Steven Colborne's Blog, page 61

A Surprising Discovery!

Greetings, all! I am so very tired, I just looked in the mirror and I have bloodshot eyes. It’s because I’ve been up all night (it’s currently 5:30am here in London!) making significant updates to several of my websites.

These updates were quite unexpected. Yesterday, for a reason that God only knows, the thought occurred to me that I have a pile of CDs in a drawer that have been untouched for many years, and that it might be a good idea to investigate what’s on them. Seeing as laptops don’t tend to have CD drives these days, I had to go on Amazon and order a cheap external CD drive, which was no massive bother or expense.

The CD drive arrived at my local Amazon locker today (er, yesterday), and when I got it home and started inserting my CDs… let me tell you, I was by no means prepared for what I found!

Working through the pile of about 20 discs, there were some from 2007/2008, and some went back as far as 2002/2003. The contents of these discs was absolutely fascinating. I found amongst the contents essays, artwork, videos, poetry and songs that I had completely forgotten even existed. It was a really surreal experience revisiting some of these nuggets from my past!

I spent a few hours sorting through everything, and have now saved and organised everything that I felt was valuable and am now plotting what to do with it all. At first, I thought about setting up a new website to host all this content, but I already have so many websites to look after that I thought twice about doing that. I think what I’m going to do is try to add the content to my existing sites (i.e. my YouTube channel, website, this blog, Facebook, etc) according to where each piece of content fits most adequately.

I’m so excited to share some of this content with you! To begin with, there are two things that I’m hoping you’ll take a look at today. Firstly, I’ve added an Art page to this blog, so please go ahead and take a look at that and let me know what you think in the comments. Secondly, I’ve uploaded a new (old!) song to my Bandcamp page. I absolutely love it and I hope you’ll give it a listen. I had honestly completely forgotten that this song even existed, and without wishing to blow my own trumpet, I think it’s quite a gem!

I’m on about my eighth can of Coke right now, which is the only reason I’ve made it through the night without collapsing onto my laptop. It’s silly of me, really, to feel like I need to share this content right away, but it’s just the excitement of it all, I couldn’t resist. So please, do me a favour and check out these two additions to interweb (I’ll put the links below); my Art page and the song I found. You have to remember that all this content is from many years ago, but it’s a wonderful part of my life’s journey so I’m delighted to revisit it and share it with you.

Check out my new Art page
Listen to my new (old!) song ‘Every Day’ on Bandcamp

Do feel free to comment, I may not be able to keep my eyes open for much longer but I will of course catch up with comments tomorrow (er, today) as soon as I’ve recharged the metaphorical batteries a little! Sorry if this post contains any typos, I have checked it through a couple of times but I’m not operating at optimum efficiency. God bless you and thank you for reading!

Sizing Up Socrates

Greetings, blogging friends. I’m in a wonderfully good mood this evening, the main reason for this being because I’ve unleashed another book into the Amazon jungle.

Some of you know that for quite a long time I ran a Friday Philosophy series on this blog, where I reflected upon some of the big ideas espoused by ancient Greek philosophers, and offered a response to each idea from the perspective of my own philosophy.

The series proved quite popular, and so I recently picked my favourite 12 posts from the series and have been working on developing them into a short book.

I spent some time agonising over which title I should give the book, and as a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors I decided to enlist of the help of some fellow authors with making that decision.

Here’s how the voting went:

[image error]

I have to admit, the winning title was not one of my favourites! In the end, I made an executive decision to go with the short and snappy title ‘Big Ideas from Ancient Greece’, because the arguments in favour of this title in the comments section were very convincing.

The phrase ‘sizing up Socrates’ was very popular, presumably because it’s mildly humorous. I love that phrase too, so I’ve decided to keep it in the blurb which appears on the back cover of the book and on the book information section on Amazon.

With some of my book releases, I have chosen to do what’s known in the industry as ‘going wide’, which means making a book available through a broad range of different retailers. With this release, I decided to experiment with making it exclusive to Amazon, though there will be both Kindle and paperback formats.

The book is available from today, and if you’d like to check it out just search the title (Big Ideas from Ancient Greece) in your local Amazon store and you should find it pretty easily. My friends in the United States can click here to view the book on the Amazon US site, and my UK based buddies can click here to find the book on Amazon UK.

