Bonjour! Guten Morgen! Ni Hao -- or too much choice

How much hope is there for the world when the problem taxing our household today is which language we should study for the rest of our High School Career?
That our darling 12 year old (who this time in a month will actually be 13) is agonising over this must augur well for her future.
And I do mean "agonising". She actually wants to do all three!!
So shame on the educational system of an elite private school (here) that intends that this bunch of girls will only be able to formally study one language.
Any way, the discussion went like this...I know that French is my least favourite choice...so effectively "la langue des anges" ( I actually got this right before I weakened and checked it on Babel Fish)has been discarded before the race has begun.
That she can contemplate either of the other two is a joy for me. One only has to listen to the St Matthew Passion to know that German is really "die Sprache der Engel" (I did have to use Babel Fish to do that....lack of confidence mainly).
So we are discerning today. She doesn't know that this is the name of the process, or that we are using the technique of Holy Inigo of Loyola.
Today we are deciding that we will do Chinese and noting how that makes us feel. Tomorrow we will be deciding on German and noting that.
Then sometime in the next few days we will be reflecting oin the two.
It's a good and true technique. We all need to be more attentive to proper discernment when it comes to difficult choices.
Might I say that that the thing I am most proud about with this gorgeous girl is that she is not doing what she was first tempted to do when we discussed this a few weeks ago...and that is do what is easiest!
We talked about that and in her quiet way she has understood that the easiest path is not necessarily the best path.
Maybe I will also have to learn that Chinese is "天使的语言" (certainly used the Fish!!!)
What it is to be 13!!!...well nearly

Ich habe genug!!!

None but the lonely heart that is

It is most remiss of me to not have reported that my formerly referred to stress test (here)was OK. Though naturally you get pushed beyond the level that you would choose to naturally operate at, or at least that I choose to operate at.
The specialist did say "It's my job to crack the whip".
Well, I am pleased to say that all seems well. The occasional pain that I get does not seem likely to be related to heart...and who knows what it is? In reality I am now 54 and heading in the wrong direction!
Thanks to all of you who bothered to go beyond the blog and make enquiry. It is always salutary to be reminded that people do actually read the weblog.

Boom boody boom

Today I have to go and have my heart monitored under stress. This doesn't seem to me a bad thing since both my parents were told in their 20s that they would be lucky to see 30. My father did have a massive heart attack when he was 59, but my mother lived until she was 83 and then just died!
But with occasional chest pain and giddiness it is as well to be safe rather than the proverbial sorry. At least the doctor the other day seemed to think it was unlikely there was a problem.
Well we hope so!!
For all you smokers out there, I was interested to note that she still seemed to think that having been quite a heavy smoker was still a risk factor...even though I gave up 22 years ago. But I had smoked for 15 years. So stop now!!

Walking away

Authority is such a curious thing, that at times it needs to be exercised by walking away. A frequent temptation, it seems to me, is to use it to intervene and "sort things out".
I can understand that in crisis situations someone may need to take control. But at other times there seems little point in compelling people. They may comply, many of us after all have been well-schooled in obedience, but I doubt if this is a strategy for winning the hearts and minds of all but those who want to be told what to do. And there are a bunch of those folks.
This is where I think fundamentalism (of all sorts and sizes) has a field day. There are scores of people who want to be told what to do and not to have to think for themselves. In a world of complexity there is a certain sense of attraction in just obeying rather than thinking for oneself.
I was deeply influenced by a priest in my youth whose sole aim in life seemed to be draw people into a type of church in which people were obedient to clergy. He was anti everything that smacked of personal autonomy, he decried (for example) non-directive counselling preferring rather to give people definitive answers about what to do and how to behave.
The only problem with that sort of approach is that though it may bring about compliance from those who are wont to be compliant, it doesn't exactly bring about growth in independence and freedom.
For one who feels that freedom is what God want for us all, such slavery to authority is repugnant.
But is this a cop out?
Some times I wonder if struggling with people to get them to decide for themselves rather than me to decide for them is so slow that it grinds to a halt. But what alternative is there.

