24 May 2022
Bishop Guli's Thought for the Day contribution, BBC Radio 4, Tuesday 24 May 2022
I recently chanced upon the Radio 4 programme, This Cultural Life, when presenter John Wilson was interviewing Jarvis Cocker, front man of Pulp, one of the biggest bands of the Brit Pop era. Among other things, Cocker talked about the relationship between culture and real life, and in particular, how he finds inspiration for his songs. For many years he’d looked for inspiration from culture instead of his experiences and what actually happens. It was an accident, falling out of a window as a young man and spending 6 weeks in hospital, that made him realise inspiration was never going to land on him from on high. Instead, he began drawing on his experiences and this gave weight to his songs, making them convincing and enabling others to connect.
Sometimes there’s a perception that religion, like culture, is something out there that we must be inspired by. That faith is about a set of rules which exist in a vacuum and that if believed and lived by they’ll somehow unlock the door to spiritual fulfilment. But to truly believe, faith has to make sense within the context of our particular experiences. Jesus was intensely interested in the every day lives of ordinary people. The Gospels are full of stories he told which speak of his capacity to connect faith to the lived experiences of those in 1st century Palestine. And today the Church, and perhaps all faith groups, are arguably at their best when engaged with and connecting with the reality of people’s lived experiences; taking seriously the diversity and complexity of human life – journeying with those lost in grief following the death of a loved one, for example, or giving space to young people searching to discover themselves and the meaning of life. This is faith, informed by experience, helping to make sense of life in all its convoluted intricacy.
Yet there are also timeless truths which for Christians are revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Truths which author and theologian, Elaine Heath, refers to as the Tradition behind the traditions that have emerged over time. And the Christian Tradition that transcends time, Heath says, is that God in Jesus continues to make all things new. The task for Christians, then, is to re-discover and re-interpret that truth afresh in each generation.
In This Cultural Life Jarvis Cocker too spoke of cultural artefacts so significant that they’re of lasting value – poetry, paintings, music, sculptures and so on that continue to have an impact, years after first being created, with the power to connect, and inspire artists anew.
Ends
