farewell blogger, hello wordpress!

that means that after one year blogging on this platform, i'm making the move to wordpress.
blogger have been having troubles in their upgrading, and i can't be bothered with problems of this type as i'm not particularly techy-minded. i'm not the only one suffering with blogger, as the message boards are chocka-block with complaints. shame really, as you get used to working with a particular platform....

anyhoo, my new site is here. the new address is http://revtc.wordpress.com/

please amend your rss readers and bookmarks accordingly, and thanks for journeying with me.

i'm wondering what the new year will bring. i trust that you'll enjoy the adventure in your own lives, and will continue to journey with me. god keep you all.

The longest night of the year

i really liked this post from james hawes over at sunday papers.
it resonates strongly with me: being in tune with the natural rhythms of nature and adjusting our lifestyles accordingly.
as we draw to the end of the year, maybe its a time to reconsider how we approach the way we live in relation to the seasons of the year.
here are another few links i found that relate to it:
wikipedia
national geographic video
Winter Solstice Celebrations for Families and Households

tradition continued

one of our current, and fairly recently invented, traditions, is to go to the movies as a family on boxing day. it all began in 2002, when we went into the city on a whim, just to wander about, look at the city and its people, drink some coffee, and enjoy being together after christmas day. i don't even remember what the movie was that year, but the following ones are more memorable:

2003 - the lord of the rings: the two towers
2004 - the lord of the rings: the return of the king
2005 - the chronicles of narnia: the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe
2006 - the prestige.

and i think for me, its become a way of giving my family a present that we can all enjoy together, that exists for that moment but is always talked about later as being a good time together.

tradition in itself is not necessarily a bad thing.

what traditions do you have?

arise (hon) 'sir' bono

yep, its true. bono's being awarded an honourary knighthood for "his services to the music industry and for his humanitarian work".
you can read more on U2's website here, and the beeb's site here.
i think that's great, and i think its an honour for him - a great man.
i think 2 of his great quotes are:
"celebrity is currency, and i want to spend mine well"; and
"we can't do everything, but the things we can, we must".
congratulations to him.

juliet turner

last night zoe and i spent a really nice, mellow evening at the concert of juliet turner, held on the southbank in london.
it was great to be able to drive in to london with hardly any traffic on the roads, park underneath the concert venue for minimal fee, listen to some great music in a relaxed and informal atmosphere, and then go out for pizza with juliet, her guitarist brian, guest cellist harry (and wife), and other friends of juliet's.
'twas good to meet up with her again.
wish all concerts were as stress-free as that....

podcasting queen

yep, its official: the queen will be podcasting her christmas message.
it will be available via itunes on christmas day at 3pm gmt.
you can subscribe to the podcast via the monarchy website here.
go queen....can't wait!

tagged

emily has tagged me, which means i need to share 5 things about me that you probably don't know.
this has started through roger von oech who tagged jonny baker and so its gone on.
happy to oblige....

1. i deferred a place at ballarat uni, where i was going to do a b.a. with the idea of becoming a journalist. i never did take the place at uni, as i found the surfing lifestyle far more agreeable than that of a student.
2. back in the 1960s, i played for geelong in the little league on the hallowed turf of the MCG during the half time game that entertained the crowd back in the day.
3. from 1994-99 i worked for john smith in australia, as a pastor in his church, and as part of the vfl (values for life) team.
4. my wife (who is right into genealogy) says that i have real convict blood in me that goes back to the days of sending convicts to australia.
5. its only been in the last 2 years that i've discovered the joy of cooking. i could never understand the idea of spending ages preparing food for it to be gone in 10 mins, and the net effect was the same as that of eating cheese on toast - the net effect being a full belly. my repertoire is not large, but it seems i'm not bad at what i do...

so now, i'm tagging kirbs, lewis, john davies, antony hanson, mark mossa s.j.

save paper at christmas

great tip from friends of the earth about saving paper:

It is estimated that over Christmas as much as 83 square km of wrapping paper will end up in UK rubbish bins, enough to cover an area larger than Guernsey! Use less by re-using gift wrap, or wrap gifts with unwanted posters, wallpaper, pages from glossy mags - or even spare pieces of fabric. Use string instead of tape, so that the paper can be re-used.

