way out west

Ecto - end of trial

Ok it was a short trial I know... but after a day... I love it! and at £11 it has to be worth it... and... if you use a PC as well (as I do) if you but a Mac OSX version you get a Windows version half price - Bargain!

Technorati Tags: Blogging: Ecto

Ecto - trial

This is a trial... well, I have just downloaded Ecto and am trying it out :-)
Don't quite get the interface yet!

Technorati Tags: Blogging: Ecto

Pop Occulture Blog

Sometimes I like to step back from my world... move around... and see it from a different perspective... if that sounds like you too... have a look at Tim Boucher's Blog Pop Occulture from which came this quote... I find it hard to disagree with ... so for now I wont!

I recently heard it said that beliefs are for those who have no experience of something; that if you know god, or if you’ve ever been in love, you don’t need to memorize a list of doctrines or abstract principles about it. You’ve got the real thing which is much more complex and beautiful than any system of belief could ever be.

I understand religions as our attempt to give form to the divine, because we suck at contemplating raw infinity. Religions, in some sense, are nets which we cast in the hopes of catching god. But it’s like trying to catch the sea with a net. It’s much more likely that we’ll just get ourselves tangled up, and god will slip through. I think god wants us to follow and imitate him as he playfully escapes our nets and challenges us to reach new levels of understanding and love.

To me, religions are better used as search engines. They can help us articulate the questions which will lead us towards our goal of following god. And we will find that through this on-going process, this quest, all that is not essential in us and our beliefs and which can’t stand up to scrutiny is washed away, leaving us in a very unique and exciting relationship with the divine and with ourselves.

Fox News

I'm really sorry to those who wanted to watch the Fox News report... it was broadcast this evening!  Fox never let me know and as I had hadn't heard I was ready with a video!  Hopefully the video clip will be available on their Web site soon, will post a link when I have it... Worst bit... the shot in the stadium (camera below me... double chin time!)... Best bit... being promoted to Rev!  Actually its OK, quite relaxed, especially the pint in hand shots!

Trojan Baby ... Kesters Christmas post

Just checking my reader this morning before setting off to the In-laws and Kester's Christmas post is so good I have to post a link.. here is the whole thing... following is an excerpt...

Trojan baby

Now inside the citadel planet.

Waiting, hiding, growing

Evolving an inner salvation

(The original subversion)

Merry Christmas

As this will probably be my last post before Chirstmas may I wish all who pass through here a wonderful festival!  This weekend we remember a very human moment... not a twee stable scene, but a gritty, real moment in history, with all the pain and struggle, joy and love of a timeless reality... the birth of a child... yet this particular one was notable by its ordinariness... because this was the moment that the divine became flesh and breathed, screamed, and kicked a new posibility into being... this was the moment when God stepped into creation in a way that has resonated down through the centuries... may the divine light shine on you and may you feel the peace of God reborn in your hearts... may you grasp the truth of who you are made to be and welcome the embrace of your promise fulfilled by the God who formed you... may you hold to the light in the darkness, the light of creation, the light of the world...  may you know in your heart the words of the prophet Isaiah...

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
For those who lived in a land of deep shadows...
light!  sunbursts of light!
You repopulated the nation,
you expanded its joy.
Oh, they're so glad in your presence!
Festival joy! The joy of a great celebration,
sharing rich gifts and warm greetings.

...may God bless you and hold you close.

Harsh God?

Tony Campolo writes on Beliefnet [see whole article here]

Christmas shatters any idea that God is some kind of vengeful tyrant bent on smiting any who fail to live up to His expectations. The image of a harsh, punishing deity is contradicted when we discover that our God was incarnated in a baby in Bethlehem’s manger.

What we realize with the birth of Jesus is that God is a loving person who was willing to give up power in order to express His love. At Christmas we are reminded, as it says in the second chapter of Philippians, that the same God who had the power to toss the galaxies into outer space and set electrons spinning in inner space loved us enough to set aside all that power in order to show that love.
...

This Christmas, be thankful for the God who comes to us in weakness because He loves; a God who annihilates any belief that He is a harsh and vindictive deity. His coming to us in Jesus is all the proof we need that in His love He wills peace on earth and good will for us all.

