It probably says more about me than I'd like to admit, but I took some time this morning (on my day off) to do a little comparison shopping, both getting an idea of prices and engaging in some real spending. And I really rather enjoyed it. Sad, or what?
I'm still in a state of mild shock after a visit to a retail park for some computer gubbins.
I was after decent scanner/copier, a LAN card and a long Ethernet cable (10-15m). I couldn't do a price comparison for the Gigabit LAN card, but the others are rather telling.
Samsung SCX4200 scanner, mono laser copier/printer*:
PC World: £129.98
Staples: £109.99
Belkin 15m CAT6 cable:
PC World: at least £39.99 (labeling somewhat unclear)
Staples: £27.99
£32 difference for 10 minutes research! I can't really understand why there should be such a difference, other than one shop, which busily and loudly touts itself as the place to go for all things computer-related is busy ripping off consumers on peripherals. I didn't do it this time but Maplin seem consistently on the cheaper side too, as long as you know what you're looking for, and maybe that's the key phrase here.
A salutary reminder of the value of just taking a little time. (Perhaps I should go and find a nice book/DVD/RPG...?)
* why this? Firstly I had to leave behind my SCX4100 at my last job - a similar machine that had come as a freebie with a Colour Laser copier. Secondly because I've already got a perfectly decent, if venerable colour inkjet (HP845c). I'm not sure I'd organise it this way if I were starting from scratch, but I'm not.
Wednesday, 5 December 2007
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
Why Chocolate Advent Calendars are Evil
In an idle moment I've discovered that my college friend Andy''s blog has been laid to rest. I hadn't noticed for a few months, what with the move and having never managed to get a working RSS feed. (Memo to self: set up RSS for this.)
What I did discover is this - in a sort of follow-on endeavour. Read it. It's good and it's thought-provoking, (as well as reminding me, along with other recent events and reading, that I'm really rather theologically and intellectually lazy and lacking in rigour. However, it's one thing to recognise it, it's another to know what to do about it!)
What I did discover is this - in a sort of follow-on endeavour. Read it. It's good and it's thought-provoking, (as well as reminding me, along with other recent events and reading, that I'm really rather theologically and intellectually lazy and lacking in rigour. However, it's one thing to recognise it, it's another to know what to do about it!)
Monday, 3 December 2007
To Be or Not To Be Faithful
One of David's marvellous poems: a fine start to the week.
To Be or Not To Be FaithfulSeveral anthologies of David's poetry are available. Please contact me for details.
Waking from sleep, and not before time,
the alarm has called me to get ready
to join the no beginning and no ending
duty and joy.
The church bells invite one and all
to assemble in
the ever-renewing life form
into which the self-giving Lord pours himself,
Having, apparently, no regard
for the risks involved
or the untidiness created
by entrusting himself to
an in-the-body-experience,
indwelt humanity.
There is, nevertheless,
always the freedom
to turn him down and throw him out,
perhaps allowing him shelter
in some sort of out of sight annexe,
As if hunger, need, fulfilment
and his sheer attractiveness
can ever be completely laid to one side.
© David Grieve 2007
Saturday, 1 December 2007
And another thing they don't tell you....
Two more illustrations today about the dangers of presumption. Not a grumble, merely the reflections of a green vicar... to remind me and to help any others!
Firstly on a visit to church to do some last minute Advent preparation the comment along the lines of "you do know about so-and-so who broke her hip a few weeks ago?"
Well, no actually. The vicar is, as usual, the last person to know. This is the story of my life, it is nothing new, since on many occasions in several churches and universities I've been faced with a question about why I wasn't at such-and-such's party, leaving me blank-faced and saying "what party?" The only recommendation I can make is to behave as we do do in the Prayer of Humble Access, "we do not presume..." I'd rather have 5 phone calls repeating the information than not know.
Then a chance conversation had by GLW in the florist's while she was picking up some oasis for the Advent wreath the children will be making. "A (former vicar) always orders a Christmas tree for church from me. If you want one this year get your husband to call me today..."
Now, I have to confess, I had never asked about Christmas trees. My curacy ended awhile ago, and was followed by the events in ME19, so any memories from there are a little hazy, and, after all, a group has already volunteered to decorate the church for Christmas "as usual" and muggins here had not thought to ask quite what that might normally entail. To be honest I'm such a Puritan at times that a lack of Christmas tree in church would probably pass un-noticed. I just hope we don't end up with two!
