Doddering but responsible

That eerie thing has happened today.

I'm now officially an adult in every relevant way, just about anywhere in the world.

Wonderfully, I think I'll make it through this day without taking up smoking a pipe, wearing tweed slippers or even registering with Saga holidays.

After a beautiful morning, in which Alfred Place Baptist church had more students in its congregation than possibly ever before, due to Amy and Alice being baptised. I enjoyed the service, although reservations remain, and surely will remain unless either of two things. My understanding of the outlook and ethos of such members of the rich denominational spectrum; or my understanding of the outlook and ethos of the Jesus whom I read about in the whole of my Bible.

Oh dear. I didn't intend getting into a reasoned debate here. Well, just to say that I don't think there's anything wrong; rather that what is right is very right, but just not all there.

But while I'm here, I think Jesus gave the best summary of his mission, his motives, his life, death and resurrection, his gospel... In "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" - John 10:10. He didn't save us just theologically for mysterious, distant, placated wrath, (though he does, thank God!); or to Be Very Christian and have a sound religion, but for Life!

Life, in all its fulfilling, God-saturated, three-dimentional, full-colour, delicious, live-motion, enduring, ever-lasting, interactive, loud, quiet, huge, tiny, public, personal, tangible, genuine, excellent, bleeding-strong, mind-melting, priceless, beautiful, reality.* A tiniest corner of Jesus.

Available for collection in various sized installments, from now to eternity...

Meanwhile, back at the point...

Happy Birthday Kev, Tim and Ben too.
Wee.
30 Oct: a good day for birthdays.


*In the words of Lisa Simpson: "I'm no theologian...", I haven't got other Bible verses up my sleeves for each of these facets, but if you have any comment on any of this, let me know.

Satisfaction, not Spongebob Squarepants

Part of my regular morning routine is the task of filling an old plastic 500ml drinks bottle with a full measure of good, simple, honest tap water. It is a great blessing, which I do often. Also something which I do often is brushing my teeth.

To do this I have to put the full bottle on the side of the sink. Strangely, it sometimes stays there. I leave the house briskly, off for another day up at campus. It stays by the sink. Unconsumed. Without the fruition of its purpose.

What this leads to is that I feel I need to buy a drink during the day. All I really want is a bottle to fill up with tap water, so I don't want a can. So it's the Evian machine for me.

But buying water for 80p is an unconscienable event, so I go for the orange drink option. What comes out is not the listed option, however; rather it is Spongebob Squarepants Orange water. Mmmm. Also, only 330ml, not the 500ml like the Evian bottles.

Oh well.

Blip... blipp... blippp...

Good evening.

This is a public service announcement.

If you have any old (or new) unneeded wheelchair wheels, please send them, via email, to sam(at)redwelly.co.uk.

Now I go to procure a Japanese Cedar tree. A small one. Possibly.

The fact that I just thought I was typing 'maple' rather than 'cedar' means that I had in my mind that this was much more exciting than it may be. I'd love a explosively coloured maple tree in my life. One day.

But then I may still go for this cedar. Surprising beauty in unexpected places is oft the way Grace works.

Yes. I'm making a point now. See how that worked?

Aberystwyth Park is back online

Hello from the excitingly functional world of flashing green LEDs and trailing network cables that is...

16 New Street, connected to the internet!

Yes, yes. Don't all run up to me and kiss me all at once. The slow process of Common Sense being applied to various elements of the installation and hey-presto! Easy, huh?

Thanks go out to Mr. Bill and the fine people at Windows XP, for making computers which can work all this out for themselves, so that people like me can make a shared, routed broadband connection an active thing.

w00t.