Bethlehem waiting...

Our meditation for tonight...

[with thanks to Jonny Baker, Doug Gaye and Jenny Brown for the inspiration, from Alternative Worship]

Bethlehem…

Micah 5:2
But you, Bethlehem, David's country, the runt of the litter.  From you will come the leader who will shepherd-rule Israel. He'll be no upstart, no pretender.  His family tree is ancient and distinguished.

Bethlehem... A city in waiting… a place whose story was glorious, but for now all that is past… Bethlehem lies waiting for a new future… a place once pulsating with the life blood of the greatest of all men, now dormant, insignificant, no longer a major player on the Worlds stage… Bethlehem lies waiting for a new future… In the heads of the people it is a place of history of momentous happenings, now it is a place of ordinariness, a place of business and daily existence… Bethlehem lies in waiting for a new future…  like all of us they hope but do not expect, reality crushing dreams but still waiting… waiting becomes a habit… Bethlehem lies waiting for a new future… Never daring to give up the waiting… the past is too rich and the hope too deeply held to let go, but hope breeds frustration… how much longer must Bethlehem lie in waiting for a new future… so many have tried to murder the wait, to legislate against it, to destroy the link with the past, to control it out of existence… despite centuries of oppression… Bethlehem lies waiting for a new future… that future has been seeded, will they notice?  Can Bethlehem embrace a new future? For the future has arrived!

John1
The Life-Light was the real thing:
Every person entering Life he brings into Light.
He was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn't even notice.  He came to his own people, but they didn't want him.
But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves.

The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.

As Sarah waited… for a son to fulfil God’s promise
As Moses waited… to lead Gods people to a new home
As Samuel waited… for the voice in the morning
As Elijah waited… for the word of God in the wilderness
As Israel waited… in the desert, hungry, thirsty, desperate, lost
As the faithful waited… for the promise of God to be fulfilled
As Mary waited…  for her child, the child of God
As Bethlehem waited… to be restored to significance
As the wise men waited… for the sign, for the one
As John waited… for the moment, for the light
As the Christ waited… in Gods time for Gods purpose
As the apostles waited… in a locked room, in a state of fear

So we wait… for the peace of God… for a new future…

Audio track - Maggi Dawn – "I will wait"

In the darkness we wait, in the stillness we wait, in hope we wait, in expectation we wait…  are we ready to receive the divine… to welcome the light into our darkness… for the light is already here… a pulsing LED indicating a state of standby, a flickering pilot light, a welcome seeping though a crack in the door, the light waits for our recognition to illuminate our lives, to ignite us in love to love… to give to us a new future.

Light a flame to show our readiness to embrace a new future.

Church Leaders arrested

From Sojourners..

115 religious leaders were arrested in front of the Cannon House Office Building while kneeling in prayer to protest the immoral budget and tax agenda which slashes spending on the poor to finance tax breaks for the rich. Led by Jim Wallis of Call to Renewal, national faith leaders, clergy and faith-based providers of services to the poor held a press conference.

Now this is the kind of cause Religous Leaders should be being vocal about, instead of getting wrapped up in "internal" arguments. Perhaps not only might we make a real difference to this world but it might just go some way to dealing with our image problem... Might also have made more of an impact on the G8 than Mariah Carey "singing"! ... Credit to these voices shouting for "good news to the poor", Justice and Mercy!

AFCTU

Since Mike C (Stadium Announcer and a Vicar in West Brom) posted a link to the Fox News post there has been an influx of AFC Telford Utd supporters visiting the Blog... Welcome!

I don't normally post about Football, it's not the real basis of the blog nor why most people come here... but... I posted about Telfords proximity to Derby way back before we moved... well I haven't been to Pride Park once... because I have been to every (well, almost I missed 1)Telford home game (and the situation behind the scenes at Derby a shambles I can't support)... and hope to do some away games in the New Year... considering I have had an invite to go on the Team Coach!

AFC Telford is a great club, run by supporters! just beginning to find its feet in the Unibond Premiership... if you want to know more visit the web site... and... Bucks Chat the independent forum on which I post from time to time!