benedson

50K = Happiness

It seems that Happiness is found when you earn 50k per annum.  Once you get to this level then the odd 10k here or there isn't going to make much difference to you overall levels of happiness.  So, for example, the increase in my levels of happiness with a car that costs £5k or £150k is minimal, as any happiness attained comes from having a car in the first place.

I caught a discussion with a chap called Nic Marks from the New Economic Foundation about this on the radio where he identified five factors that keep us happy.  Here they are:

Connect - Have good social relations
Be Active - Physical Well being
Take Notice - Engage with the World, be mindful of yourself and your own needs
Keep learning - not necessarily academically, but be curious...learn an instrument or learn how to cook a new dish
Give - Give away that which you have.

I'd just had a conversation with a person about life balance when I was listening to this and it struck me how close to this is to some of the ancient monastic rhythms.

40 images:40 videos:40x40 words:40 days:day1

Solitude was Christ’s experience in the desert. I celebrate the city, yet daily I meet people where the city is a place of isolation and loneliness. In our celebration let us not forget the solitude and isolation of the city. 

Banning Roadside Shrines

A few days ago the local news reported that Bolton City Council are putting a 30 day time limit on road side shrines.  They want to stop permanent memorials, as they say that they are a distraction for other road users - which they probably are.  People are kicking off about it and protesting, the council are going to create a place where families can take their memorials instead.  This isn't going down very well - people want their memorial in the place of death.

The shrines reaffirm the importance of place to me, in a society where we're increasingly finding identity in network rather than place, place still has an important value.  I also think that there is something quite human about being rooted in a place, being born, living and dying in a physical place connected to the planet.  I'm doing a funeral tomorrow morning, the person will be buried 5 miles away from where they died.  There is a real and physical detachment from the place where they lived and the family.  As place/land becomes more and more scarce i fear that the detachment may increase.

Roadside shrines also fascinate me as they blur the boundary between public and private space.  On one level they are a deeply personal expression of grief yet they are located on a public highway where all can see the grief expressed.  They are in many ways 'not very British' as they bring raw emotions into the public realm. 

I'm also intrigued at the respect that people give to the memorials.  There is one at the end of my road on a junction where three people were killed a few years ago but a hit-and-run driver and on each anniversary there is an explosion of candles, flowers and banners on the shrine.  However, throughout the entire year the shrine is respected, people stop at it and pause, there is an area around the shrine that they do not walk onto.  It has become sacred ground.

I keep hearing rumour that someone is doing a PhD in them...can anyone point me in the right direction?

And that was 2008

So I'm a few days late but I thought that I'd let you know what were a few of my highlights from last year.

Music - album of the year for me was most definitely Spiritualized, Songs in A & E. I've used tracks from the Album in Sanctus a few time in the last year, the lyrics have a definite spiritual undertone to them.  Someone commented to me that they preferred something more subtly Christian, when i replied that it wasn't a Christian singing he replied 'If I were to write a racist slogan on a wall, even though I hate racism   then it would make me a racist'...

Book - I read lots of books at the same time, partly as I'm doing a PhD, but partly because i read different things for different reasons.  For example I'm reading 1,000 Splendid Sons, Here comes everybody and Hell and High Water, all being read for different reasons.  But this year I've particuarly enjoy the churchandpomo series and within that I the one that I enjoyed this year was GloboChrist, but for me the read of the year has been Beyond Homelessness by Walsh and Bouma-Prediger.  I think the chapter in post-modern homelessness and 'The Wizard of Oz' is spot on...

Moments - There have been a few moments of the year that have been highlights, I saw James at the Gmex, and whilst I think James were at there best about 15 years ago they were superb live and Tim Booth is a fantastic front man. Greenbelt is always a highlight and the sunrise worship led by contemplative fire was unique, then taking Jude to Godly play was a treat!  We celebrated my parents Ruby wedding by organising a surprise party for them and saw my youngest brother get married. I got my self ordained, still working out where that fits in the year!

Anyway there are a few things, i've uploaded a photo set, so that you can get a feel for our year.  I meant to send this out before Christmas, but life got manic...

Tags: benEdson, 2008,

Spending a year living like Jesus

Well this chap is trying anyway...

Tags: BenEdson, Jesus

my organic veg box

Whilst at Findhorn i worked in the gardens, growing the vegetables that the community ate and sold in the organic shop. I was so impressed that today i signed on to an organic veg box delivery scheme. £10 a week, which i thought was a bargain, and they deliver a fresh box of organic fruit and veg every thursday.

So i picked up our first box today, whilst in the shop, and brought it home. I've now found a few recipes on the internet and have cleaned all the mud off the carrots, beetroot and potatoes. But during the cleaning process a few thoughts crossed my mind.

Firstly, Kester - the dirt king - is always going on about dirt and how detached we are from dirt in the west, and i have to agree. But here i was, upto my wrists in dirty water, after carrying muddy carrots though the house and enjoying the experience of connectedness. Connectedness to the earth, connectedness to the seasons, connectedness to the environments, and dare i say it, connectedness to God. The God of the planet, the environment and the seasons...

