Doctor Who: Vincent and the Doctor

Things have been a little quiet here of late again... haven't they? I've been quite busy over the last few weekends and have caught Doctor Who at very strange times. With the heat and various projects on the go, I've also struggled to find motivation.

But I didn't want to let the opportunity to contribute my views on tonight's episode (written by Richard Curtis), pass. So without further ado, here are some of my meanderings:

The important thing to remember about tonight's episode was that it was character driven and not monster driven. There was nothing particularly amazing about the Krayafis (space cockerel), it's presence on Earth served primarily as a menace to the already tortured mind of Vincent, and a plot device to bring the worlds of van Gogh and The Doctor crashing together.

Having said that, I do wonder about the space poultry... there is some ancient Alcester folklore concerning such a creature that is said to prowl a wooded hill near where I live... protecting the ill-gotten gains of a robber.

I think there were a couple of visual references to Clash of the Titans in the episode - The Doctor using a mirrored device to observe the monster (plus a nice touch with the visual nods to Hartnell and Troughton as well), and with the statue of Perseus and Medusa in the gallery. I also wondered if the shot of George and the Dragon on the church entrance was a reference to the Primeval episode that featured Tony Curran (the actor playing van Gogh); the episode in question concerned a medieval knight stranded in the modern world, pursuing a prehistoric beast.

While Curran's accent as the painter was questionable (blatantly slipping into his native Scottish twang), this I can easily forgive as his portrayal of the character was immensely sympathetic and emotional. Production-wise, Dutch accents can be hard to take seriously if not portrayed well by a non-Dutch actor, so he may have just decided to leave well enough alone. In universe you could easily attribute this to Amy understanding him with a Scottish accent through the TARDIS translation abilities.

There were some nice touches in the character interaction. Vincent perceiving that Amy was still grieving for Rory even though she could not even remember even him consciously herself; Vincent visibly struggling with his personal demons - constantly facing the rejection and lack of understanding dealt to him by his peers, and writhing with deep depression and anxiety during the night the Doctor and Amy needed him (reasserting himself by morning in bipolar fashion).

The final 10 minutes seem to be the crux to the whole episode... everything that has gone before leads up to this epilogue. If I am to believe the Twitterverse, you either love it or you hate it. I think this has a lot to do with where you are emotionally as an individual. Personally I loved it... and was quite upset that my viewing was disturbed during the sequence where van Gogh finally learns how his art has been received in hindsight. The tearful eyes of van Gogh as Bill Nighy's curator relayed just how much his personal struggles and how he translated them into some of the world's most beautiful art... had affected the generations since his death, elicited a similar response from me. Here is what he said:

"To me, van Gogh is the finest painter of them all. Certainly the most popular, great painter of all time. The most beloved. His command of colour, the most magnificent. He transformed the pain of his tormented life into ecstatic beauty. Pain is easy to portray but to use your passion and pain to portray the ecstasy and joy and magnificence of our world... no-one had ever done it before. Perhaps no-one ever will again! To my mind, that strange wild man who roamed the fields of Provence was not only the world's greatest artist, but also one of the greatest men who ever lived."

It reminds me very much of Don McLean's song "Vincent", and i offer it for your consideration now:

Van Gogh died with little in the way of either wealth or critical recognition. I think as human beings we all have a need for acceptance and recognition on some level. It doesn't have to be artistic recognition... but we all need to feel that our time on Earth is of some worth to the people around us. So in this respect, I think van Gogh's story and this episode of Doctor Who can resonate with us on an extremely deep level.

On the evening of broadcast, the BBC issued a post transmission statement saying that anyone affected by issues raised by the episode should contact a provided helpline. It was fairly obvious to me that this was referencing the mental health issues and not the fantasy elements. I cannot say how appalled I am at the cynical and mocking response from some quarters, towards a genuine attempt at the BBC to do some good.

A couple of thoughts occurred to me with regard to my faith tonight. They concern how we relate to one another as human beings... and how we can make a difference to others. It stems from the Doctor's words to Amy when she feels despondent after returning to the present and realising that van Gogh hadn't been saved from his early grave his experience in the modern world:

"The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things but vice versa the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant... and we definitely added to his pile of good things... and if you look carefully maybe we did make a couple of little changes..."

We can never fully know what effect our actions will have on the lives of others... but I truly believe that we need to strive to add to other people's "pile of good things" if we want to better their lives and our own. It is an attitude that I believe is fundamentally at the heart of Christ's command to love our neighbour as ourselves... and his appeal to us that the circle of who our neighbours are... is actually a lot wider than the people we take mutual comfort in.

