tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49494934469538482532024-03-13T03:51:59.905+00:00Digging a lotSundry musings and gobbets from the web and from the head of an ordained minister and occasional human being ...Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.comBlogger119125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-33337943516336960472009-01-18T19:32:00.001+00:002009-01-18T19:35:39.282+00:00I have moved- change your links!!!<a href="http://diggingalot.org/diggingalot/">http://diggingalot.org/diggingalot/</a><br /><br />Nothing to see here..... move along now.......<br /><br /><a href="http://diggingalot.org/diggingalot/">http://diggingalot.org/diggingalot/</a><br /><br />Change your links to<br /><br /><a href="http://diggingalot.org/diggingalot/">http://diggingalot.org/diggingalot/</a><br /><br />visit me...take my count up...inflate my ego....<br /><br /><a href="http://diggingalot.org/diggingalot/">http://diggingalot.org/diggingalot/</a>Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-15191474972052222832009-01-13T20:10:00.001+00:002009-01-13T20:11:49.403+00:00Last posting on this blogI have now moved and you can find me on....<br /><a href="http://diggingalot.org/diggingalot/">http://diggingalot.org/diggingalot/</a><br /><br />It is not yet complete but it is fit to move into....... it will be updated and changed over this week...Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-90361873653074545182009-01-13T09:58:00.005+00:002009-01-13T11:06:46.999+00:00I'm leaving!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0mTG592caowmwDiciUJCsI2B-SSDfgJYjK3EfrcSU6lsY7m6DvfdsADfCkRfz83dzABdf5MBHNBQM2ekBAKIut2GBttAZGTAeNiGTq2k9lQvJMTfQyFDHkvlnSusYb7Ru_kKyvxwB0l-o/s1600-h/moving+church.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290716608022386274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 222px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0mTG592caowmwDiciUJCsI2B-SSDfgJYjK3EfrcSU6lsY7m6DvfdsADfCkRfz83dzABdf5MBHNBQM2ekBAKIut2GBttAZGTAeNiGTq2k9lQvJMTfQyFDHkvlnSusYb7Ru_kKyvxwB0l-o/s320/moving+church.bmp" border="0" /></a> Well.....leaving blogger anyway and moving to a new site 'soon' <em>(and by the way, whichever way you look at it- the above picture is 'wrong'. Why would you need to move a church building anyway- why not demolish or do without? Hasn't this been the western Christian way- 'church' is something fixed, immutable and unchanging.... grrrrr)</em>. If I have time, it will be tonight....although you know that a good minister never has time; he (<em>and it is always he, never forget that)</em> is too busy <em>(business is a sign of holiness)</em> doing church stuff.....being overweight, having bad hair etc to ever have time to do normal things...<br /><br />This will be the site: <a href="http://diggingalot.org/diggingalot/">http://diggingalot.org/diggingalot/</a> it is still being constructed- so it is not complete. I like it- a friend in Seattle, an all round good egg, is completing it...<br /><br />It will be just like moving into a new house- getting used to it, working out what works and eventually being proud of a functioning space. Hmmm, so nothing like a manse then, which is rarely new, often doesn't function and 'OK that is fit for the tip and we were going to tip it, but we wondered whether you want it' <em>(mayhaps a smidgen of irony there.... just a smidgen...).</em><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj55dzna4IM4gbSY6Ra3ILBIRieJHok5YeQpUAZjqPM5-FM82Pr48tXcqUJTz1J-MH1uzbM1LjlqRA2PpJDg4aBe1q0d8m5TBeovcWm6lJWc0yFbdYAxXdzAqQtjEx4RFRfW7uq5HrCQXmZ/s1600-h/blackadder.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290716603807348930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 218px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj55dzna4IM4gbSY6Ra3ILBIRieJHok5YeQpUAZjqPM5-FM82Pr48tXcqUJTz1J-MH1uzbM1LjlqRA2PpJDg4aBe1q0d8m5TBeovcWm6lJWc0yFbdYAxXdzAqQtjEx4RFRfW7uq5HrCQXmZ/s320/blackadder.bmp" border="0" /></a><br />While I'm at it, isn't a blog the ultimate vanity project, like the 18th century gentleman's habit of wearing powdered wigs? We laugh at powdered wigs now, but then...... they were just as trendy and upper class as insulting someone of a different ethnicity is now <em>(upper class people in GB don't do that anymore though do they.....do they.....hmmmm...why can't they all be as upstanding as Prince Harry?).</em><br /><br />No, no vanity here in my blog. That is 'my' blog..... my blog... <strong>my blog</strong> .... <strong>MY BLOG</strong>...... I am ever so 'umble.....<br /><br />check it out <a href="http://diggingalot.org/diggingalot/">http://diggingalot.org/diggingalot/</a><br /><br />but I'm not boasting about <a href="http://diggingalot.org/diggingalot/">http://diggingalot.org/diggingalot/</a><br /><br />No you won't catch me boasting (by the way it is <a href="http://diggingalot.org/diggingalot/">http://diggingalot.org/diggingalot/</a> did I mention it?).Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-68888483444344566802009-01-12T20:14:00.001+00:002009-01-12T20:17:18.433+00:00Quote of the Day<div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#009900;">“Nothing makes people in the church more angry than grace. It’s ironic: we stumble into a party we weren’t invited to and find the uninvited standing at the door making sure no other uninviteds get in. Then a strange phenomenon occurs: as soon as we are included in the party because of Jesus’ irresponsible love, we decide to make grace ‘more responsible’ by becoming self-appointed Kingdom Monitors, guarding the kingdom of God, keeping the riffraff out (which as I understand it, are who the kingdom of God is supposed to include.)” </span></div><br />- Michael Yaconelli in Messy Spirituality<br /><br />HT:<a href="http://www.nakedpastor.com/">http://www.nakedpastor.com/</a>Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-63899092462758156262009-01-12T20:08:00.001+00:002009-01-12T20:11:44.662+00:00Church<p><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Uc80G6Yzu04&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Uc80G6Yzu04&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p><p>Did it!</p><p><em>With thanks to a small floppy earred quadruped of unusual hue for the advice! (HT:<a href="http://raspberry_rabbit.blogspot.com/">http://raspberry_rabbit.blogspot.com/</a>)</em></p><p> </p>Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-67637608962259127992009-01-12T12:36:00.002+00:002009-01-12T12:39:08.281+00:00ChurchFor some reason I can't wotk out how to upload videos, so you will have to click on the link.....