Illumination

I thought I'd return to the blog this week as I have adorned the shed with pretty lights. 40 solar powered colour changing LEDs. I love the idea of solar lights, bringing light to darkness at no expense to the environment (if one chooses to ignore manufacturing and shipping them of course.)

Also had to revisit the old blog to reread the fascinating comments by the poster known as gospel. Lectionary text for tomorrow's sermons is John 14:1-14. I've preached on this more than any other, it being the reading of choice for funeral services. Still don't really understand it - especially the less preached verses (7-14). A lot hinges on whether you think the house of many rooms is temporary (as does NT Wright) or eternal (as does gospel). It could be that St John had in mind the temporary booths of the feast of tabernacles. Or not. Sheds or mansions? Wood or stone?

I've served my original license term of 7 years here now. Not sure if I'd have to leave the shed behind or whether it could come with me. How much of this world do we take into the next?



John 14 (CEV because I don't like v2 phrased as a question!)
Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house; I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

5 Thomas said to Jesus, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. So how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father, too. But now you do know him, and you have seen him.”

8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need.”

9 Jesus answered, “I have been with you a long time now. Do you still not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. So why do you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say to you don’t come from me, but the Father lives in me and does his own work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or believe because of the miracles I have done. 12 I tell you the truth, whoever believes in me will do the same things that I do. Those who believe will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And if you ask for anything in my name, I will do it for you so that the Father’s glory will be shown through the Son. 14 If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.




Found an old unposted post too, so now it's posted.

Location:Shed

Annual

Almost a year since I last posted anything!
What's happened since? Err got a new iPhone. it's like the old one but a little bit longer. Whatever happened to innovation?

Anyway, Just had a holiday and a free Sunday.
Visited a church for an informal service. Tech problems abounded. I resisted the temptation to go sort it out.
The poor minister didn't have a screen to see, so didn't know the words weren't appearing. Hence a very unresponsive section of liturgy! Did well considering, though.
This made me think. The congregation was smallish. Or few. Hence not the largest A/V support team. In fact it was just one chap. But this church has a quite complicated set-up. It usually needs two people at the back.
So, assuming money isn't a problem, is it always best to get as much tech as you can? Or is it sometimes better not to? For instance if you don't have the people to run it, isn't it better to get just the kit that can be used and used well?
Shouldn't the tech fit the people rather than the people fit the tech?
This is of course a driver for the post-pc or rather post-desktop age.

I'm still quite happy with the simple setup we have at St Peter's. One laptop and a projector. The service leader can control it, or give the remote to someone else. It works pretty well.



Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

Location:House

Encore

I did say I might add a little bit occasionally.
It's been 3 weeks now since I've been back at work.  And finally, today, I have a zero inbox. All emails dealt with in some way. This is cause for celebration!

In those few weeks I've been asked to lead a workshop on using Audio/Visual in Worship.  I've also written a magazine article on being in a shed.  So the sabbatical was quite useful.
I'm also running a confirmation course with our new curate, Alan, and have been surprised at how much audio/visual media I had used last time, and the time before. That was some time ago: there does seem to be something of an A/V plateau effect.  Once you have your projector and computer, you have to be continually creative to do anything new with them.  I still don't know what comes next!
I've been plodding along with PowerPoint sermon illustrations mostly, with videos reserved for the confirmation class.  And KFC (Kids For Christ).

The main tech news of note recently has been the very sad death of Steve Jobs from Apple.  I don't think I was too mean to him in blogs gone by, looking back.  There aren't many tech people who have such a big impact on society.  He even made the prayers in Radio 4's Daily Service.
I had planned a birthday visit to the Apple shop last Thursday, but decided against it because i wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I think it was flowers, mostly.  And post-it note tributes.

Many people, including myself, noted that they had heard the news of Steve's death on one of his own iDevices.

1 Corinthians 15:13-15 (NIV)

¹³ If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. ¹⁵ More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.

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