life

Basic economics?

/ Minimalist Christian / 2 Comments

Have we forgotten what money is?  Money is a promise.  I do something helpful for you, but since you can’t do something helpful in return at the same time you promise to do something later.  Money is the lubricant that allows us to be helpful to each other but know that we will receive something helpful to us in return.  Banknotes carry the words “I promise to pay the bearer …”

This basic principle has been forgotten, and greed and fear leads people to collect more promises, or to put too high a price on their helpful work.  In an economic crisis people are afraid to use their promises, hoarding them instead.  Those who have made the promises are not able to redeem them, and to survive they have to make more promises – more than they are able to deliver.  Money, the lubricant, is taken out of the system and it stops working – try running your car without lubricant!

This presents an obvious solution to our present economic difficulties.  We should stop hoarding promises, and those who have lots of promises should allow others to discharge them.

What does that mean in practice?  Stop, or reduce what we save, and instead spend our money to give employment to others so that they don’t have to borrow to live.

A controversial suggestion to encourage this would be to change income tax to a saving tax.     If you earn a million and spend 900,000 then it is not taxed, but the 100,000 is taxed.  You can keep whatever you spent the 900,000 on, because that’s giving employment to others, who then give employment to others…..  it keeps the system lubricated.

But even without governmental tinkering we can all do our bit.  Be happy to buy what you need,  employ others instead of doing it yourself, give away the promises (money) that you don’t need.

Simple? Worth a try?

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https://philhemsley.wordpress.com/2013/12/10/austerity-is-working/

https://philhemsley.wordpress.com/2013/12/27/austerity-is-working-ii/

Terry, and the wrong stuff.

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Terry worked long hours.  True, he earned a good living, but he was generous too.  He tithed to the church, and gave to charities and good causes.   Once a friend of the family’s car failed it’s MOT and she couldn’t afford a new one, so Terry and his wife bought her one – Terry enjoyed hunting out a good model and fixing the minor faults that it had.

He was in a friendly church and a small group from the church met weekly too.  He would enjoy the evening meetings, although he couldn’t always get to them with work commitments.  One particularly busy week Terry’s small group leader told them that an elderly neighbour of his was having trouble keeping the garden up and suggested that the group all spend an evening or two clearing it up.  Looking at his calendar, Terry realised that this would be the only evening he would be in that week and suggested that they pay for a gardening firm to do the job.  “That’s not what I’m asking for” said the leader, “I was hoping it would be an act of love”.

The leader felt that Terry was offering the wrong stuff, and Terry felt that God didn’t want what he had to give.

Jesus sighed.  “Why don’t they listen to me?”  “Give whatever you can according to what you have.” (2 Corinthians 8:11)

Pete and Graham

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Pete and Graham had worked with each other for years.  Pete went to church every week, a fact that Graham was unaware of.

“Hi Pete”, said Graham, “Did I see you coming out of the Christian book shop yesterday?”

“Yes, I was buying a Christening card for a friend.  I’m going to the Christening this weekend.”

“Ah, that explains it,” said Graham, “I didn’t imagine that you could be a Christian, after knowing you all these years!” said Graham smiling.

“No” mumbled Pete, embarrassed.

Graham went away just hoping that he could find someone to talk to about the lump that he’d got on his stomach, and the questions that the possibility of cancer and death had raised in his mind about whether God existed.

Pete went away ashamed, but after a day or two he felt better … after all God forgives everything (doesn’t he?).  Still, he found it rather hard in the singing that Sunday, “I will offer up my life ….”

Jesus sighed,  “was this the sort of forgiveness that I went through it all for?”

“But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:33

The Wonky Car

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“It’s all in the genes” the scientists say. “Your genetic make-up determines your shape, size, colour and even your behaviour.” Some people it seems are made good, and some evil. Well maybe things are not that clear-cut, but we can understand that in the same way that we have different physical features, we have different behavioural characteristics.

Imagine our body being like a car, and our soul being like the driver. We don’t all have identical cars; some of us might be given Rolls Royce models but others get a wonky car – you know the type – the steering wheel is loose, the brakes are useless and the engine is shot. We all have to drive these cars on a straight and narrow motorway; is it surprising that some of us have accidents? If you are in the wonky car, you might be working like anything to try to keep it on track whilst the guy in the Roller just puts it on cruise control, sits back and relaxes.

As we steer our way through life we are more likely to shout abuse at the wonky car than the Rolls, but when we reach our destination who is God going to be pleased with? The driver of the Rolls who continually cut in front of the wonky car? The driver of the Rolls who went slowly next to the wonky car to keep it going straight? The driver of the wonky car who reached the end despite all the difficulties?

So today, are you going to judge the driver by his car? Or by how many cars he bumps into? Who are you going to help keep on track – or are you going to make sure you get there first by cutting in front of everyone else?

