Happy birthday to you...

it was around this time, some 1975 years ago that a smallish group of people, around 120, were gathered together and the Christian Church was born.

On the very first Pentecost day, the followers of Jesus were gathered together, upstairs. Meeting to consider the recent events surrounding their teacher and saviour, when they were inspired, even anointed by the Spirit of God himself. The story goes that the building in which they were meeting was shook and the Spirit of God rushed through like a mighty wind. Whatever happened, in that one moment a spark turned into a flame and this group of people would go on to change the religious tapestry of the whole world, Forever.

Fast forward to today. As the Church celebrates its 'birthday' I will shortly be leaving to meet with the 'faithful' myself. To sum up, I am wondering what the Church needs to do to survive another hundred years here in the UK. Its only ever one generation away from extinction and as fewer and fewer young people connect with the organised churches, which themselves seem determined to resist change, I find myself wondering what happened to the worldwind church that changed peoples lives all over the planet? How much longer will it live for?

I know that there are exceptions to the rule, but here in the UK at least. The church may be celebrating another birthday but it looks terminally ill to me.

Image: The Pentecost by Alexander Sadoyan.

Have you seen this man?

He is of course the Cuban Leader, Fidel Castro, but although his hold on power hasn't faltered in fifty years, he hasn't been seen in public for quite some time either.

This coming Saturday sees the fiftieth anniversary of Castro's assumption of power but at the moment, its still unclear if the 80-year-old leader will make a public appearance. Castro Hasn't been seen in public since August.

Conspicuous by his absence, this has led many bloggers to ponder Mr Castro's current state of health or even if his status as that of a living individual is entirely accurate. In any case, its quite interesting to read some of the various blogs about what the future may hold for the Nation of Cuba.

Daniel Freedman writes that now is the time for democracy to strike while the nation exists in a rarely seen state of 'limbo'. While Parnell warns us not to bury Castro just yet as his death has been (incorrectly) reported on "more than one occasion". This seems quite logical to me as it is my understanding that generally speaking, we only get one shot at dying.

Whatever the state of the undoubtedly ailing leader is. I do find it interesting to see how different people are preparing for the future. Some want change, others do not. Some want to keep Castro's ideology alive and well, while others seem keener to assassinate it quickly, something that they failed to do 'in personam'.