In September 2002 I wrote one of my earliest blog posts. I mentioned scanning my Dad’s old photos and meeting with other Jesus followers in informal ways.
I thought it would be fun to take a look back at older posts from Journeys of Heart and Mind. So here we go with a blast from the past. I started blogging on 5th February 2002 so it’s time to do some historical trawling! I’ll probably post another of these every now and then.
Five years ago
Here’s my Christmas message from 2017, it was one of the most popular Christmas posts I’ve made. Everyone liked the photo, many of you may remember it.
In December 2012 I was impressed by a TED video I came across. In the video, Ronnie Edry explained how he had inadvertently started a viral peace movement! It’s an amazing tale and very heart-warming.
In September 2002 I wrote one of my earliest blog posts. I mentioned scanning my Dad’s old photos and meeting with other Jesus followers in informal ways: I’m still doing those two things twenty years later!
I hope 2023 will be a year to look forward to. As this year closes and the new one arrives, my hope, wish, and prayer for you is that grace and blessing will fill your life.
Wow, it’s that time of year again, somehow it feels like a few months since I last chose a photo to share for this occasion. This year’s image shows winter catkins covered by crystals of hoar frost. What can this photo say to us?
Crystals of hoar frost on catkins – (Download the original photo)
More and more, the UK is a rich mix of people from many cultural backgrounds. That’s why the title is not ‘Christmas Greetings’. Please accept the greetings and replace the word ‘Season’ with whatever you like. If you’re Hindu you could choose ‘Divali’ as a reminder of your celebrations in October, or Jewish friends might go with ‘Hannukah’ in December. If you’re Muslim there’s no particular celebration for winter 2022; perhaps you could take my greetings as a blessing for the whole of next year – spring, summer, autumn and winter again. Buddhists have two festivals in January. And there are more groups of people I haven’t mentioned specifically. An exhaustive list would be – exhausting!
But whoever you are and whatever you celebrate, I want to bless you with a few words and with the picture of hoar frost. What can that picture say to us?
It should remind us that life is full of seasons, and wintertime in the UK can be cold, especially January and February. This year will be especially hard for some because of rising prices, rarely matched by rising incomes. Heating this winter will be costly and there will be too many who simply won’t be able to keep their home cosy. And then there are those with no home at all.
And what about Ukraine and other war-torn places? In Ukraine the winters can be harsh with the coldest days often reaching -5°C, and sometimes -10°C or -20°C. Now imagine (if you can) living at those temperatures in an unheated house with broken windows, no electrical power, no internet, and no water supply. Although national and local government and company teams reconnect all these services as quickly and widely as possible, repairs are often taken down again by the next Russian air strike.
So my message this winter is that we should all help those around us. Talk with lonely people, provide some dried or canned food to your local food bank, donate warm clothes you no longer need, perhaps to a charity shop. If you can afford a gift of money, choose a charity that will use your donation wisely and effectively.
The picture also reminds us that even cold weather can be beautiful. Those frost crystals look like jewellery! And as the days start to lengthen again, the temperature will rise, plants will start to bud and flower, birds will build their nests, and the promise of summer weather will be just around the corner. Of course, for those of you in the southern hemisphere all this will be back-to-front. For you, spring is already turning into summer and you can look forward to autumn colours in March and April. For all of us, now will become yesterday, a week ago, a month ago; and tomorrow will become today.
So whoever you are, whatever faith you have (or none), I hope 2023 will be a year to look forward to. As this year closes and the new one arrives, my hope, wish, and prayer for you is that grace and blessing will fill your life in ways hoped for and ways unexpected.
Let’s all be grateful for what we have, and display compassion and love towards those who don’t. In that way, blessing will have a chance to touch you, and through you, touch others as well.
Unexpected results are always disappointing and sometimes very harmful
Let’s talk about truth.
Truth is like the stars in the sky above, sometimes cloudy skies hide the stars from view, but we know they’re still there. And when the clouds move away we see them clearly again, they remain the same, the constellations are still recognisable. It’s possible to navigate by the stars, they are dependable and reliable.
Truth is reliable too; when we navigate according to the truth our decisions and choices will produce the expected results. If we are fed untruth, our choices will produce unexpected results. And unexpected results are always disappointing and sometimes very harmful – to us and to others.
In this world we are surrounded by a great deal of untruth. It puzzles me that so many people assume that misinformation will result in good choices. We see it everywhere – in politics, in business, in warfare, in daily life. Let’s look at a few examples:
Russia’s war in Ukraine – From the very beginning truth has been discarded. Russian leaders have deliberately ‘adjusted’ history, results of battles, and their motives. Perhaps they believe their own claims! So many decisions on goals, strategy and tactics have been based on untruth and the disastrous results are plain to see.
Brexit – From the very beginning truth has been discarded. British leaders have deliberately ‘adjusted’ history, results of policy changes, and their intentions. Perhaps they believe their own claims! So many decisions on goals, legal positions and rule changes have been based on untruth and the disastrous results are plain to see.
