our great God and Savior and I love Him very much. Blessings from Tennessee.
Just as a perhaps amusing point of reference, the 1982 hymnal of the Episcopal church in the USA has “Brightest and best of the STARS” (caps mine) “of the morning,” apparently so as to avoid offending any daughters who might be present, and the two tunes included are “Morning Star” by James Proctor Harding (1850-1911) and “Star in the East” from The Southern Harmony (1835). The Harding tune was also in the 1940 Hymnal, wherein the word “sons” was still used.
I am not clear as to whether the hospitality at St Mary’s anticipates infinite extension of parallel lines between Islam and the Church in Glasgow. Are you planning some opportunities for Glasgow Muslims to understand the Christian faith and prepare for Baptism and the glorious liberty of regeneration by the Holy Spirit? (In whichever order; no axe about that!) As you move around the Glasgow community and meet more Christians of Islamic background, why not invite such to participate in groups for new Muslim enquirers? The testimony of an ex-Muslim can express vibrantly “How I know He lives” (as your SA brethren would sing). You might find not only new hearts from a divine work of grace among your Muslim neighbours but in other neighbours too. Amen. Inshallah!
There are a small number of people in St Mary’s who are converts from Islam to Christianity just as there are a small number of people in local mosques who are converts from Christianity to Islam.
St Mary’s regularly puts on events and courses for people discovering and exploring Christianity. Most living religions do the same thing.