Holiday Update..

Dunc has now started off on his great Adventure!! He will be attempting to post occasionally, but I think somehow he might be having too much fun!!! Please check in to be updated if he does get the time...

What a Night ....

Last night, I had the pleasure of watching my beloved All Blacks put the Wallabies to the sword. 50-21 ... It was a bigger victory than I'd dared to hope for.

It was an awesome experience being there. It was "spine-tingling" singing the New Zealand National Anthem... and it was awesome hearing the roar as the Kiwi's ran out ... and as they scored.

We were virtually in the back row on the Western Side of the ground ... I couldn't quite believe how far from the field we were... how many steps we had to climb to get to our seats... But it is an impressive stadia, and an impressive athmosphere ... hearing the joyous Kiwi's break out in renditions of "Pokekere Ana" after the game is a memory I'll cherish...

But there's nothing more dangerous in sport than a wounded Australian. Australia has a knack of leaving its best for the back-to-wall-moments, which it is certainly in now... so we can't be too complacent for the return in Auckland.

Some Good News

I've got some good news to share with you all. It is such a great thing to be able to say that ...

As you all know, I applied for the position as Office Manager at the Social Policy Research Centre, well I was told that I did not get it. The whole experience however was good. I was told that my application was good, I have now had experience being interviewed by people I work with, which is a really strange experience.

I have always been under the impression that I was going to have to apply for my job immediately after I came back from my trip, so it was with great delight that I found out from my supervisor on Wednesday, that although I may not have got the Office Manager's position, and I didn't get my own job, I got the next best thing.. I have had my position's contract extended by 5 months ... Now, my contract will extend until December this year, at which point I do need to apply for the position. It is such a relief being able to leave the country knowing that I will have work when I get back from my trip :)

Incidently here's a brief layout of my trip.

July 28 - August 3: Washington
August 3 - August 4: New York
August 5 - August 11: England, (I will be heading out to the Community Sheild (Manchester Utd v Arsenal)
August 11 - August 17: Scotland
August 17- August 20: Belfast
August 20 - August 23: Dublin
August 24: Arrive back in Sydney.

It's kinda 'whistle-stop-esque', but it will be fun....

Anyway, I do hope to write reflections while I am away. I am still working on my reflections on the Christian and Government and hope to finish that before I leave... but we'll see, it does depend on how crazy it gets here before I leave.

Social Involvement ..

I am reading John Stott's Issues Facing Christians Today, as I thnk about Christian's response to the government, and more generally how we live in this world. The following words were written by a homeless women, after the country vicar she turned to for help, went to the chapel to pray for her. Food for thought.

I was hungry
... and you formed a humanities group to discuss my hunger.
I was imprisoned,
... and you crept of quietly to your chapel and prayed for my
release.
I was naked,
... and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.
I was sick,
... and you knelt and thanked God for your health.
I was homeless,
... and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God
I was lonely
... and you left me alone to pray for me.
You seem so holy, so close to God
... but I am still very hungry - and lonely - and cold.

+++

Too much of our world is hungry, lonely and cold.

It's Been a While ...

I've been a little bit busy over the last few weeks with travel planing, applying for a job, and with work's 'biennial conference'. I've not really been able to do much else. This is sort of a random assortment of thoughts that have been running through my head over the last little while.

I mentioned on here before about Refugee Sunday. The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) has a speech by Julian Burnside QC 'Australia's Crimes Against Humanity' regarding the detention of Asylum Seekers in Australia. The issue has hit the news again as we have one boat that has breached our waters.

Yet, the government, the Australian government, my representatives want to overturn the High Court's decision that indefinite detention of children is illegal. Can someone explain that to me?

There is alot about the Australian nation that we can, and should be proud of; but its awfully hard to see at the moment. (There's another great piece in the Sydney Morning Herald by Hugh Mackay this weekend)

Yet, the front pages of our newspaper are not howling in protest, the majority of the public is in favour of our governments actions. So I ask, where to from here? Is this the Australia I am want to be a citizen of?

The other thing that has been on my mind lately has been related to the conference, a few of the sessions that I heard where on about the media, and its role in social policy issues. How can we get the media to re-examine the policy trends in our society, for example the Community's attitude to those on welfare payments and 'asylum seekers', our governments' (both State and Federal, both Liberal and Labour) attitude to education.

What's our role as members of our society in this?

And ... the subject for another post - as a Christian, how do we, or should we, register disapproval of our government.

Gratitude ...

(Words: Nichole Nordemann, from Woven and Spun, 2002).

Send some rain, would you send some rain?
'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high, and we are sinking in the shade
Would you send a cloud, thunder long and loud?
Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid
But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case ...

We'll give thanks to You with gratitude
For lessons learnt in how to thirst for You
How to bless the very sun that warms our face
If you never send us rain

Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight
wrap us up
and warm us through
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs
Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time
Or maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case ...

We'll give thanks to you
With Gratitude
A lesson learned to hunger after You
That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead
And if we never taste that bread

Oh the differences that often are between
Everything we want and what we really need

So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
Move our hearts to hear a single beat
Between alibis and enemies tonight
Or maybe not, not today
Peace might be another world away
And if thats the case

We'll give thanks to you
With Gratitude
For lessons learnt in how to trust in You

That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
And if You never grant us peace

But Jesus would You please ...

+++

I was listening to Nichole Nordemann's CD "Woven and Spun" this morning, and this song really hit me...

Some Reflections on the Psalms

I’ve been reading the Psalms over the last little while, and wanted to spend some time reflecting on the Psalms.

I’ve previously posted asking a question about Psalm 109, and how we should read it. After talking to my flatmates and reading a little bit more I realise that the Psalms are not sermons, they are not major theological discourses. Instead we learn a lot about the experience of God’s people from the Psalms, we learn a lot of about God, and we learn about the Psalmists, and Israel's relationship with God. The Psalms were poems, and were meant to be sung. (See C.S. Lewis – Reflections on the Psalms).

As a quick aside, how often do our churches read a Psalm together as part of their service? I think that we do lose a lot when we stop reading and reflecting on the Psalms in our Sunday gatherings). Just a thought.

I like this quote about the Psalms, (from the New Bible Dictionary, p981)

“Here (in the Psalms) are mirrored the ideals of religious piety and communion with God, of sorrow for sin, and the search for perfection, of walking in darkness, unafraid, by the lamp of faith, obedient to the law of God, delight in the worship of God, fellowship with the friends of God, reverence for the Word of God; humility under the chasetening rod, trust when evil triumph and wickedness prospers, serenity in the midst of the storm."

The Psalms is often my answer when people ask me what my favourite book of the bible is. Why do I like the Psalms? I think it is largely because it is a book which details how people experience their relationship with God. And it is not always “happy-clappy”. As life moves from joy to sadness and back to joy, so the Psalmist moves from praise through doubt to joy, with faith and trust in God always on view.

Each time I read it, there’s always a new Psalm or verse that strikes a chord with me. This time was no different. Not completely sure about this, so feel free to comment. There is a sense if we take the Psalms as an entity or take many Psalms in isolation; we see the Psalmist, move from orientation with God, through disorientation, and back to orientation.

Then there’s always verses that stick out. We used this one last year in our mission program with the theme “Road”:

Psalm 16:11 (ESV)
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Some of the images are awesome too, the attitude of the Psalmist to the Law in Psalm 119; (the Psalmist clings to the law, and mourns that it is not kept); the magery of the Psalmist “thirsting for God”, an image picked up by Jesus in John 4?

Anyway, just some of my random thoughts as I finish reading the book of the Psalms, and let me commend it to you.

Ps 116:12-14; Psalm 115:1