The Internet Brings People Together!

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

At least it beats a stupid pointless arguement in the real world!

'It’s wrong but it’s right'

Lighter Fluid's Street Love (see posting 9/09/2006) is still haunting me (in more ways than one) but it got me thinking about stuff that could be described as 'it's wrong but it's right'. So, in a regular column I shall (for the sake of thinking of any other title) call 'it's wrong but it's right' my first thing is:
Avocado dishes in the shape of half an avocado (preferably glass - as pictured)

Tummy bug!

It has been an eventful week at Loudon Bristol HQ. I started my new course - which was intensive and exhausting. I knew it would be a change of pace but hadn't really accounted for the fact that it would be so full on. I was challenged spiritually, mentally and emotionally last week. I have been used to a cold and sterile learning environment where although opinion is valid one is always seeking an objective 'truth'. It has been hard to adapt to a more subjective reality, adding a spiritual dimension to learning is just a bit freaky at the moment. I am sure I will get the hang of it but even praying before lecturers has been a challenge. Getting up for chapel hasn't been as tricky as I thought it would be but letting chapel thoughts spill out into all college activities has been hard. I didn't realise how much I compartmentalised my life. I really thought I had done a good job de-secularising things – making all things holy. How wrong I was it seems that learning was one thing (at least) that had been set aside. Hey ho.
To add to my exhaustion I have had a nasty tummy bug since Thursday night. Friday was a real struggle and I have been in bed most of the weekend. Freshers tummy bug. At least the food bill has been low (though I have used a lot of loo paper!)

In other news: Mark and Joe have been making a dark room in the big shed - which has kept them busy most of the weekend. Eva went to a school friend’s birthday party on Saturday. We all went to Cotham Church on Sunday morning. We have decided to join the electoral register and stay at Cotham whilst we are here so that Eva has the stability of a home church (she went to junior church and was ok). We are also committing to joining Foundation – which has been ace for Mark and I. So, we are sorted.

Welcome to Trinity weekend

We have had a very hectic weekend that started last Thursday and feels like it is still going. I met with fellow BA students on Thursday and registered on Friday. Then we had a weekend of meeting and greeting, settling in and getting to know the place and people. It was a strange experience going back to being an undergraduate student having been a lecturer for so long. I suddenly had a lot of sympathy for their struggles - particularly making sense of module choosing. I had to have help from three of my new friends and a tutor but still managed to get confused so have to return to my persoanl tutor on Tues with a new form (can you believe it I actually filled it in with a biro not pencil so had to get new forms). I had my hair cut on Wednesday and it was a disaster (Mark says he can't tell the difference - which is supposed to be a comfort but to be honest nearly sent me over the edge) so I coloured it pink which made me feel much worse because then I stood out like a sore thumb. So, there I was in muddle with modules, needing all the help I could get, with a husband that doesn't notice how I look and pink hair.

I think I have the right bible and the right prayer book, I think I have appropriate pens and pencils (I have got a pencil now!), I bought a new filing cabinet because mine broke and all my phd files got trapped inside, and I have a stash of ink cartridges for writing in best. But, I don't feel very ready for it at all. It is all very strange and disarming. Everyone is a Christian and I am not used to this many Christians in one place. Everything was unfolding around me - meetings happening, people being kind and supportive. I feel like a great big idiot who can't tick the right boxes and fill in simple forms. I am sure all this insecurity is very normal and in some ways to be expected. It is easy for me to ridicule other people, be ruthless with myself and run and hide from the stuff that is too much to cope with. But, here I have a chance to learn to be a bit more patient with myself, learn from other people (whoever they are) and stop fighting against everything all the time. I can also learn new disciplines - chapel at 8.40am, community prayer, lectures, essays, not farting in my shared office. I am here for a very good reason, and I feel very close to God in it all. I also feel close to Mark and Eva - who have been amazing. How great is that. All those fears, all the 'leaving of Liverpool', escaping Edge Hill, taking a phd to Bristol to finish. They are absolutely still there but by just keep on keeping on we have moved forward and are here starting a new adventure.

Mark and I went to the big Foundation service last night and knew that we have been very blessed, to find a church community that helps makes sense of spiritual experiences is a fantastic thing.

So, I start the new term hoping I can do all my home work, fit in a phd, be nice to my classmates, love my family and be respectful of other people's traditions. Bit of a big prayer list so if anyone can help me out please do.
xxxx

Spiritual Gifts Test

St. Claire of Toxteth sent me the link to this very special test. You can take from it what you want (obviously) and it is quite bizarre but it might just be what you need to find out what spiritual gifts you possess. Do bear in mind, as the author reminds us, the test has not been written by God! And as such 'it should be used as a starting place to begin to discover your Spiritual Gifts, but certainly not as an absolute indicator'.
Do the Spritual Gift Test.
ps It seems (according to the spirtual gift test) that I have pastoral gifts but that I am not a great giver! Hey ho.

