Tom writes:

The principal years of my musical upbringing were from 1989 (when I started Secondary School) to 1999 (when I moved to the US for a year as a university student). This means that I am undeniably a Brit Pop kid (and I acknowledge the problems with both the term and the culture that often went along with it). I’ve also previously mentioned that halfway during this decade of musical
inculturation I moved to Pilton in Somerset, home of the Glastonbury Festival. It was at the Festival in 1995 (my first) that Britpop obtained one of its most memorable moments. The big deal was supposed to be The Stone Roses but they pulled out at the last minute. So into the breach stepped Pulp. There was much nervousness about this, including from the organisers. In the end, though,
they stole the show.

It helped that at that point the band were riding the wave of the success of the single “Common People”, the lead single from the album A Different Class, which was released later in the year and probably Britpop’s greatest anthem. “Common People” takes the LP’s over-arching themes of class and wealth from the viewpoint of those who are working class and live in poverty, and ramps them up to 11 on a scale of 10. With wit, charm, intelligence, and no little amount of scathing invective, Cocker and the rest of the band take aim at those with wealth who choose to “slum” with those less fortunate themselves, all the while knowing that “if you called your dad he could stop it all”. The song is clear – living alongside those in poverty, even joining in with their lives, while knowing you can escape at any moment, is neither appropriate, nor a way to make friends amongst those whose social and financial problems cannot so easily be solved.

As Cocker sings in the album version of the song (but, interestingly, not the radio-played 7” single edit that’s also used for the video):

Like a dog lying in a corner
They will bite you and never warn you
Look out, they’ll tear your insides out
‘Cause everybody hates a tourist
Especially one who thinks it’s all such a laugh
Yeah and the chip stains and grease
Will come out in the bath

You will never understand
How it feels to live your life
With no meaning and control
And with nowhere left to go
You are amazed that they exist
And they burn so bright
Whilst you can only wonder why

As I listen to these words today, I find myself wondering about how the Church lives out its calling to be “Church at the Margins”. Too often, I think, the Church can fall into the trap of tourism. Too often we look to “walk alongside” those whom society has treated unjustly and pushed to one side, all the while knowing that we can escape when we choose. We try and be a “Church for the Margins” or a “Church currently on the Margins”. I think, for example, of the challenges we sometimes set ourselves to live on a limited amount for a week or other period of time – no doubt well-meant, possibly even eye-opening and view-point changing, but nowhere near the true experience of those who are forced to live on such limited resources every day of their lives, such as those the Hope@Trinity project work with in Clacton-on-Sea where I’m Superintendent.

As a Christian, as someone who seeks to work for justice in the world, as someone who is undeniably middle-class and always at risk of forgetting the maxim, “Nothing about us, without us, is for us”, I am grateful to the ongoing challenge that “Common People” offers. I know that I’m one of those Cocker could easily be targeting in his lyrics. As the Church, as we rightly seek to focus on the justice, dignity and solidarity that God calls us to, as we seek to properly offer new places for new people and be a Church on the margins, we must be careful never to lose sight of the risk that we might fall into the trap of spiritual tourism.

Find out more about Pulp at https://www.pulpwiki.net/

Gill writes:

I’ve been reminded this week of the Johari Window – a key tool in understanding self-awareness and self-development. In 1955, psychologists Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, of the University of California, were exploring group dynamics. They discovered that there was some dissonance between how people thought others perceived them and how they were actually perceived.

They developed what’s known as the Johari Window (a merge of their names) which rests on four assumptions that humans make:

• There is information that is known to only me (hidden self)
  
• There is information that is known to only you (or, whoever you’re communicating with) (blind spot)
  
• There is information that is known to you and me (open self)
  
• There is information that neither of us know (unknown self)

The more self-aware you become, the more the open self and blind spot areas grow wider, and the hidden self and unknown self become smaller.

I love the tenderness and vulnerability of this song. All of us need reassurance and affirmation of who we are and what we are capable of at times in our lives. We need some people to really ‘see’ us and know us. To reflect back who we are.

I’ll be your mirror
Reflect what you are, in case you don’t know
I’ll be the wind, the rain and the sunset
The light on your door to show that you’re home

This is probably the loveliest love song that Lou Reed ever wrote. The Velvet Underground were managed by Andy Warhol, and consequently were part of the pop art world of challenging modernism with provocative perspectives on everyday life. The Velvet Underground’s music was dark and aggressive at times. Yet here is a beautiful, melancholic song professing unconditional love.

Nico was a German model and singer whom Warhol pretty much foisted on the band. Lou Reed apparently found her irritating and I imagine there were times when there was little sense of love. However, after many takes that reduced her to tears, they produced this tender, reflective, and compassionate song.

I like to think that for a moment at least, Lou and Nico were able to see and appreciate each other’s gifts – that they were able to see each other. That they were able to move past the twisted and unkind thoughts and attitudes and lay themselves open by putting down their hands.

When you think the night has seen your mind
That inside you’re twisted and unkind
Let me stand to show that you are blind
Please put down your hands
‘Cause I see you

Thomas Merton said this:

“Man [sic] is the image of God, and his inner self is a kind of mirror in which God not only sees Himself, but reveals Himself to the ‘mirror’ in which He is reflected.”  
​
When we live with open hearts and minds,  we start to see God not only in the people we meet or live with; or in the places where we go and hang out. We also God in songs, film, writing and everyday interactions.

And finally, the next time you pass a mirror and groan because that’s not how you want to look (or how you used to look). Stop. Others see you differently to how you see yourself. They don’t see what you see. They’ll see a beautiful human. And they probably get a glimpse of God too.

