the soapbox

Soapbox is moving to Wordpress

2007-10-15T23:06:00.000+01:00

soapbox is packing up his box and moving over to wordpress. See the new home here

a bit late but...

2007-10-13T00:16:00.001+01:00

I was there!

2007-10-12T21:03:00.000+01:00

soapbox is back from a thoroughly enjoyable weekend in Cardiff, via the delights of Birmingham Airport - possibly one of the first airports I've encountered where they don't charge you twice the average price for everything. Unlike the motorway services stop where we paid £7.95 for a fry-up, but what better way to start a rugby watching weekend.

Sitting in a Spanish bar in Cardiff surrounded by Kiwis, Aussies and le french was a great fun. Shame the same couldn't be said for the watery poorly poured black stuff. Cardiff is a prime example why the government's insistence on putting a national stadium at the Maze is crazy. The prematch atmosphere in Cardiff was great - full of colour, and pretty darn good for the local economy too. They had great park'n'ride schemes too.

We had seats in Row U. I kid you not. 3 rows from the back. With roof closed it did feel a little ovenesque - although our french friends in front probably felt the heat a little more. The view was amazing. I was full of expectation at the fast flowing rugby I've come to expect of the All-Blacks, only to be disappointed as they failed to show up in the second half of a marvellous french revival. I had my trusty (not very good point and shoot but not a lot more) digital camera along to record the action. So i spent about 6 of the first 10 minutes taking a few photos, struggling with the light, the odd video of the haka, and then caught myself on.
In my obsession with creating tangible memories i was missing out on enjoying the occasion (certainly more than our kiwi neighbour). Its a phenomenon I've noticed at gigs - people are so obsessed with taking photos and videos to prove to their friends they were there, or just gloat, or just trying to preserve the experience to be relived, that they missed out on the wonder of what was happening - not soaking up the sights and sounds of the here and now.

The three of us had a wander around Gloucester the next day, enjoying some infantile sniggering as we walked down 'Three Cocks Lane' before checking out the memorial to Bishop Hooper - an early reformer martyred for his faith. Interestingly the Cathedral seemed more interested in telling people that Harry Potter was filmed there than celebrating a hero of the faith and man of great integrity... The cultured one of us took the Cathedral Tour while the yuth worker and student worker retired to ye olde pub for some fine ale and South Africa - Fiji...

cow

2007-10-08T10:19:00.000+01:00

Great Sporting Lies and Humility

2007-09-27T10:24:00.000+01:00

" We are being asked to believe that, less than a week after the great upheaval, players who regarded Mourhino as their mentor have thrown their lot in with someone who they ahve reason to suspect may have hastened their beloved manager's exit. T's like saying Larry, Adam and The Edge would barely look up from their royalty checks if Bono were dumped in favour of James Blunt..."
Read the rest here

I've been doing a fair bit of training over the last couple of weeks - for new staff of our ever growing plot to change the world through students. I've been ranting a lot about the Bible as I have done here too. Jaybercrow and Zoomtard also have a lot of good stuff to say on the subject. One of the things i keep coming back to and trying to live as well as hammer into people [constantly emphasise is maybe a better phrase in this context as has been pointed out!], is a sense of humility. A wise lecturer commented a couple of days ago that their is a significant difference between arguing about the 'authority of the bible' and our 'interpretation of the bible'. Often we confuse the two. If someone doesn't agree with your interpretation, its easy to claim they don't respect the authority of the bible. and again its a classic example of trying to make ourselves feel better by making someone else feel small and claiming superiority. Which is not humility. Which is not the way of Jesus. Humility is not about winning and losing. Humility respects that other people's opinions are not snatched out of the air. Humility realises that we don't know it all, that other people have much to contribute to helping us understand God, the world, each other. In fact I think that's part of what is behind Paul's teaching on the church as a body. God does not make us self sufficient. We do not have all we need by ourselves. We need others for their gifts, skills, wisdom and experience. I think this is also what Paul is getting at in Ephesians 3 - " that you may have power, together with all the Lord's people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge".
Time to stop and begin living humbly - realising others have much to teach us, that we need others. As someone working with students I see it all the time - sometimes at 19 or 20 people think they know it all and don't need anyone else. It's something I, as someone who always knows the right way to do things - my way, has had to learn the hard way and come to appreciate much more over the years. We need other people. a large part of humility is realising that.

the soapbox - coming after your money

a blue day

2007-09-20T08:49:00.000+01:00

For all Chelsea fans - a day of mourning for the Special One who has gone from our midst. What will the papers write about, what will we have to look forward to in post-match interviews. Is this a case of classic boardroom and owner meddling? Was dropping mis-firing or not-firing at all Shevchenko the final straw for the baby faced billionaire? And to make it worse his buddy who was nicked from Portsmouth Avram Grant is lined up to move from Director of Football to Manager. A man with experience of managing two Isreali clubs and the Isreali national team. Hardly Champions League winning pedigree - looks like the Russian is making Chelsea his own plaything and playing with the loyalty and patience of fans who after so many years of mediocrity were getting used to success. Or maybe Kenyon's move to Chelsea was all a big ploy to convince Abramovich to do crazy things (although powerful Russians have never needed an excuse before) to plot Chelsea's downfall and United's restoration.
Given Chelsea fans are all glory hunters expect a sudden defection to the sexy football of Arsenal - another team on the rise.

And at least we can look forward to Mourhino's book - certainly won't be dull...

Egg all over the fomula one and football faces

2007-09-18T20:43:00.000+01:00

So Fernando Alonso certainly does come across as a petulant little boy - threatening to dob in his own team if they didn't make him the big boy of the team. I guess he is a double world champion and is having to live a little in the shadow of his boy wonder team-mate. How Alonso kept his points is certainly miraculous. Jackie Stewart's claims of bias toward Ferrari did look a little silly after the publication of the emails the next day. Apparently its par for the course in Formula One and we really shouldn't be surprised, McLaren are just the ones who have got caught, big style and hauled over the coals. But does that make it ok? Is honesty and integrity fast becoming a thing of the past?

And then there's Stephen Ireland of Man City, who got caught spinning a bizarre web of lies in the midst of his girlfriend's tragic miscarriage. Proof that when we start lying it gets harder and harder to own up to the truth. Seeing his granny who he claimed had died will be interesting. I didn't realise football clubs and associations went to such lengths to check things out though.

An elaborate web of lies is what much of the media are insinuating the McCanns have been spinning. Its strange how the media has turned on the couple - in much down to the Portugese police. I've no idea what actually happened but people are very quick to crucify the McCann's. If they are innocent it's another example of lives scarred and ruined by the over-zealous media. If it turns out they were involved in Maddy's death they certainly have spun an incredibly elaborate web of lies.

Soapbox - off to invest in Northern Rock

The Charity you've all been waiting for...

2007-09-18T08:08:00.000+01:00

Check out Whynotsmile's take on the recently arrived Dawkins Foundation.
She says it all better than I could, and makes her encounters with a certain DIY chain hilaroius and compelling reading.

I may get around to some posting of my own sometime soon when I emerge from the depression of Ireland's world cup campaign...

Life on the road

2007-09-05T08:55:00.000+01:00

It feels strange that after almost 5 weeks in Peru, a few days in the Mournes and a week in Berlin I'm not going anywhere in the next few weeks. Life on the road isn't all bad. Berlin is a fascinating city. We (some of my colleagues and I) were there for a conference on missional leadership by the excellent Innovista. Charlie Hadjiev - a Bulgarian Pastor, recently finished a PhD on Amos led some great sessions thinking through what mission and the gospel actually is, pushing us not to settle for a narrow inadequate and simplistic understanding:

"Often when we think about mission, we make a fundamental mistake. We think our mission is to save people from 'the fires of hell'. This is all good and true, but inadequate. The gospel is not about avoiding death only. It is about new life."

Having been in Berlin last year, I enjoyed a bit more time sitting in cafes. My boss now agrees with my last year's assertion that the coffee in the Starbucks at the Brandenburg Gate is among the worst I've had in a coffee establishment. Dunkin Donuts offering wasn't too hot either, but the local places were pretty good. Being in Starbucks - for usage of their fine toilet facilities, listening to English music was unsettling. It reminded me how bland and dull globalised franchises are - totally lacking in character. Looking forward to my return to common grounds.

If you're ever in Berlin - do the walking tours. We did a Third Reich one - 4 hrs walking around with an excellent guide who knew his stuff and was pretty funny - and had the best walking backwards technique I've ever seen. 90% of the city was destroyed in the war so a lot of the tour is "this car park was the site of Hitler's bunker", it was disturbingly fascinating to see the remains of cells in the basement of the SS and Gestapo HQ - now site of a Typography of Terror Museum, and to hear how Berliners call the Soviet Memorial to the Unknown Soldier (commemorating some of their 20 million war dead) - 'the memorial to the unknown rapist' due to the 90,000 Berliners raped by conquering troops. War isn't a pleasant business, and our guide was at pains to point out that the Nazis weren't superhuman monsters but humans like each of us capable of acts of extraordinary evil. Sobering stuff. The national guilt in Germany over the war and the Holocaust is incredible, and their process of coming to terms and living with that. Having seen what the Spanish did to Peru and Bolivia, and aware of the mess the British Empire made of much of the globe, I wonder how much remorse Spaniards or British people have for the actions of previous generations. And where do you begin to draw a line? For those of us living on Northern Ireland, that's the question - how do we deal appropriately with the events of the past, what does it mean to move forward?
Hope becomes an important concept - despite growing up in a 'hell and brimstone' culture - seeing and being reminded of stuff like this, the thought that one day those who perpetrate horrendous acts will be held to account gives me hope, while i tremble and throw myself on God's mercy and grace because (to paraphrase Gary Haugen) I know that the same attitudes and thoughts that existed in the hearts of Hilter and Stalin are in mine...

On tour in Peru - Cusco and Machu Picchu

2007-08-18T12:56:00.000+01:00

A 3am start the day after our return from English camp was met with much excitement (and the odd bit of morning grumpiness) as we flew off for our team holiday - 3 days in Cusco including one at one of the newly voted 7 wonders of the world - Macchu Picchu. We could feel our chests tight with the altitude which was cancelled out by the wonderfully clean mountain air. None of the the black snot that signalled the pollution of Lima! We had a whistlestop city tour of some of the main sights in and around Cusco - a combination of Inca ruins and Spanish architecture.

