Pat : It's not a special day by any chance, is it ?
Alan : Yeah, it's your birthday.
Pat : But there's a band up the road, with drums, I can hear them.
Alan : Yeah, it's your birthday.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Almost there !
Gwilym proclaims himself better - he wasts to go to the teenagers' group this afternoon !
Catrin is coughing gently.
Every now and again I think I am OK, but then I try and speak or breathe and I start coughing again.
But we're almost there !
Catrin is coughing gently.
Every now and again I think I am OK, but then I try and speak or breathe and I start coughing again.
But we're almost there !
Friday, November 20, 2009
Phlegmworld
Our house now resembles one of those post-apocalyptic nightmare film sets - bodies lie strewn everywhere, coughing gently as the sound of the howling wind penetrates our senses.
Actually I can hear Gwilym not only coughing but also practising his guitar, which means that his 'will to live' is on the up. This is a good thing. I began to be able to read yesterday evening. Before that I thought often of reading something but even that thought made my head hurt. I can hear Catrin coughing gently from time to time.
It's an impressive virus, this. On Monday I heard of one case here in Bordeaux, the daughter of a friend of ours. Tuesday morning Gwilym is struck with it, 50 kids in Catrin's school are sent home with it and Catrin and I have it in full swing. Thursday they close the school. That's a good turn of speed !
The vaccination programme is too late. I got my letter on Friday telling me to get vaccinated in the next fortnight. Even if I had had the jab on Friday afternoon, I don't think the immunity would have been in place for the arrival of the virus which must have been on Sunday or Monday.
Poor Pat ! Tomorrow is her fiftieth birthday, and we had planned all sorts of nice things, like perhaps a Chinese retaurant, and to get her birthday present - she wants something nice to wear to a friend's wedding in Alsace in December. We may have to postpone her fiftieth birthday to a more opportune time.
Meanwhile in North Wales the churches have been hit hard this week. Two young guys, both younger than me I think, both long-term seriously ill, both have died. Please pray for all the families and churches touched by this sad time.
Pray too for this weekend. As it stands I imagine the Daveys will have to stay out of things, coughing quietly at home. Ben will probably leap into the breach on Sunday evening. On Sunday afternoon there's an evangelism workshop at FAC which I was due to help with, but I imagine Fi and Liz are well up to speed on that.
Actually I can hear Gwilym not only coughing but also practising his guitar, which means that his 'will to live' is on the up. This is a good thing. I began to be able to read yesterday evening. Before that I thought often of reading something but even that thought made my head hurt. I can hear Catrin coughing gently from time to time.
It's an impressive virus, this. On Monday I heard of one case here in Bordeaux, the daughter of a friend of ours. Tuesday morning Gwilym is struck with it, 50 kids in Catrin's school are sent home with it and Catrin and I have it in full swing. Thursday they close the school. That's a good turn of speed !
The vaccination programme is too late. I got my letter on Friday telling me to get vaccinated in the next fortnight. Even if I had had the jab on Friday afternoon, I don't think the immunity would have been in place for the arrival of the virus which must have been on Sunday or Monday.
Poor Pat ! Tomorrow is her fiftieth birthday, and we had planned all sorts of nice things, like perhaps a Chinese retaurant, and to get her birthday present - she wants something nice to wear to a friend's wedding in Alsace in December. We may have to postpone her fiftieth birthday to a more opportune time.
Meanwhile in North Wales the churches have been hit hard this week. Two young guys, both younger than me I think, both long-term seriously ill, both have died. Please pray for all the families and churches touched by this sad time.
Pray too for this weekend. As it stands I imagine the Daveys will have to stay out of things, coughing quietly at home. Ben will probably leap into the breach on Sunday evening. On Sunday afternoon there's an evangelism workshop at FAC which I was due to help with, but I imagine Fi and Liz are well up to speed on that.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Poor Catrin
They've closed her school all the rest of this week and next week and she's too ill to enjoy the prospect.
Never mind. She'll probably be able to enjoy the free school hols next week (though she thinks that Pat is going to have to home educate her for a week - I haven't told Pat yet.)
Never mind. She'll probably be able to enjoy the free school hols next week (though she thinks that Pat is going to have to home educate her for a week - I haven't told Pat yet.)