By the bye, my contribution to the wit of the 20th century is that "Anglicans like to be told what to do, so that they can go ahead and not do it" Like all wit is lambent with truth!!!

Ich habe genug! - I have enough

I blogged not so long ago about why enough is never enough (here) and this morning in my online meditation time (here: good resource to checkout if you're that way inclined) we have "Ich habe genug" from one of those Bach Cantatas that he just churned out ( No 82) and yet they are some of the most powerfully sublime music in the world.
The passage that goes with it are those words...It is hard for a rich person to enter into the kingdom of heaven... an interesting response fromm Peter comes.....who then can be saved? and later he says "What will we have?"
I am often struck by that curious response.
At the very least Peter seems to assume that Jesus is confronting a value...becoming rich.... that everyone just takes for granted.
Now I am now old enough to know that that value is shallow, but it is often hard to remain convinced. Or to say with any conviction I have enough!
The commentator asks of you and me...what are the riches that you are storing up....do any of them get in the way.
There is an unspoken question...what will we have? This is not an unreasonable question. We pursue this religious stuff for a purpose, what will we have? I have been well-schooled to want almost nothing material. Childhood frugality, and austere religious values. And yet I have enormous amount of stuff!!
I find the values of my children confronting, because by and large they have been seduced by the values of the world...but are gradually (and sadly) learning their shallowness too. Maybe there is hope.
At times I want to cry out....is this all there is? Or ...this isn't working!...but maybe today's gift can be (for a little while at least) Ich habe genug! - I have enough

War mistakes

News that Israeli commandos have already engaged in agressive action in Lebanon will come as no suprise to most. The Israeli government is launching an enquiry into what went wrong (here) . Well, I can tell them. They were aggressive and invasive and that doesn't seem to be a good combination. In fact one would have to question whether the agressive-invasive tactic has been at all sucessful in the last 40 years.
Those who see war as a strategy for peace will tell us that some times it is the only way.
My point is...it doesn't seem to work.
As for the Israelis, well I don't think they are actually investigating why they didn't succeed in blowing the crap out of Hezbollah; rather it's why they didn't succeed in blowing the crap out of Hezbollah without question by the rest of the world!!!

Apple admits to unfair labor in China

Maybe it is true that Australians never had it so good!!

18 August 2006 10:06 by Davedough (on After Dawn)
Apple admits to unfair labor in ChinaIn a press release earlier, Apple admitted that there has been unfair work environments in their factories in China which produce the iPod.

Apple has said that it's own investigation has shown the working conditions to be excessive, and is now only enforcing a "normal" 60 hour work week. They further went on to say that there was no report of enforced labor or the use of children in their factories.

A representative from Apple has said "Our investigation found that our top iPod manufacturing partner, Foxconn, complies with our supplier code of conduct in most areas and is taking steps to correct the violations we found."

Janek Kuczkiewicz, director of ICFTU (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions) has stated that he is not impressed by Apple's report.

Outspoken prophets

In a splashy prophetic gesture Archbishop John Sentamu of York, England's first black Archbishop, had his head shorn and anointed in preparation for an act of solidarity with the victims of the Lebanon-Israel war.
He will spend time camped out in his cathedral to draw attention to the plight of those who have been made homeless by the seemingly senseless violence from both sides, which is hopefully now over. And one wonders what has been gained.
One advantage (there are not many) of being Archbishop of York is that you can draw attention to yourself. And though the world may think you are quirky at least it keeps the subject alive.
At least he is being careful to keep it real and have a genuine point of human contact for those who might take notice.
Sentamu says: "I have received letters and calls from people about this conflict, and people are asking 'What can I do?' They feel helpless, they feel bewildered but they want to do something in response to the suffering that they have been watching on their televisions, hearing on their radios and reading in their newspapers." "So my call to everyone is to join me in prayer, join me in fasting join me in providing a meal for every displaced person - especially women and children, medicine for the sick; and at a future date be part of the reconstruction of the areas, in both countries, that have been destroyed"
This seems manageable and authentic.

