Stories of Genesis

A few years ago my wife introduced me to the concept of 'Fan Fiction'. This is where fans of particular TV series write their own stories involving the characters, and share them in on-line forums. They seem to be quite popular, and Jude has written a few tales about Horatio Caine and co from CSI: Miami.

Recently an advert popped up on my Facebook wall for a book that described itself as 'a new kind of fan fiction': 'Stories of Genesis, volume 1' by Chris James. It contained a collection of five short stories based on characters from songs by Genesis, and, as a long-time fan of the band, I found it a fascinating read.


The first story, inspired by the title track of the 1976 album 'A Trick of the Tail', tells of Mr Magrew's big adventure away from the City of Gold, meeting people unlike himself, who were all without horns and tail, and of his journey home. There's a nice twist at the end, too, but I won't spoil it by telling what it is.

Next is 'The Chat Show Host', which relates the dreams of Jason Jones ('JJ'), the eponymous host stuck in provincial TV waiting for his big break, and of Duchess, a fading star hoping to resurrect her career. JJ's dreams of success hang on his ability to humiliate Duchess live on air, and the story shows how sometimes our plans can be interrupted by events.

My favourite story in this collection is the next one - 'One Regret', inspired by 'Dreaming While You Sleep' from 1991's 'We Can't Dance'. This is one of the better late-period Genesis songs, in my opinion, and James brings a wonderful depth and poignancy to this tale of guilt and inner torment following a hit-and-run accident.

The longest story is 'The Final Battle', taking up more than half of the book's length, and is the one which most closely follows the 'plot' of the song that inspires it, the monumental 'Supper's Ready' from 1972's 'Foxtrot'. For those who know the song, you will know how complex the tale is, with its apocalyptic imagery and scriptural allusions. James' tale, with a strong sci-fi feel to it (his usual genre for writing, it appears), tells of the struggle by an angelic army against the Eternal Sanctuary Man, and gives an interesting modern slant to ancient concepts and themes.

From the longest to the shortest tale in the fifth and final chapter - 'The Agent Lunges', inspired by 'Down & Out' from 1978's 'And then there were Three'. I must confess that this is a strange tale, and almost comes across as an afterthought, but it rounds off the book nicely. Again, no spoilers!

Overall, the stories are engaging without being direct re-tellings of the songs, and a second volume is planned for later in the year. Fans of Genesis's music and lovers of a good yarn will enjoy these tales: I certainly did.

Progarchy

A few weeks ago now I received an invitation from Brad Birzer to write some material for a blog he curates called 'Progarchy'. As the name suggests its focus is primarily all things do to with Progressive music, a particular obsession of mine (in case you hadn't noticed!).

With the cricket at Headingley being rained off today, I had some time on my hands, so I've just written my first piece for the site: you can find it here.

Maybe you could look around while you're there - you might find something interesting...

Eight into One

The Methodist Church is a strange animal for those who know how it works, let alone for those who don't. One of its peculiarities is the arrangement of Methodist Churches into Circuits, in which are stationed a number of ministers for the sake of pastoral care, worship and the general life of the church.

Until yesterday, the Methodists of Sheffield (the 4th largest city in the UK) had been arranged into 8 such circuits, arranged like wedges of a pie radiating out from the city centre, with the Victoria Hall standing proud in the centre of the city (and the pie). Today we joined those 8 circuits into one body to oversee the mission of the Methodist Church in Sheffield.

The New Circuit Logo

We did it today because 1st September is the Methodist New Year, the day when ministers start work in new appointments and the life of the churches starts up again after the summer hiatus. And we did it by gathering together representatives from the 66 Methodist congregations, together with representatives of the other Christian churches and faith communities in the city and civic dignitaries, for a service of worship and dedication in the Octagon Centre, on the campus of Sheffield University.

The service contained drama, prayer, traditional hymns and contemporary worship songs, a welcome for a new Probationer Minister in the north of the city, a commissioning for the new Superintendents and the ministerial staff, and a challenge to be the story of God's love and mercy from the Chair of the Sheffield District, Revd. Vernon Marsh. That story was poignantly illustrated by the centrepiece of the stage, where boards containing the names of members from the eight old circuits had been arranged to forms the outline of the Cross.

The Cross, and the candles taken to the Churches

We prayed together these words:

We make our new circuit in the fellowship of God

on the roads of the city, in the lanes of the villages,

in the housing estates and tower blocks,

to the noise of the tram, to the cries for love.

We make our new circuit in the fellowship of God

in the offices and factories,

the schools and universities,

and in the shopping centres.

God has no favourite places.

There are no special things.

All are God's, and all are sacred.

By the community that is God,

Father, Son and Spirit,

may each step we take weave us together as one

until we become what you, our God, are calling us to.

Amen.

We concluded as we shared bread and wine together, and were sent out to be the people of God called Methodist in the communities of this city, each congregation being given a candle to symbolise our unity in Christ. Whether any of us were any clearer just how this new arrangement will work, I'm not sure: it will take some months to develop now that it has been birthed. But the congregation left envisioned and inspired to be a company of hospitality, hope and healing.

