SCM GC Visioning Weekend

I've never stayed in a monastery before.

It was exciting! We were staying in the cottages at http://www.douaiabbey.org.uk A cross between a homely home and a youth hostel, they were the perfect mix of cosy and business like for the weekend. We went to lunch time prayers in the main abbey which were simple and lovely.

The weekend itself was expertly catered by Richard Bickle, and there were some moving moments of worship amongst the intense planning. The Student Christian Movement have a long history and we drew on some of that in a panel discussion with former General Council members from the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 2000s. http://www.movement.org.uk

I love how there are sometimes spontaneous moments of sung worship at SCM events. Along side Greenbelt style Beer and Hymns, and Agape Lunch communion service with actual lunch in the middle and Halle Halle Halle sung as we cleared away, I enjoyed the gentle run through of the spiritual "Over My Head" which started with three people, finished with the whole room and even harmonies. So simple and honest!

Here's a very posh version of the song:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbx2rjTpkE4?wmode=transparent]

Here's a jazzy version
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFOjOEEtt5o?wmode=transparent]

I feel like we got lots of things planned. I'm going to be focusing on new media, and getting people from other organisations to come to the conference.

SCM GC Visioning Weekend

I've never stayed in a monastery before.

It was exciting! We were staying in the cottages at http://www.douaiabbey.org.uk A cross between a homely home and a youth hostel, they were the perfect mix of cosy and business like for the weekend. We went to lunch time prayers in the main abbey which were simple and lovely.

The weekend itself was expertly catered by Richard Bickle, and there were some moving moments of worship amongst the intense planning. The Student Christian Movement have a long history and we drew on some of that in a panel discussion with former General Council members from the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 2000s. http://www.movement.org.uk

I love how there are sometimes spontaneous moments of sung worship at SCM events. Along side Greenbelt style Beer and Hymns, and Agape Lunch communion service with actual lunch in the middle and Halle Halle Halle sung as we cleared away, I enjoyed the gentle run through of the spiritual "Over My Head" which started with three people, finished with the whole room and even harmonies. So simple and honest!

Here's a very posh version of the song:

Here's a jazzy version

I feel like we got lots of things planned. I'm going to be focusing on new media, and getting people from other organisations to come to the conference.

Posted via email from Alex E Jones

Autumn is coming

Today there is the snap crisp crackle in the air, the clear bright openess of autumn coming. I like this time of year because everything feels like it is made out of coloured glass.

It is a season of new beginnings, of honeyed tones and golden hours. I have been making little resolutions. I have found a new driving instructor, started my new health regime, researched wedding things, set the wedding date and ironed curtains.

The curtains need header tape adding and hemming, but they are essentially done. This little domesticity fills me with joy.

Today there has been less joy then there should be as I am feeling quiet and still inside. I am wanting to stir up the chaos and sparkle that I usually surround myself with in order to achieve. I feel like I am waiting for something to happen.

Maybe on Sunday night I will return to researching and creating and being busy.

But tonight I am still and quiet.

Autumn is coming

Today there is the snap crisp crackle in the air, the clear bright openess of autumn coming. I like this time of year because everything feels like it is made out of coloured glass.

It is a season of new beginnings, of honeyed tones and golden hours. I have been making little resolutions. I have found a new driving instructor, started my new health regime, researched wedding things, set the wedding date and ironed curtains.

The curtains need header tape adding and hemming, but they are essentially done. This little domesticity fills me with joy.

Today there has been less joy then there should be as I am feeling quiet and still inside. I am wanting to stir up the chaos and sparkle that I usually surround myself with in order to achieve. I feel like I am waiting for something to happen.

Maybe on Sunday night I will return to researching and creating and being busy.

But tonight I am still and quiet.

Posted via web from Alex E Jones

The Frome Cheese Show

You find me slightly sunburnt and full of cheese. Four glorious hours
in the great British sunshine, peeering at cattle and quivering sheep.
Happy inquisitive goats bleating at people walking past. Dog agility,
showjumping and carriage driving. Wonderful handicrafts and
horticulture. And lots and lots of cheese.

 Cecil, you would have loved it. Come next year?

 

The Frome Cheese Show

You find me slightly sunburnt and full of cheese. Four glorious hours
in the great British sunshine, peeering at cattle and quivering sheep.
Happy inquisitive goats bleating at people walking past. Dog agility,
showjumping and carriage driving. Wonderful handicrafts and
horticulture. And lots and lots of cheese.

