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The start of a New Year is always a time for resolutions, even though any day of the year can be a new beginning if we choose it to be! One resolution which lends itself to January 1 is reading the Bible in a year. This sounds like a simple enough task, but in reality it’s very difficult. One reason is that you reach a difficult part of the Bible in February/March time, another reason is that some of the material is duplicated (and told from different perspectives), and the arrangement of the Bible is not chronological. These three difficulties conspire to confound even the most dedicated reader, as I know from experience!

An answer to this problem is to read the Bible in chronological order, and there are a number of Bibles which set out the material in this way. One year I read the Bible through in the New International Version, although I didn’t find the associated commentary helpful as it was written by a very conservative scholar. This year I am using the Bible pictured above, which has minimal notes as you progress through. The translation is the inclusive language New Living Translation. And so to Genesis chapter 1…

I took this picture today, and have posted it to my Blipfoto Journal and Tumblr. I’m using the opportunity to post it here to expand my thoughts and provide links to some reflective verses. The words It is finished of Jesus from the Cross were not words of defeat, but words of victory. This was the culmination of Christ’s earthly mission and ministry, a moment of triumph vindicated by the Resurrection. You can read the passage from John’s Gospel here. You can click on the following links to two readings from this book: Life and death and Cross victorious. I hope you’ll find these helpful passages to reflect on the Bible passage.

A colleague and friend of mine has come up with a great idea! But, instead of me waffling on about it, I’ll let the video speak for itself! That reminds me, I better head over there and order some!

One of the objectives of this website is to share information about books I’ve read, and a Sunday seems an appropriate day to tell you about this Christian devotional book. Alister McGrath is a Christian theologian and apologist who has the gift of clear communication with an easily readable style. In this book he takes you into his confidence about a personal experience of faith in Jesus Christ, combined with a scholarly approach.

He outlines how Christ is to be known in our minds, imaginations, hearts and memories. How he can be known in our loneliness, anxiety, doubt and suffering. He describes how he can be known through his encounters, images and benefits. Some of the barriers to knowing Christ are detailed, and he finishes the book with ways in which Christ can be known. This is straightforward Christianity without the ‘cringe factor’ and I can wholeheartedly recommend it.

This is the first guest post from some of my real-life and online friends. Hannah Winter is a friend in both spheres, and I hope you find this interesting.

When John asked me to guest on his blog under the title of ‘Feminism’ I jumped at the chance and started to make a note of the things I just ‘had’ to include; women in the workplace, social constructions of gender, violence, sexualisation of children, pornography and lap-dancing, religion, FGM, and many, many more – all of which I’ve got plenty to say about! Having been given a 400 word (ish!) limit, I thought I’d start at the beginning and (hopefully!) be invited back to address individual issues at a later date. So, the question I aim to answer here is ‘Why Feminism?’ I’ll write from a personal perspective; why I identify as a feminist, and why I feel feminism is as relevant today as it ever was.

I indentify as a feminist because I’ve found feminism to be a very useful tool to question, de-construct, and challenge the things around me that make me, as a woman, feel uncomfortable. Things such as, but in no way limited to; lads mags, the marketing of gender-specific toys, Page 3, being told my research won’t make me attractive to men (as if that’s my sole aim in life!), the way in which the behaviour of women is judged very differently to men. I’ll stop with the list but believe me, it’s a long one! I identify as a feminist because it gives me the confidence and drive to have my voice heard in world which, contrary to popular belief, is a largely patriarchal one which attempts to silence the voices of women.

So, 40+ years after the birth of feminism and gender inequality is alive and well. Surely feminism has failed? No, feminism hasn’t failed! I don’t believe that feminism was ever about ‘succeeding’ on a global level, inherently changing men and women; it would only serve to replace patriarchy if it did. It’s about changing core values. It’s about changing patriarchal assumptions about how things ‘should’ be. Today, as ever, feminism allows the questioning of the limitations placed on, and the assumptions we make about women.

Feminism isn’t about burning bras and hating men! Feminism is about creating the opportunity for equality in the personal, social, and political spheres. Feminism seeks gender equality – a liberating concept for both women AND men. I need to finish soon (400 words just isn’t enough!) but I’ll leave you with this:

• Women in the UK are paid 22.6% less per hour than men
• Only 18.3% of the world’s members of parliament are women
• At least 100,000 women are raped in the UK each year
• Two-thirds of the world’s illiterate people are women
• One in four women living in the UK will experience violence at the hands of a current or former partner

The Equality Illusion, Kat Banyard, Faber and Faber Ltd: London, 2010

It seems that Doctor Who has always been with me! Hardly surprising since I watched the first ever episode when I was nine! The Christmas specials are always a tasty treat, and this one didn’t disappoint! It was a wonderful retelling of the classic Charles Dickens story A Christmas Carol. Guest stars were Michael Gambon and Katherine Jenkins. The episode was perfectly realised, with an alien world looking Victorian, yet sufficiently different. The whole special remained true to the spirit of Christmas and Dickens, with some wonderful stylistic touches. It was crafted with love, well done!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome (or understood) it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:1-14 TNIV

When I was searching for an image and found this one on Flickr, I knew immediately it was the one I wanted to use. I suppose just before Christmas is not the time you would think of for losing weight and getting fit, but I’ve lost 3 kg (three bags of sugar) in the last few weeks. I’m no longer in the slightly overweight category, and I want to press the advantage! I’m not planning on having an over-indulgent Christmas, and I’ve already started to get myself fit. The other day I bought an excellent book in a charity shop with all the stretching exercises you can think of, along with some specific sports ones (including cycling and running which are of interest to me). The book (by the way) is Stretching by Bob Anderson.

It’s always such a joy to visit a library, and especially so when you find a new book that hasn’t been borrowed before! This happened to me recently with the book pictured, a book that I’d been wanting to read since it was published earlier this year. I’ve been interested in science since childhood when I looked into the wonder of the night sky and read The Observer’s Book of Astronomy by Patrick Moore, a book I still treasure and one that I read under the bed covers! I also followed the moon landings with great interest. One thing that fascinated me was the vast and unimaginable distances involved in the scale of the universe, as the Bible says: When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you set in place, what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Psalm 8:3-4.

The book argues that invoking God is not necessary to explain the origins of the universe. As a Christian I don’t have a problem with this as I have always felt that religion and science address different issues, as well as attempting to answer different questions. Similarly, as a Christian with a scientific mind and a rational approach to faith (yes, that is possible), I don’t have any problem accepting that evolution is the most satisfactory explanation to life on earth, nor with an understanding that the early chapters of the Bible express the creation of the heavens and the earth in poetic form.

As I write these words I haven’t finished reading the book, but I’m over half-way through. It’s not the easiest read, but it’s well written and witty. Here are two examples. Firstly, to illustrate it’s complexity: This has the potential to solve the problem of infinities because it turns out that the infinities from closed loops of force particles are positive while the infinities from closed loops of matter particles are negative, so the infinities in the theory arising from the force particles and their partner matter particles tend to cancel out. I hope I’ve transcribed that correctly or you’ll be completely lost by now! Secondly, to illustrate its wit: Ten dimensions might sound exciting, but they would cause real problems if you forgot where you parked your car.

If you enjoy a book that makes your brain hurt, this is one for you – I can’t wait to finish it!