Rev. Mindy’s Meanderings

At the Meeting of Methodists last week Michael, a circuit lay worker, reminded those of us gathered that the challenges we face are really opportunities. I needed to hear that; it was good for my soul! I needed to be reminded that challenges can be more than just overwhelming difficulties. This can be true if we take another perspective. We can encourage this new perspective by giving the challenges more space and thought so that something new, something more authentic, something better suited to its environment, and something more loving might be born. As I said I needed the reminder, but as I sat there I realized that there is something authentically Christian about this notion. After all, we believe that from the “challenge” of the cross came the “opportunity” for new life. Now that is a definite change in perspective, one which we celebrate at Easter. Thanks, Michael, for prompting me to re-consider my perspective!

During pauses and other quiet moments in the rest of the meeting I sat contemplating how much our perspective matters. I was contemplating these matters of perspective in the back of my head as I gazed around the interior of their lovely church. This is what my view of Queensway Methodist Church in Fenny Stratford looked like.

Queensway Methodist has a simple beauty and when I am there my eye always is caught by the cheery painted ceiling over the chancel (the front of the church where the choir pews and communion table are).

I like the design of the painted ceiling but as I gazed at it a thought wriggled out from the back of my mind and entered my consciousness. I realized I wasn’t sure what the symbol was that I was gazing upon. What is it I was looking at? From my American perspective it seemed a bit too similar to the dollar sign ($), but I was sure that it couldn’t be that. After all, such an crass expression of commercialism would be just plain weird in any church, but it would be over the top weird here in the UK where the monetary unit is pounds (£). I decided that there was some other meaning there that I couldn’t see, try as I might, because I was blinded by my American familiarity with the $ sign.

At the end of the meeting I asked a church steward, who shared with me how the painting it is understood by the congregation. It turns out it is a stylized Christogram, a representation of the name Jesus Christ. It is IHS, the first three letters of the Greek name for Jesus. In this particular instance it the letters are painted on top of each other, like a fancy monogram.

Formed in one perspective I saw what was familiar and needed help to see it from this new (to me) perspective. Likewise, this steward was amused by my perspective and had never seen dollars in their church’s ceiling before, despite having looked at it regularly for many years. We each looked at the same exact thing and saw it very differently.

I write to share with you this lesson I learned at this Meeting of Methodists; your perspective does matter, so be attentive to it. I was fortunate to have this lesson clearly stated and then reinforced by the my reflections on the space. In both ways, I was reminded how our perspective shapes what we do or don’t see. From your perspective, what do you see?