It’s too hot, too, cold, too wet, too dry ….. It seems we are never happy with our weather. It would appear that we would only be happy with temperatures within a very narrow five degree band and limited amounts of rain and preferably at night when we won’t get wet. Many people want their religion like that too. Not to stimulating or challenging, not too vibrant and energising, just nice and tepid, familiar comfortable and bland. The church is neither hot or cold and we wonder why people are turned off from it and don’t want to be involved or have the church play an important part of their lives. Yet on the other hand we have people more ready to say that they are “spiritual” but not religious whatever that means, more manly but not a bloke, more feminine but not a blonde. What they mean is that they don’t want to be challenged, but to make up their own rules for life and faith, to blend all the different ideas into one and get the best of them all. I remember when a child painting at school, all the bright different colours and mixing them together to get different ones. If you did that too, then like me you probably tried to blend all the colours you possibly could together to see what you ended up with – it was usually a muddy brown colour. That is just what the “spiritual” but not religious end up with – a “faith” that’s as clear as mud. The church of Jesus Christ has to recapture its colour and vibrancy again and not be scared of putting people off – they are already put off. Perhaps with a bit more distinctive colours and flavour the church will be slat and light again to a muddy and bland world.