- Prodigal -

Monday, September 30, 2002

I read a very thought-provoking article yesterday - "God and the Generations"

"...Society increasingly reduces people to categories, largely dreamed up by advertisers. So we have shorthand descriptions like Generation X, the Millennials and the Grey Pound. Should the Church follow this trend, with congregations targeted exclusively at specific groups like youth or the over-50s? Or should we be trying to bring together a congregation representing all the different age groups and types of individuals?

God and the Generations, the latest report from the Evangelical Alliance's (UK) theological commission ACUTE, takes a biblical look at these questions. An excerpt from that report is included below, highlighting some of the main issues at stake. We also profile two unique congregations, which aim to create an inclusive Church by catering to different groups of people..."

Quote for the day

"...To live is to grow; and to grow is to have changed often..." (John Henry Newman).

Paul Fromont 9/30/2002 11:40:00 AM

We did an interesting exercise at church on Sunday – based upon Gary Thomas’ book: “Sacred Pathways” of worship.

“…Experienced spiritual directors recognize that all of us pray differently; if your devotional times have hit a snag, perhaps it is because you're trying to follow someone else's path. This book explodes the barriers that keep Christians locked into rigid methods of worship and praise. Sacred Pathways unfolds nine distinct spiritual temperaments -- their traits, strengths, and pitfalls. Illustrated with examples from the Bible and from the author's life experience, each one suggests an approach to loving God, a distinctive journey of adoration…”

Put simply, the book acknowledges and demonstrates that we relate and respond to God in a variety of different ways. Some of this has to do with our natural predispositions, our life experiences, our temperament’s etc. Thomas helpfully discusses (and provides examples of people who demonstrate particular temperaments and ways of living for, relating to, and responding to God) what he lists as the ‘predominant’ “pathways” to relating too, and worshipping God:

 Naturalist – e.g. Annie Dillard.
 Sensate – wants to be lost in the awe, beauty, and splendour of God – sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and touch are very significant.
 Traditionalist – fed and nourished by the historical dimensions of the Christian faith: rituals, liturgy, symbols, sacraments, continuity with the past etc.
 Ascetic – aloneness, silence, and simplicity are important. They live a very internal existence.
 Activist – Loving God through confrontation – contend against injustice, serve ‘causes’, work on behalf of the weak, victims, and the marginalised etc.
 Caregiver – Loving God by loving others. For these people, it’s not enough to say you love God. You have to demonstrably love God by loving and caring for your neighbour.
 Enthusiast – Motivated by joy, excitement, and mystery. Very expressive and exuberant.
 Contemplative – loves God through adoration – through being in the presence of God. They enjoy silence and the absence of distraction.
 Intellectual – are fed, nourished, and bought to a place of worship through study, reflection, reading, theological discovery, debate etc.

Interestingly, if we look at the Christians we most admire and seek to emulate, we often gain significant insights into our own spiritual temperament.

Out of interest my top three were:

 Ascetic.
 Traditionalist.
 Intellectual.

Finally, it’ll be interesting to reflect on the ways in which our ‘gathered’ worship does or doesn’t create “pathways” to the worship of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – for those who are a part of our church ‘community’.

Reading the corporate results against Alan Jamieson’s (“A Churchless Faith”) research work being carried out under the “Spirited Exchanges” umbrella, and talking in more depth to people, would also be interesting, especially when you reflect on some of his findings with regards to why people leave EPC churches (of which we are one).

– Reasons why people left –

“The shallowness of the format and approach”; “the church was boring;” “they wanted to explore new ways of ‘being’ church;” “they had grown beyond their church;” “church was like a stuck record; “church hindered their connection with God;” “church was too narrow;” “they wanted more contemplation;” “church did not scratch where they itched;” and “they wanted a more intimate and participatory environment.” (From REALITY Magazine, October / November, 2002 “Friends Exploring the Frontiers of Faith,” p.20.)

Paul Fromont 9/29/2002 11:20:00 PM

Latest indications I've had is that NT. ('Tom') Wright's next book in the series begining with "The New Testament and the People of God" (Christian Origins and the Question of God, Vol. 1) will be published in June 2003. To be titled, "The Resurrection of the Son of God" (Christian Origins and the Questions of God, Vol. 3).

