Angular Myrtle

Talking to some schoolchildren last week, one of them told me the ‘Lady who owns Germany is called Angular Myrtle!” I was pretty impressed because, spelling apart, I’m not so sure many of the adults I meet every day would get as near as that. The problem was that I wanted to praise the child for knowing the answer but felt an overwhelming desire to correct them too!

This is a problem we all encounter on pretty much a daily basis, the “Yes, but . . “ moments that we have where we want to affirm and reward and yet feel the need to offer correction too. When I was a schoolchild we had a teacher (nicknamed ‘Moonbeam’ because of his bald head) who boasted that he never awarded an ‘A’ because there was always a ‘but’ or an ‘and’ attached to every essay. No matter how hard we tried to please the man, he never wavered and would always point out how much further we could have gone.

The problem is that many of the people I meet seem to have the same idea when it comes to God. That no matter how much we change and regardless of the effort we put into our lives, He’s never happy with us. This, I am glad to be able to report, is not the truth.

I often hear children say, “Harold be thy name,” when saying the Lord’s Prayer. I guess this means we’re on first name terms with God! So let me tell you what Harold wants from you and wants to give you.

Harold has your pictures on His ‘fridge. He cheers when we get it right and celebrates every minor triumph that we have. He weeps over our tragedies and is, if we but reach out to touch Him, but a fingertip away. Yes, God takes pleasure in us and wants, like every good parent, the very best for us. But He wants relationship, not religion – for religion only tells you that you are wrong regardless of how far you’ve come. Religion tells you to give more, be more and then tells you that you are still wrong. This isn’t Christianity, for Christianity is about relationship with God.

So why not stop for a moment and thank God for your friends, family, successes and the things you are proud of – because God loves to celebrate with you. Now think of the things that trouble you - the problems, the people who are struggling and the things that need to change. Give them to God, because He is with you as you face them and will, if you ask, give you the strength, and the means, to overcome them and be blessed and a blessing to others.

In the Bible God says that He will be with us, by our side, to the very end – not a hollow promise, so why not give Him a try and find out how much Harold loves you today?

Pax

Religious Education - Observations and potential solutions

It wasn't that long ago that Ofsted were telling us that the quality of religious education in schools was declining and that something like 20% of schools were failing and providing inadequate religious education.

If we ignore the inane mutterings and protestations of humanists and secularists who drone on, respectively and, endlessly about their belief (or rather lack of it) being included in the RE curriculum or made optional we can see their are some obvious issues and some equally obvious solutions.

Religious education is all about educating schoolchildren about matters religious! It is supposed to do what it says on the tin, couldn't be simpler. Now the first problem is that many of the RE teachers I have met at various functions, conferences and the like are people of no, or perhaps limited, faith. I have yet to meet any language teachers who are unable to converse in the languages they teach or dialogue about the finer grammatical points and the the culture of the nations what speak their lingo! I have rarely met anyone who, unlike the teachers when I was a child, was a practising member of any of the mainline faith groups and could dialogue regarding their faith or any faith with any degree of confidence.

Solution the first
Religious education teachers need to be people of faith and need to be specialists in their chosen subject. Religion is not merely a matter of geography - we're in England and so we're Christian, Anil is from India and so has to be a Hindu, etc. I don't expect theological degrees, but I do expect understanding of the core values, practices and outworking.
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The next problem is one which if I understand the baccalaureate (B) correctly is set to increase. Religious Education might still be a 'core' subject, but it's points what wins prizes and there don't seem to be any attached to RE with regard to the IB. It might be a core subject but it, like assemblies which are now non-religious mumblings before the first lesson in many places, is is an observance rather than engagement role these days, and this appears to be likely to descend further rather than pick up.

Solution the second
Secularism is taught in every subject outside of the religious Education classroom. Everything is secular and this is naive and rather than supporting choice (which secularists claim to want but really mean 'their choice') secularists lay the seeds of dissent, conflict, misunderstanding and sectarian differences.

Regardless of the point-winning examination subjects, there is a need within a balanced society for people to have some understanding of the beliefs, attitudes and actions of others because of their faith. This is what brings peaceful co-existence. What point is there in having an intellectually equipped people who can't live alongside others (the secularist problem in a nutshell). So the solution is that we must teach faith issues - simple isn't it!
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Humanists drone on about not being included in the RE syllabus, but in case they haven't realised it, they are actually a 'non-religious' bunch of often confused and fatalistic people who come under the classification of 'philosophy' (flawed or skewed philosophy more often than not, but hey ho - it's an 'ology'!).

One school I engaged with a few years back had an anti-Christian, alternative faith, head of RE. This person used the lessons to proselytise (unsuccessfully) and to attack and ridicule the beliefs of the faiths they were supposed to be teaching about. With this talk of 'Big Society' the reality is that 'Big Society' is what Christians are, and have been since we first set up shop - it who Jesus is!

Solution the third
Those of us who are trained in matters theological and are able to dialogue and discuss regarding other faiths, the differences and the similarities, who are equipped to explain the philosophy of religion and the realities of faith need to get off of our fat backsides and offer ourselves to the schools. I visit schools and do issues like the 'shoah' and genocide, other faiths, ethical issues, moral choices and whatever else they ask me to bring in. I do this from infant through to 'A' level and find that open and honest engagement is always well received, even when agreement might not be forthcoming.
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So, if you are someone who complains about the falling standards of Religious Education in our schools here's the bottom-line (honestly it is):

Stop complaining and get out there and be the difference!