People have free will and sometimes we can't pull them back from the precipice. Mental illness is actually a pretty good example of this. One of the reasons there has been a stigma attached to it for so long, is that we fail to properly acknowledge irrational behaviour. We look at it from a perspective and we try to rationalise the actions of those who suffer... which isn't really helpful. In these cases, I believe we should do our best to try and bear with those who suffer instead of trying to explain away or callously dismiss what they are going through. 

Going back to my general thought... a perceived negative outcome isn't a reason for us not to do our best to save people. Every one of us, if we just took a little more time to add to other people's "good pile" instead of obsessing over our "bad pile", we might be surprised at what a difference all those small changes make to the big, big picture.

Finally I want to make an appeal to people who may feel their contribution in life is minimalist, worthless and futile. Lately I myself have had thoughts along these lines, and so I'd like to invite you to walk with me on a meditation  I have based on tonight's episode of Doctor Who:

I would like you to close your eyes and imagine that you are in walking through an art gallery. As you pass by the masterpieces and works of your favourite artists, you notice an alcove to the side. Entering the alcove you see that the artist exhibited within is actually... you.  Take a good look at the paintings... maybe some of the scenes depicted are areas or times in your life that have been painful to you. Look closer though. I'd like you to imagine images of the people you care about, and who... even if you may struggle to accept it... care about you.

It might be helpful at this point to imagine that the curator of the gallery is here... and he is describing you in a similar vein to how Vincent was described. Perhaps the curator is someone important to you that you know. For me, the Curator is Jesus. Finally I want you to imagine there is an inscription on the wall. It is a passage from the Bible and it speaks of how God is always around us and how intimately he knows us:

"O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there;  if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you."

Psalm 139:1-18

You may feel deeply alone, unloved and not very special. However, I assure you that is not the way God sees you.

You are NOT alone and you ARE loved.

Just Like Dad

I promised I'd fill you in on my sermon from Sunday (based on Galatians 5:16-25 & John 14:15-27) and here is the gist.... albeit a little late:

Peter Kay once commented in his list of universal truths, that knowledge is knowing that a tomato is fruit... wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

It's funny, but it's true on many levels. I wonder if we treat the fruit of the Spirit the same way? There are words we are so familiar with... love, joy, peace, patience... and it's so easy for us to restrict them to the way we understand them in every day life.

But in reality... our mere human understanding of love, joy, peace etc... is actually a tomato in a fruit salad. God's love is far superior to human love, his peace surpasses our experience of peace. For every word we use to describe the fruit of the Spirit, there is a temptation to limit them to the boundaries of human emotion.

The truth is that the fruit of the Spirit is not just about emotion... yes, emotion is a part... but the fruit of the Spirit is a list of the characteristics of God's nature.

• We need God's love as much when we experience hate... as when we experience the warmth of others.
  
  
• We need God's joy as much when we are struggling with grief or enduring hardship, as when we are all smiles and happiness.
  
  
• We need God's peace as much in the midst of the violent maelstrom, as we do to appreciate moments of silence and perfect beauty. Jesus had peace that enabled him to sleep through the fiercest squall.... while his disciple panicked for their very lives.
  
  
• We need God's kindness when we are faced with unspeakable cruelty.

... and so on and so forth.

Now the Spirit enables us to grow these characteristics in our own lives. But why is it important? We read a lot in the media about needing to eat our 5 portions of physical fruit on a daily basis. It's even more important to get a regular supply of spiritual fruit as well. Father's day gives us an extra insight into why we need to grow.

For many of us, our fathers are positive role models... as children we want to be like them. It should be the same with God the Father. If we are serious about being faithful to him, we need to develop a desire to grow into his character. Jesus was the ultimate example of the Father at work in human form... but the Spirit enables us to become like Jesus, like the Father. And like a father cheers on his son at a football game... or encourages us to ride faster whilst grabbing on to a saddle to stop us falling when we learn to ride a bike... the Spirit calls to us with the Father's voice, encouraging us on.

I was watching QI a few days ago... and Stephen Fry spoke of how on the Bayeux Tapestry, there is an image of William the Conqueror waving a spear at his warriors. Above this is written "William comforts his troops". It's a strange image isn't it? However it was explained that in the middle ages,the word "comfort" also meant "to encourage".

One of the names of the Holy Spirit is "the Comforter"... and while it's true that the Spirit is there for us to embrace when we are feeling broken or in need of warmth... it is also true that the spirit encourages us to go forward and grow in the power of God.

Now some of you may not have had a positive parental figure... and some of you may have lost your parent(s), who you were close to. However, this doesn't mean you have to feel like you are left out. In the Gospel reading, we are told by Jesus:

"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

John 14:16-18

He will not leave us as orphans... that is a sovereign promise.

As good as any parent can be. They are only a shadow of the kind of parent God longs for us to be.

Maybe you are reading this and you can't recall having had a positive Father figure in your life and you are lost. In the Lion King, the character Simba also feels this way. He finds himself wandering the wilderness eating grubs because he has lost touch with his destiny, the legacy which his father Mufasa was to pass on to him.

