Are you busy?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

Things to do at lunch

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?

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

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.

achieve (5) ahead (4) america (9) americans (4) base (3) believe (3) best (4) complete (3) congress (6) continue (6) cooperation (3) country (3) decisions (3) difficult (5) duties (3) east (3) effort (3) efforts (3) fails (3) felt (4) friends (3) future (3) goal (3) half (3) history (3) however (3) interests (4) leave (4) life (4) longer (3) middle (3) months (3) nation (14) office (12) past (4) peace (8) people (13) personal (4) president (15) process (5) prosperity (3) responsibility (3) shall (5) shared (3) support (6) term (4) vice (4) war (6) world (6) years (6)

created at TagCrowd.com

animals (2) beginning (4) birds (2) broken (3) care (2) case (2) change (3) children (4) country (5) easy (2) faith (2) family (3) florida (2) forgiveness (3) forward (2) friend (2) genuine (3) god (4) grateful (3) heart (5) important (6) lead (3) leaves (2) life (3) lord (3) love (2) means (6) nation (2) peace (2) people (4) president (3) quite (2) repentance (5) second (2) sinned (2) sorrow (2) spirit (2) strong (3) support (2) thank (4) things (2) think (3) today (4) toward (5) turning (3) unusual (2) vice (2) words (2) work (2) wrong (3)

created at TagCrowd.com

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

edge of the seat stuff

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

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

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?

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

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

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

"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...

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?

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.