Let’s leave the judgement to God, but let’s encourage and support those who need our help – even if they do keep meandering off track, bumping into us and hurting us. Let’s learn the grace and wisdom to look behind the car to the driver inside.

The DNA enigma

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DNA is amazing stuff.  A precisely structured sequence of base pairs that is unique to each of us as an individual.  A record of our ancestral history.  A template for the manufacture of our proteins.  The blueprint for each of us.

The human DNA chain of around 3 billion characters has been assembled over perhaps the last billion and a half years (from the first evidence of cells with a nucleus), and has changed with the changing animals that carried it, through perhaps a billion generations.

DNA appears to be the mechanism of inheritance, the instruction set that ensures that beneficial features from parents are transmitted to the offspring.  It appears to be the key that defines a naturalistic explanation of how we have come to be here.  But is it?

Is there enough information within DNA to define each of us?  Or is something more needed?

As we remember that each of us begins as a single fertilised cell containing the combined DNA from our father’s sperm and our mother’s egg, then let’s remind ourselves of what the information in the DNA is being asked to define.

  1. The precise geometric construction of our bodies:
    1. The position, shape, type and interconnection of each of our fifty trillion cells
    2. The complete development cycle, that is robust enough to cope with different environments and with physical damage.  A development cycle which maintains the living organism as a functional entity at each stage in the process
    3. Major systems, fully functioning and cooperating with each other
      1. Circulatory System
      2. Respiratory System
      3. Immune System
      4. Skeletal System
      5. Excretory System
      6. Urinary System
      7. Muscular System
      8. Endocrine System
      9. Digestive System
      10. Nervous System
      11. Reproductive System
      12. A fully programmed brain that can control the operation of the body, but that can also think, conceptualise, communicate, empathise, create works of art, music, appreciate beauty, love, hate, choose.  A brain that appears to have, and for all practical purposes has free will.

This is weighty stuff to place onto DNA.

Indeed, the functionality does not seem to match the information capacity of the DNA; the DNA of an amoeba is ten times longer than that of a human, yet the functionality is minimal in comparison.

Has familiarity bred contempt?  Do we see ourselves too superficially?  Have we lost our awe at our own construction?  Have we deluded ourselves into thinking that we understand?

Have we forgotten that all that we are physically began with that one cell?  One cell and its DNA, is it really sufficient to make a human?

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What do we do with our money?

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Through no virtue of my own, I was born with skills that have allowed me to find a good job, and to manage my money. Before I was a Christian I thought that this was just good luck, and that I didn’t have to thank anyone for this. I could do with my money what I pleased (of course, in consultation with my wife!).

We have always had a joint bank account, but when she became a Christian many years before me, she suggested that we each have an additional private account which we can use completely as we please. I was happy with this, as I could then ‘treat’ myself without feeling guilty, and also it seemed to make the act of giving each other presents a bit more meaningful, and it allowed her to give money to charity without having to ask my permission.

I used to think myself reasonably charitable. I’d give to people in the street, and I gave a little to Macmillan nurses after my father died of cancer. I was probably like most of the rest of the country, quite happily giving less than 1% of my income away. And following worldly advice I set some financial targets for my life – I decided to have saved £100,000 by retirement age. (I have to admit I struggled to know what I was going to do with it, but it is something that you have to do, isn’t it).

On the road to becoming a Christian I read ‘challenging lifestyles’ by Nicky Gumbell. I decided that it was OK to give more away. I didn’t have to keep it all for myself for the future, and so I made a standing order from my bank to a Charity Card account, of a relatively small proportion of my income. Perhaps the surprising rate at which the amount I had in the account built up showed how little I was really giving away. But having that account meant that I had to give it away – and I found that really quite rewarding. “Now, who can I give this to” is quite a nice feeling. And I didn’t feel any poorer!

But when I first visited Mozambique I learned so much more!  It was so liberating to see how much closer people come to God when they have no money.  And if you put a Mozambican and an Englishman next to each other and dressed them the same, how would you know who was the richer?

But I also saw again the massive amount of good work that is not happening because of lack of money.  I wept when Pastor Caetano described how he had started the orphanage at the House of the Sparrow with all he had – how they don’t know each day where food is coming from, but God always provides.  Forty-seven children, being cared for and loved by a Christian pastor with nothing but what God provides.  I learned that God really cares what we do with our money.

If someone asks us to give to charity the first thought is, “Can we afford it?”  Of course we can – we still have so much more than the children in Mozambique.  Can we afford not to?  No, not unless we want to harden our hearts.

Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal.  Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. For your heart will always be where your riches are. (Matthew 6:19-21)

My experience is that my giving to charity has increased twenty-fold or more since choosing to follow Christ, and my financial savings goals have disappeared.  Where is the logic in saving for something that might be needed in the future when you can see something that is needed today?

