Hope To Inspire

 My thanks to the Eternal Wall for inviting me to speak as part of their Hope To Inspire series. 

I hope you enjoy the talk and that you will be inspired to keep on with the small things that so affect the big picture.

One Year On

It was a year today. One year since two young girls had the courage to film his death. Kaylynn Gilbert, aged 17 and Alyssa Funari, aged 18 saw what was happening. Despite the threat of mace spray from the murderer, they kept filming as George Floyd died in front of their phone camera.

Their bravery meant that the world is changing. Black lives matter. They always have. But that day showed that they didn’t seem to matter that much and that something needed to be done.

The response around the world was immediate.  We’ve seen black men dying before at the hands of the police, but usually it’s a far-off grainy image. The fact that this was a few feet away changed everything. This couldn’t be hidden. In 21^st century America, racial prejudice was rife. And lest we pat ourselves on the back, it’s rife around the rest of the world too.

In the UK, the Government’s recent report was a bit of a white wash. Literally. A chair that was sensitive to the Government’s rosy blushes on white cheeks presented something that meant they didn’t have to do much. Shame.

There is so much more to be done. I applaud the efforts of the Black Lives Matter movement. It needs to continue. It still needs to be heard still.

Some responded in a disappointing way when George Floyd died. Some used the platitude ‘all lives matter.’ A thin veneer of respectability over a statement that was blatantly racist. Others pointed to the Black Lives Matter movement and some aspects of it that they didn’t like. Sure, there will always be points of disagreement with any movement. But just as we vote for a political party that is as close to our views as possible, whilst accepting there will be points of disagreement, so with Black Lives Matter. Points of disagreement on other matters don’t neutralise the central message.

The anger and grief I witnessed from my black brothers and sisters was and is real. The racial prejudice remains just as real. One year on, let’s keep raising the fist in defiance of hatred. And as Christian’s, let’s keep praying.

My Lectio365 bible study this morning captures it well:

‘This season calls out for clenched fists raised in peaceful protest. But the solutions call out for raised hands clasped in persistent prayer.’

#BlackLivesMatter

The Step Back

I’m not particularly pro-royalty. But I’m not a republican either.

Some of the Royals get on my nerves. Others seem a little assuming of their position. But the Queen and her consort have shown how it’s done. For 73 years of marriage and 69 years of reigning.

It was in 1952 that he voluntarily took a step back. The Duke of Edinburgh could have had a glittering career. He could have turned his hand to anything. A survivor himself of war and exile, he had steel, that’s for sure.

He chose to hone that steel into a shield of protection.

With the Queen’s accession to the throne, he took a permanent step back. Always the companion, always the consort. Always there in the background. But always ready to step forward and deflect criticism, helping with the weight of serving a nation.

And to do that for the rest of his life.

At their Golden Wedding, the Queen commented:

"He is someone who doesn't take easily to compliments but he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know."

As a nation mourns today, we can be grateful for a man who showed how to serve, how to prefer others.

A life of service indeed.

The Serendipity of the Fantasy Trilogy

Where does the concept of a book trilogy come from? And in particular, the vast market for fantasy trilogies?

The idea of a trilogy goes as far back as Greek literature but it found its recent popularity through serendipity.

When JRR Tolkien finished his book The Lord of the Rings, his publisher had a problem. One look at the vastness of the book Tolkien had written caused Allen & Unwin to look at a different route to market.

The year was 1954. War rationing was still a thing. And there was a real problem with publishers being able to source quality paper for printing. In addition there was a concern with a potential financial loss due to the high cost of type-setting and the publisher’s calculation of the modest sales resulting from such an unusual book.

Tolkien actually tried another publisher but in the end accepted that whatever Allen & Unwin said was better than no book at all.

The publisher suggested splitting the book into three. For this they had to agree to new titles - something Tolkien was reluctant to do, not least because he saw the book being formed from seven smaller parts. But Allen & Unwin got their way and the first volume, The Fellowship of the Ring went to press in October 1954. The Two Towers followed in 1955 and the final book, The Return of the King in 1956.

And so was born the modern concept of the fantasy trilogy. Many have been the acolytes to Tolkien’s work, though in my view none have come close.

It all happened because of a cautious publisher. And boy did they get their projections wrong with the modest estimate on sales. To date the trilogy has sold over 150 million copies, making it one of the top five best-selling books of all time.

The fantasy trilogy - all because a publisher was reluctant to fund the costs for one book. Serendipity indeed.

Why, Who, What - A Lockdown Narrative

I hope it’s here now. The end of a year of lockdowns, viruses and fears. As we step out of our doors, it’s a good time to assess what we want from our future freedoms. Is it just more of the same, or have things changed?

A technique I use with potential clients for autobiographies/biographies is to ask them three questions.

When someone wants help in writing a book, I ask WHY, WHO and WHAT. In that order.

WHY do you want to write a book? WHO is it aimed at? And WHAT is the content. Too many go straight for the story - the WHAT. But the other two questions are more important.

WHY write at all? What’s your reason? The
same can be asked as we come out of lockdown. Are you just going to go back to what you did before? The same old job? The same old patterns? The same old activities? That may be fine, but lockdown has given us an opportunity to ask WHY, to take a look at reasons and motives. To check that WHAT we were doing before is still worth doing today. (I recommend Simon Sinek on this – his book Start With Why is worth your time).

