bags and being bogging - Peru part one

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

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?

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...

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...

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

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..

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.

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

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

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

Quote of the day

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?

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

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

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?

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

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?

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

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...

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!

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.