I think I'll tell you about 5 exciting things that happened to me today. I've recently started a new temporary (whilst I continue to apply for other stuff) job at Harrods in case you didn't know and so far I'm quite enjoying it. Here's some of the things that happened today ...
1 I encountered my first out-and-out fraud case
Clearly I can't write too much about this due to data protection laws and what-not but I'll see what I can say. Basically I encountered a definite fraud for the first time. I was phoning a customer to verify his order so that we could authorise his card (just nod and smile if this is techno-babble to you) and for the first time encountered a customer who knew nothing of the order that had been place. When I told them which card the purchase had been paid for on I was met with the response, "but he doesn't even have a mastercard!". Clearly not a very good fraudster then, more like a prankster. Whoever it was it seems they'd obtained a legitimate name and address but then completely made up a credit card number to go with them. As if that was going to be successful. Not very professional (if you could ever call fraud "professional").
2 The Santa's Grotto had to be closed cos it was too busy
Not sure how this decision was received. Not so well I'd imagine. How do you cope when there's too many people to see Santa and people are getting annoyed by the crowds? Yep, close the whole thing so that no-one can see Santa. Oh well, I trust the relevant Harrods people knew what they were doing. If I was an excitable 4-year old though, hearing that I wouldn't be able to see Santa after all would not go down too well with me.
3 I had my first experience of giving a customer directions
Yep. I don't get many opportunities to do this as I work in an office just off the shop floor, but this afternoon as I was walking through the store I was asked where the teddy bears were. I was only too happy to oblige ... once I'd grabbed myself a store plan from a nearby desk to find out where the bears actually were!
4 There was a protest outside the store
I went out for a walk on the streets of London during my tea-break (like I do, cos I'm cool ;) ) and was surprised to see a smattering of protesters around the outside of the store protesting against fur. They had placards saying things such as "Stop the fur cruelty. Boycott Harrods." and were handing out leaflets. It was a rather small-scale demonstration: the protesters can't have numbered more than about 20 or so people and despite their best efforts to spread out, make some noise and hand out leaflets they were somewhat lost amongst the hundreds of people walking by the outside of Harrods. As I was walking towards some of the protesters the guy in front of me turned around saying "I'm not going that way - I'm wearing fur" and took a different route as he sought to avoid the protesters. Some of the protesters were dressed up as foxes. Interesting.
5 I momentarily took on the role of tour guide
On the train on the way into London this morning I was asked by a stranger what the landmark in the distance was. Overcoming the temptation to reply with some flippant remark like "Big Ben of course" I restrained myself and muttered that it was the new Wembley stadium. As the train got somewhat nearer to the stadium the 'askee' said "oh yes it is the new Wembley". Clearly he didn't believe me 100% when I told him. We exchanged a couple of humorous remarks about how it'll be a great stadium if it's ever finished. Then we went back to behaving in the way that us Brits always behave on public transport: minding our own business and pretending that nobody else exists.
So there you are, 5 exciting things that happened to me. Feel free to re-brand them as something like "5 vaguely interesting things that I wasted my time reading" if you wish. :)
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
CUs in the News
Christian Unions were the subject of a front-page article by the Times on Saturday, which is a bit unusual really. It's a subject close to my heart, having benefited from and really enjoyed 3 years being part of the CU during my time at Warwick.
There were also several articles discussing Christian Unions and religion at universities inside the Times and I thought that on the whole they gave a relatively balanced account of the current situation. The pick of the articles, I thought, was this one. A pretty neutral, sensible editorial about how tolerance needs to be a two-way thing. Anyway, check out the article and see what you think.
There were also several articles discussing Christian Unions and religion at universities inside the Times and I thought that on the whole they gave a relatively balanced account of the current situation. The pick of the articles, I thought, was this one. A pretty neutral, sensible editorial about how tolerance needs to be a two-way thing. Anyway, check out the article and see what you think.
Christmas Music
No, no, no, no, no. It is just TOO EARLY for it!
Christmas music is something that's been bugging me for the last 2 or 3 weeks. You see I don't so much mind occasionally seeing a Christmas display in certain shops at this time of year. You can kind of get to know where they are and avoid them until you're feeling suitably Christmas-y. Christmas music, however, is a different kettle of fish.
I was in Harrods in London on Friday (just after I'd been for a temp job interview there) and had a little nose around (I hadn't been to Harrods for a LONG time before then, so seeing as I've applied to work there thought it only reasonable that I re-familiarised myself with the place). I could, however, only survive being in the store for about 30 minutes before the wall-to-wall Christmas music drove me mad and forced me to leave.
Don't get me wrong, I don't really have a problem with Christmas music in general (there's some really good Christmas songs around - both those to do with the meaning of Christmas and those with nothing to do with it), its just that right now, it's a little early too be playing it incessantly (and in Harrods every song was a Christmas song). Once we reach December I won't feel quite the same. I heard 'Last Christmas' twice on Friday. That's twice too many for the middle of November as far as I'm concerned.
Christmas music is something that's been bugging me for the last 2 or 3 weeks. You see I don't so much mind occasionally seeing a Christmas display in certain shops at this time of year. You can kind of get to know where they are and avoid them until you're feeling suitably Christmas-y. Christmas music, however, is a different kettle of fish.
I was in Harrods in London on Friday (just after I'd been for a temp job interview there) and had a little nose around (I hadn't been to Harrods for a LONG time before then, so seeing as I've applied to work there thought it only reasonable that I re-familiarised myself with the place). I could, however, only survive being in the store for about 30 minutes before the wall-to-wall Christmas music drove me mad and forced me to leave.
Don't get me wrong, I don't really have a problem with Christmas music in general (there's some really good Christmas songs around - both those to do with the meaning of Christmas and those with nothing to do with it), its just that right now, it's a little early too be playing it incessantly (and in Harrods every song was a Christmas song). Once we reach December I won't feel quite the same. I heard 'Last Christmas' twice on Friday. That's twice too many for the middle of November as far as I'm concerned.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Assumptions
I'm really rather good at making assumptions - and really quite stupid assumptions at that. It seems that if I'm given the opportunity I will quite willingly put 2 and 2 together and get 17! For example, earlier today when I was at a job interview (just for a Christmas temporary position) I made a stupid assumption and said "so is such and such the case?" and the guy that I asked the question of told me that I was quite mistaken and looked at me as if I was mad! This seems to happen to me all the time!
A few years ago I remember being told not to assume because "to assume makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me' "! And it does! It really makes both parties feel rather sublimely stupid.
I suppose I should probably ask more questions to clarify details rather than just assuming. But I feel that I already ask an awful lot of questions and people must be rather sick and tired of me doing so and wish I'd say something of real consequence! Why can't I admit that I'm not sure if that's the case though?!
Oh dear ... sometimes I just wish the ground would open up and swallow me! Lol.
A few years ago I remember being told not to assume because "to assume makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me' "! And it does! It really makes both parties feel rather sublimely stupid.
I suppose I should probably ask more questions to clarify details rather than just assuming. But I feel that I already ask an awful lot of questions and people must be rather sick and tired of me doing so and wish I'd say something of real consequence! Why can't I admit that I'm not sure if that's the case though?!
Oh dear ... sometimes I just wish the ground would open up and swallow me! Lol.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Stats that reassure
I'm still engaged in a frustrating, time-consuming job-hunt where it seems that I'm rethinking my ideas all the time as possible career corridors open up or disappear (quite commonly the latter after the former not long before!).
Anyway, there's a bunch of stats that I'm keeping at the back of my mind, just to remind me that it's perfectly normal and sensible to be searching for that first job for so long. I thought I'd jot a few of them down here:
• Only 30% of graduates are in jobs 6 months after graduating (in the UK)
• Only 50% of graduates are in jobs a year after graduating (in the UK)
(With these kind of facts I'm guessing that by "in jobs" what is meant is in jobs in the graduate's desired sector or something like this [i.e. excluding temping and so on]. I find this stat particularly reassuring)
• For every aspirational graduate job, UK universities produce about 20 graduates
(This is reassuring in the sense that it indicates that it's normal to struggle to find a job ... although it's less reassuring in the long-run. Clearly the definition of 'aspirational' is quite subjective though. And it's far from essential to only look at jobs that someone else is labelling as 'aspirational' - it's what you think that's more important.)
• Your working life is made up of 16,000 days
(So it's not such a bad thing to take some time to get a good first job cos you're gonna work for a long time!)
• The average person graduating now is going have 25 jobs in the course of their career
(Actually this kinda suggests that it's best to just get on with any old job cos you're going to change anyway. Although perhaps by figuring the kind of work that you prefer before you start you can minimise this number of job changes.)
