Tonight I went to a public lecture given by Rowan Williams on the subject of Theology and Reading books. A packed lecture theatre enjoyed this gifted theologian and communicator give a lecture defending the role of theology within the humanities.
The key arguments he was making, quoting some Canadian bloke whose name I never quite caught, were [...]
I am beginning to realise that the conservative / liberal divide is v. artificial. Diving into a denomination which is accused of focusing too much on the social justice side and not enough on the evangelicalism side I have been struck by the way everything is rooted in scripture and reading what the bible says.
I [...]
So The Cure have been proclaimed this years god-like geniuses by the NME. Have to say I am really pleased, in an age when so many of the “god-like genius” type bands are simply dinosaurs or parodies of themselves who have turned into pantomime acts The Cure have remained “proper indie”.
My first memory of coming across [...]
Ok, was going to blog the whole lent experience with some reflections, but that has gone out of the window. At the communion service I went to this morning the reading was from Matthew 6 and all about not going public with your spiritual practices and becoming hypocrites as a result. Now I know there [...]
I’ve already posted my plans for Lent, but I thought people might find it useful to have a range of options to consider. I also thought it might be good to link to some pancake ideas aswell, so you might enter the season in a spirit of celebration before moving onto the contemplation.
So first for the lardy [...]
The BBC Magazine has this really interesting article about a criminologist studying the rise of British gang culture, which left me smiling at my computer screen as I read it. The article is inspiring for a range of reasons:
1) It shows how education can help people turn their lives around. The article describes the academics own [...]
This week I have been forced to refocus, to decide what it is I am actually wanting to do with my research and how I am going to achieve it. This has been interesting for me because it has made me think hard about what my passions and priorities are, and in and beyond the [...]
Today I began preparing for putting the Lent plan into action. Whilst I should be on a zero spending policy at the moment I have realised the benefit for the long term if I start investing, a small amount now. So it is I have splashed out on blue tack and the mixture of essential oils [...]
Ok, so Lent is a time for preperation and giving stuff up to help us move on spiritually. Traditionally we have associated it with laying aside stuff we enjoy for a while in a sacrificial way. Well, partly because of where I am right now and partly because of where I want to prepare to [...]
Anybody who knows me will be aware of how much I love Greenbelt. It’s the one place on earth where I feel I can truly be me, all of me, without any contradiction or pretence.
Having looked at this years theme, though, Standing in the Long Now and reading Martin Wroe’s reflections I have to say that [...]