Another thing i mentioned on Sunday was Marks and Spencers have an ‘apple template’ that all apples they buy must match in order to be sold there. Others that don’t match are left to rot! No doubt there are similar things going on in other supermarkets and multiple products.

They are selecting those apples on the basis of what they think consumers want to buy [nice looking ones], but in the process informing the consumer what apples actually look like. We are so disconnected from the earth!!

Here’s the thing: Consumerism affects how we perceive reality.

The apple thing though is completely trivial though when compared to this:

[Click to get bigger picture]

See the post and comments at: ASBO Jesus.

Everyone should look at this, it may help to get reality in-focus again?

Coffee gives you
a legal shot of
energy when your
eyelids are feeling
down.
Coffee kills time
when you’re washed
ashore on the streets
of London.
(Coffee can even
help rainstorms
disappear.)
Coffee is something
to dangle your lips
in when conversation
is scarce.
Coffee is a good
place to take a
new friend.
(Coffee is an excuse
to stay half an hour
longer.)
Acquaintanceships end
on the doorstep but
friendships begin
with a coffee.
Coffee can be
appreciated by all
generations.
Coffee is multilingual,
multi-racial, liquid esperanto.
Yes.
There’s something quite
religious about coffee.

a poem by Steve Turner
others here

Easter has come and gone; 40 days of prayer and fasting has come and gone. 40 dasy without coffee finshed on Sunday morning with a frsh brew. To be honest i was a little worried that i might have gone off it after that long - but no. Resurrection Coffee - beautiful. My first day back at work today was a different story. A couple of cups of dodgy instant stuff was tooo much! I think that might be a good thing!

Easter Sunday at Parklands was a great morning. Lovely to see some of our friends join us. The highlight, apart from kat and em’s thespian prowess, was the flowering of the cross. It was a beautiful thing seeing the rough wooden cross gradually being beautified as everyone in the place added flowers. It really was a powerful image, and quite emotional. here’s a picture that captures the end result:

Click on it and ponder it for a while…

Unfortunately, i didn;’t get in early enough with the camera [did anyone else?] but here are a couple of in process shots:

I attempted to talk on “Resurrection Life!”. You can download it here.

 

 Resurrection Life: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

“Resurrection Life!” - Mark Norridge

UPDATE: Not sure it was my best talk ever, but there you go[well maybe it was ok!]. At the start of the mp3 you have the wonderful priviledge of having Adrian read Gerard Kelly’s poem “Because he is risen“.

As you know if you were there, just before I got up to talk I managed to trap Jack’s [my 8year old son] big toe under the door to the men’s toilets. Maddy rushed him down to A&E. Fortunately nothing was broken, but he did need a drilling of the nail to release the pressure!

Last Year’s Easter Posts Can be found here:
Good Friday Reflections
Easter Saturday - The Road to Emmaus
Easter Sunday - Because he is risen

Our Journey into for the first part of the year was to explore together “practices for growth”. We have produced sheets on each topic as starter for the conversations. I have now made them available for download. They are:

Practice of Prayer
Practice of Rest
Practice of Accountability
Practice of Submission
Practice of Sacrifice
Practice of Silence
Practice of Hosptiality

And of course we have podcasts:
Introduction to the Practices with Mark Norridge
Biblical Meditation with Graham Old
Full Flavoured Spirituality with Simon & Gaynor Shaw

If you are looking for some tips for the Practice of Lent, you could try some of these:
Count Your Blessings with Christian Aid
Love Life Live Lent
40 Ideas for Lent from Ship of Fools
Grace Lent Community Blog

On Emma’s suggestion I am reading: Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter, which is great.

I am doing some preparation for a talk I am doing on the parable of the lost son. After some searching I found a painting that I had seen a while back [it was on the laptop that got nicked!!]. I would really like your comments on it. Honestly, please comment on this one!

Do you like it? What about it adds to you perception of the story? Is there anything about it that you don’t like? or something that subverts the story?