Jason Clark

Trying to make safe spaces for diverse and healthy conversations about church, culture, mission, theology and motorbikes

Celebrating my 20th wedding anniversary today

So as you can see from the photo, I have changed very little since I was 21, and my wedding day 20 years ago.

We've reached that stage where jokes about people getting less for murder become possible, but are only apposite for my long suffering wife.

How did 20 years go by so fast, in which we have made a life together, raised a family, planted a church, and with all the vicissitudes and blessings thereof.  I consider myself a blessed man, and wonder if we might get another 40 years together, and what the rest of life might bring us.

So dearest Beverly,

Je t'aime plus chaque jour 
aujourd'hui plus qu'hier 
moins que demain 

Are we not like two volumes of one book?  ~Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

Caption competition, what's going on here? #dmingml

I love this photo of me talking with Martyn Percy, but it needs a caption.  Any suggestions?

The most important talk of my life? #dmingml

A photo from last Saturday night.  Me explaining to international friends how to navigate a curry house menu at the oldest Punjabi north Indian restaurant in the UK.

Are exams getting easier?

So yesterday saw another year in which record results were achieved for 16 year olds in the UK for GSCEs.

My poor daughter Anna, has elected to wait until we get home from holiday to open her results rather than have someone read them to her over the phone.  I watched her yesterday as she traded her friends results over Facebook and SMS/Text.

I vividly remember opening my GCE results, as they were called, in 1985.  I still have the results papers filed away. And I remember calling my friend by telephone, with no Facebook or SMS to telegraph to friends.

And it's 20 years since I qualified as a high school Religious Education teacher, and my knowledge of how much high school education has changed is rather out of date.  Certainly the news is full of the usual stories of how things are easier than in 'our day'.

Anecdotally my daughters education does seem full of things mine wasn't, study skills courses, mentors, specimens and examples, revision classes etc. All of which must have led to a rise in results, and for good reason.

Post-graduate education is where I have the most current and developing experience, and can compare that to my undergraduate experience of studying theology.  I would receive a question such as 'Is the Holy Spirit the Perfecter of Creation' with no guidance, no examples, no grading rubrics, no bibliographies.  Off to the library with pen and paper, not even a computer and google to help.  Writing essays was like a magical dark art that only the 'bright' students knew how to do.

Yet as I write syllabuses for post graduate students, they now receive book lists, grading rubrics, examples of previous papers, and related study skills materials.  All of which is better for them and rightly.

But sometimes when students complain, as students at all times in history will do, about a lack of help, I bite my tongue and resist the urge to say 'count yourself lucky, in my day...'.  Truth be told I lament the paucity of educational support that my learning was located in, that was too much 'sink' or 'swim'.

So on the one hand I'd like to think that education is working better at, well...education.  But on the other as I hear my kids discuss grades, and occasionally as I have students enquire about their grades, it seems that an A- is standard good grade in the minds of many, with a B a bog standard pass, and anything less is somehow a failure.

With the negative feedback loop of good university places requiring higher grades, those places costing more, and the appeal of an education institution depending on producing high grades, no wonder there is pressure on students to be awarded higher grades.  And after all haven't they have 'paid for' them.

Now I am feeling old(er).

Motorbike training in RAF valley

I'm enjoying a change of pace in Wales.  RAF valley with Prince William stationed here, is next to where I am staying.

It's been fun to watch the guys training fly by, very low, very fast and very often.  Put's my advance motorbike training practice up here into perspective.

Introducing Max Clark

So we collected and brought Max home last night. After a few weeks of silence (since Charlie died) the wagging tale that greeted me this morning was so mellifluous.

Dog in a box: Things I learned about life from my dog Charlie

So last wednesday night, we went out as a family and scattered our labrador Charlie's ashes in his favourite park.  Carrying my beloved labrador in a box whilst I carried so many memories of him with me.

