Ramblings along the narrow way

Saw The Aviator this evening. As a film it’s good, but coupled with the remarkable story of Howard Hughes, industrialist, engineer, filmmaker and aviator, this was a very interesting film to watch. The film cruises through his life, from glimpses of Hughes’ childhood, through his film making days, his purchasing of TWA and founding Hughes Aircraft, as well as the various women in his life, from his mother through Katharine Hepburn and Ava Gardner.

His life as one of a man who was driven and able to accomplish much with his gifts and talents. He had strange almost contradictory behaviour, from taking all the risks in flying his own development aircraft, to taking as few risks as possible with personal hygeine. He was the common man, yet at the same time a very uncommon man. Here was a man who was popular with ladies, but ultimately growing old alone.

The film takes us thourgh his life at a good pace, and giving enough of a glimpse to appreciate the moments depicted. It shows us a man who is able to control his actions and speech to great effect, as well as a man whose mind plays tricks and occassionally misfires.

Worth watching.

What is it to be truly wise? The books of Proverbs is a microcosm of the whole biblical outlook.

He whose walk is upright fears the LORD, but he whose ways are devious despises him. Pr 14:2

A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless. Pr 14:16

He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge. Pr 14:26

The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death. Pr 14:27

A fear of the Lord is to be truly wise.

This is not a cringe-worthy fear, where one is afraid of being zapped for upsetting a god.

To fear God is to acknowledge him for who he truly is. For he is not vindictive, waiting to pounce at the smallest opportunity. At the same time, we need to avoid the other extreme of seeing him as ‘all matey’. Rather, he is the almighty God, who is holy and just, whilst loving and gracious.

For we indeed are only able to walk uprightly through his love and grace. For he is able to work in us that which is pleasing in his sight by his grace.

We get a true glimpse of God’s holiness and what it is to be holy by the power of his Spirit working in us, convicting us of sin and enabling us to live holy lives.

Those who fear the Lord have a security of a God who has their best interests at all times.

Ultimately, we cannot truly fear God in our sinful unrepentant state. We can only have a true understanding of what it is to fear God through the grace and love demonstrated in his Son, through the great sacrifice that all might be saved through faith. In this way, we become a new creation, renewed in our minds through the work of the Spirit, that we might rightly fear the Lord, and so attain the wisdom which comes from God alone.

I was glad my car is now back in working order as I travelled back to Bristol for my mum’s birthday. For some reason, public transport is even more difficult when it’s long distance and short-notice, so I was glad of my own method of transportation.

The weekend in Bristol was relaxing with the whole family in attendance and a take away from Nandos to celebrate mum’s birthday – nice and easy to both prepare and clear away! We chatted and had fun over the meal, and pored over old photograph albums. For some reason, my brother looked naughty in all his photos! Afterwards, we settled down in front of the TV to catch the last night of the proms on the BBC. A particularly good vintage thought my mum.

One of those weeks and it’s not quite over yet. The week started with me dropping the car off at the garage as there’s oil getting in the cooling system – thought of blown head gasket/cracked cylinder head/oil cooler gone – hopefully it’ll be the last option as the other two are really expensive to fix!

Spent Monday evening playing snooker against Dave and Ed. Dave vs Ed 2-0, me vs Dave 2-0, Ed vs me 2-0. Zero sum game. 🙂 Sampled the local pan-Asian restaurant which was rather pleasant and then caught the train home. To be honest, the train wasn’t as bad as I remembered it to be, it just doesn’t give you much flexibility. I can get to work and back on the train without too much hassle (although more hassle than the car), but going anywhere which isn’t radial to Central London from where I am takes a lot of effort.

Due to lack of car, I cancelled my violin lesson on Tuesday, as public transport from Staines to Teddington and then Teddington to Isleworth is more than I can bear after a day at work! This did mean I could spend the evening playing music for fun and having a play with Google Calendar, which I’ve used to implement a dynamic calendar on the church web site. I also needed to do my clothes washing, but without my car, I made a visit to the local corner shop. OK, a box of 16 tablets of Ariel non-bio in the corner shop costs the same as 48 tablets of Fairy non-bio at Tesco, but that’s the price you pay for being immobile – not quite what you want and more expensive to boot. (Yes, I understand the volumes of the local shop are a lot smaller and they need to make a living. I can also understand why some people – myself included – prefer large supermarkets)

On Wednesday I was still lacking a car, although work colleague who lives nearby was kind enough to give me a lift to and from work. The garage phoned and reckoned it was a crack in the oil cooler, so they’d ordered the parts and would be fitting them. I’ve resigned myself to not having a car now, and spent the evening listening to a broadcast of Mahler’s second, from the Proms, on the radio.