It was fascinating to see a Dominican church built on the ruins of an Inca temple. The Inca stonework was incredible - no cement or mortar used the stones were precision cut to fit and lock together. We detected some of the animosity from the guide that can only come from a people subjugated in the violent way they were by the Spanish. On a 'mission trip' it was interesting to observe the effects that forcing Catholicism had on the locals. We also visited Saksaq Waman- not sexy woman but more Inca ruins which from the air form the shape of a Puma's head, with the town of Cusco forming the body. The Incas really were pretty amazing people. The best was saved for another 3am start - a one and a half hour minibus ride followed by 2hrs in a baltic train to Aquas Calientes - the town beside Machu Pichhu.

Machu Pichhu is an Inca settlement at the top of a mountain. The scenery alone is breathtaking as jungle covered mountains appear from the morning mist with the coming up of the sun. That this sanctuary or city could be built in such a place without modern technology is stunning. The Spanish didn't discover it and it was only found in the early 1900's covered in jungle. Its incredibly beautiful and peaceful, slightly disturbing on learning some of the stories of sacrifice, and still mystical - people are still unsure as to its exact purpose. A hike up the Inca trail - in the burning sun gave still more magnificent views down onto the ruins I'm more used to seeing on my coffee packets. We had all sorts of fascinating discussions about the Inca's beliefs and how God would view those in the silence looking down at the city as most of the tourists left. It may just be ruins on top of a mountain but it one of those place you have to see for yourself to appreciate it, the skill of the Incas, and the God who gave them the skills to build it.

Paint, holiday camps and ethical tourism - Peru part 4

2007-08-15T22:42:00.001+01:00

Leaving Caraballyo was an emotional experience. Although some of our Spanish wasn't great we had formed bonds and built friendships with many of the people there, especially Cara and Emma who had been before as part of the UUJ team. The warmth and generosity of the people in San Martin as they welcomed 'the gringos' won't be easily forgotten.

Our next task was a spot of painting in casa AGEUP, repainting the exterior cream from its original light blue. Painting was great fun, the girls seem to get more over themselves than the walls and a few white handprints appeared on people's clothing. Its often nice to do something you see tangible results with, which was definitely the case here.

Next stop was English Encounter 2007 - and English Camp for Peruvian students. Around 25 of us headed off to a little holiday camp in a part of Lima where the sun actually shone for some intense English speaking, English lessons and English bible studies. We enjoyed not just a bit of sun but the opportunity to really get to know the students, and in many ways it would have been great to have the camp nearer the start so we could have continued to deepen those relationships and continue conversations. No camp is complete without a campfire which eventually lit with the help of a little gasoline, although we almost lost Rob in the process!

After the team holiday (in a post to come) there really was the sense of beginning to come home. we lost Jo in Cusco, as she stayed on to go visit Puno and Lake Titykaka. Before Cara flew out on the 10th we had a goodbye dinner with the guys from AGEUP. Apart from being some of the best chicken and chips i've had it was a really emotional evening with more than the odd tear shed. The AGEUP staff - Juan, Yenny, Adela (and her husband Juan) , and Jose have been incredible in how they welcomed us, loved us and looked after us. The warmth of that love was so evident that night, despite the language barriers. It has been a real privilege to be part of their family and we're really going to miss them. One of the things we did notice is that Peruvians and Irish people do seem to share a similar cheeky sense of humour, not only did we feel incredible loved but we had so much fun with them. There will be more reflections to come im sure and one definately has been how thankful, generous, affectionate and loving the christians we met in Peru are. We definitely have a lot to learn from them...
Some of the Peruvian dancing was also strangely familiar:

delta delights

2007-08-13T03:32:00.000+01:00

More on the last week or so including a trip to
Machu Picchu later. After losing our baggage for two days on the way here Delta airlines further enhanced my love for them by overbooking our flight from Atlanta to Dublin and leaving Paul, Naomi and I spending a sticky night tonight in a Comfort Inn in Atlanta before hopefully making it home a day late

Halfway musings

2007-07-31T00:22:00.000+01:00

Well my system is well and thoroughly detoxed and i may even be a little slimmer thus allowing my brain to beign musing on some of what we´ve been experiencing here in Peru. One thing that´s been very noticeable in churches is how often people say ´gracias´ when praying. After listening to a Tim Keller sermon on the bus on the way home today (that´s the sort of christian geek i am) i was pondering is the thankfulness and generosity shown by christians here as compared to how we live at home related to how much we actually believe the gospel. In wealthy countires we have everything we need and do we really acknowledge how much we need God or do we just do religion - good stuff? More to follow....

Its been interesting how easy it has been to go without things, like the two days without our luggage, and even for a coffee snob like myself who has 3 cups a day, i've only had 3 my whole time here. Peru produces some really good coffee - the cafedirect beans from macchu picchu are pretty good yet people here don't seem to get to enjpy some of the really good stuff they produice because its all exported. One of the women in Caraballyo, when asked if she uses vegetables (given there are fields of vegetables around the community) replied tellingly 'no, the good ones all go to you' meaning overseas. The world is so small and connected, frightening to think our demand for vegetables and coffee actually deprives the people in the countires that produce them from enjoying the good fruits of their land...

After some more painting the last couple of dayswe're off for an English camp this week and we are actually camping. A few English lessons and some Irish culture are being hastily prepared. For those of you who have been to Slovakia - sound familiar?

We return on Sunday night and get a 6am flight to Cusco for our team holiday - a few days at one of the new 7 wonders of the world - Macchu Picchu which should be stunning - as long as no-one gets altitude sickness. We've done pretty well on the sickness front and hope it stays that way...

Who let the dogs out? - Peru part three

2007-07-27T21:31:00.000+01:00

To quote another song, dogs are everywhere here in Peru, well especially in Caraballyo, although most are pretty inactive and docile. However we have learned that Peruvian dogs seem to enjoy the Peruvian way of life which tends not to be too fast paced. Powerwalking in a European way to get back to the petrol station from which we get the bus back to lima seems not such a good idea, as the hole in my t-shirt from an overexcited dog now demonstrates. No skin broken so no fear of getting rabies. We've been working in San Martin in Caraballyo for two weeks now. The roof on the community house is now complete, there's a 3m hole dug for a latrine, and there's now a fence running along the back of the kids playpark and the path shielding the sight of the rubbish dump in the background. We've discovered some of the genius of HSBC's local knowledge ad from the local handyman and community leader Crescento who with a chain and piece of wood took out a pole concreted in the ground in two minutes which took us a couple of hours with our rocking back and forth method. We´ve loved working with Luis the carpenter putting up the roof, one of those people with a constantly smiling face who we managed to have great chats with in spanglish. The universal language of football is a great starter. Paul and I and a few of the girls have been getting into playing football with some of the kids and the guys who drive the mototaxis. We've seen the sun and blue skies in Caraballyo for the last week which has meant lots of sweating, even when just doing nets. The Paul and Sam combo is becoming a pretty fearsome attacking force. For those who are aware of my footballing prowess, the stony bumpy pitch and the dust seem to help. It's exciting to see how AEGUP (thePeruvian IFES movement) are committed long term to community development in partnership with the community. The last couple of days we've been able to do a bit of mini kids club with arts, crafts, songs and bible stories. The kids seem to get it all, which is great. This weekend is independance weekend so there's flags everywhere and we're getting the chance to see some of the big parades in Lima. We've settled in really well, helped immenseley by Rob [Rob Clay Rivers - to give him his full title], anamerican doing a year here with LatinLink. Sorry a North American, as we've realised that american refers to any native of the two continents of the americas. Watching the Copa america final at his house was pretty good too. One of Rob's other contributions has been giving us another team member. His friend Jo came to stay with him for a week and get involved in the stuff he was doing and has ended up joining us for the whole time. Its been funny thinking back to this team almost not happening but we've got a great bunch of people with Emma and Cara staying from the Jordanstown team, and now Jo. Its added a great dynamic, perspective and banter. As a team we've been digging into Colossians which has been great, and i've been rereading Colossians Remixed - which is one of the best books i've read in the last couple of years, both for the context of the Roman Empire and for translating Paul's subversive message into a global consumer culture. Lima is no different with McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, Pizza Hut et al in evidence - although Paul and I's sneaky Pizza last night from a local joint was pretty heard to beat... the girls weren´t so impressed but it was his birthday...

Soapbox - currently enjoying a free (involuntary) weight loss and detox regime

Pets and Poverty - Peru part two

2007-07-22T22:42:00.000+01:00

The strangest sight so far has been the woman on the bus with two snails in a plastic bag with a little lettuce - not lunch but merely pets it seemed. Saturday 14th saw our first day working in the community of San Martin at Caraballyo. The green fields of vegetables were a welcome relief from the greyness of Lima - the city of 11 million were the sun never seems to break through the smog. The sight of this little community on the edge of a rubbish dump was however a different sight. After the dustiness and rubbish came the smell of the rubbish and the pigs that feed on the rubbish. As we stepped out of the mototaxis, the first thing to my shame that i noticed about the kids [apart from them being pretty cute] were that they looked pretty dirty and the last thing i wanted to do was touch them. I had to remind myself what Jesus would have done and make a concious effort to get stuck in, but after my self-centred concerns the kids weere so affectionate and really glad to see us, and to play. Football not being my strong point, the only people I can beat are kids so its all good! We will be putting a roof on the community house built by AEGUP - the Peruvian IFES movement, who after consultation, are working in partnership with the community leaders. They've also built an amazing little playground that provides a splash of colur in the midst of some of the drabness. Its going to be a real learning experience and privilige to work alongside AEGUP as they demonstrate integral mission and get to know some of the locals with my pidgeon Spanish. Lima has been in the grips of strikes for the last few weeks although we haven't seen much apart from riot police around the centre. all is quiet, but Independance Day on 28 July should be fun.

bags and being bogging - Peru part one

2007-07-13T23:41:00.000+01:00

So we´ve arrived in Peru after a 8 hr flight from Dublin toAtlanta and 6 hrs from Atlanta to Peru.Highlights from Delta included haagen daas mid journey. However the ban on liquidsa nd aerosols did have a negative effecton our personal hygeine! Delta then crumbled in our estimation by managing to leave our bags in Atlanta (and those of around 30 other people on the flight). The lack of sleeping bags was most keenly felt as its pretty baltic in the sunless grey skies of Lima, as was the lack of toiletries, once again the team has bonded around our lack of cleanliness. When our bags arrived this morning however,w e were pretty happy but at the same time had been reminded that you can survive quite happily without a shower for three days and living simply is a pretty content way to be whehn living in a community of people. We start work tomorrow and had some time to see Lima today, having jsut avoided some roiting the last few days. Paul as our tallest member at six feet five literally is head and shoulders above all Peruvians. AEGUP - the Peruvian IFES movement who we are working with have welcomed us amazingly, and are invovled in some awesome community development projects which we will be a part of. More soon..

