End

Last day of my sabbatical today. I should be enthused and re-energised and ready to get back to work. Should be.
The trouble is it took at least a month to wind down, and so I don't think I'm going to be upto speed for a while yet!

Not sure what the future of this blog will be. I will most likely update it occasionally rather than regularly. I think it will be persistent thanks to the good folks of Google.

Thank you to everyone who's followed my adventures in technology and theology, especially those who have expended more effort on comments than I have on blogging!

Having read several books, I have decided that I really don't like reading. I suppose I will do that occasionally rather than regularly too. Kindle text-to-speech may come in useful.

I'm still playing around in photoshop, imagining projection systems in places that don't have them. Here's a 'photo' from Coventry, somewhere that affected me probably more than anywhere over the last few months.

Revelation 22
20 He who gives his testimony to all this says, "Yes indeed! I am coming soon!" So be it. Come, Lord Jesus! 21 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with everyone.

Location:Shed

Shed

Shed in the news yesterday.  Not mine, but one beloning to Roald Dahl - his 'personal creative space' according to the lady from the museum.  Apparently it's going to take £500 000 to fix it up and move it into the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre.  They could have mine for a lot less than that.

So this blog has at least something in common with giant peaches and chocolate factories with no health & safety regulations.

Sheds are excellent 'personal creative spaces'.  Probably something to do with controlling the environment.  They let you start simple, and stay there - only putting really necessary things in there.  (Assuming you have somewhere else for the lawnmower etc.)  Mostly, you can avoid putting distractions in there.  It helps to be in the garden too, away from people trying to get you to join the RSPCA, have your loft insulated or your (perfectly functioning) computer fixed.  Though such isolationism isn't something I can sustain post-sabbatical.

In my distraction-free shed I have  a couple of garden chairs, an old cardigan and a blanket.  This would presumably meet the criteria of most monastic traditions.  The great Celtic monks loved their cells where they would eat, sleep think and pray away their days.
They sometimes had fires for warmth though.  As the weather gets colder, I may have to consider how to keep warm in a wooden shed.  I don't have electricity - so no light either.

That's not too important as I can read my iPad in the dark - and I should mention that I can get a WiFi signal too.  And a 3G phone signal.  So, apart from being able to find almost any piece of information known, and being theoretically able to contact anyone in the whole world, I'm just like one of those heroic Celtic monks of old when I'm in my shed.

Roald Dahl's shed is apparently in a poor state of repair.  Sheds are not really meant to last like houses are. They are temporary dwellings.  Nice to stay a while, but I'll get back into the house and sleep in a warm bed inside, thank-you.  The distinction between a temporary and a permanent dwelling is an important one in scripture.

Tom Wright points out in Surprised by Hope, that the start of John 14 is often misrepresented in the context of bereavement (it's the most common reading at funeral services).  The Father's house of many rooms is equated with heaven and permanently resting in peace.  Since the word translated 'rooms' is mone, meaning a temporary resting place, we should think of this as representing a step along the way to bodily resurrection. And this is what the early Christians had in mind.

John 14 GNB

“Do not be worried and upset,” Jesus told them. “Believe in God and believe also in me. ²There are many rooms in my Father’s house, and I am going to prepare a place for you. I would not tell you this if it were not so. ³And after I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to myself, so that you will be where I am. ⁴You know the way that leads to the place where I am going.” 

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going; so how can we know the way to get there?” 

6 Jesus answered him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except by me. 

Muzak Mystery

My Sabbatical comes to an end this time next week!  Not sure I like the idea of that.

But by way of compensation, I have just solved one of the greatest mysteries in the universe!

In a local garden centre recently, I was sure I heard them playing a piece of music I recognised. In fact the same music I'd also thought I'd heard in B&Q and a number of other places. Unlikely though, I always thought, due to the obscurity of the track. Listening to the album this afternoon I realised it was Matthew - The Man from The Book of Kells by the wonderful Iona. My favourite Celtic-prog-folk-jazz-rock Christian band!  Who have a new album out.  (I even have the same Fernandes Dragonfly sustainer as Dave their guitarist.)

