Am I really a Christian?

The thing is... I don't enjoy meetings. And yet meetings are an integral part of at least our genre of Christianity.

I hear comments like how wonderful the meeting was this morning, how it lifted me up, etc. But I cannot remember that I have ever enjoyed a Christian meeting and I have been to a few in my life! As a child I could boast that I attended 5 meetings on a Sunday and several more during the week. I had just assumed that one was not meant to exactly enjoy them but that, rather like cabbage or going to the dentist, they were good for you. Don't get me wrong - I do not dislike singing, but I'd like it better if it were more musical. And I am sometimes encouraged by what is taught or preached, but the term "enjoyment" is not one that comes to mind.  Not in the same arena as, for example, experiencing the film Avatar in 3D, or listening to Bruckner's 8th, or eating a bar of Irish Cadbury's Dairy Milk (if indeed they still differentiate after the Kraft takeover)

I said - I'm not deaf!

Meg (the dog) is deaf. Actually she's not quite. If she is not looking your way and you walk up to her across the gravel, she will first hear you when you are within about 3 feet and then suddenly jump. So we try not to do that. Most of the time she lives in another world, a world of silence, broken only when someone gets sufficiently near to per her.

Michael (the human) is not deaf. Not quite. My hearing is impaired, not unusual at my age, so that loud sounds become distorted and deciphering conversation in a crowded room is nigh impossible. During church worship I keep as far from the drum set as is feasible. During community meals I live largely in another world, broken only when someone next to me speaks sufficiently clearly for me to engage.  I don't mind this, except that it's a bit antisocial and I sometimes miss what's going on.

In this morning's church we were encouraged to have a relationship with the Holy Spirit and were told that it was not good enough to talk only to the Father or Jesus. I chewed this over. I don't think I consciously differentiate in my prayers between the various parts of the Godhead. Does this mean I am missing something? I reckon I have some understanding of the different functions of each part, but it does seem a bit strange to me to address "the Holy Spirit" and I don't see any Biblical precedent for it and so I left confused.

Septic Tank

So it was on a Sunday morning... I had, of course, rehearsed the possible outcomes during the wee hours. It was either the pump failure or the float switches. It turned out to be the latter and it was possible to fix without spending much apart from hours of my time.

The septic tank has two main chambers and a third, pump-sump chamber. The effluent has to be pumped about 350m along and perhaps 5m uphill to the reed bed. For a domestic septic system to rely on a pump is undesirable but the lie of the land gave us no choice.

Oh, and the invert level (that's the normal level of the sewage) is perhaps 1.5m below ground level again determined by the lie of the land.

I removed the cover to the sump chamber - you have to climb down a ladder maybe 2m to get to the top of this chamber - and quickly found the problem - the cable clips that hold the amber warning light float switch cable and thus determine its height had corroded right through, so the amber light was 'on' even though the pump was still operating. But the pump's float switch was also malfunctioning - being permanently on, and the junction box lid had fallen off again because the four screws had corroded away. So I fixed the warning float switch with stainless steel screw and copper tie wire, replaced the pump float switch, and replaced the junction box. It is far from ideal having even a sealed junction box in this chamber as the humidity is 100% by definition but it would take a lot of work to relocate it.

"Church" came somewhat annoyingly halfway through, which meant an interim shower and change of clothes. Eventually I got done and cleared up and then went for a constitutional barefoot run (I did not do the septic tank barefoot!). My reward - a deep, hot bath, only possible because the septic tank is working again!

King James

We have prophecy in our church. Prophecy is when someone speaks out in public what they believe God has given them to say. It is usually for exhortation. Typically a thought is implanted and the way the thought is expressed is up to the person giving the prophecy.

Many folk in our church use the King James version of the Bible for its accuracy.

So what if the prophet speaks in King James English with thee's and thou's? Do I conclude that God speaks in archaic English? I trow not! I regret that when this happens I find it hard to take the person seriously. At least we are encouraged to test the prophets. Perhaps I should be less judgmental.