Cafe Sudoku

As we often do, we road our bikes to our favourite cafe for a coffee. This time was different because we arranged to meet Joy and Abigail there. As we sat around a table out came a picture Sudoku pack especially designed for young children. You complete the Sudoku puzzle by adding animal stickers to the blank spaces. This way is fun for adults as well. Joy and Abigail had never done a Sudoku before and this was the perfect initiation into it. By the time we were half way through the first sheet Joy had the hang of it and could have more fun with Abigail at home.

Abigail's attention span was actually very good, but there was a limit to all this thinking, even with animal stickers. As we neared "cracking" the first sheet, she changed the game into something resembling Bingo. It was all pretty good fun. The coffees were good and the chocolate muffin went down well, shared by all.

We then showed Abigail how we dress for bike riding against the winter winds, and they waved us off. It was a nice way to spend a few hours... friends, bikes, coffee and Sudoku.

Against Domestic Violence

We strolled passed a shop recently and saw a tidy display at the entrance. The people running the shop had decided to promote a campaign titled "Break the Silence on Domestic Violence". There were twenty different cards on offer to take and read. Peter was given the "key" card (central in the picture). On the back it read:

Tip to help a friend #4:

If you feel a bit helpless, ask you friend what sort of help they'd like from you. They're not expecting you to solve the problem, and you've already done heaps just by listening. Asking will help your friend think about what to do next.

It's important that your friend keeps trusting you and feels like they're in control of the story. If you think someone else needs to know, tell your friend first. Together you can think about who can be trusted, but don't tell anyone until your friend is okay with it.

Their website is: www.stopviolence.com.au

We were really encouraged to see this timely focus on this smothered social problem. We were doubly encouraged that the advice on the cards was appropriate and sensitive for all parties concerned. This promotion could work wonders.

Barb's Trip

Barb has returned from a sensational holiday away with family in Canada. She even sun-baked. Her first destination was her brother's family in Alberta. It was good to catch up with them after nearly three years. Michelle was there too and one day took Barb to Pigeon Lake, such a tranquil place and very beautiful.

Barb's daughter Bec arrived the following day with both Piper and Jasper. Jasper warmed to Barb pretty fast even though the last time he had seen her was when he was eight months old last December. And Piper wanted to sit on Barb's lap at the meal table, which was very nice. The little ones also enjoyed Michelle and Melissa and all the animals there on Chris and Kym's farm. Kym was very impressed with Jasper. She thought he was just sooooo cooperative.

While she was there, Barb made loads of buns for all to eat. They also had "bannick" which is dough wrapped round a stick and cooked over an open fire. Then while still hot and after being screwed of the branch bannicks are plastered with butter and honey or jam. Even Barb's nephew Bryan made the three hour trip to see her, and Barb made buns for him to take on his return journey.

Barb saw a yellow oriel bird and plenty of hummingbirds around the feeder. She spent time with Bec, even visiting an op shop and a fabric shop with her. Piper had a number of horse rides with Chris "Binky", Barb's brother. Binky was so sweet with her. Barb even joined them on a horse ride.

Barb was there for Canada Day (29 June). That is a time of parades and festival events and she enjoyed being a part of it.

At the end of that week, Barb was off flying to Winnipeg, Manitoba, two provinces further along. In fact, Manitoba is the central state of Canada from both the Atlantic and the Pacific directions. Bec had got back there earlier with Piper and Jasper. She and Gord made Barb feel very welcome. There were roses her room and Piper and Jasper included Barb in their play.

That weekend saw them take Barb camping with Gord's family at Moose Lake in tents. That was a particularly fun time for Piper and Jasper and all their young cousins.

By now Barb knew that she was having an extraordinary time, enriched by God's goodness through Bec and Gord and all the Funk family. Gord gave Barb time at the wheel of the car and guided her on a "safe" course through their town Steinbach. Barb really appreciated that. It was such a tonic being there. There were shops and a cafe near by. Barb bought ingredient to make buns and jam, which were enjoyed for one afternoon tea. And at Gord's sister's place she had the best strawberry milkshake she had ever had.

They did a shopping excursion to Winnipeg and Barb had so much fun doing the consumer thing. It was there where she finally got some postcards. She was so late with her postcards that she beat them back to Australia.

Bec and Gord took Barb to the annual Folk Festival. This event went into the late twilight of the Canadian Summer (towards 11pm). Later they took her to the Mennonite Heritage Village. They had the most delicious homely and tasty meals there surrounded by families enjoying the time too. The old buildings and barns gave a lot of insight into times past, but also insight too about the wholesome pace of life and how it was occupied. Barb longed for more of that sense of not being so hurried. Maybe there is a way of achieving that. The village flour is ground by the onsite windmill, and the bread tasted delicious. That night they had a lovely bike ride with Piper and Jasper in the chariot on the back of Gord's bike. They toured the town on a beautiful mild balmy evening.

Gord's parents introduced Barb to their neighbours who raise and sell miniature horses. The couple who breed the horses love Piper and think she is four going on twenty-four. Piper loves them too and loves the little horses. They suit her size and she got to have a ride on one. Gord said that going to these horses may have just increased their financial outlay for Piper!

