Reflection

What To Do When We Feel Powerless

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A close-up view of a green circuit board with intricate white pathways and numerous small holes, used in electronic devices.

This article appeared in the July 2025 edition of village magazines in Potterne, Worton and Marston, Seend and Bulkington, and Poulshot

I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling powerless in the face of a world where power and the will to abuse it seem to be spiralling out of control. I feel powerless in the face of the grim events in Ukraine and the Middle East, where human ingenuity is put to building ever more ingenious ways for people to kill other people.

A close-up view of a green circuit board with intricate white pathways and numerous small holes, used in electronic devices.
Image credit – Pixabay.

I often worry that the fruits of our intellect are outstripping our wisdom to use them well. Why is it that every couple of months, one of the pioneers of Artificial Intelligence research pops up in the news to tell us it could wipe out the human race? Most recently, it was Professor Yoshua Bengio from Canada, whose research is cited more often than any other computer scientist in the world, who left Faisal Islam visibly shocked when he told him bluntly on Newsnight that “the worst case scenario” from AI “is human extinction”.

I feel powerless in the face of not only of Artificial Intelligence galloping ahead but also Genetic Modification. I worry about why we feel driven to develop these very powerful technologies quickly, even when we know things as seemingly innocuous as social media and video streaming are driving some people crazy, partly thanks to smartphones that follow us everywhere, constantly buzzing and demanding attention.

Despite these problems, technology is often presented to us uncritically as good of itself. We live at a time when people seek truth in spreadsheets rather than sonnets. Yet human beings are more than rational creatures. We are made not for power, which often brings out the worst in us, but for beauty, truth, goodness, and love.

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Reflection on ‘Betrayal’ for Holy Week; Wednesday 5th April 2023

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Given at Christ Church, Bulkington

Matthew 26: 20-25, 36, 47-50

Betrayal provokes emotions in us that are perhaps more disturbing than those that result from any other human experience. In that light, it is perhaps understandable how Judas has, in countries with a Christian cultural background, become a synonym for a particular type of wickedness. To call someone a Judas is one of the worst things one can say about them.

It is one thing to be attacked or undermined by an enemy, a rival, or even a random stranger — but when a trusted friend turns against us, the direct impact of whatever wrong they have done to us is often eclipsed by the feelings left by an abuse of trust, friendship, and love.

Being betrayed can, understandably, leave people very bitter. For all that such bitterness might be understandable, it is also dangerous. Bitterness is an emotional and spiritual acid; it risks corroding our humanity if we allow it to fester.

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Reflection on ‘Fame’ for Holy Week: Tuesday 4th April 2023

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Given at Christ Church, Worton

Matthew 21. 12-16

“Fame! — I wanna live forever.”

Seven young adults in a posed photograph, some sitting, some standing, on a promo graphic for the 1980s TV show 'Fame'. Another young character is in a box top right.
Soon, anyone old enough to remember the original Fame will pretty much have lived forever

So ran the theme tune of a popular TV drama of my youth, about a group of teenagers at a specialist high school in New York for those aiming at a career in the performing arts. The young characters wanted to be famous for their talents – as did the young actors who played them. But we live in a time when people don’t become famous necessarily for their talents or achievements, but often become famous just for being famous. The celebrity lifestyle is one that some people actively chase, indeed that some are willing to degrade themselves to achieve, drawn like a moth to the flame of being a household name.

The Gospels present Jesus as something of a celebrity, followed by crowds everywhere; sometimes, as when he overturned the money-changers’ tables, he could even carry out what we might call today a ‘PR stunt’. Yet the crowds’ attention was often exhausting to Christ; in Galilee, after a day surrounded by throngs of people clamouring to be healed and to be entertained, he would retreat into the hills, or out into the lake on a boat. Sometimes, the crowds followed him even there. As we believe that Jesus Christ was God in human form, we see something here about the character of God that is perhaps a little surprising.