Remind yourself about The Velvet Underground at https://www.velvetundergroundmusic.com/

Marc writes:

“How am I gonna be an optimist about this?”
That’s the perpetual question I have in my calling to be part of the church, to be faithful to Jesus, and to reclaim the title “Christian” from all the negative connotations it brings up in peoples’ minds!

When I look around and see the walls keep tumbling down of the movement that I love, grey clouds rolling over the hills, bringing darkness from above and it all looks a little bit hopeless, what am I going to do!?

But when ‘Pompeii’ by Bastille came on in the car today, it was a different line that really jumped out at me:​

Oh, where do we begin,

the rubble or our sins?

I think the problem is that a lot of the time we begin with the rubble. We begin by looking at the destruction that has been caused or the havoc that has been wreaked, and we start by sifting through the debris.

​Particularly with church life and church history, I think I’d be right in saying that we have often spent a lot more time trying to fix what we have ended up with rather than challenging the root cause, the neglect, the abuse, the culpable actions that we as a people of faith have inherited the consequences of and often benefitted from.

And when we start with the rubble we can regularly discover that if we close our eyes it almost feels like we’ve been here before… like nothing’s changed at all.

Wherever I have seen the courage to deal with the sin, the disturbances of Shalom that are as a result of our action or inaction, the courage to address the sometimes missing image of God in our collective experience and expression as disciples, the willingness to hold up our hands and be held accountable for our shortcomings, THAT is where I have seen change. That is where I have seen growth. That is where I have seen God moving and breathing.

I’ve never been to Pompeii, but it’s a place where friends have been. It appears to be a place that is resigned to the history books, lost to rubble, damage and decay. Bits still stand out to remember what was once there before the destruction, but it’s lost to life.

I wonder if the church will end up the same way?
I wonder whether we’ll insist on carrying on starting with the rubble and ignoring our sins?

I hope I see the day when I can close my eyes and it feels like we’ve changed for the better, and we discover something new.

Find out more about Bastille at http://www.bastillebastille.com/

It’s that time of year when many of the Friday Fix writers are away, have been away or are going away, so this Friday we don’t have a Fix to share.

Many of the usual contributors will actually be at the Greenbelt Festival celebrating it’s 50th birthday (and also the 50th birthday of Friday Fixer Kristie!).

So – as it’s a Bank Holiday Weekend with time to listen to music – here’s the Greenbelt 2023 Playlist to get an idea of the music we’ll be listening to live at Greenbelt.

Gill writes:

Okay – so I’m a hummer. And we’re not talking about the gas-guzzling, all-terrain military vehicle that seems so popular in California. That would be a bit silly. What I mean is that those who live with me have to suffer an almost constant, almost unconscious humming of tunes. There are some that are regular tunes – so regular that they feel almost innate; and there are other tunes that are triggered by hearing a song – usually on the radio but it could be because I have overheard someone else humming or singing a tune.

Whilst my incessant humming might be annoying to those I live with, it’s actually really good for me. And singing is too. Why? Because it stimulates our vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is the longest nerve in the body – it connects our brain to many important organs including the gut, heart and lungs. Without going too deep into it, humming is really good for your health – it helps relieve stress, boosts our immunity and improves the health of our nervous system.

So, now I need to confess that one of the regular tunes that I hum is ‘Barbie Girl’ by Aqua. Don’t ask me why. It just seems to be part of my repertoire. Just be thankful that I didn’t choose it for today’s Friday Fix.

Instead, I’ve chosen a song that features in the recently released ‘Barbie’ film (see what I did there?). A film, that for me married fluffy fizz with pathos, fantasy with real life, liberation with societal constraints. Some have found it a bit too preachy – or as one friend described it ‘being kensplained to’. I can understand this. Maybe the frustration comes because ultimately there is only some resolution to the patriarchy/feminist debate in the film and it doesn’t feel quite complete enough – I guess that’s just mirroring life.

But never mind all that. Let’s get back to the song. A song that was perfect for that point in the film. The part where Barbie goes wandering and wondering. And this song couldn’t be more perfect.

And I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains
There’s more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in a crooked line
And the less I seek my source for some definitive

Closer I am to fine, yeah
Closer I am to fine, yeah

This is a song that’s all about questioning and seeking. Why am I here? What is my purpose? Who is going to help me answer these questions? Where do I go to get these questions answered? Are there actually answers to my questions? As the lyrics say – there’s more than one answer.

And those answers take us along a crooked line. A reminder that life, and the meaning of life, is not straightforward at all. It’s wibbly-wobbly and all over the place. My crooked line of life is so crooked it goes back on itself more than once too.

Life is all about wandering and wondering. It isn’t easy at times but I think part of the mystery of life is to continue finding out and learning more – about ourselves, about others, and about our world. Ask questions. Don’t take things for granted. Put a bit of effort into understanding.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)

With all your mind. Hmmm. I wonder sometimes that we might be a little bit lazy on this account. Do we really love God with all our mind? Do we wander and wonder enough?

I think the Indigo Girls are right to go looking everywhere for their answers. The times in my life, when I have made leaps and bounds in progressing my understanding of myself, my world and my God, are when I have been alongside others who aren’t afraid to ask questions and grapple with difficult concepts and situations. I’ve been blessed by many colleagues who have nudged, poked and provoked my thinking over the years – so much so that when we were the East Central Regional Team of the Methodist Learning Network, this image summed us up:

So keep pushing through. Seek answers about the world that we live in. Travel that crooked line. Wander and wonder. Edge closer and closer to fine.

The Indigo Girls are still performing as much as ever and in two weeks’ time, they will be gracing the Friday Night Glade Stage with their presence at this year’s Greenbelt Festival.

Find out more about them at https://www.indigogirls.com/