SPIRIT AND LETTER Part -1-

Faith is one of the great topics of life to deal with and it is really interesting to read other people’s versions of it. I continue to be traumatized by our formers’ experience of what constitutes how they ‘left the ranks’, and although there is very rarely a mention of the reason, almost invariably it has been expressed in terms of ultimate pain. I am no different and I have a history of pain going back to the time when my own mother, as a candidate for officership in 1927, had a fight with her fundamentalist style mother on Saturday night; on Sunday her uniform had been shredded and left in a pile of rags in the middle of the lounge in their small house and she was gone. She was not seen for another 19 years when she was found as a single mother in another town in the English Midlands. I know what pain is. Over the years I have experienced my own pain, as have we all, but I have chosen to focus on the joy that I have had in trying to make my way in this complicated, confusing world, where I have had to live out ‘My faith’ (Yes the capitals are in the right place) in a world where I perceive that thinking has at times become something that is left to others, as it seems easier for most people that way.

In recent articles it seems that there is an increasing divide in our numbers between those of our number who favour the Letter of the Law and those who seem to try to understand our position in a more holistic manner that is often perceived as soft and fluffy and not in keeping with a faith that demands the flooding of the Egyptians as they chased the Israelites through the Red Sea, than with the faith that expresses ‘Let him/her who is without sin….

I know of a Corps Census meeting where the members were demanding that a couple who were ‘reportedly’ having an affair, be stood down immediately. No one had any evidence of this and one hates to use the word ‘witch hunt’, but that is what it was described as. Demands were made of the CO to stand them down and almost publicly shame them, their families and friends. I am sure that I do not need to relate here what the O&R’s state in a case such as this, but they are very simple. Three things: 1) Smoking or drinking, 2) Proven immoral conduct. The first one did not apply and despite extensive questioning of the members in this forum, no one could provide evidence that the reported actions had happened; but it was the third criteria which was crucial in this situation and it is 3) Malicious gossip. Now the letter of the Law was that in one foul swoop this whole Census Board could have been ‘Stood Down’. However the CO of the time decided that it would not benefit the Kingdom or the Army to do that. Spirit and letter is a very interesting concept.

CS Lewis in his short spiritually, rambling fantasy called ‘The Great Divorce’ talks about someone who was trying to get into heaven and was approached by someone who was one of his employees on earth’. The past employee saw his old boss as he approached the Promised Land because he knew him on earth was keen to ease his transition. He was aware that His boss had not lived a good life and that he was feeling great guilt, which is something that many of us feel, and he noticed that his old boss was trying to escape his gaze and his potential ‘welcome’. When the old boss found he could not hide he expressed regret for the bad deeds that he had done but the welcomer responded with his own ‘sins’. The ‘welcomer’ indicated that he had claimed forgiveness then and they involved sins of his thinking and not necessarily the things of that he committed. “Because you were such a bad boss, I killed you in my thinking every day and wished harm on you and your family, but I have claimed forgiveness and I want you to forgive me also. Even though the boss treated him so badly and thought that his employee was such a weak person and could not retaliate in any way. Forgiveness comes in many forms.

When I was in college we had to do one of those projects to produce a poster that depicted ‘Sin in the world’. It was an interesting project not least for the fact that some of us felt that we should have been sitting on ‘little’ chairs, with an apron on and doing finger painting to possibly be exhibited at Commissioning. We had a few weeks to do this with cuttings from the paper, and headings etc etc. One of my fellow cadets who I respected greatly, asked me what I was going to focus on; I had a few things in mind but, because I am who I am, it was not going to happen until the day it was due and so it had not risen to be an urgent task. He indicated to me that when people have to do this then they will always focus on their own internal weakness, because it takes up so much of their thinking time; the things that are their own weaknesses, or temptations. As a Corps Officer my then wife and I always produced a three month preaching plan that was thought out and prepared for; rather than just deciding on Monday morning what we should preach about on the next Sunday just for that reason; the temptation to preach about what could be perceived as our own weaknesses.

Fletch
Peter Fletcher
Former
Australia
Peter Fletcher

Born in Birmingham (but that does not make me a Brummy) and as a young lad migrated to Melbourne as a £10 tourist with his Mum, and became a ‘dinky di’ Aussie. Entered the Training College in ’69 from South Melbourne Corps into the ‘Undaunted’ Session. (someone is supposed to say Hallelujah). After serving in Australia with a short stint in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, he became a 'former'. A new career loomed in fundraising and he has worked for over 20 years with a variety of Charities. Sitting in a Starbucks cafe in San Hose for three days after Sept 11 it was time to evaluate everything that made up his life and so a lot of things fell off the agenda so that things that could make a more significant difference could be supported. Then he took to wandering the world. With a British passport he found himself back in the UK working as a Fundraiser at a Hospital in Birmingham. This turned into nearly 6 years but has now returned to the Promised Land. He is very committed to his profession and has worked as a volunteer for its professional bodies for many years.. Passionate about anything to do with people, fundraising and education and doing all that he can to help people to just simply ‘grow’. He has been a regular presenter around the UK and Australia. Although English by birth he claims his 'spiritual' heritage is as Australian it is possible to be and he still bleeds red, yellow and blue.. Now working as a life coach specializing in retirement coaching and also as the fundraiser for an internet based charity that uses the latest internet technology to support people with mild to moderate depression. The use by date is still blurry and has an active involvement in mentoring and supporting people from all areas of life. Futurefletch is the tag line and he lives it.