Well here it is – a new year and a new Dock movie…

If you’ve been kicking around Dock-world for a while, you’ll know that I always start the new year off by heading out into the TQ for a whole day armed only with my trusty video camera, no agenda and no appointments – to take a living snapshot of the state of play in the TQ at the start of each new year.  (If you want to catch up you can still watch the entries from 2010 and 2011.)

As one of my interviewees pointed out, that means that The Dock is making the first film series in the Titanic Quarter – Game Of Thrones is just jumping on the bandwagon!

So did I see anything through the howling gales?  Click to find out…

I made another resolution this week – much less important than the Wordlive one – but still…

After years of being a refusenik, I signed up on Twitter.  (Some of you who’ve heard me rant about Twitter in the past may now be checking if hell has indeed frozen over, or looking out your window for airborne pigs.)  While I love sharing my heart and hopes on this blog, I’ve found – especially over the last few months – that the pace of Dock-World is speeding up so much that I don’t have time to sit down and write a full blog – but I can manage 140 characters.

I’m brand-new to all this, so bear with me.  But if you’re interested in following, I seem to be registered as Chris Bennett@TheDockTQ.  (Hopefully that means something to you Twitterati…)

And I had to laugh when I spotted the Yahoo headline on the very day I signed up (alongside breaking news: Missing Cat Comes Home!)  Nice to know I’m in good company…

So I’m warming up by the fire after a gorgeous, cold, sunset-streaked Dock Walk.  We divided the walk in two today: walking out to Goliath (the crane – not the warrior.  He’s dead – stone to the forehead I believe), we reflected on 2011 – our standout memories, things to be thankful for, things we were happy to leave behind us…

Someone else thinking along similar lines put up this fantastic video on YouTube today:

On our way back from Goliath to mugs of steaming hot chocolate in the Premier Inn, we turned our attention to 2012 – the Big Year that lies ahead of us.  Today is of course the day that we all make New Year’s Resolutions, take stock, pause for breath and make a mental vow that Everything Will Be Different in the glorious blank page of the new year that lies before us.

It’s easy to poke fun at New Years Resolutions – often they fail – but, y’know, sometimes they work.  And so I’d like to put forward a resolution for Dock-World 2012.

Here it is: In The Dock we will be people of Wordlive.  In case you haven’t come across it, Wordlive is an online Bible-reading resource produced by Scripture Union.  You can find it here, or store the address in your favourites (www.wordlive.org), or click anytime on the link from The Dock homepage (under the ‘Connect’ drop-down menu).  You can access it online (where there’s a variety of options – ‘Classic’ for a straightforward Bible-reading-and-reflection, ‘Alt’ for a more left-brain multimedia/creative response, or ‘Lectio’ for a more thoughtful, meditative angle.)  You can get it as an app for smartphones.  Or you can do what I New-Years-Resolved last year – receive it as a daily podcast to your computer or phone – a little chunk of Bible, a reflection, time to pause, and a prayer, beautifully produced into a 5-minute podcast.

You know how I said that New Years Resolution sometimes work?  Well – and I take no personal credit for this – the Wordlive habit has worked for me in this past year.  I’ve been fed, challenged, surprised, moved, inspired, instructed and uplifted by those little 5-minute nuggets more times than I can count.  And – best of all – I haven’t been alone; the podcasts form the basis of our Dock Walk discussions, and so I’ve always had other people chewing over the same readings who can chat, question, share their perspective and their response.  (All the more important in a big community like the Dock network – where we are connected online but are often separated by geography and lifestyle.)  (And also a fantastic way to hold ourselves accountable – knowing that someone is going to be asking “So, how’s it going with Wordlive this week?” does wonders for the discipline!)

So here’s your New Year Dock Challenge – become a Wordlive person.  As the video above reminds us, this is a scary, complicated, wonderful world – and those Wordlive daily readings provide a fantastic way to grapple with some of the big questions and dilemmas of living in it.  You don’t have to always agree, understand or ‘click with’ the Scripture passage every day – but it’s amazing how often the Bible is utterly, profoundly relevant to the world of today.

(to be sung to the tune of Debbie Harry’s ‘French Kissin’ in the USA’ – yes I’m a child of the 80’s…)

Well first up everybody, Happy New Year! Here it (nearly) is – 2012 – Year Of The Boat, the big centenary, the focus and the deadline for so many things that are being planned and prepared… such an exciting time.

Especially in Dock-World, where we have some BIG news to start the year – but I’ll leave that until my now-customary first-day-back-to-work-state-of-the-nation Dock Movie.  Mwahahaha!

In the meantime, what better way to start the year than joining the Dock Walk on Sunday afternoon/ New Year’s Day – as always we’ll be meeting at 3:33pm at the Streat cafe in the Odyssey Arena, before taking a walk down into the TQ to give thanks for all the changes, chances, new hopes and new friendships we’ve seen over the course of 2011.  And if any of you are into making New Year’s Resolutions, I can’t think of a better place to share them – with people who will pray and support you as you try to keep them!

