Maule Online

The Cat's Table

2011-11-01T04:15:00.000-07:00

From the inspection of class divisions to the unresolved threads of personal history, there is much to appreciate in Michael Ondaatje's latest novel The Cat's Table. Though for me most beautiful aspect was reading a prolonged meditation on childhood through the eyes of the main character Michael and his two young friends Cassius and Ramadhin.

While the novel is not supposed to be autobiographical, Ondaatje clearly draws on his own experience as a child emigrating from Sri Lanka to Britain. Michael - the 11 year old first person main character voice - is making a three week journey from Colombo to England to resettle with his mother. The ship taking him is the massive Oronsay.

For a novel, it is deeply poetic. Written mostly in short chapters - often just two or three pages long - even the book's form is fragmented and reminiscent of the twists and distractions of a child's life.

I loved that about it.

Of course in hindsight it's hard to know exactly what childhood was about. It's difficult even to remember what we felt a month ago, so one's formative years are hard to pin down. But Ondaatje goes there.

The ever inquisitive natures of Michael, Cassius and Ramadhin sung the novel to life. Their narrow-focussed naivety reminded me of my own. "Because, our greatest pleasure was when one hundred spoons were flung by a steward into the pool and Cassius and I dived in with competitors to collect as many as we could in our small hands ... And if I had been asked to choose a career then, or at any time during those twenty-one days, I would have said I desired to be a diver in some similar competition for the rest of my life." (p. 86)

A fixation on new things - mattering not whether "high" or "low" culturally - is another great aspect of Michael, Cassius and Ramadhin's adventurous spirits. Like the familiar story of the child who plays with the cardboard box rather than with the expensive gift inside, Ondaatje's three musketeers care little for what doesn't grab their immediate intrigue. But they have noses for what's important.

For them it is not dining at a dinner table further up the social chain that matters (the Cat's Table in the title refers to the humble seating position of the three boys) but the simple fact that they are on a boat for a long time, going a long way, with endless interesting people to keep them busy and awake at night. That is the blinding beauty of childhood in general, and The Cat's Table.

Near the start of the journey is a passage demonstrating the lack of "down time" and endless mischief the boys occupy themselves with. "It was almost midnight and the three of us were smoking twigs broken off from a cane chair that we lit and sucked at. Because of his asthma Ramadhin was not enthusiastic about this, but Cassius was eager that we should try to smoke the whole chair before the end of the journey ... We slid quietly into the swimming pool, relit our twigs and floated on our backs. Silent as corpses we looked at the stars. We felt we were swimming in the sea, rather than a walled in pool in the middle of the ocean." (p. 20-21)

It's a grand image. I can feel the silence and awe of the three souls, suspended there, caring nothing for the world at large, but only what they were seeing, smelling, smoking. And most profound is the amazing clarity - beyond learning, experience and the adult world - that they possess in that moment.

The father who runs

2011-09-29T05:14:00.001-07:00

With a whiff
Of the boy
In the distance
As a glimmer
Of light
Sees his stride
It is him
And the father
Is running
Flailing arms
Charging limbs
Bringing life

As the boy walks
With head
All a-drooping
As the boy strolls
With ambling
Intent
Yes the father
Is sprinting
To meet him
Running fast
With his face
In the wind

As he meets him
Near clean
Bowls him over
This boy
Has been down
In the dirt
But the father's
Content now
To hold him
He is home
Any offering
He's worth

One reason it is good for young men to pursue employment

2011-09-25T19:46:00.000-07:00

I found this when researching the Transfiguration ahead of a talk on Matt 17.

Something borrowed

2011-09-12T17:06:00.000-07:00

One paragraph in this article about the trend towards non-ownership speaks of something much more significant than the pragmatic benefit of not possessing as much stuff. Writes Sue White:

The problem for humans is true security doesn't come from our possessions. "You see this with people who've been through trauma. For people who have lost everything, their security can no longer be vested in what they own; it has to transfer itself to something deeper inside," psychologist Dr Anna-Marie Taylor.

However, the psychologist goes on that "status for the next generation is as much measured in Facebook friends or Twitter followers as in the type of car you drive". So, maybe we're having ourselves on if we think we're moving towards utopia here.

But I think this movement of choosing not to own as much and to borrow more is really happening. It is basically confined to urban dwellers at the moment. But I think it's a movement. Having seen a number of friends manage incredibly well without owning cars, I am considering not renewing my car's registration next year. My mate who works in economics tells me he thinks long-term renting might even be a smart financial decision. And as food sells at a competitive price in tightly-packed city malls, the cost of eating out is just about cheaper than regular grocery shopping, not to mention time-redeeming.

But for me at least, the reason a "thingless future" (great title) is appealing, is it moves me towards living out Christ's call in Matthew 6:

19 "Don't collect for yourselves treasures [a] on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don't break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Of course the possibility is that one's status and identity - when freed from cars, houses, and kitchens - is then caught up in other things - popularity, productivity, and influence. But for now there seems at least a glimmer of goodness in this new movement.

What?

2011-09-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

Like a tide of spring air through an open window is straight language. Elusive evocation can be beautiful in poetry. But most people "under the sun" just want to know what you're on about. "Let's hear it."

There is something thoroughly refreshing about bluntness and some people are so good at it.

In his final interview in 1963, CS Lewis responded to how to develop a writing style:

"The reader, we must remember, does not start by knowing what we mean. If our words are ambiguous, our meaning will escape him. I sometimes think that writing is like driving sheep down a road. If there is any gate open to the left or the right the reader will most certainly go into it."

h/t Justin Taylor

The other person who left us in no doubt of what he thought, is CH Spurgeon. Nowhere is this seen more obviously than in 'Commenting and Commentaries'. The large annotated bibliography features Spurgeon's uncensored thoughts on commentaries from every book of scripture.

Some examples of his less-positive scribblings:

Although the notes are good, the student had better spend his money on larger and better books.

Five volumes with absolutely nothing in them beyond a spinning out of the text.

This author has enjoyed considerable repute and is still prized by many, but we can never bring our soul to like him, he always seems to us to be so graceless.

These books are too learned for much to be learned from them; perhaps if they had been more learned still they would have been useful.

Translation second rate, criticism none, notes very short.

A huge mass of learning, said by great divines to be invaluable. To most men these volumes will simply be a heap of lumber.

Merely the text arranged and a few rather ordinary notes. We do not see what a man can get out of it. But, hush! It is by an archbishop!

I think both Lewis and Spurgeon are antidotes to the attitude which tends towards beautification of all truth to the point that it becomes neither beautiful nor true. They are similarly an antidote to the crass clarity which favours straightness above human sensitivity.

There is a method of writing employed by both men where the sheep get through the gate without feeling harassed into it.

'City pent'

2011-09-07T05:57:00.000-07:00

I've been reading some Keats after stumbling over a short edition of his poems earlier in the week. This one hits me.

To one who has been long in city pent,
'Tis very sweet to look into the fair
And open face of heaven,--to breathe a prayer
Full in the smile of the blue firmament.
Who is more happy, when, with heart's content,
Fatigued he sinks into some pleasant lair
Of wavy grass, and reads a debonair
And gentle tale of love and languishment?
Returning home at evening, with an ear
Catching the notes of Philomel,--an eye
Watching the sailing cloudlet's bright career,
He mourns that day so soon has glided by:
E'en like the passage of an angel's tear
That falls through the clear ether silently.

On a few levels I relate to this. First, it's because I live most of my life in the city, quite a long way from non-asphalt lairs. Second, because I relate to the feeling of having been in natural surrounds for a day and returning with a heart and mind more acutely aware of the beauty of the things around. I think the ritual of going amongst natural creation is vital for awakening all your senses. And third because however long one spends among wildflowers and clouds, it always passes by too quickly. It doesn't deliver exactly what you hoped. Or it does, and you get back with gaps still in your heart.

Why the cross of Jesus can't be called a display of cosmic child abuse

2011-09-05T00:46:00.000-07:00

Christians claim that when he was murdered on the cross, Jesus was absorbing into himself God's anger at humanity (that is, anyone who has ever lived past, present, and future). Verses including 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 are the fuel for such claims:

...You became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia ... They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

This kind of theology has always been contentious and divisive. It is as much about one's approach to the Bible as it is about anything else. It's the kind of the thing that has divided Catholics and Protestants right down the middle.

More recently, the theology of the cross been called "divine child abuse". And, at a cursory level, I can understand where those people are coming from. The phrase was coined by a Christian author in his book in 2003, as far as I can tell. It's since been picked up by new-Atheists as they deride Christian theology for all it's not worth.

It's a lazy description though.

Richard Dawkins on the Australian talk show QandA famously ridiculed the cross suggesting:

If you believe in the New Testament, that God, the all-powerful creator of the universe couldn't think of a better way to forgive humanity's sins than to have himself put on earth, tortured and executed in atonement for the sins of humanity, what kind of a horrible, depraved notion is that?

But the major misconception surrounding the Dawkins view is that sin doesn't mean much. It is a light thing. A small thing. Something to be glanced beyond. Dismissed, even. Thus, at the heart of the problem, is a diminished view of God.

The kind of God Dawkins would prefer is one that is exactly like him. A God who shares his views. A God who would not take care of the vast problem of sin by himself. A God who would, strangely enough, write a book like the God Delusion. That would be the only kind of God Dawkins could respect.

I am prompted to write this post because a) people interested in Christian theology (like a friend of mine) peruse blogs and b) because a verse stood out to me the other day. It's a verse that speaks to the absurd idea that God would engage in divine child abuse.

From the old testament prophet Habakkuk in 1:13 it says:

Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.

It is a quote talking about God. And it suggests a fundamental difference between God and us. While we can throw dinner parties for evil - entertain it any day of the week - God can't and won't.

So when Dawkins says God "couldn't think of a better way" to deal with our sin, he's missed the point. For it was never a matter of God "thinking of" a different means to pay for sin. Dealing with evil is not a mere exercise in strategic thinking. It is about who he is.

It's not like, needing to clear the gutters God sat down to map out a solution. It's not like, having a headache God considered how he would get rid of it. It's not like, remembering a friend he didn't like, God had to devise a plan not to cross paths with him.

No. It's that God "cannot tolerate wrongdoing". He can't just think his way out of it. If humans were to have any future with God, something had to be done about who we were in the core of our being. Otherwise, we couldn't be around God.

To take a human analogy, Dawkins is saying: humans should just live underwater. During summer, when it gets hot, humans should dwell beneath the sea. Well, as a scientist I don't need to tell him that's not possible. It's not going to happen.

And it is the same with God. As human lungs cannot suffer water, God's lungs cannot put up with human sin. He objects to it. He disagrees with it.

And that is fundamentally why the cross is essential for the longevity of human relationship with God. Jesus - the man who is God - took sin and God's anger at sin into himself. And the guilty ones - us - are able to go free.

The reason this is hard to grasp hold of is because we have diminished God. Like Dawkins, we hope for a God of our invention. A God just like me. A God who likes everything that I do. But children with parents who never objected to anything they did, would become troubled adults indeed.

Once we fathom God's way of viewing evil and sin, we are then able to appreciate how amazing is the love he had for us in taking responsibility for it, on our behalf. I am blown away completely by this. It has upended my life dramatically. I pray it might do the same for you, dear internet reader.

My Philip Yancey piece

2011-08-31T17:47:00.000-07:00

At Eternity.

Jesus Christ! Who cares?

2011-08-31T02:55:00.001-07:00

50 Australian perceptions of why Jesus doesn't matter so much.

1) I've got nothing against him; he's just not for me
2) too much else in life matters to get hung up on religion
3) I follow the golden rule "do unto others as you would have them do to you"
4) seeing is believing
5) he hates gay people
6) I'm in the middle of something, sorry
7) don't know the second thing about him, to be honest
8) if he is God, he'd be cool with me
9) God helps those who help themselves
10) we've progressed beyond him
11) his followers are a stuffy bunch of killjoys and moralists
12) my life is fine, what am I lacking?
13) I don't want to be forced into anything awkward
14) he is anti-intellectual
15) he breaks up families
16) for kids at bedtime: maybe - for adults: are you serious?
17) don't believe in fairy stories
18) you're putting all your emphasis on one book which is probably translated wrongly
19) religion is used as a cover-up for sickening evil
20) religion is for the weak
21) forget it if he's after my money
22) he has his place in society
23) my grandma says grace before meals, which is super cute
24) I like beer, waaaaay too much for that
25) I'll consider him on my deathbed
26) the universe is empty
27) he's never fronted up to me, so why should I front up to him?
28) Hillsong. Enough said.
29) Sydney Anglicans. Enough said.
30) I knew some Christians once who were so full on they had no time for me
31) I find the question insulting
32) I'm done with guilt and fear
33) miracles don't happen
34) the resurrection is anti-science thus anti-progress
35) he seems a little idealistic and soft
36) I like him, just like I like Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, and Buddha
37) sport is better
38) I am Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist, Jewish, other-Theist, Scientologist
39) dying on a cross is nothing admirable
40) religion dominates life here, it doesn't need more attention
41) I've got a career and family to worry about
42) we need the peace only secularism can bring
43) sex
44) drugs
45) rock 'n' roll
46) I can't even be sure of my own existence, let alone the existence of god(s)
47) if I'd been born in Iraq, I'd believe in Mohammed
48) God abandoned us a long time ago
49) there is no evidence of an afterlife
50) religion is about control

Tom Frame, in his appropriately-named history of Australian religious experience, Losing My Religion, writes: “Despite temporal comforts being few and earthly delights fleeting, the remote colony did not prove to be fertile ground for personal piety or evangelical revival. In 1824 the Reverend James Denney, a Scottish Presbyterian Minister, went as far as calling New South Wales ‘the most godless place under heaven’.”

