Something worthwhile at YouTube

Youtube, as James adverts (somewhere, can't find the link), can be quite a time drain.

Just for example, have you been following the antics of Chad Vader, Day Shift Manager? Hilarious.

But then, thanks to Jeff, I found the following video. It features a father and son. The father is known as 'The Strongest Dad in the World'. Here is the text from the video on YouTube:

Strongest Dad in the World [From Sports Illustrated, By Rick Reilly] Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.

The film is moving -- and with the editing and music, may even verge on the mawkish. But there is something here, too, which is so good it should not be missed.

Here is a father who, in love, does not let his son's disability be a liability but incorporates it into who he is. His running is not a running away from, but a running into: he is not running away from the failures, disappointments and imperfections of his life, but takes them up, bringing them into what his life might be.

His son (or so I imagine) does not feel shame about his condition, or as if he holds his father (or others) back, but is included and valued as part of the whole process. In the love of the father, the son is allowed not only to be who he is, but even becomes more than he is.*

The love of the father profoundly reflects, I think, the love of the Father: God. It is a challenge and an encouragement for us all.

Or, to put it another way, quite often in society we are keenly concerned to ensure that everyone 'pulls their load' or 'pays their own way'. There is certainly a realm in which expecting everyone to contribute in some way is appropriate, but this can also make any handicap, disability, or even imperfection a source of shame. And of course, none of us are perfect.

It seems to me, instead, that each of us is meant to be the son for the father, and the father for the son, where there is no shame in lack or imperfection (since we are all imperfect), no shame in relying on others or letting others rely on us. This must certainly be an upshot of Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians that the church is a body made up of many members (with Christ as the head): that at some deep level, we as humans are intended by God to be connected relationally in a body-with-difference, and in the love that holds us together (as sinews and tendons, etc., hold the body together), we are able to be not just who we are, but become more than we are as individuals, and live out God's intention and call for us as people.

And in that, I think, is not only a lesson for the church, but also for society: who we are as humans is most fulfilled not in splendid isolation and freedom from commitments, but in loving relations and freedom to be committed in the right way.**


* If this sounds unclear (or just fuzzy-headed), let me unpack it this way: the risk would be that the child would simply feel shame (be given shame) by his parents for his condition: he can't lead what some would term a 'normal' life. He couldn't even be who he is. In the event -- again, I am imagining here, based on the video -- the son has not just his life, lived without shame, with relative freedom and ability, but he is given more than just his life, as he becomes part of a larger project with his father, and the two grow closer together in love. His imperfections are not just tolerated without shame, but are incorporated in love, opening up new possibilities not just for son but for Father too. They are each able to become more than they are in the embracing love of son and father.

** It might be asked why society (in general) might listen to a perspective founded on the Christian story. Perhaps a fair question. I am constitutionally averse to giving reasons in general, as if this weren't a point which flowed from a distinctly Christian perspective. (On the other hand, I'm altogether happy to give ad hoc reasons which might appeal to people other than Christians -- it's certainly not as if we can't talk, and even do so quite fruitfully.) So maybe they won't listen. But it seems worth asking why societies which are mostly Christian (or make more-or-less tenuous claims to be 'Christian nations') might not listen, and why they so often look like the opposite of this. And while we are interrogating, we might also ask ourselves why even our churches at times look so little like this -- and if we won't listen to Scripture and points made on its basis, then who will?

Red Versus Blue

What happens when you gather 26,000 or so of the cleverest people from the UK and the world, and subject them to intense ongoing pressure? You get antics such as flashmobbing, in which a large group of people gather at a certain point and do something (usually) meaningless and/or silly for a defined (usually short) period of time. There is a group of people who do this more or less regularly in Cambridge. Here is a video taken of one such flashmob, which was a 'red versus blue' tickle fight which went on for about a minute. The video is taken from the top of Caius college in the city centre, and the flashmob itself happened directly in front of Great St. Mary's.

Distractionfest 2007: third day

Well, here I am dutifully back on the third day, to present to you:

Distractionfest 2007: the third day

Meanwhile, it turns out that James Lark -- the original impetus for the great goodness which is the Distractionfest -- has been laid up ill, and too distracted on his own terms to truly enjoy the 'Fest. So, dear friend, bookmark these pages for later. But for today, we're sending out good feelin' distraction vibes to you, hoping that you feel better (and more distract-able) soon.

First, providing some rationale for torturing squirrels in 'squirrel fishing', check out Scary Squirrel World, replete with pictures, games, features, and down-home warnin' agin' the dangers of them skwerls! Or maybe we made them this way by torturing them. Whatever.

Perhaps you fancy a tour of 'real America', land of peanut butter and a curious rounders-inspired game called baseball (and that other football). From the comfort of your own desk -- in James' case, his own sickbed -- you can see many of the attractions of roadside America, featuring many pictures of the near-ubiquitous giant Muffler Man. This site is frequently updated with personal reports and photos, including, recently: Man on a Pole. With Spurs. from Bossier City, Louisiana. (It is in fact more painful to look at than contemplate.)

But alas, a road trip in contemporary America can't feature the roadside commonplace of bygone years: Howard Johnson's Restaurant. The familiar orange and blue-emblazoned restaurants now only inhabit our memories of stunningly mediocre food served in a forgettable setting. In fact, if it weren't for bad memories, I wouldn't have any memories of HoJo's. Once when I was 10 I became violently ill after consuming an innocent-looking turkey lunch platter. We should have taken it as a bad omen when we saw a dead rat out in front of the restaurant. Never again! Well, never again is now, as the chain has closed (very nearly) every single outlet. Yet the memories, such as they are, live on in cyberspace at HoJoLand. It is a testament to the draw of this quirky site that it actually made me slightly wistful at losing something that I couldn't imagine being rid of too soon.

I don't know why but I am having a huge Tim Horton's jones right now, eh? Wouldn't a box of Timbits be great? I've got to stop writing these late at night...

So, finally, what we all want: a video of fainting goats!



Come back tomorrow for Distractionfest: day four!

Distractionfest 2007: second day

Welcome back to day two of the first annual Distractionfest. Feeling distracted yet? Wait until you check out these features...

First, we turn to dedicated blogger Joe Mathlete, who explains todays Marmaduke comic strip. Daily, Joe goes 'behind the panel' to unearth the literary parallels and philosophical subtexts of everyone's favourite dog. There is enough here to keep even the most dogged deconstructionist among us satisfied. Oh, owner-man! Will you ever win?

Next up, the weblog for Trip Adviser, aptly entitled We Are Not Making This Up. For your reading pleasure (and, sometimes, pain), the Snarky Owl takes the best in thoughtless comments, shiftless management, and half-baked feedback and brings it direct to you (eliminating the middle man). Go now!

But then come back and play...Park the Car! A surprisingly addictive game which puts you in the driver's seat of a Peugeot 107. The game consists of (as the title implies) parking the car. Sometimes you have to nose it in, other times back it in; you even parallel park sometimes. As I say, it is surprisingly addicting.

Or, you can play Zwok, an online computer game that simulates being in a three-on-three snowball fight. It is also addictive! I played it twice, and each time after that said to myself 'I've gotta stop...after just one more.'

Finally, in a feature which can only be called "Noli turbare circulos meos", here is a video featuring a world champion circle drawer, who can draw a 1 metre perfect freehand circle in under a second.


Remember to come back tomorrow for Distractionfest 2007: day three!