short, sharp, and right on the point

A clear message from ffinlo costain about myths and facts of carbon offsetting ...

PR grief

There's a story on the wires that three clergymen have 'openly condemned' a new video game about violence and the occult.

At least some of this report on the three clergy's response is fictitious ....

A senior colleague of mine was asked his view by a ‘journalist’ who telephoned; he declined to comment, and he referred her to people in other parts of the Church of England with knowledge of the occult. So his alleged criticism of the game must therefore be a figment of her (or someone else’s) imagination.

It subsequently turned out that the "journalist" is associated in some way with the PR company promoting the game ~ who are now publishing a carefully-phrased statement by a spokesman of the video company, "responding" to the clergy and slagging off 'religious people' (meaning the church).

Certainly my colleague didn’t make the criticism ascribed to him. Perhaps the video company spokesman never said what he’s quoted as saying either.

It’s all just good PR … isn’t it?

My personal view is that this is carefully constructed, dishonest and manipulative and it's a model of disreputable practice.

Gin and chants

Sooo busy having a wonderful new life working with people in the churches of Sodor and Man that I haven't done any posts for months.

But I so enjoyed this comment on Dave Walker's Church Times blog (from Stefan, on 3 September) that it was worth breaking the silence ....

virtual dioceses

Just as I was coming to the end of a trawl through diocesan websites - and any good examples I could find - the CofE mission team have a link to a much more thorough and helpful job of it already done by David Keen!

(I'd love to know whether his title's a deliberate pun .... )

smutty

Back in my childhood we had a white cat with a grey smudge on his forehead like a smudge of soot so his name was Smutty.  Our parents probably knew it well, but it wasn't until later at school that I understood the double meaning.

Ash Wednesday today, and we hear the words - you are dust and to dust you will return * - and we get that ash symbol smudged onto our forehead ... so then we're all smutty.  

And that's it.  We're remembering we are prone to smuttiness.

The days of Lent give us the prompt and the opportunity to think about that, to engage with the wilderness experience, and explore how we can live differently.

Our Vicar Tony reminded us this evening that though the wilderness experience is not comfortable, it is not a process of punishment but a process of discovery so that we can blossom and grow - and relating to this there's a reference to crocuses in the promise by the prophet Isaiah.

And we remember that the 40 days and 40 nights Jesus Christ spent in the desert (Si Smith portrays them delightfully in '40') were the prelude to his liberating teaching, example, life, death and resurrection.

* [pssst: listen to Dust from Dubb & Coyote available from Proost - brilliant! (audio section, title nine, item one)] 

laughing and smiling

Thanks to Christine Sine for pointing to this lovely piece about the healing of humour.

Smiling's good for you too!  [This is a Parish Nursing poster]

Ironic?

... certainly poignant for those who've lost theirs.