Another prophet is SA Upper House Member Anne Bressington who yesterday called for all school kids over 14 to be randomly drug-tested.
This doesn't seem to me to be manageable, even though it may be authentic!
Authentic in the sense that Ms Bressington is no doubt tapping into public fears, but unmanageable in the sense that it is taking a sledge-hammer to crack a nut. But maybe I lead a protected life.
I also want to ask (having been a teacher) would teachers be drug-tested, would school volunteers likewise be tested? Will, in the end, MPs be drug tested? And where does this stop?
It seems unmanageable in the sense that any system is inevitably expensive and/or flawed. And begs all sorts of moral questions like why should the obvious rights (innnocent until guilty) of minors be trampled because of fear.

We hear prophecy from the PM today too as he speaks out about the Vietnam War on this anniversary of the battle of Long Tan. He uttered the magic word "sorry", which will inevitably puzzle us all since we had thought he was incapable of doing such a thing!
This makes me suspicious that this is "management" rather than authenticity. Management because the Vietnam lobby now gains much popular sympathy, and we all know how fond dear John is of the popular vote!! But authentic? A little late for that, particularly given his history in saying, or not saying, the magic word.

Pardon me!

The news that Britain is planning to pardon 306 WWI deserters who were executed is an interesting reflection on the changing understanding of war. Some of the cases cited are horrific in terms of young men who were forced on numerous occasions to go into situation ("over the top") and finally just cracked. In retrospect their treatment looks like lunacy and at least we can see that we have changed. The world will no longer tolerate this. And so this pardon seems appropriate.
In the opposite direction we look back on crimes that were overlooked only a decade or so ago, particularly in the area of sexual abuse,(here for a recent example) and require an accountability that at the time was not exacted.
Both of these movements, it seems to me, are good and sensible. What they say about the changing nature of our society is open for debate? Are we becoming more tolerant, more reasonable, mnore accountable? Or does this all have a degree of whimsy that will change in another decade or more?

Money, money, money!

I went to one of those seminars last night about how to make buckets of money trading shares at home. It was quite fascinating really. Christians (of my ilk any way) have all sorts of curious guilt feelings about the theology of money.
At least the presenter was pretty upfront...what are the two motivating factors he asks? And the obedient responses form the audience....Fear and Greed!!
This does not sit well with either my Puritanism or my Catholicism, even though both have been able to rationalise the pursuit of wealth as a goal in itself at different times. It did well, however, to remind me that the love of money is indeed a slippery slope going in the opposite direction....by and large to the one I enjoy and want to go in.
One of the troubles is that I just don't care enough about money. Maybe I should. At times this has made life difficult, though my basic stance remains the same.....I can think of better things to do with my time than to scrutinise my portfolio.
Is this a flaw, a weakness? Am I a poor steward? Maybe I can only even muse like this because I am one of the lucky ones. I am ever conscious of the fact that there are many people who don't have anything like the choices that I and my family do in matters of: healthcare, education, holidays, housing....and so on. It is true of Australia as a whole. But we in Australia are vastly more wealthy, even in our poorest manifestations, than much of the world. Our own fear and greed often prevent us from seeing this, to my mind, quite obvious reality

Policy on the run-panic politics,

This morning I rang up to see about getting the car converted to LPG. It is of course a thankless task and the horse has just bolted.
The chap said that yesterday (Monday) a.m. they were booked up till the end of this month. Then last night it was November, by the time I rang at 9.05 it was mid-December.
They haven't rung back to confirm so it's probably 2011 by now.
What vaguely amuses me is that our usually ultra-cautious PM is obviously spooked by this relatively insignificant issue (in the scheme of things). But which looms large in the hip pocket of the voters.
Ever the one to be guided by the polls he has dutifully responded.
No preparation for this or anything. There surely must be a shortrage of technicians and gas tanks and what ever else. There must have been an easier way to do this if all you wanted to do was to appease the voters (why not halve the GST on petrol for example).
I suppose you must give someone some credit for kicking us all into the LPG direction.
But it is not far enough. We need to be thinking about new technology. Battery and hydrogen operated for example.
Surely it won't be long before someone suggests the nuclear car!!! There you go I just suggested it!!!

