2005 will go down in history as having been the year of "Make Poverty History", white wristbands, Live 8 and Bob Geldof (amongst other things). But has it all been worth it and indeed was it a valid cause in the first place?
Personally I've been a moderate supporter of Make Poverty History (I wore my white band until it became so dirty that it would almost have been unhygienic to continue wearing it!). It's fairly blatantly obvious that the rich-poor divide in our world has been getting greater. It's simply not fair that as a global population we have resources a-plenty yet there are those who are dying in want. Every day people die of preventable diseases. Every day people die from a lack of food when in the west we can go to a supermarket and pick a meal off the shelf 24-hours a day. MPH ran extensively their "click" advertisements, which claimed that for every click in the advert (one every three seconds), a child dies as a result of extreme poverty. These facts must shock anyone who possesses a heart. For this reason I'm totally behind the principle of Make Poverty History, but doubt it can be achieved. Just because you can't complete something fully though, doesn't necessarily mean it isn't something worth striving for.
Live 8 was a fantastic event. Brilliantly organised, with fantastic intentions and many of the best bands and musical acts in the world. It was a privilege to be there. Coldplay, Keane, REM, Robbie Williams and The Killers amongst others provided a quality day of music that I'll never forget. The sun was shining, everyone was up-beat and it was great to be there with friends. The videos with the MPH message and the speeches of Bob Geldof, Bill Gates and others were very moving and one of my highlights of the day was the 200,000 people in Hyde Park standing in absolute silence watching an extended "click" video. Despite the way that people seemed to be moved by these videos on July 2nd, I'm dubious about how commited to Make Poverty History most people in this country actually are.
Sure, people in the UK seem to have been behind the cause of MPH - 200,000 at Live 8 in Hyde Park, white bands were everywhere earlier this year and so on. Yet I'm majorly underwhelmed by people's overall desire to see poverty relief. I've lost count of the number of strangers who have noticed my white MPH wristband and asked whether I was at Live 8 (why does wearing this necessarily mean that I was at the concert?). Every person that I've met in this way has wanted to talk almost exclusively about the entertainment value of Live 8. Granted in terms of entertainment it's probably the greatest event I've ever been to, but when I've been talking to strangers I always try to bring the conversation round to the MPH cause and no-one seems interested. I am far from convinced that people in this country are willing to make any real sacrifice. The general attitude seems to be "Yeah, nobody should be poor - that's injustice - I'll give to that cause ... as long as it doesn't affect me too much - I'm supportive as long as it does nothing to detract from my own comfortable, affluent lifestyle".
So, since the start of 2005, aid has been increased significantly; pledges have been made that corrupt leaders will be named and shamed; and modifications to trading laws have been promised. Will the money filter down to those who need it though? And will the money be used for the most beneficial things such as sustainable development, rather than for quick-fix solutions?
As a Christian I believe that ulitmately there's another reason why MPH is unlikely to do as well as many might hope and this is due to the fallen nature of man. As someone pointed out to me not so long ago, gospel freedom really needs to come before social freedom. Money will never be distributed fairly whilst man is living for himself. Man is by nature selfish, but Christ can free us from that. People may make great efforts, but ultimately human greed will surely undermine those efforts unless all hearts are changed by Christ.
So, whilst I'm sceptical, this does not mean that I'm against Make Poverty History. The principles are sound - we should do all we can to further the relief of the poor (What would Jesus do? Well, he fed the hungry, so surely we should do likewise). How will we answer future generations if we haven't even tried to aid the relief of poverty? We must do all we can, but I firmly believe that ultimately hearts need changing permanently by the one true power that can permanently change hearts to bring about any significant and lasting, permanent change.
Friday, November 25, 2005
Sunday, November 20, 2005
If I'd wanted a Russian winter, I'd have moved to Russia
Oh my life! It is so, so cold outside! And I keep having people tell me how it's "going to be the coldest winter for decades" and the like. :(
I guess it wouldn't be nearly so bad if it hadn't come on so very suddenly. Up until about Tuesday, it was a lovely mild autumn, with people often walking around campus in t-shirts. Then, all of a sudden Wednesday hit us and it was as if we'd suddenly found ourselves in Siberia.
On the flip-side of the whole "I hate how cold it is" thing is the fact that there have been glorious clear blue skies almost every day this week. I guess the cold is just the price that we have to pay for this. If it's going to stay this cold though, then it would be nice to have a little snow for a change. But maybe that's asking too much.
I guess it wouldn't be nearly so bad if it hadn't come on so very suddenly. Up until about Tuesday, it was a lovely mild autumn, with people often walking around campus in t-shirts. Then, all of a sudden Wednesday hit us and it was as if we'd suddenly found ourselves in Siberia.
