I’ve just got back from spending the night in Haverhill, looking at ‘how to do strategy’ with the trustees.

I realise that does not sound very exciting, but it was quite a good night. The people there were keen to see how they could further their mission in their area. I hope that tonight for them is the atart of something exciting!

3 hours of gritty, often tense, drama.

The film was not what I was expecting, and towrds the end I was willing it to end. That does not mean, however, that it was not a gret film. This was, but I was surprised at the almost knocking of the Israeli goverment that there was in the film. I think Spielberg was maybe trying to show that those in power had lost sight of their chosen-ness, of why they should be different. I wonder if he was trying to show the futility of the argument on both sides.

There was a poignant moment when opposing sides met each other in a ‘safe house’. I won’t share too much or you will moan at for me for messing up the plot – but this 10 or so minute scene showed both sides to be human, both sides to be searching for home, both sides passionate, both scared, both with loved ones, both fighting for their families. A little later in the film the same two people are ‘on mission’ and trying to gun each other down in the street.

This film is, I think, summed up in 2 quotes:

In the latter half of the fime, Robert says: ‘We are supposed to be righteous! I lose that, that’s my soul!’

Very near the beginning of the film Golda Meir (the Israeli PM) says ‘Forget peace for now. We have to show them we’re strong.’

two distinct outlooks, one of the people, one of government.

Go see the film – but as Johnny says – take food supplies for the marathon!

This afternoon while Beth watched Princess Diaries again, I watched 21 grams in the ‘new room’.

At first I was confused and quite uncertain as the director took us back and forth in history with no apparant logical order. After a while things started to fall into place and I thought the direction was both imaginative and skilfull.

Many great quotes and examples in this film. The deepest:

How many lives do we live?
How many times do we die?
They say we all lose 21 grams… at the exact moment of our death.
Everyone.
And how much fits into 21 grams?
How much is lost?
When do we lose 21 grams?
How much goes with them?
How much is gained?
How much is gained?
Twenty-one grams.
The weight of a stack of five nickels.
The weight of a hummingbird.
A chocolate bar.
How much did 21 grams weigh?

I’ve been at college too long already as I want to say ‘discuss’ at the end of that. Anyone fancy meeting in a pub to do just that? How much fits into 21 grams?

Tonight I’m off to see Munich with Sheena (I just love Orange 241). No doubt the mastery of Spielberg will bring me close to tears and amazement as we watch.

You know the sort of day?! You’ve been working hard. Got stuff on 2 or weekends in a row and so decide to take some time out, a day off and chill with God, tidy up lose ends, etc etc.

Today I had great plans. I was to start at the gym at 730. Then I was going to read for a bit before going for a walk to just mull things over with God. Then I was going to watch a film I had been meaning to watch for a while, get tea ready, do a bit more reading before collecting the children from school.

Today Beth was ill – so the day d not go according to plan. It always seems to happen that way, so while Beth lay on the sofa watching Princess Diaries for the 257th time I thought I’d get some work done. (what is it about children and watching the same film over and over again – she says the lines now before the characters do!)

Then I had a change of heart and thought I could still use the day to chill and read and so on, rather than it just being lost as another work day.

This morning I read ‘Who Moved my Cheese?’ This book is a bit of a mystery. It was in my welcome pack at Staff Conference but not sure how it got there. The book took me less than an hour to read and is pretty cool. It’s a story about 4 characters – a simple parable showing how people deal with change. The back of the book says ‘discover the secret for yourself and learn how to deal with change, so that you suffer less stress and enjoy more success in your work and life.’

A big claim for a little book of 80 written pages or so. I found myself laughing at me in the book, and seeing others. I exclaimed ‘yes’ on a few occasions and ended by wondering who I want to share the book with first – family, friends, YFC or church?

It really is a great little story which has got me thinking throughout the rest of the day. My favourite quote from the book to be applied to any situation:

What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

It’s quite a liberating question.
As you look ahead, as you dream, ask the question of yourself.
What do you come up with?

