Aug
30
2008
4

Happy days :)

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Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized | Tags:
Aug
28
2008
4

Next year’s Greenbelt theme?

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With thanks to Paul W for the art-work 🙂

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized | Tags:
Aug
26
2008
3

Greenbelt 2008

Well Greenbelt is over for another year. It was a lot muddier and a bit wetter than last year, but in general it was fine. Thank goodness for wellies is all I have to say!

This year I went with my friends OJ and Jonathan and we had a wonderful time. As always I mark down in the programme loads of things I want to see and only go to about half of them. Part of the problem is that I have such a short attention span at times so I tend to leave when I get bored. The highlight for me was seeing Brian Houston in the performance cafe. He was fantastic as usual and the venue was packed. Also Beer and Hymns was marvellous. I actually find it quite moving to hear so many people singing hymns and being very genuine about it, even if they have a pint of very nice organic beer in their hand. In fact, the beer tent was marvellous all round. Great beer, great people and one or two surprises along the way 😉

So, here are some photos for your perusal…

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Aug
21
2008
2

Greenbelt

This weekend I am heading off to Greenbelt. As usual I am ridiculously excited. I am so looking forward to seeing lots of different people, listening to different speakers and hearing all sorts of types of performers. Somehow though it is just the atmosphere and the people I see that make the difference. Also, the chance to chill out and relax. Once I have put the tent up and dumped the car in the car-park it is lovely to know I don’t have to go and get it until Tuesday morning. Those few days of not having to be anywhere in particular and the ability to run on my own pace and schedule is more relaxing and restorative than a fortnight off anywhere else. So, I will see some of you at Greenbelt, and I will be back blogging on Tuesday I would think! Seeya!!!

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Aug
21
2008
0

RC Part 54 – Bad Behaviour by Sheila O’Flanagan and An Offer You Can’t Refuse by Jill Mansell

Bad Behaviour by Sheila O’Flanagan and An Offer You Can’t Refuse by Jill Mansell are two chick lit books that I read in quick successsion. Perfect no-brainer books when you need something to relax without having to think too hard about what you are reading!

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Aug
20
2008
1

Abandoned – the accommodation!

Here is my parents’ beautiful box for Abandoned. I am thinking that it might be perfect for when they get old. Much cheaper than a nursing home. We can just stick them in the garden or something. As long as Dad has his hanging baskets he will be fine!

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Aug
20
2008
0

Abandoned

AbandonedThe weekend after next, whilst I am sleeping in my comfy bed with my cat, my sister, brother-in-law and my parents, along with a couple of hundred other people will be sleeping in a cardboard box at the Vale Castle in Guernsey. This is all in aid of the charity Hope for Child that my younger sister helped to establish and now works for part time.

I gather from my Mum that Dad has been creating them an epic double box for them to sleep in… and I think Mum is even intending to add curtains to make it even more plush. I am still amused that my sister has managed to persuade them to do it, and it sounds like a lot of fun. It is all in aid of an amazing cause and I hope they raise a whole stack of cash which will go to help those less fortunate and make a real difference in people’s lives.

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Aug
19
2008
3

The Olympic dream

It’s official. I have turned into a bit of an Olympic Games anorak. I am watching anything and everything, from weightlifting, to cycling, athletics, gymnastics, trampolining, badminton… the list could go on and on. (The only thing I haven’t watched is the boxing because battering the living daylights out of each other all seems a bit pointless!!)

Now not being particularly sporty myself I am in absolute awe of the strength, agility and endurance of these athletes. I particularly love the gymnastics as their elegance and strength is awesome and I am delighted that the young Brit Louis Smith got a bronze in the pommel horse event.

I daren’t consider how much they have given up just to try and attain a gold at the Olympics. I find myself verging on tearful when it goes wrong for them and delighting when they win. I have to admit that I am quiely chuckling to myself at the apparent indigence of the Australians who we are beating in the medal tables.

