I was opening my presents this morning and for possibly the first Christmas in my life, I started to think of the symbolism of what we do at Christmas. In church life we're always careful to make sure everyone realises the symbolism when they take communion yet I find we don't think so much about it at Christmas.
What do I mean? Well, I'll explain a bit further. As I unwrapped my presents I wasn't focussed on the gifts themselves. I didn't even think of the kings and the gifts that they brought. As I peeled the shiny paper from various items, I thought of Jesus, God's gift to humanity, His answer to our condition. The gift of God, wrapped in flesh and blood, held together not by some cheap sticky-tape but by the love of the Father.
The gift was free. There was no persuading God or twisting his arm. It was his agenda all along to extravagantly give this gift to us. It's our choice if we just leave him under the tree.
That's not just a reference to salvation, either. How many times do we bang our head against the wall, forgetting the Christmas present we got a few years back that could solve the situation? How often do we call on Jesus? How often do I call on Jesus? Not enough. Not nearly enough. I complain to him a great deal. I don't think that really counts, though. I just find myself sounding more and more like a bunch of people that ended up getting eaten by the desert this one time...
Let's all remember the value of what we've got at our disposal.
Monday, December 26, 2005
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Romulan Chief!
OK, so last night when I took the pic of my straight hair, I thought I should do a profile as well, to give you a better idea of the shocking transformation that took place.
Friday, December 23, 2005
Straight Hair!
I just got my hair cut at Mika on Kilmarnock Road. The girl that cut it encouraged me to leave the top to grow and she just trimmed the fringe and the back and sides. (Does that make it a short back and sides?) Anyway, she also STRAIGHTENED it which was quite a big deal, considering the amount of hair I have these days. The best part of all was that despite the time she spent straightening it, she only charged me £4.50 because she just cut the back and sides. Sweet!
UPDATE:
I should add that I actually took 30 pictures with my camera-phone before finding this one that I thought was good. Criteria were not cropping part of my head from the pic and remembering not to look too serious although really concentrating.
Also, every time I look in the mirror I think I'm a Romulan from Star Trek!
UPDATE:
I should add that I actually took 30 pictures with my camera-phone before finding this one that I thought was good. Criteria were not cropping part of my head from the pic and remembering not to look too serious although really concentrating.
Also, every time I look in the mirror I think I'm a Romulan from Star Trek!
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Hotel Rwanda made me cry
I don't know what it is with me and REALLY serious films, especially with my last post being about Hitler.
Tonight I watched Hotel Rwanda and it really moved me. The story is based, I believe quite closely, on actual events during the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. While angry Hutu mobs roamed the streets killing their Tutsi neighbours, one man opened up his hotel to welcome in refugees as they sought to save their lives from the massacre. The UN refused to stick around to protect them either. Foreign military only came to escort the white visitors to safety, leaving the Rwandans to fend for themselves.
It just made something inside me cry out at the injustice. I've no idea what it feels like to be in such a situation but you must feel so utterly helpless. I don't know what it must be like to watch people beaten and killed, knowing you can't do a thing to stop it. I felt it to some extent as I watched this film, though.
I think that seeing a situation of great suffering stirs something in you. It provokes a sense of compassion which maybe doesn't easily surface in me, at least. It prompts a response. It asks the question, "What do you want to do about this?"
I just feel more and more that here in the West we really have so much. We have it so easy in so many ways yet we still complain. God, let us appreciate the peace we have in our land. Let us be quick to run to those in need, regardless of the personal cost. Let our lives count for something.
Tonight I watched Hotel Rwanda and it really moved me. The story is based, I believe quite closely, on actual events during the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. While angry Hutu mobs roamed the streets killing their Tutsi neighbours, one man opened up his hotel to welcome in refugees as they sought to save their lives from the massacre. The UN refused to stick around to protect them either. Foreign military only came to escort the white visitors to safety, leaving the Rwandans to fend for themselves.
It just made something inside me cry out at the injustice. I've no idea what it feels like to be in such a situation but you must feel so utterly helpless. I don't know what it must be like to watch people beaten and killed, knowing you can't do a thing to stop it. I felt it to some extent as I watched this film, though.
I think that seeing a situation of great suffering stirs something in you. It provokes a sense of compassion which maybe doesn't easily surface in me, at least. It prompts a response. It asks the question, "What do you want to do about this?"