Despitemy last post – the real momentous occasion of the night was the first away victory of the Gills since March!

With it comes our movement to the top half of the table – now I can’t remember when we could last say that!

There was never any chance of me selling the season ticket!

Tonight we saw a great victory for parliament say some, others will say a great victory for prayer, others a great victory for freedom of speech.

Many who were not sure will have been praying for God’s will to be done. I have friends and colleagues from a left background who sit on both side of the fence. Some saw the bill as important and vital in its entirety, others saw it as a real danger to free speech and the proclamation of the gospel in the particular. Respecting both sets of people as I do, and not able to make my own decision, all I could do was join the people of the ‘your will be done’ brigade. Now I have to trust that God’s will has been done.

It is clear, however, the government, notably Tony Blair, have yet again shown great arrogance in thinking they can ignore thousands of concerned voices, many of those voices from the world of law, in insisting on trying to push through it’s un-altered racial and religious hatred bill.

I find it interesting that Blair decided note to vote in the second vote,resulting in him losing the vote by 1! Who said one person cannot make a difference! One vote made all the difference. Was the difference made my one person making a decision to vote with their conscience, or was the decision made my one person deciding they did not need to vote? That will be the subject of many discussions around tables and over beers!

We will be here again.

There will be an education vote soon – something I do understand (although Ruth Kelly will say I don’t) and I really hope my party, the party I have always voted for since I could vote, the party I always felt I could only ever vote for, the party I used to think Jesus himself would vote for, the party of justice, of freedom, of fairness – I really hope my party will start to listen again.

For me – I feel pushed out,ignored, betrayed, embarrassed and for the first time ever, after nearly 25 years of Labour Party membership I am wondering if I want to continue. People that know me will find that shocking! If it comes to that, however, I have no illusions – one person won’t make difference … or will they?

Yesterday (Sunday) after church I joined Wycombe YFC at a conference it was holding for the leaders of local Christian Unions.

I was amazed!About 30 young people were there, all of them were leaders of ‘soon to be’ leaders of Christian Unions of schools within Wycombe. Each of them had taken a whole day out, starting at 830 am and finishing at 8pm, to share, pray, learn and hear from God what he wanted to share with them.

I was there to talk about mission and to see how we, as YFC, could work with them in their schools. We spoke about mission as lifestyle, we discussed taking time to wait and see what God is doing and then joining in with him, we looked at different interests, music tastes, the distinctiveness of Wycombe and so on.

The maturity, desire and willingness of these young people was amazing. An army of 30 leaders with a passion for mission, but confused with how to go about it because no one had ever shown them, they had not seen it happen, they had no real experience of mission themselves.

Exciting things are happening despite the lack of examples. The setting up of Rock Gigs to invite friends too, the staging of pizza lunches in schools, the desire to pray for friends and ask what to pray for – amazing ideas developed by these young people wrestling with ‘what does the love of Jesus mean to these people I share my school with?’

For me this was a a first. This was a unique Integrate mission consultation and today I have been trying to put their ideas into a mission plan for their area. It’s exciting – and I think it is exciting because it has come straight form the young people, and not just because it was such a novel experience.

30 keen and passionate young people – Wycombe had better get ready for some changes!

is re-newing its mailing lists for 2006 as we all signed up just for the year of 2005.

If you want to stay in touch (or start!) you will need to go here and sign up again.

I think Phil has caught many of our feelings in his post here.

How do we get the church to scratch where we are itching?

Last night Robin the gerbil died.
He has gone to be with Batman the gerbil who died about 18 months ago.
They will be happy together now in Gerbil Heaven.
Joseph was very upset and he helped to bury Robin in the back garden.

The irony is that yeterday in school they were talking about how they had felt when their pets had died.
Joe spoke about Batman.
Then he came home and found Robin.

It’s tough being 7!