Wondering

Ambient Wonder Review - our 'threats'/challenges

2010-04-27T11:20:00.002Z

To continue on from the last three posts, here are the thoughts we wrote down on Sunday evening when we reviewed where we're up to.

Ambient Wonder's 'threats/challenges':

size of core group and attendees - difficult to keep motivation/enthusiasm?
could potentially become a clique
could get stuck in a rut / be shallow
lose initial enthusiasm for authenticity / freedom / creativity
being limited by venue / time
Becoming mainstream / too sensitive to pleasing audience / church leaders??
losing Christ focus
Not being as accepting/open as we hope to
Accessibility
Assume beginners know steps - need to learn to introduce beginners

Any more? Thoughts on these?

Ambient Wonder Review - our opportunities

2010-04-27T11:16:00.002Z

To continue on from the last two posts, here are the thoughts we wrote down on Sunday evening when we reviewed where we're up to.

Ambient Wonder's opportunities:

Become known as LGBT friendly?
Increase our profile
We have the freedom to define ourselves in new ways
potential for interim small cells, online thoughts for the week / month
Use the facebook page and website to share more ideas / experiences
reach out to likeminded people in other churches
explore the past - "period' events
reaching out to people who are spiritual, with a sense of Christ-consciousness, but not Christian
new venues
grow greater community

Any more? Any thoughts on these?

Ambient Wonder Review - our weaknesses

2010-04-27T11:12:00.003Z

To continue on from the last post, here are the thoughts we wrote down on Sunday evening when we reviewed where we're up to.

Ambient Wonder's weaknesses:

event-focussed
vague network rather than a 'community'
irregluar meetings - can be disjointed
hard to contribute to an event if you miss the planning meeting, not as open as it's supposed to be to take on a role after the planning evening
lack of organisers
lack of committed participants
Insufficient time in planning meetings to organise an event
people feel they don't need to commit to attending regularly
lack of continuity between events
Not coming from a christian background and not knowing the New Testament can make it difficult to contribute
If you don't know how it works you can feel lost and stranded from planning to event.

Any more? Thoughts on these?

Ambient Wonder Review - our strengths

2010-04-27T11:00:00.003Z

After our get-together at the Workshop cafe bar on Sunday evening, I wanted to share the remarks and comments we wrote down when we were reviewing where we are as a community, so that we can ponder some more and interact with them further, in the comments below the posts and also on the facebook page.

We looked at our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats - I know, not hugely original but it was the end of a long week! I'll posts the strengths in this post, and the other 3 areas in separate posts. That way we can discuss the different areas without getting too tangled up - well, that's the theory anyway! Please chip in with thoughts.

Ambient Wonder's strengths:

open-mindedness, not closed
tolerance, inclusive
coming from unusual tangents and different perspectives
creativity
many people's ideas being pooled, co-creative
not afraid of technology
variety, interesting
addresses unusual topics
stimulating, thought-provoking
social, friendly
values individual contributions, use of artistic gifts
free - not constrained by preconceptions
spontaneous

Any more? Any thoughts on these?

Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet...

2010-02-20T15:57:00.002Z

Browsing around the Guardian website a few days ago, I found a contribution from David Bowie in which he lists the things he's listening to on his iPod. Being the good fan of the Thin White Duke that I am, I plugged the playlist into Spotify and had a listen to his selection. All very interesting, but the thing that really grabbed me was the final track - Gavin Bryars' "Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet".

For those of you who don't have Spotify (sorry guys - I don't have any invites), let me talk you through this track. It's basically a recording of a tramp singing a few lines from the song of the title, looped over and over for the duration... which is 25 minutes. He starts out unaccompanied, and by the time we reach the end of the song, he is accompanied by a full orchestra. This accompaniment, of course builds with beautiful subtlety over the course of the piece, so at times we barely notice it building.

The effect is something quite hypnotic - soothing, and yet a little frustrating. And when I gave it enough time, I found it quite meditative. Here's an excerpt from the rationale, from the composer's website:

"... I left the tape copying, with the door open, while I went to have a cup of coffee. When I came back I found the normally lively room unnaturally subdued. People were moving about much more slowly than usual and a few were sitting alone, quietly weeping."

