matthew henry john bartlett

‘Dragonfiles mating’, a poem by Robert Hass [via Bel]
Ricky Gervais interviews Chris Martin [via RDB]
Web design inspiration flickr set [via digg]

James K Baxter’s ‘Song to the Holy Spirit’:

Lord, Holy Spirit
You blow like the wind in a thousand paddocks
Inside and outside the fences
You blow where you wish to blow

Lord, Holy Spirit
You are the sun who shines on the little plant
You warm him gently, you give him life
You raise him up to become a tree with many leaves

Lord, Holy Spirit
You are the mother eagle with her young
Holding them in peace under your feathers
On the highest mountain you have built your nest
Above the valley, above the storms of the world
Where no hunter ever comes

Lord, Holy Spirit
You are the bright cloud in whom we hide
In whom we know already that the battle has been won
You bring us to our Brother Jesus
To rest our heads upon his shoulder

Lord, Holy Spirit
You are the kind fire who does not cease to burn
Consuming us with flames of love and peace
Driving us out like sparks to set the world on fire

Lord, Holy Spirit
In the love of friends you are building a new house,
Heaven is with us when you are with us
You are singing your song in the hearts of the poor
Guide us, wound us, heal us. Bring us to the Father

 

 

Today is International Volunteer Day. If it’s good enough for Che Guevera, it’s good enough for you. If you’re around here, Volunteer Wellington’s search page is a good place to start.

One more next big thing: Social lending

And another: Kiva.org – “Kiva lets you lend to a specific entrepreneur in the developing world, empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty.” I’ll do it when my cheque comes in and tell you how it goes. By the way, who’s got my Banker to the Poor book?

Paul Hawken told me [50min realaudio lecture] that the weight of all the hormones in all the people in all the world is about 11 tonnes. Which is pretty funny; like you could fit that on the back of a big trailer and looking at it one way they like run the world.

Jim Wallis: ‘Hard questions for peacemakers’ [via WRD on CD]

USB-chargeable batteries [via RDB]

Words from a micro-credit sceptic [via D]

From a Stanley Hauerwas lecture at Wheaton College on the Sermon on the Mount [10MB MP3]:

When he called his society together, Jesus gave its members a new way of life to live. He gave them a new way to deal with offenders: by forgiving them. He gave them a new way to deal with violence: by suffering. He gave them a new way to deal with money: by sharing it. He gave them a new way to deal with a corrupt society: by building a new order, not smashing the old. He gave them a new pattern of relationship between men and women, between parent and child, between master and slave, and which was made concrete – a radical vision of what it means to be a human person. He gave them a new attitude toward the state and toward the enemy nation.

More:

The most extraordinary thing that early Christians did that distinguished them from the Jews was that you didn’t have to marry. … You may think that was because they had negative attitudes about sex – (more…)

EVENT: BBQ at our house, 16 Russell Terrace, this Thursday. Summer solstice / solace and me birthday (yes, that’s right girls, I’m going to be 9,868 days old!) celebration. BYO drink, BBQ-ables and harsh but fair character evaluations of yours truly. All welcome. All I want for Christmas is for you to read my book recommendations.

Jimmy Carter on his new book, Palestine: Peace not Apartheid [via WRD on CD]
Gillian Welch YT videos: Annabelle, Time (the revelator), Make me a pallet on your floor

BBQ on tonight

Live weather on maps & webcams [via digg]

song A Perfect Circle/Gravity
album Gillian Welch/Revival
books John Howard Yoder/The Politics of Jesus, Kim Stanley Robinson/Antarctica and 50 Degrees Below, Lovins & Hawkens/Natural Capitalism, Marylinne Robinson/Housekeeping, Alasdair Macintyre/After Virtue, GK Chesterton/St Francis, Kurt Vonnegut/Cat’s Cradle, The Hauerwas Reader
movies Batman Begins, Children of Men, them Linklater ones
lectures most at longnow.org
thinkers Hauerwas, Dan Janzen, Stephen Lansing
highlights Living with Europe (Beranger, Elodie, Tors), leaving the country for the first time, producing Sea Devil, fuelsaver.govt.nz, The Life of Christ by Chinese Artists, St Francis, Blah blah blah nights, Whakapapa with Simon, longboards w/Si & Rich in Perth, Flinn reception, new old bike, that lady (!)
lowlights Well, I’d rather walk everyday through hills and trees down to town and see the sea through said trees, and it’d be nice if my three best boys still lived in Wellingtown, and to have a steelier will and to be at all times a radiant peace-beast, but you know I remain thankful for 9 out of 10 of the passing moments, and it’s an adventure that continues to exceed expectations (or would if I had some), and on the whole, universe, Jesus, your beat is correct.

have I missed something?

A bed to give away to a good home if you can come and pick it up: queen size, very comfortable, good mattress, crummy base but it does the trick.

I came across an interesting definition of original sin today in a post about Saddam’s death: We have met the enemy and he is us.