The Quest for the Narrow Gate

I'm leaving the Netherlands in just under 2 months, having handed in my resignation and accepted a volunteer position in Borneo with Raleigh International, to work as a project manager.

So, the adventure continues...  and as part of that, you can follow my progress here.

Thanks for the ride, guys.  Stoney has officially left the building, but will no doubt pop in every now and then to say Hi.

Psalm 126:
When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed.
Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them."

The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negev.

Hello everyone,

Did anyone else watch this program?  It was on BBC and is the adventure of Peter Owen Jones to travel the world and explore the different faiths, to discover more about our universal need to experience the divine.

The BBC webpage is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/80faiths/ where (if you live in the UK) you can watch the episodes again.
"Peter has been a vicar in the Church of England for 15 years. He started out as a farm labourer and ran a mobile disco on the side then moved into advertising, before hearing the 'call' to become a vicar.

As I write this, it remains -5C outside which, BBC Weather tells me is approximately 10C colder than in the UK.  Something about being on the continent makes us colder.  The recent cold snap (we've dipped below -16C on a couple of occassions), combined with the Dutch water ways, canals and rivers, as well as lakes formed by dykes, has all meant that every Dutchman or Dutchwoman is excited to do some skating on "naturalijs", or natural ice.

I had lunch with an old colleague today, after not seeing him for a while.  We were never close friends, but enough to occassionally meet up for lunch and chew the fat of life, work and everything.

It was an interesting conversation, mostly because it was the first person I'd seen for the first time in the last couple of months that I'd not told about Anna.  In part, this was because we were joined halfway through by another colleague who invited himself onto our table, but there would have been time later on to mention it.  So as we were walking back, the question was there as to whether to tell him the news.

Taken from: http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix? pageID=800

I've never been much for guidebooks, so when trying to get my bearings in a strange American city, I normally start by asking the cab driver or hotel clerk some silly question regarding the latest census figures. I say silly because I don't really care how many people live in Olympia, Washington, or Columbus, Ohio. They're nice enough places, but the numbers mean nothing to me. My second question might have to do with average annual rainfall, which, again, doesn't tell me anything about the people who have chosen to call this place home.

Taken from Jason Upton's booklet in the album "Remember":

"Remember" is one of the most frequently repeated commands in the Old Testament.  Even God himself, as revealed through the prophets, appears as much a reflective and contemplative being as one who focuses only on the future.  

As I'm not American, this is just for Jennifer...  I love the lyrics - especially the part about religion :)

It's been a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, time.
It's been a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, time.

When I was a kid, I used to draw airplanes, with stars and bars shooting down airplanes, adorned with hammers and sickles.

May I recommend watching this first:




Then watching this, a very amusing take-off!

This is my holiday next year....