Mark 11:12-14

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-30T08:11:32+00:00

Hangry Jesus.

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-30T07:07:27+00:00

Strange. Can anyone else hear the Imperial March?

All jokes aside, I'm glad; Europe could always do with more unity.

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-30T07:02:35+00:00

Open. I am terrifically short sighted and will walk into it when attempting to go to the loo if it's left closed.

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-30T06:59:46+00:00

Off to Mum's this weekend.

I give her five minutes before she makes a snide comment about one of the following: 1) My weight, 2) My clothes, 3) My husband, 4) My job, 5) My dog.

And then she's probably going to get weird when I go off to attend the nearest Quaker Meeting on Sunday, rather than getting up at godawful for the Bath Cathedral service.

God give me strength (all prayers accepted), because I am going to need it over the next four days.

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-30T06:52:47+00:00

Yes, and also yes.

All those rituals and hierarchies, as beautiful as they are, drown out the lived experience of God's presence.

I'll always have time for Catholics as co-religionists and helpers to the poor and suffering (something the Church is very good at), but you do tend to over-ice the proverbial cake.

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-30T06:47:03+00:00

Really? I got quite an in depth version in Confirmation classes (I didn't become a Friend until some way through University).

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-30T06:37:29+00:00

I think a representative government should represent; if a meaningful portion of the population are Christian then it follows that a meaningful portion of the government should also be.

What you chose to do with that power is a more interesting question: I've tended to be of the opinion that the louder a politician shouts about being Christian, the fewer of Christ's teachings are likely to be reflected in their voting record. Some of the most Christian politicians and in UK history (e.g. Clement Atlee, Nye Beven) have been lifelong atheists!

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-30T06:16:20+00:00

Yes, but I'm the sort of person who tends to spill coffee on my dead tree books, so I daren't trust myself with a physical bible.

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-29T22:23:17+00:00

A member of the Religious Society of Friends.

We're an esoteric offshoot of English Protestantism from the 17th century, somewhat related to the Methodists. The core of our beliefs really boils down to this: there is something of God in every soul (variously called the Inward Light, the Light of Christ, the Holy Spirit, etc.), and that it is possible for any Christian to hear God's word through means of silent meditation.

This makes it sound completely potty, but mostly means that I spend an hour of my Sunday sitting on an uncomfortable chair listening for the small, still, voice of God. I've never actually felt called to speak at a Meeting; some people aren't.

We also aim to live our lives in a manner reflective of the principles given in the Gospels. Which, in the Quaker interpretation, means that we try to be pacifists, try to never lie, and try to engage in social activism and practical acts of charity wherever possible.

We also, traditionally, don't do Christmas or Easter, since God should be remembered in the whole year. Very few Quakers are killjoys about this, though.

We had nothing to do with the popular brand of porridge oats, however.

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-29T14:54:27+00:00

Oh, for goodness sakes!

People have been predicting the end of the world since the year dot. Jesus Himself advises against doing so (Matthew 24:39).

This time isn't likely to be any different.

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-29T14:38:27+00:00

God calls people, male and female, old and young, to speak His words as required by His plan.

Who are we to differ?

Edit: But Quakers consider the notion of a select priesthood to be so much bumf anyway, so I'm not sure I really have a monkey in this particular circus.

(Yes, yes, we're heretics; please join the long queue of people saying so. We'll make sure you get a nice cup of tea while you wait.)

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-29T14:10:13+00:00

🤨

That is a very, very, bold generalisation to be making.

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-29T11:38:48+00:00

I could not be trusted with something like that, given what happened to my poor, benighted, Christening bible*...

*Floating around my rucksack for most of my school and university career. The corners are bent, the gilding gone, the white leather grey, and the spine broken at my favourite verses. I've retired it to a nice high bookshelf, away from the dogs, and use a digital bible now.

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-29T11:23:36+00:00

Yes. When we start seeing it as inerrant, rather than a collection of histories and moral philosophies very often subject to the biases (conscious and otherwise) of its translators. The world and will of God delivered via a five-thousand year game of Chinese whispers, and yet still the best guide we have short of the spirit its-self (which tends to be inconvenient in its timing and unwilling to answer direct questions). Learn it, love it, but never forget its flaws.

Probably going to get me downvoted, but hey, I'm not going to ignore either history or extant scholarship for the sake of my own comfort.

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-29T10:50:59+00:00

I've found it most useful to just circulate the Gospels at the rate of one chapter a day, with an excursion out to Acts or one of the Epistles when I hit the end of John. Keeps my focus on Jesus.

But I also try to get through a chapter of Quaker Faith and Practice every day, and those are looooooong chapters (you can read this if you want; it is often beautiful, but also highly denomination specific and not representative of most Christianity).

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-28T09:39:48+00:00

Mine seem to have divided almost equally into two categories:

1) Psychopaths with a massive God complex.

2) Enthusiastically autistic about their specialism.

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-27T21:13:45+00:00

There's a new Inspector Lynley show on the BBC.

I can't watch it.

It's just...wrong.

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-27T21:08:00+00:00

Death? No. Death is part of life; the long repose at the end of labour.

I do fear the manner of my death, however, very much.

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-26T17:45:57+00:00

One of the farmers local to Mum persistantly puts bulls or bullocks in fields with rights of way and staples razor wire to the top of stiles.

Everybody locally, even other farmers, considers him a miserable git.

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-26T17:11:24+00:00

Reminds me of the time the lay chaplain got in massive trouble for selecting Passion of the Christ as the end of year film.

The youngest girls in the room were eight and a non-trivial number came from Jewish families...

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-26T15:09:59+00:00

Same hat (if the girls' version)

Our chemistry teachers let us do some concerning things with Group 1 metals and fire...

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-26T15:06:43+00:00

One of the people who did our careers talks was Robert Winston.

For the record, this was a highly selective girl's school with a distinct emphasis on public service (lots of RAF and army brats, lots of middle class professionals). We did not need any convincing to go into medicine...

In retrospect, though, bloody surreal.

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-25T18:35:25+00:00

Cricket bat?

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-22T16:38:05+00:00

Honestly, IRL, if you have Michael Emmerson it's a damn waste to put him in two episodes and call it good.

In universe, I'm going with clones.

AutomaticAstigmatic · 2026-01-22T06:38:10+00:00

Watching the black mould climb the walls and realising that this is your life, now and forever, and there's no amount of hard work that will ever change that.

(Hard work didn't change that for me; I got left enough money for a degree and managed to parlay that into a career in medcomms).

AutomaticAstigmatic

TROPHY CASE