Paul Fromont 9/26/2002 12:40:00 PM

Spent Alan's 36th birthday at a day-long seminar with Marva Dawn. A very good day. She said lot's of things I needed too hear, and which I valued hearing. Nice to spend the day with friends as well, including another opportunity to catch up with Steve Taylor, out of blogsphere...

Marva's topic for the day was "Lying Fallow: the role of suffering and sabbath in Ministry"

The latest issue of REALITY magazine is out - good subject, "Different Ways of Doing Church". Articles on Cityside. One by Kevin Ward ('What do Church and Rugby Have in Common?), and one by Alan Jamieson,"Friends Exploring the Frontiers of Faith". Steve Taylor gets a good mention in a book review. Lots of other good stuff, including, "Learning from Medieval Monasticism". Here's the table of contents. Get yourself a copy and a cup of coffee!

Paul Fromont 9/25/2002 01:25:00 PM

Yesterday our youngest daughter, Alice, turned 1 - wow a significant milestone, and a great opportunity to reflect on the gift and the blessing that her entry into the life of our family. Thanks God!

Would appreciate people's suggestions as to those books on discipleship they would give to someone who wants a range of books from "introduction" to more challenging.....especially those books which are very 'practical' (whatever that really means) add a "comment" with your choices...........................they will go to a fine home....

A thought for the day

"...God's blessing comes to us on it's way to someone else...."

Paul Fromont 9/23/2002 12:33:00 PM

Feeling a bit better today after nearly a week home with the flu! The most sick leave I've had in a very long time.

Had our "SPACE" worship gathering last night - built around the theme of "SPRING: Beginnings and Growings." Used Hildegard of Bingen's (1098-1179) concept of "Viriditas" (Latin) or the ‘greening’ of life – the creativity and fruitfulness of human beings fully alive and in harmony with the purposes of God…Also featured here sense of herself as "a feather on the breath of God" - the creative, changing, moving presence of God the Spirit.

Those people who thought they might be coming were also asked to bring and baby photograph and a recent photograph of themselves. As they arrived they were asked to blue tac their photographs to one of three big pieces of black card - photographic installations - set around the room at head height.

Started with "preparation to worship". As people came in they were invited to take a polished stone from a pile of stones at the entrance. They were asked to hold it in one of their hands as the story of the "woman caught in adultery" (John. 8:3-11.) was read. Each person was asked to reflect on those area of their lives and relationship damaged by "sin"; to find peace with God, and to then symbolically return the stone to the pile at the entrance - our confession heard, our sins forgiven, newness of opportunity before each person, to "go and sin no more". A poem called "Spring Song" by NZ poet Hone Tuwhare (taken from his book, "No Ordinary Sun") was read and attention drawn to his sense of the work and movement of spring quietly and unobtrusively happening beneath the surface -

"...Still,
did sun and worm
quicken the earth’s blood,
loosened stiff tree limbs
and bird tongues
from the hoar frost’s clutch..."

Also featured the Maori symbol of a "Koru" with is sense of fern fond unfolding - the unfolding of new life.

Silent Space was created for everyone to walk around the 'photo installations' and to use the opportunity following that to reflect on and thank God for the different ways in which we see growth and enrichment as the gift of God and the work of God in our lives – from birth until now. They were welcome to either pray quietly or out loud.

Read a reflection on the importance of growth by Eugene Peterson, and the passage, "How does a seed grow" from "The Message" -Mark 4: 26-29.

Read from the "Great Thanksgiving" of the Anglican liturgy - passed the communion elements from person to person. Closed with "Night Prayer," again from an Anglican prayerbook. Everyone as they left were then given an opportunity to 'plant' a spring bulb (thanks for the idea Steve) in a little flower-pot, to water it, and to take it with them as a reminder that God wanted to "grow" their lives, and wanted each of us as we went out into "the world" to be attentive to ways in which God might use us to encourage and nurture growth and "new beginnings" in the lives of others.

14 people showed up. We're normally about 8-10.

Finally, the latest edition (Sept) of the ON THE ROAD Newsletter of the Anabaptist Association of Australia and New Zealand Inc.is available here.(pdf.)

Paul Fromont 9/22/2002 01:28:00 PM

'Pulled' this out of "Faithworks'" archive - "Once and Future worship" - "...the revival of ancient worship patterns is adding yet another wrinkle in the worship debate. Meet the ‘new liturgicals..." By Rob Marus and Marshall Allen.