For more practical advice, competitions, quiz and discussion forums see:

www.foe.co.uk/living/

U2 "Window in the Skies"

check this fab vid of U2's new song.
and here are the lyrics, courtesy of @U2.

Virtual Christmas Card

hi all,
hope this christmas is a ripper for you, that you enjoy the festive season, and that in the new year you become a little more adventurous than you were this year.
you can click here to go to flickr to see other photos that didn't make the mosaic.
this saves on a lot of paper, cardboard, and postage, thus doing our bit for being a little more environmentally friendly....
meeeerrrrry CHRISTmas,
with love and best wishes,
tony and zoe.

a song for advent

watch it through to the end.
this is the kind of stuff that stirs me.
this is the kind of stuff that is dangerous.
danger is involved when you want to change the world.
changing the world is at the heart of why jesus was born.
if you're into dangerous living, then check out the next soliton gathering here.
Lazyb - Underwear Goes Inside The Pants

merton and advent

“The certainty of Christian hope lies beyond passion and beyond knowledge. Therefore we must sometimes expect our hope to come in conflict with darkness, desperation and ignorance. Therefore, too, we must remember that Christian optimism is not a perpetual sense of euphoria, an indefectible comfort in whose presence neither anguish nor tragedy can possibly exist. We must not strive to maintain a climate of optimism by the mere suppression of tragic realities. Christian optimism lies in a hope of victory that transcends all tragedy: a victory in which we pass beyond tragedy to glory with Christ crucified and risen. …

But the Church in preparing us for the birth of a “great prophet,” a Savior and a King of Peace, has more in mind than seasonal cheer. The Advent mystery focuses the light of faith upon the very meaning of life, of history, of man, of the world and of our own being. In Advent we celebrate the coming and indeed the presence of Christ in our world. We witness to His presence even in the midst of all its inscrutable problems and tragedies. Our Advent faith is not an escape from the world to a misty realm of slogans and comforts which declare our problems to be unreal, our tragedies nonexistent.”

Thomas Merton. Seasons of Celebration. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1950: 88-89

support the cheerleaders!

below is a message i just got from the director of the ascension eagles cheerleaders. they need financial support in helping them to represent england in the 2007 world championships.

Dear AEC supporters,

I wanted to let you know that Ascension Eagles are appearing on the X-Factor Final this Saturday, 16th December. Very exciting!

Despite our success, we aren't raising the funds we'd hoped for -- 58 people texted CHEER in November and 23 have texted in December. Please can you help us circulate our appeal and get more people to support us?

Encourage people to visit this link, where they can see our performance from An Audience with Take That, and remind them to text their support!

Thank you for all you do!

Email your MP about the killer in the kitchen

here's something practical you can do this advent, as in your waiting for the return of the lord, his changing of your hearts leads to practical action in the way your behaviour affects others - particularly the poor and powerless (see luke 3:7-18)
follow the links that show the text of the early day motion, and which mps have already signed. if yours isn't there, then follow the next links to send them an email.
i've emailed my mp, neil gerrard today.

blogging set to peak in 2007

the bbc report here that the rise in blogging will end next year. there are 2 main reasons: those who have a predisposition to blog will have already started; and, others get bored with it and move on.
interesting to see this, as i've been wondering lately when blogging will become yesterday, and how long the rising phenomenon can continue.
i've gotten bored with it at times myself, as you can see from the archive list for the middle of the year.
and sometimes i wonder what the value of a blog is if its not generating discussion. i know that there are some folks who like what i write, and some who look in everyday would be disappointed if i stopped.
i wish i'd started it 5 years ago when jonny baker was telling me about it when he first started. i could've done some good stuff then about the community work and the garden cafe that i was heavily involved in.
the main reason for starting this year, was actually so that i didn't have to write an end of year newsletter as those i would send it to could keep up with what's going on throughout the year. but even that hasn't happened very well.
it's also been interesting to see how many others have put down their blogs over this year for all manner of reasons, including the time it takes (tho a real good bit of advice is that 'if it takes longer than 10 mins/day, then forget it'); boredom; and the subtle one of idolatry.
i'm still open-minded about whether its worth it as my readership is not large, and my mood can swing.
but for now.....