Perhaps all this is why other clergy friends are already getting sick of Christmas, even before Advent has started. Perhaps they actually know what to do!
Oh well, at least I've got the carols chosen for our Carols on Campus on Dec 11th, even if I will only have half an hour to get clear from a funeral that's just come in...
Firstly on a visit to church to do some last minute Advent preparation the comment along the lines of "you do know about so-and-so who broke her hip a few weeks ago?"
Well, no actually. The vicar is, as usual, the last person to know. This is the story of my life, it is nothing new, since on many occasions in several churches and universities I've been faced with a question about why I wasn't at such-and-such's party, leaving me blank-faced and saying "what party?" The only recommendation I can make is to behave as we do do in the Prayer of Humble Access, "we do not presume..." I'd rather have 5 phone calls repeating the information than not know.
Then a chance conversation had by GLW in the florist's while she was picking up some oasis for the Advent wreath the children will be making. "A (former vicar) always orders a Christmas tree for church from me. If you want one this year get your husband to call me today..."
Now, I have to confess, I had never asked about Christmas trees. My curacy ended awhile ago, and was followed by the events in ME19, so any memories from there are a little hazy, and, after all, a group has already volunteered to decorate the church for Christmas "as usual" and muggins here had not thought to ask quite what that might normally entail. To be honest I'm such a Puritan at times that a lack of Christmas tree in church would probably pass un-noticed. I just hope we don't end up with two!
Perhaps all this is why other clergy friends are already getting sick of Christmas, even before Advent has started. Perhaps they actually know what to do!
Oh well, at least I've got the carols chosen for our Carols on Campus on Dec 11th, even if I will only have half an hour to get clear from a funeral that's just come in...
Thursday, 29 November 2007
Conviction: Gospel, Political or otherwise
A general sentiment from last weeks CU mission seemed to be, when expressed in prayers at least, that conviction is good. More specifically it was the "conviction of sin" and the implicit follow-ons, repentance and salvation. And I have no problems with that, although I must express slight qualms about the phrase which I'm sure I heard, but may have created - the Gospel of Conviction.
Whether I've made it up or not, it's a rather worrying phrase - a linking of "the good news" with guilt. Guilt can be a pretty poor motivator - but that's for another post...
As I sit and ponder here it strikes me that conviction can be addressed in several ways. We have the phrase about having the courage of our convictions, something which I was wresting with a little this week. If I truly believe that change for the parish lies in the engagement with the majority population group who have very little to do with the church then I need to respond, and to encourage the congregations to respond too. The difficulty of course is that the changes of practice, and maybe more importantly changes in attitude, which might be required would certainly lead us out of our "comfort zone" and further into a "risky adventure" of faith.
It takes a serious degree of courage to step out from the familiar and the expected. It doesn't matter whether it's personal or institutional, it still means being open to dramatic change.
One illustration of this I discovered browsing the BBC news website earlier this week about the plans of the One Laptop Per Child initiative. It would appear that this laudable goal is being stifled, perhaps inevitably, by politics.
The words of Professor Bender might well apply to any number of issues, not least the Church of England, at both a national as well as a parochial level. It partly explains why I sometimes feel that the only way ahead for the Church of England is for it to die. As the example of the Cross shows, for Resurrection there has a to first be a death - with all the pain and grief that comes as part of the package. Another risky question is to ask whether that death has to be a lingering one or should be speeded up by an act of mercy.
The Gospel reading on Sunday (Luke 23: 33-43) reminded us of Jesus words on the Cross to the thief who had the clarity of insight, maybe spurred by the impending inevitability of death, to recognise Jesus for who he was, so prompting him to ask "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus' promise of paradise didn't remove the thief from his cross. It didn't stop the suffering - but it did transform the context.
Any comforts we might take from our faith, that the victory is won, still take their place within the context of an ongoing struggle. The greater need for wisdom lies in knowing which parts of the struggle are relevant in the economy of the Kingdom, and which are actually a waste of resources. To prune the butterfly bush down to the stump each winter looks cruel and excessive, but without it it fails to grow properly. Even the act recorded in John 19: 31-33 of the soldiers breaking the legs of the crucified is an act of mercy. It's not an infliction of needless pain but a means of speeding a long-drawn out death.