• HR departments say that only 10% of graduates are ready for the working world, whilst 90% of graduates think that they're ready
(Not sure that this one reassures me much actually! I just thought it was interesting. Do I feel ready for the working world? Reasonably so, yes. Maybe others would disagree!)
• 90% of people don't work for big organisations
(I guess this implies that even if you don't land a 'big-time' job there's still plenty of hope left)
• The top 3 things that graduates lack:
- The ability to sell
- The ability to speak on the phone
- The ability to portray the company's corporate image
(Again, this one's more interesting than reassuring but perhaps it's possible to set yourself apart by demonstrating that you have these skills which seem to be in short supply)
A good piece of advice that I was given: "Be prepared to look for up to a year for a job. If, after a year you still don't have your ideal job then take the best on offer." I think at the moment this is the kind of thing that I'm looking to do, but I shall see.
Anyway, whenever I'm feeling a bit down about my job situation (not having one, not being sure that I'm looking in the right areas [for a job that I'd enjoy and would suit me]), which is quite often at the moment, I recall some of the above. When I do that I realise that I'm not alone in my situation and that as your working life is extenisve, it's worth taking a bit of time to make sure that you start off in the most suitable job possible.
Anyway, there's a bunch of stats that I'm keeping at the back of my mind, just to remind me that it's perfectly normal and sensible to be searching for that first job for so long. I thought I'd jot a few of them down here:
• Only 30% of graduates are in jobs 6 months after graduating (in the UK)
• Only 50% of graduates are in jobs a year after graduating (in the UK)
(With these kind of facts I'm guessing that by "in jobs" what is meant is in jobs in the graduate's desired sector or something like this [i.e. excluding temping and so on]. I find this stat particularly reassuring)
• For every aspirational graduate job, UK universities produce about 20 graduates
(This is reassuring in the sense that it indicates that it's normal to struggle to find a job ... although it's less reassuring in the long-run. Clearly the definition of 'aspirational' is quite subjective though. And it's far from essential to only look at jobs that someone else is labelling as 'aspirational' - it's what you think that's more important.)
• Your working life is made up of 16,000 days
(So it's not such a bad thing to take some time to get a good first job cos you're gonna work for a long time!)
• The average person graduating now is going have 25 jobs in the course of their career
(Actually this kinda suggests that it's best to just get on with any old job cos you're going to change anyway. Although perhaps by figuring the kind of work that you prefer before you start you can minimise this number of job changes.)
• HR departments say that only 10% of graduates are ready for the working world, whilst 90% of graduates think that they're ready
(Not sure that this one reassures me much actually! I just thought it was interesting. Do I feel ready for the working world? Reasonably so, yes. Maybe others would disagree!)
• 90% of people don't work for big organisations
(I guess this implies that even if you don't land a 'big-time' job there's still plenty of hope left)
• The top 3 things that graduates lack:
- The ability to sell
- The ability to speak on the phone
- The ability to portray the company's corporate image
(Again, this one's more interesting than reassuring but perhaps it's possible to set yourself apart by demonstrating that you have these skills which seem to be in short supply)
A good piece of advice that I was given: "Be prepared to look for up to a year for a job. If, after a year you still don't have your ideal job then take the best on offer." I think at the moment this is the kind of thing that I'm looking to do, but I shall see.
Anyway, whenever I'm feeling a bit down about my job situation (not having one, not being sure that I'm looking in the right areas [for a job that I'd enjoy and would suit me]), which is quite often at the moment, I recall some of the above. When I do that I realise that I'm not alone in my situation and that as your working life is extenisve, it's worth taking a bit of time to make sure that you start off in the most suitable job possible.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
1:53:17
Well, I finished it. *sigh* And now, a couple of days later, I've just about recovered from the Lady Godiva half marathon.It was a really good weekend all-round - great to see some of my uni friends again whilst I was up in the midlands. Now back to the harsh reality of job applications this week.
The half marathon was definitely the highlight of the weekend. Even though, as I said, I wasn't totally looking forward to it, on the day I actually did enjoy the challenge, despite the fact that not every second of the running could be described as being "enjoyable"! I finished in 1 hour, 53 minutes and 17 seconds. Steve finished about 20 minutes after me. I think we were both happy enough with those times, although of course there's always a little bit of you that thinks "I could have run that a fraction faster" (I came around 700th out of over 1700 runners by the way ... which is alright I suppose).
I'm also famous now, thanks to the half marathon ... well, kind of! A photo of me crossing the start line is featured on the BBC Coventry website. Click here to see it! Was pleasantly surprised by that - it's not every day you're featured on the BBC website. Stardom beckons ... not!
Would I do it again? Maybe. If I do another half marathon or similar then I'd probably do it for charity. Quite a few people have asked me something along the lines of "so, which charity are you running for?". Thus, I've had lots of practice at uttering the words "Actually I'm not. I'm just running for a challenge - a challenge with a friend." i.e. I'm running for myself - selfish, selfish me! Haha. Nah, I think it was alright to run this as a pure challenge. The fact that I signed up pretty late meant that there was little time to sort out any kind of fundraising or the like. But I guess if I did anything like this again then it'd be really ace to do it for a good cause as well as for the fact that it's a great challenge. Though maybe I should just aim to beat my time ...
Friday, October 20, 2006
Half Marathon
On Sunday I'm running a half marathon in Coventry. Or, to be a little more specific, I'm hopefully attempting to run the "Lady Godiva half marathon". (If you want an interesting read I suggest you look up Lady Godiva on wikipedia - she's a person with quite an interesting history, one which explains where the phrase 'peeping tom' came from amongst other things)
Except I don't really want to run the half marathon anymore. I feel overwhelmed and underprepared.
It's ironic that I'm not as keen to run now as I'm the one that came up with the idea in the first place and encouraged a friend that entering would be a good idea. When I suggested entering though, I'm not sure I anticipated Steve taking me up on the offer. I just thought that doing something like this would be "nice" - a fun challenge and enjoyable as the route goes through the campus of Warwick uni. I'd not really thought about the necessity of being motivated and putting in the spade work. (Before anyone starts to question my training techniques, I feel I should point out that I use the term "spade work" here metaphorically! :P Thank you.) But fair play to Steve for taking me up on that challenge and I'm sure we've pushed each other on in our training - let's hope we do the same on Sunday.
I mentioned that I feel a little underprepared. Well, I have done a few weeks training (so I'm optimistic that I should be able to complete the race at the very least), but people keep pointing out to me that I could have done a lot more. Like in the following conversation that I had ...
My Mum: "I don't think you've prepared very much for this half marathon - you should have started training much earlier, so don't go out there expecting to run a personal best or anything like that."
Me: "I think you're forgetting something. I've never run a half marathon before. Therefore even if the race takes me six hours it's still a PB. In fact even if I don't start the race I've already acheived a personal best due to the fact that I've entered, thus beating my previous best 'record' of never having entered a half marathon!"
(By the way another thing my mum told me recently was: "you don't drink enough". Before I go out on a binge-drinking spree though, I think she was talking about liquids in general. Yes Mum, I should really drink a bit more water. It's great living at home again! Nah, in all honesty she has a point, but I've gone off the topic just slightly: back to it ...)
Anyway, I'd best go get some sleep to ensure I'm well-rested ready for Sunday. Then I just hope I can last the course.
Except I don't really want to run the half marathon anymore. I feel overwhelmed and underprepared.
It's ironic that I'm not as keen to run now as I'm the one that came up with the idea in the first place and encouraged a friend that entering would be a good idea. When I suggested entering though, I'm not sure I anticipated Steve taking me up on the offer. I just thought that doing something like this would be "nice" - a fun challenge and enjoyable as the route goes through the campus of Warwick uni. I'd not really thought about the necessity of being motivated and putting in the spade work. (Before anyone starts to question my training techniques, I feel I should point out that I use the term "spade work" here metaphorically! :P Thank you.) But fair play to Steve for taking me up on that challenge and I'm sure we've pushed each other on in our training - let's hope we do the same on Sunday.
I mentioned that I feel a little underprepared. Well, I have done a few weeks training (so I'm optimistic that I should be able to complete the race at the very least), but people keep pointing out to me that I could have done a lot more. Like in the following conversation that I had ...
My Mum: "I don't think you've prepared very much for this half marathon - you should have started training much earlier, so don't go out there expecting to run a personal best or anything like that."
Me: "I think you're forgetting something. I've never run a half marathon before. Therefore even if the race takes me six hours it's still a PB. In fact even if I don't start the race I've already acheived a personal best due to the fact that I've entered, thus beating my previous best 'record' of never having entered a half marathon!"
