be safe - look after each other

Taken from: http://www.joolshamilton.com/blog/read.php?p=1722

 VM does it again - finds a beautiful piece of media ... it's true we should wear seat belts - it's also true we need to look after each other ... ">

 

Your thoughts please

Taken from: http://www.joolshamilton.com/blog/read.php?p=1721

I've been reading through the book of Proverbs  - and I think I just had to tell someone, so I'm telling you ... ... I'm asking for your opinion ...   First, my love of & struggle with Scripture is well documented and healthy. I love this revelation of God, I love that we have to struggle with it, fight it, coax it and live with it. It is the living word never the last word, and so it demands respect and attention. Second - the book of proverbs. What? So much of it seems nonsense ... as a brief example - why would this appear in the story of God? A quarrelsome wife is like        a constant dripping on a rainy day; restraining her is like restraining the wind        or grasping oil with the hand. In the grand scheme of recognizing the revelation of the great story of God and God's world, which I am now, at this moment in history living a part of ... then is this verse (which is by no means alone in 'what the? - ness') really the unraveling of judeo-christian wholeness to me? I'd love a story or two to see I'm wrong - I'd quite like to discover that Proverbs is actually everyone's favourite and most meaningful and well used biblical literature. Because I'm finding it hard to find anything in it save a gathered collection of scattered ancient Mesopotamian wisdom sayings that mutter nonsense for the today of my life. Harsh?      

 

Nice.

Taken from: http://www.joolshamilton.com/blog/read.php?p=1719

 This came on email the other day ... it's quite cheesy, and I've changed it a little, but I actually still really like it ...   Noah was a drunkAbraham was too oldIsaac was a daydreamerJacob was a liarLeah was uglyJoseph was abusedMoses had a stuttering problemGideon was afraidSamson was a womanizing murderer oh - and so was David Rahab was a prostituteJeremiah and Timothy were too youngElijah was suicidalIsaiah preached naked - you go mate.Jonah was convinced he knew better than God. Naomi was a widowJob's world went crazy bad - he lost everything. Everything. John the Baptist ate bugsPeter denied ChristThe Disciples fell asleep while prayingWhile Martha worried about everything The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once Zaccheus was too smallPaul was too religiousTimothy had an ulcer... ANDLazarus was dead!   Now - seriously, can you compare? And do you really think it still matters?

 

A little tired pony for you

Taken from: http://www.joolshamilton.com/blog/read.php?p=1720

 This is beautiful - and Archy dedicates it to his new born twins. beautiful & touching ...   ">

 

truth?

Taken from: http://www.joolshamilton.com/blog/read.php?p=1718

 A gentleman with the wonderful name Parker Palmer wrote a book in the 80's called 'To know as we are known' ...   So in contrast to the muttin bustin of yesterday - here are some quotes for you to chew over ... the book is a call to get over the modernist frameworks of Truth and recognize truth is a lot closer than you think. Within us - within community - and discoverable only in relationships to each other, God and the world ...   ... and an education theory to go with that concept ... a good read for those who like such stuff.   " To speak this way is to affirm that what happens in the classroom is happening in the world; the way we relate to each other and our subject reflects and shapes the way we conduct our relationships in the world. By this definition of teaching we practice troth (covenantal truth) between knowers and the known in the classroom itself." “The process and standards  (of teaching) must embrace the rules of logic and evidence while going beyond them to save the best of objectivity, while going beyond them to save the best of subjectivity as well - the sense that we and the world we study are not autonomous 'things' but interdependent beings, subject to truth’s claims.” And finally - for those reading & thinking ' silly little heretic' ... here a quote by Bonhoeffer; "Telling the truth ... is not solely a matter of moral character; it is also a matter of correct appreciation of real situations and of serious reflection upon them."  

 

Muttin bustin

Taken from: http://www.joolshamilton.com/blog/read.php?p=1684

Tina the princess shames me again - her blogging is lovely and, this year, very picturesque ...   This - this - this is .... well ... it just is ... Motton busin at the rodeo ...