Two reviews of INSOMNIA - Rahne Taylor's (Mars Hill Fellowship site) and Sarah Barnett (Anglican Media Sydney site)

Interesting sounding book to be published 11/1/2002 - "Everyday Apocalypse: The Sacred Revealed in Radiohead, The Simpsons, and Other Pop Culture Icons" by David Dark.

Graham Cray's endorsement of the book reads:

"Apocalyptic is not religious fantasy about the future, but a window on the present, in the light of the future. David Dark has turned it into a powerful tool for cultural criticism. Literary history and contemporary media are used to throw light on one another. Not many authors have successfully put Beck and John Donne together in the same sentence. Above all, significant examples of contemporary literature, television, music, and film are reviews, not to show how morally bad they are, but to allow them to show us our real condition if we are willing to be shown it. Highly recommended."

Paul Fromont 9/20/2002 01:30:00 AM

Where else in our society, other than in liturgy, are all of us...called to extricate ourselves from the powers and principalities that claim to rule our daily lives in order to submit ourselves soley to God and to one another as equals irrespective of colour, socio-economic status, male and female, young and not so young. Where else do we regularly hear and learn the story of who we are, of where we've come from, and to where we're going? Where else are food and drink blessed and broken and poured out so that every body receives and all is shared? Liturgy establishes and nourishes community centred upon Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

"...The whole poetry of man's relation to the unseen Love is hidden in the liturgy: with it's roots in history, it's eyes set upon eternity, its mingled outbursts of praise and supplication, penitence and delight, it encloses and carries forward the devotion of the individual soul, lost in the mighty melody..."

Evelyn Underhill

Paul Fromont 9/18/2002 03:10:00 PM

I read this yesterday in the monthly newsletter produced by the parishoners of St. Andrew's, Anglican.

The teller of the story had two nephews aged 2 years and three months respectively. Their parents had a 'baby-monitor'. They heard the door open and the two year old went into the baby's bedroom. The parents sat anxious that he might be jealous of the baby and hurt him. Then the two year old said, "Flynn, could you tell me what God's like, I think I've forgotten."

Paul Fromont 9/17/2002 09:30:00 PM

A "found prayer" by Henri Nouwen that I will be praying often:

"O Lord, thinking about you, being fascinated with theological ideas and discussions, being excited about histories of spirituality and stimulated by thoughts and ideas about prayer and meditation, all of this can be just as much an expression of greed as the unruly desire for food, possessions, or power. Each day I see again that only you can teach me to pray, only you can let me dwell in your presence. No book, no idea, no concept or thing, will ever bring me close to you, unless you yourself let these instruments become the way to you. Amen."

Following an exchange of e-mails with John Janzen, I've also re-looked at Kiwi Chris Marshall's article from REALITY magazine, "Following Christ in Life: The Anabaptist-Mennonite Tradition." A good read! So is his book, "Crowned with Glory and Honor"

Paul Fromont 9/15/2002 12:21:00 PM

I've been reading a lot about the "Desert Tradition" in our Christian heritage. How's this for a title of one article I read, "The Contribution of the Desert Tradition to a Contemporary Understanding of Community and Spiritual Subjectivty" (by Robert Watson and Michael Mangis. Published last year in the "Journal of Psychology and Christianity"). Great title - sounds like one of the full title's of an old Puritan book from the 17th century in England. Great article! We don't have much in the way of desert in NZ. The closest is the volcanic plateau in the middle of the North Island. The section of State Highway 1 that passes through it is called the "desert road" - but nothing like the deserts of Africa, Asia, parts of Amercia, and central Australia (where I want to go one day).

Here's a quote from Malcolm Muggeridge:

"...in the wilderness, the world seems far away. No social life, no media, no occasion for bitterness or frustration. Just an arid haven of refuge, a dusty paradise. No votes to cast, no women to seduce, money to accumulate, celebrity to acquire. All the habitual pursuits of the ego and the appetites are suspended. I love the wilderness because, when all these pursuits of mind and body have been shed, what remains...is an unencumbered soul, with no other concern than to look for God. And lokking is finding. And finding, one may dare to hope, is keeping..."

Amma Syncletica

"As long as we are in the monastery, obedience is preferable to asceticism. The one teaches pride, the other humility..."