I would have thought this is slightly out-of-date for contemporary Australia. I mean, you can hardly call a place "godless" when a racist policy such as the Malaysia solution is ruled against in the high court six to one. A decision like that is probably as good an evidence for God's existence as you'll find.

Yet, Frame's analysis does hold water. We remain a people without much collective interest in "personal" commitment to Jesus Christ, whatever that actually is. Whether many of us have seen who Jesus is, what he really offers, or how he enriches life is questionable. The unavoidable fact is, we're not altogether keen on him, or at least those who associate with him. For us, "A hard earned thirst is a big cold beer", nota big cold church.

The far-reaching Jesus All About Life campaign run by the Bible Society in 2009, tried to pull open the blinds on the man from Nazareth a little. Quoting John 10:10, that "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full", it tried to put a positive angle on Jesus for Australians. And it did. And it was good for some.

But when the Gruen Transfer analysed the ads, they decided they were best aimed at people who already believed, or had lapsed in belief in God. It was a reminder for those who always were into Jesus, to get back into him again.

But, Australia is Australia. Indifference is our main posture. We're into our families, our friends, our work, and our fun. Jesus just doesn't find a natural fit with our lives.

This is really an extended (and public) reflection for myself. But for the 50 points above, I believe Jesus speaks to each one. I would even be keen to dig some of his answers for discussion, either on this blog, or in person.

Perhaps you would like to add to, or subtract from my list in some way. Please do that in the comments below. Contrary to blogging's usual caricature, I'm not really interested in what I have to say. So over to you, Facebook friends and readers. I am listening.

When you stumble over a yacht race

2011-07-31T19:30:00.000-07:00

Another truckload of water urged its way over the rock platform as the orange sun slowly emptied itself over the headland, harbour, land, trees. And sitting there, observing the print of Margaret Olley's last painting on the front of the newspaper, it's clear why so few think of God. For, like Olley, many have observed the prettiness of the harbour, glinting and turning in unhindered light. They have stepped into that light, seeing it. And riding the ferry to Watson's Bay or Manly, exploring the near-lying shores, eating on balconies looking into the mirage of goodness, listening to jazz bands on the wharf and eating half-the-plate of food - it's easy to forget paradise is not here. It's easy to forget the Source of all that is good. It is easy to forget the bad.

So perhaps that is how many feel.

Though, when it really comes to it, can this be true? Of course, when Saturday's said and done, and the light dips below the horizon and rays of light slip onto other continents, other oceans, other treetops, surely it is once again easy to remember the appointments, schedules, unattainable glories. Surely it is easy to lose "now" and remember "then". Or remember "tomorrow". The loves that never lasted, the ecstasies that never remained, the symphonies that never played, the things to do.

And when these other notions arrive - the restless passions of the dark - does it not then feel normal to think of God? To consider the image of him? To pray, even, in desperation?

Because the night-time woes of man are clear: the achievements vomited onto the pavement, showing clearer than the smooth water surging near the rocks earlier in the day. The raucous laughter of sleep; the distant hopes, dashed; the stumbling party screaming not-the-way-we-planned-it; the dream-time become nightmare.

Wouldn't it be simpler, easier, more extravagant, to remain in the morning's air. As the first sail-boats take their turns at ducking beneath breezes and competing for more stream-line angles, wouldn't it be nicer to stay with the binocular-toting couple on the headland, so enthusiastic for a glimpse of who or what shall win the tussle.

"Wild Oats, is way in front," he says. Oh, it looks like she's going to hit the cliff."
"Is she?" she asks, "Can you see through the binoculars?"
"Yes, she's real close..."
"Oh!"
"Oh! Yeah! It looked like she was going to clean hit it then."
"Yeah."
"It's impossible to tell from this distance. Totally impossible."

And so on. The conversation develops, each one wondering how the yachts are doing. Each one considering: "Who's winning?" Yet more or less, the point seems to be to bask in the sun, with a dash of familiarity and playful commentary. But it's only for now.

For the night comes.

Then shadows prevail.
Then burglers come.
Then drunken fights begin.
Then blood leaves people's bodies as they are cut, hit, hurt.
The children can't be comforted.
And not irrationally, either.

Is it not easy to consider God then? For if he is not there, we would like it or lump it. We would say: "But this is the way it is. This is the way it always will be". But we can't, can we? We can't say: the next police chief will put an end to evil - clean it up. The next Prime Minister will put an end to suffering - wipe it out. We can't say: there will be no more wars, no more famines, no more natural disasters, no more tears. We can't say these things, if he is not there. For we are not allowed to hope like this, are we? We are not enabled to see through such a bright window.

But isn't it easy to consider God then? For if he is there, then we need not like the night. We need not accept it. We need not "live with it". If he is there, we are not poised like vegetables in a blender of destruction because he is there. And if he is there, then when everything is skewed, ruined and bad, we are not alone in this world, collected atoms dreaming, scheming, victorious and restless. For if he is there, then we need not empty ourselves of hope or remove all glory and salvation from our minds, because he is there. And if he is there, then the day need not be momentary, short and vaporous. It need not be fading. If he is there then the day may mean something and the night be overcome. If he is there, surely children can be given dreams, stories and visions of a something they hoped they were destined to live. If he is there, this need not be a dim room, emptying of light and view and wonder and praise.

But only if He is there.

Inside story: the life of John Stott

2011-06-23T02:37:00.000-07:00

In 2005 John Stott was named among the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine. As Roger Steer records in his immersive and vivid biography Inside Story, it was something that Stott literally laughed over. He found the idea absurd.

There quite a few reasons Steer's biography of the pastor of All Soul's Langham Place and leader of worldwide evangelicalism is particularly praiseworthy. But I will mention two.

1. Engagement and collaboration
With great care, Steer shows (not tells) his readers Stott's willingness to engage with others. Often they were those he didn't agree or align with. The details of conversations between Stott and Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Jim Packer, Billy Graham, John Shelby Spong on issues as diverse as homosexuality, charismatic blessings and denominational affiliation, are fascinating. And incredibly applicable today. I think I sometimes presume this generation is the first to walk many paths that were walked not so long ago.

2. Influence
As someone who has grown up in evangelical churches in Australia, I had underestimated just how great Stott's influence has been. He really is a forefather of evangelical methodology. The exegetical approach to sermon-giving was basically popularised by Stott. Now you can scarcely find someone in Sydney brave enough not to do it. So his influence is and remains strong.

Holiday texts

2011-06-20T06:29:00.000-07:00

Stories are impossible to avoid so, especially on holidays, I go looking for good ones.

127 Hours
This beautifully crafted film about a single squirmish event was one that I dismissed when it was at the cinema. I stand by my decision not to go and see a guy cut his arm off on the big screen, but I am glad I watched this last night. It's a reminder of the incredible measures a human will take to avoid dying.

The Screwtape Letters
An engaging and funny read about the way the devil works had me thinking more deeply than I would normally about desire. I really appreciated the subtlty of the suggestions of Senior Devil, Screwtape, to his understudy, Wormwood, about how to deceive his human subject. Take this true example about the power of alcohol:

You are much more likely to make your man a sound drunkard by pressing drink on him as an anodyne when he is dull and weary than by encouraging him to use it as a means of merriment among his friends when he is happy and expansive.

Into The Wild
This is the second time I've seen this movie which follows the story of a young man fed up with the formula of regular life and escapes it all. Powerful and deeply affecting, its conclusion - "Happiness only real when shared" - is as good a message as I have found anywhere in Hollywood.

Distraction

2011-06-08T15:42:00.001-07:00

So a guy wrote about it in the SMH this week. But he really didn't need to, did he? Nor is he the first to. We already know we are distracted, if we are honest.

Daniel Sieberg began his article asking:

Do you ever feel the urge to pull out your smartphone while someone else is making a point during a conversation? Have you ever realised that you were texting or checking your email while your child was telling you about her day at school? Have you ever felt that something hasn't really happened until you post it on Facebook? Does a flashing red light on your BlackBerry make your heart flutter?

Sadly I can relate to all of his questions - except the child one. I haven't had the opportunity for that faux pa yet.

But I can imagine the "me" of the future reading some "important" email while one of "my children" chatters about something exciting and I stare into my iPhone300 and mouth the words in the email so as not to be taken in by my kid's story which is becoming louder as he both gets to the interesting part and tries to regain my attention. When I eventually look up and the kid is no longer there, I find myself baffled as to what all the noise was just now.

Please no. I really hope not. But what exactly is this onslaught of digi-everything doing to us? It can't be good emotionally, intellectually, socially or spiritually. Yet we let it continue its victory parade around and through us most days until we physically shake and need to just stare at blank surfaces for a while to quell the vertigo.

When I hear of theologians and philosophers of old who sat and theorised and actually thought on a topic for longer than 0.0 seconds, it's hard to find the modern equivalent. Many of my studying friends post regular Facebook updates with their word count. Many books these days sound as deep as if they were thought up during a morning session on the treadmill between clips of Oprah, Sky-News updates, and intermittent conversations with the guy to your right (who may be the friend you initially came with, but you can't be sure).

Interruptions now hover where conversations took root and I think we are the poorer for it.

But where exactly will this backlash against technology and all it robs us of end. Will we, as some presume, spend our futures creating items out of balsa wood and wool, listening to the village musician play his latest composition on his borrowed mandolin? Will we do away with phones opting instead for homing pigeons and cardigans and recycled paper? Will we grow our hair long (even the boys) because we recoil at the thought of going near electrified hair clippers or even anything as technologically advanced as modern-scissors? Or will we eventually collapse, reclining on green hills in Scotland with our sheep dogs, our extended families, our kilts, reciting poetry and Tolstoy's War and Peace?

Well, I'm not sure to be honest. If we do, this blog will probably be long gone by then.

But just as we're distracted from essays by the 33 windows open in our browser, so the from-all-sides nature of the larger digital landscape has left us distracted from greater realities still. And the longer we stay that way, the easier it probably becomes to stay that way.

Extreme book-ing

2011-05-24T21:45:00.001-07:00

Because I'm passionate about killing the Australian retail book industry, I've been using the US Book Depository. Well, not really. It's just that it's so much cheaper.

In doing so, I just discovered this . Who knew book buying could be so amazing and action packed. It really is quite captivating.

Someone in Australia just bought the Don McLean Songbook.

For every book sold, there's another story, isn't there? It's making me wonder why everyone wants what they're buying.

Like, the person in Finland who just bought Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy And Reclaiming Your Life.

This reminds me of the story of my friend's brother. He wrote and self published a book about having a shoulder reconstruction. And now he's making money by selling it on Amazon. He's not a writer or anything, but managed to find a niche which plenty of people sitting on their laptops in hospital beds are obviously interested in.

It's just another demonstration of the amount of information being consumed all the time in all corners of the world.

Just then a copy of The Four Agreements went in the United States. Now I'm wondering who bought it.

Couple of reviews

2011-05-22T16:52:00.000-07:00

I've written a couple of reviews for Eternity lately.

When You're Strange. Doco on The Doors.

Get Low, a film out this week dealing with death, life and repentance.

Creating power

2011-05-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

This lecture on 'Power' by Andy Crouch delivered last November in NYC is definitely worth the 50 or so minutes it goes for. His points about the good uses of power are quite profound.

But I was most struck by his words on 'The Banjo Lesson' by Henry Ossawa Tanner (below). He says it was a re-orienting image at its time of creation, and a history defining image for black Americans. But he also says it is an important corrective for modern misconceptions of masculinity.

The larger series of which Crouch's lecture is part looks really valuable too.

Stephen Hawking on life's meaning

2011-05-15T16:16:00.000-07:00

From the Guardian when asked what humans should do in this existence:

"We should seek the greatest value of our action."

Seven things to do on a five day weekend

2011-04-20T02:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some suggestions for inner fulfillment this Easter/Anzac Day weekend.

1. Read John 18-21 the moments before, during and after Christ's death on the cross. Take time to absorb the betrayal, the court case, the death, burial and resurrection. Consider why these things happened.

2. Watch this anime clip on YouTube of the same events told from the perspective of the criminal to whom Jesus makes a remarkable promise in Luke's gospel.