 Cecil, you would have loved it. Come next year?

 

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Alex E Jones

France

Some France pictures...

 2009/9/11 Posterous (alexejones) :

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Alex E Jones

France

Some France pictures...

 2009/9/11 Posterous (alexejones) :

France

So I went to France again with Tom, to stay with his Dad for week.
What a lovely holiday! Very relaxing. I knitted on a bit of sock, read
a couple of Terry Pratchett novels, and not a lot else.

One of the most interesting things about Normandy is that it is very
much like England in some ways. The weather is very changeable, going
from rain to sun in the same hour some times. The higgledy - piggeldy
patchwork hills remind me of the landscape of where I grew up in
Wiltshire.

However, I love when I visit marking out all the little things that
make the place feel different and well, French. No, no, I don't mean
the obvious things, like the people speaking French and the French
language signs, I mean the other things. Such as the typography. The
typography used on the road signs and packaging is always very
distinctive and elegant. There's also the shops shutting over lunch
for two hours, carefully adjusted to be half an hour later than the
lunch break in offices so you can get a bit of shopping done or buy
your lunch.

I enjoyed an aperitif shared with Gwyneth and her friend Sheila one
early evening before fabulous pizza at Le Petit Nicolas in Brecey. I
aspire to both a house like Gwyneth's and her good looks. Her taste is
impeccable, gathering beautiful furniture and delicate items from
carboot sales and second hand shops. She also looks 20 years younger
than her real age which I shan't reveal as is a lady's perogative.
They are both witty sparkling people in a swirl of bright colour and I
very much liked sitting in the sunshine, glass in hand looking out
over the rolling hills.

We had an excellent time in Dinan, a medieval walled town with a keep
and pretty churches on one of the days.

View Larger Map

It bills itself as a town of art and history, and I enjoyed mooching
about looking in the shop windows at beautiful paintings and
sculpture. I actually left a sentence in a conversation with Tom
hanging in mid air half finished as a painting caught my eye and I
subconciously turned away to look.

We also went to Bayeux to see the tapestry. It was much larger than I
was expecting, and the colours were so vivid. The audio commentry was
a little off putting as it told the story of what was happenning but
didn't provide any background on the history that lead to the story or
to the methods of creation. I suppose this was to increase the traffic
flow, and you were directed to another room with an exhibition which
provided more details. I just found it meant people walked past it
following the story without seeing all the incredible details.

View Larger Map

Posted via email from Alex E Jones

France

So I went to France again with Tom, to stay with his Dad for week.
What a lovely holiday! Very relaxing. I knitted on a bit of sock, read
a couple of Terry Pratchett novels, and not a lot else.
 
One of the most interesting things about Normandy is that it is very
much like England in some ways. The weather is very changeable, going
from rain to sun in the same hour some times. The higgledy - piggeldy
patchwork hills remind me of the landscape of where I grew up in
Wiltshire.
 
However, I love when I visit marking out all the little things that
make the place feel different and well, French. No, no, I don't mean
the obvious things, like the people speaking French and the French
language signs, I mean the other things. Such as the typography. The
typography used on the road signs and packaging is always very
distinctive and elegant. There's also the shops shutting over lunch
for two hours, carefully adjusted to be half an hour later than the
lunch break in offices so you can get a bit of shopping done or buy
your lunch.
 
I enjoyed an aperitif shared with Gwyneth and her friend Sheila one
early evening before fabulous pizza at Le Petit Nicolas in Brecey. I
aspire to both a house like Gwyneth's and her good looks. Her taste is
impeccable, gathering beautiful furniture and delicate items from
carboot sales and second hand shops. She also looks 20 years younger
than her real age which I shan't reveal as is a lady's perogative.
They are both witty sparkling people in a swirl of bright colour and I
very much liked sitting in the sunshine, glass in hand looking out
over the rolling hills.
 
We had an excellent time in Dinan, a medieval walled town with a keep
and pretty churches on one of the days.
 
[googlemaps https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=dinan&sll=49.279341,-0.705528&sspn=0.049498,0.168056&gl=uk&ie=UTF8&ll=48.469962,-2.037449&spn=0.050314,0.168056&t=h&z=13&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=425&h=350]
 
It bills itself as a town of art and history, and I enjoyed mooching
about looking in the shop windows at beautiful paintings and
sculpture. I actually left a sentence in a conversation with Tom
hanging in mid air half finished as a painting caught my eye and I
subconciously turned away to look.
 
