Critic Cal

"The Mating Game Has Evolved", proclaimed the bottle of shower gel that I'd scraped from the bottom of our where-did-this-even-come-from? toiletries barrel on my hurried way out of the house. "Unleash The Chaos With Lynx Attract For Her – A Fragrance So Irresistible It Will Drive Guys Wild." Chaos did not ensue. Much as I deplore false advertising, I was, on balance, relieved. Still, it got me pondering their promotional premise: hooking up is a unisex sport now. Women are no less free to pursue numerous casual sexual encounters than men. To which I say: yes to equality! and great if we're really (really?!) gonna lay off with the misogynistic shaming ... All the same ... I dunno. Two things: Firstly, "evolved" strikes me as an ironic word to describe a drift towards instinct-led sexual ethics. Isn't, like, the human ability to reason against our immediate animal appetites in part why we fancy ourselves a somehow higher form of life tha...

The last thing  I wrote on here was about Kingdom life being contagious, stronger than death, more aggressive than corruption and decay. Nowhere do I see this more joyously evidenced than in the book of Acts – the sequel to Luke's account of Jesus' life, about the church in its earliest days. Jesus' followers are rapidly growing in number ; some of their most fervent opponents are joining them ; they are finding new ways of living in loving community ; they are witnessing miracles of healing and resurrection and they are catching themselves doing things they 'shouldn't' be able to do, like walking out of locked prisons and communicating in languages they have never learned. It's as exciting a read as any adventure novel, and it provides a (for me) really helpful bridge between the events of the gospels and the theology of the letters. But there's a handful of episodes in there which are a bit 'gulp'. One in particular stands out; it...

Cf. Like leaven Like mildew Like wildfire Like plague Like a rash Like a rumour Like rot Like a swarm Like an army Like sickness Like termites Like lice Like a stench Like dementia Like damp Like a yawn Like a snake bite Like gangrene Like cancer Like muck Like moths Like an oil spill Like acid Like rust Like infection Like locusts Like bindweed Like mould Like decay It is coming Unstoppable: Life. Carolyn Whitnall, 2016. So, I've been reading Leviticus lately, with some help from John Goldingay [1]. In case you're unfamiliar, it's the one with all the obscure and problematic rules and rituals that Christians like to pretend don't exist and that  Richard Dawkins et al.  like to quote . The book collects together a set of sometimes seemingly-absurdly specific instructions for the Levitical priests and for Israel as a Yahweh-worshipping community. On closer inspection, it is interesting to notice the effect of the practices ...

Like many Brits (and not just the 16.1 million who voted as I did), I am sad for my country right now. I am sad because I believe that Brexit spells economic disaster which will hit the poorest hardest, isolation from a wider community which I consider myself a part of, and the probable eventual break-up of the UK. But aside from the actual outcome of the referendum, I am sad at the deep divisions that the campaign process uncovered, exploited and exacerbated; the "tribalization and polarization of Britain, a bruising clash of two narratives that pitted London against the regions, Scotland against England, the young against the elderly, and the lower middle-class against the metropolitan elites" (Austen Ivereigh writing for ABC Religion and Ethics ). I am appalled at the hostility, mistrust, deceit and turmoil; the upsurge in racist abuse and the reflection that it is only the outward manifestation of something pre-existent, erstwhile latent. Even if the departure goes ah...

I danced, the other day ... on the roof of a multi-storey carpark, in the rain, at bedtime. With relative abandon. It feels like a world away and an epoch ago but it really happened. I didn't go there to dance. I went there to watch –  Of Riders and Running Horses , part of Bristol's marvellous  Mayfest . Ooh, it were good. All exuberance and intensity and graceful, skillful, womanly  inelegance  for want of a better description. All set to all this live, pounding, alt-J-esque electronic indie music. I don't know what they meant  for it to be about but what I saw was a profound reclamation of the human body ... from shame, objectification and violence ... for personhood and personal connection. Normally, I would consider a finale which evolved into an invite to the audience as the perfect opportunity for an unhindered escape. "Aha!" some flat, lifeless part of me indeed piped up – "I can get me a clear run on the narrow stairwell before it jams with c...

I will worship ( I will worship ) With all of my heart ( with all of my heart ) I will praise You ( I will praise You ) With all of my strength ( all my strength )  I will seek You ( I will seek You ) All of my days ( all of my days ) And I will follow ( I will follow ) All of Your ways ( all Your ways )...  David Ruis, Maranatha Praise, Inc., 1991 For the uninitiated, this here's a song that the medium-to-considerably happy-clappy sing in church. And in case you're wondering, the bits in brackets are an echo 'traditionally' sung by the female members of the congregation. The pattern is not ubiquitous, but neither is it rare (and never, to my knowledge, is it inverted). The other day, I had the rare joy of standing next to my sister in church, and I noticed that she was singing, not the 'response', as prescribed, but the 'call'. In a momentary pang of vicarious embarrassment I nearly nudged her – much as I would intervene if she was accid...

A revised version [1] of a sonnet which originally appeared on the Sophia Network blog  in February 2016: ANTIPHON “No” for a thousand tongues resounds unheard As men in every corner wield might And will, surmising that the sum gives right, Against the impotence of Tamar's word. The image jointly borne is two-ways marred: A brutal face to face a veil of fright, As “love” dissatisfied engenders hate, Faith fails, and hope seems hopelessly deferred. But One of strength eclipsing any man's Waits for a yes and, with Mary’s consent, Conceives to turn the tables, overthrow The proud and raise the powerless with hands Outstretched; a Word within a womb, intent On answering each disregarded no. Carolyn Whitnall, 2015/2019. It happened that I spent much of December 2015 grappling in new ways with Luke's Annunciation account. I'd not long since been reading 2 Samuel, and the story of Tamar's rape by her brother Amnon had resonated painfully with...