Light A Candle - a guided, interactive ritual

These seem to be popping up all over the place. In my experience, they are suprisingly good. So here's the latest online candle lighting prayer thingy.

Light A Candle - a guided, interactive ritual

Filed in: spirituality, web, prayer

Light A Candle

These seem to be popping up all over the place. In my experience, they are suprisingly good. So here's the latest online candle lighting prayer thingy.
Light A Candle - a guided, interactive ritual
Filed in: spirituality, web, prayer

How Much Energy Do We Have?

George Monbiot does some back-of-an-envelope figures on UK energy needs over the next few decades and where they may be met from. A disturbing analysis...

“We needed 41.9, so our shortfall is some 23 gigawatts at peak demand, and 34.8GW of total capacity. (The need for spare capacity could be greatly reduced if we managed demand rather than supply, as the great free-thinker on energy systems, Walt Patterson, has suggested)”

However, there didn't seem to be so much on decentralised network grid generation (maybe that's what Walt Patterson is advocating?) but I wonder if that might make a difference?

George Monbiot ? How Much Energy Do We Have?:Filed in: nuclear_power, CO2, environment, costs, energy, UK, policy

TEQs

Intro to Tradable Emissions Quotas and some of the upsides, downsides and alternatives.

WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Howdy, TEQs

Filed in: CO2, trading, climate, tax

nose cells may help the paralysed walk

I thought the most interesting thing about this [and it's all pretty interesting and important] was this bit towards the end of the article.

"This is not the most popular way of attempting to heal spinal injuries. That would be to produce patented chemicals, which drug companies can make and sell. What we're proposing could be carried out by any very modestly equipped hospital with neurosurgery. There are no patents. It makes it a very unpopular form of research.
We're producing a procedure where the patient is their own cure. You can't patent a patient's own cells, thank God."

'Nuff sed?
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | The nose cells that may help the paralysed walk again: spinal_injuries, heal, neurosurgery,

accused: snatched peace activists of spying on Iraq

This ought to give the lie to those who think that bravery is the monopoly of those who take up arms. The point is that peacemaking may be costly; the difference is that the balance between willingness to inflict pain and damage as opposed to accepting it is different. My prayers go out to these men and their families.

"I don't know, I've done a lot of writing and talking about peacemaking. I've demonstrated, you name it I've been on it, but I feel that's what I'd call cheap peacemaking." Asked if the trip to Iraq could be costly, Mr Kember replied: "It could be."

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Hostage video accuses snatched peace activists of spying on Iraq: Filed in: peacemaking, Christian, hostages, Iraq, UK, FoR

Clean Tech's Trillion-Dollar Markets

What was once considered a financial niche area is poised to become mainstream as institutions with trillions of dollars under management embed environmental, social and governance thinking into their investment approach

Hoorah!
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Clean Tech's Trillion-Dollar Markets:Filed in: ethical_investment, UNEPFI

MP reply on ID cards

A while back I emailed questions to my MP and was grumbling that she hadn't replied. Well in fairness a few days later I got a letter [why not email? I sent the questions as email. Post costs more.]. I copy here her reply

Roberta Blackman-Woods MP 18 October 2005

The simple response to your points about ... the Social Security Number in the US and the Tax File Number in Australia is very simple and that is biometrics. Arguments that it becomes easier to steal identity when one has an identity card are nonsense. It clearly makes such activity harder because identity, for the first time, will actually be linked to the person it belongs by the use of simple biometric information. The initial registration will be checked against an applicant's 'social footprint' to establish that the identity is genuine and thereafter that identity will be confirmed using the biometric information held on the card when compared to the individual.

In terms of protection and oversight there will be a scheme commissioner to supervise the functioning of the scheme, independent of the Government.

You state that biometrics are not perfect. This is true but they are certainly far more secure than any of our current methods of checking identity such as signatures, PINs, and producing utility bills. It is also worth noting that even if one aspect of the biometric information is inaccurate, there are a total of thirteen types to be held. This simply makes the scheme more secure.

response to your points about the CSA and Passport Office computer systems I would counter by Pointing out that Government departments and agencies currently operate massive databases without any problems at all such as the Police National Computer and the DVLA database.

I must confess ( am not sure I understand your final point with regards to dangers to witnesses etc so I can not respond on this count but I would point out that criminal records are not to be held on the national identity register at all.

I am sure I am not going to convince you that ID cards are a good idea but I would remind you that they are initially going to be voluntary and will not become compulsory until after another vote in Parliament at which point I, if I am still a Member, will, of course, be happy to consider the evidence of the success of the scheme to date.

Let's start picking over that.
"Arguments that it becomes easier to steal identity when one has an identity card are nonsense. It clearly makes such activity harder because identity, for the first time, will actually be linked to the person it belongs by the use of simple biometric information. "
Yes, but not really what I was getting at. The point is that there is a quite high failure rate in the biometrics and multiplying them apparently, statistically, makes it worse. Any failure, or any down time on the check back IT systems, or any false matches or negatives are gateways for criminals to exploit, and they will, but the stakes for the rest of us will be higher than now.It might also be worth mentioning that M$ think that security on ID cards is likely to be a problem. And they aren't the only ones. So do I believe an apparently ambitious supporter of the government or IT firms ... ?

And that's without thinking about the inconvenience and expense and potential legal non-entity status conferred with each failure

What else we got? Ah yes;
"protection and oversight there will be a scheme commissioner to supervise the functioning of the scheme, independent of the Government"
Superficially reassuring but in reality since the legislation would set their remits and the limitations to it and as the current data commissioner is not in favour of ID cards, I think that this is actually little reassurance.

Then there's
"computer systems I would counter by Pointing out that Government departments and agencies currently operate massive databases without any problems at all such as the Police National Computer and the DVLA database."
It's reassuring to have those successful examples but unfortunately they don't cancel out the more recent bad examples. Especially given that the ID card project is going to involve some complexity and cross departmental co-ordination.

"they are initially going to be voluntary and will not become compulsory until after another vote in Parliament" but that doesn't reassure about function creep and the little Hitlers problem. The effect of a voluntary scheme is likely to be that the cards become de facto essential and also a means of petty abuse. We would have to see which has the greater effect on the general population. Though I hope that the problems with the scheme will yet force a shelving of the idea.
For further reading check my del.icio.us tags on the matter.

Government department selling YOUR details to criminals

It looks worse and worse for ID cards: what will they do with our data?

The Scotsman reveals that the DVLA have been selling drivers’ personal details to firms, some of which are run by convicted criminals. At a cost of only 3,000GBP a year, firms including a clamping company found guilty of extorting thousands of pounds from individuals have been able to directly access the DVLA’s database, finding home addresses for people using only their car’s number plate. The Information Commissioner is set to investigate claims that the DVLA have breached data protection laws. They have certainly betrayed the trust of millions of drivers.
Of course, those with nothing to hide have nothing to fear. However, in the case of criminals accessing your data and potentially discovering that your car and you are hundreds of miles away from your probably empty home, we all have something to fear. The National Identity Register will only open more security holes such as this in all our lives. We have no guarantee that our data will not be sold on at bargain prices to whoever comes asking. Indeed, it seems likely that to maintain an “affordable” scheme our data will have to become such a commodity.

