The Blurb: December 2008

Hope

Friday 26 December 2008  10.57 pm

It's Christmas again!  No, I haven't missed it - today is the second of twelve days of Christmas, remember?  I'm staying in my parents' new house in Inverness, and this afternoon we have been playing the epic strategy game Civilization.  It's big.  So big, in fact, that we have played for around 6 hours and we're only about two thirds of the way through.  Classic Boxing Day - brilliant.  No boxing, though.

Time to share with you a Christmas thought.  This one comes from the excellent sermons I heard at Ascension on Sunday 21st. 

First off, we're tempted all the time to think that the "real world" is dark, difficult and depressing, and that good things are temporary and fleeting.  (That's what people kept telling me at Lee Abbey when I told them how much I was enjoying it.) No, folks, that's not how it is.  Good is more real, more long-lasting and more powerful than evil.  And God is good.

Second, even if you feel hopeless, you can still have hope.  Hopelessness is nothing more than an emotion, but hope is a fact, and it continues to exist in Jesus, regardless of how you feel.  You just have to believe it.

Happy Christmas, one and all!
 
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Unexpected romance

Saturday 20 December 2008  11.59 am

I hadn't gone into the Victoria Street bookshop looking for romance.  Stories of love and companionship were not even on my mind.

I asked an assistant for a particular tome and it was not in stock ... but something nevertheless compelled me to stay in the shop that evening and continue looking around.

I never found the book I wanted, but I was glad I lingered, because as this picture shows (and I assure you it is not a set-up), romance can often be found in unlikely places.
 
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Saving money before Christmas

Friday 12 December 2008  6.03 pm

Christmas is a time for spending.  And we could all do with spending a bit less.  That's why the cut in VAT has come at just the right time.  Only last week I was in M&S, spending a pound and a bit on an inconsequential item, and having counted out my offering exactly, discovered that the tax cut had caused me to overestimate by three pence.  I haven't decided what to spend it on yet.

With this blog entry comes my first cartoon since moving to London (sorry, I just haven't been drawing them for some reason).  Enjoy.

In other news, the Christmas production I talked about in my last post was a fabulous success, and it turns out I can actually sing in tune and in rhythm.  This realisation is (seriously) a major thing for me.  So praise God for that.  Not that my perceived tunelessness actually stopped me singing in the streets before, mind you.

I also went to see the world's longest running musical this week, Les Miserables.  It was utterly amazing - the songs, the acting, the sets and the emotional storyline are all incredible.  Our performance even had two intervals - one of the usual kind where they serve ice cream, and one of the more exciting kind when part of a set failed to make it as far as the stage (and the ice cream wasn't ready).  The actors were so professional in the unplanned interruption that we didn't know anything was amiss until they pulled the curtain down and restarted the scene a few minutes later.  Bravo.
 
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The Hopeless Promise

Sunday 7 December 2008  11.09 am

Advent has returned, Christmas is coming, and the whole world knows it.  On Advent Sunday I passed the London Eye and even that was lit in liturgically correct purple.  I went for a fabulous 3 days in Germany with my friend Wes, in which we enjoyed Gluwein (mulled wine) at the Christmas market and I operated a cliff railway for the first time ... in the snow.

And now back home, it's time for our church's big Christmas production.

"The Hopeless Promise" is a series of monologues, dialogues and songs based on the Christmas story.  I'm Joseph, which means I look like I know what I'm doing with a bit of wood, while I'm musing about my son-to-be in a monologue that I wrote earlier.  Also for the first time in my life I will be singing a serious song (which I didn't write) on stage.  Comedy songs are easier - issues with key or rhythm are more forgivable.  I'm slightly worried by the stage direction in the script that says next to my song, "Band (no rhythm)" ... so I'm a little nervous, but it's gone well so far.  Please pray that everything comes together for God's glory tonight.
 
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