St. Nicholas Day follow-up…
I thought of this one while driving from boot camp this morning…
Tag: featured
Punch-A-Heretic Day
Today is the Feast of St. Nicholas, the Bishop of the Early Church who allegedly punched Arius in the face at the Council of Nicaea, so I thought I’d put together some memes in celebration:
Wounds in Heaven?
Today I’d like to talk about one of the songs from a recent album of my favourite contemporary Christian band, Casting Crowns. The song is entitled “Wedding Day” and describes the wedding feast of Heaven when Christ’s Bride, the Church, is finally presented to the Him:
Towards the end of the song there’s a lyric which speaks of the scarred hands of Christ wiping away every tear:
When the hand that bears the only scars and heaven touch her face
And the last tears she’ll ever cried are finally wiped away
And the clouds roll back as He takes her hand and walks her through the gates
Forever we will reign
Maybe
Just a quick micro-rant today concerning one of my pet hates…
You may think that “Maybe” is a fairly innocent word…
…but it’s not, not at all.
When someone sends you a Facebook invite, please don’t choose “Maybe”.
Check your calendar.
Make a decision.
Be decisive.
Thank you, that is all.
Things that make me happy
The other day I was thinking about things which make me happy. It’s actually quite a difficult exercise – if you don’t believe me, give it a go. What are the things which make you really, truly happy? Where are the places you can always find joy?
After sitting down and writing the list I’ve concluded that I’m actually quite easy to please. Although in many ways I’m extremely demanding of myself and others, it doesn’t actually take a whole lot to make me happy:
Best of British: Part 6
In my last post I moved on to talking about some of the newer British comedy shows I love. However, soon after posting, I realized that I had missed a few more of the classic shows which are dear to my heart. So, today I’m going to remedy this by talking a little bit more about some older shows, before returning to contemporary British comedy next time…
Drop The Dead Donkey
Before there was The Daily Show, there was Drop The Dead Donkey, a sit-com set in the fictitious GlobeLink News newsroom. What was wonderful about this show was that, since it was recorded close to transmission, it commented upon contemporary issues in society and politics.
It had some really great characters such as the two news anchors, Henry Davenport and Sally Smedley, who shared a passionate mutual disdain for one another. However, my favourite character was without a doubt the field reporter, the sometimes overzealous Damien Day…
Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em
Many know Michael Crawford from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “The Phantom of the Opera”. However, not so many people know him from the show Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em where he played the hapless and accident-prone Frank Spencer. Here some great physical comedy:
Waiting For God
Then there was Waiting For God, a comedy set in the rather surprising location of a retirement home. The two main characters are simply terrific – Diana is cynical and mean, while Tom is jovial and a little loopy. They strike up an unlikely friendship while “waiting for God”…
Only Fools and Horses
Finally, no discussion of my childhood comedy shows could possibly be complete without mentioning Only Fools and Horses, a show which has won a huge number of comedy awards over the years. I think it was very much inspired by another classic comedy, Steptoe and Son. Anyway, the show followed the shenanigans of Del and Rodney Trotter. These brothers make up Trotter’s Independent Traders (TIT), a company which buys and sells all kinds of merchandise, some of which include smoke-damaged fire alarms and raincoats marked “Dry clean only”.
In the clip below the brothers try their hand at chandelier repair…
Next time we’ll be back at looking at newer British comedy…
Saints or Suckers?
When I was at University, I read a book by Jean Vanier in which he said that whenever a homeless person asked him for money, he would reach into his pocket and hand over the first coin he found, whether big or small.
Likewise, in an interview with Fulton Sheen’s niece, she said that her uncle would give money to the poor whenever it was asked of him. When she asked him if he might be being lied to by those asking for help, he simply responded “I can’t take the chance”.
A little while ago I did a post about tithing where I spoke about the general responsibility Christians have towards the poor. However, this begs the question: what is the best way in which to help the poor?
For example, most social workers I’ve known have always said that you should never give money to beggars. Following this advice, some of my friends no longer hand over cash, but instead make sure that their car, purse or bag is always stocked with snacks, so that they have something to give when asked for help.
I recently read an article in Crisis Magazine which looks at this issue. I’d be interested to see what you think about it. What you think is the best way to help the poor?