 

check out RTE this Sunday

Taken from: http://www.joolshamilton.com/blog/read.php?p=1717

 This should be different for the 11am slot on RTE One this Sunday!!! Make sure & catch it if you can ... ">    

 

Succinct & thoughtful

Taken from: http://www.joolshamilton.com/blog/read.php?p=1714

Brian McLaren has over recent months used his blog to answer questions that many people send to him - below is a recent blog that I found enlightening in its brevity ... enjoy  

 

Tired Pony

Taken from: http://www.joolshamilton.com/blog/read.php?p=1716

This is a great wee session - not only is it a great original folk sound that's full of soul, but it has Iain Archer as part of the band.   Enjoy

 

provocative idea???

Taken from: http://www.joolshamilton.com/blog/read.php?p=1715

Bart Campolo wrties another provocative prayer letter ...   Out on the road, people often ask about the dangers of bringing up our kids in the ghetto.  What they have in mind are drugs and violence, but what I fear most is their extended exposure to ignorance and impotence.  There are exceptional individuals here to be sure, but the overall culture of this place is overwhelmingly dysfunctional.  If it gets to me as a grown man, I wonder, what is it doing to the developing hearts and minds of my children? Roman at seventeen is much taller and stronger than me, but coming home from his job as a bagger at the local supermarket he often reminds me of a hurt and angry little boy.  It isn't his bosses or the work itself that upsets him; it is the ongoing drama of child neglect, alcoholism, welfare fraud, theft, domestic violence, profanity, illiteracy, incompetence, and almost militant disinterest in doing the right thing, all on public display. One day he watched a mother scream at her pre-teen girls for getting caught stealing baby formula and toilet paper, as if she hadn’t put them up to it in the first place.  A week later, another mother told the cop shielding her 8 year old that she was going to beat the shit out of him as soon as they left, while the crying little boy kept leaning around, calling her a fucking bitch and telling her he wished she was dead.  At the end of last month, Roman gained a lot of seniority when ten of his co-workers were caught on tape robbing their registers.  At the beginning of this month, he rediscovered the 'Check Day,’ when obese young women stuff their shopping carts with potato chips, candy, sugar cereals, and soda pop, all paid for with food stamps, while the rest of the neighborhood stocks up on beer and malt liquor.  The good news is that, as part of our little fellowship, he knows lots of his customers by name.  Actually, that&rs quo;s the bad news. Last night after work, Roman walked in, sat down at the dining room table, and told me he thinks people who can’t read, support themselves, or demonstrate any form of competency should be sterilized until those conditions no longer apply.  For him, this was not an abstract policy idea, but rather a very personal, very emotional response to the lunacy he sees around him every day.  He named the toddlers across the street, never read or talked to, parked in front of the television or left on the front porch for hours on end.  He named the kids around the corner, who call at the end of every month looking for food while their mother and her boyfriend smoke and drink away in their rent-free government housing.  He named teenaged parents we know who can’t take care of their dogs, let alone their children. "I’m not saying we shouldn’t love and take care of people who are totally stupid and can’t do anything for themselves," he told me, “I’m just saying we shouldn’t let people like that reproduce.”  Then he asked what I think. What do I think?  Honestly, I think my poor, young, frustrated son is right.  I also think that if you lived here for very long, up to your neck in the human wreckage of this toxic ghetto subculture, you might end up agreeing with us.  I’m not saying that’s a good thing; I’m saying that’s the danger people ought to be asking about.

 

wassabi & ginger

Taken from: http://www.joolshamilton.com/blog/read.php?p=1713

 Thanks to Virtual Methodist for this ...   It made my day!   ">

 

More on Israel

Taken from: http://www.joolshamilton.com/blog/read.php?p=1712

 check out this article - and more specifically the USA-Israel 'working holidays' that bring evangelicals to work in vineyards in Israel because it quickens the return of Christ.   I'm pretty sure it  doesn't - but it definitely quickens my heart-rate.