Next stop Lima

2007-07-09T10:54:00.001+01:00

Its been a while since the last post, partly because it seemed to stir up so much discussion i wasn't quite sure how to follow it, and also i've been off wearing my health and safety hat managing a few venues at summer madness.
The trip to Dublin airport to leave for Lima via Atlanta is fast approaching. I head off on wednesday morning (11th July) jjust in time to miss the bonfires. On the subject of which i was glad to see at least one newspaper article tacking the polluting nature of bonfire season.
I'll be in Peru until 12th August, we're building a community centre and working with one of the local christian student groups. If you're of the praying sort, we'd appreciate your prayers for good health, team building, language skills, and that we would be able to serve and learn from our hosts.
I'll hopefully be able to post a few updates, but we'll also have updates on the Latinlink site.
If you'd like to write to me/us and send us some chocolate or keep us up to date with the Premiership and all that's happening at home, we'd appreciate that - well the girls less so about the football maybe.
Our address is:
Equipo Step AEGUP, Enlace Latino, Apartado 1277, Lima 100, Peru

So any women on the go?

2007-06-25T09:16:00.000+01:00

I had to restrain a strong desire to punch an elderly relative for this comment at my gran's funeral several years ago. Whether I had or not was irrelevant. In my moment of grief all she was interested in was my relationship status, not the fact I may have been upset. This is one of the things that really bugs me about the Christian community in the North at least. It's obsessed with relationships - which are a good thing but not everything, and in fact they have a very poor theology of relationships. There seems a massive pressure for people to get married. And so many christians get married so young, and some of those marriages run into problems. Northern Irish Christians all need to read some Hybels wisdom in Making Life Work (which is a fantastic book) or Fit to be Tied. It could only have good results.

Its one of the things that frustrates me about church. Sometimes I feel it would be easier to fit in if I was in a couple. Maybe I’m just more sensitive to it, having grown up with parents who split up when I was young, and mum sharing some really hurtful comments made by other Christian couples like – “if you were still together we could go out like we used to”. Can couples not spend time with single people? Are they so insecure about the stability of their relationship that they can’t be reminded of some of the harsh realities of life?

I was really pleased to hear a friend’s minister say from the front – "we will not be a church that only invites you for dinner if you’re a couple", recognising that disturbing reality that exists in some churches. In churches that clearly are missing something major about all that stuff Jesus kept talking about when he called his followers to love one another, to show hospitality. I don't remember there being any qualifiers, in fact that was the whole point of the good samaritan parable. Yet for single people churches can be lonely places.

It’s another reason why I have serious issues with John Eldridge. I read Wild at Heart a couple of years ago. While lots of people seem to think he says some good things, I had to restrain myself from throwing the book across the room on several occasions. His theology is woefully inadequate, especially when it comes to singleness. As in he doesn’t have a theology of singleness. I wondered why he didn’t really use Jesus as a role model for men – it would seem an obvious choice, but then Jesus was single and that kind of blows his theory out of the water. Passages like Matthew 19.12 and 1 Corinthians 7 are conveniently ignored by Eldridge where Jesus and Paul commend singleness.

Now I’m not just taking a pop at Eldridge but something that is endemic in the Christian community and has and is damaging lots of people. Churches sometimes assume marriage is the norm and everyone else needs married to sort them out.

In Genesis when God says its not good for man to be alone, I wonder if we read too much into that in taking it to be purely about marriage. If God lives in the community of the trinity surely what He was doing there was creating community for humanity – which is something larger than marriage, which is one expression of that. Maybe what our churches need more of is loving inclusive community with the recognition that marriage is not the be all and end all and recognition that singleness is exalted in the bible. Maybe then we might really see God’s kingdom touching earth and many of us who are broken and hurting actually finding a home…

Check out Tim Chester’s blog where he has been posting some great stuff on marriage and singleness – especially this morning’s post which precipitated this soapbox rant and has some fantastic stuff in it.

Soapbox - aware of the ironic timing of this post....

in my other life...

2007-06-20T08:45:00.000+01:00

John O’Farrell is a pretty funny writer, but then he cut his teeth on spitting image – one of the best satirical shows that’s ever graced our screens. Although part of its appeal was probably some of the real characters around at the time – Maggie et al. The first book I read of his – ‘This is your life’ is the hilarious story of a thirtysomething pretending to be the next big thing in stand-up comedy. I raided my friend’s library for another of his books – ‘the best a man can get’ around exam time. It’s the fascinating story of a guy living a double life. With a wife and two kids in one house, then ‘working away’ in a bachelor pad with 3 other guys. He has the best of both worlds (his wife and mother of two small children may disagree…) it seems, until he invariably gets found out. Maybe the reason its so incisively funny is because we can all identify. We all have our stories of living double lives until we got found out. Mine was at school. One person to my friends, another to my family and church. Why do we feel the need to pretend, to try to be someone we are not to others? So often we feel we have to impress people to get them to like us, we’re afraid that if they saw the ‘real me’ they wouldn’t like us anymore. But we simply can’t keep up performance related friendships. People who constantly try to impress by telling you how great they are and what they are doing, but aren’t interested in you, who don’t listen aren’t people I want to spend a lot of time with. Which reminds me that often I am one of those people, insecure in my own identity. We all love authenticity, people who don’t care what others think but know who they are. Maybe by trying not to pretend, not to be different people that can help release others from the captivity of their alter egos before it all comes crashing down in flames…

In it for life...

2007-06-18T22:04:00.000+01:00

Best man speeches are a bit of a nightmare. You really do feel the pressure to try and make people laugh, and I'm no stand-up comic, although when you have friends who have done lots of amusing things it makes it much easier. Being best man for Tim and Susie was a real pleasure and a bit of a privilege, to be so involved as they commit themselves to each other for life. There was a great moment in the service where we - Tim and Susie's family and friends also said 'i do' to helping them live faithfully with each other. It really impressed me as so often we are given the impression that once in a couple you have all you need but you don't, you still need other people around you to cheer you on, to listen and be there when it all goes pear-shaped, and to share in the joy. I guess it was reminding us that just as Tim and Susie are in it together for life - we're in it with them for life too as a community who will try to help them live faithfully. Rob Bell's 'Sex God' has some really interesting stuff on relationships connected with all this but that's for another day. I leave with one of the best photos (in my opinion - well apart from Emily the flowergirl - the true star of the show) of the day - kindly supplied by Colin's photographic genius...

And the bride and groom
I'm trying to restrain myself to not posting some of the photos and video clips I used in the speech, I have a lifetime of dinner invites to think about...

Peru

2007-06-12T17:17:00.000+01:00

This time next month i'll be on the plane to Peru. I'm going with a bunch of students from across Ireland, where we'll be working with the Peruvian equivalent of who I work for. We (hopefully) will be doing some English language stuff with students - just as well given my spanish skills. We'll also be helping build a community centre in the outskirts of Lima. AEGUP (the Peruvian IFES movement) are pretty awesome and holistic in what they do. The community centre will not only provide a place for locals to come and use, but will host breakfast and lunch clubs for kids who probably wouldn't eat otherwise, as well as being a hub for community development teaching skills, giving health education and a lot more. With weddings and all sorts of other stuff like being crashed into going on I'm only getting around to really thinking about Peru. By the way, what are the odds, blemish free driving for years the points and an accident all in a few weeks. Thanks to all those who have dug deep to help us on our way so far, if you'd like to contribute - click on the justgiving link to the right. Hasta luego.

Big Brother does it again..

2007-06-08T08:53:00.000+01:00

I hadn't realised we had another series on big brother until a few days after it started, and especially the last few days. As big brother becomes embroiled in another 'racism row' i have to admit to a large degree of cynicism. After the whole shilpa debacle is this simply big brother trying to redeem itself? I thought it was an experiment in social observation, although it appears to be becoming more like its orwellian inspiration and turning into social control. Obviously racism is wrong but this whole thing appears to be making a massive deal out of one comment. To throw someone out instead of warning them or talking to them about their behaviour and use of language is massively over-reacting. Apparently they weren't concerned with her motives but in the offence caused to the viewing public. Rubbish. If they really cared about offending the viewing public they wouldn't show half of what they do, and they certainly wouldn't have let the 'white bint' comment made by another contestant go unchallenged. Big Brother stinks of hypocrisy and a crass attempt to raise the ratings which i certainly won't be contributing to...

Sunday can wait.

2007-06-04T18:40:00.000+01:00

So the sabbathing stuff is coming, I’m enjoying this time of year as things quieten down (well apart from the wedding I’m best man at on Saturday) and the CU planning for next year I’ll be at this week. It usually means my mind starts to waken up. I’ve been reading Eugene Peterson’s ‘Eat this Book – The Art of Spiritual Reading’ with the title based on John’s experience in the book of Revelation.

I’m pretty passionate about the bible – God’s revelation of himself that invites us into life with him and into his story. I hate it when people misuse the bible – giving many people ammunition for all the negative claims often made against the bible. Its pretty unique and incredible if you give it a chance, it you give it time. For people trying to follow Jesus often there can be nothing more damaging than ‘bible’lite’, than not taking it seriously, not engaging, and just dipping in for bible horoscopes to make you feel good about yourself for the day. Now hear what I’m saying - God speaks and uses lots of things but we can’t build a healthy engagement with God this way. That may do for a few weeks, or months but not for a lifetime of journey. We need to really engage - I often think it ironic that 'bible studies' (a term that fills most people with dread, because of boring, dry, comprehension-like question and answer sessions) don't really involve studying or the bible, but reading a passage once (which we pretty much instantly forget) then sharing opinions without actually getting into the text - more licking and forgetting than eating and chewing. That means coming humbly - not arrogantly thinking we have it all sorted or explained and entering into the story, sitting humbly under its authority.

