Mothering Sunday

John 19. 25b-27: Mary at the Foot of the Cross

I'm delighted to tell you that we are joined this morning by Clare's parents - John and Jan...which means that I have the pleasure of having my Mother--in-Law with me on Mothering Sunday. The only problem is...I can't now tell you any of my mother-in-law jokes!

So instead, to get us started on the theme of Mothering Sunday, here is a letter from a Mother to a Child....

Dear Child,

The bathroom door is closed! Please do not stand here and talk, whine, or ask questions. Wait until I get out. Yes, it is locked. I want it that way. It is not broken, and I am not trapped. I know I have left it unlocked, and even open at times, since you were born, because I was afraid that some horrible tragedy might occur while I was in here, and you would want some comfort from me. But it's been ten years and I want some privacy.

Do not ask me how long I will be. I will come out when I am done. Do not bring the phone to the bathroom door. Do not go running back to the phone yelling "She's on the toilet!".

Do not stick your fingers under the door and wiggle them. That was funny when you were two, but not now. Do not slide pennies under the door, or notes, or LEGO pieces.

If you have followed me down the hall talking, and are still talking as you face this closed door, please turn around, walk away, and wait for me in another room. I will be glad to listen to you when I am done.

And yes, I still love you.

Mum.
(From 'A Barrel of Fun' by J.John and Mark Stibbe. ISBN: 1-85424-621-6)

There's an old Jewish proverb that goes, "God could not be everywhere at once, and therefore he made mothers". It's meant to be taken ironically, of course. God, as we well know, is everywhere - at all times and in all places - deeply and fundamentally present by the Holy Spirit. In fact if we change the old Jewish proverb just a little bit, I think we might get an even better picture of the importance of motherhood. Let's say "God is everywhere at once, and yet he still decided to make mothers".

The idea of motherhood was so important to God, that Jesus was given an earthly mother. God could easily have appeared among us in an instant. He could have arrived on earth, as Jesus, by just willing himself into a human body - fully grown and ready to embark on his ministry. But that was not the path that he chose.

Instead, God chose that Jesus should raised by a mother...that he should experience 30 or so years of the closeness of family life, under the leadership of Mary. Joseph, of course, was involved too - but it is interesting to note that the focus of the gospel stories about Jesus' parents tend to be on Mary, rather more than Joseph. It is Mary who is chosen to bring Jesus into the world. It is Mary who first accepts the Angel's news. It is Mary who goes through the pain of childbirth. Ultimately, for reasons we don't know, Joseph drops out of the Gospel stories altogether - until it is only Mary who stands at the foot of the cross, in front of her dying son.

The Orthodox church has a term for Mary - they call her "Theotokos" which directly translates as the 'God-bearer', or the one who gives birth to God. It is a rather more precise understanding of Mary's role than the term 'Mother of God' which is often used in English. 'Mother of God' can seem to imply that Mary was the source from which Jesus came, eternally. Whereas Scripture, and the church's tradition, quite clearly tells us that Jesus has always existed, from eternity. Check out the first chapter of John if you want to be sure: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". That passage goes on to explicitly state that the Word, Jesus, then came and dwelt among us.

The word 'Theotokos' - God-bearer - then, makes clear that Mary bore Jesus into the world. She was the channel through which he came - and she was the one entrusted with the task of bearing him, and bearing with him, throughout his childhood, and then his earthly ministry. She was entrusted with his care, and with teaching him what it meant to be human. The church believes that Jesus was, in a weird theological twist, both fully human, and fully divine. Being fully human, Jesus needed the love, care and teaching of an earthly mother.

It is for that reason that the church venerates Mary as perhaps the most important human being who has ever lived. She had more physical connection with God than anyone has had - by bearing Jesus within her. She obediently and willingly carried out the task that was given to her of bringing Jesus into the world, and bringing him up to fulfill his mission.

Isn't it interesting that this most important human being of all...was a woman? The world is so often dominated by men, and by male perspectives. Just think for a moment about the worlds of politics, academia, journalism, finance and banking...all of them are still dominated by men. Gradually, decade by decade, we are seeing women beginning to gain a foothold...but it is a slow and difficult process.

It is still the case that the majority of Christian churches are dominated by men. The Orthodox church, the Catholic Church, the Coptic Church, and many of the Bible-belt churches of the USA...all of them still reserve the role of priest or minister, or pastor, exclusively for men. It is only in the reformed churches that women are gradually being recognised for the contribution that they bring to the role of priest. And I want to say publicly that I truly value the contribution of my female colleagues in this team.

However, what I don't want to do is fall into the trap of saying that it is only women who can do certain things, or only men who do others. It is too easy to say, as the classic book-title does, that 'Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus'. Too often we hear the tired old rhetoric that men are the warmongers, and women are the peace-makers.

The bible teaches us that we are all made in the image of God - male and female. That means, I think, that all of us - potentially - have those God-given attributes of creativity, and nurturing, and caring for one another, and loving each other. Motherhood is not necessarily something that is only done by women...some of the best mothers I know, are actually men! Consider those men who are perhaps widowed, or left by their wives to bring up their children. What about those men who stay in England bringing up children while their wives are serving in Iraq or Afghanistan?

There is another phenomenon that is making us rethink those old gender stereotypes, as well...namely the phenomenon of homosexuality. Gay people are teaching us that all men do not have to be warriors... and that it is perfectly possible to be artists, and homemakers too. That is not because gay men can't also be warriors...many of them patently are, despite what our armed forces would like the enemies of the UK to believe! But perhaps homosexual people, who tend not to slip so easily into the stereotypes that society has constructed for us...perhaps they are helping us to ask questions of what it truly means to be human...made in the image of God...male and female. (See Genesis 1:27 for a biblical reference to this idea: "So God created humankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them".)

Perhaps the story of Adam and Eve teaches us that to be truly human - truly made in the image of God - is to embrace all of the characteristics of maleness and femaleness. Perhaps becoming more like God, in whose image we are made, means traditional men becoming more traditionally female, and traditional females becoming more traditionally male.

