Moving Forward

At last! I have completed a week where the cyclist has cycled more miles than the walker has walked  (more than twice as far in fact) - and this really needs to be the case from now on, as the cycling started later than the walking, the distance is the same, and who knows whether or not we'll get snow again this winter!

The boost to the cycling came via Jill, who suggested we ride out to Compton together, take a break in the lovely village shop and tearoom and return via Walderton. It was a 14 mile round trip, at the end of which Ian kindly sprayed my chain and gears as Jill had noticed that I was "clanking a bit". I certainly felt a trifle 'clanky' for the rest of the day, but have happily agreed to another (longer) ride at the end of this week. 

Walking has just been the standard village trail, but when I repeated the cycling trip to Compton this week I picked up a leaflet in the tearoom produced by the SE Hants Ramblers. More about that if I decide to join them for some walks.

I've tried to map where I am on mapometer.com but the site has been unbelievably slow this week - so I'm not sure of my exact location(s). I have every hope though that the cyclist has turned south and that the walker is now heading north (rather than west and east respectively up til now) - I'll feel as if they will actually meet some day if this is the case!

Plans are underway to organise the first film evening for the cyclist - and I really need to work out when I will arrive in Cheddar, so that I can set a date for the Wine and Cheese evening.

So - "moving forward" on all fronts as per this week's title. On Sunday I was in London for Z-Day 2011 (Zeitgeist, Moving Forward) - an event, streamed online, at which Ben was speaking, as well as (amongst others) his good friend Will Dixon. I sat with Ben's friends Kirsty, Wiggy and Jan as we listened to the vision of these activists for a radically different future. They all speak with the passion of true evangelists about a future structured around a resource-based economy, fairness for all, mental and physical well-being and the (advancing) technology on which this vision relies. I have many questions about the movement, and don't grasp all of the concepts, but I applaud the vision, passion and goals that drive those active in the movement.

From a personal standpoint I believe that, regardless of the structures we put in place, it is the human heart that has to change - and that the teaching of Jesus and other great spiritual leaders is about precisely that. Jesus (and this is what angered the Jews of his day) didn't advocate the overthrow of the Roman Empire. He talked instead about a new Kingdom, here on earth (not after death), where attitudes are changed and lives are transformed.

What do you think?

http://www.zeitgeistmovingforward.com/