god drinks at the sando
There is a song by the Whitlams with this title. It includes the lyrics:
‘Cause God drinks down at the Sandringham these days
Since the Shakespeare changed its name
He drinks down at the Sandringham these days
He’s what we call alright around hereTalks a bit, he likes to sit
Watches people come in and smiles
Somehow we’re part of him
We nod and chat a while
It is on my non-christian christian music part two - the resurrection CD. Imagine if God were just an old guy who walked in and had a drink with you at the pub - but then he really does, doesn’t he? Recently there has been a bit of a discussion on conjectural navel gazers about the city and how it interacts with our faith.
A couple of years ago I did a course which challenged me on the fact that we don’t have an urban image of God - we often have an image of God which is very similar to that of bible times - God is in the country, in nature, in the simple past-times such as strolling along picking stray sheaves of wheat or sitting on a hillside. That is where we meet God. Jesus went into the wilderness and the garden to pray, and we also often feel our strongest connections to god in those places.
But we don’t live in the same kind of society anymore. A lot of us live in cities and in urban environments, and by continuing to see that nature is where we experience God most clearly, we have removed that sort of experience from the places in which we actually often live, work and minister. Nobody says “hey I was walking down Collins Street in Melbourne and I really felt the presence of God”. If you do, good and I encourage you to share your experience in the comments.
The creation story in John says in part
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
The Greek literally says that he pitched his tent among us. What a great image! God is pitching his tent among us, living with us and sharing with us, even in this man-made, consumerist, grey city. The challenge is to discern the presence of God not in the still peace of the bush, but in the bustling business and noise of an urban environment. We need to connect with the God who has pitched his tent among us. We don’t need to travel to some other place to connect with God. The much harder thing is to see him here in our neighbour, in our buildings, in the guy who sits next to us at the pub.
April 7th, 2003 at 10:32 am
@ 03/29/2003 21:06:
i have to say that my most common experience of god tends to be in a large crowd at a concert or club. Its the overwealming sense of community that does it to me. During a mosh pit colapse everyone helps everone else out, they don’t just ignore it and keep enjoying the concert
Another common experience is waling through the city on a hot summers night just before the storm.
@ 03/29/2003 21:07:
continued->
as you walk through the streets the energy there reminds you of the pure power of god.
September 2nd, 2003 at 9:16 am
Being the author of the poem the Whitlams put the music to, I can only tell you my idea of “God” at the Sando was the feeling of community all around me propped right there at that island bar.