Vikings

 This is one of those posts where I sit down to write with really not much of an idea of what Im going to say,  Ive spent the last ten days or so becoming increasingly involved in a TV show called The Last Kingdom on Netflix.  Its about Alfred the Great and is loosely based on the historical facts we know about him embroidered with lots of intertwining stories of love and war and ambition and the like.   As Alfred was ruling during the time of the Viking invasions you can imagine that large parts of the action involve sword wielding bloodletting and lots of blood curdling screams.  But what I like about it ( apart from the drop dead gorgeous leading man ) is the way the women are portrayed - as strong, brave, sensible and valued - and the way Christianity is portrayed.  Alfred being determined to create a Christian England in the face of pagan Vikings trying to take the nation for themselves.

It is good to be reminded that at any point in our history things could have gone very differently for the Church.  Without the wisdom of leaders and the bravery of armies the UK could so easily have been a pagan country for generations longer than it was.  If it wasnt for the early saints bringing the gospel and facing unimaginable dangers and resistance we might still be worshiping Thor and Odin.  In a society that believed in superstition and the telling of the runes, men and women faithfully re-educated kings and paupers about the truth of Gods word.  Which was learned by heart and passed down by oral traditions as so few could read or write and the very few scriptures which did exist were hand written over decades .   Its all very amazing to me and I like being prompted to think about the history of my faith by engaging with well told stories.  

By choice I would leave out the gory bloodshed which accompanies many of these quasi historical dramas - but sadly history doesnt seem to be able to deliver progress without an undercurrent of violent clashes and power struggles.  And perhaps we can take a crumb of comfort as we look back in history and then scan the world today.  There have always been wars and rumours of wars.  But out of these have come some astonishing leaps forward in tolerance and understanding, in technology and 

innovation, in medicine and education and global conversation.  As the whole world watches the situation in Ukraine unfold we can be confident that God will take what the enemy has meant for evil and bring some astonishing and unforseen greatness out of it.  He already is doing.  We have seen unprecedented levels of cooperation between nations, unparalleled generosity and the kindness of strangers and the speedy development of whole new systems of dealing with refugees.  In coming days we will see more innovation in many areas of communications and technology and politics and economics.  Because where there's a will, there's a way.  And where there is a need, the ingenuity of the human mind will strive to meet it.

So whilst we pray fervently for peace in the world and an end to man's inhumanity to man, we can also thank God that out of crisis situations He can bring change.  Crisis challenges us to think and behave differently - be that to wear a mask, waste less of our planet's precious resources or offer a bedroom to a refugee.  May I be willing to allow the turbulence in my life to bring about lasting changes for good.   Amen