In the plague house
Life is fairly quiet. Gwilym's temperature subsided to seasonal norms. Catrin professes greater discomfort today than yesterday. I used a whole roll of aloe vera loo roll on my streaming conk, in addition to many aloe vera paper hankies. Patricia assumed Florence Nightingale mode, soothing the fevered brow, dispensing tea and paracetamol. Such was our life of yesterday.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Checklist Grippe Porcupine
1. Paint red cross on front door Check
2. Phone schools and FAC Check
3. Place onions in each room - when run out of onions reject ham as substitute Check
4. Put onion soup on menu for lunch Check
5. Go to immunisation centre to be vaccinated (I know this sounds like too little too late and stable door stuff, but the quack said to still go, even if you 'come on Saturday when I'm there')
6. Cough and splutter (no problem there - poor Pat has had that going on around her all night !)
7. Post update for friends all round the world who pray for us. (Thanks, everyone...)
2. Phone schools and FAC Check
3. Place onions in each room - when run out of onions reject ham as substitute Check
4. Put onion soup on menu for lunch Check
5. Go to immunisation centre to be vaccinated (I know this sounds like too little too late and stable door stuff, but the quack said to still go, even if you 'come on Saturday when I'm there')
6. Cough and splutter (no problem there - poor Pat has had that going on around her all night !)
7. Post update for friends all round the world who pray for us. (Thanks, everyone...)
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
OK. Here we go.
Several schools have been closed in the South West because of a large number of cases of swine 'flu.
Today Gwilym woke up with a sore head and a fever. We kept him home from school.
Catrin's school rang at lunch-time to say that she was unwell. A friend took Pat to get her, whereupon Pat learned that more than 50 children have been sent home today, all with similar symptoms of fever, sore head, etc..
OK - it's either 'flu spreading fast or mass hysteria ! Since our kids don't read the paper and I don't talk about the closure of schools and the spread of the disease, I rather suspect the former.
On the other hand, I think my vague feeling of a sore throat is entirely due to auto-suggestion...
Today Gwilym woke up with a sore head and a fever. We kept him home from school.
Catrin's school rang at lunch-time to say that she was unwell. A friend took Pat to get her, whereupon Pat learned that more than 50 children have been sent home today, all with similar symptoms of fever, sore head, etc..
OK - it's either 'flu spreading fast or mass hysteria ! Since our kids don't read the paper and I don't talk about the closure of schools and the spread of the disease, I rather suspect the former.
On the other hand, I think my vague feeling of a sore throat is entirely due to auto-suggestion...
La gazza ladra Rossini - Berliner Philharmoniker
Today's wake up call.
It's probably better for you than a cup of very strong coffee...
Follow the baton of Maestro Abbado - onwards and upwards.
Monday, November 16, 2009
For those that live and work in predominantly Roman Catholic situations
this is an interesting interview. I'd like to read the book.
Never a dull moment !
Well, OK, an occasional dull moment, but not many dull days !
I was doing the rounds to pick up all and sundry when the clutch went on the car again.
Spurred on by many tales of derring-do, and by the thought of the car being taken back to the same (expensive) Citroën main dealer, I drove it home without a clutch.
There's a knack to that.
I don't yet have it, though I was getting better ! I even stopped at traffic lights and restarted again.
OK - now to have a nice cup of tea and some tranx, then I'll get on the phone to various mecanos.
I was doing the rounds to pick up all and sundry when the clutch went on the car again.
Spurred on by many tales of derring-do, and by the thought of the car being taken back to the same (expensive) Citroën main dealer, I drove it home without a clutch.
There's a knack to that.
I don't yet have it, though I was getting better ! I even stopped at traffic lights and restarted again.
OK - now to have a nice cup of tea and some tranx, then I'll get on the phone to various mecanos.
Hmmm.
Last night : We'll have to take the kids out of school so we can drive up to Alsace on the Friday for the wedding on the Saturday. Do we ask permission ? Do we just not send them ? Do we send a note ?
This morning: Letter received from schools. The Friday before the wedding is a training day for teachers so there's no school.
Yippee ! Choucroute here we come !
