THE Event of Last Year!

Mark and Dana's wedding was good times. I was really honoured to be a part of it. I can think of very few couples who i've thought were more suited for each other than Mark and Dana. Their love and mutual commitment to God was inspiring and they definitely displayed through their wedding ceremony that the most important part of their relationship was their commitment to God and what his purposes are for them as a couple. It'll be interesting to see where they end up in a few years.

Dana is awesome. What more can I say?

(Left to Right) 'Pulitzer prize nominated' Dakarai Aarons (star journalist for the Memphis paper "Commercial Appeal"), Benjamin Washam (my former roommate and the guy who keeps me on the straight and narrow), Steve Coddington (Mark's brother and best man), and then Me, now a good 10 lbs heavier, thanks to my 3 weeks in America.

Why vegitarians can hate animals too...

So I found this article in the Indipendent (from drugereport.com) that talke about how a UN report says that the world 1.5 billion cattle are responsible (either directly or indirectly) for more environment damaging emmissions than all forms of transportation (car, plane, ship) combined.

It serves as a pretty good example for why some of my friends are vegetearians. They aren't motivated necessarily by some extra love of the cute and cuddely, but more for a love of the earth and for proper uses of resources. I think they have a case. So I'm slowly trying to reduce my dependence on meat. I'm not an "all or nothing" type of guy, and I generally think the best policy is "everything in moderation" but I think we could all do with decreasing our dependence on meat for protein. I'm aiming for trying to have only two meat meals a week, I'm not there yet, but it's an aim...and on the upside it's healthier anyway.

Here's the article:

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2062484.ece

Just a side note...

I always find it difficult in this blog between posting my philisophical wonderings, convictions and dreams, but then also my day to day going ons as a socially active med student. The transition from one post to the next isn't usually smooth and often may seem in tension with one another. I guess that's the stuff of life though, the so many different speheres that we live in, so many different world views, practices and happenings. So I think I'll keep putting it all in, even if it doesn't fit just right.

Just a couple pics from our christmas ball...

So last weekend was our course's first annual Christmas ball. It was a 4 course meal with wine and champagne on arrival. Quite a fancy affair apparently (good thing I had brought my thrift-store tux with me....although I've been chided by Tim -in the bottom picture- for not calling a tux a "dinner jacket"....heaven forbid). It was a good time to get together with the entire year and just have some fun, the two years ahead of us in the graduate course were also there, so that was good too. Anyway, here's just a couple of the more decent shots that were taken during the night.

So this shot was probably my favourite of most of all the pics i've seen of the night. It shows reality, Emma Brandish, (dubbed the unofficial social secretary of our course) in the middle with her posee of guys around her, each one ready to do her bidding, just as she'd like it.


This is most of my year towards the end of the night, I actually think we look pretty good considering the litres of sweat that has come off of us, and the litres of alcohol that have gone into us. It was a good times though, definitely had my "bonding" time with coursemates now.

Tim and I on the coach ride back to campus. There ended up being two after-parties.... I decided to skip both so that i could get up in time to do work the next morning (didn't happen though, despite my best intentions). I found out however from Doug and Netty that the first after-party they decided to go to, everyone had fallen asleep within 15 minutes of getting back, so they left and phoned the other party to see how it was going. The people there said they were all just sitting around drinking cups of tea. Dissapointed and disheartened Doug and Netty decided they too would just go to home bed then. Wow, we must be getting older.

CROSS-ATLANTIC SOCIAL JUSTICE CHRISTIANITY

(So, being back home for the week was great. I really enjoyed it and got almost no work done, so I'm really going to have to lose my social butterfly mentality and get some work done these last 3 weeks before Christmas. By the way my brother is still in hospital, healing extremely slowly, and pretty much would do anything to get out of there, so keep him in your thoughts and prayers. )

So I've only been in the U.K. for a little over 2 months now but there's something that I've been noticing, and even though I'm not here that long yet, I still want to begin commenting on it.

