Continuing a list of 21 things that I’m thankful for…
14. Doctor Who
I’ve waxed lyrical about Doctor Who before, and few things have shaped my imagination more. I love the collision of the fantastic and the everyday, the triumphs of ambition over budget (and occasional endearing defeats!), the sense of humour and optimism in the face of evil, and the wonderfully humane heroism of that lonely alien, the Doctor. It’s modern-day fairytale and myth-making, and so despite the flaws in execution, I love it.
13. Contagious
The last seven summers, since I was 14, I’ve been on the Christian youth conference “Contagious”. It has helped me grow and become established in my faith over the years. I’ve learned so much through going back to the Bible to look at it in depth with a bunch of other young people commited to Jesus. On Contagious, I’ve met many wonderful people, both leaders and fellow campers, including some of my best friends – Jessica, Luke, Steve Sims and others. And I’ll be back next summer as a leader, God willing!
12. University
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that my time at university has been the best time of my life so far. I’m really enjoying my course at the moment – developing a Christian perspective on literature for my dissertation, studying the Chinese revolution, learning Mandarin, and writing a novel! And I’ve met so many great people, far too numerous to mention (I’ve 176 friends from Cardiff on Facebook!) and there’s so much to do and be involved with – the Christian Union, Gair Rhydd, Debating Society, Navigators and more. I’ll miss it when I finish, though I look forward to fresh challenges.
11. Books
Books, wonderful books! These small volumes, mere bundles of ink-splattered pages, are pathways to other worlds, connections to other minds, full of new ideas and stories and knowledge and ways of looking at the world. Such casual miracles that can be held in one’s hands or stuffed in a pocket, and bought for only the price of a meal.
But although their wonder lies in what they do, I also enjoy the physical presence of a good book, something that a computer screen can never replicate. The hum of pages as you riffle through them, the smell of paper, the feel of the cover. My bargain-priced copy of Absolute Sandman arrived recently, slip-cased, leather-bound with a beautiful embossed cover, glossy and large and utterly wonderful.
10. Writing
There’s nothing quite like the pleasure of description and action and character and place all bursting out from carefully crafted words and narrative. This is my ambition: to work and work until I’m good enough at writing to stories that are good enough to honour the creative God who created me, and good enough that I can make my living from my writing.
9. Food
Mmm… tasty food! Particularly lasagne and strudel and pizza and chocolate cake and raspberries and roast pork and Christmas pudding and watermelon. Not all at the same time, of course.
8. Freedom
When I think how many countless thousands of people have toiled, and continue to toil, under oppression and control, then I can but thank God for the wonderful freedom I have in Britain at the moment. Learning about China, where political and religious freedom are sadly curtailed in brutal ways, has reminded me that there is no inevitability that a modern society will be free. Freedom isn’t a “natural” state of affairs, but something that needs to be carefully nurtured and preserved – something I think our country is failing to do, with potentially dangerous consequences.
On another level, I find the fact that God in his sovereignty allows me the freedom to make choices, to learn wisdom by giving me the principles by which to live but often not spelling out how to put them into practice, that he has made me a genuine moral agent, truly mindboggling.
I’ll post the top 7 things I’m thankful for sometime soon (It’s only a rough order, though – don’t read too much into the precise ranking of things!)
