My cover name for this blog is 'ScoG Blog' and I was thinking it was time to explain what 'ScoG' actually stands for. The 'S' is for the initial of my christian name and the 'coG' stands for 'child of God'. So I am 'S****, child of God. So now you know!!
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
The Dark Tower by Stephen King
It's here, it's arrived, I hold it in my hands! The seventh and final book in The Dark Tower series was delivered fresh from www.Amazon.co.uk yesterday. I just looked at it for a little while, not wanting to shorten the anticipation and just letting the excitement build. I started reading it yesterday evening and continued this lunchtime. I have a feeling that I will be spending every stolen moment with Roland and his Ka-tet.
I have enjoyed the story so far and I am looking forward to the culmination of this epic work of fiction.
I have enjoyed the story so far and I am looking forward to the culmination of this epic work of fiction.
Monday, September 27, 2004
Announcing......
The beginnings of baby blog. Yes, Scog Blog is up the duff! I am expecting my second child at the end of April 2005. Mr Blog is very pleased and Blog Jnr is blissfully unaware of the changes he is about to be put through. I do worry about him as he is little more than a baby himself. Great upheavels to come!!
So far the morning sickness is moderate, I'm hoping it stays that way as last time I was sick for the whole of the pregnancy. I have insane backache that gets worse during the day and doesn't completely recover during the night. OW!
More news on developments as they happen!
So far the morning sickness is moderate, I'm hoping it stays that way as last time I was sick for the whole of the pregnancy. I have insane backache that gets worse during the day and doesn't completely recover during the night. OW!
More news on developments as they happen!
Christian Discipleship
This week, on Wednesday, I start a new theology course. It is part-time, one evening a week plus preparation and assignments. The first module is entitled 'Christian Discipleship' and has a 2000 word essay to complete. I am looking forward to this course but I am a little concerned about it being in the evenings as I am still quite tired.
I will post more about the course as it continues..... watch this space!
I will post more about the course as it continues..... watch this space!
Friday, September 24, 2004
They Are Our Future
Every time I read about children being misused I get angry. Children are so vulnerable - they believe pretty much whatever you tell them and they learn from imitating those around them. So what are we teaching our children?
From the news channels and newspapers it would seem that we are teaching them that it is ok to be racist, bigoted, hateful, intolerant and antisocial. Scenes of war and terrorism and violence of every kind from all over the world beamed directly into our living rooms and into our kids heads. From listening to the kids as they play in our street it would seem we are teaching them to swear and curse and not give a flying fig about anyone else or the environment they have to live in. They use words I don't even understand and vandalise the nearby park at every opportunity.
We owe it to the children and to ourselves to teach our kids how to be responsible, respectable citizens. Surely we want to give this nations children every chance to excel in sport or business, social skills and leisure pursuits. And we should remember that one day these kids will be running the country and making decisions about our future.
So let's teach them how to laugh and play, let's teach them about their responsibilities as well as their rights, let's give them a sense of fair play. Let us encourage our kids to be independant but not self centred, aware of their own worth and the value in others, let's make our nations children a legacy and gift to the world.
From the news channels and newspapers it would seem that we are teaching them that it is ok to be racist, bigoted, hateful, intolerant and antisocial. Scenes of war and terrorism and violence of every kind from all over the world beamed directly into our living rooms and into our kids heads. From listening to the kids as they play in our street it would seem we are teaching them to swear and curse and not give a flying fig about anyone else or the environment they have to live in. They use words I don't even understand and vandalise the nearby park at every opportunity.
We owe it to the children and to ourselves to teach our kids how to be responsible, respectable citizens. Surely we want to give this nations children every chance to excel in sport or business, social skills and leisure pursuits. And we should remember that one day these kids will be running the country and making decisions about our future.
So let's teach them how to laugh and play, let's teach them about their responsibilities as well as their rights, let's give them a sense of fair play. Let us encourage our kids to be independant but not self centred, aware of their own worth and the value in others, let's make our nations children a legacy and gift to the world.
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Where is God?
This is a question I hear in one form or another whenever something bad happens. 'Where was God in Beslan?', 'Where was God on 9/11?' And then there is that age old variation 'If there was a God/if God cared why does he allow these things to happen?'.
These are big questions and I have to admit I don't have any big answers. Just a deep and abiding conviction that God can be found in the darkest corners of this world through the suffering of Jesus Christ.