Over the past 4 years when I was studying at Wheaton, I found myself involved with Christians who had a particular understanding of what Jesus' message was all about, it was my interaction with these people, communities, and ideas, along with God's incredible grace that kept me from throwing away my faith altogether. There's lots of ways people use to describe these Christians; some involve big theological definitions, some other terms are more derogatory, but the one (which I still don't like, but which I think most people understand) is basically these were "social justice" christians or maybe a better one is "wholistic" Christians. These people were trying to understand and live out the message of Jesus which involves both word and deed, basically speaking love and showing love.

Anyway, naturally being in a new place I've been trying to connect myself with these types of christians here, and I have found some really good groups of people. It's interesting though, but I'm finding that although these people hold sort of the same understanding of Christianity as my friends back at Wheaton did, their approach and ideals are quite a bit different. And I think that's a really good thing, the more i look into it the more i think we have to learn from one another.

Christians I've met in the UK are passionately concerned with structural, societal and environmental justice. They campaign for issues such as Fair Trade, and buying Organic food. They advocate what people call "Ethical" living. What I've come to understand by that term is that it means, trying to live a life where your purchases were produced fairly and safely, where you're day to day life has as little negative impact on the environment as possible and where even the money in your bank account savings is not being invested in unethical activities (such as the arms-trade).

These Christians wouldn't wear Gap (probably close to a sin), or buy "super cheap" things (at places like Primark- like a K-Mart), because if something is super cheap it has most likely exploited someone.

There is the understanding here that if you spend just that bit extra you are ensuring justice for the person you've bought it from (of course it's not that simple, but that's the general gist).







Churches hold Fair Trade Sales, and at my church a woman sells ecologically friendly cleaning supplies everyweek at the back by the information table. The last church I visited had successfully campaigned to have Southampton become a Fair Trade city.

In America however, although SJ christians are aware of these issues(Fair Trade, organic, non-GM modified food) they are not the focus, and usually less effort is put into them (I think i'd make an exception for Shane Claiborne though...who makes his own clothes). More effort/intention goes into the personal and relational side of justice issues. More common issues such as: where you live (whether in the subarbs - a seemingly cardinal sin- or in shafted areas -i.e. 'where Jesus would live......'), Racial Reconciliation, Who you spend you're time with, and Learning not Teaching become primary.

The mantra of some of the American SJ christians might be as Viv Grigg said (I think quoting someone else) "Earn as much as you can, Spend as little as you can and Give generously." People frequent the shops that UK SJ christians would think sinful, they buy the super cheap foods, they buy the super cheap clothes (well in fairness few clothes are bought at all, holes are a matter of spiritual maturity wherever you go). But they do this for the greater value of "identifying" with others, with the outcast and the shafted. The way of life is rather called "Simple Living" on that side of the pond.

I have to admit I'm not here long enough to even begin trying to understand UK multi-ethnic relations, from what little i've talked to people, I keep getting different opinions, and all I can tell so far is that the situation here is VASTLY different from the US and also from Ireland, who untill recently had never seen any sort of economic immigrants from other parts of the world. So with that in mind I won't even venture to see the Church deals with "racial-reconciliation" if that phrase even makes sense here.



Anyway, my point is that we need to learn from each other as we all have potential pitfalls. We need to be acutely aware of how we (wherever we are in the world) are part of intertwined webs of connection that mean what I buy in my local Tesco has an effect on someone living in Peru, or Spain. And that the clothes I wear, may be the handywork of exploited children and other economic slaves. Taking care of the environment is not an "add-on" for Christian faith, but is central to Christain doctrine from the very begining..... (try to answer the question of "what humans were originally meant to do?" without thinking about this).

At the same time, we must never forget that what is just as important is how we live our lives locally. As Shane Claiborne puts it (the poor don't need your money, they need your time, your relationship -). If we truly believe that the roots of "poverty" come from broken, perverted, and misused relationships, then it is only through relationship that "poverty" will be alieviated.