3. Ingest an entire Christian book - start to finish - without getting distracted on another one.

4. Go to this website and read some essays by important church leaders from history - Luther, Spurgeon - whom you've heard about, but have never read.

5. Download this concise yet wonderfully rich portrait of grace breaking into the hearts of Calvin, Luther and Augustine: The Legacy of Sovereign Joy. Even make it the one book you read without distraction.

6. Mark 1:35 - "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He got up, went out, and made His way to a deserted place. And He was praying there." Set your alarm early, find somewhere unpopulated, ask and thank God for things.

7. Spend time with others in church and talking afterwards about the significance of Easter. Eat together remembering the body and blood of Christ given for our own rebellion against him and for our freedom from the anger of God.

Biutiful

2011-03-31T00:13:00.000-07:00

"I tried to pray but I don't know who to pray to," cries Javier Bardem moments before sobbing loudly into the shoulder of a confidant.

Playing the deeply religious yet confused Uxbal in the latest feature by Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel, 21 Grams), Bardem's heart is evidenced every moment he's on screen in the creases of his face, the huskiness of his Spanish voice, and his loving embrace of his children. The story is carried on his shoulders.

Read on.

Review: Don't Call It A Comeback

2011-03-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

When Time Magazine reported the "10 Ideas Changing The World Right Now", among them was the so-called "New Calvinism". If this new compilation of essays by young American evangelicals has any purpose then, it's suggesting "New Calvinism" isn't so new after all. It's actually just the same old Christianity as always, hence the title: Don't Call It A Comeback.

The main intention of editor, Kevin DeYoung, Senior Pastor of University Reformed Church in Michigan, is to "introduce young Christians, new Christians, and under-disciplined Christians to the most important articles of our faith and what it looks like to live out this faith in real life". DeYoung hopes to breathe meaning back into the term "evangelical".

Its chapters deal with three aspects of evangelicalism - history, theology and practise - and the authors in their 20s, 30s and 40s write across topics such as: scripture, the gospel, Jesus Christ, new birth, homosexuality, abortion, worship and missions, to name a few.

From the outset I liked what the book was aiming at. As someone who grew up in church circles, and was gripped by God at university, I know there must be a point when Jesus is presented as fundamentally important to one's life and future, a moment of awakening and spiritual realisation. DeYoung, as a uni pastor, must have this in mind.

Read on over at Eternity.

The faultline of helplessness

2011-03-21T04:49:00.000-07:00

Neil Young was right. We are helpless. The natural human state is one of helplessness. And we are better, more free, when we know it.

So often we are convinced control rests in our hands. Control to protect, build, impress, secure, assess, analyse, and create. And part of that is life. We need to be able to live and breathe and eat and work. We need to move and continue.

But it's delusion - a great falseness to think control and safety rest with us.

Accidents and disasters bring this closely to mind. Lately tsunamis, earthquakes and devastation have reshown us our own foetal position. Houses come down. People leave this life. Other remain, but remain in grief.

Not just those in Japan, Christchurch, the Middle East. But all. Everyone. Us, certainly. We are helpless.

This is no more true than for how we relate to God. We having nothing before him. Floundering. Clueless. Trapped in the headlights with nowhere to turn. Much worse, we are dead.

The Bible's book of Ephesians says: "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to this worldly age, according to the ruler of the atmospheric domain, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and by nature we were children under wrath, as the others were also."

Humans belong to sin, it belongs to us, we are under God's wrath, we are dead. There's no point pretending otherwise. Trying to be moral. Attempting to impress. Doing good deeds. Like a fly caught in a spider's web, these and any attempts only tangle us further. They worsen our predicament.

"But God, who is abundant in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. By grace you are saved! He also raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavens, in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus."

God needs not treat us as we deserve. Jesus, the Messiah, removes our despair. In him we can be "made alive", "raised up", "seated with him in the heavens". He is the one with power. His kindness can work its way into our situation.

Yet many stand above a faultline - the faultline of God's real anger. And remain oblivious.

There is life. There is escape. There is rescue. There are "immeasurable riches". There is undeserved favour. There is "great love". But preceding it all, there is helplessness and the help of Christ.

Angry boys

2011-03-16T16:10:00.001-07:00

Chris Lilley has announced some details of his new satire, Angry Boys. From the trailer it looks just as ludicrous and out there as his previous material.

Here's what the ABC website has to say:

"From the bright lights of the big cities to small country towns, Angry Boys takes us to various locations around the world as Chris introduces several unforgettable new characters. Angry Boys is a look at today’s boys; their influences, their pressures, their dreams and ambitions. The creative genius behind the award-winning shows Summer Heights High and We Can Be Heroes, Chris Lilley returns to ABC with the world premiere of his new 12-part comedy series Angry Boys."

Having been a boy, and familiar with the aggression that rises from an unknown place, I've got to say I'm looking forward to this.

Oh, he is also playing an Asian mother, which, if nothing else, should be amusing.

Evangelism and social action

2011-03-06T16:06:00.000-08:00

I was kind of surprised to read the articles by Tim Chester and Tony Payne in Matthias Media's new MiniZine, Evangelism and Social Action. Pleased and surprised.

I like that they're moving readers away from the term "priority" as applied to evangelism. It's going to help put out some of the unnecessary fire created by this topic in the past. And allow Christians to focus less on conversing and more on partaking in both activities.

I've reviewed the zine here.

Picture: Dr Joe Radkovic, CMS Australia, oversees a health clinic in Korogocho slum, Kenya. Taken in 2009.

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest

2011-03-03T15:32:00.000-08:00

Lisbeth Slander (Noomi Rapace) has had a horrific time of it. And it shows. She has head injuries. She lies in a critical condition. Ever so slowly she slowly regains fortitude.

As revealed in the first two instalments of the Millennium trilogy (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire), Salander has suffered immense wickedness. In response she has dished her own servings of crime and punishment. The evil surrounding her is very thick and very real. Never more so, perhaps, than in The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest.

The rest of my review is found here at Eternity.biz

Got religion?

2011-02-28T23:56:00.000-08:00

Filmmaker Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours) was the subject of an extended feature in the Good Weekend the other day. And as is normally the case, the journalist asked a question about religious upbringing. My heart sank when Boyle remarked that he'd grown up in church, but left God behind after feeling a weight of guilt. He says the feeling has more or less stayed with him, even in his post-church life.

From conversations with friends and acquaintances over the years, I think this is sadly the experience of many people.

I'm not sure why, or how.

Because Jesus hated religion. He regularly got heated at religious people, getting up in their grill and asserting himself. He wasn't prepared to let them get away with their guilt trips and endless chattering.

You know the kinds of religious folk. Jesus had no time for them. The ones who like to parade around and be noticed as upstanding citizens. The ones who consider themselves leaders of the community, and then get caught up in scandals. People who claim to know God, but are pompous, arrogant, self-motivated and unpleasant to be around. People more concerned with debating the morals of those around them than doing anything tangible.

Take the story of the Good Samaritan. It's a familiar story. But widely misunderstood. Jesus tells the parable of the man who is beside the road naked and “half dead”. It's not a moral lesson. Rather it's a rebuke to the religious.

Why do I say this? Well, three men approach the Samaritan man lying in his own blood. The first is a Priest religious leader, the second is a Levite religious leader (the ancient Jewish line who worked in the temple), and the third guy, who actually helps, is considered by the general populous as a half-cast “dog”. He is a Samaritan and not considered morally upright or legitimately religious.

But ironically he is the one to offer help for the guy on the road. He shows pity, applies bandages and medicine to the wounds, uses his own donkey to transport the messed-up guy to a hospital and gives over money to the doctor requesting he look after the man.

What does Jesus mean by the story? He's not saying “help more people who've been bashed up more often”, although that wouldn't be a bad application. His main point is to the religious leaders gathered around him. He's saying: “You guys are completely stupid. You just don't get it, do you?” One imagines if Jesus wasn't God incarnate, he might have sworn at this point. And, I don't know about you, but I identify with Jesus' words here.

That is why I'm sad for Danny Boyle. And others who've “got religion”, but never got Jesus. Whatever you might make of pomp, popes, rules, dog-collars, hypocrites, dogmas, defensiveness, aggressive religiosity, and any human action – don't apply it to Jesus. And he rose above all of it much more than can be said on one blog.

Don't settle for religion. Read his biography here.

Postmodernism, alright

2011-02-14T04:06:00.000-08:00

At the recommendation of a friend, I've almost finished Who's Afraid of Postmodernism by James K.A. Smith. And call me postmodern (or Ishmael) for finding the book a useful corrective even if I don't subscribe to its whole message.

Smith encourages the church to look at postmodernism, not as a get-with-the-program help guide of how to be culturally suave, but as a thought system which enables the "scales to fall from our eyes". Postmodernism, he says, rebukes us for swallowing many of the lies of modernism - for instance that reason, not Christ, is the King of kings.

Smith believes postmodernism enables us to think about where we've bowed to the pressure of culture and lost something of what it means to live out the faith of the Christian forefathers.

He also makes the bold assertion there is no such thing as objectivity because there is only deconstruction and interpretation "all the way down". Reading his argument in full makes a lot of sense. He gives the example of two people witnessing the same even - Jesus hanging on the cross - and coming up with totally different interpretations as to why he is there.

It's a compelling argument consummated in his suggestion that revelation is what we should be on about, rather than objectivity - for the gospel of Christ is a revealed message: in scripture by the living and active Holy Spirit of God.

It's a good way of answering the question often asked: 'Why doesn't God just show up in front of me? Then I'd believe in him.'

To which the right answer is not: 'Oh, God doesn't work like that anymore. He only gives us this set of doctrines in a book which we have to analyse and assent to.'

BUT..

'He does. And you need to encounter him through his word by his Spirit.'

I'm not sure if Smith is right in throwing out "objective" truth. But I can definitely understand his point and it's a good corrective.

Anyway. I'm almost finished. But it's been good. Most surprisingly he's advocating for a re-establishing of a historical viewpoint, not a Christian version of keeping-up-with-the-Joneses. Something to consider more, perhaps.

Death By The Prayer Book

2011-01-09T13:11:00.000-08:00

"I have been at funerals when the burial service of the church of England has been galloped through so indecorously that it has taken all the grace I had to prevent my throwing a hassock at the creature's head... What effect he could think he was producing, or what good result could come from words jerked forth and hurled out with vengeance and vehemence, I cannot imagine. It is really shocking to think of how that very wonderful burial service is murdered, and made into an abomination by the mode in which it is frequently read."
CH Spurgeon, Lectures To My Students, Our Public Prayer, p.59

Obligatory giving: when gifts are not gifts

2010-12-14T04:17:00.000-08:00

It took a poor man to teach me what a gift is.

When in the Congo at the beginning of 2010, someone (an Aussie) in our team asked what was an appropriate gift for a man who had shown us hospitality on our way? What amount of money would be suitable to give?

"A gift is a gift," said our African host.

And while that statement may seem a very blatant assertion, it smacked me with unusual impact.

Today, on page 5 of the Sydney Morning Herald, a report gives a sad picture of the Australian attitude to gift giving. Says Richard Dennis from the Australia Institute, $798 million is spent annually on "unwanted presents". "The growing culture of obligatory gift giving only brings joy to the big retailers and the big banks whose credit cards are largely funding the annual splurge."

An oxymoron of great proportions. Yet it is our attitude, isn't it? "Obligatory gift giving..." In the words of John Lennon: "and so this is Christmas".

However, a gift is a gift. Unless, of course, you are an Australian on Christmas Day, at a birthday party, a wedding or a baby shower. We are given to gaining worthiness, reputation and "keeping up appearances". We are obliged.

Giving a gift is a joy, not a duty. It is uncalled for. It is unecessary. And it is free. It comes with no conditions, not as a payment, not as a means of impressing or earning favour. Any other situation and the gift is not a gift.

If only we grasped the magnitude of this; the freedom of this. "Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness (Romans 4:4-5)."

This is how Jesus is different to every other world religion. His people are not forced to earn his acceptance by their achievements. They are receivers of a gift.

And the gift is a gift of righteousness received by trust.

A gift is a gift. Jesus sits in heaven now holding this gift of new life - of perfection in God's eyes - out to all humanity. Unlike our nervous attempts to impress one another with one-upmanship or obligatory-gift-giving - which ends in wastage - Jesus offers his gift to us free; completely unobliged.

It is a gift in the truest sense. We have the choice to receive it with a simple "thanks". It is not religion, not worked for, but given and received. To ignore it is to be the spoilt child on Christmas morning, ungrateful for his parents' generosity.

Priority of information

2010-11-24T02:55:00.000-08:00

"Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body." The Teacher of Ecclesiastes.

"Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." The Apostle John, concluding his biography of Jesus Christ.

Well at least the Apostle was reading Ecclesiastes. He knew that to document the important parts of Jesus' life was enough. Endless volumes on his life were not necessary. The story was told. He struck peace with his final full stop.

