Aaaargh! My Eyes!!!

I'm amazed at how red my eyes are this morning - it's like I spent yesterday smoking weed or something!

I was up for 21 1/2 hours on Sunday, maybe that has something to do with it.

So here's how I spent the last week.

Mon: Work then 3 hour rehearsal
Tues: Work then 3 hour rehearsal
Wed: Work then 3 hour rehearsal
Thurs: Work, 3 hour rehearsal then board gaming
Fri: Sleep late! Go see 'Iron Man' then 3 hour rehearsal
Sat: 2 hour rehearsal, go see 'Indiana Jones'. Chinese food, collapse in front of t.v. until the cable goes out.
Sun: Sing a major work in 3 services, plus play for a fourth. Cook lunch. Go house shopping with Steve. Make Tres Leches cake, make Chili. Van with Steve's stuff arrives at 10pm - finish unloading and get to bed at 3:30am
Mon: Get up at 6:30am (3 hours of sleep). Drive Steve to the airport, go to Lowes, go to bed.
2pm friends arrive for gaming. We played Uptown, Die Kutschfhart zur Teuflesburg, Survive, Wits and Wagers, Vegas Showdown and Pandemic before I kicked everyone out.

I was in bed by 10pm and slept till 7am, so why are my eyes so red???

Wade in the Water

The book of Revelation describes a River of the Water of Life that flows from the throne of God and the Lamb. Richard Rohr calls water 'a symbol of God's constant and gracious invitation to union with Him.' Its an invitation into something more, something larger than ourselves. To step across a boundary into a new experience - Ezekiel 47:1-12 has the Temple (symbolic of God's swelling place on earth) transforming into a mighty deep river. The presence of God no longer contained within any boundaries we place on Him but pouring forth into the world giving nourishment to all.

A lot of the medieval mystics use the language of the River when they describe their experiences of God as flowing out toward them and through them. God longs for us to experience 'the River of His Presence'. I remember being in a prayer time once when I was in my 'Charismatic Phase' (blush) that I had an experience of the Presence of God that felt like standing under a giant waterfall.

I believe all of us, no matter what our Denomination, Creed or belief system (formalized or not) spend every moment of our lives in the River of God. God is constantly pouring Himself into our lives not because of who we are but because of who He is.

How are you experiencing God's river at this moment in your life?

How deep is the water around you? Ankles? Waist? Are you submerged?

Is the water calm? - are you experiencing 'Quiet Waters'? or are you in the 'Storm of God's Spirit'? Reflect without judgement - it may be that the Storm is God's gift to You at this moment in your life.

Do you feel as if you are moving with or against the current?

In what parts of your life are you aware of the 'river' and where are you oblivious?

Getting in touch with my inner hunter

This is an old pic from about 4 - 5 years ago. A friend took me Bow Fishing. It was quite an adventure. Standing on a platform on a boat in the dark trying to aim at fish under the water (and of course correct for Refraction). do all of that while swatting the bugs who have swarmed to feast on your skin attracted by the flood light on the front of the boat that we put on to attract the fish. I hit a fish but I didn't put enough energy behind the shot to impale it.

Rename the Package Please!

I'm not feeling well, I'm running a bit of a temperature, I am congested and coughing/sneezing.

Last night I decided to take something before going to bed.

I normally find my body responds very well to TheraFlu when I have these symptoms. So I went to my medicine cabinet for a look see.

I only had the daytime 'Non Drowsy' mix.

'No problem!' thought I, I don't need anything to put me to sleep, I'm so tired that I'll fall asleep naturally, so it doesn't matter that it's Non-Drowsy.

Bad mistake.

The active ingredients are Acetaminophen, Dextromethorphan hydrochloride and Pseudophedrine hydrocholoride.

I had forgotten how my body reacts to Pseudophedrine.

Side effects include: Central Nervous System stimulation, sleeplessness, nervousness, excitability, dizziness and anxiety.

I was trying to sleep but my Spirit was out Clubbing.

I was trying to rest but my body was dancing at 140 beats per minute.

I've had this experience before, I guess the cold addled my brain so I wasn't thinking when I downed the demon TheraFlu.


'Non-Drowsy' should immediately be renamed as 'Anti-Drowsy'!!!!!!!


Needless to say I feel like crap today, so I'm off to bed!

Warm Sticky Tasty Goodness - a visual recipe

Take 20 frozen dinner rolls and cover roll them in cinnamon to coat them.
Place them in a greased bundt pan over the top of a layer of chopped nuts.
Sprinkle vanilla pudding mix and brown sugar on top and then pour over over 1/4 cup of melted butter.

Leave covered on the kitchen counter overnight to defrost and rise.

Then bake in a 350 oven for 25 minutes.

Let sit in the pan for 5 minutes and then turn out and enjoy the warm yummy goodness :)

Questions for Reflection

Outside My Window … the church music department corridor (behold the joys of the glass walled office)

***

I am thinking … I need to start my reading for my course in the Fall and I need to surf the web for a good sausage casserole recipe.

***

I am thankful for …the Seniors planning and leading worship this weekend so I get some time off.

***

From the kitchen … chips and salsa.

***

I am wearing … blue jeans shorts, a 'War and Peas' t shirt and Tevas.

***

I am creating … an arrangement of a Shape Note Music piece for the choir.

***

I am going … shopping when I leave work.

***

I am reading … Holy Listening by Margaret Guenther.

***

I am hoping … that my 2 oclock meeting is a lot calmer than it usually is.

***

I am hearing … the whirr of the air conditioning vent.

***

Around the house … are way too many unpacked boxes.

***

One of my favorite things … a hot cup of tea with milk and sugar and a N.Y. Times crossword puzzle.

***

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... unpacking, rehearsing, playing boardgames, tidying, sleeping and going to the airport to get Steve.

***Here is a picture that I am sharing …

(yes I really could grow hair once upon a time)

If you've read this far...consider yourself tagged. Answer these questions on your blog and leave me a comment here so I know to go read them.

My Songwriting Process

A few weeks ago I posted the lyrics to song that I wrote whilst on retreat.

You can read them here.

I thought you might be interested in a picture of my songwriting process.

I know it's a bit hard to read and as I used some scrap paper that was convenient the underside has shown through - but you can see the process.

I started with the phrase 'There are burning bushes everywhere' which I wrote in the middle of the paper. I then brainstormed using word association on various words within that phrase. The words and ideas that came out of that brainstorming became the basis for the message and the lyrics of the song.

Pretty cool!

