Shakespeare, Jesus and me

I realise the title makes this sound like some kind of mid-eighties Christian devotional for children but I think it genuinely sums up my 2014 Lent plan!

In my last blog post I wrote about how my recent encounter with a Newsnight feature on leadership had prompted me to consider undertaking a Lent project around Shakespeare, gender and leadership. As I've explored over the last few days what that might look like, a few thoughts have begun to crystallise.

Probably the most significant is the fact that I realised that a Lent project probably really ought to have a bit more spiritual content! I mentioned that I was considering some kind of theological reflection on Shakespeare's Henry V but I've made a bit of a leap which could turn out to be totally inspired or utterly ridiculous (or, mostly likely, hover in some theological no-man's land between the two). It occurred to me that perhaps there are some interesting parallels between Jesus at the last supper and Henry V immediately before the battle of Agincourt - they're a similar age, they know that what's about to unfold will have a transformational impact on their leadership, and they're leading others into that experience with them. And, of course, they both give great speeches.

And so my plan essentially goes something like this. I'll be reading and listening to John's account of Jesus' time with his disciples sharing the Passover meal - I'm using Tom Wright's John for Everyone Pt2 and The Bible Experience (which, I'll be honest, is a little too over-produced and American to listen to for actual pleasure, but I plan to have it on in the car on the way to work each day).

I'll also be reading Henry IV Pts1&2 and Henry V (using my parents' copy of The Complete Oxford Shakespeare which I'm not sure has ever been read by anyone in our family before).

To aid the leadership reflection I have James Lawrence's Growing Leaders which - sorry, James! - has sat on my bookcase unread for several years. The book outlines the understanding of leadership, specifically Christian leadership, which is at the heart of the Arrow Leadership Programme so hopefully it will provide me with a familiar but challenging framework for reflecting both on leadership generally and my leadership in particular.

And last, but by no means least, there's The Hollow Crown, the BBC's Cultural Olympiad adaptation of Henry IV Pts1&2 and Henry V, for the days when reading Shakespeare gets a bit much...

But why now and why this?

Because over the last few years I've found Lent a good time to intentionally do something in my life differently. I'll be honest, the idea of giving up chocolate or Facebook feels a bit like jumping on the band wagon (although those things can be a really good thing!), and last year I found that taking things up for Lent was a really helpful way of just thinking differently about how I spend my time.

But I've also realised that with life a little more settled, and no pressing need to look for somewhere to live or for a job, I need something to focus my free time on. And even in the last few weeks I've begun to miss the creative arts bit of my life that was so important for such a long time. Entirely unexpectedly I seem to have stumbled over something that will allow me to reflect on things that on one level seem only very loosely related - Jesus, Shakespeare, leadership - and yet they have something to say about the values at the heart of our national life.

But ultimately, my plan (my prayer?) for the next six weeks is that I'll get just a bit closer to Jesus.