I carry with me the child I used to be. The misused and abused child for whom life promised so little. She use to ask 'where is God in this' until one day God showed her. He was with her, hanging on his cross, blood and sweat running down his face.
God is with us in the bleak times, in the spark of humanity that kicks against the darkness. God is with us.
These are big questions and I have to admit I don't have any big answers. Just a deep and abiding conviction that God can be found in the darkest corners of this world through the suffering of Jesus Christ.
I carry with me the child I used to be. The misused and abused child for whom life promised so little. She use to ask 'where is God in this' until one day God showed her. He was with her, hanging on his cross, blood and sweat running down his face.
God is with us in the bleak times, in the spark of humanity that kicks against the darkness. God is with us.
Bill Gates
11 Rules of Life by Bill Gates
I found the following on another blog. Apparently it comes from a speech he made to high school kids about how political correctness has made them unprepared to face the real world.
Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it.
Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself
Rule 3: You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone, until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping - they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades, and they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
I found the following on another blog. Apparently it comes from a speech he made to high school kids about how political correctness has made them unprepared to face the real world.
Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it.
Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself
Rule 3: You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone, until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping - they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades, and they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
Monday, September 20, 2004
www.reallivepreacher.com
The real live preacher is having a rough time at the moment. He has written a book that is about to be published and he is somewhat jittery about it.
The real live preacher, I think I've mentioned this before, is a baptist Minister in the States. He has quite a substantial blog that covers a range of subjects. His writing style is beautifully sensitive and very rich. This guy has a big heart and is very genuine. His blog posts have made me smile and laugh out loud. They have also made me cry and thump the desk in anger. His writing comes from the heart and is never self-seeking.
Drop in on him from time to time - I'm sure he'll be delighted to 'see' you!
www.reallivepreacher.com
The real live preacher, I think I've mentioned this before, is a baptist Minister in the States. He has quite a substantial blog that covers a range of subjects. His writing style is beautifully sensitive and very rich. This guy has a big heart and is very genuine. His blog posts have made me smile and laugh out loud. They have also made me cry and thump the desk in anger. His writing comes from the heart and is never self-seeking.
Drop in on him from time to time - I'm sure he'll be delighted to 'see' you!
www.reallivepreacher.com
The children of Lesotho
I thought I had heard and seen the worst that could be done to a child. I thought that humanitys' capacity to inflict hurt on a child could only go so far. I was wrong, I was so wrong.
I watched the Prince Harry documentary of his time in Lesotho last night and was horrified and shaken to the core of my soul. Harry tenderly cradled a ten month old little girl who had been raped by at least two men. Yes, raped. This child had been so brutally violated that her womb was so badly damaged it had to be removed. This child had not uttered a sound for months afterwards and was only now beginning to smile at her main carer. This child, this baby, had eyes that were painful to look into. She carries the truth of her violation in her eyes.
The medicine men of Lesotho tell men with aids that they can be cured if they have sex with a young girl - the younger the better. What mindset do you have to have to hurt a child so badly in order to save yourself? It is tempting to call these men animals or monsters but the saddest thing is that they are human. These are men so desperate that they will commit these acts to 'cure' themselves of a deadly disease. The tragedy for them, the little girs they rape and all of humanity is that it is a lie, an untruth. And even if it were true could the rape of babies ever be justified. I think not.
Pray for the Children of Lesotho, pray, act, give and don't ever forget.
I watched the Prince Harry documentary of his time in Lesotho last night and was horrified and shaken to the core of my soul. Harry tenderly cradled a ten month old little girl who had been raped by at least two men. Yes, raped. This child had been so brutally violated that her womb was so badly damaged it had to be removed. This child had not uttered a sound for months afterwards and was only now beginning to smile at her main carer. This child, this baby, had eyes that were painful to look into. She carries the truth of her violation in her eyes.
The medicine men of Lesotho tell men with aids that they can be cured if they have sex with a young girl - the younger the better. What mindset do you have to have to hurt a child so badly in order to save yourself? It is tempting to call these men animals or monsters but the saddest thing is that they are human. These are men so desperate that they will commit these acts to 'cure' themselves of a deadly disease. The tragedy for them, the little girs they rape and all of humanity is that it is a lie, an untruth. And even if it were true could the rape of babies ever be justified. I think not.
Pray for the Children of Lesotho, pray, act, give and don't ever forget.