Baking Baking

I made my first Tres Leches cake yesterday.
(Readers from the U.K. can learn about what the cake is by clicking here)

I know fruit on the top is slightly unusual. The recipe said to top it with Mango and Papaya, but I thought strawberries and blueberries would be a nice combo.

If you want the recipe to make it yourself click here but be warned it has a couple of tricky steps involved.

A New Twist on Communion Wine?

This morning for Pentecost we sang many songs in different languages to mirror the experience of the early church in Acts chapter 2.

When we served Communion instead of the usual 'The Body of Christ' and 'The blood of Christ' we served in Spanish.

'El cuerpo de Cristo' and 'La sangra de Cristo'

I've never taken Spanish - it's not taught in English schools. I've studied a little French and German and I can sing in various languages, but I'm so glad I was leading worship rather than serving the bread and wine this morning. My tongue was getting caught over the pronunciation, and I found myself saying:

'El cuervo de Cristo' and 'La sangria de Cristo'

which, roughly translated means:

'The Tequila of Christ' and 'The fruit wine punch of Christ'


What this says about me, I shudder to think :)

Some Very Nerd Humor

I own both these games!!!!

(sorry it is so small)

Anglo Saxon attitudes

An interesting article on differences of views between the U.S. and the U.K. is here

A Transvestite Comic Comments on the Church of England

Very funny (and with some interesting wry observations) - but not suitable for minors....you have been warned!!!

It makes me smile

When I log on to my Gmail account there is a single ad that appears that Google places over the inbox that tries to be relevant to the content of my emails.

I occasionally click on them.

When I access my Spam folder on Gmail - all the ads are Spam Recipes

They are terrifying and intriguing all at once.

And the fact that they are there, just makes me smile.

After a short stay in the U.S.

Michelangelo's David returned to Europe

I know how he feels!

I don't like it

This Sunday is Pentecost - this is the celebration of the birth of the Church. God pouring out His Spirit as told in the book of Acts. It is celebrated World Wide and along with Christmas and Easter is one of the big holidays of the church.

It's also Mother's Day - a day with debatable origins:

"The United States celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. In the United States, Mother's Day was loosely inspired by the British day and was imported by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War. However, it was intended as a call to unite women against war. In 1870, she wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation as a call for peace and disarmament. Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace. Her idea was influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers' Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors.
When Jarvis died in 1907, her daughter, named Anna Jarvis, started the crusade to found a memorial day for women. The first such Mother's Day was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia, on 10 May 1908, in the church where the elder Ann Jarvis had taught Sunday School. Originally the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, this building is now the International Mother's Day Shrine (a National Historic Landmark). From there, the custom caught on — spreading eventually to 45 states. The holiday was declared officially by some states beginning in 1912. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother's Day, as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war.
Nine years after the first official Mother's Day, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become. Mother's Day continues to this day to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. occasions. According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother's Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States."

In church this weekend we are having Mother's Day celebrations and Pentecost - the Birth of the Church is passing by almost unnoticed.

I don't like it.........and it could also be that this is my first Mother's Day since my mum died :( I could kinda miss the U.K. one as it happened way back before Easter.

Poem for Thought

This is a poem by Nathan Brown, Norman, Oklahoma. I encountered it whilst on retreat at Laity Lodge and really liked it so I thought I would post it here. I don't have permission, but if he sees it and complains I will gladly take it down again.


Between Two Artists

Dear God,
I have always admired
your work. And were it not for that,
I wouldn't bother you with this.

But I must say, your installation peice
at the Point Lobos Nature Reserve
above Big Sur simply goes too far.

The Monterey Pines are too tall,
the Cypresses too fanned out
in perfection with trunks tied
to intricate knots that would take
centuries to unravel.

The cliffs appear
superimposed for dramatic effect
with impossible jags giving way
to fairytale caves that burst forth
gushes of blue water like a French soda
topped with cotton candy cream spray.

The crashes of waves and explosions of foam
are too much like a Disney Land ride.
There are too many kinds of birds, too many
varieties of plants, and too much color in both.

In short, it lacks integrity. It does not speak
to the truth of the way things are. And I don't
think viewers will trust or believe its authenticity.


(From 'Suffer the Little Voices', Greystone Press, Edmond OK 2005)

It's a Privilege to Pee

Well, it's official. I'm doing my first Musical in years. :)

I will be playing Caldwell B.Cladwell in a production of Urinetown! For plot info click here.

Caldwell B. Cladwell is the evil president and owner of the Urine Good Company, a miserly moneygrubber who gleefully exploits the poor with his outrageous toilet fees. Cladwell is the capitalist pig of the show.

I hope I wasnt typecast!

Rehearsals are every week night starting May 19th - so this musical will be taking over my life.

Performances are June 27, 28, 29, July 1,2,3,5 and 6

So if you are anywhere close...come see me sing and dance!

Seeking Burning Bushes

Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God; but only he who sees, takes off his shoes –
the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.
~~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

A dusty path, a dreary land
A wooden staff in weathered hand
A holy blaze that never dies
A miracle before the eyes
A stumbling onto holy ground
God revealed in sight and sound
As it was for Moses why not me?
If I can teach my eyes to see

There are burning bushes everywhere
Fiery flowers, blazing for hours
Waiting for us to see them there
The red and the green, dancing unseen through our days
Lighting the path, keeping our lives ablaze.

The roll of dice, the belly laugh
The ancient tale, the photograph
The mouse's click, the lovers' kiss
all of Heaven speaks through this
The taste of bread, the t.v. show
Are signs for those who are in the know
How I take for granted daily grace
The voice of God is common place

For there are burning bushes everywhere
Fiery flowers, blazing for hours
Waiting for us to see them there
The red and the green, dancing unseen through our days
Lighting the path, keeping our lives ablaze.

It's not that God is far away
Only whispering on special days
Our lives are spent on holy ground
God speaks so much we ignore the sound

When there are burning bushes everywhere
Fiery flowers, blazing for hours
Waiting for us to see them there
The red and the green, dancing unseen through our days
Lighting the path, keeping our lives ablaze.



I wrote the above song whilst away on a retreat this weekend. I sat down staring at a bush and reflected on what are the common 'burning bushes' (signs of God's presence) in my life. Those places, people, activities etc that fill me up and help me feel connected to something much larger than just myself. Board Games, emails, fresh home made bread may not be 'bushes' for you, but they are for me.

So the question is:

What are your 'burning bushes'?

