My Take on the Quake!

I am gutted.

Everybody was talking all about it at work.... a 5.2 tremor on the Richter scale, the epicentre of which was located in Market Rasen in Lincolnshire.

It was felt as far afield as Wales, Liverpool and the Thames valley... and apparently South Warwickshire. I say apparently because I slept right through... in fact, I think I nodded off just moments before everything kicked off. How unfortunate am I? I would have seriously have revelled in it.

Why do I say that?

Earthquakes are dangerous things... you only have to look back a few years back in 2004 to see the devastation caused by the Boxing Day Tsunami... thousands dead as far away as Africa, to realise this. Cities have been levelled, civilizations have been brought down by them... when in full force they are not to be taken lightly.

Yet this is Britain... we have a habit of making things that happen over here, bigger than they actually are. A little bit of snow falls and the nation is paralysed... the wind picks up a bit and we should all stay inside! We are very lucky in this country and we would do well to remember it. Yes there were the floods... and before you accuse me of oversight on that, let me remind you that I live in one of the towns that has been the worst hit... twice in 10 years. Lets get some perspective here though; even with the effects of global warming, our injuries and casualties in the face of natural disaster are pretty low compared to nations with less fortunate location or infrastructure. We are blessed.

So when the Earth starts undulating in this country, at best it's a few bumps and bruises and a hefty insurance bill for collateral damage... and something new to talk about during an otherwise mundane and monotonous day.

And I missed out this time.

The last "significant" quake we had a few years ago, just about woke me up from the slumber I had fallen into on the sofa.

The first earthquake I really remember, was some time around 1990/1991. I was in a biology class and I recall a very strange feeling...as if we were on a boat that had hit a large wave. It felt like we had plummeted about 20-30 foot, and then come back up again just as swiftly. I have fond memories of that day because I was the first person to risk looking stupid and point out that something had happened... and because of poor old Mr Jarvie's practical demonstration of what causes an earthquake... which resulted most of the class falling about in fits of laughter.

On reflection however, maybe I should take earthquakes a little more seriously. According to folklore... my town has some seismic history:

In circa 709 AD, the bishop (later saint) Egwin visited the town of Alcester as part of an ecclesiastical council held to consecrate the foundation of Evesham Abbey. He preached the Gospel but the townsfolk were hardhearted to his message and drowned him out with the sounds of their industry... and so he departed the town and shook the dust of his feet. According to legend the Earth opened up and took the smiths into her bosom. The town's prosperity ebbed and dwindled from that day forth.

Maybe it is just legend but I'll wager there is some truth. There is a geological ridge not far from the town... and what little I know of the tale, suggests Egwin acted in accordance with biblical tradition and even if you explain away the earthquake, you still have to account for the sudden change in the town's fortunes.

Anyway enough of myth, legend and lore. I think I'll leave you with a link to other people's reactions to the day's events.

I wonder how Alastair got on... he is a lot closer to the action than me!

Speed Preaching

I spent the best part of today at the preaching workshop that I touched upon in my previous post. During April and May I'll be brushing up on my skills (sure, I technically "preach online" a lot, but it is only on very rare occasions that I get the opportunity to "go live" in front of a crowd of people), I'll be hearing speakers talk on various aspects of the subject... will test preach to others on the course and eventually be set loose on the unsuspecting public in an unfamiliar church.

Today was pretty much a foretaste of what to expect... and it was quite fast paced.

In the morning we heard a tale that had parallels with the Easter story. It was about a boy who becomes withdrawn from his group of friends... and who when confronted by his concerned father, reveals that he is embarrassed about his mother... who had scarred hands. The father shares with his son, how his mother became scarred. When he was two years old his mother left him in the front room for two minutes... and he managed to fall upon the open fire they had. His mother hearing the horrific scream, ran in... pulled the boy off the fire and - having nothing else to use, patted the flames out with her bare hands. The boy walked away unscathed, but the mother (despite surgeons' best efforts)was left with badly scarred hands. Upon learning this story, the boy makes a point to show his friends his mother's hands whenever he can... realising that it demonstrates in practical terms, how much she loved him.