NO2ID NewsBlog � Blog Archive � Government department selling YOUR details to criminals: Filed in: ID_cards, UK, costs, data, sales, crime

CS Lewis feared film would ruin Narnia

The headline above, which is the one the Guardian used, seems to imply he would not have approved of Disney's latest offering. But a closer look at what he said with regard to his reasons, seems to me to indicate it is more of a moot point as to whether Lewis would have disapproved.

Lewis also said he was "absolutely opposed - adamant isn't in it! - to a TV version" of any of the books. "Anthropomorphic animals, when taken out of narrative into actual visibility, always turn into buffoonery or nightmare. At least, with photography,"

It is at least arguable that cgi has changed all that. Lewis was okay with a reasonable cartoon, so a cartoon version would have been okay. I suspect that he would have been alright with a cgi version as it has the potential to take away the element of buffoonery or nightmare.
The BBC a few years ago produced a series of Narnia stories where they used anamatronix. Much more the kind of thing that Lewis feared. Actually it wasn't too bad though Aslan was a bit clunkier than I'd have liked.
Guardian Unlimited Books | News | CS Lewis feared film would ruin Narnia: Filed in: Narnia, CSLewis, Christian, cartoon, film, animation

pros and cons of nukery pokery

Good intro to the debate in today's Indy.
There's this point made which probably deserves fuller exposure:

Nuclear power is not carbon free. Fossil fuels are needed to run the nuclear cycle, from mining the uranium ore and shipping it to Britain, to disposing of the huge volumes of radioactive waste.

Independent Online Edition > UK Politics: Filed in: nuclear_power, CO2, environment, costs

UN Climate Change Conference Opens Today

Please join me in praying for this, it's potentially very important for how we steward God's good earth.
Treehugger: Montreal: UN Climate Change Conference Opens Today

Researcher sees key role for grasslands in carbon balance

Maybe we should not be planting trees but rather putting efforts into restoring grasslands. Read this article for why.

Here's a taster:

ecosystems drive the glaciations, as carbon enters soils when grasslands dominate and leaves again in sagebrush eras. The jury is still out on this idea. But Retallack is not alone in thinking biology could be important in ice ages. Lars Franzen of Gothenburg University in Sweden has argued that the formation of peat bogs, which draw large amounts of CO2 out of the atmosphere, could pull the world into glaciation--and push it out again as the bogs decay under the ice. In any event, with evidence growing that biology can drive climate change on other timescales, it cannot be dismissed.

Researcher sees key role for grasslands in carbon balance: Filed in: climate, grasslands, glaciation, biota, soil

Ecosystem function: nature's basic processes

A real treasure trove of articles that are comprehensible to the interested layperson about soil management and bioregional management, ecosystems including farming and grazing and reversing desertification. A very hopeful site and with some implications for global warming too.

Ecosystem function: nature's basic processes -- articles

Filed in: environment, ecology, green, soil

The Lords Prayer in Aramaic

I came across this a year or two back and was quite concerned that it was being purveyed as a translation when it quite clearly is not. Now my Hebrew is not extensive but enough that when combined with training in linguistics and biblical interpretation I can tell when a 'midrash' is being offered. [PS inserted here. Since I wrote this originally and noting that this post gets a lot of hits, I have continued to research and would like to encourage readers to visit more recent posts here and here and I tend to add thinngs from time to time to a Squidoo Lens dedicated to the topic of Aramaic Lord's prayer]

Anyway, see for yourself the discrepancy between the quantity in the original and the English (as far as I can tell, the orthography is vaguely german, so 'j' is a 'y' sound etc.)

The Prayer To Our Father
(in the original Aramaic)
Abwun
"Oh Thou, from whom the breath of life comes,
d'bwaschmaja
who fills all realms of sound, light and vibration.
Nethkadasch schmach
May Your light be experienced in my utmost holiest.
Tetemalkuthach.
Your Heavenly Domain approaches.
Nehwe tzevjinach aikana d'bwaschmaja af b'arha.
Let Your will come true - in the universe (all that vibrates)
just as on earth (that is material and dense).
Hawvlan lachma d'soonkanan jaomana.
Give us bread (understanding, assistance) for our daily need,
Waschboklan chaubein wachtahan aikana
daf chnan schwoken l'chaijaban.
detach the ropes of faults that bind us, (Karma)
like we let go the guilt of others.
Wela tachlan l'nesjuna
Let us not be lost in superficial things (materialism, common temptations),
ela patzan min bischa.
but let us be freed from that what keeps us off from our true purpose.
Metol dilachie malkutha wahaila wateschbuchta l'ahlam almein.
From You comes the all-working will, the lively strength to act,
the song that beautifies all and renews itself from age to age.
Amin.
Sealed in trust, faith and truth.
(I confirm with my entire being)

What is actually going on here is that a version of the Lord's prayer which was used by Aramaic speakers (Syriac?) has been taken and 'translated' in a dynamic equivalence sort of way and some further work done on it in terms of expanding some of the words or phrases to offer an interpretive gloss in terms that seem palatable to a 'new age' sort of take on things.

The interesting thing is the way a spurious 'authority' is gained for a philosophical framework which is probably not really consonant with Jesus's but using Jesus' words. That Jesus' authority is sought is probably significant. It is also worth noting what terms are fairly comprehensively reinterpreted and how. There are clues here for how we might begin to translate the gospel into new spirituality terms.

I would highlight the desire to use a 'vibration' metaphysic, the use of 'karma', the aligning of God's will with a sense of our true purpose and imagery that takes readily to artistic metaphor.

The page has some other translation which bear some study alongside this one. I actually quite like this one, definitely not a translation but a really nice reflection:
O Birther! Father- Mother of the Cosmos
Focus your light within us - make it useful.
Create your reign of unity now-
through our fiery hearts and willing hands
Help us love beyond our ideals
and sprout acts of compassion for all creatures.
Animate the earth within us: we then
feel the Wisdom underneath supporting all.
Untangle the knots within
so that we can mend our hearts' simple ties to each other.
Don't let surface things delude us,
But free us from what holds us back from our true purpose.
Out of you, the astonishing fire,
Returning light and sound to the cosmos.
Amen.

PS. I would have to say that it translates Jesus' thoughts into a thought frame that is not his originally and which therefore may appear to have him endorse views of life, the universe and everything that he may not recognise as [at all?] consonant with his message in important ways.

On a positive note, we can see John in the Gospel that bears his name translating the thought-forms into a more Hellenistic thoughtframe in a way that could serve as a model for what this 'translation' seems to be attempting to do.

Just to illustrate my contention about 'overtranslation'; "Abwon" is ab, a common Semitic root for "father", the 'won' corresponds to the Hebrew 'nu' meaning 'our'. Simple, there is no real justification to translate ""Oh Thou, from whom the breath of life comes," than there would be to translate the French "notre Pere" in that way, or the German "Unser Vater" likewise, or "padre nuestro", or "Ein Tad", or "Pater noster" ... to do more than translate as "our Father" is to engage in a kind of ideological sleight of hand and it would be somewhat dishonest to knowingly pass it off as if it were a simple translation of the "=our father" sort which is the way that it was presented to me. It is a commentary, someone's view of how the word[s] might be rendered in terms of a particular preunderstanding of spiritual life that is not directly attributable to Jesus. Is it faithful? That's another issue. But by passing it off and passing it on as if it were a simple translation that question is being avoided and implicitly answered in a way that really deserves more scrutiny.