Inevitably, this track has been around for years, without ever entering my field of awareness. But now it has, I can't shake it. Apparently, the the reason it's only (!) 25 minutes long is simply due to the limitations of tape... there's an hour long version that was recorded in the 90s with Tom Waits joining in the singing towards the end! I'm trying to get my hands on a copy...

Engaging with young people...

2010-02-20T15:41:00.003Z

When I was, myself, a young person, I spent a lot of time fretting about how to 'Engage' with young people. How to make the gospel 'Relevant' and 'Accessible' and appeal to a 'Secular' generation. I expended a not inconsiderable amount of time developing youth services and youth clubs and youth bible studies. It often felt like heaving a snowball at a warm, teflon-covered piece of wall.

I now work in a school, where we occasionally try to develop events and activities for young people - not in a Christian way, just in a kind of social responsibility way. But the buzzwords are still 'inclusion' and 'outreach' and 'relevance'. And we still often meet with only a limited amount of success. Last year, we provided a free DJ workshop, and encouraged 14/15/16 year old boys to come and have a go at mixing and scratching under the experienced eye of a professional DJ. Three Students turned up. I concluded that sometimes, the snow just won't stick.

So, I was uncertain of what the reaction would be when my colleague decided to host a semi-religious candle-lighting ceremony during the lunch break of a busy last day before half term. She had spotted that a number of students had recently had bereavements, and wanted to do something to acknowledge them. I was dubious of how much interest there would be, but went along to 'show my support'...

I needn't have worried. Students crammed into the mobile classroom to have an opportunity to light a candle in memory of someone, and listen to a short poem and Bible verse. There were tears, and a genuine sense of community and spirituality. It was deeply moving, and clearly quite valuable for most of those involved. I found myself standing there, not just 'showing my support', but taking part in, and benefiting from the short ceremony.

'Secular Generation'? Young people are deeply aware of things of the spirit. Often deeply in need of greater engagement with things of God. We should not be trying to drag them in. We should be meeting their needs. That's how we show our support.

Reverse Contextualisation

2009-11-21T21:32:00.002Z

I was interested by a comment someone made today about Ambientwonder. We'd been at a Diocese run event today where we were asked to give a taster of one of our events. In itself a bit surreal given that our events are a bit like noticing the tip of an iceberg of all that goes behind it - relationships, how we create stuff, our values.

The comment I referred to was along the lines of AmbientWonder is trying to contextualise faith into a contemporary culture with no experience of church or the Christian Story. Our event today was trying to take our outworking of that into a place whose only experience is of formally expressed Christianity.

So how do you translate backwards without it having the same effect as putting a phrase into one of those internet translation sites, then doing it again and seeing how different the final phrase is from the one you first put in!

I suppose another question is does it matter? I think it does. It's hard to have a dialogue from two positions without something in common. The person doing differently has the capacity to imagine and articulate, perhaps, both positions. And why is a dialogue important? I think dialogue enriches both perspectives. I've been reflecting on this post from Pete Rollins which gives a clue to where I'm coming from.

The Poppy - A weed in all it's Glory

2009-11-08T23:26:00.003Z

Poem from tonights Remembrance event

I am a bastard.
The illegitimate son of your battlefields churn.
I am a displaced vagrant
Whose home is anywhere but nowhere
A roadside Verge, a cornfields garland.

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row

I am a Lord
Who ties a million Afgahan farmers to their fields.
Am I religion?
The peoples opiate; dulling, stilling, numbing,
Binding and escaping, luring away from freedoms grasp.

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row
That mark our place and in the sky
The Larks, still bravely singing, fly

I am a warriors head
Bloody, Bowed with glory crowned.
I am the offering to death, a symbol
Of forgetfulness to aid you
In your selective remembrance fest.

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row
That mark our place and in the sky
The Larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below
We are the dead.

I am your lovers kiss,
Your loyalty, faithfulness, inspiration missed.
I am your offering O Goddess
Demeter of fertility and Diana of the hunt.
Give me your life, your prize and death.

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row
That mark our place and in the sky
The Larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow
Loved and were loved and now we lie.

I am your eternal sleep
Embossed upon your aged churches seat.
I am your temporary rest
Forget, remember, catch your breath.
Numb or still I am Christ your promise kept.

