Charles Wesley's secret code diary cracked

A priest / academic has unlocked the 270-year-old secrets of Charles Wesley's coded diary, throwing light on the turbulent relationship that he had with his brother John in the early years of the Methodist movement they founded. The cipher for Wesley's journals, partly written in a personal shorthand (when he wrote about sensitive subjects, such as his disputes with John Wesley over the future direction of Methodism), were cracked by the Rev Professor Kenneth Newport. Newport, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Liverpool Hope University, spent nine years transcribing the thousand page hand-written manuscript held in Manchester.

19 September is Tea Time

Whether it’s lapsang souchong or a mug of builders’, it’s hard to beat a nice cup of tea. Unless it’s a nice cup of tea that could help make a fairer world...

On 19 September, Christian Aid is asking people across the world to get together, put the kettle on and help give poor communities the chance of a better future.

• Order your free event pack

• Download free resources – including delicious cake recipes

• Send out your invitations

August means animal stories in the news

Bird-feeding may be banned in Berwick-upon-Tweed but there have been more positive wildlife- and animal-related stories in the media recently:

• A night out with tag-team hedgehog
• Military penguin becomes a 'Sir'
• Wild dolphins tail-walk on water
• Three-legged dog loves train ride
• Animal magnetism

As time goes by...

Infusion was originally known as Emmanuel & St. Mary's 20s & 30's Group when it started in 1996. We changed our name in 2000 for a number of reasons, including the fact that a number of members had become "30ish+" with the passage of time.

So it was interesting to see (via a friend's link on Facebook) that Twenty Thirty, a Christian organisation in the United Kingdom that organises social events for people in their twenties and thirties (whether single, couples or married), has recently expanded to include a wider age range and renamed itself Twenties Thirties Forties.

This blog has previously noted the Looking at life.. ministry from Care for the Family, aimed at supporting "20 and 30-somethings". At least their name will be able to stay the same even the age range moves on...

Magnetic Cattle

Have you ever noticed that herds of grazing animals all face the same way? Images from Google Earth have confirmed that cattle tend to align their bodies in a north-south direction, reports the BBC. The scientists researching this phenomenon have concluded it is that the cattle and other stock are aligning themselves with the earth's magnetic field.

I had to check the date on this story, as it was funny enough to be an April fool's wind-up. What the article doesn't say is whether kangaroos, with their lower greenhouse gas emissions exhibit the same behaviour.

The joy of simply faffing around

How do you spend a Bank Holiday Monday? Visiting relatives or tacking the garden or DIY? As this is the last Bank Holiday until Christmas, maybe you should just take it easy? Read the Guardian on The joy of simply faffing around or perhaps catch up on some sleep....

What should Christians make of the Olympics?

As the 2008 Olympics draw to an end on a Sunday, you may be interested to read a thoughtful blog post on What should Christians, especially those who are non-sports fans, make of the Olympics?

Animal Olympics

I had been hoping that the 2008 Olympics might be an excuse for the BBC to show again two "documentaries" from earlier Games. In the run-up to the 2004 Olympic Games, BBC One's Animal Games proved to be a big hit with viewers. "Athletes" from the mammal, fish, bird, herptile (reptiles and amphibians) and insect worlds competed in human events. All competitors were scaled to human size to allow them to compete against each other. This was followed by the Animal Winter Olympics (which doesn't appear to be available as a DVD) in 2006.

The programmes were light-hearted but informative. An online photo gallery from Animal Games is available.

How splendidly ripping!

Enid Blyton is the UK's best-loved writer, according to a survey conducted for the Costa Book Awards. The popularity of children's writers continues throughout the top 50, with Roald Dahl, JK Rowling, Beatrix Potter, CS Lewis, AA Milne and Dr Seuss included. There's been a lot of media coverage (I caught the BBC, Guardian and Radio 4). Commentators tended to agree that it was "simpler" to write about childhood when Blyton was publishing than now.

Revisit your childhood reading at the Enid Blyton Society and EnidBlyton.net, and see also Nostalgia Publishing.

Virtual Water: How Much Do You Think You Use?

The scale of British water consumption and its impact around the world is revealed in a new report today, which warns of the hidden levels needed to produce food and clothing, reports the Guardian.

The UK has become the sixth largest net importer of water in the world, the environment group WWF will tell a meeting of international experts in Stockholm, with every consumer indirectly responsible for the use of thousands of litres a day. Only 38% of the UK's total water use comes from its own resources; the rest depends on the water systems of other countries, some of which are already facing serious shortages.

A very British Infusion

A site in Cornwall now exports its own highly exclusive tea, reports the BBC. Apparently the local climate is very similar to the foothills of the Himalayas. They even sell the tea to India!

And Yorkshire is not far behind.... Taylors of Harrogate could soon be using Yorkshire-sourced tea, after founding a plantation in North Yorkshire. Perhaps that will cause trading standards difficulties with their flagship brand Yorkshire Tea, however, unless they can grow sufficient quantities of the real Yorkshire Tea to cover the 10 million cups that Taylors claim is consumed per day !