<br /><br /><a href="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc80G6Yzu04">http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc80G6Yzu04</a><br /><br />Go on....you know you want to and it is only 2:30 of your time.<br /><br />It could be any church- any issue...Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-79490963890079208172009-01-12T09:13:00.007+00:002009-01-12T11:14:06.166+00:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr7PBO3tkSUt89soJ8IJ1kVMQZWHT-f6ohF8or81pqVEe6SZKRqSUOTQ5jAp_yEs5uVNJUt5ejwUrqNZIfh68ZETHS_7JHPj-lf5-nn0thjMKTEbaM9knaW7l1j7-TTVZjS8Y-98M54OLT/s1600-h/angry2.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290358663230682898" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr7PBO3tkSUt89soJ8IJ1kVMQZWHT-f6ohF8or81pqVEe6SZKRqSUOTQ5jAp_yEs5uVNJUt5ejwUrqNZIfh68ZETHS_7JHPj-lf5-nn0thjMKTEbaM9knaW7l1j7-TTVZjS8Y-98M54OLT/s320/angry2.bmp" border="0" /></a><strong><em>This is not me</em></strong>; for one thing, I am not an angry woman <em>(at least not time I checked in the bathroom, although there are many industrial chemical factories not far from here)</em> and for another I had one of those mellow Sundays that was beautiful (a baptism of some good friends' daughter and their farewell service before emmigration. Just beautiful- a thin place and some very affirming comments).<br /><br /><strong><em>This is not me</em></strong>, but why o why o why o why o why? Just these last few days I have witnessed some unseemly spats ( <em>did you like the 19th century english just there?)</em> on an e-group I am part of (of Methodist ministers of all people) and on one or 2 websites that I like.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWEIMoN6lut1PJg0B8cyDPPXwmYyFPRWbo7cDIRSx_nZF0TUna21QI-vqqu90w90UoOI5ZORHblqMN-YgVQmQIJ_gX1b7agJyPAgZlTfjYrHE93xT6mbwTFxC0xL2SWYcLC-2ijfKMo7fb/s1600-h/angry.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290358661519512418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 130px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 118px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWEIMoN6lut1PJg0B8cyDPPXwmYyFPRWbo7cDIRSx_nZF0TUna21QI-vqqu90w90UoOI5ZORHblqMN-YgVQmQIJ_gX1b7agJyPAgZlTfjYrHE93xT6mbwTFxC0xL2SWYcLC-2ijfKMo7fb/s320/angry.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />I know why...people get upset, angry, furious even. I do and I do often. It is so easy to post first and ask questions later. I wonder if part of it is the nature of being a Christian/being in full time ministry?<br /><br />Even my postmodern, casual, ironic, slacker self wants someone to like me/affirm me as a success or at least better than someone else. I want to be 'right'. I get angry with people who I think are 'wrong'.<br /><br />It is hard to get in touch with your own insignificance, acknowledge it even; especially as a 'professional Christian'. This is not to wallow in middle-class guilt (looking at my last few cd purchases, I do seem to be like that); you can't lose your perspective that although you screw up big time, you are valued and unique.<br /><br />But as a 'professional Christian' I think that it is essential to know that although you are gifted and have a calling, you have to know that you are at the same time not the centre of the universe, not the new messiah, not annointed beyond flaws, not indispensible.<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi59TK6YchZju4TAZTxXzf-tot7XjLNrsRwjnQZoKinNqQTCXlYrOI6mnNDhV_pcrSkixsw0qtco0EIVO5kpGqFJUyh62CaEc_hrT2m8V9xeHx7f0L9G81BXBZoGjetQOmFBiYD7IPgCl2m/s1600-h/romero.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290358656345931906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 265px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi59TK6YchZju4TAZTxXzf-tot7XjLNrsRwjnQZoKinNqQTCXlYrOI6mnNDhV_pcrSkixsw0qtco0EIVO5kpGqFJUyh62CaEc_hrT2m8V9xeHx7f0L9G81BXBZoGjetQOmFBiYD7IPgCl2m/s320/romero.bmp" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div align="left">I came across this a day or so back. I first came across it during my sabbatical. It reminded me of important stuff. It is from Romero. I think I ought to print it out. I could mail it to a few friends....which would really make me a self-righteous prig that most right thinking people would want to deck. A lot. No best to think on it myself........</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"><br />(HT: <a href="http://wesroberts.typepad.com/">http://wesroberts.typepad.com/</a>)<br /><div align="center"><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">A Future Not Our Own...</span></div><div align="center"><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">It helps, now and then, to step back</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">and take the long view.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">it is beyond our vision. </span></div><div align="center"><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">Nothing we do is complete,</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">which is another way of saying</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">that the kingdom always lies beyond us. </span></div><div align="center"><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">No statement says all that could be said.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">No prayer fully expresses our faith.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">No confession brings perfection.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">No pastoral visit brings wholeness.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">No program accomplishes the church's mission.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">No set of goals and objectives includes everything. </span></div><div align="center"><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">This is what we are about:</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">We plant seeds that one day will grow.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">We water seeds already planted,</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">knowing that they hold future promise.