Census sense

Here in the UK, yesterday was census day - filling in the 32-page document cataloguing how our lives have changed since ten years ago. There's been the usual furore about what questions are/aren't asked, with the government defending its position. But they're in charge, so had the last say.

Skip back 2000 years, to a different government. The rulers of the Roman Empire would have scoffed at the idea that they were being controlled by someone else. It was their idea to take a census - decreed by Caesar Augustus himself (Luke 2 v 1). They were in charge.

Or were they?

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel… (Micah 5 v 2)

The Lord had decreed that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem - and so the mighty Romans meekly did His bidding.

Passed...

Spotted this link on the BBC news website: "Kinky Granny among those who passed". Of course "Kinky Granny" grabs attention - but what caught my eye was "passed". Passed what? Her driving test? The citizenship exam? Her 100th birthday? No - it was a link to the monthly review of lesser-known people who've recently died.

But I still want to know what "passed" means. Is it short for "passed on" or "passed away"? If so, where to? Some pleasant place where the deceased meet loved ones and look down benevolently on this world as in The Lovely Bones? Or have they "passed" some kind of entrance exam, proving themselves good enough for "heaven"? Or is it simply that their lives have passed - been used up, finished, no longer existing?

If the BBC mean any of the above, it can only be because they don't believe Jesus' words:

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." John 5 v 24

Kindling an old flame

A two-week holiday - no books - just a Kindle.

Pros
• No heavy books to carry
• No need to guess how many books you'll read while away
• The Kindle sits flat on your lap or props easily (eg: on a fold-down tray on a plane/train) - much easier than trying to get a new book to stay open at your page
• There's a built-in dictionary - fantastic for checking obscure words without losing the thread
• Variable text size is a boon for my aging vision - no need to hunt out my reading glasses!
• For new titles, e-books are cheaper than real books
• The Kindle opens at the page you were last reading
• You can add notes (eg: to highlight a quote that could be the basis of a blog)
• Great battery life (two weeks' reading used about half), and quick to recharge from computer or mains

Cons
• A Kindle isn't that light - about the same as a thick paperback
• I have around a thousand books at home, so don't want to pay again for e-versions
• It's harder to assess an unread book - one was far more violent than I had expected
• Many of the free books available are erotica - difficult to avoid when scrolling lists of popular titles (a problem I've rarely faced when browsing in a bookshop)
• It's unwieldy if juggling two books at once (eg: flicking between a Christian book and the Bible passage it's unpacking)

Conclusion
If I hadn't been collecting books for 30 years, I'd seriously consider a Kindle as a way to build a library that takes no space. But I still love the feel, smell and tangibility of "real" books.