We are the dead and shall not sleep though poppies grow.

c Paul Cracknell 2009, after John Mcrae

Remebrance and the importance of choice

2009-11-04T11:22:00.002Z

I'm enjoying preparing for our Remembrance event on Sunday evening. I'm doing the response stations and feel drawn to offering people a chance to connect with organisations working for peace (including the white poppy people) but also to undertake a ritual for repentance of the church's involvement in encouraging people, well boys actually, to join up during, in particular, the first world war.

I'm very aware that this is a personal response and is quite controversial but I think its ok to offer it as a station as people have a choice whether to engage with it - there will be other ways to respond. I hope people see that when they join in - otherwise we could be in for a stormy ride after the event!

So Guy in a Skeleton Costume...

2009-09-24T18:46:00.002Z

...Comes up to a Guy, in a Superman Suit...Runs Through Him with a Broadsword!

So say the Mountain Goats - one of my favourite bands in all of existence. They are heading over from the North Carolina to our wet and windy shores for only 2 gigs in October. And I'm going! I'm gloating here... you may not realise this, if you haven't yet discovered them, but this is a gloat.

But, true to the spirit of the blog, there is a spiritual angle to this. The Mountain Goats' new album is called "The Life of the World to Come." Sound familiar? That's it there, at the end of the Nicene Creed. But not content with leaving it as a subtext, John Darnielle has namede very song on the album simply with a Bible reference. No this is not some hipster gesture - the songs are woven with meanings of the passages.

If you want to know more, then there is an amazing interview with the lead singer on pitchfork. In it, he's incredibly candid about his relationship with Church and faith, saying "Seriously, I get weak in the knees when we go into the Apostles' Creed. I think it's the greatest thing." Well worth a read.

In the meantime, if you haven't yet heard the Mountain Goats, fire up Spotify, or whatever it is you use to listen to music, get hold of Tallahassee, The Sunset Tree or... well, anything by The Mountain Goats and listen to it. Then, when you're finished, listen to it again - it usually takes a little investment to get the most out of their music.

Apparently, this album has leaked onto the net already... I have been well-behaved and chosen not to listen to it. But by its very existence, it may have found its way to the top of my list of scripturally inspired secular albums. Up there with Plague Songs and... well... I guess Slow Train Coming at a push. Anyone got any better suggestions? Comments please!

Wonder against Wonder

2009-09-10T16:01:00.004Z

So, some of you (especially those of you who were at Greenbelt) may be interested to see this article on Apprising Ministries about the whole festival. It's critical of the inclusivity demonstrated by the various groups representing at #GB09, mostly those that are "LGBT friendly", but also the "ecumenical and... counter-reformation" ideas knocking round (I'm sure there were people who complained about Martin Luther on the grounds that he was 'counter-papal').

And, about halfway down the page, what's that? The blurb about Ambient Wonder, which I wrote with my own fair keyboard. Tempted though I am to write something scathing/witty/deconstructive as a response, my "inclusive Christianity" (I often worry what an 'exclusive Christianity' would look like) leaves me inclined to consider the writers of 'Apprising Ministries' my brothers and sisters in Christ... and bickering within the body of Christ is rarely helpful.

In fact, this whole scenario has caused me to reflect. It's made me consider the power of one voice. In the past, the preacher had Authority. And he found his authority in Learning, or Tradition, or his particular interpretation of Scripture. Before the reformation, there was only one Authority on earth, and that was the Roman Catholic Church (well, for most British folk anyway).

Imagine you're a 17th century guy. You've got a family, and a plot of land to work, and some of those stupid trousers that seemed to make sense back then. One day you're told that you're no longer Catholic, but that your faith will be more or less unchanged in all other respects. You'll probably go 'oh, alright', and carry on much as before. Then, a few years later, the head of state/church decides to flirt with some protestant theology. I say 'flirt'... you'll be killed if you don't go along with it... So you go along with it - after all, what they're saying kind of makes sense, and you've never been given a chance to read the Bible for yourself anyway (you can't readin English, let alone latin).

And then, a few years after that, a new monarch decides that, no, we're climbing back up the candle to Anglo-Catholicism again, and that anything else is punishable by burning... you're going to be getting a bit fed up with this idea of one person claiming to have 'authority', and wonder if your own views aren't just as valid. That's probably why so many denominations started springing up.

Fast forward to now, and I express some ideas on a website. Ideas that I may not have held a few years ago, and almost certainly will be a bit embarrassed by in a decade's time. Meanwhile, thousands of other bloggers express other views in a similar manner. Some of them disagree with me. It's not that I don't believe what I say - I believe it wholeheartedly, passionately, and honestly. But I accept that I'm on a journey, and one that has taken me places I never expected in the past, and one that contains a whole bunch of unknown in the future. Isn't that exciting?

