Turns out that there's no problems regarding the light refreshments and tea, coffee and the like are now adorning the table in our meeting room alongside an assortment of biscuits that range from 'Rich Tea' through to the blessed 'Bourbon'. Seems that there's not even a problem with Marmite, which I'm sure will please some (I still choose not to like it myself!).
Now, refreshed and replete we can move forwards in our endeavour to disagree in a wonderfully unified and united manner. After all, God has called us to be one with Jesus, to be 'in communion' with Him in the same way that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one. This is also true of our relationship with each other too, but we need to live in this unity accepting that whilst joined together physically this does not mean we always love each other. After all, this would mean that we'd have to make concessions, listen and speak with a desire to be one and where would this leave us? We'd have to be happy at people using the BCP or singing Kum Bah Ya for goodness sakes (rather than using the Missal, Common Worship or the goose book)!
Obviously when Jesus prays that He wants us all to be one as He and the Father (and the Spirit) are one He doesn't mean this literally, does He? We just need to visit the words and revise the meaning for today's society. After all, it was so simple during the first five hundred years of Church, there weren't differing views and no one tried to interpret the Bible such that their own views, or the values of the society in which they found themselves, had any influence upon our understanding. Nobody was out to have their lifestyles, attitudes or craving for power influence the Bible and the way Christians lived and acted.
We're modern and have so much more knowledge now and we have theology and theologians who can tell us what the Prodigal's brother |(sister and mother too) thought about his return. We know how to make Church and Jesus look much more attractive, none of that killjoy, big stick stuff for us, we're enlightened and we intend to live in that reality. We're sophisticated and know what Jesus meant and realise that those who did the writing probably were a bit naive or uneducated (with the exception of Luke of course,after he had a doctorate and would have been a graduate, wouldn't he?).
It's obvious that whilst we are working towards us all being united in our disagreement, some of those who disagree with us may have to be 'encouraged' to move on as they're the sort of closed minds that will find it difficult to be as free as us and rather than them be sad they can be united with us from a bit further away. It's the kindest option really.
So, we can see the task before us - let's hope we don't get anyone else bringing in those curry cupsoupy things! We do have some standards you know.
Pax
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