It’s now Thursday and I have my car back! Yay! I don’t think I’d realised how attached to my car I’d become. I guess it’s not the car itself which I’m attached to, but the freedom of mobility it gives me. Anyway, it now has a new oil cooler, a well-flushed cooling system and a replenished dose of oil. Only £300 as well, so I can recommend Barry Symons of Maidenhead. 🙂

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 Jn 4:1

When John writes this verse, he is not writing just to pastors, elders, deacons, but to all Christians. These are not optional words, but the word of God for all Christians.

For we are not to believe everything we are told – whoever may tell us it. Whether it is in the pulpit, the media (Christian and secular), people we know or through any other way.

Instead, we are to listen to what has been said, think about it and compare it with what God’s word says. Christianity is not about switching off your mind – far from it, but it renews our mind by the power of the Spirit working in us.

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Ac 17:11

Christians should have the same mindset of the Bereans. They even compared what the apostle Paul said with the Scriptures.

This is not to say we should actively spend time hunting down heresies, but deal with them as we come across them in our daily lives. This also means our knowledge of the Scriptures is important, that we might know the truth, and that they might effectively shape our thinking.

A fairly lazy Saturday, getting up at around lunchtime as I’d arranged to play snooker in the afternoon with Robin. Met up at the snooker hall with Robin, Jason and David for a game of doubles. After deciding on some fairly even teams, David and I vs Robin and Jason, we play three fairly scrappy frames, finally ending in a 1 1/2 frames each draw – time had run out on parking ticket so called the last frame a draw.

The evening was spent with the usual suspects to watch The Pianist – again}}! It would seem the usual suspects consist of such a large group of people that the majority of the group who saw it this time weren’t around the last time I saw it. A good film regardless, and worth seeing again.

I spent this evening down at the church for the final meeting for the holiday bible club. It was a meeting where the parents could come along and for their children to show them what had been happening during the week. It was also good for me to be able to see the good work which had been happening. I’m always amazed at how much can happen in one week, with four bible lessons, lots of games, activities and craft to fit in. This year’s club was themed on ‘God’s Zoo’, the story of Noah’s Ark to you and me. As each day was explained, God’s plan of salvation could be seen slowly rolling out, that though we deserve hell, we are offered that which we do not deserve – knowledge of God, which is eternal life. Starting with God’s judgement for sin through the flood and the salvation of a few through faith, through to the Son’s judgement at the end of the age and the salvation of a multitude through faith.

And I just thank you Father for making me, me

After a long day at work, I came home to spend the evening with just myself. I think this must be the first evening I’ve had to myself for a long time! It was nice to cook myself some fish and chips for supper, and then afterwards, pull out the violin and just play to myself. Sometimes I need time to myself to unwind and relax. I even spent a bit of time reading Schaeffer – The Great Evangelical Disaster, learning how to play Wei-qi (圍棋) and playing chess. I might just go and play the piano for a bit now.

Started today at the church helping to set up the building for the holiday bible club this week. It’s always good for the church to be able to share the gospel with the children who live in the area as well as get to know them and their families whilst in a fun environment. It was good to see so many people there, all helping to inflate balloons, affix bunting, sort out materials amongst other things. Before we knew it, all was ready and it wasn’t even lunchtime!

Spent the rest of the Bank Holiday in central London to celebrate Sam’s birthday. We first had a ‘flight’ on the London Eye, which was interesting. Whilst it was a good view of London, allowing a vista spanning from Canary Wharf, through the City, out to Vauxhall and beyond, I must admit to feeling a little underwhelmed. At least I can say I’ve been on it now. 🙂

After a short trip to get some food, we trundled along to the Royal Albert Hall for a Prom concert with an all-Mozart programme. I must admit, of all the works of Mozart, I find his piano concertos entrancing. I would have been happy just to listen to piano concerto 24 on its own, so having the symphonies (34 and 38) and the opera excerpts was a bonus. This evening’s performances were superb, and as an added bonus, the birthday boy seemed to enjoy the perfomance as well, even if it isn’t his usual cup of tea.