Anti-vaccination campaigns – From the very beginning truth has been discarded. Campaigners have deliberately ‘adjusted’ the science, results of trials, and their fears. Perhaps they believe their own claims! So many decisions on messages, responses to other views and serious dangers have been based on untruth and the disastrous results are plain to see.
Climate change denial – From the very beginning truth has been discarded. Deniers have deliberately ‘adjusted’ evidence, results of scientific study, and their arguments. Perhaps they believe their own claims! So many decisions on arguments, scientific reasoning and inferences have been based on untruth and the disastrous results are plain to see.
Do you see a pattern here? You may disagree with me strongly on any or all of my assertions above, but the plain fact remains that if you fail to see the truth about something, deliberately or not, and you base your actions on the flimsy foundations of error, lies, or misinformation (your own or from others), you will fail. Sooner or later bad choices will result in bad outcomes. They always do.
Claiming something to be true when it’s false will never, in the long term, work in your favour or in mine.
Truth matters. Let’s value it, search it out, base our choices on it, and benefit from the best outcomes available to us.
Looking back I see that this is only the third blog post I have made in 2022; I have been almost entirely absent. Why? I’m not sure. I’ve been busy with all sorts of other things, but that didn’t stop me from posting in the past.
It’s not possible to engage in blog posting – or any other kind of writing – without having a real urge to do it. People are driven to write, or create music, or art, or any other creative thing. When there is some burning issue to be addressed, or an idea that wants to get out, then writing is easy. Sometimes it’s harder not to write because something is buzzing in your mind, jumping up and down and demanding to be expressed. My mind has not been empty of ideas, but somehow the will to express these ideas as blog posts has dwindled.
The last two posts were failed attempts to make a fresh start. Well, I’m going to try again, hopefully more effectively than before. This present item is more of a meta-post, a blog post about posting on a blog if you will. I’m going to keep it quite brief.
I find the best thing is just to begin writing, either a list of topics I want to cover, or the first paragraph. If I start to struggle, or there are other jobs needing attention, I stop and take a break. A partly written post is usually easy to return to, and will almost always need some improvements and corrections. When there’s nothing more to add – it’s time to post.
By showering less often I’m cutting my water use to less than half, and turning down the flow rate reduces water use by about half again.
I’ve just watched the latest ‘Just have a think’ video from Dave Borlace. I really enjoy his videos – they are well produced, clear, uncompromising, polite, thorough … well, you get the idea. The latest one asks what we can do individually to help reduce the pace of climate change, and he describes a survey that shows most people are just waiting for someone else to do something about it.
That rings true!
Here’s the video, watch it, then scroll on down and read my personal take on, ‘What can I do?’ I believe we can have a large impact – if we all pull together.
What can I do?
I’m going to share one idea with you, something I’ve been doing for a long time now, and something I’m finding quite easy that also makes a big difference. Just remember though, this one idea is just an example. Maybe you can think of something in your own life that you could change that would also have a useful impact.
I used to shower every day, after all it takes less time, water and energy than having a bath and that has to be a good thing, right? Well, yes.
But for a number of years now, I’ve made a point of showering once every two or three days, turning down the water flow, turning down the temperature, and also minimising my use of shower gel. I still enjoy my showers, the temperature’s warm enough to be pleasant, I’m not advocating cold showers!
So how does this help?
Much more than you might think. By showering less often I’m cutting my water use to less than half, and turning down the flow rate reduces water use by about half again. So I’m using only 25% as much overall. Turning down the temperature a little combined with the reduced water use reduces the heating energy required to perhaps just 20%. I only use shower gel under my arms and around the more personal parts of my body, cutting consumption by 50% or maybe a bit more. Combined with showering less often my use of shower gel is therefore down to 20 or 25% overall.
Bear in mind that shower gel takes energy to manufacture as do the plastic bottles that it comes in, as does disposing of the empties. Add in the energy cost of producing and supplying water, and of removing and treating the waste water, and it all begins to add up.
I hope this illustrates the energy savings that can be achieved by one, small change in one person’s lifestyle. And there are other benefits too. For example, my skin microbiome is probably more healthy for the reduced frequency and coverage of shower gel. If we all did this, and thought of other ways to reduce our individual energy use, we could make a huge difference.
Don’t just leave it to others. Work out what you can do – and make a difference!
This is a family song, it’s about gathering round and spending time with the people we love most. Enjoy it!
A still from Sarah’s YouTube video
While we’re on the Christmas theme I thought I’d post another song from Sarah Reynolds. It’s quite delightful and, in a lovely way, rather old fashioned. Scroll down, have a listen, and see what you think.
This song is quite different from Sarah’s other material, I suspect it was far more spontaneous. It’s a thoughtful song. She doesn’t accompany the words with one of her usual, excellent, multi-track compositions but with a pretty melody on the piano, and there’s a gentle, relaxed rhythm throughout. The video doesn’t provide the lyrics, but Sarah’s voice is clear enough and written words are not neccesary. The graphic is suggestive of a Christmas card from past decades, well-matched to the music and the choice of piano. The whole thing breathes close family enjoying the season together, burning logs in the grate, home made mince pies, warmth indoors with cold weather outside the house.