The students return
Well, it's that time of year again - the students are returning in dribs and drabs - the flood will start next week. Our lives will be filled with paper jams and queries about where the toilets are and fixing printing problems which are most often caused by user error!
By the end of next week we will already be tired of asking students to stop using their phones in the library and telling them the can't eat/drink that in here. This is the life of a user support person in a university library!
Welcome Students!!!
By the end of next week we will already be tired of asking students to stop using their phones in the library and telling them the can't eat/drink that in here. This is the life of a user support person in a university library!
Welcome Students!!!
Friday, September 17, 2004
Prince Harry
The papers this morning are full of news about the young Princes' first TV interview. Apparently he is out in Lesotho visiting orphanages and wants to continue the charitable work begun by his mother. Some of the media are suggesting that this is an attempt by the palace PR firm to rebrand Harry from hellraiser to fundraiser.
I don't see it myself. Just because he is a Prince it surely doesn't mean he isn't entitled to some of the excesse of youth, does it? Didn't we all as teenagers get a bit drunk, acted a bit loud and loutish. Didn't we make a fool of ourselves on occassion before we grew up, settled down and took on the responsibilities of adulthood?
I can certaintly remember doing stuff I wish I hadn't but for the most part it was all harmless fun. Give Harry a break - if he is ready to take on the mantle and burden of being a grown up Royal then let him, if not then equally give him space to be a youngster, childhood is all too fleeting.
I don't see it myself. Just because he is a Prince it surely doesn't mean he isn't entitled to some of the excesse of youth, does it? Didn't we all as teenagers get a bit drunk, acted a bit loud and loutish. Didn't we make a fool of ourselves on occassion before we grew up, settled down and took on the responsibilities of adulthood?
I can certaintly remember doing stuff I wish I hadn't but for the most part it was all harmless fun. Give Harry a break - if he is ready to take on the mantle and burden of being a grown up Royal then let him, if not then equally give him space to be a youngster, childhood is all too fleeting.
Palace Security
Is it just me or has the world gone nuts. So a man dressed as batman was able to get on the famous palace balcony and stick up a banner and this is a threat to national security because....?
The simple fact is that at no point was the security and safety of any royal personage in any danger. They weren't in the building - some of them weren't even in the country. The security system worked! Seriously - it did!
Originally there was two of them - one was dressed as Robin - but the alarms were tripped and the second man was caught and arrested. From the moment 'batman' scaled the wall he will have had at least one rifle pointed at his head. The marksmen assessed the risk and decided not to put a bullet through his head. The internal security shutters were activated preventing him from actually getting into the palace. What is wrong with that? I can imagine the headlines if they had just shot him - "Father of two shot dead while staging peaceful protest at palace" or such like.
Let's have some perspective here - had the man at any time have been judged to be a threat to the security of the Royal family he would not have survived to sell, sorry tell his story.
The simple fact is that at no point was the security and safety of any royal personage in any danger. They weren't in the building - some of them weren't even in the country. The security system worked! Seriously - it did!
Originally there was two of them - one was dressed as Robin - but the alarms were tripped and the second man was caught and arrested. From the moment 'batman' scaled the wall he will have had at least one rifle pointed at his head. The marksmen assessed the risk and decided not to put a bullet through his head. The internal security shutters were activated preventing him from actually getting into the palace. What is wrong with that? I can imagine the headlines if they had just shot him - "Father of two shot dead while staging peaceful protest at palace" or such like.
Let's have some perspective here - had the man at any time have been judged to be a threat to the security of the Royal family he would not have survived to sell, sorry tell his story.
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Visitng the in-laws
I have just returned home from visiting my in-laws. I am very glad to be home. Don't get me wrong - I think my in-laws are lovely people but they are hard work! Things started out ok - on Friday we (that's Mr Blog and I) along with Mr Blogs brother were invited to a graduation ceremony where father-in-law was receiving an honorary fellowship from a prestigous University of London college. It was a great event and we all had a lovely time. On Saturday there was a lunch at the RAF club to celebrate my in-laws 40th wedding anniversary. Again it was a great event.
I guess the problem is that parents always think they know best even when their child is all grown up, married an with a child of their own. I feel like I am being lectured constantly about how I should look after Mr Blog and Blog Jnr. I feel like I am always missing the performance target they have set for me and that they really don't approve. I am beginning to think that perhaps next time I will stay at home and my husband can take our son to visit on his own. We will have to wait and see.