We’ve been having lots of conversations in work about how we approach the bible, as it is one of our core values. There had been a phrase ‘good use of the bible’ banded about which we were aware did sound a bit like we thought we had it nailed and sorted. More profoundly one of our board stated a theological objection reminding us we don’t use the bible – if anything it ‘uses’ us. As we engage with God’s word, his Spirit changes and transforms us. its not just go and do this but we almost enter into the story, begin a conversation. And so ‘dynamic engagement with the bible’ was born.

I thought the following from Eugene was telling – as we enter into God’s story yes there is joy and promise and fulfilment but also deeply unsettling experiences…

"The bible is a most comforting book; it is also a most discomfiting book. Eat this book; it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth; it will also be bitter to your stomach. You can’t reduce this book to what you can handle; you can’t domesticate this book to what you are comfortable with. You can’t make it your toy poodle, trained to respond to your commands.

This book makes us participants in the world of God’s being and action; but we don’t participate on our terms. We don’t get to make up the plot or decide what character we’ll be. This book has generative power; things happen to us as we let the text call forth, stimulate, rebuke, prune us. We don’t end up the same.

Eat this book but keep a well stocked cupboard of Settlers and Alka-seltzer."

I'm excited about continuing my journey of understanding, experiencing and being involved in what God is doing in history, to do that its vitally important we engage properly and meaningfully with his word. I leave you with a question posed by a friend...

"How can I read the Bible to enter into its story so that its story becomes my story and the story of this community I have come to love?"

small, black and beautiful

2007-06-03T11:03:00.000+01:00

Yes I have crossed to the dark side. Zoomie please don't kill me. I have entered ipod land. It just looks so nice. What did disturb me was that of its 30GB, well actually 27, I have already filled 14GB with music and a podcast frenzy. That's over 9 days solid of audio. Being a bit of a geek I was listening to some interesting stuff from Harvard Business Review - stay with me, and stop snoring, about the need for rest and healthy balance to life which stirred up some memories of one of my colleagues frightening me during the week by quoting something I said back at me (from something I did on sabbathing) which nicely tied in to my first ever visit to a book launch from the Shep on rediscovering Sabbath (no free books though). One of those dirty words that makes me think of people with placards and all the things I wasn't allowed to do on Sundays. So I've been thinking about sabbathing as a concept of something good and beautiful - even more so than the little black ipod. More soon...

Kermode's review - Pirates of the Caribbean: at World's End

2007-06-02T16:34:00.001+01:00

For your delight...
Kind of want to see it to see how bad it really is.
Orloondo Bland - genius

Quote of the day

2007-05-25T15:53:00.001+01:00

Radio 5 film reviewer Mark Kermode on Keira Knightley in Pirates 3

"you could build a nice set of ikea furniture out of her performance"

Hear the whole review here

How sound are you?

2007-05-22T11:11:00.001+01:00

Clearly with an exam tomorrow I should be considering Charles Gerkin's approach to pastoral care but nothing recharges the old grey matter more than thinking about something completely different. Following on from a previous post about the tension between what is I guess Paul's advice to Timothy to "watch your life and doctrine closely". Note not just watch your doctrine but life - how it is lived out. Orthodoxy without orthopraxis - or faith without works is dead, as James would say. I forgot to mention that I was asked "are you a young earth creationist or a heretic?". Now I have a strong stubborn/rebellious streak so even if I was a young earth creationist I would probably still have answered "I guess i'm a heretic then". It was ridiculous that my views one one matter should define whether someone respected/listened to me or wrote me off.

Anyway, my colleague has just written a blog entry on similar grounds - around the theme of how we measure our unity - by actions and/or belief. Check it out here.

Finally a couple of cartoons stolen from Dan Kimball on a similar note:

Which is more accurate? or sadly true?

Revision always allows you to find out bizarre things like your theological worldview:

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

75%

Neo orthodox

68%

Emergent/Postmodern

64%

Classical Liberal

50%

Roman Catholic

46%

Charismatic/Pentecostal

43%

Reformed Evangelical

43%

Modern Liberal

39%

Fundamentalist

18%

What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com

Now I know....

Why God is better than the Police

2007-05-17T10:19:00.000+01:00

So last night I had an encounter with the Police. It wasn't pleasant and I'm £60 poorer and got a bonus of 3 penalty points on my license. Thinking back about it its amazing the amount of self-justifying I've been doing to make it out that I'm not a criminal and didn't really deserve it and others are worse. It was wet, there were a set of traffic lights ahead, I was thinking 'I'm almost out of petrol, hope i make it to the garage' (the arrow was hovering on the empty edge of red) and just noticed the lights were amber, but (foolishly) thought, sure don't know if i'll be able to stop, i can squeeze through. First mistake.

Then a minute later, blue flashing lights in the mirror - 'oh crap'.
I did think 'well the lights were just changing, should have stopped, it'll be ok'. Second mistake
After the chat about what happened, the 'officer' asked how long I'd had my license, if i had any penalty points, on my 'no' he responded - "that's all right then, I'm going to give you 3 for failing to stop at a red light". I thought it was pretty harsh, no warning or 'well make sure it doesn't happen again' but bamm, straight in there with points. Bank balance, next years insurance and pride all going 'ouch'. I also wondered if i had points would he have then not given me any? Or if I had been female...

Then to rub salt in as I was filling up having reached the garage, weren't there some boy racers wheel spinning, burning rubber, and speeding off into the distance. I'll bet they didn't get any points last night. Bandits.

Of course I was wrong, should have been paying more attention, should have stopped, can't really complain (although memories of friends getting a slap on the wrist for doing double the speed limit keep filling my head). It is shocking just how much I tried to justify and excuse myself. The black and white of it was that I was in the wrong and deserved it, but boy racers as a case in point, I felt the need to compare myself and make sure that even if I'd done wrong - there were others who were worse than me.

Made me pretty grateful how graciously God treats me - not the way I deserve, or don't deserve as the case may be, that he is the God of the second chance, who is incredibly patient with his stumbling constantly getting it wrong children, not treating us harshly...

Revision Time

2007-05-14T09:29:00.000+01:00

Studying part-time is great for keeping the grey cells active, the downside is every 6 months I have to do an exam. Which usually means trawling the depths of the internet while thinking about my essays. On my first day off to revise its important to come up with a plan of attack of what to do in the frequent breaks my brain needs to recharge.

A good time waster is gotoquiz.com where importantly I discovered how to answer the facebook question on political ideaology. Highly accurate no doubt. My guardian reading probably gave me away as a woolly liberal. Here it is...

What is your political ideology? Your Result: Liberal This quiz has categorised you as a Liberal. You believe in the role of the government to fight poverty, both by means of welfare programs, and economic regulation. You are defined as a progressive in the US, but you are generally favouring of the retention of the current social paradigm.
Social Democrat
Communist/Radical Left
Libertarian
Conservative
Fascist/Radical Right
What is your political ideology? Make Your Own Quiz

Thanks to zoomtard for the chance to pit Mary against an evil looking Eve in the bible battle.
Or for a more classic sporting effort there's table top football from the evils of the Murdoch empire. and of course the old sporting classics like Tardis Tennis on the BBC Sport site.

As if you couldn't tell how productive my day is going to be, now its sunny as well...

property - the new pornography or the new religion?

2007-05-13T18:22:00.000+01:00

I've been reading David McWillliams book - 'the Pope's children' on the dramatic changes that have swept Ireland since the Pope last visited. Its fascinating stuff - particularly the baby boom 9 months after the Pope visited. JP the second obviously acted as some sort of weird aphrodisiac! McWilliams talks about property being the 'new pornography' and about how its impossible to have a conversation in Ireland without it turning to property prices at some point. He's right. We're obsessed. We even camp out to make sure we get the developments being released. Its all about getting onto the property ladder. While I do concede the good investment argument and all that there is something disturbing about it all. As a non property owner I frequently get bored during house chat - all very well if you can afford it, but spare a thought for the many people who can't. Harshly put sometimes people who used to be interesting become boring when all they have to talk about are houses and furniture... Why are we so obsessed? I was at B&Q earlier getting a bbq and the place was bunged - some people go to church on Sundays, a lot of the rest go to B&Q. I can't imagine what it will be like when ikea comes to Belfast. TV is coming down with home/garden improvement shows. In 21st century Ireland and Britain it seems as if people worship their houses. Many people put themselves in crazy debt to have the right furniture, patio or decking. Why? There's nothing wrong with enjoying where we live but there is something disturbing going on. It seems as if people's worth and security are wrapped up in their houses, in how their kitchen looks, in how big their fridge (with built in ice dispenser) or flat screen plasma TV is. We need to keep upgrading and updating to be happy. Were our grandparents generation miserable because they didn't have all this stuff? Is there something here about the erosion of community? Where does our sense of security and self-worth fit into all this?

I've spent some time in Africa and South America and found that people who don't have all this stuff, who don't worship at the altar of consumerism seem to be able to be content, and indeed maybe have their priorities in a much better place... but then to make comments and ask some of these questions in this area isn't terribly popular...

Thoughts from a lonely prophet part two

2007-05-05T08:25:00.000+01:00

A belated return to Walter Rauschenbusch.

"Christian morality finds its highest dignity and its constant corrective in making the aims of the kingdom of God the supreme aim to which all minor aims must contribute and from which they gain their moral quality. The church substituted itself for the kingdom of god and thereby put the advancement of a tangible and very human organisation in the place of the moral uplifting of humanity."

"churchly correctness took precedence over Christlike goodness."

His comments on church and kingdom and the subsequent discussions we had in class provoked some musing on my part, coupled with some stuff I was listening to from Tim Keller and Mark Driscoll. Those words resonate today as often the church/churches seem more interested in building their little empires and running their programmes than building the kingdom. Thinking in terms of kingdom is challenging as it broadens our horizons. For me in a Christian student organisation it raises lots of questions. How does the extension of the kingdom sit/clash/merge with our values and partnering with others seeking to build the kingdom but who have different approaches?

