Online Advent resources

In addition to the WhyWeAreWaiting website, here are some other online resources for Advent:

• Sign up to Christian Aid's Advent-inspired email and receive daily tips to help beat the credit crunch this Christmas. The handy hints, which will be emailed daily from the 1st December until Christmas Eve, are designed to help you save cash, cut carbon emissions and have some Yuletide fun.
• The Evangelical Alliance offer their Advent Prayer Guide for 2008.‏
• The IVP Advent Calendar offers excerpts from the Bible and from a range of IVP books each day - gems that point us to the coming of that pearl of great price, the greatest gift of all, the Lord Jesus Christ.
• Paperless Christmas offers a time-locked Advent countdown of 24 videos produced by Jerusalem Productions Limited, in association with Bible Reading Fellowship.

The Bible, but not as you know it

BBC website reports on "a wave of radical presentations of the Bible, including a manga version and a Lego gospel". The report concludes by saying "Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this new wave of Bibles is how sympathetic the church is to people messing about with its sacred scriptures, whether in wording or binding, no doubt reasoning that there can be some good in anything that gets people hearing its stories".

But then, didn't Paul say: "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season"? (2 Tim 4:2)

Why artists can't resist the lure of Christianity

In today's Guardian, Mark Lawson discusses why artists can't resist the lure of Christianity. He notes that "Christian iconography still has a powerful presence in contemporary culture: at a time when churches have almost no political power".

Related to this, it is worth noting that although the Royal Mail presents Pantomime as the theme for this year's Christmas stamps, they are also offering the Madonna & Child stamps first produced last year. The website states that "these beautiful stamps feature classic paintings from the 14th and 19th centuries and reflect a more traditional view of Christmas". Do ask for them specifically when you buy your stamps, as it will encourage the Royal Mail to continue to offer an option for those who hold a "traditional view of Christmas".

Can you charge an iPod using an onion?‏

Scientists investigate the claim (on YouTube) that you can soak an onion in an energy drink and use it to charge your iPod. It sounds very environmentally friendly, but a spokesman from the Royal Society of Chemistry sates: "the science behind the idea isn't bad - you can generate an electric current from vegetables - but the video is a hoax".

Going green as you wrap

With only a month to go until Christmas, here's some advice on "green" gift bags and wrapping paper. See also these other posts on gift wrapping:

• Wrapsacks
• Science of wrapping presents
• Wrap art

WhyWeAreWaiting

An Abbott, a Bishop and a Canon Theologian are today launching an Advent website aiming to put the ABC of waiting back into wanting as the countdown to Christmas begins. The WhyWeAreWaiting website includes an introductory film featuring the Archbishop of Canterbury and an Advent Calendar with a difference made up of reflections, podcasts, and waiting tips. The website has been produced by the Church of England.

Stir-up Sunday

Stir-up Sunday is an informal term in the Anglican Church for the last Sunday before the season of Advent. The term comes from the opening words of the collect for the day in the Book of Common Prayer:

Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Through an association of ideas, the day has subsequently become connected with the preparation of Christmas puddings, and many people still prepare and "stir up" their Christmas puds on this day.

Buy Nothing Day 2008

Buy Nothing Day is a global holiday from consumerism - Spend a Day Without Spending! This year it takes place on Satuurday 29 November. Checkout the Toolkit for ideas on how to spend a day without spending.

Real Christmas in under 30 seconds

A competition has been launched challenging the public to tell the story of Jesus’ birth in just thirty seconds. It’s the latest campaign from the Churches Advertising Network (whose previous Christmas campaigns included describing the Virgin Mary as having a “bad hair day”).

This year's Christmas campaign includes 30 second ads to run on commercial radio in December, plus a competition for individuals and groups to tell the Christmas story in under 30 seconds. There's a prize of £500 for the best competition entry, plus exposure on YouTube. The impetus for the campaign came from a recent poll which found that only 12 per cent of adults in Britain know the facts of the biblical Christmas story.

Do Nothing... Christmas is Coming

In 2007, Do Nothing to Change Your Life encouraged us to nurture our inner slob. Now, Do Nothing... Christmas is Coming turns to what, for many, is the busiest time of the year. For every day of Advent, Stephen Cottrell provides short, practical steps to help us slow down, take time out - amd resist the pressure of the Christmas whirl. Described as "an Advent calendar with a difference", this gift book is perfect if you need to slow down during Advent - or if you know someone else who needs an injection of calm!