I write this post with 288 unread items on my Google Reader feed and having spent the day - as most days - immersed in more information than I realise at the time.

I have tonight unwound by watching shows on ABC iView. A documentary about the last show of Waiting For Godot at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, a bit of a Jennifer Byrne episode on graphic novels, the Foreign Correspondent behind the scenes 2010 roundup, and some YouTube of the Wikileaks Collateral Murder tapes (prompted by Foreign Correspondent).

Earlier in the day I finished Counterfeit gods by Tim Keller (great read) and started on John Piper's classic Desiring God.

I've lost count of the number of times lately I've wished I'd seen or read something I haven't, or have heard someone bemoaning their lack of knowledge in a particular area.

So isn't it worth being slightly more pragmatic. If "there is no end" to making many books - and that statement was written in the days before the internet and blogs - then let's just rest easy. Those of us who write are wandering down an eternal path. Those of us who read are presumably walking the same path, just a little bit further back. It doesn't matter how hard we charge, we're still no closer to the end.

We need to prioritise our reading, our information gathering, our insatiable desire for more and more words.

One of my housemates is receiving the newspaper to our house now. I have been faced with the dilemma of whether or not to read the paper over breakfast. My conclusion has been not to.

Why? Even though the information is some of the newest and most relevant - and I'm intensely interested in it - it's not the most important. Until I've read the book written by the one who wired me up, I'm not ready for the information that comes from elsewhere. It can wait.

But we must learn, like the Apostle John, to appreciate the fullstop. We must grow to point of contentment with our current knowledge. We mustn't make gods out of our minds. We must slow down and digest what we've read, so as to not "weary" the brain. And we should prioritise our reading, beginning with the unadorned word breathed out by the 'God who is there'.

Do a donut

2010-10-31T16:28:00.000-07:00

Whoever said there's no positive news was lying.

I have some good memories of eating Krispy Kremes; like when the week the first store opened in Penrith and we drove down especially for it. And like when we used to go to Penrith Panthers games 5 hours before they started and eat Krispies and rip newspaper confetti while we waited for the gates to open.

But it must be good news for the Australian people that the business chain is struggling. I'm all for strong business. But when the product slowly kills the paying customer then capitalism can jump in the lake.

Besides. I'm not usually one to look for apocalyptic signals in culture...

BUT if you add one 'K' to the acronym for Krispy Kremes it becomes another organisation. I've always known their boxes were white for a reason.

Let Krispy Kremes die, I say. It's not worth the risk.

Figuring out 'God in America'

2010-10-24T21:26:00.001-07:00

I questioned in my previous post how one could work out whether the PBS/Frontline 'God in America' series was accurate. (By the way did I mention you can stream the whole thing online for free?) And since you're wondering (because I know you quietly are, even though you'd never admit it) I've made some ground on finding an answer.

This interview - which is pretty terribly done - goes some way to revealing the position of the film's creators. Michael Sullivan is the Executive Producer of the series and was asked whether he was approaching the film with an ideological viewpoint:

"No. I don't think so. I tried very hard to work with our people to make sure that that didn't happen - that we weren't going to pick winners and losers, we weren't going to pick good guys and bad guys in this drama. But our ideology says this: that in America religion matters, in American history it has always mattered, and you can't understand the American story without also understanding its religious history. That's our mission."

In addition, Michael Jensen has inadvertently addressed some of my questions about the Puritans in this post about whether Sydney Anglicans are Puritans. He writes: "Historically speaking, the label ‘Puritan’ is a broad brush. There were Puritans over the long period of their prominence (from 1560s through to 1680s) who strongly disagreed with each other over what needed to change in the church and which doctrines to emphasise."

So yes the series looks good and reliable. And no, the founding Puritans in America do not speak for all Puritans everywhere.

God in America

2010-10-20T04:24:00.000-07:00

While particular voices increasingly emphasise the decline of Christianity in the United States - 3000-4000 churches close each year - north America seems to hold, albeit loosly, its Christian heritage and image. While the label "post-Christian" has been used of the USA at least since Francis Schaeffer wrote 'Death in the City' in 1969, the label only works because it looks at what has been lost. Even the so called post-Christian culture that has eventuated is shaped profoundly by its strong heritage of Christian belief and values. Even secular America is more "Christian" than Bali, for instance.

Like many, I was baffled at why this pastor who threatened to burn the Quran got so much media coverage recently. I think a lot of it boils down to the importance of religious freedom in the States. Historically such freedom allowed men such as Pastor Terry Jones to preach about Jesus and establish America as a "Christian nation". Now the same freedom enables Muslim and various other religions to practise according to their convictions. And that's where such tension is mounting.

A friend of mine alerted me to this new TV series available free online titled God in America today. I watched the first one and plan to go through the lot.

It's an incredibly engaging and well-put-together piece of TV containing reenactments, interviews with historians and some beautiful shots of American landscapes laced with lovely music. I learned a lot about the early years of America watching it. And was really touched by the storytelling. The main question I was left with though was: what was and what wasn't accurate?

J.I. Packer has a series on the Puritans available free on iTunes in which he suggests they always get a rough deal from secular historians - as Jesus says his followers would. That seemed to be true in the first episode of God in America, but it's hard to know. Puritans were depicted as people who believed there could be no assurance of salvation and who believed in salvation by good works. Neither of these things are true in my reading of the Puritans so far, but perhaps things were different in those first America pilgrims.

Some kind of qualification where each of the historians interviewed for the series disclosed their own religious convictions could have helped. That would have helped me to know where they were coming from and whether they were as Spurgeon says "a Mole professing to educate eaglets".

But, I'd like to hear from anyone with a good understanding of American history about this series. Is it worth the time of day or is there a better one in existence? How would one even assess such a thing without doing even more research than the creators of the thing?

Don't know why I thought of this...

2010-10-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

But it is one of the best moments in the UK Office, for sure.

The depths

2010-10-04T02:22:00.000-07:00

Who will plumb the depths,
Of atonement, so divine?
I cannot even tell,
How my Saviour bled and died.
Of course, I can recount,
What happened on the tree:
His body broke like bread,
His blood spilt out for me.
But what I mean is this:
I really cannot say,
Just what the cost there was,
How fierce the price he paid.
And what I really mean,
Is all that can't be said.
My God he died for me,
For me he died and bled.

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." - Ephesians 3:17-19

Eat Pray Love

2010-09-26T21:37:00.000-07:00

Here's the beginning of my review of Eat Pray Love. Here's hoping not too many people swallow this film:

If you are looking for evidence of the emptiness of self-made spirituality, look no further than the screen adaptation of Eat Pray Love. Based on the massively popular travel journalism book of the same title ("over seven million copies now in print," says the website), the 140-minute feature follows Elizabeth Gilbert (Julia Roberts) on her globe-trotting self-discovery journey through Italy, India and Bali. What emerges is a travelogue, where Gilbert's "spiritual" enlightenment is the main objective.

From eating pasta, to meditating, to seeking advice from a spiritual guru, to sleeping around, Gilbert believes everyone she meets is a teacher pointing her on her way.

But herein lies the crux. While purporting to search for meaning, in the end Gilbert's main purpose - in eating, praying and loving - is her own gratification. Her own fulfilment. Her own taste buds. Her own fun. And it quickly becomes apparent that her desire for the divine neatly resembles her desire for herself.

Read the rest at Eternity.biz

Bunny and the Bull

2010-09-09T19:15:00.000-07:00

So I watched and reviewed this disturbing little film for Eternity. There's no doubt that this film will put some people off their dinner. But I felt there was something important happening and wanted to try and work out what.

Here's part of my review:

BUNNY AND THE BULL

Pinning down Bunny and Bull isn't quite what one is meant to do. Think cult movie. Think 'Theatre of the Absurd'. Think awkward flatmates (Flight of the Conchords, but weirder) and you'll be on the right track...

Kind of.

Capturing something of the insular stench of the human experience - as so much British comedy tries to do - this feature from the director of the Mighty Boosh isn't likely to be everyone's cup of tea. In fact, it's more a cup of something disgusting that you drink while simultaneously smirking and wincing.

Some of the content and themes are intensely sinister (gags about bestiality for instance). And there is a general senselessness to the whole "story". (I say "story" because it's more an imaginative muddle than anything reminiscent of a story).

Read more here.

The Story

2010-09-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

There's a reason we humans enjoy stories so much; a reason people bury themselves in novels every day whilst riding the train; a reason the cinema is always busy. We're involved in a narrative of our own. It involves us, this world and the God who made it.

The only problem is, some of us don't know the story. Or we just don't like the idea of it, so we don't engage with it.

Earlier in the year Trevin Wax - pastor, Christianity Today columnist - reviewed some resources for understanding "the story" of Christianity. Check out his reviews and some links to the versions of narrative here.

Just look at 'em

2010-09-04T04:14:00.000-07:00

A million innocent spray particles shoot up as another peak dominates a strip of headland not far from where I'm standing. The overcast, shadowy sky above me is threatening rain but doesn't seem to have the resolve to follow through. It doesn't have the guts.

Spits and spots end up staining my shirt but generally there is a muggy-warm breeze touring around. And it has more passion than the clouds.

Things are happening in other parts of this city, I know it. Parties, arguments, other details that aren't coming to me right now. But, anyway, that's there.

The waves seem oblivious and fairly set in their ways. Their resolve is startling, actually. They're much, much more committed than the breeze is. With pound after forceful smash they bruise the land like small children trying to get the attention of a distracted parent by hitting their leg. Relentless and repetitive, they roll in.

I'm way too distracted. But the waves. Just look at 'em. They've got focus.

If you like to read...

2010-09-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

I wanted to bring attention to Joel's blog. I met Joel - who pastors Drummoyne Baptist Church - at the weekend at the Devoted Conference, the inaugral conference dealing with the Purtians which looked at the lives of the most famous ones - Richard Baxter and John Owen.

If you get a kick out of reading theology from the last few centures, then Joel is your man. He's blogging his way through the classics and does a chapter per day covering seven books simultaneously. If you don't feel like doing any of the current ones with him you can go back and comment on the ones he's done in the past.

Enjoy.

Australia whose land? a lecture by Dr Peter Adam

2010-08-29T19:37:00.000-07:00

It would be good to get this invitation spreading around the blogosphere and Twittersphere this week.

I've just been speaking to one of the organisers - Aunty Jean Phillips - and it looks like it will be well attended by Christians of all stripes.

For any Sydneysiders concerned about the relationship between white and black Australia, it's an opportunity not to be missed.

When delivered in Melbourne last year, the lecture prompted coverage in the mainstream press and a flurry of criticism from Christians around the place. It will be well worth the effort to go and hear it.

The details...

Title: "Australia: whose land?"
Time: Friday Sep 3, 7.30 for 7.45pm
Who: Dr Peter Adam, principal Ridley Melbourne Theological College
Where: St Matthew’s Anglican Church, Manly
1 Darley Road, Manly NSW

Pay up SMH users

2010-08-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

Fairfax have announced they will charge users to view their content online in the next couple of years. See here for more info.

It's understandable that this is the ways things are going. More people get their news online and news sources need to continue to make ends meet.

What doesn't make sense is that the SMH website just isn't that good. And to ask people to pay for content which has either already appeared in print or is just plain tabloid, is a bit rich.

What's more, ABC online just keeps getting better and better. And it's all totally free (although it's actually funded by taxpayers).

The Washington Post have a subscription service. And I can understand that. They seem to be putting out a level of very high quality journalism. What's more, their professional-looking website says loud and clear: "we mean business".

But I think Fairfax are digging themselves a hole by making users pay. They already lost Annabel Crabb to the ABC. Now they're at risk of losing their readers too.

Forgotten Years

2010-08-26T16:17:00.000-07:00

A bit of oils on Friday. Dig this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVQDoeecmZs&ob=av2n

Below the line

2010-08-19T18:13:00.000-07:00

If you're voting tomorrow, you can work out and print your 'below the line' preferences here:

https://www.belowtheline.org.au/editor.html#nsw

May or may not be handy?

Indigenous plight continues. Vote broadband.

2010-08-15T20:28:00.000-07:00

Don't look at those Indigenous children starving over there. No, no, no. There's a great new, shiny policy from both major Australians parties just for you. Take a good look at this new super-fast broadband for rich middle class Australians. And get this, it will only cost between $6 billion and $43 billion depending.

Don't believe me? Let me sell it to you a little bit.

You can overeducate yourself on Wikipedia, while schools full of indigenous children in far western NSW literally collapse.

You can order your groceries quicker online while indigenous children starve in outback Australia. Oh, and you can search up the British media's reports quicker, because the Australian media are too preoccupied with budgie smugglers and red hair to notice..

You can book your latest 'round the world "self discovery" backpacking holiday while Oxfam and the Red Cross consider sending emergency food supplies to the Northern Territory.

You can even load, and re-load (did I mention you can do it at at super high speeds) Kevin Rudd's apology speech, comforting yourself with the day that white Australia solved everything.

