Four and a half generations

I have just completed the wedding of two parishioners 74 & 75.
It is a wonderful thing marriage....heard outside....come on Jenny...They are wanting pictures of four and a half generations.
Yes, the bride's grandaughter was there...positively bursting with baby...and yes, her mother was there too. 93 and not looking a day over 70!

Dropping out of view

From time to time we drop out of view for good reasons, and maybe not-s0-good reasons which may be beyond our control. Which is rather what is happening at the moment as we are having phone trouble, so internet access is only possible away from our normal point of access.
I am being so patient, telling myself that this helps me to understand how we can so easily become dependent on silly things like the internet.
But it is infuriating!!

The grinding mill

I will be interested if any commentators understand the significance of the adjacent picture.....
Any way, the telephone reconnection saga is proving to be more trying than the passport saga (see the entries for June 6-17, 2005 ....and by the way I did witness another lady in the GPO yesterday trying to convince the passport officer that she had a birth certificate, a marriage certificate, and various forms of ID, but he was not going to allow it....that another story )

The problem with phone issues is

• The call centres don't have enough technical expertise and so constantly pass the calls around...to alleviate their pain I think
• You never speak to the same person twice, so there is no continuity
• They don't log their calls properly, so there is not continuity
• They can't even get their phone numbers right, so there is no continuity.
• Technicians are now contractors, so they cannot make independent decisions
• Their reports are slow getting back into the system so there is little continuity
• Even when they do get back into the system they do not flow evenly through it so there is at best erratic continuity.

You may be wondering what this is all about, the story is not unlike the Hoffnung Bricklayer story and so I will let you wonder what it may be like. But without phone, occasionally without water, and now without even forwarding to my mobile....if you need to ring me then ring 0407718786.
I am hopeful, but not optimistic, that it may all be sorted out my mid next-week

Virtue its own reward

Still having trouble with the phone. Hopefully it will be fixed tomorrow. And we had a little plumbing disaster too. So amidst the screaming and shouting of trying to shower this morning...I was trying to say to my cohabitants....these are only minor events...how much we take for granted. Plumbing has been fixed, I think.
So I am feeling quite virtuous at being so tolerant, obviously Easter hasn't worn off yet!
Hopefully it won't.
Oh the photocopier ran out of toner and I have to wait in for the man to bring a replacement...oh virtue abounds. How can these machines just run out at a moment's notice?
Of course Ikea opens in Adelaide today. I doubt that my patience will extend to having to assemble DIY furniture. Deep breath, calm! Deep breath!

Trouble at mill

Unfortunately we are having phone trouble at the moment, so check back early next week.
Sorry.

Flah

The well know documented effected of "flah" occurs when ever we are brave enough to let go.
I am told it happens when ever you turn off Highway Number 1 outside Port Wakefield to head down York Pensinsula.
It certainly happens when you pass through Mount Compass on the way to the Eastern Fleurieu, and definitely happened on Monday morning when I woke at Port Elliott after a lovely Easter day with family. Vigorous walking, Easter egg hunting....the mad girl cousins 22-7 all giggling and laughing..nice food.
If you don't understand then simply take a deep breath and say ....Flahhhhh!

It captures the sentiment.

Little doubt

What a curious thing ebay is! Some will not be familiar with this new way of doing trade. Is it the way of the future, only a decade will tell I suspect.
What it does do is encourage people to divest themselves of superfluity! Instead of tucking it in the bottom of the wardrobe, why not get rid of it. There is such a diversity of material (see here) and then again (Here)
It is, perhaps, the way our society has discovered of effectively redeploying its resources.

Off the tiles

Yesterday's activity was to remove the tiles from the roof of the old hall.
It's good to note that there is a fair deal of reclamation and recycling going on.
Windows and doors are typical of a certain era, and so are useful to those who no longer find them available.

Though inevitably demolition is a wasteful activity. Like life really!!It is never a clear cut process, and certainly not tidy.