One of the hallmarks of the early 21st Century has been the way that technology has eroded the distinction between public and private life – for celebrities and public figures, certainly, and also for quite ordinary people.

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The Power of Names

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“Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name and you are mine.” In the Common Worship Daily Office, this verse from Isaiah 43 is recited three times on Thursdays. It was written for the community of Hebrew exiles in Babylon at a time of much fear, when some were losing faith and wondering if there could really be a single creator God. This was a silly ideal to their sensible neighbours in Babylon, to whom it was obvious there were many gods. There seems of have been growing apostasy from Judaism and assimilation into the cosmopolitan mass.

Therefore, God reminds them here that he has not forgotten them in their long exile, but remembers each individual by their name.

Names are powerful statements in Scripture. After winning an all-night wrestling bout with a mysterious angel, Jacob is renamed Israel, meaning, “I have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” But the successful contest has come at a cost – Israel’s hip has been dislocated in the struggle, and he will presumably spend the rest of his life walking with a limp.

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The walls of the Hall of Names at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem are lined with black binders, each containing hundreds of pages bearing witness to those who died in the Holocaust. Stacked neatly on shelves, they stretch along the walls of the circular chamber like the rings of an alien planet. Decades of research means that by now 4.8 million names of roughly 6 million Shoah victims are now known and memorialised in those binders. With the passage of time, the identities of most of the remaining million or so will soon be lost to history – but not to God, who remembers His children by name forever.

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Switch Off and #TouchGrass

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There is a pear tree next to the back door of the curate’s house. It has been a joy over the last two weeks noticing it change – from having bare branches, to the first green buds, and finally watching the flowers develop and form fully into a riot of subtle whitish greens and pinks.

Pear blossom in my back garden, 12 April 2022. © Gerry Lynch

Last year I didn’t notice it until it was in full blossom. Perhaps I was distracted by the return to church and some minimal amount of socialising in April 2021. At this time of year change happens quickly, but at first subtly. If one does not pay close attention, one is confronted by it suddenly, especially if life is very busy.

Modern life can feel like it has been designed to disconnect us from the natural world. One of the things I noticed in my first week in Devizes was how dark and detailed the night skies were from my back garden, even in late June, with a fine view of the Milky Way. As a city boy who had been interested in stargazing since childhood, this was a surprise treat.  

Even after all these years, I can remember quite distinctly what the northern skies looked like from my parents’ back yard in the mid-1980s. By this period, in a city centre location, the skies were already considerably affected by light pollution. Yet things have degraded further to the point that I estimate that about three-quarters of the stars then visible in Belfast with the naked eye no longer are.

The Milky Way near Shaftesbury in Dorset, 12 August 2016 © Gerry Lynch

Even in Devizes, the night sky is only a pale shadow of what our ancestors’ took for granted. The summertime Milky Way, for example, should be full of structure and complexity – while it is impressively ghostly here, detail is no longer visible from Devizes. Many more stars would have been visible than are today in this country, even in remote countryside; against the dark countryside, the night sky felt bright. I have experienced this, even in recent years, in Dorset where the councils turn many street lights off in the early hours.

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Good Enough for God?

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Dom Kenneth Newing on the Diamond Jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood, at the tender age of 93.

This article first appeared in the July 2021 edition of the parish magazine of St John with St Mary, Devizes.

Among my closest friends are the three remaining Anglican Benedictine monks from what was once Nashdom and then Elmore Abbey, now resident in Salisbury Cathedral Close. When I first came to Wiltshire in 2013, they were four, and Dom Kenneth Newing, who had been Bishop of Plymouth before taking monastic vows, was one of the dearest, wisest, and holiest friends I have ever had. 

Dom Kenneth Newing on the Diamond Jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood, at the tender age of 93.
Dom Kenneth Newing on the Diamond Jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood, at the tender age of 93. © Gerry Lynch, 30 September 2016.