I do have one further announcement! On a voluntary basis, I’m going to be working with a small number of authors who don’t know a lot about self-publishing, guiding them through the entire book publishing process in a kind of consultancy capacity. I’m not able to undertake paid work at present (long story!), but I’m a little obsessed with seeing amazing books come to life, and having now self-published six books I thought it would be fun to assist other authors who are new to self-publishing. For further information about this project, please visit the Tealight Books website (Tealight Books is my publishing imprint) where everything is explained in more detail.

Have you self-published a book, or are you considering self-publishing? Feel free to leave a comment below explaining why you find the idea appealing. Thank you for reading!

(Image by Raimund Feher from Pixabay)

Sizing Up Socrates?!

Greetings, blogging friends. I’m in a wonderfully good mood this evening, the main reason for this being because I’ve unleashed another book into the Amazon jungle.

Some of you know that for quite a long time I ran a Friday Philosophy series on this blog, where I reflected upon some of the big ideas espoused by ancient Greek philosophers, and offered a response to each idea from the perspective of my own philosophy.

The series proved quite popular, and so I recently picked my favourite 12 posts from the series and have been working on developing them into a short book.

I spent some time agonising over which title I should give the book, and as a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors I decided to enlist of the help of some fellow authors with making that decision.

Here’s how the voting went:

[image error]

I have to admit, the winning title was not one of my favourites! In the end, I made an executive decision to go with the short and snappy title ‘Big Ideas from Ancient Greece’, because the arguments in favour of this title in the comments section were very convincing.

The phrase ‘sizing up Socrates’ was very popular, presumably because it’s mildly humorous. I love that phrase too, so I’ve decided to keep it in the blurb which appears on the back cover of the book and on the book information section on Amazon.

With some of my book releases, I have chosen to do what’s known in the industry as ‘going wide’, which means making a book available through a broad range of different retailers. With this release, I decided to experiment with making it exclusive to Amazon, though there will be both Kindle and paperback formats.

The book is available from today, and if you’d like to check it out just search the title (Big Ideas from Ancient Greece) in your local Amazon store and you should find it pretty easily. My friends in the United States can click here to view the book on the Amazon US site, and my UK based buddies can click here to find the book on Amazon UK.

I do have one further announcement! On a voluntary basis, I’m going to be working with a small number of authors who don’t know a lot about self-publishing, guiding them through the entire book publishing process in a kind of consultancy capacity. I’m not able to undertake paid work at present (long story!), but I’m a little obsessed with seeing amazing books come to life, and having now self-published six books I thought it would be fun to assist other authors who are new to self-publishing. For further information about this project, please visit the Tealight Books website (Tealight Books is my publishing imprint) where everything is explained in more detail.

Have you self-published a book, or are you considering self-publishing? Feel free to leave a comment below explaining why you find the idea appealing. Thank you for reading!

(Image by Raimund Feher from Pixabay)

Five Pillars of a New British Constitution

The Brexit crisis has highlighted the flaws in the UK’s constitution. The Queen, who has executive powers in the UK, has been so absent from the political process that this has created catastrophic confusion within Parliament. It is clear that change is necessary, and I would like to suggest some principles in accordance with which change can take place. The comments are open and I’d like to invite discussion. Only polite comments will be approved.

The monarchy should be abolished. The monarchy no longer serves a useful function in the UK, but is instead a drain on resources. The monarchy cements the idea of privilege, which is an anti-democratic principle.

  
Britain should remain a democracy. Democracy remains the fairest system of government that human beings have been able to devise. Embedded within the democratic system is the idea that each individual is equally valuable, which is fair and therefore conducive to a peaceful society.

  
We need a codified constitution. At present, the UK has a variety of instruments that dictate our laws and the distribution of power. This should be simplified into a single constitutional document.

  
Dieu et mon droit. This is a French motto which is loosely translated as ‘by the grace of God’. We should acknowledge within our constitution that all power in our society, and indeed the world, is God-given.

  
Replace the House of Lords. A new multi-faith church of the future should be established to replace the House of Lords (where currently election is largely undemocratic). Faith leaders should be elected democratically, and can advise Members of Parliament on moral and ethical issues.

I warmly invite you to express your opinion on these five ideas in the comments, with the hope that a fruitful discussion will ensue. Also, feel free to share this post if you think the principles I have suggested make sense, or at least warrant further discussion. God bless you and thank you for reading.