Of course the Christian parallels in that tale are obvious. Christ himself has scarred hands... from dying on the cross to save us from sin.

We were asked to recount the same story in our own words, within small groups. Having a slightly similar tale to the fictional boy (though it was me who was scarred due to boiling tea... and not my mother), I was a little distracted. Kind of weird how out of all the anecdotes that could have cropped up... it was that one.

Following on from this, we all took a bible reference at random from a basket. All of these scriptures were parables from the synoptic gospels. We had to read the parable in story form using own language and then summarise what we felt God was saying to us through it. We were given just a couple of minutes to put it together... in other words,we were "speed preaching".

I was given The Parable of the Unjust Judge, a tale that Jesus used to stress the importance of praying and not giving up.

I was in mischievous mood.

The room we were using had a picture of one of the former CPAS presidents (we were using their offices in Warwick). I decided to use this poor moustached gentleman to represent the titular unjust judge. In reality the guy was anything but this, he gave up his land for charity... not exactly the kind of person you could describe as not fearing God or caring for men. I was very animated in my talk... but it seemed to go well. For me this was the most memorable and beneficial experience of the whole day and I think that when we go through the training properly... when I have to speak in front of others who are assessing me, I'm still going to treat the message I bring with the same kind of fervour or zeal I would use if I were writing here, or talking in a genuine church environment. To me, it's all the same... it is still a very real opportunity to share something I feel that God has said.

I'm looking forward to the experience.

The whole notion of what I jokingly called "speed preaching" has got me thinking though. Whatever could be next? I have an idea....

"Extreme Preaching".

Think about it... what a great way to spread the gospel in the modern world! You already get adrenaline junkies who scale mountain tops or jump out of aeroplanes to do their ironing. Think of the media exposure a pastor/vicar/preacher could get if they decided to preach the Word miked up and hanging off a cliff face.... or skyboarding.

I'd give extra cred to any clergyman who dared do such a thing whilst fully frocked up!

I seriously think it should be explored. Maybe I should start writing to young impressionable vicars!

What do you think? If you know of any vicars who regularly pull fast stunts like this... let me know and I'll gladly record their exploits here.

Preparation, Preparation, Preparation

I'm going to be taking part in a preaching workshop on Saturday... which will eventually lead to me going on a short weekly course. I received a confirmation email about it yesterday and there were some preliminary questions for me to answer, to help the people who are in charge of the workshop prepare.

I thought it would be fun to post my answers up here. Now for some reason they thought people would be concerned about the answer they gave to the second question; they said they would not make it public... but I don't really care, it's not an issue for me. I thought maybe I could start it as a Meme, if you want to copy it go for it... though I think there is very little point in you posting an answer to the final question. I've never generated a Meme from scratch before so this'll be a first!

1: How many times have you preached, approximately?

I think about 30 - 50 or so times but not many of them have been recent.

2: Who is the most effective preacher you have heard?

Probably Tony Campolo.

3: Why did you choose them?

I like the way he makes observations from real life stories, personal experience and anecdotes and converts them all into mini parables or illustrations about the point he is making. I also like his philosophy of being "as conservative as God's Law, as liberal as God's love" - I think there is volumes of stuff you can take out of that short statement.

4: What is your favourite movie?

I used to be a media student sooooo many films! I also tend to blog a lot using examples from film...but I'll list a few personal favourites in no particular order:

Lord of the Rings
Unbreakable
Signs
Lady in the Water
The Star Wars franchise
The Miracle Maker
Amelie
Deja Vu
Amazing Grace
The Princess Bride
Starman

5: What is your favourite music? I'll keep this list shorter ;-)

U2
Coldplay
Original film scores and some Classical
Rock/Alternative Rock/Adult Contemporary/Acoustic

6: If you could only take one book from the Bible to a desert island, which one would you choose?

