I Can Make you Thin.....

....so claims Paul McKenna.

So a 90 day success plan starts today.

I weigh 96.4 (I think!) At the end of 90 days i am promised phenomenal weight loss if I just follow some simple rules and listen to a mind reprogramming CD.

Paul claims I dont have to believe just follow the instructions and thats good because io am sceptical - I struggle to see how this could work for me even if it has worked for 70% of all those who have tried it.

I get the psychology of it though and he talks a lot of sense - enough to think that its got to be worth a try - as the man himself says - I have nothing to lose but the weight. (and the six quid the book cost!)

Anyway - part of doing it is to keep a journal so I will blog my progress from time to time - watch this space.....

They Call it Democracy

padded with power here they come
international loan sharks backed by the guns
of market hungry military profiteers
whose word is a swamp and whose brow is smeared
with the blood of the poor

who rob life of its quality
who render rage a necessity
by turning countries into labour camps
modern slavers in drag as champions of freedom

sinister cynical instrument
who makes the gun into a sacrament--
the only response to the deification
of tyranny by so-called "developed" nations'
idolatry of ideology

north south east west
kill the best and buy the rest
it's just spend a buck to make a buck
you don't really give a flying fuck
about the people in misery

IMF dirty MF
takes away everything it can get
always making certain that there's one thing left
keep them on the hook with insupportable debt

see the paid-off local bottom feeders
passing themselves off as leaders
kiss the ladies shake hands with the fellows
open for business like a cheap bordello

and they call it democracy
and they call it democracy
and they call it democracy
and they call it democracy

see the loaded eyes of the children too
trying to make the best of it the way kids do
one day you're going to rise from your habitual feast
to find yourself staring down the throat of the beast
they call the revolution


Bruce Cockburn covered by Martyn Joseph

Is there anybody there....?

Hello?

Its so long since I blogged I wondered if there was anyone still in the blogosphere or have you all faded away whilst I was gone!

I havent really got mucxh to say today. The blog family have moved from Nottingham to Heanor and are settling in to new schools and a new church.

Peter now 7 and Ellie 5 are both doing very well.

Shane is tired and working far too hard.

I am still tired but trialling a new drug which is meant to reduce blood sugars and give me a bit more oomph - I live in hope.

I am hoping to get back to blogging more regularly but we shall see how that goes!

Welcome to my New Home

This is the new home of the blog previously known as pilgrim blogs progress. Over the next while I will move some stuff over from the previous blog and post new stuff here.

A year or so in the life of Scog Blog part 2 - surgery

My first of three operations was abdominal surgery of the type intended to prevent the patter of any more tiny feet!

It was meant to be a routine operation, keyhole style, with an overnight stay and back home to recuperate. Things didn't quite turn out that way.

During the operation the surgeon sliced through an artery resulting in them having to enlarge the incision to be able to clamp the vessel. I lost about 5 pints of blood whilst they tried to repair the damage and I was attended by 9 surgeons/doctors/aneathetists as they fought to save my life.

Afterwards I was in hospital for almost a week before being sent home. I was at home for one night before it became obvious that my wound had become infected - the infection started deep and bubbled up to the surface. Shane took be back to A&E and I was admitted to a different ward.

The doctor on the new ward prescribed an antibiotic but the pharmacist disagreed with the prescription and so I was left on the ward with no treatment - not even dressing changes for 2 days!

By this time I was getting quite desperate and finally a consultant from the original ward came down and got me moved up to her ward where I finally recieved treatment. I was in hospital for a further two weeks before being released. I was treated at home for a further two weeks before my wound finally healed.

Surgery number 2 was investigative knee surgery to identify what is causing me so much pain. The MRI had been inconclusive. The surgery showed that the damage to my anterior cruciate ligament had worsened and was now in need of surgical repair.

I first damaged my acl about 10 days before my wedding and consequently got married on crutches!