Finally I understand U.S. Politics

Exisiting in a Sea of Cardboarrd

Its been a while since I posted as I've been out of town on a retreat and moving house!

I needed a break today so I called my friend Cason and had lunch with him.

Behold the glorious leftovers from Double Daves Pizza!!!!!

I've been Tagged......

My friend Emileigh tagged me on her blog to write 7 random facts about myself....so here they are in no particular order.

1) I have seen every episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer - that's Seven Seasons, in order from the beginning!

2) I once shook hands with Billy Graham.

3) The most impactful, meaningful conversation I ever had was also probably one of the shortest. It was the last conversation I had with my dad before he died. You can read about it here (pack some kleenex).

4) I got my ear peirced to celebrate the Millenium and my Tattoo to celebrate my birthday.

5) I once played violin in the Royal Albert Hall and the performance was broadcast on the BBC.

6) My left eye does not dilate - the pupil remains the same size no matter how much light goes into it. You can read about my medical condition here.

7) As I've become less 'Fundamental' and 'Conservative' about my faith, I've become more joyous and loving...and I experience God more. I consider that a really good trade off.



So...if you have a blog and you've read my 7 facts...consider yourself TAGGED - so, go write 7 facts in yours :)

Hooray for Vicodin

I have the root canal scheduled today at 3:30pm.

I went without the pain meds to identify which tooth it was (see yesterday's post). I found he tooth and boy did it hurt. I was shouting in the car whilst driving just to get some of the pain out there. Even when I finally did take the Vicodin it still took an hour and a half to get the pain down to a managable level.

So, I'm at work, feeling rather drowsy and waiting till 3:30pm - I don't care how painful the Root Canal is - it can't be as bad as yesterday's pain.

A Tale of Two Teeth

I've posted before about the current state of my teeth - and it's now reaching critical mass SIGH

I went to the Endodontist this morning for a root canal because things are really beginning to hurt. But I didn't get one :(

The problem is I have two teeth adjacent to one another in the back of my mouth both with temporary crowns on them. Even with banging, tapping, prodding, blowing cold air on them and x-raying the Endodontist could not work out which one needed the root canal.

I was left with 2 options -

a) We do one tooth and if it is the wrong one we then go back and do the second (at a cost of $1000 per tooth)

b) Wait until the pain gets worse and the we should be able to identify which tooth needs the work.

So I went for option b. I have some vicodin, but if I take it I won't be able to work out which tooth is the one that is in trouble.

Word for the day - OUCH!!!!!!!!!

Toothache, Theology and Blaise Pascal

Things in my mouth are not good. I took some pain meds last night and woke up at about 5:30am in agony. I've never been woken up by a tooth before. I popped some more pills, and while I lay in the darkness I remembered a story I'd heard about Blaise Pascal.

"Pascal suffered a toothache, which kept him awake at night. In an effort to take his mind off the pain he focused on the cycloid, the curve traced by a point on the circumference of a rolling circle. Pascal solved the problem of the area of any segment of the cycloid and the center of gravity of any segment. He also solved the problems of the volume and surface area of the solid of revolution formed by rotating the cycloid about the x-axis."

I didn't want to get out of bed, so math was out of the question. Instead I reflected on a question that was posed to me by one of my friends who read my blog on 'The Gifts of Uncertainty (Part 2)'.

In it I referenced the often quoted line from Augustine 'Love God and do as you please.' He referenced the events that happened in Texas this week where over 200 children were taken from a Mormon Compound because of suspicions of child abuse, polygamy and forced marriages.

(As a side note......I would have thought the government would have learned after Waco that a compound being built in Texas is not a good thing!)

He asked how I would answer the fact that the Mormon leader probably believed that he was loving God by behaving the way he did.

So far I've come up with many excellent rebuttals to his statement - and I've rejected them all.

Working for a church means it is easy for me to answer using 'christianese', but the answers really don't ring true once I scrape off the veneer. Stay posted and hopefully I'll come up with something - esp. as the dentist hasn't called me back so it looks like I'm going to be consuming vast quantities of Excedrin this weekend.

Try reading this poem aloud!

(Thanks to Mischa for linking to the following poem - I enjoyed attempting to read it aloud so much I thought I would post it in its entirety! )


English is Tough Stuff

We've all cursed written English as capricious and sentenced American Pronunciation Rules as but half-truths at best. Examples and practice always seem better than studying worn and obsolete phonetic guides.

Multi-national personnel at North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters near Paris found English to be an easy language ... until they tried to pronounce it. To help them discard an array of accents, the verses below were devised. After trying them, a Frenchman said he'd prefer six months at hard labor to reading six lines aloud. Try them yourself.

(Read aloud, with a friend!)

(After all, laughter is the true universal language!)

The Chaos

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.

Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it's written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.

Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.

Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation's OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve, F
riend and fiend, alive and live.

Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,

Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.
Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Feoffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.

Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.
Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.

Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.
Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.

Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.
Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.

Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.

Pronunciation -- think of Psyche!
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won't it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It's a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.

Finally, which rhymes with enough --
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!!!

Written by Dr. Gerald Nolst Trenite (1870-1946), a Dutch observer of English.

Rhyming Questions

Most people know about the fact that there are no words that rhyme with Orange, partly because there is a strip cartoon with that name:

But can you name three other words, all in common usuage, that have no rhymes (except trick ones of course.)?????

Spam Strudel??!!!!

While logging into my gmail today, a link popped up to a recipe for Spam and Vegetable Strudel that is supposed to come from Mastercook.

I haven't done any random cooking experiments since Dishwasher Lasagna and Tofu and Beetroot Burritos.

Who dares me to make it?????

The Gifts of Uncertainty (Part 2)

I've been planning this post for a while (for Part One click here) but life has gotten in the way. I'm not sure how coherent my follow up ramblings will be, but here goes.

As I've been thinking more about Uncertainty, I've been wrestling with our very natural human desire to divide everything into right and wrong, into black and white. The world is a big complex place, and it is only natural that we categorize and order in an attempt to cope with how overwhelming it really is. If we stopped to think about every issue and every event we would become paralyzed with indecision. Consequently we all consciously or unconsciously create our own Paradigms that enable us to function.

We create Paradigms of Theology, Politics, Social Behavior, Health - in fact we create them about just about everything.

So where did this drive come from?

I'm reading 'Things Hidden -Scripture as Spirituality' by Richard Rohr at the moment. In it he makes a very interesting comment about the Garden of Eden. The tree that Adam and Eve were forbidden to touch was 'The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil'. He refers to it in the book as 'The Tree of Moral Certainty'. Think about it for a moment - Adam and Eve were not created to know right and wrong, they didn't have the knowledge to make those kinds of judgements. It's only as a result of the Fall that they gain that knowledge.