Now the work begins.

Greenbelt at 40

For many years now I have been aware of the Greenbelt Festival, but have never been to it: until this past weekend when, with many thousands of others, my wife Jude & I drove to Cheltenham racecourse and enjoyed the life of Greenbelt.

It wasn't my first experience of a festival - back in the late '70s and early '80s I shared in the many joys of Glastonbury (before it sold out to commercial interests), Knebworth and Reading, and in 2006 - after a 25 years gap - survived 2 days at Leeds. By then my attitude to the mud and music had changed somewhat (does the music have to be that loud?). So when it was suggested that I go to Greenbelt this year, memories of these events came to the fore.

So what was it like?

Greenbelt is a very different animal from those other eventss. The music is only a small part of what the festival is about: it's as much about art, literature, theology, worship, justice and peace as well. The constituency is strikingly varied: all ages, races, spiritualities, theologies and orientations; people of faith, little faith and no faith, and yet with an underlying purpose for justice. The theology is open, radical and inclusive; the food varied and eclectic - it's the first time I've eaten Tibetan cuisine!; and the overall atmosphere is quite simply divine (in the true sense of the word).

We shared in comedy with Milton Jones, who also talked about the importance of faith to him, and why he doesn't do church gigs. My mind was stretched in debates about the purpose of marriage; what women want from the church; and the radical theology of John Caputo and Peter Rollins, Marika Rose & Lucy Winkett (still processing most of it, particularly the Rollins). We chatted with Vicky Beeching about being real in a virtual world, and I met Twitter followers 'in the flesh' for the first time. We broke bread together in small groups within a congregation of thousands, strangers and friends united in a common loaf and cup and a common Christ.

Musical highlights included the London Community Gospel Choir, going strong after 30 years; The Temperance Movement, a great rock outfit, with elements for me of the Stones, Frankie Miller (remember him?) and Bob Seger (with balls) about them; Thea Gilmore; and a wonderful last night set from Courtney Pine.

I make no bones about being an ageing hippy (albeit a sell-out with short hair ;) ), and for me the seminal festival was Woodstock in 1969. I'm old and wise enough (?) to realise the naivety of the 'Woodstock' ideal of peace, love and understanding - an ideal that lasted at best for the 3 days of that festival in August 1969 and had completely evaporated by Altamont 4 months later. But that ideal is no less a good one to aim at now than it was then, and comes close to my understanding of what Jesus was trying to say when he talked about the Kingdom of God/ Heaven. Jesus never defined the Kingdom, he only ever alluded to it, but I have come home from Cheltenham with a sneaking suspicion that he might today say 'The Kingdom of Heaven is like... Greenbelt.'

I'm already looking forward to Greenbelt 41 in August 2014!

Progressive Journeys

One of the wonderful things I like about Progressive music is the great variety there is out there. Even within the current crop of bands there are those who seem to channel the spirit of the 1970s, creating music that wouldn't have seemed out of place back in the heyday of Prog, but there are others who are carving their own particular Progressive niche too.

For music to be truly Progressive, I believe, it needs to take you somewhere new - somewhere that no other music has taken you. Two bands in particular have done that for me in recent weeks. Both are bands that have been around for a while, and that I have heard tell of, but had not, until recently, listened to, and both have opened my eyes to the further possibilities of Prog.

The first was The Enid, who I encountered at Sheffield's annual city-wide music festival, Tramlines. They are a band whose line-up has changed many times since their inception, under the constant guiding hand of Robert John Godfrey, and I had heard much praise for their release 'Invicta' last year - though I 'd not managed to hear it. Their set was simply spellbinding: full of consummate musicianship, energy, drama and pure emotion, it left me breathless and physically and emotionally transported - almost a spiritual experience. The music, combining elements of classical, rock, dance and electronic, was a revelation.

The other band was The Tangent. Again, I'd heard much about them, and had had their music recommended to me, but had never listened to them, until this last fortnight. Taking the plunge, I asked on the Facebook 'Big Big Train' group page which albums people thought I should particularly listen to as a new-comer to their music, and many of the replies pointed me towards their latest release - Le Sacre du Travail (The Rite of Work).

The work describes itself as 'An Electric Symphonia' and seeks musically to model Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring' while telling the story of a working day in England. Here again we see a cross-over between the classical and rock genres, and a very effective and engaging one it is too. The journey happens over five movements and takes us from the morning commute to the tedium of office life, the evening rush hour and the later evening in front of the TV. Lyrically and musically Andy Tillison ( the driving force of the band) has produced a fine piece of work, and having acquainted myself with his work, I am now immersing myself in his earlier material - all of it of an equally high standard. What I particularly like about his writing, across his albums, is his harking back to his formative years, growing up as I did in Yorkshire in the 1970s, hearing what we now consider to be Classic Prog for the first time - in songs like 'Muffled Epiphany' on the latest album, and 'The Sun in My Eyes' on the earlier release 'A Place in the Queue'.

I would warmly commend both of these acts as a way of stretching your musical understanding, taking music to a new level and rejoicing in the depth of creativity that is still present - albeit not in the mainstream - of British music.