A pebble on a beach

We've just got back from a camping weekend at Weymouth in the UK.  It was a lovely spot, especially since the weather held all w/e.

Our 11 year old grandson had been given a ring by his aunt.  He was really pleased about this.  In order to make sure he didn't lose it, he put it with his socks and tennis ball with the rest of our beach luggage, never dreaming somebody was going to move it all.

At the end of the day, he went to look for it.  There was nothing there. No tennis ball, no ring, no socks. All the luggage had been packed into whatever carry bag was available and taken down to the water line.

He came back to the waters edge and asked me if I would help him look.  Look for a ring on a pebble beach where we had been sitting and walking around!  All I could think of was that God knew about the sand on the seashore so he must know where my grandson's ring was.  I told him this and said he needed to pray.  We looked around unsuccessfully for a while and then made our way back to where he had originally put it.

People were getting ready to leave.  I asked them to check when they got back home to see if the ring had been put into their luggage while my grandson continued to look around where we were standing.  And do you know - he found the ring.  A few feet forward of where it originally was, but there nevertheless. On a pebble on a beach.

Don't give up on prayer or faith or hope.  He is able.  He kept His promise about Jesus and He shows people that He cares.

Who Inherits The Kingdom Of God?

We do His commandments.  This is the first step towards inheriting the Kingdom.

And His commandments are not difficult or harmful.  We confess Christ, because He is God's anointed Holy One.  Even today.  He is the Way to eternal life.

How many are the martyrs who have stood for the faith of Christ.  Their voices are still heard today, because they preached the same message the early apostles preached.  'Jesus Christ is Lord of All'  Every man will confess Him to the Glory of God the Father.

That is a goal and an aim which is worth going for.

Staycation: Paddling Limestone County’s Canoe and Kayak Trail makes nice break from routine

Staycation: Paddling Limestone County’s Canoe and Kayak Trail makes nice break from routine

Review 0f Christopher Guest's 'Best In The Show', 'A Mighty Wind', 'The Spinal Tap' And 'For Your Consideration'

The enjoyment of a film can often be tied into the viewer's expectations. Having an idea of what you are about to watch can help increase the odds of enjoyment, especially if like me, you can´t abandon a film, of any standard or enjoyment level, half way through. So, if you are a fan of films with thumping sound tracks, gunfights, modern special effects, fast cars, beautiful people, exotic locations, golden beaches, stunning scenery, A-List cast and flesh regularly flashed, then the recommendations below are not for you. So despite having removed all the main ingredients of a traditional blockbuster, and having risked losing your attention, I continue unrepentant.   

I am here in fact to recommend  the ´mockumentary´ and a series of films from this genre's undoubted master: Christopher Guest, who plays varying roles in all 4 of the listed.  The ´mockumentary´ for the uninitiated, is a film in the style of a documentary but in which all characters are actors. Guest and his various cohorts, without straying too far off the idea of a character and dialogue driven film, do allow themselves a little more razzmatazz than an actual documentary and in such the appeal is widened. Mixing techniques such as ´interviews´ with ´old footage´ and ´cameras following unaware characters,´ the films are set in a space of time covering a specific event.

These films revolve around likeable, if slightly oddball, characters with slick dialogue. Guest tends to use the same handful of actors who clearly enjoy their roles and revel in the careful silliness of it all and you are drawn into their worlds seamlessly. In keeping with most real-life documentaries, a slushy ending is avoided and there are usually both winners and losers as the ´event´draws  to a close. Choosing his subjects carefully, the films delight in both the quirks of the individual characters and by revealing a world hitherto seldom seen. Each Guest fan will have their own favourite, I can recommend all of them, though will take the risk of ranking them for your interest-

Best In Show : maybe because this was the first I watched and had been given the simple recommendation ´you might quite like it´. Knowing the recommender, I knew what type of film to expect, but that was all. I did like it, very much. The context is a Dog Show.

A Mighty Wind : This was my second Guest film and being new to the role of self-styled film buff, didn´t realize it was the ´a Christopher Guest´ offering until I thought to myself, ´this is similar to that film I enjoyed about the Dog Show´ and checked out the credits. I enjoyed this one too! The context is a reunion show for a once-popular folk band.

This is Spinal Tap : The first and most acclaimed and quoted of the Guest films. It was inventing the genre – eat your heart out Ricky Gervais! I watched it last and it had got a bit dated for me but still enjoyable and with possibly the best dialogue. The context is a comeback Tour of a Rock Band.

