Year's Gone By.

Aaaaaahhhhh, I am beginning to feel that i can now look back on this year that's past, my first of four full-time, training as a minister. I've had my end of year review and this very morning recieved the final set of marks i've been waiting for. There are a heap of things i could talk about, but i'm just going to mention a couple.


First - my marks.
I'm really quite pleased with how i've done, i'm now the proud owner of credits!!! Whilst i don't really know what that means i do know that it means far more than any academic possesion i've had before. Until now the best i've had has been 4 'C' grade GCSE's, (and we all know they give those out in cereal boxes) maths, english language, geography and drama. Going into this year i had two major anxieties and my academic ability (or more specifically, my academic discipline) was one of them, i'm therefore thrilled to have written stuff and have clever people read it, and for them to think it's ok. (My second major anxiety is far too complex to start talking about here.)


Second - books.
There have been three books which i've enjoyed more than others this year and which, no doubt, will prove to have been key points along my way.

1. How (not) to speak of God, by Peter Rollins. Whilst i've taken part in some Pete Rollins bashing on kez's blog, i still think this book is brilliant in the way it addresses questions of orthodoxy, heresy and the depth to which we think we know and understand God.

2. The Irresistible Revolution, by Shane Claiborne. This book's point is simple: God is with the poor, God loves the poor, if we love God and want to know God, we need to love the poor and be with the poor, otherwise our faith is nonsense. Read it and be refreshed that someone is blazing a trail out of mediocre, bland Christianity. Read it and be deeply upset that it might require you to follow on.

3. Original Blessing, by Matthew Fox. Of the three books here, this is the only one from any of the reading lists this year. It argues that God is primarily about affirming life and humanity, rather than condeming it. It's title is an obvious play on 'original sin', and while it's not attempting to deny the fall, it does attempt to redress the balance between a Christianity which is sin obsessed and one which is life obsessed.


Incidentally, the picture is of the college grounds, the quad. I'm particularly enjoying the way the pink of the blossom works with the pink of this page!