One of the quotes on my facebook page is by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, "It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start." That quote always cuts me deep..... how can I so be concerned about others far away when I treat my family so badly?



Our living out Christ's love must both be local and global, as we in a globalized world are very much connected to both levels. However, we must remember that one thing that separates Christian social action from it's secular or governmental cousins is that if something is Christian (i.e. following the example of Christ) it must be necessarily personal and relational for this is how Christ shows himself to us.

Homecoming

I've got the chance to go home this next week, which I'm really looking forward to, especially since I'm spending all of Chrsitmas in America, and won't have much time at home then. It's called reading week, so i'll need to be doing a good amount of work as well, but it will just be good to get to go home. My mother is leaving for America with Hailey and the kids on Wednesday, this will be a chance for Hailey to show off the kids to the relatives who haven't seen Moia yet, and will be a welcome break for my mother to see her family. They arrive just in time for American Thanksgiving, so I'm sure they're all looking forward to that.

My brother's still in hospital, and they were told that if they had waited another day to bring him in they would have had to amputate! He's doing okay, but his body is going through a battering with all the medication and anti-biotics that he's on, and who likes being in hospital this much? Hopefully he'll be out in a few days (just in time to have his wife and kids leave...ah well....great timing right?).

Still, I'm really looking forward to the week. If any of you are around and want to meet up let me know.

Film night, life expectancy...and depravity

So I had fun tonight. Back when I was at wheaton, during my Sophmore year, we had a few months where every week (or so) we would have "trippy movie night." Where a few of us would get together and watch a movie that you definitely had to be awake to understand... American History X, Magnolia, Adaptation, were some to name a few of the ones we saw. Here at Southampton it seems that trend is reviving slightly. A couple weeks ago I organized for a group of us to see the South African film Tsotsi, and then tonight a few of us went to see the Palestinian film Paradise Now.

It's a film i'd seen before, but was still powerfull. The part I enjoy most about seeing a film is often the conversation afterwards. Getting what other people thought of the film and the themes and issues they pull out of it, makes it so that it feels like you've seen 3 or 4 different films for the price and time of 1. Tonight i was definitely moved by what a friend of mine thought of the film and how she related to some of the characters personally (I won't go more into that though for privacy's sake), but it really did give me a perspective on the film, which I hadn't seen before, which i probably wouldn't have seen because of my background. Again that film just brings back how complex, difficult, heart wrenching, terrible, injust, peaceful, violent and current, the situation in the Middle East is. If this film does one positive thing, it's that it forces the viewer to accept these terrorists as humans, it deletes the option of demonisation, and that has to be a good thing.

In other news, this week we've been studying obesity. This morning we had a symposium, or a series of short lectures on obesity and public health issues, and I found it fascinating, as well as challenging. In an off handed comment of one of the presenters, he said that even in Britian the health inequalites can be very different from different populations. He said that if you are born in some parts of Glasgow, you're life expectancy is only 50, while if you're born in parts of Devon, you're life expectancy (male) is in the late 70s. How can that huge of a difference exist in such a small country where its free, equal, health system is known around the world? It's amazing to me how much we as a society have failed eachother. We have divided ourselves regionally, by class, and by background. They say it takes a village to raise a child, but we've split the village up, and only some of the kids, living in the right areas, get the village's attention and guidance and opportunities it seems. This is just the case of inequality in Britain, one of the richest countries in the world. Compare us to Cambodia, Sierra Leone, India's or Kenya's mega slums.... Our global village seems to do an even worse job at this.

I get this far in the post, and I realize, I don't know what else to say. I hate writing posts like this, and i do it too often.... what's the point? We all know the world is a messed up place, just as much here in Southampton as it is in Bolivia or DRC. Why is it messed up? It's cause I'm messed up and you're messed up. The Christian doctrine of human depravity seems to me to be one of the religion's strongest arguments (along side the understanding that the depravity was not the original design or intent nor the end point of the human narrative). We talked today in class a bit about why leaving market forces to themselves in issues such as self-regulation of the advertising industry won't work for maintaining good public health policy, since advertisers, like most human agents, will naturally work from the values of greed and profit, rather than looking out for the public at large. This is why we still have coercive junk-food advertising aimed at children, the most vulnerable of our society.