Charlie came into our lives December 2006, from Ireland, and one of the first things I said to my kids was 'remember he's a dog not a person'.  
He was in a bad way, age unknown, having been found roaming the streets. Most likely his owner died or went into care and Charlie was turned out to fend for himself.  (Ireland btw has one of the worst records in Europe for how the population treat dogs, with an approach to pets that is culturally rather different to many other countries)

Charlie was the most gentle, kind, considerate, soul I have ever met.  He found his way into our hearts and losing him was one of the most painful experiences I can recall.  I was glad I was with him when he passed away, my voice the last thing he heard, despite the  trauma of that process.

So everyday as I rise first in our house, I still find the silence and lack of greeting from Charlie with his wagging tale to be the most haunting.  Charlie brought so many things into my life here are just a few of them.

1. Unconditional Love & Acceptance:  Pure raw love on a daily basis, that no matter how tired, ill or in pain Charlie was, loving me was his priority.  I wonder if pets are a window into the possibilities of love between people and God, a reminder of how far from each other we are with the layers and complexities of life.

2. Allow interruptions:  I am highly introverted yet with my work spend long periods of time with people.  It took me sometime to get used to Charlie being under my feet early in the morning, when I preferred to be on my own.  I could have excluded him, but he wanted nothing more than to sit by/under/next to me.  The gift of time and company, with no words spoken is a great gift.

3.  Enjoy the moment:  For Charlie everything at any moment was something to smell, and look at and explore.  His way of entering into the world, made me think often of how much I miss due to all the things I was processing that he wasn't.

4.  Success: Charlie didn't care how much I worked, earned, or tired to make a name for myself.  His only concern was to let me know he was glad to see me, and make sure I was ok.  Charlie remind me of how passing life is and how the ways we measure it are often so vain and futile.

5. The power of touch:  The rhythm of stroking a dog, of the connection in touching, feeling fur, warmth and presence, is so powerful.  I was told Charlie would need to bond to us, I think I bonded to him first.  

6. Life is loss:  And the greatest gift of all, his life in our hands, saying goodbye, and in that moment of his passing being reminded of my own mortality, and whose hands my life was in.

Charlie in life weighed 48kg, was a large dog, and his remains required a large container.  As I  held then scattered him by my hands, the remembrance of his love and presence grew stronger, whilst the weight of him slowly dissipated.  I wondered then how my 'puppy' could still be so dear to me?

As the sun broke through the clouds to shine on the field where he now lays, I realised, that Charlie wasn't a dog. He was a person.

Faster than a speeding bullet?

So the other day I raced a sports bike around Silver-stone.  Some photos of me in action came in the post today.

Not sure if I look like I know what I'm doing, or not? ;-)

         
Click here to download:
Faster_than_a_speeding_bullet_.zip (1189 KB)

Where are you investing your life?

Jason Coker, has asked me to take part in a series on his blog, under the following premise:

 
The Premise

You've just met a young American (or British, for you folks on the other side of the pond) adult who is utterly irreligious. Having been raised by agnostic parents, their family never attended any kind of religious gathering, and - although they understand what "religion" is and have been exposed to different religious practitioners - they don't really know anything about Jesus Christ or Christianity. But they're curious, so - knowing you have something to do with Christianity - they ask you three simple questions:


Who is Jesus Christ?

What has he done?

Why does it matter?


My response

Jason asked for 300 words or less and for us to answer how we want to.  Here's my first run at this challenge, and it's more than 300 words (oops)...


We all try to make sense life, what the meaning of life is, asking what is my purpose here, what is a good life, at least for myself?  And we all seem to get one shot at this life, one chance to take all that we are and invest it into our best answers to those questions.  At this time in history, and even when I was younger (I know it was some time ago), life seems about competition, survival of the fittest, and doing to others before others do it to you. Or as my gentle white haired grandma used to say, 'take care of yourself grandson, because in this life I've learned no-one else will'.


It's not that we don't want life to be about more than this, it's just that in our fast paced consumer world, being successful, getting ahead, looking out for yourself, is what our friends and family and so often we default to.  And even if you wanted to, you can't jam the system, there is no way to opt out of the juggernaut for getting ahead in life. It's the way things are, so either drop out, or get stuck in. 