The Moon- 2: Genesis 37:1-11

Like David, Joseph was a shepherd, a dreamer, and probably a poet. He must’ve known his brothers hated him, so why continue to stir them up by telling them about his dreams? Either he was thick, a stirrer, or he had a deep trust in God that his dreams were from God and intended to be told. Perhaps he really believed the dreams and that they would come true, so whether his family liked it or not, Joseph would actually rule over them one day.

Dreamers, poets, adventurers, and kings….

Jacob must’ve sensed God in there somewhere because verse 11 says, ‘…he observed the saying’. Two shepherd boys, David and Joseph, believed in God, spoke confidently in the name of God, were tested severely by God, and rose to become extremely powerful people blessed by God, and who in turn, were a blessing to his people.

The imagery Joseph uses is, like David’s, that of creation: wheat sheaves, sun, moon, and stars. God used dreams as recorded in the Bible to speak to his people. There is no dualism between God’s Spirit and his creation, however marred by sin creation might be. Creation theology is so important. Is that why I love being amongst creation? Is that where I am truly closest to who I am meant to be?

The sun, moon, and stars bowed down to Joseph. David said we were crowned a little lower that the angels, and that all creation is subject to our dominion. O that we would take care of it all properly!

These readings have got my mind going because of the creation/dreaming aspects. The Australian Aboriginal creation stories came from the ‘Dreamtime’. Did God dream creation before he spoke it? How connected are some of our dreams to God, and should we speak them, thus doing our part in the creation/re-creation of the Kingdom of God?

Does God give us a glimpse of some of our future through the dreams we have? I suspect so!

reflections on institutionalised religion

i wrote the following about 4 years ago following a visit to an anglican church in the suburbs of london. i think that even after all that time, it still sums up where my heart is.

My reflections

The church seems to have an underlying, and perhaps unconscious theology of pastoral care and maintenance, which doesn’t find creative, risky, thoughtful, and proactive ways of getting the congregation to engage with the local community.

It is good at having social clubs, is very welcoming to new people who come, and is probably characterised by a ‘belonging before believing’ approach. This does seem to produce some fruit.

The high church ritual is done well, and so is attractive to people who want that sort of worship. The teaching was very short, unimaginative, thin on content, and designed for an encouraging feel-good factor - more along the line of moralising, and of how to live a good life than grappling with the alternative vision of the Kingdom of God here on earth now, as it is in heaven.

I felt that the church was very much stuck in the Christendom paradigm – particularly around the idea that ‘being a good Christian means being a good citizen.’ So in their context, church was a place to come to be encouraged and confirmed in maintaining the treadmill of their middle-class mediocrity. There didn’t seem to be an inherent theology of mission at the heart of the church.

I couldn’t stand it.

In reflecting on what that experience means for my own future ministry, I could only pray that I don’t end up in that kind of situation. It looked like a treadmill that would slowly grind me to death.

It confirmed to me that I’m interested in exploring non-traditional forms of ministry, though I’m not sure I can adequately articulate what that might look like in practice.

What I do know, is that at base level there must be at least 3 core values:
1. a theology of mission that actively engages in creative, organic, and contextually meaningful praxis;
2. a prophetic heart that is willing to speak of the Kingdom of God to both church and world;
3. an active pursuit of spirituality that is given time and space to explore my relationship with God at a mystic level (without wanting to sound pretentious).

I want to find a community of people who are willing to explore these values and who encourage one another in their exploration of ‘life in all its fullness’.

I know that I’m good at conducting the ‘hatch, match, and despatch’ ceremonies that non-religious people want the religious community to perform for them. I know from what people say, that they sense God when I shepherd them through those times.

But I don’t want to walk on a treadmill.

I know that in church my teaching and preaching is able to articulate for people the joys and pains of life, and my stories connect with their story so that they are unsettled, comforted, challenged, and intrigued enough to want their lives shaped by the Jesus I speak of.

I love to administer the sacraments, and watch the ancient story come to life in people’s responses as they partake in God’s goodness to them.

I enjoy the exploration of new and different forms of living the story; of working with others who are different and far more creative than me; of seeing the untamed wildness of God in people when they realise that being who they are is what freedom actually means; of listening to the poetry and art of those who seek God outside of the forms of mediocrity which says, ‘but this is the way its always been done.’