Columba Stewart

"...the basic insight of the desert...was that one cannot grow towards perfection though isolated, solitaryeffort: grace is mediated through one's neighbour, especially one's abba...if the devil is delighted by a monks self-imposed isolation, surely this was because the opposite of isolation, encounter with another, was the way to salvation..."

(taken from, "The Desert Fathers on Radical Self-Honesty" (1991). Thanks to Waikato University for having the Vox Benedictina journal it came from - in fact they only had journals for 1991! which for me was a 'heavensend' - not exactly the kind of journal you buy at your local bookstore).

Paul Fromont 9/13/2002 01:14:00 PM

Sounds like an interesting article for anyone interested in how "new monasticism" might work out - "The Monastery as a Liminal Community" by Richard Endress in "American Benedictine Review" 26:2 (1975) pp. 142-158. Also this article, "A New Monasticism" (pdf. file / 12 pages) By Jane and Andrew Fitz-Gibbon - Community of Friends in Renewal.

"...The renewal of the church will come from a new type of monasticism, which has only in common with the old an uncompromising allegiance to the sermon on the mount. It is high time men and women banded together to do this..."

(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)


Watched a teaching video, from 1999, last night - a couple of interesting quotes/statements by Gerald Pillay:

"...It is not enough to win. Our struggle is only complete when our enemy becomes a friend..." (Gandhi)

With reference to Matthew 5:38-45, and particularly the formative influence of the "sermon on the mount" on Gandhi "...In the face of personal injustice look for creative ways to force the oppressor to reckon with you as a human being..." (Pillay)

Here's an article by Pillay - "Working for Justice" which touches on a lot of the points he made in the taped lecture.

Paul Fromont 9/12/2002 12:45:00 AM

I love this from Len Hjalmarson up in Canada. Thanks for getting it 'out there' Len. I think I'll have to read some Richard Rohr.

A Reconstructionist Creed

We believe in one God. "There is one Body, one Spirit, one and the same hope.. one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God who is Father of all, over all, through all, and within all" (Eph. 4:4-6).

We believe that we are, first of all, a people, God's movement in history.

We believe that our individual lives and our personal growth are for the sake of the generation to come after and built on the faith and the bones of those who have gone before us.

We believe that we must build on the positive, on what we love. Creative and life energy come from belief and commitment. Critics must first be believers who have leaned how to say an ultimate YES. (And as the Irish put it, "Never give a man a sword til he's learned how to dance.")

We agree to bear the burden and the grace of our past. We agree to honor what is, which includes even the broken things: ourselves, the Church, the state and other institutions. The dark side of each of these is also a necessary teacher.

We are committed to building a world of meaning and hope. We recognize the clear need for prophetic deconstruction of all idolatries that make the worship of God impossible. True rebuilding must follow this temporary but necessary unbuilding.

We believe in a person universe where the divine nature shines through all created things. It is therefore an "enchanted universe" where we can always live in reverence before the good, the true and the beautiful.

Along with Paul in Colossians (1:15-20), as Christians, we believe that Jesus is the clearest image of the unseen God. In him all things cohere, all opposites are overcome. He is the head of the living body in whom all things are reconciled.

From Richard Rohr, "Hope Against Darkness"
(Fr. Rohr, a Franciscan of the New Mexico Province).

Paul Fromont 9/08/2002 02:41:00 PM

With 9/11 approaching I've been reflecting on this sermon by Rowan Williams entitled "Pleading for Peace" - preached on the 28th September, 2001.

The section that I've spent the most time reflecting / praying on is this one:

"...When those who have power respond with enormous threats and a high rhetoric of relentless pursuit, they too are dealing with the anger of helplessness; last Tuesday's events were terrible for the USA in part because they made the only superpower left in the world feel unsafe, and the US government had to struggle to overcome the sense of mpotence in the nation. Hence too the sickening scenes of celebration elsewhere.

I doubt whether anyone in the Middle East would quite have admitted to celebrating thousands of innocent deaths in agony; they had forgotten the human dimension of those deaths because they were glad that the powerful had at last known the furious pain of helplessness, and that was all they could feel.

I suspect that the threats and promises coming from the western alliances, while they will certainly create fear, will also be met with the secret feeling of satisfaction that says, Now they are where we are, they are threshing around and planning devastation because they feel helpless too.