I guess the problem is that parents always think they know best even when their child is all grown up, married an with a child of their own. I feel like I am being lectured constantly about how I should look after Mr Blog and Blog Jnr. I feel like I am always missing the performance target they have set for me and that they really don't approve. I am beginning to think that perhaps next time I will stay at home and my husband can take our son to visit on his own. We will have to wait and see.
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
MMR part 2
Well Mr Blog and I took Blog Jnr to have his MMR yesterday. It was a traumatic experience for me as I am not partial to sticking huge, great needles in my little son! It was traumatic too for Blog Jnr as he didn't like it much and didn't really understand why we were letting someone hurt him. He screamed his head off as the injection was administered but then afterwards was quite happy to play. This morning he was a little extra clingy as he was left at nursery and cried as his daddy left him.
Blog junior has a left sided hemiplegia (www.hemihelp.org.uk) and yesterday at his physiotherapy appointment he was given his first ever pair of boots! They're specially designed to help him distribute his weight evenly to promote walking without limping. He looks so grown up in them and mummy blog is ever so proud!
Blog junior has a left sided hemiplegia (www.hemihelp.org.uk) and yesterday at his physiotherapy appointment he was given his first ever pair of boots! They're specially designed to help him distribute his weight evenly to promote walking without limping. He looks so grown up in them and mummy blog is ever so proud!
AnitaRoddick.com
Welcome to AnitaRoddick.com by Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop.
If you have ever wondered how to help change things on a global scale, or thought you would like to know more about human rights issues then this is the site for you.
Anita Roddick, founder of Bodyshop (before it got all big and lost its heart), takes you through a variety of issues from Wal-Mart to child selling. She doesn't hold back but makes it clear who the bad guys are. As well as this there is a page devoted to showing you how to help on various issues.
Anita Roddick is one of the good guys who hasn't let fame or wealth divert her from her true cause of fighting injustice wherever she finds it.
So whether you're an armchair activist or a go get 'em kind of person this site has got something to say to you.
If you have ever wondered how to help change things on a global scale, or thought you would like to know more about human rights issues then this is the site for you.
Anita Roddick, founder of Bodyshop (before it got all big and lost its heart), takes you through a variety of issues from Wal-Mart to child selling. She doesn't hold back but makes it clear who the bad guys are. As well as this there is a page devoted to showing you how to help on various issues.
Anita Roddick is one of the good guys who hasn't let fame or wealth divert her from her true cause of fighting injustice wherever she finds it.
So whether you're an armchair activist or a go get 'em kind of person this site has got something to say to you.
Monday, September 06, 2004
Terrorism
I sat watching BBC News 24 as the storming of the school in Baslan played out on my TV screen. I watched as children were shot at as they tried to escape and I watched as parents and relatives surveyed the damaged gymnasium and hurriedly put together lists of the dead and injured. I saw the turmoil, the anger, the grief.
What is it that turns human against human? What kind of person can dehumanise children so totally that they can be used as tools and a means to an end? What does a person have to have suffered to see the killing of children as a legitimate target to promote their cause?
The hostage-takers are wrong to have used these innocent children, to have destroyed lives and families and communities but what about the communities that they themselves come from. If we call them monsters or similar we dehumanise them and fail to see the suffering that they have endured in their lives. We will fail to see the families and communities of other innocents torn apart by war and conflict.
The Chechens want justice and freedom from the Russian government and have been denied both. The hostage-takers were fighting for a cause they believe in and they were wrong to kill in this way but we dehumanise them at our peril. Understanding doesn't mean letting them off nor does it in any way minimise the horror and enormity of what they did. It does allow us to see the humanity of the situation and realise that there but for the grace of God go you or I.
What is it that turns human against human? What kind of person can dehumanise children so totally that they can be used as tools and a means to an end? What does a person have to have suffered to see the killing of children as a legitimate target to promote their cause?
The hostage-takers are wrong to have used these innocent children, to have destroyed lives and families and communities but what about the communities that they themselves come from. If we call them monsters or similar we dehumanise them and fail to see the suffering that they have endured in their lives. We will fail to see the families and communities of other innocents torn apart by war and conflict.
The Chechens want justice and freedom from the Russian government and have been denied both. The hostage-takers were fighting for a cause they believe in and they were wrong to kill in this way but we dehumanise them at our peril. Understanding doesn't mean letting them off nor does it in any way minimise the horror and enormity of what they did. It does allow us to see the humanity of the situation and realise that there but for the grace of God go you or I.
