Climate change is threatening your daily cuppa

As the world leaders gathered in Indonesia for the United Nations’ climate negotiations earlier this month, Cafédirect (the UK’s largest 100% Fairtrade hot drinks company) issued a warning that international tea and coffee production is threatened by climate change. Putting the challenges growers face in the media spotlight, nationally and internationally, Cafédirect used the negotiations as an opportunity to issue a press release to raise awareness of the effect a rapidly changing climate has on international tea and coffee production. The website has further information on the Cafédirect and GTZ climate change project.

Grateful for a goat

The BBC website discusses How to receive a goat (if you receive an alternative Christmas present) and other 21st Century etiquette dilemmas.

Boxing Day recipes

Cook more turkey than you needed? The British Turkey website has a range of recipes for leftover turkey. The website also provides some Turkey trivia.

Happy Christmas!

How silently, how silently, the wondrous Gift is giv’n;
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His Heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in

Match your coffees with festive foods

Cafédirect offer advice on the appropriate festive food to partner your Fairtrade coffee.

Significant anniversaries

Two significant anniversaries have fallen this week: on Tuesday it was 300 years since the birth of Charles Wesley and today is the 200th anniversary of John Newton’s death. How much poorer the Christian church worldwide would have been without these two men......

Wrap Art

Still got presents to wrap? You could take the scientific approach and work out how much wrapping paper you need. Or you could be more artistic and try Wrap Art: wrapping presents creatively, using fragments of paper and miscellaneous items from around your house.

Messiah: still going strong after 265 years

The Guardian discusses why Handel's Messiah has lasted so well:

"Messiah represents Handel's direct, personal response to the Bible, but the pacing remains essentially operatic. He was always an opera man, anxious to tell his story dramatically. The overture brilliantly sets the mood for the rest of the parts, filling us with a sense of hope and lightness. Then Handel launches into the sublime Comfort Ye, which calms everyone down. It's Handel saying: "I'm going to make you listen, because this is a long story." He takes you into another world and has this ability to uplift people, then calm them, before taking them up again. As a result, Messiah never fails."

Last Posting Dates for Christmas 2007

The Last Posting Dates website tells it like it is! There is now 1 day left to use your Christmas stamps before the final Royal Mail posting date for Christmas 2007.

Free rooms for Mary and Joseph at Travelodge

Here's a fantastic PR stunt from Travelodge: it is offering couples called Mary and Joseph a free "room at the inn" at any one of its 322 hotels in the UK. The 'gift' of a free night's stay is to make up for the hotel industry not having any rooms left on Christmas Eve over 2,000 years ago when the original 'Mary and Joseph' had to settle for the night in a stable.

Today's Mary and Joseph are offered a "spacious Travelodge family room which can also cater for a baby and a manger". A free car-parking space will be provided for the donkey and there are plenty of rooms available for the Shepherds and Wise Men to book. The couple can stay anytime from Christmas Eve to the Twelfth Night.

God rest you merry atheist

I was intrigued to read that Richard Dawkins enjoys singing Christmas carols as, despite his strong anti-faith polemic, he has described himself as a "cultural Christian" in a recent BBC interview. Yet the words of many carols are soaked in the gospel, so perhaps one year he may come to find his view that science has all the answers is transcended by a greater Truth as he sings:

Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth

2007 Word of the Year

The Word of the Year in 2007 is locavore. Never heard of it? “Locavore” was coined two years ago by four women in San Francisco who proposed that local residents should try to eat only food grown or produced within a 100-mile radius. Other regional movements have emerged since then, though some groups refer to themselves as “localvores” rather than “locavores.” There are echoes of Christian Ecology’s LOAF principle.

Carbon cost of Christmas dinner

After the good news about researchers working on solving our Christmas wrapping problems comes the negative news of research into the carbon footprint of our Christmas dinner! Academics calculated the production, processing and transportation costs of the festive ingredients and announced that a combined carbon footprint equivalent to 6,000 car journeys around the world will be produced by the UK population eating their Christmas dinner. The worst offender is cranberry sauce, as the importing the cranberries from the US contributes up to half the carbon footprint related to transport. So, maybe the best gift to request this Christmas is the carbon offset option.

Christmas shopping

Did you observe Buy Nothing Day? If not, maybe the cartoon says it all!

[Cartoon by Dave Walker. Reproduced and posted in accordance with conditions of use at We Blog Cartoons]

Science of wrapping presents

I was delighted to read in the Metro newspaper that a researcher at Leicester University has devised an eco-friendly scientific formula on how to wrap a Christmas present. Apparently most of us overestimate the amount of paper we need to wrap up Christmas presents. However, mathematician Warwick Dumas has been working with Bluewater to devise the perfect method of gift-wrapping to help customers save time and money and reduce the amount of paper that will be wasted. The length of the wrapping paper should be as long as the perimeter of the side of the gift, with no more than 2cm allowed for an overlap and the width should be just a little over the sum of the width and the depth of the gift. Mathematically, this can be expressed as A1 = 2(ab+ac+bc+c2).

Kitschmas

The satirical Christian website Ship of Fools hunts down kitsch religious-themed items it has seen for sale. The BBC website has produced a photo gallery of some of the tackiest. Meanwhile Ship of Fools itself has a Christ vs. kitsch feature about kitsch and true religion.

Want a second go at life?

It is the first Sunday of Advent today. You may have already seen this year's Christmas campaign from the Churches Advertising Network which is: "Want a second go at life?" It has radio and poster ads which invite people to visit a special space on Second Life, the virtual world, where they can find out more about the Christian faith and second chances of life.