A small victory-one up for democracy

News that the government has removed its Migration Bill from the Senate, in the face of almost certain defeat, cheers those of us who think the Bill lacks the basic compassion and decency which is supposed to characterise the Australian psyche.
It should cheer those of us who have feared government majorities in both houses would mean a defacto dictatorship, no matter how benevolent. [YES I do mean dicatorship....when one person or group is allowed to do what they want without genuine political accountability that is dictatorship)
It should cheer those who voted for Family First (I didn't and wouldn't) thinking that they are genuinely interested in family values and not just political influence. Senator Fielding (ptL) has at least been true to these convictions and not been seduced by the offers (no doubt) of political favours and influence. That will not go away for him.
This is far from over, of course. But it is one up for democracy

All in the mind

I am a traditional believer. I happily assent to the credal statements of the Christian Church. Though that statement is not without qualification...another story.....
Recent discussions and reading raise the question about whether religious experience is, to put it in a shorthand way, all in the mind. This is more than Freud's (to my mind) crude analysis that religion is a kind of universal neurosis, or Marx's analysis that it is the opium of the people. (It would be presumptuous of me to pretend that I understand the subtleties of what these significant thinkers were talking about...they are perhaps more referred to out of prejudice than out of knowledge. ) Any way, the question emerged from reading about what sorts of people eneter into the caring professions.
This is less straight forward than saying "people who care". There are clearly many people in caring professions who don't care, and equally well people in non-caring professions who are profound examples of people who genuinely care.
The question is more do people who enter caring professions (priests and ministers included) have a need within themselves that is satisfied by the task of caring for people. I think there is something in this.
It is not necessarily a negative thing, but something which needs to eb acknowledged.
Likewise, by extension, we might ask whether the religious have something within them that draws them to religion. That is, they need to be religious.
And is this a bad thing, or just a reality that needs to be acknowledged. It raises for the question for the evangelist that if we believe the Gospel truth has a certain objectivity about it....How do you communicate to those who do not have a religious need?
This question is not new but is certainbly an important one in our world.

Roll 'em, Roll 'em, Roll 'em

The fence around the new building was shifted so that we can no longer access the front door of the church. At times our driveway is blocked so we have to park on the road. Ohhhh how easily our lives are disturbed.
Any way things are moving on apace...I am pleased to say.
This week's activity has principally been the taking out of the compacted earth that was our car park and replacing it with lovely new soil (looks terribly fertile).


Which is why, I suppose, it will then be turned into a car park.
Suddenly the all too confined space between the church and the centre looks huge as the young guy driving the roller flattens the new stuff out. It looked like fun, I wanted to ask himn if I could have a go!
Roll on opening date.

Practical Blogging

Lest you trhink all blogging is just a waste of time here is som,e extended advice from a blog I was just reading:

Safety first for Snowblowing

There are some safety measures you'll want to take before you power up your snow blower. If you're using a gas-powered model, start it up outside to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.

Gas-powered blowers can be pretty loud so don't forget earplugs. Don't wear loose scarves, paints or jackets that can get caught in the machinery.

Last but not least, NEVER use your hands or feet to clear a clog in the machine. Turn off the engine (or unplug an electric blower) before trying to clear blockages and always use the clearing tool that comes with your blower. If your model didn't come with one, Consumer Reports recommends using a wooden broom handle for clogs.