More Ingleton photos

Sigrun has posted three "albums" of photos from the Ingleton Weekend on Facebook (note - you don't need to sign up to see these):

• Friday
• Saturday
• Sunday

Infusion walks the Cotswolds

Infusion spent a weekend away in Stow-on-the-Wold in August 2006, staying at the local Youth Hostel. We enjoyed good food, fellowship and walking. On the Saturday we did a full-day walk, which was remarkably hilly towards the end and on the Sunday we headed to the Malvern Hills. This photo is of the British Camp from the Malvern Hills; there are additional photos on the website.

Long Distance Walkers’ Association

Helen recently mentioned the Long Distance Walkers’ Association in an email - so it seemed worth publicising their website. They organise lots of events around the country - both Challenge Events and Local Group Events. The website includes a database of over 1,000 long distance paths (with brief route summaries, lists of maps and publications, and cross references to linked routes) and lots of practical tips.

Credit Crunch theology

The blog post Credit Crunch theology: Does God want us to be poor? raises a good question. However, the writer of Proverbs offers a balanced and timeless perspective:

give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonour the name of my God. (Proverbs 30:8-9)

Bird-feeding ban!

This is hard to believe but council staff in Berwick-upon-Tweed issued a public health warning to a retired couple telling them to stop feeding birds in their garden. See: RSPB supports couple warned not to feed birds

Recycle a pet?

If you don't want to adopt a retired greyhound (especially Dixie), then maybe you would like to consider adopting an unwanted chicken? The lifespan of an egg-laying battery chicken is 72 weeks, but a rescued 'ex-bat' can live for up to 10 years.

Google Maps: walking directions

Google Maps are beta-testing an application for walking directions.

Eat kangaroo to 'save the planet'

Switching from beef to kangaroo burgers could help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It seems that the methane gas produced by sheep and cows is more potent than carbon dioxide in the damage it can cause to the environment.

Alternatively, one could go vegetarian.....

[picture courtesy of Free Nature Pictures]

Infusion walks Ingleton

It would have been nice to title this Infusion walks the Three Peaks but only three of our number managed that (although a further three managed two out of three Peaks). However the sixteen participants on the 2008 Infusion Walking Weekend all made it up Ingleborough.

Our stay at Ingleton Youth Hostel (lower pic) was made more interesting by the boiler breaking down on Tursday so there was no hot water on Friday night / Saturday morning. As the Hostel was full, four people stayed in a B & B (top pic) - although the proximity of a sign saying "Elderly people" may give the wrong impression!

Ingleton photo gallery

Father, son and holy toast

From today's Guardian comes the story Father, son and holy toast - a discussion of the JesusPan, kitchen gadgets, and religious images appearing on food. The sort of news story that could only appear on a Friday.

The obligatory Olympics post

The 2008 Olympic Games commence today after what seems to have been a very long build-up.

I caught this morning's TFTD on the Olympic Games are a metaphor for life itself with a reminder of Paul's use of this metaphor in 1 Corinthians 9. I also appreciated the mention of Olympic athlete Eric Liddell , who was immortalised in the film Chariots of Fire.

[Posted on 08/08/08]

Time Travel: Is Life Without Plastic Possible?

Following on from all those reports about what plastic is doing to sea life (cf David Shukman's reports from Midway island in the Pacific), and how it is absorbing toxins which are then introduced into the foodchain, BBC reporter Chris Jeavans has taken on the challenge to spend the month of August without plastic. (Where she fails, she is collecting the evidence and comparing it against her usual amount of plastic, to see how much it is possible to cut down.) Cutting down plastic when you live a wasteful lifestyle already is probably pretty easy, but cutting it out entirely sounds like no mean feat & I'll be interested to read how she gets on.

Walking with the fishes: swimhiking

Following lighthouse-bagging, here's another option for those who find merely walking up (and down) hills is not challenging enough: swimhiking. This combines swimming and hiking and the creator says it is the perfect way to get fit and explore the countryside. Read the Guardian article and perhaps the book: Swimhiking in the Lake District and North East England.

"With swimhiking you are freed from the constraints of hiking. On foot, rivers and lakes become a barrier, but if you swimhike you can go much further, or at least in more directions"

Word Spy

The Reader's Digest used to carry a regular feature on "How to improve your word power". Now you can do this online with Word Spy - a Web site devoted to lexpionage, the sleuthing of new words and phrases. These aren't "stunt words" but new terms that have appeared multiple times in newspapers, magazines, books, Web sites, and other recorded sources.

Lighthouse bagging

Some people like to "bag" Munros or Corbetts but a recent a Guardian article describes the somewhat different challenge of lighthouse bagging:

"You need a head for heights and sturdy sea legs to conquer these pinnacles of engineering achievement and testimony to our ceaseless struggles with the sea. The walkers who bag Scotland's 284 Munros have it easy compared with those who undertake the ultimate challenge: visiting all 209 working lighthouses that mark the most treacherous corners of Scotland's coast".

The term pharology is used for the study of signal lights and lighthouses, It comes from Pharos - the huge lighthouse of Alexandria that was built in the third century BC and was one of the tallest man-made structures on earth for centuries.