This morning: Letter received from schools. The Friday before the wedding is a training day for teachers so there's no school.
Yippee ! Choucroute here we come !
A Happy Ending ? Inconceivable !
I haven't yet seen 2012. I expect I'll see it in about 6 months' time when the DVD comes out ! But from what people write about it I don't expect a happy ending.
But at present all our expectations are doom-laden. It's the end. Well it might not be the end exactly, but it's the beginning of the end. Whether the sun will expand dramatically and swallow up the earth, or whether it means a global flood as the sea level rises, or whether it means drought and famine on an equally Biblical proportion, or the North-South Water Wars, or whatever, or civilisation believes that mankind as a species is terminally ill and entering the last phase of the illness.
In a way it's just the projection of our individual fate. We are born, we grow, we fade, we die. Every story has a sad ending.
Christians catch the virus. Look at our society: the diseases, the disasters, etc. It's the beginning of the cataclysms of the end-times, with the predicted persecutions and oppressions (before the coming of the Son of Man at a time we couldn't possible foresee. Hmm)
We find it hard to believe in a happy ending.
The Bible thinks differently. Ruth begins with Naomi surrounded by death and seemingly with the certainty of a lonely death herself as a refugee. It ends with her home amidst her own people, dandling her grandson on her knees, while all the women laugh and chatter around her.
Jesus' own experience tells us that he can turn seeming disaster into a happy ending. His disciples lost their master (briefly) but found in his resurrection a new hope they had never dreamt of.
When Jesus was warning his disciples about the Roman crushing of Israel and the destruction of Jerusalem he told them "stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near".
Peter tells refugees who have fled from their homes and who face a "fiery trial", "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."
Because one thing is sure - whatever the world faces, Jesus assures a happy ending.
But at present all our expectations are doom-laden. It's the end. Well it might not be the end exactly, but it's the beginning of the end. Whether the sun will expand dramatically and swallow up the earth, or whether it means a global flood as the sea level rises, or whether it means drought and famine on an equally Biblical proportion, or the North-South Water Wars, or whatever, or civilisation believes that mankind as a species is terminally ill and entering the last phase of the illness.
In a way it's just the projection of our individual fate. We are born, we grow, we fade, we die. Every story has a sad ending.
Christians catch the virus. Look at our society: the diseases, the disasters, etc. It's the beginning of the cataclysms of the end-times, with the predicted persecutions and oppressions (before the coming of the Son of Man at a time we couldn't possible foresee. Hmm)
We find it hard to believe in a happy ending.
The Bible thinks differently. Ruth begins with Naomi surrounded by death and seemingly with the certainty of a lonely death herself as a refugee. It ends with her home amidst her own people, dandling her grandson on her knees, while all the women laugh and chatter around her.
Jesus' own experience tells us that he can turn seeming disaster into a happy ending. His disciples lost their master (briefly) but found in his resurrection a new hope they had never dreamt of.
When Jesus was warning his disciples about the Roman crushing of Israel and the destruction of Jerusalem he told them "stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near".
Peter tells refugees who have fled from their homes and who face a "fiery trial", "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."
Because one thing is sure - whatever the world faces, Jesus assures a happy ending.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Well I got to Anglade and back OK !
It was a weekend and a half, including a general gathering of the guys at the Griffins to spit on the floor and watch the Ireland/France match. No use asking who I was supporting. I fell asleep twice. And I wasn't the only one.
I got safely to Anglade, though I was a little late arriving. A little late arriving for the English service, too. I am going to lay the law down just see if I don't. ( Ha ! )
Ben's preaching went well at Cenon, so 'hop, c'est parti'.
Voilà. A good weekend. Time for bed.
I got safely to Anglade, though I was a little late arriving. A little late arriving for the English service, too. I am going to lay the law down just see if I don't. ( Ha ! )
Ben's preaching went well at Cenon, so 'hop, c'est parti'.
Voilà. A good weekend. Time for bed.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Passions
Pendant une étude biblique l'autre jour un étudiant a cité un interview qu'il avait entendu avec l'échange suivant:
Présentateur : Quel est votre avis de la passion de Jésus-Christ ?