My third surgery was the acl reconstruction which went very well. I am still recieving physio and trying to strengthen the other muscles and ligaments as well. During the surgery they take about 8 inches of my hamstring and use it to create a new acl. I still have numb bits where the nerve endings have been damaged.

My knee is still painful but the consultant says that it is arthritis and theres nothing he can do about it - oh deep, deep joy!!!

I am beginning to accept that my knee will never be very good, will always give me some degree of pain and I need to just get used to the idea!

So that surgery - I may post a few photos of scars and things but I don't want to put anyone off there tea!!

A year or so in the life of Scog Blog part 1

While on my friends blog I noticed that it was a whole year since I last blogged!!

I'm not really sure how that happened. I will try to fill you in on what has happened in the last year or so.

first in brief:

I got a new job in December 2007 and left NTU.
I had an operation in February 2008 - abdominal surgery - caught an infection had three weeks in hospital and lost my new job.
Became vice chair of governors at Peters school.
Had a holiday.
Didn't find a new job...
Became assistant treasurer to the tertiary order of the Holy Paraclete.
Had another birthday in October.
Had investigative knee surgery in November.
Went to see Meatloaf at the Trent FM Arena
Had Christmas and New Year.
Had a crutiate ligament repair (more knee surgery)in January.
Still on crutches - six month post operative recovery period.

So thats it in brief - I will try to fill in more details in further posts.

"Arise, shine, for your light has come”.

It seems to me that the Christmas lights go up earlier every year and they stay up longer after the event too. I don’t mind though I like the way they twinkle and sparkle in the deep, dark depths of winter. They give out a comforting glow amid the long dark nights and they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
They are, however, weak and pale in comparison to the light that blazed on the hillside when the shepherds were surprised by the angels. And even the brightest of our Christmas decorations are lost in the brightness of the star that guided the magi to Bethlehem.
Many of the Christmas lights that shine in the darkness of our city streets are put up by people who don’t know Jesus and if they have heard of him they consider him irrelevant in these modern times and yet ………..

God is able to use these lights to point the way to Jesus.

The lights shine in the dark and remind us of Jesus – The Light of the World.
"Arise, shine, for your light has come”.

Today is Epiphany and we remember the visit of the magi to the new family of Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus. They came from distant lands and distant cultures. They were guided on their journey by light. A bright new star had appeared in the night sky and it shone out guiding and leading them onwards.

God is able to use starlight to point the way to Jesus – The Light of the World.

As well as being Epiphany today is also the 6th January. 19 years ago today at about half past one in the morning my big sister, Hazel, lost her battle against cancer and died whilst listening to passages from Isaiah.

"Arise, shine, for your light has come”.

Hazel had been battling the disease for about two years. During this time she had massive surgery to remove the tumours and she gave birth and life to her second son. After his birth she had the chemotherapy that might have saved her had she agreed to receive it immediately after surgery but whilst she was still pregnant.

Despite the obvious high of a brand new life, Hazels illness was a dark time in the life of our family. She didn’t want to die and leave her young boys and we didn’t want to lose her. We prayed and we hoped. We celebrated her tiny improvements and we endured her many setbacks.
But it wasn’t all bleak. It wasn’t all dark. Hazels faith shone out like a beacon. She never once doubted that there was a higher purpose even though it was a mystery to all of us, she never asked ‘Why me?’ and if other folk voiced the question on her behalf she would respond with “why not?”.
In the moments before her death she asked for the Bible to be read to her and her final words were ‘I’m going home’.
It seems fitting to me that this woman of great faith gave up her fight and her life at Epiphany.

"Arise, shine, for your light has come”.

In the days, weeks and months following her death mum and I drew great strength from a song by Glenda Vaccaro. The song talks about how life is like a small boat tossed about on a great sea and Jesus is our lighthouse guiding us, watching over us, keeping us safe. This song though a bit cheesy sustained us, it kept us sane and it kept us focussed on Jesus even through the blackest days.

