... sharing viruses.
A nasty cold and a flu-like virus has been ravaging the community. How can anyone escape? If this is unity I'm not sure I want it!
Showing posts with label community is. Show all posts
Showing posts with label community is. Show all posts
20180120
20171217
Community is...
...enduring unsatisfactory mugs and glasses.
Behold a selection. On the right we have two specimens that I cannot get my hand (wrapped in a tea-towel) into to dry. Next a mug with an inside profile that is nigh impossible to clean witness the brown ring. On the left a mug with a - well I do not know what it is - on the rim. Thankfully not quite where one puts one's mouth. A tall glass that even stuffing a twisted tea-towel inside will not touch the bottom thus nigh impossible to dry.
And I have seen worse specimens. Thankfully mostly owned personally so rarely seen on the kitchen shelves. For example the sort that have a glazing issue on the inside. Those that have an unclean-able dimple on the inside opposite the handle. Or trick mugs with a frog inside.
Why can't all mugs, cups and glasses be sensible and easily handled, washed and dried (like me) ?
Behold a selection. On the right we have two specimens that I cannot get my hand (wrapped in a tea-towel) into to dry. Next a mug with an inside profile that is nigh impossible to clean witness the brown ring. On the left a mug with a - well I do not know what it is - on the rim. Thankfully not quite where one puts one's mouth. A tall glass that even stuffing a twisted tea-towel inside will not touch the bottom thus nigh impossible to dry.
And I have seen worse specimens. Thankfully mostly owned personally so rarely seen on the kitchen shelves. For example the sort that have a glazing issue on the inside. Those that have an unclean-able dimple on the inside opposite the handle. Or trick mugs with a frog inside.
Why can't all mugs, cups and glasses be sensible and easily handled, washed and dried (like me) ?
20171107
Community is...
... hosting a convention once a year.
Folk visit from far and wide and our home is inundated for a while. I keep telling myself it is good to be sociable, good to share, but am not sure that my alter ego has got the message yet.
Convention is a time to get together, a time to re-focus, a time for God to speak. I hope so.
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| Although our convention is somewhat smaller than this! |
Folk visit from far and wide and our home is inundated for a while. I keep telling myself it is good to be sociable, good to share, but am not sure that my alter ego has got the message yet.
Convention is a time to get together, a time to re-focus, a time for God to speak. I hope so.
20171026
Community is...
...finding lights left on unnecessarily.
And electric room heaters, radiators, the commercial toaster, computers, chargers, and the hot water tap running... Things that cost money but not immediately. Things that are splitting hairs to some folk but to others, those that have perhaps been brought up more frugally, a crying waste. Of course it is always Other People who leave things turned on - it doesn't count if I do it myself.
At least we are gradually replacing our lamps with low-energy equivalents.
Light pollution: my morning runs are sadly now in the dark. I can see perfectly well enough providing there are no bright lights. I stop and shield my eyes when a car passes (I wear a hi-vis jacket and aim my flash-light at the driver), but I can hardly stop when passing Certain Houses that are flood-lit - why waste all that electricity, I ask?
Come Christmas it gets worse, with brightly lit trees et cetera to avoid, and Christmas lasts as least a month for such purposes. Why leave them on all night? Do people have money to throw away?
And electric room heaters, radiators, the commercial toaster, computers, chargers, and the hot water tap running... Things that cost money but not immediately. Things that are splitting hairs to some folk but to others, those that have perhaps been brought up more frugally, a crying waste. Of course it is always Other People who leave things turned on - it doesn't count if I do it myself.
At least we are gradually replacing our lamps with low-energy equivalents.
Light pollution: my morning runs are sadly now in the dark. I can see perfectly well enough providing there are no bright lights. I stop and shield my eyes when a car passes (I wear a hi-vis jacket and aim my flash-light at the driver), but I can hardly stop when passing Certain Houses that are flood-lit - why waste all that electricity, I ask?
