My Lucky Dime

OK, I admit it – I wrote that title just to be annoying.

The other day I was in a shop, and pulled out some coins to pay for something. I suddenly noticed that something wasn’t quite right. And one of my “ten pence pieces” turned out, in fact, to be a Quarter (US $0.25)

Now, if that was all there was to the story, I’d happily admit to being the world’s most boring blogger – even though the competition’s pretty fierce for that. But when I read the writing on the coin, I was quite taken. Compare and contrast a US coin’s inscription with a British one:

A quarter says six things: the country, the date, the denomination of coin. So far, so dull. But it also says:

- Liberty
- In God we trust
- E pluribus unum (“from many, one” – the Great Seal of the US)

The most famous British coin with an inscription is the pound coin, carrying an engraving along the outside edge. Incredibly, it reads Decus et Tutamen – a marvellous quote from the Aeneid, translating as ... wait for it ... An ornament and a safeguard

Even a ten pence piece just has a pretty paltry declaration about Her Majesty The Queen: Elizabeth II D G Reg F D – which, for the uninitiated, equals to Dei Gratia Elizabeth II Regina Fidei Defensor (By the Grace of God, Elizabeth II Queen and Defender of the Faith). Some might say this was quite a bold claim.

Now, perhaps it's just because I'm unfamiliar with the coinage - and let's face it, unfamiliar denominations are quite often challenging! - but there’s enough on a Quarter to make you think about the Kingdom of God for a week. How He calls us to be one people from the many. How we can and should trust in Him. How we are called to lives of freedom. You get the gist. Every time I pull that quarter from my pocket, I think on at least one of these things. In that sense, at least, it is a very lucky quarter indeed. On the other hand, the British currency just left me thinking that we view money completely the wrong way – “an ornament and a safeguard”!?! Or just as part of a ridiculously subservient nation state.

I have to say, it’s the currency of this country that leaves me feeling more than a little short-changed.

OK, now to rise to the challenge of Chris's post - foundational doctrine. If I maintain that laying on of hands isn't foundational doctine, then what is?

OK, how about this:

First, it's what's in the Nicene Creed, which I have pasted below.
Second, it's the Confession from Chalcedon - affirmation that Jesus was fully man, yet lived sinlessly, and fully God.
Third, that his victory over sin means we can have fulness of life in Him;
Finally, that God is living and active today - through His word, His Spirit, His people and His Church.

I agree that there are other issues that are important. But these are more to do with the "how" than the "what" - or, if you prefer, the processes of faith, rather than the objects of faith. So, "how" we worship is quite important; but finally, it is "whom" we worship that is foundational.

Nicene Creed

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son].
With the Father and the Son
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.