These are the days of Miracle & Wonder!

Jesus explains Lent to the disciples

He knows the score.

"So what," I hear you ask, "is the Shahid-Rowe household doing for Lent?"

Well (replied Mr Rowe), we've effectively been fasting for 3 weeks already, due to our Paleo Month, which explains the lack of pancakes yesterday.  Therefore, the idea of giving up even more than grains, sugars, pulses and other non-hunter-gatherer-type* foods is not exactly on our radar, especially since Maria is barely getting enough into her to stay alive anyway.

But I like Lent, and I want to 'do it'.

So what we've decided is to give up the 'giving up' side of the Fast, to sidestep it and instead use this period of the Church calendar to instil certain otherwise-lacking disciplines into our lives.  I won't give you the whole list, but for example, every day until Easter I am going to be spending 20 minutes sitting in silence.  Something I've always planned/wanted to have a go at, but never got round to.

And may God use the season to transform our hearts and lives.  Amen.

*TRIPLE HYPHENED WORD - I WIN!!!

loves

DIETS: the cause of all war & suffering on Earth

Maria & I are going Paleo for a month - see here.

Which gives me the perfect excuse for a gratuitous PG Wodehouse quote:

It has sometimes seemed to me (said Mr Mulliner, thoughtfully sipping his hot Scotch and lemon) that to the modern craze for dieting may be attributed all the unhappiness which is afflicting the world today.

Women, of course, are chiefly responsible.  They go in for these slimming systems, their sunny natures become warped, and they work off the resultant venom on their men-folk.  These, looking about them for someone thay can take it out on, pick on the males of the neighbouring country, who themselves are spoiling for a fight because their own wives are on a diet.

Before you know where you are, war has broken out with all its attendant horrors.

[from 'The Juice of an Orange' in Blandings Castle]

I Like Big Props and I Cannot Lie

[click the title below to listen]

Props

I like big props and I cannot lie
You rugger-lovers can't deny
That when you see the fat boys scrumming down
With a 'crouch-touch-pause-engage'
You feel chuffed
With a proud chest out-puffed
Cos you know those props look tough

Deep in the mud at Twickers
You'll find a dumb ox like Vickers
Or maybe, it's a swampy fixture
Like Fran Cotton in that picture

Some League fans tried to recruit me
But with scrums like that - please!
Someone shoot me!
Ooh, God Almighty
I like to see them feisty
So scrummage, boys, scrummage
Use that epic tonnage

We've all seen them playing
Stuck in, with no complaining
They sweat, threat, keep going in dry or wet

I tire of old Australia
With a front row that's a failure
It's an average team, easy to stop
If you don't believe in props

So fellas, fellas - does that front row make you proud?
Then praise them, raise them; sing their names out loud.
Rugby needs props

[eighteen stone with a face like coleslaw]

I like them round and big
Ugly like a pig
I would not love this game if the scrum was dropped
And we lost our props
Those cauliflower ears
Say no - double up - no fears
Not talking about half-breaks
When a prop sidesteps, the Earth shakes!

I like them real thick like a brick
Ruck over
If you want that ball quick
On my perfect rugby canvas
Is a front-row hand-off
In the face of a stand-off

With legs like Os du Randt
Big and wide like an African elephant
Solid in the rear
Like that Tongan, Soane Tonga'uiha

Why not?
A blood-clot mug-shot
Fat and squat like Gareth Chilcott
Pretty-boy face like Graham Roundtree
And harder than an iron foundry
Running wild in a strop
Like a triceritops
We need to love our props

So ladies, ladies - how d'you feel about having more babies?
If you feed them lard and beer by the yard
They'll be madder than dogs with rabies
Rugby needs props.

Why I like David de Gea

Reason 1 - He's BRILLIANT.

Reason 2 - He's AWFUL.

Brief explanation.

There is beauty in brilliance tarnished (or emphasised?) by frailty.  Knowing who we are at our best and at our worst - being humble when successful, strong when screwing up - is at the heart of making the most of our time on Earth.

a caveat to prefix any sermon of worth

If by grace what I say has in any respect any validity,
it is, of course, only one facet of a truth incalculably rich.

JRR TOLKIEN, 'On Fairy Stories', 1939.

Spring

I was out for a walk this morning - probably about 11 miles of Cornwall passed under (or stuck to) my boots.  After about an hour and a half of being oblivious, I started to notice that nature is busy having babies: daffodils (some out, most not), buds appearing on the hawthorn, catkins on the hazel.  As you can see.

Usually we think that Spring begins when leaves start to unfold, but it's not true: the new life of the new season is poking through now, whether or not we spot it.

Theological application: many of the things we have been hoping for, praying for, acheing for have already begun.  They are already here.  Don't be overwhelmed by the absence, keep your eyes open for the presence.

But Seriously ...

The following is a quote from Ayatollah Khomeini.  I'm not quoting him to claim that his words are somehow representative of Islam - that's not my point (and I don't know anyway).

I want to share the quote because of its unbelievably defective view of the nature of God, and because often it's easier to see what is good and true by contrast.  Read on:

Allah did not create man so that he could have fun.
The aim of creation was for mankind to be put to the test through hardship and prayer.
An Islamic regime must be serious in every field.
There are no jokes in Islam.
There is no humour in Islam.
There is no fun in Islam.
There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious.
AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI

If you wish, you could (and probably should) compare with this:

It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it.
GK CHESTERTON

Short thankfulness

Dear God,
Today I experienced my first Chinese tea ceremony,
walked for three and a half hours through lanes & by streams,
and had my ego boosted by passing 500 followers on Twitter.
Now, reading Born Free with my feet up and a piece of cake,
I wanted to stop & say thankyou.
Amen.

Prayer of St Jason the Spiritualized

Please Lord, may I be wrong.
Cos when men are right, they are not young.

Please Lord, may I be foolish.
Cos when men are wise they're not satisfied.

Please Lord, may I be lonely.
Cos when men have friends, they're reckless.

And please Lord, may I be helpless.
Cos when men are strong, they're dangerous.

And please Lord, put a tiny little spring in my step...