Change, a sign that you are still alive !

Some thoughts on change ; of the 100 trillion cells that make up your body several hundred million will die today (and thankfully be replaced by several hundred million new ones). Your body already has 5 pounds of dead cells sticking to it ( gross thought eh!). Your skin replaces itself every month. The lining of your cheeks is replaced 3 times a day. Your stomach lining replaces itself every 5 days. Your liver replaces itself every 6 weeks. Your skeleton replaces itself every 3 years. 98% of all the atoms in your body are replaced every year. Face it if you don't change you are already dead.

The Funny side of relationships

A husband and wife were having a disagreement and were giving each other the 'silent treatment'.
Just before they went to bed the husband remembered he needed his wife to wake him at 5 am for an early morning flight.
But he not did want to be the first one to speak ( and LOSE the argument).
So, he wrote a note saying ' Wake me at 5 am" and put it where she would see it.
He woke the next morning at 9 am, furious at having missed his flight .He was about to storm off to find his wife when he noticed a note by his side of the bed, It said " It is 5 am".

Guys are just not equipped to win these kind of fights.

We are all related

We are all related

"There is a kind of food
not taken through the mouth;
bits of knowing that nourish love.
The body and the human personality form a cup.
Every time you meet someone something is poured in."
( Rumi )

"Epistomologically, the things we see (people, objects etc) exist only in relationship and, when analysed microscopically, they too are best viewed as relationships. It is no secret in physics that the closer we analyse some 'thing' the less it appears as a thing and the more it appears as a dynamic process (things in relationship). Consequently, relationships become a primary source of our knowledge of the world." ( Conone )

I have been reading and speaking alot about relationships lately and have been struck by how much of who we are is shaped and determined by relationship. We are born as a result of relationship, raised and nurtured in relationship and find our greatest fulfillment in relationship.The quality of those relationships can make or break a life and because we all live in relationship the ' making and breaking' is never just one life.

'...[The] many parts are needed to form a complete body...' 1Cor 12:12 TLB

"There's a wonderful story about Jimmy Durante, one of the truly great entertainers. He was asked to do a show for World War II veterans. He told them he was very busy, but if they wouldn't mind his doing one short monologue and immediately leaving for his next appointment, he'd come. They agreed. But when Jimmy got on stage he went through the short monologue - then stayed, and stayed. Soon he'd been on stage 15, 20, then 30 minutes. Finally he took a last bow and left. Backstage someone stopped him and said 'I thought you had to go after a few minutes. What happened?' Jimmy answered, 'You can see for yourself if you look in the front row.' In the front row were 2 veterans, each of whom had lost an arm in the war. One had lost his right arm and the other had lost his left. Together, they were able to clap, and that's exactly what they were doing, loudly, and cheerfully.

That's the picture of what's supposed to happen at church:'... [the] many parts and all the parts are needed to form a complete body, so it is with Christ's body...' But to enjoy its benefits you have to go, and when you get there, you must reach out to others so that you can know and be known. Pew-sitting, back-of-the-head fellowship won't cut it! Someone sitting next to you has 20/20 vision where you have blind spots, and vice versa. You need their counsel, correction and comfort; and they need yours. When that happens, the church is working like its supposed to." (UCB Word for Today)

At Eikon, we're all about relationship.

Ceilidh Pictures!

To see a few more pictures, CLICK HERE.

A context for the conversation

The evening was characterized by loud conversation and loud laughter as old friends renewed aquaintance and those who came as strangers discovered that they were among friends. On Saturday night Eikon had it's launch party. One a hundred people from all walks of life, of different ages and numerous nationalities enjoyed eating together, playing together and above all dancing together. It was an evening when those who believed were outnumbered by those who didn't. I truly enjoyed every minute of the five-hour experience.

The event was everything we we hoped for at our launch. But more than that it was what we hope the environment of Eikon will always be, a 'grace space'. A space where those who are seeking will always feel welcome and always out number those who believe. If I was to pick one activity to describe what we were trying to facilitate at our event, it is a context for the conversation.

The more I interact with the people who live in the city of Edinburgh the more I am struck by the fact that on matters of faith, people want to talk. But they want to do it at their own pace and to ask their own qustions. Sadly the experience of being accosted by well meaning rather nervous, fast talking Christians anxious to give them answers to questions that they were not asking has resulted in an initial reluctance to talk to Christians about matters of personal faith. An important part of what we @ Eikon will be doing in the days ahead of us is to faccilitate a natural, comfortable context for those conversations: happily that will involve many more parties. That does does not mean that we are gearing ourselves up to be simply an event orientated church. It does mean that our events will reflect the environment of Eikon and that our environment will always be capable of supporting our events. It is important to us @ Eikon that there is no disonance between who we are as church and what we do as church