Living Generously

The Loudons are trying to live generously.
I signed up for this a while back and thought I might share it with you.
Living Generously is a bunch of people who think that if a lot of us begin to make small changes in the way we live, then together we could create a big change in favour of the planet and its people.

There's about 800 households signed up and each month we get emailed some suggested Generous Actions and the idea is to try and commit to taking on one or two - and then making them part of our everyday life.

Some are easy (takes five minutes to sign up online as an organ donor), some are more of a hassle (switching to an ethical bank, putting a plastic brick in your cistern to save water, starting to shop local and fair trade) and some are more challenging (cutting back on your car use, offsetting your airmiles, improving home energy efficiency).

Every time a Generous member commits to an action, it gets logged on the site and adds to the cumulative effect. For example there's now 296 people who have stopped taking carrier bags from shops, 248 who turn off the tap when cleaning their teeth and 203 who have unplugged their chargers to reduce their emissions.

Anyway, if you feel like you might like to join the generous bunch then do sign up!

missing you!

Whilst sorting through Eva's photos of the Zoo Mark and I came accross a number of photos of people she had snapped over the last year. I have popped them on flickr but I will feature a few here. I realised that we haven't got snapshots of everyone! So, if you have any lovely photies do send them to me and I will put them on this blog.
We are really missing you. xxxx

Bristol Zoo - Photos by Eva

Eleanor and May came to visit us on Sunday and we went to the Zoo. We had a fantastic day. Bristol Zoo is a joy. It was great for me to spend time with Eleanor, and Eva and May had an adventure exploring. Particular favourites were: Penguins, Seals, The Lion and the Hippo. We were all a bit disappointed that the Lemurs were sleeping - they didn't even wake up when we did the Lemur dance from Madagascar. Hey ho.
Eva took a number of photos - these are some of my personal favourites from the Trip.
You can see the complete set of photos on

flickr

The 'Little Service' at Foundation

Last night I was at the 'little service' at Foundation (held at Cotham Church, Bristol). During the prayerful meditation I found I was praying around these images:



Also this reading from Joshua 4
4:4 Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe;

4:5 and Joshua said to them, "Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel,

4:6 that this may be a sign among you, when your children ask in time to come, `What do those stones mean to you?'

4:7 Then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial for ever."


I had watched the Channel Four programme

The Fundamentalists

on Saturday Night and was struck by Mark Dowd's conclusion that:

"Although fundamentalists in all religions claim that they are harking back to a golden age when everyone accepted the divine words of the holy texts, this is clearly not the case. Even if we found the idea appealing, and if there ever really were such a golden age, we couldn't reproduce it in the 21st century.

In fact, as these examples from five major world religions show, fundamentalism is a recent phenomenon that has as much to do with today's global politics and economics as with the religious sources. This marriage of religion with politics has touched many nerves. In the developing world, it appears to offer food to the hungry and power to the powerless. In wealthy countries, it appears to give confidence to minorities who are persecuted or discriminated against, and has been used by those in power to wage war against 'non-believers'.

The longer this goes on, the more polarised the world becomes. Where are today's prophets to help people identify with the fears of others, and check the tide of fundamentalism."

This prayer from South Africa comes to mind:
Let Us Dream. Let us prophesise.
Let us see visions of love, peace and justice.
Let us affirm with humility, with joy, with faith, with courage and confidence.
Amen

Lighter Fluid Fansite!

Since my last posting it has come to my attention that there is a Lighter Fluid website - obviously created by a deluded fan (deluded in the sense that the think there is a chance that Lighter Fluid might make a comeback - I think they might have to accept that it is over). It is a bit racey in parts but it is a touching tribute to a fine bunch of lads who were just trying to make it in the harsh world of pop. Of course they failed - but its the taking part that matters.

Lighter fluid fansite

enjoy!

Street Love by Lighter Fluid

Belfast's premier Boy Band outfit, recently split up as they were about to explode onto the scene. This was to be their first single.

St.Claire of Toxteth and Our Eva put out the washing

Some Pictures of Our New World!

Eva Starts School, I write a PhD and Mark cleans the house

Well, at least the first statement is true! Eva started her new school today at 'Our Lady of the Rosary'! You can click on the link on the side of here to view their webpage. God Bless them! It is great actually, and I am sure she will have a fab time.

I have had a minor breakthrough with the writing. Found a way to explain why I am writing a PhD on music hall - which might have been best to have worked out 5 years ago. Hey ho! better late than never.

I also have been trying to learn biblical Greek. Which for a dyslexic who has a fear of languages is an interesting experience. I will have to take an exam in it sometime next year so thought I would see just how tricky it is. Well, I can assure you I will not do very well in this exam (might it be ok if somene else sits it for me - my stunt double for instance? She is a lovely girl!).

You might also want to take a look at the popjustice website (if you haven't already) as there are some great things to enjoy here (esp the OKGO videos).

OK now I shall return to the world of Music Hall where everything is funny, full of pathos and directed straight to the audience.
xxxx

Ellen Loudon welcomes the blogging world

This is the start of something new - in fact just one more new thing to add to the ever increasing list!