Cheap petrol!

I suspect that the adjacent icon changes as price changes. Some of us find it difficult to believe that $1.23 is actually cheap.
Let me trace some of my petrol memories.

• When we came to Australia in 1967 I think petrol was 36cents a gallon (about 4.5 litres)
• When service stations started putting up signs so that you could see the price before you drove in the late 70s early 80s, then petrol was 9c a litre.
• I well remember the horror I felt when (in about 1987) it cost me more than $20 to fill the tank of my Datsun Sunny.
• I have in the last few weeks put over $80 worth of petrol in my fairly ordinary Ford sedan (tank about 65 L)
• I have yet to understand how relatively modest increases in the barrel prices for oil are reflected by significantly greater increases at the pump {in the last year the pump seems to have gone up 25%---say from $1 to $1.25--- but the barrel has gone up by about 16% ---say from $57 to $67---} I would have thought the two should have been exact parallels
• I am seriously thinking about buying a scooter!
  

And so it begins

I am sorry that we will now have the saga of another developing building. ( see here for example which some enjoyed)
This time the long awaited development of the Parish Hall site at Blackwood.
Waiting for lawyers to get contracts ready (we were ready to go at the beginning of December), Yesterday the demolition began in earnest.
There is nothing that can make this process beautiful as the accompanying pictures show us.
Someone did observe that this is a good week to begin this sort of process with its themse of death and resurrection.
I hope so. I shall keep you posted

An ethical mind

Some interesting questions in a seminar today: how do you decide what to spend your limited health dollars on? What constitutes ethical research?
A Jewish Rabbi gave us some insights into her grappling with these and other issues. One of her claims to fame is that she represented the interests of a baboon in a cross species medical experiment.
By all counts an unpleasnat affair in which the baboon ended up dead.
What is clear is that the Jewish approach, while having certain strong points because of its sophisticated approach to rules and laws, also leaves something to be desired because it doesn't easily allow for difficult situations. And we were quite mild in our questions, and I am afraid that you can only hear ...Yes that is a tricky situation...so often without realising that this code doesn't actually seem to address it.
Whilst affirming strongly that it is God's desire for harmony and bl;essing for the world (and that is worth saying) I also want a bit more than just sophisticated rules.

What a week!

Like most observances, the vast majority of people will ignore this week and just get on with the race that we call our "day to day existence".
Perhaps there will be a brief break over the weekend as we take some time off afforded by the longer than usual weekend.
Yesterday, a group of us began Holy Week by walking the Way of the Cross at the Monastery at Glen Osmond. It is always quite moving.
The non-religious of you will have already stopped reading!
I think there is a case for taking time this week to make sure it doesn't just get frittered away. Whether you are a Christian or not we all live in a world in which we have to confront elements of suffering, injustice pain and death.
These are not things that can be ignored.
Take a few moments this week to think about your own life and look at the harder parts of it. You can if you want reflect what God might be saying to you, but if you are not that way inclined then at least try and challenge yourself to think about what your real life is trying to invite you to respond to.
Or you can just go about your business trying to ignore it all. Hoping that Friday will come as soon as possible!!

Fire away

Australians are so used to thinking of our closest neighbour as Papua-New Guinea that we forget that the western part of that island (West Papua) is actually one of the many provinces of Indonesia.
Indeed so bad are we at geography that we also forget that Indonesia is not a single land mass at all, but rather a federation of island states.
All islands have a sense of their autonomy....we could mention Tasmania, Thursday Island, Norfolk Island and our own Kangaroo Island and recognise that, too different degrees, they see their own uniqueness and have, often, a different sense of their destiny than a centralist government might posess.
So when West Papuans land on our doorstep claiming to be refugees (see here) we need to recognise a number of things:

• there are competing understanding about the status of these people
• there is a huge political imperative to not alienate our largest near neighbour, Indonesia
• there is a popular belief that we will do the right thing and that we will always strive for justice
• these things are not necessarily compatible!

