How very old-fashioned and religious some might say – perhaps they are right! And yet, is there something here that is misunderstood, something worth investigating to be salvaged, ‘contextualised’ and re-understood for our times?
Lent used to be about giving up biscuits and chocolates, religiously! There’s something here of an internal struggle that goes on between ‘legalism’ and ‘liberty’ or, if you prefer, ‘Law’ and ‘Grace’.
Do you live in the shadows or in the sun? If you take a few minutes to consider the highs and lows of your life so far, how do you think it adds up? We all want to live on ‘victory hilltop’ but often find ourselves in the ‘valley of defeat’. This can be related to achievements, finances, relationships, moral decisions, faith and our walk with God. Rather than being a steady progression, for many Christians life seems more like a game of ‘Snakes and Ladders’ – one minute riding high and the next crashing down a spiral of disappointment when apparent success has given way to abject failure. This woodland walk is beset with pitfalls from unseen hazards in the shadows but there is a better path heading towards the light. How to get on the path where gains outweigh losses and victory triumphs over defeat?
In 1623, William Shakespeare wrote a far-fetched play entitled ‘The Winter’s Tale’, borrowing heavily from the plot of Robert Greene's pastoral romance ‘Pandosto’, first published in 1588. Part tragedy and part comedy, it spoke of the deep pain that is caused by separation and the wasted years when relationships break down. Despite the sorrow of the first three acts involving jealousy, accusation, death and injustice, things turn out well in the end. The two fathers, Leontes and Polixenes seem spiritually dead and have lost all ability for feelings. However, there is a resurrection at the end and joy as reconciliation comes through Florizel and Perdita in the next generation. Winter is the season when structures are revealed as trees shed their leaves and you see their essence. This tale echoes this process in a fanciful story but God’s story does it in stark reality as relationships are redeemed through from his son’s work on a bare tree.
Some people are professional backsliders and some do it just for the fun of it! The first recorded use of the term ‘luge’ was in 1905 and derives from the Swiss dialect of the French word luge, meaning ‘small coasting sled’. It involves lying on your back on the luge and hurtling down either steep roads or ice tracks at speeds from 80mph upwards with great risk to life and limb. Though most injuries involve bumps, bruises, broken bones and concussions, there have been at least four fatalities in public sporting events. To lie on your back puts you in a place of exposure to risk and makes you vulnerable. Not that this cat is going anywhere fast in its backsliding! However there are many ways that a person who once felt secure in faith begins backsliding. Where will it end? Many have argued that a Christian can lose their secure position – what do you think?
