duke special

wishing i had made it to duke special gig today in the ulster hall. alas, i had another commitment... good to see him doing well... few years on from booley days :) check out his website for a few free songs (if you don't have them already...)

ever feel like this?

random thoughts...

my sister and i recently discovered a new shop in the centre of town that sells nigerian food...(a first for belfast as far as i know!!) very exciting. they have everything from yam, plaintain, beans, egusi seeds, pepper, maltina, chocolate milo to indomie... so we've had some rice, stew & plantain although not quite the same as home... pepper of course is the key ingredient...

it has not been a good week for arsenal in europe or carling cup although the young boys definitely had arsenal's characteristic flare yesterday so at least the future is bright. hanson's view on it is, "if arsenal had won, it would have been one of the greatest managerial achievements we have seen in the english game. even in defeat, it still goes down as a remarkable feat by wenger and his young players." too bad our captain for the day had to get sent off with a few others (deservedly!) and end the game on a sour note! still a great game though. ireland's fabulous win is a bit of consolation.

went to belfast's lyric theatre on friday with a friend to see Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (pretending to be cultured!) it was well done - only seven men in the cast and it was a very simple stage/props which made for an interesting interpretation/parts swapping/guys playing girls etc. has some great lines... "Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more. Men were deceivers ever. One foot in sea and one on shore, to one thing constant never. Then sigh not so but let them go and be you blithe and bonny, converting all your sounds of woe into hey nonny nonny..."
(if you're ever in a shakespeare mood, i'd recommend (though havent seen it in yrs!) the film version of this made in '93 directed by kenneth branagh with emma thompson, keanu reeves, densel washington etc in it...)

random song for the day... guillemot's 'we're here' i love this song!

links

just a few sites that i've found relating to lent. the website sacred space has prayer ideas all year round but if you've never checked it out, lent might be a good time to...

christian aid has an interesting guide for reflection, prayer and giving called count your blessings- lent2007 and they say "the 40 days of lent are a unique opportunity to reflect on all we have, and to turn our attention to those around us in need..."

also, last year the CCCI produced materials called out of the ordinary to use at lent which provides a different perspective if you're interested
*picture from ccci material

lent

After a crazy weekend away, in the midst of a crazy day... I've been thinking about lent today... saying it's starting tomorrow. I'll try to blog some of my thoughts over the next few weeks in relation to lent but in the meantime, here's a random collection of quotes and things i've been thinking about...

***

God of all seasons,
in your pattern of things
there is a time for keeping
and a time for losing,
a time for building up
and a time for pulling down.
In this holy season of Lent,
as we journey with our Lord to the cross
help us to discern in our lives
what we must lay down
and what we must take up,
what we must end
and what we must begin.
-Book of Common Order
***
May this lent be for you
a time of addition as well as subtraction,
a time of commission as well as omission.
***
My prayer for the Christian church is that God might awaken in us a hunger for himself—a new fasting. Not because we haven’t tasted the new wine of Christ’s presence, but because we have tasted it and long, with a deep and joyful aching of soul, to know more of his presence and power in our midst.
-John Piper – A Hunger for God
***
Lent can become a time when material things are put again in their proper secondary position; when we see in the spiritual the unconquerable forces of life. It can become a time of self-examination, when we reflect upon our present position in the pilgrimage and check our directions. It can become a time of personal readjustment, not through mental resolutions to do better but through yielding ourselves afresh to the God who demands to be obeyed. And it can become a time when, by following the battered path to Calvary, we identify ourselves once again with the Saviour who makes all things new.
***
“Lent is supposed to be a time when we review our spiritual life, think again about what it means to be a follower of Christ, reset the compass of our discipleship and prepare ourselves to celebrate the Easter festival. But often we just give up biscuits”
(Stephen Cottrell, I Thirst, p. 12)

***
Father in the life of Jesus you have shown us the way.
Give us his spirit of self-discipline;
Lead us more deeply into the way of the cross.
Before his hands were stretched out on the cross,
They were stretched out in love to children, women and men.
May your way of the cross be our way
That we, too, may stretch out our hands in love to all.

***

In repentance and rest is your salvation
In quietness and trust is your strength.
Isaiah 30:15

leeds & love...

i'm heading to leeds for a physio conference over the weekend so i'm really hoping that the crazy windy weather we had today has died down. have been on plenty of planes but i prefer big planes rather than these little city hoppers if it's windy!

as it's valentine's weekend, our conference (before we get into the slightly tedious mtg part on sat/sun) is kicking off with a fancy-dress disco and speed-dating... sounds like my idea of a nightmare but i'm determined to join in for the craic! mostly will people i dont know and will probably not see most of them again ever/or until conference next yr.. and everyone will be looking silly; if you're not dressed up will you'll be the one who stands out! my region (ni & scottish uni reps) have decided to go as cartoon characters. hmm.. remains to be seen if i'll post any photos but should be an interesting night all the same :) hopefully picture's will not go down on record as the most professional day of our careers...

for a wee cheesy romantic song for the week... i'm loving declan o'rourke's song 'galileo' today...