(By the way another thing my mum told me recently was: "you don't drink enough". Before I go out on a binge-drinking spree though, I think she was talking about liquids in general. Yes Mum, I should really drink a bit more water. It's great living at home again! Nah, in all honesty she has a point, but I've gone off the topic just slightly: back to it ...)
Anyway, I'd best go get some sleep to ensure I'm well-rested ready for Sunday. Then I just hope I can last the course.
Monday, October 09, 2006
My Huge Embarrassment
Today saw one of the most memorable (although I now want to forget it) embarrassing things that I've done recently.
Having been at home for most of the day doing job-hunt related stuff (reading mainly), I paid a quick visit to the bank to pay in a cheque and pay a bill. Upon leaving the bank I thought it would be nice to leave in a cheerful manner, so I wished the person serving me "a good weekend" ... on a MONDAY!!!
I think this must be a consequence of me having a 'house day' where I'd not really been out the house much, but had been cooped up in my room and a scarce amount of contact with any other humans. :( Gah, having too many such days really get to me. I did realise earlier on in the day that it was Monday, but at that particularly point in time it would seem that for some reason I thought it was Friday. :S
Interestingly, the bank attendant didn't correct me. She just said "you too". I do hope she didn't really notice what I said, but I fear that she just chose not to correct me. Hmm, I can imagine the bank staff all having a good laugh at my expense after I'd left.
I think I'll have to avoid the bank for a while.
Having been at home for most of the day doing job-hunt related stuff (reading mainly), I paid a quick visit to the bank to pay in a cheque and pay a bill. Upon leaving the bank I thought it would be nice to leave in a cheerful manner, so I wished the person serving me "a good weekend" ... on a MONDAY!!!
I think this must be a consequence of me having a 'house day' where I'd not really been out the house much, but had been cooped up in my room and a scarce amount of contact with any other humans. :( Gah, having too many such days really get to me. I did realise earlier on in the day that it was Monday, but at that particularly point in time it would seem that for some reason I thought it was Friday. :S
Interestingly, the bank attendant didn't correct me. She just said "you too". I do hope she didn't really notice what I said, but I fear that she just chose not to correct me. Hmm, I can imagine the bank staff all having a good laugh at my expense after I'd left.
I think I'll have to avoid the bank for a while.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Job Applications
Currently wading through a stack of application forms (well, technically they're not in a stack, not a physical stack at least, cos they've all been online). Oh what a joy.
I've just realised that, having recently written it so many times on various forms, I have now memorised my National Insurance Number!
How sad is that?! Oh dear, oh dear ... it's all downhill from here ...
I've just realised that, having recently written it so many times on various forms, I have now memorised my National Insurance Number!
How sad is that?! Oh dear, oh dear ... it's all downhill from here ...
Monday, October 02, 2006
Flawed Heroes
Nobody's perfect. That's something that I've been constantly reminded of recently. Not even celebrities that so many people (myself included) so often elevate to such a high pedestal.
One of the most recent celebs to "fall from grace" is Tom Chaplin, the Keane singer, who is now in rehab. I'd built him up in my own mind in a way as I'm a huge Keane fan. He's got an amazing voice and is an integral part of a band that's produced some awesome music (in my opinion!), with so many things going for them. Keane have always had such a positive image - they tried to refrain from dissing other bands and so on. Because of this they were accused of being boring and ironically the media are probably happier now that their human-ness has been exposed!
Pete Doherty is recognised by many as one of the greatest song-writers of recent years. His struggles have been headline news in the last year or two though. Such is the extent of his drug-related problems now that many of his fans now daren't miss a gig in case it's his last.
Zinedine Zidane is to many people one of the finest footballers the world has ever seen. I totally agree - he has elements of genius about him, he would do things that no one else could do. He was certainly a flawed genius though. He was sent off a number of times, 2 of which stand out in my memory. The first was for stamping in the 1998 world cup - an act of malice if ever there was one. The second is now one of the most infamous sendings off of all time. In this summer's world cup final, with a few minutes remaining in extra time, Zidane headbutted Marco Materazzi in retaliation to a comment that Materazzi made. Zidane had already announced his retirement, so that was the very last act of his career. So, Zidane: a fantasically skilled sportsman, but by no means perfect.
Charles Kennedy, former Lib Dem leader, had the respect of many, but people were quick to turn against him after it emerged that he was suffering from a drinking problem. He was quickly replaced as leader and little has been heard of him since. It wasn't long ago that he was being heralded as an inspiring potential leader of our nation.
I could go on and on - it seems almost every week there's another celebrity scandal in the tabloids. It seems that the media (or at least certain parts of it) take great joy in building people up to knock them down again. But why shouldn't they? These journalists are only human and so it's unsurprising that where it's possible to feel better about yourself by showing that others aren't all they're cracked up to be, that some will take the opportunity (here the incident with Chris Martin - who has a pretty squeaky clean image - punching a journalist who "got to him" springs to mind) . If I'm honest, I think I like to know that these guys stuff up too. I like to know that they're human. It must hurt a lot of celebs that their flaws/mistakes are pointed out in such a public way ... just one of the prices of being famous I guess.
To the same degree I know that I occasionally build myself up as something of a hero and am audacious enough to mistakenly think that I'm without flaw. Even though such a mindset is usually only maintained for a short length of time it's one I can do without as it is a totally false one. I like to put on a mask and pretend that I'm better than I am. Often when things fall apart I'm brought down-to-earth with a crash. Thus whilst I can aspire to do heroic things, I'll always be flawed. But I can draw great strength from knowing that God loves me oodles despite these flaws! :) And I know that God can change me to chip away at these imperfections (in theological language I guess this is the sanctification after the justification bit if that means anything to anyone :P)
So why have have I been thinking about heroes and about the notion of flawed heroes? Probably in part because of press coverage of people like Tom Chaplin and certainly partly because of having a theme of superheroes for a week of children's summer holiday clubs that I helped with earlier this summer. However, I think it was also to a degree down to me reading the following quote, which I think sums things up quite nicely (it's from a book called "The Life" by J John - seems like a good read, although I'm only part way through it at the moment):
"We live in hard times for heroes. There is a cynicism in our culture that eats away at even the most glorious reputations. Almost overnight, selfless geniuses turn out to be selfish fools, great leaders are revealed as insecure bullies and champions of morality are exposed as hypocrites. One of the few figures to survive with their reputation intact is Jesus Christ."
One of the most recent celebs to "fall from grace" is Tom Chaplin, the Keane singer, who is now in rehab. I'd built him up in my own mind in a way as I'm a huge Keane fan. He's got an amazing voice and is an integral part of a band that's produced some awesome music (in my opinion!), with so many things going for them. Keane have always had such a positive image - they tried to refrain from dissing other bands and so on. Because of this they were accused of being boring and ironically the media are probably happier now that their human-ness has been exposed!
Pete Doherty is recognised by many as one of the greatest song-writers of recent years. His struggles have been headline news in the last year or two though. Such is the extent of his drug-related problems now that many of his fans now daren't miss a gig in case it's his last.
Zinedine Zidane is to many people one of the finest footballers the world has ever seen. I totally agree - he has elements of genius about him, he would do things that no one else could do. He was certainly a flawed genius though. He was sent off a number of times, 2 of which stand out in my memory. The first was for stamping in the 1998 world cup - an act of malice if ever there was one. The second is now one of the most infamous sendings off of all time. In this summer's world cup final, with a few minutes remaining in extra time, Zidane headbutted Marco Materazzi in retaliation to a comment that Materazzi made. Zidane had already announced his retirement, so that was the very last act of his career. So, Zidane: a fantasically skilled sportsman, but by no means perfect.
Charles Kennedy, former Lib Dem leader, had the respect of many, but people were quick to turn against him after it emerged that he was suffering from a drinking problem. He was quickly replaced as leader and little has been heard of him since. It wasn't long ago that he was being heralded as an inspiring potential leader of our nation.
I could go on and on - it seems almost every week there's another celebrity scandal in the tabloids. It seems that the media (or at least certain parts of it) take great joy in building people up to knock them down again. But why shouldn't they? These journalists are only human and so it's unsurprising that where it's possible to feel better about yourself by showing that others aren't all they're cracked up to be, that some will take the opportunity (here the incident with Chris Martin - who has a pretty squeaky clean image - punching a journalist who "got to him" springs to mind) . If I'm honest, I think I like to know that these guys stuff up too. I like to know that they're human. It must hurt a lot of celebs that their flaws/mistakes are pointed out in such a public way ... just one of the prices of being famous I guess.