What am I trying to say to you? Let me try to break it down into some examples. There are at least two men in this congregation who spend a great deal of their lives caring for an older relative. They are not out working in a bank, or shooting people...they are acting as nurturing carers. They act, in fact, like mothers to their elderly relatives in all but name. On the other hand, there are women within this congregation who work as administrators and managers within their chosen professions - jobs that until only a few years ago would have been exclusively assigned to men. Two out of the four priests in this parish are women, not men. At least three men in this congregation regularly spend time in the Community Cafe, offering a listening ear, comfort and care for lonely people who come into the Cafe. They nurture...they care. They take on the role of 'mothering'.

Some people might panic at this apparent breaking down of the traditional gender roles that society has assigned to men and women. But not me. Even some churches play to the gallery of male and female stereo-typing...declaring that they will help men to become 'true men in the Lord', and women to become 'true women'. Regretfully, that kind of teaching programme too often results in re-enforcing old stereotypes. Men go out to work, and have fun with their mates (on the pretext of evangelising of course!). Women still end up at home with the kids.

I believe in a Lord who welcomed women into his circle of disciples...a circle that for any other Rabbi of his time would have been exclusively reserved for men. I worship a Lord who chose to reveal himself, after his resurrection, first and foremost to a woman. I worship a Lord who used words like 'Love one another' and 'forgive one another' - traditionally female words, nurturing words. I worship a Lord who, perhaps because of the influence of the Mother whom God had appointed for him, was completely in touch with the feminine side of his nature, as much as the masculine.

He held those two sides in balance. He refused the temptation of the Devil - during the 40 days and 40 nights - the temptation to use the traditionally male-notion of power to dominate the world. Instead, he embraced the more traditionally feminine notions of service - washing his disciples feet, and giving up his life for others.

So, on this Mother's day - it is right that we should celebrate all the women who give up their lives to serve their children, or to 'mother' those in need around them. It is right for us to acknowledge their contribution to our own lives and well-being. It is right for us to acknowledge that, by and large, mothers are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great 'vacationless' class. (A quote by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, taken from 'A Bucket of Surprises' by J.John and Mark Stibbe. ISBN: 1-85424-588-0)

But let us also embrace the mother that is within us all - drawing from the example of Jesus and his Mother Mary. Jesus teaches us that having children is only one way of being a mother. As we embrace the idea that we are made in the image of God...who is father and mother to us all...we know that mothering is something that we all have the capacity to do...whether we have our own children or not.

May you discover the mother within you - as you rise to the challenge of knowing yourself to be made in the image of God. May you follow the example of Mary, the God-bearer, and of Jesus her Son - as you offer love, care and nurture to those around you. And may you come to know God not just as Father, but as Mother...the mother whose love for you will never end, throughout eternity.

Amen.

Take Up Your Cross

Mark 8: 31-end.
The opening paragraphs of this sermon should be read with a phoney, fake, American accent!

Hey there y'all! Welcome to the newest church in Portsmouth! I have great pleasure in announcing that from today, we are to be known as the "Washed in the Blood of the Lamb, Almighty Saviour Jesus, Healing and Prosperity Church...Portsmouth Branch". Why is this? Well let me tell you, brothers and sisters. Last night, I had a vision! The Lord God Almighty spoke to me from the heavens. He said to me...

"Pastor", he said, "Pastor - I have good news for you! I want to shower you and your congregation with abundant blessings. You are going to see miracles. You are going to experience amazing healings. (Praise the Lord!) Tongues of fire are going to dance on the head of your congregation. (Praise the Lord!). And every single one of them is going to become wealthy! (Praise the Lord!) I am going to make yours a church of millionaires! You are going to become so wealthy, so full of miracles, so full of powerful healings, that the whole of Portsmouth will flock to your doors! You are going to be light in the economic gloom. You are going to show people that all they have to do is turn to Jesus, and he will take care of all their needs."

Well, I have to tell you, I was amazed. So I looked up to heaven, and I asked God "What do we have to do to receive such blessings?" And the Lord God Almighty answered me. I heard him speak to me as clear as he has ever spoken to me. He said,

"It's very simple. All your congregation has to do is to show that they trust me. They simply have to sign over the deeds to their houses, and the ownership of their cars to the church. Then I will know that they trust me. Then I will bless them with manna from heaven. Then they will become millionaires, and all their problems will disappear". (Praise the Lord!)

So, my brothers and sisters, our Treasury Team are standing by, at the ready, with forms for you to sign. Just sign over the deeds of your house to the church, and the Lord God Almighty, in the glorious name of Jesus, will give you your heart's desire! A-men, brothers and sisters. A-men!

(Ok...you can stop reading in a phoney American accent now...)

It's a bit frightening to think that there really are churches like that in the world. Those kinds of churches feed on people's misery. They create an image of the world which is so pumped up with future hope, that gullible people, people who haven't been properly taught, really do believe that God is in the business of making them wealthy...and magically taking all their problems away.

This is such a fundamental distortion of the Gospel, that it beggars belief. But some preachers can make people believe anything. Many of such preachers have never been to a college, never had any kind of decent theological training. In particular, none of them have, it seems, ever been confronted with the text that we have before us today..."If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me".

And according to the text, modern-day prosperity preachers are not the first people to have got the wrong end of the stick. This text comes at a pivotal point in Mark's gospel. Up until this chapter, which comes right in the middle of the gospel, Jesus' disciples have seen him doing all sorts of amazing things. He drives out evil spirits, heals multitudes of people, he calms the storm, and even raises Jairus' daughter from the dead. The disciples have seen Jesus feed the five thousand and the four thousand (plus all their women and children). They've even watched him walk on the water. But now, in this passage, the whole story of Jesus' life and ministry turns...it pivots, towards Jerusalem, and to the incomprehensible scandal of the Cross.

After all they have witnessed Jesus do, suddenly, in verse 31: "He began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected...and be killed".(Mk 8:31). You can just imagine Peter's reaction can't you? He is Jesus' best mate. He's watched all this amazing stuff going on around and through Jesus. He probably thinks that Jesus has gone nuts. Perhaps all this power has gone to Jesus head (thinks Peter). Perhaps the Messiah has been working too hard! So he rebukes Jesus. Matthew's gospel gives us the words that Mark doesn't record: "Never, Lord" he said. "This shall never happen to you!" (Matt 16:22)

But Jesus is adamant. So adamant that he tells Peter off with really startling words: "Get behind me, Satan!" Pretty stern stuff. And then Jesus goes on, in verse 33: "You are setting your mind not on divine things, but on human things". In other words, "You are thinking like a man, but by now you should be starting to think as God thinks...to see things from God's perspective".

