gardening and knitting

Finally got around to watching the rental DVD of The Constant Gardener on Saturday and it is indeed a disturbing story. I decided to start knitting little hats for Innocent Smoothies while I watched it.

Last year I bought several bottles with bobble hats as part of this Sainsbury's-sponsored fun way of supporting Age Concern, and it'll be fun to put some hats into the pile myself this year. I'm not expecting to make a big dent on the hatometer ~ perhaps I should recycle some of last year's woolly hats ...

build an altar to your experiences

As I continue in this reflective stage and active limbo, having come out of a job I've done for a long time, the bonus is joyful time with friends, opportunities to read and learn a bit, and some de-cluttering of life and possessions.

I've just finished reading The Heavenly Man - the autobiographical account of the extraordinary life of Brother Yun, a Chinese Christian. As Mark Stibbe says on the cover, "this book is like reading a modern day version of the Book of Acts" ... full of gruelling horrors and awesome wonders.

It's extraordinary to read about the contrast of Brother Yun's gripping faith and his horrendous experiences; and to realise that his life's journey - so alien to mine - has been running in the same time span as mine, yet it feels like reading about another age and planet. Out of the rugged reality of his faith journey and now living in the West, Brother Yun makes a telling observation on how we live out our faith in our respective churches ...

"When revival came to believers in China, the result was thousands of evangelists being sent out to all corners of the nation, carrying fire from the altar of God with them. When God moves in the West, it seems you want to stop and enjoy his presence and blessings too long, and build an altar to your experiences."
The Heavenly Man p.296