Read any good film reviews recently?

It was good to read an article entitled Hooray for the internet movie database in this week's Technology Guardian as I normally link to the relevant Internet Movie Database review if I'm publicising an Infusion Film Night. Jack Schofield notes that "the IMDb is still the best place for movie trivia, but few people realise its history as a net pioneer" - the service was actually set up in 1990 and the first web version of the database went live in 1993. Like Jack, I've used it for a long time - I remember promoting it to film studies students and researchers in mid-1990s.

Charity hits out at ethical gifts

Are you sending some alternative ("ethical") gifts this year? I was disturbed to discover that an education charity is claiming that 'give-a-goat'-type gifts "are degrading for developing countries". The Director of Worldwrite suggests that "we should ditch the ethical items in our shopping trolleys. If we want to help our peers, we need to think big and hand over the money", and this month the charity is releasing two films that claim many NGO campaigns are simply about making people feel good and not about helping people. However, the manager of Oxfam Unwrapped says that "What might feel like a fun thing to do at Christmas has an impact the whole year round.... We work with communities who, at the beginning of each year, tell us what they need and want".

What do you think? I remembered an article Getting your goat, from a couple of years ago that follows up one such give-a-goat project and reports the positive impact on the community concerned.

More on sleep

I love the serendipity of blogging... I write another post about sleep and the next day stumble across a podcast on the topic which discusses the Wellcome Collection's new exhibition of sleep and dreaming.

Cat nap or power nap?

It seems that sleep deprivation is becoming a national problem. I posted recently on the theology of sleep, but if you're still feeling tired all the time, the BBC website is offering top tips for nodding off.

Lincoln Christmas Market

If you are planning to go on the Infusion trip to Lincoln on Saturday 8 December, you may be interested in reading the Christmas Market website with dates and times, facts, and photos. You an also view a web film about the Market.

Should you have the time, inclination and money, here are some more exotic Christmas shopping trips....

Countdown to Christmas (8)

Here's an example of what Libby Purves was talking about concerning Advent calendars: while several Infusion members are diehard Doctor Who fans, I do think a Dalek advent calendar is going too far!

Tearfund uses Facebook to campaign

I was recently invited to add the Superbadger application to my Facebook profile. This is a great application which aims to unite thousands of Facebook users in the fight against global poverty. It enables you to send pre-written emails direct from your profile to those people who make key decisions affecting those living in poverty. Roughly every two weeks a new badger will be uploaded.

Whether it's badgering politicians about climate change or badgering supermarkets to stock more Fairtrade products, we all need to be in the movement of Facebook badgers!

And if this has encouraged you to sign up, then why not ask me to add you to the Infusion Facebook group as well?

Countdown to Christmas (7)

After discussing Advent reading, I was going to discuss Advent calendars but I'm not sure that I can improve on Libby Purves's posting on Advent Rage - do check it out!She also references a website offering the history of the Advent Calendar.

Guardian praises TFTD

You probably gather that I tend to listen to Thought for the Day most days, although I'm aware that opinions vary. However, I was intrigued to read a Guardian editorial today in their "In praise of...."series on TFTD. While still calling for the inclusion of "non-religious contributors", the leader says:

"while the slot may be one of Radio 4's Marmite offerings (provoking either love or hatred), the evidence shows the audience appreciates it"

Buy Nothing Day - No Purchase Necessary!

To buy, or not to buy, that is the question.....

Saturday November 24h 2007 is Buy Nothing Day (UK), It's a day where you challenge yourself, your family and friends to switch off from shopping and tune into life. The rules are simple, for 24 hours you will detox from consumerism and live without shopping. Anyone can take part provided they spend a day without spending!

The challenge is easy - try simple living for a day. Spend time with family and friends, rather than spend money on them. Buy Nothing Day also exposes the environmental and ethical consequences of consumerism. The developed countries - only 20% of the world population are consuming over 80% of the earth's natural resources, causing a disproportionate level of environmental damage and unfair distribution of wealth.

As consumers we need to question the products we buy and challenge the companies who produce them. What are the true risks to the environment and developing countries? It's our responsibility to look for simple solutions and Buy Nothing Day is a good place to start.

Advent resources

Having looked at various aspects of preparing for Christmas, surely the most important is preparing ourselves to encounter Immanuel - God with us - afresh this year. Many Christian publishers have ranges of Advent books - daily meditations or readings to use in the weeks leading up to Christmas Day (and often beyond to Epiphany). These include: BRF, CWR, and the Good Book Company. Last year the Church Times ran a review of Advent books.

There are also free web resources:

• Lifewords have a Christmas site which is loaded with useful resources for church and community (powerpoints and screensavers, audio downloads, invites, service and assembly outlines) all free to download and adapt for your own context
  
• Lifewords are also publishing Advent devotionals (1-12 December) which you can receive by email or read on the Advent blog
  
• Scripture Union publish a free to download Advent Bible Reading Guide
• The Evangelical Alliance offer an Advent Prayer Guide for 2007
• rejesus offers three short meditations on the Nativity and a range of other Christmas resources (including Christmas carol karaoke!)
• The ReSource website has some Poems for Advent
• The Cyber Hymnal can provide you with the words (and music) of many Advent hymns and Christian Aid have a Carol Sheet to download
  

Nostalgia publishing

If you've organised your Christmas gifts for others, here's a suggestion from the BBC website for people of a certain age. It refers to reprints of the "Janet and John" series of books, which were used to to teach several generations of children to read. A wave of nostalgia has gripped the publishing industry following the success of Conn and Hal Iggulden's Dangerous Book for Boys published in 2006. In an attempt to cash in on the trend for retro chic, publishers are searching out books, particularly children's stories, from the 1950s and beyond, to lovingly reprint them in facsimile editions. Alternatively they are taking modern content and giving it a 1950s feel with retro design.