Personne : Bon, on a tous nos passions, la mienne est le skateboard...
Hmm - les mots sont souvent trompeurs !
Présentateur : Quel est votre avis de la passion de Jésus-Christ ?
Personne : Bon, on a tous nos passions, la mienne est le skateboard...
Hmm - les mots sont souvent trompeurs !
Gwilym's work experience
The same day that the mairie emailed saying he could do a week there, Château Pape Clément emailed offering him a place there.
Both are really great options. The mairie is officialdom, and an opening into officialdom in France is great.
Pape Clément is probably the biggest tourist attraction in the Pessac area and it's also where the vineyard scenes of the mission's film 'Bordeaux, Brittany and beyond' were shot. The vineyard begins literally just up the road while the château itself is a bit further away. They do tours of the vineyards and the château, and their email address is "luxurywinetourism" (yes, that's in English).
We weighed things up, Gwilym decided he'd be better off going to Pape Clément, and we agreed, so we wrote a nice thank-you email to the mairie and a nice acceptance email to Pape Clément .
Both are really great options. The mairie is officialdom, and an opening into officialdom in France is great.
Pape Clément is probably the biggest tourist attraction in the Pessac area and it's also where the vineyard scenes of the mission's film 'Bordeaux, Brittany and beyond' were shot. The vineyard begins literally just up the road while the château itself is a bit further away. They do tours of the vineyards and the château, and their email address is "luxurywinetourism" (yes, that's in English).
We weighed things up, Gwilym decided he'd be better off going to Pape Clément, and we agreed, so we wrote a nice thank-you email to the mairie and a nice acceptance email to Pape Clément .
Phew - well with the car back in action
it means I can get to Blaye tomorrow, so today is about planning that properly (order of service etc.) and the English Service in the evening. Also 2:30 - 4 we have a practice for the carol service. Pat has a meeting this morning at Cenon to plan out the service tomorrow morning when Ben is preaching. The children have homework and then Catrin is calling at a friend's house this afternoon and Gwilym is off to skateboard with some of his mates.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Richard Strauss - Also Sprach Zarathustra / 2001 Space Odyssey opening theme
Ooh ! We're playing this in the music school orchestra in two weeks time, I just found out, and I get to do the descending arpeggio ! Yippeee ! And we stop after the massive chord and before the violins have to start whacking their strings with the back of their fiddle-sticks.
I'd better practice the descending arpeggio, though. A bit. Especially since I don't ever go to any rehearsals!
There's probably other people playing it too. Especially since I don't ever go to any rehearsals.
OK, so that's TWO 'flu jabs I have lined up for me.
One for common or garden 'flu and one for swine 'flu.
Unfortunately I don't think you can get both done at once (though I could get the garden vaccine from the pharmacy and take it along with me to the swine vaccination centre and see if they'll stick me twice...)
Unfortunately I don't think you can get both done at once (though I could get the garden vaccine from the pharmacy and take it along with me to the swine vaccination centre and see if they'll stick me twice...)
I've really enjoyed my time on public transport
There's this cool website where you can plan your journey - it takes a bit of persuasion to get the thing to recognise where you're going to and so on, but generally it works very well, and we've always managed to be where we need to be EXCEPT that the kids missed out on their solfège class. (They were far from gutted.)
I was late for one meeting at FAC, but I wasn't the last one there by far. Hmmm. That may not be such a good thing.
The big thing that would be a big problem is Blaye.
And I think the kids have found walking to the bus-stop and changing bus-tram a bit tedious.
But otherwise it's been great.
I was late for one meeting at FAC, but I wasn't the last one there by far. Hmmm. That may not be such a good thing.
The big thing that would be a big problem is Blaye.
And I think the kids have found walking to the bus-stop and changing bus-tram a bit tedious.
But otherwise it's been great.
ah bon ? Donc c'est avec le passage du temps ?
Ok. This is the story on the clutch...
I went to the garage, enjoying my bus and tram ride and sort of enjoying my hike up the main roads of Mérignac - the website puts the garage too far towards the centre of Bordeaux... Got to the place and talked to the man.
garage man say that with the passing of time the diaphragm in the clutch mechanism becomes stiff, ( which would account for why all the hire cars you ever drive have such super clutches and your own is always so grotty in comparison ). It's not the clutch plate. It's the diaphragm that hardens. This then means that you have to use more welly to press down the clutch, which obviously stresses the cable.