I know total depravity is probably not that popular of an idea. And it's true, most of us aren't murderers, compulsive liers, or extorionists, but what we are is probably something worse, apathetic. We don't care that we are part of global systems that are designed to keep our countries richer and others poorer. We don't care that the clothes we buy were often made in horrendous conditions, or that the coltan in our mobile phones is part of what fueled the war in DRC where more than 3 million people died in the last 5 years. This subtle side of our depravity is perhaps worse than the easily identifiable and visible sides, and probably the hardest part to change.

A necessary read...just think of Haggard's Kids...

Hey, I just stumbled across this post on Andrew Jones's blog. He shares some of his past story and really puts this whole situation into a light that I needed to see. It's powerful, and such a reminder of what shame can do to an individual and a family. If you get a chance pray for Ted Haggards wife and kids, and I guess even for him too, although that seems a bit harder.

Here's the link to the post.

He's in pain and he's my brother...

Hey everyone, I heard news from my Dad today (by way of text message) that my brother, Matt, was taken into Accident and Emergency at St. Vincents Hospital today and wasn't doing well. It all started last week when my brother went in for a "routine" procedure to deal with some ingrown toenails... I know not nice. Anyway, they had to remove the nail, and subsequently the wound has got really badly infected (if you want to know more about the background to this, and see a REALLY unseemly picture then click here for Matt's Blog).

Anyway, he's been a bit up and down with pain and feeling sick, but today got really bad and his surgeon recomended that they take him right away into the A&E, so now Matt is in a bed at Vincent's with a severe case of cellulitis and probably not having much fun. Please include Matt in your prayers (if you normally pray and even if you don't...it can't hurt), I know he'd really appreciate it.

Another Momentous Day...

So today (okay truly it was yesterday, but does it matter?), I finished reading the book Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. Why did I read it? Cause I felt like it was required reading for those of us in "post-evangelicalism." And in a way it is. It's funny talking to people who have strong ideologies (about whatever), and instead of normal small talk about what do you like to do, people tend to ask "have you read this book, or what do you think of this author." We really do relate to each other by a shared "discourse" which has shaped us and our understanding of reality. This isn't just Christians (or emmergent type people) who do this but lots of other people too. I've met people in Southampton, who we keep asking each other if we've read something, or seen a particular thoughtful film or whatever, and finally find something of common ground... it's mad how good it feels when you find someone likes the same text that you do.... it binds you together in a unique way.... i don't know what it is.

Blue Like Jazz was good. Not life changing, but it did make me think- not a paradigm shift- I feel that we're probably in similar paradigms, but none the less, I feel that the way he put things, was fresh and made me reflect. I guess the next book in the similar genre I need to read is Velvet Elvis, right? I dunno if I will, we'll have to see, even though I'm sure it's good, and am sure I agree with everything he says even before I've flipped open a page.

The hard part about reading these types of books and thinking these types of things about christianity, is that we feel we've found something that others don't have... and whenever you feel like that arrogance is hard to fight off. I struggle with feeling "enlightened" compared to other evangelicals, even though I know, that this isn't true and that there truly is "nothing new under the sun." I was just thinking the other day as I was talking with god and using all my social theory jargin, that God must be bemused by all of us who think we are having new ideas about faith, but truly just changing our vocabulary.... or maybe there really is something new about it.

A small example of this ..... I found myself praying the other day somthing like this "Lord you know how my habitus is messed up and has brought me to this place, cut me with your discourse and shape my understandings of reality in the way you'd want to" nothing's new about that, but that was naturally how my spirit wanted to state things, it's how they made sense to me.