Anger always blurs the real human features of those we're angry with. If it didn't, no one would ever be persuaded to violent action. And so often the anger comes from the sense that I'm not being seen as a human being in the first place. No one treats me as human, as a conversational partner; so my anger grows to the point where I don't want conversation but release at all costs, a terrible self-affirmation even if it destroys the other..."

Read the whole sermon here.

Paul Fromont 9/08/2002 12:22:00 PM

Jason, thanks for the link to, "Searching for the City of Saint Francis" by Val Zander at "The Ooze". Loved it, especially this bit:

"...I learned that InnerChange is a Christian order among the poor. Single, married, male, female, Catholic, Protestant—all InnerChange members commit to a life of simplicity, humility, prayer, purity, service, and community...The Franciscans are our heroes, because of their vow to live in poverty, their practical work among the most needy, and their spiritual practices," said Deanna, whose husband John is the founder of InnerChange. "But obviously we are not monks. We try to balance three currents—the missionary current of work among the poor, the prophetic current of being a voice for the poor, and the contemplative current, which is deepening our intimacy with God individually and as a group..."

Now this excites me!

Here's a bit more information about "InnerChange."

Also, I enjoyed this interview from Australia with Rowan Williams. I've just had a read through sections of his "Wound of Knowldge", and his biography on "Teresa of Avila" is the most interesting and useful I've read. The more I 'dig' around in his writing and stuff written about him, the more I'm coming to appreciate just what he will bring to his role as the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Paul Fromont 9/06/2002 01:23:00 AM

Church must "capture the imagination" - Full Text of Rowan Williams' speech given on the announcement that he is to be the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury. Watch / Listen to his speech.

Paul Fromont 9/04/2002 12:41:00 PM

This book - review below - has been one of the most 'paradigm shifting' little books I've read in a long time. I read it some time ago, but it still 'sticks' - THE END OF CHRISTENDOM AND THE FUTURE OF CHRISTIANITY By Douglas John Hall. Update (5th Sept.) Wayne, thanks for the review. Without your review, I wouldn't have discovered the book and begun the phase of my Jesus-following Journey that I'm on. The source of the review is "Gospel and Our Culture's Newsletter". Link to their site is to the left, and down.

Book Review
THE END OF CHRISTENDOM AND THE FUTURE OF CHRISTIANITY
By Douglas John Hall. Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International.
Christian Mission and Modern Culture Series. x, 69 pp., paper, $9.95.

Reviewed by Wayne A. Holst
University of Calgary
Alberta, Canada

"...For the past quarter century Canadian theologian Douglas John Hall has been challenging the contemporary North American Christian Church to re-imagine itself in profoundly different ways. By means of inspiring lectures, books and articles (which reveal him as contextually attuned, widely read and resourceful) Hall has encouraged the Church to reassess its relationship to modern culture, articulate a theology that addresses the realities of our time and develop a new understanding of its mission.

Hall urges twentieth century Mainline Protestantism in particular to abandon the fetters with which it has been encumbered through long identification with the traditional cultural establishments of Europe and North America. He calls this shackling 'sixteen hundred years of Constantinian Christianity.' The faith as we know it compromised much when it became the recognised religion of a declining empire and then of the developing nations of the old and new worlds. To survive, new understandings and expressions of this faith, unencumbered with past culture and religion, must emerge.

The time has come, Hall affirms, for Christians to disengage from society in order to liberate the Church from the conventions of culture religion and to rediscover the essential Christian values. The purpose of this disestablishment, he maintains, is in order to reengage society with the salt, yeast and light of a refined, pristine Christianity. The pre-Constantinian Church, Anabaptist Christianity and even Judaism provide us with models and styles of what a truly liberated church might be.

Hall's message is contextually grounded in the cultures he addresses. This means, for example, that while the American context does not provide the central content of the Christian message, it does provide the matrix or forum in which that message must be put (cf. his book, Thinking the Faith: Christian Theology in a North American Context, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991). Thinking the faith brings the gospel into dialogue with today's major issues, and clearly goes beyond the mere perpetuation of ancient dogmas, which no longer speak to our age. The message we receive from this Christian past is therefore not 'Repeat what we have said!' but rather 'Do what we have done.' History shows that the influence of theologians as diverse as Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Kierkegaard, etc. was due precisely to their ability to articulate the faith that thoughtfully engaged the central issues of their particular eras. Hall sees his end of the twentieth century mission as being little different from the theological task of his perceptive predecessors.

