I nearly died laughing at this...

Saw this on Simon the Chaplain's blog and HAD to share... utterly fantastic!

Melting in robes...

Ok, so as one of the Union sabbs i have to attend a fifth of the graduation ceremonies as part of the podium procession. This involves; Wearing special union robes, with a crest and everything - very nice. A silly tudor bonnet - less nice, but i can go with it... Walking in to organ music trying to look as serene/important/holy as possible. I go with the clasping hands together over my belly walking posture... I was walking in next to Simon, the chaplain, during a couple of ceremonies and we thought it may be a giggle to walk in like monks in prayer - you know, prayer-hands up in front of the chest - but we opted against it... would have been good craic though!

So anyway, the theatres where the ceremonies take place may be more accurately described as tandoori ovens. Particularly pleasant for us on the podium as we have the added pleasure of stage lights on us! I'm not a big one for sweat patches normally, but I decided go with the flow (so to speak) and see how damp I could make my shirt in the 1-hour ceremony. By the way, this was after several liberal douses of anti-perspirant. I didn't do badly, my sweat patches *nearly* reached my beltline, but i was beaten hands down by some of the real bigwigs - the chancellor, vice-chancellor etc who have the privalege of the front row - including leather chairs! so sweat patch prize i think goes to the chancellor this year, who acheived complete shirt-saturation in a single hour. Bravo!

With my own ceremony coming up on Thursday (and another two before that, tomorrow) I'm getting fairly familiar with the chancellor's speech too... I think i'll be able to lip-sync with his joke by the time it gets to my own graduation! :-)

I've temporarliy gone against my environmental beliefs and used my office aircon unit to create my own personal fridge... those of you who have more environmental integrity than I, dont fret - it's only for this week! or maybe for this heatwave... i kinda like it :-S

I reckon that's enough for now... incredibly long blog entries are fairly off-putting, don't you think? Having said that, so (potentially) are stories of sweat-patch competitions...

C

Life Gets Better...

I just found a little Spanish Family-run traditional Tapas Bar and Restaraunt in the city! YES YEEES! YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!


yes.

New Leaves...

Finally I have internet at home! thanks Joe for hooking it up man - i don't know where i'd be without your computer geniusness...

So, new leaves... As you'll notice from my last post, the weekend i spent in Harpenden with the 24-7 crew was amazing - God totally knocked me for six, it's been a long time since i've encountered him with a similar depth... i have an inkling that it's something to do with getting up early before breakfast and spending some quality time with Him in a field...

Isn't it weird - many of us spend a huge amount of time in our lives trying to realise that God isn't restricted by formulae and rules, and yet one of the most fundamental things in this life is so causal it could almost be called a formula: spend more time with God, life improves!

I'm not preaching a 'health and wealth' gospel, of course life is gonna throw a handful of cack at us every now and then, but with the equivalent "stress and worry" time spent in God's presence, meaning and importance changes...

So this last 8 days, my endeavour has been to give God a chunk of time, each morning, before i go to work, and mostly, it's been happening (apart from a lapse on thursday - naughty thursdays!)... and what to say - no life hasn't been all roses, it's been stressful at times and i haven't always been a 'model christian'... but often (or at least, more often than before) my focus has been elsewhere... of course i've tried regular morning quiet times before, but routine is something i find really hard, so if those of you who pray wanna clasp your hands together briefly and i'll lead us... "Lord, please help Chris get into a routine of spending time with you every morning. Amen."

I dont know what it is about routines of prayer, why they should be any different from praying the equivalent amount in random chunks across the week, but they seem to work - maybe its cos when we have a routine, we actually DO the prayer, rather than just intend to. maybe.

Anyway, so that's new leaf #1. #2 is the dreaded gym. bleargh. Toby, one of my fellow VP's at the union is getting me fit, so i can (hopefully) run a half marathon with him for charity at some point in the year. i started his routine today. this man wants me dead! hehe, but seriously, i could do with being a bit healthier... so it's worth a shot :-)

I think thats enough rambling for now :-)

C

What a Weekend!

Wow, I'm still reeling!

I've just been in Harpenden with 24-7 prayer, doing training for my mission to Ibiza which is happening in about 6 weeks' time... as always after events such as this, I'm utterly shattered, emotionally overwhelmed and most of all, feeling full of God and the Holy Spirit - now for the hard part... keeping up the dpeth of intimacy with God come Monday morning...

Details on the weekend to follow, for now, I need to rest!

'specially as i'm going to resedential training for my job at silly o' clock tomorrow morning!

God Bless,

C