“Our limited perspective, our hopes and fears become our measure of life, and when circumstances don’t fit our ideas they become our difficulties.” Ben Franklin from Jill at Conversations.
Prayer for the Week from Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight
“O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”
Choosing The Kingdom
Reflect on whether your choosing of God is bringing you genuine life. If your God-choosing is not making you fundamentally more alive and vital, you may be choosing the external trappings of the Christian religion rather than the life-giving inner essence of Christian spirituality. You may be choosing a spiritual self-improvement program of the kingdom of self, but you are not choosing the genuinely life-giving program of the kingdom of God. Hear God’s call to surrender to God’s will as an invitation to a fullness of life that exceeds your wildest expectations and imaginings. The source of this call is the Source of everything that is truly alive. Settle for nothing less than this truly abundant and vital life in Christ. David Benner
When In Doubt Sometimes the circumstances of life come flooding in around you and you have to take a pause. I have plenty to say but for now – I’m recording the days and nights, the flood of thoughts for calmer seas. So when in doubt, turn to the trusted and true .. here’s the the collection of thoughts, prayers, quotes and hope from dear friends.. including this walk on the lighter side.
Liam’s 4th Birthday Party Liam was born on the 26th September 2004, while I was in the US at my first Youth Specialties NYWC convention. His birthday is always a time for remembering a ‘birth’ of my own. Meanwhile.. pirate parties are awesome. Check out the amazing pirate ship the Captain built!
It’s a Sunday afternoon and I’m in the middle of things like laundry and such, so it’s the perfect time to pick up this little foodies list (being as I so love to cook) from Dani and give it a go..
The Instructions Below is a list of 100 things that [very good taste] think[s] every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food – but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don’t worry if you haven’t, mind you; neither have I, though I’ll be sure to work on it. Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.
Here’s what I want you to do: 1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions. 2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten. 3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating. 4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.
The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred: 1. Venison 2. Nettle tea 3. Huevos rancheros 4. Steak tartare 5. Crocodile 6. Black pudding 7. Cheese fondue 8. Carp 9. Borscht 10. Baba ghanoush 11. Calamari 12. Pho 13. PB&J sandwich 14. Aloo gobi 15. Hot dog from a street cart 16. Epoisses 17. Black truffle 18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes 19. Steamed pork buns 20. Pistachio ice cream 21. Heirloom tomatoes 22. Fresh wild berries 23. Foie gras 24. Rice and beans 25. Brawn, or head cheese 26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper 27. Dulce de leche 28. Oysters 29. Baklava 30. Bagna cauda 31. Wasabi peas 32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl 33. Salted lassi 34. Sauerkraut 3 5. Root beer float 36. Cognac with a fat cigar 37. Clotted cream tea 38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O 39. Gumbo 40. Oxtail 41. Curried goat 42. Whole insects 43. Phaal 44. Goat’s milk 45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more 46. Fugu 47. Chicken tikka masala 48. Eel 49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut 50. Sea urchin 51. Prickly pear 52. Umeboshi 53. Abalone 54. Paneer 55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal 56. Spaetzle 57. Dirty gin martini 58. Beer above 8% ABV 59. Poutine 60. Carob chips 61. S’mores 62. Sweetbreads 63. Kaolin 64. Currywurst 65. Durian 66. Frogs’ legs 67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake 68. Haggis 69. Fried plantain 70. Chitterlings, or andouillette 71. Gazpacho 72. Caviar and blini 73. Louche absinthe 74. Gjetost, or brunost 75. Roadkill 76. Baijiu 77. Hostess Fruit Pie 78. Snail 79. Lapsang souchong 80. Bellini 81. Tom yum 82. Eggs Benedict 83. Pocky 84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. 85. Kobe beef 86. Hare 87. Goulash 88. Flowers 89. Horse 90. Criollo chocolate 91. Spam 92. Soft shell crab 93. Rose harissa 94. Catfish 95. Mole poblano 96. Bagel and lox 97. Lobster Thermidor 98. Polenta 99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee 100. Snake
“There is no such thing as a worthless conversation, provided you know what to listen for. And questions are the breath of life for a conversation.” James Nathan Miller
excellent words from my friend bruce morley in the fall of 2006..
Over a lifetime I’ve played hundreds of different musics, much of it for money as a professional. It’s been my experience that any music that abrogates to itself a claim to purity, incorruptibility or metaphysical significance etc eventually runs headlong into the secular, hypocrisy-inducing fact that the methods of propagation, distribution, and attempts to gain widespread acceptance or recognition of said music/s can differ but little from any employed by “lesser” musics. This has been the bete noir of the blues, earnest folk music, and new age music, to name but three. (After several million $, a few Cadillacs, and a few publicity stunts, can BB King still sing the blues? Nobody seems prepared to admit he hasn’t made a decent significant album in decades.) In this respect, pop music is more honest – it simply gets on with a job which is determinedly ephemeral, where lasting significance is almost accidental, and where money-grubbing success is regarded as a very worthwhile aim indeed. Can millions of consumers of this be wrong or deluded ? Actually, in my book, they can, but that doesn’t alter the hard fact that success on the same scale for more esoteric musics will require a dance with the Devil, and you can’t have it both ways. Like religion, the charge of hypocrisy awaits any music that claims sainthood.
Left Then, What For You? Only that you are the heart of my heart and the breath of my gasping, the wound of my flesh, the light bouncing off my iris. This one breath, song and dance for you still what does it mean… nothing…
For you would miss it all, eyes cast off in another pallid and dull direction.. Life then, found in these limbs, in this embrace Truth in these words, my songs alive for your sake Your strength long sought found in my willingness to lay in your arms that is strength and truth, that you are strong enough for me..
Tash McGill is a broadcaster, writer and strategist who works with people and organisations to solve problems and create transformation. She believes people are the most important thing and that stories are powerful ways of changing the world. You can find out more at tashmcgill.com or by visiting her LinkedIn profile.