Anyone confronted with the idea of suffering might well react as Peter reacts. After all, God can heal, can't he? We've seen healing in action, through Jesus, time and time again. Jesus' many miracles are proof positive that God does not delight in suffering. And yet, somehow, for reasons we might only be able to guess at, suffering enters into God's equation for humanity. A balanced Christian world-view, a theologically literate understanding of God has to weigh the difficult topic of suffering in the balance. It's there. It was there for Jesus, who suffered on the cross.

It was there for the many whom Jesus encountered whom he did not heal. Think, for example, of the story of the pool at Bethesda (see John 5:1-15). Jesus healed the man who could not get down into the water...but what about all the others who were lying around the pool? It's an uncomfortable fact - but one which grown-up Christians have to learn to deal with. Suffering, somehow, is part of the plan. Some Christians, fixated on the Jesus of the Miracles, have missed out on the suffering Jesus of the Cross.

But that is precisely whom we are confronted with in this text. Jesus had to suffer...it was part of the divine plan...and something we will think more about as we approach Good Friday. But Jesus says that we are called upon to suffer too..."anyone who wants to follow me must deny himself, and take up his cross".(Mark 8:34

Let's notice that there are, in fact, two elements to Jesus stark statement: we are called first to 'deny self', and secondly, to 'take up our cross'. Let's look as those in turn.

First - what does it mean to 'deny self'?

I find it most helpful to think of denying self as actualy being about putting others first. It's a way of living that always looks out for other people. It's a way of living which never asks "what's in it for me?" but rather "what's in it for my neighbours, and for the Kingdom of God?". If Jesus had asked himself 'what's in it for me?' before embarking on his ministry, he would never have got beyond his baptism. We too are called to live that way...to live generously.

Why? Why are we encouraged to live so radically, so differently from the way that other people live? Well, we only have to look at the current state of the stock market, and of collapsing banks, and the promise of food wars to see the result of living by the maxim 'what's in it for me?'. To deny self, is to see ourselves as completely bound up with other human beings. It's to understand that every time I keep something for myself, or pursue my own self interest, I always do that at the expense of another human being... another brother or sister.

The current mess in the world's economy tells us that even after 2,000 years, we have not yet learned that most basic of Christian teaching. To deny self is not a negative act...its not so much about denial as it is about giving. To deny oneself is, in fact, to give oneself - unstintingly, unselfishly, to others. It's the way of life - the way to truly experience life...that Jesus calls us to.

Lastly, let's think about the crosses that we - like Jesus - are also called to take up. (Apart from bearing the cross of listening to one of my longer sermons that is!).

Last week, I spent time with a member of this parish who has become very frail. I won't tell you who - though many of you will know them. This person is someone who has spent all of their life serving others through the church. They have been at table top sales, and served on the PCC, and made endless cups of tea. They have given unstintingly of their time - they have truly denied self in order to bring the Kingdom into this area. And yet, they now find themselves frail, often housebound, and unable to serve others as they would like to do. Even more distressing is that they now rely on others to do the little personal things that they used to be able to do for themselves.

This person said something very profound to me, as I was taking communion to them. They said "perhaps God is teaching me that despite all the things I have done for others, there was still a bit of pride in me. Perhaps this illness, this long-slow decline, is God's way of teaching me that I am part of a community of people...and that I need to let them serve me for a change. Perhaps I'm learning that in the end, we all must rely on God, and on other people...and that we must set aside all pride in ourselves."

I was intensely moved by what that person said to me. I think that after a life-time of Christian faith, and even on days when they can't get up off the floor after falling down, God is still teaching them something deep, something profound, about our need for each other, and for God.

Jesus own suffering clearly had purpose. What that purpose was we can only begin to glimpse despite all the words that have been written about it in the Bible and elsewhere.

Interestingly, the Gospels themselves don't provide a definitive answer to why Jesus had to suffer. The task of interpretation is one that was left to later writers, like St Paul - and other great thinkers of the Church. All that Mark says on the subject, in today's reading, is that Jesus taught his disciples "that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering" (Mark 8:31). The task of working out why is something that Jesus leaves to his Church. We continue to grapple with it...just as we grapple with the reasons for our own suffering, or the suffering of martyrs across the centuries, and even now in other lands. We will grapple with it some more when we come to Good Friday.

We continue to grapple - but we also continue to trust...that denying self, and taking up our own cross - participating in our own suffering and the suffering of the world is an essential, central message that is right at the heart of the Gospel.

May you come to know the power of God that is often revealed in suffering. May you come to know the power of denying self, and taking up the cross that is offered to you. May you come to know that God's power is so often revealed in and through weakness - our own weakness, as well as the weakness of those we encounter.

Amen

Stilling the Storm...and Shouting at the TV.

Mark 4: 35-41 Jesus Calms a Storm

It’s been pretty stormy recently, hasn’t it? The weather has been pretty awful, all across the country. I know its been windy in my garden, because my bird table blew over! We warm southerners have had it pretty easy though, haven't we...compared to the blizzards and floods that other parts of the country have been having.

It’s been pretty stormy on the stock market too, hasn’t it. We’ve had banks that have gone into receivership, or public ownership. We’ve had billions of pounds wiped off the value of shares. And most importantly, we’ve seen a rise in unemployment, with no immediate prospect of any new jobs being created. I know that some of you have been affected by that too...either directly, or by knowing people close to you who have lost their jobs.

There’s a story in the Bible, that we will hear a little later, about the time that Jesus and his disciples went out in a storm. It was a proper ‘hoolie’ - battering waves, and gale force winds. Incredibly, Jesus was asleep in the front of the boat...snoring away through the chaos. His disciples woke him up, and said “Rabbi! Don’t you care if we drown?!” Jesus reaction was to stand up, and speak to the winds. “Quiet! Be Still!” And immediately the wind died down, and it was completely calm. Then comes the sting in the tale. Jesus turns to his disciples and says “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

This story, and so many others like it, are put in the Bible to challenge us. Sometimes we get a story of Jesus’ mastery over human problems....like stilling a storm, or healing the sick, or raising the dead, or feeding the hungry. Sometimes we just get a simple saying from Jesus - like “Come to me all who labour and are heavy laden...and I will give you rest”. All of these stories and sayings are pointing to one great big challenge. It goes something like this... “Trust me. Put your faith in me. I can control the winds, walk on the water, and raise the dead. Don’t you think I’m up to coping with your problems too?”

