Sunday 5 October 2008

sabbatical (1)

I am looking forward to beginning a sabbatical in a couple of weeks. The main problem is trying to sort out three months worth of work before I go away.

The main components of the sabbatical are: taking part in a leadership programme called The Undefended Leader, studying at St. George’s College in Jerusalem during Advent, catching up on reading theology for pleasure rather than work and enjoying time with the family. The approach I’m taking with the reading is to look at a couple of books that take very different views on a subject e.g. on Ethics looking at Richard Burridge’s Imitating Jesus and Richard Holloway’s Godless Morality; other subjects include Richard Dawkins and Theology and Film. I have been trying to do some thinking about violence in film and how we respond as Christians, prompted by films such as In The Valley Of Elah and No Country For Old Men, and plan to get something down on paper / hard drive.

I’ll be blogging from time to time during the sabbatical and I am trying to work out the best way to post photographs from Israel so any suggestions gratefully received.

3 comments:

Sam Charles Norton said...

Is that why you asked about my camera? An extremely easy process...

Sounds like you'll be exploring lots of interesting things on your sabbatical though - I'm particularly intrigued by what you come up with about violence and film.

Philip Ritchie said...

Hi Sam,
Thanks for the comment. I think you use Flickr and I was wondering what other sites were available for storing/displaying photos. My q about your camera was because of the stunning pics you have taken which I guess are the result of a combination of location, equipment and the eye of the photographer.

Originally my reading on sabbatical was going to focus on one theologian (I had considered Moltmann who I enjoy but have never had the time to read systematically) but there are so many other things that interest me that I went for the smorgasborg approach.

I've been kicking around some ideas about violence and film for some time; partly as a consequence of the Big Picture courses I have been running with Paul Trathen and Jonathan Evens and because of some of the films I've seen recently. I had thought of suggesting I go to Hollywood for my sabbatical to study faith and film but my colleagues weren't convinced by my argument and my wife wasn't impressed either (unless she came and George Clooney was part of the deal).

Jonathan Evens said...

Hi Philip,

Hope you have a great time on your sabbatical; that you enjoy the break from your usual routine and find the study elements stimulating.

All the best,

Jonathan