UK Turned White!

It’s snowing again…

I am currently sat in my house, just outside Northwich, Cheshire UK about 30 miles from Liverpool and 30 miles from Manchester, looking out of my window I see a layer of ever increasing snow falling and settling on  the ground. It’s been snowing now continuously for about 8 hours.

As I am sitting drinking a much needed steaming cup of Strong coffee (it’s one of those days, when you just wish to be somewhere else or even someone else) I flicked over to one of the many 24/7 news channels and what are they talking about but “Snow”.

I don’t know, what it is about Britain and Weather

Maybe it is just me, but being born in Germany (Paderborn Barker Barracks) Where my Father was posted at the time with the British Army, snow was no great event.

You could pretty much run your life by seasons over there, expecting cold snowy winters, and warm to hot Summers and so on. But here snow seems to bring on panic attacks and over-reaction.

Many places around the world that experience snow, take it in their stride commenting “Blimey it’s a bit cold out there” but none the less just whack on a set of snow chains or a pair of sturdy boots and just get on with it. In Britain, any visitors from similar snow affected climates often look at us in amazement when they hear the stories of the Country coming to a complete halt.

Obviously there are times when snow and extreme weather cause disruption to events and public services, and I am sure this is true for all places affected around the world.

Where I live is quite rural but only 10 minutes out of town, we don’t get the “gritters” down here as it is a country lane, the council grit the main roads, so once you brave the Ice Rink that is our lane,  your on the main trunk routes your fine.

Living here you soon adapt to weather events, we still have regular power cuts in strong gale force winds, and when the lane outside is snowed up and Icy you simply re-arrange your appointments.  If you can you do if you can’t you don’t.

No Excuse for Cities and Towns though

All that said about the more rural areas of Britain, it is a price to pay for the location you live in I guess. The big cities such as London, Manchester, Birmingham surely don’t have any excuse for a complete halt in public services?

A bit of snow shouldn’t halt the motorways or main roads, but in the extreme and rare occasions it does, they should surely have a plan to get the cities moving again.

I was at Manchester Piccadilly Station during “Britain’s big Freeze” this January, a meeting I could not re-arrange, I understood there to be delays due to snow, and just gave extra time at both ends, yes the train I was due to get got cancelled and I had to get a Bus that took 4 hours to get home again. But it was what I expected in those conditions,  just put up with it and got home eventually.

But people around me where getting extremely annoyed like it was some sort of personal attack that they were going to be delayed getting home to watch the TV soaps. I met one girl who was stressed out due to choosing to go shopping on the day when there was deep snow lying on the ground already and then nearly attacking the poor station staff member who informed us on the platform that our train will be cancelled and await futher information. Who would choose to go shopping on a day when weather is bitter and slippy anyway?

The business men and ladies all forced to work that day were all resigned like myself to a rather long and uncertain journey back to our homes, the News stated “Do not travel unless it is essential” for us it was, for the shoppers determined to go to the local mall for a day out it was obviously not a good choice of day. So please if you choose to travel against national advice then don’t get aggressive because you can’t get home on time. More to the point to that girl, don’t put it all on us while we have the unfortunate luck to share a train carriage with you. Just put up with it.

This weather is not great for anyone, while snow is enjoyable to the young and to us all young at heart, sometimes we just need to say “ok it is snowing” nothing I can do about it, it will have to wait until tomorrow. For the older members of society and to people who are physically and Psychologically upset, it can feel lonely, isolating, and depressive. All we can do is look out for those people and ensure they are ok. Then just wait for it to pass.

But let it snow let it snow let it snow. Sometimes there is no other option but to wait it out.

What are the first things that come to mind when asked to describe a Christian?

I’ve asked this question of some friends of mine in recent weeks, the main things my friends have mentioned when answering is…

• A Christian is someone who is concerned with making people who don’t follow  their beliefs “See the light.”
• They thought that a Christian’s sole aim in life was to preach the word of God
• They thought a Christian didn’t swear, smoke, drink or have a good time.
• They thought that a Christian lived soley in the pages of the Holy Bible.
• The ability to quote of the tip of the tongue a bible verse or two.

Reading this blog would you be surprised to know that I am a Christian, I mean I attend Church regularly, twice on Sunday, and at least once a day in the week.

It may come as more of a suprise to people (as it did my friends) when they realised I could not quote a Bible verse of the cuff that was perfect for any conversation.

They were equally surprised to see me living like a “normal” person and not keep “harping” on about the life and glory of Jesus.

Christian Fanatics:

You know the type of person: Stephen Baldwin comes to mind in recent days with his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother here in the UK, maybe some people will feel me being overly harsh to this man for the strength of his beliefs. However, I whole-heartedly disagree with his approach in attempting “conversion” on innocent bystanders in that house.

His only aim was trying to force the word of God on his fellow housemates, when one fellow housemate challenged his opinion he retorted “I am speaking the word of the Lord!”

There you have my biggest problem, as a Christian we are meant to spread the word, I do that, without forcing scripture down peoples necks, trying to answer questions in a none biased way.

