I've been impressed by the work of artist He Qi.

He has produced a mural for the new offices of CMS in Oxford, and they used his picture of the Three Kings as a Christmas Card. At the time of writing, both of these are on the front page of his web site.

Mark Berry features another on his blog, with a moving poem for Christmas Eve also.

Whether you're taking exams, worried about hell, a serious chemist, or just want a laugh -
read this! (Thanks Mark).

Finally I have arrived at the point of feeling happy with initial publicity literature and a web site for the new firm. The purpose of Finding True North is to allow me to spend more time doing what I am good at - consultancy and coaching - with business clients and individuals, in a way that is mutually beneficial!

It has taken a while to get to this point, having decided to do it during the Summer and then incorporated the company - Richard Hovey and Associates Ltd - on 18th October. I am happy with the direction that this is travelling in.

Go to the Finding True North web site.

Watched this film at the Little Theatre, Bath, last night.

It is the moving true story of Chris McCandless who, having not got on well with his parents, after graduation chooses to vanish on a journey around the USA of self discovery.

Having brightened the lives of many people he encountered during his explorations, he heads for the wilderness of Alaska to prove that he can survive there. Sadly he does not.

Having enjoyed some months, the turning point comes when he notes that true happiness needs to be shared with other people. Having chosen to return to human company, he finds himself unable to do so because of a flooded river. No longer pleased to be where he is, a kind of panic seems to ensue resulting in futher poor judgements.

Sad, but moving and insightful. Journeys have to end somewhere.

If you are feeling stressed, it may be because your angels are out of balance. (Thank you, Toni!)

Should churches be "running with the pack" in their action on climate change? They have a special task.   more »

I made it (and so did Steph). We completed our qualification as Open Water Divers today at Fathom and Blues dive centre, Portland, Dorset.

We dived to about 12 metres inside the harbour wall, twice, to do some underwater exercises (like removing and replacing our dive masks) and to peer at a wrecked ship through very murky water. All this in three layers of wet suit and water at 9°C (warmer than the air at 6°C).

Yes, of course it was fun. We also enjoyed a ride on a RIB to the divesight and practised falling off it into the water - just like they do in the films.

You may remember that all this is to get Steph set up for her diving in Mexico, however the rest of us are also starting to plan for warmer and more colourful diving.

I'm still working through the administration of setting up the new business   more »

I have a lot of respect for the Archbishop of York, so when he cuts up his clerical collar as a protest about President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe I take notice.

Lovely imagery in the daily readings I sometimes use, for December 9.

The author, drawing on Amy Carmichael, talks of our hopes for the future as pictures we paint. Some fade, and as they do so they sap our energy. We need to leave behind our old hopes/pictures/images and notice the new ones that God is giving us.

He moves on to the idea that our whole lives are like a picture that God is painting.

A verbatim quote would be even better, but I'm cautious about copyright - so, what can I say? Buy the book! (Much of their material is on-line, but I have not been able to track down the comments on the daily readings, which the above is an example of.)

All this is from Celtic Daily Prayer, published by the Northumbria Community and printed by Harper Collins (in the U.K.) 1994 onwards. My edtiion is ISBN 0 557 02845-9, but later editions also include Night Prayer. The short orders for Morning, Midday, and Evening Prayer are easy to use, and over the twelve or so years that I have been using it I have found the daily readings inspirational.

Last night had a great time with my sister listening to the "Buffalo Gals" at a local village hall. They were very lively and great fun, representing traditional American (Appalacian) music with fiddle, banjo, etc. interspersed with good humour and percussive step dancing. Good fun. Check out their site and listen to tracks on it.

This afternoon went for a pleasant walk during a sunny gap in the rain, except the rain started again - but there was a brilliant rainbow to look at over Corsham church.

 

As I renew my subscription, I realise that it is a year since I started this blog, care of Blogharbor. It's been fun to develop an on-line journal, although I sometimes lose the plot of why I am doing it!

This is probably because I always intended it to be a "whole life" blog, for me to chat about what I'm up to and what is interesting me. I'm not sure what this does for you the reader, as I realise that the kind of things I talk about keep changing!

When I started the weblog I had a quote from Anthony de Mello in mind, from his book The Song of the Bird.

The disciples were full of questions about God.

Said the master, "God is the Unknown and the Unknowable. Every statement about him, every answer to your questions, is a distortion of the truth."

The disciples were bewildered. "Then why do you speak about him at all?"

"Why does the bird sing?" said the master.

There is a postscript to this, which you'll have to buy the book to read!

Amazon UK link

 

A current family enterprise is the creation of a new website for the business, and I've been delighted and impressed by the creative genius that has been unleashed in the family, as well as the skill in turning images into a site.

I've been researching ways of doing this so that it is easy to make changes after the initial design. The deluxe way to do this is with a Content Management System (CMS). I have also been looking at "Instant Sites," of which there are many, to see if that is a good route to go at least for the first year or so as the costs are less. Many of the Instant Sites are easy to use and have good functionality, but do not look business-like. In particular they use ready-made graphic headers that can look cheesy and cannot be replaced. We have decided to run with Web Eden which is powerful, flexible, and inexpensive - and you can do a free trial. I recommend it.

The last few days I've been working hard on promotional literature for the new business, and text for the web site.

This morning I joined St Peter's Church, Chippenham, for their morning family service. There were three baptisms taking place, two of those being a mother and her son. I enjoyed the lively worship in a different church, and I enjoyed their competent band too.

I went along to give feedback to a friend who was giving a talk in church only for the second time. She did very well, with a bold start for Advent: when called on by the minister to give her talk she cried out "I'm not ready!"

Got bored with my colour scheme. The new one is called "shore."