I think it would be John's Gospel...some of Jesus' most potent and outrageous claims/statements are in there. I'm particularly fond of Jesus description of himself as the Good Shepherd as he tells people plainly what is going to happen to him well before time. I just love it that he tells his critics with audacity exactly who he is, why he has come, that it's going to cost him his life and that he is going to come back.

7: What do you hope for from the Preaching Workshop?

I hope to be able to be in a position to use what I learn more often. To have more opportunity to serve God by sharing my own experiences of who he is and what I believe hear him saying, and see him doing.

Have fun... and for the record I'm tagging Alastair, Andrew, Benny, Chrissie, Helen and Milly for this... just to get the ball rolling.

Feel free to poach this!

Nick Payne: International Man of Mystery?

Life's become pretty interesting 0ver the last couple of weeks.

I met with a vicar in the first week of February, whilst I had some annual leave booked. The meeting did not go at all how I expected or if I'm honest, how I intended.

I was investigating the possibility of having some kind of ministry... but that road didn't get travelled down. I was warned that I'm the kind of person who if not careful, would spend my life defining myself through others. The recommendation given to me instead, was to go out and have a few adventures in the wider world... or as it was put to me, "increase my vistas" and not just confine myself to working for God within a limited radius.

The first thing I'm going to do is put myself to the test. I said of myself in recent months, that I felt less scared about the prospect of flying; now I'm going to see if I can do something about it. This first step isn't about doing something like committing my life to the mission field, it is about widening my experience of the world for the first time... and seeing if a fear is merely repressed, or if it is conquered.

I remember at school, we once started to read a book called "The Boy Who Was Afraid" (originally published in the US as "Call it Courage"). The book tells the tale of a Polynesian boy named Mafatu, who is a shame and disgrace to his sea-faring people because he is afraid of the waters that they live on day to day. His shame is made all the worse because he is no less than the chief's son. Eventually the continual teasing wears Mafatu down... and he makes a decision. Mafatu sets out in secret to prove himself alone on the seas, with nothing but a dog and an albatross to keep him company and...

... that is pretty much as far as we got in the book at school. Something tells me I should go back and read the rest of the story. Yes it's a children's story, but I've never forgotten that first section that I just quoted... and from what little I know of him, I feel I can relate to Mafatu. Now I'm standing on the shore myself with my own "canoe", shame and disgrace behind me, adventure before me. What is my choice going to be this time? How many more false dawns must I go through before embracing what seems inevitable?

Another thing that has remained with me in recent years is an exchange of dialogue from the film Jurassic Park III. It comes during a scene where Dr Alan Grant is regretting some harsh things he had said to his companion, Billy. He is talking to a boy named Erik, who he has helped rescue:

Dr Grant: I have a theory that there are two kinds of boys. There are those that want to be astronomers, and those that want to be astronauts. The astronomer, or the paleontologist, gets to study these amazing things from a place of complete safety.

Erik: But then you never get to go into space.

Dr Grant: Exactly. That's the difference between imagining and seeing: to be able to touch them. And that's... that's all that Billy wanted.

A field of beautiful dinosaurs comes into view.

Erik: Dr. Grant, know something Dr. Grant? Billy was right.

Now I'll tell you something, as a child I always dreamed of being an astronaut... but I realise that somewhere along the journey I lost my way and became more of an astronomer.

A few weeks ago, when things got hard for me... I was given a timely word from a bookmark:

"The path you walk on may be dark indeed, but trust in the Lord, rely on your God."

I realise now that it had a much deeper significance than for just the situation I was facing. For another passage that has been close to my heart over the past couple of years, has been this one:

"I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them."

Isaiah 42:16

The catch is... if you want the darkness to be turned into light... and you want the rough places to become smooth, you must first be willing to walk into those very places.

Furthermore, another verse was given to me from Isaiah:

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."