The perfect cup of tea

If you're new to the Infusion blog, you'll spot lots of posts about tea, reflecting what may be viewed as an obsession on behalf of some of us. So it was with interest that I noted a British Library blog entry alerting me to the existence of a British Standard for a cup of tea. The writer comments that his is probably "the logical result of something the British do best, tea and bureaucracy"! You can read read the full scientific detail in the Standard document.

Countdown to Christmas (5)

Here’s another alternative gift scheme – this time to support developments in Kiteto, Tanzania - part of the Diocese of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania which is linked with the Diocese of Leicester. Donations will be put towards purchasing special Kangas (the skirt worn by women) to celebrate the creation of a new diocese and then towards the school building project. In return you will receive a special Christmas Gift Card to give to your friend or relative. The card is a Christmas picture by Liz Minichiello, a community artist who has spent time in Tanzania, and inside is a photograph one of the Kangas and a picture of the school.

The project is being co-ordinated by members of Whitwick and Ratby parish churches on behalf of the Diocese of Mount Kilimanjaro Association with the support of the Leicester Diocese DMK Group.

Technology and mission

In Plugging the Planet into the Word, the Washington Post reports on how mission agencies are using technology for evangelism and Bible translation work: An excellent overview of 21st century mission work, the article discusses how innovative uses of

"technological devices ranging from simple cassette tapes to solar-powered audio players and an iPod-like gadget called the Bible Stick, [enable] Christian groups ... to make one of the world's oldest books accessible in remote corners of the planet."

The article also drew my attention to the Mission Atlas Project - a website with a range of resources including maps, tabular data sets, and written descriptions. It is a constantly expanding site that seeks to produce a strategically significant World Missions Atlas, and the information is helpful in assessing the current status of missions work throughout the world.

Nylon tea bags

The latest marketing push for tea will be nylon mesh teabags (according to the Patent Search Blog). The idea is that nylon teabags allow the tea leaves to unfurl within the bags (which paper-based bags don't) and experts claim that the taste is considerably improved. However, this will increase the cost of the teabag; apparently an average paper teabag 2 pence whereas a nylon one will cost about 8 pence - a 300% price increase - and the bags are also not biodegradable. It appears that 96%of tea drunk in Britain is in the form of teabags. Maybe we should return to using a teapot and loose tea for the sake of our health, our wallets and the environment!

Countdown to Christmas (4)

The BBC notes that the Church of England has welcomed the Royal Mail's return to a religious theme for its 2007 Christmas stamps. The collection of eight stamps is illustrated with pictures of angels or the Madonna and Child.

Give farmers a break! Use your LOAF

Some time ago I came cross Christian Ecology’s LOAF principle which encourages people to choose food that meets at least one of the following criteria: Locally produced, Organically grown, Animal friendly or Fairly traded.

Now the Church of England has told the Competition Commission that the pursuit of cheap food coupled with the buying power of the big supermarkets is putting farming livelihoods at risk. Making farmers pay for supermarkets’ own promotions is just one of a number of invisible and pernicious practices squeezing farm-gate prices.

The Church argues that a wider debate is urgently needed on the effects of retailers extracting ‘below cost’ supply agreements from farmers and their effect on a sustainable and flourishing agricultural sector. The call for wider debate comes in the report Fairtrade begins at home: Supermarkets and the effect on British farming livelihoods submitted to the Competition Commission by the Church’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG).

The report encourages consumers to question the impact on farmers of very low prices and the nature of special promotions (2 for 1 offers etc) in store, who the beneficiaries are, and how supermarkets supply certain goods at reduced prices, and at whose expense. It contends that there should be a debate around a genuine fair trade “mark” for British food, reared, grown, produced and processed, that offers consumers and suppliers a fair product for a fair price.

Set your videos....

Radio Times has alerted me to a couple of programmes in the next week of interest to Doctor Who fans:

• On Sunday David Tennant crops up in Learners a comedy drama about a terrible driver who remains determined to pass her driving test. He plays Chris, a driving instructor. An earlier press release indicated that the latter role has a twist as Chris is a devout Christian with the patience of a saint. Its always interesting to see how the media portrays Christians...
• On Friday 16th, Children in Need will include a mini-episode of Doctor Who with the fifth (Peter Davison) and tenth incarnations (David Tennant) meeting up.

Countdown to Christmas (3)

Still thinking about Christmas giving, here are some alternative gift ideas (sometimes called ethical gifts). They won't clutter up anyone's home, but will make a significant contribution to the individual or community who are given the gift. New this year is Tear Fund's Living Gifts - this is slightly different to the other schemes in that the recipient (rather than the giver) gets to choose the virtual gift.

• Bible Society's Bible a Month
• Good Gifts
  
• Oxfam Unwrapped
• RSPB Virtual Gifts
• Tear Fund's Living Gifts
• UNICEF Inspired Gifts
• World Vision's Alternative Gifts
  

Finally, the Gift offset calculator will enable you to purchase carbon offsetting for driving, holidays, homes or even one person's portion of the annual UK emissions (12 tonnes of CO!).

Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord

We've been privileged in the past week to attend two different music events (not concerts as audience participation was very much encouraged!). Last Friday four Infusion-ites listened to Ian White in the surroundings of Loughborough Parish Church (great acoustics for an acoustic set!). Ian has just released a new album, Psalms Revisited, with a mix of old and new settings. Then on Tuesday we attended the first night of Christian Praise 2007 - tremendous singing and great musical settings of of solid songs. The choir clearly had a great time too, and I always enjoy picking out familiar faces.

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord Ephesians 5:19

Wainwright on your iPod

Interesting item in today's Guardian on the availability of a podcast of Wainwright guiding walkers up Helm Crag. The podcast has been devised by the Tourist Board to help visitors stay on the right path while winter walking on one of Wainwrights favourite hills – Helm Crag, Grasmere, better known as the Lion and the Lamb.

"It creates the effect that the late, pipe-smoking fell wanderer himself is guiding you on one of his favourite Lake District walks - with his craggy voice giving the instructions through your earphones as you walk over 1,100ft into the stunning scenery high above the pretty Lake District village."

The selections from Wainwright's wry notes to his maps of 1,000ft Helm Crag are read by the actor who voiced Wainwright's voice on the recent BBC TV series on Wainwright's life and favourite walks: Nik Wood-Jones. You can find the podcast here.

Amazing Newton

I'm looking forward to reading John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace, a new biography of John Newton (which I reserved at the library some time ago). So I was interested to read an interview with Jonathan Aitken, who wrote the biography, on the Christianity Today website. When asked to sum up Newton's legacy, Jonathan Aitken said:

"I seek to alert readers to how colorful, how historically important, how politically effective, and how deeply spiritual a man Newton was. He understood perfectly about getting hold of Wilberforce and mentoring him spiritually.

The story goes that Wilberforce came to see Newton to say, "Mr. Newton, I think I want to go into the church." Newton said, "No, no, Mr. Wilberforce, stay where you are and serve God in Parliament."

...

It's often said there would have been no abolition of the slave trade without William Wilberforce, but it's absolutely fair to say there would have been no spiritually motivated William Wilberforce as a determined campaigner if it hadn't been for the friendship and mentoring of John Newton."

The theology of sleep

Following on from my post on changing the clocks, I've come across a blog post on the theology of sleep and a sermon to download on A Biblical Understanding of Sleep. The latter is part of a series called Sanctifying the Ordinary* and there are messages on sleep, eating, work and leisure. They are all based on 1 Corinthians 10.31: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" . Finally, here are some Celtic prayers to help you prepare to sleep and a link to Night prayer from Common Worship.

* This links to a $20 CD but scroll down and you'll come to the individual free downloads

Fireworks

[Photos taken on Dec 31st 1999, Mountsorrel]

As we look forward to the annual Infusion Bonfire Party on Saturday 3rd November, here's some links to check out beforehand:

• Guy Fawkes: a Biography
• The Gunpowder Plot Society
  
• Bonfire Night recipes
• More recipes...
  
• Fireworks: the science behind the spectacle
• Government advice to encourage a safe and responsible understanding of fireworks, their sale, and use

Faith and science

Is faith an electrical anomaly? The latest attempt to find a "God spot" in the brain using an MRI scanner on Carmelite nuns is reported in an article in Scientific American . This discusses how researchers are unearthing the roots of religious feeling in the neural commotion that accompanies the spiritual epiphanies of nuns, Buddhists and other people of faith. The article ends by saying:

"no matter what neural correlates scientists may find, the results cannot prove or disprove the existence of God. Although atheists might argue that finding spirituality in the brain implies that religion is nothing more than divine delusion, the nuns were thrilled by their brain scans for precisely the opposite reason: they seemed to provide confirmation of God’s interactions with them. After all, finding a cerebral source for spiritual experiences could serve equally well to identify the medium through which God reaches out to humanity. Thus, the nuns’ forays into the tubular brain scanner did not undermine their faith. On the contrary, the science gave them an even greater reason to believe."

For a very stimulating talk, that further discusses the issue of faith and science listen to Science & Spirituality - is Dawkins right? (or read the transcript) from Rev Dr Alison Morgan of Holy Trinity, Leicester. She concludes:

"Science is fascinating and wonderful. It’s brought us astonishing advances in knowledge. But it doesn’t help us make sense of what we know. Maybe we should give the last word to Professor Stephen Hawking, who probably understands the universe better than anyone. This is what he says: “Although science may solve the problem of how the universe began, it cannot answer the question ‘why does the universe bother to exist?’. I don’t know the answer to that.’"

But as a Christians I think that we do have some answers. My experience is that we find those answers in a dimension of existence of which Richard Dawkins as yet has no experience. We find them in the context of a relationship with God."

Changing the clocks

A reminder that you need to turn your clocks back an hour on Sunday (otherwise you may turn up at church an hour early!). How are you affected when the clocks change? An article in The Guardian explains how our biological clocks are affected and how we can adapt to the seasonal shift.

Autumn foliage (Market Bosworth area)

Snapped on the Infusion walk round Market Bosworth on Saturday 13th October.

Marke Greene on tea and coffee

Spotted an article by Mark Greene, in which he ponders on the phenomenal growth in coffee shops (which are now more numerous than estate agents on our high streets) and asks whether this trend is a friend or an enemy to community. He also muses on the relative values of tea and coffee, and challenges us as to whether these trends lead to less hospitality.