Richard Rohr goes on to comment that it is interesting that many people in the church have made a career out of the consequences of the Fall - they issue loud declarations on Right and Wrong, Good and Evil. They create 'insiders' and 'outsiders'.

One of the largest parts of the Hebrew Scriptures is the 'Law' - exact descriptions of rules, violations and punishments. Everything you need to know so you can be certain of your standing within the Community and with God.

All of this writing, posturing and pontificating all because we ate of 'The Tree of Moral Certainty'.

Am I in danger of becoming a total moral relativist? No. There are some things I am always going to call wrong - consider it residual fruit from the Garden of Eden. But I do think some of the potential for divisiveness in the church today could be removed if we could just embrace a the fact that not everybodys' Christianity will look the same. See here for and earlier blog post on this.

I've heard the saying attributed to Augustine 'Love God, and do as you please'. Maybe we should focus more on helping people achieve the first, and less on moral judgements around the second. If somebody is actively pursuing the first then I think the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, self-control etc) will take care of the second.


So what of these gifts of uncertainty? I've already written about Humility, Community and Introspection (Inner work).

Another gift of uncertainty, that is related to Humility is the gift of Learning. If I consider you 'wrong' then I will conclude that there is nothing you can teach me. If I am honest about uncertainty then suddenly everybody in the world becomes my teacher, and everybody in the world becomes my pupil. A quote I encountered on a friend's blog is helpful here:

“I think if more people were willing to treat beliefs as beliefs instead of facts, it would make talking with each other easier... I guess I’d just like Christians and church leaders to be more honest…with everyone. Stop treating faith as a fact. Call it hope. Call it confidence, not certainty.” Matt Casper, from the book 'Jim and Casper Go to Church'.

I sat up late talking with a friend last night who has a lot of uncertainty happening in his life right now - and I reflected on periods of uncertainty in my life. When I was unsure about whether I was moving to the U.S. or not I spent a lot of time in prayer and seeking counsel from others. My uncertainty led me to a deeper faith. Why does that kind of uncertainty drive people towards God, whereas theological uncertainty and differences of opinion become a barrier between people and lead to schisms and new denominations?

Is there a way the church can learn to use Uncertainty to unite them as they sit together in Tension?

I wish I knew.

So Peter....where are you from?

It's an interesting question, simply because their are more right answers than you might think:


a) The British Isles

b) The United Kingdom

c) Great Britain

d) England


Confused?

Here's how all the terms relate to one another geographically.

I was born there, and I forget the differences at times!

Good Friends and Bad Teeth

I'm beginning to feel rather low about my teeth. Back in February I had a Crown and an Inlay done by my dentist. It was a remarkable pain free event - as are most of my trips to the dentist, but ever since then I've had problems :(

I've been back many times with sensitivity to heat and cold and a dull ache. I went back today for the 5th time and the dentist decided that we need to remove both the crown and the inlay and redo both of them as traditional crowns and fix them in temporarily and see if the problem fixes itself. And if it doesn't he will refer me to a special nerve tooth doctor a.k.a. an endodontist!!!

All I can say is ewwwww.

in other news, I had one of those wonderful conversations with a good friend. Someone who loves me enough to ask difficult questions in their quest for understanding and is willing to sit in the difficult tension that some of my answers give. It's wonderful to have friends who want to discuss the deep things of life and who I know have my 'back' when the chips are down.

Rewriting the Bible

One of my favourite Psalms is 131.

I'm preparing to lead staff worship tomorrow morning, so I sat with the Psalm and paraphrased it to use in the worship time.

This is what I came up with.


Today, I am content with who I am
I am not looking down on others to make me feel o.k.
I am not imagining great schemes or far reaching plans.
I have told my soul to be still,
I am as peaceful as a baby resting in its mother’s arms
My soul is nestled in God like that babe.

People of God; put your hope in Him.
Hope in Him forever.

Great T.V. Commercial

So that's the reason I'm so hairy!!!!

One Hour to Help Save the Planet

Sketch Comedy from My Past

This sketch always makes me laugh every time I see it.

I've been to this restaurant!

Poem of the Day

He drew a circle that shut me out -
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in!

Edwin Markham

I Can See The Floor

I gave away half my clothing to a Charity Shop this weekend and did a ton of cleaning and sorting - this is probably the first time in years you can walk in the door of my closet and make it to the back shelves without having to step over something!!!

Building the Labyrinth

Every Good Friday for the past 4 years I have laid out a Prayer Labyrinth for use on Holy Saturday. Here are some pics of this years endeavor.

When laying out a Labyrinth it's always good to eat a hearty breakfast before hand. This one was provided by Gini. Thanks - it was yummy!

We began by laying marker dots all over the carpet, enough to mark out 12 concentric circles all 18 inches apart.

Once they were all stuck down we began to connect them with masking tape.

It's quite rough on the back and the knees.

If you're not careful when crawling around the dots stick all over you.

We've nearly marked out all 12 circles - that's the easy part.

Next, mark out the 4 quadrants.

Then you very carefully remove certain pieces of tape and add a few others, and voila!!!

One Prayer Labyrinth ready to go.

Mentally it's quite exhausting to coordinate - and yes we did check it to make sure nobody will get lost in it.

Thanks to everyone who volunteered their time to make it happen.

Announcing the Death of Jesus of Nazareth - Aged 33

Died: 14th day of the month Nisan in Jerusalem.

Preceded in death by Jacob bar Joseph who raised him as his own son.

Survived by his mother, Mary; brothers James, Joses and Judas, and his sisters.

Jesus of Nazareth was born in Bethlehem of Judea.

His family fled to Egypt when he was two, seeking political asylum.

They returned to Nazareth in Galilee after the death of Herod the Great.

Jesus was apprenticed as a carpenter to Joseph, and worked in the family business until he turned 30.

He was baptized in the Jordan River by his cousin John.

He spent the next 3 years living as an itinerant rabbi, with a small school of 12 disciples.

He devoted his life to serving the least, the last and the lost, wherever he found them.

Despite repeated warnings, his teaching, his work and those he chose to call "friend" drew unwanted attention from the authorities.

The family wish to make it clear that his arrest and immediate trial took place without due process. The charges of blasphemy and of being a threat to national security were not corroborated by a single witness.

He died as he lived: extending forgiveness to those responsible for his execution.