If the so-called translation was distributed as a commentary or a meditation on the Aramaic in the light of a perspective informed by the Philosophia Perennis, for example, I would not cavil. But...

For further thought on the Lord's prayer try this site and the book that goes with it and/or the lead from this comment. Also here and here for a bit on the midrash aspect.
And an ongoing collection of Aramaic translations and comments on translation related issues.
For a copy of "Praying the Pattern" ...

See also later comment.
If you fancy the Aramaic of the prayer on a tee-shirt or a mug ...
Ayahuasca Forums :: View topic - The Lords Prayer: Filed in: prayer, Lord's_prayer, spirituality

The CueCat Is Back

"'We hyperlink the visual world,' said Harmut Neven, the company's CEO. 'Users should come to expect that every billboard is not just a billboard -- it's a big shining link to mobile content.'"
Interesting as to what might happen if we bar coded church buildings or even disrupted bar codings somehow ...
Of course the interesting thing is how a technology like this begins to create a kind of cyberspace that is increasingly anchored at various points to real space and read through a device. Should this be commercial space or can we make sure that some of it is 'commons'? It can be seen as a kind of continuing sub-creation, theologically. The issue would become how far it serves human welfare as opposed to corporates. It also raises the possibility of fragmenting the experience of the physical world beyond the subjective apprehensions we already experience. There would be more to negotiate as to what we could count as common experience: tagged or untagged reality?
Arguments in cyberland between the church and the mosque opposite... shops projecting offers in comparison to near geographical competitors ... political parties telling you how their policies might affect the scene you are looking at ...
hmmmmmm
Wired News: The CueCat Is Back: advertising, hyperlink, bar-code, billboard,

The Interflush Water Saving

Apparently this was a failed application in the Dragon's Den, but I reckon those people have no idea how valuable this could be for greenies!
The Interflush Water Saving Product - Welcome Page

Lib Dem to be ID card 'martyr'

I hope that this will begin to raise the profile of the campaign even further, soon.

Liberal Democrat president, Simon Hughes, yesterday vowed to go to jail rather than carry the proposed new national ID card.

Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Lib Dem to be ID card 'martyr':Filed in: ID_cards, UK, LibDems

'Hangover hospitals' should be funded by license trade

When I read this my first reaction were that it is great that these 'revel zone' field hospitals save emergency resources elsewhere but it seemed unfair that the rest of us were subsidising the bad choices of revellers especially when the promos of the licensed trade were supporting the making of those bad choices.

Although widely welcomed by police and medical experts, one doctor said such field hospitals should be funded by the drinks industry.
'At the moment this is being funded by the primary care trust from a special initiative fund, but there is no long-term funding for it,' said Dr Chris Record, a liver specialist at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary. 'This kind of facility is the kind of thing the licensing trade should be paying for through a supplement in the licensing fee.'

So I agreed with that. Don't get me wrong; I think that partying is fun and I don't begrudge anyone a night out or even the occasional misestimation of how much they are drinking and how fast. But in a situation where there is a culture of getting off your head quite deliberately and thinking that it is big and clever, and such an attitude is aided and abetted by advertising and promotional offers, I don't think it's unreasonable for the rest of us to say that the choices to do that affect the rest of us negatively, not least in that we pick up the bills for healthcare, policing and sundry damage, so if they wish to continue to exercise their choices in that way, please would they relieve the rest of us from those bills?
The Observer | UK News | 'Hangover hospitals' could go nationwide:Filed in: drink costs culture UK

Happy (Belated) Peak Oil Day!

Yesterday might just turn out to be one of those symbolic days that you want to record for your grandchildren in terms of 'what I did on peak oil day'...

according to one of the more preeminent peak oilers, yesterday was the day the world saw its maximum oil production. Probably.

I was being interviewed for a job and I watched 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' on a screen so big that I couldn't see the edges in peripheral vision and felt a bit funny for all the 'flying' shots. The job I'm waiting to hear about, and the film was great. Funny old day. Espcially with it coinciding with North Amercan Buy Nothing Day.

There is of course, a caveat:

The reality is that oil peaking is not a smooth curve, of course. Unexpected discoveries, technology improvements, and the like will sporadically increase output, even after the decline has truly begun. And, as we've noted in the past, peak oil matters most when demand exceeds supply. The best defense against peak oil nightmares is to stop using so damn much of the stuff. We know how to move to a cleaner, greener, higher-efficiency civilization; the time to do so is now.

WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Happy (Belated) Peak Oil Day!: Filed in: climate, peak_oil, environment

Expose corporate power in Brussels

This is an example of an area where a US kind of system looks like it would be useful [comments from US readers welcom]

a coalition of over 160 civil society organisations from around Europe, has come together to demand:
* Mandatory lobbying transparency
* Limits on EU civil servants going through the revolving doors to corporate lobby groups
* An end to the privileged access granted to corporate lobby groups
Corporate lobbyists are resisting these calls for change claiming that self-regulation is enough.
However, self regulation would only cover a small proportion of Brussels lobbyists and would not provide any information to the public.

EU readers please add your voice.
Friends of the Earth: Campaigns: Corporates: Press for change: Expose corporate power in Brussels:Filed in: EU, lobbying, corporations, rules

Britons 'back Christian society'

We're a funny lot. Arguably one of the most secular socities in the world, yet somewhere at the back of it a sense that there is something important about a Christian heritage. I wonder if it's a sneaking suspicion that things that we value like individual dignity, the importance of loving others for a good society etc are at the root worth having and not really something that can be taken for granted without a solid Christian underpinning ... ?
BBC NEWS | UK | Britons 'back Christian society'

Crusades betrayed Christian beliefs, Williams tells Muslims

It's great to read that +Rowan has said this

"Any modern attempt to revive a crusading ideal is not likely to be supported by most Christian believers."

to a Muslim audience, I pray that it is heard loud and clear.
What I'm less happy about at least as it is reported is,

Dr Williams also said Christian countries did not set the best examples in giving money, a clear reference to criticism of western aid efforts following the Pakistan earthquake.

in the sense that what impressed me was how many non-muslims in the UK were giving to Muslims who were going to be using the money for aid ... I said at the time that I hoped that many Muslims would recognise that and that it would have a positive effect on interfaith understanding at the level of a shared humanity.

Telegraph | News | Crusades betrayed Christian beliefs, Williams tells Muslims:Filed in: Christian, Islam, crusades, Rowan_Williams

True colours of Benedict XVI?

