Further on Friendship

For, in good truth, a friend is more to be longed for than the light; I speak of a genuine one. And wonder not: for it were better for us that the sun should be extinguished, than that we should be deprived of friends; better to live in darkness, than to be without friends. And I will tell you why. Because many who see the sun are in darkness, but they can never be even in tribulation, who abound in friends. I speak of spiritual friends, who prefer nothing to friendship. Such was Paul, who would willingly have given his own soul, even though not asked, nay would have plunged into hell for them.With so ardent a disposition ought we to love.

John Chrysostom, Homily II on 1 Thessalonians

headline

I don't usually have much praise for the trashy, free "news"paper mX that gets handed out on Melbourne public transport of an afternoon. With a few thin columns like 'Boring but Important' and 'Doom and Gloom' to let you know what is actually going on in the world, it's largely devoted to celebrity gossip. But a recent headline showed some class. Over a front page article describing Robert Mugabe's outraged response to John Howard's decision to cancel the Australian cricket team's trip to Zimbabwe, the headline ran:
Despot Calls Kettle Black.

letters to the editor

I've been in a letter-writing mood recently, and some of my rants have even been published. But in the process, I've learned a few valuable (and slightly painful) lessons. One of the letters I wrote was to TMA, in response to a recent article on what we can learn from Wilberforce. I thought it was a good and worthwhile article, but it was entirely focused on what Wilberforce did right, and given my thoughts on this, I thought a more balanced perspective would also be helpful. So I fired off a letter that pointed out a few of Wilberforce's less positive attitudes/achievements - his confidence in the 'God-given' social order, his support for legislation to suppress and punish working-class activists and his efforts to halt the involvement of women in the abolitionist cause. I suggested that we needed to learn from his mistakes as well as his impressive successes.
The letter was published, and this edition of TMA contains two letters in response. One, from the original author of the article was pleasant, thoughtful and raised several more good points about the historical context. The second writer was not so measured. He obviously read my letter as a mean-spirited attack on a great man. He criticised my facts, my historical method, my agenda and my conclusions. He accused me of sounding like a 21st century liberal progressive, which I am horrified about (really)! I'm composing a reply that is as conciliatory as I can make it while still holding firmly to my original argument, but in the meantime I've learned a few lessons about writing to the paper. I share them with you, dear readers, in the hope that you will never offend so unintentionally.

• Never, ever send a letter to the editor from your work email, even if you are writing on a topic of personal expertise. Sending a letter with my signature block from the 'School of Historical Studies' clearly made me sound like some kind of know-it-all historian who was trying to throw my weight around. (OK, maybe I was, a bit! I've repented!)
• Making an historical point in a letter to the editor is not the same thing as making one in a journal article. It's all much more personal and (not surprisingly!) less academic. But at the same time, it's much shorter - so it's hard to be as nuanced as I'd like to be. As a result, it's easy to be/sound glib or harsh.
  
• Never underestimate the extent to which Christians feel personally protective of their historical 'heroes'. This is an issue I feel strongly about, but I realise I have to tread gently. I think Wilberforce was an amazing and inspirational figure. I also think he left us with some very unhelpful attitudes to social action that we have still not fully critiqued. But I need to respect people's loyalty and devotion to their heroes.
  

I am working on my letter in response, and I will post a version here so you can decide whether I've learned these lessons well enough!

Promises and piecrusts

What I think about the budget.

Friendship

'Frequently with groans & tears have I said before the Lord: 'O that I could meet with a friend as divinely inlightened and as faithfull as her I have lost, it would be worth going over red hot bars of iron to purchase, but tho' I know of some of the Excellent of the Earth... yet friendship is so immediately the gift of God, that we cannot form it when we will, there must be similitude of mind, a something which God alone can give...' Mary Bosanquet Fletcher, Autobiography.

I am preparing a paper on the meanings of friendship in the autobiography of Mary Bosanquet Fletcher, a famous early Methodist preacher and pastor. Bosanquet Fletcher had a series of intense friendships with other Methodist women, which were incredibly important to her in practical, spiritual and emotional ways. While she worried about the dangers of such friendships becoming idolatrous, she also celebrated the importance and value of friendship in the life of the believer, as a gift of God. It has made me conscious that I haven't seen much theological work on 'friendship'. Can anyone recommend a book or two?

Merry Men

Somewhat to my embarrassment, I've developed a bit of an addiction to the new BBC series of Robin Hood. There's lots to criticise about it. Robin himself looks far more likely to have just returned from fronting a Brit Pop band and dating Kate Moss than defending King Richard against the Saracens. The dialogue and plot are riddled with painfully obvious and ahistorical comparisons to present day concerns: When Robin is arrested by the Sheriff in episode two, Marian tells Guy of Gisborne that Robin is legally entitled to a trial. Not any more, sneers Guy. During a time of war, the security of the state is paramount: the Sheriff has suspended the laws entitling suspects to a trial, and sentenced Robin to immediate death. How dastardly! It's eye-rollingly unsubtle. And now Robin has started dropping quotes from the Qur'an to show what a new age warrior he is (he might have killed a lot of Saracens, but at least he understands their culture!).
At the end of the day, however, Robin Hood is a compelling story. I've loved it in every form - from Prince of Thieves to Men in Tights. And this series gets the central elements right: there are cackling villains and dashing heroes, the merry men are bumbling but courageous, very few people actually get killed, Marian is feisty and frequently right, and the off-scene presence of Richard the Lionheart provides the promise of ultimate restoration. So don't invite me out on Sunday nights for the next three months!

deleted post

My husband was a bit alarmed by my last post about my use of Google Books as a research short-cut, because he thought it might come back to bite me. Imagine, at my first serious job interview, a leading question about how I use Google Books! So I've deleted it. But really, my conscience is clear. I would never imply or suggest that I had read an entire book or was familiar with the details of its argument merely on the strength of reading the introduction. But I would happily use relevant quotes from a section of a book I had read - and comment on those quotes - without reading the whole book. This is standard practice and no different whether one accesses the book in the library or on Google Book. The fact that you don't always have access to the whole book on Google Book does, however, add some sense of dodgy dealing to the whole process!

Thinking, thinking

In spite of the sporadic nature of my blogging, Simon has very kindly nominated me for a 'Thinking Blogger' award. The rules require me to nominate a couple of other thoughtful bloggers, and while many of the blogs I read have already been nominated, I'm delighted to highlight a few of the blogs on my roll. In case you haven't visited them already, do check out:
Meredith at faith and place, who writes very thoughtfully on the history and theology of places and spaces, as well as a multitude of other interesting subjects. Her current posts on historians are terrific!
Greg at consequently.org, who muses on logic (and occasionally theology/politics/academic life) and keeps a fascinating list of links on all sorts of topics.
Stephen at greenflame, who writes on science, science fiction, theology and all things technological - a superb source of reflections, links and resources for anyone interested in these subjects!
Enjoy!

Bartlett and the Bishop

Over at Frankly Mr Shankly, a post that has two of my favorite thinkers in conversation!