1964 was an eventful year -- a half-century ago, humans were making strides toward space travel beyond the Earth's orbit, and Tokyo hosted the 18th Summer Olympics. The Beatles took America by storm, as Race Riots gripped big cities -- and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law.
And I turned thirteen on May 16th in 1964.
I mention that for two reasons. Although just two years on,
at the age of fifteen, I would leave school and enter the world of work, at thirteen
I remember getting a toy yellow dumper truck as one of my presents.
Last week I watched the deeply disturbing 4-part series ‘Adolescence’
streaming on Netflix. It is not an easy
watch, but one that I think we should try to engage with as it explores the
complexities, the family dynamics and the societal changes and pressures on
young people today. The basic plot line is of a thirteen year old schoolboy
named Jamie Miller arrested after the murder of a girl in his school.
As the story unfolds you are taken into the dark world of the internet, the increased mental anguish as young people who do not have the capacity to process issues and some of the images they can easily access and share through Instagram and other social platforms.
I found myself exploring Incel, a term associated with a mostly online subculture of male heterosexual people who define themselves as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one, and who may blame, objectify and denigrate women and girls as a result. The incel ideology is characterized by the hatred of women (misogyny) that is often expressed through hate speech or, in certain cases, violence againist women.
Interestingly I also watched ‘The Trial’ a 2025
single-episode British television drama directed by Michael Samuels from a
screenplay by Mark Burt. The drama is
set in Britain in 2035 in which parents are held legally responsible for the
crimes committed by their children. The drama shows teenager Teah on trial for
a serious crime, putting her parents Dione and David Sinclair in the centre of
a distressing legal battle against the Office of Judicial Inquisition, a
powerful new division of the Ministry of Justice.
Add into this the VE 80th celebrations that for me had a sad note as Europe is not at peace but has a war raging, as it is in Gaza and Sudan and now we watch as India and Pakistan engage in armed conflict. It is reported that there are 110 armed conflicts happening across the world at this moment.
How do we, as people of Faith, navigate our way through and
seek to speak into these global convulsions. What sort of conversations are we
having with family, friends and neighbours. What sort of stuff are we putting
up on social media and passing on, reposting, perhaps without some fact
checking first.
Some I know are reading these current seismic shifts as
signs of the times – the end times that is. However, I do think we need to be
cautious about this reading of Scripture. We need perhaps to look back in human
history and consider some of the other occasions when it appeared that all hell
had broken loose.
Taking this ‘last days’ approach could lead to a sense of
dismissal about current issues. If these are the last days and Jesus is
returning, then what need is there to try and understand or to deal with any of
the current problems. For some, who advocate that earth is not their home, they
are just passing through and are on their way to heaven, this can then become
an even stronger motive for dissociation from all the upheavals and all this
talk and rumour of wars and famines are simply signs of the times we are living
in and that are shortly to end.
In Mark 1.15 we read, “The time has come,” he (Jesus) said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
We then read on and discover what this kingdom of God looks
like in words and in deeds.
Jesus references the words of Isaiah to denote his mission,
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
Has that mandate changed – I think not.
Therefore, I come back to my question about navigating
through these changing and challenging times and speaking prophetically into these
times. (Prophetically more in the tradition of forthtelling rather than foretelling)
Apart from seeking to be informed as I can be (1) while remaining alert to ‘doomscrolling’ I am also finding great help from The Bible Project. www.bibleproject.com. Through their podcasts and other material they present the Scriptures in a way that speaks about the metanarrative of God’s redemptive purposes. Which includes a future state of a heaven earth conjoined reality. A realised Lord’s prayer.
The other initiative I am finding very
helpful, particular on the prophetic side is ‘Leaving Egypt.’ https://leavingegyptpodcast.substack.com/ This is a series of podcast interviewing
leading thinkers to try and help us to navigate our way through these times of unravelling
when so much that we have known and built our lives upon appear to be so much
shifting sands.
As much as lies within us, let us be informed and as engaged as we are able and to speak into our turbulent times with a voice of hope.
On May 8th we were invited to remember Mother Julian of Norwich (1342-1416) and we recall one of her most famous quotes...
"All shall be
well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well"
Always remembering that the earth is the Lord's and everything in it...
(1(1) I find
‘The Rest is Politics’ and the ‘Rest is Politics US’ helpful in gaining
insights and analysis of global issues.
