Currently reading...

Marriage Works by J John
I'm sure it's done a lot of people a lot of good, but it offers very little advice that I couldn't have used my common sense for. As I'm finding with a lot of Christian books just now, it has some very narrow views and doesn't take all of life's circumstances into account when making judgements and spewing out statistics.

The Great Divorce by CS Lewis
This falls into the catagory of 'Non-annoying Christian books'. From what I read I didn't expect it to be in story form, but that makes it quite enjoyable. It's just a tiny bit too difficult to understand all of it but a good read anyway.

Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier
DDM seems to be one of those one hit wonders - she shouldn't have published anything but Rebecca! Jamaica Inn is a story of smugglers and wreckers in Cornwall and is exciting enough but it's told from the exceedingly monotonous view of one character. I must have read loads of books in that style but with this book it seems to wear thin after the first few chapters. However, I shall read to the end to discover how the heroine overcomes the evilness of the keeper of Jamaica Inn.

All in all, a rather disappointing book week, but I'm off to the library now to put it right :)

Film night

Tonight's film of choice was Lord of War, rented from our trusty corner DVD shop. It came out in 2005 and stars Nicholas Cage who plays an arms dealer:

"There are over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation. That's one firearm for every twelve people on the planet. The only question is: How do we arm the other 11?"

When Interpol finally get some evidence to convict him, he gives this insight into why he will be released:

"The reason I'll be released is the same reason you think I'll be convicted. I do rub shoulders with some of the most vile, sadistic men calling themselves leaders today. But some of these men are the enemies of your enemies. And while the biggest arms dealer in the world is your boss--the President of the United States, who ships more merchandise in a day than I do in a year--sometimes it's embarrassing to have his fingerprints on the guns. Sometimes he needs a freelancer like me to supply forces he can't be seen supplying. So. You call me evil, but unfortunately for you, I'm a necessary evil."

It's in a similar vein to Beyond Borders, (didn't hear about the release of this one either but maybe I missed it) but the moral dilemas set forth are much more subtle, and the only commentary is Nicholas Cage's character defending his position apart from the Interpol agent's odd comments.

The top five countries involved in the arms trade are also the five permanent members of the Security Council.

There was an Amnesty International advert on the DVD, which shows a shopping channel style selling of AK47s. Click the link to watch it.

Prayer

I don't normally like email forwards, but I think this one has some interesting things to say about prayer. Here it is minus the rubbish that seems to be essential for forwards ('If you love God...' guess what you have to do!)


God Said "No"

I asked God to take away my habit. God said, No. It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up.
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole. God said, No. His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary.
I asked God to grant me patience. God said, No. Patience is a by-product of tribulations; it isn't granted, it is learned.
I asked God to give me happiness. God said, No. I give you blessings; Happiness is up to you.
I asked God to spare me pain. God said, No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.
I asked God to make my spirit grow. God said, No. You must grow on your own! But I will prune you to make you fruitful.
I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life. God said, No. I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things.
I asked God to help me LOVE others, as much as He loves me. God said... Ahhhh, finally you have the idea.


Sometimes I get frustrated at people praying and asking for prayer for all these tiny little things to do with life. I wonder if it's often a means to give credence to our worry about stuff... but we all know Jesus told us not to worry. Or maybe it's just a way to share trials with others... but why hide behind the facade of prayer? Maybe I'm being super cynical and it's just that by praying about everything people feel closer to God. Maybe it's a way of laying our burdens down, whether we achieve that by sharing with God or others.

I don't know.

For a while I've been kind of caught up in this mindset - I don't want to pray about much because I don't see the point in going through life in minute detail. I don't understand how that glorifies God and I'm not sure if it deepens my relationship with him. I'm not convinced it doesn't turn me into a supermarket Christian, going to God with my list of things to grant, rather than seeing the big picture and being challenged to make something good from what I have and just praising Him instead. So for a while I've resorted to praying how Jesus told us to or using it as a guide, if anything at all:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

To quote a blogging dude, 'I wouldn't get too hung up on trying to decide on the specific place God wants you to be. I think it is more to do with being the person he wants you to be wherever YOU choose to be.' I think the same probably applies to all of life - it's not about praying for all the little things, it's about praying that we will be able to deal with all the little things in the right way. Ben reminded me last night that we were commanded to love God and love others, and often if we do that, everything else falls into place.

Engaged!

Ben propsed last night! I'm far too excited to sleep, woke up at 7.30 this morning which for a weekend is unreal! No photo of the ring to post I'm afraid, Ben said he thought about saving a pound a day and asking me when he had enough, but he couldn't wait and I'm glad! Don't know what else to say, just unbelievably happy!!

Work

I'm surprisingly really enjoying work at the moment. It's taken me nearly a year to feel settled in my team, but I'm starting to get to know people better which all helps in feeling happy to be there. I had a review yesterday and my manager is really pleased with me, so hopefully I will get a small pay rise soon. Yay!

I suddenly thought I'm probably one of those people who 'works at Norwich Union' but no one knows what I actually do! I work in Annuities, which is the name for a pension when a person stops paying into their fund and 'purchases' a pension which starts paying out to them in installments. I have to make sure that when we get an application we have everything we need, like birth certificates, money laundering forms, the correct application form etc, and chasing financial advisers if we don't have these things.

Because I'm in External Business, we deal with people who have a pension fund with another provider but have chosen to transfer to us, because we have better rates and can pay them more than their current provider. That's the only reason, apparently we have rates 30% higher than other companies at the moment but we don't have the customer service to match that! So that involves calling the other companies and making sure they have everything they need to send us the client's fund as soon as possible. Once we have everything we need we can set up the policy, issue policy documents and start paying the installments. We also have to inform the HMRC (Inland Revenue) of the payments we make so it can all be taxed properly. (Oh yes, after saving for all those years you still get taxed!)

A month ago, 6 April, there was a huge amount of rule changes in the way pensions are taxed and set up, dubbed 'Pension Simplification' because (in theory!) this is supposed to make taking your pension a lot easier. In reality it's been a busy and difficult time for us, because it's meant attending lots of training sessions and learning many many new rules in time for the changes.

I set up an annuity today which was bought with over £6000 but will only pay out about £30 per month, even less after tax (basic rate is a whopping 22%) - annuities are one of the biggest profit making financial product! Get saving for your future!

Sigh

Firefox officially sucks because it won't display my newly designed blog properly. All you good people will just have to use IE or Avant, unless anyone knows the trick to make it work in both browsers. Sorry!