The friars of the shrine of St Francis of Assisi, the world-famous centre of inter-religious dialogue and Christian pacifism, have been brought to heel by Pope Benedict XVI

I'v got to wonder if this is the real Benedict, given that it is very consistent with Ratzinger's modus operandi, the shape of things to come?
Independent Online Edition > Europe: Filed in: Christian, RC, Assissi, Franciscans, Benedict_XVI

China: world's biggest polluter

If China's environmental impact concerns you and your French is up to it, this article in Le Figaro is worth a look. Good summative stuff.
La Chine, premier pollueur de la plan�te
China, pollution, environment, unrest,

ID Survey

It would seem that support is falling for ID cards in the UK as measured in polls. This is significant since it would appear that support has been higher in previous polls. On the No2ID site today, I saw an interesting quote on the matter:
"What is so pernicious about this law is that its effect will be to place each of us under house arrest and then sell us a conditional licence to be at large." [Stephen Nelson, Cumbria]
He's right ...
No2ID - ID Survey
Filed in: ID_cards, UK, poll, support

'We'll all be toast'

Colin Challen, MP, today introduced a bill to parliament committing the UK to the contract and converge principle. This is the principle that is supported by Green groups including the Christian Environment bodies in the UK and also the Church of England general synod, among others. As part of this article explaining his reasons for it he writes in terms that echo the American declaration of independence.

We also know that no one is born with an automatic right to emit more greenhouse gases than anyone else. If we dispute that principle, it would be equivalent to saying that some people have a greater right to eat than others. We do not accept that such a right exists, yet our behaviour is quite different.

It's the only way to go, that I can see and is already beginning to usher in a quiet revolution.
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | 'We'll all be toast': Filed in: climate_change, contract_and_converge, politics, CO2, UK

Buy Nothing Eve

Tomorrow is Buy Nothing Day...
Buy Nothing Day : Adbusters

Paternoster rosary 5.5 - 1 Corinthians 10:13

Quite often this is the passage I leave aside if I'm not using all five. Some of what it says is covered in earlier reflections. It is a comforting verse in both the reassuring and the challenging sense of 'comfort'. It can reassure us that God is providentially guiding our life so that whatever times of test, challenge or temptation we may face, there will always be a way through. There lies the challenge too: we can't get away with claiming there is no alternative but to sin which can be the easier thing to want to say.

No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

First off, it's good to reflect on our solidarity with the rest of the human race: we are all prone to temptation and testing, and in fact it all derives from the same set of drives and concerns that we all share to varying degrees. We may not all be tempted to lust after David Beckham, but we have all experienced desire and that desire can be inappropriate to who we are or our situation. We may not suffer the trial of finding an unlocked car and finding it all to easy to drive off in it, but the possibility of passing up having something that is not rightfully ours when an apparently victim-free opportunity presents itself is far from foreign to most people, even if it is only the extra change we are given on the bus home.



Then we might want to think about what lies ahead recalling that God is faithful: there is nowhere we can go, no situation we can be in which is God-forsaken (much though it may feel like it, or much though we might want it to be, sometimes). God's resources to meet our hour of trial are always available whether it is strength or a way to sidestep. Sometimes our biggest trial is actually to be willing to look for God, God's strength or God's exit strategy. This is not to say it will not still be testing; clearly it is the case that the trial is severe, but we can take comfort that it is not, in principle, beyond us.



It may be that as we look into the day ahead, as much as we can anticipate of it, we see potential situations of trial. Let's look for the ways out or round them, let's think ourselves into them but conscious that God will be there and see if we can reconfigure our reactions ...

Save us from the time of trial, but if we must go through it, deliver us from becoming part of the ill of the situation, rather let us be instruments of shalom.



Previous passage (5.4)

Crosswalk.com - 1 Corinthians 10:13:Filed in: Prayer_beads, paternoster, Praying_the_Pattern, reflection, rosary, Christian, spirituality, prayer, Abbeynous

New Tankless Water Heater Uses Microwaves

We've been used to those water heaters that give hot water on demand using gas burners to heat the water as and when needed. Now there's an electric version using microwaves to heat the water. Don't know how it's energy use profile looks, though the article claims it consumes only marginal amounts of leccy. Could be a real boon if that's so.

Groovy Green ? New Tankless Water Heater Uses Microwaves

Filed in: green, energy, electricity, water, heat

Paternoster rosary 5.4 - Matthew 10:32-33

I have tended to find this one pretty challenging, oddly enough.

Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

It's meaning is fairly straightforward and I tend to take it straightforwardly as a call to think about how I will respond to those occasions when admitting a faith in Christ or putting in a good word for God is a reasonable possibility. I say 'reasonable possibility' because I don't think that this is meant to be a carte blanche to religiously or spiritually abuse others, and some witnessing is certainly that: all about 'my' need to think that I have commended my faith and very little about what would make sense and help along the work of the Spirit in that other person's life. The word 'commended' is important to me; surely when we do acknowledge Christ before others, it should be done in a way that is winsome, likely to encourage further thought and leave a positive impression. So I don't hear this as promoting crude, insensitive or aggressive witness or preaching. Quite the reverse.

On the other hand, I have found that I can become over-sensitive about it and so miss the chance to acknowledge Christ before others. I get to assuming that they won't want to hear or will just be embarrassed and I bottle it. This couple of verses brings me up short. I pray that I wil find the wisdom in forthcoming situations to commend Christ winsomely and in ways that stand a chance of provoking further thought. I'm not looking for chances to sock 'em with everything I've got, just to lay down a few hints or gentle teasing challenges that people could take further or not. I see Jesus doing this; asking questions or making statements that invite further responses.

Generally, as I've tried to do this, I've found that people are not as disrespectful as I fear they may be.
Next passage (5.5)
Last passage...
Crosswalk.com - Matthew 10:32-33: Filed in: Christian, prayer, paternoster, prayerbeads, Anglican, Praying_the_Pattern

Council votes to oppose ID cards

It looks to me like opposition to ID cards is growing, presumably as people discover more about the implications.

One of the biggest city councils in England has voted unanimously to oppose the government's plans for ID cards on the grounds that they could lead to abuses of human rights. Bristol city council, which is led by the Liberal Democrats, yesterday became the ninth local authority in the country to officially oppose the plans, which will need the support of local government if they are to succeed.

If enough local authorities oppose it, then either the legislation will be dead in the water, or it will force the government to bring in amendments to compel compliance, which would be a high-risk strategy. One of the councillors said
"We'll be obliged to set up a whole bureaucracy for policing the system," he said. "It'll be work on behalf of central government that they won't pay for. The costs will be huge. We feel sat upon by government layers of regulation already. What chance do we have to speak for our citizens?"
We should note that the opposition was unanimous which certainly then includes both Labour and Conservative members as well as the majority LibDems. In fact there's a good quote from a Conservative:
Conservative councillor Bill Goulandris added: "The simple fact is that the government is not listening to reason. In banking we spend hundreds of millions of pounds improving security, and fraudsters still find a way in. Are we supposed to believe that they won't be able to do the same to the ID database?"
Quite so, and given the value of the data, I imagine that huge amounts of ingenuity will be devoted to just that end. And since the system would presume itself impregnable, that leaves many of us potentially identity-less in a society where it would have become central to be identified.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodies?
SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Local Government | Council votes to oppose ID cards: Filed in: ID_cards, UK, oppov

Forests paying the price for biofuels

Potential for an 'out of the frying pan and into the fire' situation, palm oil is not being grown sustainably ...

"We need to ensure that the crops used to make the fuel have been grown in a sustainable way or we will have rainforests cleared for palm oil plantations to make bio-diesel."

