Oddities in Oxford (besides Randy)

A shark swam into the roof of a house

In Oxford, and not through the water.

It dove through the tiles, the result of a joust

A shark swam through the roof of a house

By a man with a crane and a bit of a grouse,

Though I cannot conceive how he caught her.

A shark swam into the roof of a house

In Oxford, and not through the water.

- RWW 2007

Bungee for Jesus

A sanctuary with roots in the 13th century normally means quiet and hushed tones, unless you realize that an austere reverence is not building the British church -- then you go for Bungeeeees! Tina and I helped manage the bungee run for kids at the village church of St. Leonards in Eynsham, as part of a community outreach. It was a scream.

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Where there is a will, there is a way
The saga of the Inklings chairs has a happy ending ... we hope. To recap, Randy found that the Mitre, one of the pubs the Inklings used (C.S. Lewis, JRR Tolkein, Charles Williams and others) was renovating and selling their chairs. Some famous bottoms might have pressed these cusions, so he couldn't resist. He paid €2 each (about $4). But how to get them home? Shipping would have cost $340! The answer: dismantle and box them and check them as luggage. He'll be sipping tea in them soon and thinking about all the people who laughed at him.

Some thoughts from Forgotten Among the Lillies, by Richard Rolheiser:
The last line of St. John of the Cross' classic The Dark Night of the Soul says that he was able to "leave his anxieties and cares, forgotten among the lillies." Rolheiser picks up this theme and has written one of the most powerful books on this subject I've ever read. At the end of the book he gives some "guidelines for the long haul", which I share here with you, though a summary can never capture the beauty of what went into it:

1. Be grateful: never look a gift universe in the mouth. To be a saint is nothing less than to be warmed and vitalized by gratitude. We owe it to our Creator to appreciate things, to be as happy as we can. Resist pessimism and false guilt.

2. Don't be naiive about God. Religion is not mere consolation. It puts a belt around you and takes you where you would rather not go. Demands from God always seem unreasonable. Learn to wrestle with God.

3. Walk forward when possible. When impossible, try to get one foot in front of the next. Expect long periods of darkness and confusion. Jesus cried, the saints sinned, Peter betrayed.

4. Pray that God will hold onto you.

5. Love. There are only two tragedies: not to love and not to tell others we love them.

6. Accept what you are: Fear not! You are inadequate! Accept the torture of a life that is inadequate. Understand your own brand of martyrdom.

7. Don't mummify: Let things die. Let go.

8. Refuse to take things seriously: Call yourself a fool often. Laugh and play and give yourself over to silliness.

9. Do not journey alone.

10. Go soft. G.K. Chesterton noted that rocks sink, birds rise, hardness is a weakness, fragility is a force.

It may take me until the next sabbatical to appropriate this perspective. I may need your help.