Welcome to ASBO Jesus
Enjoy your stay and have your say! Cheers, Jon
Blogroll
- BigDaddyWhale
- birchmultimedia
- celtic difference
- changing worship
- dennis coburn
- frontier youth trust
- growing enthusiasm
- holy famoley
- iain cotton, sculptor
- jonny baker
- let them eat cake
- mark roques
- mindwriter
- naked pastor
- proost.co.uk
- Rainforest SOS
- reality bites
- sanctuary
- si smith
- sophia network
- stepping stones nigeria
Archives
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
It is! so true.
It is as Mimou said “So true”
But I don’t like rain…
I guess because an attitude of gratitude says something about out basic orientation towards, and understanding of, creation and life.
I hope this cartoon doesn’t reflect what the weather is like down South at present
Yay for puddle walks…although I wouldn’t mind a little more sunshine in Scotland before the ‘summer’ is over…
harrumph…
I’m going camping soon
harrumph
not a very good christian am I?
harrumph
I have a bit of flu (not sure if it’s pig induced or otherwise) but I’m REALLY grateful for one of those God-worked opportunities to take a rest and not work.
Caroline Too – I’m going camping soon, too…in the Lake District – just about the rainiest place in an already rainy country. What a pain! I will never get my NVQ Level 2 in Good Christianity, will I? I’ll just take my waterproofs and be glad of a change of scene.
it’s not boding well for greenbelt
i’m hoping those other christian festivals at shepton mallet soak up all the rain before greenbelt. Back in the day i remember they had quiet a few songs about letting it raina nd I hear now they’re all about soaking and slosh fest’s so Ireckon it’s just up their street
Gratitude for pleasant things? Or for all things… suffering, pain, sadness…?
Difficult
Robb – but i don’t like umbrellas!
CT and Carole – i am disappointed in you both. You are failing to perform. what would baby Jesus say?
Cochleate – Yes difficult, but good on the rare occasions i genuinely manage it. I think its about focusing on the good things i take for granted even when stuff on the surface is really tough, and celebrating the beauty and depth that can come out of heartbreak and struggle. Not easy, but good.
Rain is certainly something we should be grateful for. Imagine where we would be without it.
But I agree that rain during a holiday or Greenbelt can be undesirable. For the record, there have only been three years in the last ten when the weather at Greenbelt has been notably bad — 2000, when the main stage blew down, 2004, when there were a couple of flash floods, and 2006, which was just plain soggy.
So perhaps what we need to be grateful for is the other seven years when the weather has been good. And also the fact that Greenbelt is now more weather-resistant (at least in theory) than at its previous venue.
[Aside: one of my friends' tents flooded last year, but apparently that was because he hadn't put it up properly. Jon may remember this -- he was at the time making a lot of noise in an adjacent tent...]
Thanks Jon – I’m going through a rather unexpected financial crisis so trying to see the cup as half full is quite tricky right now. I need to be reminded of what I have at this moment.
Look for the silver lining.
I can’t live without the rain.
Status Quo!
Miriworm — that’s interesting, I was thinking of song lyrics as well. Such as this one from the Beatles:
Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun.
If the sun don’t come, you get a tan from standing in the English rain.
Also Singing in the Rain, which was played at my grandmother’s funeral.
the song that charlie chaplin wrote the music for, ‘smile’ springs to mind.
‘smile though your heart is breaking
smile even though it’s aching
though there are clouds in the sky
you’ll get by…’
tad simplistic, don’t even really agree with it, but it gets at something important… and man, what a tune!
Why does it always rain on me?
Is it because I lied when I was seventeen?
Why does it always rain on me?
Even when the sun is shining
I can’t avoid the lightning
Oh, where did the blue skies go?
And why is it raining so?
…so was it just me thinking of this one?
As my mum always said, it’s being so cheerful that keeps me going!
i love charlie chaplin.
