Unsurprisingly ASBO Jesus makes me smile once more...

This morning I have been thinking about our service for Bible Sunday, about which I am quite excited.  Partly because we will be using a lot of stuff in languages that are not English and partly because some different languages (from our regular blend!) will be heard: Czech, Welsh and even Japanese are a bit passe for us!  All being well we will have something in Korean and something in one of the Nigerian languages as well as singing in a fairly usual (for us) mix of Latin and Xhosa!

What struck me this morning as I watched again the Bible Society DVD about work in Tanzania to translate the Bible into one of the tribal languages (can't seem to find it written down but it sounds like kikagooru) was how much Chinese whispers there is between the original Greek/Hebrew and the people who listen for God's voice... A Bible in Swahili (most people's second or third language) and a preacher whose words must be translated.  And the irony that to communicate all this to a UK audience it has to be translated to English.  Yet, despite all the Chinese whispers of it, people hear God's voice, albeit muffled, and respond in faith.  Pretty amazing really!

It also makes me reflect on such things as the plethora of translations available in English and the unthinking way we often approach reading the versions we like - be they KJV, NIV or any other 'V'  So plenty of ideas to play with ahead of the service - no wonder I'm excited!

What a delight to be woken this morning by the news that the last of the Chilean miners was safely above ground and that all of them were now receiving the medical care they need after their ordeal.

Lots of language of prayer and miracle has been bandied about, and rightly so.  But here's one little thought - it seems that just for a while a lot of the world managed to stop squabbling and unite in praying and hoping for these men and their families.

It is sad it seems that different brands of Christians may already claiming it was their prayers that worked rather than someone else's but it is to be hoped that all of them will remember to thank God for the safe delivery of these men from their living hell of the last few weeks.

And of course the prayers must not stop now - this is just one step on the road to 'tomorrow' for these people, that community.  As the weeks unfold and as they disappear from our screens forgotten in favour of some other news item there will still be need for hope, faith and love - may God grant these to them in abundance.

But for now, as in all things, Jubilate Deo!  Praise God.

On Sunday we will be using Hebrews 11 as a way in to thinking about the Bible as a 'holy, human story' with good, bad and ugly all seen in the lives of so many of the 'heroes' recorded therein.

This morning I received news that a faithful saint is at the close of her life, with probably only days left.  She is someone I got to know in Leicestershire and her birthday is the day after mine (she's almost exactly fifty years older than me).  Her long held dream of attending the 2012 Olympics will remain just that as her strength fades and she is drawn gently into eternity.  It is a sad moment, yet joy remains.

This practical, earthy saint with feet firmly on the ground will never be recalled as the stalwart of the Bible class or the prayer meeting.  She never taught Sunday school or served as a deacon.  She was one of the ranks of wives, mothers and grandmothers who simply got on with life against the tough background of a mining community with a gritty tenacity few now have need of.  I recall her telling me a couple of years ago, when she was quite ill, that she was 'ready either way' - to live was good, to die was fine.  I recall posting on those words because they were so profound.  Faith was not a big fuss and kerfuffle, it was just part of life.

Now that the door into eternity is ajar waiting for her to slip through into the safe embrace of God's love, I pray that she will remain assured that all is well and all will be well.  Well done good and faithful friend - go now to your eternal rest.

As one of the more plethoric bloggers and peddlars of twaddle, it tends to be noticed when I am silent and not obviously away somewhere.  Such was the case yesterday when, with nothing to say and limited energy to say it anyway, I opted not to post.  So many thanks to those who checked 'off blog' to make sure I was OK; I am fine and today detect my energy levels rising once more after Friday's street-legal drug-fest.  No doubt in a day or two I'll be back to waffling as much as ever.

Hoax emails and spam are one of the biggest nuisances of the internet age, and some of them are positively dangerous, praying on vulnerable or suggestible people.  There are good websites such as hoaxslayer where you can check out the most common and most pernicious but you do need to be on your guard all the time.  Yesterday I was sent a warning by a friend about a hoax email purporting to be from [sic] John Hopkins Medicine (it is Johns Hopkins)and telling people, it seems, to eschew conventional cancer treatment in favour of weird diets and the right attitude.  Now of course diet and attitude matter - but they aren't gpoing to magic away the sick cells, so such advice is dangerous indeed.

Part of what saddens me is that people have nothing better to do with their time and talents than cause alarm and distress to vulnerable people, to undermine a system that has so much potential for good, to fill email inboxes with garbage or worse.  So to hoaxers and spammers out there - spare a thought for your victims for whom these issues just might be real and your mis-information harmful.