POV: you're a disciple who meets the risen Jesus.

​Here's what he sings to you.

POV:  You're on the cross next to Jesus. You're in anguish and your need release. Peace. And Jesus says to you "This day you will be with me in paradise."

​This is the feeling that washed over you:

POV:  You're Nicodemus, or another Pharisee or Scribe who is trying to reconcile who you present to the world and how you feel challenged by how Jesus is.

Here's your confession:

POV:  Jesus has just cleared the Temple, and you realise it doesn't have to be the way it was before.

Here's the rallying cry:

Resilience is one thing, but putting up with abusive and unloving behaviour is another.

Don't do it.
Keep vigilant.
Protect yourself.
Listen to trusted people who have your back and your heart.
Do something about the red flags.
Challenge what causes them, and if there is no change then call it out or walk away.

Anti-heroes are complicated and misunderstood... And I find them fascinating!
Are they heroes?
Don't they kind of look a lot like the villain?
Do the ends really justify the means?

A while ago I did a podcast with a friend of mine thinking about the "Black Adam" film and theology, and I talked a bit about anti-heroes there.

But what about me?

There's a degree of pressure on us when we do that.

To “hold a mirror up to" is a phrase meaning “to take a look at oneself objectively to examine or reflect on things (issues) stemming from the reality of reflection; to reveal to someone about the way they look (differently) to the rest of the world (so that they can reflect upon themselves); expose, show up, bring to light (some (unpleasant) aspects to oneself)”.

Community done badly holds up images of the ideal alongside the mirror and tells us all the ways we don't measure up.

This one is about forgiveness.

Watch this long, uncomfortable and difficult TED talk, and then have a listen to the song.

They say that ignorance is bliss.

Sometimes we'd rather close our eyes and have everything go away.

Perhaps if we sleep things will be better when we wake. Someone will have magically fixed the problem.

I guess this song just draws together the thoughts that I've already had with "Bridge over troubled water" and "Eyes of a child".

Human kind has been on a journey round light:
We sat round a fire and told stories as communities and clans;
We moved indoors and read stories around the fireplace, or listened to them on the radio;
The radio got replaced by the television and we continued to have less responsibility in telling the story, though we were all still pointing in the same direction;
Nowadays the TV is still in the corner of the living room, and the seats still point towards it, and it ever continues to burn out a light and tell stories, but whilst it tells its stories I tune it out and disappear into the light of the screen in my hand. It tells stories, paints pictures and shows things to me. I experience them alone, along with millions of other people, and occasionally I send them to other people on social media so that they too can enjoy them alone.