18/11/2015 - Film, Running, and a concert

Yesterday was such a GOOD day. I woke up, and made myself a big bowl of warm chocolate and banana porridge (having time to cook my breakfast is such a luxury!) before grabbing my laptop and heading to the library to finish up my essay. I felt really good about this essay - it was about how the cinema influenced literature in the 1930s, and I wrote about how writers realised the cinemas ability to be a house of illusion or a house of experience in their writing, and how their political affiliations and beliefs determined which they would choose. Did you know that Hitler was a huge movie geek? He orchestrated his mass rallies purposefully so they could be filmed, and gave his ministers unlimited budgets to create propaganda films. Towards the end of the war, despite Germany's huge resource deficit and impending defeat, he put 6000 horses and 2000 men into the making of a film. By the time the film was ready for showing, there was no where to screen, because every cinema had been bombed. Hitler did terrible, horrible things, but sometimes I feel so sorry for him. There is something poignantly tragic, and pathetic, about this man, that he would cling on to the fragile thread of cinematic illusion while the great cinematic chiaroscuro of bombs razed the reality of his dreams to the ground.

I finished my essay in good time, printed it out and put it in Leo's pigeonhole, and then had a quick call with Dad before I went for a run. The sun was shining and so I headed down the river route, because the glint of sunlight on the water and the barges and the fields beyond the houses is truly a sight to behold. As I ran, I realised that I was running abreast of another girl, blonde hair in a pony tail and a playlist plugged in.

After a couple of minutes of running side by side, she plucked out an earphone and said 'Hey!'

She is Jessica, from Fitzwilliam college (and California), studying criminolgy for her MPhil. We realised that both of us were running the same route and planned to run the same distance/time, and so we decided to run together. I'd been looking for a running partner for quite a while and I was so glad to run into Jessica. She's a little faster than I am, which pushes me to keep up!

After I had lunch, I headed to the market to do a spot of grocery shopping. I try and get as many of my vegetables local from the market. They have signs on their vegetables saying where it is sourced from, and so when I see something I need that has 'local' written in the corner I put it in my basket. I got some beetroot, cucumber, tomatoes, coriander, cauliflower, potatoes, sweet potatoes and dates. (these were the only non-local thing)

Then I went round to Sainsburys to get all the other things I need that I can't find locally-grown in the market. Which, to be honest, is mostly bananas, and some brown rolls from the Sainsburys bakery (which I suppose is local, kind of!)

My bags were so so heavy that I had to really huff and puff to get up the hill against the wind - on my tired post-run legs! I made it eventually, and was looking forward to getting back to my room. However, as I was walking through the corridor after the plodge, I was stopped by a man asking me 'Hi, do you know the way to Wolfson college?'

'No, sorry, I've never been to Wolfson.'

I thought that was it annd I could get back to my room, but he asked if I studied in Medwards (Yes) and what my name was (Miriam - 'What a beautiful name.' 'Thank you.')

And then he asked 'Are you from China or Japan?'

I'm sorry but not every Asian is Chinese or Japanese.

'I'm Singaporean.' I tried shifting the weight of my grocery bag to hint that I wasn't particularly enjoying standing there with heavy bags talking to him.

He kept asking me questions, including what my Cambridge email was (I stupidly rattled off my CRSID before realising you don't give contact details to strangers)

Then things took a turn for the creepy.

'Do you have a boyfriend?'

'Uhm. (Help what do I say. I want to say yes to put him off but I can't lie) Kiiiinnd oooff?'

'So would you date?'

'Hmmmm depends on the person. (Not you. You are probably almost 30.)'

'Would you say you're conservative?'

That gave me shivers because it was exactly what the creepy library man asked me.

And my response was the same 'I would say I'm very conservative, yes.' (please let me go to my room now.)

He then started saying things like 'Have you seen the girls here? In the pubs? Have you seen how they dress? So slutty!'

I was really quite annoyed with him, and quite a few of my friends go to pubs, and I don't think he has the authority to judge a girl based on what she wears - that's one big problem with a society that tries to see peoples hearts with their eyes alone instead of their ears and hearts and thoughts. And so I launched into a big lecture about how he was being very horrible and he needed to go and reflect. But that was just in my head. In reality, I just said 'Actually I have somewhere to be, sorry.' And left. I need to improve my ability to shut down conversations.

Anyway, everything picked up after that, because I had a short skype session with Ellis, and then a lovely long one with Chrispy and Prisca, while munching on a raspberry jam and almond butter sandwich, and then some hot soup and a bread roll.

And then came the best part of my day. ('The evening is the best part of the day' - The remains of the day) My angel-on-earth aka Tiffany had given me her ticket for the Matt Redman and Kari Jobe worship concert, and so I had a whole 2 and a half hours of wonderful, unbroken praise to the God who deserves our worship every single moment of every single day.

I went with Eunice from Chinese Christian Fellowship, and while queuing we talked about different ways of making porridge, and how small the world is (both of us know Gloria!) and Cambridge life in general. When we got in, we were surprised to realise that we were one of the first to enter the standing pit - we were right up at the front! It was just too exciting!

Matt Redman shared about how his songs were often inspired by the Psalms, which he turned to when he was facing family troubles, and he found in God a father to the fatherless. When he sang 'The Father's Song', tears came to my eyes, because although I miss my Dad so so much, knowing that I have a heavenly father who can be close to me always, and that I have a saviour in Jesus Christ who also knows the suffering of being separated from His Father, is such a great comfort.

Matt Redman also shared about how when we worship in song on earth, we join in a heavenly chorus of saints and angels around the throne of God and become part of the cosmic love song towards the God of love - 'Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,' who was, and is, and is to come.' (Revelation 4:8)

 Kari was singing despite being 6 or 7 months pregant. She shared about how the past months have been a period of brokenness for her, because her sister, who was pregnant at the same time as Kari, lost her baby. In times like that, Kari said, they really had to cry out to God, and turn their whys into worship.

Both of them have such an amazing ability to bring people from all kinds of experience and walks of life together to worship the one God who connects us all. A man standing beside Eunice apologised to us before the start concert for his 'bad voice'. Truth be told, he was tone deaf, but he sang with such enthusiasm and earnestness, that I felt blessed by his obvious love for God.

To You our hearts are open
Nothing here is hidden
You are our one desire
You alone are holy
Only You are worthy
God, let Your fire fall down
Let Your fire fall
We are here for You
Jesus here for You


Thank you thank you Jesus.