On the flip-side of the whole "I hate how cold it is" thing is the fact that there have been glorious clear blue skies almost every day this week. I guess the cold is just the price that we have to pay for this. If it's going to stay this cold though, then it would be nice to have a little snow for a change. But maybe that's asking too much.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Plans for University Holidays
Incredibly it's already nearly the end of week 8 (out of 10) of the term at Warwick. So, just a shade over a couple of weeks til the Christmas holidays are upon us. Those couple of weeks are going to be incredibly hectic and no doubt jam-packed with stuff (not that the previous 8 or so haven't been) and with that in mind I thought it was high-time that I started to give a little consideration to what I might get up to over the 4-week break.
In the past I've worked, rested, studied and been overseas in the winter holidays, but this year I suspect that the overseas travel and work might be missing. I guess this is partly because, being a final year student, I should probably take my work a bit more seriously this year and so forsee the opportunity to catch up on all of the reading that I should have done but haven't done this term. It might also be a good idea to get cracking on a couple of assignments as for me it always seems easier to work during the holidays on these sort of things as there are far less distractions! During term-time if I have work that isn't urgent, but there's something else going on as well (e.g. football, a CU event or just a trip to the bar etc) then the work tends to get somewhat neglected!
Thus I reckon the holidays will be quietish and will probably see me spending a couple of weeks at Warwick (I even get to stay in my campus room this time, unlike in the 1st year) mainly doing work (or at least that's the aim ...) and a couple of weeks at home. Hopefully the time at home will be spent catching up with friends, relaxing and taking time out to appreciate the true meaning of Christmas.
In the past I've worked, rested, studied and been overseas in the winter holidays, but this year I suspect that the overseas travel and work might be missing. I guess this is partly because, being a final year student, I should probably take my work a bit more seriously this year and so forsee the opportunity to catch up on all of the reading that I should have done but haven't done this term. It might also be a good idea to get cracking on a couple of assignments as for me it always seems easier to work during the holidays on these sort of things as there are far less distractions! During term-time if I have work that isn't urgent, but there's something else going on as well (e.g. football, a CU event or just a trip to the bar etc) then the work tends to get somewhat neglected!
Thus I reckon the holidays will be quietish and will probably see me spending a couple of weeks at Warwick (I even get to stay in my campus room this time, unlike in the 1st year) mainly doing work (or at least that's the aim ...) and a couple of weeks at home. Hopefully the time at home will be spent catching up with friends, relaxing and taking time out to appreciate the true meaning of Christmas.
Monday, November 07, 2005
CU Houseparty
This past weekend I went on Warwick CU's "CU Houseparty". Perhaps the best way to describe it to those who don't know what this is is to quote the tag-line:
"it's a party - in a house, although not really..."
This sums it up pretty well as houseparty isn't exactly as it says on the tin - more accurately it's the CU's annual weekend away. The only time in the year that the whole of the CU get to go away together.
There were about 150 of us who went to a Christian conference centre called Quinta, which is in Shropshire (near Wales). Over the weekend there was the chance to listen to loads of talks (in main meetings and seminars), worship and pray loads (for campus, the persecuted church etc etc), discuss biblical issues in small groups and play loads of games and generally chill out with and get to know one another. It was a really fantastic weekend! I really enjoyed many aspects of it and left feeling really challenged, yet encouraged on many fronts. It definitely left me thinking why on earth didn't I go on either of the last two house-parties? It was one-of, if not the best weekend since I started at Warwick.
The speaker for the 4 main meetings that we had was a guy called Tim, who works for UCCF. He was helping us to explore the book of 2 Peter and I found a lot of the things that he was saying really useful, especially those about living with an eternal perspective.
On the Saturday, a good number of us went on a quite sublime walk which was highly enjoyable despite the constant rain. Some of the scenery local to Quinta is astounding (see my photo-page for pictures of this and other bits of house party). As the weekend was so packed with stuff to do I got little sleep, so arrived back at uni physically exhausted (before a lovely long recovery sleep), but spiritually refreshed.
One thing that someone said over the weekend that really struck a chord with me was about how weekends like houseparty need to be like an elastic band that is stretched so far that even a long time after the weekend it never returns to the shape it was before. We need to ask the Lord to help us to change permanently, not just to be in His presence for a weekend. This is definitley something that I've struggled with in the past after similar events and will be praying about this time around - that I remember things like living every day with an eternal perspective.
It really was a great weekend - I got to know a load of people a lot better and it was awesome to spend so much time worshipping and in prayer and to be challenged loads - but unless we'll able to let those challenges affect our lives then there will have been little point in going away. Hence the challenge of the elastic band ...