To the same degree I know that I occasionally build myself up as something of a hero and am audacious enough to mistakenly think that I'm without flaw. Even though such a mindset is usually only maintained for a short length of time it's one I can do without as it is a totally false one. I like to put on a mask and pretend that I'm better than I am. Often when things fall apart I'm brought down-to-earth with a crash. Thus whilst I can aspire to do heroic things, I'll always be flawed. But I can draw great strength from knowing that God loves me oodles despite these flaws! :) And I know that God can change me to chip away at these imperfections (in theological language I guess this is the sanctification after the justification bit if that means anything to anyone :P)
So why have have I been thinking about heroes and about the notion of flawed heroes? Probably in part because of press coverage of people like Tom Chaplin and certainly partly because of having a theme of superheroes for a week of children's summer holiday clubs that I helped with earlier this summer. However, I think it was also to a degree down to me reading the following quote, which I think sums things up quite nicely (it's from a book called "The Life" by J John - seems like a good read, although I'm only part way through it at the moment):
"We live in hard times for heroes. There is a cynicism in our culture that eats away at even the most glorious reputations. Almost overnight, selfless geniuses turn out to be selfish fools, great leaders are revealed as insecure bullies and champions of morality are exposed as hypocrites. One of the few figures to survive with their reputation intact is Jesus Christ."
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Back again
Well, after another substantial break I decided it was high-time to give this blogging malarchy another go! So here I am :)
I'm hoping to get posting more regularly over the coming weeks and months, as I was when I started this blog. I'm hoping that I'll have time to fulfill this ambition now that I'm a job-seeking graduate who has no concrete timetable at present (which is kinda good and bad I'm finding btw ... but maybe I'll write about that in another post).
Anyway, that'll do for this comeback post ... it's good to be back from the blogging wilderness! :P
I'm hoping to get posting more regularly over the coming weeks and months, as I was when I started this blog. I'm hoping that I'll have time to fulfill this ambition now that I'm a job-seeking graduate who has no concrete timetable at present (which is kinda good and bad I'm finding btw ... but maybe I'll write about that in another post).
Anyway, that'll do for this comeback post ... it's good to be back from the blogging wilderness! :P
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Bye Bye Coursework
I've just finished my last ever piece of university coursework (well, for my undergraduate degreee anyway). Wooo!
Of course it involved the usual all-nighter - no change there then. But why? Why do I put myself through this? I left this coursework right til the last week of the Easter holidays, but even then (after I started it last Tuesday) I should have finished it in 2 or 3 days.
1) I'm bad at disciplining myself to work - don't seem to have a decent sense of urgency until the deadline gets close.
2) I'm a bit of a perfectionist. With an essay or a report it's never finished to me until the deadline physically arrives and I'm not actually allowed to work on it any longer. Even if I think I've finished my work a few days before the deadline I'll still go back to it to have "one last look" and end up re-writing half of it and worrying about it. I tend to worry about my work quite a bit til its handed in ... and not at all after that (why should I? you can't change it once you've handed it in!)
3) All-nighters are kinda fun. Generally kinda lonely as it's pretty much just you and the work, but still kinda fun nonetheless. With no-one around and the deadline approaching fast it's easy to focus. I like seeing my housemates/flatmates get up in the morning and uttering things like "You're up early - what time did you get up?" and seeing their faces when I say that I've been up all-night.
Anyway, no more coursework ... yay!
Of course it involved the usual all-nighter - no change there then. But why? Why do I put myself through this? I left this coursework right til the last week of the Easter holidays, but even then (after I started it last Tuesday) I should have finished it in 2 or 3 days.
1) I'm bad at disciplining myself to work - don't seem to have a decent sense of urgency until the deadline gets close.
2) I'm a bit of a perfectionist. With an essay or a report it's never finished to me until the deadline physically arrives and I'm not actually allowed to work on it any longer. Even if I think I've finished my work a few days before the deadline I'll still go back to it to have "one last look" and end up re-writing half of it and worrying about it. I tend to worry about my work quite a bit til its handed in ... and not at all after that (why should I? you can't change it once you've handed it in!)
3) All-nighters are kinda fun. Generally kinda lonely as it's pretty much just you and the work, but still kinda fun nonetheless. With no-one around and the deadline approaching fast it's easy to focus. I like seeing my housemates/flatmates get up in the morning and uttering things like "You're up early - what time did you get up?" and seeing their faces when I say that I've been up all-night.
Anyway, no more coursework ... yay!
Monday, March 20, 2006
Facing up to Facebook
Just as you thought I couldn't write any more about procastination here I go again. :) Undoubtedly one of the chief forms of time-wasting recently has been ... Facebook. For those of you who don't know, Facebook is supposedly the online way of keeping in touch with fellow students - a bit like "My Space" I suppose, but for uni students (whereas "My Space" is open to anyone). It's a bit of a craze that's sweeping Warwick at the moment, having previously gripped dozens of other universities. Anyway, I found the following quite amusing (from one of the "groups" on Facebook). If you're familiar with (and thus probably addicted to) Facebook then I'm sure you will do too:
10 REASONS TO GET OFF FACEBOOK...
1. You are at a bar or club and you suddenly realize you recognize someone. You can't figure out how and then it dawns on you... You have never met this person before, but have spent a considerable amount of time looking at their profile on facebook.
2. After meeting someone your conversation somehow leads to - "So, are you on facebook?"
3. You do not call people anymore, you post comments and send messages through facebook.
4. When talking with your friends someone says a random comment and you all exclaim "facebook quote!"
5. When you're out with friends and you take a good picture you exclaim loudly, "That's my new facebook pic!"
6. Conversations with friends tend to lead to, "Did you read that msg that ___ left on their wall?"
7. You check your facebook as soon as you wake up, and right before you go to bed, including the 10 times you check it during the day.
8. You know people who have gotten offended about other peoples comments on walls
9. You start off intending to check if you have new messages/comments but find AN HOUR LATER that you are still on and have no idea what you even accomplished during that time except stalk.
10. You find yourself laughing (sadly) and agreeing as you read these, and you know you're going to repost this for everyone else to see.
10 REASONS TO GET OFF FACEBOOK...
1. You are at a bar or club and you suddenly realize you recognize someone. You can't figure out how and then it dawns on you... You have never met this person before, but have spent a considerable amount of time looking at their profile on facebook.
2. After meeting someone your conversation somehow leads to - "So, are you on facebook?"
3. You do not call people anymore, you post comments and send messages through facebook.
4. When talking with your friends someone says a random comment and you all exclaim "facebook quote!"
5. When you're out with friends and you take a good picture you exclaim loudly, "That's my new facebook pic!"
6. Conversations with friends tend to lead to, "Did you read that msg that ___ left on their wall?"
7. You check your facebook as soon as you wake up, and right before you go to bed, including the 10 times you check it during the day.
8. You know people who have gotten offended about other peoples comments on walls
9. You start off intending to check if you have new messages/comments but find AN HOUR LATER that you are still on and have no idea what you even accomplished during that time except stalk.
10. You find yourself laughing (sadly) and agreeing as you read these, and you know you're going to repost this for everyone else to see.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Revision: Impossible
So I find myself at that time of year when I should be starting revising for exams (exams that are looming alarmingly closer than last time I checked). And can I get started with my revision? Can I heck!
According to Coldplay "the hardest part was letting go, not taking part" (The Hardest Part from X&Y). I have to admit that "letting go" of revision is certainly not the hardest part, nor for that matter is "taking part" (though I'm not saying that bit's easy). Getting started is what beats me! In their defence, however, I'm guessing Coldplay weren't writing about revision though. Come to think of it the day that Coldplay start to write lyrics about exam preparation is the day that I stop listening to Mr Martin and co.
Thus procrastination has well and truly begun (and I'm kinda hoping revision will follow before too long!). I guess my sudden flurry of posts here when I hadn't posted for weeks before is just one of the ways that I'm procrastinating. It's great to be procrastinating by writing about procrastinating - what a waste. :P
According to Coldplay "the hardest part was letting go, not taking part" (The Hardest Part from X&Y). I have to admit that "letting go" of revision is certainly not the hardest part, nor for that matter is "taking part" (though I'm not saying that bit's easy). Getting started is what beats me! In their defence, however, I'm guessing Coldplay weren't writing about revision though. Come to think of it the day that Coldplay start to write lyrics about exam preparation is the day that I stop listening to Mr Martin and co.
Thus procrastination has well and truly begun (and I'm kinda hoping revision will follow before too long!). I guess my sudden flurry of posts here when I hadn't posted for weeks before is just one of the ways that I'm procrastinating. It's great to be procrastinating by writing about procrastinating - what a waste. :P
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Essential Reflections
It's been a while hasn't it? Seems I almost forgot that I had a blog. Six whole weeks of nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing and nothing. Great.