God's plan in history is to build his kingdom, and the church is the means to do that - not the end in itself it seems if you read Revelation 22 which sees the leaves of the tree of life being for the healing of the nations. It makes you wonder if CS Lewis in the Last Battle is getting this when it comes to some 'outside christianity' - without getting all universalist of course.

Something else in this smogashboard of things floating around my head is a frustration with people who equate the life of following Jesus being about going to heaven. Reading the biblical texts doesn't necessarily suggest this - God is establishing his kingdom, creating/recreating a new heavens and new earth and the bible ends with the 'new Jerusalem' descending, reiterating that the physical earth is a crucial part of God reconciling to himself all things. Its also interesting as we look at the big picture flow of the bible that it startsin a garden and ends in a city of people from every nationality and people group. For God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, and for his kingdom to come surely means that we need to work hard at building inclusive church communities of all nationalities, young, old, rich and poor - youth congregations or monocultural congregations may be easier in the short term but are they really expressions of God's kingdom if there isn't longer term integration?

Some muddled musings grasping at the wonderof the most incredible reconstruction project in history, especially given the fragility of the raw materials...

A Return to the Dark Days?

2007-04-29T22:19:00.000+01:00

The high profile deaths of Alexander Litvinenko and Anna Politkovskaya, the state censorship of the media, the crackdown on true government opposition are ominous signs coming from Russia. With the death of Yeltsin we look back at the glory days of freedom in Russia as a result of the work of Gorbachev. How things have changed. Putin more and more seems to be a nasty piece of work, crushing freedom in Russia. Reading the latest police crushing of a demonstration in Newsweek offered further worrying proof. Yet one innocent bystander brutally beaten by Police commented that he had never been to a demonstration but from now on he wouldn’t miss one. Will Putin’s brutal repression be successful or will the people rise against him? What of the oligarchs – it’s not hard to see why they have fled Russia, do they have a role in exile funding and encouraging a velvet revolution in Russia? What of western governments??

Do they have the courage to stand up to Putin or are they too worried about Russia’s oil and gas bargaining power. Is it time for us to start writing a few letters to our MP’s/TD’s to get our governments asking a few questions. After all aren’t we, with the Americans all about freedom and democracy?

Science and Faith

2007-04-23T08:08:00.000+01:00

Just back from a great weekend in the smoke-free air of the republic, hanging out with friends in Maynooth. Saturday was the Christians in Science Ireland day conference with a couple of heavyweight scientists/theologians in the guise of Alistair McGrath and Denis Alexander. It was an incredibly stimulating day thinking through Dawkins challenge to faith, and theistic evolution.
The talks are online here.

Now I think its vital that Christians be committed to rigorous thinking about how faith interacts with every area of life, and a comment from an Oxford professor lingers in my mind - "we have to be very careful in these areas that we don't damage the integrity of our witness".

Some of these debates always stir up quite a lot of emotion, and I want to plead for humility and grace to be the guiding principles in these discussions. It would be ridiculous for me to tell a neurosurgeon they don't know what they are talking about and have got it all wrong, and sometimes Christians blunder into these debates, without understanding science to tell scientists they are wrong. A great deal of patience, understanding ad humility is required. That humility was evident among the speakers on Saturday. One of the key themes that came through was that scientific theories does not tell us that there is or isn't a God, and we often have to recognise that theories are often hijacked by ideological systems (people such as Dawkins) and used to say or mean things they don't. Science and religion are not mutually exclusive.

Christians, although they may differ in their understanding of how, do all believe that God is the creator and sustainer of all things (despite what some may have you think), and we need to recognise that as a starting point. It worries me when people who take one position on this are quick to label those who don't disagree with them heretics. Its not just in science, I encountered it in the area of the Holy Spirit with people at a training conference for my job in England. This is a serious charge and too often is done in an arrogant manner that says 'I'm right and if you don't agree with me you're not a proper Christian'. Its an attitude that often seems more interested in writing people off than building others up, and engaging thoughtfully with humility recognising we all have much to learn. Grace and love I seem to remember are things Jesus modelled and the biblical writers appear to think are pretty important. Often it seems to ignore that people have thought deeply and wrestled with the issue in hand.

Our approach to the bible also needs considered in this area. The bible is God's revelation to us - it is not supposed to be a piece of scientific literature (the genre of which is fairly recent). The early chapters of Genesis are not eyewitness narrative in the way Acts is. In the Hebrew they are tightly structured in ways our English translations don't pick up. When we come to the bible we always need to recognise it is a collection of different sorts of literature, we don't interpret some of the apocalyptic writings in Daniel or Revelation the way we interpret Mark. Interpretation can often be hard work, and if we are humble enough to recognise that some passages can be legitimately interpreted differently then we should be gracious enough to recognise that there are things we will disagree on, and be gracious in that. Always making sure that we're not adding to the gospel, have a read at Galatians 1 to see what the apostle Paul thought about people who added on categories for believing in and following Jesus. Our purpose is to point people to the life that Jesus offers, not make them agree with us in all the secondary issues.

the humanists are coming...

2007-04-17T16:47:00.000+01:00

Continuing on the Dawkins theme, it seems the Humanist Society in NI are sending a copy of the God Delusion to every Westminster MP in Northern Ireland. Obviously some people are getting a bit hot under the collar about this, but to be fair Christians have been doing it for years. Gideons being the classic example. Slugger and Will Crawley's blog have some interesting debate, especially around the question - if you could send our politicians one book what would it be?

It all came from a guy on the pledgebank website - which seems an interesting concept. Instead of trailblazing alone you pledge to do something only if x people will sign up to join you. Cybercommunity at its best?

No dumping!

2007-04-16T21:13:00.000+01:00

As a student we had one of those 'no dumping' signs in our toilet which amused us no end. However it seems in Japan going for your daily constitutional could be hazardous, with a toilet manufacturer offering free repairs after some of their products have caught fire. Brings a whole new meaning to 'a burning sensation while unrinating'... Not only is there a 'World Toilet Summit' every year - must create havoc in the sewer systems - but there is a World Toilet Day - so make sure you remember that next November 19!
Continuing the toilet theme this japanese toilet training cartoon is good for a laugh

I spent the weekend in the alien surroundings of Greenmount Agricultural College. Not often city boys like myself make it to farming school. I must admit it was pretty beautiful. I'm off to Peru for a month this summer with a bunch of students, going to work with my IFES counterparts in Lima and to build a community centre in one of the poor areas. Greenmount was the site of our orientation from the amazing folk at LatinLink. I was stunned to hear that there are 8 million people in Lima, living under a perpetual blanket of smog. Its one of those cities constantly growing as more people come from the countryside looking for work. I spent a month in Bolivia a couple of years ago, at an amazing place called IBSJ in Sucre. Bolivia is a stunningly beautiful country. We visited the mines in Potosi where miners still work in the conditions they worked hundreds of years ago. Bolivia, more famous for its President Evo Morales (and his jumpers) recently, is the poorest country in South America. It wasn't always that way. Potosi used to be one of the richest cities in the world, and supplied two thirds of the Spanish Empire's silver. It was one of those moments that I felt incredibly guilty for being European, as I realised just how much Europeans had raped and exploited what are now some of the poorest countries in the world.

You'll be glad to hear the great fundraising drive begins soon, so expect to hear from me looking some sponsorship for running a leg in the Belfast Marathon Relay. Which reminds me I should get out pounding the streets again...

On an entirely different note i'm off to hear one of Zoomtard's heroes this weekend and looking forward to having my brain exercised (by Zoomtard and his wife-unit as well as the venerable McGrath on faith and science). I'm sure you're aware of the hoo-hah around Richard Dawkins book - the God Delusion. I've just started McGrath's response - the Dawkins delusion, although feel slightly lacking in integrity as I haven't read Dawkins original. As a God-follower you'd expect me to not be the biggest fan of Dawkins, although i'm not alone as various atheists, Guardian columists and even the magazine that voted Dawkins one of the worlds 3 leading intellectuals have reservations about the God Delusion. McGrath is someone who you should take notice of - especially if you're appalled by some of the shocking science from some of the louder christian voices currently opening museums. Maynooth - the place to be this weekend.

Chocolate Jesus?

2007-04-08T10:09:00.001+01:00

There's been quite the storm in the US over an artist's chocolate depiction of Jesus being crucified. The outrage has caused the gallery to pull the plug. Without getting into the rights and wrongs of representations of Christ, it is an interesting reminder at this stage of the year as we 'celebrate' Easter. It's Easter so that means eggs -right? is an attempt at an amusing look at what to do with leftover Easter egg in the Guardian's special section on chocolate, which says more about living in post-Christendom than the meaning of Easter. Easter eggs are everywhere, I have been indulging in my weakness for creme eggs but Easter is about so much more than chocolate, than consuming. At Easter as we reflect on death and resurrection, maybe Chocolate Jesus (the sculpture or the Tom Waits song) has much to say to us as we consider what we have been replacing Jesus with and what must die in order for new life to rise. Those earth shattering (literally) few days in remote outpost of the mighty Roman Empire, including the ripping of a curtain symbolising the end of a series of rites and restricted access to God, and opening up access to the creator to all of us require reflection and celebration. Celebration of not just the death of Jesus (which evangelicals can obsess over) but also the resurrection - the new life on offer from God (although going on lots of Christians, especially the Phelps family/cult in Louis Theroux's latest programme you wouldn't know much about the life to the full), and about this wonder of God inviting mere mortals into the 'dance of the trinity'. On this Easter Sunday we have so much more to enjoy than just chocolate, and much more than just the death of Jesus. Thanks to Zoomtard and Jaybercrow for some thought provoking comments on Easter, suffering, the Phelps and a magnificent quote from MLK.

I leave you (trembling with holy awe, and caffeine - which may explain the disjointedness of this post) with quotes from the two Anglican Archbishops in England:

"Give up the struggle to be innocent and the hope that God will proclaim that you were right and everyone else wrong. Simply ask for whatever healing it is that you need, whatever grace and hope you need to be free, then step towards your neighbour.

Easter reveals a God who is ready to give you that grace and to walk with you."

