A book a Judge a Cover!

Well hello again,
                        When I first saw this picture, in all honesty I thought, blimey trim those eyebrows !
When I see this picture today, I still think Blimey, Rowan, will you trim those eyebrows?

                     If there is one thing I,m an expert in, it is probably judging a book by it's cover, If your not     aware this man is The Archbishop of Canterbury,  Trust me he is a genius!

When  saw this picture I thought a nice looking chap.

Then I saw this picture. What do you think?

I thought no way!

And then I watched this.

He is a Christian.

see you next time !

Alextheanglican 

alextheanglican: A Love Story

alextheanglican: A Love Story: Hi Once again,                      "You might want to pull those up" said the Nurse. "Pardon" I replied. "You might want to pull those up"...

A Love Story

Hi Once again,
                     "You might want to pull those up" said the Nurse. "Pardon" I replied. "You might want to pull those up". And  so I looked down  to find my surgical trousers were around my ankles.14 years ago my surgical trousers were around my ankles as my wife was going through the trauma of a C-section as our first child was causing her some difficulty as he lay in the breach position. Some moments later after restoring my dignity, I was sat on a stool facing my quivering wife holding our baby boy Joseph whilst listening to Louis Armstrong sing "We have all the time in world" on the theatre music system, a memorable and very emotional experience.
  Later that morning my parents arrived to see Joseph and I remember holding them both so tightly and uttering the words, "I finally understand how much you love me". And now some years later as my son journeys on through the teenage years, I often think towards the time he has his own children, and I wonder how he will deal with responsibility of being a Father.
So back to my parents and on this blog, My Father. He is 92 now, his name is John, he has a mental illness and  he lives in a home, but it wasn't always like that.......
My old man was fifty years old when he had me, so he was generally regarded as old and often mistaken for my Grandfather, but in mind body and spirit he was much younger, much much younger, Everybody and anybody knew my Dad as Jack Frost, he was very chatty and would talk to absolutely anybody, he had a passion for many things, one being music, he was just brilliant on the piano, and bugged me to learn, and I regret very much not taking him up on his desire to pass on his skills for "tinkling the ivories" he was also passionate about sport, athletics in particular, he really was one of the best runners in the country and he always took great pride in the fact that he was selected for the Great Britain squad to run at the 1948 olympic games in London, an opportunity he regretfully declined. He was a sprinter and I remember as child spending many hours wearing his medals and polishing his trophies.
He was also very passionate and enthusiastic about me ! I was a terror at school, I worked badly, laughed frequently and went missing regularly. This caused my Mum much anxiety but my old Dad, just used to say "Don't worry, he will be fine!"
He was the most positive person I have ever known, he totally believed in himself and more importantly, me ! He used to stick signs around the house which simply read "Think Positive" which to be honest has kept me going on more than one occasion in later years, non more so than dealing with his own illness and my journey to be coming an Ordinand.
  He used to sit night after night trying to teach me the subject of mathamatics,  fractions, common denominators, division and multiplication only for me to wear him down with a total refusal to pay any attention.  He would often escort me back to school after, absence and truancy, yet would always, convince the school I wasn't a bad lad and just needed a bit more support and encouragement he never accepted I was heading for failure.
  Without wanting to turn this into a Biography about my Dad, I do very much want to turn this blog into a story about love.  My passion for my faith, my desire to follow Christ is born out of the resounding message of love, not particularly about how the world was formed, or Noah and his Ark or David and Goliath but out of Jesus Christs' graphic and incredible self giving  as his demonstration of love for his fellow human being.
Some people find it really hard to understand why I am an Ordinand, why on earth am I preparing to give the rest of my working life and beyond to serving God, and attempting to live a "good" christian life. I have asked myself the question many times, and it's only recently I feel that my Dad may have a role to play in this pathway, more than I had ever considered before.
  The last few years or alternatively the first few years of dealing with my fathers illness have been the most mentally challenging and upsetting times of my life. His illness has pretty much developed alongside my pathway as a christian. Seeing him  initially sectioned as he went missing, not for the first time, brought home the true realization that my Dad was not well. The guilt, oh the guilt to keep a loved one in a secure environment is overwhelming, he hated it, he didn't recognize his illness and couldn't understand why we were punishing him. To him we were punishing him, to us we were caring for him, it was not a nice place to be. Tests were done, trips out were allowed, and then the ultimate hammer blow by the mental health team which confirmed our worst fears, he was suffering from dementia. The eventual outcome resulted with my Father being placed into care he has been there for some time now, he has had real moments of suffering and we have had periods of more guilt and overwhleming hopelessness to the extent where we desperately hoped that God would intervene and give him peace.
However here we are some years later,still with moments of doubt, anxiety and pain but, I want to tell you about my Dad today. He is very settled, I see my Dad two to three times a week, We can't talk about a lot, it's pointless, he can't really deal with the here and now, but what he can do is to offer me his love! So much love you would never know, when I arrive, his eyes light up, he likes to hold my hand, and touch my arm, he looks at me with that same amount of pride he had for me as a boy, similar to that look of love he gave my son when he held him in his arms for the first time.  He sometimes just says to me, "Your my son" and I say, "I know, and your my Dad" and he says in his southern accent, "Yeah, that's right" and he smiles! We talk about the old days, about Burnley, about his running days, and his music, and he happily believes in his own mind that he was never beaten in a race and that he is the oldest man in the world! I of course know that niether are quite that accurate.
I never thought, I would say i,m enjoying my Dad with his illness, but I have accepted I can't have my old Dad back, but I can enjoy the Father I have now!
God will decide when my Father is taken to heaven, God has taught me, through my Father the value of life, my Fathers purpose as a human being is still being served, he reminds me everyday the importance of love. It is above everything, without love, what do we have? Jesus said, "Love thy neighbour as thyself" It is not easy I know, but try we really must try. My Father is my inspiration to this day, his charactor is incredible, his attitude wonderful, and his enthusiasm for life and love for living is hopefully as inspiring to you as it is to me.

