Pentecost Ponderings

So today is Pentecost, and, in a sense, the birthday of the church. Its the day when the Holy Spirit became a "tool" for everyone, not just a minority of gifted prophets. It's described in the book of Acts as "what looked like tongues of fire" (Acts 2:3), so I though that this week's passage was perhaps more than a bit appropriate.

You see, as 1 John says in one of my all-time favourite sentences, "God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all." (1 John 1:5) And the Holy Spirit is the fuel that burns that light for us; it revitalises and refreshes, it boosts and restores. It is a provider, just waiting for us to say the magic word: please. It won't force its way into your lives, because that's not the way of God. Instead, like faith itself, you need to invite it in and to have a little patience.

It's an immense feeling when you receive it. and a very personal, individual feeling too. It's different for each person. My experience has been the feeling of a thousand bees buzzing all over my hands, but not in an uncomfortable way. You can feel incredibly close to God when you receive the Spirit. You can feel alive, so much more alive than before.

What I find interesting is that the Psalm that this week's passage is taken from is entitled: "A Prayer of Trust in God", and it was written by David after he was captured by the Phillistines in Gath; a time of obvious strife and worry, yet he can confidently put his trust in God. Centuries later we find the great Evangelist Paul doing exactly the same as he writes some of his best letters from the discomfort of a prison cell. That's an immense challenge, but one you need to take up; for if you really want to receive the Holy Spirit, to feel it working in your everyday life, then like faith you have to drop your guard and put your trust in God. Don't worry, it's in very safe hands. Trust me.

Laters.

Back With A Vengance

Yes, after many moons - well, about a fortnight - I return to this blog victorious! I am now wiser and older...well, okay, perhaps just older, as I turned 21 yesterday, but still! The FYP: finished and handed in three days before the due date. This Bird Has Flown: a success and immensly fun to be a part of.

Now I can look forward to the glorious summer weather which has suddenly appeared seemingly out of nowhere here in Blighty. And how am I going to spend my summer? From this angle, in a dark room watching many, many movies. I don't think I've ever been quite so excited about a summer blockbuster season, with Indiana Jones 4 and The Dark Knight both appearing over the next few months! It's going to be an amazing time. And hopefully, hopefully, I'll be able to keep up with my blog a bit better than recently.

Laters.

So, yeah...whoops

After all that exctement last Saturday on finally finding a label for Saturday, my work has taken its toll. Because of the FYP and essays that are still being finished as I write, I haven't had any time to take on my story writing challenge. Much hanging of head in shame. I hope to impress you all with both better writing and better time keeping skills next week!

Laters.

And The Work Just Keeps On Coming...

So this is officially the maddest fortnight in my entire educated life here at the University of Winchester in terms of the workload. The deadline for the Final Year Project is getting ever closer, and the deadline I set for myself for the Final Year Project is getting ever more closer!

What hasn't helped this week is the two essays I have somehow had to find time to write and hand in over this last week. But I'm not complaining too much, especially about the first one (finished and handed in on Wednesday). You see, one of the modules I'm currently studying is American Crime Fictions, which is not actually an English Studies module - it's American Studies. However, to cut a long story short, this essay was really more of a film studies essay than anything else.

Now for those who don't know - which may be all of you, I can't remember - when I started learning here at Winchester I started doing a fifty/fifty degree with a combination of English and Film Studies. Obviously, English was a subject I've had a lot of experience with, but Film Studies was, at the time, incredibly new and incredibly exciting to me. And, to a certain level, I wasn't disappointed. I got to watch some fantastic films, most of which I doubt I would have ever watched if it weren't for the course.

But the work was another matter. I found the essays, though interesting to research and write, tough going, and the marking incredibly strict, much stricter than English. Another thing that really got me annoyed was the level of competence in some of my lecturers. Not that they didn't know their subject - man, there are some smart people teaching here- but I do remember writing in my notepad during one lecture that it was taking three grown men ten minutes to work out how to use a DVD player. Erm, ok, maybe a Film Studies teacher should be up to date on the simple aspects of today's technology?

For those reasons I decided that Film Studies wasn't for me, and so dropped it in my second year to concentrate on English full time. And yet, it was really refreshing to go back to Film Studies this week in order to write this essay on crime films properly. I can't help wondering that, maybe, if I had a had a bit more experience with university work before staring the course, I might have done better on it? I guess I'll never find out. One thing's for certain, though: it never, ever killed my passion for film. I wonder what's on tonight?

Laters.

Decade Of Success

Recently I've been reading a very revealing book entitled Easy Riders, Raging Bulls by a guy named Peter Biskind. It's all about Hollywood in the 1970s and the big filmmakers who emerged in that decade - Spielberg, Lucas, Scorsese, Bogdanovich, and so on. If you're at all interested in the inner workings of Hollywood studios at this time I can't recommend this book highly enough. It is incredibly open and honest about the goings on that took place behind the scenes of some of the greatest movies ever made: copious drug abuse, lots of bed-hopping, much, much swearing.

Today on the IMDB's daily poll they list a large chunck of the 70s films of a selection of films that the famous critic Roger Ebert lists as the Greatest Movies ever. It's an incredible chunk if you think about it. Some of these films are the most timeless, exciting, re-watchable films. Annie Hall, Apocalypse Now, Chinatown, The Godfather, Star Wars, Taxi Driver, etc.