My personal journey to Christianity was through asking questions, discovering and also disagreeing.

I live my Faith with the principle of trying to answer peoples questions as openly as possible, without bias or judgement, if that person asking questions of my belief leads to them experiencing a deeper understanding of Christianity and then deciding to take the plunge in becoming a Christian then that’s fantastic.

The Difference

Being open to people’s questions, just listening, being calm, being focused, steady and friendly is the biggest “spreading of the word.”  When you choose to take on the Christian faith (More in a later article). It is essential in my opinion to stay stuck on the ground. Still living in the real world.

It’s very easy to get carried away with this new discovery of God, you can become a bit floaty, thinking that you are “saved by God” and now your living a clean blameless life and no matter what, you have Him on your side.

In reality it is not that simple, taking on the faith is hard work, it opens you up to ignorant ridicule, it forces you to examine your life choices and the attitudes towards life.

In my opinion God waits for you to acknowledge His call to you, and from then he works with you to attain what he has planned for you. There is a lot of changes (talking from experience) and you can easily get totally lost in your own thoughts. This is where I am eternally grateful to my/our Parish Priest, the support and space to learn and sometimes ask the silliest questions has formed up my faith.

It did me well to remember that God never drops you in the deep end, no matter how much you feel like your drowning in a new world, of consiense realisation and discovering new moral values. He never gives you more than you can handle. That’s not to say he doesn’t give you a challenge or two, I mean look at Haiti!!!

You may often hear how “God changed my life” type stories. This is totally true, however in my opinion God works within you! Not outside of you, I have apparently changed a lot since finding God, but I still haven’t lost my own original identity, instead I feel that my old self has been developed matured grown and definitely enhanced.

Where it can all go wrong

I know how easy it is to be a bit carried away with the discovery of Jesus, and it does take a bit of concentration to stay grounded. With this new faith you have taken on it can feel like a “God Rush” (I will dedicate a article to this as my next posting).

You can begin to feel a bit above other people, you can start being judgemental towards people who do not believe in your Religion and extremely close minded to others opinions.

This is what I personally call a “Jesus Freak” someone who will inhale the bible and live strictly within the scriptures, blindly believe in what the scriptures are saying and dare anyone challenge the word then they who dared are damned.

Where am I?

Well I love the Bible, I completely believe in God, and actively live in the faith, I do not want to preach to the none believers, I don’t want to impose my opinions and beliefs on anyone else. But I would love to preach to people who wish to listen, see there’s the difference! I want to walk the walk of Christian life with people who want to discover, support people who are searching.

I think Christianity is the never ending journey, there is no end, you only keep discovering, I am neither right nor wrong, I am not better than another person. I am no worse than anyone else.

I respect people for who they are, not what they believe in. If people feel my religion is a cause for personal insult then so be it, it is them with the problem! For those that want to ask questions I am only to willing to share a conversation, I don’t have the right answers but a conversation is also a great education for both of us.

A good friend of mine an atheist, said to me over a pint or two, “I don’t believe in your Religion, I don’t believe in your God, but through talking about it, I can see God does exist although I can’t follow I have a new respect.” For me that was the biggest compliment, and to you who said it and you know who you are Thank you.

Happy New Year!!

Well here it is early January 2010, a new decade, and another new beginning!

I hope you had a great Christmas and New Year, today in Britain we are covered in a layer of snow and have had a week of freezing temperatures, up North near Manchester where I currently live we have had a constant temperature of -2 oC to -8oC.

The weather people at the Met office in London are saying it is the coldest winter in Britain since 1987 and snow like this has been seen since 1976.  It always gets me though that as soon as it snows Britain seems to ground to an absolute stop.

I was born and lived in Germany due to my fathers posting to Paderborn with the Army, over there in mainland Europe and most of the world, snow brings a different routine rather than a complete breakdown in public services as in Britain.

Still it is a lovely experience waking up to proper snow that crunches under your feet. It really feels like winter here at the moment, people enjoy it and stop complaining about not being able to get to work or on public transport. In this weather have fun if you can’t get somewhere then stay at home.

What on Earth:

It’s only January 7th 2010, and already I think I have stumbled upon the most pathetic craze since Pokemon!

It’s called the choking game amongst other things. It’s crazy,  basically it is literally what it is says, a kid or maybe 2 or three strangles them self until they pass out.

They say they get high from it, in fact it is simply that they are cutting off the oxygen to the brain and it can cause all kinds of problems like heart failure to stroke to epileptic fits!

I mean is life really that boring?? Whats worse is it’s all over youtube at the moment with friends filming the happenings as there friends or brothers or sisters go some way to killing themselves.

Honestly if you want to kill yourself for fun, then jump of a building on to a solid surface. Or play Russian Roulette.

No I am not making light of suicide but these kids don’t realise that they are simply killing themselves and may even cause brain damage!

I’d hate to see the youtube video when someone films their friend playing this game on to realise that in fact the friend is no longer on this earth.

