Train Wrecks for Jesus
Revs. Mark Townsend and Maggy Whitehouse are both ordained vicars ... and self-confessed f**k ups for Jesus. From spoonerisms at weddings, through breakdowns, divorce, failed emigration, shark attack (truly!) and back down to everyday stupidity and forgetfulness, we’ve lived and worked with the humiliation of failure for most of our lives. But every time we have fallen short, Grace and goodness have been the result even if it has only been the justified reduction of our egos. And this is our message - that it’s okay to be a Christian catastrophe (or any other kind of catastrophe for that matter). In fact, it’s pretty much essential in order to understand what Jesus was all about. Today we share some of our stories, have some laughs and we hope you will join us in future sessions by sharing your own f**k ups for Jesus (or Buddha or Krishna or ... or ... or). Remember, the cracks are where the light can get in. PLEASE NOTE: ABUNDANT USE OF THE F-WORD.
Listen on:
Episodes
Wednesday Aug 16, 2023
Wednesday Aug 16, 2023
You can't resolve conflict by avoiding conflict - today we talk about the peace-keeping work of Danaan Parry of the Earth Stewards Network. And the first thing to understand that our brains HAVE to make comparisons with the past, so it's really difficult - unless we stand in full consciousness - to accept new beliefs and things. So we're back to having the humility to realise that we are wired into prejudices and having to realise that we may well be wrong...
Wednesday Aug 09, 2023
Wednesday Aug 09, 2023
That paraphrase from Ecclesiastes is our theme today - on how our egos get in the way all the time - whether it's virtue signalling on social media, trying on a bishop's clothing and general attention-seeking to prop up our false selves. As ministers we often get to wear posh, flowing robes - which is exactly what Jesus pointed out is totally missing the point! So, how to hold the balance between what people expect and still come from a space of humility. Still practicing...
Wednesday Jul 26, 2023
Wednesday Jul 26, 2023
Jason Aldean's version of 'Try That In A Small Town' is a chart-topper in the USA and has been provoking a lot of reaction for its lyrics. In a way, the song is the elder brother's lament from the parable of the Prodigal Son and it is a clear indicator of how polarised humans are becoming. Polarity in such a world of diversity is narrow-thinking and contrary to all the great teachings ... but how do we actually find the humility to accept that?
Wednesday Jul 19, 2023
Wednesday Jul 19, 2023
Mark has been listening to Bart Ehrman and Marcus Borg so today we are being (slightly) intelligent and discussing the historical Jesus as in, what was he really like? What can we trust from the writings and how do you explain the ups and downs of the teachings in the Gospels? Fascinating stuff...
Wednesday Jul 12, 2023
Wednesday Jul 12, 2023
Today we're looking at hypocrisy (and owning up that we are hypocrites too). What is it about salacious tit-bits that we follow so avidly on the news while condemning other people from the back of our exquisite high horse? It's time for a couple of confessions and a sincere avowment that we simply don't know the answer to this one.
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
We start today with clear evidence of the importance of cherishing every day that we have because we never know how long we will be here... And move on to discussing 'the Voices' :-D When is it intuition and when is it delusion? And if it is the urge to bless or do good, does it really matter?
Wednesday Jun 21, 2023
Wednesday Jun 21, 2023
Today, we discuss wealth and how the modern world worships Mammon instead of focusing on Holy Mystery. The one thing that few of us seem to have? Enough. Whether it's time, money, love or rest. But the greatest assumption of the modern age is that nothing is enough...
One of the popular causes of offence being taken nowadays is when people make assumptions. Assumptions are made from old habits and the vast majority of us are horrified when we are (kindly) informed that we are inaccurate or out of date. So may we, please, explain gently that the assumption that more is better is not necessarily so. The search for more and more and more and more is what appears to be at the heart of human unhappiness.
Wednesday Jun 14, 2023
Wednesday Jun 14, 2023
Today we are discussing the increasing polarisation of our world and how easy it is to hate when our brains are only wired for fear or love and simply haven't evolved to cope with the rapid influx of information we receive every hour. Trying to find solutions is tricky but the answer is always the same - taking time out to rest, relax and refuel.
Thursday Jun 08, 2023
Thursday Jun 08, 2023
Nobody wants to change - at least not at the ego level. We want everyone else to change instead so we can be happier!
Consequently, when unexpected changes occur both to and around us we can find them hard to deal with and therefore resist them. Today Maggy outlines a simple way to accustom ourselves to the traditionally uncomfortable aspects of change. It's simple, but no one ever said it was easy!
Thursday Jun 01, 2023
Thursday Jun 01, 2023
How do you stop the world from overwhelming you? How do you create strong boundaries in order to do that which is yours to do? Today we talk about our failures - and occasional successes - to give ourselves enough time to look into ourselves for our light and our shadow. The shadow is the part of us we don't acknowledge and project onto others. The world is in a lot of shadow lately...