He said 'You must have noticed how the clutch is super-hard ?'
Well kind of... But it does creep up on you, doesn't it, the passage of time... And to be honest with you I have driven worse !
Anyway the plan is to talk to my friendly brotherly mechanic to see what he says. If he says 'Oh boy, yeah you gotta change that !' then it's time to shop around...
Oh - and I have a quote for the new diaphragm. 919 euros. I'll scan it for you some time.
Fun eh !
I went to the garage, enjoying my bus and tram ride and sort of enjoying my hike up the main roads of Mérignac - the website puts the garage too far towards the centre of Bordeaux... Got to the place and talked to the man.
garage man say that with the passing of time the diaphragm in the clutch mechanism becomes stiff, ( which would account for why all the hire cars you ever drive have such super clutches and your own is always so grotty in comparison ). It's not the clutch plate. It's the diaphragm that hardens. This then means that you have to use more welly to press down the clutch, which obviously stresses the cable.
He said 'You must have noticed how the clutch is super-hard ?'
Well kind of... But it does creep up on you, doesn't it, the passage of time... And to be honest with you I have driven worse !
Anyway the plan is to talk to my friendly brotherly mechanic to see what he says. If he says 'Oh boy, yeah you gotta change that !' then it's time to shop around...
Oh - and I have a quote for the new diaphragm. 919 euros. I'll scan it for you some time.
Fun eh !
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Garage phoned
The clutch cable has snapped.
They suggest that this is because the clutch has become hard and needs changing (remember the guy's speaking French so I am translating mechanic's jargon...) especially since the car has done 150000 km (about 90000miles).
I said "How much for a clutch ?"
"1000 Euros."
So I said to change the cable to begin with and we'll see how we go !
They suggest that this is because the clutch has become hard and needs changing (remember the guy's speaking French so I am translating mechanic's jargon...) especially since the car has done 150000 km (about 90000miles).
I said "How much for a clutch ?"
"1000 Euros."
So I said to change the cable to begin with and we'll see how we go !
Yahou ! Gwilym has a stage (work experience) sorted out
at the Tourism Service of the Mairie at Pessac.
Merci Seigneur !
Now should we just accept the first people who said yes, or should we wait for the Grand Theatre, the Regent Hotel or Château Pape Clément to reply... The Mairie would normally be a cool place to be, mind, and it may open opportunities for the future...
Merci Seigneur !
Now should we just accept the first people who said yes, or should we wait for the Grand Theatre, the Regent Hotel or Château Pape Clément to reply... The Mairie would normally be a cool place to be, mind, and it may open opportunities for the future...
In the early morning bus
Well the car is at a Citroën garage in Mérignac and if, as I suspect, it's the clutch cable that's gone then we should get it back today.
Meanwhile Catrin and I scuttled off on the 7:44 for her to go to school and for me to get a book of school meals tickets. 52€, 5.20€ per meal. But I hasten to add that it is a balanced meal. (How much would it be for an unbalanced meal, I wonder...)
I meandered through Pessac admiring the swanky pavilion outside the cinema where the film festival "Il était une fois ... le communisme' is in full swing. I paused to take a photo of 'A Billes Et Vous', a clothes shop with a punny name. I then hopped on the next bus to the Alouette and decided to skip the stop by the Renault garage and walk through the park instead. (What is this life if, full of care, etc...)
I sauntered through the oak woods quietly, listening to all the unidentified flying birds, when I spotted someone lingering in the undergrowth..A brief toilet stop ? Something more sinister ?. 'Oh there's a dog nearby' thought I. None of it ! In fact there was another person nearby, rooting through the litter. Ha ! Les cèpes ! One lady was poking at the leaves with a stick and a carrier bag of delicious little mushrooms all ready to fry in butter. Miam Miam !
I got home at 8:30. Not bad !
Meanwhile Catrin and I scuttled off on the 7:44 for her to go to school and for me to get a book of school meals tickets. 52€, 5.20€ per meal. But I hasten to add that it is a balanced meal. (How much would it be for an unbalanced meal, I wonder...)