</span></div><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">We lay foundations that will need further development.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">We cannot do everything</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">This enables us to do something,</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">and to do it very well.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">We may never see the end results,</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">We are workers, not master builders,ministers, not messiahs.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff9900;">We are prophets of a future not our own.</span><br /></div>Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-14428372346936466552009-01-11T22:23:00.001+00:002009-01-11T22:25:14.353+00:00Quote of the Day<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#333399;">"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office."</span><br /><br />George Bush Washington DC, 12 May, 2008<br /><br /><br />...and there are many more from <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7809160.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7809160.stm</a>Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-52671911051260184572009-01-11T20:58:00.001+00:002009-01-11T20:58:45.317+00:00Football result of the dayManchester United 3- Chelsea 0<br /><br />I make no further comment.Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-6552013099645594162009-01-11T07:15:00.003+00:002009-01-11T07:17:05.766+00:00Cartoon<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheNENTJT8GUi3Wp4z9pOmnNidOhXLiPDgEUxKC6YvMDDw3RTM7BIPWDlH3KYQzzJN30X5WKTF0JcPggqaEsr0ZjjA7o039l4I-sPmfwpnh7Z0K-UVdz_BAkguaO9N6T4hCXe-kBhttiKJ1/s1600-h/Jesus_and_Darwin.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289931647478779890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 241px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheNENTJT8GUi3Wp4z9pOmnNidOhXLiPDgEUxKC6YvMDDw3RTM7BIPWDlH3KYQzzJN30X5WKTF0JcPggqaEsr0ZjjA7o039l4I-sPmfwpnh7Z0K-UVdz_BAkguaO9N6T4hCXe-kBhttiKJ1/s320/Jesus_and_Darwin.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div></div><br /><div>HT: <a href="http://raspberry_rabbit.blogspot.com/">http://raspberry_rabbit.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />I think that this works on several levels; I counted at least 17 (or it could be 18).</div>Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-65719830093844951422009-01-10T23:11:00.001+00:002009-01-10T23:14:20.652+00:00What I've always thought.....<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyPQY2-ucnqv3bVtdLtr1ykPsnT2cisM3WchjZCgS5i8gO1W7a-IpLjqDD7k6IO1w76883WcqzRWk_xfcUcWnXoiQcauQpTh3F3TjI9JEBZMZMqWKvWplAtQXF-Ns4QP-LrrsuQhj65Xw1/s1600-h/pooh.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289806789258757058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 259px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyPQY2-ucnqv3bVtdLtr1ykPsnT2cisM3WchjZCgS5i8gO1W7a-IpLjqDD7k6IO1w76883WcqzRWk_xfcUcWnXoiQcauQpTh3F3TjI9JEBZMZMqWKvWplAtQXF-Ns4QP-LrrsuQhj65Xw1/s320/pooh.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>From the incomparable <a href="http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/">http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/</a></div>Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-7494735796416658832009-01-10T08:59:00.003+00:002009-01-10T20:44:52.687+00:00Quote of the day<div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#3366ff;">“Apparently Suggs is marching against racism and homophobia - I mean, it’s just madness gone politically correct”</span></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />(from Stephen Fry on Twitter HT: <a href="http://theconnexion.net/wp/">http://theconnexion.net/wp/</a> .... perhaps incomprehensible to anyone not British...).Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-86646634487316475572009-01-10T07:41:00.002+00:002009-01-10T07:44:48.705+00:00Cartoon<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2EmDI8MkJupfTUV1CU19KUvLCwa7QuYHDDYzI3nDMsKma-mQi7IzW439ttz9YCc-K3OASQvgeh4zJPOYSYnq6ysnfUILZmSrXNQp4sTDysD0iY7-sRmGeIq-PXNBUadMS_oTZFPZHfMy/s1600-h/believerjerk.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289567544448249938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 269px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2EmDI8MkJupfTUV1CU19KUvLCwa7QuYHDDYzI3nDMsKma-mQi7IzW439ttz9YCc-K3OASQvgeh4zJPOYSYnq6ysnfUILZmSrXNQp4sTDysD0iY7-sRmGeIq-PXNBUadMS_oTZFPZHfMy/s320/believerjerk.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><div>(HT:<a href="http://www.internetmonk.com/">http://www.internetmonk.com/</a>)<br /></div><div></div><br /><div></div>Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-1538189225174675802009-01-09T12:23:00.003+00:002009-01-09T21:10:40.565+00:00Quote of the day...Serious this one...I'm going to use it on Sunday...<br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#ff0000;">‘A fairly new worshipper shocked her friend; ‘Before I became a Christian, I told lies; now I sing lies.’….. can we allow ourselves to ‘tell it like it is’ in worship?’<br /></span><em>(Roots magazine Jan/Feb 2009 p2)</em></div><br /><em></em><br /><br /><em>...not always..... see this <a href="http://revjph.blogspot.com/2009/01/cross-rewritten-for-modern-people.html">http://revjph.blogspot.com/2009/01/cross-rewritten-for-modern-people.html</a> and leave a comment. This site is always interesting and frequently controversial..</em>Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-79682172492974942042009-01-09T09:13:00.005+00:002009-01-09T09:22:49.245+00:00Comments please!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTWgPuPpCBJVY5fDf5gtoRp5fABKH_0ms4K7SyLyBusssOT_-zdbWa-adUmVXkoJVmUT2xDolPGe_ISglwVKpyTYpwBt_U5hYGaMMXVyWzsm6rIYVCTb_snRe5jHabs6KE3l1HNKnPdX0K/s1600-h/gagged.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289220660233376482" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 215px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTWgPuPpCBJVY5fDf5gtoRp5fABKH_0ms4K7SyLyBusssOT_-zdbWa-adUmVXkoJVmUT2xDolPGe_ISglwVKpyTYpwBt_U5hYGaMMXVyWzsm6rIYVCTb_snRe5jHabs6KE3l1HNKnPdX0K/s320/gagged.bmp" border="0" /></a> <em><span style="color:#ffcc99;">Image from </span></em><a href="http://www.lawyersconveyancing.com.au/img/im_gagged.jpg"><em><span style="color:#ffcc99;">www.lawyersconveyancing.com.au/img/im_gagged.jpg</span></em></a><em><span style="color:#ffcc99;">. It is amazing what images come out when you put the word ‘gagged’ in…<br /></span></em><br /><br />Ok- I know that some people read this blog. A chosen few I actually know; most of you I don’t. You do it either because:-<br /><br />(1) You know me and it is to keep me quiet.<br /><br />(2) You accidentally clicked on ‘diggingalot’ when you were looking for gardening supplies or you are a hep hip cat kind of dude that ‘digs’ things.<br /><br />(3) It is part of your asbo/community service order /rehabilitation to surf the net.<br /><br />(4) You do not have a life.<br /><br />(5) You like it (really…?)<br /><br />(or it could be a combination of all 5).<br /><br /><strong>But not many of you comment!!!<br /></strong><br />Therefore, to make it easy for you I’ve put some sample comments below. All you have to do is <strong><em>cut and paste</em></strong> into the comments field! It couldn't be easier! (well breaking wind and picking your nose probably is....).<br /><br />Sample comments:-<br /><br />* 'Thanks for your blog; it is the most wonderful thing written ever! '<br /><br />*'Amazing; have £60,000 a year and come and work for me.'<br /><br />* 'I will report you to your church; you are a heretic and should be burnt at the stake or at least forced to watch God Channel for 65 hours a week'.<br /><br />* 'Sorry, I just stopped by whilst looking for Dutch porn (you are not by any chance from Zeebrugge are you….thought not…)'<br /><br /><em>(visitors should note that I often use a concept called 'Irony' (TM) in my postings...)</em>Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-50361590548518392752009-01-08T11:02:00.006+00:002009-01-08T17:57:39.271+00:00Quote of the Day<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1myNduNEdumutOrTvIjlYV65_CtZymYuWuB3EnUhezr3wACkb_UQjmSfR9P8WagWg_UgzOKNJwN7vFaBRyg2K5czBlqutrSvvlT-CnJTuX-XwvnL9m7VvwJ3OHJP7rhTkMiUn_wpSWUSN/s1600-h/seldom+seen+kid.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288877663292046466" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1myNduNEdumutOrTvIjlYV65_CtZymYuWuB3EnUhezr3wACkb_UQjmSfR9P8WagWg_UgzOKNJwN7vFaBRyg2K5czBlqutrSvvlT-CnJTuX-XwvnL9m7VvwJ3OHJP7rhTkMiUn_wpSWUSN/s320/seldom+seen+kid.bmp" border="0" /></a> <em>....I never meant this to be a daily thing.....I just keep finding quotes.... I guess I always did...just never had anyone to inflict them on..... plus they got lost....</em><br /><br /><br /><br />'The Seldom Seen Kid': another CD I must blog on soon <em>(still yourselves...settle down...).</em> I have always had a soft spot for Elbow as one of the lead singer's friends was once part of a former congregation <em>(Don't you just love hanging on the coattails of fame? Did I ever tell you the story of when I saw 'Wham' in a service station?....<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ok</span> I won't).</em><br /><br /><br /><br />This CD is beautiful, yearning and just lovely. Take the mystic yearning of 'The loneliness of a tower crane driver':-<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#33cc00;">'Now I live off the mirrors and smoke.</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#33cc00;">It's a joke.</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#33cc00;">A fix.</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#33cc00;">A lie.</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#33cc00;">Come on tower crane driver.</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#33cc00;">Oh so far to fall.</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#33cc00;">Send up a prayer in my name.</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#33cc00;">Just the same.</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#33cc00;">They say I'm on top of my game.</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#33cc00;">Gentle gentle love.</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#33cc00;">Send up a prayer in my name.'</span></div><br /><br /><br />Ah..... turn the lights off...kick your shoes off...light a candle...light several.....find a mature single malt... lie back... and once you know this song. I defy you to sing it in this mood and not have tears pouring down your face.Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-41827147670787191702009-01-08T09:44:00.006+00:002009-01-08T10:05:22.950+00:00Church...what is it good for? (again)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiOPEqPnHPUclr8V_cQv7FUfxe4_i_XCCY8aYj9jo2Ls67sKeuOaJBUO4I3CMhNoowcf0UChWy4joto3OYlooIbP2nL3Ipnf6HzfP1GA5yt2_hHzomkXnqckhbV-hGnoPio9dLgL6kyZ1U/s1600-h/my-kinda-church_2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288859309324087842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 149px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiOPEqPnHPUclr8V_cQv7FUfxe4_i_XCCY8aYj9jo2Ls67sKeuOaJBUO4I3CMhNoowcf0UChWy4joto3OYlooIbP2nL3Ipnf6HzfP1GA5yt2_hHzomkXnqckhbV-hGnoPio9dLgL6kyZ1U/s320/my-kinda-church_2.jpg" border="0" /></a><em>(From 'Naked Pastor'- see links. It is such a brilliant site...) </em><br /><br /><br />The blog title says it:- 'musings from the web'...<br /><br /><br />This is one I unearthed a few days back, quoting from someone who trained for the ministry (Chris Hedges <a href="http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081229_why_i_am_a_socialist/) ">http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081229_why_i_am_a_socialist/) </a> who now rarely attends worship. It is from a USA perspective (I think):-<br /><div align="center"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#cc33cc;">'the inanity of the sermons and the arrogance of many congregants, who appear to believe they are "honorary" sinners. The liberal church, attacked by atheists as an ineffectual "moderate" religion and by fundamentalists as a "nominal" form of Christianity, is as its critics point out, a largely vapid and irrelevant force… it does not understand how the world works or the seduction of evil. The liberal church is largely middle class, bourgeois phenomenon, filled with many people who have profited from industrialisation… and global capitalism. They often seem to think that if "we" can only be nice and inclusive, everything will work out. The liberal church also usually buys into the myth that we can morally progress as a species… [and has a] naive belief in our goodness and decency - this inability to face the dark reality of human nature, our capacity for evil and the morally neutral universe we inhabit……</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#cc33cc;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#cc33cc;">Religious institutions, however, should be separated from the religious values imparted to me by religious figures, including my father. Most of these men and women ran afoul of their own religious authorities. Religion, real religion, involved fighting for justice, standing up for the voiceless and the weak, reaching out in acts of kindness and compassion to the stranger and the outcast, living a life of simplicity, cultivating empathy and defying the powerful. It was a commitment to care for the other. Spirituality was defined not by "how it is with me," but rather by the tougher spirituality of resistance, the spirituality born of struggle, of the fight with the world's evils. This spirituality, vastly different from the narcissism of modern spirituality movements, was eloquently articulated by King and the Lutheran minister Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was imprisoned and put to death by the Nazis'.<br /></div></span><br /><br />(HT: <a href="http://pluralistspeaks.blogspot.com/">http://pluralistspeaks.blogspot.com/</a>)<br /><br />His bile is against the 'liberal church', but it could be any of us. Is church really worth anything if we just attend from time to time or even attend regularly, but spend ages on what goes on inside (and just become banal and safe)?<br /><br /><br />I was leading something this week based on something that 'Fresh Expressions' <a href="http://www.freshexpressions.org.uk/index.asp?id=1">http://www.freshexpressions.org.uk/index.asp?id=1</a> produced. It talked about how if Western churches make a move from isolated souls just happening to share the same space once a week, they move towards a 'pastoral' model- caring and loving each other, but that is where it stops. We have to move to a 'missional' model <em>(horrible, horrible jargon)</em> where our relationships show Christ, where we bleed and rejoice together, but where <strong><em>we turn outwards</em></strong> <strong><em>at the same time</em></strong>... so the hungry are fed and the humble lifted high <em>(hmm... wonder where I have read that before?).</em><br /><br />I guess when we just look at ourselves and get all pastoral, we end up getting obsessed with stuff that, although important, just doesn't matter in the global scheme of things: worship styles, defining the word 'missional', is this a 'proper' communion?, are they ordained? etc etc etc. Or is this just me? Or is this just one of my dark January rants?Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-45822924524622699452009-01-07T13:19:00.005+00:002009-01-07T19:27:36.497+00:00Quote of the Day<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyHPWaI-cV3Cp0Q-WT1dWC-kXay6NYPk4jbON3p_cr3BIO2_P6ka8crBZ4iaudO-kl344YrNsSqAgqPKSAWRrOrqaWui3m49Pu9i0XYyD9ojt2F38GVs_xwuhQFcI3HXKJf8pMCubitTJb/s1600-h/fleet+foxes.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288541467284087538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyHPWaI-cV3Cp0Q-WT1dWC-kXay6NYPk4jbON3p_cr3BIO2_P6ka8crBZ4iaudO-kl344YrNsSqAgqPKSAWRrOrqaWui3m49Pu9i0XYyD9ojt2F38GVs_xwuhQFcI3HXKJf8pMCubitTJb/s320/fleet+foxes.bmp" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:courier new;">‘This leads me to something weird about the power that music has, it’s transportive ability. Any time I hear a song or record that meant a lot to me at a certain moment or I was listening to at a distinct time, I’m instantly taken back to that place in full detail.’<br /><br />Warren Gamaliel Bancroft Winnipeg Harding<br />Chicago, Illinois,<br />April 6th, 2008<br /></span><br />Sleeve note- Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes (2008)</div><br /><div align="center"></div><br /><div align="center">I must blog about this CD sometime. It is incredible. Cool name as well. 'Gamaliel'....wow. The quote is 'right' as well. Music takes me to another place.</div>Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-9580938096733049672009-01-07T11:58:00.020+00:002009-01-07T13:55:36.576+00:00Praying.........Praying..... most Christians talk about it like going to the toilet...it is assumed that you do it...you just don't talk about it in polite society.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFp3r4Ip_dN_PvDu7YGYGCQ6f98GyS5WbjuqtR6cBE-Tqw4JaapmhVC3bn4n8MDMIJW6UEay-UGWt2QS1RtS_U4_tUeTw6t2Yq4PFHYccmRo1Z1v1bPm_LBccN49KhsKtdI3SmDdw-dOuD/s1600-h/breakfast3.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288527579752329490" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFp3r4Ip_dN_PvDu7YGYGCQ6f98GyS5WbjuqtR6cBE-Tqw4JaapmhVC3bn4n8MDMIJW6UEay-UGWt2QS1RtS_U4_tUeTw6t2Yq4PFHYccmRo1Z1v1bPm_LBccN49KhsKtdI3SmDdw-dOuD/s320/breakfast3.bmp" border="0" /></a> I spent some time today at a church prayer breakfast. As always there was a lot of breakfast. That is why I have put these pictures in; to brighten up this posting. There wasn't a full cooked English, but there was a lot of food......<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsumNE3ZH0qMPtCXRiUjBM2-EwSLbSS5rNE_nGEDbJlvfyw9NUrRa3jEoOYByGNO5e2FkunT3fumYgvVaG9YEto0BEJ7FZxtBSBXM8oao12J6PbX4dUJAPZCYeQIeBRd1Kx-RUqi1mn2gF/s1600-h/breakfast+2.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288527577716033842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsumNE3ZH0qMPtCXRiUjBM2-EwSLbSS5rNE_nGEDbJlvfyw9NUrRa3jEoOYByGNO5e2FkunT3fumYgvVaG9YEto0BEJ7FZxtBSBXM8oao12J6PbX4dUJAPZCYeQIeBRd1Kx-RUqi1mn2gF/s320/breakfast+2.bmp" border="0" /></a> I have been musing on a friend's blog posting of a day or so ago. I have worked with this friend before. I respect him immensely. He has taught me a lot about abandoning my English reserve (which I have not effectively put into practice!). </div><div></div><div><em>Check out his web site....a good illustration of what happens to a retired Boeing Exec who hits 60 & decides there must be more to Christian retirement than going to church and dying on the golf course </em><a href="http://efmdg.org/efmdg/"><em>http://efmdg.org/efmdg/</em></a></div><div></div><div>This is the blog posting:-</div><div></div><div align="center">***WARNING: THE MAN IS NOT, I REPEAT NOT, ORDAINED SO READERS OF A NERVOUS DISPOSITION SHOULD SCROLL DOWN***</div><div></div><div align="center"><a title="Answers to Prayer for What I Want" href="http://ericsblog.org/ericsblog/?p=280" rel="bookmark"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#3366ff;">Answers to Prayer for What I Want</span></a><br /></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#3366ff;">I struggle with prayer. In many ways it seems so pointless. I’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ve</span> seen more rationalization about prayer than any other spiritual topic.</span></div><div align="center"><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#3366ff;">The most fervent prayers seem to be for things we want. It can be for health, money, relief from suffering, preferred outcomes–you can fill in the blank. After the prayer comes an expectation of an answer in the near future. Sometimes the thing we pray for comes about, more often (in my experience) it <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">doesn</span>’t. Then comes the rationalization. God is saying “no” or God is saying “wait” or something similar to that. Sometimes we think that maybe the prayer <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">didn</span>’t go through and then we think about James’ statement that “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” Maybe the problem is that I’m not righteous enough. Or again James says “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” Maybe my motives were wrong. As Mordecai says “Who knows?” In the end, we really don’t know why the request was not fulfilled–that’s why we have to rationalize.</span></div><div align="center"><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#3366ff;">In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus prays for God’s will to be done, the coming of the Kingdom on Earth, daily bread, forgiveness of sins (conditional on our forgiving others), avoidance of temptation, delivery from evil. Nothing there about good health, a promotion and raise, a new car, healing of others. The only time that I can think of when Jesus prayed for himself was in the Garden of Gethsemane and that request was refused. He accepted the answer and moved on albeit sorrowfully.</span></div><div align="center"><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#3366ff;">I tend to avoid praying for specific things or outcomes. There are several reasons for this:<br />In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that God knows what we need and, as a loving Father, provides those things to us. Jesus also points out that God does not give harmful things (stones and snakes). As I look back over my life, I realize that a lot of things I prayed for were best left unanswered. I realize that in so many cases I was praying for rocks and snakes instead of bread and fish. This leaves me with a strong distrust of my ability to discern the difference.</span></div><div align="center"><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#3366ff;">If I pray that God’s will be done, then maybe I should leave it at that. What is my wisdom compared to God’s? If, as Jesus says, that God is a loving father, perhaps I should spend my time finding the benefits of the things that He sends my way–even if they are trials that build my perseverance. Perhaps the time I spend praying for what I want but don’t have would be better spent in giving thanks for what I do have.</span></div><div align="center"><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#3366ff;">There’s a lot more in the Bible on prayer. And there’s a lot more to prayer than asking for things. But praying for specific things and outcomes seems to me to be running into dangerous territory. I think I’ll stick to the Lord’s Prayer.<br /></span></div><div></div><div><a href="http://ericsblog.org/ericsblog/">http://ericsblog.org/ericsblog/</a></div><div></div><div>Well it made me think.... a lot....</div><div></div><div>Then I scroll across to 'naked pastor' (see links)<br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Aav5kiIn9RtGIHAO9m-Av1UZso6TpIh1dEdD5sStBoHpdzA172Q1ett1t7vdgUn1OPrztzKagdBWjWyXMsXjzDJ_hYvIWOfj97oPyEWAImaBS4KgHqwg6av56x53-TM0Pxp3CMO4C3N8/s1600-h/existential+agony.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288527574760517570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Aav5kiIn9RtGIHAO9m-Av1UZso6TpIh1dEdD5sStBoHpdzA172Q1ett1t7vdgUn1OPrztzKagdBWjWyXMsXjzDJ_hYvIWOfj97oPyEWAImaBS4KgHqwg6av56x53-TM0Pxp3CMO4C3N8/s320/existential+agony.bmp" border="0" /></a><br />You have to read this blog- it is an antidote to the 'God has touched me and my life is a state of perpetual bliss' (or 'why I listen to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">CCM</span> music all the time'). Today's post <a href="http://nakedpastor.com/archives/2532#comments">http://nakedpastor.com/archives/2532#comments</a> deals with existential crisis and actual crisis <em>(note to those who wonder about random pictures- that is why I have the above picture).</em> One of the comments to the posting says:-</div><div></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#6600cc;">In the end the only way through is to find meaning within the the world around you. For those of us who are believers, that means prayer, community and scripture. But the most important of these is healthy, compassionate community which is a precious commodity in our churches. Very few people in our individualistic society are capable of engaging in true community. I have learned too that there are some questions that have no answers and some pains and trials that simply must be endured. No explanations given, despite our pleas. But if you have the Holy Spirit and a friend/lover/dog to walk beside you, its amazing what the soul can endure. </span></div><div></div><div>Perhaps that is why the prayer breakfast I went to somehow 'works'- there is prayer, some of it with tears. But there is also food, banality, friendship and community. I can never fathom or give a reason to prayer, but if it is just personal and never corporate and divorced from a community that bleeds...is it ever really prayer?<br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdlA1EyqgBM4IUi6e2kSxV2Hav9jrkmzEhmU6TVCZ2iltIj4NtWdFgoEGNy0pAVIhsfEA_RUxdd629Y7syZESVMzwszQq9c4oLajTE6cAiRiB_Fw3fn4RWpBnk66d-EaIPyLYj97zWgJ7g/s1600-h/dereliction.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288527572956302482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdlA1EyqgBM4IUi6e2kSxV2Hav9jrkmzEhmU6TVCZ2iltIj4NtWdFgoEGNy0pAVIhsfEA_RUxdd629Y7syZESVMzwszQq9c4oLajTE6cAiRiB_Fw3fn4RWpBnk66d-EaIPyLYj97zWgJ7g/s320/dereliction.bmp" border="0" /></a> <em>(picture:http://www.vuni.net/b/dereliction.jpg)</em></div><div></div><div>Today.... for our troubled times <em>(although when commentators write that about the developed west, I wonder if they have ever spent any time in Africa... )</em>check out the wonderful <a href="http://davidkeen.blogspot.com/">http://davidkeen.blogspot.com/</a> and 'prayers around redundancy.'<br /><div></div></div>Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-66999645210197329672009-01-06T22:26:00.003+00:002009-01-06T22:34:49.491+00:00Quote of the dayFrom E.W.Hornung 'Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman' (1899, Penguin 2003) p17:<br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'The truth is that I was entering into our nefarious undertaking with an involuntary zeal of which I was myself quite unconscious at the time.'</span></div><br />Don't you just love being English? There was a multitude of quotes that I could have chosen from that book, but that one is a beauty. I have no idea what it means, but it sounds just lovely.<br /><br />What is there to fear from a nation that can come up with phrases like that? How could anyone hate a nation that encouraged phrases like that? True, they could snigger behind their hands at a nation like that... but hate us....Pah unhand me you blaggard, you dashed scoundrel of the first water....Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-84344436393877993952009-01-06T14:22:00.003+00:002009-01-06T14:30:54.145+00:00...jazz continued..<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXHQDxtjl2OucVMI4EdE2c509F3CVCbIm3NOAfoQtt_7OZFqHvXG3eFgGikXkqLohGJnmfNubCGSybagoQdOSNuw2bt0rKx1kmiRYx2VnHX9c5R6HMbLzQ5h0tsaQzhJeC0z_CZf4tDiqF/s1600-h/rabble.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288186771816329842" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 215px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXHQDxtjl2OucVMI4EdE2c509F3CVCbIm3NOAfoQtt_7OZFqHvXG3eFgGikXkqLohGJnmfNubCGSybagoQdOSNuw2bt0rKx1kmiRYx2VnHX9c5R6HMbLzQ5h0tsaQzhJeC0z_CZf4tDiqF/s320/rabble.bmp" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Ok, it wasn't quite like this...... but the assembly certainly was 'interesting/vocal/participative' and did stray into rabble territory.</div><div> </div><div>Ministers have a very high opinion of what they say ('I am good at preaching' 'I am annointed by God' etc etc)....recipients less so....</div><div> </div><div>I thought it was good/ok- but it was noisy.</div><div> </div><div>And then I got to thinking...if that is what you do...jazz/improvisation/participation etc..... then there are going to be times when there are bum notes, things that don't quite work. Then (he said, moving further into the territory of self-justification), shouldn't worship reflect life and be messy....isn't there something artificial about 'dignified and reverent'?</div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-33622525848617013152009-01-06T08:09:00.003+00:002009-01-06T08:19:21.392+00:00school's back for winter....<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQR7y_Uum7n530MQSuijCxbESkezTN2nQ5b7YiyOqonWM0itrDWcqdS5ZNtZ5L6S-zalZitsnYWxS1vS571yI0HU0sORn_fEKpHgvui-l2-xhXFf9hUb8fZnk-oR9OI4DHjBT93H3ofzTW/s1600-h/school.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288090464983972434" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 192px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQR7y_Uum7n530MQSuijCxbESkezTN2nQ5b7YiyOqonWM0itrDWcqdS5ZNtZ5L6S-zalZitsnYWxS1vS571yI0HU0sORn_fEKpHgvui-l2-xhXFf9hUb8fZnk-oR9OI4DHjBT93H3ofzTW/s320/school.bmp" border="0" /></a> School starts today. And it starts for me with an assembly.<br /><br />I love assemblies and work in schools. Often I come out of a school class/assembly and think 'Wow, I get paid for this!'<br /><br />It can be any age: 2-18 and it is fantastic (in fact, a group of 13-18s that don't want to listen feels like gladiatorial conflict- in a good way ie without the casual murder and ritual disembowling).<br /><br />Today it is a primary school- lots of people that I have a link with. I read some assembly websites and the assemblies come across a bit didactic and 'Dear children- let me get you to learn something drippy.' I think a good assembly is like jazz.<br /><br />I don't do jazz (think Spinal Tap and 'free form jazz')- hence my dated jazz picture here......<br /><br />What I mean- you go in with something- you listen to God and the kids and suddenly what you have got starts riffing and changing. It becomes alive and creative and pregnant with possibilities.<br /><br />It's 8.15am and I'm raring to go!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5PS6VZ-S8j4oMgTP4Al797Ncb06oS1V3O_SysON9NM-3AHj2ynJSlcqS2yqRMpiynu6axH5QVG8XZ1xD6KAD3M6UflblsZc5H3AfrQtcjTpEawgnVAj4qL_KOVgI06XDtNa7h66BOIB_Z/s1600-h/satchmo.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288090461556622658" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 251px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5PS6VZ-S8j4oMgTP4Al797Ncb06oS1V3O_SysON9NM-3AHj2ynJSlcqS2yqRMpiynu6axH5QVG8XZ1xD6KAD3M6UflblsZc5H3AfrQtcjTpEawgnVAj4qL_KOVgI06XDtNa7h66BOIB_Z/s320/satchmo.bmp" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div>Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-28812234573203218282009-01-05T12:44:00.003+00:002009-01-05T12:54:30.552+00:00Quote of the DayFrom the Observer Sport section yesterday p6. An article about Middlesbrough v Barrow:-<br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'How ironic, then, that Barrow's big day should be played out in another northern coastal town only too familiar with the ups and downs that come with being built on the sweat of heavy industry.'</span></div><br />Mr Spencer Vignes ( for he was the journalist); please look at a map before writing a 'it's grim oop north article'. Last time I was in Middlesbrough (Saturday) I did not notice groups of people queueing up to buy candy floss, buckets and spades, and 'kiss me quick hats'. And there is a simple reason for this (apart from the temperature currently being about -1 centigrade); there is no coast in Middlesbrough- we are inland.