A radio item I heard (Woman's Hour again, I'm afraid – Jenny Murray, the earth mother - the fount of all wisdom). This was a report about a new kind of trained dog-helper (a la guide dogs for the blind). Someone has somehow discovered that if dogs are so trained, they can accompany people with epilepsy. Where someone has the condition to the extent that they have unexpected and totally debilatating seizures (with the resultant dangers of falling or creating other dangers), the dog can predict that the person is going to have a seizure. The dog can sense tiny changes in the person's behaviour and bodily expression, that even the person concerned can't. The dog then warns the person by barking/fussing to get into the safety position, on the ground. The dog then stays with the person during the seizure, in one case by resting its paws on the chest, until the person regains consciousness. And then the dog is very cheerful indeed because it knows it's going to get a big reward. The epilepsy sufferers interviewed spoke of how their lives had been totally transformed because of not living in fear of the danger of falling. They had, as a result, become dependent on the dogs. Normal daily living had become safety-assured - by putting their trust in their unquestioningly faithful assistants.
A visit from my newly acquired 'financial advisor'. Now if there's anyone who ever needed financial advice, then I would be the sort of guy they'd use in the training video. The very mention of the word pension (not to mention 'planning') and my eyes really do glaze over. I find myself sinking slowly into a kind of restful numbness. Now, funny enough I didn't go looking for financial advice, - rather the nice people from Ecclesiastical Insurance sought me out – and even though they are specially trained to deal with hapless clergy, the first chap who came to see me managed two meetings before he resigned, left the profession after 30 years experience - last seen walking aimlessly by the sea muttering something about episcopalians. I've now had two meetings with a brave and very competent new person, who, as luck would have it, is episcopalian, and more imortantly, endowed with the patience of an oyster. Being subjected to a 'financial review' was more enlightening than I would have imagined, (I would even recommend it) and there's something alluring about the concept that as an investor, one can buy into an assured future. It's so simple. But such assurance of course is well adorned with caveats about how such investment doesn't necessarily assure anything – because anything can happen in the financial markets.
The common theme is that we all have an hankering after life assurance – that, or those upon which/whom we can depend for our future wellbeing. It's about putting ourself into a powerful rather than a vulnerable position. Financially, banks or lenders will talk of the extent to which you are 'exposed' – being vulnerable is what you want to avoid...and being in the hands of powerful and dependable institutions is therefore desireable. Across history and across cultures peoples have sought to demonstrate and symbolise this dependability and position of power in the most concrete way that there has always been – in the shape of great buildings.
“As he came out of the Temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, teacher, what large stones and what large buildings”
These were country boys. Many of you will have seen as I have the impact of huge cathedrals that tower above small towns in many parts of Europe. I think of Wells Cathedral as an example. If these buildings are breathtaking to us now, we can only guess at their impact on people in medieval times.
The Temple in Jerusalem represented the essence of what it meant to be Jewish at the time of Jesus. It's sheer size spoke of powerful permanence. Under Roman oppression it presumably provided a feeling security and hope. This is why it was shocking and dangerous talk of Jesus to say that it would be destroyed. His poor disciples must have been dumbfounded to hear him say this.
I think Jesus' challenge to his disciples and to us is this: where do our assurances lie – upon what, and upon whom do you depend? In what or in whom do we actually put our trust?
Just as the temple symbolised a system of belief and its social and political implications, we can look around the world today, or look around our city and reflect on what our buildings represent. The world events of our time will probably be described by historians as repercussions of Sept 11th 2001. At the centre of this event, at the centre of the struggle for world power it embodied were these great Twin Towers – such monumental statements of capitalism towered over the whole world. They represented the might of American capitalism, just as the Pentagon stood for US military dominance. Congress, which escaped destruction because of the actions of passengers on the hijacked aircraft, symbolised American political power.
What do the greatest buildings in our towns and cities say about us, and our priorities? What message does the great Cathedral give about the importance of the church and its relationship to local people? What did the creation of this great Gothic revival building next to us, by one of the great Victorian architects, say to the people of Leith about their place in the communion of saints? What does its rotting, crumbling presence say now?
Where are the contemporary centres of power visible on our cityscape. In Leith most prominently at Ocean Terminal? (It's a remarkable architectural work – a Ukrainian Fish Factory ship from the outside, and the engine room of the original starship Enterprise from the inside). A Temple-scale monster on quite a remarkable scale – symbolising our society's reverence for the power of the consumer. You can get a bus from anywhere in Edinburgh, every few minutes to take you to Ocean Terminal (have you noticed?). Visitors must assume, rationally that Ocean Terminal is the place most revered by the people of this city. Aren't such buildings, banks, insurance companies, only a reminder that our society places its trust in material power (as was true of the church in the past). Don't they reveal how drawn we are to look for assurance in those powers?
“Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down”.
Jesus predicts the destruction of the Temple, as the prophets Micah and Jeremiah had done earlier. His words were later used against him, as part of the blasphemy charge against him. Did he mean it literally or figuratively? We don't know – both the Temple and the religious system centred on the Temple were destroyed in 70AD.
I don't imagine Jesus had anything against elaborate architecture per se, but what it reveals in us that would put our our trust in almost any glittering human institution, any centre of power, before putting our trust in God who has so demonstrably and humbly reached out to us in Christ.
“For by a single offering” says the writer to the Hebrew v14 “he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified”. Our perfection, our completeness for all time is assured in Christ. There is no longer a barrier between us and God (v20) – we are not in the hands of human or ecclesiastical agencies of power. The advice for ultimate life assurance is threefold from the writer to the Hebrews:
v22 approach God, yourself in faith, with a clear conscience
v23 hold fast to the belief we have – God is faithful to us
v24 provoke one another to love and good deeds
Not a bad rate of interest for a life. I shall probably see my financial advisor again (if she hasn't resigned) and absolve her for any responsibility for any future financial hardship I may have – it will be my responsibility and whatever happens I hope that somehow or other it'll provoking someone to love and good deeds.