God is able to use the light of faith in a dying woman and the words of a corny song to point us to Jesus – The Light of the World.

"Arise, shine, for your light has come”.

Living in the middle of Nottingham can be a dismal experience. With shootings and stabbings and a general feeling of uneasiness it can feel dark and bleak. For most of us who live in Radford the darker elements of crime and anti-social behaviour form a backdrop to our lives but occasionally it encroaches on our existence in an unwelcome and frightening way. When this happens it is easy to see the area where we live in mostly negative terms.
Sometime ago when returning to Nottingham from a trip up North in driving rain and semi darkness I was struck by an amazing sight. There before me were the Radford flats bathed in a pool of light flooding through a gap in the dark clouds and framed by a dazzling rainbow. The sight was so beautiful that I was transfixed. I was reminded that God is at work in even the darkest places and when seen in his light even the mundane can be transformed into something beautiful.

God is able to use the sunlight to point to his Son Jesus – The Light of the World.

"Arise, shine, for your light has come”.

Our first reading from Isaiah provides us with a picture of hope beyond darkness. The original hearers of Isaiah’s words are called to act in response to the light that will come even though it is preceded by darkness. They are asked to take the long view towards the time when the age of the Messiah dawns on the land and a reversal of circumstances is introduced. When the Messiah comes darkness will be turned to light and instead of the Israelites being taken off in exile to foreign lands, people from those lands will come to Zion.
"Arise, shine, for your light has come”.

We are living on the other side of this event. In the reading from Matthew the prophetic words of Isaiah have become a reality. The Messiah has been born into the world and visitors came from foreign lands to worship Him. The age of the Messiah is begun and His Light shines in the darkness.
"Arise, shine, for your light has come”.

We are called to act in response to the Light that has been revealed to us in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus – The Light of the World.
"Arise, shine, for your light has come”.

We are a people called to be light in places of darkness. Pointing the way to Jesus – The Light of the World.
"Arise, shine, for your light has come”.

God calls us to reflect His light in our relationships, in our communities, in our places of work and our schools. We are called to be light when we go down the pub, or when we do our shopping. We are called to be light in every aspect of our lives because we are people living in the Light of Jesus – The Light of the World.
"Arise, shine, for your light has come”.

It seems a bit of a tall order doesn’t it? Certainly my light seems a bit dim and pointless on many occasions especially if I’m feeling grumpy. Shane and the kids could I’m sure provide you with a long list of times and occasions when I have failed to be light or reflect God’s light into the situation at hand. But just because we’re not always very good at it doesn’t mean that we will be let off from trying.

God is able to take our best efforts and our weakest efforts and use us to point to Jesus – The light of the World.

Just think about that for a minute. Our God who is able to command light into existence, who is able to use stars and angels to announce the birth of His Son uses us with our weaknesses and our inconsistencies to point others to Jesus – The Light of the World.
And what do we need to do to share in this amazing privilege?
We just need to listen to the guiding and nudging of the Spirit, be willing to be used in any situation we find ourselves in and just do the best we can leaving the rest up to God.
Each of us has a story to share. Stories about Gods light shining in and through the dark times. Stories about how God has changed and transformed our lives until the ordinary becomes extraordinary. Stories about answered prayers and prayers that still await longed for answers. In recent months we have looked at what it means to offer true hospitality and we took part in the Big Conversation, telling our stories to each other and to those who not yet know Jesus can help to build community and point the way to Jesus.
Our individual stories are woven together by our Creator God until we become more than the sum of our parts, more than a collection of individuals getting together for a short time once a week.
We can become a living, breathing community, a lighthouse in a dark place shining the Christ light for all to see. We can become a place and a people who offer the hope that the darkness will not last forever because the light of Jesus shines in and through us.

God can and does use us, flawed and unfinished though we may be, to point the way to Jesus – The Light of The World.

"Arise, shine, for your light has come”. Amen.