"There are those who might wish that we were a little quieter in our celebrations or were a little less public in our joy. The problem with such a request is that it ignores the fact that in the resurrection of Christ, God is speaking to the world, and when God speaks you can’t ignore Him."
(Archbishop John Sentamu)

Are you busy?

2007-04-07T12:56:00.000+01:00

Take a deep breath. There is a rant coming...

'Are you busy?' appears to be quickly replacing 'how are you?' as a commonplace greeting. I've been noticing it more and more over the last few months, its been annoying me but its taken me a while to figure it out. 'So what?' you may think, but what does it tell us about who we are? It seems to me that this seemingly innocuous question is a symptom of something much deeper. No longer are people interested in how I'm doing, what I may be thinking about, the questions I'm struggling with. Instead all they want to know is if I'm productive - am I justifying my place on the planet by doing stuff.
Well excuse me if I happen to feel that there is more to me than what I do - phew some of you who are aware of my coffee drinking, talking about God career might think. It seems to me its a sign that our worth is not found in the depth of our character as Martin Luther King dreamed of but instead in how much we are doing. To stop in the fast-paced world we live in is almost criminal. The pressure to keep going, to do more, to work longer, to earn more, to keep learning keeps getting greater. Now I'm an activist and I love doing stuff, but as I get older, the more I realise how much I need to stop and take time out, to allow myself to slow down, and remember that the world revolves around God and what he's doing, not me. Time to think and read is so valuable, to follow the model of Jesus taking time out is more important than ever with the pace of life we live today. To ask each other how busy we are simply confounds this lie that our value lies in what we do, not the content of our character, not in following a God who rests when his work is done and who calls us to a balanced not a frantic life...

On a slight side issue, the whole greetings thing is interesting, and I realise I'm pretty guilty of this so its something I need to work on. When I was in Tanzania (not a phrase I've used for a long time!) one of the things that struck me was the amount of time people made for each other, how they valued each other, how when they stopped to ask how someone was, they meant it and waited until they had heard everything. Today we ask 'how are you?' and don't even wait for an answer or expect a 'fine' or 'grand', and not for people to actually open up and share what's really going on. We're good at the niceties but how much do we really care?

How prepared are we to take the challenge of thinking about what we say when we ask people questions and meaning what we say?

Ulster says....give us a few weeks

2007-03-27T19:57:00.000+01:00

Momentous times. who would have thought 10, 20 years ago Big Ian would be sitting down with Gerry, ready to go into government, and especially with Martin McGuinness as his deputy first minister. In true point scoring style of course it couldn't happen immediately and they have to wait a few weeks. The announcement prompted what will no doubt be the first of a number of resignations from both parties as the extremists show their unhappiness. I wonder sometimes do we realise just what has been achieved here, and how much the world looks on at a country that has spent most of the latter half of the 20th century ripping itself apart. Do we realise that we are being held up as a model of post-conflict society? Yes it is far from perfect and the divisions and attitudes are still there. The cost has been massive, and we must recognise that. For those who have lost family members, to see some of those responsible sitting in suits in Stormont must be stomach churning. We must address the fact that often to have peace means setting justice aside, that it requires drawing a line and moving on. Those are easy words for me to say I realise. I'm excited about May 8th and hope the politicians repay the trust and faith the public has placed in them as they get on with the task of governing. We all know how disastrous direct rule has been, at last again we have local people clued into (we hope) local issues. We have the first chinese (HK) born political representative in Europe. There are things to celebrate. We mustn't however forget the work put in to get us to this place. Paisley and Adams are taking the plaudits but the real work was done by David Trimble and John Hume - mean of incredible courage, sadly maligned and cast aside. The Alliance party, the only middle ground party with members from both sides of the divide led with integrity by Lord Alderdice also deserves a mention.Perhaps in the coming years their contribution will be recognised properly, and the hard yards put in by the middle ground parties to bring the extremes together will pay off (Although obviously the ulster unionists need to shed the grey old men in suits image and have some good policies). As we look to the future I wonder how the next election will pan out, when the only thing on the table will be the day to day issues. Will we then see a balancing out of our political landscape?

supersizing and pineapples

2007-03-26T10:33:00.001+01:00

An Australian problem rather than an American one. It seems all is not well down under. Too much Fosters and too many many barbies (of the food not doll variety), means the Australians now need supersize ambulances and reinforced stretchers.

In Burma the military dictatorship decided a year or two again a fit of craziness to move the capital, well actually build a new one called the 'Seat of Kings'. While they build new palaces for themselves the people suffer... The British government in its wisdom has economic sanctions against Burma - bizarrely only on the issue of pineapple juice, not oil or gas (where the dictatorship makes most of its money). Now I'm not too up on all this, and do have questions about making sure sanctions don't hurt the poorest, so am wiling to be corrected here...

Africa, the Irish and the EU at 50

2007-03-26T00:02:00.000+01:00

Its been a week of hearing about Africa from two well known sons of Ireland. The first much more famous being Bob Geldof. Bob was doing a 'lecture' at Queens on Wednesday - his speaking style, choice of language and illustrations probably weren't to the Vice-Chancellor's taste who appeared to be hiding his face behind his hand a lot. I almost got dizzy as he walked up and down - not really looking at us as he waffled about 'making a difference'. What was interesting was how he concentrated on the need for commitment - something our generation with our low attention spans aren't very good at. He did improve when fielding questions, especially when talking about the EU and its responsibility to mark it's 50 years by wielding the considerable influence it has in ways that Britain and America can't - especially on Darfur. Darfur was also a topic that came up at Fergal Keane's Ulster Museum on the Road lecture on Thursday night. As regards public speaking, Fergal blew Bob out of the water. For those of you unfamiliar with Fergal, he's a BBC correspondent who covered the Rwandan genocide, and has reported from the Balkans, Northern Ireland, and Iraq. He's also an accomplished writer. His experience and analysis of living in an age of anger and fear was breathtaking, his stories of suffering and hope in Africa left very few dry eyes. After the Holocaust Europe said 'never again', then Rwanda happened as the world watched on. Keane's book 'Letter to Daniel' contains his reflections on reporting the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Its well worth a read. Again we heard 'never again', but yet thousands have and are dying in Darfur while the world watches. China keeps blocking UN resolutions because it gets oil from Sudan so doesn't want to endanger that, Russia is wrapped up in oil interests and with the banning of one of the opposition parties is slipping towards a police state, Britain and America are enmeshed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Maybe its time for the EU to get involved - it has been successful in other places and has more sway than it realises. I didn't realise that almost all the world's peacekeeping and policing forces outside Iraq are staffed or funded primarily by Europeans. I've always written to my MP on these issues - maybe its time to start lobbying our MEP's? As Geldof said - it would be a better way to celebrate 50 years than a concert with a few washed out pop stars.

For more information on Darfur check out the BBC in depth report.

stopping the traffik

2007-03-25T21:42:00.000+01:00

As you'll be well aware this is the 200th anniversary of the ending of the transatlantic slave trade. Amazing Grace has hit the cinema screens, Peter Hain has even been apologising on behalf of Ireland (check out the slugger thread here) for its part (once again not ingratiating himself by not having been too up on his history, and Ireland's part in resisting the trade...). Stephen Tomkins in the Guardian reminds us
"The history of Christianity boasts no greater achievement than the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. Crusaders, conquistadors and inquisitors have given the church plenty to atone for. The abolition goes some way towards balancing the books."

Today is freedom day so I thought it appropriate to finally voice some thoughts on the ending of slavery and the slavery still continuing today. As regards apologies, I feel it is important that we acknowledge our part in a cruel trade, but at the same time it is difficult to with any integrity apologise for something in which we have no personal involvement. Perhaps more appropriate for the British Governemnt would be a real commitment and investment in ending the slavery that continues today. It's easy to think as slavery as something horrific from the past but as this BBC article shows its alive in the UK today.

Most people would say it is wrong, but once again Christians should continue to be at the forefront of this fight, not just because its a good thing to do, but because the God we serve is on who frees slaves. Its most obvious in the Old Testament - parting of the Red Sea and all that as Yahweh freed his people. Interestingly the Ten Commandments are given in the context of God having freed his people, and the law involved reminding the people that just as God set them free they weren't to enslave others - that's a big part of the whole Sabbath commandment - everyone was to get a day off - slaves, servants, animals, land. Following on from that Jesus quoting Isaiah 61 declares his mandate:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour."

It is easy for some people to claim that this is just spiritual freedom - and yes that's what the death and resurrection is about - setting us free and giving us new life, but as we look at the life of Jesus his was a holistic approach, not a partial one. As people set free, following Jesus who had a ministry of liberation, and his Father - the liberator surely we should be at the forefront of the fight against slavery, since Jesus sends us as his Father sent him...

So yeah, let's sign up to support 'Stop the Traffik' but don't leave it at just signing a petition - get informed and get active.

Sarah McLachlan - World On Fire

2007-03-16T08:55:00.001Z

2007-03-16T08:54:00.001Z

I've always thought this an awesomely provocative video. A year ago I did a talk on money, and how as followers of Jesus we should think about money. As I was preparing it I realised that often my reaction to the inequalities in the world is that I should spend less, and not be so wasteful. But then I realised that all I was actually doing was being tight, not generous. God is generous and if you have a look at parts of the bible like Leviticus 19 and Deuteronomy 15 you'll discover that he wants people who claim to follow him to mirror that generosity.

On a side issue, too often people think Old Testament and flinch, or think OT law - irrelevant. But if you take the time to check out what God was saying you may be surprised. God was trying to give his people some good stuff - he was saying this way that I am giving you to live isn't a drag but is the best way there is, full of powerful visual reminders of who he is. If the Jews had ever lived out the important bits of the law they would have had a revolutionary society and economic system in which there would have been no long term poverty, immigrants, widows, orphans, the disenfranchised would all have been provided for and taken care of. The only place we see this working out is in Ruth where Boaz follows the instructions in the law to be generous and provide for the poor, not to be greedy by not harvesting every grain of whatever it was he grew from his fields.

So back to Leviticus 19 - where the whole 'love your neighbour' thing comes from - it is essentially talking about what it means to be holy - God's definition is vastly different from one lots of Christians have today. Yeah there are several culturally contextual things but justice and generosity come out, and holiness isn't about sitting on your own exuding peaceful thoughts - holiness is public and social. God knows the temptation to greed in all of us and when we are greedy we mistreat others - the roots of oppression and slavery (more on that to come later).