Songbirds 'sing from hymn sheet'

The BBC reports that songbirds "learn to sing from a hymn sheet in their head", according to a new study. Swiss researchers have studied Zebra Finches and believe the birds use different regions of the brain for this: one for an internal recording of how the birds ought to be singing and another area which seems to enable the birds to identify mistakes in their songs. The research could also shed light on how humans learn to speak.

Don't forget the Hogalogue!

If you are looking for a Christmas gift for someone interested in hedgehogs, then check out the catalogue from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society - called The Hogalogue - with goods such as hedgehog food, hedgehog houses, cards, and books.

Alternatively, you could give them A Prickly Affair: My Life with Hedgehogs‏ by Hugh Warwick, which you may have heard plugged on Radio 4 and which is described as "a highly original and entertaining book".

EU backs down over fruit & veg

Eating what's in season is good for your wallet as well as your health. Now, the European Commission has scrapped controversial rules that prevent oddly-shaped fruit and vegetables being sold in the EU. This means less food waste and "good news for hard-pressed consumers who will see cheaper - if slightly misshapen - vegetables appearing in the shops". The new rules are expected to come into force on 1 July 2009.

Christmas albums

Christmas music remains a huge staple in the Christian music industry, and Christianity Today reviews 20 new album releases from a diverse array of popular artists.

Shop till you drop?

Despite the credit crunch, new shopping centres keep being opened, including Highcross in Leicester (right). Here's some retail-related stories:

• Although shoppers are keeping a tighter grip on their purse strings, with the economy plunging into recession but shopping centres have always been one step ahead in getting the consumer to splash cash
• Charity shops are seeing a rise in sales
• Something for (nearly) nothing: accessories on the cheap
• The art of Swishing involves getting your friends together to swap clothes and party at the same time. Each participant must bring at least one good quality, clean item of clothing, or an accessory, that she'd feel proud to hand on.
  
• For ethical clothing browse the Lift the Label ethical directory

Wrapsacks

I keep an eye on the Onya website (the people that make the OnyaWeigh) and was pleased to see that they are now distributors for wrapsacks - just in time for wrapping Christmas gifts. Wrapsack gift bags are reusable gift bags that let you "pre-cycle" to save trees and reduce more than $5 billion in giftwrap landfill each year. You dress up a gift in a gift bag, tie it, and give it! You can give your wrapsack a name and enter its number at Wrapsacks.com, and track its travels.

Bonfire Night

It is Bonfire Night today - though the traditional Infusion Bonfire party is not until Saturday. The links on last year's blog post about bonfire night are all still current if you want to find out more about Guy Fawkes, the Gunpowder Plot Society, the science of fireworks, government safety advice, and Bonfire Night recipes.

Brief video on understanding US elections

In the course of my day job (nice work if you can get it!) I came across this video guide to Electing a US President in Plain English. It explains in just under 4 minutes what I seem to remember took much longer (probably several lectures and a tutorial) when I was a political science undergraduate!

Bored with the US election?

While bearing in mind that we don't "do politics" on this blog, the intense media coverage of the US election means makes it impossible to ignore. Here's a website about the statistics behind the election and a prayer for the election. After all, whatever the result, this is what we are called to do:

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Saviour (1 Timothy 2:1-3)

What matters to Infusion

The Infusion wordle gives an impression of what we focus on and back in May, when the Infusion blog was a year old, we looked at the most frequent topics on this blog. Here's an update 18 months after Infusion entered the blogosphere:

• Faith (68)
• Environment (41)
• Food (37)
• Internet (36)
• Walks (30)
• Tea (29)
• Christmas Countdown (24)
• Books (24)
• Church (22)
• Fairtrade (21)
• Stewardship (18)

By May we had clocked up 21 posts on tea and 14 on coffee; there are now 29 posts on tea but only 16 on coffee.

Hope for Planet Earth 2009

Remember the Hope for Planet Earth Tour earlier this year? The 2009 tour will be visiting the Midlands from 2-6 March 2009.

Autumn leaves

Should you need words, check out Keat' Ode to Autumn.