I grew up here through the late 1960s and 1970s in the days of the Cymdeithas yr iaith Gymraeg direct action in support of bilingualism in Wales.

For a young man growing up, it was a fairly exciting time.

Not only were there fresh daubings of green paint on English language road signs to be watched out for on regular car journeys through the Valleys. The newspapers and television news also carried reports of burning holiday homes, attacks on radio and television transmitters … even crude explosive devices strapped to pipelines carrying Welsh water to English cities.

Oh yes. And then there were the quiet whispers behind shielding hands … ‘See him? Free Wales Army he is …’

It was all very exciting for a boy … but where did it all come from?

Mitochondrial Eve

In 1980, Brown first proposed that modern humans possessed a mitochondrial common ancestor that may have lived as recently as 180,000 years ago.

In 1987, Cann et al. suggested that ‘mitochondrial Eve’ may have lived between 140-280 thousand years ago.

So ‘Mitochondrial Eve’ was the woman from whom all living humans today descend, on their mother’s side, and through the mothers of those mothers and so on, back until all lines converge on one person.

It seems that there were other women around during her lifetime, so it might have been better to have called her ‘Mitochondrial Mrs Noah’ … but that’s not really the point here.

So where did all these different languages COME from?

Because of ‘Mitochondrial Eve’, it is strictly speaking, in biological and evolutionary terms, difficult to see where the divisive issue of diverse world languages comes from.

After all, one of the great joys of motherhood is teaching the little darlings to speak, isn’t it?

And if one mother taught everyone to speak … how do we account for this?

6,809 distinct languages

The most extensive catalogue of the world’s languages, generally taken to be as authoritative as any, is that of the Ethnologue organization (http://www.ethnologue.com), whose detailed classified list currently includes 6,809 distinct languages.

New language arises through ‘amalgamation’

Some of these seem to be related in some degree of detail or another … and can be said to belong to a particular language type. But these similarities demonstrably arise out of human contact between the language groups … so wealthy Normans came to less affluent Wales speaking French and donated the word for ‘window’ (Welsh ‘ffenest’ from French ‘fenestre’) for example.

Languages are dying not emerging!

Languages seem to die out rather than emerge or evolve afresh in any event.

Stephen R. Anderson’s paper for the Linguistic Society of America (2004) indicates

“Around a quarter of the world’s languages
have fewer than a thousand remaining speakers,
and linguists generally agree in estimating that
the extinction within the next century
of at least 3,000 of the 6,809 languages listed by
Ethnologue,
or nearly half,
is virtually guaranteed
under present circumstances.”

So here’s the big question …

If there are 6,809 languages in the world, unrelated except where there were borrowings due to human contact, but one mother way back in pre-history to teach HER language and speech patterns to us all …

Then where did all those distinctly different and mutually incomprehensible languages come from?

And mightn’t there be some sort of case for revisiting Genesis 11?

“Now the whole world had one language and a common speech …

The LORD said, If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

⁷Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.

⁸So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.

⁹ That is why it was called Babel— because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.”

I laughed.

Quite a lot.

There was a lady describing herself as a ‘bibliotherapist’ on BBC radio 4 this morning, and the interviewer let her run then asked her whether she didn’t really mean ‘librarian’?
You can follow it up here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9663000/9663199.stm

The point is, in a secular society people still encounter all of the same sorts of trials and tribulations of life they encounter in more God-oriented lifestyles, but need help of the sort a clear faith would have given them in terms of insight and wisdom and comfort … in short, help.

Humanity encounters hardship and needs fresh light on its situation, support, encouragement … and that’s true whether we are spiritual or secular people.

Christians turn to the Bible, literary secularists turn to a bibliotherapist (who recommends a good book to take you out of yourself – apparently).

It’s made me think quite a lot about what a Christ-follower should be doing and how he or she should be relating to secular and spiritual people in a world short of support, insight, wisdom and encouragement.

Here’s my role.

I’m here to help people get to know God better.

How do we get to know God better?

By looking into what He says in His books … so my job is to get people into the book.

It’s not a bad idea.

Whether you are a believer or not, there’s still a lot in the Bible to guide, help, encourage and support a man when times are … perplexing … as well as when they are not.

I know this.

Trust me.

The locals call me ‘The Rev.’, but in fact (apparently) I am a Bibliotherapist.

… and seasonal affective disorder.

A video short of just about 7 minutes.

GOT to be worth a look?

http://youtu.be/W8aaTdAqzMQ

Let us know what you think of it?

Shed loads of grief lie dow that road … but HOW do you handle it when parenting poses problems and perplexity?

Amram and Jochebed (yes – these are their real names) had a bit of a snag with their newborn.

The absolute ruler of the land had decreed that all male children of their race were to be taken down to the big river and thrown in. Now, it’s hard enough keeping an average newborn quiet at night, but when there are troops out searching for babies like yours to feed them to the crocodiles …

… THEN you are a parent under pressure!

