PCN Newsletter 31st July 2020
Friday 31st July 2020
When replanting our garden we put herbs near the kitchen door and one of the delights has been how well visited the marjoram is by bees and butterflies. - Sarah

Something Solid We like to see what we are up against. We feel unsettled and uneasy when dealing with concepts that are not visible and tangible. Just consider that the ‘solid’ table in front of you is comprised of atoms that are largely space but high in energy. The virus that has caused so much disturbance and unhappiness in our lives is invisible to the naked eye and that fact has caused a great deal of confusion as to how we deal with it. If only it were visible we would know what to do and there would be considerable support and enthusiasm for suggested solutions. Without hard, visual evidence some people will deny its existence and carry on as normal. I am reminded of events in the bible where people wanted ‘evidence’. Moses, returning from the mountain found the people had made their own gods, Thomas wanting to see for himself the wounds in Jesus’ body, “show us the Father” request by the disciples. We too feel happier when there is an icon or ‘image’ to look at when in church and feel uncomfortable when asked to be silent in prayer during a service. Perhaps this is why many services are full of activities – hymns, readings, sermon, with hardly a moment for the spiritual to be experienced. This is strange when we live in a ‘virtual’ world where much of our communication, especially at this time, is done through the internet. We use the technology without understanding the details of its workings or the implications of the effect it has on our lives as members of the community. I think Jesus found it frustrating when those close to him didn’t understand what he was doing or talking about. I think he would find the same problems if he were to be here, physically, now. What have we learnt? David Kemp July 2020This is taken from the PCN website where one of our new members posted a comment in response to a poem. Welcome to PCN Britain Robert. A call to discover divine mystery On the blog for 19th May was this remarkable poem by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: You will perceive The divine mystery in things The whole of it and every grain of sand Love every leaf Every ray of God’s light Love the animals Love the plants Love everything If you love everything You will perceive The divine mystery in things And once you have perceived it You will begin to comprehend it ceaselessly More and more everyday And you will at last come to love the whole world With an abiding universal love These words are wonderful. They describe an event, a calling, that certainly brings God to mind. Like Moses and the burning bush. In these “mountain top” experiences we are unintentionally affected by otherness, particularity and difference that is excessive to what we expected. However I have a reservation about these events in that they can become an end in themselves that is basically about self-concern, even giving rise to competitive piety! Dostoyevsky describes a different event in his novel “The Brothers Karamazov” where a character says “everyone of us is responsible for everyone else in every way, and I most of all”. This is love that is more like other-obsession than self-concern. What interests me is how does this arise. What event or experience can lead us to feel that awesome sense of responsibility. When I recognise the particularity, the difference and the need of the person before me I am disturbed and unintentionally affected by the presence of the other. There is an incessant demand that I must respond to the ethical needs of the person before me (This is the face-to-face confrontation that Levinas mentions). I reckon this demand is from God, because it is an event that invariably brings God, my ultimate concern, to mind. And this is no still small voice! God bawls at me - take responsibility! So I am to be responsible for the stranger before me, for how I deal with close relationships, for the needs of my body, for my immune system, my emotions, my mind, my self, for the mistakes I make, for the environment, for other creatures, for the future and probably for the weather! As I see it the demand that we take responsibility for others (love our neighbour) is the motivation to work for justice and fairness in our world and move forward on a journey from mundane self-obsessed hedonism to other-obsessed altruism. I suggest this is following Christ and applies to every person, whether they verbalise it religiously or not. And not only that! I recognise this positive mental attitude of ethical concern in most of the people I meet and it makes life wonderful, amazing and meaningful. Of course in practice we have to compromise to some extent. This is not a failing on our part but our duty to work with the world as it is - we render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. So, in the poem divinity seems to arise by contemplation of nature and the radical responsibility seems to arise by responding to the ethical needs of others. At one time I would have said both ways lead to God, but I am increasingly finding in my inner life that contemplation of nature is inadequate. Now. Here is the crunch question. Levinas made the audacious statement that God ONLY arises in the context of the ethical concern we have for others. Is this true? Robert Bridge
When these newsletters started back in March we had no idea what would happen, how long they would continue, or even whether they would be a success. I think we can say that they have been successful, I certainly know from the messages that I have received that they have been helpful to people who were feeling disconnected and isolated due to lockdown. Much has changed in those months and we are now hearing the phrase the 'new normal' without anyone being entirely sure what that entails. Hopefully the new normal will include much of what Adrian summarised last week with compassion and consideration uppermost in people's minds, inevitably the new normal will include some things returning that we would have preferred to leave behind, things like rush hour traffic which is once again beginning to build. For me, my new normal will be focussed much more around considering what is truly necessary. What I have learned over the past months is that much of my stress is from me saying to myself that 'I must', what I found out in lockdown was that there were relatively few things that 'must' be done. Many things that could be done, or even should be done, but few that must be done. As Adrian has said, there won't be a newsletter in August but they will return in September in a new monthly format with a mix of Chair's update, news from the office, events and also hopefully contributions from members. PCN Britain has a Management Committee, DVD librarian, website editors, social media editor and an administrator making sure that we keep things moving but this is your organisation and we welcome your comments and thoughts. If you feel that you would like to get even more involved we have three places on the Management Committee available for co-option, please contact either me or Adrian if you would like to discuss putting yourself forward for one of these. On a personal note I would like to thank people for the positive and encouraging responses to the things that I have written for the newsletter. Although I have written a few small pieces for publication in the past this is the first time that I have written regularly and it is nerve wracking so the encouragement has meant a lot to me. I would also encourage others who are unsure about submitting articles or thoughts for Progressive Voices, the newsletter or the website to take heart and give it a go. Stay well, Sarah
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