I meandered through Pessac admiring the swanky pavilion outside the cinema where the film festival "Il était une fois ... le communisme' is in full swing. I paused to take a photo of 'A Billes Et Vous', a clothes shop with a punny name. I then hopped on the next bus to the Alouette and decided to skip the stop by the Renault garage and walk through the park instead. (What is this life if, full of care, etc...)
I sauntered through the oak woods quietly, listening to all the unidentified flying birds, when I spotted someone lingering in the undergrowth..A brief toilet stop ? Something more sinister ?. 'Oh there's a dog nearby' thought I. None of it ! In fact there was another person nearby, rooting through the litter. Ha ! Les cèpes ! One lady was poking at the leaves with a stick and a carrier bag of delicious little mushrooms all ready to fry in butter. Miam Miam !
I got home at 8:30. Not bad !
Ubuntu 9.10
I realise that I am speaking either to the converted or to the disgruntled (only these two types of people read this blogue after all) but Ubuntu 9.10 is proving jolly good and worth the investment of about 20 minutes for the update.
Ubuntu 9.04 was great. But I confess that I had messed up the installation of Flash and so Youtube never really worked. This is more important for us because basically all we ever watch on TV is Sky news in the morning and then Youtube videos (mainly music). So it never worked under Ubuntu.
Under 9.10, however, installing Flash was a breeze and Youtube works just as well under Ubuntu as under Windows - maybe better because the OS is lighter, more efficient and quicker.
Installing new software is so easy under Ubuntu. And it is all free. And it runs fine on all sorts of PCs including the new old stock feeble old thing we bought off eBay for peanuts when the school said Gwilym needed a computer.
I spent the bulk of yesterday afternoon reinstalling Vista on a colleague's laptop. It worked fine, though I had given them the usual warnings (this normally goes wrong and takes three days to finish...) The student centre PC is in a constant loop of restarting Windows following a badly timed off-switch. and Windows 7 is too big and demanding to run on any of the Davey PCs - even on the fast one I have in my office.
Bof. I can take a hint.
Ubuntu 9.04 was great. But I confess that I had messed up the installation of Flash and so Youtube never really worked. This is more important for us because basically all we ever watch on TV is Sky news in the morning and then Youtube videos (mainly music). So it never worked under Ubuntu.
Under 9.10, however, installing Flash was a breeze and Youtube works just as well under Ubuntu as under Windows - maybe better because the OS is lighter, more efficient and quicker.
Installing new software is so easy under Ubuntu. And it is all free. And it runs fine on all sorts of PCs including the new old stock feeble old thing we bought off eBay for peanuts when the school said Gwilym needed a computer.
I spent the bulk of yesterday afternoon reinstalling Vista on a colleague's laptop. It worked fine, though I had given them the usual warnings (this normally goes wrong and takes three days to finish...) The student centre PC is in a constant loop of restarting Windows following a badly timed off-switch. and Windows 7 is too big and demanding to run on any of the Davey PCs - even on the fast one I have in my office.
Bof. I can take a hint.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
11 Novembre
The upper photo shows us about to blast out the Marseillaise from inside the Town Hall. It was very nice and dry but we didn't get a very good view, as you can see...
The lower photo is also a Town Hall, but this time the gardens of the Town Hall in Bordeaux. Nice flowers, don't you think ?
Oh dear ! The clutch has just gone on the car !
and I am at the student centre...
Thankfully it happened as Pat and the kids were just about to leave the Griffins' house, so they are being looked after !
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Well I did it ! I got my bus pass !
The annual season ticket thing for the buses and trams of Bordeaux. I filled in the form on October 26th and said I wanted the season ticket to begin on November 1st, but as I explained to the lady in the office yesterday, "It's not always that easy to get into Quinconces, and I should have posted it really..."
Anyway I was very pleased to flash my card at the yellow box in the tram on the way home and I think that this evening instead of taking to car to the English class I'll take the bus and tram, especially since the nightbus home is so breath-takingly, nerve-rackingly, heart-stoppingly quick.