Keep it pointed this direction, here at Snow Blow Your Mind for all of the latest information on the hottest trends in those wonderful backsavers. Hard to find deals along with hints, tips, and general usage are our speciality. We are there when it goes on sale so you can keep your dough when it comes time to head to warmer destinations. Everything about Snow Blowers is what we do!

Lest you think all blogging is not a waste of time here is some extended analysis of modal logic from another blog

The modal logic bit

There are many modal logics which have properties in common, for instance probability logics, logics of tense, deontic logics.. The gist is: take all the usual propositional logic connectives and add the operators □ and ◊. As a first approximation, □P (”box P”) means “it’s necessary that P” and ◊P (”diamond P”) means “it’s possible that P”. Kripke models are used to characterise when a model logic sentence is true.

But what does it mean?

As you sow

My reflection today has been about that passage in Galatians....As you sow, so shall you reap. It's a pretty challenging idea about the way we live our lives.
I am struck about how much these days I, we, you protect ourselves by sowing sparingly.....perhaps the result of having sowed too vigorously in the past.
I want to sow abundantly in my relationships and I have thrown a lot of seed in areas which are very demanding (churchy stuff?) which is often a voracious monster

Some more thoughts:

As you sow, so shall you weep (Subsistence farming)
As you sow (corporate accountability)
As you sow (ghosts coming back to haunt you)
......there may be more during the day

How're you going?

A local radiuo commentator was cajoled by his partner for playing a "track" on Friday last which was aimed at getting people to relax and meditate. It was such a good idea that I was keen to follow it up.
If you are interested the site is here. His mate, however, did refer to it as a drone!!
Personally I think many people are looking forward to easy ways to pray, meditate or just relax. So maybe we shoudl just accept it for what it is.
I am in the process of developing a small resource for a seminar for some stressed carers later this month. It will contain simple instructions for meditation ( largely non-religious) and an accompanying CD. This resource will be readily available for $10-$15 if you would like to contact me.

Who was that person I saw you with last night?

Adelaide being such a small place, it is not possible to go to semi-amateur theatre (A funny thing happened on the way to forum by 20 to 1 Theatre ) and fail to see or be seen. So there were several people whose boyfriend's name was Chuck there. (You need to watch Legally Blondeto understand that!!)
Any way I was indeed seen, or not seen. Let me relate three incidents.....we went because S's friend Robert, Bob...or as he was referred to in the program "Bobby".... was on stage. And did well.
Bob's mother came to chat to S & I at interval.. 5 minutes in she says to S..."And how's your mum and dad?"
I don't know who she thought I was. Or why S would be going to the theatre with a 50+ year old man unless he was her father.
To be sure I didn't recognise her either, having only met her once....but I was at least able to work out.,. who she was.
Then after the performance, T who we once knew quite well, who has been in our house and iced cakes with us for Christmas, smiled and when I said "Hello" she replied "I should know who you are...?" And I was amazed that she didn't ...I simply said "Well I have probably lost a lot weight since last I saw you"
On the way home after everyone had congratulated the cast the said Bobby SMS'd my daughter...."Was that you FATHER who was with you?" Who did Bob think was accompanying Sarah!!!!
Have I disappeared completely? Am I a caterpillar that has turned into a butterfly?
It is so Kafkaesque! And typical of our society that weight loss renders your a new person.
Vaguely humorous

