Preparing to christen your baby is reflective of a history that goes back centuries. The baptism signifies adoption into the church and up to the Middle Ages, most of the baptisms were carried out with the participants not wearing any clothing.

Later, and possibly due to modesty, the custom of not wearing clothing began to change. Wearing clothing became the normal practice, with participants either wearing their underclothing during the service or as is practiced today, wearing white baptismal robes. The baptismal clothing is white to signify purity of character and morals, or to signify that the person being baptised, as suggested by Michael Pomoazansky in his book, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, is “fresh like the driven manna, an edible substance that according to the Bible and Quran, God provided for the Israelites during their travels in the desert.”  (more…)

There reaches a point in any man’s life where he has to make a decision. No I am not talking about any sort of mid life crisis nonsense, this is clearly a fashion thing. At what stage does a hoodie, trainers and jeans become an unacceptable look for a twenty something man? Do we reach a point where that becomes the attire of the teenager, and we need to be aiming higher, and more fashionably? But are the suits worn by professionals in their early thirties a little too serious and sophisticated for those of us who still have the fire of youth in our eyes are the high thread counts of suits too much for just hanging out with friends?

The truth is that those in their mid to late twenties are at something of a cross roads. We won’t all have amazing careers that can afford us wearing suits to drink casually, some might not even have work, let alone a well paying role. We need to strike a happy medium; nice jeans are always acceptable, but trainers need to be done away with once you hit your late twenties unless you’re in the gym. T shirts are fine, but childish logos need to go. Try a nice shirt, jeans and fancy shoes combination and see those heads turn.

Anybody who goes shopping on a budget will tell you the value in shopping deals. They play an essential part in people’s buying habits, making many unattainable products attainable. It could be a brand quality dress, a new camera, or a new pair of shoes, whichever the case, knowing that you’re getting a deal on them helps you in a variety of ways. It makes the purchase more justifiable; if things are on sale, or as part of a deal, having a product which you’ve acquired for a reduced price means that you have acquired the product for less than its value, which makes it more justifiable. It also makes the shopping experience more fun; you can go on entire shopping trips looking for the best deals available, making the experience more entertaining, due to it requiring a greater level of skill. Going deal hunting is a valued past-time for many people around the world. Entire industries have been constructed to help people in their searches, such as with voucher websites, where you can find all of the vouchers you could possibly need for deals on clothing, home appliances, and any other product you could possibly find shopping.