Dear Friends

There is nothing I like better than being part of a group sharing stories; the stories of our lives. I guess we do this a lot in conversation anyway, but recently I and others have been supporting those who are going to be confirmed on 13 July in the grounds of Bolton Abbey. I spend a lot of time day by day thinking about the spiritual journey which the people of God make together and as individuals. How do we best resource those who are making a commitment to Christ so that they will discover something of the breadth and depth of the Christian life in the moments of our days? The spiritual life is not something spent on a wonderful dreamy plateau, although there may be fantastic moments. Rather, much of it is spent in the everyday. The spiritual journey is for real life just as it is.

Recently I was captive on the train and became preoccupied with a newspaper story of a man called Marlon. He and his wife and six children are living high up in the beautiful Banaue province in the northern Philippines. They have recently been hit by the steep rise in the price of rice. Each day Marlon goes to the terraced paddie fields where he grows rice. Thirteen years ago he had two fields and two mouths to feed. Now he has six mouths to feed from the same land, which only feeds his family for 6 weeks out of a year. So he has to go to the market to buy the extra rice he needs to feed his family. A year ago he was spending 2,200 pesos a month, now he is spending 3,700 pesos. In a good month he earns 3,000 pesos. He has no idea why the price has gone up, no electronic communication or information to explain to him what is happening.

What is happening, is that the world population has been rising steadily over the last decade and the Philippines has always had to import rice. Other rice producing countries have begun to control the price and limit the amount of rice they export and the price has gone up. China and India, both rice consuming nations, have been developing rapidly over the same time period. The recent natural disasters have also played their part. The rise in oil prices affects the cost of transporting rice. As I read the story I saw so many things coming together to build a picture that made my heart sink. This is not a story I have experience of personally. I have never lived long term in an environment where I was unsure how much food there would be for the evening meal and whether it would be nutritious enough to sustain me with my neighbours all facing the same story. And my expectation would be that in such a circumstance our government, national or local, would be able to assist in such a time of need. We have not been brought up to expect this and I hope we never face this situation. But I wish that others around the world were not living this experience now.

In the Christian tradition, the Kingdom of God comes as heaven, where God is present, becomes a reality on earth. In places where we cannot see God's kingdom at the moment, though that doesn't necessarily mean it is not there, we have to try and work out what heaven might mean in a situation and keep it in mind. Then we have to live so as to bring it about.

Do I have to become as Marlon is in order not to take for granted the food that I eat? I hope not. I say grace before a meal. Maybe I have to think about how this time before food can become more meaningful for me. Marlon and his family are not in the heaven I have. The chances are though that they are much richer spiritually than I. I then also wonder whether we as a country with a Christian heritage are taking our Christian spiritual tradition for granted also. How poor in spirit do we have to become as a people, before the effect is realised.

Jesus was concerned for the body and the soul and he knew their connection. Maybe now the time is ripe for rediscovering the important spiritual resources we also need to live a wholeness of body, mind and spirit. We have much to learn from one another and much to be aware of as we seek a heaven on earth.

Yours in Christ,

Ruth