Advent poem for Wednesday 5th December - Advent Calendar

Today's poem, chosen again by Carolyn, is Advent Calendar by Rowan Williams

Poem

Advent Calendar 

He will come like last leaf's fall.
One night when the November wind has flayed the trees to bone, and earth wakes choking on the mould,
the soft shroud's folding.
He will come like the frost.
One morning when the shrinking earth opens on mist, to find itself
arrested in the net
of alien, sword-set beauty.
He will come like dark.
One evening when the bursting red December sun draws up the sheet and penny-masks its eye to yield
the star-snowed fields of sky.
He will come, will come
will come like crying in the night,
like blood, like breaking,
as the earth writhes to toss him free. He will come like child. 

Thought

It seems appropriate to have a poem from Rowan as he leaves his post as Archbishop. Advent is the season of watching and waiting and this reminds us that we have no idea when Christ will come again, so we should watch, wait and be ready.

Prayer

Lord
Help us to see each day as an opportunity
To prepare for your coming
To look for you in the morning mists 
And the eventide
Amen

Tuesday 4th December - Advent by Daniel Berrigan

Chosen by Carolyn again 

Poem

It is not true that creation and the human family are doomed to destruction and loss --
This is true: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

It is not true that we must accept inhumanity and discrimination, hunger and poverty, death and destruction --
This is true: I have come that they may have life, and that abundantly.

It is not true that violence and hatred should have the last word, and that war and destruction rule forever --
This is true: For unto us a child is born, and unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting, the Prince of Peace.

It is not true that we are simply victims of the powers of evil who seek to rule the world --
This is true: To me is given authority in heaven and on earth,
and lo, I am with you, even unto the end of the world.

It is not true that we have to wait for those who are specially gifted, who are the prophets of the Church, before we can be peacemakers. This is true: I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and daughters shall prophesy,
your young shall see visions,
and your old shall have dreams.

It is not true that our hopes for the liberation of humanity, for justice, human dignity, and
peace are not meant for this earth and for this history --
This is true: The hour comes, and it is now, that true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

So let us enter Advent in hope, even hope against hope. Let us see visions of love and peace and justice.

Let us affirm with humility, with joy, with faith, with courage: Jesus Christ -- the Life of the world.

Thought

In this time of global communication, news travels so fast, and bad news seems to travel faster and further. During the World Wars thousands of men died months before their families were informed. Today we hear of these tragic deaths within hours of them happening.

It can be hard to maintain a sense of perspective, but with the alternating statements in this poem we can maintain a deep sense of hope.

Prayer

Dear Lord

Guide us with your light and your truth

Affirm us with humility, with joy, with faith, and with courage

Amen

3 December – Adult Advent Announcement

Today’s poem, chosen by Caroline, is Adult Advent Announcement by David Redding

O Lord,
Let Advent begin again
In us,
Not merely in commercials;
For that first Christmas was not
Simply for children, 
But for the 
Wise and the strong.
It was,
Crowded around that cradle,
With kings kneeling.
Speak to us
Who seek an adult seat this year.
Help us to realise,
As we fill stockings,
Christmas is mainly 
For the old folks-
Bent backs
And tired eyes
Need relief and light
A little more
No wonder
It was grown-ups
Who were the first
To notice 
Such a star

Thoughts

In church yesterday we lit the first advent candle, a light that will shine out in the winter darkness, and heralded the start of our Advent journey.

Although I’m not sure that I agree with the picture of old folks with bent backs and tired eyes, I think that this poem holds an important message for us all.
The commercial side of Christmas has been in full swing since the beginning of October, and gradually the secular side of Christmas has leant increasingly towards being child centred. 

There are no children mentioned in the nativity, other than the Christ child, the first people who were involved all adults, Christmas is a time for all, old and young and Advent is a time to reflect on all that Christmas brings.

Prayer

Dear Lord
At the start of our journey through Advent
May the light of the candle
Kindle the light of hope in our hearts.
May your light lead the way,
Until you come again
In glory.
Amen

Comments
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Advent Sunday – True Rest

Today’s poem, the first of our Poems for Advent, is True Rest by Margie Casteel. It’s chosen by Carolyn

True Rest

Come with me to a quiet place
Away from all the noise and busyness
Let me wrap My arms around you
Enfold you in My love

Let me whisper peace to your heart’s storm
Soothe your troubled brow
Listen to the love song
I composed just for you

In Me is true contentment
In Me you will find what you long for
Come with Me to a quiet place
And receive rest, strength and peace

Margie Casteel

Thought

I’m starting our journey with this poem because in these troubled times, times of conflict abroad and disharmony at home, peace seems almost unachievable.
As we enter Advent, as the busyness increases, a reminder to come to the quiet place that is Christ’s love, is a good place to start.

Prayer

Lord
As we begin to sink under the weight of all that has to be done
Help us to immerse ourselves in your love 
And feel your strength and receive your peace
Amen

Advent poetry

During Lent this year we followed a book of poems with commentary. We’ve decided to repeat this during Advent --- but with poems that we’ve found or that have been nominated by members of the congregation and friends. We’re starting on Advent Sunday – 2nd December. If you’d like to nominate a poem that has a special meaning for you then contact me – leave a comment with your e-mail address or just email me at david.m.harris@btinternet.com

REACH middle-eastern lunch

Great lunch today in aid of the Hope School in Bethlehem. The Reach youngsters were so professional and the food was great!