Here are a few quotes but do read the full article:

"Employers wanted higher productivity, more people spending more time at their desks and more flexibility for workers to time their caffeine hit to their own bio-rhythms and ‘fatigue curve’. And in this they were aided by what one might call ‘the cultural values of tea’. Tea was about stopping work whereas coffee never was. Coffee was a stimulus to work and had somehow retained its connection with the intellectual fertility of the early coffee houses. Tea, though perhaps more significant in the early centuries than coffee, lost its connection with productivity. Coffee means activity, tea means leisure. Coffee makes work better. Tea is a pause from it. Coffee is an aid to workaholism, tea an antidote. Similarly, if you have had a terrible day at work, just discovered dry rot in your roof, subsidence in your kitchen, been abandoned by your spouse and knocked off your bike, your neighbour won’t offer you, “A nice hot latte” but rather “A nice hot cup of tea.”
...
“If coffee is about activity and adventure and tea is about rumination and comfort, no wonder church is associated with tea. At the same time, more and more churches are serving ground coffee, partly because more and more people have experienced ground coffee and are less content with instant. And partly because it’s simply nicer."
...
"Perhaps the growing number of places to have a cup of coffee with friends or acquaintances is not so much a sign of the regeneration of relationships in our culture but actually their decline. It’s convenient, it’s true, to pop in to a coffee shop. And it’s often refreshing to get out of the house and delightful not to have to tidy the place up to make it presentable enough to say, “Oh, sorry, it’s such a mess.” But still I wonder whether choosing to treat ourselves in the neutral arena of Starbucks is also a way to avoid inviting people into the revealing realities of our homes and the more intimate connections that can be forged by serving them tea or coffee or frog and nettle infusion, or whatever it is you happen to have in the cupboard that might change the colour of boiled water and serve to nurture a relationship."

EU Anti-Trafficking Day

Today is EU Anti-Trafficking Day. In this bicentenary year since since the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, led by William Wilberforce, there has been increased publicity about the fact that slavery continues to this day, in child labour, people trafficking and other forms of oppression. Many churches have chosen to promote Stop the Traffik, a global coalition working together to help stop the sale of people. Check out the Stop the Traffik website lists practical ways in which you can get involved.

An inconvenient truth?

First the Oscar-winning film made by former US Vice-President Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, was distributed to UK secondary schools. Then a Kent school governor attempted to ban the film from secondary schools. Subsequently a High Court judge ruled that the film can be shown in England's secondary schools. It was subsequently reported that the judge said that the film contains "nine scientific errors". Mr Justice Burton said the government could still send the film to schools - provided it is accompanied by guidance giving the other side of the argument.

Then last week Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the UN were jointly awarded The Nobel Peace Prize 2007 for "their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change". In the accompanying press release, the Nobel Committee said: "By awarding the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 to the IPCC and Al Gore, the Norwegian Nobel Committee is seeking to contribute to a sharper focus on the processes and decisions that appear to be necessary to protect the world’s future climate, and thereby to reduce the threat to the security of mankind. Action is necessary now, before climate change moves beyond man’s control."

If you haven't already done so, then watch the film - and decide for yourself whether words of the mealy-mouthed High Court ruling or the 2007 Peace Prize citation are more likely to encourage individuals to act on global warming. Want to do something now? Then download 10 simple things to do to see ways you can reduce your carbon footprint.

Countdown to Christmas (2)

After considering ways to make Christmas special for children with very little, I spotted an article in The Guardian entitled Meet the new face of Christmas which discusses what will fill Santa's sack for children in the western world this year. According to toy manufacturers who made their annual prediction of Christmas best-sellers last week, games based on films and TV characters will be the best-sellers. Retailers said a surge in the popularity of entertainment characters could be due to the summer's bad weather, which led to increased cinema attendance.

The article links to a gallery of what retailers expect to be the dozen best-selling toys this year. Included is a Dalek Sec hybrid voice changer mask, which changes your voice to sound like a Dalek (until the batteries run out...)

Organ donation a Christian duty

The Church of England has told the House of Lords that giving oneself and one’s possessions voluntarily for the well being of others and without compulsion is a Christian duty - and that organ donation is a striking example of this. The Church’s Mission and Public Affairs Division was responding to the Lords’ EU Social Policy and Consumer Affairs sub-committee’s inquiry into the EU Commission’s Communication on organ donation and transplantation: policy actions at EU level.

The response repeats the Church’s opposition to selling organs for commercial gain, while accepting organs being freely given by living donors, with no commercial gain. However, whether organ donation should be arranged through an "opt-in" or an "opt out" system is not a question on which Christians hold a single set of views, the C of E response explains.

Spam weapon helps preserve books

Fascinating story on the BBC News website about how a spam weapon is helping to preserve books! CAPTCHAs are an automated test to tell computers and humans apart when signing up to an account or logging in. Created as a tool created to foil spammers, the test consists of typing in a few random letters in an image. Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is using this test to help decipher words in books that machines cannot read by letting sites use them to authenticate log-ins. A common complaint is that Internet users "waste" time while trying to interpret heavily distorted CAPTCHAs. However, the CMU research team has devised an ingenious system - reCAPTCHA - to put the time used interpreting CAPTCHAs to good use in the cause of preserving old books and manuscripts. [More info on the reCAPTCHA website]

Religion and Radio 4

After a Thought for the Day on the BBC marking the 40th anniversary of the reorganisation of its radio network, the Church Times looks back at Radio 4 and religion over the past four decades. In the article, "Wireless, but not yet faithless", David Hendy notes that Radio 4 was — and remains — ecumenical in the broadest sense: "a conduit of information, contemplation, surprise, familiarity, provocation, and escape". He concludes that Radio 4's essential purpose remains "a gently civilising mission, to show us the crooked timber of humanity — and that the world is broader than people sometimes think".
[This week's Church Times is available online because of the postal strike]

Cookin’ With Google

I mentioned Cookin’ With Google to a friend recently, and realised that it could perhaps do with a bit more exposure. Its a simple idea: you input a list of ingredients into the search box and get back a list of recipes that Google finds for you. Great for the day before you supermarket shop when there is an odd combination of food in the fridge! It is an American resource so you may need to use this English - American Food food dictionary if you have some spare courgettes (zucchini)! So take a look at the Search Tips, then get cookin’!