Finally it's the Easter holidays at Warwick and the pace of things has dropped to a more managable level - and I've finally remembered that I have a blog! Last time I wrote (around the same time as the Queen's coronation if my memory serves :P) was during Essential week and I think I may have promised to review the week in hindsight in the future, so I thought that would be a good topic with which to kick-off this new blogging season! :P
Looking back, Essential week (week 4 of this term, so 6 weeks ago now) was a really exciting week. I guess this mission week was my first 100% Essential week (probably a reflection of the fact that this year I'm the most involved I've ever been in the happenings of CU) - the first time I tried to get involved in as much of what was going on a possible. Last year I was involved in the international bits of essential and went to some of the main meetings but that was all and in my first year I think I might just have been to a couple of the main meetings (that's a long time ago now though). So I guess my point is I tried to get as involved as I could this time around. Of course as there was so much going on and so little time there were many things that I wasn't involved in: questionnaires, bookstall etc. Thus it was really cool to be working with a team of such awesome people in our CU.
8am prayer meetings really focus you on the day ahead. An awesome way to start the day. Quite how I managed to make it those every day I really don't know - I find it so much easier to be asleep at that hour of the day! Those kinda set the precedent for the rest of the day every day though. The international cafes, lunch bars, main meetings and conversations surrounding them and so on were awesome to be involved in. There were numerous occassions when I could see God working in people's lives and although I was thoroughly exhausted by the end of the week, it was one that I whole-heartedly enjoyed. As no small number of people pointed out during the week, however, telling people about Jesus is for life, not just for Essential.
I thought I'd conclude with a summary of some of the things that I felt were the highlights of the week (both in general and for me personally):
Generally:
• At least 6 people became Christians (not that it's about numbers, but its always so encouraging to see people discovering God for the first time!)
• Lots of people had the chance to hear the gospel (some brilliant talks) - it was great to see numerous non-Christian faces at all of the events! Yay!
• Many more people know something of the CU and what we stand for as a result of much publicity, conversations Christians had with their friends, questionnaire evangelism etc etc
Personally:
• Several of my good non-Christian friends came along to some of the events
• Even some of those who said they couldn't/didn't want to come along to events I've been able to say something (even if only briefly) of why the week was being held/what I believe etc
• Conversations - so many good ones - especially at the international cafe - some of the international students seem to be really searching
• I learnt loads, enjoyed the week much and hopefully I've grown in my faith through it
Finally it's the Easter holidays at Warwick and the pace of things has dropped to a more managable level - and I've finally remembered that I have a blog! Last time I wrote (around the same time as the Queen's coronation if my memory serves :P) was during Essential week and I think I may have promised to review the week in hindsight in the future, so I thought that would be a good topic with which to kick-off this new blogging season! :P
Looking back, Essential week (week 4 of this term, so 6 weeks ago now) was a really exciting week. I guess this mission week was my first 100% Essential week (probably a reflection of the fact that this year I'm the most involved I've ever been in the happenings of CU) - the first time I tried to get involved in as much of what was going on a possible. Last year I was involved in the international bits of essential and went to some of the main meetings but that was all and in my first year I think I might just have been to a couple of the main meetings (that's a long time ago now though). So I guess my point is I tried to get as involved as I could this time around. Of course as there was so much going on and so little time there were many things that I wasn't involved in: questionnaires, bookstall etc. Thus it was really cool to be working with a team of such awesome people in our CU.
8am prayer meetings really focus you on the day ahead. An awesome way to start the day. Quite how I managed to make it those every day I really don't know - I find it so much easier to be asleep at that hour of the day! Those kinda set the precedent for the rest of the day every day though. The international cafes, lunch bars, main meetings and conversations surrounding them and so on were awesome to be involved in. There were numerous occassions when I could see God working in people's lives and although I was thoroughly exhausted by the end of the week, it was one that I whole-heartedly enjoyed. As no small number of people pointed out during the week, however, telling people about Jesus is for life, not just for Essential.
I thought I'd conclude with a summary of some of the things that I felt were the highlights of the week (both in general and for me personally):
Generally:
• At least 6 people became Christians (not that it's about numbers, but its always so encouraging to see people discovering God for the first time!)
• Lots of people had the chance to hear the gospel (some brilliant talks) - it was great to see numerous non-Christian faces at all of the events! Yay!
• Many more people know something of the CU and what we stand for as a result of much publicity, conversations Christians had with their friends, questionnaire evangelism etc etc
Personally:
• Several of my good non-Christian friends came along to some of the events
• Even some of those who said they couldn't/didn't want to come along to events I've been able to say something (even if only briefly) of why the week was being held/what I believe etc
• Conversations - so many good ones - especially at the international cafe - some of the international students seem to be really searching
• I learnt loads, enjoyed the week much and hopefully I've grown in my faith through it
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Essential Day 5
Tis Sunday afternoon and high time I wrapped up my day-by-day record of Essential I reckon. So, Friday:
I must admit I wasn't involved in loads of Essential stuff on Friday, so I'll keep this account brief. This was mainly because I had seven hours of lessons timetabled for the day! I skipped one of those hours to go to the lunchbar, but aside from that I had lessons from 9 til 4 straight. Also in the evening I had accepted a long-time ago an invitation to go go-karting in Leamington for Tom Carter's birthday. So that meant I missed the evening Essential stuff, which I was rather gutted about, although it has to be said the go-karting was great fun!
The prayer meeting first thing was good as usual. In a strange kind-of-way I'm actually gonna miss not having these on every day next week! Today's lunchbar was about differing world religions. The talk focussed on how all world religions have major differences, things which contradict one another, such that it's impossible for them all to be right. The speaker also sought to point out Jesus' claim that he was the only way to God, rather than it just being a case of "take any route you want".
The evening meeting was due to be about whether a fresh start is possible (I'm guessing the speaker might have said "yes"!). At Globe Cafe a British evening took place, with baked potatoes and desserts and live music, as well as a story of how a Warwick student encountered God. As I wasn't there I'm not sure how these two things went - I'm still waiting for the chance to ask someone to tell me about them.
Well, that was Essential. In a few days, I'm hoping to write something looking back at the week as a whole and assessing how it went and so on. For now though, I'm recovering from the week and catching up with all the things I neglected throughout its duration. Especially sleep. :)
I must admit I wasn't involved in loads of Essential stuff on Friday, so I'll keep this account brief. This was mainly because I had seven hours of lessons timetabled for the day! I skipped one of those hours to go to the lunchbar, but aside from that I had lessons from 9 til 4 straight. Also in the evening I had accepted a long-time ago an invitation to go go-karting in Leamington for Tom Carter's birthday. So that meant I missed the evening Essential stuff, which I was rather gutted about, although it has to be said the go-karting was great fun!
The prayer meeting first thing was good as usual. In a strange kind-of-way I'm actually gonna miss not having these on every day next week! Today's lunchbar was about differing world religions. The talk focussed on how all world religions have major differences, things which contradict one another, such that it's impossible for them all to be right. The speaker also sought to point out Jesus' claim that he was the only way to God, rather than it just being a case of "take any route you want".
The evening meeting was due to be about whether a fresh start is possible (I'm guessing the speaker might have said "yes"!). At Globe Cafe a British evening took place, with baked potatoes and desserts and live music, as well as a story of how a Warwick student encountered God. As I wasn't there I'm not sure how these two things went - I'm still waiting for the chance to ask someone to tell me about them.
Well, that was Essential. In a few days, I'm hoping to write something looking back at the week as a whole and assessing how it went and so on. For now though, I'm recovering from the week and catching up with all the things I neglected throughout its duration. Especially sleep. :)
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Essential Day 4
Things got a bit busy towards the end of Essential, so it's now Saturday night as I'm looking back at Thursday! I hope I can remember what happened.
This week most people have been trying to get to the 8am prayer meetings in our small groups. It's so weird to walk across campus at that time of the day for a prayer meeting for at least a couple of reasons: 1) I'm seldom out-and-about on campus at that time of day generally (I have little reason to be in a standard week!)) 2) It's very bizarre to walk across campus and find that everyone that you pass is a Christian (other CU people going to their prayer meetings in different halls!)
The lunchbar today was all about suffering (where was God in the tusnami kind-of theme). Lots of good points came out of this, such as numerous examples in the past of God using evil for good, the fact that we can't always understand everything that God does - some things are hidden from us (Dueteronomy 29:29) and that bad things shouldn't really come as a surprise to us as we're living in a fallen world. It was awesome to see the chaplaincy absolutely packed - every seat taken and not much food left (the fact that there was only ham and biscuits left at the end prompted the speaker to say that if you wanted more food all you could have was "a ham biscuit"! Oh dear!). A couple of international students from Globe came along, one of whom I attempted to relay the gist of the talk to afterwards as he missed most of it (although not very succesfully I feel :( ). Nonetheless it was great to have conversations with these two guys - it's always encouraging to see people searching, especially those that you know. I pray that they might continue doing so.
