Glad to be here

Tonight I am. My leg hurts to HIGH HEAVEN and I cannot hear much due to this incessant RINGING in my ears (hangover from chemo saving my life, but in the process damaging my 12th cranial nerve, in 2002), a tinitus which delivers an ear splitting b-flat note to my brain that threatens my sanity sometimes.

But today I took my daughter and five of her friends to Legoland, Windsor (her 9th birthday party) and we all had a really good time - in fact they're still at it now (23:00) - they're having a sleepover, all crammed into one bedroom in my house. At last something worked out GOOD. God has granted me an ability to entertain the mind of a child and to be natural with them. Perhaps we are most happy when we're using what God has given us?

Plus the sunset was very late and very beautiful this evening.

I just wanted to say there is no gold in my statement "My faith is weak but my knowledge strong". I was just saying that I (with much guilt to be honest) do not have faith in that what is written in The Bible is God's word. I suspect it is MAN's interpretation of God, our creator. But the message I think is sound "Love thy neighbour as you love yourself", this seems to be the great test to me. Can you keep to this commandment with what you are given to work with? With the behaviour of your fellow men and women? With the circumstances that you find yourself in? "My knowledge is strong" means that I know Jesus exists, because he helped me when no-one else could. I make the logical assumption that this is the Jesus protrayed in The Bible, otherwise I have no frame of reference for who He is.

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On reliance of a doctor's or expert opinion, you and I both this this is generally a crock. In fact, the reason my leg hurts to high heaven and that I am literally CRIPPLED is due to a doctor cutting a chunk out of my sciatic nerve with a tru-cut biopsy needle. This happenstance was a test of me and remains so to this day, especially THIS day when I've been walking miles on it :-)

We all rely on the messages around us, this is why advertisers spend millions, we'd do well to protect ourselves from as much of the lies as we can. "Lies to children" is what Prof. Ian Stewart posits that we tell our kids. Teachers don't even realize they are doing it half of the time.

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Harry Potter - there is some stupid rule going around Christian households that this is "bad" for kids due to "magic" being portrayed. Whilst the same Christian households merrily let their kids watch the Lord of the Rings movies (which Potter is but a rip-off of) as they are ok, they were written by a Christian friend of C.S.Lewis. It's all fashion and whose club you belong to.

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Indulge in evil to know evil? No you don't need to do that. If you find yourself treating others as you would not like to be treated then you are probably doing evil. Would you like to be killed? If not, then don't kill others. Simple.

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You've said twice recently words to the effect of "accept what is" or "what will be, will be". This strikes me as very Buddhist and not Christian at all. What are you up to buddy? :-)

(Eg. Christians do not accept Sin, Jesus booted out the money changers, homosexual behviour is bad, etc - the opposite to accepting what "is").

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Never had a beef brisket but from your description would try one, my vegetarian days are at an end it would seem. Plus I love the word "brisket"!

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Did I tell you that my daughter and I were working our way through "The Simpsons"? Well we just finished all 17 seasons. The quality of season 17 was outstanding. A truly amazing show, we love it!

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Life is too short (not to watch every episode of The Simpsons in the WORLD).