Now, we have to be careful here. We mustn’t fall into the trap that some people do...the trap of believing that if we have enough faith, God will solve all our problems, and give us each a gold Rolls Royce into the bargain. God doesn’t work like that. If he did, the millions of starving Christians in Africa - who pray every day for God’s help - would have food on their table.

No. What God does is far deeper, far more subtle - and ultimately far more wise. God moves our hearts...to respond to one another’s needs. A world in which God miraculously interfered with every human tragedy would be a strange world indeed. It would be a world in which human beings would stop growing and developing....we would stop learning to do things for ourselves...we would stop filling the God-given potential that is inside of each one of us. A world in which God miraculously interfered with every lost job, or tragic case of poverty, would be a world in which we would not need to look out for one another. Generosity, giving, sharing - would all be unnecessary. There would be no need to give to charity, no need to spread love, no need to look out for our neighbour.

And what would the result be? We would become people who had forgotten how to love; and who didn’t understand the sheer pleasure of giving. We would be people who would only need to look out for our own needs...we would be become takers, instead of givers. We would be grabbers, instead of sharers. I might even suggest that we would become the very kind of people, the ones who are paid millions of pounds by Barclays, or Lloyds, or the City of London...the ones who have caused the very economic crisis we now face. If God miraculously intervenec in all human tragedy, every man, woman and child would only be interested in what they could get for themselves...not how much they can give to others. Our growth into being all that we can be - releasing and discovering everything that it means to be made in the image of God - all of that would be gone. We would be stunted, unimaginative, self-centered, self-absorbed echoes of what it means to be fully and completely human.

So, when Jesus says “Come to me all who labour and are heavy laden”, or when he says “Take my yoke upon you”, or when he says “Why are you so afraid; Do you still have no faith?” he is inviting us to discover, with him and through him, what it means to be fully developed, human beings... people who have discovered what it means to be made in the image of God.

The protection from the storm that Jesus offers is protection from the very worst of ourselves...it is protection from the sinful, selfishness that we are all capable of. By his transforming power...by the very power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus offers us the chance to become more and more like him...and to still the storm of our own hearts.

One way in which he stills the storm is to offer us forgiveness...and the chance to start again. One of the joys of being a follower of Christ - a Christian - is the joy of knowing that however much we have failed, there is forgiveness, healing, and the promise of new life...

So let us turn to God together, in the words of this confession...and seek the forgiveness that is freely offered...

Lord Jesus, we confess to you that sometimes we forget to share your love with others.
There are many things we wish we had done for others - but somehow never got round to doing.
There are many things we wish we had not done - which have hurt others, and you.
Please forgive us and free us from our sins. Help us to lead a new life following in your footsteps. Amen

Absolution:Almighty God, who created you in his image, so that you might reflect his glory, and live out his divine life, forgive you and free you from all your sins. The Lord transform you, so that you may grow more and more, day by day, into the likeness of Christ. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

So...what have we established? We’ve established, I hope, that Jesus is willing, and able - by the power of his Spirit - to transform our lives, and the lives of the whole world....if we will only let him. If only, after 2000 years, the world had listened to Jesus’ simple call to love God, and love our neighbour. What kind of a world could this be.

Do you ever shout at the TV screen? You know what it’s like. You are watching a quiz...maybe that awful, soul destroying thing called the Weakest Link. Anne Robinson asks a question. A simple question...because any question that you know the answer to is simple...isn’t it? “Who was the captain of the first Starship Enterprise?”. You know the answer. It’s James Kirk. But then the stupid, ignorant peasant on the TV screen says something utterly incomprehensible. “It was Captain Spock, wasn’t it?”. “NO!” you scream at the TV. “How could you be so stupid? How could you not know that most basic piece of Sci-Fi history. It was Kirk!”

Sometimes I imagine Jesus as being a bit like that. After all, we know he lost his rag with stupid people, from time to time. He turned over the money-changers’ tables, accusing them turning his father’s house of prayer into a den of thieves. He turned on the Pharisees, many times...calling them a ‘brood of vipers’ and ‘whitewashed tombs’...clean on the outside, and full of death and decay on the inside. So its not too great a leap to imagine Jesus, right now, saying the world of high finance and international banking “NO! What do you think you are doing? How could you possibly imagine that you could sit there, grabbing all the world’s resources for yourself, without imagining there would be consequences.”

Just like me, watching the Weakest Link and saying “If only they had listened to me!”, I have a picture of Jesus watching the world with sadness and perhaps even anger. He sees people messing up their lives, or messing up the lives of others. He’s calling out to them, through their consciences, through the church, through the pages of scripture, through priests and prophets. He’s calling out and offering his help. But the world doesn’t take a blind bit of notice. The result? The world loses...so much. The world rejects God, and God’s ways, in the endless, ceaseless quest for more stuff. When all along, God just wants to make their lives SO much more fulfilling...SO much more meaningful...SO much more complete.

So, at the end of the day, it comes down to a choice. How are we going to choose to live. Do we choose the way of God, or the way of the world? Do we choose the way of sharing, of the way of getting more stuff? Do we choose to become more and more fully human...more and more like Jesus...or more and more like the shadowy echo of real humanity that the powerful men of the world seem to generate?

The choice is ours. The choice is yours. But if you will let him...Jesus offers calm in the storm.

Amen.

A woman's place...

Mark 1:v29-39: The Healing of Peter's Mother-in-Law...and many demon-possessed people

I'm sorry to have to tell you that I live with an uncomfortable truth. It's something I'm a little embarrassed about...and its something that is only too plain for everyone to see. The fact is, I am a fat man. There, I've said it.

Whose fault is this? Am I fat because I eat too much chocolate? Or is it because I would rather eat cement than take any exercise? No. Those things may be true. But in my house, the blame falls fair and square on Clare!

