Virtual Methodist

I haven't had a good old fashioned rant in a while, so here goes... "Selfies" and "onesies..."  Have there ever been two words and concepts that sum up a civilisation in serious trouble as powerfully as those two? "Onesie" has been an acceptable word in the eyes of the OED at least since 2007 when it appeared in the Shorter OED, but it will never be acceptable to me, either as a word or a garment... As both word and garment it represents, to me, the infantilisation of the English language and western society... Adult baby-grows described in baby talk... So family members may take back any humorous Christmas "onesie" intended for me, as one would be Queen Victoria-like in one's lack of amusement if presented with one... But I loathe "onesies" much less than the concept and word "selfie". Others have been ranting about this " OED word of the year " since it was declared such last month. I have onl...

Today President Obama takes his second inaugural oath for the second time, due to the vagaries of the 20th January falling on a Sunday. This is an event of immense importance for me, even though I am an insignificant blogger bashing away on his keyboard in the backwoods of Belfast, Northern Ireland, and could have no part in the election of this man. But there is no doubt that his decisions ultimately make as much, if not more, difference to my life as do those of the politicians I am able to elect who sit in the big white house on the hill little over a mile from where I am writing, or the contentious clowns we have managed to elect to the council that sits in Belfast City Hall down the road... There has been some controversy over who will lead in public prayer during the inauguration, but I was encouraged this morning by this prayer by Scot McKnight for the President, and perhaps I could do with using a variation on it as I pray for my political representatives at a loc...

Just incase I didn't give you enough to read yesterday, here's a round-up of some of the interesting links I came across during the week that were too substantial to simply pass on via facebook... Carrying on a them from last week, there have been a number of lent-related posts, and many turning their backs on the "self-denial" discipline for various reasons. One of the more interesting reflections, was this piece by Mark Galli on "Giving up self-discipline for Lent."  But if you are still looking for resources to help you through this season you could do worse than check out Rachel Held Evans' "40 Ideas for Lent" . Meanwhile, a lot has been made recently of another attempt by Richard Dawkins and his atheist acolytes to demonstrate that the UK is not a Christian country, on the basis of a half-baked survey asking people basic Christian facts like "What is the first book of the New Testament?" Giles Fraser memorably derailed that...

Dublin has a reputation as a venue for short city-breaks, but that usually involves couples getting away for a weekend… or groups of people going there for a stag or hen party… But this past week has seen two of the most prestigious flying visits to Dublin in a long, long time… First the momentous visit of the Queen last week, not only seeking to acknowledge a painful past but also endeavouring to point to a more positive partnership in the future… And then yesterday the President of the United States of America jetted in on Airforce One… And unlike the Queen or Prince Philip, when offered a pint of the black stuff he knocked it back (doubtless causing ecstacy among the advertising boys at St. James' Gate). During the run up to his election the above song doing the rounds affirming that there’s no-one as Irish as Barack O’Bama, and I heard it yet again over the past few days. But I don’t think many people realised at the time that he does have significant roots in Moneygall, County...

Massive losses for the Democratic Party in this week’s US mid-term elections , mean that President Obama will have to deal with a somewhat hostile House of Representatives for the next two years (although they did manage to hold on to the Senate, and some commentators point out that it wasn't all good news for the right wing Tea Party …) I don't know why it came as such a surprise as, even from an observation point thousands of miles away across the Atlantic, that seemed to be the way it was shaping. Obama described the defeat as a shellacking, which produced a flurry of etymological debates ... Where did this unusual word come from? Again, I'm slightly mystified as to the surprise and confusion, I've seen and read this in American sports commentaries and gangster movies for years. Originally I, like most of the current crop of internet etymologists , associated it with the "shellack" varnish, in the same way that we might talk about someone getting "past...

Over the past 4 weeks, each Tuesday morning a significant proportion of Northern Ireland has had the unfortunate experience of waking up to my dulcet tones (with the notable exception of our own house where, mysteriously one Tuesday the clock radio reset itself to Radio 4 and I awoke to the much more appealling and perceptive words of Joel Edwards). Over those weeks I've been pondering on various anniversaries (I think it's a function of my time of life)... my own 20th wedding anniversary , the 40th anniversary of our local church , the 30th anniversary of Pope JP2's visit to Ireland , and finally, last Tuesday, the 30th anniversary of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Dalai Lama... But that was before the bombshell of this year's Peace Prize announcement . Now many already know that I lean towards Obama politically, but I'm not convinced... Many suggest that he is effectively recieving it as a reward for not being George W. Bush... others suggest that is si...

I'm writing this before the inauguration speech on Tuesday, which is being anticipated like no other political event in my lifetime... I hope it is not a letdown, and more than that, I hope that it is not mere rhetoric and that what comes of it is not a letdown... although I suppose against the backdrop of the current economic and international mess that the Shrub and his neo-con and big business mates have left, things can only get better... Although didn't someone come into power to that refrain about a decade or so ago!? I'm sure there will be plenty of comment AFTER Tuesday, but what I'm reflecting on here is not so much the words and (hopefully) the actions that flow from them, but rather the man and the movement for change that he represents... Barack Obama has managed to position himself as the embodiment of a desire for change... Part of this is due to the skils of his team in using new media to court financial support and get out the vote amongst a demographic ...