Diving, survival, and success - Chris Mears

January 2009. Chris Mears participates in the Youth Olympic Festival in Australia. The British diver is one of the best. But as the 16th year old dives of the platform, he has no idea what is about to unfold.
 
As he hits the water, something's not right. Something is terribly wrong. He ruptures his spleen and is hurried to the hospital.

But the nightmare continues - he loses 5 pints of blood and is rushed into surgery. But a 7 hour seizure and 3 day coma follow.

His slow recovery only starts after a month long stay in a Sydney hospital. But a lot has happened in three years.

His Blood Cries Out: Ooberfuse and what happened to Shahbaz Bhatti.

They wrote the theme song for the Pope's visit to England. They peformed center stage in Madrid, and last summer ooberfuse was asked to perform at a high-profile peace rally in London’s Trafalgar Square.

The occasion was the 1st anniversary of the assassination of Pakistan’s Minister for Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti. Ooberfuse is a music project that blends ingredients together that are usually kept apart. Whether it be the introduction of eastern flavours into western pop or faith inspirations into secular traditions the music challenges the tired conventions and formulas of regular everyday pop music. Hopefully the result of this experimentation, an explosion of soulful ryhthmic sounds, raises minds, hearts and souls.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good! The Story of Paul.

The other day I walked into the Basilica of St. Paul, Outside the Walls. It's a little different from the other patriarchal basilicas in Rome. It's kind of stark, bare, imposing. I rather like to see it as a little like the apostle itself - strong, straightforward, powerful, and to the point.

This comes one day late, but yesterday we celebrated the conversion of St. Paul. We don’t know much about his early life other than that he mad tents. The first even we hear about him is when he's actively killing Christians, specifically St. Stephen. Little did he know that we would not only undergo the same fate but would suffer the same sort of thing multiple times.