You see, before I was married, I was as thin as a rake. Seriously. I was like a golf-club...a long thin stick with feet sticking out at the end! You see, my approach to life has always been to live life at full pelt. My father-in-law once observed that I have only two speeds...stop, and go-go-go. Before I was married, I would sometimes go for days without stopping to eat. Eating was a chore...something that got in the way of all the other exciting things I was trying to get done. But Clare put a stop to all that. She takes the trouble to prepare delicious food, and to put it in front of me...telling me to stop working and have dinner. So, you see, it can't be my fault that I'm fat. It has to be Clare's!

She does this, of course, because she is a brilliant wife, partner and friend. She looks after me - and tries to moderate my tendency to be a workaholic. In many ways, Clare reminds me of St Peter's mother-in-law...whom we just heard about in our Gospel reading.

Did you notice what happened, as soon as Jesus had healed Peter's mother-in-law? According to Mark's account, 'the fever left her, and she began to serve them'.(Mark 1:31) Clare would do that. She takes such pleasure in hosting people in our house, that if Jesus healed her of a fever, I honestly believe she would immediately get up and start serving tea and biscuits too.

Now...a cautionary note. When we read about women like this, especially in the context of Jesus' time - the world of Roman-occupied Palestine - we need to understand the context in which what we read is taking place. What we mustn't do is assume that what worked for that culture automatically works for ours. We certainly shouldn't take this story - of Peter's serving-mother-in-law as some kind of biblical warrant for all women to be chained to the cooker. For a start, (in Luke Chapter 10) Jesus clearly didn't believe that. Remember the story of Mary and Martha? Remember how Jesus declared that Mary, the sister who had taken time out from domestic chores to listen to him, had chosen the better way?

Instead, let me invite you to see beyond the battle of the sexes, and into the underlying story. The important thing to note here, I think, is not that it was a woman who set about the task of serving the men... but that this particular woman, in this particular time and place, saw that serving was an honourable, noble and worthwhile thing for her to do.

This is quite simply because the notion of 'serving others' is absolutely at the heart of the Gospel. And that Peter's mother-in-law clearly found fulfillment in the act of serving.

Let's move on to look at the rest of this reading. You will remember, I hope, that after the event at Peter's house, Jesus went on to heal many sick people, and to cast out many demons. But as he did so, he commanded the demons not to speak...the text says, "because they knew him" or "because they knew who he was".

This is actually a recurring theme of St Mark's gospel. Time and time again, after Jesus has healed people, he commands them not to tell others. Then, when Peter confesses his belief that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus immediately warns him not to tell anyone. Later, after some of the disciples see Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus again tells them not to tell anyone.

Why would this be? Why would Jesus repeatedly tell people not to talk about him - not to tell others what powerful miracles they have seen? Why would he command the demons not to declare who he is? What was Jesus hiding?

The answer comes perhaps in the only time during Mark's gospel when Jesus willingly says who he is. It comes when he is before the 'Sanhedrin' - the court of the Chief Priests - just before he is led out to die.

You'll find the story in Mark chapter 14. In verse 61, the high priest asks Jesus "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?". Jesus replied, "I am..." Why now? Why does Jesus wait until this moment to publicly declare who he is?

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, gives us a clue. In a fascinating book called "Christ on Trial" he says, "This...is where we see what truth is is that this trial establishes. Jesus before the high priest has no leverage in the world; he is denuded of whatever power he might have had. Stripped and bound before the court, he has no stake in how the world organises itself. He is definitively outside the system of the world's power, and the language of power. He is going to die, because that is what the world has decided. It is at this moment and this moment only that he speaks plainly about who he is." A little later in the same book, Williams says, "If we are prepared to listen for a moment to the extraordinary idea that this is indeed the very self of God standing before the court, it is we who are silenced, we who have our careful and exact expectations [about power, and about what real power is] overturned."

What can these two stories teach us? What is that Peter's mother-in-law, and Jesus' refusal to be called the Christ until his very weakest point have in common? I believe that it is here that we discover the very heart of Christianity. It is here that we meet a God who is not interested in power and domination...but instead we meet a God whose entire being is consumed by the notion of powerlessness, and service. Through these stories, and through so much of the Gospels, Jesus shows us that the way to happiness, the way to being blessed, the way to heaven is through serving and loving one another.

The meek shall indeed inherit the earth - because it is the meek who have discovered that there is freedom to be found through the loving service of others.

And if we think about this for a moment, we know its true. Each of us knows the sheer pleasure that comes from serving someone else. One of the things that astounds me about our parish is the sheer amount of serving others that goes on. Servers at the altar. Singers, serving us with their voices in the choir. Chris, our new organist, serving us with his fingers. Pat and Brenda, serving us each week by collating the Pew News. Brenda serving us by always ensuring we have clean linen. Flower arrangers serving us by providing beautiful displays. Cafe staff, serving their community. DCC and PCC members serving us through sitting on committees. Jim Booth and Philip Brombley serving us through gardening and repairing our churches. John Cozens keeping our computers, our heaters and our organ motor running. Parish Wardens, church wardens, treasurers. Christine Watkins serving our administrative needs by working many more hours than she is paid. Individual congregation members serving one another through times of sickness and need. The list is endless...and impressive.

And it's all godly. It's all rooted in a fundamental understanding that it is through service that we find freedom. It is all based on the principle that Jesus himself established...that human notions of power are worthless and transient. Wealth, power, riches and authority...as the world understands them...are all fleeting and temporary. Instead, we build up treasure that will last...treasure that transforms lives. Treasures of service that will last for eternity.

Amen?

Let me finish with a story...sent to me this week by one of our parishioners: A holy man was having a conversation with God one day and said, ' God , I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.'

God led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles, that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful. But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.

The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. God said, 'You have seen Hell.'

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The holy man said, 'I don't understand.' It is simple,' said God. 'It requires but one skill. You see they have learned to feed each other.'

Amen indeed!

Light of the World?

Luke 2:21-32

According to Navy legend, once upon a time, in the early days of naval radar, a United States aircraft carrier called the USS Constitution was making its way into British waters. The Radar operator spotted a blip on his screen, directly in the path of the mighty carrier. So the Captain radioed ahead and said "Unknown Vessel, please change your course by 20 degrees to avoid a collision".

The radio crackled, and a reply came back. "Unable to comply. You change your course." The captain picked up the radio again. "Listen, this is a naval vessel - heading straight for your co-ordinates. Now change your course, or risk being sent to the bottom of the ocean".

