Lifestyle

  • The State of China is a celebratory one

    In China the method and the measure is to be happy with yourself, and this shows at a time when the new calendar is starting. It’s not a party but an ethic that sees the whole year through.

    The mantras of Chinese wisdom helps us to illustrate this point, but it’s far more broad than that. The point may be reached, but it takes time and effort for the soul.

    President Xi on a visit to meet citizens to celebrate the start of a new year in the traditional calendar.

    The start of a new year enables a moment to end one run and to start another. The symbolic animal is also living in a cycle of reason and knowledge, but its options are limited and its opportunities few.

    The Chinese year is one of business and investment too, and it’s startling how manifest its rise is today in the global landscape. The time is best used wisely, not slowly, and its leadership preach this often.

  • Let’s help evangelicals rest easy

    The state of religious things is easily obtained. If you listen, many evangelicals for example feel beset by life. This means they feel set upon by others. This means they want to be free from being persecuted because of a simple difference of worship.

    There’s little to find to complain about with many of them. The way of evangelical life runs closely to many others. In fact, there are churches that pursue interaction along Christian lines. It unites them in social conventions for mutual benefit.

    However, life is difficult for the average evangelical. It’s not their churches that are restrictive. It’s others who doubt if they can fit in. Many pastors are capable in business but it’s not an accepted image of how it is for those who say they know religion.

  • What do evangelicals do now?

    A new Pope has arrived, and the Church of England will soon get its new Archbishop. Meanwhile, evangelicals will find themselves stuck between two worlds.

    It’s not easy to define what it is, and it looks set to get more complex.

    The moral issues are not its own necessarily. The troubles Churches find themselves in come of their own making. To wit, evangelical churches are used to having criticisms – and dealing with it.

    It doesn’t make for its future, anymore than it should be anyone’s expectation of it.

    The lack of direction is due to its lack of authority. It doesn’t seek leadership of the kind historic churches do. Albeit society tries to do so, it’s not subject to a village and its ideas on maturation.

  • Canada looks to build back better

    The triumph of Donald Trump has pulled Canada into close quarters and into a new sort of limelight. He keeps mentioning it as a 51st state. It’s an awkard request for a country that knows it still owes itself to the Crown. Yet the overtures are flattering in a time when being noticed gets you to places anyway.

    However, it’s the sort of popularity that puts some people on edge. If a rebound from Canada is on the cards it might do it for Trump too. It has already started to make sure plans. The stepping down of Justin Trudeau has come at a shaky time. If a rocky start is ahead for a new incumbent it will include outreach.

    It looks like Canada already has a new drive behind it that’s epitomised in part by a bunch of business people getting together. The new Apprentice-looking type of formation, called ‘Build Canada’, is an enterprising initiative with an optimistic goal in mind: to make it the richest country in the world.

    It’s led by a top team. It’s worth taking a look if you’re Canadian. The rest of us will have to wait. They’ve got a lot of experience. It’s also a Canada-first project that draws swords early. The priorities listed so far are in the trending category of popular culture. If it can pack a punch in a competitive arena isn’t yet clear.

  • Wales has its own news

    Wales is a country that has its own population, parliament, and government. It’s a diverse and vibrant place that supports economic development, cultural pursuits, and a good lifestyle. It’s not often in the corporate news however and its elections barely register as having taken place.

    This has to change. Wales has its own news. It’s got its own functions. It’s in the throws of its own way of life. At our present time the same issues trend everywhere and in most places. Although there’s sufficient coverage of what goes on in most places, it’s not necessarily true of Wales.

  • Summer in Covent Garden