This is a family song, it’s about gathering round and spending time with the people we love most. Enjoy it, give it a like on YouTube, Spotify, and Facebook. Go on… you know you want to!
And wherever you may be, gather with your family and friends if you can, and enjoy Christmas and New Year together.
It’s good to be out and about to see it all and just as good to get back to a warm house.
Castle Street in Cirencester
Season’s greetings to all my readers! Cirencester is showing off its tasteful street decorations once again, the days are short, the nights are long, and it’s good to be out and about to see it all and just as good to get back to a warm house afterwards.
My thoughts are especially with those who have no warm house to come back to this year, there are so many – the homeless sleeping alone in shop doorways, refugees desperately crossing the sea and hoping for asylum, and people who do have a roof over their heads but lack money for presents for the children or depend on food banks for their next meal.
Life can be wonderful, fun, exciting. It can also be tough, exhausting, and depressing. Whoever you are, whatever your circumstances, my prayer and hope is that people will be kind to you, there will be new opportunities in your life, and that there’ll be reasons to hope and overcome the difficulties.
And if your life is comfortable and you have more than enough, my prayer and hope is that you will be kind to others, search out new opportunities for them, and provide reasons for hope and ways to overcome difficulties.
None of us can solve all of the problems; but all of us can solve some of the problems.
A computer program that simulates coding and inheritance on the one hand, and neural function on the other, permits the emulation of simple animal-like organisms
Today I want to share two striking YouTube videos that I found recently. Maybe you’d like to watch them yourself.
Introduction – The animation shows the molecular structure of DNA, rotating so you can visualise it more easily. Watson and Crick famously published this structure in April 1953.
DNA contains the genetic information that specifies the nature of plants, animals and other life forms. Each species has it’s own form of this DNA ‘instruction book’. Amongst other things, a species’ DNA controls the basic structure of the brain just as it does for other body parts. But here’s an interesting fact: The coding and behaviour of DNA can be simulated by strings of characters stored in a computer.
Brains involve cells called neurons with connections between them, and neural networks running on a computer can behave in a similar way to a very simple brain. Building a computer program that simulates coding and inheritance on the one hand, and neural function on the other, permits the emulation of simple animal-like organisms, and there are applications out there that do just this.
First example – One such program is Minute Labs’ Evolution Simulator (check out their YouTube to see it in action).
Second example – Another program, and I want to focus mainly on this one, is from David Randall Miller. He wrote a particularly fascinating simulator, see his YouTube demo and explanation below for some quite deep insights. It’s a long video, but breaks into logical chunks for easier viewing; I suggest viewing the first section and continuing if it seems interesting.
It’s a really helpful approach for anyone wanting to better understand evolution. It assumes only fundamental levels of the topics, but will enhance your appreciation of maths and computing while also demonstrating the basics of genetics, inheritance, simple neural networks, and animal behaviour. That’s quite a lot of benefit from just one video!
Some questions to ask yourself…
What new understandings did you gain?
Did you disagree with anything?
If so, why?
What conclusions did you draw about the nature of living things?
I plan to gird up my literary loins and begin to put things right
It’s been a long, long time since my last post. I sent a hasty ‘Happy Christmas’ post on 23rd December 2020 and since then – nothing. I really have been rather busy, but also have somehow lacked the energy to make the effort. I don’t know why – perhaps I just needed a break.
In the next few days I plan to gird up my literary loins and begin to put things right. There are a lot of unanswered comments that I need to deal with first, I want to say something about a song I especially like, and I’ve been asked to write a little about my personal history. So watch this space.
Meanwhile, just for fun, here’s my friend Kevin and his daughters at the Cotswold Wildlife Park in August. (It’s well worth a visit, by the way.)
Kevin is taking a photo of a waterlily. Don’t drop your phone, Kevin! Don’t fall in, Kevin! He didn’t – but it looked risky for a moment there.
Surely love and goodwill are appropriate not only at Christmas, but all year round
I’d like to wish all my readers a very happy and blessed Christmas holiday and all the best for 2021. The last year has not been great, one way and another, has it? Covid is likely to get the biggest mention when the history books are written. But Brexit has also loomed large for those of us in the UK and also for all our friends in Europe too. Whichever side of the debate you were on – leave or remain – the deed is done now and we will have to deal with the expected and unexpected impacts that it will bring.
For those of us who follow Jesus, our calling is to love him, one another, the people we live amongst, and even those who might wish us harm. And surely love and goodwill are appropriate not only at Christmas, but all year round.
The picture was taken earlier this month and may not seem very ‘Christmasy’. We have had no snow and very little frost (though more than enough rain). But the sunshine, blue sky, and light mist in the photo remind us that spring will soon be on the way. I’m hoping for a very much better year in 2021, and I hope exactly the same for you. Happy Christmas!
Journeys of Heart and Mind 