The radio crackled again, and the reply came back, "We were here first. You change your course!" By now, the captain of the mighty war machine was incandescent with rage. "Listen, you little British pip-squeek. This is the USS Constitution - the largest air-craft carrier in the world. We won't even feel you when we run over you. Now move!"

The radio crackled for a third time. "This is the Eddystone Lighthouse. Your move."

There's something really special about lighthouses, isn't there? As a boy, I used to spend holidays in the fishing town of Brixham, down in deepest Devon. I loved watching the Berry-head lighthouse, streaming its beam out over the waters. There's something deeply comforting about the regular, pulsating light...the swoop of the beam...the knowledge that this light is making this bit of coastline safe.

Today we are celebrating the feast of Candlemass. Now, being from a rather low church background, this is not a feast that I have particularly encountered before. So I've done a bit of digging on the Internet to try and discover what its all about. According to the Oracle of All Knowledge (also known as Wikipedia - see this link for more details), Candlemass is the time when members of the Orthodox church bring beeswax candles to church to have them blessed by the priest - candles that will be used throughout the year.

The blessing takes place, in some places, after an all-night vigil. So, if we were really to be 'doing' Candlemas properly, we should have been here in church all night...and you should have all brought candles to be blessed at the Eucharist. Next year perhaps?!

Ultimately, of course, however it is celebrated, the symbolism is all about light. It stems from the reading for the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple - the gospel we heard just now. As you know, when Christ had been presented, Simeon the Righteous declared that he had seen the promised Messiah - and that he was now content to die. Crucially, he described Jesus as 'a light'...a light to the non-Jewish world, as well as glory (which is another light-related metaphor)...glory for the people of Israel.

Light is a theme which permeates the whole bible - just like the search-beam of a lighthouse. God's first command, according the Great Legend of Genesis was 'Let there be light'. God led the Israelites through the Sinai Desert by a pillar of fire...a great light. Jesus is described as the light of men, and the light of the world. As we heard last week, Saul was struck by a light on the road to Damascus. And on the nearly the last page of the Bible, in chapter 21 of the book of Revelation, the New Jerusalem is lit not by the sun or the moon, but by the glory of God, and the Lamb, who is described as the light.

Of course, this is all metaphor. We are not meant to picture Jesus as if he had somehow transformed himself into a lighthouse...with super-trooper beams coming out of his eyes! "Tonight the Super-trooper beams are going to blind me, shining like the Sun". Jesus is not an extra from Mamma Mia! Instead, this powerful metaphor is meant to make us ask what life might be like if it was lived in God's way...if life could be lived fully 'in the light' of the teachings of God.

Now, this is the point in many sermons on light when the preacher will give you a list of things you can do to be someone who lives in the light of God. But you don't need me to do that. You know what the difference is between a life that embraces the light and a life that embraces the dark. You know it instinctively...because God's light is in you. You know the difference between getting and giving, between hating and loving. You simply need to decide which way you want to live. No, I'm not going to give you a list of things you should do. Instead, I want to tell you a little story...

I was standing on the steps of St Mark's last week. I was looking around at the whole area. I saw a woman, walking past the church, with a toddler in a pushchair, clutching a balloon. I saw people at the recycling bins, doing their bit to save the planet. I saw a young couple coming out of Blockbusters, bag of DVDs in hand, preparing themselves for a movie-night. I saw a seagull swooping down to pick up some random piece of food off the car-park floor. Pidgeons perched on our church roof. I saw an old woman, making her way carefully along the cracked paving stones. I saw litter - the evidence of little moments of fun - skittering along in the wind. I saw a thousand and one little details of life...all taking place in front of me...here, in our own community.

Suddenly, I seemed to see things differently. It was if God was shining the beam of a light-house across Derby Road. I saw all these things not as the normal humdrum activity of a typical day in North End...but as a moment in time, pregnant with all sorts of possibilities. I saw all these people, all these creatures, going about their daily lives...and I suddenly felt a huge sense of awe at the incredible beauty in front of me. Beauty? In North End? Yes I know what you are thinking. You're thinking I've been working too hard...and I've finally cracked. But no. I think, just for a moment, I got a glimpse of how God sees the world.

God's light is like a golden glow...and extra dimension of seeing, that we are sometimes able to just perceive, on the edge of our consiousness. It's a way of seeing beyond the mess and the chaos, and instead beginning to see the interconnectedness of all things. It's a way of seeing this world of ours, the beautiful mountains, and the litter-strewn streets as all, all the people, all the animals, all of life somehow, radiant with the glory of God.

So I just stood there...and tried to take it all in. I couldn't of course. I'm not God. I can only 'see through a glass darkly' to use St Paul's phrase. But just for a moment...I caught of glimpse of what life in the light of God could really be like.

Seeing the world, and ourselves, in God's light means seeing ourselves as indivisibly connected to all that there is...all of us are the children of God. This entire planet is God's creation. We can all become caught up in the dance of God, if we will only open our eyes to follow his steps.

As I've thought about that experience, through the rest of this week, I've wondered what it might mean...for me, and for all of us. I wonder if we all could glimpse just how truly connected we all are, what that might do to the way we live our lives. Could it be that we could discover, together, even more of what it means to live as a community of people who love one another...who bear with one another, who forgive one another, who offer the hand of support to one another. Perhaps we would truly begin to grasp the idea that whatever love we show to one another, it is love that we show to our Lord as well.

In 1997, the pop group 'Katrina and the Waves' stormed to victory at the Eurovision Song Contest with a song called 'Love Shine a Light'. They won by a margin of 70 points (soixante-dix points!) over the Irish runner up...because their song made such a hit with the audience. Here are some of the words of that song:

Love Shine a light in every corner of our hearts,
let the love light carry, let the love light carry
Light up the magic in every little part,
let our love shine a light in every corner of our hearts.

And we're all gonna shine a light together
all shine a light to light the way
Brothers and sisters in every little part,
let our love shine a light in every corner of our hearts.

That's my prayer for all of us in this parish...that we will begin to shine the light of God's love all around this place. Such light, such love, has the power to transform lives, and to transform ourselves.

If only we will watch for the light-house beam of God as it sweeps across our church, our families and our lives.

Amen.

And now - as a special treat - Sarah Leslie is going to perform that very song from which I just quoted. Perhaps you'd like to listen to her words, and ponder what it might mean for your life, if you just let the light of God in through your windows.