In a sudden moment, Simba is confronted with the idea that his father's spirit lives in him:

When Simba realises the truth, he hears his fathers voice.... and begins to grow into the person he was meant to be.

You have a Father who loves you.... even if you never realised it.

His Spirit calls out to us, so that we can hear him and grow.

Finally,there's one other important reason why we need to grow fruit in our lives... and that is in order that others may be fed. The best form of evangelism, is how we treat other people. If we show people the character of God in our daily lives... above all things that we do, I am convinced that is the paramount way in which people will encounter God and hopefully come to him.

In the old Testament, Moses pleaded for God's presence to go with the Israelite's else how would people know that they were set apart... that God had called them. Similarly... how will people know that God is alive and active within our person, if we don't take every opportunity to show his character, his love to them.

Actions speak louder than words.

Supernatural Wounds

Recently I came across someone who had received what I would call a "supernatural wound". They had been exposed to something arcane as a youngster and it had resulted in them having a profoundly damaging experience.

Essentially they were offered via a friends, a book that allegedly contained magic spells that "really worked". What the book turned out to contain was various satanic rites. Once exposed to this, the person struggled with it for some time. They now have a fledgling faith, but are still haunted by the things they have read. They told me that it is at these times, when they hear God reminding them that He still loves them no matter what they have done... and reassuring them not to let it get to them. I would still class it as an open wound however, it's a source of attack that needs closing off.

I know what that kind of wound is like. I once misinterpreted what a scripture from Mark's Gospel meant... and felt condemned by it. I struggled and struggled with it for about 6 months. It lead to me opening up to people for the first time, because I couldn't control my problem alone... it was eating me up from the inside out. It helped me to lean more on God rather than worship him from a distance, so that was positive... but once the positive had been eked out... the wound needed closing. People prayed with me and helped me to understood what Jesus was getting at., that the issue was one of a "continual denial of grace" and not as plain as it seemed in the text.

However it's because of my own experience that I recognise the need to resolve issues like this in other people. The best way to disarm the enemies lies and curses is to remind people of God's blessings and promises. So here are a few scriptures for any spiritually damaged Christians out there. People who know what a direct spiritual attack feels like. These are DEEP truths, let God speak them into your heart as you read them:

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." - John 10:27-30

"The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." Psalm 34: 7-8

"The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all" Psalm 34:17-19

"The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him" Psalm 103:8-13

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." Isaiah 49:15-16

"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day" Psalm 91:4-5

"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him."
Psalm 91:14-15

"What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:31-39

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20

If any of you doubt you are righteous, then know that if you have accepted Jesus sacrifice you are considered righteous by faith through Christ. God sees you as his child.

God said it in His Word, you believe it in your heart, that settles it forever.

If you struggle with anything like what I have mentioned above, I strongly recommend you pray through it with a leader at your church. They won't think you are crazy and will take you seriously. If you have a serious wound, it is better to have it treated than to struggle on and needlessly suffer.

One Solitary Life

A child is born in an obscure village. He is brought up in another obscure village. He works in a carpenter shop until he is thirty, and then for three brief years is an itinerant preacher, proclaiming a message and living a life. He never writes a book. He never holds an office. He never raises an army. He never has a family of his own. He never owns a home. He never goes to college. He never travels two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He gathers a little group of friends about him and teaches them his way of life. While still a young man the tide of popular feeling turns against him. One denies him; another betrays him. He is turned over to his enemies. He goes through the mockery of a trial; he is nailed to a cross between two thieves, and when dead is laid in a borrowed grave by the kindness of a friend.

Those are the facts of his human life. He rises from the dead. Today we look back across nineteen hundred years and ask, What kind of trail has he left across the centuries? When we try to sum up his influence, all the armies that ever marched, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned are absolutely picayune in their influence on mankind compared with that of this one solitary life...

I have read several diferent variations of the above writing, this isn't the one I'm most familiar with... but apparently it is the original. I chose it because it is the only one I could find that references the fact that Jesus rose again. I'd add the following for your consideration: Even those who do not believe in Jesus cannot escape being influenced by his story. For... art, literature and culture have been saturated with him literally and through semiotics and allegory.

How many songs... how many poems... how many books... how many paintings... how many movies... how many programmes while not explicitly being about him... have absorbed elements of Christ's story? Too many to tell!

Do you feel mediocre or insignificant? Do you come from humble backgrounds? Rejoice, that is how Jesus started and he changed the world forever. If you want to be a world changer... follow him.

Jesus is alive, but to truly experience him... you have to accept him... not just as an obscure and vague historical figure... but as the man who died for our sins and rose to reign as king and prepare a place for us.

He lives...