jonnybaker

resistance

i called in today with harvey kwiyani to the exhibition that is on at fulham palace on resistance. it's full title is the bishops of london, colonialism, transatlantic slavery and resistance. scroll down on the exhibition page to find info. fulham palace was the residence of the bishop of londion until 1973 which is the connection. i had not been there before. the fulham palace trust have been researching the link between the bishops of london and slavery. one of the outcomes is this inspired project which is curated/led by a poet adisa the verbaliser who worked with schools and community groups around it. the angle it takes, as well as being very informative (see for example this timeline), is to explore acts of spiritual and physical resistance that ultimately brought an end to the slave trade. do have a look at this page and click on the links on the right hand side which has loads of really interesting information and stories. it's no surprise of course to find that the research demonstrates historic involvement of the bishop of london and the church of england in colonialism and transatlantic slavery. 

the acts of resistance reminded me of the writing of michel de certeau in his book the practice of everyday life who shows how people resist strategies through what he calls tactics. 

we went on to the serpentine to see the grenfell movie by steve mcqueen but failed to do so because i hadn't thought to get tickets - doh! turns out it is full. so if you go to that book ahead. i hope to go back.

all this of course is very poignant and relevant as at cms we seek to work out what post colonial mission might be or mean or look like. harvey leads our african christianity programmes so is a good friend and colleague - it was great to hang out and talk about this stuff today.

the big one

it was great to take part in the big one, extinction rebellion's protest in london. i joined in the discussion, service and march hosted by christian climate action and then things around parliament square. here are a few photos from the day - extinction rebellion the big one

steampunk

a lot of steampunks hanging out in shrewsbury this weekend. looking mighty fine too.

the creative act: a way of being

i was given the creative act: a way of being by rick rubin for my birthday and have really loved it. it's a beautifully designed and made book of 400 pages or so. don't let that put you off as it's not linear. it's a series of 78 reflections on creativity which i think you could dive into in any order. rick rubin has taken 8 years or so to write it and it really feels like it is considered with real depth and wisdom to it.

the title tells you that he sees creativity as a posture, a way of being which has an openness to the abundance of life that comes from 'the source'. if we will pay attention and notice we will tune in to all sorts of inspiration that is happening around us all the time. he of course is a music producer so his reflections come from working with artists over many years but he is keen to say that creativity is something everyone can engage with i think of creativity as pretty spiritual so it was good to read a book that seemed to take the same start point. 

he doesn't quite spell out what he sees the stages of the creative process are but i think they distill down to exploration of ideas; through that discerning what idea to work with - he calls that the seed; then there is generative phase of developing that idea; through to completion. what i was struck by about the process is that in the first phase it is expansive, exploratory where you really need to push out as much as possible. and then when you get to developing and towards completion the opposite is the case - it becomes important to distill it down, edit and focus. this makes some of the sections seem paradoxical but it's because they belong in different phases of the process. if you are familiar with writing on creativity (i have a whole shelf of books on that!) there will be themes that are familiar but there is also lots that is original and it's beautifully crafted. 

i found it really inspiring. if you prefer a podcast to a read then malcolm gladwell talks to rick about the book on their podcast broken record

easter and empire

nomad podcast's easter special easter and empire is amazing - thank you guys! i am a big fan of ched myers. but this take on easter is so powerful and reminds why i am a follower of the way of christ. i also really loved the gauntlet he throws down at the end to listeners who deconstruct - essentially that is fine and good but reconstruct because we need new communities of hope following in this way! as an aside what a brilliant take on the original ending of mark's gospel which ends without the resurrection. 

into silence

as is my custom each year i am heading into silence for a few days to, slow down, unplug, pray, reflect.  looking forward to camping in the tipi, cooking off the fire. it's been pretty wet but hoping for a better few days! the forecast has just started looking like spring might finally arrive!

grace easter vigil

grace conveniently falls on holy saturday this year so we will be hosting an easter vigil. we’ll be beginning with the cafe open at 9:30pm and then grace will begin at 10pm mixing the traditional fire lighting, candle procession and readings with grace’s own take and flavour on proceedings. hope to see you there.