Pancake Day and Lent (The miraculous eighteenth post)

Today is pancake day, one of the most exciting days of the year. As usual, I ate lots of pancakes (fun times)! However, tomorrow is the beginning of lent. Lent is a great opportunity to give up something that could threaten to become a distraction from God, and replace it with more time with Him. I have decided, therefore, to give up coffee for lent. A large portion of my morning routine revolves around brewing proper coffee in a French press. This can take me up to fifteen minutes. So I shall be replacing those fifteen minutes of brewing with fifteen minutes of prayer and reflection. Hopefully, though the grace of God, I won't be too grumpy. However, if I am a little off colour you have all be warned.
I have been listening to a very good song from one of Jars of Clay's earliest albums (also called Jars of Clay). The song, World's Apart, contains a deep and heartfelt plea: "Take my world apart". I am praying that this plea will become my own leading into this time of Lent, and eventually to Easter. If you get the chance check out the song World's Apart, and the whole album Jars of Clay; it comes with my most sincere recommendations.
I will leave you with a challenge. As lent begins, what distraction are you removing from your life? More importantly, what are you replacing it with?

Norfolk: There be Vikings! (The miraculous seventeenth post)

Norfolk get's a lot of bad press sometimes. People think it is a little behind the times. I suppose in a way it is a bit behind the rest of Britain, but that is what makes it special. It is still unsullied by what much of the modern world thinks to be commodities; in reality we would be better without such "commodities". The landscape is beautiful, but not in a soft, gentle, and inviting fashion. No, instead it is beautiful in a rugged, visceral, and quite primal way. The openness and vastness of the landscape blows you away by day, and in the evening the expanses can be unsettling and quite ominous. It is no surprise that there is no shortage of local ghost stories. It is also no wonder that so many writers, artists, and poets travel to Norfolk to gain inspiration. As Norfolk is quite exposed to Scandinavia many of the Viking landings were made on the beaches of North Norfolk. It doesn't take a stretch of the imagination to picture Vikings landing on those vast stretches of unclaimed shore under the ominous shadow of Norfolk dusk.
I spent from last week Friday to this week Tuesday in North Norfolk with my good friend and old Literature, Psychology, and Drama teacher Stephen Graham. I had the opportunity to meet the people he worked with in the village inn and to sample the local ale. Much of the visit consisted of very good in depth conversation about life, the universe, and everything. One of my favourite things about visiting Stephen is the conversation. On the Sunday we went to the morning service at the West Runton Anglican church. It was a beautiful service. It was a very high Anglican service. I was reminded of the way that God is in the ritual and the liturgy in the same way that he is there when we worship with a guitar and microphones. We often forget that just because a service is ordered doesn't mean that God's spirit is not present and worship is not happening. It is almost naive, and really rather arrogant to think that God prefers one type of church service. I also attended the evening service at the Anglican church in Cromer. While also an Anglican church, the service was completely different. This is what would be described as low Anglican. There was very little formal liturgy, and the worship was led by a band that included guitar and drums. There were microphones for the singers, and a PA system at the back. Rather than hymn books the words were projected onto a screen. It was exciting to see the juxtaposition of contemporary worship and an old (and huge) stone church.  Also, it was so clear that God was also present in the second service as well. So often we as the church allow our differences to create division and weaken the church. However, our differences, even huge differences within a single denomination, can lead to a dynamic church within which the Spirit is free to work in people's hearts in ways which are right for them as individuals and as a community.
Church was a highlight of the trip. Monday night there was a much more eerie occurrence.  We were in Cromer having dropped Stephen's friends off at their hotel, having discussed some of the local ghost stories, and we saw a dark figure wearing a black cape, mask and top hat. It was one of those moments where we both had to ask whether we had both really seen what we had seen. I will leave you with the worrying suggestion that due to the fact that it was Norfolk, the masked figure was not in fancy dress.

Snow! 2 (The miraculous sixteenth post)

Snow lay thick on the ground when I woke up this morning. It was beautiful. Nothing beats a good snow. To actually get to church this morning we had to take a broom and desnow (new word) the car. After a rather treacherous drive and quite a bit of sliding we made it to church. The service itself was rather good. Our worship leader could sense that the spirit was going to move before the service even began. After the service a snowball fight ensued in the church car park (another one of those funtimes there). Grandma managed to assert her dominance on the field of snowball battle and so we packed up and went home. Half an hour later my second cousins family arrived with their six year old. So, the logical conclusion was to make a snowman (It is a true and irrefutable  fact that having a six year old with you significantly improves snowman construction quality). The snow was perfect for making snowmen. So, not only did we make a snowman, we also made a snow boulder. At some point today I will get photos with the boulder and post them up here as well.

Snow! (The miraculous fifteenth post)

 It is snowing! Right now! It has settled as well! I got so excited that I wrapped up and went outside in my boots. In a fit of spontaneity I decided that I had to make a snow angel! After shaking all the snow off of various items of clothing I returned inside, made some hot chocolate, and sat down at my computer to write this post. There are mixed opinions when it comes to snow. Many people love it because it is thoroughly beautiful. On the other hand many people hate snow because it's cold and causes inconveniences. My friend Dominic falls into the latter category. This afternoon he had to ride his bike into work in the snow. This involved a large amount of complaining on his part while I just stared in wonder at the sky and snow. I like the snow quite a bit. Also, as this was the first proper snow I'd seen in four and a half years I was even more excited. So, whatever your view is on the snow, take the chance to just stop and appreciate it. Yeah it may be cold, and it may cause inconveniences but it's damn beautiful.

Daniel J. Chang (The miraculous fourteenth post)

Why hello everybody. I thought you might all be interested in seeing a video my friend made. He is most excellent at a sport known as Ultimate Frisbee, and I would like to share with you a video he made with a collection of very clever trick shots. He pushes the boundaries of what can be done with a frisbee on a regular basis; this is merely a fraction of his abilities on display in this video. Enjoy!