He will be greatly missed by his family, his friends-"the sinners" and by the poor.

The family extends gratitude to Joseph of Arimathea for covering the funeral expenses.

Every Day a Little Death

The title refers to Sondheim song that resonates with me when I'm feeling low.

Every day a little death
In the parlor, in the bed
In the curtains, in the silver
In the buttons, in the bread
Every day a little sting
In the heart and in the head
Every move and every breath
And you hardly feel a thing
Brings a perfect little death



(In it's original incarnation it is two women singing about how relationships die gradually over time. This is not one of my favorite renditions of the song but it was available on YouTube.)

I remember when I first heard this song, I had the Original British Cast Album of 'A Little Night Music' and I played this track over and over - I was a melodramatic 20 something (yes I know, I'm still melodramatic GRIN). Well whenever something happens that causes a little hope in me to die this song seems to float into the back of my mind.

Back in November I wrote about a Christmas Anthem that the choir here loved that everyone was telling me I should send off to the Publishers......read about that here

Well today I got a rejection letter:

Dear Mr. Johns:

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to review your choral arrangement Come See The Mystery. At our recent editorial session our editors had the privilege of review your manuscripts and although they are well done it appears that we won't be able to include them in our future publishing program.

We are sorry we could not be more encouraging. If you would like your manuscripts returned please supply me with your complete address.


Oh well - this is Holy Week, every little death brings me closer to a little Resurrection.

Falafel!

I made Falafel last night for the first time - though I pan fried them rather than deep fried them to be healthy - I've also heard of baking them in the oven too! I used a mix of Pinto Beans, crushed tortilla chips, green onions, egg white, cilantro, basil and cumin.

Here I have just added it to the hot skillet.

Almost cooked through!

Served in pita bread with fresh tomato, arugula and avocado - yum!

Scrabulous / Scrabble

I've been introduced to Scrabulous this weekend. It's basically a Scrabble game that you can play over Facebook. I've never been very good at Scrabble so it's quite frustrating.
It reminded me of this vidlit story - enjoy.

The Gifts of Uncertainty (part 1)

(This is a transcription of an old Blog from my previous site. In the past few weeks I've been contemplating writing a sequel, so I thought I would post the original text here.)

I've been thinking a lot the last few days about truth and uncertainty. I recently read a blog online where the writer was defending his right to his opinion on a subject by saying that what he was writing was the 'truth' and if you were offended by hearing the truth it wasn't his fault.

I saw echoes of my former self in his words. I can truly say that there are lots of things of which I used to be 100% right where now I have embraced the gift of uncertainty.

Truth is a difficult thing. We are taught at an early age that 2+2=4. We get a check mark for a correct answer and a cross for anything else. The problem is that truth isn't actually that exclusive. Consider the following:

2+2=4
2+2=11
2+2=10+10=100

For some of you it may appear that I have totally flipped at this moment, but bear with me. I would argue that all 3 equations are correct; you just need to look at them through a different paradigm.

2+2=4 is written in base 10 – the normal base we use for addition.
2+2=11 is written base 3 – 11 means 1 three and 1 unit.
2+2=10+10=100 written in binary – 100 means 1 four, 0 twos and 0 units.

(For those of you who are not math geeks just do some research on wikipedia)
All 3 equations are different and equally valid ways of expressing the 'truth' of 2+2=4.

Many of my former issues where I was convinced I was correct and everyone else could 'either agree with me or be wrong' are like this example. I couldn't agree with that persons answer because I didn't know the paradigm they were coming from. I've since discovered the danger of saying 'You can't possibly call yourself a Christian and believe ________________' (fill in the blank with whatever topic you want). Could it be that you can? Could it be that the other persons Christianity is just a different and equally valid way of expressing the truth that God loves us and longs for us to live for Him (or her)?

Jesus frequently exploded people's paradigms – he redefined the term 'Mother and Brothers' from a biological relationship to one of obedience (Luke 8: 19-21). He expanded the term 'Neighbor' from geographical to relational (Luke 10: 25-37) and he said the way to judge someone was not on their words but on how those words produce fruit in their lives (Matt 7: 15-19)

I once exasperated a friend by pointing out to him that for everyone who agreed with him I could find someone with far more years of study on the topic who would disagree. In frustration he threw up his hands and said 'Well how can you know anything??!'.

Maybe that is one of the gifts of uncertainty – humility.

If I am 100% convinced that I am right and you are wrong then there is a barrier between us. I don't have to be right all the time anymore. As I have become aware of my identity in God I have been able to surrender some of my need to have a narrow dogmatic definition of truth. I've heard it said that whenever we draw a line in the sand and say who is in and who is out, or who is right and who is wrong, that God steps over the line to be with the very people we have excluded.

Certainty erects barriers, but another gift of uncertainty is community.

Another gift of uncertainty is the gift of introspection. I'm slowly learning to ask myself why. Why do I believe this way? Why do I want to reject people who believe differently? What is it about me that needs the certainty?

Richard Rohr writes in 'Everything Belongs'

'There is a small "I" that has to let go so that the true "I" can be born…….The small "I" only knows itself by comparison, by image, by how we look. As long as we are comparing and differentiating from the other, we can't love the other. We judge it. As soon as we are in a judging mode (higher/lower, superior/inferior), we can't love. The small "I" does not permit a realm of freedom where love flourishes. What flourishes is control, comparison, and competition – which blind us to love.'

It tends to be the people who have a strict/judgmental image of God who are the most strict and judgmental in themselves – we become like the God we worship.
I guess that's why I'm escaping Fundamentalism and enjoying life, I'm discovering a God of delight, or surprises, of joy. A God who is deeply and passionately in love with me and delights in my uncertainty, because another gift of uncertainty is grace.

Sermon over!

The Art Of Cheese

For some reason this commercial was deemed too 'Controversial' to air during the Superbowl.

I think it's hilarious :)

Spring Forward, Fall Over?

I hate the time change, losing the hour is always far more draining than it should be....so here's a solution!

Why doesn't the entire world just adjust the time by 30 minutes, and LEAVE IT THERE?

That way everyone would be happy.

IT'S CALLED COMPROMISE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!

A Moment of Mitch

So, I haven't had time to blog much recently, but I want my loyal readers (all 3 of you) to keep coming back, so here's a clip of one of my favorite comedians.

The Important things about the election (Plus the Results!)

Poll: Bullshit Is Most Important Issue For 2008 Voters


Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

I want my identity back!!!!

