Kenyan complexities – community, tribalism and the cross
It is STILL going on – I can’t bear it. And now around 800 are dead, including a specifically targeted opposition MP. Africa and Africans have SO MUCH to offer, and indeed teach us Europeans. There is a holism and integration to the ways in which the world and life are understood that have much […]
TV theology 2: LOST’s Sayid experiences the liberation of real forgiveness
In my opinion, LOST Season 3 is much better than Season 2 (the latter just got silly – well more silly than the other stuff). I know we’re a bit behind the times but have been working through it as a result of a lovely Christmas present. For the uninitiated, Sayid (played by Brit, Naveen […]
TV Theology 1: ER exposes postmodern forgiveness
Thanks are due for this to my friend, Paul Carter, the-pastor-with-his-eye-on-the-pulse (if you can have eyes on pulses) over there in Virginia. Last week’s ER episode (I was a devotee when it started in the mid-90s but have rather fallen out of the habit) shown in the USA is intriguingly called Atonement. Seems to be […]
I didn’t know John Lewis was a girl’s name
Spotted in the toy department of the Oxford St John Lewis yesterday – the wall signage is either very confusing (when there in fact 3 different women at the checkouts) or very wise lifestyle advice.
Bible in 50 words? A great stab!
Oh for the perfect summary sentence? As I often find myself teaching, if you can’t summarise a passage in one sentence, then you’ve probably not begun to understand it (either that, or you’re trying to bite off more than you can chew). But how about a whole book – or even a collection of books […]
January Sales – a whole new meaning to 70% off
Living in the west end means that it is impossible to escape the latest trends in fashion and retailing. January is of course the key time when shops ditch old styles and make way for the latest looks. Extravagant reductions are offered to lure customers across the threshold. But wandering past this shop yesterday […]
Africa the fragile continent, the result of power-hungry dictators
Blaine Harden is an American foreign correspondent who has worked for the Washington Post and the New York Times. For a number of years he travelled across Africa, the result of which was this fascinating book, Africa: Dispatches from a Fragile Continent. Despite now being 15 years old, it is sadly, profoundly relevant. One particular […]
Peace on earth? what a joke? Unless we’ve misunderstood something
The New Year started well, didn’t it? Civil War in Pakistan? Kenyan chaos? Not to mention Darfur, Iraq, Afghanistan etc etc. It raises all kinds of questions – and all the more so, the more one knows, or the closer one is to the situation. What is going on in Kenya simply boils the blood […]
“Alas an African Dream’s going wrong” – now it’s Nairobi’s turn (again)…
I’ve no idea how far in advance they plan the Telegraph Cryptic Crosswords but I suspect it is at least a few weeks. So in the light of this week’s events in Kenya, there is an ironic poignancy to 2 Across from today’s. The clue reads: 2 Ac: Alas a dream’s going wrong for African […]
Wendy Cope’s A CHRISTMAS SONG
Happy New Year! All back in action but snowed under with talks, studies and emails to write. Regular blogging will resume next week as i’ve been reading and thinking even more random things than usual over the last few weeks. But, in the meantime, since it is still the Christmas season (after all, for the […]