Anyway I was very pleased to flash my card at the yellow box in the tram on the way home and I think that this evening instead of taking to car to the English class I'll take the bus and tram, especially since the nightbus home is so breath-takingly, nerve-rackingly, heart-stoppingly quick.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Yahoo ! Here we go !
On Wednesday Dik and I talked about the need to get Ben preaching in French and we formed a little plan to get it going.
Ha ha ! Us and our little plans ! God overheard and took matters out of our hands !
Patrick is planning a service in conjunction with the student ministry, got Ben to one side and asked him to preach next week. Ben agreed (though Pat thought he looked a bit pale. I didn't even set eyes on him after the agreement was given !)
So there we are. B-day is next week, 17 november.
Between now and then is P-day. Pray for Ben !
Ha ha ! Us and our little plans ! God overheard and took matters out of our hands !
Patrick is planning a service in conjunction with the student ministry, got Ben to one side and asked him to preach next week. Ben agreed (though Pat thought he looked a bit pale. I didn't even set eyes on him after the agreement was given !)
So there we are. B-day is next week, 17 november.
Between now and then is P-day. Pray for Ben !
Seul, saint, mais pas solitaire
Preaching on the end of Ephesians 4 yesterday morning it struck me again how Paul applies the radical change of putting off the old man and putting on the new man in terms of relationships in the church at Ephesus.
And it struck me again that when we think of God as holy - yes, he alone is holy, yes, he is unique - but he is not alone. The Holy God of the universe is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So holiness never ever meant something that you find alone, in the corner of a cell somewhere, clothed in strange robes and chanting in the depths of your being. It always meant purity, truth, unity and love expressed in relationship - first within the trinity then within people made in God's image.
One of the good things about preaching in another language is how things strike you afresh.
And it struck me again that when we think of God as holy - yes, he alone is holy, yes, he is unique - but he is not alone. The Holy God of the universe is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So holiness never ever meant something that you find alone, in the corner of a cell somewhere, clothed in strange robes and chanting in the depths of your being. It always meant purity, truth, unity and love expressed in relationship - first within the trinity then within people made in God's image.
One of the good things about preaching in another language is how things strike you afresh.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
César Álvarez SHOSTAKOVICH Festive Overture RTVE Symphony
Shostakovich in a good mood.
A conductor who keeps his coat on.
A contrabassoon and a nice big shiny tuba.
What could be better to end a Saturday and herald a Sunday ?
Do us a favour...
Lay off that "Might as well rain until September" song, and any others that talk about rain.
The weather here is taking it a bit literally. We are inundulated.
The weather here is taking it a bit literally. We are inundulated.
Friday, November 06, 2009
The theme of the pastorale
was "the muslim, our neighbour", and it was led by a small team from the South of France somewhere. They did a very good job.
Sudden bus and tram strike
When trams break down then buses are taken off their normal routes to shuttle people between the tram stops. The problem is that there aren't always roads running alongside the tramlines so it's often rather stressful, the drivers have no warning of their duty as shuttles and no chance to learn the routes and sometimes they get lost.
On Tuesday, after getting lost several times and being guided by someone at the end of his radio link, one of the bus drivers suffered a heart attack and died.
Today there's a lightning strike to protest at this and to urge the company to find a better way of operating.
On Tuesday, after getting lost several times and being guided by someone at the end of his radio link, one of the bus drivers suffered a heart attack and died.
Today there's a lightning strike to protest at this and to urge the company to find a better way of operating.
Full yes. Exciting ? Kind of ...
Yesterday was one fo those helter-skelter 'If it's 5pm then I must be at the church...' days. The morning started fairly peacefully with a house full of women reading and praying together. I love my office and I had a lot of emails to catch up on after my sojourn in the wilds of the Cévennes..
The afternoon was taken up by a church council meeting to which I am invited though I am not a church council member - co-opted we'd probably say in anglo-saxonland. There's a lot to discuss, including the future for our buildings and so on...
That meeting finished at about 19h and when we went to the tram stop we noticed that the ticket machine wasn't working and neither were the info-boards. So we were glad when after about 3 minutes waiting a tram bowled up and took us to Hôtel de Ville. I was just in time for the evening Bible study, but more serendipitous, just in time to eat some really nice chicken stew prepered by Liz's fair paws.