So coming back to my original point I realised if I am to live generously that means living more simply, but the money or excess I save is to be given away to those who need it. Hardly revolutionary I know but its easy to kid ourselves by spending less when the goal of spending less on stuff we don't need is to be more generous to those who are in need...

Waiting impatiently

2007-03-08T00:09:00.000Z

Voting day is one of the few days I realise what a privilege it is to live in a democracy. The feeling of walking into the polling station (dodging the slightly dodgy looking youth and nice old woman wanting to give me more bits of election bumf) and numbering your ballot paper really is a marvellously empowering feeling. At least for me anyway. I do think we're a bit lazy here in Northern Ireland though. What's all this not starting to count until 9am the next day. I want to be glued to the TV right now seeing the election results come in, drinking in the turnout stats and latest permutations of seats and percentage votes. The BBC text updates just aren't quite the same. You can't tune into the TV when you're at work. Another thing while i'm on my soapbox. It seemed to me that the parties weren't really trying to hard to get my vote. Eventually getting the publicity two days before and not one knock on the door. Is this the same for everyone else?

Things to do at lunch

2007-03-06T13:35:00.001Z

There is no end to the ways you can waste your time online. The latest way to jump on the celebrity bandwagon is to see who you look like thanks to the people at myheritage.

Alarmingly some of my friends appear to have been right when they said I'm a bit of a girl! It's quite amusing to see the diversity when you put in different photos and get wildly different people. Passes the time....

My cool celebrity look-alike collage from MyHeritage.com. Get one for yourself.

So you want my vote do you?

2007-03-05T00:12:00.000Z

Can't beat the pre-election nitpicking on the politics show. For an election campaign that seemed to be more about the real issues, getting the politicians together seems to simply result in the usual old arguments. The Belfast Telegraph figure of 47% of the electorate undecided is hardly surprising. It seems to me that most parties are saying similar things, of course they are all opposing unpopular water charges. None of them seem to have a recognisable message. They all seem to be lacking the 'stickiness factor', and the personality to sell them.

Listening to the politicians go on about what people are saying 'on the doorstep' rings hollow. None have been looking to chat on my doorstep (except the policeman looking the owner of an abandoned car at 6.20am on a Saturday morning!) Maybe they've been too busy getting in the pies. I was gutted to see one party canvassing simply dropping in leaflets not knocking doors - more because i was looking forward to giving them a grilling. We've only had leaflets from 3 parties through our door. You'd think if politicians wanted my vote they would make an effort for it. Seems not. Or maybe parties aren't interested in people living on the edge of the 'been'.

I'd love to see Sinn Fein and the DUP given a rude wake-up call by lots of people giving smaller parties who don't have the same baggage a vote. I'll be interested to see what the 'Cameron effect' will be on the Conservative vote, will the greens get their first seat and will there be a 'new dawn' for the PUP?

Writing in the Sky

2007-02-26T09:24:00.000Z

Sore throats and tiredness gave me a great excuse for a weekend in and to discover a few new wonders that will transform my life. Although seldom to be parted with my xda or laptop i also have a habit of writing post-its and covering my desk with them - outlook tasks just aren't the same. Now the answer to all my problems, well post-it ones anyhow - is here - NoteScraps.
Post-its of the digital variety.

Discovered this on Slugger O'Toole where he was noting a recent speech from Ian Paisley in which he seems to have dropped the IRA he usually adds on to Sinn Fein. Obviously you need speeches or the like to play with Tag Cloud so thought I'd do a quick comparison between two presidential speeches - Nixon's resignation and Clinton's 'I have sinned' speech. Clearly I need to get out more often at the weekends.

created at TagCrowd.com

Living in the happy oblivion of new gadgets and so getting through Monday morning...

edge of the seat stuff

2007-02-26T00:01:00.000Z

What a weekend on the sporting front! Three great (well i'm assuming the France match was) rugby matches and high drama in the Carling Cup final. But what a contrast between the two occasions. Ireland produced an outstanding display to hammer England on an emotionally significant day. The respect and dignity which Ireland fans applauded England and as 'God save the Queen' rang out on the site of the original 'Bloody Sunday', and the atmosphere in which the match was played bore stark contrast to the scenes at the end of the match in theMillennium Stadium today.

Ireland put in a dominating display, outplaying England in ways I never imagined. Politically it was a massive occasion and for me it seemed almost the closing of a long and bloody chapter in Irish history. For England to play rugby at Croke Park the home of the GAA is a sign of how much the South of Ireland has moved on from the sectarianism that still afflicts the North. Maybe our politicians should take note. Back to the football. Drogba has been phenomenal, the football was end to end and full of drama, Arsenal have an exciting young side that will dominate in years to come, yet it all erupted in handbags at the end. Given footballers' ability to go down at the slightest touch I was surprised not to see the pitch littered with players writhing in 'pain'. I'm sure there will be repercussions with a few players handed bans, shame it has taken the shine of what had been a fantastic game, with some great goals by Drogba and Theo Walcott. First trophy of a possible 4 for the mighty blues, and Ireland showing what they are capable of - maybe better not to peak too soon with world cup coming up.....

Disillusioned with inaction

2007-02-18T10:20:00.000Z

Election fever is starting to warm up slightly - the posters are up - Alliance won the 'first posters up' prize. More importantly who will win the first posters down? I've been complaining that in the past several years I haven't had a single politician come to my door prepared to discuss the issues, then yesterday managed to be out when the local DUP crew came round. My first issue would have been almost being taken out by one of their badly put up posters on Thursday morning. The NI Election 2007 blog (which I've contributed a few thoughts to) is trying to stir up some discussion on the elections, worth checking it out.

its all about the money

2007-02-06T23:54:00.000Z

Its great when you're able to combine some of the things you're passionate about. Two organisations that have had a huge impact in shaping me are Tearfund and IFES Ireland (who I work for although Jaybercrow has always speculated that IFESi paid me and i actually worked for Tearfund). Anyway back to the money. we had a joint event on ethical finance tonight for students and graduates covering a huge area from a a big picture biblical understanding of stewardship, how to handle your money to ethical investments.

I remember being pretty shocked a number of years ago when I discovered that the money (or lack of) that was in my bank account didn't just sit in a huge vault. Its obvious that banks don't just make money from the bandit charges they have, but they invest the money that sits in your account to make money - which is how they can pay you interest. And what makes the most money? Well it tends to be arms companies (amazing the effect spreading fear of global terrorism has on the value of arms companies...), oil companies, and many which maybe aren't the most scrupulous in their ethics. One of the major downsides of capitalistic societies is that generally where there is large amounts of wealth there is also oppression and injustice. This is where ethical finance comes in. Ethical accounts and investments have strict criteria about what they invest in - so for example the co-operative bank and smile its Internet version won't invest in companies involved in the arms trade, oil companies, companies associated with human rights abuses or animal rights abuses (although the last one wouldn't be my biggest concern). This means you can sleep easy about where your money is being invested. True the returns may not be just as hot (although the ethical market is one of the fastest growing) but what is more important - justice, dignity, care for the earth or an extra £20 interest? What would Jesus be teaching about ethics if he arrived in the 21st century?
I can hear you saying that's all well and good but does avoiding the bad companies make a difference - surely we should try and reform them. Yep. This is where SRI's or Socially Responsible Investments come in. They aren't as strict as ethical accounts and reward companies that are doing good stuff by investing in them. For example instead of avoiding oil companies they will invest in BP because they are pouring a lot of resources into renewable energy, or they will invest in drug companies that are diverting some of their massive profits to providing cheap drugs for the developing world.
So with SRI's your money can make a positive difference. Now you may not be loaded or have an investment portfolio but you will or should have a pension plan or long term savings - that's where all this stuff kicks in.
But I need to remember as someone who follows Jesus, and believes in a God who is generous towards me, to live generously, and that involves not just giving money away (which i could be better at) but thinking about what happens to the money I do have.

Then the other problem with all of this is if you live in the south - are there any ethical bank accounts there?

Your financial correspondent signing off and wondering if he should follow his predecessor into the financial sector...

Election Fever?

2007-01-31T23:45:00.000Z

So elections are coming on us again in 6 weeks, but with Northern Ireland having the lowest turnout of 18-35s at around 33% it seems our generation have given up on politics. To be honest its not hard to see why: politicians more interested in point scoring than doing anything, arguing over minutiae while Peter Hain forces through all sorts of stuff our politicians wouldn't allow if they were in power. The death of David Ervine was a further blow depriving us of someone who despite his past was trying to look forward and show some leadership.

We look around waiting for leadership and there doesn't seem to be any on show that's too appealing. 80 year old Big Ian with Martin as his deputy doesn't exactly promise solid long term leadership in many peoples eyes. We need a restoration of hope, we need people of vision to step up to the mark and paint a picture of the future as opposed to the past that makes us say 'yes'. But maybe we also need to step up to the mark and make our voices count. If that other 60 odd percent of the 18-35's out there voted - it can and will make a difference. In fact if all the middle of the road voters who keep complaining about the extremism of politics voiced their opinion at the ballot box and not just over dinner - who knows what the political landscape could be? A Green Party First Minister? A friend recently commented that election day is the day when the people are sovereign - not the government. Its the day when we can make our voice count positively and be a part of creating a hopeful future for this beautiful yet scarred corner of Ireland. (And if when they are elected you badger them with a few letters you'll be surprised just what they will do!)

What is your vision of the future for Northern Ireland? What are the big issues for you?

Glory

2007-01-30T20:44:00.001Z

Chelsea winning three titles in a row with players that weren't £30m flops, lifting that trophy to the adulation of thousands...

glory. One of those words that's used in lots of different ways. Growing up in a christian environment its one i heard a lot of but never really understood what it was.