New Scientist News - Forests paying the price for biofuels: Filed in: biofuel, energy, oil, rainforests, sustainable

Birth Verse Meme

You know what a sucker I am for this kind of thing. The idea is to look up the gospel passages that correspond to your birth date. In my case that gives us:
Matthew 4:1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Mark 4:1Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.
Luke 4:1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,
John 4:1Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, "Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John"
Of course I'm using Brit dating for January 4. Do I want to look up all the 1:4's? Nah.
Happy Catholic: Birth Verse Meme
Filed in: Christian, trivia, Bible

University of Capetown's Disposable Solar Panel

Researchers at the University of Cape Town SA have developed a protoytpe method for printing solar panels on paper.

So huge possibilities for leapfrogging and domestic usage ...

Treehugger: University of Capetown's Disposable Solar Panel: Filed in: PV, solar, printing, electricity

Waterless Washing Machine Design

Here's a potential future product to watch out for,

a prototype unit that uses compressed air, negative ions and deodorizing agents to wash clothes

I guess the issue might turn on energy usage ...

WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Waterless Washing Machine Design:Filed in: energy, water, washing, Airwash

Children's czar warns of huge leap in bullying

I'm skeptical about this

Bullying in schools is getting worse, says the charity Childline, which claims it has received thousands more calls about the issue in the year to October than in the whole of 2004.

I went through a secondary schooling where it was routine to be having to handle the fear of violence and various other forms of intimidation; and the culture was a kind of machismo that bolstered the dog-eat-dog atmosphere. So we were disinclined to challenge the misery of bullying. I suspect that many adults didn't challenge it even when they shrewdly suspected it was occurring because they could rarely get evidence sufficient to act; our code of silence [enforced by the fear of reprisals or near universal opprobrium] and the complicity of an adult society which didn't take bullying seriously because it was itself implicated and saw it as normal both in children and in adult society; routine abuse of power and humiliation of others as a way to gain a sense of value. The worst effect of bullying is that it tends to conscript its victims to perpetuate its false promises of status and self-worth by the putting down of others.

Now I don't want to denigrate the concern for bullying, that would be counter to what I have just said. But I think it may be a mistake to try to use this tactic to deal with it. Too many of us have been through the system, and too many still are in thrall to the mythology of bullying so that the idea that a bit of having to cope with it 'toughens 'em up' gives enough wiggle room to let bullying breathe. What we also need to be doing is exposing the lies of bullying that it confers power, status and invulnerability with the truth that it confers perpetual insecurity, loathing, self-loathing and the inability to emotionally connect with the important things in life. As well as breeding a view of life that is inherantly short-term and short-sighted and unable to deal with conflict constructively, in other words, it's actually crap for life skills to boot. [Pardon the wording but I feel strongly and want to convey that].

The Observer | UK News | Children's czar warns of huge leap in bullying: On Del.icio.us: schools, violence, bullying, children, culture

Electric Running Costs Calculator

This looks like a handy item to bookmark; calculates the costs of using electrical appliances.
UK Power - Electric Running Costs Calculator
Filed in: energy, calculator, electricity

Protect your right to energy-saving information

A few entries ago, I blogged about how EU standards tended to have the effect of raising global standards. Well there appears to be a backlash on the basis that it is anti-competitive. Of course it is from one point of view, but the standards are equally applied. Still it shows you short-term profitability in its worst light.
Friends of the Earth: Campaign Express: News and updates: Rapid response - Protect your right to energy-saving information
Filed in: EU, REACH, standards, global

Lack of cuddles in infancy may affect development of brain

Now you can't say this isn't interesting; how much affection we are shown in infancy alters brain development and the advantage goes to the well-and-demonstrably loved. A good argument for polity that supports relaxed and good parenting of the very young. And for Christians it's no surprise that we really do work better on love and affection. Almost lends support to Catholic thinking about Mary, doesn't it?

Guardian Unlimited | Science | Lack of cuddles in infancy may affect development of brainFiled in: brain social, affection, development, bonding

A taxonomy of church leadership

I'm not always sure that futurechurch is saying very much, though it is always said well and occasionally insightfully, like in this article on leadership with an interesting taxonomy of types which I exceprt here for your interest. The word 'leader' in this article appears always to be masculine, I can't decide whether that is revealing a theological position or a generational habit.

"Milquetoast Pastors" ... led entirely by his board and other "controllers." As a result, he allows everyone else to set the agenda and avoids conflict at all costs. Desperately "co-dependent," ...In truth, many of these dear souls are burned out or disillusioned church reformers. Many are God's wounded warriors.
"Churchy Clergy" Career-driven ... "professional" or "officially" anointed Christians draw their personal esteem from the privileges ... Most speak "religionese" ... love top-down religiosity, spiritual bureaucracies, and legalistic agendas.
"Hospital Chaplains" ... the church becomes a hospital where people are healed ... the focus is on the well-being, the happiness, and the health of the flock. ... never leads his sheep beyond their protected enclosure. He never asks his flock to "grow up," to "go out," or to "propagate."
"Information Brokers" ... teachers. ..., they impart "knowledge"--they deliver "information"--they mediate the "facts" of faith. ... their "ideas" were born in the modern period, which was already anti-mystery, anti-spirit, and anti-emotion.
"Ministry Police" ... "do" the ministry. ... It's a caste system, a clear divide between those who are "official" and those who are "just lay persons."
"Control Freaks" ... They micro-manage the whole church. They brood over "crowd control." They insist on approving everything.... laity must do it exactly the way they're told--no mistakes and no variables. ... obsessed with "quality control" that mistakes are rarely forgiven. That means "trial and error" is never permitted and--as a result--individual growth is never enabled.
"Feudal Overlords" ... primarily concerned about the size and resources of their church. This makes sense, for their church is conspicuously about them. In other words, their spiritual journey is mostly an ego trip.
"Marketing CEO's" ... covet the powers of strategic planning and commercial success. ... Their game is a numbers game, so whatever the market wants. . . . Then, the Spirit becomes a commercial product. Lots of "eye-candy" and "ear-candy" offer instant gratification. And the mystical and miraculous seem even better than a trip to the amusement park.... harvest where nothing is planted. They barter a spiritual birthright for something "far more successful."

Yet, spiritual seekers still need spiritual leaders. Somebody must discern the destiny, cast the vision, and empower the people in this "anything goes" society. In short, somebody must know how to start a fire, and tend a fire.

Unknown to most, the Lord of History is giving us these new leaders. But this moment presents both a gift and a problem. For these new leaders are not what we think. In fact, there is no way--out of our old notions--that we can even begin to understand who they are.

Quite intriguing don't you think? A bit damning of leadership: of course the reality is that many church leaders are people with one or more of these tendencies and often no idea of the way to be otherwise. One of the things we need is good supervision for church leaders, in the Anglican system it should be bishops and their apostolic team, but it rarely is, regrettably.

Post Modern Christianity: The Future of the Church and Post Modern Ministry in the 21st Century:Filed in: Christian, leadership, post-modernity

singing, the brain and a worship question

I found this really interesting, once upon a time, I volunteered to work with stroke victims rehabilitation and was most interested in the cases where speech was affected, and interested to discover that many could still sing words even if they could not say them [ditto people with stutters]. I realised that this meant that different parts of the brain were used to process words in singing and in speech. What I was curious about was whether it might be possible in at least some cases for people to relearn speech via singing. Well here's yet another scenario which reawakens that old question for me.
"I don't know what it is that changes in the brain when people with Alzheimer's sing, but obviously something does change and there is something very beneficial about it. It seems to kick-start something in the brain and has made such a difference to Bill."