Come Christmas it gets worse, with brightly lit trees et cetera to avoid, and Christmas lasts as least a month for such purposes. Why leave them on all night? Do people have money to throw away?
20171012
Community is...
... sharing a common vision?
In our circles the question is asked "what is your vision?" the implication being that God has given the community some specific raison d'être.
As I ponder this question I am of course aware of our links with certain other Christian communities across the world. A Google trail will turn up some good but mostly negative opinions of these communities, the negative ones being fairly obviously written by folk who have left with a large chip on their shoulder. Personally I do not identify with this sort of "vision". Back in Oxford days I agreed to be the OICCU "Rep" for our college for one year, but in order to do this I was told I had to sign my agreement to their Statement of Faith and this I refused to do on principle. Later, in my BBC Research days, I attended a baptist church and wanted to help out with young people's meetings. I was told I had to first become a "church member" and to do this I had to sign an agreement to their Statement of Faith. They would not budge on this requirement so I signed under considerable duress. Although since then I have not been asked to repeat this signing business, I hope you will surmise that I strongly resist and abhor being constrained into someone else's belief pattern.
When I consider the individuals in our community I do not find strict adherence to any particular denomination or movement in spite of the fact that every year we invite ministries from the aforementioned "links" for our annual convention. True, a common denominator is our Christian faith and obviously a desire to express this in our living together, but beyond that we are all different. Some have thought this a weakness but I rather think it is a strength. Although at the same time I wonder if there is enough cohesion to keep our community from self-destruction, which cohesion has to be that agape love that transcends human differences.
In our circles the question is asked "what is your vision?" the implication being that God has given the community some specific raison d'être.
As I ponder this question I am of course aware of our links with certain other Christian communities across the world. A Google trail will turn up some good but mostly negative opinions of these communities, the negative ones being fairly obviously written by folk who have left with a large chip on their shoulder. Personally I do not identify with this sort of "vision". Back in Oxford days I agreed to be the OICCU "Rep" for our college for one year, but in order to do this I was told I had to sign my agreement to their Statement of Faith and this I refused to do on principle. Later, in my BBC Research days, I attended a baptist church and wanted to help out with young people's meetings. I was told I had to first become a "church member" and to do this I had to sign an agreement to their Statement of Faith. They would not budge on this requirement so I signed under considerable duress. Although since then I have not been asked to repeat this signing business, I hope you will surmise that I strongly resist and abhor being constrained into someone else's belief pattern.
When I consider the individuals in our community I do not find strict adherence to any particular denomination or movement in spite of the fact that every year we invite ministries from the aforementioned "links" for our annual convention. True, a common denominator is our Christian faith and obviously a desire to express this in our living together, but beyond that we are all different. Some have thought this a weakness but I rather think it is a strength. Although at the same time I wonder if there is enough cohesion to keep our community from self-destruction, which cohesion has to be that agape love that transcends human differences.
20171006
Community is...
...being thankful for meals that are other people's favourites but not my own.
Don't get me wrong - the cooking in this community is awesome: we have some very talented cooks. It has also become multi-cultural with a decided emphasis on Mexican. But the meal I am thinking of could not be described as foreign. It is certainly not my favourite, and yet I overheard someone observing that it was their favourite. There's no accounting for folk!
Don't get me wrong - the cooking in this community is awesome: we have some very talented cooks. It has also become multi-cultural with a decided emphasis on Mexican. But the meal I am thinking of could not be described as foreign. It is certainly not my favourite, and yet I overheard someone observing that it was their favourite. There's no accounting for folk!
20170915
Community is...
...sharing the shower.