I want to live in commune with the rhythms of nature’s seasons, and feel the movement of the ancient Christian story as it swells and ebbs with its own seasons. I want to see people’s lives shaped and re-shaped year by year as they connect their life story to the Jesus story, and allow their own lives to be moulded by his.

But I don’t want to walk on a treadmill.

I want to be involved in the unstoppable mega-swell of the ocean of God’s change, and be swept up in the waves that will sweep the beach clean of the edifices humanity has erected, leaving only driftwood, pebbles, sea-weed, and sand…and children to play in the gently lapping wavelets under an early morning sun.

I don’t want those children to be oppressed by the weight of faceless committees, to be denied the fruits of their forefathers’ stewardship, to be abandoned like unwanted babies by a mother who knows she is dying but who lives in self-centred denial. So I want to be in a position where I can help the children acquire the resources they need and which are their rightful inheritance.

I want to listen to the children as they speak of God, and watch how they play as his Spirit bubbles up in them. I want to speak into the halls of power to ensure that the children have the resources of their inheritance that their Spirit-bubbling requires. And I want them to feel the freedom and encouragement from a changed mother to explore new forms of living the gospel.

So I can’t walk on a treadmill. My heart is restless, yet aches for rest. My history shows that I am constantly moving, yet I yearn to settle and put down roots.

I live in the tension of the ‘here, but not yet.’

I am a traveller.

Inspiration for the Week

Eric Prydz Vs Floyd 'Proper Education'
a great vid that turns the idea of little urban rats into little urban agents for positive environmental change.
how would christian youthworkers inspire their kids into radical acts of subversion done in the name of god?
thanks to sanctus1 for the tip.

romereo, an advent prayer

thanks to me old mates geoff and sherry at the ashram for pointing to this fabulous prayer from the late archbishop oscar romero. its a prayer worth taking 15 minutes at least once a week in advent to contemplate:

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen

the sign of the sabbath

the rest of the seventh day is a memorial of creation, but also a sign of the covenant between god's people and himself. if a king were to ratify a treaty or agreement this would bear a sign, usually an image of the gods he owed allegiance to, but israel was commanded to not make any such image - instead the sabbath itself would be the sign, and a representation of his nature. only israel had a seven-day cycle of weeks.
we do not sense today how unique israel truly was, for the seven-day week has since become the practice of the world.

adapted from Jewish Roots, as printed in the Northumbria Community's Celtic Daily Prayer

hollow ponds today

zoe took this photo this morning while i was at whipps cross hospital at my physio appointment. you can see some more of her photos by clicking on the flickr link in the sidebar.

hollow ponds is a delightful bit of natural woodland just across the road from the hospital.

lovely init....?

all things coffee

thanks to si kirby for this tip about a new, ethical coffee distribution company, ethical addictions.
this looks like a great little fair trade company, who even give you a free sample of their coffee delivered to your door! and make sure you click on the little movie link to get a look at the the promo for the plantation in tanzania.

and a fabulous new type of coffee machine that i'd love to get, the presso (that's it in the picture). you can buy it here in the uk through culinaire.

there are quite a few good sites about coffee, like caffeist (coffee geekery), and grendel's green coffee blog (passionate about home roasting - this looks like the thing to try).

mmmmmmmm........coffeeeeeeee

The Moon 1: Psalm 8

As I read this psalm, I’m aware again that I bring my preconceptions to what I think its about, yet again.

But I’m trying to imagine David writing it. He wasn’t a mathematician, scientist, scientist, or scholar, but a poet and artist, a musician who developed his gifts as a simple shepherd boy out in the hills. In looking at this psalm, I found the juxtaposition of his imagery interesting:
∑ God’s name, earth, glory, heavens
∑ Strength from babies to still enemies and avengers
∑ God’s fingers made the moon, stars, and heavens
∑ Human beings seem so small in comparison
∑ But we’re only a little lower than the angels
∑ Crowned with glory and honour
∑ We’ve been given dominion over all the earth
∑ And God’s name is excellent in all the earth

Heaven, earth, humans, and all creation, while different are inextricably connected, primarily because their source is God.