During mid-morning and mid-afternoon I had a few lectures to attend and used the time around those to do a little work and to take a brief nap. In the evening though it was back to Essential stuff and quite a novel event. In the Cryfield halls we were operating a "text-a-pancake" service, whereby we put up some posters and told people about the opportunity to text us asking for a pancake and we'd deliver it to their room or kitchen. This was basically a chance for us to get out there in amongst people on our campus and be a presence as a CU (lots of similar events were going on in other halls: text-a-toastie, grill a Christian (that's a metaphorical title that one!)). There were just over 15 of us, so we split into groups of about 5, with one group going to each Cryfield Hall. I went to Cryfield 3, where I used to live. :)
For a couple of hours we cooked up some yummy pancakes and asked everyone that we saw if they wanted one, responded to text orders and so on. With every pancake that we gave away we tried to give away a copy of John's gospel and a flyer advertising Friday's Essential events. A few of us got into prolonged conversations with people about things of a Christian nature and we wanted to make the most of those opportunities. However, this wasn't our out-and-out goal this time: we simply wanted to serve our campus and make ourselves known as a CU and publicise our other events, taking our opportunities as and when they came along to go deeper with people.
In light of these aims, I think our evening was a success. In Cryfield 3 we gave away around 50 pancakes I reckon and I believe the other two groups managed to give away at least that many, many with free copies of John's gospel and Essential publicity. We got to meet and chat to loads of people - many just for a short while, but one or two for a good deal longer. Thus, I think text-a-pancake went well. I hope we might have the opportunity to follow this up in these halls before too long.
I ended the day by going to the 24/7 prayer room for an hour - think that was quite a good way to end the day actually, and thanks to my nap earlier on in the day I didn't feel quite as totally exhausted as I would have done otherwise. The prayer room (located in Westwood Church, which is situated just off campus) is, in my opinion, a really encouraging place to spend time. People have written prayers and scripture passages all over the walls (well, actually on paper on the walls, but you know what I mean ;) ). There were some poignant things written up there from which I was able to take some strength. And of course it was a good opportunity to pray for our campus and the rest of Essential. The one day that remains.
This week most people have been trying to get to the 8am prayer meetings in our small groups. It's so weird to walk across campus at that time of the day for a prayer meeting for at least a couple of reasons: 1) I'm seldom out-and-about on campus at that time of day generally (I have little reason to be in a standard week!)) 2) It's very bizarre to walk across campus and find that everyone that you pass is a Christian (other CU people going to their prayer meetings in different halls!)
The lunchbar today was all about suffering (where was God in the tusnami kind-of theme). Lots of good points came out of this, such as numerous examples in the past of God using evil for good, the fact that we can't always understand everything that God does - some things are hidden from us (Dueteronomy 29:29) and that bad things shouldn't really come as a surprise to us as we're living in a fallen world. It was awesome to see the chaplaincy absolutely packed - every seat taken and not much food left (the fact that there was only ham and biscuits left at the end prompted the speaker to say that if you wanted more food all you could have was "a ham biscuit"! Oh dear!). A couple of international students from Globe came along, one of whom I attempted to relay the gist of the talk to afterwards as he missed most of it (although not very succesfully I feel :( ). Nonetheless it was great to have conversations with these two guys - it's always encouraging to see people searching, especially those that you know. I pray that they might continue doing so.
During mid-morning and mid-afternoon I had a few lectures to attend and used the time around those to do a little work and to take a brief nap. In the evening though it was back to Essential stuff and quite a novel event. In the Cryfield halls we were operating a "text-a-pancake" service, whereby we put up some posters and told people about the opportunity to text us asking for a pancake and we'd deliver it to their room or kitchen. This was basically a chance for us to get out there in amongst people on our campus and be a presence as a CU (lots of similar events were going on in other halls: text-a-toastie, grill a Christian (that's a metaphorical title that one!)). There were just over 15 of us, so we split into groups of about 5, with one group going to each Cryfield Hall. I went to Cryfield 3, where I used to live. :)
For a couple of hours we cooked up some yummy pancakes and asked everyone that we saw if they wanted one, responded to text orders and so on. With every pancake that we gave away we tried to give away a copy of John's gospel and a flyer advertising Friday's Essential events. A few of us got into prolonged conversations with people about things of a Christian nature and we wanted to make the most of those opportunities. However, this wasn't our out-and-out goal this time: we simply wanted to serve our campus and make ourselves known as a CU and publicise our other events, taking our opportunities as and when they came along to go deeper with people.
In light of these aims, I think our evening was a success. In Cryfield 3 we gave away around 50 pancakes I reckon and I believe the other two groups managed to give away at least that many, many with free copies of John's gospel and Essential publicity. We got to meet and chat to loads of people - many just for a short while, but one or two for a good deal longer. Thus, I think text-a-pancake went well. I hope we might have the opportunity to follow this up in these halls before too long.
I ended the day by going to the 24/7 prayer room for an hour - think that was quite a good way to end the day actually, and thanks to my nap earlier on in the day I didn't feel quite as totally exhausted as I would have done otherwise. The prayer room (located in Westwood Church, which is situated just off campus) is, in my opinion, a really encouraging place to spend time. People have written prayers and scripture passages all over the walls (well, actually on paper on the walls, but you know what I mean ;) ). There were some poignant things written up there from which I was able to take some strength. And of course it was a good opportunity to pray for our campus and the rest of Essential. The one day that remains.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Essential Day 3
Well, today was the day that we'll call day 3. Quite logical really as it was the 3rd day of Essential. Or you can call it Wednesday if you like. Either way, time to reflect on the day that was.
Prayer meeting was cool again (and surprise, surprise I was a little late for it - no change there then!). Went for breakfast in Rootes Restaurant with some of my 10:25 after this before doing some work for my course for a while. Wednesday is my day off so I didn't have any lectures or seminars, which is always nice!
The CU football team then had a session in the 24/7 prayer room. 'Twas cool to pray that we'd be effective witnesses both on and off the pitch, in what we do and what we say. Then we actually had a match straight afterwards - lost 2-0 against quite a tough team. Before the game we had the chance to give out some flyers to the opposition and the players of the previous game plugging the Essential meetings for the rest of the week. A couple of the international students gratefully accepted them. For the most-part though the other football players either turned down the offer of a leaflet with something of a scowl on their face, or else accepted it and rapidly stuffed it in their pockets in a manner that said "I'll probably bin this later". A bit sad really, but we did all that we can do: prayed about it and then stepped out and informed people - have to leave the rest up to God really. This also matched up to the attitude of arrogance that I've noticed at among footballers at Warwick in particular - a lot of them seem to be rather full of themselves. Maybe it's a bit unfair to pick on the footballers in particular but one thing I'm pretty certain on is that when you're so full of yourself like this there's no room for God in your life. A certain degree of humility is needed to accept that you might need God after all. But I'm being too negative - who know's what God is doing in their hearts under the surface. I pray that He might be an agent of change in these guys lives.
Because of the football match, us footballers arrived at the main meeting a little bit late. However, we did manage to catch most of the talk which was all about forgiveness. It was a really good message once more and Roger left everyone with the challenge of making a decision.
Globe Cafe was top notch again. Tonight was a Chinese evening. As well as a presentation about Chinese music, calligraphy and ying-yang, there was also a talk about whether Christianity is a religion just for the west. There were a couple of good conversations that I was involved in: about Christianity in Taiwan with some Taiwanese students and with a Japanese exchange student about why it's important to explore whether a religion could be true.
We're now over half-way through the week. I guess my biggest prayer at this stage would be that we'd see more of the same: more ground-breaking conversations as God changes more people.
[Currently listening to: Everything by Tim Hughes - awesome song, so encouraging]
Prayer meeting was cool again (and surprise, surprise I was a little late for it - no change there then!). Went for breakfast in Rootes Restaurant with some of my 10:25 after this before doing some work for my course for a while. Wednesday is my day off so I didn't have any lectures or seminars, which is always nice!