The author contends that North American society continues to be dominated by a belief in manifest destiny and the assumption that progress is inevitable. Progress implies quantitative and territorial expansion. Traditional theological liberalism certainly believed this. Now, various forms of evangelical conservatism are dominant, and many of its working assumptions assume the same values. In such a view, not only is Christianity going to enjoy a still greater future, but it alone deserves such a destiny, for it is superior to any other faith. Its qualitative superiority is demonstrated by its quantitative success and its quantitative success is because of its qualitative superiority (p. 14). Church growth, spiritual possibility thinking and megachurch strategies are but a contemporary expression of 'Christian Century' advocates of a hundred years ago.
The death knell of societal progress thinking and Church member/ institutional growth has been sounding for some time; but the churches--mainline and conservative evangelical alike--have operated with a 'business as usual' approach, acting and hoping as though things would turn around. Decline has continued, nonetheless, and it is inevitable. We must face honestly this current era of financial and numerical erosion of once powerful movements and denominations, seeing it as part of God's design, not our failure, and as an exciting opportunity for theological and institutional renewal.
Today's spiritual seekers are looking for moral authority, meaningful community, transcendent mystery and meaning, says Hall (pp. 57-65). For the church to speak truly to the needs of moderns it must 'stand off,' rediscover its true heritage and accept itself as marginal and alien. It must relearn the meaning of the crucified way, of being 'fools for Christ,' of being 'in' but not 'of' the world. Moderns are seeking meaning beyond progress. The church can offer something the world cannot give by rediscovering the possibilities of littleness. God is interested chiefly in minorities, in remnants (see Hall's book, The Future of the Church, pp. 34-35). Hall's message is a prophetic call for radical change in Christian thought, profession and confession. But his is also a vision of bold future witness and hope for the church.

The End of Christendom and the Future of Christianity represents not so much a further expansion as a valuable recapitulation of Hall's lifetime of thought. What he has taken almost four decades and many words to define during a remarkably productive career he here condenses and distills with precision and clarity into less than seventy pages of text. For some, this book will provide a valuable first en-counter with Hall that encourages further reading of his more extensive studies. For others, this book will draw together the essence of Hall's pivotal ideas previously encountered elsewhere.

The End of Christendom raises questions and challenges many of the ideas about Christian faith and the institutional church that the faithful hold dear. Pastors, denominational executives, seminary teachers and those who have grown comfortable with the security benefits of church leadership and church going as we have known it may read Hall with curiosity but be hesitant to hazard following his biblically based prescriptions. To challenge the status quo risks alienating many of the people the church considers it's own. However, the process of disestablishment that Hall advocates offers the church new and hopeful possibilities for regaining its prophetic role in a world much in need of a vital and viable counter-cultural spirituality.

Hall's writing attempts to probe the heart of Christian faith bereft of its cultural and institutional trappings. He asks penetrating questions about how the central message of the faith can be purposefully expressed in the contemporary church. Hall is not a trained sociologist but a highly intuitive reader and interpreter of modern North American culture. His propositions lack the empirical substance of a Reginald Bibby. Yet, his prescriptive vision and insights provide much material for reflection, discussion and debate. It would be helpful if Hall could be more specific about the forms a future disestablished and prophetic church might take..."

See also his, "Confessing the Faith : Christian Theology in a North American Context". I pray someone will write on a similar theme about our NZ context.....

Paul Fromont 9/03/2002 01:00:00 PM

A Rowan Williams article - "Prophecy Today" (1997).

Paul Fromont 9/02/2002 11:56:00 PM

Had a great "Fathers Day" yesterday. Started with Kathryn, Sophie, et Alice. Beautiful weather. Then the girls went with Kathryn's parents to Mt. Maunganui - picture - for the day...and I got to read...luxury. I have a book ("The transforming Friendship" by James Houston) to read and review for a spiritual formation course, and managed to get over half way through it. I cooked Chilli con carne for everyone for tea, and then shared a glass of red wine, and port with Kathryn, before watching U2's "Elevation" concert (filmed on the Boston leg of their tour - June 2001) on DVD - Brilliant!! All in all a great day - and one to be thankful to God for.

Paul Fromont 9/01/2002 01:01:00 PM