The study seemed to go OK, then the bus de soir took me home at its usual breakneck speed.
Same old same old ? Perhaps... But we're convinced that God is at work in the routine, too.
The afternoon was taken up by a church council meeting to which I am invited though I am not a church council member - co-opted we'd probably say in anglo-saxonland. There's a lot to discuss, including the future for our buildings and so on...
That meeting finished at about 19h and when we went to the tram stop we noticed that the ticket machine wasn't working and neither were the info-boards. So we were glad when after about 3 minutes waiting a tram bowled up and took us to Hôtel de Ville. I was just in time for the evening Bible study, but more serendipitous, just in time to eat some really nice chicken stew prepered by Liz's fair paws.
The study seemed to go OK, then the bus de soir took me home at its usual breakneck speed.
Same old same old ? Perhaps... But we're convinced that God is at work in the routine, too.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Phew ! Tired this evening !
Preaching in French at Anglade. I took my trusty Potters Catarrgh Pastilles - and left them on the dashboard of the car ! What a mutt ! Realised the gravity of my error halfway through the message - but got to the end OK !
This evening Ben preached with his usual enthusiasm and a little less speed than usual (someone said something apparently) on 1 John 1. Kind of fitting in with me on John.
We're all cock-a-hoop because Liz and Adrien have gotten engaged. There'll be a little fête tomorrow evening but sadly I can't be there because I am off on my travels again.
Yes - I feel very spoilt even though zooming off again is a bit of a fag, even just Monday to Wednesday. This time it's the pastorale in the Cévennes. If you can imagine the Bala Conference with added chestnut conserve for breakfast and wild boar for lunch then you are getting close. The Cévennes are lovely, especially in autumn, and I have to admit that the food is better than Bala, though I'd quickly and readily swap the food and the scenery to hear a Bala speaker, of course...
As always the best thing is the conversations, seeing the guys. Each time you get to know people better.
At the end of November I'll be off to Rodez for the regional synod.
It's a tough life but someone has to do it.
This evening Ben preached with his usual enthusiasm and a little less speed than usual (someone said something apparently) on 1 John 1. Kind of fitting in with me on John.
We're all cock-a-hoop because Liz and Adrien have gotten engaged. There'll be a little fête tomorrow evening but sadly I can't be there because I am off on my travels again.
Yes - I feel very spoilt even though zooming off again is a bit of a fag, even just Monday to Wednesday. This time it's the pastorale in the Cévennes. If you can imagine the Bala Conference with added chestnut conserve for breakfast and wild boar for lunch then you are getting close. The Cévennes are lovely, especially in autumn, and I have to admit that the food is better than Bala, though I'd quickly and readily swap the food and the scenery to hear a Bala speaker, of course...
As always the best thing is the conversations, seeing the guys. Each time you get to know people better.
At the end of November I'll be off to Rodez for the regional synod.
It's a tough life but someone has to do it.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
This is good news !
One of the best tips I was ever given about preaching was to read the text early in the week so your brian can just stew on it. Aha !
This weekend - singin' and preachin'
We have a chorale répétition this afternoon - we've got a choir together for the Carol Service. Tomorrow I am preaching in French at Anglade but the family will be at Cenon. Then the English Service in the evening, where Ben is preaching..
Friday, October 30, 2009
It was a cracking week.
The weather was ridiculously good (up to 29°) and we just got away together. 
It's very picturesque
In fact all in all I was quite taken with the area surrounding Carcassonne. It's three hours' drive south of us in Bordeaux and that's enough to make quite a difference to the landscape. It's dry and scrubby, much more mediterranean, with olive trees and the vines look less robust. Of course, the mountainous landscape helps, too.
Friday at Lastours
Blue Skies
The weather has been exceptionally good this week while the kids have been on vacances de Toussaint.
So this is to celebrate.
And because the singer reminds me of my Auntie Maisie.
Dehumanisation
Last night Pat and I watched "The Pianist" and I was reminded again of the power of dehumanising peoples, groups, parties, by giving nicknames, etc...
So profoundly destructive.
So profoundly destructive.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
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