Whoever has an ear to hear...

For those with family members, friends and senses that understand, an excellent mini TED talk...

P

Out of the roof came forth sweetness...

Have lived below a colony of wild bees for the last five years who have kindly created all this honeycomb (4.5 cubic feet) ready for some seriously local honey to be extracted. East Mersea's bee man Peter Inson both supervised opening up the roof and safe removal of the bees which will now be under his care. He estimates this haul should produce around 80lbs of honey with a shelf life of ~4,000 years!

Making Music Matters....

From ScientificAmerican.com comes a synergetic mix of neuroscience and comic strip art giving a generalised explanation of how different styles of music affects our senses...

P

Tim Minchin - Away in Some (m)Anger...

This wee ditty from the extraordinary mind and talents of Mr Tim Minchin has been cut from the Jonathan Ross Christmas show because of ITV fearing a backlash from conservative Christibods... Oh dear oh dear... full story on Tim's blog here.

Enjoy, consider this a Seasonal Salutation!

P

Steve Jobs - just one more thing...

The genius of simplicity. Graphic created by Jonathan Mak Long, a 19-year-old designer living in Hong Kong, found right here. Thoughts and prayers for his very private family and close friends...

YouTube video of Steve Jobs' inspirational speech to Stanford University graduates in 2005.

Apple's own tribute.

P

A Musical Missionary?

This little gem I picked up from Shane Hipps' Twitter stream. Shane is now partnering Rob Bell at Mars Hill, I first came across him as the author of one of my favourite books Flickering Pixels. Formerly he was at Trinity Mennonite Church in Phoenix, Arizona, a church I was privileged to offer some musical advice to recently...

P

Rob Bell in his own words...

Am grateful that George Luke, writer and radio presenter, recently chose to post this mini-interview he recorded when Rob Bell spoke at the Greenbelt Festival in 2009. It struck me both how prophetic it was back then to have predicted some of the grief Rob is getting now over his new book Love Wins and also what grounded perspective he has...

There have been some excellent blog posts in defense of Rob from both sides of the Atlantic:

Maggi Dawn's blog
Julie Clawson's blog
Sojourners' Blog
and one that made me smile:
Is Rob Bell a Universalist?

PB

The Insatiable Moon...

The trailer for the New Zealand film The Insatiable Moon about to hit the UK shores, initial run from March 4th at The Empire Leicester Square in London. A fascinating synopsis for a film which deals with mental illness, religion, communities and relationships all in one package.

Turning out to be a special time for films, I'm still recovering from the excellent multi BAFTA winning The King's Speech and prior to that the wonderful Africa United.

P

The Story of Stuff...

From the excellent Story of Stuff website:

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

P

Where two or three are gathered...

Have been musing on this picture that did the rounds shortly after the recent soccer World Cup final. Of course it is most likely a mock up, some clever image manipulation to convey a message that is still true. However, this picture can convey additional messages...

Have you also been told that in the same way you can't be a true football / soccer fan unless you actually attend matches you have to attend church to receive fullness as a Christian? I have always found that analogy uncomfortable (despite loving going to football matches!), so I am grateful this picture helped unfold an extra layer of interpretation...

P

Bastions of Boredom

Was reminded of this Video recently from 'Work of the People' and so post it to respond to Lesley's post earlier today: 'What do you think of Jesus and the church'. Also, in some way, to give some background to another reason why people land up leaving church, when they just give up on attempting to contribute. This adds to Suem's post a little while ago on the 'Leaving Church' topic.

It seems the world of blogging which ordained folk have so taken to heart is populated by alarming entries wondering what the church can do to arrest the problem of declining numbers and also delusions that sermons are actually good because a survey revealed they were the least unpopular moments in a service!

Whilst it is always easier to suggest solutions rather than fully defining what the problems are, it is becoming increasingly obvious that letting go of traditions, rituals and preferences (and all the etcs.) that, in the main, are held onto by clergy, is actually both the problem and the solution.

So many of the issues with church come down to the 'what' and 'how' we do things rather than the real meaning contained in the 'Why'. A key lies in re-developing a sense of curiosity and imagination in all of us that longs to share Why?

P

Fundamentalism versus Curiosity...

'curiosity' from Nic Askew on Vimeo.

A beautifully shot black and white film of one of my Blog heroes Seth Godin talking so much more sense than churchy types tend to pontificate on at such length and mediocrity... I have learned so much from this man's thoughts and writings. h/t Mike Todd

P