So at the very least we need to exercise a little patience and try and not go off half-cocked. This needs time to be worked through, and not impulsiveness.
I feel I want to say more, but some howit would be wrong to do so.

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Lock up your churches

I am always enraged by bland comment such as that contained in the heading to this particular entry to my weblog.
I am echoing a report in the local Church Guardian (page 3, see here)on a spate of recent church break-ins, I want to challenge the assertion that because there are thefts from churches therefore we must ensure that our churches are firmly locked.
Early in my ministry a priest colleague said to me that we should do everything we can to keep our churches open. And I have tried to do that, with, I believe, some success.
It would be a mistake to argue solely from my limited experience, but maybe that is all I have to go on.
Some subjective observations then:

• The worst break-in I have experienced occurred in the parish where I was a curate when I was first ordained. The Church was always kept locked.
• In my first sole-charge parish we lived in a poor area known for some social problems, drugs and violence. Our policy was to keep the church open during daylight time, there was no vandalism to the church and there was plenty of evidence that people came in to pray...I have a number of stories of catching people at it...prayer that is!
• The worst vandalism to that church was grafitti to the outside just after we had painted it...it wouldn't have made any difference if the church was locked or open.
• My next parish was kept open during daylight and there was an accident in which a piece of marble was knocked over (accidently probably). Plenty of evidence of people coming in to pray.
• My present parish has two churches. One is kept open 24 hours a day. The other (because it is remote) is secured unless someone is around.
  
• I have had numerous expressions of appreciation of this policy, and also lots of comments from people about how awful it is when you go on holiday and can't get into churches.

I am not advocating a blind folly here. But we should not just assume that the only way of dealing with community disorder is by retreating to the safety of our secure cocoon. At least one prominent church in this Diocese takes the need to be open so seriously that it has a roster of people who are able to staff it during daylight hours.

Let us not give away the open church policy out of fear or lack of thought. Let us not allow our own obsession with the material, insurance and social fear to dictate what we ought to do. Maybe we have to put some effort and energy into it. Not a bad thing to do really!!

Idealistic? I hope so!

Slaves

Competing with slaves makes slaves of us all. Makes economic sense to me.

Culture with a capital 'K'

I am sure that many Australians will lament the death of Pro Hart who, it is said, has sold more art work than any other living Australian artist.
His funeral today will be a testimony to his popular appeal.
But is it art? This has been the substance of the debate that has gone on. It being noted that none of his works have been hung, for example, in the National Gallery in Canberra. And the SA Gallery was in the process of dusting one off for another exhibition when he died.
Who decides what is good and what is bad "art"? Clearly some art is bad. Only doting mothers and grandparents can like some pieces of work.
But Hart's work has character, it is quirky, it is interpretive and has some degree of challenge.
On top of this it has popular appeal.
The culture vultures often don't like this. If something is popular, in the eyes of some critics it must almost always be bad!
I well remember a much esteemed art-critc (esteemed in his own eyes any way) speaking at a church function [this may give you a clue as to who it was]. While at once attesting to the false dichotomy between popular culture and High Kultur, he then went on to talk solidly for 50 minutes about nothing else other than the high end of the spectrum.
The ghastliness of this was even further exposed because the organisation to which he was speaking was at that time in total crisis. and, completely missing the opportunity, this commentator chose to talk about his passion rather than to address the reality of the day.
It rather exposes the High Kultur game. They tell us that certain things are "good" and "profound" and that other things are "trivial" and yet so often High Kultur fails to connect with all but the afficionados.
As spectacular as "The Ring Cycle" might be, it is expensive to produce and accessible to the few rather than the many. As expensive as "Blue Poles" was...it looks like splashes of paint to most of us.
It is not all like this..Picasso, Monet, Eliot, Stoppard...and so on
But I can hear the shouts of "philistine' already.
Hart simply is better than the local art show, and his popular appeal should be lauded not disparaged.