Merry Christmas aus Bad Ischl

upon another shore and in a greater light, that multitude which no man can number, whose hope was in the Word made flesh Will always hit me so hard 😭❤️ #9LC

Austrian Christmas Eve celebrations mean I am already checking in for #clergymaltclub

I heard there was a Wilcock chord That David played and it pleased the Lord #ocomeallyefaithful

For a period of a couple of years during the 2010s I was employed regularly by cattle to shoot the covers for the albums they had recorded. It was always wonderfully inspiring to witness the love, hard work and passion they had put into their music and I think that comes through in the photos.

A very fine Ros Taylor piece on losing what was slowly created, our trust in institutions. And people. And much more. I had a great yearning for that old sensation of solidity, when the duty of care was understood by both individuals and structures.

I'm watching The Wrong Trousers and it's bonkers to watch it now, since a provincial museum in the north of England in an animation from 1993 has better security than the Louvre.

Just finished a book on a notorious black market's effects on peacebuilding in Bosnia in the late 1990s. Only a fraction of archival material was digitized. Even the emails between people in orgs like the UN and OHR existed only in paper form, printed out and stuffed into filing cabinets.

"When God comes among us, he doesn’t first of all clear humanity out of the way so that he can take over; he becomes a human being. He doesn’t force his way in to dominate and crush; he announces his arrival in the sharp, hungry cry of a newborn" Rowan Williams

I read somewhere that the secret key to postwar British history is that in any incident, meeting, whatever, there’s a high chance that most participants are a bit tipsy and someone round the table is absolutely steaming drunk.

One of my favourite bits by John Lanchester in the LRB:

What if Christian nonviolence isn’t naïve idealism or a policy proposal, but the church’s most radical witness in an age when faith and nationalism are increasingly confused? www.plough.com/en/topics/ju...

Du macht eine Umfrage zum Zusammenleben und lässt 20% der in Österreich lebenden Menschen weg. In Wien ein ganzes Drittel. Und nennst es dann Integrationsbarometer. Und fast alle Fragen richten sich an die Perspektive der Nichtmigranten.

Absolutely nobody asked for this BUT English Anglican cathedrals that have burned down, fallen over, and sank into the swamp: a thread.

I should say, somebody who I think is virtuosic in their citation of surprising characters is Rowan Williams. Half the reason he's worth reasoning is because he consistently goes for the out-of-the-box thinker, even when he's engaging a fairly well-defined discourse.

It's the annual time of the year when I invite you to spend two minutes learning the signs of sepsis in babies and children. Knowing this can save a life (and indeed did for our newborn son six years ago) In doubt, ask: could it be sepsis. Know the signs, save a life.

Good morning

RIP Rob Reiner

So, El Fasher looks like one of the worst single event atrocities to happen this century so far, but the evidence has come in such a trickle it seems to only now be getting verified

When the AI boom began, copywriters were singled out as one of the jobs most vulnerable to AI. Now, three years later, I wanted to hear from workers on the frontlines of the industry, to hear what had actually taken place on the ground. For many, it was even worse than they'd feared.

Good (also as the article says but the headline obscures, this is part of a wider and co-ordinated response which also involves the Baptists, the Methodists, and the URC)

"'Low estimate is 60,000 people have been killed there in the last three weeks.’” As many as 150,000 residents of El Fasher remain unaccounted for Why, might be appropriate for our leaders, intellectuals, and activists who profess to care about our shared humanity to actually do or say something

The distressing thing about this is that anyone who's read deeper than school or TV documentary level knows that, in its multitudinous, multifaceted way, the Holocaust was so much worse than I think the majority of people understand

Ein Mord wird in Liebe umgedeutet. Und dazu ein herzerwärmendes Weihnachtsbild. Hier werden männliche Gewaltexzesse normalisiert: Männer sind so. Man zeigt Liebe und dann stirbt halt jemand, dumm gelaufen. Diese verdammte Gewaltkultur tötet Frauen. Und, ganz wichtig: ist auch für Männer entsetzlich.