I wish I could relate to other Christians, but I guess that's the catch. In truth, I wish other Christians could relate to me. So many are happy to just devote their lives to their worship services and after church coffee, seminars, cell groups, Christian Unions. The problem lies in that I used to be just like that and relate to that, but I got burnt out very early. I don't want to go back to that place (although sometimes I truly am tempted), but I'm also tempted to think other Christians should come to where I am, but I'm sure that wouldn't be a good thing either. I just keep needing to worry about God transforming me and pray that he would do the same for others I guess.

Again, I'm going to finish here, because it's half two in the morning, I'm a bit wired and am probably not making much sense...

Peace on you all.

A "Momentous" Day...

So today 2 things happened important for my future life as a doctor (inshahlah).

1. I officially became a member of the British Medical Association They even gave me a membership card..... don't necessarily know how I feel belonging to a "professional" organization like that....

2. I purchased my first Stethoscope.- again something about that even doesn't sit well with me, I think it's too much a symbol of power....or something....

So yeah, I've always had issues to the "position" side of becoming a doctor. I don't like wearing a tie, and I don't like being called by a title. Is it necessary? I'm trying to keep an open mind, to learn from people who've been doing this thing longer than I've been around, but at the same time, avoid unnecessary indoctrination. How much detachment is necessary? How much "professional" demeanor? I know those can be useful things..... but then again, are they just symbols of power and position trying to reinforce the fallacy that the doctor is special in some way more than just having a particular education and vocation? I'm having to deal with things, lets just say the anti establishment side of me doesn't like being part of the establishment too much....

So, at least I had one good piece of news in this whole regard. I won't have to wear a white coat, at least while I'm working in Britain. They've been identified as an infection control risk (i.e. they don't get washed as much as they should and are floppy anyway, so not good at keeping clean). That's one age old symbol of the old ways that's gone at least.

Quotes of the day:

"Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy."

"We have lived by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong. We must change our lives, so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption that what is good for the world will be good for us. . . We must recover the sense of the majesty of the creation and the ability to be worshipful in its presence. For it is only on the condition of humility and reverence before the world that our species will be able to remain in it."

-Wendell Berry

So we spent most of the afternoon today watching videos of women giving birth. I should just take this moment to thank you once again Mom for what you did those 22 years ago.

Something you don't want to hear when you're trying to push during your delivery: "you've just had a grade 3 tear".....trust me.

What we actually do....

I think i'm really going to enjoy the relaxed informal atmosphere of this course. The teaching team are pretty much all still excited about teaching this course (this is only it's 3rd year) and work really well together. Let me try and explain how an average week is goign to go for me.

Monday morning at 9:00 we meet in "facilitated graduate groups" of about 9 people to be presented with and discuss this weeks topic (i.e. pregnancy) and learning outcomes (what we need to learn about it by the end of the week).... we then go about trying to decide together how best to learn those outcomes. Monday afternoon we go out on G.P. Visits, in groups of 4 to the same G.P. for the Semester, where we will meet patients (who have agreed to come in) who are good examples of the case we are studying. Here we will also learn clinical skills of history taking and examination.

Tuesday, we go to Winchester Hospital, and are taught more by the teaching team there, through lectures, having patients come in, visiting patients in wards, practicing clinical skills such as veinipuncture, examination techniques and other sorts of things.....,

Wednesday there are "optional lectures" i.e. lectures to focus our learning such as anatomy, immunology, pharmacology, and loads of other words that end in "ology". Wednesday afternoon we have a dissection room tutorial (but we are free to use the room and the "specimens" any time during the week).

Thursday morning is again optional lectures (I'm guessing I'm going to attend all of these as I don't have a Phd in BioChemistry of Physiology like many of my classmates). And then Thursday afternoons is independent study with optional post-mortem demonstrations.

Friday, is a shortened day, at 11:00 we meet again in our "facilitated graduate groups" and discuss what we've learned and then in the afternoon we have a plenary session with an expert in the field we've been studying.

And that's a typical week. Basically the idea of the course is that the early clinical experience and the constant attention to the same issue, will enable us to learn a lot more effectively than just having disjointed lectures. We'll have to see how that all works out though.