P.P My Father died on Saturday 1st June 2013, I kissed him goodbye, I shall miss him forever.
Alextheanglican. 

Crimped hair and leather trousers

Hello,
       Firstly many thanks for all those of you who have said how much you enjoy my blogs, it give me great encouragement to carry on. current views are at 907 many more than I ever expected.

Do you ever get confused? I,m get confused frequently, It can happen in any place and at any time, and after I threw my underpants down the toilet last night instead of into the laundry basket, it highights how the brain sometimes works or doesn't work.
Some years ago whilst rushing to get ready for work, I was struggling to find some clean dry socks and after moments of stuggling I found some wet ones on the radiator. My brain in its wisdom decided a good way to dry my socks would be to stick them in the microwave  on full power for a few moments whilst I nipped upstairs to carry out my ablutions.
My occasional lift to work (Glynn) arrived at my home to smoke alarms going mental and a dense fog, and smell of burnt nylon acyrlic footwear.  Oh how he laughed as I vigoursly flapped the local newspaper in a pointless atempt to clear the  nausius fumes before we left the house for work.
  Whilst within the same employment I got dressed early, washed, brushed,cleansed etc, I had breakfast and got the bus to work, unlocked,put the lights on, opened the doors and awaited the first customer of the day. "Morning" I said to the enthusiastic window cleaner. "Morning" he replied, "Any reason why your wearing odd shoes"?
I looked down to have one very black shoe on and one very very brown shoe on, "No" I said, absolutly no idea".  Oh how the brain works.
Whilst on holiday in Croatia as a not so handsome 18year, my brain without much consideration decided, that Brown sandals with white socks, two tone black and white shorts, a white vest, free supersnaps camera (on a cord) and trilby hat was a fashion statement the Europeans of the East would aspire to follow. Or when I asked my Mum to perm my hair when I was sixteen, or when I walked round our local village in black leather trousers, eyes darkened by make up, my ears pierced(twice) and hair lightly crimped by my so called platonic mate Tania. Or the time I carried my Sony cassette player with the pop out handle around the Pleasure Beach at Blackpool with  the volume on full blast to the adolescent sounds of Madness armed with my fake ciggerette from the pier joke shop to  add some rage to my teenage angst and "yuff" statement! Yes the brain, my brain really has a lot to answer for!
 
  "What are you"?  I,m often asked, "I,m a Christian" I often reply. "Yes but what are you"? Catholic, erm, one of them Mormons, Methodist Church of England thingys"? I often reply, "Yes i,m Church of England". And then "Is that Catholic"? No its Church of England, I am an Anglican" I respond. And often I,m offered the response, "Right, is that The Pope?" Er no it's the Archbishop of Canterbury". And then "Is he The Pope"? and it goes on and on.

Sadly many people are so far removed from their own christian identity they have absolutly no idea what it is they are representing as supposed defenders of the faith. They have allowed themselves to become so confused by thier own christian position that they retreat and say nothing of what they are and what they believe. The same of course applies to The Bible, if you have not read it you could easily become confused, trust me it is not a simple cup of coffee novel and it is certainly no 50 shades of Grey, whatever that is about! The Bible is complicated, challenging, revealing, beautiful, frustrating, violent, humbling, sad and joyful.
But what frustrates me is people allow themselves to be so accepting of their own position of faith, particularly in adult life and accept that, that is how it is now and will be for ever more, and I don't need to engage my brain in developing my personal understanding of what God might have to offer, particularly to those who are a little, weary, frustrated, unloved, naffed off, angry, joyous, confused etc. The escape we seek can be momentarily found in a good book, TV, cinema, theatre, etc, but the solution and understanding can truly be found by developing ones faith, and understanding.

Start by re-evaluating what you are, Think,  Do I beleive in God? Do I believe that Jesus died so that will shall live in heaven? Do I accept that Jesus' key message to love thy neighbour is a good message, after all there was no commandment greater than this. If you answer yes to this, Hurray you have a basic christian belief.

Secondly - When was the last time you said a prayer? I am often asked to pray for people and I always do, but it would be even greater if you prayed yourself! We are a modest bunch, us British, we can't do anything that would be seen as daft or stupid, we like to fit in, but please, please try, just think If you could pray for just one thing, right now, What would it be? A loved one, a financial crisis, a hurt you have left undone, the joy your child has given you, the promotion, the new car, what would it be?  Just simply pray, for thirty seconds, something really simple, like Dear God, Thankyou for the lovely day I had a work, it was a joy, and I give thanks to you, Amen,
By doing this simple act if you have not done for some time, is reconnecting with your God, your prayer will be heard, you are speaking to the one who created you.

And finally, why not find your Bible? it may take some finding, it may be dusty, it may be that gideon one you got as a child, and if you don't have a Bible maybe go online.
 Please read one simple passage. Go to Psalms and find Psalm 139, it was written thousands and thousands of years ago, but it is one of the most wonderful and revealing poems/songs you can ever read.
If you do this, you and your brain have reconnected with your creator, you have made a small step in moving your faith forward, allow your brain to be inspired by the word of God.
And for that we must give thanks
In Christ with you all,
Alex
p.s. if you don't feel you are able to pray. privately message me, and I will pray, in total confidence for you!