Happy New Year A to all who celebrate! #Lectionary

Holly Case reviews a new book by Ukrainian historian Iryna Vushko about the collapse of the Habsburg Empire, which has many interesting insights into early 20th-century ethnic autonomy politics that Europeans are still duking out today. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

This BBC kids tv advert from 1998 is still very impressive and very lovely

You know, I'm not sure I ever really read the Pond Rules at our local nature preserve all that closely before

Care must be taken to ensure that the “quiet revival” of Christianity in the UK is not “stolen from people” by a form of Christian nationalism, the general secretary of Churches Together in England, the Pentecostalist Bishop Mike Royal, has said #quietrevival #churchnews #churchtimes

As it is snowing today, took advantage to record a video for Austrian Baptist Churches wanting to support the European Baptist Federation's Christmas appeal, which helps Ukrainian churches heat their buildings. Many Baptist churches in Ukraine have become first-stop crisis centres.

🇦🇹 35% der 14- bis 25-Jährigen in Österreich bejahen ein religiöses Selbstverständnis – gegenüber lediglich 27% in der Gesamtgesellschaft. Auch stimmen sie der Aussage, kein religiöser Mensch zu sein, mit 37% seltener zu als mit 48% in der Gesamtstichprobe. #Österreich #Religion

🕯️🇺🇦 Holodomor: History of Attempts to Erase the Ukrainian Nation According to the most reliable demographic research, around 3.9 million people died within the borders of the then Ukrainian SSR. The real number may be higher. Read more ⤵️ theukrainianreview.info/holodomor-hi...

Today is Holodomor remembrance day, one of the worst human rights atrocities of the 20th century. If you are wanting to know more, this episode of @originstorypodcast.bsky.social is excellent, featuring justifiable moral outrage from @iandunt.bsky.social and @dorianlynskey.bsky.social

Prevalence rates are no guide as to whether a condition is 'real' or overdiagnosed. 1 in 8 men get diagnosed with prostate cancer. Incidence rates have risen 55% since 1990. We accept this is due to better awareness & screening, & people surviving other conditions, not a fad or medical overreach.

Good morning, winter

A chilly -4C this morning at Wels. I'm off to the Executive of the Free Churches of Austria, happening in Vienna

First valley snowfall of the winter is forecast for the end of the week.

Some good news!

Post your favourite Star Trek character. Wrong answers only

Camembert-in-a-hole #friday

"What is certain, and felt instinctively by almost everybody, is that things cannot go on in their present way" – The Times, May 1975 “It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975

I don't want to deny that things are still pretty bad, that decarbonisation has to go a lot further, but I really do think it's worth acknowledging that given 15-20 years ago we were on course for a 4C rise, that we're now looking at 2.2-2.6C is a genuinely herculean and heroic achievement.

Was it Charlemagne who said: "To have another language is to possess another soul."? Universities ditching modern languages are in danger of losing their souls. The structures of intellectual life in the UK are being pulled out from under our feet. It needs to stop! Pronto.

"If we meet someone who has a social disability, we tend to ask, “Can they lead?” If we meet someone with charisma, we ask instead, “Can they lead with integrity?” Rather a potentially toxic leader than a ineffective leader ...Where has that gotten us?" www.christianitytoday.com/2025/11/i-ha...

Annual post for the day that's in it.

Ich durfte gestern bei der feierlichen Amtseinführung der neuen Bischöfin der Evangelischen Kirche A.B. in Österreich dabei sein und den Bund der Baptistengemeinden in Österreich vertreten. Ich wünsche Bischöfin Cornelia Richter Gottes Segen für ihren neuen Dienst.

Friday comforts

The Thick of It 2025 edition. Where would the characters of The Thick of It be in 2025? @dmk1793.bsky.social gives his take. Full episode here 👉 linktr.ee/ohgodwhatnow... #thethickofit #thickofit #malcolmtucker

Die bisher in #Bonn lehrende Theologin Cornelia Richter (54) wird am Samstag als erste Frau in der Geschichte der Evangelisch-lutherischen #Kirche in #Österreich in das Amt der Bischöfin eingeführt: