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/

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.

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!

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.

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....?

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....

The Sun - 1: Genesis 1:14-19

Don’t you think it interesting how we read what we want to, and project onto our readings our preconceptions of what we already think the reading is about?

Genesis 1:14 talks about the lights in the firmament being for ‘signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years’. My initial thoughts were around the ‘signs’. What could these signs be? The moon turning to red at the end of the age, perhaps? And the seasons; how does the sun tell us about the seasons? It comes up and goes down every day regardless of the time of year. Although, depending on your position on the globe, the arc of the sun will vary according to the season.

But verse 14 hadn’t even mentioned the ‘the sun’ yet – only, ‘lights in the firmament’. I had already projected onto the scripture my own preconceptions of what I thought it was talking about. The lights would have to include the stars, sun, and moon. The stars have always been connected with the thought and practice of interpreting signs, and the different constellations do change according to the seasons.

Its not until verse 16 that the scripture reveals something of the nature of those lights: greater light to rule the day; lesser light to rule the night; and the stars. They weren’t even called ‘sun’ and ‘moon’ then. Probably to keep to the point that it was God who created them, therefore, it is God who is to be worshipped, not the greater and lesser lights (many pagans were at that time worshipping sun and moon, which they saw as deities – some still do).

But my initial thought was around projecting my preconceptions onto the scripture: I already know what this is about! But maybe I don’t, really….

God’s creation had a purpose, and the purpose and creation were good.

I wonder what else I miss seeing and understanding because I think I already know what its about? The creation reflects the nature and purposes of God, which are quintessentially good. So, why do we continually seek to stuff everything up?

How should we be interpreting the lights for signs, seasons, days, and years in the context of them reflecting that nature and purposes of our good and gracious God?

i count a success

from the icount website:

More than 25,000 people packed Trafalgar Square and closed surrounding roads to make their voices count, each one calling for urgent action on climate change.

The carnival-like event was the first of its sort for ‘I Count’. It brought together a huge range of supporters from the Women’s Institute members to Miranda Richardson.

Johnny Borrell, lead singer of Razorlight, who performed live on stage said:
“Today is all about showing that together we make a difference, together we can send a message, together we can stop climate chaos and together we count.”

wish i coulda been there, but my current state of brokenness forbade it.

did anyone go?

more pictures here.

life - a journey through time

just discovered this stunningly good site, through stumblupon.

its a great slideshow of images that give frans lanting's idea of the evolution of our world. the photos are fantastic, and there's a gentle blend of music tracks running behind the slideshow. it also has a written commentary of lanting's evolutionary thoughts, and the option to stop the show, click on an image and learn more about where he got it.

the philosophy is purely evolutionary, and the christian will want to bring some critique to it, but nevertheless, you can't help but admire the sheer beauty of our planet home, its diversity, complexity, power and fragility. and the skill of the photographer/artist in bringing the beauty to our attention.

this kind of thing always brings to my mind the psalmist's wonder when he says in psalm 24:1, 'the earth is the lord's, and everything in it.' i wish we would take better care of the generous gift of god to us, and this website helps us to appreciate what we've been given.

following the release of the stern report this week on the economic affects of global warming, and the new level of debate that is happening world-wide about the future of our planet home, why not take 20 mins to sit and contemplate with this slideshow about how you may or may not value god's great gift to us, and what your lifestyle means to our common future?

i count

this is something to DO!
this is something you CAN actually do!
this is something that is actually WORTH getting involved in!
this is something where you can join others and see that your care and efforts are NOT INCONSEQUENTIAL.
this is about YOU being involved and making a statement to yourself, your family, your friends, your neighbours, your country, and yes, even the world, and even yes, to GOD, that you are wanting to be counted amongst those who will STOP CLIMATE CHAOS.

so, let me encourage you to:
1. GO to trafalgar square on 4 november and make your presence felt;
2. visit the i count website, register, read, and DO the simple actions;
3. TELL other people about it.

go on. go on. go on. go on. go on. go on. go on.......

how to keep the lights on?

great picture of the earth at night, eh. look at all those lights on. not sure exactly how this picture is constructed, given the different time zones and hemispheres....
but where does the power come from? well, various national grids and then down the power lines to our homes and offices and factories and farms and....just flick a switch and, magic, the darkness is gone!
its not been like this for most of the world's history. in fact, its just a blink in time from the beginning of humanity, let alone the world itself.
so, how much longer will it be like this? where will the power keep coming from? who will generate the extra as more developing countries come on stream, and how will it be generated? simple questions, granted, but very real nonetheless. those questions include macro issues like international treaties on energy security, and micro issues like personal home power production.
george monbiot has some interesting thoughts on the latter here. he thinks small is useless, and he may well be right in this instance. but i'm not sure that its a good, helpful, and right mantra to say that 'small is useless'. and i dare say that george is not saying that small is useless in an overall kind of way.
but give people an option to say that its all too hard and that its got nothing to do with them and i'm only one person so what can i do and its all the government's responsibility anyway and i'm just going to leave the lights on coz i can, and they will.
i do think this is an area where government can set a standard and say something like, 'by 2010 there will be no more manufacturing of ordinary, energy inefficient lightbulbs'. it can't be that difficult actually. but it does require a will to act. as bono as often said, we can't do everything, but the things we can we must.
there'll be a way to keep the lights on, and a small way can begin with a small individual acting out of a strong will to proactively do the things they can. have a look at the ban the bulb website that gives lots of info and plenty of links for more info including where to buy energy efficient lightbulbs. not to mention the generous website where you can join with others in making a measurable, sustainable, and cybercultural difference to god's good earth.