But I wonder why David put in the bit about babies having God’s strength to still enemies and avengers? It’s right in the middle of two verses about the glory of the heavens. Perhaps it’s the shepherd in the poet that has a firm grip on the reality of earthly life, while also seeing beyond it to the glory and majesty of God as revealed in ‘the cry of a tiny babe’ (Bruce Cockburn).

Heaven and earth; and God is in both places simultaneously inspiring the poet to consider God’s glory in both.

too much common sense

george monbiot has written a couple of cracking articles that make too much sense. i mean, they make so much sense that for the government to accept them and then adopt his proposals so that they became real in our country, would make the government look utterly ridiculous - and so, they'll probably never happen.
you can read the one on 'defence' here, and the other on the renewal of public transport, with particular reference to the coach, here.
i just sent an email to the today programme saying how great it would be to hear george, alan storkey and sir rod eddington debate the renewing of the coach and bus system, as described in george's article.
why not send them an email yerself?

The Sun - 2: Mark 1:32-35

Why did they bring the diseased and possessed at night, after the sun had set? That thought occurred to me because I have this idea that night-time would have been a pretty scary time to be performing exorcisms. And I imagine people would have been pretty superstitious about such things back then. Well, some folks probably still are today!

Or was it simply that by the time Jesus had healed Simon’s mother the day was getting on anyway, and it just worked out that by the time everyone had heard about the healing and got around to her house with their own people in need of some form of healing, that it was night-time?

And Jesus, the great, divine physician, worked on into the night.

I wonder how much energy that took out of him. I wonder how much joy he got from seeing peoples’ lives changed as they were healed. I wonder if he was actually energised by his interaction with people in that way.

I know how drained I can become by being with people and giving out all the time. I need retreat times to re-energise. But there are other people who are the exact opposite of me, and who find energy when they’re interacting with others.

So Jesus worked on into the night.

Then, a long while before sunrise, he got up and went to a solitary place to pray. Jesus wasn’t scared of the dark.

I wonder if the moon was up that night, or if it was a starlit night. I imagine that if it was a cloudy, moonless night the disciples would have had difficulty finding him (verses 36, 37).

The creation of day and night, heavens and earth and the lights were all good and reflected the nature and purposes of God. Jesus would have appreciated and understood that better than anyone else. What is there to fear?

He may well have needed that prayer time to re-energise after a long and tiring day, full of healings and exorcisms. But he didn’t need to re-energise by the sun (as many pagans do). His power came from the Creator of the sun. His power came from God, who is not restricted to either day or night.

We must remember to worship the Creator, not the creation.

Inspiration for the Week

Antarctica Time lapse: A Year on Ice

i'd love to spend a year in antarctica.
what a beautiful place to contemplate the wonders of creation....

advent - wait

great picture from ben bell reminding us that the season of advent is actually about waiting.
but its not just waiting around for something to happen. its waiting with a real hope that causes us to be engaged with life. and its a hope that refuses to give up in the face of adversity.

world aids day

today is world aids day.
aids is highlighted on 1st december every year.
every year more people die - they don't have to.
in first world countries, becoming hiv positive is no longer the death sentence it was 20 years ago. but it still is in developing countries.
you can watch bono's message about it here.
you can also watch his address to the american presidential prayer breakfast earlier this year, here.
you can learn about the red campaign here.
you can check out info on africa here.
you can join the 'you me us' campaign here.

there's no end of stuff you can look at, just google 'world aids day'.
but will you translate your looking into action?

jesus saw those people others didn't want to see. he went out of his way to include the poor, the lepers, the unacceptable into the party of god's kingdom. he did something about what he saw. hiv/aids is like the leprosy of today. christians at leat, have a duty to follow their master's example.

small actions by lots of people create a mass effect. small actions with visible symbols attached, like a wearing a red ribbon, create a heightened awareness that opens the door for conversation about what the red ribbon is for.
small actions like writing to politicians about the inequity of developing world health care compared to our own, and the protected interests of multinational pharmaceutical companies in comparison to the unprotected needs of millions of hiv infected people in developing countries is the chance to put the power of democracy into action on behalf of those whose voices go unheard.

go on, do something today - you really can; perhaps you must.