Wright Stuff

I decided to follow one of my own links and visit the (unofficial) website of N.T.Wright as mentioned in a post below. (I'm not sure that there actually is an official site. I've also now added the site to the link on the sidebar.)

I've got a couple of books from Theologian/Historian/Bishop of Durham, N.T. Wright including one of his latest called, Simply Christian. So I was interested to see that a video is available to watch of a lecture he gave at Washington National Cathedral (Washington, DC) as part of his book tour for the above book.

The talk is just under an hour long so I made a pot of coffee and downloaded it. (The lecture I mean, not the coffee. I suppose I uploaded the coffee...only to download it later. OK, stop it!)

Anyway, I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to getting more from his site. You might enjoy it too. Here's the link:

Simply Christian Book Tour - N.T. Wright at WNC

Worthy of more thought

I took this book to the coffeehouse tonight: Emerging Churches - Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures.

I read through a chapter about doing away with the sacred/secular divide and then I flicked through earlier chapters of the book to briefly review what I had underlined. A couple of paragraphs stood out because I wrote in the margins, "worthy of more thought". See what you think about the reaction of leaders in the emerging church to identifying with Jesus and his message of the kingdom of God:

Rooted in the work of N.T. Wright, emerging churches embrace the gospel [literally the "good news"-Cosmo] of the kingdom as revealed in Mark 1:15-18. At the outset of the Gospel narrative, the good news was not that Jesus was to die on the cross to forgive sins but that God had returned and all were invited to participate with him in this new way of life, in this redemption of the world. It is this gospel that the emerging church seeks to recover. As one leader confided privately, "We have totally reprogrammed ourselves to recognize the good news as a means to an end - that the kingdom of God is here. We try to live into that reality and hope. We don't dismiss the cross; it is still a central part. But the good news is not that he died but that the kingdom has come."

Worthy of more thought, I think.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of the period known as Lent which runs up to Easter. I'm not giving anything up for Lent. (I'm not actually sure what the point of this exercise is unless it's something substantial - I don't think giving up chocolate for a few weeks compares to the agonies of crucifixion.) Instead I'll take up this thought: Did God come to Earth to live or die?

Look Up

As I walked home from the coffeehouse tonight an alarm from a building across the street caused me to look up to where the sound was coming from. I'm still not sure which building it was, but the simple act of looking up made me notice some great architecture that I usually pay no attention to. So I kept looking up the rest of the way home.


Try it.

Breakthrough

This week I managed to go to a cafe with my two young children (and wife) and enjoy drinking my latte at a leisurely pace. (YES!!) Up until now it has just been a bad idea to try and go out for coffee with a 2 year old.

However, the nine month old will be a toddler soon...and then it's going to be business as usual.

So I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts. In fact I am enjoying it - I went out with the kids twice this week already.

Country Pancakes

Finishing the last couple of bites of my Dutch Apple pancake I washed it down with the remainder of my latte, looked out of the window at the fir trees and gathering of birds and thought for a moment about what a lovely week I'd had.

Over the past several years when my wife and I (and now our two children) have gone on holiday it has usually been in connection with visiting family. Now I 'm not complaining about that because over the past several years visiting family has taken us not only to places in the UK, but also the USA and Australia. But it has been some time since just ourselves went on holiday. The need to get out of the house while a new kitchen is fitted presented the perfect opportunity. So, following a conference in London and family vists in both London and Bournemouth, we headed off to Centre Parcs in Longleat Forest.

I've wanted to go to Centre Parcs for years and I can tell you it was worth the wait. Fantastic!

Along with just the pleasure of staying in a "villa" in the middle of the forest it provides a great time for families of all sizes and ages. The Sub-tropical Swimming Paradise was a big hit for my two young children, especially the toddler who couldn't get enough of the slides. The spa provided hours of relaxation with it's various saunas, steam rooms and pools - my favourite was a stretch in the Japanese salt bath (steam room) quickly followed by dosing myself in handfuls of crushed ice from the ice fountain. Another highlight for me was laser clay shooting - I didn't do great, but I did hit the target a few times and didn't have the lowest score.

Perhaps the only negative experience was the lousy latte I was served at the Sports Cafe. However, the pancakes and coffee served at Country Pancakes more than made up for that.

I really hope we can go again soon.

Up in Smoke

For about three years now the smoking ban in Ireland has been very well received - at least by me. So when I'm in the UK you really notice the difference. While out on a rare date with my wife we wanted to go somewhere for coffee. Peering in to restaurants we noticed people lighting up so gave them a miss.

Originally I planned to pick up a coffee from the cafe in Borders in Bournemouth (current home of my parents who were now responsible for listening out for our children while they slept - the kids that is - as we went out for a short time), but 30 seconds after walking into the bookshop the announcement was made that the cafe was now closed. Thirty minutes later the whole store closed leaving us to look elsewhere for (smoke-free) coffee.