For Your Consideration : The most recent of the films and it had the feeling of pro´s performing a familiar routine that they all know is well liked. Might well therefore be the slickest of them all & Ricky Gervais gets a role. The context is a cast of  an Oscar- Nominated film awaiting Awards nights.

Waiting for Guffman

Best in Show Poster 27x40 Christopher Guest Michael McKean Parker Posey

Best in Show: The Films of Christopher Guest and Company by Applause Books

A Reason To Be Glad

How can anyone complain when the invitation is there to be 'invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb'.  It gives great hope for each day and a reason to keep on going on.

Another reason for hope is that our beautiful world was created by God through the Lord Jesus Christ.  (A mystery I know, but true none the less. A mystery in the sense that of there being a distinction implied between The Word and God.)

The first daffodils of spring, the blooming of tulips, the snow carpeting the ground giving a completely different landscape to what was before - all beautiful changes and renewal.  How great and how good is God.  The nations do His will and we're invited to be part of it.

So, to love your neighbour, that is to care about his welfare, perhaps even putting him first, might be the opposite to our inclination, but is nevertheless, the best choice.  Especially if it's done that He, through His Son, might receive the honour and the glory.

I need to be reminded about these things. I need to remember them, hope in them and live by them.

There's nothing for sale on this entry because we don't need to pay anything when we call on His name. It's free.  What He gives is given to us through His grace.

Does Your Heart Break Sometimes?

The outpoured spirit, and Pentecost
Mine does.  Mainly at the sin I am aware of in my own life.
People blame God when things go wrong.  One can only blame God if one is righteous.  More righteous than He.  And that is simply not possible.

How many parents take the time to teach their children not to get involved with fortune tellers and their wares?  Look at Yahoo as an example.  It makes money and keeps its customers by allowing them the Horoscope facility.  Where is the 'caring' for the soul of society, in that?  Does it surprise you that God hates them (fortune tellers)?  Why - because they destroy humanity. 

We hear all about 'loving your neighbour', but if you conceal truth from him/her, you don't love them.  It's Jesus who is God's righteousness.  Even the fortune teller can be saved by the grace of God.  But if they don't know their error, how can they turn away from it?

At least Google - even with it's 'and more' choices, does not go down that route.  Could it be a reason why Google prospers?

But back to humanity. Take care of your children's future.  Give them the opportunity of standing in God's sight as people through whom His will can be done on earth.  There is that hymn that is sung ..'Build Jerusalem in England's green and pleasant land'..

Is it likely that that is what they 'saw'?  They heard the Word of God and wanted England to be built on it's principals?  It was a great nation. 

The book on display has very positive reveiws.

Is There An Argument Against Industrialism?

Are you a fan of artist CLS. Lowry?  His paintings depict the grey days brought about by the multitude of belching chimneys as a result of the Industrial Revolution.  What has industrialization achieved?  More jobs?  Or a different type of job?

More skilled jobs, some would say.

What it did do, was to introduce machinery.  Which greatly increased the rate of production.  Was this a good move?  Almost everybody would answer 'Yes', but that are a few who wonder...

Smoke inhalation causes Carsinomas - who wants them?  Operating machinery for mass production is seldom a skilled job.  More often it is just the opposite - mind-numbingly boring.  Take, for example, the making, in vast quantities, of the various intricate components that make up a water meter.

The machines are large, hot and unhealthy.  The operator of each is small, bored and only human.  His, or her job is to place one insert, or maybe more, accurately, just so, into the proper spot in the bowels of the machine.  Then, up goes a hand, push goes the button, and the moving section of the machine clanks shut.

Two minutes later, the moving section clanks open, the operator takes out the finished component, puts in the inserts for the next one, up goes the hand, the machine clanks shut.....  This goes on for twelve hours, interrupted only for two ten-minute tea-breaks and half an hour for lunch.

Day after day.  A tribute, then, is due to those who do it, for persisting.

Why do they persist?  Because mouths must be fed, bills need to be paid... And so it goes on...

The bright spot is the camaradarie and friendships which build up on the 'shop floor'.  This is what being human is - finding something good about life and connecting with other people.Drawings of L.S. LowryL. S. Lowry RA - 1887 - 1976 - Royal Academy of Arts, London - 4 September to 14 November 1976