« The hidden price of multi-culturalism? | Main | More lunacy from the "centre"? »
June 25, 2004
Visions of society and roads to faith?
Thanks to a link from "The view from the Foothills" to my post quoting Terry Pratchett on the Nac Mac Feegle I have found a site called "Ex Libris" which has a must read post for those just starting to discover Pratchett. As I think I have remarked before, there are many layers to the Pratchett stories and sometimes you need to get past the jokes to see the point underlying them.
We do seem to have forgotten that a society works because the majority of those living within it feel secure, comfortable, and free to enjoy the fruits of their labours. It ceases to work as soon as one group or another within it starts to dominate the agenda or to impose their "vision of heaven" upon everyone else. I find again and again that Pratchett manages to hit that squarely between the eyes, often using his characters such as the Vampyr Count de Magpyr and his ghastly clan to illustrate the point. For me, one of the strongest things I get from these books is that this is a man who came from faith and has lost it, and now spends a lot of time trying to find it. His books read at one of the many sub-levels as a journey of exploration - much as my blog is for me!
Well, enough, I think, from me on this - do visit the two links above, they are worth a read.
Again on the The view from the foothills site. I find another item that arrested my attention - a statement of faith, and a personal journey recounted. For many of us this is both a shared experience of how we came to belief and faith and an intensely personal one. It can be a very difficult and sometimes frightening journey as we move from initial realisation that we are being directly addressed and having to confront our own fears and inadequacies, and a very uplifting and joyful experience as we realise that we are not alone and that God Himself makes up for our shortcomings in His own inimitable way.
My own journey began probably in a Methodist Sunday School - I say probably - because they scared the living daylights out of me with a vision of my entire family (who smoked, drank, and did all the things the Minister seemed to think were Cardinal Sins which consigned you straight to Hell!) being destined for damnation. The RC Cathedral was a much more attractive place to spend the Sunday School time - it was only a little further away and my parents weren't likely to check on my Sunday School attendance anyway - with its bells, incense, and the chanted Latin Mass. That came to an abrupt end when the Monsigneur called on my parents to ask if I would like to be an Altar Boy. They weren't rude about it to him, but the "no" was quite firm. My Grandfather was, after all, a Grand Master in the Orange Lodge.
It was explained to me that if I didn't want to be a Methodist that was OK, but I was not going to be a Roman either.
Then came the day my mother "got religion". She caught it from a friend whose husband was a Church Warden in the Anglican Church, and it was politic for his wife to actually be confirmed and at least make the effort to be a churchgoer even if she had reservations about the rest of it. The Rector actually managed to convince both her and my mother (who had gone along to these classes to keep her friend company!) that it was not only a good idea, but a very worthwhile one - in fact they both met Christ.
Well, to cut a long story short, the rest of the family, including me, were dragged along to a service (Evensong, as I recall), and it was one of those "Damascus Road" moments for me. The lesson from the New Testament was the Prodigal Son. The sermon was one of the best I have ever heard, and it used the story magnificently. Christ sat beside me that night and I knew it. No, I wasn't struck blind or moved to visit someone for a cure, nor was I given any visionary insights. I just knew He was there and that He wanted me to become a friend.
Like all friendships, it has been a rough journey through its tests and trials. But He has never lost faith in me and has always welcomed me back with warmth and open arms. I sincerely hope and pray that everyone who searches for something to believe in will discover as I did that the still small voice is there for each one as well - all you have to do is acknowledge it.
Posted by The Gray Monk at June 25, 2004 08:11 AM