Dieu Et Mon Droit

Good morning, friends. I just wanted to make a brief comment on the situation in the UK at this time.

I love my country, but more so than that, I love my God.

There is a chapter in my book God’s Grand Game in which I talk about the matter of sovereignty. My book, and that chapter in the book, are very relevant to the current political situation engulfing the UK. I hope my book will be widely read, as the ideas contained therein are more relevant and pressing than ever.

I have a handful of free copies available, if anyone would like one. Just contact me.

It is a time of great change for us, and I find myself on my knees, fully acknowledging the awesome power and might of God, and what a fearful thing that is.

Dieu Et Mon Droit.

Peace and blessings,

Steven

Your Past Does Not Determine Your Future

A popular idea within the scientific community is that what happens in the present moment is the result of a chain of causes and effects. This deeply ingrained idea is what prompted scientists to come up with the ‘Big Bang’ theory — the idea that a single event, at the beginning of time, is the cause of everything we experience today.

There is an obvious problem with this theory. If time is a linear process, then it seems natural to ask what existed before the moment when the universe, for whatever reason, exploded into being. Much ink has been spilled by scientists trying to find an argument that makes sense of the idea that this vast and complex universe could spontaneously emerge out of absolute nothingness (or some kind of quantum vacuum).

An alternative view of reality, and this is the view that I subscribe to, is that the entirety of existence is contained within God. God has the attribute of aseity, which means He is self-existing, so there has never been a time when God didn’t exist. Actually, all that exists right now, in this moment, is not the result of cause and effect; instead, what we experience as present-moment reality is the manifestation of a living God.

If a living God is the animator of all events in existence, then it is not the case that events unfold in some kind of mechanical process of cause and effect. Instead, existence is much more fluid and rather like a puppet show, in which God is unfolding a story which could go in any direction that He wills in any given moment. If this perspective is correct, it means that the past does not define the future, and that in any given moment there are infinite possibilities open to God, and He always has the option of unfolding events in whichever way He chooses.

So, the two thoughts I’d like to leave you with today are as follows:

The past does not determine the future
God is in control of existence in its entirety

If you understand my thinking on this subject, these two statements should be very liberating for you. They are empowering ideas, in a sense, because they imply that the future is unwritten, and that your prayers and actions therefore have the potential to literally change the course of history.

Of course, what you pray about, and what you do, will happen only if they are a part of God’s will. I’m well aware that this raises the question of whether or not humans have free will, and I have dedicated most of my adult life to exploring the philosophical implications that result from the perspective that there is a single living God who is in control of all activity in existence.

If the subjects covered in this article are of interest to you, I would encourage you to explore my work in more depth, as you may well have questions that I have already answered on this blog and in my books. My personal website, at www.stevencolborne.com, functions as a hub from where you can explore all of my work and investigate further in accordance with your particular areas of philosophical interest. Thank you for reading.

The Pull Towards Jesus

Hi everyone. There’s so much I could share with you today, but I am going to make this post brief because I want to have some quality prayer, worship, and Bible reading time this evening.

On Wednesday, with the help of the pastor from a church I used to go to and one of his congregants, I moved all my belongings to the new flat. It went pretty smoothly, with limited contact with the troublesome neighbour, and the pastor was happy that I could donate many of my old belongings to the church. It was a tiring day (actually, that’s an understatement; I was completely shattered by the time everything was loaded in and unpacked!) but thank God there was no major trouble.

Since moving in, things have been tough. There’s a couple staying in the flat who haven’t exactly given me a warm welcome. I’ve also had a problem in that my bank messed up the process of issuing me with a new card for my new address, so I might have to wait a week for that to arrive. There’s also been lots to sort out in terms of finances, updating my address in many places, cancelling certain direct debits, and a host of other things.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time in prayer over the last couple of days, and today I found myself reaching for one of my Bibles. God directed me to Psalm 6, and it is an incredibly relevant psalm that really speaks into my circumstances:

O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger,

Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.

2 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak;

O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled.

3 My soul also is greatly troubled;

But You, O Lord—how long?

4 Return, O Lord, deliver me!

Oh, save me for Your mercies’ sake!

5 For in death there is no remembrance of You;

In the grave who will give You thanks?

6 I am weary with my groaning;

[b]All night I make my bed swim;

I drench my couch with my tears.

7 My eye wastes away because of grief;

It grows old because of all my enemies.

8 Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity;

For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.