So after a bit of googling, it turns out that Dunelm Mill, B&Q, Wilko, McDonalds, Meadowhall, Kwik Save, Food Giant, Carphone Warehouse, and many more chains often play this Christian music in their stores. Possibly more than many other tracks. As far as I can gather it's because this is a default track on the music software that they use. Possibly one that gets played when there is a system error - like another track that was selected somewhere isn't available locally. Like when the Internet connection is down. So the more copper cable that gets stolen, the more Christian music gets played throughout the land! Rejoice!

Colossians 3:16 (NLT)

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.

Shallow

Breaking fast at the cathedral this morning with Canon Jules, we were referred to a book called The Shallows by Nicholas Carr. The thesis of the book (which I haven't read) is apparently that the Internet is making people stupid. I'm not convinced it's going to be convincing, but a more subtle point is more important. Which is that the Internet is changing the way we think. More specifically, the way we read.

I had started to think that I don't do much reading, because (apart from sabbaticals and reading weeks) I rarely read books. But then I realised that I probably read more words than ever, it's just that they're on a screen. And for once I'm not talking about the display format; the distinction is between one long text and many shorter texts. A book is the former, the Internet is the latter.

I probably won't get round to reading the whole book, but will read a few summaries on the Internet. Thus possibly proving the thesis of the book which I haven't read - and which jumps around a lot anyway!

The problem with avoiding whole books is that we may never read a long, deep argument through from start to finish. Apparently.
I'm not convinced. I think books are too long, for a start. Ok that's a generalisation; but there are far too many books which should be the length of a Grove Booklet, which have another 200 pages of padding to make them publishable. That's something the Internet and ebooks may improve. Also, books tend to not come with animated diagrams and active hyperlinks, which is always a disadvantage in my mind.

Back to this morning, and Canon Jules made an interesting link between the secular idea of Slow Reading and the lectio divina - a traditional way of reading scripture which allows time for contemplation, meditation and prayer.
We do need to slow down in our reading. The need to spend time with a text is vital to authentic study of the scriptures.
(I think Canon Jules was confusing this with another idea though - the length of a piece of scripture we read in lectio divina is often quite short - similar in length to an Internet news article. )
I always like a video clip to make a point, and this morning we were treated to Fiddler on the Roof. Never seen it myself - due to it being a musical - But was quite surprised at some of the lyrics. Once you get past the rather odd - if not plain lazy - bits like "If I were a biddy biddy rich, Yidle-diddle-didle-didle man", it turns out that the goal of the wannabe rich man is apparently to discuss the scriptures for 7 hours a day. That would be the sweetest thing. Most laudable. I've heard that a Jewish boy on his first day of learning about the Torah would be given a taste of honey, and told that God's word should be equally sweet.


Revelation 10:9
So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, "Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey."

Location:Cathedral

Help

Had a short break in Llandudno. For anyone unfamiliar, it is a postcard-picture pretty town on the North Wales coast that has somehow retained it's Victorian character. There is a long seafront, ideal for walking or jogging - both of which I've done there.

I'm not very good at running. I do of course have some helpful technology. I have a wireless transceiver in my shoe that talks to either my watch or my phone. And if I take my phone for a run, it can log exactly where I've been using GPS, and how long it took to get there. It even gives me a cheer every time I pass a 1km mark! (Or it did until I found that a bit annoying.)
This is of course mixed with my 'Running' MP3 playlist. And at the end of the run, an unknown American athlete says 'Good job!' or some other grating transatlantic colloquialism. And then all the data is logged onto a website so I can see how I'm doing relative to previous runs. All very encouraging!


But does any of that technology actually make running any easier?
Not really. It still requires the same amount of effort, the same number of steps, the same will to get up rather than stay in bed.
It does help though to have a bit of digital encouragement, to know there's (a virtual) someone alongside me, that I'm not on my own. And sometimes to look back at my data and see I've achieved a goal. There are health benefits too I presume - not being ill is something that's easily taken for granted.

Now in best vicaring tradition: .. And God is a little bit like that.
God works in our lives in a similar way to how technology helps me to run. Ŵe still have to work hard - even just to be motivated to do God's work at all. Sometimes we don't feel like we've achieved much for God until we take time out to look back. Just knowing that God is alongside us is encouragement to keep going. And sometimes we hear a whisper from someone else, or something we've seen or read, that we know is being passed on from above.

John 14:26
The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you.

Location:Llandudno - Leeds-Liverpool canal

OHP

The Overhead Projector (OHP) has it's fans. Well usually just one actually, to keep the bulb cool. But really, readers - you know who you are!

