Enquiring minds

What if...

If we could shrink the earth's population to precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following:

There would be:
57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 8 Africans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south

52 would be female, 48 would be male
70 would be non-white, 30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian, 30 would be Christian
89 would be heterosexual, 11 would be homosexual

6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be from the United States.
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read

50 would suffer from malnutrition, 1 would be near death, 1 would be near birth
1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education, 1 would own a computer

When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent. The following is also something to ponder:

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness...you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation... you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death... you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep... you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace... you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If your parents are still alive and still married... you are very rare, even in the United States and Canada.

If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

Touched

By this lady's account of her thoughts as she sits by her critically unstable baby's side.

http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

I admire her clarity of thought and steadfastness of faith with which she writes; if I am ever in a situation which in anyway resembles her current troubles I hope and pray that my reactions would be in a similar vein.

One of the points that she made about God definitely not being a mathematical equation to be understood was hammered home to me very significantly by a respected pastor and writer.

If you take some time to watch this I assure you, you will not regret it.
Furthermore your mind will be blown away by some of the facts he has to present and the things he has to say!

(If you only have a few minutes to spare part4 is definitely unmissable!)

Part1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1EAmfOu9lE

Part2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE5sF1rdxM4

Part3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuF629DW9kI

Part4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUCJ0HHMSbY

Part5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OoBEV10rjc

My life motto - maybe a little too much :p

Peace like a river flows through my soul
A never-ending stream which I use to find my way home.

Occasionally I find myself wandering away
from its sun-dappled path.
But some way or another it will always
be found in my heart.

Tradition isn't everything

Asked about the criticism, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the Pope was "maintaining the position of his predecessors."

This statement makes me angry beyond belief.

In the face of the pandemic of HIV/AIDS tradition needs to be treated with great caution as new medicines, research and preventions become available.

The Catholic Church, and indeed the church in general, teaches fidelity within heterosexual marriage and abstinence are the best ways to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.

And I agree that these are the most effective ways to stop the spread of HIV
(In fact I personally believe that abstinence and fidelity are the safest and best ways in which to enjoy sex, but that's a whole other debate..) however these two ideals are not the easiest to follow, especially in African cultures where 'traditionally' these values have not been held.

There is no reason that condoms shouldn't be used as a safer alternative, because when they are used consistently and correctly (and thats a much greater 'if' than i think some people realise!) they do prevent the spread of HIV.

The 'hardcore' Catholics would argue that no couple should ever use birth protection as it is wrong to stop the possibility of conception, as that is ultimately God's decision.

However, I disagree on that, especially when it comes to the HIV/AIDS front, a God who loves each of us more than we could ever imagine as I know my God does, does not want his people to suffer.

We suffer because of the consequences of separation from God, that our sin creates and because of a devil who loves to see things go wrong and loves nothing more than seeing a person reject God.

If condoms are a somewhat effective means of protecting an individual from a life shortening, horrible disease I would encourage people to use it. In the same way as I would very strongly encourage people to consult doctors and other medical staff if they were ill.

God is in control, he gave us brains and the innovation and creativity for us to invent and problem solve, he uses things that we view as ordinary and commonplace for his purposes.

My hope, my prayer is that HIV/AIDS education in Africa will be far reaching enough to help people to understand the importance of abstainence and fidelity but also benefits of using condoms and how to use them correctly, I know that this a very, very far off goal, but it is a goal nonetheless.

(And for those of you are rich enough and have enough living space, please enjoy never using birth control won't you....)

Let's re-write an ending that fits

So, I've skittering from the old personal post recently because I've not really felt like I've had it in me.
Went one of those more interesting phases of life where nothing fits, the world gets on top of you far too easily and you struggle with yourself.
You continue with all the things that you normally do, apart from maybe one or two...and you pretend like everything is fine - apart from mayb those one or two people that you truly trust with anything..or, more likely, just happen to be in the right place at the right time when you really feel like you're losing it.

So what brought this on?
I don't really know, well I know a coupla things - but it seems like there should have been more elements to my fall in mood really!
In the end it only takes one stumbling block, annoying change or miserable self-deprecating thought to invite a tower of mood-ruining thoughts that you've been stacking up in the bid to bottle up and contain negativity/maintain the running of daily life.

Ultimately, for me, its part of the ongoing aftershock of a life-changing event (SA) that's being somehow expressed through current life events..I could go on for a while as I have indulged in what could possibly be a little too much introspective thought in the past week or so, but won't - for your sanity and mine.

Finally, its the effect of a long term at university in which life has persisted in fits and bursts...not many academic requirements in comparison to last term (although thats all going to change now that I've left my work to the last minute...) and a similar stop-start theme in my social calendar.

I have felt settled through the majority of this term. But now all I have is itchy feet and a disenchanted mindset.

Things have been better in recent days, mostly due to:

• Having friends in Cardiff who were in 'the right place at the right time' and were there to share and pray through negative mindsets and issues
  
  
• Themes running through the different evenings I have attended..hall groups, student group, cu and church youth group (to explore opportunities of leading :D)
  Yes, that's a lot of Christian things going down - but it doesn't feel like there's much else going on at the moment to be honest!
  
  
• Knowing that I can't face going home feeling like this, as it will only marr my time there...and therefore giving myself a stern talking to. (I'll let you know if that one one worked!!)
  