In all seriousness. There is one week left. What can be done for, perhaps, Australia's most powerless residents? As my vote swings in the breeze, I have made this my number one voting issue. What about you?

Tell us when we're wrong. Please.

2010-07-31T01:45:00.000-07:00

Firm convictions. You can always count on them in political discussions - especially the casual conversations between friends. The problem is, such convictions can be exaggerated, polarised or reasonably unfounded. (I don't claim to be ahead of the pack in any way, by the way. Just a confused member.)

But if you ask me, the current issue where this can be seen most clearly is that of immigration. Both major parties in Australia are pushing for a toughening of border security.

I was really impacted when I read this piece by Matt Wade in the SMH a few weeks ago. Especially the final paragraphs:

"Mr Shakhi Dad, his wife and three children are among about 1.7 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan, a country racked by its own extremist insurgency.

Afghanistan's western neighbour Iran hosts another 1 million Afghan refugees, although unofficial estimates put the total much higher.

The number of asylum seekers who have arrived in Australia illegally by boat in the past 18 months totals about 6000."

When our situation regarding refugees is put in context it is clear how minor it is, given the extreme influx of immigrants into areas surrounding Afghanistan. Yet both our parties want to keep these boat people out. Though we are well and truly rich enought to support more asylum seekers, our leaders want to reduce the already miniscule number we receive.

Why? Because we - the voters of Australia - are scared.

But here's the other option before our leaders: tell us we're wrong. If they like they can do it nicely, explaining the reasons. But in the end, they should simply tell us we've got muddled heads. We don't need our policy makers to bow to us, we need them to change our minds and actually "move us forward".

If they try to do that, and still don't get elected, then we don't deserve them.

It's time that Anglicans stopped wearing dressing gowns

2010-07-27T17:57:00.002-07:00

CH Spurgeon is quoted on Pyromaniacs, under the 'Weekly Dose Of Spurgeon Section', asking: "Why did not God ordain worship by windmills as in Thibet? Why has he not chosen to be worshipped by particular men in purple and fine linen, acting gracefully as in Roman and Anglican churches? Why not?" Well, I simply would have said, because God likes men in pants.

But Spurgeon gives two rather more sophisticated reasons. "The first is he himself seeks spiritual worship. It is his own wish that the worship should be spiritual, And in the second place, he is himself a spirit, and is to be spiritually worshipped."

It seems fairly simple to me. Our material efforts to worship God fall flat on their face. So why haven't we rid ourselves of the flamboyance yet? Every year the new ordination candidates in Anglican circles frock-up. And at many an 8am traditional service (at the very least, a little to early to be cross-dressing), the minister, who may well claim to be reformed, evangelical, believing the four solas etc - will get his skirt on for the elderly members who don't know it any other way (how is this supposed to help them by the way?) - and worship "in spirit and in gown [sic]".

It's time to hit the change rooms and change this strange practise which adds nothing to the experience of worshipping the living God, who is "clothed with splendor and majesty" (Psalm 104).

Hitch-22

2010-07-25T19:06:00.000-07:00

Hitch-22
Reviewed by Joshua Maule

Christopher Hitchens has - in Hitch-22 - produced a 400 page ramble on both the fairly irrelevant and the plain engaging. But (perhaps surprisingly for a memoir) the personal is often neglected; for instance, we never get more than the odd sentence about his family.

As a result large swathes of the memoir will make sense only to those in British intellectual circles. And let's face it, that's not many of us. Yet, at least Mr Hitchens is kind enough to keep one-eyed half squinting on the average reader who isn't in the know. But honestly, it makes the memoir an excruciating read for chapters at a time.

However, though it may be difficult to digest in parts, there are some great patches of description in Hitch-22 - not a few that are incredibly moving. At points the author's ability to paint his feelings with words left me reeling. I only wished he'd done it more.

This included the passages about his mother and the shaping force she was on his life. The memoir opens with a chapter on the woman, Yvonne, and her desire for Christopher to have a high quality English education, even when there wasn't much money. Read the rest at Eternity.biz

Driving west

2010-07-13T23:37:00.000-07:00

One side of me is warm and the other cold as I type this in the (quite) common room of the youth hostel at Broken Hill. But the gas heater burning to my left is a welcome luxury on this clear, chilly day. Earlier my face was frozen in the wind as dad and I did a couple of walks about 10kms out of town. So it's nice to be warm-blooded again.

With holidays available, we both decided to check out this substantial centre – and lots of the much littler ones – about 50kms from the NSW/SA border. Neither of us have been here before and so far, with well over a thousand k's behind us, we've travelled some reasonably isolated roads and seen the NSW landscape change from thick bush in the Blue Mountains to scraggly shrubbery.

While Broken Hill itself has been interesting enough to walk around, my favourite spots have been the tiny townships on the way. Hillston and Ivanhoe were both great. Small and quiet, with empty streets and just a few small shops; together they had fewer than 2000 residents. For anyone passing through Hillston, chicken Schnitzel at the RSL comes with my complete recommendation, not least because you get two good sized schnitzels and a pile of hot chips without even asking. The summer salad with citrus fruit and cucumber on the side baffled me a little, nice as it was.

In addition, Menindee and its utterly massive lakes system (holding much more than Sydney Harbour) in the Kinchega National Park with its winding unsealed roads, was wonderful to see. We arrived in the late afternoon and headed into the Park to check out the lakes, did a bit of spinning and I took a bundle of photos as the sun went down. Then, without another person in sight, we headed back to the motel beneath a brilliant pink sky.

Dear clever people: God is real and he's a better artist than you.

But my favourite of the smaller places – which granted, is a tourist trap – has been Silverton. Once a decent sized mining town, now home to just 55 residents, many an Australian production, including Mad Max II, was shot here. We arrived with overcast skies and patches of fierce rain, which in Silverton means one thing: mud. Everywhere.

After visiting an antique shop, an art gallery with some fairly cartoonish work, and the local watering hole, we stumbled across 'The Horizon Gallery'; the home and studio of Albert Woodroffe.

To cut a long story short, his works really captivated me. Particularly I thought he nailed the look and feel of the blackness of isolated country as it appears by night. Many of his works were inspired by the street directly outside his studio. And after I'd looked around he stuck his head out from his studio and asked what I thought. It turns out he's a Christian and I've arranged to interview him for the Eternity paper when I get home.

He lost his wife in January and the remainder of this post I dedicate to his inspiring work.

Leviathan

2010-06-30T16:23:00.000-07:00

Having finished Moby Dick - all 650 pages - a week ago, and having read the book of Job in which God mentions a mysterious creature called the Leviathan, I was interested to find this story on the ABC site this morning.

I'll try and blog about my recent big whale experiences soon, but in the meantime, feast your eyes on these images one of my friends pointed out to me. There's one for every page of Moby Dick.

"Don't talk to strangers..."

2010-06-21T17:20:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking through something ironic lately. It goes like this.

As children we in the overprotected world of penut allergies and band aids (i.e. the wealthy west) are told not to speak to strangers. And so we don't. We walk down the street keeping to ourselves. We buy things at the shop and speak only about the price and whether we're after a receipt. We go to school and stick mostly to our friendship circle.

Then suddenly, at some undefined moment, we are deemed to have "grown up" and are urged to speak with strangers. Whether at at university, during job interviews, to our neighbours, our colleagues, or whomever.

This is especially true for those of us who identify as Christian. We attend church and are encouraged from the Bible to connect with those in our community. But we discover two things:

1. We don't know how to (and don't want to) speak with strangers.
2. Strangers don't know how (and don't want to) speak with us.

There are exceptions. The cafe next to my house is one of them. And most pubs after 11pm on a Friday night are another. In addition, some people are better than others at pushing through the awkward barrier and sparking up a spontaneous conversation on the street corner.

But, by and large, talking with unknowns is a tough business. And the reason is we've been conditioned to be highly sceptical of anyone who speaks out of turn on a bus, train or on the street. It's not as if we wouldn't be better off if we were more social. There are people in our communities who don't speak with anyone during the week; particularly the elderly. Yet, we've been conditioned from a young age.

If I have kids, I think I'm going to teach them discernment when speaking with strangers, rather than simply telling them to put up their shutters to anyone they don't recognise.

Sabbath

2010-06-05T23:47:00.000-07:00

Looking between handrails upon a big swell, a vibrant sky stretches overhead and the greatness of ocean and creation and a day of rest are staggering. Streams of passengers pass by. Some smile and laugh. I catch glimpses of exciting conversations. And gossip. Some people are cool. Fashion, wealth, fame. Some are functional - my chosen category. But we all share something: enjoyment. I'm thankful for and to the One who made it.

Rough water crushes the rocks while tourists flatten headland grasses underfoot. Locals walk proudly as the glimmering sea reflects off their skin. And some pose for photos on the sand.

Older men lie on benches in speedos - sunning. Children oblivious to the cold wind dive and play in the salt water pool. Waves crunch the side of the rockshelf testing limpets and crabs hiding in a cleft. And spray shoots up.

Walking and squinting, I try to keep the reflected sun off my pupils. I alternate between wearing my hood and carrying it in my bag as the sun alternates between hiding behind clouds and revealing itself unhindered.

It is a wonderful day. And sitting on a rockshelf reading God's eternal word, I am amazed by colour and the glory of Him who made it.

How to be an attractional church (satirical video)

2010-05-10T16:04:00.000-07:00

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

One of the best pieces of Christian satire I've seen. Because it's scarily close to reality.

There is really nothing attractive about attractional church, is there?

O Lord, please deliver us from such contrived strategies as these.

H/T Tim Challies

Showing love through random parcel deposits

2010-05-09T17:18:00.000-07:00

I was given Tim Chester's new book 'The Ordinary Hero' recently. It's not a title I had on my to read list. I'd not heard of it. But I'm always happy to be given a new book (and having started it on the weekend, it seems really good).

What was cool though was it showed up in the mail, as a parcel, totally unexpected. My future brother in law ordered it for me in on Book Depository. You can probably do the same thing on Amazon or any of the book-buying sites by simply putting the address of your intended recipient in the 'delivery address' field.

One of the stresses, I think, of living in this modern world is we're all so spread out. There's no time to share favourite books, albums, or just life in general. (One of my friends flew to Shanghai this weekend to see his family, spending something like 20 hours with them because he couldn't take time off work).

It's like we're made for living in close-knit villages but we live in this global, sprawling city instead.

Anyway, Book Depository is one remedy for this situation. Show some out-of-the-blue affection for someone you love. Last week I ordered a book for a mate. I've been wanting him to read it for ages.

Eternity Cafe

2010-03-25T18:55:00.000-07:00

The newspaper I'm working on - Eternity - has just opened a new section on its website called 'Cafe'. It's a place where we'll be discussing culture from a Christian worldview. Hopefully it functions much like a regular cafe where a friendly discussion can take place.

Take a look and see what you think... http://eternity.biz/cafe/ We're hoping to enable commenting soon.

Textbook storytelling

2010-03-23T23:33:00.000-07:00

All proper journalists wear some kind of badge of honour. It may be misspelling the PM's name, placing the wrong caption on something awkward, making it onto Media Watch, or getting an angry letter from Paul Keating like someone I know.

So I was relieved when finally today, I received my first badge. A story I wrote last year has made it into a textbook. A forthcoming business studies textbook of all things. The email read:

"Dear Joshua,

My name is Leila and I work for educational publisher, John Wiley & Sons Australia. Currently we are preparing for publication a secondary education textbook entitled Business Studies In Action: Preliminary Course 3rd Edition, by Chapman.

On behalf of the author/s we are seeking permission to reproduce the following material in this textbook, in accordance with the Publication details specified below:

1. ARTICLE: ‘The Migration of Opportunity’ by Joshua Maule, Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Small Business Solutions – Special Report’, 30 June 2009, pp. 2.

PUBLICATION DETAILS for which permission is required:
ISBN: 1742161332

Tentative print run: 30000
Publication due: Oct 2010
Market rights: World
Pages: 456 pages approx.

Textbook to be distributed in both print and electronic formats (including online).

Please note that permission is required for use in this work, including any associated promotional materials or supplementary material supplied free of charge (for example, Power Point Presentations, Solutions Manuals, Instructor’s Manual). Please advise if this is a problem.

Thanks for your assistance – please feel free to contact me should you require any further information. I look forward to hearing back from you soon.

Kind regards,

Leila"

Naturally I'm stoked and have requested a personal copy.

Technology: flogged and blogged

2010-02-10T21:23:00.000-08:00

I was recently in Africa - specifically: Kenya, Uganda and the DR Congo. During the time in Uganda's capital I found a 24 hour news station and managed to catch up on some current affairs. It was the week the Nexus One Google Phone was released.

I watched on as expert after expert gave their views on the device. Was it better or worse than the iPhone? Would it be the worm in the Apple? And so on.

Kampala is a city with chaotic roads where a great slab of the population live in extreme poverty and have a high chance of contracting major infectious diseases. Yet all I could find on TV was constant chatter about which gadget was cutting the edge more sharply.