So, all I have to say is roll on London 2012. I only hope I am still living near enough to get to plenty of events

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Aug
18
2008
0

Sufficiency

Finally Peterson has posted his his musings on the Feeding of the Five Thousand. It is something we talked about several times whilst we were in Guernsey and rather than paraphrase his comments I intend to take the lazy option and cut and paste!

“The disciples and the crowd are out in the countryside for three days. This is before the days of Subway Sandwich shops and Red Lobster restaurants or well-catered retreats. This is a people used to carrying food around when they travel. Jesus rightly discerns that some folks don’t have any food left and will need nourishment to get home. Wow, how thoughtful, how sweet, how unbelievably practical. I love this Jesus.

So he turns to his team, “What you got?” I love how even in the English you can hear the sarcasm and exasperation in the disciples’ response. But Jesus had a plan, a radical one that did not require any magic tricks, one that I believe serves as an even more impressive miracle.

Jesus sat everyone down. Then taking the scant offerings the disciples rustled up, he begins to serve the people. Now I don’t for a minute believe the disciples gave up all they had to Jesus. If they were like most of us, they probably squirreled away a secret stash for themselves for later in the day. In fact, in the John 6 version of the same or similar story, the disciples offer nothing of their own but instead take five loaves and two fish from a little boy (giving an entirely different meaning to “out of the mouth of babes.”)

Jesus provocatively begins to distribute the little he has to give. I imagine Jesus doing this very slowly, dramatically, taking his time with it. The disciples see the basket rapidly emptying. They dig into their hoards and pass some more food forward. The news spreads quickly and quietly through the crowd, first to those closest to the disciples then radiating out. A supply line forms as each one who has food passes it along through many hands to the disciples then to Jesus and then back to the people.

In the end EVERYONE eats, including those who had no longer had food as well as those who carried more than enough. The crowd had such vast resources of food among them that stacks of leftovers remain.

A “magic trick” Jesus is cool and convenient to have on hand. One that calls on me to contribute from my own stockpile so that another’s needs can be met, challenges me and the society in which I live.”

I absolutely love this revisiting of the story. The “magic-trick” Jesus definitely appealed to me when I was a child but it would seem that this compassionate Jesus is one that I want to identify with much more strongly.

The idea that Jesus calls us to bring our into the open our “secret stashes” and the things that we hide away and keep for ourselves is extremely appealing. The idea of sharing out our resources so that as a community we can be sustained, both physically, emotionally and spiritually, for me captures the true power of the Gospel as epitomised in the life of Jesus.

CoboI know I have plenty of resources, both in the things I own and in the emotional strength that I have. Somehow though it never seems to be enough. The world encourage us to acquire more and more and yet the Gospels clearly show that by giving away the things that we have then we will have sufficient for our needs. The idea of having sufficient, rather than excess, is one that I have been musing on for a while. A while ago I was talking to someone about the fact that they want to build an extension on their house. I don’t get it. Only two of them live there at the moment and they already have three bedrooms. Why do you need more when you have enough for your needs? Why add more to an already large mortgage when you don’t really need it? I fully acknowledge that I would like to have a slightly bigger house (with a garden – but that’s a dream!) with another bedroom so that I could more easily have people to stay. The reality though is that for most of the time I don’t really need it.

I am so fortunate. I have somewhere to call home, a job, a wonderful family and friends who sustain me through the good and bad things of life. Truly I have sufficient and yet the struggle to maintain some sort of balance in my life goes on. This version story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand encourages me to redress this balance. To give up my resources and share my wealth with those around me, whether that be in physical or less tangible terms.

Aug
17
2008
4

Missing Gran

Gran & Anna 2Yesterday I had a very boring day and felt unbelievably unsettled and lonely. Just one of those days I guess.

I had nothing essential that I had to do so I went to the gym and spent the afternoon baking cakes for Greenbelt. But my discontent and restlessness did not pass. I drank wine and that just made things worse and no matter what I did I could not settle.

Yesterday would also have been Gran Nora’s 93rd birthday. I am missing her very much at the moment. Maybe that contributed to me feeling a little bit at sea. I don’t know. All I know is that I wish I could spend some time with her again.

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