If I truly am convinced (convicted) about the rightness of a fact or a course of action then that needs to be set in motion. Conviction of sin, or of the rectitude of a policy or statement, demands a response. It is not enough to say something, but to do something. The thief on the cross expressed it as a request. Overseas governments need to honour the promises they have made to the OLPC program.
To enable action there has to be a reason, an incentive, a "carrot". I have to not only be convinced that a radical change of course is necessary, but to have a clear vision of the benefits, enough to outweigh any personal or institutional resistance to such a change. That is my stumbling block.
Likewise, my worry about the "Gospel of Conviction" that can so easily be heard in Mission activity, is that too often it becomes closer to the declaration of guilt and judgement by a court, where the condemned has nothing appealing to look forward to, rather than acknowledging that for many people they are already weighed down by a conviction of guilt, real or imagined. The Gospel has to offer a means of transformation and escape. It has truly to be seen as Good News. And maybe for that we need to work rather harder at unpacking the value and relevance, in contemporary terms, of the salvation, the healing of the human-divine and human-human relationships, brought about by the life, death and resurrection of the Son of God, and rather les on the burden of sin.
Whether I've made it up or not, it's a rather worrying phrase - a linking of "the good news" with guilt. Guilt can be a pretty poor motivator - but that's for another post...
As I sit and ponder here it strikes me that conviction can be addressed in several ways. We have the phrase about having the courage of our convictions, something which I was wresting with a little this week. If I truly believe that change for the parish lies in the engagement with the majority population group who have very little to do with the church then I need to respond, and to encourage the congregations to respond too. The difficulty of course is that the changes of practice, and maybe more importantly changes in attitude, which might be required would certainly lead us out of our "comfort zone" and further into a "risky adventure" of faith.
It takes a serious degree of courage to step out from the familiar and the expected. It doesn't matter whether it's personal or institutional, it still means being open to dramatic change.
One illustration of this I discovered browsing the BBC news website earlier this week about the plans of the One Laptop Per Child initiative. It would appear that this laudable goal is being stifled, perhaps inevitably, by politics.
"You've got to be big, you've got to be bold. And what has happened is that there has been an effort to say 'don't take any risks - just do something small, something incremental'."
"It feels safe but by definition what you are ensuring is that nothing happens."
The words of Professor Bender might well apply to any number of issues, not least the Church of England, at both a national as well as a parochial level. It partly explains why I sometimes feel that the only way ahead for the Church of England is for it to die. As the example of the Cross shows, for Resurrection there has a to first be a death - with all the pain and grief that comes as part of the package. Another risky question is to ask whether that death has to be a lingering one or should be speeded up by an act of mercy.
The Gospel reading on Sunday (Luke 23: 33-43) reminded us of Jesus words on the Cross to the thief who had the clarity of insight, maybe spurred by the impending inevitability of death, to recognise Jesus for who he was, so prompting him to ask "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus' promise of paradise didn't remove the thief from his cross. It didn't stop the suffering - but it did transform the context.
Any comforts we might take from our faith, that the victory is won, still take their place within the context of an ongoing struggle. The greater need for wisdom lies in knowing which parts of the struggle are relevant in the economy of the Kingdom, and which are actually a waste of resources. To prune the butterfly bush down to the stump each winter looks cruel and excessive, but without it it fails to grow properly. Even the act recorded in John 19: 31-33 of the soldiers breaking the legs of the crucified is an act of mercy. It's not an infliction of needless pain but a means of speeding a long-drawn out death.
If I truly am convinced (convicted) about the rightness of a fact or a course of action then that needs to be set in motion. Conviction of sin, or of the rectitude of a policy or statement, demands a response. It is not enough to say something, but to do something. The thief on the cross expressed it as a request. Overseas governments need to honour the promises they have made to the OLPC program.
To enable action there has to be a reason, an incentive, a "carrot". I have to not only be convinced that a radical change of course is necessary, but to have a clear vision of the benefits, enough to outweigh any personal or institutional resistance to such a change. That is my stumbling block.
