peacing things together

With the help of my wife, I recently created some laminated copies of the Lisbon Resolution.  Their size is A6, so that they can fit in your coat or jacket pocket.  (For those without big pockets, they also fit nicely inside an A6 notebook or in a pocket in your bag.)

I created them because Pres. Song recently encouraged some of the leaders to use this document every time we pray.  He encouraged us to recite is eight or even twelve times a day, to remind us of our focus and keep us spiritually aligned. (more…)

I’m a Newcastle United fan.  My birth certificate reveals that I was born in Newcastle -upon-Tyne, and although my parents moved southward 6 months after my birth, I feel an affiliation to the city.  I feel it’s important to remain connected to one’s roots and although I have many roots (ethnicities, religions, languages, locations) my connection to Newcastle manifests itself most prominently in my support for the Magpies.

Being a member of the Toon Army is not an easy life.  (more…)

I recently submitted another book review as coursework for my MA studies.  I was pleased to find out that I earned a 1st class provisional grade for this review, which I’m quite chuffed about especially since I had to rush it (again) and  submitted the work just before the deadline, just as Natasha’s contractions started, only hours before the birth of our fourth child in February!  I hope you find it enlightening.

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In this final post about my trip to Korea in January, I want to share some photographs.

The following were winning submissions to the 2nd annual Unfication Church Art competition: (more…)

The last two months of my life have been rather challenging – in good ways – but a consquence of my efforts to adapt to my ever-increasing responsibilities has been that I’ve (inexusably) neglected to keep this blog updated.  So I’ll post a couple of blogs in one go, and hope resume where I last stopped reporting about my experiences in Korea at the end of January this year:

The main thing I’d like to share in this post was the grace I experienced in the Cheong Pyeong Heaven and Earth Training Centre after the formalities of the Cheon Il Guk Leaders’ Assembly. (more…)

Having recently returned from Korea to participate at the World Leaders’ Assembly and various other events connected to the Cheon Bok festival (celebrating the start of the new heavenly year as well as commemorating various Unificationist Holy Days) I feel obliged to share some of what I experienced.  There’s too much to share in one post, however, so I’ll divide my story in a few posts.

In this first post I want to share about being with True Parents.

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This morning I awoke with the vague details of  a dream still lingering in my thoughts and feelings.  After sharing them with my wife, I realised that there might be more to the dream than just a random sequence of fantastical events.  Perhaps there was a prophetic message to interpret from these signs & symbols.

I’ll let you decide – if you have any insights, please share by leaving a comment.  Here are the details of the dream: (more…)

Yesterday was a long day.  It started at 4am at home, waking up and preparing to travel to Livingstone House for a European level leaders’ meeting that started at 5am.  As European meetings go, this is probably the best one I’ve ever attended; Pres. Song introduced a new method of meeting, dubbed “talk concert”, in which a few representatives sat at the front of the room, briefly sharing some best pratices, followed by questions and sharing.  This format was repeated with different themes and was very engaging.  So engrossed was I with the discussions that I never lost interest and allowed myself to get distracted by “important work” on my laptop.

The day was also eventful because during the lunch break I drove home to take my wife and children to a friend’s birthday party, returning to the meeting for a few hours before using an afternoon break to then collect my family and drive them home again.  I spent quite a few hours in the car driving, and were it not for Aunty Kyung Ja’s loving heart to find some soup for me in Livingstone House, I would have otherwise missed lunch.

At the end of yesterday’s meeting, just before the eog-manseis, victory-cake-cutting and photo-with-banner (without which the meeting would have been painfully incomplete), Pres. Song mentioned that we were going to do a burning ceremony that evening once the programme had concluded.  I had no idea what he was talking about, so I began wondering what this burning ceremony was for… (more…)

I recently submitted a book review as coursework for my MA studies.  I want to share it with you – all 1499 words of it.  It’s quite self-explanatory, but hopefully you’ll find it mildly interesting: (more…)

Yesterday I brought my violin with me to university.  Just in case you weren’t aware, I’m currently studying an MA in Pastoral Theology at Heythrop College (near Kensington High Street).  It’s a part-time course, spread over 2 years, so I only have a single two-hour class every week (which means it doesn’t distract me too much from my pastoral commitments).  Nevertheless, I want to get involved in the student life at Heythrop, seeing the college as place where I can develop my tribal messiahship: I’ve attended a couple of the ecumenical prayers that take place on a Monday evening; I’ve tried communicating with the president of the student union; I took part in the celebration of mass at the college’s start-of-year Eucharist.

It was at the end of this worship service that an announcement was made (more…)