Holding out for a hero?

Here's my article for the June magazine:

The theme for this year's Scarecrow Festival in Scawby is 'Heroes' – a very appropriate theme given the year we've had since the pandemic struck. We've been encouraged to clap for the heroes of the NHS, and to hail other key workers as heroes too – including the often overlooked jobs such as refuse collectors, cleaners and delivery drivers. And then we've had the shining examples of people like Capt. Sir Tom Moore and others locally who have done outstanding work to raise funds, help other people or keep the community spirit up. Perhaps 2020/2021 will be seen as the year of heroes.

Whilst it is always right to thank those who make our lives better in any way, and particularly to thank those whose contribution is often taken for granted, we do need to be careful about using the word 'hero'. The main reason is that we can use the concept of 'hero' to assess a person's value and dignity: the more heroic they are, the more value they have.

Since the start of the pandemic, we've had to think a lot about the value we put on people's lives: whether that through the Me Too campaign or the Black Lives Matter awareness or simply through thinking about who we prioritise for treatment / vaccines for COVID-19. In an interview on Good Morning Britain, Lord Sumpter suggested that the lives of the elderly like himself were worth less than those of the young and so treatments and restrictions should place the interests of the the young before the elderly. Piers Morgan countered that Capt. Sir Tom Moore was 99 when he did his fundraising walk. There is a full discussion about this exchange on the 'Speak Life' YouTube Channel, entitled “Are All Lives Equally Valuable?” the jist of which is that both Lord Sumpter and Piers Morgan are wrong because they see human value in terms of what a person contributes to society, or their potential to contribute.

The problem with thinking like this is that the category of 'good for society' has no definitive meaning, it is always decided by those who have power, usually to protect their own position. All oppression and all abuse has at its core seeing someone else, or a group of people, as less valuable and less worthy of respect. Another problem is that we also tend to think of 'heroes' as being most qualified for a good afterlife.

The Bible is quite clear that human value and dignity does not come from things like cleverness, beauty, ability, fame, power, wealth, beliefs and not even from character; humans are valuable because they are made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27). This is the only firm foundation for human dignity and also for human equality. But the Bible is also clear that all of us, no matter how heroic we are, fall short of God's standard for living – which is perfection (Romans 3:23 and Matthew 5:48). That is why we need the forgiveness Jesus has won for us by his death and resurrection, which is available freely to everyone equally.

So let's thank and celebrate those who do heroic things, let's aim to be heroic ourselves, let's value each other as people who are made in the image and likeness of God and let's ask God to forgive us for failing to value each other and failing to be God's heroes.

We're all staying for the summer holidays!

Here's my article for the August magazine:

Even though I lived in Liverpool for almost eight years, and I really like their music, and I even lived for a year on Penny Lane; I never once visited the Beatles museum.  When I lived in Durham, most of the times I went into the Cathedral I was headed for the cafe.  And although I've been here for almost nine years, I still haven't visited Gainsthorpe Mediaeval village.  And I'm sure I'm not the only person who overlooks some of the wonderful things that are closest to us.

There has been a growing trend over the past few years for 'staycations' – holidays where you stay at home but do day trips to local attractions, going to the kind of places on your doorstep that we often overlook.  This year of course staycations may be done more out of necessity rather than choice! One positive aspect of  the COVID-19 situation is that we have come to appreciate some things in a new way, whether that's because we can't live without them (e.g. the keyworkers) or because it pains us not to have them (e.g. contact with family, friends and loved ones).

For many people not being able to go to church has been similarly painful.  Doing church online has great benefits and we have learned the reality of the truth that the church is the people not the building.  We may not be able to gather in the building, but the church-as-people can still gather to worship, pray and learn together, albeit virtually.  However, as Amy Grant sang (or Joni Mitchell for those of an older generation!) “You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone” - we have come to appreciate our church buildings by being deprived of them.

We have learnt that the church-as-building is not just a venue where the church-as-people can gather. Of course we can and should pray at all times and in all places, but there is something special about praying in a place where people have prayed for hundreds of years – our prayers aren't heard more if they're said in church, but perhaps it is easier to feel that we are in God's presence there.  The church-as-building is also a sign that God is always ready to listen to our prayers.  Unfortunately, the closure of churches during this crisis has obscured this message.  But just as the church-as-building being closed hasn't meant that the church-as-people can't gather, so neither does it mean that God is no longer listening.

Now we are allowed back into our church buildings, I hope we do it with a renewed sense of gratitude for them, as well as for the people who continue to maintain them.  And if you are having a staycation this summer, perhaps you could make your parish church one of the places you visit!