Which leads me to wonder - was the 70s the greatest film decade? It seems to me that the decades after haven't exactly thrown up as large an impressive list as the 70s did. Don't get me wrong, there were some great films made in the 80s, but for some reason I feel that most of them are incredibly dated, something you don't really notice in the 70s films. And, yeah, thanks to the technology boom of the 90s we've had some incredible blockbusters to rival films like Jaws or Alien, but they don't have the same atmosphere as these films still constantly do.

Maybe its just a time thing - not enough time has passed by to recognise the true merits of the 80s. Maybe we need to wait another decade. In a way it would be quite interesting to find out which of the films that have been made in this decade will be remembered as well as the movies Ebert lists. Only problem is I have to grow older to see it. Dang.

Laters.

D'oh!

I found it slightly interesting when I first heard of the plans of the government in Venezuela to drop The Simpsons from their regular television schedules. The reason for this move was that they felt the programme was "inappropriate" for young viewers, and that it contained "messages that go against the whole education of boys, girls and adolescents".

Fair enough. After all, over here in Blighty The Simpsons (normally) doesn't start until 6pm which is the very start of the watershed, which is the period of time where the more adult themes can start to be presented or referred to in programmes a little more than during the daytime stuff. And sometimes an episode will contain a risque subject or two. One only has to remember Homer's sexual harassment accusation, or the rather racy episodes involving his and Marge's attempts to "snuggle".

And yet, what have the Venezuelans decided to put on in its place? Baywatch. Yes, the same Baywatch with Pamela Anderson and Carmen Electra running around a beach with very little on, while David "The Hoff" Hasselhoff stands around spouting lines whilst secretly stealing them for lyrics for his next best selling album in Germany.

Am I missing something here? Yes, The Simpsons does have its faults but at the end of the day surely it's about family values? Homer, though an idiot, is a lovable idiot, and genuinely loves his wife and kids. Marge, though possibly stereotypical as the stay-at-home mother, does have a tendency to go out into the world and make a stand for her beliefs. Bart is a rebel, but anything he does that has serious repercussions are dealt with, and he occasionally feels sorrow (check the episode Bart the Mother) . Maggie's a baby - okay, so she occasionally attacks her father with a mallet, and okay she nearly murdered Mr Burns, but the former was a good laugh and the latter was an accident (we think)! And what the flippin' heck's wrong with Lisa? Grade A student all the way, smart, intelligent, funny - possibly the only truly sane one in the family.

Now look at Baywatch. Don't look too hard, mind, else you might get hypnotised by the slow running, the meaningful stares of the Hoff, the jiggling...the endless jiggling...

The point is, Baywatch, if you think about it, is ten times worse than The Simpsons. Not just in its content, either, but in its writing. The Simpsons has always been one of the best written shows in the history of television, give or take the odd slip-up and the boringly mandatory "clip shows" that the Fox network force upon them. Baywatch? Oh no, a cute guy/girl is drowning, we'd better send out two even cuter guys/girls to rescue them and then perform mouth-to-mouth throughout the rest of the episodes. Please, any show where Pamela and Carmen can pull off convincing acting has got to have something wrong with it.

There is, however, evidence to suggest the amount of state control that Venezuelan television currently must answer to. One of the only new shows that is being made at the moment is a chat show, presented by a man called Hugo Chavez. And he only just happens to be the President of Venezuela. Ah, the perks of the job, huh?

Laters.

Tough Challenges

Sometimes, we are faced with options that could change our lives forever. This isn't necessarily a religious path. It could be a new job, moving to a new home or country, deciding to get married etc. Sometimes the changes that occur from these choices that we make will be so tiny, so minute, that it will take a while for us to realise they've happened. But once in a while the changes are so obvious it's as if we've shed our skin and become a completely different person.

This is what happened with the twelve men who were chosen to follow Jesus as apostles. There were many disciples, but these twelve were special - God had something incredible lying in store for them. They were to become Jesus' closest friends, his confidants. They would play a significant part in both his death and the spreading of his message to the world. But it wouldn't be without cost. The Bible tells us on many an occasion that, when Jesus told them to follow him, they simply stood up and did it. No goodbyes, no worries about their homes or jobs or families. They got up and followed Jesus without any thought.

You can take this as you like. Were they being irresponsible? Were they brainwashed? I don't believe they were. I believe that Jesus was such a completely different person that they instantly knew in their hearts who he was. It would take a while for their heads to get round it - about three years in fact - but their hearts knew it from the moment they lay eyes on him.

The passage of the week comes from a section entitled "The Would-be Followers of Jesus", Luke 9: 57 -62, which can also be found in Matthew 8: 19-22, (though interestingly the week's passage isn't in the latter). A couple of people claim that they want to follow Jesus, but first one must say goodbye to his family and another needs to bury his recently deceased father. It's a seemingly reasonable request, surely? Strangely not to Jesus. "Let the dead bury their own dead," he tells the bereaved man, and gives our passage to the family man.

There is a danger that people may think Jesus was being cold, uncaring here. But what he's actually doing is setting us a huge challenge. If something or someone comes into our lives that has the potential to make us completely new, to make us better people than we already are, what would be the point of taking the opportunity to change if we just go back to our old lives? We have to take that change wherever we go immediately. In the case here its the work of God, who should always come first before family, friends, career, etc.

It's not an easy challenge, though to be honest it wouldn't be much of a challenge if it were easy. But if we keep the desire to change first and foremost in our minds, it will eventually filter through into our lives until we wake up one morning and look at ourselves in the mirror and find that we have changed - completely and for the better.

Laters.