It's High Fashion...

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A gentle video which so ably articulates many of the fears and concerns I have about church and worship... Stan's the man!

Links in to my post about the 2009 Greenbelt Festival Communion nicely!

P

Uncommon Sense

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One of my regular reads is former BT futurologist Peter Cochrane's Blog on the technology news website silicon.com. A recent posting of his provides food for thought on the current economic crisis, some sections I quote here:

Where do these times of monetary and market instability come from? There appears to be a limited number of fundamental mechanisms over and above human ignorance, greed and stupidity.

First, I would cite the fundamental tenets and assumptions of economic theory that are obviously wrong:

1) Infinite resources - Not true for the atoms on this finite planet.
2) Infinite markets - Not true for a finite population and ecosystem.
3) Linear channels - Nothing to do with markets is wholly linear.
4) Continuous growth - Was never, and never will be, possible
5) Known behaviours - People and markets are increasingly unpredictable.
6) Understandable - Probably beyond the grasp of humankind.

Second, I think we can identify a set of new and progressively growing factors of increasing influence:

1) Complexity - Managers and people no longer understand products.
2) Connectedness - Everything is now related and not isolated or standalone.
3) Scale - Everything is now huge and networked globally.
4) Machines - They perform more trades than people.
5) Fundamentally non-linear - Chaotic and probably beyond human control.
6) Short-termism - The focus is on the immediate and making money now.
7) Speed - ICT has improved speed and removed latency.

The first set of factors set the scene for beliefs and the illusion of understanding, while the second present ideal components for the occurrence of one economic crisis after another. Perhaps the most critical, given (5) and (6), is the reduction of latency (7) as a prime factor in a world of non-linearity, chaos and strange attractors.

Read the full article here: Peter Cochrane's Uncommon Sense

Servant king...

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Matthew 25 v40: The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me...

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Never mind the bollocks...

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Last week was quite a tumultuous week with the Pope launching his surprise reclamation scheme and BBC's Question Time getting its highest ever audience. Although I have discovered this a little late I do think it is worth drawing attention to, an excellent blog from Jonathan Bartley on how the church needs to react:

Why the churches should listen to what Nick Griffin said on Question Time

Having listened to a bit of the Bishop of Chichester's keynote address on the Forward in Faith website I feel my opinions about FiF being primarily an inward looking initiative were reinforced. Frank Skinner articulates it much better than I ever could:

My Church is not a safe haven for bigots

And finally a heart warming story which was a kind of summary of last week. I found it touching and greatly encouraging (as a wishy-washy C of E liberal type who loves mainstream music!):

Dean Martin and a fitting send off for my Uncle Sid

Bright eyes... and one buttock playing!

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A truly wonderful 'sermon' on classical music in a week that has been quite bizarre...

P

I need(ed) some time to think...

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Random beliefs

Rev Sam tagged me with this yonks ago! I'm supposed to 'Post a collection of 10 things you believe, ethical, philosophical or theological' and here, finally, it is:

1. I believe music is, therefore I am!
   
2. I believe I am in a good place most of the time.
   
3. I believe it's time to leave the sinking ship.
4. I believe food and feasts, with love, can change any world.
5. I believe listening is more important than trying to shout loudest.
6. I believe it's better to build bridges rather than walls.
7. I believe the veil of the temple should always remain torn in two.
8. I believe I am ok with being a servant yet struggle with being a slave.
9. I believe I don't do enough good things to help others.
10. I believe it is essential to individually do what would make a difference even when it seems everyone else won't.
    
11. I believe complication leads to confusion. (As a muso my amp goes up to 11!)

Now I'm going to tag: Phil R, James W and Joe H (please forgive me if I hadn't seen you've already been had!)