Friends and Heroes brings Bible Stories to BBC2

A new series of animated action adventure series focusing on Bible stories is currently running on BBC2. Friends and Heroes, the UK-produced cartoon, aims to bring Bible stories from both the Old and New Testaments to a new generation of children (6-10 years) who may never have heard them before, with thirteen episodes running from September to December. They feature state-of-the-art 2D and 3D animation to tell the story of two first-century young people, Macky and Portia, who meet when they live in Roman-occupied Alexandria. Their idealism and friendship leads them across the ancient world from the besieged city of Jerusalem to Rome.

The series has been produced to the highest standards of biblical integrity with Revd Stephen Gaukroger, Senior Minister at Gold Hill Baptist Church, as senior biblical advisor. It has also been endorsed by members of the Catholic Church’s Bishops’ Council for use in Catholic schools. Scheduling details and further information found here.

Lingua Latina

Sections of Wikipedia now appear in about 250 languages, serving communities across the world, making it one of the world’s most translated documents. However, one project serves a language most people think of as "dead": Vicipaedia. Contributors to the site have translated more than 15,000 Wikipedia entries into Latin! The Wall Street Journal offers a profile of Vicipaedia’s editors, who admit that the project is “a slightly odd thing to do in this century”. The site’s content is eclectic as most readers and contributors use Vicipaedia to test their language skills, rather than to conduct real research. There’s plenty of debate about neologisms as editors can’t seem to agree on the proper Latin word for “computer”! [Spotted in The Wired Campus]

TFTD as Radio 4 turns 40

As Radio 4 turned 40, this morning Colin Morris looked back at Thought for the Day over the years. He likened speaking on TFTD to "tiptoeing through a minefield" and continued:. "If you are fervent, you'll be called preachy by the generality of listeners but approved of by the devout; if you are undogmatic, that may be more congenial to the generality, but the devout will write you off as wishy-washy". Very true! If your schedule doesn't allow you to catch TFTD every day you can listen / read it on the Radio4 website or get it as a Podcast.

Tea advertising claim under attack

The Advertising Standards Authority has criticised a UK Tea Council poster which recommended drinking four cups a day as part of a healthy diet, saying that the advertising campaign which highlighted the health benefits of tea was guilty of exaggeration. The ASA said there was no evidence to "firmly substantiate" the claims of the Tea Council that tea was rich in beneficial antioxidants also found in fruit and vegetables.

An independent expert who advised the ASA said evidence about the health benefits of drinking tea was "promising but inconclusive". He said that while there was some scientific evidence that tea may protect against cancer and heart disease, the findings had yet to be confirmed in tests on humans.

However, as around 165 million cups of tea are drunk in the UK every day (which equates to more than 62 billion cups a year) according to a 2006 study by the International Tea Committee, it may take more than the ASA's slap on the wrist to the Tea Council to change the drinking habits of Infusion members.

Half of world’s languages may become extinct by 2100

Languages are now becoming extinct faster than birds, mammals, fish or plants. Of the estimated 7,000 unique languages spoken in the world today, nearly half are likely to disappear this century, with an average of one lost every two weeks. Losing a language often means losing the knowledge and history of an entire culture, especially when there is no written record available. For this reason, the National Geographic Society and the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages have engaged in an impressive undertaking to identify and record the most endangered languages in the world.

If you want to follow this up, another resource is Ethnologue: Languages of the World, a comprehensive catalog which alphabetically lists all known living languages (Ethnologue lists 6,912), documenting the world’s complex language situations, including endangered languages. Ethnologue is produced by SIL International, a faith-based organization that studies, documents, and assists in developing the world’s lesser-known languages.

What's the carbon footprint of a potato?

With increased concern about food miles and our carbon footprint, its intriguiug to learn that local firm Walkers Crisps has become the first firm to put carbon footprint figures on its products, with nine more companies set to follow. In April, Walkers Crisps began labelling its cheese and onion bags with a carbon footprint - how many grams of greenhouse gases were emitted in its production - and that has been rolled out to other flavours. The calculations are done by the Carbon Trust, which spent several months working out that 75g of greenhouse gases are given off in the production of a 33.5g bag of Walkers crisps, taking into account the energy used in farming, manufacture, packaging, distribution and disposal.

Smile, please, you're on email

If you’ve ever ended an e-mail message or an instant message with an emoticon, now might be a good time to pause and reflect on the work of Scott E. Fahlman. It is 25 years ago this month since Mr. Fahlman, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, invented the digital smiley face. After a colleague joked about a contaminated elevator on an electronic bulletin board and this remark was mis-interpreted, Mr. Fahlman had his eureka moment: He recommended that future quipsters mark their jokes with :-) to make sure no one misconstrued their comments.