And the effort and investment to get ahead, is kept alive and made worth while by the prize of what we think life is about, maybe a great career, great family, holidays, living somewhere cool, and retiring early.  Where we live, what job we do and what relationships we have reveal the answers to what we really think the meaning and purpose of life is about, they are the real investments we are making, daily with all we are.  It's our life, we are kings of our kingdom with our decision and choices, as we decide who and what we are, and what we bring into our lives, as we make a life.


Jesus was someone who understood what life was about, and decided to invest his life very differently. Instead of getting ahead, he said he had come to serve others, that his investment was into a different reality and economy, which he called 'The Kingdom of God'. That life, this life was about investing all we have, time, energy and money, our heart, soul, body and mind in a different reality. He said that jobs, where we live and relationships are very important, we've got that part right, but how we invest ourselves for those aspects of life is very different.


He even told us not to worry about all these things, that the reason we worry is because we fear losing things we shouldn't be putting our heart and soul into in the first place.  And he did more than talk about this new reality, he lived it.  Every day, every breath, every step, he invested his life in helping others see that life was about knowing God, and entering into the plans God has for us. Using our gifts, and skills, passions and interest to invest in God's economy.  And he said that if we do that, God will give the best life we could ever have.  And he said that if we practice this life investment, our lives will continue, after death into eternity.  Jesus brought a warning too, reminding us to take care.  That where we invest our lives determines who we become now and forever, so choose wisely.


Jesus invitation seems so impossible, it was as impossible 2,000 years ago as much as it is now.  In fact people intent on investing in a way of life much like ours today, eventually put him on a cross and killed him. And as they looked at him dying with no friends, no job, no career, no success, and no status they asked him, 'where is your God and this way of life now'?


But he didn't stay dead, you see the new economy and way of life Jesus had invested in, was real, and who he was and who he had become, carried on just like he said.  The investment in God's kingdom saw Jesus rise from the dead.  He then told and showed others how his investment had paid off.  And we can choose where to invest, when those pressures of life seem insurmountable, that's when we get to do what Jessus did and invest in him.  Jesus said we'd need to pick up our cross, to practice life like he did, for others.  We invest our life in this new economy, by investing it in him with others.  Every day as we look at where we invest ourselves for work, where we live and who we have relationship with, is a chance to pick up our cross and invest in the same life Jesus did.


I was 17 the first time someone explained to me who Jesu was and is, and why it mattered, and maybe if I tell you what that friend told me, it will sum up what I'm trying to say here?  My friend said that, investing my life in Jesus, taking all that I am and giving it to Him, might not make my life easier, in fact in lots of ways it would be much harder.  But he promised me that, I would have something to live for and something to die for, that there wouldn't be a day when I wouldn't know meaning, adventure and purpose.


I chose to make that investment, and 24 years later, I have experienced the most amazing life, with all of that and more.  The depth and richness of discovering who I am, the most amazing experience of life with others, as I daily try to invest all I have in Him, has been stunning.  I'd love to tell you more about that sometime. Choosing Jesus was the best investment I ever made with my life.  Where are you investing yours?

 

And something from the Bible, from people who first learned about this investment and started to experience it with Jesus. Romans 12, '1 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.'



scared witless and smile a mile wide

I just got back from a motorbike race training day, with an old friend, at the Ron Haslem Race Track School at Silverstone.
 
My goal was to have fun, and not come off the bike.  Going down the back straight at 130-140 miles per hour was exhilarating.  But taking corners are 100 miles per hour was more so. Mission accomplished.
 
Aside from the fun, I went on the day to learn high speed cornering.  A police motorbike instructor suggested to me that learning to take corners safely and speed on a race track was one of the best ways to minimise the risk of an accident on public roads.
 
My instructor on my certificate and feedback commented that I was 'a typical road rider, no style...' :-)  He did then go onto give me some encouraging feedback ;-)
 
(photo: video is Ron Haslem doing the course, but with less style than me :-))