MMR
So Blog Jnr is booked in for his MMR today and am I worried? You bet!
As a psychologist I know how to read science/medical papers and so I am convinced that there is no causal link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Autism first appears at around the same time as the vaccination is due so it isn't surprising that the two have become associated with one another. It is natural that if you have a seemingly normal child that is suddenly changed you would want to know why and search around for plausible explanations. The MMR provides that plausible explanation but it doesn't make it true. So that's the 'head' aspect of the problem sorted out. But as a mother I can't help but be concerned that I may be about to inflict serious harm on my baby.
In my heart I can't help but worry that there really is a link and I am going to deliberately hurt my child. Yet hundreds of children die or become severely disabled as a result of measles and there has already been a case of measles at my sons' nursery.
It is a dilemma - but I will put my trust in the medical community and have my son vaccinated and then worry and watch and wait and hope.....
As a psychologist I know how to read science/medical papers and so I am convinced that there is no causal link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Autism first appears at around the same time as the vaccination is due so it isn't surprising that the two have become associated with one another. It is natural that if you have a seemingly normal child that is suddenly changed you would want to know why and search around for plausible explanations. The MMR provides that plausible explanation but it doesn't make it true. So that's the 'head' aspect of the problem sorted out. But as a mother I can't help but be concerned that I may be about to inflict serious harm on my baby.
In my heart I can't help but worry that there really is a link and I am going to deliberately hurt my child. Yet hundreds of children die or become severely disabled as a result of measles and there has already been a case of measles at my sons' nursery.
It is a dilemma - but I will put my trust in the medical community and have my son vaccinated and then worry and watch and wait and hope.....
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Faith
Why have I been sneezing for weeks? I don't know but its's making me feel kinda tired. A couple of weeks ago, before the sneezing began, I went to the doctor because of feeling tired and she recommended some blood tests so off I went to get them. It took three attempts to get any blood - one in each arm and finally the back of my hand. I still have a very large bruise on my hand over a week later. Instead of getting my results at the beginning of the week I got a letter asking me to go and have some further bloods taken and when I got there they booked me a double appointment to see the doctor next week.
So far I have been given no information or indication as to what the problem is. I can only assume that since the doctor wants to see me after she gets back from holiday that it is not serious. I can only assume that if it were serious action would be taken sooner but I can't help worrying a little since something must be wrong or the doctor wouldn't need to see me at all......
It made me wonder about the nature of faith. We put our faith in the medical profession - we trust them to know what they are doing. We make assumptions based on common sense and a little hope. We hope the doctor knows what she is doing - we assume that things must be ok or they would have told us. Faith in a supreme being - God - strikes me as being at least similar. We base it on common sense and a little hope. We have some previous experience on which to base a common sense conclusion and then we hope that we ae on the right path.
Those without faith often ask 'how can you be sure that God reallly exists?' and that's really the whole point - we can't be sure - not completely. If we knew for sure than faith would be unnecessary and pointless. Faith is the stuff that bridges the gap between belief and knowledge. Faith is the leap you make when you have analysed and examined every piece of evidence and found that it doesn't quite add up to a whole.
Like trusting the doctor, sooner or later we have to admit that our own knowledge and commonsense will only get us so far before we have to let go and trust in something we don't quite understand.
So far I have been given no information or indication as to what the problem is. I can only assume that since the doctor wants to see me after she gets back from holiday that it is not serious. I can only assume that if it were serious action would be taken sooner but I can't help worrying a little since something must be wrong or the doctor wouldn't need to see me at all......
It made me wonder about the nature of faith. We put our faith in the medical profession - we trust them to know what they are doing. We make assumptions based on common sense and a little hope. We hope the doctor knows what she is doing - we assume that things must be ok or they would have told us. Faith in a supreme being - God - strikes me as being at least similar. We base it on common sense and a little hope. We have some previous experience on which to base a common sense conclusion and then we hope that we ae on the right path.
Those without faith often ask 'how can you be sure that God reallly exists?' and that's really the whole point - we can't be sure - not completely. If we knew for sure than faith would be unnecessary and pointless. Faith is the stuff that bridges the gap between belief and knowledge. Faith is the leap you make when you have analysed and examined every piece of evidence and found that it doesn't quite add up to a whole.
Like trusting the doctor, sooner or later we have to admit that our own knowledge and commonsense will only get us so far before we have to let go and trust in something we don't quite understand.
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