fidzbit

When the Covid restrictions were first announced last Spring there was a tide of good will, community spirit and shared resolve. There was a new enemy but it was an enemy that we could beat if we all pulled together. The summer sun certainly helped keep the mood positive. It didn’t seem that long before things started to return, gradually, back to some kind of normality. We didn’t have to dig so deep anymore. We could relax a little. Perhaps, like me, you hoped that this was the end. It was a serious threat but by taking action together we had avoided the worst. It was not as bad as it could have been. Alas, we were wrong! We couldn’t see how bad the second wave would be. We didn’t know how many new variants would arise and that they would prove more contagious to different subsections of society. Medical friends who have been following the studies closely inform me that they always feared this. The progression models differed on the details but they all predicted that a ‘second wave’...

Ecclesiastes 3:7 says that  “there is a time to keep silence and a time to speak”. At the start of the virus outbreak I felt that it was a time to speak. There was something to say. There was a need to encourage other Christians and try to answer some of the questions that crisis was raising about God. In the last few weeks I felt that it was a time to keep silent. Several reasons. There is a mushroom-cloud of virus responses on the internet. It is saturated with voices claiming to be Christian.  I don’t want to add to that cacophony. People have settled into new routines and are not asking the same questions any more. Along with others, I am weary of the information overload and don’t want to contribute to it. The coronavirus discussion has revolved more and more around political issues. It saddens me that the sense of goodwill that brought communities together can turn so quickly into partisan political finger-pointing and vigilante social-di...

Quarantine seems to have its own life-cycle. There was an initial energy, a ‘buzz’, that propelled us into preparation mode as we stocked the cupboards, searched for resources to school the kids, and adapted to working from home. National Health Service staff became heroes overnight and there was a sense of communities pulling together locally and nationally.  For many, there has followed a period of what can only be called enjoyment. The spring weather arrived at the same time as your boss lowered his expectations and you didn’t have to commute anymore - there was time to binge watch TV shows and take up a new hobby. At some point I think we may enter a different phase and this one concerns me. We start to get bored, frustrated, and impatient - even angry. Worries and concerns grow, fed by internet scaremongering and conspiracy theories. For the most part we are safe in our own homes, protected from immediate danger. Perhaps we start to wonder whether this pandemic i...

This is the final blog in a mini-series exploring questions raised by President Trump’s declaration of a national Day of Prayer in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Just a few weeks later the number of cases increased until the USA had more than anywhere else in the world. Does this mean that God doesn’t listen to prayer or that He couldn’t answer prayer? Is this a challenge to the Christian faith? The crux of the matter is that the Christian God has not promised to listen and respond to all  our prayers, like a genie in a lamp. True prayer requires childlike humility expressed by faith in Jesus Christ rather than spiritual self-confidence. Like a good father, God is free to give the answers “no”, “wait”, or “this is better” as well as “yes” and He doesn’t have to explain why. In fact, if we take seriously what the Bible says about God it is clear that we could never understand fully even if He did explain. However much we grasp it is always a little bit more complicated t...

Let’s assume, for the sake or argument, that Trump is a man with real faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who is following the Bible’s command to humble himself in calling the United States to pray. There is much in the media portrayal of the man that might cause us to question that but ultimately only God can judge his heart. So for the sake of argument, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. The Christian God is not a genie or a vending machine who is obliged to listen to every prayer. We can go further than that and say that He is not obliged to answer every prayer in the way we expect. To illustrate this think about a parent with a nagging child. When children ask for things they really need - like food, water, or rest - a good parent is only too happy to provide. There are occasions when children ask for things that would be harmful - to drive the car, play with dad’s chainsaw, or parachute off the roof with an umbrella - and a parent has to say “NO!” But there are other oc...