I just feel more and more that here in the West we really have so much. We have it so easy in so many ways yet we still complain. God, let us appreciate the peace we have in our land. Let us be quick to run to those in need, regardless of the personal cost. Let our lives count for something.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Hitler was mental
He really was. I know you don't need me to educate you on this. I just saw a film last night that reminded me of the fact, though. It's called The Downfall and it proved to be a very interesting and educational film. It is actually all in German with English subtitles which I found to be really interesting. I like hearing other languages and I feel that we're very guilty in the English-speaking west of isolating ourselves from other languages.
The film tells the story of the last days inside Hitler's bunker as the Red Army closed in on Berlin and Germany's defeat became apparent. It's told from the view of Traudl Junge who was Hitler's secretary during the war. She actually wrote the story so it's pretty authentic.
I just found it interesting because often war films tend to show America or Britain and not really tell you much about the Germans other than the fact that they're the nasty people we're fighting against. In The Downfall, you see the humanity of some of the German officers and it was reassuring to learn that some of them genuinely cared about their people and wanted to protect the civillians and so on. Don't get me wrong here, though. Most of them were mental. I'm not condoning any Nazi ideals at all, just pointing out that there were real people there too.
This maybe isn't making much sense. I'd recommend seeing it if you want to learn more about that part of history, though. I think we can always learn from the past. I'm glad I didn't have to live then, right enough. Thank God for peace in our time.
The film tells the story of the last days inside Hitler's bunker as the Red Army closed in on Berlin and Germany's defeat became apparent. It's told from the view of Traudl Junge who was Hitler's secretary during the war. She actually wrote the story so it's pretty authentic.
I just found it interesting because often war films tend to show America or Britain and not really tell you much about the Germans other than the fact that they're the nasty people we're fighting against. In The Downfall, you see the humanity of some of the German officers and it was reassuring to learn that some of them genuinely cared about their people and wanted to protect the civillians and so on. Don't get me wrong here, though. Most of them were mental. I'm not condoning any Nazi ideals at all, just pointing out that there were real people there too.
This maybe isn't making much sense. I'd recommend seeing it if you want to learn more about that part of history, though. I think we can always learn from the past. I'm glad I didn't have to live then, right enough. Thank God for peace in our time.
Saturday, December 03, 2005
A week in England
I just got back to my flat in Glasgow after spending a week catching up with friends south of the border. For my North American friends, I hope you realise I'm not referring to Mexico but England :)
It's funny being in a different country. Even though we're technically under the same government and all that, it's still in the forefront of your mind that you're different. Some of you might say I'm different anyway but I'm talking about accent in particular. As soon as you open your mouth, everyone knows you're not from there.
I was in Bracknell for the most part of the week and I went for a jaunt into Bath for a day and a half as well. It was interesting driving to Bath with directions from multimap.com. We got lost once or twice but we got there in the end and that's always good.
I got the flights for £20 because I had enough Aeroplan points from previous trips with Air Canada. The cost was the airport tax which sadly isn't covered by the rewad points. Still, £20 for a return from Glasgow to Heathrow is pretty good. Checking in for the return flight they used my bank card to verify my ID which was new. It's a strange feeling to be in a plane without anyone having looked at your passport. It reminds me of when I drove from Toronto to Pittsburgh for Christmas and when I came back into Canada the guy didn't even check my passport. Another cool thing with domestic UK flights is that I checked in with less than an hour to go in both cases and everything was fine.
It was good to see friends again and catch up as well. I never really think of much to talk about but company is worth more than information to me anyway. I'm content to be around people, rather than probing for all the latest goings-on.
It's funny being in a different country. Even though we're technically under the same government and all that, it's still in the forefront of your mind that you're different. Some of you might say I'm different anyway but I'm talking about accent in particular. As soon as you open your mouth, everyone knows you're not from there.
I was in Bracknell for the most part of the week and I went for a jaunt into Bath for a day and a half as well. It was interesting driving to Bath with directions from multimap.com. We got lost once or twice but we got there in the end and that's always good.
I got the flights for £20 because I had enough Aeroplan points from previous trips with Air Canada. The cost was the airport tax which sadly isn't covered by the rewad points. Still, £20 for a return from Glasgow to Heathrow is pretty good. Checking in for the return flight they used my bank card to verify my ID which was new. It's a strange feeling to be in a plane without anyone having looked at your passport. It reminds me of when I drove from Toronto to Pittsburgh for Christmas and when I came back into Canada the guy didn't even check my passport. Another cool thing with domestic UK flights is that I checked in with less than an hour to go in both cases and everything was fine.
It was good to see friends again and catch up as well. I never really think of much to talk about but company is worth more than information to me anyway. I'm content to be around people, rather than probing for all the latest goings-on.
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