The Conversion of Saul - Fact or Fiction?

A sermon for St Mark's Church, Derby Road, Portsmouth - 25th January 2009.

This story - of the conversion of St Paul - is a bit of a puzzler, isn't it? It makes us wonder why Jesus doesn't call everyone with a bright light, and a voice from heaven. I mean - when you first began to accept the notion that Jesus was worth following, were you struck down by a bright light in the middle of North End? While you were doing your shopping? No...neither was I.

What you may not realise is that there are in fact three accounts of this story - all within the book of Acts. And on each occasion, the facts of the story are reported slightly differently. The first time we hear it, Luke tells the story. Then the next two times, Luke records Paul's own version of events - but each version is slightly different. (If you want to check out the different stories for yourself, then read chapters 9, 22 and 26 of Acts).

Why so many different version of the same story? I suggest that it is because we are not meant to take the story absolutely literally. Who exactly heard it the voice? What exactly did it say? Did the light flash, or shine? It is difficult to get exact answers from the three accounts. This has the feeling of a story which has changed since the original event...one that has been embellished along with the telling, over the years.

You know what it's like. It's like a fisherman's tale of the one that got away. Some poor fisherman catches a fish. It's an enormous one...perhaps about two feet long. But, after a short struggle, the line snaps, and the fish swims away. Later, in the bar, as the fisherman tells his friends about the event...suddenly the fish was not two feet long...it was massive! It was three, or four, or five feet long. It doesn't really matter now...no-one else saw the fish...and this is making a great story. And it wasn't a short struggle followed by a snapped line...it was a mammoth, titanic struggle for hours and hours - the matching of wits and strength between man and fish.

The fisherman isn't telling a lie, as such. There really was a big fish. There really was a struggle. But by embellishing the story, the fisherman makes it memorable...it becomes a story that a whole community can enter into with their imaginations.

I tend to think that the story of Saul's conversion is a bit like that. I might be entirely wrong. You are entirely at liberty to believe that there really was a light, and there really was a voice from the sky. It doesn't make you or me any better a follower of Jesus - whatever we choose to believe. Though I would love you to tell me how the different versions of the story in Acts can all be true...

I rather prefer a more human-scale version of the story. Saul's conversion happened while he was in the middle of a journey. He had just finished persecuting Christians in Jerusalem. He had just been standing in the crowd, holding the coats of those who were stoning the first martyr, Stephen. Now he was on his way to Damascus to persecute more followers of the Way. Saul was a highly religious man, a teacher who knew his Hebrew Scriptures back to front and inside out.

So there he is...walking the 120 miles from Jerusalem to Damascus. He has got a lot of time for thinking - and for musing on the horror of what he has just witnessed. Watching a man being stoned to death - just for believing something different - it must have been a sobering, thought-provoking thing to have seen. As the miles ticked by, at walking pace, perhaps Paul found himself revisiting all the Hebrew Scriptures in his mind. Perhaps he was searching for proof that this Jesus that the 'followers of the Way' were on about could not possibly be the Messiah, the Christ. But the more he thinks about it - the more he realises what the character of God is like...as described in the Hebrew Scriptures...the more he comes to see that Jesus was exactly that...the Messiah, the Christ.

It is as if a light is switched on in Paul's mind. The light is not on the road - flashing or shining. The light comes on in Paul's head. Now he sees himself very differently...as someone who has just participated in the stoning of an innocent man. He begins to ask himself..."why did I persecute that man? What was I doing? The scriptures actually do point to a Messiah who will be humble, riding on a donkey - one who would be 'wounded for our transgressions'. So why am I persecuting Jesus and his followers. I've been such a fool!"

Later, when Paul tells people about his dramatic change of mind...he dresses it up a bit. He's a preacher...a communicator. He knows how to spin a good yarn. You can imagine him saying "It was amazing! It was like this light came on...this blinding light...and it was like Jesus himself was saying to me 'Saul, why are you persecuting me'"

A few more tellings...a few years later...by a few more people...and no longer is this a story about what it was like...but now its a story of lights actually coming on...super-trooper spot-lights from heaven. No longer is it a story of Jesus speaking to Saul through his imagination...no, its a more dramatic story of Jesus actually speaking real words.

Why am I telling you this? Why am I taking the trouble to break down the dramatic story of Saul's conversion that we all love - deconstructing it to something more ordinary...more life-like?

Quite simply because I want you to see that Saul's story can be our story too. I don't know anyone who has experienced the kind of dramatic conversion - the full-blown theophany of lights and sound and action - that the story of Saul suggests. Perhaps such people exist. Perhaps God does act in that way, from time to time, for some people. I don't discount the possibility...God can do whatever God wants.

But for most of us, God works in a much gentler way. Most of us come to a realisation, at some point on life's journey, that the essential underlying truth of God is worth persuing. For some of us that realisation is gradual...week by week, month by month, we find ourselves caught up in the dance of God. For others its a more dramatic moment - like a light being switched on - when all that we've heard about God suddenly, somehow, makes sense.

And it is healthy, I believe, for us to think in these terms - and for us to talk in these terms to our families, friends and neighbours. Too many Followers of the Way go around promising their friends that if they become Christians they will see dramatic, miraculous intervention in their lives by God. I believe that God does indeed intervene...through the miracles of love, compassion, charity, hope, friendship, family, community, healing, wholeness and purpose. But he doesn't very often shine bright lights out of the sky, nor talk with an audible voice.

I suggest that the story of Saul's conversion is just that...a story - rooted in a real event - a life-transforming, paradigm-changing encounter with Truth, and with God. The exciting thing is to realise that this story, and this life-transforming event is available to all of us...every single one of us is invited to embrace the Truth, and to have our lives totally transformed by that knowledge.

May you know the power of Truth in your life. May you encounter God again and again along the road of your own life's journey. And may you, like Saul, become transformed by that knowledge - and like Paul, find yourself led into the fullness of life that Jesus offers to all who follow his Way.

Amen

Charlie and the Toilet

What’s so amazing about Grace? (Ephesians 2)

Let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time there was a boy called Charlie. Charlie was one of those little boys whose behaviour was feared by all his teachers at school. Frankly, sometimes, he acted like a complete idiot. He would shout at his teachers. He would refuse to do what he was asked to do. His language was appalling. Perhaps worst of all, Charlie was a bully to his classmates.