9 The Lord has heard my supplication;

The Lord will receive my prayer.

10 Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled;

Let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly.

I’m yet to fully understand why God has moved me from my previous accommodation to this new flat. It is, of course, a great relief to be free from that troublesome neighbour, but I have been really struggling to understand what plans God has for me here. I don’t yet feel settled. I know I already shared with you my plans to set up a business, but I need to pray about all aspects of that and whether it will be wise to apply for a small business loan at this time.

It might surprise you to know that I’m planning to visit a local church on Sunday. It could be a really difficult and frustrating experience, because of my theological problems (often shared on this blog) with the Christian faith, but there’s a part of me that feels I need Jesus and that He is perhaps the answer to my troubles (there’s no need to comment saying “Yes, Jesus is the way!” because I fully understand that Christians believe this and while I’m not a theological expert when it comes to Christianity, I’m certainly not a novice — read this essay and you’ll understand).

I will keep you posted, but (once again) I ask for your prayers, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayer support surrounding the move and everything else. I am very fortunate to have such amazingly kind readers.

Peace and blessings,

Steven

I’m Moving Home Today

I wanted to write a quick post to share some thoughts about my move today, mainly because I’ve got a lot to process at the moment and getting things down in writing can be very helpful. I also like to keep followers of this blog updated, and hopefully this post will be of interest to at least some of you.

There’s a lot to think about when moving (actually, someone was saying to me this morning that he can’t think of anything more stressful than moving home), but I don’t really feel that stressed. I think it’s because today I’m just meeting the landlord’s representative at the flat to pick up my keys, rather than moving all my belongings (more about that below). I will, however, be sleeping in the new place tonight. The thing that’s causing me the most anxiety today is meeting my new flatmates, because although I was told they are friendly and quiet, you never know how you’re going to get along with people.

I was thinking about who might be able to help me move my belongings from my previous accommodation to the new flat, and decided to call the pastor of a church I used to go to. I thought it would be a good opportunity for a catch-up, and also felt he would be a calming presence at the old flat where there is always the risk of my neighbour causing trouble. He said he should be able to help, and that he might be able to find someone to come with us and help move the boxes as well, which would be brilliant.

I want to give a quick shout out and thank you to Rebekah from the blog Bread of Life, who said she knew some people in London who might be able to help with the move. I’m very grateful, Rebekah, for your generous offer! Also, thanks to everyone who left a comment offering prayer support, including David, Julpha Jean, Ryan, and everyone else. Thank you also if you didn’t comment, but sent positive thoughts and prayers. I’m very grateful for all of you.

In other news, I’ve finished the first draft of my business plan for Tealight Books, and have also been working on a cash flow forecast and another budgeting document. I’m not sure whether I mentioned this already, but I’m applying for a small government-backed loan which will hopefully provide some funding while I am establishing the business. I’ve already had a phone conversation with a business advisor, and he will be giving me some feedback on my business plan next week.

If there’s anyone reading this who is thinking about writing a book, or is in the process of writing a book, do drop me an email via the Contact page and perhaps we can have a discussion about some of the ways I might be able to help with you with the book publishing process. I plan to start working with other authors fairly soon. Also, it would be great to connect with readers of this blog on my newly created Tealight Books Instagram and Twitter pages, if you feel inclined to connect with me in that way.

Having lived alone in a one bedroom flat for the last five years, today marks quite a change for me. I honestly never thought I would leave the flat where I’ve been living. I loved it, and feel in many ways it was the perfect home. But the problems with my neighbour, and the housing association who own the property, proved to be too difficult to overcome, despite my best efforts and a lot of patience. In situations where someone is abusing you (in my case it was my neighbour’s emotional abuse), you can do your best to improve things for some time, but if it is starting to affect your wellbeing, and the authorities are unwilling or unable to take action, sometimes the best thing you can do is GET OUT. Yes, you will be leaving behind a lot of ‘stuff’, and you may be very attached to your home and your area, but the world is large and the future holds infinite possibilities, so peace of mind should always be your primary consideration.

I want to thank my blogging friend Yari Garcia, who recently told me about her escape from an abusive situation, and hearing her story was a great encouragement to me. She literally packed a suitcase and jumped on a plane. Incredibly brave and inspiring.

No doubt I’ll be back soon with an update concerning how I am settling in. I hate to ask again (because we’re all busy people), but ongoing prayers that the move goes smoothly would be very much appreciated. Take care, friends, God bless you, and I’ll catch up with you all soon.