So when another website openly criticises words that I've written (words that were, admittedly, a little theologically flimsy... but deliberately referred to 'Meditation' 'Sprituality' and 'Daily Lives' within the context of Christianity), it's not so much that they're criticising my beliefs (criticise away!); it's more that it's flattering it's that they deem them significant enough to criticise at all... as if someone, somewhere is treating the words I say with Authority. But they'd be wrong. I have no more authority than the next blogger. Only One Person wields complete authority. I'm just trying to get a little closer to Him.

Best for Manchester Awards/Notions

2009-08-15T09:43:00.004Z

I was up visiting a friend in Manchester last week, and killing some time in the PopCafe (eating a delicious veggie burger), and picked up a couple of the myriad of flyers for gigs and arts events around the city. I liked the design (with quotes in different colours interlaced with one another), and one of them seemed to have a vaguely Christian spin, which I thought was interesting, so I clung onto them.

When I got home, I thought I'd check out what the significance of the flyers was, so I grabbed one of them, and typed the title "Best for Manchester Notions 09" into Google. It was only at this point that I realised that the flyer had none of the information that you'd expect - no website, no venue, nothing. In fact, it seemed to have little to do with the other flyer at all.

I found myself looking at this blog entry, which kindly informed me that yes, indeed it was a spoof. Curse my eyes for not seeing this sooner! No one seemed to kno0w anything about it. Sanctus1 didn't claim responsibility, but wished they could. Eventually I found that the artist had fessed up, and provided a little information to the spoofee (?) "The Best of Manchester Awards", here.

Turns out the artist is interested in "anti-advertising", buying billboard space only to fill with not-advertising, thus giving people a break from the constant bombardment of 'Buy This!' or whatever. And, seemingly with a Christian(ish) message. It seems to chime beautifully with the subversive, counter cultural spirit of the gospel, which we often lose track of.

So, in the comments section, if you please, does anyone have any thoughts on challenging ways of presenting this faith of ours? The other day, I was moved by the sheer ambition of Phillipe Petit in "Man on Wire" - he smuggled a wire up to the top of the World Trade Centre, strung it between the two, and tightrope walked between them just because he though it would be an act of beauty. What acts of beauty can we commit?

The Medium is the Message

2009-06-09T16:53:00.003Z

"All we ask is that you do it regularly (every day potentially) and do it mindfully / being open to encountering God through the activity. This is your act of worship, as it were. It might be helpful to keep some form of record of what you've done - either a journal or photographs or some notes/doodles."

Thanks to everyone who made it to Ambient Wonder on Sunday. There were plenty of new faces, some of whom had travelled a fair old distance, and it was lovely to meet together and share our experiences of the last few weeks, whilst barbecuing between rainstorms.

For those of you who weren't able to make it, the evening centred around the activities that people had been doing over the last few weeks. We charged everyone on the mailing list with a challenge, to be done in the spirit of the above quote. This was everything from 'create an image' to 'treat someone like it's their birthday'.

As we discussed how people had got on with their tasks, there was a really tangible sense that God had been speaking through the activities. Here are a few examples...

Tim had been asked to fast. And in a spirit of creativity, chose to forgo his early morning Sudoku routine. Instead, he read a passage from the Bible, and wrote a poem reflecting on it. If you'd like to read what he came up with, all 18(!) of the poems can be read here.

Heather, meanwhile, was coming up with an image over the course of a few weeks, and created the masterpiece shown above...

And finally, Ali wasn't able to make it to AW this week, but just to show that she had been taking part in the task of 'Silence', she posted about it on her blog, here.

If you have any thoughts or comments, or reflections on your own experiences, we'd love to hear them - comment below!

Prayer for Ambient Wonder

2009-04-28T21:22:00.002Z

On Sunday evening we reviewed the past term's events and prayed about where we've come from and where we're feading. Here are the scribbles, prayers and thoughts we wrote down,in no particular order:

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Very good that AW has moved out into bigger spaces of St Stephens and St Luke's main worship events. Good to continue to find opportunities to move out of St Augustine's Sunday evening slot.