One day, Charlie’s teacher, Mr Browning, had had enough. He had just found Charlie in the boy’s cloakroom - trying to flush another boy’s head down the toilet. Mr Browning grabbed Charlie by the ear, and frogmarched him to the Headteacher’s office.

The head-teacher, Mrs Sanderson, was a scary sort of person. Her hair was tied back in a very ferocious knot. She had a very loud voice, which could stop small children in their tracks at a hundred yards. And she wore some of those half-mooned glasses which she would look over at every child. Even Charlie, who wasn’t scared of many people - even Charlie was afraid of Mrs Sanderson.

Charlie’s teacher pulled him into Mrs Sanderson’s office. “Yes?” said Mrs Sanderson, looking over her glasses. “What’s Charlie been up to this time?”.

“I just found him in the boy’s wash-room trying to flush another boy’s head down the toilet”, said Mr Browning.

“Really?” said Mrs Sanderson. “Charlie - why were you doing that?”

“Dunno” said Charlie. “He looked at me”.

“Thank you, Mr Browning”, said Mrs Sanderson. “Leave this to me.” Browning turned and left the room. “Now, let me get this straight, Charlie,” said Mrs Sanderson. “He looked at you?”

“Yeh,” replied Charlie. And then it all came tumbling out. “He was looking at me and I said to ‘im ‘wot you fink you’re looking at?’ and he said ‘nofink’ and I said ‘liar’ and he said ‘I’m not’ and I said ‘you are!’ and then I grabbed him and got him in a headlock and I flushed his head down the bog just to teach him a lesson”.

“Right” said Mrs Sanderson, in that sarcastic tone that only headteachers really know how to use. “What do you think is going to happen now, Charlie”

“S’pose you’re going to punish me.”

“Actually,” said Mrs Sanderson, “I’m not going to punish you.”

“What?!” said Charlie - puzzled by this term of events.

“No, said Mrs Sanderson, “I’m not going to punish you - I’m going to teach you a lesson”

“That’s just another word for ‘punishment’ isn’t it?” asked Charlie.

“Sometimes,” said Mrs Sanderson. “But today, I really am going to teach you something. Today, Charlie, you are going to learn about grace”

“Grace?” said Charlie. “What - you’re going to teach me how to do that silly praying-thing before I eat my dinner?”

“No” Mrs Sanderson laughed. “No, this is another kind of grace altogether”. Then to Charlie’s surprise, Mrs Sanderson took off her half-mooned glasses, and laid them on her desk. Then, she reached up behind her head, and undid the knot in her hair, and let her hair fall softly over her shoulders.

“Charlie,” she said, her normally hard voice now sounding very soft. “Come here”

Charlie was suspicious. ‘I know what’s going to happen,’ he thought. ‘She’s just pretending to be nice so as she can catch me. If I go over there, she’ll grab me, and batter me.’ So he stayed rooted to the spot, staring at Mrs Sanderson.

“Charlie”, said Mrs Sanderson, “In all the years you have been at this school, have you ever known me to tell a lie?”

Charlie thought for a moment. “Well, no” he replied, hesitantly.

“Well then,” said Mrs Sanderson, “believe me when I say that nothing bad is going to happen if you come over here - if you let me teach you the lesson I want to teach you about grace”

Charlie was intrigued now. What was going to happen? What could Mrs Sanderson possibly teach him? Nervously, he put one foot forward.

“That’s right,” encouraged Mrs Sanderson. “Come to me”

Charlie figured that it might just be worth trying. It was better than getting battered, anyway. So gingerly he made his way across the head-teacher’s office, until he was standing right in front of her desk. He thought to himself, ‘At least the desk will protect me if she tries anything’. Mrs Sanderson smiled. It was a warm smile; a welcoming, friendly smile.

“Now come round the side of the desk, Charlie” said Mrs Sanderson. “Come round here to me.”

Charlie was mesmerised. He didn’t have a clue what was going on. But suddenly he felt drawn to do what Mrs Sanderson asked. Carefully, he made his way round the side of the desk, and stood right in front of her, just one step away...just enough room to make a break for it if he needed to.

“Do you know what I’m going to do to you, Charlie”, asked Mrs Sanderson.

“No.”

“I’m going to give you a hug, Charlie”

“You’re a loony,” said Charlie.

“No, Charlie, I’m not. I’m going to give you a hug because I know that deep down inside, under all your bluster, and your violence, and your bullying there is a small boy who just needs to know that someone cares about him. Would you like a hug from someone who understands why you behave like you do...who understands that there are bits of your life that are out of your control...who understands that you behave the way you do because you can’t help it...something in you is trying to get control over some part of your life...and you use violence to try to get it.” Mrs Sanderson opened her arms, as if to receive Charlie into them.

Charlie thought about it for a moment. He didn’t really understand what Mrs Sanderson was talking about. All that stuff about trying to get control. All he knew was that he was angry all the time - and that no-one seemed to care about him. A hug? Wouldn’t be the end of the world, he supposed. Never really had a proper hug - not for a long time anyway.

Tentatively, Charlie took a final step, into the arms of this strange, enigmatic woman whom he didn’t understand at all. She was weird. One minute she looked all ferocious and fierce, and then here she was offering him a hug.

Charlie let himself go. He relaxed into the hug. He put his head on Mrs Sanderson’s chest, and he just let go.

Then the tears started. It’s funny how a sudden change of mood can make the tears flow. Charlie hadn’t cried for years. He was too tough for that. But now, here in this strange woman’s arms, Charlie’s eyes filled up, and the tears flowed like rivers down his cheeks.

Mrs Sanderson stroked Charlie’s head. “It’s alright Charlie. I understand. Let it all go. Let me take some of the pain. Because, you know what Charlie. I love you.”

Charlie’s life changed, from that day onward. Somehow, knowing that he was loved, seemed to make a difference. As the weeks and months went by, Charlie’s violent outbursts became less and less. He started to focus on his work, and started to show kindness to his classmates, instead of hatred.

Sometimes, when he knew that all his friends were busy in another part of the school, he would creep into Mrs Sanderson’s office - and they would talk about his plans, and his ideas for the future.

And occasionally, just occasionally, just so that he would know it was real, Mrs Sanderson would give Charlie a hug.