It was filler, not journalism. Promotion at best.

And then yesterday I signed into my email inbox to discover that overnight I had inherited a new feature called "Google Buzz" which I was (and am) unsure what to do with. So I headed over to Twitter and watched it as a trending topic. I left the tab open for four hours or so and watched as "Google Buzz" became a self-describing, self-fulfilling prophecy and approached 15,000 mentions.

And then today I signed into my email and found a Nielson press release telling me the new Apple iPad got close to 40,000 mentions per hour on Twitter when it was released.

What the heck?

When I was at university we discussed the possible benefits of social networking and the increase in internet participation worldwide. Would it give rise to social change? Would the net allow a global village to emerge, free of government regulation, where average Joe punters had a voice? Was a woodstock-esk revolution of peace and happiness for all mankind brewing?

From what I've observed, social networking and the like, isn't being used for changing the world. It's being used by rich people to whittle away precious minutes, hours and days. And I've been as guilty as anyone.

Although each new pocketsized piece of slick metal holds out so much potential, I don't think technology is the solution to our problems. Not while we're the ones using it.

An Open Christmas Letter

2009-12-22T19:36:00.000-08:00

Warning: may contain traces of sarcasm.

Dear friends,

Wow! What a whirlwind of success the last 12 months has been for the _____ family. It feels like just yesterday we were writing our last Christmas letter.

(By the way, do you remember last year’s letter? To summarise: great new job for ___, silver and gold Duke of Ed medals for ___ and ___, five band six’s in the School Certificate for ___, rugby premiership trophy for ___’s team, owner-built renovations doubled the size (and market value) of our house, and a three month overseas holiday. It was quite a year indeed.)

Would you believe then that 2009 has been even more positive than last year? It’s been a time of growth, learning and great results (how do the kids keep doing it?) – not without occasional tears I might add. But it’s probably worth mentioning that when things went pear shaped, we were all there for each other – with hugs, listening ears and appropriate love languages.

As a way of summarising the year that’s been, our youngest child – ____ – has cleverly penned the following poem. We’re so proud!

Well first there was January – bright and hot,
Where the family lazed and laughed a lot,
On the shores of our secret holiday bay,
Where the fish are tropical and we soaked up rays.

Oh yes, there were burnt shoulders to boot,
But it turned to tan, soon after wards – phew!
And then we all were golden brown,
Ready to return to our normal town.

We were unsuspecting when February came,
And it was back to school, jobs and the same,
Menial stuff which makes up life,
But we managed to laugh a lot, not fight.

Dad’s latest promotion proved fantastic as well,
We ate out so much, that our bellies would have swelled -
If it wasn’t for the family gym,
And the lap pool out back, in which we all swim.

And March! O March! What to say about March?
Except that the year continued to march.
Until April arrived with a sudden jolt,
And ___ sprinted the 100 almost like Usain Bolt.

O boy! O boy! You should have seen him run,
So proud of my big brother eleven point one.
And we were all so proud of our sister ___,
She’s so good at archery and ballet dancing too.

Then June and July just merged into one,
As we did our half yearlies and all had a good run.
90 percent and above all round,
It seems that for good things, we are all bound.

August came and went like a snap,
Probably because of our trip to Kak-
adu Nat-i-onal P-ark -
It gave us all the needed spark.

Then in September it was back to the books,
And mum had a good month beginning work on her own book.
It’s a history of our family clan,
Containing all the ups and downs we’ve had.

But triumphantly the book will end,
With our current success, and the place we’re now in.
But onward and forward, this poem must go,
I’ve still got three months of rhyming to go.

Thus we come to October so grand,
Where mum and dad bought a new block of land,
Right on a river where the water gleams,
It’s truly heaven on earth it seems.

If November was all about the HSC,
December was all about waiting to see.
But as predicted, though not without stress,
____ got a better ATAR than all of her friends.

And that just about wraps up the year that’s been,
For us December is all about French fine cheese.
And food and pressies, and exercise too,
O what a time of year. Enjoy it, won’t you?

Merry Christmas!

With love from the ___ family.

'If they're coming they're coming'

2009-12-14T15:39:00.000-08:00

Travelling in the car with my dad and his mum (Nonna) at the weekend, I heard a familiar story about my great grandmother (Nanna). It's kind of become family legend. She died aged 99 just a few years ago and I think this particular yarn says a lot about her hard-nosed approach to life.

It took place on May 31, 1942 - the night the Japanese mini submarines attacked Sydney Harbour. Nonna, who was only a young girl at the time, still remembers her mother's reaction clearly.

"We had seen a film in Homebush," Nonna recalls, "and afterwards we walked home to North Strathfield. When we got back the neighbours came in and said: 'Oh no, you've got to turn the gas off and follow the procedures. There are Japanese subs in the Harbour.' Mum just said: 'Oh well, if they're coming, they're coming,' and we went to bed."

My Dad also remembers Nanna in this light. As a boy he saw a giant rat run across the floor and directly up Nanna's back. Without flinching or yelping, Nanna reached behind her head, grabbed the rodent, and threw it off.

All this makes me think Tim Winton was spot on when he wrote Cloudstreet.

Blinded By The Flash

2009-12-05T21:49:00.000-08:00

Some images from my travels.

What do you make of these images? How do you interpret them, not knowing where I've been and where I took them (exceptions excluded)? Did I convey the scene correctly? How would you know? Did I intend to convey the scene accurately?

As DSLR cameras get cheaper, iPhones rise in popularity, Facebook monopolises, and the range of glossy magazines in the news agency seemingly grows, I wonder what all this photography is doing to us.

At its best photography probably exposes and reveals certain truths about the world to the world (conflicts and wars). At its lowest it merely facilitates lust (pornography and some advertising). And in between it is used for all kinds of reasons. Capturing the fun of a party, demonstrating the beauty of a bush walk, and so on.

Perhaps one of the biggest problems I see with our society's photo addiction is that it promotes the external appearance of things to the highest importance. While a photo may show someone's heart, it can only do so as it appears on their face. Or in their body language.

Do photographs make us shallow? Do they make us trust the exterior?

I think we should be more wary of how we view images. Subconsciously most of us who've spend considerable time around western media already analyse images quite quickly - i.e. we know whether they're staged or candid.

But I don't think many of us give much thought to what a photograph actually is.

A photo is less than a second. It is so quick that in one sense, it was never real. Often that image was too quick to notice at the time. Rarely do you remember a specific event the way it appeared in a single photo (though sometimes a photo does capture a vibe near perfectly). Single moments usually only make sense in context; in light of the moments before and after them. Photographs, even if they appear in a sequence, do not perfectly show the context. They show the single moment as a single moment, which it never was.

And for that reason, gleaning too much from a single image may be naïve. For example: a photograph of a politician may be taken at the one moment in their day that they look anxious. For the other 99.99% of their day, they may have been laughing, smiling and joking. But if a photo journalist snaps them in the one moment they look as if they are depressed, and that is the only image we see, then we have been misled. I've seen this sort of thing in our papers plenty of times.

So I don't think the old phrase that 'a picture's worth a thousand words' is always accurate. An image may seem to say a lot but then as you discover the context you realise it's saying something completely contrary. Maybe a picture needs a thousand words.

(I realise people have written PHDs on this topic, but I thought I'd take it on in one blog post. Haven't got time to do a PHD, unfortunately.)

Dorothy L Sayers

2009-11-23T04:09:00.000-08:00

My friend, Stephanie Brooking, has finished her thesis on Dorothy Sayers. If you were to add Steph on Facebook you could see a play by play photo essay of her handing in her final bound masterpiece. And dancing in the fields of Sydney Uni to celebrate. Anyway, I asked her a few questions about this fairly little-known writer.

Who is Dorothy L Sayers (and did she appreciate people articulating the 'L' in real life)?
She was a British detective fiction writer and theorist, lay theologian and Dante scholar who wrote from the 1920s-50s. She definitely insisted on the 'L' in print (she once wrote a letter to a publisher who didn't put the 'L' in: "please leave me my 'L'.") She was a little picky, but one of her biographers claimed that he called her 'Dot' when he knew her, I don't know I would be game to do that. There was also conflict over the pronounciation of her name.Most people say it [ˈseɪ.ərz], although Sayers herself preferred [ˈsɛːz].

How did your love of DLS come about?
I've liked the British intuitionist school of detective fiction since I studied it for the HSC. While I was thinking about honours thesis topics, a friend who is studying literature and theology introduced me to her work. I think I read most of the detective novels within a couple of weeks.

Why is Sayers an important figure for modern evangelicals?
Sayers mostly wrote for an audience of nominal christians - people who thought they understsood the faith, but had actually reduced Christ's teaching to a moral code, or an entertaining set of fables, or a boring and irrelevant ritual. Her essays are aimed at communicating the excitement and interest and joy of Christianity. She is an important historical figure, as one who influenced a large number of Church of England believers during her time, and as someone who was connected to C.S. Lewis and Charles and G.K. Chesterton, but her writing, though made possible by the modernist era in which she lived, is still able to powerfully reinforce truths and instil a sense of the 'drama of doctrine.'

How may Sayers be interesting to non-theists?
Her essays articulate the depth and complexity of Christian doctrine in a well-ordered, well-reasoned and creative way. The arguments are immediately comprehensible, but the poetry of her logic means that they appeal to a deeper level of understanding. I would endorse them as some of the best modern explanations of our faith, and therefore worth reading. Also, her detective fiction is great, some people might find that interesting.

What were some of her most celebrated ideas?
Her essays on Dante are still some of the best scholarly work on him, though her translation of his Comedy was never more than able. Her understanding of the genre of detective fiction was formative, and both her essays and her novels changed its course. The book that I find the most exciting, however, is a theological one, The Mind of the Maker, which was celebrated in reviews in scholarly journals.

What did your honours thesis deal with?
It was called Sayers: Sin and Redeeming Systems and it looked at Sayers' theology of sin and redemption and the way that it can be seen in three of her detective fiction novels. The three chapters were focused on: relational sin and redemption; work and the class system; and chaos and order. I analysed all of these themes through the psychotheraputic practices of Murray Bowen, the founder of family systems theory.

How has Sayers helped you see God in a different light?
Sayers fights against the human tendency to reduce the power and relevance of God in our own minds (as though anything of the sort would be possible in actuality) I have been inspired by her work in aesthetic theory (particularly 'Towards a Christian Aesthetic').

How long did the thesis take to write, how long is it, and can interested parties access it?
From the time I started reading, almost exactly a year, but it was maybe 6 months of serious work. It was 16,200 words (well within 10 per cent of the 15,000 word limit). You can access it by asking me.

Aside from an HD, what do you hope your thesis achieves?
Criticism of detective fiction is still a developing feild. For much of last century, it was apologetic and tentative, the critics were unsure of the validity of analysing a popluar genre. Hence, much of the work consists of value judgements and reads like an extended book-club session. I guess I hope to add to the burgoning group of scholars who consider the genre as worthy of deeper study. As far as I know, no one else has used Bowen theory as a tool for analysing litereature, so there is that angle as well.

Steph is presenting a seminar on Sayers and creativity this weekend at our young adults group LiVE as we have our first 'Create Day'. Contact Steph by email: stephiejane@gmail.com

Dirty Dishes and Squalor

2009-11-05T02:44:00.000-08:00

The ABC news tonight ran a story about the increase of poverty in Australia. I saw the 10 second 'news update' version of the story.

Now, I don't doubt it was based on an authoritative source (most likely an academic study). But the footage which featured images of mouldy walls, a cluttered dirty house, and kitchens with mounds of unwashed dishes, struck me as rather bizarre.

Did someone say poverty? I'm going to go out on limb and suggest it is not the responsibility of any government or wider-society if people can't be stuffed washing their dishes or putting their rubbish out. These are areas of life we all struggle with and must learn to overcome.

I am aware illnesses and disabilities can leave people unable to function without assistance. In that case, the story should have been about illnesses and disabilities. I also aware that poverty is a real issue in Australia at this very moment in time. It's just that dirty dishes do not equate to poverty.

It's not the first time I've seen this kind of b-roll. Come on ABC, you can do better. I struggle with washing up too, but please don't blame the government. We all need to learn to be more diligent.

Of seriousness and shopping

2009-10-16T23:22:00.000-07:00

It was a warm summer afternoon a few years back when this blogger first realised how much he hates shopping. I had been riding a skateboard – skilfully slicing up the footpath at Homebush Bay, dipping over hills, passing families enjoying the grandeur of nature, feeling alive and exhilarated – when it happened. I was summoned to DFO: The Direct Factory Outlet. Sure, it's name bursts with all the creativity and inspiration of a 44 gallon drum, yet I thought I'd give it a whirl. Members of my family were enthusiastic about the bargains within.

Approaching the outlet, the epiphany crept upon me, then struck with considerable force. I don't like these places, they don't fulfil me. The sliding doors ushered a burst of hot, stuffy air up my nose and I began to wade deeper into the current of stony faced consumers. The dread set in.