There is a kind of technological inertia whereby people adopt a certain level of gadgetry with which they are comfortable, and which seems to do the job, and stick with it. Nothing wrong with that of course. Though tech does tend to improve all the time, and once you've seen that there is something so much better than you have now, you might have a rethink.

I've been away interloping at a conference of the Northumbria Community and the Anabaptist Network, held at the home of the Order of the Holy Paraclete. Met some great people, heard some new ideas and appreciated the theological input.
There is, however, a bit of a conflict between monasticism and technology. The 'simple' lifestyle may not have room for a computer.
The problem is, if there is a technological line to be drawn, where do you draw it?
What level of technology is permissible?

A projector and laptop were used some of the time. Other people seemed uncomfortable even with their unpowered presence.

I wonder what requires more technology - reading liturgy from a piece of paper, or from a projection on a wall?
The latter usually requires a laptop and a projector - hitech items both.
Giving everyone a bit of paper is clearly the way of simplicity.
Except that it's not. I did promise not to talk paper any more, but...

Firstly you need a couple of hundred sheets of blank paper. That has been produced from trees grown thousands of miles away - pulped, bleached, pressed, dried, cut, packaged - using vast amounts of computer controlled machinery. It has to be delivered, again using transport machines. Someone then has to use a computer to combine text and graphics, and put an image on one piece of paper using an inkjet or laser printer. This is then usually duplicated using a combined digital scanner/laser printer called a photocopier. Finally, everyone can be given a copy. Though by this time we'll have to switch our electric lights on so everyone can read it.

Somehow people see this as a simpler process than using the computer as above, and connecting it to a projector pointed at a wall.

Human self-deception knows no bounds. We aren't usually interested in where our stuff comes from. I'm sure a visit to an abattoir would turn most people vegetarian.

I should perhaps have included a third option above - the way of the OHP. Quite a simple device with a bulb, fan, and lens. You scrawl on a transparent film which the light shines through, onto a wall. That is the simplest of all 3 options, and arguably the most ecologically sound.


It was with some barely concealed amusement then that I arrived at the community of the Order of the Holy Paraclete. The Paraclete is of course the Holy Spirit, from the word used in John's gospel. John gives us a unique understanding of who the Holy Spirit is. The word means someone who stands by us, sticks up for us, defends us against accusation.

The OHP sisters were of course quite delightful ladies, very lively and full of the joy of the Holy Spirit. Not at all like the image of the Mother Superior beloved of inferior dramas. These are people who know what it's like to walk with the Paraclete.

John 14:16 New International Version (NIV)
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—

Location:Whitby

Soul

When was the last time you backed up the data on your computer?
If you think the data is valuable to you, you should have a very recent backup in a very safe place. I'm not intending to induce cyberguilt today though, but something much more important.

What is the human soul? Is it an immaterial something that inhabits our bodies, floating away when we die, hopefully to be with God? That's one use of the word. Or is it used in the Bible in the 'Old King Cole' sense of a human personality?

Perhaps the soul could be described in the language of today's technology as the information that makes us us. The data that defines who we are. The software that runs on the computers we know as human brains. Technology provides us with a hitherto unavailable analogy for what the soul is.


Software, or at least data, can be transferred from one computer to another, as older ones break down and wear out. In fact I will take a very lazy option now and paste a chunk of my website that I first published in 1997 (with some updated numbers). Because the data is persistent and is still there. Good thing it was not on paper! (I promise I won't mention that again)



A person consists not in the physical structure which facilitates our thoughts, the human brain, but in the information which describes the interconnexions that are there. It's not the hardware that's important, it's the software.

I used to write games for computers with about 48 000 bytes of working memory. I can still run those games now, on my computer with 4 000 000 000 bytes - but they go a lot faster. If I'd programmed one of those "learning" algorithms, and let it use any available memory, it'd now have a stupendously greater capacity for "learning" than I imagined when I wrote it 25 years ago.

So what? Well, I believe God is at least as careful when he makes backups as I was back when I wrote programs. If he's at all bothered about us, he'll keep a copy of the software even if he allows the hardware to break. We are the software - we get to run again on the spiritual equivalent of some future supercomputer, long after our brains and this universe have gone away. This heightened state of being, together with its correspondingly magnified relationship with God, is what is commonly called "heaven".


John 11:38-44 NIV
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

Location:Shed