(Photo by Samantha Gades on Unsplash)

GOOD NEWS!

Greetings, friends! If I recall correctly, I promised an update in relation to my nightmarish accommodation situation, or if I didn’t, I know some of you asked me to keep you updated, so that is the purpose of this post. And yes, I have good news!

I’m delighted to say that after three weeks staying in emergency accommodation (Travelodges and Air BnB’s), I have found a place to move to, and yesterday signed the tenancy agreement with the landlord. My move-in date is this Sunday, 1st September. It’s a really nice part of London, and the rent is reasonable. There’s a big park nearby (important to me!) as well as a couple of gyms and plenty of shops.

Of course, the first thing to say is thank you for your good wishes and prayers! Many of you know that my precarious accommodation situation has been going on for years, so it really is a huge relief to be moving on. It really does feel like a fresh start because I will no longer be renting within the mental health system with all the associated problems.

I will be working full-time on a business that I’m setting up. The business, which is called Tealight Books, is an author services company that will aim to guide authors through every step of the self-publishing process. Having self-published five books myself, and also with my background in promotion and marketing, I feel I am well equipped to help authors navigate the self-publishing jungle. As part of my business plan, I’m going to offer authors proofreading and editing services, and I will be doing some training in order to make myself officially qualified to do that.

It’s a little too early to be promoting my business, but I have just set up a Twitter account and an Instagram account for the business, so if you’re at all interested (or would just like to be kind and support me!) here are the links:

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/tealightbooks

Instagram:

https://instagram.com/tealightbooks

For an overview of the services I’m going to be offering, a good place to look is my LinkedIn profile. If we’re not already connected on LinkedIn, let’s connect!

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevencolborne/

I do still have one rather difficult hurdle to overcome before I move to my new accommodation. All of my belongings and still in my previous place, and to be honest with you I feel very unsafe going back there. I’m in two minds as to what to do. One option is to just vacate and leave all of my belongings (yes, not ideal, but not the end of the world). Another option is to ask a friend with a van to come with me to transport all my belongings (a little risky, but the best option financially). And the third option is that I hire a van but see if I can get a police officer to attend the property while I move out. I have been in email contact with the police and they did suggest this is an option, but my worry is that when the nightmare tenant sees a police officer he will know I’ve reported all his antisocial behaviour, which could make him very angry.

Please don’t feel you need to advise me on the best course of action (although the comments are open), what’s much more important is your prayers that God will guide me to do the right thing and keep me safe. The whole thing is a lot more complicated than I have been able to convey in this brief blog post.

So, a new chapter begins, and I’m very excited. I will have to work hard in order to make the business a success, but I’m working on a business plan and am hoping to secure a government start-up loan as well as some mentorship for the first year of operating the business.

One annoying thing is that my MacBook Pro has started packing up on me just when I need it the most! I’m getting this strange flickering on the screen, and I was also checking my emails in the park and the wind blew some melon onto the keyboard which has made my ‘delete’ key really sticky. This means that whenever I press delete I risk deleting a whole sentence, or even a paragraph, until I can get it unstuck

Everything is Meaningless

“Meaningless! Meaningless!”

    says the Teacher.

“Utterly meaningless!

    Everything is meaningless.”

3 What do people gain from all their labors

    at which they toil under the sun?

4 Generations come and generations go,

    but the earth remains forever.

5 The sun rises and the sun sets,

    and hurries back to where it rises.

6 The wind blows to the south

    and turns to the north;

round and round it goes,

    ever returning on its course.

7 All streams flow into the sea,

    yet the sea is never full.

To the place the streams come from,

    there they return again.

8 All things are wearisome,

    more than one can say.

The eye never has enough of seeing,

    nor the ear its fill of hearing.

9 What has been will be again,

    what has been done will be done again;

    there is nothing new under the sun.

10 Is there anything of which one can say,

    “Look! This is something new”?

It was here already, long ago;

    it was here before our time.

11 No one remembers the former generations,

    and even those yet to come

will not be remembered

    by those who follow them.

Wisdom Is Meaningless

12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

15 What is crooked cannot be straightened;

    what is lacking cannot be counted.

16 I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;

    the more knowledge, the more grief.

From the Bible (New International Version), the Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1, Verses 2-18. Image by skeeze from Pixabay.