I Got a phone call from my bank this morning. Apparently somebody in Connecticut got hold of my debit card number and ran $2200 worth of charges last night - mainly at Best Buy and Walmart.

Grrrrrrr

I'm covered and I'll get all the money back, but it's a hassle to fill in all the forms about fraud etc at the bank and then go without a card for a couple of weeks while everything gets sorted out.

Embracing Obfuscation

As a songwriter who mainly composes for music theater, children's theater and worship services I try to be as clear as possible in my lyrics. If the listener has to wrestle with complex language and ideas then it pulls them away from the story or the worship experience and detaches them emotionally from what is taking place. There is also value in being clear and concise in writing as it helps avoid verbosity.

Occasionally though I like a change.

I am in a Lent Journalling Class where we are writing our own 'bibles'. Before you start screaming heresy I should explain that what we are doing is writing our own stories and experiences in the style of biblical literature. Last week we wrote our own 'Genesis Stories' - our own tales of Beginnings. And this week I have been wrestling with writing my own tales of 'Exodus'.

I was unsure what form to take until after Valentine's Day.

That night I went to see one of my favorite songwriters in concert. Martyn Joseph.

Some of his lyrics are quite obscure (he even confesses to forgetting what one song is about!) but they paint a wonderful picture.

I started to write a song that night, and realized I was writing a song of Exodus.

So here is my lyric (and no I will not explain the obfuscation)



The Beautiful Debris


My Spirit has grown larger than this room
And I no longer can embrace the gloom
I'll let my phony righteousness tumble to the floor
This sanctuary
Can't contain me
Or all God has in store
For the beautiful debris
That is me.

You lower down a picnic at my feet
And three times then command me 'Kill and Eat'
I'll feast upon the things I thought I had to leave behind
And dance within
My former sin
My soul no more confined
In the the beautiful debris
That is me

The rough hewn is more beautiful
Than the perfect and the polished
Ugly authenticity more lovely than the fake
So there are walls of certainty
That need to be demolished
And leave some holy doubt within their wake

6 or 7 trap me in, a thousand set me free
Millions stand on either side beckoning to me
Everybody claims the truth to justify their side
But I will trust
The rocks and dust
That sing from deep inside
The beautiful debris
That is me

quick and yummy soup!

Black Bean and Salsa Soup

3 x 15oz cans black beans.
1 can low sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 cup chunky salsa – preferably hot
1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 Lime
Optional – sour cream, green onions, avocado to garnish

1.Drain and rinse two of the cans of black beans.
2.In a blender/food processor combine the rinsed beans, broth, salsa and cumin. Blend until fairly smooth
3.Put blended mixture in saucepan. Drain and rinse the third can of black beans and add to the pot.
4.Heat over a medium heat until thoroughly heated.
Just before serving squeeze in the juice of the Lime.

Garnish as desired.

Serves 2 and takes about 15 minutes.


I made this last night, very quick and easy. I would reccomend using good spicy salsa as much of the flavor comes from that. Also, I would definitely garnish with something (I used an avocado) as it makes the soup more appealing to the eye and adds some other texture!

The Weirdness of Fixing Easter

(Some curious observations emailed to me)

Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) but that is pretty rare. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population (95 years old or above!) have ever seen it this early before. And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier!

Here are the facts:
1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).

2) The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

Walk this 'Way'

(Rough thoughts for my meditation in the Contemplative Service this Sunday)

In Acts 22:4 - 11 (Saul's Conversion) we have a two references to 'The Way'. Saul was on a literal journey - on the way to Damascus, and the followers of Jesus are on a metaphorical Journey - Saul refers to the people he persecutes as believers who follow 'This Way'.

When I'm planning a trip to somewhere new, the best person to seek for advice is someone who has been that way before me. They have the authority of experience, they can speak out of their own enounter with the Way. If I haven't walked a particular path before, then I can theorize but I cannot speak with certainty.

Trouble is, we often do - esp when we are talking about the Christian way.

It is very easy for us to judge in 5 minutes or less a path that somebody else has been walking and wrestling with for years. We pull a bible verse out of context, without thought or study and hold it up as a Rule that it was never meant to be.

We need to learn to honor the work of God in each other's lives, even when it seems that they are taking a road that we would never have predicted and we're not sure if we even approve.

The difficulty is, journeying is challenging and so we create our own formulas, our own rules that help us navigate uncharted territory. 'Well there is always a La Quinta next to Dennys.' 'There is always a Domino's Pizza near Blockbuster'. 'Ross dress for less is always next to Pier 1 and Old Navy'.

The problem comes when the formulas no longer work.

"If you obey God you will have showers of blessings."

"If you believe and don't doubt you will be healed."

"If God seems distant it is because of unconfessed sin in your life."

We cannot make our own individual experiences into universal truths. Just because I encounter God through walking a Labyrinth or through Taize worship does not mean that everyone will.
As we journey our view of the horizon changes, our perspective alters. formulas we once held up as Truisms will evolve.

Saul's journey led him to the Damascus road, where he had a powerful encounter with God, but he didn't stay on that road trying to recreate that experience. As a worship leader I often have people coming up and requesting certain songs. Now I'm often on the lookout for new material, but sometimes I wonder about the motives behind asking for certain music. I once had someone say to me 'We must sing Shout to the Lord' today, God always speaks to me when I sing that song'.

We mustn't stop short of our journey. Saul didn't make his home in a tent on the road to Damascus, he journeyed on. And so should we. We fear leaving some things behind, and we fear the road ahead, but if we stay put we will never grow into all that God has for us.

The prophet Isaiah said '...this is the way, walk in it'. We cannot walk if we are afraid to pick up our feet and leave the spot we are on.

Prejudice for Beginners

I am a Western White Male, I really haven't experienced any prejudice directed towards me in my life. Last week I had a little taste. I was rejected for something I wanted to do, because of something I have no control over. I was authentic and honest in my inquiries and that honesty was responded to with prejudice.

As I reflected on this over the weekend I realized that these people are not rejecting me because of who I am they are rejecting me because of who they are.

This encourages me to look at my own life and who I am prejudiced against and see what they have to teach me about who I am.

Indiana Jones on a Pipe Organ - Incredible

Remembering Mum

I ring in a Hand Bell Ensemble at church, and, as part of worship this morning we rang a new piece called 'Fantasy on Kings Weston'. The bell ensemble bought this piece in memory of my mum who passed away in June. It was a great honor to ring this peice at all 3 services this morning.

Our fantastic Communications Department managed to record it for me so here is the start of the service and the Fantasy on Kings Weston.