It’s been an interesting week in the world of online-ness (probably more on that in the New Year as well) – so my heart soared to see one of the comments on the Dock Blog this week from Susan, a visitor from the States who became an unexpected (to her and us) addition to a Dock Walk back in the lazy days of summer.  In a talk she’s delivering in her home church this week, this is how Susan describes the experience:

On our second outing, to Belfast, we were more successful in finding our way to the Titanic Quarter. We hailed a cab, and got there. This outing was on a Sunday. It was overcast, cold, and typical European weather, as I knew it. When we arrived at the Titanic Quarter; large old factory buildings and new construction greeted us. Signs were posted pointing the way to the Titanic buildings, but everything was locked. As we walked and read signs, a group of people was walking about and I overheard what I thought was a tour guide, informing them about the history of the Titanic, how it was built, launched etc. Trying not to look conspicuous, we walked a safe distance behind, eaves dropping and stopping to read the signs about the historic district and the making of the Titanic. At one point we went a slightly different way, only to be called back to the same area as the group (God’s calling to us to be a part of this unique experience).

The leader called out and said, “You’re welcome to join us if you like, we’re not an official tour.” That was the start of an eye opening adventure, one that taught a valuable lesson.

The group leader explained that they were a Church with out walls. The leader as it turned out was their Minister. The group consisted of a mix of Christian denominations, Catholic, Church of Ireland, Methodist, and Episcopal. Some of the other congregants were also ordained ministers.

This group gets together every Sunday and walks around the Titanic Quarter. They pause at various points, listened to scripture that is taped and played from the leader’s smart phone. After listening to the message, the Minister pointed out certain visuals or mentioned certain historic facts and then asked, “how does this passage speak to you? What message do you hear? What do you think God is saying to us?” The comments were insightful and lead to fruitful discussion amongst everyone. Nicole and I were welcomed and felt so at home with this group, we contributed to the comments and participated in the discussion. It was an amazing experience to look out across the docks, listen to the scripture and experience God’s message with a group–outside of four walls.

Pretty ace eh!  Just one little example of the way God works in unexpected ways when we walk the walk and head out into the unknown on Sunday afternoons.  Dock Walking has been one of the great blessings of 2011 (as you can hopefully gather from the photos littering this post – all 2011 Dock Walks in various stages of sun/rain/snow/hail/wind/sleet!)  I can’t wait to get started tomorrow on our first walk of 2012.  Who knows where our footsteps will lead us this year?

So I’ve done my last live broadcast of 2011 – if you were still sleeping off the night before and want to catch up, you can find it on iPlayer at 47:00 into Good Morning Ulster.  Or, you can just read it while you’re here…:

So, it looks like 2012 is going to be the Year of the Boat.

First of all of course there’s the Titanic; this year we will mark the centenary of the bright April day it set sail from the Belfast docks, just two weeks before its world-shaking, history-making encounter with the iceberg in the cold Atlantic.  (Not the end of the story for everyone who’s been posting on The Dock Facebook page this week – but that’s a whole other story…!)  A hundred years ago it was a tragedy that shocked the world; today, it is a story that fascinates the world, and here in Northern Ireland we’re at the centre of that story; we’re the foundation-stone of the many ways in which Titanic’s tale will be re-told, celebrated and lamented over the coming year. What an opportunity…

And the Titanic isn’t the only boat we’re talking about: In the week before Christmas, I watched Harland and Wolff workmen fit a new funnel to the Nomadic, the Belfast-built little tender ship that ferried passengers out to the Titanic. It’s now painted and pristine, its top deck restored and that funnel standing proud in front of the spectacular new Titanic Belfast visitor centre. Like so many parts of our old shipyards, it offers that shiver of history – the realisation that you are walking in the exact footsteps of the builders, the crew, the passengers, the iconic figures of the Titanic story. What an opportunity…

For those of us who are part of The Dock project in the Titanic Quarter, we hope that this will be the Year of the Boat for us as well, as momentum gathers to bring a beautiful old lightship to Belfast to use as a shared space for churches of all denominations working together to build hope and community in this tremendously exciting new part of Belfast. What an opportunity…

So we’re poised on the brink of the Year of the Boat, and lots of us are looking at the horizon knowing that risk and uncertainty lie ahead.. But I get the feeling that all over the province we’re ready for change and adventure and bold new horizons – we’ve had enough of burying our heads in the sand. We’re ready to set sail for new shores.

So I’d like to finish with the wise old words of the explorer Sir Francis Drake, a man who knew his boats, who knew the taste of adventure – and who knew the courage that an unexplored horizon could stir in a man’s soul.

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
 because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
 because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
, where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
we shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back
 the horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
 in strength, courage, hope, and love.