What is our motivation in life? For the Christian, it is the love of Christ which compels us to serve him. After all, if God loved me so much that he’d take on human flesh, live a sinless life and die for sinners such as me, I have no other response, than to trust in my Messiah, to give my life to him.

The God who saves by his grace also enables, that I might serve him and glorify him. I die to self, and I am a new creation in Christ. My sins, not in part, but in their entirety, have been imputed to Christ, and Christ’s righteousness has been imputed to me that I appear without spot or blemish before God, and God’s righteous anger against sin burns against my Saviour.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Isaac Watts

This salvation is available to all who trust in Jesus Christ for their salvation. For this salvation is open to all who live by faith.

After a day spent wandering around Kingston searching for various household items, it was nice to meet up with some of the usual suspects, at Nandos in Slough, to celebrate the birthdays of Alex and Deanna, whose birthdays have recently passed. As is standard with Nandos, everyone had chicken, although I’m fairly sure some people should stay off the extra hot sauce. After the meal, we sauntered down to Windsor to wander and take in the warm summer evening.

A nice relaxing evening. 🙂

Also saw House of Flying Daggers on DVD when I got home, as I’d borrowed it off my sister and it had been sitting around unwatched for ages! After the previous DVD, this was a bit of a let down. Yes, the cinematography was astoundingly beautiful, the action sequences were breathtaking, but the story was a veiled love story, under the pretext of an adventure, with the usual twists and turns and even a rather silly ‘if I can’t have you, then nobody can’ within it. If the story was a little more compelling and possibly slightly more complex, the film would be so much better. More chill out than outstanding.

Saw V is for Vendetta on DVD last night, with the usual suspects. I’d been wanting to see this in the cinema when it first came out, but events conspired to ensure that didn’t happen, so I was quite keen to see it on DVD when it was put forward as an option. (The original plan was to watch The Matrix, but a few weren’t keen on that idea, so another film by the Wachowski brothers seemed appropriate!)

The film is based on the comics by DC Comics and is set in a Britain in the not so distant future where a fascist totalitarian government now rules the land. The parallels to Nazi Germany are not very subtle, with the persecution of various minorities, even replacing the head of state with a Chancellor. Other more contemporary political thoughts arise, with the far-right politics of the USA – the hijacking of religion and the dumbing down of ideas and thought, also mixed in for good meaure.

The story itself keeps you interested and weaves along, being quite credible for a comic book, but then, who would think a democratic country could ever slide into totalitarianism? Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction. Admittedly, it’s interesting to see how the day-to-day sights and sounds one is familiar with appear in the light of a very different world – the Houses of Parliament, the Old Bailey, the Tube….even the BT Tower! Slightly less credible is the idea of the lone crusader, V, battling against the system as only a comic book hero would – with guns and explosives, but then, that’s what Guy Fawkes tried.

The effects and action sequences are, as ever for the Wachowski brothers, stunning and well choreographed – with a tiny bit of over the top gore. It was different to hear well-loved classical music such as Tchaikovsky’s 1812 and Beethoven’s 5th, juxtaposed against various scenes, as well as slightly calmer jazz and blues, especially in comparison to the slightly more contemporary soundtracks of the previous films by the Wachowskis.

The film itself was well-acted, with plenty of iconic British actors throughout. Natalie Portman stood out slightly, but she’s a good actress (and possibly quite pretty as well), so that’s allowable. With the setting and the actors, as well as the script, the film had a very British feeling to it, which made it slightly more disturbing given the story!

A very good film which has a good deal of action, whilst providing plenty of thought provoking questions. Some of the political comment in the film is a little dubious, but then, the film cannot make us agree to it, only think about it. Well worth seeing.

Beattie: Anthony? Oh congratulations on your exam results.

Anthony: Grandma, I failed.

Beattie: You failed? What do you mean you failed?

Anthony: I mean I failed – Maths, English, Physics, Geography, German, Woodwork, Art – failed.

Beattie: You didn’t pass anything?

Anthony: Pottery, very useful.

Beattie: People will always need plates. Anything else?

Anthony: And sociology.

Beattie: An ‘ology’, he’s got an ‘ology’ and he says he’s failed. You’re a scientist…

… the brilliant boys. You know it’s the teachers who are wrong, you know they can’t mark, half of them can’t see.

It doesn’t seem so long ago that everything I played on the violin had to be adagio. My teacher pointed out I’m actually able to play slightly quicker now, ok possibly not vivace or even allegro, but a moderato is an improvement. 🙂