New Clothes

I am sure some of you will be interested/enraged/in agreement with the aspects of a discussion going on on a blog in the US (see here). While the discussion has got sidetracked about whether or not you are allowed to wear jeans to church, the original commentator is asking the question about whether the idea of "relaxed fit" has actually gone beyond the relatively minor isssue (to me) of how dressed up you should get to go to church.
Have churches (or some of them) developed an understanding that God fits us, rather than we fit God. It is an intriguing question. This is I think a much deeper question than wearing jeans to church.
Personally I think God begins where we are and will challenge absolutely everything that we will put in God's place in our lives.
Certainly those of us who only want God to address those areas of our life that we find convenient will be confronted by that closedness to God's all-embracing vision for each one of us.
But equally well those of us who are "dressed appropriately" will be challenged about the narrowness of what we define as 'orthodoxy'.
It is easy to see this when we focus on clothes, because we seee the absurdity of what ever lines we draw.
There is little doubt, for example, that my clothes would be deemed acceptable. I tend not to wear jeans, and dress pretty conservatively. But the trousers that I am wearing now cost $29 from an outlet shop at Harbour Town . Anyone who has bought designer jeans will know that you can't by $29 designer jeans!!
So how do you decide what is acceptable dress. Clearly (in some commentators' minds at least) it is style...not quality (as evidenced by cost) that is the deciding factor. And who are the arbiters of style...and why?
It is not too hard to realise that many of the statements about "watering down"...I am not here talking about clothing but more important issues like what and how people are to believe....might also be more questions of style and opinion than genuine orthodoxy.
The dilemma? This is of course is also a pretty doctrinaire sort of stance.
Personally carlinville church seems more to my liking than slice of laodicea

Anti liberal or pro-orthodox

American commentator Thomas Oden (interviewed today on The Religion Report ) gives an interesting rationale for the newly defined "confessing" movement within the churches. It doesn't take long for such discussions to get semantic; asked whether the right wing movement was "anti liberal" he responded that it was "pro orthodox".
This is not unlike the anti-abortion <--> pro-life distinction, with which I have some sympathy. But which is also an exercise in capturing the semantic high ground.
I have some problem assuming that "pro-orthodox" means narrowly conservative. Indeed I understand Christian orthodoxy to be a radical movement. Jesus himself challenges us to move away from the nitpicking of conservatism and to adopt a radical stance towards humanity.
St Paul reminds us that it is for freedom that we have been set free, a stratement of radical inclusion and openness to human life. Yet so much of neo-conservatism seems to be about defining narrower and yet narrower boundaries which keep people out rather than draw people in.
These sharp boundaries indeed have a certain appeal to people who need to feel that security lies in exact knowing. For me, radical orthodoxy as typified by the cross and the resurrection says rather that faith in God is not about certainty of outcome, it is about being able to trust God even when things seem to rock and roll underneath us.

It's time to go.....Camilla, Johnny, Jamie, Peter, Ehud, Ibrahim

What will I blog about tomorrow? ]
Now that BB has ended (poor result I think...but who cares) I will have to stop musing about what "reality" means.
Now that the PM has said he will be leading the party to the next election ((poor result I think...but do we care?)....well maybe there is a little more in that story still to go.
It will only take the Lebanese war to end (well I think we all should care about that) but then that will be over.....I was faintly surprised to hear Dr Rice say that she was hopeful there would be a ceasefire within a week. I wanted to shout out ....perhaps if you had stopped supplying Israel with weapons then there would have been a ceasefire a long time ago. they were,of course, (and are) still supplying them as rtecently as yesterday and dragging their allies along with them.
Any way, back to the PM. I reckon that there is a degree of smartness going on here that needs to be recognised. And Costello could well be in on it.
Let's ask ourselves if we were Peter Costello would you rather be PM opr Leader of the Opposition?
Let's also ask who is more likely to lead the Liberals to victory, Costello or Howard? I think the answer is obvious. So, reluctantly, Costello is wiser to let Howard win the victory and then to take over than to risk being seen not only as the "also-ran leader" but as the one who lost the election.
No, there is more to all this than meets the eye.
The sad thing is, as one writer put it yesterday, the fact that we are maintaining the status quo means the endless droning on of the questioning of the PM about whether or not he will see out a full term....if we think about it for more than 3 seconds we will realise that it is not terrible significant for you and me. It is a selection of variety rather than a fundamental choice of philosophy.
Ahhhh! roll on Sunday......(Australian Idol begins!)