We opted for a romantic evening at Asda. I sure know how to treat a lady so I suggested that I pick up a latte and a cappucino from the McDonald's as we entered the superstore. We went our separate ways with coffee in hand - my wife to the cheap children's clothes and myself to music/movies section.

I bought the first Thrills album which I have been wanting for a while and also a 3 CD compilation album for 7 quid featuring "True Number 1's".

Getting back into the car and driving down the A338 (can you tell this date night is getting better and better?) we listened to sections of a few Number 1's: With a little help from my friends (Wet Wet Wet), Killer (Adamski), One day in your life (Michael Jackson), Pass the dutchie (Musical Youth), and so on.

And then the ideal track arrived which deserved to be listened to all the way through despite the road getting increasingly dark as we drove towards the New Forest: I think we're alone now (Tiffany) A song which was obviously meaningful to my wife and me from across both sides of the Atlantic. (I think I can hear you singing it now too...)

Whatever happened to Tiffany, anyway? I believe her career went up in smoke after just one album.

Curry and Coffee

I've been on a conference in London this week as part of my continuing development in the early years of ministry. The seminars themselves (about leadership) have been quite good, but what is best about these days is seeing friends. It's always good tyo catch up with people and find out what is going on in their lives. It's just a shame that it seems to only happen once a year.

So it was a great idea when one of the friends suggested that, after the evening sessions had finished, a group of us should go out for a curry. For about three hours we enjoyed each others company a talked about all sorts of things - from memories of our ministry training together to working through theological issues which we face. I sensed it was the kind of evening that we all craved for, but rarely find.

As we ended the meal with coffee I took the oportunity to, once again, shamelessly promote my blog and promised to mention them.

J - You are so funny. You always make me laugh.
MS - Your depth of theological insights are always helpful.
K - You have great stories to tell about your family - a real family guy.
MT - It was interseting to hear your thoughts about baptism.
G - I bet coming home to your wife and family was a welome reunion.
C - I'm looking forward to hearing about your service in Uganda - much respect.

Thanks guys. It was great.

Keep Left

Walking home from the coffeehouse tonight I noticed that the 'Keep Left' sign that usually sits at the end of my street had been moved (again).

It was now pushed up against a wall.

You couldn't keep more left without scraping your nose.

Tuesdays @ 7

Moda was packed tonight. I'm not sure why, but I'm pleased for the management - good for business.

As I made my way up to my usual seating area I glanced into the basement to see if the knitting club was there. My wife has recently started to knit and she wanted me to do a little recon to see if the club was running again after the Christmas break. It was.

As I said, Moda was packed and there were no seats available. Not even the last-resort-uncomfortable-chairs-at-the-small-table-in-the-corner seats. I had to go down to the basement.

The poster on the wall stated that the knitting club meets in the basement of Moda on Tuesdays @ 7pm. About a dozen women, and one pre-teen girl, took up about three-quarters of the basement. I squeezed into an empty sofa, but before I could even sit down, and being the only male in the room, I was offered a pair of needles by at least two knitters.

A few of the women glance over at me - a couple of times. I glance back and recognise a couple of them (though I doubt they recognise me) - one is a librarian from the Rathmines Library and the other is the mother of a kid who once did a mediocre job of washing my car. Fair play to car-washing mother, she seems very evangelical for the knitting cause. Not only did she offer me the chance to join in, but she seemed to engage with anyone who happened to walk past on their way to the toilets.

Eventually two other guys enter and sit at the sofa next to me to play some chess. They look suitably uncomfortable (having been "evangelised") and tell each other they won't stay long. (As it happens they outlast the lot of us and are left to play chess in solitude by the end of the evening.)

I try to read my book, but am strangely fascinated by this gaggle and I can't help wondering how many of them are wearing products of former Tuesday evenings. I watch them as they effortlessly knit and talk about Celebrity Big Brother and vegetarian cuisine. One woman passes around a recently acquired loop of yarn. People feel the quality and comment on the colour. Everyone seems suitably impressed.

Me too!

In fact, I almost want to move from my seat and join the circle just to be a part of this community and maybe even have a go! I don't. Though I do imagine the conversations that would, perhaps, continue for weeks to come as they remember the night "a man joined our group."

Instead I continue to peer over my book watching as one knitter asks an older knitter for some advice. (I liked that.) She seems to be working on a sock while using four needles! When I say needles, actually they were more like oversized cocktail sticks. I was pleased to see 'sock lady' in turn give helpful advice to a novice.

Eventually they pack up their needles and wander off leaving a little more space in the basement for 'the guys'. I also finish up my latte and leave.

On returning home I discover that my wife has spent the evening knitting a scarf for my birthday (on Friday). I shall proudly wear it to Moda on Tuesdays @ 7 and feel, in some way, a connection with the group.

Bag O' Coins

As I walked down to the coffeehouse tonight I passed a man standing in a phonebox. On the shelf by the phone was a carrier bag half full of coins. I thought this was quite resourceful. Then I noticed that, though standing in the phonebox, he wasn't actually using the pay phone. He was using his mobile phone instead.

I wonder what the bag of coins was all about?