Christians talk a lot about glory, but sometimes I wonder if we really know what were talking about (like a lot of things). If you checked out the dictionary link there you'll see how the dictionary doesn't seem to be sure what it means either with 14 defintions.
Some people use it to mean heaven, but mostly we refer to God’s glory. It’s an idea the bible is full of. Jesus is the revelation of God’s glory. John in his gospel talks about how we have seen his glory. But what does that mean? So often God’s glory seems to be an ereathral concept. It seems to me that God gets glory when we recognise his greatness, goodness, mercy, justice, compassion – when we begin to recognise God for who he is, he is ‘glorified’. God's glory seems to involve recognising his character and his character being displayed. So it seems to me that when we talk about wanting to see Gods glory, or for his glory to fill the earth, instead of looking for some weird shining light to eminate from everything maybe we need to not miss the ways God's glory is already present. In small acts of kindness and compassion. In fighting for justice for the oppressed. In giving hope. In freeing people from guilt and duty to embrace the life and potential God gives. In a smile.
Is it possible that when we reflect God’s character – especially in ways so often we don’t notice, God’s glory is present?

Tom Cruise Scares Me

2007-01-25T08:53:00.001Z

Heard this on The radio last night. You can listen to the complete version here

2007-01-15T20:58:00.000Z

"Every generation tries to put its doctrine on a high shelf where the children cannot reach"

the lonely prophet speaks again... listen well

thoughts from a lonely prophet part one...

2007-01-09T22:13:00.000Z

Walter Rauschenbusch (once referred to as a lonely prophet) is certainly not a name that trips off the tongue but this theologian was an important voice in the beginning of the 20th century. Several years pastoring a church beside the infamous 'Hell's Kitchen' area of New York (Gangs of New York territory) left an indelible mark on him and moved him to consider the social implications of the gospel. His book 'Christianity and the Social Crisis' is fascinating reading.

"The salt of the earth will do its work best if not stored in casks by itself but rubbed in evenly and generously where needed. "

This is obvious that grace must permeate society not be stored up.
So often people express a frustration of mine more succinctly than I ever could.

"The wiser leaders of Christianity do not desire to monopolise the services of Christian people for the churches, but rejoice in seeing the power of religion flow out in the service of justice and mercy. Religion is less an institution and more a diffused force than ever before..."

So often it seems our churches are geared towards maintaining their own programmes and getting people involved in those. You feel guilty if you're not committed to church stuff outside Sunday, yet often pastors and ministers forget that the job of the church is to release people to impact the world around us. To inspire us with faith, to get us believing the gospel again and to send us out to rub that salt in generously where it is needed, not in keeping it in countless 'church' activities. Now don't get me wrong. I passionately believe that the local church is the hope of the world, however we need to recognise with Mark Greene that the places we spend most of our time are the places that need our Christian service most...

"Services rendered to church get a higher religious rating than services rendered to the community, thus the religious value is taken out of the activities of the common man and the prophetic services to society"

The world is your oyster?

2007-01-08T11:59:00.000Z

It frightening to think that in the 10 years since I have left school I have travelled more than my grandparents did in their entire lifetime. Nicked a cool site off Neil's blog where you can paint the parts of the world red that you've been to (great for all those members of the socialist workers party out there). Here's mine. Make your own here

Of course you may not know where half those places are but best way to learn is via competition, and here I unashamedly steal from zoomtard. See how many countries you can name - great way to while away the hours when you're supposed to be trying to understand John Hick's influence on religious pluralism. I have a high of 69 (after starting on 34) and obviously have no clue about asia, lets get some competition going...

While we're on the subject of maps, always good to check out the Peters Projection for a less Europe/America-centric and more accurate view of the world.

Duke Special on Jools Holland - No Cover Up

2006-12-29T16:55:00.001Z

you know youre getting old when...

2006-12-28T21:04:00.000Z

1. People who come to your Christmas soiree (and who are younger than you) bring their kids

2. You've been out of school (and yes its a pretty awful website) so long that the 'class of 96' has their 10 year reunion.

After almost getting the wrong night (another sign of getting old - or just not reading things properly), I rolled up to White's Tavern last night intrigued as to what would ensue. To be honest I had feared it may be just a chance for people to let everyone know how successful they were, or that after the 'so where are you living now?' and 'what are you up to?' questions were exhausted it would descend into an awkward silence. I'm glad to say it was a good night - some people i hadn't seen for 10 years, others I had. Its strange that most people outwardly didn't seem to have changed that much (well, most of the guys have acquired a bit of later twenties spread) and some of those relationships were pretty easy to pick up again. Be interesting to know how much people really have changed. I know as I look back my time at uni was very significant and shaped a lot of who I am now. The shy geeky Samuel with the sideshade of 1M has become the slightly more opinionated (and still geeky) Sam who thankfully has lost the sideshade! I guess my last 10 years have been shaped by realising that if I believed God was real then I needed to take him seriously. That has meant launching into the journey of following Jesus and trying to figure out what it looks like to follow him. That's taken in rebellion against the nice easy answer tickbox Christianity I grew up with, trips to Africa and South America have pushed me deeper into understanding how God and justice fit together, its taken me through some tough times of various sorts of broken relationships, and the more recent strand of trying to understand better who God has made me to be so I can figure out how best I can be part of what He is doing. Looking back the last 10 years have been pretty exciting, God has been doing a lot of work on me, bring on the next 10!

Road rage in the Christmas traffic

2006-12-28T20:23:00.000Z

Sitting in traffic and driving in general can do strange things to us. It can turn the most mild mannered person into a raging psycho. I moved house recently and am spending more time in traffic. I can lack a little patience at times, so sometimes it can be interesting. Today, driving along the inside lane (which at certain times of the day is a bus lane), I started indicating to pull out to avoid a few parked cars. All of a sudden the car on the outside sped up - definately not letting me out. I casually glanced round to see the woman in the passenger seat angrily gesticulating at me. Maybe she didn't quite get the bus lane is only in operation 8-9.30 and so figured since i was transgressing, no way was her hubbie going to let me out. It had a strange effect on me, overcoming the temptation to gesticulate back, it made me all the more determined to let people out as i drove along. Driving along can be a time when I am so absorbed in my journey and me getting there that i forget about others. Letting people out in front of me is a tiny way i try to teach myself and remind myself to be generous, to show grace to others. Today the example of ungrace or a lack of generosity drove me (sorry - unintentionally bad pun) to be generous in how i treated others on the road. Living generously doesn't come easy - to me anyway - so its something i need to teach my self to do. I guess today was a start - just the rest of my life to go now...

2006-10-15T20:37:00.000+01:00

Its amazing the effects a run can have. Although i like to enjoy those effects in moderation, the need to run off a few sizeable meals kicked in. Running along rediscovering U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic bomb, wrestling through a few things with 'the big man' thrown in for good measure. I've been writing a few bible studies on the beatitudes for my day job, and those crazy words from Jesus (that sadly the church tends to ignore, myself included a lot of the time) are starting to seep into my consciousness again.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Would you deny for others what you demand for yourself
You speak of signs and wonders, but i need something other
I would believe if i was able, but i'm waiting on the crumbs from your table

Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die
Three to a bed
Sister Ann, she said
dignity passes by....

This Tuesday is World Poverty Day. A few years ago governments across the world signed up the millennium development goals
They involve halving extreme poverty and halting the spread of HIV/AIDS. Tuesday is about more than just digging out that white band that was so trendy a while ago, but standing up, getting our fingers out and holding our government to account

Jonah

2006-06-26T09:34:00.000+01:00

I've been reading Jonah recently - the more I read it the weirder it is. I've struggled to get past the sunday school bits, but have really appreciated seeing a fresh perspective. Jonah really is a strange character - the reluctant prophet who despite experiencing God's grace doesn't want the people of Ninevah to experience it. He wants to see them judged and destroyed. It seems scandalous to Jonah that the God of the Jews should demean himself by offering his graciousness and forgiveness to pagans. Maybe there is also an element of shame - that a pagan people are quicker to trun to the living God than his own people, the Jews. So many of these things resonate with attitudes in my heart and the christian culture i've grown up in. How often are we more interested in pronouncing judgement and wanting to see people experience that, than realise that God created and loves those people as much as us? Are there people I think aren't as deserving of God's grace as I am? How many contradictions are there in that question. Do I want to restrict God's work to people just like me? In my writing off certain groups of christians (often the groups i've rebelled against), am I becoming just like them? Exhibiting the very attitudes and lack of grace I rebel against? And then there's the shame. As we look around this world we live in that God created, at the people made in his image who are suffering, is it shameful to us, the church that secular prophets are the ones calling for justice. Where are God's people to declare the dignity of people above profits? Where are God's people who are prepared to stand up and fulfill our mandate to care for creation, fopr the earth 'which he has given to humankind' (Psalm 115.16). Oh yeah, they are the people in the church with dodgy theology, they're not sound, you don't want to listen to them, stay in the nice safe place that sees things in black and white...

Pink

2006-06-16T22:50:00.000+01:00

I've just been converted to pink. No, I haven't just gone and purchased a new wardrobe. The singer. She of the crazy hair. I did think, she's just into shock value, but then an interview on the Chris Moyles show changed that when 'Stupid Girls' was on the go. Art in my understandng is about comment and asking questions. Pink has certainly done that with her last two singles, taking on celebrity culture as personified by Paris Hilton and now asking George W some hard questions. Yes he's an easy target, and it is trendy to bush-bash, but Pink's latest song is thoughtful not just about Iraq but raising questions over other policies of the Bush Government. She cares and isn't afraid to show it and she's doing something with that. I respect that.
check out this observer article

Dear Mr. President
Come take a walk with me
Let's pretend we're just two people and
You're not better than me
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep
What do you feel when you look in the mirror
Are you proud

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye
How do you walk with your head held high
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why

Dear Mr. President
Were you a lonely boy
Are you a lonely boy
Are you a lonely boy
How can you say
No child is left behind
We're not dumb and we're not blind
They're all sitting in your cells
While you pay the road to hell

What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye
How do you walk with your head held high
Can you even look me in the eye

Let me tell you bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don't know nothing bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
Oh

How do you sleep at night
How do you walk with your head held high
Dear Mr. President
You'd never take a walk with me
Would you

here we go...

2006-06-16T13:53:00.000+01:00

So i'm finally making my debut in the blog arena, venting all my rants somewhere into cyberspace in the vague hope some people may read them...

How many times did a politician call at your house to canvass for your vote?
	None
	Once
	Twice
	Three times
	Four or more times

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