The Christian  God is not a genie who will answer our demands just because we go through the motions of praying. God is not a mechanical vending machine in the sky. There is nothing ‘automatic’ about calling for a Day of Prayer. We cannot judge President Trump’s heart but God can and it is up to Him to respond as He sees fit! This begs another question: why should God listen to any of our prayers? This is a really good way to explain one of the most important things Christians believe about prayer. You may not be so interested in that but I would ask you to stick with me because it is, in turn, essential in exploring how Christians understand the idea of a ‘Day of Prayer ’. One of the ways God is portrayed in the Bible is as a great King. If you have ever been to visit Buckingham Palace or the White House you know that tourists are kept at a safe distance by multiple layers of fences, walls, and well-armed security guards, both uniformed and in plain clothes. You ca...

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump announced a national day of prayer in America but it is not clear if or how God answered those prayers. What do we make of this ? Chatting it through whilst preparing to write this blog I received the tongue in cheek reply "Well, would you listen to him?" Joking aside there is a very good question implicit in this comment. Why should God listen to Donald Trump? Does calling a 'day of prayer' compel God to listen and do whatever people ask him? It is easy to imagine God as a vending machine: press the right religious buttons and put the right spiritual coins in and whatever we want falls into our laps. It is also easy to imagine God as a kind of genie in the sky: use your prayers to rub His lamp the right way and He pops up to give you your three wishes. Sadly, some people claiming to be Christians are deliberately encouraging this view of God promising that He always gives healing and prosperi...

In mid-March President of the USA Donald Trump called for a national day of prayer . By early April he was confident there was light at the end of the tunnel . Yet a BBC report dated 29th April states that "The United States alone has more than one million confirmed cases - four times as many as any other country". So what does this mean for religion? Was God able to answer but didn't? Was God unable to hear? Did God create the coronavirus? Should all this cause Christians to question their faith? These sincere questions, asked respectfully by an long-term friend who is not a Christian, have had me thinking hard for several days. Rather than attempt a single answer which could get quite lengthy, I hope to explore this over a few shorter blogs. I want to start by turning the whole thing inside out, on its head, and flipping it around ! Inside out: these are  very important questions. The existence of suffering is something for which every religion an...

We are getting used to seeing the statistics. Of the people who get ill most will have relatively mild symptoms, some worse, a few will need to go to hospital. It will only prove to be fatal for a minority most of whom will have an underlying vulnerability because of age or pre-existing health conditions. There are, however, a number of young, fit, seemingly healthy people who have succumbed to the disease without being in any of the high-risk categories. So is it all just a roll of the dice? Is it a game of Russian roulette - every time you go to the shops to buy milk you take the chance, not knowing if, perhaps, there is a viral bullet in the chamber. In a sense, this is all that the theory of evolution offers people - survival of the fittest with the odd chance that sometimes the fittest will die too. In stark contrast, according to the Bible, life is not a game of odds. Rather, it is a gift from God: “God himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. A...

Jesus is a spiritual big brother for every Christian. Having suffered in  every way  like us He is able to sympathetically come alongside us with grace to help (Hebrews 2:17, 4:15-16). This photograph appeared on the 5th April Telegraph  article reporting that “Covid-19 has killed more than 90 priests as well as dozens of missionaries, monks and nuns” in Italy. In contrast to the regular stories of power abuses by members of the Catholic clergy, this conjures up a much more positive image of the priesthood - identifying with the sick and vulnerable in order to pray with them even at great risk to their own lives. It also reminds me of some verses in the book of Hebrews: “For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed  to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness.” (Heb. 5:1-2). ‭‭ However, the tragic re...

This is the third of several blogs posts written from a definite Christian standpoint and interacting sympathetically and respectfully with the Dalai Lama's 'Time' article:  "' Prayer Is Not Enough.' The Dalai Lama on Why We Need to Fight Coronavirus With Compassion ". The first blog in this series can be read here:  https://fidzbit.blogspot.com/2020/04/2-dalai-lama-virus-conversation-prayer.html   The article can be read in full here:  https://time.com/5820613/dalai-lama-coronavirus-compassion/ . Both Christianity and Buddhism emphasise responding to human suffering, like this coronavirus pandemic, with compassion . Believers from both faiths would agree that to pray without helping, where we have the resources to do so, reveals a hollow hypocrisy in our religion. But where does compassion originate in Buddhism and Christianity? What motivates and catalyses compassion ? " We Buddhists" the Dalai Lama says, " believe that th...