Now we know that the brain retains the ability to make new connections and to cross-wire, so to speak, between centres which do different kinds of jobs [this is probobly the means of metaphor-generation and comprehension, if "Philosophy in the Flesh" is correct], so there is to my limited knowledge a possibility that such connections could be encouraged to re-wire speech, though it might depend on the type of damage. And I had a choir master once who claimed that if anyone could use intonation in speech, he could teach them to sing. If that was correct, then it implies that the link between speech and song can be forged.

The thing that this has now got me pondering is the relationship between singing and understanding, as in hymnody and worship ... Is it that we are engaged in a more complicated proceedure in singing the faith than saying it? Perhaps singing objectifies what we utter more and make it more an object of potential contemplation? Does choral speaking of set words work like singing or speech or something else?
Hmmm

BBC NEWS | Health | How singing unlocks the brain: brain, singing, therapy, alzheimers,

Paternoster rosary 5.3 - Luke 4:12

It may be a bit shocking at first in a set of readings designed, more or less, to help us to pray the line "save us from the time of trial", to come across and be asked to pray with this line:

Jesus answered him, "It is said, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' "

But a little reflection should help make things clear. The context of the verse is the tempations of Christ in the wilderness, Satan has just suggested that Jesus should throw himself from the temple because God will order the angels to catch him in accordance with the scriptures. This line is Jesus's reply. I take it to mean that God's promises for things like protection (or even provision) are not meant to be wrested from the context of a life being conformed to God's way. This temptation is to abrogate to oneself the promises of God aside from the overall will of God. It is presumptuousness; presuming God will serve us.

It seems to me that a good example of the temptation today is prosperity teaching which essentially starts well in God's promises of provision, but slides out of a resposible contextual trust into a fairly selfish and narrow view which seems to expect the world to run for 'me' and mistakes the contingency of living in a prosperous society for a universal spiritual template for wealth attraction. Similarly, to live irresponsibly using God's protection as a pretext seem presumptuous too: not to look before stepping into to road because 'God will protect us' is irresponsible and putting God to the test. Trusting God to provide but not being prepared to be the agent of at least some of that provision is also not faith-full but rather ducking out of our responsibilities.

So here I tend to be praying about not being presumptuous and making sure I am doing my bit or playing my part in God's providence.
Save us from the time of trying God's patience and that of those who have to clear up after us ...

Next bit...
Last bit...
Crosswalk.com - Luke 4:12:Filed in: Prayer_beads, paternoster, Praying_the_Pattern, reflection, rosary, Christian, spirituality, prayer, Abbeynous

Family viewing on the rise

I think that this could turn out to be a fairly important discovery from research into TV viewing habits.

Shared viewing now accounts for 56% of the total, up by 8.2% over the past five years, according to research from media buying agency Starcom. The findings go against the conventional wisdom that TV watching is becoming a more solitary occupation because of a wider choice of digital channels and multiple-set homes. However, reality programmes including Strictly Come Dancing, The X Factor and I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! are infinitely more fun to discuss with others rather than watch alone.

In my family it is certainly the case that a lot of viewing is communal, half the fun is to watch together and talk about it as well as enjoying the fact that it is a shared activity. If we want solitary, we can do the internet thing.
We should put this together with the observation that some of the bigges selling technologies are those that enable the social to take place more easily or conveniently. So much for individualism; definitely not the whole story!
MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media | Family viewing on the rise: Filed in: media, context, culture, making-do, TV, family, individual, social

Islamic voice of reason but anger remains

This is actually quite encouraging:

Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan ... said young Muslims must stop complaining, be clear about the source of their problems and get themselves organised into "critical citizens". Unlike the riots in France, the bombs in Britain were "a religious problem, so you should deal with that,"

It may not be a magic bullet but the fact that there are a lot of Muslims who recognise that the critical issues need to be engaged with, is something to rejoice in. It also should remind us, when we comment on Islam in public, that we can be overheard not just by headbangers in Islam but by people we would be glad to have living next door to us ...
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Islamic voice of reason speaks out, but the anger remains:Filed in: Islam, UK, jihadis

eco-rainforest in Lancashire

"It includes one of England's highest waterfalls, walkways through the treetops and possibly Europe's biggest compost heap, capable of using most of the green waste of a city the size of Manchester."

And even better
"Grimshaw said the design was applicable to landfill sites around Britain."
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Eden Project team plans eco-rainforest in Lancashire: environment, ecology, UK, green, energy, footprint, compost,

How to stay human

This is one of those 'hear hear' quotes; sums up just how I feel about it, at the moment.

So we've got a national problem - the problem of living too long, too energetically and of producing too few young people to support us in traditional ways. So take the next step. Say that work keeps you fitter and brighter, not wearily stressed. Say that work is a boon, not a blight. Stop banging on about lost dreams and remember the nightmares of wasted lives you lamented the week before last.
Value, at every level, the companionship and comradeship that work has on tap. Value the fun and the laughs and the achievements. Cherish the chance of carrying on where you can. Embrace that little chameleon. It's the half-full way to stay joined to the human race.

In a world where it may be that flexi and portfolio working become the norm, this isn't so alien, surely?
Guardian Unlimited Money | News_ | How to stay human:
Filed in: work, attitudes, actuarial, retirement

County councils face axe

What's wrong with this picture?

"This would be an extremely expensive exercise, and is part of Prescott's creeping regionalisation agenda, where power is transferred away from local people to remote unelected regional assemblies."

Let me see: it's not that the conservatives, who are making this complaint, were quiet willing to reorganise local government so that big Labour-controlled cities didn't interfere too much in their national aspirations in the 80's, though that's worth noting. It's not that the Conservatives have consistently preferred to centralise, though that too gives pause for thought. It's not either the cost of Conservative reorganisations in the past that gives this a pot calling kettle black feel.

It's that the Conservatives are likely to find that some of their local power bases are left high and dry in a new system. It's also the implication that the system as it is ain't broke so we shouldn't fix it. But it is. Participation in local elections is even more woeful than nationally. Then there's the non sequitor of regional assemblies meaning power is transferred away from local people -in reality it could mean that it is transferred away from local elites who feed off the local apathy and in any case wouldn't it depend on the kind of representation designed?

Admittedly regional assemblies would as of now be unelected, but hang on; Prescott makes no secret of the fact that he likes the idea of elected assemblies ... what the Conservatives ought to have been attacking, I think, is this way of making the case for elected regional assemblies by stealth, because people will demand accountability for the new power structures that begin to emerge. Actually, I think that's quite clever. Hat tip to Prescott if that's what he's up to. The main objection to a regional assembly round here when there was a referendum a year back, was that there was reduplication of political control, it would be an unnecessary [and therefore, expensive] tier of government. Well let's remove some more government, and if it needs regional assemblies to make joined up government, so be it! Problem is that the tier to go happens to be one the Conservatives do well with, shame. Not.
SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Local Government | County councils face axe:Filed in: regionalisation, UK, politics, local_authorities, assemblies

The trickle-away effect

Could it be that the romance with privatisation is leaving the honeymoon period?

the French utility is terminating its 30-year contract a third of the way through. Suez cannot get the concessions to turn a profit - at least not under the terms of its current agreements.