Perhaps it's because I'm male, though I'd prefer to think it's because I'm human – but shopping centres are seriously worse than rubbish tips. At least the junk at The Tip doesn't cost.

Despite my feelings of disdain though, I have returned again and again to these centres; these post-modern temples. I even once visited DFO on my own, only to try on and remove footwear I couldn't afford, and purchase a pair of jeans I could have picked up much closer to home.

And today, once again, I traversed the aisles of Westfields in Penrith, my local shopping shrine. Once upon a time it was known simply as, The Plaza, to its most faithful, but Westfields has since enjoyed extensions and has become a Mecca drawing Consumers from the Blue Mountains/Penrith Valley region and beyond. Only, people don't make the journey once a lifetime, but most weekends.

Oh! What a depressing place it is! Each time it holds so much promise of new gadgets, cutting edge fashion, technology, toys, food (both fast and organic), coffees, entertainment and cinemas. As we all shuffle across the glossy, white, imitation-marble floors, it is as if we walk the halls of our own private palace.
“Can I help you there, Sir[e]?”
“Are the pants fitting well?”
“Oh, they look fantastic!”
“That comes to more-than-you-can-afford.”
“Cheque? Savings? Credit?”
“Can I have your signature please, Sir[e]?”

And when I say “stony faced” I really mean it. Today I saw one happy family. One. And they were still in the car park. They hadn't yet reached the Promised Land. Cosumerism still held a lofty place in their minds. As for the rest of the souls inside, they each had a seriousness generally shown only by Japanese commanders of POW camps. That same serious gaze of models strutting the catwalk.

On returning home, I switched on the television and caught a show that actually spoke some sense. Chanel 7's latest reality offering, Beauty and the Geek, which I had initially palmed it off as ludicrous, now had me captivated. Whether the program is scripted, immoral, or a waste of time, is an argument for someone else. My point is this: it held a fairly sane message.

As the geeks and beauties paired up, they taught each other things. The geekified message was: authenticity, depth and honesty trump beauty any day. On the flipside, the beauties stressed the importance of socialising and relationship, over, say, number crunching. And so the contestants – whether geek or pretty – learned from one another.

Maybe the show's writers struck something real. That is, as this society of ours bows down to the god of Brandname, our grip on real relationships has begun to weaken.

As a Christian, I think that is what is most authentic about the Gospel. That “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. It's a deeper need than Consumerism can get at and far more costly than all that a Gold Amex can buy. Because it reaches to the depths of who we are, not what our faces look like and what we own.

Photo: Flickr - DTNL89

Driscoll in The Post

2009-10-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

I love seeing Christian leaders write a good, sturdy column in the secular press.

Feminism and riding in cars with boys

2009-10-07T04:32:00.000-07:00

The biggest and most fundamental problem with feminism, if you ask me, is it's name. It instantly ostracises half of the world's population. I don't feel like I can be part of a movement that is so, let's face it – girly*.

I don't want to spoil the party, it's just that feminism needs a better name. Sorry to state the obvious.

*And yes HSC students, in case you're wondering you can quote this in your exams.

In unrelated news, look what happened to my car today. I find out tomorrow whether it gets repaired or goes on the scrap heap.

Feel-bad movies #4 informative escapism + reality check

2009-10-07T04:26:00.000-07:00

Here is the last instalment. Forgive me if this got old early on, but I must finish the series if not for the sake of neatness and pride.

I mentioned in my first post the list of reasons I appreciate feel-bad movies: untold stories, powerful stories, informative escapism and reality check.

But this post picks up on the final two ideas.

Firstly, all movies are escapism. That is the 'magic of cinema'. Films allows us to wander in someone else's shoes and feel their highs and lows as if they were our own.

Whether the escapism teaches us anything though is another issue altogether.

Enter the reason for the films listed in my first post in this series (Blood Diamond, Hotel Rwanda, Last King of Scotland, Lumumba, Samson and Delilah, and Balibo).

While each left me with deep dread in my heart, they gave me: lessons on life in other places at other times, lessons on history. They informed my emotions of pain I have been blessed not to feel.

Hollywood provides enough escape to happy places – these feel-bad movies provided me with education on the realities of existence in this fallen world.

And that is my segue. Feel-bad cinema also gives a sharp reality check. Reminds me the world is not my oyster. Reminds me of the gruffness and difficulty of life. The anguish and turmoil many people have endured. It wakes me up. Shocks me back into consciousness. Clutches me again from the grip of consumerism. Shakes me from my comfort zone. Such films also fill me with gratitude for my life, my country, my world, my life, my blessings. Blessings that so many have not been as fortunate to enjoy as I have.

Feel-bad movies, please #3: powerful stories

2009-09-26T05:06:00.000-07:00

Another reason I like watching feel-bad movies is they frequently tell powerful stories.

Somehow watching the events of history unfold on a screen, as a narrative, with characters, and visable emotion makes a story more interesting than a sheer factual account. It hits harder; let's you see the events of history as they play out on an actor's face.

Of course there are concerns. But can we deny the power of filmmaking to communicate a heart-wrenching yarn?

I've seen the statistics, heard the history and read the details of Adolf Hitler's regime and its coldblooded brutality. Yet none of what I have read quite compares with Schindler's List or Life is Beautiful.

The real faces, the dialogue, the drama, and not least, the rousing music, turned the cold events of history into incredibly powerful tales. The plots may be made up, but these kinds of films do something the historical account cannot.

This is not to downplay the written word of course. Written accounts are often just as powerful. Historical fiction and literary journalism are the incarnations of written storytelling with the most impact if you ask me. These forms transport you into the minds and affections of real people. It is the emotion, the thoughts, the everyday decisions which make these styles most relevant.

And so this becomes an argument for the importance of the inner lives of humans in storytelling. An argument about the importance of emotion when spinning a yarn.

It must have something to do with the generation we live in. This 'information age' with its 24/7 distribution of information has deadened our senses, seared our hearts, and eaten our attention spans for whatever does not arrest us instantly with sensation and feeling. The days of families huddling together to digest a monthly news report from the other side of the globe are forever gone. The days of instant news feeds and headline skimming are in. Thus sensation is winning out.

Sure, we could argue that this ought not be the case. That we should listen closely to the more factual, more in-depth, if dryer, accounts of reality (and certainly I'm not trying to downplay these - they have their place). But culturally the reality is, emotion in storytelling matters and what's more, it probably always has.

I think film is one of the most effective mediums for communicating emotion.

So perhaps there are implications for how we tell important stories to the current generation. If feelings are so important, would we not be foolish to ignore them in our own storytelling, whatever it may be?

Dust

2009-09-22T15:46:00.000-07:00

For all our cleanliness; our efforts to keep shielded from the elements; our serviced, finely-tuned, shiny vehicles; our domesticity and homeliness; our swept patios and uncluttered verandas; our clean-as-a-whistle front windows; our healthy lungs; our presentable everything - today, we couldn't escape the dust.

Feel-bad movies, please # 2: untold stories

2009-09-21T03:42:00.000-07:00

As I wrote in my previous post I prefer watching movies that make me feel bad because they are often untold stories.

Two Australian movies out this year - Balibo and Samson and Delilah - are in many ways different, yet in many ways are acutely similar.

Balibo tells the true story of six Australian journalists executed in East Timor in 1975. The story is tragic and was kept under-wraps until two years ago. Still no charges have been layed against the perpetrators (though thanks to the film, we're closer than ever to seeing justice done). I quote from the website:
"In 2007, a coronial inquest established that the five journalists - Brian Peters, Malcolm Rennie, Greg Shackleton, Gary Cunningham and Tony Stewart - clearly identified themselves as Australians and as journalists. They were unarmed and dressed in civilian clothes. They had their hands raised in the universally recognised gesture of surrender. They were killed deliberately on orders that emanated from the highest levels. Their corpses were dressed in uniforms, guns placed beside them, and photographs taken in an attempt to portray them as legitimate targets."

I recently saw Balibo at the Dendy cinemas in Newtown. I found it rattling and was not prepared for the cold-blooded murder scenes. Yet I'm glad I watched it because it is a untold story that demands attention and indignation.

Samson and Delilah by indigenous filmmaker Warwick Thornton on the other hand, tells the fictional tale of two indigenous youths and their relationship tangled in violence, love and petrol sniffing. It is an equally chilling narrative highlighting the all-too-real inequality between white and black Australia which continues today. Another untold (or at very least under-reported) story.

Balibo is a well researched and, from what I can tell, accurate account of what happened in East Timor more than 30 years ago. Samson and Delilah is a fictional tale which according to Australia media reports gives a fairly accurate picture of the lives of many Australians in remote areas. According to the website: "Everything in the film is based on what Warwick has seen or experienced in his life."

While you could go back and find newspaper articles, television reports and blogs on the realities behind these two heartbreaking stories, they are virtually unknown. Ask the average Australian about Hitler and they could tell you he was an evil dictator. Ask the same person about what life in Aboriginal settlements is like, or what happened in Balibo, and nine times out of 10 you'll be met with ignorance.

Me included. I'm no expert.

That is the first reason I prefer feel-bad films. They make you uncomfortable. They make you think. And, by virtue of being movies - and not 3000 feature articles that appear in Quadrant - the stories reach a wider audience. They push more people out of their ignorance into the light of the truth and that can only be a good thing.

Feel-bad movies, please

2009-09-11T19:50:00.000-07:00

Everyone has those nights where they want to rent a DVD, bunker-down and get lost in someone else's story.

A group gathers. What will they watch?

"Comedy!" announces the class clown.
"Drama!" screams the person who likes gossip.
"No, I want a romance," the strong-headed individual asserts.
A short argument ensues.
"OK, OK, OK..." the wise one finally decides. "Let's just get a feel-good movie."
A compromise has been reached. All parties are happy - though at the risk of sounding more black than I actually am - I am not content.

Give me a feel-bad movie, please. It's not that I won't watch the feel-good stuff: Juno, Little Miss Sunshine, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Spiderman, Ghost Town were all good. I enjoyed them and was happy to laugh and get involved in the stories.

But most of the time, I just like watching something-that-makes-you-think. And if it makes me feel bad, then so be it.

In the last year or so I've seen a bunch of films I'd class as feel-bad, or make-you-think movies. Several were about Africa (Blood Diamond, Hotel Rwanda, Last King of Scotland, and Lumumba) and two have been very fresh feel-bad films straight out of Australia (Samson and Delilah, and Balibo).

Now, it's true, each of these movies have elements of redemption. But I would argue they are predominantly heartbreaking.

Why do I prefer this write-to-your-local-member-in-anger-afterwards genre? Four reasons.

1. Untold stories
2. Powerful stories
3. Informative escapism
4. Reality check

I plan to flesh out these reasons in some up-coming posts.

However, to get the ball rolling with a free Saturday night, what would you most likely choose from Video Ezy? Why?

Collision

2009-09-08T18:48:00.001-07:00

Just logged onto my email this morning to find a message from an atheist friend informing me about a doco coming out in October.

The film follows Atheist (or anti-theist as he prefers) Christopher Hitchens as he goes on the road with Evangelical theologian Douglas Wilson, to debate the question: Is Christianity Good for the World?

The promo looks exciting www.collisionmovie.com

Last night I went to the launch of Bishop Tom Frame's new book, Losing My Relgion at Gleebooks. Frame was discussing the decline of religious participation in Australia and suggested many don't think about God out of indifference.

I'm praying Collision might actually rub some friction into the joints of westerners that they might begin to ask the 'why' questions.

Redeeming time

2009-09-07T04:40:00.000-07:00

There is such a thing as wasting time. There is also something I've learned about since university called redeeming time.

Sunday was Father's Day and my brother, dad and I got to redeem some time.

It was 1.30pm in the Blue Mountains, we'd just eaten lunch and decided to drive to Bradley's head in the harbour to go fishing.

It took almost two hours to get there and it was several more minutes before we had lines in the water. Dad caught two blackfish, Matt and I got zilch.

The sun began to go down over the Harbour Bridge and we loaded the car and made it back home in time for church at 7pm.

I love redeeming time.

Politicians and double standards

2009-09-01T22:34:00.000-07:00

The John Della Bosca debacle will continue to cause a storm in the Australian media over the next few days. Then it will be gone and forgotten.

Today the Sydney Morning Herald ran a number of stories about DB's affair with a 26 year old woman. Some journos suggested Della Bosca has ruined his career as well as the credibility of the NSW Labor Party (if they had credibility beforehand, that is). Others said we shouldn't focus on the scandal but DB's achievements. One writer suggested DB's wife, Belinda Neal, had something to gain from the affair. Others said DB's private life is not our concern.

The opinions on DB's unfaithfulness were many and varied, yet, despite the selection, I couldn't decide on which one I liked best. To my mind, there are a few issues muddying the waters around the whole scandal.