Likewise, my worry about the "Gospel of Conviction" that can so easily be heard in Mission activity, is that too often it becomes closer to the declaration of guilt and judgement by a court, where the condemned has nothing appealing to look forward to, rather than acknowledging that for many people they are already weighed down by a conviction of guilt, real or imagined. The Gospel has to offer a means of transformation and escape. It has truly to be seen as Good News. And maybe for that we need to work rather harder at unpacking the value and relevance, in contemporary terms, of the salvation, the healing of the human-divine and human-human relationships, brought about by the life, death and resurrection of the Son of God, and rather les on the burden of sin.
Tuesday, 27 November 2007
A little intimidating...
I know that I'm often a little slow in writing the obligatory "Christmas Letter" but receiving 2 today, before Advent even begins, and from fellow clergy families, is a little intimidating!
I mean, it's nice to hear the news, but even so... :)
I mean, it's nice to hear the news, but even so... :)
In the absence of a piece of theological reflection...
... which I've left on my USB flash drive in the Chaplaincy, here's a brief record (no pun intended) of my current listening.
For the first time in months I bought a new CD recently - or more specifically a double CD, Long Road Out Of Eden, by The Eagles. It's a slightly scary thought that I'm rather too young to appreciate much of the original material they did, before they all got fed up with each other, but I do have fond memories of their "Best of.." collection. So, having heard that, and a litle artsy piece on Radio 4 I went out of my way to buy the new one.
In some ways I was vaguely disappointed at first, since I'm not so hot on the "sorry girl it's over" sorts of songs which seem to dominate the first CD, but with further thought I rather like it. The wistfulness of tracks like "No more walks in the wood" and "I love to watch a woman dance" are rather good, especially the first, with hints of regret at the past that has gone (maybe something corporately felt by the band?) But if I don't like some of the "lovey" stuff, then I do appreciate the questioning and gentle world-weariness of "Business as Usual" and "Frail Grasp of the Big Picture" How could I fail to appreciate words like this?
Best of all, by a long way to my mind, is the title track and its questioning of American involvement in Iraq. Ten minutes of beautiful production and insightful lyrics. Listen to it and make you own mind up.
Is it the best thing since sliced bread? No. But it mixes easy melodic listening with biting insight, perfect guitar with a touch of faded hippydom and weighs in at a very reasonable price.
But it's fine to agree with the critics of the nation the world loves to hate... can we see the planks in our own eyes? Wwe too, are on the Long Road Out of Eden, and probably driving away...
For the first time in months I bought a new CD recently - or more specifically a double CD, Long Road Out Of Eden, by The Eagles. It's a slightly scary thought that I'm rather too young to appreciate much of the original material they did, before they all got fed up with each other, but I do have fond memories of their "Best of.." collection. So, having heard that, and a litle artsy piece on Radio 4 I went out of my way to buy the new one.
In some ways I was vaguely disappointed at first, since I'm not so hot on the "sorry girl it's over" sorts of songs which seem to dominate the first CD, but with further thought I rather like it. The wistfulness of tracks like "No more walks in the wood" and "I love to watch a woman dance" are rather good, especially the first, with hints of regret at the past that has gone (maybe something corporately felt by the band?) But if I don't like some of the "lovey" stuff, then I do appreciate the questioning and gentle world-weariness of "Business as Usual" and "Frail Grasp of the Big Picture" How could I fail to appreciate words like this?
"And we pray to our Lord, who we know is American.
He reigns from on high; he speaks to us through middlemen.
And he shepherds his flock
We sing out and praise his name.
He supports us in war; he presides over football games.
And the right will prevail; all our troubles shall be resolved.
We hold faith above all, unless there's money or sex involved."
Best of all, by a long way to my mind, is the title track and its questioning of American involvement in Iraq. Ten minutes of beautiful production and insightful lyrics. Listen to it and make you own mind up.
Is it the best thing since sliced bread? No. But it mixes easy melodic listening with biting insight, perfect guitar with a touch of faded hippydom and weighs in at a very reasonable price.
But it's fine to agree with the critics of the nation the world loves to hate... can we see the planks in our own eyes? Wwe too, are on the Long Road Out of Eden, and probably driving away...
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