The Shamu Show

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The crowd assembles for the Shamu show. Children eagerly seek out seats in the ‘soak zone’ whilst anxious parents cover up all valuable belongings to keep them dry.

Shamu is a killer whale who does marvellous tricks with his trainers, but the biggest thrill is when the whale leaps out of the water and splashes the first 12 rows of spectators.

Seats fill up quickly for about half an hour before the show. To keep people entertained there is a 50m x 20m screen behind the pool – a massive TV screen. There is a simple quiz, with questions shown on the screen whilst a camera (who knows where) picks out a member of the audience who then hold up one, two or three fingers to indicate the right answer.

The quiz is fun but trivial. What fascinates me is the response of the people when they see themselves on the big screen. Many smile and wave. The shy little girl slowly slips behind her Dad. The man idly picking his nose suddenly sees himself 10m high – starts – and whips his finger out of his nose and back down to his side.

How different it would feel to see ourselves live on the big screen. How differently we would behave. Yet perhaps we are already on the big screen – God’s big screen. How are we going to behave now? Which of our actions are going to please him and make him happy? Which are we going to stop in embarrassment? Are we going to wave and smile with joy, or are we going to crawl away and try to hide?

Let’s imagine we are always on God’s big screen, and let that help to guide what we do.

Message from Mozambique

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Here is a recent email from a Mozambican friend.  An example of Christ’s teaching.

Days ago, I was invited to visit some sick people in their houses here in Beira. My heart was so shocked with what I saw; most of them are HIV positive and widows. They have lost their husband because of HIV Aids.

Here in Africa, women are hundred percent dependents of their husbands to provide. When they lost their husbands, they lost hope as well, mostly if they find that are HIV Positive.

As we go where the person is living, and give him a hug, bring her water or medicines, or food for her young children, or take his hand, we too are making a bit of history: a powerful declaration of God’s love, a prophetic statement of his heart to people who often feel totally rejected by the church. The church cannot stay silent when faced with his issue.

Yes, there are still some churches here are rejecting HIV Positive people, still ignorant and a lot of stigma. 

I am a pastor; have to do it as an example to another brothers and sisters in Christ who are willing to do the same. 

Awesome life!

/ Minimalist Christian / 2 Comments

As we age, we find that we can’t do all the things we used to.  I can’t hear as well as I could, and my eyes have reached the stage of needing vari-focal lenses. On the plus side though, we learn a lot too, and one thing we learn is that we don’t know as much as we thought we might when we were younger.  We learn to look more deeply at questions, perhaps because unlike a child who keeps asking ‘why’ we have learnt not to take answers on complete trust.

But when bits of our body stop working we begin to remember how amazing it is when they do, and to wonder if we really do understand all that’s going on in the universe.

Our bodies have incredible and almost unbelievable systems and components.  If someone were to describe how our bodies operate, I doubt that we would believe them but for the fact that we have seen them and we live in them …. and take them for granted!  There was a time when there was no life, and now there is ‘us’.  So my mind wandered:

  • Was there a time when our ancestors didn’t have all of the components and systems that we now have as humans?
  • Was there a time when they had all but one?
  • Was there a time when they had all but two?
  • Was there a time when our ancestors didn’t have blood?
  • When they didn’t have an immune system?
  • When they didn’t have nerve cells?
  • When they didn’t have joints in the skeleton?
  • When they didn’t have a heart?
  • When they didn’t have a blood clotting mechanism?
  • When they didn’t have a bone restructuring system?
  • When they didn’t have lungs?
  • When they didn’t have the little hairs in the lungs that clear out the mucus?
  • When they didn’t have mucus?

I don’t doubt that the answer is ‘yes’, but that further magnifies the amazing fact of our existence.

Not only do our present bodies have to grow in just the right sequence from the very first cell, but the process of developing to our present state must also have occurred in a sensibly ordered sequence. There would be no point in having a blood clotting mechanism without blood but an animal which has blood but no clotting mechanism would be rather fragile. Both mechanisms and components must have developed in parallel.  But the blood itself would be of little benefit without veins and arteries, and the veins and arteries would be of little benefit without the heart, and the heart would be of little benefit if it didn’t respond to the ‘operational needs’ of the body.

So we have a body that constructs itself in a way that at each stage of development it is fully operational (albeit in the controlled environment of the womb), and we have a generation to generation development process that ensures that each entity at each stage of its own development is operational in its own right.

I don’t doubt that this happens, and has happened over millennia.  I don’t have a problem with the principles that Darwin proposed.  But I do wonder if all this can happen just as a result of the properties of matter and the laws of physics.

Of course “the truth is out there” … but whether we can ever find out is another question….