I've still to find out how it is that properly run utilities such as water can be assumed to be run better as private than public organisations: first there's the issue of dividends, then there's the problem of virtual monopoly, reduplication of effort on enforcing standards (the cost of regulation is not generally added to the costs). That's not to say there aren't problems with publically run utilities but in theory, I'd have thought they'd be cheaper; no shareholders to pay.
Business Unlimited | Business latest | The trickle-away effect:Filed in: privatisation, water, Argentina, utilities, economics

Paternoster rosary 5.2 - Matthew 6:21

This too might seem to be a verse not immediate in its relevance to the part of the Lord's prayer "Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil".

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also

The basic way that I tend to use it is to ask myself, "what do I treasure", and the answer becomes an invitation to recognise that it is at the points in my life where I most treasure things, people or principles that I may be in the greatest danger of putting the cart before the horse or outrightly making wrong decisions.

For example, if I treasure the good regard of people around me I am in danger of 'people pleasing', that is putting saving face or maintaining reputation before doing God's will in some cases. That's not to say that rep is wrong: it could serve the gospel, for example. However, if desire to be thought well of is too primary, it could stop me drawing back from an invitation to do something 'important' when I am really being called to serve my sick wife or to make a phone call to a friend.

It would be my treasuring of that thing that skews my valuing of things away from God's valuing of them...
Next reading...
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Crosswalk.com - Matthew 6:21: Filed in: Prayer_beads, paternoster, Praying_the_Pattern, reflection, rosary, Christian, spirituality, prayer, Abbeynous

REACHing for Sustainable Uses of Chemicals in Europe

This is a refreshing perspective in an age that has been anti-regulation [sometimes with good reason].

Why does regulation automatically mean a bad thing? Sure costs are added. But these might be nothing compared to other medium and longer term costs that would be suffered without legislation. A longer view makes us see the following inevitabilities: increasing regulatory interventions and/or the reinvention or replacement of chemicals used in our industrial system. If companies reinvented how they use chemicals in their businesses, then regulation wouldn't be needed.

A reminder that there need to be ways to turn externalities into internalities if business decisions and indeed other financially linked decisions are to work for the common good.

Incidentally, the article is o good study on how the EU's arguable growing dominance in the world:

...military matters and classic realpolitick, the conventional benchmarks from which we judge superpower status today ... come from the past's "might makes right" interpretation of how the world works. While this will never go away completely, we're arguably entering a different world where "soft power" and "cooperative advantage" matters just as much if not more -- and this is where Europe has been quietly leading.

Oh and the chemical thing was passed, good. But with amendments, maybe not so good, I'm awaiting info.
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: REACHing for Sustainable Uses of Chemicals in Europe: Filed in: business, regulation, environment, cradle-to-cradle, natural-capitalism

Millions face glacier catastrophe

This is an article to keep on hand for those people who seem to think that global warming will be a minor irritation and perhaps it may even be rather jolly to grow vineyards in Warwickshire.

Eventually, the Himalayan glaciers will shrink so much their meltwaters will dry up, say scientists. Catastrophes like Ghat will die out. At the same time, rivers fed by these melted glaciers - such as the Indus, Yellow River and Mekong - will turn to trickles. Drinking and irrigation water will disappear. Hundreds of millions of people will be affected.

I feel the need to spell out the issue here just a bit more though. There are billions of people depending on these rivers. What will they do? They will become refugees, aid recipiants or die. Can we cope with the former, are we able to sustain the second [no so that category will become splic between the other two], and are we prepared to let the latter happen, especially with the geopolitical consequences?

Note too that it will not be isolated; we will ourselves be trying to cope with rising sea levels, unpredictable weather patterns, food scarcity and other migration...

Not a pretty site is it?
The Observer | International | Millions face glacier catastrophe:Filed in: climate_change, weather, environment, China, India, drought

Tagging with BlogThis! - Freshblog

Category tagging for both blog this and delicious
You need to do an easy edit on javascript but, honestly, it's not hard, even I can do it.
Tagging with BlogThis! - Freshblog

Filed in: tags, blogging, del.icio.us

Christian channel opens in Egypt

I thought that this article was interesting for various reasons. One is this figure

Copts make up an estimated 10% of the Egyptian population and they complain of discrimination.

Because a few years ago it was 20%, and I suspect some of the loss is about emigration because of discrimination, read 'persecution' in at least some areas. The other articles referenced give you some idea of the pressure that these Christians routinely live with.
It's interesting to note how carefully Copts have to tread:

The bishop in charge of Aghapy TV says the channel will not carry anything that could upset Muslims.

And this doesn't mean things that we would think of as outrightly offensive, just things that some Muslims don't like and so might riot about. I would think that too strongly asserting that Jesus is the Son of God could be a bit risky....

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Christian channel opens in Egypt: On Del.icio.us: Christian, Egypt, Copts, persecution, TV, Islam

Rookie police officer shot dead by robbers

This is more than a little sobering. Up until 18 months ago we lived just round the corner from where this happened, I used to have my hair cut just a hundred yards away and we would have had to walk around the police cordons in order to go about our normal business.

There have been some calls to routinely arm our police in the wake of this. I don't see it would help. Not sure if this officer would have been armed anyway and certainly the wardens who were supposed to be on the other entrance wouldn't have been. But once you arm the police you really enter into an arms race with criminals and that statistically must mean more shooting and more injuries and fatalities. I'm happy that senior police have been knocking the suggestion on the head.
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Rookie police officer shot dead by robbers

Paternoster rosary 5.1- Matthew 11:28-30

This is the first passage in the round praying "Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil" (or whichever version you prefer).

Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

I suspect that at first it looks a bit tangential to the matter at hand, to say the least, but bear with me.
The yoke would have been readily understood as relating to the rabbinic characterising of taking up with a Rabbi to learn the Law from him. This was taking up the yoke of the Law to learn from it. So Jesus is putting himself in place of the Law as humankind's guidance. It is probable that the heavy burdens were the kinds of things that Jesus criticises in other places; in a word the legalism that imposes burdens but lifts not a finger to help.

One way to pray this is to think about the temptation to do things by rote and rule rather than living relationship to God and neighbour. The rules may be religious or they may be some other kind of rule but if they come before the demands of justice and mercy, Christ had hard words for that. Rules are good servants but bad masters. God, not the rules is supposed to be the ruler (pun intended).

The other way that for me this can inform my praying, is in reminding me that Christ's leading of me is gentle and not burdensome. Sometimes, in a time of trial we are tempted to think that God's will is too hard, with these words is an implicit promise that God will support us as we attempt his way; we are not on our own.

Yet another angle is to focus on firding rest: in our society lack of proper sabbath in our lives leads us into unnecessary temptation and trial. Our frenetic chasing after more, sometimes artfully disguised as serving our nearest and dearest (when in fact we are colluding in their discipleship to hurrydom), deprives us of God's commanded gift: rest. In Christ we rest from the labour of trying to earn heaven, in creation God has made us to function best with regular rest. We ignore it at our peril and make ourselves vulnerable to trials since when we are tired, we are less able to muster our intelligence or energy to spot and resist wrong.
Last passage in this series
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Crosswalk.com - Matthew 11:28-30:On Del.icio.us: Christian, spirituality, paternoster, Praying_the_Pattern, reflection, prayer_beads

Meditation is brainbuilder

It seems that the evidence is coming in to show how good meditation is. Note this is the kind of thing that TMers routinely assert about TM, but it would appear, as many of us suspected, that it is just meditation. Still it's good to have a reference point for when I propose to use it in things like staff development.
You might like to look at this article too, showing that theistic meditation is even better. And I give a hat-tip to
Andrew at Anamchara for finding them.

