Those opening words were addressed to me at Dover by a Methodist
minister’s wife. Well, it all depends on what you mean by church!
Indeed, it is the Latin Church which gave us a calendar in which Christ
was supposedly born at the time of the return of the sun God; and who
broke out of the tomb at the time of the festival of Ishta Indeed, these
were events, amongst others, to which the original Church of Britain
refused to submit until, following the Council Of Whitby, they were
compelled to do so. Indeed, it is not surprising that – up to the later
part of the last century – one would find little if any observance of
either Christmas or Easter being given within the Free Churches of
England and Wales; and even lesser reference still to these two
festivals within the national and highly influential Church Of Scotland.
‘by law established’. Quite inconsistently, the Scottish, deprived of a
carnivorous carousal at Christmas, have made up for things at the advent
of the New Year. Christmas is still, very much, low key. Yes, but they
certainly know how to give vent to their basic instincts once the year
has ended and a new secular year has arrived.. Thankfully, however, the
birds do not suffer the same as at Christmas and Easter as alcoholic
beverages become first priority accompanied by (quite wrongly termed)
‘mince’ pies!
Well, I will continue to knock any branch of the Christian church
while ever it distorts and corrupts the compassionate teaching and
example of Jesus Of Nazareth; because, more and more, what the churches
stand for appear to become, more and more divorced from all that Jesus
came to impart. Indeed, I’m not alone here, as I see in the newly
elected Archbishop Of York a cleric of similar opinion. Here are just a
few of his words concerning the Anglican church of which he is now
second in command:
‘We’ve had our reports, our commissions, our conferences,
seminars, missions, synodical reviews, liturgical reforms – the lot!
But little question has been given to the question: who is Jesus? And
what does He mean for those who put their trust in Him? ‘Why have we
in England turned this glorious gospel of life in the Spirit in to a
cumbersome organisation that repels, and whose people are dull,
complacent, judgmental and moralising?’
Would to God that Canterbury or Rome spoke like this!
It is Christ whom we must always seek to obey; and when any churches
teaching conflicts with His, as revealed in Scripture, then we do right
to knock it. Yes, and no more so than when any branch of Christendom
plays down or excludes the animals from the Good Shepherd’s care, from a
place in His church or, indeed, a place in Heaven. Sadly - from the very
beginning! – the human body of Christ has let Him down. He,
traditionally, fell 3 times on the Via Dolorosa, necessitating a
Cyrenian to carry His cross. And this mystical ‘body of Christ’ – the
church – continues to abysmally fail Him. Consequently, He must be our
example at all times; and He is the One whose Father chose that He be
born between two abused types of animals; be laid to rest in their
feeding trough (a manger); that animal carers (shepherds) be singled out
to witness an apparition of angels above the fields of Bethlehem. Yes,
and that not only would this infant Jesus later model His compassion on
extant animal carers (prepared to lay down their lives for sheep); but
His first act of militancy would be one of liberating both birds and
animals from ritual slaughter. (See John 2:14-16)
Animal Padre's
