the future is bright

I’ve been tagged by Banksyboy with another Bible meme and this one looks good fun so here goes:

Summarise the Bible in five statements, the first one word long, the second two, the third three, the fourth four and the last five words long. Or possibly you could do this in descending order. Tag five people.

1. Chaos
2. and darkness
3. the Light came
4. it may seem dark
5. but the future is bright!

I tag Chrisendom, The Ugley Vicar, Between, Graham and anyone else who fancies having a go.

Once

This is a wonderful, must watch film. When Once came out a couple of years ago my wife mentioned it and I read some great reviews but then it dropped out of sight and I forgot about it. I came across Once on DVD earlier this week when looking for a birthday present for Kate and we watched it last night. Once is the story of two young songwriters who meet up by chance on the streets of Dublin and develop a relationship around their love of music. The narrative of the film is developed through a series of songs that, according to the credits, were actually penned by the leading actors. The two central characters are never named in the film, they are simply Guy (Glen Hansard) and Girl (Marketa Irglova) and as their relationship develops we discover something of their past through their song writing. They are both attractive and sympathetic characters, with genuine warmth and vulnerability, conveying an honesty which is at times painful to observe.

I was familiar with Hansard who featured in The Commitments and was in a band called The Frames, but I had never heard of Irglova who is a revelation. The music is a haunting folk style reminiscent of some early Radiohead and there is a raw immediacy to the lyrics and singing. The actors were chosen for their musicianship, there is a naturalistic feel to their acting and to the whole film, complemented by the backdrop of Dublin and its environs. It is no surprise that the film won an award at the Sundance Film Festival and has been feted by critics; it deserves the plaudits.

must be Santa

Forget the winner of Xfactor or any of the other musical pap preparing to assault our eardrums over the next few weeks, the must have Christmas album is Bob Dylan’s Christmas in the Heart. Royalties from the sale of the album will go to the charity Feeding America, however, it is more than just a charity album as Dylan plays it straight with a mixture of traditional carols and other Christmas songs. Critics have been mixed in their verdicts on the latest offering from Dylan but I think it’s great fun. There is an element of The Pogues about some of the renditions and I’m surprised that Fairytale of New York is not on the album. I get the impression Dylan enjoyed making this record and the boisterousness of some of the offerings is summed up in his version of Must Be Santa. Enjoy and then buy!

h/t songs for the journey

paperless Christmas nativity

The Adventures of Mary and Joseph – The Road Movie presents a re-telling of the nativity with a series of nine short videos. Simply go to the Paperless Christmas website and the story should load (I had to use IE to view it). The screen displays an open road with a series of billboards to either side which is a neat alternative to the atheist billboard campaign. Click on the arrow to travel down the road and as you come to each billboard, click on play and a video tells part of the nativity story. It’s a great way to explore aspects of the Christmas story and resources have been produced to make use of the videos by Barnabas in Schools.

Paperless Christmas is produced by Jerusalem Productions and the Bible Reading Fellowship and Richard Fisher chief executive of BRF comments:

We hope it’s something that will cause people – both within and outside the church –to think afresh about the Christmas story. Already, since the beginning of October when the website went live, the videos have been viewed just over 15,000 times by visitors from 61 countries. They’re being enjoyed by all ages, and a growing number of churches and schools are telling us that they plan to show some or all of the video episodes in services and assemblies in the lead up to Christmas.

I particularly liked the humour, choice of actors and the contrast between traditional costumes and modern settings. The videos can be downloaded from the Barnabas in Schools site, so even if your venue doesn’t have internet access you can use the material.

dead tired?

You would be if you had to sleep in a graveyard every night. How about doing it for just one night? Will you choose to sleep rough for one night to help those who have no choice? Chelmsford CHESS is a Chelmsford and Essex homeless project and they have organised a graveyard sleepout for 27/28th November at St. John’s Church graveyard in Chelmsford. All you need to take part is your sleeping bag, cardboard boxes or polythene and get sponsored. There will be musical entertainment in the church between 9:30-11pm before people bed down for the night. Given the way the weather has been over the last couple of weeks it is going to be quite a challenge.

CHESS have been organising these sleepouts for a couple of years and they are a good way of getting across to people the challenges faced by the homeless, as well as an effective way of raising much needed funds. Our parish has been a supporter of CHESS for some time and several members of the congregation take part in the sleepouts.

Chelmsford CHESS seeks to reflect Christ's love by relieving hardship and distress amongst the single homeless in Chelmsford and Essex through:

• the provision of temporary accommodation for homeless adults
• Day Centre activities meeting users' essential needs
• the opportunity of progress towards a more settled way of life
• active promotion of a sense of security and self-worth
• respect for the dignity of all

Further information about the work of CHESS can be found here.

memorable musical moments meme

I was tagged by Jonathan Evens for this meme that’s been doing the rounds.