"it's a party - in a house, although not really..."
This sums it up pretty well as houseparty isn't exactly as it says on the tin - more accurately it's the CU's annual weekend away. The only time in the year that the whole of the CU get to go away together.
There were about 150 of us who went to a Christian conference centre called Quinta, which is in Shropshire (near Wales). Over the weekend there was the chance to listen to loads of talks (in main meetings and seminars), worship and pray loads (for campus, the persecuted church etc etc), discuss biblical issues in small groups and play loads of games and generally chill out with and get to know one another. It was a really fantastic weekend! I really enjoyed many aspects of it and left feeling really challenged, yet encouraged on many fronts. It definitely left me thinking why on earth didn't I go on either of the last two house-parties? It was one-of, if not the best weekend since I started at Warwick.
The speaker for the 4 main meetings that we had was a guy called Tim, who works for UCCF. He was helping us to explore the book of 2 Peter and I found a lot of the things that he was saying really useful, especially those about living with an eternal perspective.
On the Saturday, a good number of us went on a quite sublime walk which was highly enjoyable despite the constant rain. Some of the scenery local to Quinta is astounding (see my photo-page for pictures of this and other bits of house party). As the weekend was so packed with stuff to do I got little sleep, so arrived back at uni physically exhausted (before a lovely long recovery sleep), but spiritually refreshed.
One thing that someone said over the weekend that really struck a chord with me was about how weekends like houseparty need to be like an elastic band that is stretched so far that even a long time after the weekend it never returns to the shape it was before. We need to ask the Lord to help us to change permanently, not just to be in His presence for a weekend. This is definitley something that I've struggled with in the past after similar events and will be praying about this time around - that I remember things like living every day with an eternal perspective.
It really was a great weekend - I got to know a load of people a lot better and it was awesome to spend so much time worshipping and in prayer and to be challenged loads - but unless we'll able to let those challenges affect our lives then there will have been little point in going away. Hence the challenge of the elastic band ...
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Why blog?
So why did I decide to start a blog? I thought this would be a sensible thing to write about in one of my first blog postings.
I guess the main reasons for setting up this blog were my enjoyment of creative writing and the feeling that it would be interesting to have some of my opinions, reflections and stories "out there" for friends, family or anyone who's interested/lost on the internet to peruse through. Not only will my entries hopefully inform, challenge or entertain, they will also, I hope, help me to structure my thoughts better as there's so much information going into the human body that sometimes I find it can be helpful to ease a cluttered mind by getting everything out and committing it all to paper (or in the case of a blog ... to server). Also I love the way that God made everyone such that two people seldom see something in exactly the same way - situations are rarely black and white, but more often one of various shades of grey. Thus if my entries provoke a healthy debate of matters then that's great. So along those lines ... please feel free to post any comments that you may have in response to my blog entries. It would be good to hear your news and views.
What will I write about on my blog? Well, almost anything is within bounds I suppose. Things that are in the public eye and things that happen to me or are going through my mind (as I continue to piece together the jigsaw of life!) are subjects that are particularly likely to crop up here. One topic that is going to be banned (or at least kept to a minimum), however, is football. I talk about football far too much in life as it is, so I see little need to write extensively about it here. So it'll be like Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned, but not as funny. Having said that though, I can see myself having to make an exception to the no-football-rule for the world cup next year ...
I guess the main reasons for setting up this blog were my enjoyment of creative writing and the feeling that it would be interesting to have some of my opinions, reflections and stories "out there" for friends, family or anyone who's interested/lost on the internet to peruse through. Not only will my entries hopefully inform, challenge or entertain, they will also, I hope, help me to structure my thoughts better as there's so much information going into the human body that sometimes I find it can be helpful to ease a cluttered mind by getting everything out and committing it all to paper (or in the case of a blog ... to server). Also I love the way that God made everyone such that two people seldom see something in exactly the same way - situations are rarely black and white, but more often one of various shades of grey. Thus if my entries provoke a healthy debate of matters then that's great. So along those lines ... please feel free to post any comments that you may have in response to my blog entries. It would be good to hear your news and views.
What will I write about on my blog? Well, almost anything is within bounds I suppose. Things that are in the public eye and things that happen to me or are going through my mind (as I continue to piece together the jigsaw of life!) are subjects that are particularly likely to crop up here. One topic that is going to be banned (or at least kept to a minimum), however, is football. I talk about football far too much in life as it is, so I see little need to write extensively about it here. So it'll be like Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned, but not as funny. Having said that though, I can see myself having to make an exception to the no-football-rule for the world cup next year ...
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