(The bell piece starts 3:16 into the clip - be patient with it is as the clip takes a while to load!)

Some Pics from my New York Trip

Pachabel's Canon!

A friend sent me this and it's brilliant. I have had to play Pachabel's Canon so many times, both on the Violin and the Piano that I can do it totally from memory whilst asleep. I could write out full orchestral parts for it from memory - in fact I even wrote a parody of Pachabel's Canon as part of my degree.

So enjoy!!

Thought for Ash Wednesday

"Everyone must have two pockets, so that he can reach into the one or the other, according to his needs. In his right pocket are to be the words: 'For my sake was the world created,' and in his left: 'I am earth and ashes.'"--Rabbi Bunum of Pzhysha

True humility is to live with your hands in both pockets!

40 Journalling Questions for Lent

I published these on my blog last year, but it seems right to post them again. Last year we offered them to all our church congregations as a way of entering into Lent as a season of Reflection and Penitence. Many couples in the Church shared their answers together.

40 Questions for Lent

“Lent is the shadow the Cross makes on the world in the light of the Resurrection”. Traditionally Lent is a time for reflection and commitment. These questions are designed to be used as springboards for your personal journaling. Attempt to write an answer to one question a day and also try to write a prayer a day as a response to your own journaling (you get Sundays off). If you feel a question does not apply to you or you are unwilling or unable to answer it, journal about why this is so.

Wed Feb 6th 1. How would you describe your current relationship with God?
Thurs 2. What activities help you connect with God?
Fri 3. Where are you encountering joy in your life at the moment?
Sat 4. What gives you delight and how is God in that experience?

Mon Feb 11th 5. Describe a time you felt especially close to God.
Tues. 6. Describe a time you felt especially far from God.
Wed. 7. How does God delight in you?
Thurs. 8. What does God say when He looks at you?
Fri. 9. What emotions arise when you think about God? Why?
Sat 10. What has shaped your image of God?

Mon Feb 18th 11. What strengths do you have?
Tues 12. How are you unique?
Wed. 13. What are you afraid of?
Thurs. 14. What do you dislike about yourself?
Fri. 15. What do you like about yourself?
Sat. 16. Write about one aspect of yourself you would like to change.

Mon Feb 25th 17. What was one great thing about growing up in your family?
Tues. 18. What was one frustrating thing about growing up in your family?
Wed 19. How are you like your parents?
Thurs. 20. How are you different from your parents?
Fri. 21. How have your parents influenced your perception of God?
Sat. 22. What are your favorite memories of your childhood?

Mon March 3rd 23. What are you angry with God about at the moment?
Tues. 24. How do you feel God has let you down?
Wed. 25. Where do you need to experience God at the moment?
Thurs. 26. What kind of person feels ‘unsafe’ to you?
Fri. 27. How do you react when you feel threatened?
Sat. 28. How does God feel ‘unsafe’ to you?

Mon March 10th 29. What is your favorite bible verse and why?
Tues. 30. Are there any parts of the bible you wish weren’t there? Why?
Wed. 31. What is your favorite bible story and why?
Thurs. 32. What lies do you tell yourself?
Fri. 33. What do you want people to say about you when you die?
Sat. 34. What has been your biggest struggle and how have you encountered God through it?

Mon March 17th 35. What image comes to mind when you think of God?
Tues. 36. How has God used you recently?
Wed. 37. How has God shown His love for you during this season?
Thurs. 38. What is God trying to say to you at the moment?
Fri. 39. Which question was the hardest to answer honestly?
Sat. 40. How have you changed/grown through answering these questions?

It's Nice to be Appreciated

Last month I gave a presentation to a Women's Group all about Hand Bells. I talked about how hand bell ringing came about and how it moved into the church. We did some history and we did some fun practical ringing exercises. I blogged about part of it here.

Well this morning I recieved this email -

Dear Peter,

The program you gave for our UMW Lydia Circle was a delight!! I have heard several that were present say that it was one of the best programs ever. And to think 12 of us ended up with the ringing of Holy, Holy, Holy. I think we surprised ourselves (maybe you too a little).

We thank you for taking the time to prepare for us and entertain us with your special talents. And if you are in the vicinity of the Bell Room II on the 3rd Tues. of each month, please feel free to drop in and have a light supper with us.

Many thanks and God Bless you and your special ministry.


It's always nice to be appreciated. It encourages me to write more notes to people who've done things in my life that have touched me.

Anniversary

Today is the second anniversary of my dad's death. On the first anniversary I wrote a blog entry that you can read here. The conversation recorded in that post has carried me through a lot.

I was reflecting on my drive in to work this morning that it was walking through Dad's death with the knowledge of that affirmation, that gave me the strength to walk through Mum's diagnosis, illness and death. That affirmation has given me the strength to speak up at work where previously I would have remained silent. That affirmation has given me the strength to begin to walk forward into a new fullness of life unlike which I have never encountered before.

Never underestimate the power of one conversation.

Thanks dad.

The 'Joy' of Goal Setting

In our big staff meetings they are goal setting for the church. So in a spirit of camaraderie I and my fellow compadre in silliness Lori sat down and wrote some goals for our Contemplative Service (names have been changed to protect the guilty!!!)

1. We’d like to add 2.5 verses to “Take O Take Me as I Am.”

2. We’d like to see ____________(insert name here) mentioned 17% more in services.

3. We’d like to sing “Here in Your Presence” an extra 22 times per month (excluding staff worship).

4. Increase the size of the candle banks by 145%.

5. Increase consumption of communion by 65 wafers on the piano side and 23 liters of juice on the organ side.

6. Decrease number of “Alleluias” per capita per annum. Volume of “Alleluia” dependant on income.

7. Decrease door squeaking by 22% and late arrivals of _____________(name deleted) by 98%.

8. Decrease disruption by (name deleted) children by 35%.

9. Increase number of Muppet show references by adding one show from one season each month. (Rainbow Connection not eligible)*

10. Make the service quadra-lingual by the end of 2008: English (American), Latin, Spanish and Estonian (angelic tongues ineligible)

*There was actually a Contemplative Service where in a fit of insanity I started playing the song 'You, I and George' from the Muppet show. A friend's wife was suppressing her laughter so much that the person next to her put their arm round her to comfort her in her tears :)

Boys Choir Fun

My choir sang in church yesterday morning and did an excellent job. So instead of rehearsing last night we raided the girls choir with Marshmallow Guns and then challenged them to a game of Kick Ball!!! Fun Times!