WHO are you writing for? Or to turn it around to a lockdown discussion, when you do what you do, WHO is it for? Just for you? For family and friends? Why not look wider? Maybe consider activities that help society? There will be a massive need for more Foodbanks in the UK coming out of lockdown. Around the world, with rich countries using lockdown as a reason not to give, there are immense needs in developing countries. And if you have a Christian faith, there are ways to support those working in the hardest of conditions around the world.

WHAT is the easy bit. The stories we tell in book terms. Too many start here. But as lockdown ends, before we do what we do, before we return to doing what we always did, ask WHY and WHO first.

As lives open up again, as hugs become possible again, as this time of lockdown becomes history, determine to make history.

“Such is of the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.” JRR Tolkien

The God of the Rocks on Mars

Take a look at the picture for a moment. Pick a rock and look more closely. Observe its shape, how it fits to the ground.

Now consider that as someone who lives in the 21^st century, you are looking at something no one from centuries past has been able to see. The estimated 108 billion people that lived before you never got to see that rock.

What you’re looking at, of course, is the amazing view from the latest NASA Perseverance Rover which landed on Mars earlier this month.

Those rocks on Mars have always been there since creation, waiting to be discovered. Waiting for you to look at them through the window of a space probe.

When the Bible talks of God making the heavens, it’s almost a throwaway line in Genesis. As the passage describes Him making the sun and moon, it says ‘He also made the stars’.

And not just the stars. The planets, the solar system, the fringes of space. And that rock you have chosen to look at.

God is a creative God. Just as he made the stars – and the rocks on Mars – so He made you and me. Not only that, he made a way for us to know Him. Despite our best efforts to ignore Him and do our own thing, He made us to love Him and showed His love in sending His Son, Jesus.

God, who is from eternity, was born in Palestine, lived and died a man, and created a way for us to know Him, through death on a cross. The tragic moment was also a creative moment. As Jesus rose from the dead, His enemies were defeated and even today, even in the fast tempo, know-everything 21^st century, the invitation is the same.

The God who made the rock you are looking at made you. Made you to know Him as a Father, made you to be loved and cared for as a child. He shaped you, formed you, made you. Loved you.

And still loves you.

At the same time as that rock is being viewed for the first time, each of us have faced a year when all around us became seemingly less solid than that rock. A time of contagion, of economic breakdown, of separation and loneliness.

But there is One, steadier than a rock, who still cries out: ‘Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord?  And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Saviour; there is none besides me.’ (Isaiah 45: 21)

During this time of lockdown, with a realisation that there must be more to life, thousands have prayed a prayer for the first time, asking for forgiveness and for a new life. You can pray it too:

Lord Jesus, I know you are alive and are still changing lives today. Please change mine. Forgive me Lord for my life lived without you. I invite you in right now as my Lord and Saviour. Please come and change me. Amen.

May the God who formed you and who made the rocks on Mars be your Father too. May the God who sent His own son Jesus be your Lord. May the God who loves you be known by you.

And if you prayed that prayer, do message me and let me know.

Conspiracy Theories – The Danger of Rabbit Holes

It’s a couple of weeks after Joe Biden became President. And the conspiracy theories are still flying. Trump was cheated. Biden is a paedophile. And a favourite Christian one – the vaccine for Covid is the Mark of the Beast.

All these conspiracies are the result of rabbit holes. By that I mean, when we have a certain point of view, we tend to go down a hole and surround ourselves with like-minded people. That’s all well and good if we were also to be surrounded with other views, including the actual news from trusted sources. But rabbit holes don’t allow for that.

The sadness of recent times is that many who have a strong view have turned to conspiracy theories to support their view. These theories give a perception of control by providing a channel for anger or fear.

The result is an even stronger view with those same people then removing themselves entirely from any contrary views. If, for example, I were to post onto a Facebook thread of someone saying that Trump won the election and highlighted a neutral news article that showed otherwise, it’s likely that I would be asked not to post at all on that thread.

Hence there can be no argument, only one point of view.

This has become worse still with many taking themselves off the broader reach social media such as Facebook and Twitter and joining lesser known services such as Telegram, Gab and Parler (the latter now closed), that tend to specialise in conspiracy theories. Deeper rabbit holes in other words. It means that people are being misled and lied to. They are surrounding themselves with those lies and - of course - no one else can possibly be correct.

We have a social media problem. Already Facebook sends us posts it thinks we might like, along with adverts we may respond to. So there is an immediate filter supporting our views and limiting access to contrary views. The new social media families are taking this a stage further.

As a consequence, people genuinely believe some of the QAnon theories in the States. Crazy stuff. No, Hilary Clinton does not sacrifice babies.

I saw a sad one the other day that leached out onto Facebook from one of the new sites. A right-wing website plagiarized an Associated Press article to falsely claim that Pope Francis was arrested on human trafficking charges. And thousands believed it. Seemingly they still do.

I love the post from my friend Anna (shown here). Yes, believe in the mainstream media. Make sure you get your news from a variety of sources. And allow those with different views to interact with you.

No more rabbit holes!