Friday, January 22, 2010

Upside-down reality!

This is something old-ish. Some time ago I was challenged by an email a friend sent me. It was all about success and prosperity and living big in the "God Bubble" (my label for all that "ra ra" christian culture!). I'd been reading Jesus' words that morning about being blessed (find them in Matthew 5 - well known as the "Beatitudes"). It prompted me to sit down and paraphrase what I'd read - more as a way to really get my head into it, than anything.

What strikes me, is how opposite Jesus' words are to our consumerist, success-driven way of thinking. It completely dominates our culture, yet I think to most of us (religious or not) Jesus' very

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Why Heady Brew?

Setting up this blog is a spur-of-the-moment decision, that has been a long time coming!

Previously, when I toyed with the idea of starting my own blog, I tried to think of a name that would capture the essence of what I'm mostly on about - authentic spirituality - as opposed to "religion" of any sort. As you'll probably pick up as this develops (& if you read on), I'm an imperfect & often stumbling follower of Jesus - but don't jump to any conclusions about that! I am completely convinced that Jesus' whole purpose was to liberate us from "religion" & allow us to relate honestly and freely with God - without having to jump through any special hoops!

Back to the blog name, then - Jesus had something to say about "New wine" not being contained in old wineskins. In other words - a new way that is too explosively vibrant to be contained in any traditions, just as new wine expands and bursts old wineskins. New wine seemed to be the concept I was after - but if you have any christian religious background at all - you'll know it's an overused (& often misused) cliche. & since it's about my own personal headspace as well (a crazy place to be, at times!) "Heady Brew" seemed to fit nicely. Hope it lives up to the label!