"You're going to love me or hate me,..." writes Roger von Oech, as he tags me this morning with this little meme. It's impossible to hate Roger, the brains behind the Whack Pack. So I have no choice but to break the habit of a blogtime and join in the game.
Five Things You Probably Didn't Know About Me
1. I once lived in Norway for a while, and learned to speak the language moderately well.
2. I once learned how to drive a tractor, and to shoot a 357 Magnum, while I was staying on a cattle ranch in Texas. Have never done either thing again, before or since. From choice, I would never go near a gun again.
3. I dream of giving up the ministry and doing something completely different.
4. I have vertigo. Stand me on a tower and I feel as if I'm falling when I'm not really.
5. I carry round little notebooks in my bag, 
and write down interesting quotes and bits of information I come across, 
and in idle moments make sketches of the people I'm with. Not many people get to see these.
I now tag these five people to give us five random revelations...
Dave Walker, Simon Barrow, Ruth Gledhill, Dave Paisley, AKM Adam
Is the Paris one a Moleskine?
Posted by: Tony B | 13/12/2006 at 12:37
sure is, Tony. They have quite decent paper in, and - important for a paortable book - a band for keeping the book closed when not in use!
BTW, I came across a website today that you will prob. find interesting -
http://www.damaris.org/content/content.php?type=5&id=501
Posted by: maggi | 13/12/2006 at 12:52
Maggi — you're an all around woman! Note-taking priest, note-playing musician, and gun-totin' Texas cowgirl — you've got a lot of bases covered.
What's in store for Maggi, version 4.0?
Best wishes,
Roger
Posted by: Roger von Oech | 13/12/2006 at 13:37
Yes, I've got one myself. I can't draw but it's full of hastily scribbled words.
V. interesting web site, thanks. I have some serious problems with some of it though, as you might imagine. I struggle with this 'infinite regress of designers' thing. It seems to me that to posit a simple cause rather than a complex one (the only way out of the infinite regress) is essentially to agree that complexity can arise from simple laws, which is naturalism. The question thus becomes, "what is the origin of those laws?", which is essentially unanswerable. As is the issue of God's existence, as both theists and atheists usually accept. So the answer is simply "?" as far as I'm concerned.
Posted by: Tony B | 13/12/2006 at 13:57
I have however found a book called "God - a guide for the perplexed" by Keith Ward, which sounds exactly the book for me, and hopefully it will provide some illumination. the question for me is not so much about God. It is about finding out what Christianity really is, and what makes obviously very intelligent people Christians. I don't mean that to be insulting, but the problem I have is this: Dawkins is criticised for not being up on his theology. Christians, we are told, don't believe that stuff anyway. But all that supposed straw man stuff really is the sort of thing I was told, by priests, by nuns, by various adults, when growing up as a Roman Catholic. So if God isn't what I thought it was, what is it? And if Christianity isn't after all, what I was told it was, and what I rejected as a teenager, then what is it actually? These are the kinds of questions I am struggling to answer, or get answers to. Maybe I should start blogging about it, though I am hopeless at that. It almost like crying at the moon. It's easy to reject the stupid stuff. But it's very hard to work out exactly what is left. I have found clues thanks to some of your recommendations, e.g Richard Holloway. Blah blah blah ...
Posted by: Tony B | 13/12/2006 at 14:11
Wow, a comment from "the" Roger von Oech...
Cool. :)
Posted by: dave paisley | 13/12/2006 at 17:14
Maggi,
You can't just say something like 'I dream of giving up the ministry and doing something completely different' without exploring what you mean by that. It wouldn;t be fair to people like me! Have you blogged further about that anywhere or is there any reading that you are doing that is guiding you?
Andrew
Posted by: Andrew | 21/12/2006 at 00:01