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Thankful for this great space to be in (physically in the hall and the wider church that gives permission and freedom)

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AW has enlarged my life - my experience of God, my relationships with others and has increased my reach as a person.

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Drawing disparate people together.

Giving voice to the frustrations and longings of many.

Trying - even when we fail.

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Community.

Mission.

Challenge.

Going beyond only being a group twice a month

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Thanks:- God enabled us to do new stuff -> experimented, taken some risks (e.g. St Stephen's, Greenbelt, Diocesan Music Day.

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Thanks:

- we've seen people encounter God's kingdom

- we've seen people become more integrated

- people who wouldn't otherwise have come, stayed and created church

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What would it be like to explore our common life together, other than through running events?

Could we explore an Ambient Wonder 'way of life'?

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Allow us to help each other get to the place of the 'Unknown' - don't let us forget that you made it possible, make all things possible.

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Steps to other places, places we have never thought of, places we are scared to go, places we don't know will be there, places You want us to go to.

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Let your breath fill our sails and move us in the direction You envisage for us.

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HOW - let us be inspired

WHO - help us to be inclusive

WHAT - keep our creativity wild

WHY - keep our motivation pure

Help us to know what is in your heart for others.

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Father God, I pray that you will lay us open, cut us open and place your desires in us, help us to cry with your eyes and let our hearts ache. Then fill us with your creativity....

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We need to go down as well as up

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Creativity flows and our Creator God flows through us.

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giving away power is liberating and makes more space for our sould

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The Tallis scholars music links us so much with the past - looking forward is difficult - we can't see a clear path - it is scary and yet exciting

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I pray that we will find freedom and grace in AW, and not burden and frustration

I pray that we will challenge ourselves others and our own expectation

I pray that AW will draw many or at least a few really close.

I pray that truth will be self-evident in what we do.

In the name of Christ, Amen.

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exciting to be moving out of words. Experiment with silence, colour and simplest music and movement. To be wordless, music should be without words.

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May children find their place

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Somewhere where the scales drop from people's eyes and they see our wonderful glorious God, for the first time.

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Make us community (as we are tonight)

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Let us be the door through which people come to meet You and You show yourself to us

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The beauty of You

the glory of You

The Ambient Wonder of You!

You are an amazing God and I thank you for the touch of your hand on AW.

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Out of chaos comes a beautiful You.

Help us not to loop past You. Keep us fixed on You. Sometimes smooth, sometimes scratchily but always making a mark.

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Grace

opening up

surrender --finding a path

/ \

my ideas my ego

narrow view fitting in

the journey's to the centre....

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Kenosis ? Apophatic - Cataphatic. How link?

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May AW be something that shapes the whole of our lives

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A theme: WORKING TOGETHER. Everyone who comes is involved in making something as a community effort e.g. a joint painting

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To see God as You are. Revelation.

(Christ Sight drawing)

To see the world, our time, lives, purpose, place as You see them.

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Encounters without resistance (drawing)

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A theme: LIGHT

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A place to respect the past but look to the modern - EXIST IN THE NOW (the only place we can ever be)

Meet, recognise and be moved by Jesus in our time, our place, our culture.

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So I wonder if we could continue to pray and continue the conversation? How about it?

Ambient Wonder @ St Stephen's

2008-12-14T00:01:00.004Z

So, as anyone who finds themselves in this corner of the internet is likely to know, Ambient Wonder held an event on Thursday evening in St. Stephen's Church, Norwich. Now, for the uninitiated (should you be reading this) it is probably worth explaining that St Stephen's is a church more or less situated slap bang in the middle of the newest biggest shopping centre in Norwich (Chapelfield). In fact, it only just occurred to me that this may well be the Chapel after which the area is named. Seems obvious now... Also, it is worth noting, it was the penultimate late-night shopping opportunity before Christmas. It was busy. And very, very cold.

Anyway, for us Ambient Wonder peoples, this was kind of a Big Deal. Partly because someone was letting us loose in their beautiful old church... and partly because it was treading into the unknown, with our not-very-specific brand of worship experience. Not even a brand really. Just a bunch of things.

So we set up shop, supervised by some intrigued/baffled/terrified members of the church. The focus was on advent, and the significance of the build up and anticipation of Christmas. Anna and Neil had prepared a reflective prayer area, Tim had produced some beautifully thought-provoking poetry, and I had come up with a bunch of pictures thieved from around the internet that we projected onto a huge screen. And Debbie was dishing out free hot chocolate.