I first met Kenneth when he had just turned ninety, and he already showed signs of mild but definite cognitive impairment. He took time to process complex conversation and find the precise words in response, but he remained an acute observer of people and retained excellent memory for both the immediate and distant past. For those with the patience to take time to talk to him, he was wise and perceptive in conversation. He remained so almost until his death five years later. In his last years, he contributed much to the Church and the life of those he lived and worshipped among.  

The Church of England has set itself the task of becoming younger and more diverse. On the surface, nobody could object to this. Scratch deeper and this objective is riddled with problematic assumptions. The Church should seek growth, just as the leaves on the trees do at this time of year. That’s one of its jobs. Must new or revitalised Christians, however, necessarily be young? Are the older members of our society redundant passengers to be ignored in favour of those likely to have more years of active Christian commitment? Similarly with diversity. We must absolutely reject anything in ourselves that refuses to embrace as equals everyone regardless of race, class, gender, or sexual orientation. But are congregations that look less like our metropolitan centres and more like our provincial small towns of less value to God?  

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A Season of New Life

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This article first appeared in the April 2021 edition of the parish magazine of St John with St Mary, Devizes.

I went for a very long walk earlier this week, even by my standards. A whopping 43 km (27 miles for those who prefer pounds, shillings, and pence). The highlight came just after sunset, heading west into the twilight on the Roman Road between the Cherhill Monument and Morgan’s Hill. Silhouetted against the orange sky was something I’d never seen before but entirely unmistakable – a mad March hare, leaping wildly, full of joyful abandon.

The Roman Road between Avebury and Morgan's Hill just after sunset. A ploughed track and an orange sky.
The Roman Road between Avebury and Morgan’s Hill just after sunset, © Gerry Lynch, 23 March 2021

New life is all around us in this season. What will our world look like in the months and years to come? While we can’t be certain of the course of the pandemic, at present our hospitals are emptying and vaccinations are proceeding at pace, so we should plan for a return to normality in the first part of this summer. What sort of things might help us renew our life as a parish community?

I think there are two key elements to this. Firstly, enabling our existing worshippers to deepen in faith and in relationship with one another. Also, to deepen in trust that we really are the people God has called to serve Him in this place. Secondly, giving people who are not yet part of our congregation the chance to engage with us, and for us to provide pathway to faith for the majority of people who think of themselves as entirely secular.

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New Life After A Sojourn in the Wilderness

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This article first appeared in the March 2021 edition of the parish magazine of St John with St Mary, Devizes.

Although summer remains far away and we could yet be overtaken by a genuinely cold snap or even snow, the signs of new life are all around us at present. The snowdrops are magnificent, especially in our local woodlands, and the days are getting rapidly longer: each day currently gives us an extra four minutes of daylight. It soon builds up.

We trust and pray we are also seeing signs of new life after the pandemic. The number of new Covid-19 cases in the UK is decreasing at some speed, the horrifying daily death toll is also mercifully falling rapidly, the number of people vaccinated is going up, and the government has presented its roadmap out of lockdown, promising an end to restrictions by late June. As ordinary citizens, we can do little but trust and pray that our scientists and statisticians have done their modelling correctly and that this will indeed be our last lockdown.

In that light, after discussions at the Parochial Church Council, we are planning a return to services in church on Sundays. There has, however, been a recent and fairly significant outbreak in Devizes, with local infection rates running at 2½ times the average for England. This has gone almost unreported in the local press, but is a reality. Responsibility demands we wait for that to subside before bringing people back into church, other recent local outbreaks indicate we can expect this to happen quickly under lockdown conditions. The PCC has delegated the decision on a date of return to the churchwardens, who will review the situation every week. We will not delay any longer than necessary, and barring truly exceptional circumstances envisage being back in church by Holy Week and possibly some time before. We will contact people by e-mail, or by telephone for those without access to the Internet, on the Monday before any Sunday return.

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