The pattern? Fear; anger; scapegoat; propaganda; law change; violence. The scapegoats? Disabled, LGBT, BAME or elderly people. Anyone who is seen as ‘other’. This same pattern seems to occur in other countries in other times, during an economic depression.
I was allowed to be myself. I was allowed to be overwhelmed, and I wasn’t rushed to the tidy, theologically correct end. I was discovering a God who could handle all my upset and questions, I was discovering a God who was not placidly unconcerned about our world—in fact, this God of the Bible seemed to have some very intense emotions too.
I am wondering: do the possessions we own turn us into bloated Christians? I am slim in body, but obese in possessions – and I wonder what subtle effect this has on my spiritual life. Every time I look at a catalogue for present ideas for other people (which naturally turns into a list of things you might like for yourself), I feel like I am stuffing after-dinner mints into my face after a very large meal.
Even this week, there have been three gangs of marauding machete-wielding men terrorising our neighbourhood. So we padlock our doors and pray more, and more than anything I’m desperate that my kids don’t get freaked out by the guns
Today I am angry. I am angry at the politicians who are meant to look after the most vulnerable in society who are taking money away from them and giving it to the super-rich. This is nothing new, but everything in me screams, ‘This should not be.‘ When I rant this at him, my husband […]
It is hard for the rich to be generous. This sounds counter-intuitive. Surely it’s harder for the poor to be generous? When you have so many extra resources you can spare them, you can afford to be more generous than those who have little. This is true, yet it’s often the poor who are most […]
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Tanya Marlow blogs on the Bible, suffering and the messy edges of life [read more]