I also discovered how much girls like to scream!
(Just click 'Play')

Feel the Bumps!

It seems strange to me, but they actually publish editions of Playboy in Braille!

I sold a piece of music this weekend!

Somebody bought a copy of 'Let the Sun Shine Down' from my music website. That's the first piece I've sold this year. That gives me an extra $2.97 to my retirement fund :)

Someone who loves Bacon almost as much as I

How to pick up someone at a party

Ikea Furniture, Legos and Christianity.

I'm speaking in the Contemplative Service this Sunday and I'm struggling to get my thoughts together. The central theme is an illustration that I read in the book 'Post Evangelical' by Dave Tomlinson that resonated with me and I will attempt to put into my own words here.

The Christianity I embraced in my teenage years was one that is very similar to 'Flat Pack Furniture' that you can purchase at Ikea and many other stores. You receive a set of parts (hopefully complete) and a list of instructions. There is a distinct right and wrong way to put the pieces together. It doesn't matter who is building the furniture, or where it is going, everyone builds the same and you can easily judge how successful the person has been by the appearance and sturdiness of the construction and whether they have any extraneous pieces left over.

But what if Christianity is more like a bag of Legos? Everyone receives the same blocks, but each person is free to build them into a model that is their own unique creative expression of their relationship with Jesus.

I wonder what are the blocks that would have to be included for a person to be called 'Christian'?

In my 20s I often used phrases like '....ask Jesus to be your own personal savior...' a phrase that interestingly enough exists nowhere in the bible! For much of my life I judged a person's faith by whether they agreed with a set of Propositional Truths that I carried around in my head. I cared more about right doctrine than right living, more about what you said you believed than how you lived.

It was all about how well you built the flat pack furniture.

I'm at a turning point in my life. I am planning on tearing down the flat pack and rebuilding my Legos in a way that to some people would seem as if I have become 'Luke Warm' or 'Back Slidden', or even 'Straying from the Fold'.

This isn't a spur of the moment decision however. I've changed considerably over the past 6 years and every change has been agonizingly prayed over. So please don't judge in 2 minutes what has taken me years - I'm worth more than that.

Wow, I seem to have strayed from what I was going to originally type!

I will share the illustration of the Furniture and the Legos in the service, but I will not share how it intersects with my life. My silence is not out of fear, but out of a desire for everyone to find themselves in the illustration without me imposing my interpretation on them.

I am under construction - watch this space for more building information :)

Everything you didn't want to know about Handbell history.....

I'm teaching a United Methodist Women's Group tonight. They wanted to know a little about the history of Hand bell Ringing and get some hands on experience. I'm gonna type out my notes in my blog so I can get them fresh in my mind :)

The most familiar image of bells in churches are in Old Church towers. All across The British Isles and Europe you can find churches with bell towers containing many bells. The art of ringing Bells in towers is called Change Ringing and involves the playing of complex sequences of bells. With a 6 bell tower there are 720 different combinations of ring patterns (6!=6x5x4x3x2x1).

In the Middle Ages ringers became obsessed with finding algorithms to ring all the possible combinations of 7 bells (5040 patterns). In Change Ringing a full peal is reached when 5040 changes have been rung. This normally takes approximately 3 hours to do and is a feat involving intense concentration on the part of the ringers. Many bell towers have a Peal Board documenting whenever a Full Peal is rung on bells. The first documented Peal was rung on 2nd May 1715 at St. Peter Mancroft Church that just happens to be in my home town of Norwich, England.

If you have 8 bells in a tower the number of different combinations increases to 8!=40,320. As far as I can tell this complete set of changes has only been rung once. It was achieved in Loughborough in 1963 and it took 18 hours of continuous playing.

Needless to say the people who live next too church towers with bells were very glad when they found another way to practice!

Bell towers are notoriously cold and drafty places with difficult access and so to make rehearsal easier the ringers would use hand bells and ring them in the back room of the local pub. To ring a tower bell takes 2 hands, but to ring a hand bell only takes one, leaving the other one free for holding a pint!

Soon people began to realize another advantage with hand bells. One person can ring 2 bells at the same time meaning less people are required. People began to experiment ringing other melodies with the bells - mainly only a single pitch at a time because of the poor quality of the sound of the bells. Needless to say the Purists were shocked that folk melodies would be rung instead of the mathematical algorithms! Tower Bells became to be considered Holy and Hand bells Secular.

There is not a lot of music that you can ring with only 8 bells, so slowly sharps and flats were added and the range of the bells extended. Chapelwood has 2 complete 5 octave sets of bells which is 61 bells in each set.

Soon every village in the U.K. had a group of ringers who would gather together and ring for fun - often in the local pub and it was through an American encountering one of these groups that hand bells came to the U.S.

P.T. Barnum(!) was in Lancashire with his circus and heard a group of 5 hand bell ringers playing music and in 1845 brought them to the U.S. To add an air of mystery he dressed them in Swiss costume and sent them out on the Vaudeville circuit where they were very popular.

The first American hand bell choir was the Beacon Hill ringers. The tower bells in Boston's old North Church needed repair and 2 church members travelled to London to the Whitechapel foundry in 1923 to oversee the repairs. One of them, Margaret Shurcliff became the first American to help ring a Peal of bells (5040 changes) in an English Church tower. To mark the occasion the Foundry presented her with a set of hand bells to take back to the U.S.

The Beacon Hill ringers were founded in 1937 and slowly Hand bells spread across New England and then into other parts of the U.S. and back into the Church.

I spilled the Rogaine!

Last night was Silly Hair Night at Boy's Choir!

I've added a New Widget

If you scroll down on the r.h.s. I've added a widget that shows what books I'm currently reading (assuming I remember to update it of course!)

So what with what books I'm reading, what games I have and what movies I'm watching it would be almost possible for someone else to live my life :)

A New Phone that outdoes the iphone!

Swimming in Poop!

No this is not a reference to my latest illness or some bizarre medical practice, but one of my latest boardgames!!!

I finally got to play my copy of Primordial Soup last night. This is a classic board game that I finally own :) Everyone plays a number of Amoebas that are drifting in the currents of the Primordial Soup trying to evolve. Every round you have to drift, eat and poop. You always have to eat three cubes of any color except your own, and you always poop out 2 cubes of your own color. This means after a while if you are not careful you end up drifting in a sea of your own poop starving to death :)

You can evolve with new genes that change how you move, eat, fight and even allow you to eat other people!

It's a lot of fun and I'm glad I got to give it a play - thanks Bill and Greg for indulging me!