1 Week down...

So I've officially been through my first week of Medical School. At least they haven't kicked me out yet, which is a good sign. Like most other first years here in Southampton I've also officially been given "Freshers Flu" which isn't the most fun thing in the world but should be gone in a few days.

I'm begining to realize how much work is going to be involved and so I'm going to have to stop going out as much as I have been, (my budget is going to thank me for that). That said, I have been meeting some really interesting people here and so is always a good thing, I still hate being at the stage of such "superficial" relationships with everyone, small talk isn't my strong point....but that's not something you can or should rush.

That said though, it's really nice to have an old friend from home here too. Emma Caffrey-Osvald, who I went to St. Andrews with is studying medicine here too, she's in her 4 year but is intercalating to do a bachelors of science before she goes and finishes her final 2 years. She had me over to dinner in her house on Wednesday and we just talked about mutual friends and life for really long time, it was great. It's really good to have a familiar face, even if she has seen me at some quite 'memorable' times (....i.e. she's been addressing emails to me as "King Herod"...... don't ask..).

Southampton Mid Week 1-

So, it's post time again. I'm not sure whether this post will be and update or something deep....probably something deep, I'll do an update some other time...not much all that interesting to tell has happened anyway.

Whenever I enter into a new place I'm full of emotions. Each time is also quite different, yet some things remain the same. I've done transition a good bit now, so I sort of know what to expect. I know not to despair now about not having "deep" friends yet cause that will come in due course, I'm learning to be open, to love. To not befriend people seeking friendship, but to befriend people to show them love, and friendship comes if it comes. Anyway..... i won't go on about all that.

What I really want to post about is that I've been cleaning up the desktop on my computer (trying to get the old beast to run faster) and found this. What follows are a segment taken from a relfection I wrote during the first few days after being back from Cambodia, as I was going through intense but rapid culture shock and adjustment. I started this after sitting down to play the piano for the first time in 6-months. I couldn't do it. Who in my community could afford a piano.....it was sort of the straw that broke the camels back.....

"My fingerst cry out,
Don't make me touch the keys, the sound of my expression is stolen
Don't make me touch the keys, the words that I'm writing come with a cost to a broken mother who has sold her child.
As I rise to take up my gold plated, wireless cross, complete with cushioned carrying straps and made from a new alloy that retains strength but eliminates weight, I'm struck.

As I look at the one month's salary hanging on the wall, or the shirts I forgot I had.

I've cut myself off from humanity and called it life. I have thought I had something important to give."

I know that sounds really melodramatic, and it is... I was going through some rough emotions....but it was really how I felt. And I wish I could still feel that way right now, but it's too far removed. When God looks at humanity, he sees us richest 10% of the world who have freedom to do what we want when we want, to buy what we want "guzzling and gulping" the finest, cleanest food and drink. He does see us, but only after, and in the context of, the mass of humanity who are for one reason or another the shafted of our world. Those for whom life is physically, emotionally, and spiritually demanding, all the time. For the couple days that I was just recently back from Cambodia, that at least was the context of how I saw my western life....

But even though I'd like to give us all a big guilt trip about being wealthy or educated (or heaven forbid both), I don't think God works that way (as much as I feel he should). I think he rather move us with this knowledge to seek justice or what people refer to as "Shalom" -that dynamic giving of each other, restoration of all relationships between humans, and between humans and the rest of creation. How difficult it is for the rich to live in this way (Jesus said it), but he said it is possible. How do we start, or continue? (1st things first....it's not about the money....that's really secondary Michael...so stop bringing it up too much). There's two (not-so-easy) steps....

1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength (and any other category your society includes....i.e. maybe your liver too or your psychie)

2) Love your neighbour as yourself.

The key.... you can't do one without the other. I'm stopping now.....cause I wouldn't have read this far.