We had produced 'gifts' to pass to those that took an interest - small baubles made out of folded paper, each with a blessing written on the inside. We'd spent Sunday evening making tons of the things (an experience at once frustrating and uniting...), and the plan was to stand by the doors thrusting them into the hands of people as they charged into the church intent upon seeking enlightenment.

As it happened, there wasn't a surge. There was barely even a trickle. Heather dived into the throng of people, determined to draw attention to our event (since she started training to be a vicar, her sense of self-preservation seems to have diminished), whilst Paul, Ian and I wandered in a dazed state, wondering how to engage with the multitudes rushing past on their way to gather carrier bags from as many department stores as possible.

Eventually (for the long version, read my next post), we did start to get the interest of the odd-passer by, and a gentle flow of people into the church. Mostly there for the free hot-chocolate. But inside, with us, part of Ambient Wonder nonetheless. As we reached the final moments of packing away, a group of lads arrived in the Church, expecting to take advantage of our refreshments. Sadly, we had nothing to offer them, other than the meditation cards we had prepared and failed to distribute. They looked confused but grateful... (actually, the cards had the website address on them, so if you're reading, Hi Guys!).

We had barely given away any of the baubles. But we had prayed the blessings. We had experienced making them together. We had gone out and tried... something. And perhaps, as with Christmas, the significance was in the preparation.

Scruffy Edge

2008-11-30T00:04:00.003Z

Sorry about the tedious delay between posts. Perhaps I will get the next one up sooner.

However, this is something I've been thinking of - we quite often talk about things being 'cutting edge' or (better still) 'bleeding edge'... and I certainly see that there's something wonderful and inspiring about things that are are the very forefront of their field. But somehow, this doesn't really seem to fit with my understanding of the things that we do at Ambient Wonder, or the wider world of the Emerging Church.

For a start, Cutting Edge suggests something refined, defined, clear and deliberate - cutting in one direction, and absolutely focussed on a single point with a single purpose. And I suppose that many Christians might say that this sums up what our faith should be. But in terms of how we function as a community it seems a little bit too... prescriptive? In my experience, movement forward in a creative community is (and should be) a little bit more all over the place than that. It's kind of, unpredictable, nuanced, experimental, and (here and there) wrong. People have ideas, other people contribute, and we end up with something that is somewhere ahead of where we were before.

So perhaps we're more 'scruffy edge' than 'cutting edge'. We are cutting something, but in our own, wartsandall, ramshackle, makeitupasyougoalong kind of way. It seems to be a little how the early Church functioned. Perhaps I just wanted to coin a new phrase. Your Thoughts?

Global Gathering and all that...

2008-10-06T18:03:00.002Z

First off, welcome to the new and fresh 'Wondering' blog. Here's a space where the thoughts, ideas and reflections whizzing around inside the collective brains (and hearts) of the Ambient Wonder community can find a voice. A space where can deepen our understanding of God, and over time (I hope) a space for questions, response, discussion, collaboration, maybe even healthy debate.

So here's a good place to start. At the 'Global' Ambient Wonder last night, we explored what practices we could take from other faiths, and still remain true to our central Christian beliefs. It was always going to be challenging to our established ideas of 'in' and 'out'. Although we didn't want to alienate people, we perhaps wanted them to become a little uncomfortable as they pushed at the edges of their faith.

The thing that struck me most from the evening was a conversation with Anna afterwards (I hope she doesn't mind me mentioning this!), whi had curated the event. She noted that even though she had thought through the ritual of applying bindis to one another's foreheads (in acknowledgement of the presence of God within that person), her background and upbringing made her uncomfortable with it, and she was unable to participate.

My equivalent discomfort (and one shared by others I have met) is perhaps with purchasing items on a Sunday. Although my personal interpretation of the 5th commandment does not mean I have a problem with popping to the shops on the Sabbath, years of being brought up in a good Christian household have given me a slight unease even when using a vending machine on the day of rest (now i know how Pharisees felt...). Perhaps this is a good thing - I actualyl acknowledge the significance of the day, despite my heathen buying habits...

So, the item for discussion, I suppose, is what are those things that make you uneasy... that you sense are counter to your faith. And do you have a rationale for this discomfort, or is it in spite of yourself? Maybe you're uncertain. Thoughts, please!