St Mary Abbots 21st March 2010

The anointing of Jesus as Bethany is a fascinating story.

It is one of those rare events where John seems to have had all 3 synoptics Gospels open in front of him.

Bethany is a small town outside of Jerusalem.

It is 6 days before the Passover.

They are in the home of Lazarus - who "was dead" so that must have been an interesting conversation! Along with Judas - who would betray him. Quite a dinner party.

Mary of Bethany serves.

She pours expensive perfume over the feet of Jesus.

Judas complains - what a waste - you could have kept that for the poor!!

Two key themes

anointing - the preparation of Jesus for what is to happen and for his burial

betrayal - epitomised in the character of Judas.

Passiontide is the constant collision between the pureness of God's love and potentiality towards sin in every human person.

our baptism - the moment at which we too are anointed - links us to this great event.

Where have I been

It has been another one of those busy periods but I hope to blog better from today.

I have tried other templates and other forms but what's the point when this is part of your main email activity?

So I will try better: honest!

Herta Muller: The Land of Green Plums

This was perhaps the toughest assignment for the book club so far.

We all ploughed through Michael Hoffmann's translation of this grim novel,, set in Romania at the height of Ceausecu's regime.

It is a frightful, grim shocking account of how low humanity can stoop and how miserable life can be

25th January Conversion of St Paul

St Mary Abbots

Paul - human, road to Damascus, grit and honesty.

Conversion:
Old Testament doundation:
Covenant
Turn to Me
David - Job

New Testament
John the Baptist/Jesus/Paul

Characteristics of Conversion
repentance
transformation
new life

Conversion as the "foundation of the authentic Christian life"

South Africa - the return

I didn't have email access for the latter part of the trip - at least not on a daily basis.

Cape Town proved to be a brilliant destination for the last week of my holiday.

The hotel - at the Waterfront - was a brilliant run place to stay with gorgeous breakfast and a breathtaking view of Table Mountain.

Did the great drive to the southern most tip of Africa - cape point - and visited the wide variety of beaches along the road of the Twelve Apostles.

The food was great and the company was superb.

J's family reunion proved to be much easier than I thought - not least because they had wall to wall English Premier League football on (3 games in all) so watching Manchester United v Burnley in 32 degrees wasn't that bad at all!

I will be back!

11th Jan Zulu Land

Great day today.

Starter with an early breakfast before setting off on a great drive to to see new parts of Durban and to spend most of the day in the Zulu live history centre.

We got there in time for lunch and enjoyed an open air meal in 30 degrees.

Ryan decided on the ultimate challenge: eating crocodile meat in a compound of live crocodiles - which proved to be a laugh for everyone - particularly when the guide got two of the crocs to move!!

Then we visited the crocodile park and saw the various stages of croc development from the youngest to the oldest (104 years old).

Then it was time for the snakes- a bit more scary - ending with Zulu culture, dancing and marriage!

A great day all round.

Sunday 10th January

Up late for me - and then off to gym for a good work out.

A light lunch of bananas and chocolate before Ryan acted as chauffeur to the Gateway Shopping Centre followed by a fascinating trip via Umhlanga Drive - past the casinos, through town and then back the docks, wilson's wharfe and maiden wharfe road with its record number of railway crossings.

Touring the Bluff was fascinating - seeing the Navy Base and Millionaire's mile.

Evening of toasted sandwiches and south African red wine.