So what did Moses’ parents (because that’s who we’re talking about) see as their priorities in this horrible parent-pressure situation?

Check the link! (It’ll only take about 5 minutes).

Priorities for Parents under Pressure Hebrews 11 vv 23-29.wmv http://youtu.be/iafqEkEj0BE

The battering life gives a person can do it to anyone.

The disappointments and delusionments, the hardships and the heartaches, and mebbe worst of all the feeling towards the end that what you have actually DONE with your life doesn’t really COUNT for much … these things can have a pretty poor effect on your world view!

So how do you avoid an attack of the ‘Meldrews’?

There are two things to consider …
There’s your place in the big plan, and an eye for the future, and it’s all there in the life of three old guys in Israel.
Take just 26 minutes to check it out here: http://www.grace-llandeilo.org​.uk/video
And, of course, let us know what you think?!

Well it was if you were a three year old steer that only just came off the hill it was born on and had first met a lorry that morning.

Spoiling for a fight …

And after a couple of hours’ mooing with your mates and a lot of other dodgey-looking bovines in a loud, metal filled, clangy building, and loud drovers with big sticks and noise like you’ve never heard before …

You see it’s scary and it’s threatening and its all unaccustomed, and you might really be spoiling for a fight.

Don’t mess with me!

In truth, my steer burst into the ring with some panache … five hundred kilos of ‘don’t mess with me, I’ve had a bad day and I’m feisty’.

It was bright.

It was noisy.

And a man with a stick kept pushing him around and a man he’d not met shouted fast in a microphone … and then hit some wood with a hammer as another gate swung back with a clang.

With horns like a hat rack and high stepping hooves, he sold for a fair bit more than I’d hoped for.

 But he couldn’t get the hang of

leaving the ring.

The drovers got stressed, shouted and waved their sticks.

They had an audience … it was getting embarassing!
And few hundred farmers bristled with anticipation of the entertainment that was surely to come.
Up went the steer, now pumped with adrenalin as they hit him with sticks and he shot around the ring.

His horns struck out left upwards, his feet hitched up and kicked outwards and the drovers all dived from the ring.
Every eye in the place fixed itself on the excitement … and I sensed it was time for some cabaret.
The small steer looked quite fearsome, but he was really just frightened … and although he was sold I felt responsible.

So I jumped from the podium and stepped into the Ring, taking a stick from a drover as I passed … ‘watch him … be careful’ he said.
(Hey, this was great … the best laugh of the day!
The Rev’s beast had kicked up in the Ring, and now the Rev had jumped in there like a Matador to fight the young bullock … oh yes! This was going to be good!)
But the Rev walked up to the bad lad and met his glazed eye, jerked his thumb and said ‘Out!’

… and just pointed.
The steer lifted his horns, and then picked up his heels and he trotted straight out of the ring

… to the roar of loud laughter and most generous applause.

What’s my point?

The drovers are good men. They’re experienced with cattle, and there was nothing at all wrong with what they were doing.
But that steer knew my face and that steer knew my voice, and he trusted me because I had fed him.
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” said Jesus, and the same could be said of my steer.

Now according to the ONS Integrated Household Survey, 69 per cent of  people in Britain said they were Christian, but when they hear the Lord’s voice they still kick and they gore … and when he speaks up they don’t leave the ring.

My sheep hear my voice

Here’s what makes you one of His … you listen to His voice, He knows you (so you trust Him) and you follow Him by walking in His ways.
So THAT’s trust.
And THAT’s faith.
Best not assume it’s all OK if you’ve got anything less?

And it’s a ref that’s done this to him … again!

Why was he ‘holding it in’?

Because a referree had …

• (two French parents and two French names?)
• made a set of harsh decisions
• then sent the Welsh captain off
• after the first twenty minutes
• for a yellow card offence
• that made it impossible to beat
• a lesser French team
• to the rugby world cup final.

( Out here in the heart of Welsh Wales, the sense of being cheated is palpable … but Warren was handling himself well!)

Now before you switch off, let me quickly point out, that this blog is not dedicated to sour grapes at that dubious refereeing decision.

So this blog is about Warren’s little lesson in life, which seems to be so hard to swallow across our entire experience for us … the people of rugby-mad Wales.

We simply won’t have it,

we simply can’t bear it,

for the game not to be in our hands.

It’s the fruit of being control freaks who have no control … and what we do WITH that can have life wrecking consequences.

Simply: life isn’t fair, and refs make tough calls, and there’s 200,000 jobs in the public sector in Wales that are due to be lost which they say won’t be left there by March … and we expect a harsh winter for us all.

(And that’s not going to seem too fair either, now, is it?)

So how about we just lie down and cry?!

Despair can look SUCH a good option! I mean, really, what’s the POINT any more? (See my drift?)

Most people would say there ARE things we can do when life seems to be taken right out of our hands ….