The CU football team then had a session in the 24/7 prayer room. 'Twas cool to pray that we'd be effective witnesses both on and off the pitch, in what we do and what we say. Then we actually had a match straight afterwards - lost 2-0 against quite a tough team. Before the game we had the chance to give out some flyers to the opposition and the players of the previous game plugging the Essential meetings for the rest of the week. A couple of the international students gratefully accepted them. For the most-part though the other football players either turned down the offer of a leaflet with something of a scowl on their face, or else accepted it and rapidly stuffed it in their pockets in a manner that said "I'll probably bin this later". A bit sad really, but we did all that we can do: prayed about it and then stepped out and informed people - have to leave the rest up to God really. This also matched up to the attitude of arrogance that I've noticed at among footballers at Warwick in particular - a lot of them seem to be rather full of themselves. Maybe it's a bit unfair to pick on the footballers in particular but one thing I'm pretty certain on is that when you're so full of yourself like this there's no room for God in your life. A certain degree of humility is needed to accept that you might need God after all. But I'm being too negative - who know's what God is doing in their hearts under the surface. I pray that He might be an agent of change in these guys lives.
Because of the football match, us footballers arrived at the main meeting a little bit late. However, we did manage to catch most of the talk which was all about forgiveness. It was a really good message once more and Roger left everyone with the challenge of making a decision.
Globe Cafe was top notch again. Tonight was a Chinese evening. As well as a presentation about Chinese music, calligraphy and ying-yang, there was also a talk about whether Christianity is a religion just for the west. There were a couple of good conversations that I was involved in: about Christianity in Taiwan with some Taiwanese students and with a Japanese exchange student about why it's important to explore whether a religion could be true.
We're now over half-way through the week. I guess my biggest prayer at this stage would be that we'd see more of the same: more ground-breaking conversations as God changes more people.
[Currently listening to: Everything by Tim Hughes - awesome song, so encouraging]
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Essential Day 2
The alarm this morning went far too early. However, by the time I'd had a brisk, cold walk to the 8am prayer meeting and Bible study I was feeling surprisingly awake by my standards for that time of the morning. It was really good to encourage one another and to pray before getting on with the rest of the day. After the prayer meeting a few of us went to Rootes Resaurant to have a leisurely breakfast and this was a good opportunity to get to know a couple of the AMs (Assistant Missioners, who have come from outside the university for the week).
I did some work in the middle of the day - some reading towards an essay. I also went to a lecture, which was going on at the same time as today's lunchbar: "Birth, life, death ... is there more to life than this?" I did though manage to make it to the main meeting at half five. Today I thought this was very slick! The drama was outstanding - very funny and very thought-provoking. Roger was talking about how God could change people, citing the example of the woman who was caught commiting adultery in John 8 in the Bible. People seemed to really listen and Roger spoke in a very clear manner making some good key points (but also finding time for a few humorous anecdotes). I think we're very fortunate to have a speaker like him with us this week. The meeting also featured a really cool true story of how a Warwick student became a Christian - these are always really encouraging.
Globe Cafe took up the rest of the evening. I was amazed at how many people turned up for our Japanese evening! Praise God! There was some Japanese food (though not that much due to unexpected sheer weight of numbers) and a presentation about Japanese culture, including a lengthy explanation of Japanese toilets! A Japanese girl gave her testimony to round the evening off. It was quite exciting to hear her story and she was passionate about telling it so hopefully that might have got through to some people. Right, I'm off to bed. Hopefully I'll get somewhat more sleep than last night.
I did some work in the middle of the day - some reading towards an essay. I also went to a lecture, which was going on at the same time as today's lunchbar: "Birth, life, death ... is there more to life than this?" I did though manage to make it to the main meeting at half five. Today I thought this was very slick! The drama was outstanding - very funny and very thought-provoking. Roger was talking about how God could change people, citing the example of the woman who was caught commiting adultery in John 8 in the Bible. People seemed to really listen and Roger spoke in a very clear manner making some good key points (but also finding time for a few humorous anecdotes). I think we're very fortunate to have a speaker like him with us this week. The meeting also featured a really cool true story of how a Warwick student became a Christian - these are always really encouraging.
Globe Cafe took up the rest of the evening. I was amazed at how many people turned up for our Japanese evening! Praise God! There was some Japanese food (though not that much due to unexpected sheer weight of numbers) and a presentation about Japanese culture, including a lengthy explanation of Japanese toilets! A Japanese girl gave her testimony to round the evening off. It was quite exciting to hear her story and she was passionate about telling it so hopefully that might have got through to some people. Right, I'm off to bed. Hopefully I'll get somewhat more sleep than last night.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Essential Day 1
Essential has started! Woo! And so here's my post at the end of day 1 of this week (well ok, so as I'm finishing this off to post it's actually nearer the end of day 2 - looks like I'm going to be a day behind all week!). As this week is kinda different from any other I think my blog entries might take more of a journal-type approach than usual. I reckon I'll aim to record the main goings on of each day.
This morning started with an 8am prayer meeting (not a time at which I usually go anywhere for anything to be honest, so it came as rather a shock!). It was really encouraging to start the day in this way, however. Then after I'd had a lecture and a seminar there was a lunchbar entitled "Is it a case of God vs science?", featuring free food and a talk on the aforementioned topic. The talk was given by Roger Carswell, who's to be the main speaker this week. Whilst he's not a scientist himself, I thought he exhibited a fairly curious and scientific nature. He sought to explain how he felt the Bible and science weren't incompatible. For example, one of his key points was that there are many things that science can't explain. He also spoke about how science is made up of theories some of which are more definite than others. A key point that resonated with me was about how we often accept what the media tells us or what our friends tell us as fact, rather than going back to the original source. Clearly this could bias someone's view of the God v Science argument if people don't go back to the original source of the Bible, as I feel they often don't. It was really awesome to see a couple of friends come along to this and to be able to discuss things with them.
The main meetings this year are being held in Rootes Restaurant. The set-up wasn't great today as there were some dividers that are part of the furniture in Rootes Restaurant which were blocking the views of some people including mine. Despite these obstructions though it was a thought-provoking event and it was good to see the place fairly packed, including lots of non-Christians. Before the talk on "Do Warwick students need God?" there was a sequence of video interviews asking people that very question. The answers there went from one extreme to another and some were rather apathetic about it (as I'd expect I suppose). The talk was once more poignant and the evening was linked together well with a relevant drama sketch and a testimony from a Chinese student called Dustin.
Globe Cafe, which caters in particular for international students, had a French theme. So we had French food, as well as a quiz and some French music. The evening concluded with a talk about "How can I please God?"
After that I went to the 24/7 prayer room for a bit. We're trying to make sure that someone is praying for Essential every hour of the week (from 10pm on Saturday gone til 10pm next Saturday). By the time I got home in the early hours of the morning I was well and truly ready for some sleep, especially as there wasn't much time until the 8am prayer meeting.
This morning started with an 8am prayer meeting (not a time at which I usually go anywhere for anything to be honest, so it came as rather a shock!). It was really encouraging to start the day in this way, however. Then after I'd had a lecture and a seminar there was a lunchbar entitled "Is it a case of God vs science?", featuring free food and a talk on the aforementioned topic. The talk was given by Roger Carswell, who's to be the main speaker this week. Whilst he's not a scientist himself, I thought he exhibited a fairly curious and scientific nature. He sought to explain how he felt the Bible and science weren't incompatible. For example, one of his key points was that there are many things that science can't explain. He also spoke about how science is made up of theories some of which are more definite than others. A key point that resonated with me was about how we often accept what the media tells us or what our friends tell us as fact, rather than going back to the original source. Clearly this could bias someone's view of the God v Science argument if people don't go back to the original source of the Bible, as I feel they often don't. It was really awesome to see a couple of friends come along to this and to be able to discuss things with them.
The main meetings this year are being held in Rootes Restaurant. The set-up wasn't great today as there were some dividers that are part of the furniture in Rootes Restaurant which were blocking the views of some people including mine. Despite these obstructions though it was a thought-provoking event and it was good to see the place fairly packed, including lots of non-Christians. Before the talk on "Do Warwick students need God?" there was a sequence of video interviews asking people that very question. The answers there went from one extreme to another and some were rather apathetic about it (as I'd expect I suppose). The talk was once more poignant and the evening was linked together well with a relevant drama sketch and a testimony from a Chinese student called Dustin.
Globe Cafe, which caters in particular for international students, had a French theme. So we had French food, as well as a quiz and some French music. The evening concluded with a talk about "How can I please God?"
After that I went to the 24/7 prayer room for a bit. We're trying to make sure that someone is praying for Essential every hour of the week (from 10pm on Saturday gone til 10pm next Saturday). By the time I got home in the early hours of the morning I was well and truly ready for some sleep, especially as there wasn't much time until the 8am prayer meeting.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Evangelism
After not posting for a long while (due to university holidays, the presence of coursework and an exam and so on) I now find myself well and truly back into the swing of blogging. Two posts in two days: not bad given my past posting rate huh?