  
• The impending deadlines which I must finally turn my hand to - and get stressed about because I've left the work to two and a bit weeks beforehand, which will therefore distract me.
  
  
• Having the freedom to take time out and journal in order fight through my numerous and disorganised thoughts.
  
  
• Turning up some classic tunes and drowning out my thoughts using whatever crazy self-expression comes to mind!!
  

Now, I'm not gonna pretend that I'm feeling all better - I remain in a battle with a pervasive negative mood that is clinging on for all its worth (and making mornings an especially horrible time...luckily I've not had much human contact during that time in recent weeks).

And I will continue to wrestle with the many different life, love, faith questions that I've been bombarding myself with in recent times. You see reading a book by a Christian who's honestly not afraid to wrestle with issues and being challenged to broaden my own horizons kinda got me thinking!

But I think I'm getting there, baby steps will soon turn to walking which will sometime in the future turn into something resembling 'normal' and maybe even beyond.
Goodness knows all the struggles in life tend to get you to places that you could never have dreamed about getting to without them...I've found those places to be the most rewarding.

Without them I wouldn't be sitting here, in this time and space typing this...SA, Cardiff, the lot.

Finally I will leave you with some words of a good friend who is currently having her own perspective shifted and changed..and who, today, inspired me imensely...

'If I believe in God, and Jesus who died for all I did wrong, I should risk all to see him glorified. The proof is in how I live.

God will judge ‘each person..according to what he has done’ Rev 20.13. What have you done for God?? We believe and as a consequence all our actions should be affected. He will judge you on your actions.
For me the answer was ‘I had done nothing’. I was living comfortably in the knowledge that I believed in Jesus therefore I was saved. Yes that is true. But we are not called just to believe, but to repent- which means to change your entire heart, your entire life, flip 180%.

Go God’s way in everything.

It is hard! The road is narrow. Do you go out of your way to serve him in Everything????
Get rid of all sin; suffer standing up for what you believe in.

How can you be saved just by saying there is an almighty God who sent his son to save and not change every aspect of your life?

I am challenged. You should be to.

God is passionate, he expects the best as a loving parent does, he desires that I seek to be more like him every day.
He wants all of me like a committed husband does, he doesn’t want the leftover bits that I share with everyone, or don’t care about.
He DOES NOT want the bits I have sorted and tidied so everyone thinks I am organised.

He wants the mess, the pain, the hurt. God wants 100% Kat. - I want a God who loves me like this.'

Idealisms and anger

This baby was born early 2008:

at 24 weeks and 4days of gestation

4 DAYS after she could have been legally aborted in this country

Today she is healthy, developing slowly but well, happy and unbelievably loved

How is this limit legal????
Does life mean that little to our society now?
It simply makes my heart ache....one day the politicians will be forced to accept that the science and biology point to late abortions being inhumane, in my opinion there are aren't many abortions that aren't inhumane - but I doubt the politicians will ever have the guts to go that far!

I don't want to go into all the ins and outs of the abortion debate because it is a hugely emotional battle in which judgement needs to be avoided - and a simple love for everyone desperately needs to shine through.
That unborn babies, their mothers, the potential mothers and the mothers that never were need to be valued, loved and supported.

To start that chain-reaction of love that can change the world, one person at a time.


N.B. I don't know the gorgeous girl in the pictures - for her story (from her parents perspective) go to:
http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/
and
http://65roses4pattysue.com/

Thoughts about someday..

I want somebody to sleep with the rest of my life and cuddle up during a movie on a couch.

Stay up all night talking about nothing.


Get lost in the woods together.



Challenge me, challenge him.

Talk about dreams, make dreams.

Have fights, the kind that only really matter just as long as you’re having them.


Someone I can wrestle with, you know, play hard sometimes and not worry about breaking a nail or an arm.

A guy who will bring me flowers, once in a while, maybe a rock too or a shell of some sort. Something he saw that made him think of me, made him think “this might make my girl smile” as he smiles to himself.


A guy who wants me, maybe even needs me, just a little, enough to hold onto me with everything he’s got.

Someday

Welcome to the real world she said to me, condescendingly.

So, I've been re-acquainting myself with the hit TV show 'LOST' in recent weeks.
As usual its been one confusing story after another!

For those of you who are not aware LOST is a TV show which follows the lives of a group of people who are left stranded on a desert island after their plane crashed over 1000 miles off course.

But of course this is no normal island, it has: polar bears, hatches, scary black smoke 'monsters', other scary peoople living there who are working on some sort of hidden agenda. And now, some sort of ability to shift through time at random points due to some sort of electro-magnetic energy which the island posesses.
Some people are searching for the island, some have left and others are still there needing help.

Like I said, confusing!

Watching all this ridiculous yet addictive jumping through time I found myself wondering, as you do, what I would do if I could go back in time and change my actions...

What would I want to change?
In all fairness I can think of a fair few things I would want to tell myself - mainly just nuggets of wisdom and knowledge that I wish I had learnt sooner.

But would there be any point?

As soon as you change the parameters within which you make a decision - there is the possibility for the decision to change -- and then what would happen? even you, a person from the future doesn't know because you've lived through a different past to the one you find yourself directing your former self onto....how mind-boggling is that!?

I love time, how we put so much emphasis on being on time, setting alarms etc - when in fact the whole idea is simply bizarre - because as soon as you question the concept of time it

simply

falls

away