But kids playing with their lives is not my concern am just giving my support to the people out there who are trying to stop people from doing this crazy pass time.

This year:

I’ve made a resolution this year, I am going to write more to this site, I’ve been really busy during 2009, but now things have settled down again in to some normal routine.

I’ve had a few emails recently asking me questions about Christianity, I am not a Priest but I will do my best to answer the questions to the best of my knowledge.

Of course there will be plenty more rants and raves coming during this year, and if you have any comments I love to read them and your emails to.

Happy New Year Everyone

Here’s a video of the New Years Eve fireworks in London this year enjoy

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdU-YUSzkUI

Till next time….

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pjYGqPPMmA

There are just some things that are hard to understand, the video above is fast becoming a “Youtube” sensation, and maybe rightly so. For once someone within their rights to do so, has stood up to one Chav, and given the goon a bit of his own medicine.

A Chav is someone in my opinion who has taken the decision to be a social misfit, his job in life is to cause as much trouble as he possibly can! The reason I say this is that most are over the age of 16. So it can be scientifically argued that by that age they have formed a sense of society and what is excepted within it.

Psychologically a Chav is a choice and not a socio-environmental consequence.

Usually by the age of 6 we have a good foundation in what is right and what is wrong, we learn by watching and listening to our parents, teachers and those in authority.

Usually in our late teens we go through a rebellious stage, this is totally normal, scientifically the onslaught of hormones sends us into mood swings and the mind matures and reaches out to gain knowledge through this we make our own identity.

Of course we will fight against anything we feel does not agree with our thoughts on life and the society in which we live. This can be a testing time for parents as we often do the opposite to the “right way”! But ultimately we settle down again and move on and develop into unique human beings.

However in the case of a Chav:

He has decided that he is not going to conform, he likes nothing more than to try and stamp his authority over everybody else, he is usually around the age of 16-19 and has not grasped that if he shouts and swears and imposes his will on someone who is more inteligent than him he will be made to feel tiny.

So he responds by throwing his weight around, squaring up to you physically and attempting to intimidate the person he is trying to beat.

As you can see in this video, an adult in “mind” stands and tolerates the childish words, that make sense, he takes the constant goading for a fight, and then he finally breaks and gives the “Chav” a bit of a slap! Whats more the chav falls flat on his backside and then turns into some kind of invertebrate!

This is how the Chav lives his life, fighting then gets a bit of a tap and then crumples. Whats more while this video is in Circulation the Chav who got the slap is continually humiliated. I can imagine it now, while the goon brags about a fight he had last week, and how he put the bloke flat on the ground all his mates will look on youtube and other sites and see the real thing!

If you cant take the heat don’t sit on the cooker!

There is no help for a person who makes the conscious choice to live a life of going against the grain. They can not be rehabilitated, for that to happen they have to realise that there is a different option in life.

Where have the Police gone?

When I was young about the age of this yob, there were Police in your local community, they were like friends that you respected. A “Bobbie” would know you and your family and the rest of your community, and would come in for a cup of Tea and a natter.

A Policeman who knew a lot about what was happening in your area, someone who could have a bit of a laugh and joke with you.

I only got told off by our local Policeman once, as he knew me and all my family the humiliation of being told off for swearing in front of him, and he gave me a clip round the ear and ceremonially marched me off home, and talking to my Mum about my public outburst. That was fine but then you get told off by your parents and that’s worse. By the next day the neighbours had heard and you felt the size of an Ant.

All this without being arrested and issued with an ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order), he made a note of my name though and the act of writing it in his little black note book for when he gets back to the station, but the fear of God in me!

Admittedly we were as it seems now a generation of quieter kids, we made our own entertainment, we didn’t spend a day on the Internet or playing games consoles. We actually played out in the rain as well as the Sun. We didn’t want to immediately claim for falling over in the street.

We ate as a family when possible, and if we didn’t like it we didn’t eat it simple! We didn’t have 2 main meals cooked one meal just for me and one for Mum and Dad. These were the days when your Dad gave you a smacked backside and that was that. No need for Social Services and fear of being accused of Child Abuse!

When I was 10 and gave Dad a mouthful of abuse, I was sent to bed without dinner! At worst a bit of sore backside and I NEVER did it again!

Now you get it where the kid will retaliate and attempt to give as good as he gets, not realizing he was the cause of it to begin with!

It’s a real Shame,

Today some people can’t make their own entertainment, that they would rather vegetate in front of a computer game rather than going out and playing football, rugby or cricket. I remember going out and cracking my head open once.. It hurt like hell, and meant My parents had to take me to hospital to get my head stitched back together. But it didn’t stop me going out 3 days later and getting a few grazes. It’s part of living!

Life today is all to soft. We claim insurance for falling over a hole and bleeding, we are scared of getting a bit wet. We throw food away for dropping it on the floor. When did people stop picking up the food and giving it a blow and eat it.

Is it any wonder the new generations immune systems are as weak as a feather in a force 9 gale??

By the way I am only approaching 30 years old.

Until next time……