Oh, Jon – we cross-posted – I love that song, my mum always used to sing it. Thank you
haha, carole… i hate that song!
when ever it came on the telly, i’d say ‘it doesn’t, you miserable git… get over it!’ 
crossed again, carole. yes, it’s a beautiful song.
btw… @20, refers to ‘why does it always rain on me’ and not ‘smile’ which is excellent.
Haha! I know what you meant – just as 19 refers to 16 – Mum wasn’t a huge Travis fan! No, your reminder of the Chaplin song was just like a message straight from the old girl herself. I’m being far too maudlin in this weather and she would be the first to tell me to stop being a misery guts. I’m off to track the song down on i-Tunes.
Haha Jon I was just singing Smile when I was walking home from church on sunday.
Absolutely! I have a degenerative nerve condition, over 50% of folks with it are on antidepressants. I’m not a superman, I’ve had dark thoughts and suicidal moments, but they have all been washed away by gratitude to God for all that he’s done for me and given to me. I’m typing this message with a pencil strapped to my hand, but I’m grateful for the strap!
Ooooo I LOVE the rain
But maybe that’s coz I live where there is none?? Sad not to doing a UK visit this summer – could do with some rain and puddles to cheer the soul…have fun camping folks. xx
Totally and utterly humbled
Linus, (#11) lovely to hear from you again, I’m not sure that I’ve seen that many posts from you recently… have you been off doing something interesting or have I just been blind?
Wooh, catching up on posts.
‘soaking and slosh fest’s’ – is that why all these Christian festivals now have licensed bars? New Wine – yeah and new gin, new beer, new vodka. Does everyone just get soaked and completely sloshed?
A song about weather and not getting agoraphobic.
Go out in the sunshine, go out in the rain
I know you’ve been sleeping to hide from the pain
But don’t say you’re fine when you’re feeling insane
Let’s feel the sunshine and the rain.
Let’s hold hands and get through this together
Don’t give me silence when I long for your voice
I’ll be your friend in any sort of weather
It’s not like we have a choice.
Go out in the daylight, go out in the dark
Don’t stay inside with a broken heart
I know there’ve been shadows right from the start
Turning the daytime into dark
When that sky comes clouding over grey
Making you feel blue
Don’t think you can push me away
‘Cause I can feel it too
And when you find you’re suddenly on your own
Don’t decide that you’ve been left alone
It’s you who’s hiding out and staying home
Seeking shelter from the storm
Feel the warm wind and feel the cold
We’re all so scared of just growing old
But letting the seasons change your soul
At least you feel you’re living
The skies can be forgiving
Things are never the same
Out in the sunshine and the rain.
Copyright-Passionate Music.
Linus – then I won’t stand under it!
not the easiest, but it ís true..
Just come back from a wet and windy week in pembrokshire- not camping for a change- gave thanks every day that we were not in a tent!. I have been trying really hard to give thanks at the end of every day for something- not always easy though!
Two recent experiences with rain:
I helped with a fun day at church a couple of weeks ago and the organiser said to me “I know it’s not really the done thing but I’ve been saying a weather prayer all week”. However it rained. Her husband later said to me “I said to her that maybe a farmer in the field over there has been praying because he really needs the rain to save his livelihood, to grow crops and put food on the table”.
So true!
Yesterday I got back from A few days camping on Shell Island in Wales (a beautiful place). Quite a few of us from church where there, but all arrived at different times. Tuesday it rained – and at times it rained hard. One of the families tents flooded, the site we had set up camp at was slowly filling up – the sand pits the kids had been playing in were becoming lakes. It rained all through the night, another families kitchen had flooded. We were going to start having problems if the rain continued. A few of us started to talk of going home and one person did (although she had other reasons to as well). However, although not brilliant, the weather had improved and a collective decision was made to stay but to clear out some of the water to keep the tents safe. About 30 mins later we were given a weather warning by a warden and advised to move. But we decided to stick it out and shift as much water as possible. It was great – we were all working together with cool boxes, buckets, pans, whatever we could find to clear the water out of the site and into the bushes. A couple of the families started to build sand walls around their tents to keep them dry. There was one puddle we felt we were safe from that was large enough for the kids to play on a kayak and inflatables in – having great fun.