Isaiah 43:2

Equally, the catch there is that in order not to be drowned or scorched... you need to have the courage to walk towards tsunami and inferno, and trust in God against those mutual spiritual imposters.

Now I'm a man who likes to analyse and study the roads and paths before me... and therein has lay part of the problem. I always try and work out the puzzle before setting off on the voyage... acting like the astronomer and not the astronaut. I believe this is why God has been talking to me of my path becoming dark. If I think I can see ways forward I'm going to explore all of them from the comfort of my armchair. If I step out blindly into total darkness, I need to trust in God's guidance completely. I've been advised to do something that cannot be justified or rationalised... just done for the sake of doing.

I was also warned that I need to be wary of counterfeit experiences. That there are easier hurdles that look like they give the same answers... but don't.

That's why this is something I need to do alone.

Just myself and God.

I can't define my destinations and my courses of action by being dependant on other people's suggestions. I can't sit and ponder over the maps other people have made. I need to go out and make a few of my own. I need to pick a random destination and just go there and meet whoever I find out there. In fact I already have a couple of ideas where I could go.

It's time to head out to the launchpad.

New Indy Trailer is Up

The teaser trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, is now out. Here's a copy I found on YouTube:

You can find a higher resolution one over at the official Indiana Jones website. It looks very much like Indy is going up against both the Russians and the US Government this time. I especially like the look of the warehouse action scene... I was amused by Indy cracking his whip in time to the music. Also as someone has pointed out to me... that warehouse does look a bit familiar. ;-)

It looks like the same place that they stowed the Ark of the Covenant at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. It'd be great to see the Ark again... but I don't think they'll touch on it, aside from (if we're lucky), maybe a double-take on Indy's part as he passes a broken box with the Ark inside.

Some people might look at the trailer and think "cheesy", but that's actually part of the charm of Indiana Jones. Don't believe me? Take a look at what for me is one of the most memorable clips from Raiders (although there are many more):

That is typical Indy... going up against ridiculously silly odds...but it is so entertaining. My hopes are still there for the fourth installment. How about yours?

A Lost Poem

I've been frantically rummaging around my room tonight.

I was looking for some documents that date back to 1989, in order to fill in some paperwork I need for a potential new venture. I found what I was looking for... but I also stumbled upon something else - an old poem that I had composed a couple of years ago.

Part of me wonders if it was just coincidence, or whether there is some deeper purpose to it's rediscovery. Either way, I feel inclined to share it once more. I'd like to know what your thoughts are wih regard to it:

The Jester

I sat and stared at the jester's dancing;

Laughing and mocking, he caught me glancing.
With unholy glee he paraded the court,

His inane folly pricking my thoughts.

His senseless stupidity stirred up my rage;
I resolved to remove him from 'his' stage.

Yet how couldI crush him at the height of his fame?
Which, with every cheer increased my shame.
I seized his throat as he performed a joke,

But his quip raised alaugh...and my heart broke.
I smote him and dragged him through every door,
But every time the crowd yelled 'MORE!'

I wondered if I would ever see that hour,

When his charms were broken and he lost his power.

He cursed me and swore with childish glee,

That forever he'd best me and I'd never be free.
But I hoped and dreamed of my eventual release;

What faith I had promised true peace.

And then all fell silent as entered my King,

Whose love is a balm to the jester's sting!
HIS throne HE established with sceptre and crown;

A judgement HE delivered on my meddlesome clown.
The jester was shackled and thrown in the jail,

That ne'er again might he cause me to fail.

Downtime

No I haven't abandoned you.

Curiously I keep thinking of things to blog about... but they always seem to get to about 75% in my brain and then just go off the boil.

I'm going to push for the extra 25% as soon as I can... but for now I thought I ought to mention that I am alive and very well.

I think my night time energy levels may be dropping off as I have lowered my caffeine intake to just cups of tea at work; when I'm at home I stick to Twinings Wellbeing stuff at the moment.

Anyway I'll sign off for now.

God bless

N