charles haddon

for some reason, i've been thinking about my grandfather today. he was such a godly man and i wish i had known him better. his first/middle names were charles haddon after charles haddon spurgeon. i wonder if being named after someone like that had any influence on his life, his choice of career (preacher) etc. i remember he used to smile and laugh a lot. i remember when i was younger i talked to him on the phone on one of those rare occasions from nigeria and he said to me 'we have such a wonderful jesus'. i wrote in the back of my bible as if i knew if my granda thought so, i should maybe take this wonderful jesus seriously.

i recently read this quote from spurgeon:
"quietude, which some men cannot abide because it reveals their inward poverty, is as a palace of cedar to the wise, for along its hallowed courts the king in his beauty deigns to walk."

what is it about solitude/silence that makes us search our souls? why are we sometimes so quick to run away from it? does a fear of loneliness make us grasp for music, people, activity instead of being content to be alone, quiet... anyway, just something i've been thinking about! hoping to linger more in that palace of cedar...

time

there were two games played today that i was interested in... unfortunately only one of them went the way i wanted but it has to be said that the last 10mins of both matches proved to be crucial. ireland's heart-wrenching loss to france in the last minute (after all the hype about it promising to be a historic game at Croke Park) and arsenal's saving-face comeback from 1 down to win 2-1 to wigan at the emirates. who says sport's not exciting?



on another note, (although related to time!) i've decided i want to read some nigerian authors (maybe due to a bit of nostalgia as well as finding a friend's blog who is very into her nigerian literature...) so have just ordered a book called 'measuring time' by helon habila. Here's a review in the guardian for it... should bring welcome distraction from learning my cyriax's assessment of the peripheral joints...

psalm 23

The Lord na my shephard, i dey kampe.

E make me sidon for where betta dey flow and come put me next to stream make mai bodi thermacool.

E panel beat mai soul come spray am white, come dey lead me dey go through express road of righteousness sake of Hin name.

Walahi! if I waka pass where arm robber, 419 and juju people boku, come even join okada reach valley of the shadow of death sef, mai bodi dey inside cloth.

Your rod and staff nko?

Na so dem dey like back bone dey comfort me.

You don prepare Egusi and Pounded yam make I chop.

All mai enemies dey look waa waa.

You rub me for head wit vaseline intensive lotion.

Mai cup na River Benue wey overflow hin bank.

True true, betta life and mercy go gum mai back till I quench.

And man pikin go tanda for God house from lai lai to lai lai. Amen

* * * * *

*rough translation in pidgin that i found from the nigerian village square :)

*picture taken in nigeria by jim triezenberg

hey oh... no snow!

i don't know if i was the only one who got up and looked out the window this morning with a slight sinking feeling that there was no snow and just a grey gloomy day! i guess that's what the media's weather hype does. then radio1 kept playing 'snow' related songs on the radio just to rub it in... i think maybe it's because snow is still a novelty... not saying that i like the cold weather (bring on summer&longer days!) but just a wee bit of snow would be nice and maybe a snow fight with my neighbours who i still really havent met yet... :) who knows, might still come...

your hand in mine

i took a random week long trip to the states over thanksgiving last year. this is one of the songs that has stuck in my head from that trip (which included many hours in a car with an old friend (see right) driving from atlanta, ga to college station, tx!). you know the way a song can evoke a memory? i just love the way it builds up and also i think that having no words somehow makes it more moving or something. it by a band called explosions in the sky and the song is 'your hand in mine'. it's a wee bit long and not fantastic quality but you get the idea :)

politics of health...

so, i was at a very interesting meeting today organised by the chambre public affairs with a health spokesperson from all but one of the main political parties in northern ireland. it was really to talk about what their priorities in relation to health would be if there actually is a restored assembly after the march elections and also to give us (from various organisations) the opportunity to ask questions...
i was there with the csp representing all those physio students who know that there's a huge issue of physio graduate unemployment at a junior physio level all over the uk...
i asked my question (emphasising that it costs the NI taxpayer £35,000 to train me and that 7/10 physio graduates from UUJ last yr are still without a job..) "can i have a commitment that you will use whatever influence you have both now and in a restored assembly to resolve this issue of graduate unemployment as a matter of urgency... etc..."
to be honest, their answers were all so vague which is probably down to the fact that they are politicans and that they are answering/making commitments hypothetically as they're not actually in a running government at present! so while they agreed that it was an important issue, i'm not sure they will have an opportunity to do anything about it. the health minister in a new government will definitely have their hands full (see this article) so not sure they will care too much about the issue i wanted addressed. however, it definitely made me think that it's these kind of issues that we need the assembly for and the sooner the better. it'll be interesting to see what the next few weeks brings in relation to manifestos and whether there's a chance of anything going ahead...(maybe get some discussion going on the whole election issue here). at least today they were talking about something they could all agree on for once: the priority that healthcare should have in our society.

sunset

took a wee dander to the park today to watch the sun set. it is definitely my favourite time of day... when the shadows get longer and everything turns a funny colour before the sun disappears... there's something about going to the park by yourself that i love. it forces you to be quiet; it inevitably forces you to think about something other than the trivial.

yay for sunshine! even if it is still crisp and cold it gives a whisper of hope of spring being around the corner...