These thoughts do not represent my diocesan team or the Indaba project.
(Continuing Indaba Encounter Social network and Blog Policy)
Primarily that blog-title in itself becomes my starting point. It will have been misconstrued.
Oh, that we be ever more conscious of the ways in which what we say and do can be misconstrued.
By it, I simply wish to offer an analysis of the driving habits of the New Yorkers and those in Mumbai.
Upon this I want to hang some rather undeveloped theological thinking.
Thinking will always be undeveloped as we reflect on cultures because we can so easily lose the individual and start falling into making very pejorative statements.
Stereo-types can block our vision as does prejudice, for however enlightened we suppose ourselves to be, we all arrive with presuppositions and baggage, we all need to become critically reflexive practitioners.
I always wonder how I can become reflexive about that of which I am unaware for if I am unaware, how can I be reflexive and so the circle continues but perhaps this is why we have research supervisors, good friends and other means of accountability.
Anyway before all of this becomes simply impossible to say, through a kind of hyper, self-defeating super-self-consciousness, I will continue.
Sunday prep beckons so I will be quick about it.
In New York, there was a beep-beeping of horns that seemed to say - "Get out of my way - I am moving forward and I will think about the consequences later."
In Mumbai, the beep-beeping -enough, I hasten to add, to drive any sane person to distraction, was, in spite of that, benign in its intent.
It said, "Excuse me, I am behind you, if you just take a minute and look over your shoulder, you will see for you yourself were in this very space before me but I am here now, you have moved forwards...but do not ignore me... remember me!"
Now, I am pretty sure that this is speaking to me theologically. Everything spoke to me theologically in Indaba, India. Everything seemed to have a prophetic voice, even the traffic, very much being channelled through me, I hasten again to add - a very mere human being! What I am left with now is the prospect of trying to discern what was just for my own development and what needed to be said aloud. I will have at times confused the two. But, hey - we are all learning!
To get back to my theological reflection - the beeping - ....
The Episcopal church does in many ways seem to be, at times, behaving in a way concordant with its beeping. "I will behave how I will - I am moving forward, get out of my way." Now I am aware that this is crude and I want to look into this and come to some more nuanced position but we are living now in the Communion in the fallout that came out of their decision in 2003 with that particular consecration that threatened to 'tear the fabric of the communion' - Rowan's words, not mine.
Now from what I could gather about our North India friends, they too are running in concurrence with their beeping. They are calling us to look back and see what we used to be. There is an Anglican church functioning there in terms of much of its litugy and ecclesiology where we were perhaps about thirty or forty years ago here, in England. I need to do some more research into both their ecclesiology and liturgy before I make any bolder claims but it seems to me that they are asking us to recover our Anglican ideals or tenants. In many ways, to me, it felt as though they were asking us to return to our first love.
As regards how the Church here in England drives the analogous car, well, here we are hesitant. You know us English peepers, on the whole, we very hesitantly use our horn, it's rather an embarrassment, we probably used to shout 'excuse me' from open windows in the past. I think in this way too, we sit on the fence, we push forward in places with a very missionary gospel, we proclaim and we evanglise but quite frankly, sometimes, we do so with acute embarrassment and look to our rather more politically savvy and intellectual/rational overseas American friends and hope to be as culturally relevant and inclusive as they are.
Anyway, it could be I am way-off with all this stuff, but that is just the way it appears to me, and until I hang some more research on its bones, it all might have been expressed rather crudely.
In attempts to research the issues, any suggestions are welcome. For now I am saving a paper up for some free time and then hope to get my head around "Anglican Covenant – Bishop’s Council" reflections by Doll which appears to have come under my lens.
Au revoir and onto Sunday preparation!
That is rather reserved writing compared with the Doll rubbish on The Episcopal Church. It is a dreadful article and yet one Rowan Williams wants English bishops to read. It combines key points of being factually incorrect with prejudice.
ReplyDeleteBut as for English drivers. Well the windows are up and they are shouting blue murder in private, but in public they appear all mild as they curse their way over speed bumps and other traffic calming measures. We obey the lane markings if convinced it is more efficient collectively, so a bit of self-sacrifice does come into it. But we like larger and more powerful cars, and expect authorities to make faster roads safer (don't live in Lincolnshire) and why has Norfolk also been bypassed regarding decent roads?
Get your theological chops around that, then: the British are notoriously two faced. All pleasant up front and a good bit of deviousness around the back and the need, ever so often, to binge with speed.
Well, very nice - there is that frankness elsewhere which I prefer to the thinking one thing and doing another. However, I have found in my own experience that being more American or Indian in my beeping can have me be very at odds with the more hesitant Brits. It's hard to honk appropriately whereever you are!
ReplyDeleteIt is a bit more complicated than that, I think. For a start, the Americans did wait for a quarter of a century for their fellow road-users to either give them room to pass or explain why this was not a good idea, an opportunity which was not taken. And the influences on South Asian theology are perhaps more complex than might at first be apparent (e.g. the Indian churches moved far faster on the ecumenical road than their English counterparts).
ReplyDeleteThanks Savi - I have been reading about the ecumnical foundations to the Church in North India and indeed yes, much the Church of England could learn there.
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