I'm tired

A crazy week with the end of the conference, then into the craziness which is student orientation and trying to sort out my own life and having my goddaughter and family spin through in the middle of it all. I have just chilled ready to be frozen, 8 litres of chili half meat and half vegetarian as the turnout to our little puzzle trail was lower than expected.

The BBC report that French researchers claim that peoples who were part of the Roman Empire are less likely to have the CCR5-delta32 gene variant, which offers some protection against HIV. But this is not necessarily intrinsic to interbreeding rather the Romans could have introduced an unknown disease which people with the CCR5-Delta32 variant were susceptible. Here I'm reminded of something I read that survivors of the global epidemic of the Spanish Flu which decimated populations after World War One still carry dramatic levels of antibodies. Perhaps an earlier version of Spanish Flu struck down those carrying the critic gene removing an important part of the population.

Meeting and talking this week I have been exploring deep human inclinations such as to choose the bad even when we know the good and how the human psyche needs hope and how grace can upset us because it is undeserved. As I think how we dealt with stress in the past reflects how we continue to see stress now, so now many conversations this week still bring me back to basics, I teach what I most need to learn. Stress may empower and give life if I face my God, and stress may drain me where I try and find resources in myself. I need hope and understanding and so I try to give that to the many around me and those I meet. Where do you turn in stress?

Living without plastic

However, living for a month without plastic has changed the way that I think about disposable items, no matter what material they are made from. After all, even a biodegradable paper cup requires resources to produce and will take energy to recycle. Or if it ends up in landfill it risks breaking down in poor conditions which may produce the potent greenhouse gas, methane. Christine Jeavans BBC News

I came across this BBC item where Christine lived for 31 days without plastic. Or at least tried. (see it here) Researching and trying to simplify my life is becoming a priority and one action is I have reduced the number of plastic bags collected by carrying a spare cloth bag. The 2000 ft roll of plastic wrap I had for ten years hasn't been replaced and my storage containers are mainly recycled large glass jars or plastic bulk food bins from around the city.

On the internet I also continue to read about compact living and small scale living to find the inspiration to scale back. However there is still the issue of cost saving. Recycling and being more eco-conscious costs more. For me somehow when making a couple of banners and printing up T-shirts it is cheaper to buy another printer than buy a replacement cartridge? It was really hard to spend more money than necessary but not to end up with two identical printers! Are the printers and tech-toys consumables now?

Faith and our beliefs need to work themselves out into the practical and lived-out life otherwise things are not really real. What we do is a reflection of our motivations and priorities in life and declare to others what is really important. Spirituality is very much how we live our daily lives in the light of our faith and this is intimately connected to who we are becoming.