Simon Jenkins picks up on the use of emoticons in today's Guardian: I'd rather mingle souls by letter than live a life of regret through email. He writes that he is concerned that "email has become a substitute for both the telephone and the letter, and an inadequate one at that. As against the telephone, email is a distancing device. It not only eliminates tone of voice, it prevents interruption or response. It is a one-way conversation, a monologue, with all the rudeness that can imply."

After stating that he feels emails ought to carry a standard health warning, he concludes: "do something you may not have done for ages. Write a proper letter, rewriting it if necessary. The recipient will be amazed and delighted that you have taken the time. You will have written what you meant to say, and I bet you will have used no emoticons."

Spirituality and sticky-toffee pudding

Interesting to see that The Telegraph Travel section is recommending holiday breaks with religious communities. Our local retreat centre, Launde Abbey, is featured - in fact the title of this blog post comes from from the article as it describes Launde as "an Anglican community where sticky toffee pudding is a speciality and salads come fresh from the Victorian walled kitchen garden". Launde offers themed retreats and, if you want it, spiritual direction, but many come here simply for a quiet day or a restful break and peace is very much the keynote.

The Retreat Association website has more information on retreats as well as further resources including a Prayer for Stillness.

Jesus and Dr Who

Another post about Doctor Who and resonances with the Christian faith. There's news of a vicar who is using concepts from the series to teach about Jesus. Father Ben Andrews in Cardiff is planning a Dr Who themed evening of worship on Sunday, September 23. He will use themes from the series to explore the Christian faith with hopes that young people can worship in a way that’s right for them.

Countdown to Christmas

Am I the first person to point out that there are only 100 days until December 25th? If your first reaction is to utter a Scrooge-like "Bah, Humbug", then maybe a bit of retail therapy is required. But don't shop for yourself! Operation Christmas Child offers the ideal activity to focus on preparing for the Christmas season - by sending a message of hope to children in need around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes. Choosing gifts and then wrapping and filling a shoe box is a fun and rewarding activity – especially when you know these gifts are going to be used and treasured.

Operation Christmas Child enables caring individuals, churches, businesses, and other organisations to fill ordinary shoe boxes with small toys, school supplies, sweets, and other gifts for needy children around the world. Drop Off Points for the 2007 campaign will be open between November 4th and 20th. Want to learn more about the mpact of Operation Christmas Child - then watch the video or read some stories.

Foot and Mouth

While another outbreak of Foot and Mouth is mildly inconvenient for walkers, it is of course devastating for the famers involved. The Ramblers Association website provides updates on the outbreak and advice to walkers and other visitors to the countryside. Meanwhile, here are some prayers for those affected by the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease .

Back of Church Sunday

Some churches are preparing for Back to Church Sunday on Sunday September 30th 2007. But, especially for Anglicans, here's an alternative concept: Back of Church Sunday - a special Sunday when people would be especially invited to the back of church.

[Cartoon by Dave Walker, reproduced with permission]

Prayers for a Monday morning

The Church of England has today published a selection of prayers to help weary workers kick the post-holiday blues. The five prayers - by authors ranging from Charles Wesley to Sheridan James, a curate in Catford - have been selected to give busy people a chance to reflect and recharge with God's help. The prayers are taken from Pocket Prayers for Work (Church House Publishing, 2004) and are available online, alongside a range of other prayers on contemporary concerns.

Too busy......?

Christian Research reports on the findings of a five-year study, Distracted from God, which concludes that busyness is an obstacle to growth for Christians worldwide. Charleston Southern University School of Business looked at responses from over 20,000 Christians aged 15 upwards and across 139 countries. Fifty-four per cent of pastors said that they ‘rush from task to task’ - the highest score by occupation, maybe unsurprisingly. For 64% of teachers busyness interfered with the development of their relationship with God. The report showed that rushing about was not just a western symptom, but was ‘often’ or ‘always’ a way of life for Africans (33%), Australians (41%) and South Americans (42%).

Looks like the Archbishop of York was right in recomending we all start slowing down.. Maybe its worth trying the Obstacles to Growth Survey to assess yourself!

Wildlife in danger

Some of the most familiar animals in Britain, including the hedgehog and the house sparrow, have been added to the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, the government's early warning system for species in serious decline. The action plan, reviewed every 10 years, has doubled the number of species on the priority protection list, to 1,149 from 577 in 1997.

Concern about the hedgehog stems from an estimated fall in population which, if continued, would lead to extinction by 2025. Familiar mostly as a squashed victim on the roads, the spiny mammal is up against traffic, pollution, pesticides, and garden chemicals. We installed a hedgehog house almost two years ago (they can be ordered through the BHPS Hogalogue) and have seen up to three hedgehogs at a time in our garden. You can report hedgehog sightings on Hogwatch.

Hot drink, anyone?

I like my tea to be really hot and have sometimes been told that I must have an asbestos mouth. So I was interested to read that researchers at the University of California, Davis, produced a study called Drinking Hot Coffee: Why Doesn't It Burn the Mouth? To drink really hot coffee (or hot tea) is to swallow a paradox of pleasure and pain.

The researchers used sensors inside people's mouths to measure the temperatures at four locations inside the mouths of 18 coffee-drinkers while they drank hot coffee. After all the measuring and analysing, they concluded that, probably, during drinking the hot coffee is not held in the mouth long enough to heat the surfaces sufficiently to cause pain or tissue damage. So while drinking too much coffee can be bad for you, you're probably not doing too much harm if you drink it as hot as you can bear.