I now understand why there is such a great community spirit in places where crisis hits because everyone comes out together to join in the effort.
I went to bed grateful and thanking God that I got to experience that. It was great. Making the best out of a situation can often be a lot of fun.
I am also quite grateful that the weather improved and we had very little rain but a couple of nice days (although I supposed that isn’t really in the spirit of the cartoon :p)
A friend of mine was telling us last night about an experience she had on a boat where the toilet kept overflowing and her and her friends had to keep collecting up the water and chucking it overboard. We couldn’t entirely see why she found it so hilarious, but it’s obviously been one of the best moments of her life and her and her friends get hysterical about it every time it comes up! It was also lovely for us watching her have a fit of giggles over something so bizarre.
No wonder she worries over whether there will be toilets in Heaven.
Respect Tokah
I do the odd bit of gratitude, as described in “Review of Consciousness”, (find via guide on sacredspace)
http://sacredspace.ie/dailyprayer_beta/#consciousness_review,
and yep – one does begin to see how much blessing has been trickling your way
and yet I think pain and angst is a gift from God, I think life hurts like crazy sometimes, and our raw ache pinpoints the wrongness of stuff. if it hadn’t been so bloody painful, I’d have let a load of stuff lie – not that my ranting and raging changed a thing – except in my awareness.
I’m so glad I was able to get some sun today. It was really getting to me. Being half Yemeni I should be living in at least a Mediterranean country. I need more Vitamin D than northern Europeans.
Woke up early and sat on my balcony scraping the dead skin off my feet. I hope none blew into the Italian restaurant next door or they might have thought it was extra Parmesan.
At work I have to chat to customers as it is part of our mystery shopper requirement. So usually I make observational comments about the weather – it is certainly the easiest way to do it!
I said to a lady today that the weather didn’t seem so great and her response was “At least we are alive to see it”. I liked that
To be honest I wouldn’t moan about the weather anywhere near much if I didn’t have to chat to customers.
here is the song that came to mind….
The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
~~~~~~~Exodus 15:2 NIV~~~~~~~
Click on photo for website.
Gary & MarJean Miller
(CLICK ON TITLE TO HEAR SONG)
IT’S BEGINNING TO RAIN
Words & music by Gloria Gaither, C. Aaron Wilburn & William Gaither
Sung by Promise
The turtle dove is singing the sweet song of morning,
The leaves of the trees turn their silver cups to the sky;
The silent clouds up above are beginning to gather,
The barren land is so thirsty and so am I.
It’s beginning to rain hear the voice of our Father,
Saying “Who-so-ever will, come drink of my water;
I promise to pour my Spirit out on your sons and your daughters.”
If you’re thirsty and dry, look up to the sky, it’s beginning to rain.
A young man’s eyes start to shine as he tells of his vision,
And the old understand what he sees for they’ve dreamed their dreams;
With the thrill of being alive they reach for each other,
And they dance in the rain for the joy of the things they’ve seen.
It’s beginning to rain hear the voice of our Father,
Saying “Who-so-ever will, come drink of my water;
I promise to pour my Spirit out on your sons and your daughters.”
If you’re thirsty and dry, look up to the sky, it’s beginning to rain.
At the first drop of rain that you feel, throw open the windows,
Then call all the children together, throw wide the door;
When the rains of the Spirit are falling, fill every vessel,
For he who drinks his fill will thirst no more.
It’s beginning to rain hear the voice of our Father,
Saying “Who-so-ever will, come drink of my water;
I promise to pour my Spirit out on your sons and your daughters.”
If you’re thirsty and dry, look up to the sky, it’s beginning to rain.
If you’re thirsty and dry, look up to the sky, it’s beginning to rain.
It’s beginning to rain.
I bet the person who wrote that song lives in Southern California.