One of the folk here visits Kenya and Uganda several times a year to encourage the church there - he ministers not only in preaching but also in practical areas and reported after his last visit some of the needs - like people not being able to even afford soap. And yet when I step into our shower I have to negotiate vast numbers of shower-gels, shampoos, conditioners, women's under arm razors, those horrible fluffy wash poofs. Personally, in the shower I use water and soap, period, and anyway I like the shower enclosure to be free of ancillary stuff, more room for Me. I would not dream of leaving my shaving stuff in a communal bathroom: I can only imagine the cries if I did!
One of the folk here visits Kenya and Uganda several times a year to encourage the church there - he ministers not only in preaching but also in practical areas and reported after his last visit some of the needs - like people not being able to even afford soap. And yet when I step into our shower I have to negotiate vast numbers of shower-gels, shampoos, conditioners, women's under arm razors, those horrible fluffy wash poofs. Personally, in the shower I use water and soap, period, and anyway I like the shower enclosure to be free of ancillary stuff, more room for Me. I would not dream of leaving my shaving stuff in a communal bathroom: I can only imagine the cries if I did!
20170913
Community is...
Making house rules that everyone is supposed to keep but in the event it actually falls to a few to fulfil.
It's all too easy to say "please could everyone wash their own dishes at coffee time". But do they? Another one from days of yore - if you bring any personal food or drink to the table at community meal time you must offer it to everyone at that table. Such rules get lodged in the fabric of our mutual existence and revoking them never seems to be considered so, like case law, they accumulate. When new folk join the community of course they have no idea about these unwritten rules and no-one, it seems, thinks it important enough, or maybe we are too embarrassed, to present them with a list of do's and don'ts.
It's all too easy to say "please could everyone wash their own dishes at coffee time". But do they? Another one from days of yore - if you bring any personal food or drink to the table at community meal time you must offer it to everyone at that table. Such rules get lodged in the fabric of our mutual existence and revoking them never seems to be considered so, like case law, they accumulate. When new folk join the community of course they have no idea about these unwritten rules and no-one, it seems, thinks it important enough, or maybe we are too embarrassed, to present them with a list of do's and don'ts.
20170903
Community is...
...being the first one up in the morning, going to the kitchen to make a cuppa, and finding tons of dirty dishes...
20170901
Community is...
...having folk around that will encourage me - will even notice - when I am feeling low.
20170822
Community is...
Community is living with differences that cannot be resolved.
One group says we should grow as much of our own food as is feasible. Another group points out that it is cheaper and easier to buy produce from Aldi. One person wants the heating set high, others want it cooler. Those with Latin blood love tortillas and spicy food, others yearn for spuds and two veg.
The thing is - how will I react to another's foibles? So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not pass judgement on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.
One group says we should grow as much of our own food as is feasible. Another group points out that it is cheaper and easier to buy produce from Aldi. One person wants the heating set high, others want it cooler. Those with Latin blood love tortillas and spicy food, others yearn for spuds and two veg.
The thing is - how will I react to another's foibles? So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not pass judgement on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.
20170819
Community is...
Community is...
...having three of my grandchildren living in the same house so that I can see them every day. But is also having my other four living in another community in AK...
...having three of my grandchildren living in the same house so that I can see them every day. But is also having my other four living in another community in AK...
20170704
Community is...
Community is... not knowing which way around the loo-roll will be hung.
When on the throne your hand goes instinctively to the loo-roll and precious moments can be lost finding the loose end. If not immediately obvious you spin the roll first one way and then the other, meanwhile one's business is crying out...
It is an old debate - you can find many internet sites that get involved in the argument. I think this one has the definitive answer but I know that even this would not convince All The People here who evidently believe it should be the other way, any more that the rich man's five brothers would be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.
When on the throne your hand goes instinctively to the loo-roll and precious moments can be lost finding the loose end. If not immediately obvious you spin the roll first one way and then the other, meanwhile one's business is crying out...
It is an old debate - you can find many internet sites that get involved in the argument. I think this one has the definitive answer but I know that even this would not convince All The People here who evidently believe it should be the other way, any more that the rich man's five brothers would be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.
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