DB is a leader. We expect good things from our leaders. We certainly expect them to be as good as us, if not better.

DB is married. He had not only made commitments to the Australian public, but also to his wife. If Belinda wasn't angry during the Iguana-gate scandal, she has a real right to be angry now.

Belinda is also a leader (see point 1). Shouldn't the relationships of our leaders be perfectly intact all the time?

The girl who made the revelations remains anonymous. Why shouldn't she be named and shamed as well?

What is right and wrong anyway, and who's to decide? Is anyone answerable to anyone, or are our animal instincts OK to follow?

Who decides what's in the public interest? Do we really have a right to know what goes on behind closed doors (literally).

None of us is perfect. We've all stuffed up in different ways. Are we being hypocritical when we condemn DB?

He's not the only one. Other leaders have had affairs and remained in office, why shouldn't DB?

Navigating, commenting, condemning, judging, deciding, and announcing who is right and who is wrong, is tough. Our own problems get in the way of our objectivity. We can be hypocritical.

Let me invite you into the Christian worldview for a moment. Psalm 51 contains the words of King David, Israel's great leader, after he was rebuked by his mate Nathan for sleeping with a pretty young girl from down the road. Not only had David slept with this woman, he had killed her husband to get with her. That's pretty damn ghastly. David's cry to God in Psalm 51 seems to me the only response he could make.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
       according to your unfailing love;
       according to your great compassion
       blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
       and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
       and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
       and done what is evil in your sight,
       so that you are proved right when you speak
       and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
       sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
       you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
       wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
       let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
       and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
       and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
       or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
       and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
       and sinners will turn back to you.
14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
       the God who saves me,
       and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
       and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
       you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
       a broken and contrite heart,
       O God, you will not despise.
18 In your good pleasure make Zion prosper;
       build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then there will be righteous sacrifices,
       whole burnt offerings to delight you;
       then bulls will be offered on your altar.

O that we would see this sort of humility and brokenness in our leaders (and ourselves). We don't need slick PR, we need contrite hearts.

Children. What's wrong with them anyway?

2009-08-26T05:35:00.000-07:00

I was on a ferry in Sydney Harbour last year when I heard something surprising. The boat was taking a bunch of us to Cockatoo Island for the Biennale of Sydney. Every square inch of deck was accounted for. On board were groups of teenagers, arts community people, middle aged couples and young families. We hovered close to one another's armpits. It was hot. A few people had strollers with babies inside. It was quite the mixingpot.

For one particular guy though, it was all too much. He was trying to have some alone time with his girlfriend when a child squeezed past him to see the view out the side of the boat. The child's mother followed.

“Ugh!” the guy said loudly. “That's so rude. People with children think they can do anything.”

I wouldn't have thought “anything” was the right choice of word. But it did convey this guy's sheer anger at the situation.

Just this week, on the train home from work, a young couple sat with their two very young children. One of the children began to scream and the couple struggled to know what to do. Some commuters got agitated.

All this has made me realise, there are a breed of people out there who don't like children. Who knows why. Personally, I have nothing against kids. Why should I? They're not threatening, scary or particularly hurtful. In fact, most of the time, they're fun to be around. You can even learn a thing or two from them.

Anyway, is it just me or were we all children once?

Animal Cruelty

2009-08-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

I am not an animal lover. It has never taken me long to become bored of the various pets I have owned. Mice, guinea pigs, rabbits - each one got progressively less cute as time went on. I tended to neglect my pets.

When I was younger I killed a small lizard for fun. It felt wrong.

Two years ago I watched a Narrabri pastor kill a sheep. It didn't seem wrong. Its meat would be eaten. I asked the pastor's wife what she thought. "It's just a part of life," she said.

This story on the ABC feels wrong. Two young men (18 and 19) kill a cat. Who knows why. They are definitely old enough to know better.

No matter how much, or how little, you love animals, purposeless animal cruelty is wrong. There are no two ways about it.

But why?

Atheism would say animal cruelty is simply a flexing of the muscles. A demonstration of who's in charge.

Christianity says God gave us the world, including its creatures, to rule responsibly.

One of those worldviews accounts for animal cruelty feeling wrong. The other doesn't.

I know which makes more sense of the world.

Daily blessings

2009-08-20T05:09:00.000-07:00

As I woke up this morning and noticed a deep red sunrise out my window, something occurred to me: colourful sunrises are God's gift to shiftworkers finishing (or mid-way through) another night on the job.

Other early morning gifts from God. An open Bible on your knee changing your mindset and preparing you to serve God. Steaming hot coffee. Corkflakes and sultanas. Fresh shirts. Walking to the station in the cold. Boarding the heated train. The rhythum and rattle of the train as it takes workers to their jobs. Uncreased newspapers begging to be read.

And at the end of the day. Sunsets (if you're lucky enough to be finished work in time). Gusts of cool dusk air on your face. The rhythum and rattle of the train taking workers home for dinner. Children wearing pygamas, waiting on the station to hug their dad.

Confession: I am feeling particularly romantic today and don't always recognise the blessings when my alarm sounds at 6.15am. But the blessing are always there.

Ricky Gervais

2009-08-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

I'm not too ashamed to come out and say this: I love Ricky Gervais. Not in a gay way. He is simply hands-down one of the funniest men alive in the world today. Manic, excitable, disrespectful and downright clever, he has made me laugh more than anyone.

He has an uncanny ability to make something out of nothing. He was the clueless boss in 'The Office', the trying-to-crack-into-the-acting-world-Andy from 'Extras', and is a gifted regular on the world's stand up circuit. In every case he takes the most mundane and ordinary things and makes them hilarious.

Watch this clip of him exegeting nursery rhymes to see what I mean.

See what I mean. Funny.

Notably, Ricky is an atheist. Quite a fierce one actually. He dedicated a good chunk of his 'Animals' show to reading Genesis and explaining how ludicrous he found the Biblical narrative. I'd say his work is predominantly existentialist absurdism, always sprinkled with humour. And his funniness makes his otherwise heavy philosophical worldview more pallatable to more people.

I would really love to talk with Ricky one day. Just sit down and chat. I'd just love to open up Genesis and talk it over with him. So Ricky, if you're reading ...

But, from my perspective, it seems that behind his humour, behind the comedy, behind his high-pitched laugh, is a man who wants his audience to see the world the way he does. He is a man with more noble desires than it first seems.

He may joke about Hitler, make spectacles of disabled people, crack racist jokes, and wrap his friends faces in sticky tape, yet I think he deeply wants the world to be a happier, more loving, more equal place. I may be wrong. Maybe he's just a nutter.

If I'm right, his desires are quite noble. It's just that given his worldview (we're all just animals) and his approach (existentialist absurdism) his desires are unfounded and unattainable. Ricky's comedy actually suggests that our human predicament is not final but will be overcome. Without a just and merciful God though there is no hope. Soil and worms await us all.

Don't get me wrong, I love Ricky. It's just that his desires for a world where genocide, racism and inequality are defeated will only ever make sense in light of Genesis. And he never gave it the time of day.

Responsibility, what's that?

2009-08-11T21:38:00.001-07:00

Having bought a car, moved out home, and got a full-time job all in the last three months, I have realised something: the number of keys on your keyring is directly related to your responsibilities and how much others trust you.

In conclusion: size matters. Real blokes are not the ones with the most toys or the biggest bank accounts, they are the ones with the biggest keyrings.

Packed To The Rafters

2009-07-28T04:55:00.000-07:00

Packed to Rafters returned for its second season recently. It is a popular show. 1.520 million people tuned in for the first episode of season two.

Why is it so popular? As a recent convert to the show I offer my authoritative opinions:

1. Believable script (well, mostly). Characters interrupt and talk over one another. That automatically sets an Australian script up for good things. Most Aussie shows sound like a year 7 drama class reading off sheets of paper.
2. Family values; suburban snapshot. Many of us live in the suburbs. There's a perception that suburbs and family are synonymous. Also, plenty of young adults are living at home with mum and dad longer (as the PTTR kids do). Viewers like thinking they're part of the normal majority.
3. Attractive, bubbly characters. Home and Away is a show of good looking people with no acting ability reading a poorly written script. PTTR has a hot cast and a decent script.
4. It's identifiable, addictive and popular. Even though we've seen it all before - the romance, the drama, the relationships - we still find these basic human experiences interesting. The PTTR actors do a good job of getting you to watch them again and again. On top of that, 'everyone else' watches the show, so it's important to check out what the fuss is all about and get hooked in the process.

Some of the abovementioned points are good reasons for watching the show. But maybe, just maybe, we ought to be wary of anything that makes us too satisfied.

As a Christian I want to be challenged more and more to become like my Lord. PTTR is a bit of fun, but if you listen too closely it's easy to think you're part of the 'normal majority' and that you don't need to change. And that is more dangerous than it sounds.

The Slap

2009-07-24T23:59:00.000-07:00

I read a novel recently by Greek-Australian writer Christos Tsiolkas. It is called The Slap. You may have heard of it. It's one of the best selling independent books in Australia at the moment. My mum's book club just started reading it. Maybe your mum's did too.

I quote from its back cover: "At a suburban barbecue, a man slaps a child who is not his own. This event has a shocking ricochet effect on a group of people, mostly friends, who are directly or indirectly influenced by the event..."

What first got me interested in the book was this interview with the author on Lateline. The following day I went down to the Sydney Writers' Festival and bought a copy. I was fascinated. I stopped reading the book I was half-way through and dove straight into The Slap.

In the interview Tsiolkas spoke about morality, materialism, respect for others, responsibility, hope and narcissism. As a Christian I was quite interested in what he had to say. I half expected him to start talking about the Sermon On The Mount.

As I read The Slap, just about every new page raised another ethical question. Characters were unstable, angry, unfaithful and secretive. Relationships were skewed by gossip and lust. Opinions about what was "right" abounded. Hypocricy shrouded everything.

But what marked the book out from a Mills and Boon novel was that Tsiolkas was commenting, or as he puts it: "exploring".

I finished the book frustrated at Tsiolkas' lack of conclusion.

Many of his observations are right on target. In the Lateline interview he notes that people have squandered their great wealth (evidence = GFC). He admits Australians are a selfish lot. And that we've forgotten what it means to live in community. As a result he wants to see the next generation brought up with respect and responsibility etched onto their minds.

But other than saying that our morals come from our upbringing and that respect for elders is a "basic human experience", Tsiolkas makes no effort to explain what our morals should be based upon. On Lateline he said: "When I [wrote] the first draft of the book, I was actually going to be quite bleak in where I took the young characters..."

He was bleak, but he should have been even bleaker. Building houses on sand never works. Without firm foundations, bleakness (or irrational optimism) is the best we can hope for.

There's no doubt that answers are seen as tacky in our postmodern world. But The Slap's characters demonstrate that we humans haven't got it all sorted. We're not progressing, and we need clear conclusions as much as ever.

Machines and Muscles

2009-07-20T04:40:00.000-07:00

While I've never been committed enough to get a membership, I do work out at the gym periodically. I use the treadmill and the bench press. I sometimes use the bike. My shirt ends up damp. Who would have though you could spend an hour and a half in a large room and walk out having worked virtually every muscle in your body?

Last weekend my mate called and asked if I'd like to help chop up a mother-load of timber he'd had delivered on his driveway. He and his brother had hired a block-splitting machine. So I spent the afternoon splitting, throwing and barrowing wood around his yard.

It was a good time. As the afternoon wore on we could see what our muscle strain had achieved. We cooked a BBQ, had a couple of beers and I was in bed by 9.30. I had the best night's sleep I've had in years.

Both the gym and wood splitting work your muscles. But there are some differences.

Often I leave the gym having said nothing to anyone. During wood splitting we talked plenty. After a gym session the equipment hangs the same as when you started. After wood splitting we had cleared half the driveway and provided enough logs for two Blue Mountains winters. The gym is indoors; wood splitting was outdoors. The gym has exercise as its goal; wood splitting has exercise as its by-product. The gym costs $15; wood splitting was free.

What am I saying? Gyms are good, but jobs that work your biceps as well as clear the yard are better.

Information Overload

2009-07-20T03:00:00.000-07:00

I am aware the internet is something of a black hole. Information, tweets, videos, news updates prowl in all corners. They can devour. And frustrate. People have probably lost their minds on the net.

I'm hesitant to "add to the endless clutter of life" as a non-internet-partaking-friend once described it. Binding your brain with rubbish is the last thing I want to do. I'd hate to waste your time with trash.

On the other hand, much of what is available on the web is useful and edifying. I've read things online that have built me up spiritually.

Furthermore, I've found blogs to be places of community. Genuine friendships are carried off on the web, proper arguments are had, and real encouragement is given. After all, it's not so much the internet that matters as the people who use it.

As I once told a prospective boss in an interview, if people are involved in the job, I am interested. People, not blogs, are what attract me to this sphere.

The press is built on the "public interest". I hope this blog is much the same. If I allow it to descend into self-interest, I'm out.