To conclude Barb's time in Manitoba, they stayed in Winnipeg for two nights at a nice hotel. While there they visited the Winnipeg zoo and generally had a relaxing time. Barb took Jasper on early morning walks to a nearby cafe to give Bec a bit of a sleep-in. Jasper loved these walks with Barb and would even be first to the door after hearing the suggestion. He was a hit at the early morning cafe.

Barb then flew back to Edmonton and spent quality time with Chris, Kym, Michelle and Melissa in the hours before her flight through to Vancouver and on to Australia. They took her to a Chinese restaurant and then to Wal-Mart and a few other places to help Barb find a few last minute things to take back. That little "window" with the Alberta family was a blessing and she felt so cared for.

So after three and a half weeks gallivanting in Canada, Barb arrived back in Melbourne, via Sydney. Melbourne weather organised a chilly reception, to which she responded by layering herself with her recently purchased Canadian woollies, beanie, scarf and mittens. She was ready for a blizzard if there was one. It had been a trip well spent – a God event.

Men's Bible Study

Peter attends the men's Bible Study. Our church has one of these groups that are just for men. There is also a women's group that meets on the same night. All the other cell groups are open to mixed gender. The photo shows the sort of men who come. There are about seven who regularly attend. Not all make it on the same night. This photo marked the last night at our present location. Tony has built a new home further north and the move there is imminent. A few of us will have to drive much further to Bible study while others, especially Gordon, will have a quicker trip.

Our night's study began with the Elephantine Papyri. This is an ancient Jewish manuscript dating from the fifth century BC. It was a letter written by the Jewish community at Elephantine (modern name), an island in the Nile River, Egypt. There were useful connections to our earlier readings of Nehemiah. The name Sanballat, governor of Samaria, was mentioned in the Elephantine Papyri and ten times in Nehemiah. The letter raised interesting questions about why there ever was a Temple of Yahweh in Egypt.

We read Job 22 together. We were being challenged about the pious things we utter that actually are harsh and unkind upon those we are talking to. There are people in our church who are struggling and it is completely "bad form" to declare that they have some unresolved "generational curse" in their family. We have to be careful about how we get along side someone in pain and loss.

We then concluded our night's study by reading together Ezekiel 18. This was a helpful Old Testament corrective to the harsh and judgmental religious positions we can get ourselves into. Ezekiel 18 felt like something from the New Testament, something that Jesus would espouse.

God seems to lead us on nights like that. We did not know that was were we would travel. The Elphantine Papyri, Job and Ezekiel was an unusual combination. A few weeks earlier we had discussed the health of our church. Was it doing enough for those on the fringe? No? Well, we are the church, not the building, not the leaders even. We are the church, an organic and dynamic mix of different people. We must take the risks and the responsibility and not grumble about those at the centre. And for spiritual food we regularly come together to expose our beliefs to a man's testing, to pray, and to search the Scriptures for an understanding of what drives us on.

Consumer Culture

In our post modern world we are increasingly under the influence of consumerism. It more often describes our shopping mentality. And let's face it, most of us in the city have to "buy" the basic necessities of life from shops. If the supermarket ran low on stock, urban society would experience famine. Some of us are already in some sort of famine because there is not enough household money to purchase the basics. But marketing has also created a desire for the "latest" gismo or fashion, and huge shopping developments to cater just for that are springing up everywhere. In that, we have reached the extremes of consumerism.

Near by to where we live, one such place is growing and soon will open, boasting over 80 brands. Big deal! This confirms the relentless and aggressive marketing effort over the last few generations. Corporations have done their sums and they know customers will come streaming in. That's sad but true. The cash registers will sing. Through shopping, people are feeling "at one" with others who have come to shop as well. It is a pseudo-spiritual experience for them. It is a form of atonement (at-one-ment) with their unknown neighbour, and the pain of identity loss is eased. If identity is not found in work, or in God's story, then this is the solution to the dilemma. Needs are met by submitting to this devouring culture. Those of us who try to find their identity in the deeper truths of life are seen as puritanical or just plain isolationist.

Gembrook Mornings

Picture order from the top: December 07, January 08, May 08, July 08.

When Peter stays at the Gembrook Retreat, one of the first things he does when he wakes up each morning there is check out the morning view. It never fails to be mysterious and enchanting. The view is northern so the early morning light comes in from the right. The Retreat is situated near the top of the ridge which divided the Wurundjeri clan (this side) and the Bunurong clan (to the south). That was before the white man moved in. The tribes may have traded on the ridge. This was their view. Pure magic.

Genocide Olympics

Peter has become more and more grieved by the atrocities being perpetrated in Darfur, Sudan. What he did not know until recently was that China has been openly blocking wider UN involvement on the ground there, and at the same time selling arms to Khartoum and giving training in how to use them. China has economic reasons for turning a blind eye but there will be far reaching consequences.

As a result, Peter intends watching none of the Beijing Olympics... not a second of it. This will be the first time he has never followed the action that he can remember. This time the injustice of turning a blind eye hurts far too deep. China has made the Olympics into a disgraceful facade for its own masses who don't know about the genocide that their leaders have allowed happen. Like Peter, there must be a lot of people outside of China who will find far better things to do than be hooked to the papers, radio, TV or internet over the event. Life will go on away from all the hype, and the Olympic consumer machinery will have an uphill task to find their lost audience when their god moves on to another city.