We also went to Bayeux to see the tapestry. It was much larger than I
was expecting, and the colours were so vivid. The audio commentry was
a little off putting as it told the story of what was happenning but
didn't provide any background on the history that lead to the story or
to the methods of creation. I suppose this was to increase the traffic
flow, and you were directed to another room with an exhibition which
provided more details. I just found it meant people walked past it
following the story without seeing all the incredible details.
 
[googlemaps https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=bayeux&sll=48.468938,-2.050495&sspn=0.050307,0.168056&gl=uk&ie=UTF8&ll=49.29009,-0.697117&spn=0.049498,0.168056&t=h&z=13&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=425&h=350]
 
 

 

Greenbelt

So I went to Greenbelt. http://www.greenbelt.org.uk

All my vaguely Christian friends have been telling me to go to Greenbelt over the last few years. They told me that I'd love it, that it was very me, that it was wonderful.

And I did. The validation of being with thousands of other liberal Christians of all different traditions was enormous. The art, the talks, the communal singing. All fantastic.

I went to standup comedy, to a talk on Obama and the Two State Solution in the Middle East by Jeff Halper, to a talk by John Bell on Paul, to hear Gene Robinson speak on the texts of terror for homosexuals, to a panel on How Not to Believe with Atheists, Religious Agnostics and Christians, to a service with at least 5000 other people, to a tango workshop and to traditional Anglican evening prayer. I had a massage, ate with friends and sang hymns with hundreds of people in a beer tent.

I caught snippets of hugely in depth political and religious conversations in queues and as I walked around. I sang socialist songs with the national SCM in the evenings back at camp.

But among all this I queued for hours, and walked for miles. The place was huge. Really huge. I felt small and alone in the sea of the crowd! But on the whole happily so.

The only things I really didn't like was the choice of worship band at the service who weren't very good at timing and not having a partner at the Tango workshop. I'd gone along alone, with all the Greenbelt regulars saying that it'd wouldn't matter.Greenbelt's very friendly someone would dance with you. But there wasn't any one, so I left a bit forlorn.

Over all positive and thought provoking. Tom and I are committing to try and use the car less, buy secondhand or recycled first and to find ways to step out of our comfort zone. One thing for me will be radical giving in all areas of my life. My God is a God of Love above all. So to try and bring more of that in my life, I'm going to sit down and be friendlier to the people who irritate me, give more away and do more for my local community. Let's see how it goes!

Greenbelt

So I went to Greenbelt. http://www.greenbelt.org.uk

All my vaguely Christian friends have been telling me to go to Greenbelt over the last few years. They told me that I'd love it, that it was very me, that it was wonderful.

And I did. The validation of being with thousands of other liberal Christians of all different traditions was enormous. The art, the talks, the communal singing. All fantastic.

I went to standup comedy, to a talk on Obama and the Two State Solution in the Middle East by Jeff Halper, to a talk by John Bell on Paul, to hear Gene Robinson speak on the texts of terror for homosexuals, to a panel on How Not to Believe with Atheists, Religious Agnostics and Christians, to a service with at least 5000 other people, to a tango workshop and to traditional Anglican evening prayer. I had a massage, ate with friends and sang hymns with hundreds of people in a beer tent.

I caught snippets of hugely in depth political and religious conversations in queues and as I walked around. I sang socialist songs with the national SCM in the evenings back at camp.

But among all this I queued for hours, and walked for miles. The place was huge. Really huge. I felt small and alone in the sea of the crowd! But on the whole happily so.

The only things I really didn't like was the choice of worship band at the service who weren't very good at timing and not having a partner at the Tango workshop. I'd gone along alone, with all the Greenbelt regulars saying that it'd wouldn't matter.Greenbelt's very friendly someone would dance with you. But there wasn't any one, so I left a bit forlorn.

Over all positive and thought provoking. Tom and I are committing to try and use the car less, buy secondhand or recycled first and to find ways to step out of our comfort zone. One thing for me will be radical giving in all areas of my life. My God is a God of Love above all. So to try and bring more of that in my life, I'm going to sit down and be friendlier to the people who irritate me, give more away and do more for my local community. Let's see how it goes!

Posted via email from Alex E Jones