Think of eight memorable musical moments, not necessarily all time favourites, but those when, for example, you felt compelled to wait in the car when listening to this amazing song on the radio because you just had to know who it was by. Or the piece you heard on the tv in a drama that drove you straight onto iTunes to download... (remember once we spent the princely sum of 6s 8d on a vinyl single?!). Optional details for each song give where, why and Spotify or youtube links ...

1. Dr Who theme. Saturday evenings in my Gran’s house in Belfast where we lived during the mid 60s. I’d had my bath and the football results were in and then the highlight of the week as the theme to Dr Who started up – magical memories.
2. Get It On – T. Rex from Electric Warrior. My first Christmas present album (1971/2?); the black cover with Bolan in outline posing with a Gibson Les Paul in front of a Marshall stack summed up rock n’ roll.
3. House of the Rising Sun – The Animals. My sister had this on the Stardust (David Essex & Adam Faith) film soundtrack and it was the first song my band played in school assembly, 1974? I was on guitar, an electric with a tele style body and strat neck – I loved that guitar but can’t remember what happened to it after I switched to drums.
4. Echoes – Pink Floyd. Saw the film Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii at the Chelmsford Odeon (1974?) and it blew me away. My musical transition from glam rock to prog rock was complete (sorry Banksyboy).
5. Rock n’ Roll – Led Zeppelin. I was at Earls Court for the first night of Zeppelin’s legendary five nights in 1975 aged 15. When Bonham’s bass drum kicked in and Page struck up his riff and duck walked across the stage, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck and stayed like that for two and a half hours. I got home from London at 2:30am and my mum went mad; at church that morning I couldn’t hear a thing as my ears were still ringing, but my fate was sealed and Zeppelin remain my favourite band. I saw them again at Knebworth in ‘79 and both performances are immortalised on DVD.
6. Sunday Bloody Sunday – U2. So much about this band resonates. They’re Irish, they keep evolving, they sing in the light of Christ and occasionally about Christ (as in this song) and they make great music. For me U2 summed up Live Aid in 1985 and opened their set with this song which has it all; great drums, unique guitar sound, solid bass and a gobby singer who isn’t afraid to make a fool of himself and really does get angry about sin, including his own.
7. The Island – Iona. I saw Iona at Greenbelt in 1992 standing next to a gorgeous young woman who I was desperate to ask out; we got married the next year. Runrig were headlining but Iona had the class and played a great set. I could even forgive Nick Beggs who is an amazing bass player for the abuse of the senses that was Kajagoogooo.
8. Old Man – Neil Young. I finally saw Neil Young at the Hop Festival in 2008 and fulfilled a lifetime’s musical ambition. Young is a force of nature capable of incredible sonic assaults and then the most exquisite melodies. As a teenager I used to lie in bed for hours listening to Young’s triple album Decade. It was a difficult choice between Old Man and Don’t Let It Bring You Down but the Old Man just edges it.

Loads more I could have added but I decided to resist the temptation Sam Norton succumbed to. I tag Anna, Alice, +Nick, Tim, David and Elwin.

let's do theology

I spent an enjoyable lunch quaffing a glass of wine and munching peanuts at the launch of the new edition of Bishop Laurie Green’s Let’s Do Theology. Many theology students will be familiar with the book which was first published in 1990 and is based on the pastoral cycle model of theological reflection. The book had begun to look rather tired, with a dated cover and dense typesetting that put some off reading and using the book. Laurie was asked to consider freshening up the appearance of the book for a new edition but decided that it really needed a complete rewrite. The new edition has a different subtitle, Resources for Contextual Theology, and draws on work published since the first edition. As someone who has found the book a great resource in training people for ministry, I can highly recommend it and would suggest that it also has a great deal to offer for those wanting to encourage theological reflection as part of discipleship in their churches.

Commendations for the new edition include the following from some very big hitters in the theological world:

Leonardo Boff: ‘This is a book of authentic liberation theology set within the English-speaking context: it takes instances of human experience, analyses them, reflects theologically and proposes practical ideas for transformation. I enthusiastically recommend this significant book.’

Rowan Williams: ‘Laurie green’s experience as a teacher, pastor and agent for God’s change informs every page of this accessible and challenging book…. It retains all its freshness, insight and sheer groundedness.’

P. Mohan Larbeer: ‘Bishop Laurie challenges the Western bias of traditional theology by explaining that every theology is contextual theology…. a must read.’