Coventry Cathedral

For those who do not know, Coventry Cathedral is quite an amazing place. I'd visited there many years ago when I was either 8 or 11, and I still remember it quite vividly. The Cathedral is quite famous because of it's efforts of reconciliation. In 1940 the cathedral was completely demolished by bombing during the World War. The leader of the cathedral at that time quite publicly declared not to seek any revenge but rather reconciliation with Britains enemies at the time. Over the years the cathedral has become home to the International Centre for Reconciliation which has strong links to Wheaton and has been involved in trying to broker many important peace deals around the world, and also to the Community of the Cross of Nails, which is one of many christian communities accross the world trying to actively promote peace and reconciliation in their communitites.

It's powerful to go the the cathedral (pobably only if you're inthe right mood though, which I was) and ponder the history and the power of Christ's work of reconciliation. When you stand there you see so vividly the empty shell that remains of the old church building and the vibrant new building built adjacent to it, with the cross, joining the two buildings together. I stood inside the new building and looked at the stained glass wall, in contemporary style, it was one of the most moving pieces of church art that I've ever seen, displaying the glory of good, the light made it look as if the wall was made of water and was moving in front of you, it was crazy, and drew you to worship.

Anyway, above are a couple pictures I took.

A couple of days in Coventry with some servants

So I've known for a while that Craig and Nay Greenfield (who served as my mentors and adopted me into their family in Cambodia) were going to be in England this Autumn. And it just so worked out that last this past weekend Craig was begining to lead a 2 week orientation for new workers with Servants, 3 of whom are leaving soon to live and work in Calcutta, India. They said I could join them for the weekend so these past 2 days, I took the train up north a little more than 2 hours away to Coventry where the International Administrator for SERVANTS, Helen, and her family live. It was a great time of seeing both old and new faces, and again focusing our hearts and minds on God's unquenching heart for the poor. It was good for my sould especially as I'm in a new place, to be with these christians, and refocusing myself to the lives that God has called us to, to live his kingdom, to seek justice and reconciliation of all relationships (shalom).

Along with the great spiritual side of things, on Saturday night I got in a great game of Settlers of Kattan with Craig and Jenny on the great board that Craig made and which we'd used many times in his slum house in Cambodia....good memories.



Here's a copule pictures from my trip....


Sitting (left to right): Sylvia (Swiss), Kate (English, raised in India), Jenny (US American), Thomas (Swiss), Ashleen (originally from California but now living in Switzerland married to Thomas), Craig (New Zealander -and has lived everywhere else) then on the floor is Helen (who is English). Sylvia, Kate and Jenny are all heading soon (within the next couple of months to India to work with the existing Servants workers in Calcutta.


We had our meetings in the church centre of Holy Trinity Coventry, which had a beautiful building and was adjacent to the famous Coventry Cathedral. Above is a picture out from the dining room and in the near distance you can see the new part of Coventry Cathedral. Below is on the left side of the picture is the church centre we met in, quite nice I have to admit.

Okay a couple quick pictures..

I'm running out the door to go buy some quick essentials (if I can find them.... I'm not exactly sure where to go in England to buy things like hangers.....I'll figure it out i guess)... but here's a couple pictures to give you an idea of things that i see here.... as in where I live.


This is the view out my window. I'm in old terrace which overlooks NEW terrace. They look very nice, ours don't (I'll post a picture later).



This is my room (still not un packed, hence the need for hangers).... it's about 11ft by 12 ft so it's not too small, in the right top corner of the room there's a small sink and mirror that you can't see, so that's handy.... anyway.. I need to run cause the day's getting away from me, will post more interesting pictures later. If I see anything that's more interesting that is......

Okay finally here...

