Kester Brewin

In the previous post I tried to explore how Christian community could move away from the sociopathic tendencies it naturally develops in worship of an omnipotent God by a passive congregation directed through a ‘hero’ priest.
In doing so I proposed that what we find in the radical Marxist view of Christianity is a community gathered [...]

How do we overcome the problem of corp-orations and organ-izations becoming sociopathic and abusive? This seems to be at the heart of the matter whether we are discussing the financial crisis (as Zizek does in First As Tragedy Then As Farce – the springboard for these posts) or the structure of our faith in a [...]

In the previous two posts { [ 1 ] [ 2 ] } I’ve been wondering whether a certain symmetry of relationship is needed if empathy is going to flow between two people. The springboard for this was Zizek critiquing the adage ‘an enemy is a friend whose story I have not yet heard’ by [...]

Whenever a gift is given, an invisible cargo is exchanged with it, loaded with semi-conscious messages about power-relations between giver and receiver. Offering an expensive gift to someone can be a power-play: I am rich enough to give you this. Even letting someone out into traffic can carry the same message: I am more gracious [...]

There is only one thing on the children’s minds: presents. There has probably been only one thing on many of our minds these last few weeks: what to buy for who? How much is appropriate to spend? What did they give me last year? How will they think of me if I give them this?
It [...]

I absolutely love this advent poem by Katherine Venn. She’s currently doing a Masters in poetry at the University of East Anglia, and keeping a blog of the experience over at Minute Particulars.
Brother Hare
Born with your clothes on, trembling in your scrape,
wide eyes open, soft, as new things are, warm;
alone, pressed small into a shallow [...]

From ‘Advent’ in The Complex Christ:
Our problem today: the space for imagination to expand and take shape is inversely proportional to the speed at which we live. Driven hard and fast, we lack the time to allow alternate worlds and possibilities to form, careering past small turnings and exits, bound to follow the obvious straight [...]

Post-Partum
Amniotics spilt, and semiotics rupture;
there are no words, just raw screams and suckles.
Child of God, child of man – no difference:
new life is unmoored emotion,
a wide sea of tears and sick,
and just one desire:
to feed, gather in, be mother-close.
But God won’t stay.
Controlled crying;
separation an immediate fact post-partum:
we must learn to settle ourselves,
become content with occasional [...]

Born into occupation.
Killed by a corrupt state.
Growing in poverty
Troubling to the rich
Teller of wise tales
Lover of good meals
Accused of insurrection
Disregarded by the courts
Awkward for the powerful
Bain of the religious
Beaten by soliders
Denied justice
Tortured
Forsaken
Left for dead
But never to be underestimated:
Jewish, not Israeli
Jesus was a Palestinian.

Tomorrow (10th) is ‘International Human Rights Day,’ commemorating the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN. Article 1 famously reads:
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
Incarnation is about [...]