My study leave has been fascinating; I have read so much that has stimulated my mind but I will not give it to you all at once! I have been working in the quiet studious atmosphere of the National Library of Scotland on George IV Bridge, a bit of a retreat into an ivory tower for two weeks. The 'glue-question' was prompted by something I read.
What is the glue that holds us together? 'Mothers' was the immediate answer that Jean gave me and I suppose for many families that is true! Mothers, so often, are the hub through whom the family news travels; mothers keep in contact when families are spread much more than anyone else.
We could ask that question about the community we live in: what holds our community together? A hundred years ago the glue holding the village of Juniper Green together would be the fact that everybody knew everybody else. Last year, the village came together around the JG300 celebrations. Is there any kind of glue holding the community together in Baberton Mains? Not living there, I'm not aware of anything, other than the little pockets of friendships and relationships between neighbours.
What about society in general? A hundred years ago, British society was held together by a common Christian story. Most people knew the Bible's story. There was a Christian heritage that the nation held as important and most people shared, even if they didn't profess a faith of their own. This heritage gave a set of values and standards that was almost universally accepted as good and as the basis and foundation of British society.
We now live in a pluralist society. That simply means that there is now a number of sets of values and standards, not just one. Different groups of people hold by different values. We can no longer argue that one set is right and wrong because we are told that 'what is good for you is not good for me'. As a result there is no glue holding society together and my fear for the future of Britain is that society continues to disintegrate in a welter of confusion, violence and fear.
What about Church? What is the glue that holds us together? We might see ourselves as a random collection of individuals who happen to believe similar things and who happen to live in the same place and so happen to worship together once a week, on a Sunday. That's not a very strong glue!
On the other hand, we could be a group of people who have a real sense of shared purpose. We could be a group of people who really do have a sense of shared faith, that we do believe the same things. We could be a people whose passion is to share our faith with others, to see other people come to believe these things too. I believe that the best thing the Church can do for the nation is make sure that our glue works.
What do we need to do to make that happen in a stronger and stronger way?