Anyway, I thought I'd have a little natter about evangelism today. Clearly it's not going to be possible to say everything that I want to about evangelism. It's a huge area with so much ground that I could cover, but I did want to touch on it as we find ourselves on the eve of Essential (Warwick CU's mission week, which starts tomorrow - well later on today as it's now the early hours!).
I've been thinking a lot about evangelism recently and in particular about why I haven't been involved in it more and why I'm so rubbish at it. It's the kind of thing that's easy to get daunted by I think and perhaps the hardest part is getting started. To get started you need good motivation. So why exactly do we as Christians tell others about Jesus?
My favourite quote about is evangelism comes from Charles Spurgeon who said that evangelism is simply "one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread". This is so true - we're simply pointing other people in the direction of where they can get exactly what they need. The trouble is, most people don't realise they need it (the Bible says that they are blinded from the light - ask me if you want the reference). Which is perhaps one reason why some people get rather annoyed by evangelistic approaches from Christians - they don't see the need for any of it. However, we should want to see others turn to God as He commands us to love others and if we truly love everyone (yep, even our enemies) would we leave them to die in their sin? (as the Bible says that they will without knowing Him) Matthew 28 (verse 16 onwards) is the key passage that commands believers to go out and tell others.
Anyway, that's just a very brief outline of the motivations for evangelism, constituting a very small part of what I could say about evangelism. Maybe I'll come back to it at a later date, but for now it's time to put this theory into practice in the shape of Essential.
Anyway, I thought I'd have a little natter about evangelism today. Clearly it's not going to be possible to say everything that I want to about evangelism. It's a huge area with so much ground that I could cover, but I did want to touch on it as we find ourselves on the eve of Essential (Warwick CU's mission week, which starts tomorrow - well later on today as it's now the early hours!).
I've been thinking a lot about evangelism recently and in particular about why I haven't been involved in it more and why I'm so rubbish at it. It's the kind of thing that's easy to get daunted by I think and perhaps the hardest part is getting started. To get started you need good motivation. So why exactly do we as Christians tell others about Jesus?
My favourite quote about is evangelism comes from Charles Spurgeon who said that evangelism is simply "one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread". This is so true - we're simply pointing other people in the direction of where they can get exactly what they need. The trouble is, most people don't realise they need it (the Bible says that they are blinded from the light - ask me if you want the reference). Which is perhaps one reason why some people get rather annoyed by evangelistic approaches from Christians - they don't see the need for any of it. However, we should want to see others turn to God as He commands us to love others and if we truly love everyone (yep, even our enemies) would we leave them to die in their sin? (as the Bible says that they will without knowing Him) Matthew 28 (verse 16 onwards) is the key passage that commands believers to go out and tell others.
Anyway, that's just a very brief outline of the motivations for evangelism, constituting a very small part of what I could say about evangelism. Maybe I'll come back to it at a later date, but for now it's time to put this theory into practice in the shape of Essential.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
One World Week
This past week (13-21 Jan) at Warwick has been "One World Week", which is widely plugged as being the "World’s Largest Student-Run International Event". There are apparently more than 120 nationalities represented in this weeks festivities (so I guess that means it includes people from about 1/2 of the world's countries - not bad really). The week consists of loads of cultural shows: music, dance, a fashion show, food from many countries, sports competitions and forums on different subjects of a global nature.
According to their website, OWW is "a well-respected annual event that stimulates personal development through a week of Festival, Forum, Arts and Sport". It aims to promote "a view based on acceptance and appreciation of the world's mosaic of cultures." It started out as a one-day event 10 years ago and has evolved into nine days of "cultural celebration, unity and a belief for a better future."
International students are a significant part of the fabric at Warwick. Around 25% of our 16,000 students are international students. Yet there seem to be at times quite sizeable divides between the different nationalities on campus. One World Week, although only lasting for one week, does something to address this issue. I don't think I'm the only one who feels that whilst being a step in the right direction, it's a step which is quite small. That said, One World Week provides a fantastic opportunity for different facets of different nations to be displayed and celebrated. I've not attended a huge amount of OWW events since I've been at Warwick, but this year I have witnessed marching bands in the piazza, Asian music performances in the students union and a forum about whether foreign aid is effective. All very interesting stuff.
It's rather sad to see so many people from overseas feeling a little alienated by the fact that British students would rather spend 100% of their time with fellow Brits. The British student lifestyle, which for a reasonable number involves going out and drinking in excess regularly, is not always one which international students are keen to follow. And personally I'm rather glad that a lot of them don't. This is just one small reason why international students are seldom as included as they ideally would be. Whilst it would be easy to criticize internationals for forming their own "mini-ghettos" by hanging out purely with their countrymen (and women), I can't help but feel that in many cases the blame lies more at the door of us Brits.
I remember reading in the media after the horrific events of 7/7 last summer of how the community of Beeston in Leeds operated. White British people were living in the same street as many people with Asian and/or Muslim backgrounds. Although these two groups lived together alright - they would leave one another in peace, say hello to one another and so on - they seemed to spend time exclusively with members of their own "group". Whilst there was not any physical divide, there seemed to be a hidden, underlying one. From my experience this is not unique to Beeston in this country by any means.
Ken Livingstone is always quick to praise London's diversity and to claim that it's a wonderfully multi-cultural place where everyone lives happily together. Happy on the surface maybe, but I suspect there is much tension underneath. Such tension is probably present in much of Western Europe - as it seemed to be in Paris with some of the race-linked uprisings not so long ago. Thus I'm of the opinion that a whole lot more needs to be done to integrate outsiders in our society.
As well as One World Week, Globe Cafe, which I'm involved in and is run by the Warwick Christian Union, also hopefully plays its part in bringing together people of different nationalities. Whilst primarily aiming to pass on the fantastic news of Jesus Christ through Globe, by following our calling to love people (including foreigners) we also aim to make internationals feel at home at Warwick. And it really is a joy to know people from such a range of backgrounds. One thing's for sure in my mind, having so many internationals around certainly enriches the experience of being at university dramatically. That is, assuming you take the time to engage with them ...
According to their website, OWW is "a well-respected annual event that stimulates personal development through a week of Festival, Forum, Arts and Sport". It aims to promote "a view based on acceptance and appreciation of the world's mosaic of cultures." It started out as a one-day event 10 years ago and has evolved into nine days of "cultural celebration, unity and a belief for a better future."
International students are a significant part of the fabric at Warwick. Around 25% of our 16,000 students are international students. Yet there seem to be at times quite sizeable divides between the different nationalities on campus. One World Week, although only lasting for one week, does something to address this issue. I don't think I'm the only one who feels that whilst being a step in the right direction, it's a step which is quite small. That said, One World Week provides a fantastic opportunity for different facets of different nations to be displayed and celebrated. I've not attended a huge amount of OWW events since I've been at Warwick, but this year I have witnessed marching bands in the piazza, Asian music performances in the students union and a forum about whether foreign aid is effective. All very interesting stuff.
It's rather sad to see so many people from overseas feeling a little alienated by the fact that British students would rather spend 100% of their time with fellow Brits. The British student lifestyle, which for a reasonable number involves going out and drinking in excess regularly, is not always one which international students are keen to follow. And personally I'm rather glad that a lot of them don't. This is just one small reason why international students are seldom as included as they ideally would be. Whilst it would be easy to criticize internationals for forming their own "mini-ghettos" by hanging out purely with their countrymen (and women), I can't help but feel that in many cases the blame lies more at the door of us Brits.
I remember reading in the media after the horrific events of 7/7 last summer of how the community of Beeston in Leeds operated. White British people were living in the same street as many people with Asian and/or Muslim backgrounds. Although these two groups lived together alright - they would leave one another in peace, say hello to one another and so on - they seemed to spend time exclusively with members of their own "group". Whilst there was not any physical divide, there seemed to be a hidden, underlying one. From my experience this is not unique to Beeston in this country by any means.
Ken Livingstone is always quick to praise London's diversity and to claim that it's a wonderfully multi-cultural place where everyone lives happily together. Happy on the surface maybe, but I suspect there is much tension underneath. Such tension is probably present in much of Western Europe - as it seemed to be in Paris with some of the race-linked uprisings not so long ago. Thus I'm of the opinion that a whole lot more needs to be done to integrate outsiders in our society.
As well as One World Week, Globe Cafe, which I'm involved in and is run by the Warwick Christian Union, also hopefully plays its part in bringing together people of different nationalities. Whilst primarily aiming to pass on the fantastic news of Jesus Christ through Globe, by following our calling to love people (including foreigners) we also aim to make internationals feel at home at Warwick. And it really is a joy to know people from such a range of backgrounds. One thing's for sure in my mind, having so many internationals around certainly enriches the experience of being at university dramatically. That is, assuming you take the time to engage with them ...
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