Count on me Well, due to the wonders of post-modern technology, and presuming the instructions are moose-proof, there should now be a web-counter appearing on here.

That way I get to know how many people bother to look at my witless lack of wisdom.  ¶ 4:59 pm 0 comments

  To my other reader: I hope this makes sense! Well, it's Saturday and for once I have completed just about everything I need to do for Sunday, and indeed beyond.

This can be partly explained by the fact that I was out last night at the splendid Belgo Centraal with the regular fine fellows (and whatever the feminine form of 'fellows' is - suggestions please) of the London Glorantha Yahoo!Group. I expect that I have already confused one of my readers.

However, as I sit here in what might best be described as "a dazed condition", as much through the effects of lack of sleep as excess alcohol consumption, I am reminded about my other (and hitherto unknown reader) who commented that I hadn't mentioned Role Playing Games yet on this blog. (Or words to that effect - it was beginning to get a bit hazy at that point - somewhat increased by the Durvel and the varieties of favoured schnapps that kept appearing at unpredictable intervals).

But I digress (and I do it so well - in fact I shall, in homage to Traveller, introduce the concept of the Digress Group Publications - now there's an email list to be proud of, the Digress Digest. Probably something to give you indigestion, but never mind...)

Are you still with me (both of you?) - and yes, it seems likely that I am still somewhat the afuence of incahol.

I have been interested in RPGs as a reader, player and would-be writer for over 20 years, which is quite scary when you see it in front of you like that! In fact RPGs pre-date, just, my Christian faith. The interplay of the two have shaped me into the individual I am today. (No comments about being warped, please).

I have spent/wasted/used a lot of time, ink, arguments and alcohol in my attempts to convince many of my co-religionists that the two are not automatically incompatible. I would hope we have moved on from the days when all RPGs were instantly branded as "Satanic" and opening up individuals to possession or spiritual oppression.

Unfortunately I don't really believe we have moved on. A response from certain segments of the Christian community still seems to hold those views. At best I would say they spring from a lack of knowledge, at worst it's nothing less than bigotry and prejudice. I do think its less widespread now than it was. which makes it rather ironic that the attitudes and attacks of some Christians, it has been argued, have actually helped to cause the very things that the Christians were worried about in the first place, an unhealthy interest in "darker" or occult areas. Do follow the link at some point on that.

Most Christians' attitudes to the whole realm of Fantasy (which I would argue includes RPGs as a subset - even if they are not strictly-speaking Fantasy RPGs) seem to be incredibly shallow and naive. And I have been there too, which makes it all the harder sometimes because it can sound like you are being patronising (or that your a heretical sinner who will burn in hell.)

The basic argument, which most recently has been in response to Harry Potter and the Lord of The Rings, is either "good triumphs in the end, so what's the problem?" or "The Bible forbids magic. This has portrayals of Magic. Therefore it is wrong". Like I said - naive. The former response was one I'm sure I heard from a Church of England Bishop a while back, and the latter I've encountered more times than I care to remember.

It is pleasing to see some very interesting books engaging with Tolkien's faith and life (such as "Tolkien: Man and Myth", by Joseph Pearce) and how these influenced the Lord of the Rings and the rest of his writing, but on the whole the attitudes are marked by a failure to truly engage. (On one of my bookshelves there is a book entitled "Harry Potter and the Bible." I haven't read it, but even the title gives the views away. Not "Harry Potter and the Christian Faith" or even "Harry Potter and the Gospel". Evangelical and Fundamental Christianity is always in danger of worshipping the Bible rather than the one we believe it reveals. There's a word for that - idolatry.

By know, if anyone is still reading this, you should be able to tell that this is not a structured, pre-meditated piece, but very much me as I go along.

That doesn't mean I am totally uncritical of RPGs either, though. Like any other hobby or practice they too can be the roots of obsessive behaviour, isolation from whatever we think "reality" is, and channels for enquiring into alternative spiritualities or genuinely evil practices. (And notice I have tried to separate those last two points...)

There are a number of questions I have had to ask myself over the years and for which I still have no complete answer. One of my favourite games, even if I rarely play, is Call of Cthulhu - and yet I'm not sure how I can reconcile the (fictional) Lovecraftian view of the Universe (essentially meaningless, maddening and profoundly antithetical to Christianity) with my own Christian world-view. Maybe I just haven't thought enough.

Probably the biggest challenge for me is actually a very simple one - to get the balance right between hobby time and the rest of life, and to be aware that if I am not careful I spend too much time immersed in RPGs and not in enough in my relationship with God through Jesus and trying to do his will. (Which probably sounds at best twee and at worst overbearingly pious.)

But now GLW (Good Lady Wife) has returned, so any writing about RPGs and what I'm up to will have to wait. (But you could start by following the Links to the right!)  ¶ 12:36 pm 0 comments

  The week so far. Keeping a blog is a bit like keeping a journal - in fact you could say it's the same thing. And both require time and attention.

This is, at the moment, in short supply. This is partly due to the general business of life, and then due to all thise things which compete for attention in the rest of life.

In short blogging has taken third or fourth or fifth place this week behind such delights (and I mean that without any sense of irony) as a day long training event on "Power and Influence" which I attended as part of the Common Purpose program yesterday. I'm bound by the Chatham House Rule over what I can and cannot say, so I won't say too much, but I can recommend the course as a fine way to build contacts between the worlds of private companies, public service providers and the charitable sectors, as well as an excellent way of beginning to understand how our strengths can be complementary, rather than a source of friction.

I might do something on the Chatham House Rule too at some point, which strikes me as an excellent framework for confidentiality that could benefit many church meetings.

Add to that spending Monday writing and chating on-line in the on-going creative project that is Gwenthia happening at The Tavern among my friends and fellow-travelers in the Role Playing Games community and it might explain my busy-ness.

Today also saw me entering aproper, real-life radio studio for the first time (as opposed to be interveiwed 'out and about' or over the phone) as I went to the studios of BBC Radio Kent to record a serious of six "Thought for the Day"s to be broadcast next week at 7.50am. So if you're in reception range you can even hear what I sound like. I shall also try to post the relevant script on each day to match the broadcast.

(And as an aside it is horribly time-consuming having to write six two minute long talks. You could try it sometime as an academic exercise - see you never expected to be set homework by reading this blog, did you?)

But now I must prepare for the last task of the day - a dog-collared visit to (try) to explain what a request for infant baptism means to a mum and dad who're ready to take at least the first step and ask the scary vicar to try to start their little one (and possibly themsleves) travelling along the road to discovering just what "my Boss Jesus" is all about.

And that's a serious privelege and a golden opportunity. It is quite possibly the most important thing I might do this week.  ¶ 7:06 pm 0 comments