Saturday 26 February 2011

Saturday 12 February 2011

Dig for victory!

There's something cute about these posters I snapped at the Wartime Garden at Almond Valley Heritage Centre today.

I wonder sometimes if nostalgia for things of the war era (particularly for marketing (propaganda?) material like this helps or hinders as we deal with the horrors of war.

They seem so far removed from the history of holocaust and of torment. So perhaps they are more of a reminder that in the midst of such tragedy, there were people living amazing, sacrificial life.

Maybe they were inspired by these posters.

Posted via email from theweir's posterous

Dilemmas

I went to the cinema with a friend a couple of weeks ago. Not Mrs theWeir, but the man who stood beside me when I married her.

We went to see The Dilemma. Neither of us knew what to expect. Both of us really enjoyed it.

What really struck me was how much it linked to a couple of situations that I've been aware of this week.

The big lesson - and challenge - I've felt this week has been about being willing to have the difficult conversations.

I've never really been one for confrontation. I'm sure I used to walk another way home from school when certain other pupils were going to be on the same way as me. I'd probably have run home rather than walking at the same time as people that I didn't want to spend the time with. It's not always about being afraid, but if I'm honest fear was a big part of it.

But that was then and I'm much older now. Still I have a hesitancy about confronting people or situations that I *know* need to be dealt with. Still it can be easier to find another way. To pretend it's not real. To pretend it'll be alright.

But it's really not okay to ignore the elephant in the room. It's not okay to run from your fear. Unless you have no confidence that it can and will end.

That there is another way that isn't running or denying or just carrying on.

Sure, there are times when confrontation isn't appropriate. In public isn't best. When emotion isn't kept in balance. When we're exhausted.

But whatever we aren't willing to talk about now will fester and ultimate eat us, our joy and our peace alive.

And we can stop that happening.

"No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it."

(the trailer may offend some... but not many)