• We can give a good account of ourselves, throughout all of our life.
• We can ‘commit to the tackle’, and try to ‘close down the chaos’, showing ourselves to be ‘gutsy’ (losers)
• We can construct good defence and show great ingenuity and run the ball wide in counter- attack (only to get turned over after 23 phases of play and have our life’s little ball kicked to touch?)

This gives us human dignity (eh?)

This brings us satisfaction, and maybe even some honour (yes, but, really?)

This wins respect and it mentors our juniors (but mentors them in doing what, and going WHERE?)

You see, those are common ‘high ideals’ and we all want to cheer. It sounds noble and lofty and brave.

But the big aim in all of this, is to create some impression that the game is … that our destiny is … still somehow held in OUR hands …

We simply won’t trust

Anyone else …

We just can’t bear the thought that our life should not be in our hands, and the stark truth of our existence is that it ISN’T.

What we need’s a game changer we can trust!

So the wisdom of the wise when it’s all taken from you has always sounded something like this:

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

     ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (That’s the Bible, Proverbs 3:5-6)

But are you prepared for that ‘play’?

Faith gladly trusts its life to the hands of the Ref. (right up to the whistle) by making its play to His call …

(I didn’t start out by saying this would look comfy … but I AM really sure this is right.)

They are both over on the Grace Christian Community Llandeilo FB page …

at … https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Grace-Christian-Community-Llandeilo/255276200423

Let us know what you think?

Thanks!

When we moved here there wasn’t a proper house and we’ve been converting a barn to live in ever since.

So now there’s a container full of memories in this container on the yard, toys and clothes our growing kids once loved, old birthday cards to married and grown up kids from people who were close to them when they were two years old … and furniture that was cherished in my parents, grandparents’ and great grandparents’ homes.

This stuff has got people, situations and big memories inscribed on it … people dearly loved and now long gone.

I completely understand the PASSION for

self-storage!

According to a recent Tom de Castella & Kate Dailey BBC Magazine article, the mania for storage centres began in the US in the 1960s and the country now has over 50,000 such facilities.

Apparently they arrived in London in the 1990s but didn’t take off across the UK until 2000 and certainly I didn’t become aware of them until we were preparing to move house in 2004, when we decided against a storage facility and opted for a shipping container on the farm yard … which had no temperature or environmental control, and the consequences of that are what I’m now having to sort out.

The self storage industry is a growing business … so important that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) now includes a measure of  self storage prices in both its Retail Price Index (RPI) and Consumer Prices Index (CPI).

Apparently this is a particularly American and British phenomenon … it’s the fastest growing real-estate sector in the U.S. and Britain has 800 major self-storage units, the same as the rest of Europe put together.

The UK is now home to as many self storage facilities as it is McDonald’s restaurants, according to research undertaken by comparison website Storage.co.uk

It’s the ideal stopgap while you get organised and there are knockdown three-month offers to entice you in.

But out of sight is out of mind.

Recent statistics show that people are leaving their junk in storage units for longer and longer.

Data from the UK Self Storage Association suggests that the average length of stay has risen from 22 weeks in 2007 to 38 weeks in 2010.

And newspapers have found horror stories where people have forked out thousands of pounds to keep their possessions in storage for years on end, despite never visiting the warehouse to take them out.

Not just a testament to an acquisitive society.

In a survey of UK households by Access Self Storage, 90% of respondents reported
an inability to part with treasured possessions.

But this is only part of the story, says Brian Knutson, an associate professor of psychology at Stanford University. The “endowment effect” is just as important.

This is the economic theory in which – by the mere fact of owning something
we endow a possession with more value than its market price.

It might explain why people spend a huge sum putting an old sofa in storage
for a year rather than using that money to buy a new one.

The Endowment Effect

“Almost everyone wants more for something once they own it, than they will
pay to get it,” says Knutson.

Confusing who we are with what we’ve got

Oliver James, psychologist and author of Affluenza, says that the
self-storage phenomenon can be explained by consumerism’s effect on how we view
ourselves.

Our identity has increasingly become associated with products, he argues, and
not just the mortgage and the car, but smaller items.

“We’ve confused who we are with what we have,” he says.

Now, Jesus had a really clear line on the things that make us worth something.

He had no time for all this impact consumerism’s had on the way we view ourselves, and he even had a story about ‘self-storage’ to make His point!

” … He said to them,

Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

¹⁶And he told them this parable:

The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.

¹⁷He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

     ¹⁸Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

¹⁹And I’ll say to myself, You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’

²⁰But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

     ²¹ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich towards God.”

(Luke chapter 12)

The painful part – making the decisions …

When it comes to a closet full of clutter, “people don’t want to make the decisions,” so put it off for another day, says Cory Cooke, a professional organiser based in London.

“It’s taxing, and a lot of people find it easier to box it up and deal with it later.”

Hmm.

That sounds true.

Mebbe it’s time I got some of my junk to the tip, and gave thanks to God for the memories this kicks up and the people whose love has made my life this rich

… and give some more thought to how I can be rich towards God?