So for the past month and a half or so I've been receiving a flood of emails from people asking about how medical school is going and what it's like living in England. Well, today is the first day I can even attempt to form an answer. I arrived in Southampton yesterday at about 10:30 am. This is actually quite early, cause I'm attending the international induction, I didn't have to, but thought it would be good to catch my bearings and get used to the place before class begins. So as most of my Wheaotn pre-med friends have already been through at least 1 month if not 2 of medical school I am still yet to officially start....but "all in it's good time" as they say. I'm sure I'll be missing the days of not having class and things to study soon enough. I'm living in university halls, yet it doesn't seem much like the dorm life I knew at wheaton. I'm in a converted terraced house where there are 10 single rooms with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities. It seems much like a normal small house, but with not living room and where everyone locks their bedroom doors.

In some ways I feel like a bit of a fraud attending international induction, several other international students have already said they thought I was English, and it is true I don't have as much of the language barrier. but all the same, I do feel very alien here, I don't know anyone, have never been here before, and there's all usual differences of figuring out public transport, new currency, new prices, and the like... Southampton seems to be a very different place from Dublin. So far the city seems diverse enough, a bit more than the wheaton area and it's diverse in a different sense from dublin, as most non ethnically english people that you'd meet were born and raised here, where in Dublin that's still a rarity. Still, it's very non urban, the university is in the subarban sprawl of a not very large city, so we'll see how I like after I've been here longer.

So all things considered I'm doing well. Next week when all the new UK students arrive is called Freshers week and will be quite crazy. Induction here has been very different from orientation at Wheaton, mainly I think just cause of the size of the student population. The student body is over 20,000 for the university, and in just the international induction there's over 750 students, which doesn't help in making friends, cause chances are if you meet someone you won't meet them again. I'm waiting for term time to start when I can meet my entering class of 45 people in the Graduate Medicine programme, that's a much more managable group.

Alright, I'll try and post some pictures later.

Okay, random quote of the day, I literally heard it less than a minute ago on the psalters myspace website... it's "when people learn to love each other, capitalism won't be possible and marxism won't be necessary"...... i have a love hate relationship with phrases like that, they're too 'cute' but speak what need to be said.....

So today is an international day of action on the Darfur crisis. I admit I did nothing special today for Darfur, I deleted most of the Darfur junk emails in my inbox without even opening them today... I was reminded again that today was special to try and raise attention about Darfur, when on the radio I heard the director of GOAL (an Irish Aid Agency) in Sudan calling for unilateral military action to take place immediately and to be lead by the USA and Britain. He said they should bypass the UN as China and Russia will most likely never agree to sending UN troops without Khartoom's permission.... it just hit me.... the futility of all our efforts, yet again. We place our responsibility for humanity's well being in the hands of impersonal super-powers and yet take little meaningful action ourselves. Thinking of what he called for (I wish i could remember the GOAL man's name), brought loads of thoughts to my head, like "how could he be calling for unilateral action when the US and Britain have been condemned so much recently FOR their unilateral action in Iraq? Then I thought of the alternative, present, right-now, reality, I would want someone to help protect me and my family from genocide by my own government. My Christian faith would lead me to pacifism, but like so many things in my faith, it only works if I'm willing to go completely. Pacifism only works if pacifists are willing to join victims and offer themselves as the biblical "living sacrifices" in the modern-day tradition of Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. I'm not there, maybe I would be if I was physically there, if I had to choose, but it's too easy to sit here in a nice big comfortable house, well full from that pizza and ice cream I just ate, and dream of escaping the nets of a comfortable life. Christianity doesn't do well with comfort, just like it doesn't do well with power. It makes a little more sense how Jesus talked about just how unbelievably difficult it is for a rich man to live out his kingdom...

.......but there I go again making Darfur about me, I've learned something very simple in my life of travelling from place to place.... in the many times that something happens where I can't be there to help make it right (not like I could do anything about Darfur even if I was there except probably make things worse), prayer is something I can do. It's something God has given us so that we can act on the hearts he has given us for the world....it doesn't relinquish our responsibility for physical efforts to relieve the suffering (although it probably does give us stamina and focus for it), but it helps ward off the despair that I'm so prone to when I think of the world how it is. Let's just pray, and pray that we would pray more, because I probably will be thinking about it tonight, but it won't be on the radio again tomorrow to remind us.