Where did you surf today?

There have been a number of news stories over the past couple of days looking at Web demographics in the light of an Ofcom report on The Communications Market 2007:

• Britain enjoying 'digital boom'

• Pathfinder kids

• The feminisation of the net

• In praise of...Silver surfers

They say if you can't beat them, join them - so perhaps now is the time to sign up for the Infusion Group on Facebook. Alternatively, maybe we should all get out more and get some ecotherapy by going for a walk!

Amazing Grace: the song

The hymn Amazing Grace first appeared in The Olney Hymns, published in 1779. The collection draws its name from the Buckinghamshire village of Olney, in England where John Newton was curate. The film’s UK website provides links to information about the hymn, including the story behind the hymn and the Biblical references contained in it.


The John Newton Project website provides a range of resources for the bicentenary of the death of John Newton (also 2007), and the Library of Congress offers an Amazing Grace timeline. .

Amazing Grace: local Wilberforce connections

In the 18th and 19th century, Rothley Temple (a manor house on the edge of Rothley village) was home to the Babington family. Thomas Babington, the MP for Leicester from 1800-1818, lived there until his death in 1837. He met leading abolitionist William Wilberforce at Cambridge University and they spent much time at Rothley Temple working together on the Bill to Abolish the Slave Trade.

The BBC Leicester website has a series of links on Abolition. This includes a brief article on Thomas Babington and the Wilberforce connection and a series of discussions on The Temple and the Trade. Greater detail is provided in the book Rothley and the Abolition of the Slave Trade by Terry Sheppard and Ian Whyte, which describes the mutual endeavours of Babington, Gisborne, Wilberforce and Macaulay.

Workers call for the return of the tea trolley

The Guardian reports on a survey by employment agency Office Angels. Office workers who were surveyed indicated that a full one-hour lunch break each day would boose morale considerably. Another key request was a return to the days of the tea trolley; this prompts a Guardian leader: In praise of the office tea trolley.

Info on the survey can be found in the Office Angels Press Releases Archive. The top traditions office workers wanted to see brought back were:

• Taking a full hour for your lunch break (39%)
• Annual ‘work outing’ (33%)
• Subsidised canteen (29%)
• The tea lady with her trolley full of sticky buns and afternoon delights (26%)
• Pub lunches - that last all afternoon! (23%)
• The sandwich man coming into the office with his selection of lunchtime treats (19%)

Holiday reading (5)

An earlier blog highlighted the books MPs are reading on holiday and I've now spotted that the Archbishop of York is sending every MP in the country some summer reading. Dr John Sentamu is sending MPs the 100-Minute Bible and the book Do Nothing to Change Your Life. The latter is "a guide to slowing down" written by the Bishop of Reading, Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell, and was published earlier this year. The book urges its readers to create pauses in daily life to benefit their own, and society's, health and well-being - it argues this fresh perspective of relishing every moment with a greater attentiveness will improve our relationship with God.

Do Nothing to Change Your Life is a passionate plea for the nation to ditch endless 'to do' lists, constant streams of emails, and an increasingly 24/7 culture. The book was published following news that an international study had shown that the pace of life in our cities has increased by 10 per cent in the last decade. Dr Sentamu says that he wants "to encourage our nation's elected representatives to slow down during their holiday and in that place of quiet and stillness to enter into the presence of God".

How much is too much coffee?

The BBC website reports on a teenager who had to be admitted to hospital after overdosing on espresso. This has prompted discussion on how much is too much coffee? The recommendation from the Department of Health (DoH) is not to drink more than five single espressos or seven instant coffees a day. The highest natural caffeine content is found in filter coffee, a mug of which contains about 120mgs of caffeine. Instant coffee contains roughly 75mgs and espresso 107mgs. The British Coffee Association provides more advice on How much caffeine is in your cup?

However, as individuals vary in their sensitivity to caffeine, it is apprently difficult to generalise. So perhaps it is best to stick to Earl Grey tea...

Transport Direct: online journey planner

I'm doing a lot more travelling by train again and have recently discovered the Transport Direct website. It offers information for door-to-door travel for both public transport and car journeys around Britain and aims "to provide you with comprehensive, easy-to-use travel information to help you plan your journeys effectively and efficiently". I particularly like the Check journey CO2 emissions gizmo in the Tips and Tools section.

Amazing Grace: Wilberforce in museums and on the web

After looking at Wilberforce on film and in books, we now turn to museums:

• The Long Road to Freedom is a travelling exhibition from Leicestershire museums to mark the bicentenary of the Act to Abolish the Slave Trade. This will be based at Donington le Heath Manor House from 12 July - 23 September 2007. The exhibition reveals local connections with the slave trade, and with those who battled to abolish slavery itself.
• Wilberforce Central is a private, non-profit alliance established to mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British and the U.S. slave trade (1807-2007) with a celebration of the William Wilberforce and the Clapham Group and an examination of their legacy as it affects today’s issues.
• Wilberforce House Museum in Hull was the birthplace and residence of Wilberforce, who was a Member of Parliament for Hull in the 19th century. The city is hosting a large number of events during 2007 to commemorate and celebrate the life and legacy of Hull’s most famous son.
• The British Library offers a list of sources on for the slave trade and abolition held in its collections.

• Wilberforce, Lincoln, and the Abolition of Slavery is an online exhibition from the Gilder Lehrman Collection. It presents a variety of original documents and images highlighting the story of the abolition of slavery between 1787 and 1865 in England and America.