Secondly, when i usually shop i buy food with a recipe in mind, whereas with the veg box you find recipes that are dependent of the veg that you have got. This once again means that you are more tied in with the seasons and I'd suggest this helps to keep life slightly more balanced. I can go to the supermarket and buy strawberries and melons, even though it is nearly December. In a city, it can be all to easy to become detached from the seasons, our houses are kept at a uniform temperature and our shopping is the same all year around. Due to this we lose the pattern of the seasons and i'd suggest the patterns in our life, i wonder if this has anything to do with the rise of S.A.D.

Anyway, roast veg for tea tonight...better stop blogging or else they'll burn - and i'd end up nipping out for a curry!

Technorati Tags: Findhorn, environment

ABC's and The Laundrette

On Friday last week I had two experiences that caused me to reflect on welcome and how alienated you can be when out of your natural comfort zone.

I took Jude and Lily to ABC's (Adults, Babies and Children) at our local church, I wandered in and noticed that it shouldn't be called ABC's but WBC's (Women rather than Adults). I was rather intimidated, I sat in the corner played with Jude, moved over to the craft table before story-time and song-time started...Okay, i sing with Jude, I know all the songs but that's usually in the privacy of my own home, not with 35 other women who are used to doing it every week. I felt out of my comfort zone as I was struck by the lack of men and how their are certain practices that exclude people not intentionally just institutionally...sound's familiar?

Secondly, our washing machine broke so i had to go to the laundrette to wash the nappies. So i went to the local laundrette and just about managed to work out what to do with a bit of help from the assistants. I sat down to read a book when two students walked in, they went up the machines, couldn't work out what to do and the two assistants just watched. The students then walked out of the laundrette, the two women laughed and that was that...

On both times i was totally out of my comfort zone, had to work hard to be welcomed and felt culturally excluded. Need i say more?

Technorati Tags: Ben Edson, mission

Heaven and Earth Show

I'm going to be on the heaven and earth show on Sunday. They filmed me today at Nexus. I'm a bit nervous about it as I'm not sure how it'll come across. It's meant to be a bit polemical so hopefully that will come across well. It's a response to a piece by Terry Waite that'll appear in The Daily Mail on Saturday.

I'm also quite cautious about some of their camera shots...I may be seen as a bit wacky! I'm gonna be portrayed as the young crazy one and he'll be the institutional man.

Technorati Tags: Ben Edson, Heaven and Earth

our loft conversion

Over past 6 weeks we've been having a loft conversion and it is now finished!! Which is a great relief as the we're expecting our second child this week - i always said it'd be finished in time, but it was rather tight. Anyway here are some before and after photos...

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Technorati Tags: DIY, loft

Accountability of the prophets...

I'm not wanting to pick a fight...but I received an email today telling me of a significant prophecy that has been given to the uk. It told me to look here if I'd not seen it. So i had a read. It's from a Kenyan guy called Barak Okiro, I've never heard of him but it got me thinking about accountability.

I'm sick of prophecies about revival coming to the UK and particularly to Manchester- where God will pour his blessing out on the people - because quite simply they don't appear to be coming true. It also appears that nobody is holding the 'prophets' to account. So in 18 months time at the end of 2008 I'm going to have a look back and see whether, in my opinion, this prophecy has come true or not. It's nothing personal, just accountability...

Here is the prophecy:

"Britain I love, you are the apple of my eyes in Europe.

Your poverty will soon be over, your children will soon
dance joyfully holding the hands of their mothers.
Their stomachs will be full and their hearts merry.
The city and village fathers will soon declare the
beginning of a new season-the rainy season.
It will not be just like any other rainy season that
England has had before. It will be a mighty rain-
it shall pour instead of raining.

Now is the time to prepare for the harvest.
2007 is the year of preparation and 2008 the rains
shall pour mightily. Let those with small grain stores
enlarge their territories now for the harvest shall be
plentiful. But for now I have some thing against you
England, I hate your deception, I hate your bloody
hands and your idolatry. Return to me, rent your
hearts not your garments. Uphold Holiness, purity and
righteousness." Said the Lord of Hosts.

After this prophesy we all cried to the Lord to have mercy on Britain. We stood on the gap and repented for England. Over 300 hundred intercessor and prayer generals gather in my small church in Nakuru to intercede for the church in Britain and the coming revival. We pulled down all sorts of deceptions that are currently ruling and reigning in the UK.

The message is clear, there is still a lot to be done by you saints in the UK, at the same time God has also decided and purposed to bring revival in your country. I wish you were here to repent on behalf of the British people or your country. Spread the news that God is in your land and that revival is surely coming.

Another thing you can be sure of is that we your brethrens in Kenya are praying for you. Together, we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus our Lord and saviour.

Technorati Tags: Prophets, accountability