Monday, April 24, 2006

Testing

Blogger seems to be acting up.

Brands: The new faith?

On B&T Sally Robertson is talking about brands being the new version of religious faith.

It's not the first time I've thought of this. There's definitely a crossover between the general secularisation of society, and businesses trying to fill the gap left behind.

That's why movies like Kingdom of Heaven didn't do well. They're trying to make something epic, something transcendental, yet the core value of that movie is secularism. Honour without God. It just doesn't work - even for viewers who agree in their heads.

I was talking with a new friend on the weekend about my time of questioning and searching in the past few years. I told him a philosophy of agnosticism is attractive because you don't have to worry about whether God exists, what he requires, how he communicates and which holy book is the truth. You just figure out what works for you, and let everyone get on with their lives.

It's so appealing, and so simple. But it's not founded in reality. Truth is, I couldn't stay in that space. I still knew God existed, and it's rude to ignore someone when you know they're right there in the room with you.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Happy Belated Easter!

(I've never been much for keeping dates and times... just as well Colossians says "do not let anyone judge you ... with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day"!)

Easter weekend was good. Friday - Good Friday - was a day spent in deep discussion with Marie about our hopes, dreams and goals.

Saturday night we went to church. Because theSanctuary meets in a church building that's shared by multiple congregations, they couldn't do a Good Friday or Easter Sunday service, so Saturday was everything rolled into one.

There was supposed to be an Easter message, but circumstances beyond our control etc. meant that it was just an extended worship service.

What am I saying... there's no such thing as 'just' a worship service these days.

It was an interactive worship service, with the symbols out, and us being encouraged to go and contemplate the stations of the cross.

My mum came with us - she'd been wanting to come along for a long time, but struggles with her energy levels. She really enjoyed it.

It was interesting how all this activity not only propelled us closer to our relationship with God, it also made us aware of each other. I think that's what God's trying to do. Take the blinkers off, and learn how to live in community.

Should be fun! :-0