Wednesday 4 March 2009


Fr Ed Tomlinson SSC gives us another good reflection on his excellent blog about what lies ahead of us. There is a great deal of uncertainty, but there is a rock too which is unmovable as the stormy waters rage around. As Fr Ed points out too well this rock is Jesus. Keeping our eyes fixed on Him and our hearts burning for Him is the only answer. Showing this love to all around us is our only response.
As we focus all our being on the Risen Lord we hear Him say that He is THE Way, THE Truth and THE Life. In that light and focusing on the Beatitudes there are choices that we need to make. All the choices need to be made in His light. We are called to be faithful and not popular and so as Fr Ed says we can never be the flavour of the month – the world hates Him, He said, and it also hates us; and that is one of the signs that we are on the right track.
Some Christians within the Anglican Church are negotiating with what Jesus left as His inheritance. That is very dangerous as it echoes what the serpent suggested to the first human beings – negotiating God’s will. Revelation can not be negotiated it is either received or rejected. We can not tame the words of the Lord in order to make ourselves relevant. The more we water down the faith the more irrelevant and empty we become. There was always a temptation in Anglicanism to make grey areas a virtue, Jesus has lots to say about that. Keeping focused on Him is our only Way ahead.
The dilemma is the company we keep as we journey on. We need to love all Christians and understand them even when they get it wrong but our decisions are in His light alone. The question ahead of us is no longer one of structural solutions or negotiations, it is in which place we can be fully faithful to Christ in freedom and integrity. We need patience to see if that is still possible in Canterbury or elsewhere. In the meantime let us keep our gaze fixed on Jesus and unite ourselves with Him ever deeper in the bonds of love and the beauty of holiness.

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