Click on the slideshow to see bigger pictures

Inspirational Young Enterprise

The Young Enterprise team from the Chiltern Hills Academy made it to the BHS Christmas Fair today. On Tuesday at their weekly meeting they realised that the fair was only four days away and they really got their act together. Two members went down to the town and bought all the material they needed for their sweet bags. There was an intensive production session filling the bags with sweets, closing them with the gold ribbon they had bought, and making the labels. Deciding on the price was a little challenging but eventually they opted for £1: a reasonable profit but a price they thought would encourage customers to buy.

Another production session was held on Wednesday at lunchtime to ensure they had enough bags for the fair.

It was a real example of how having a clear objective to which they were all committed made a big difference, not only to the amount achieved but also to the enjoyment and sense of achievement of the team.

At the fair this morning, they were in high spirits: they had a table full of sweet bags and people were buying them. They were keen to tell me that they had ideas for the Victorian evening at Chesham and were planning to sell in school. They recognised that they would have to negotiate this.

Already this group has developed some skills which complement their school lessons and which will stand them in good stead whatever career they pursue!

Telford bridges on the Birmingham Canals

We saw two wonderful  bridges on the BCN last week.

The Engine House Aqueduct, built in 1825

The Galton Bridge, built in 1829. At the time it was the highest bridge in the world. The span is 46 m (151 ft) – but Telford’s Menai Bridge was longer!

We also met a walker with a pet pig!

Zone plus day 3

African Drumming and Calligraphy

Full set of pictures on the web site www.zoneplus.org.uk

Zone Plus - day 2

Street Art and Cooking today. 

Numbers are down but everyone had a great time. Here’s a video of the catwalk in the Street Dance



All yesterday’s photos now on the Zone Plus website and today’s Street Dance ones. Cooking to follow.

Great first day at Zone Plus

Graffiti – or rather Street Art – with Will Rosie from all about art.

Tomorrow: Street Dance and cooking

Earthquake-proof buildings – British engineering

The scientific world has roundly denounced the jailing of the Italian scientists for failing to forecast the earthquake and the entire leadership of the Italian disaster-warning agency has resigned. There was a facetious letter today suggesting that the UK weather forecasters should be jailed for forecasting a heat wave this week that didn't turn up. Let’s hope the sentences are overturned on appeal – and on some reasonable understanding of risk.

More about risk later but I thought I’d try to find some earthquake-related engineering so I Googled earthquake-resistant buildings, expecting to find some Japanese and US material (OK, the former probably wouldn't appear in western typeface!) but I was surprised to find a British engineering company that includes these in their product range. Have a look at their web site here and a detailed description of ’quakes and buildings here.

Reid Steel also have a marine division which makes, amongst other things, the Starfish – a super little rowing dinghy for children.

Engineering – and earthquakes

Silence for over a month – I’ve been catching up after a couple of trips so here we go again. There’s been some discussion recently about the need and opportunities for engineering projects in the UK. I say ‘some discussion’ because part of the problem is that engineering has a very low profile here.  I was going to research some exciting, interesting, leading-edge British engineering achievements or plans (not HS2!) and then came the news about the Italian earthquake convictions. While not strictly an engineering story, I think it epitomises the lack of understanding by one part of the establishment of another. Do we have another “two cultures” here?

The chance – probability – of an earthquake is a statistical thing. Have a look at the work done in California – another quake region – on the Southern California Earthquake Center web site here. To quote one section: “According to the new forecast, California has a 99.7% chance of having a magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake during the next 30 years (see Figure 1). The likelihood of an even more powerful quake of magnitude 7.5 or greater in the next 30 years is 46%. Such a quake is more likely to occur in the southern half of the state (37% chance in 30 years) than in the northern half (15% chance in 30 years)” Now, this forecast was made in 2007 so what’s the chance of an earthquake there tomorrow?

While a little simplistic for the chance of an earthquake, one of the basic statistical models is the normal distribution. This is the distribution of probabilities around an average. Lots of things follow such a distribution – heights of a group of people, number of items in supermarket trolleys, in fact anything that is ‘normal’ The average is the most likely but some measurements will vary from the average – the further away, the fewer there are. The Standard Deviation of the distribution measures how spread out are the figures: in a normal distribution 68% of measurements will be within one standard deviation either side of the average. Go to two standard deviations and 95% are within this and at three, 99.7%. Standard Deviation is abbreviated to the Greek letter sigma (r) There’s a wonderful explanation of Standard Deviation on the Maths is fun web site here. There’s also a great model on the web which generates a normal distribution in front of your eyes. I left it running while drafting this entry:

If you want a really full explanation of Standard Deviation, have a look at the Wikipedia entry, but it dies get very dense.

Who was it who said “Lies, damned lies and statistics”?

A few days in France - Caudebec-en-Caux

We’re just back from a short trip to France: short but full of fascinating sights. We stayed for the first two days at Caudebec-en-Caux which is on the Seine between Rouen and Le Havre. The Seine is very wide here and as well as river cruise boats there was a fair amount of commercial traffic – including the cruise ship “Black Watch” which sailed downstream one afternoon. Rather surprisingly there were no small pleasure boats.

Looking upstream from Caudebec: the bridge is the Pont de Brotonne

The architecture of much of the town was the usual exotic style. The Manoir de Rétival, which overlooks the town, is actually a restaurant. Its web site claims it’s not an hotel, rather “Le séjour se déroule dans une atmosphère familial” (translated on the web as “A private atmosphere makes your experience of sojourn stand out.”) Very French.

The Manoir de Rétival