<br /><br />Also 'another northern coastal town' is like writing that Penzance and Brighton are 'southern coastal towns'..... grrrrrrrrr.......... why is the media so southern?<br /><br />I'm just off now to have tripe butties for my lunch, feed the whippets, put some more coal in the bathtub and find my flat cap. 'appen lad- there's trouble at t'pit'<br /><br />grrrr grrrr grrrrrrGrahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-55911794162978493292009-01-05T10:08:00.007+00:002009-01-05T10:33:40.957+00:00The first day of the year....<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFlTVPouO2k4N4UIjjQgXej8NvopAwiSzCx48E7ca-grJPPmO5ukuluxE17OPUwoq-8fupnJiG99h9-1GwlH87tPsQzvkvJd2XR3TZ16THf5z32K5quz5c6cPpDSbCNf2cC-tQN1TlLsya/s1600-h/coffee.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287752023919043058" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFlTVPouO2k4N4UIjjQgXej8NvopAwiSzCx48E7ca-grJPPmO5ukuluxE17OPUwoq-8fupnJiG99h9-1GwlH87tPsQzvkvJd2XR3TZ16THf5z32K5quz5c6cPpDSbCNf2cC-tQN1TlLsya/s320/coffee.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Well it's not.....it is the 5<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span> and the 11<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">th</span> day of Christmas (and my 100<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">th</span> post......wahey....woohoo and other sounds of merriment)..... but this day always feels like the first day of the year: the first Monday 'back at work' proper. It used to be the day when I had a 'proper job' that I would sit at my desk, head in hands, drinking coffee <em>(<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">hmm</span>..... have you ever tried holding your head in your hands and drinking coffee <strong>at the same time</strong>? It is not easy)</em> and thinking 'when can I have another day off?'<br /><br /><br /> <em>('Addictive to Coffee' cartoon from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">littlefunny</span>.com)</em><br /><br />But- that was then, this is now and I'm always full of beans (mainly coffee) and the joy of the Lord and raring to go (well my study is next to the toilet, so that helps...)....hmmm- maybe a 'hint' of irony there....<br /><br /><br />3 quotes/ideas that are going round my head at the moment and helping- only one is original; I 'magpie' constantly:-<br /><br /><br />(1) Something that I picked up from Maggi Dawn's blog a year ago (see links section):-<br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'The danger of seeing our present actions as only steps to some future goal is that we will find ourselves waiting to start living, postponing present possibilities in the vain hope of some future state of bliss. The secret of happiness is to make peace with the present.'</span></div><br /><br />(2) I was reading a blog on new year's day about action/seeking God and thinking about a baptism/leaving service I am doing for friends who are <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">emigrating</span> (this Sunday- Huddersfield- be there or don't be there). I was also thinking about what it means to 'Go' and this thought came to me...<br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'There is no point in a restless adventure without a still centre'.</span></div><br /><br />(3) This is off <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Jonny</span> Baker's blog (see links) a day or so ago. I used it yesterday and plan to use it on Sunday. I like it!<br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">May we be blessed.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">As we look to the year ahead, and the year gone by.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">As we return to our schools and workplaces and find New rocks and New brambles.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">May you be blessed as you engage with others,</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">as you find the time to participate and give others the chance to do the same.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">May you have the courage to create and take risks,</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">and may you find your rest in God.</span></div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><div align="center"><br />May you be blessed, </div><div align="center">as you show your weaknesses and accept God's Grace.</div><div align="center">May others see that you are fragile that they might join in your fragility.</div><div align="center">May our broken edges fit together to become one body.</div><div align="center">As Christ kept the holes in his hands and feet having rose from the dead,</div><div align="center">may we keep our wounds even after we have healed.</div><div align="center">May you be blessed as you are healed by Christ's own wounds.</div><div align="center">May you become broken in order to become whole.</div><div align="center">May you become whole by knowing you are broken.</div><div align="center"><br />May you remember your wounds and embrace your hurt.</div><div align="center">May you go into the places that scare you.</div><div align="center">May you deal with anger and with sadness</div><div align="center">And may God be with you all the way.</div><div align="center"><br />May you be blessed, that you are perfect in your imperfections -</div><div align="center">as you are forgiven, but never forgotten.</div><div align="center">May you be blessed, as you are accepted as you are.</div><div align="center">As you are broken.</div><div align="center">As you are wounded.</div><div align="center">As you are hurt.</div><div align="center">As you are loved.</div><div align="center">Amen.<br /></div></span>Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949493446953848253.post-55620002421275782332009-01-04T20:16:00.002+00:002009-01-04T20:19:05.767+00:00Quote of the DayFrom p32 of the current Q magazine (John Harris):-<br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'As far as I am aware, no rock career crisis has ever resulted in its victim going off to their local Anglican church, and resolving to make it down there most Sundays and help out with jumble sales.'</span></div><br />...I can add no meaningful comment to that...Grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14178806177151983605noreply@blogger.com0