Our Christian Faith edited by Dr Brian Hick,
published by Larkpress, 2015.
Price: £8.00 + £1.00 P&P
Details from Catherine Fozard [cathy@fozard.com] U.C.A.
“What is it that is deep within me that I cannot understand?
It is Love, Holy Spirit, dearest God!”
This book is a collection of twenty
eight essays and two poems written by members of the Unitarian
Christian Association, some of whom are also members of the Fellowship
of Non-Subscribing Christians. The project was originally launched for
the UCA by the Reverend Bob Pounder and the editorship continued by Dr
Brian Hick. It is a well presented small volume, a stimulating read
full of interest and wisdom, all for the modest price of £8.00. But be
aware of the weakness of the“perfect binding” of the shiny card-thick
pages - my month old copy is already showing signs of disjointed wear
and tear.
The twenty eight authors include a
bundle of ministers, a clutch of Lay Preachers, a basketful of members
from gathered congregations and one Non-Subscribing Christian who has
never knowingly met another Unitarian - of any persuasion - face to
face. Twenty eight pieces, each unique in its narrative, detail and
interpretation, make for a multi layered work with poignant personal
accounts interleaved with a more general survey of our Christian faith.
For example: personal Faith - “I feel in my faith to occupy a narrow
middle ground,…a place of vital significance, dearly won”; our Hope -
“The most significant years of Liberal Christianity may be ahead of
us”; Agapé, a loving acceptance - “All that we share is greater than
all that divides”; Spiritual journeying - “I view faith as a journey
and not as a destination - the journey continues and I do not know the
destination. But I hope and pray that God will continue to guide me and
inspire me, along all my ways.”
The result of this eclectic mix is a
text fashioned a little like the web of a cack-footed spider. As a web
it could not be described as a miracle of classic arachnid design, but
rather an agglomeration of strands - some long, some short, some dense,
some delicate. But at its centre it is all wonderfully brought together
like Eliot’s ‘still point of the turning world’ - that which is, for us,
the living presence in our lives of a man called Jesus. “[Jesus] … is
saying that when you love the Lord your God with all your heart and love
your neighbour as yourself, that when you live with love in your heart
for all people because you know that all people are made by God and held
by Him in His love, then the kingdom is right here and right now.” It
is this first century Rabi, whether he be God or man or myth, who is
“the hero of our belief system”; who “has a potential to offer a Middle
Way”; and is “the central figure of the Gospels’ esoteric texts
which describe the spiritual journey of Everyman (and Everywoman)…” and
in whose name “… the great Christian festivals witness to the Human Form
Divine…” This is the Man of God and the Son of Man, who is both our
inspiration and at the heart of our heterogeneous Christian Faith.
Naomi
