Where to from here?

"Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken..." Ecclesiastes 4.12

Here we go again! More restrictions, more frustration, more uncertainty, more redundancy, less education, less socialising, less comforting - fewer deaths? We hope so and, through gritted teeth, responsible citizens will comply. But for how much longer will trust in the Scottish government hold out?

Meanwhile the citizens of North Carolina have erected a new statue by the artist Kehinde Wiley entitled 'Rumours of War'. Designed as a riposte to the nearby statue of Confederate General JEB Stuart astride a horse, this new piece features a black man striking the same pose but wearing jeans, sneakers and a hoodie. Friends in the US believe the up-coming elections may be the trigger for the nightmare scenario of which this new sculpture warns.

It is time to rescue the asylum from the lunatics that are running it. We need a new way of doing just about everything: parenting, trading, travelling, socialising, neighbouring and, yes, doing or being church. So, have I got the blue-print? No. Because that would simply add a pebble to the monumental problem. We also need a new approach to problem-solving.

Advocates of re-wilding get it. Re-wilding is not a solution in itself. It is more of an attitude or approach, through which we embark on a journey without a map. We rely on good practices (except the one that says never embark on a journey without a map!) and allow the journey to take its own shape as we proceed. The difference is like comparing a pre-booked package holiday with an open-ended pilgrimage. The best and most familiar example I can think of his Abraham in the Bible. God called him to leave home without telling him where he was going. Abraham obeyed and amazing things began to happen.

But that kind of faith and the risk it entails goes against the grain of our risk-averse society. We like everything pre-arranged, with the facts and figures neatly laid out before us. The trouble is, that approach isn't taking us anywhere new and we need to change. Perhaps the hardest part of that change won't happen on the road, it's the battle going on in our heads. Can I bear to let go of the habits and attitudes which I have relied on and learn to live differently? Soon we may not have to wrestle with that dilemma...