New Scientist Breaking News - Meditation builds up the brain.
On Del.icio.us: meditation, spirituality, brain, neuroscience, performance

Christian church 'unique' says Queen (synod diary 1)

Well the queer old deen has good scriptwriters, though I doubt she'd let them have her say anything she wouldn't agree with, so it was a pleasure to find her saying this at the opening of the Church of England's synod earlier this week.
"'When so much is in flux, when limitless amounts of information, much of it ephemeral, are instantly accessible on demand, there is a renewed hunger for that which endures and gives meaning. The Christian Church can speak uniquely to that need, for at the heart of our faith stands the conviction that all people, irrespective of race, background or circumstances, can find lasting significance and purpose in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.'"
That's something worth being reminded of.
Ruth Gledhill: Christian church 'unique' says Queen (synod diary 1):

'ID cards won't make us safer'

This adds nothing new but the dismissal of the value of the cards in security work form a former head of a security service must be a bit of a blow

Identity cards would not make Britain a safer place and nobody in the secret intelligence services supports their introduction, according to the former head of MI5.

See also the Conservatives' reaction. There's also some stuff here of the governments reaction. Apparently the best argument is that ID cards helped Spain's security services/police to catch up with the Madrid bombers. Let's just think about that for a moment: first there was no help from ID cards stopping it happening. Second, in a country where ID cards are routine, it would be surprising if ID cards played no role in detection; what we aren't able to judge is whether it was routine or significant and how it could have panned out without them. Thirdly, as I reported yesterday the issue is less cards themselves than cards linked to a single government database and that is not, as I understand it Spain's system since the UK would be the first to do this. So the vital argument is skirted in this example. So Spain is probably irrelevant to what is being proposed in Britain.
Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | 'ID cards won't make us safer':On Del.icio.us: ID_cards, facts, UK, problems, MI5

'We will Use the Lord's prayer daily to structure our prayer during Celtic Advent'

"'I will Use the Lord's prayer daily to structure my prayer during Celtic Advent but only if 10 other people worldwide will too.'
Deadline to sign up by was 16th November 2005 and 18 people have signed up (8 over target). So I'm feeling happy and prayed the Lord's prayer today using the Anglican Prayer beads and the Discipleship Cycle of readings as I walked back from Durham this lunchtime.
The pledge is closed but it's still not too late to be having a go and there's a wiki for the action which I hope will gather some further ideas from pledgers [who have a password to get into the site] in due course.

'I will Use the Lord's prayer daily to structure my prayer during Celtic Advent' - PledgeBank:

Reflections on the Intifada in France

I preferred the more provocative alternative title to this article. It's the counterpoint to what I wrote a few days ago about what's happening in France. There the point was made that the most fundy jihadists were not acting in favour of the unrest; rather it gets in the way of their agenda. Here we have another view. I'm rather more convinced by the earlier than Mr Pipes in this case. However, there is enough in it to be disturbing and I wouldn't want to entirely dismiss his argument. I do think though that the veneer of Islam is what is seen here; there are reports of the protagonists being into protection rackets and drugs too ...
Reflections on the Revolution in France* - article by Daniel Pipes
On Del.icio.us: Islam, France, jihadis, intifada, Europe

One More on Wind

"In a growing number of regions across the US, wind power is now officially cheaper than the baseline electricity rate"

WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: One More on Wind:

It's the database that's the biggie

Article from the Telegraph arguing that the real problem with ID cards is the database. Then unpicking same of the issues.

What is often missed in all these debates is that the card is largely an irrelevance. The Government has called its legislation the Identity Cards Bill; it should be the Identity Register Bill. People who welcome the idea on the principle that "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" might not be quite so sanguine if the arguments were framed in the context of the database, rather than the card. For too long, this has been a debate about carrying a card, which most people feel comfortable with because they already have plenty of them. But the key to this system is the information held on the national identity register.
This is not an exercise in giving people the chance to protect their identity, but in gathering information about the population and keeping it on a database for use by state agencies. Ministers dismiss this concern, saying that banks, insurance companies and supermarkets already keep vast amounts of personal detail about us all with few obvious controls. The fundamental difference is that it is voluntary to have a supermarket loyalty card or a bank account; and they do not all link up, even if some do. The identity database, however, will be a true behemoth of personal information.

Telegraph | Opinion | Home Front:On Del.icio.us: identity, ID_cards, UK, biometrics, database, danger

explore an illusion

Our visual cortex is remarkable, and perception is not necessarily as straight forward as we tend to assume for every day purposes. Take a look at this moving colour perception illusion to be given cause to ponder the nature of how we perceive.
Very cool illusion

Paternoster rosary 4.5 - Luke 5:20

Usually to end the forgiving round there is this verse.

When he saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you."

I generally find myself using this in two ways. One is as an assurance that I am forgiven, so that the words "Forgive us our sins as we forgive ..." are given a background sense of assurance as they are said; a sense that the asked for forgiveness is being granted. The other way is to appropriate the words to myself in relation to people that I hold a grievance against; and so the words then foreground the phrase "... as we forgive those who sin against us". Sometimes with each bead a person is thought of along with the phrase 'your sins are forgiven. It is salutary to acknowledge that in many cases I would only be playing catch-up with God's own forgiveness, in any case. And if God either forgives as a present reality or at least stands ready to forgive, who am I to hold out?

And what of the corporate dimension? -The fact that it is 'us' and 'we' means that we need to be forming communities where forgiveness is practiced and encouraged. It also seems to me to imply that there are dimensions to forgiveness that may be corporate. This is a big and contested issue at the moment, but I think that the corporate language of the Lord's prayer not only encourages a solidarity of confession but perhaps the recognition that human groups may need to be factored into our forgiving.
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Crosswalk.com - Luke 5:20:On Del.icio.us: Prayer_beads, paternoster, Praying_the_Pattern, reflection, rosary, Christian, spirituality, prayer, Abbeynous

Solar Plants Bloom in Desert

This looks promising in the energy generation game

... the Stirling engine is a completely sealed system filled with hydrogen. Its design dates to 1816, and it's named for its inventor, a Scottish minister named Robert Stirling. The focused solar energy, which can reach 1,350 degrees Fahrenheit, heats the hydrogen, making it expand and drive the engine's four pistons.

Though Stirling engines have been around for almost two centuries, there have been few efforts in the past to harness the sun to run them, said Stirling Energy Systems CEO Bruce Osborn.

Osborn said the Stirling dishes are 30 percent efficient -- 30 percent of the sun's energy is converted into electricity -- which is two to three times as efficient as conventional photovoltaic cells.

Wired News: Huge Solar Plants Bloom in Desert:On Del.icio.us: power, Stirling_engine, solar, energy, efficient