Noah's Ark

Recently at a community online gathering we were fascinated at the sheer size of the original Ark that Noah was required to make to prepare for the great flood over the land. The dimensions were given and the type of wood and number of decks. This family made a scale size model to match the plastic animals that their child played with and shared their experience with everybody else (below). The result is breathtaking reflecting a construction that seems similar in size to the Empire State Building on its side! We were made to appreciate why it took Noah 100 years to make it. He must have had an engineering mind or it could have developed "Titanic" cracks. Peter made the drawing (above) and added numerous exotic animals on the three decks. He added a totally inadequate food and water storage deck under these decks for the ten months they stayed cooped up. As he drew it he wondered how all these "calm" animals and humans managed to hold it together. This is a few notches above our present isolation experiences in terms of resilience. There were only a few windows at the very top of the ark and according to the biblical story one of them was only opened at the end of ten months to let out the raven and the dove. It would have taken some time to adjust to the outside glare! There are now many more questions that arise from this pondering but that must be for another time. 

Little "A"

After a few weeks prayerful waiting we can announce that we are looking forward to the future arrival of our fourth grandchild around 4 November this year. May God bless this very small person with every blessing imaginable.

Metung

We are back from a delightful time away at Metung one of the Victorian Lakes District towns. We shared the rent for a large Air B&B house overlooking the Metung Yacht Club jetty, with a view to the other side where vehicles have to be transported across by ferry. There was loads to do, like board walks, tennis, puzzle completion, celebrations, board games, cafe's, trips to nearby Lakes Entrance, watching sailing races, Lego construction, swimming and drawing. 

home made pizzas

memories

Ticket to Ride - Europe

Yacht Club race

Very complicated Lego project

puzzle start

Tennis courts so close

great space for food prep

great ornaments 

300 pieces just about right for active boys

Jetty at Lakes Entrance

Theos barbecue at Lakes Entrance

Lakes Entrance disused slipway

Storm brewing

cold front arrived - and what a change!

Metung Village architecture

A great picture of Ninety Mile Beach and the Lakes District

Yacht Club view from the house (black biro)

Metung 'rocky' beach (coloured texters)

Shell ornament (coloured texters)

2004 Dream

Peter had a very vivid dream the night of 6/7 November 2004 and wrote about it in detail the next day before it faded completely. He did post the story on a separate blog that was later lost in cyberspace. The file was buried away in a nondescript folder on a separate drive and Peter gave up looking for it. So when it was rediscovered accidentally, Peter decided he ought to post it on this site, and what fitting spot than the first for 2019. That's possibly a positive omen. Peter wrote:

"Barb and I visited St. Judes Church one Sunday. It was crowded and we were shown a place to sit to the side. Unlike how I knew St. Judes of past years, there were a small number of rows of bench seating against the wall facing inward towards the main seating which faced toward the front. Unfortunately we could not see the front. What I was hearing was not clear. We had arrived late and felt a little out of it.

"As though guided we left our seats and made our way outside the church. Even as we crossed the main area of the church I did not notice what was happening at the front. I had the sense that a sermon was going on. We walked behind this church as though on a planned path. We passed the burned out shell of the old St. Judes Church. The exposed timbers were all black. The brickwork seemed to be literally hanging there in places. It seemed to be a dangerous area to inspect. At any time a whole area of brick work could fall.

"We came to a new part of St. Judes. It was an architectural marvel. I do not remember how the outside looked except to say that the emphasis was not on the outside but in the inside. I presumed that architect Howard Raggett had something to do with the design because it was so ‘out there.’ The space was enclosed with a very high concrete ceiling with exposed bearers. These bearers had the natural appearance of being the rippled underbellies of giant worms, about twenty of them all holding up the ceiling as low rigid arches. As a result there were no supporting columns and the space that was made was powerful. The largest area of the floor was given to the flat centre area where nobody sat and was continually being crossed by people to and from the long altar. Behind the altar was an enormous concrete feature wall. The design was a simple shallow relief of large disk and other curves that echoed this theme. It could have represented the great stone over the tomb of Jesus. There was a sense in the design that it had rolled sideways a little and what might represent the tomb entrance was seen as a large gap across to another echo of the overall design.

"As we arrived we were recognized by someone who knew us from our past times at the church and as a result we did not have to go through the more careful and prudent greeting that a true visitor may have had to experience. We seemed to know what we had to do and proceeded to the rows of seating that all curved around and faced the long altar. The seating was constructed to higher at the back descending toward the flat central floor. We politely waited expectantly. Everything told us that this was the part of St. Judes Church which provided the weekly sacrament of communion. The other place where we had been, which was on the other side of the burned out old church, was obviously the teaching and preaching part of the service and at any time a person could decide to come to this more modern part. This was a church going through a metamorphous, in a state of reconstruction because of the fire and through being willing to experiment with what it is to be church.

"We sat and waited a while then suddenly a man with a huge mass of frizzed up blond hair brought the bread and the wine. He also shared that the verse given was Ezekiel chapter 2 verse 3. (Now after waking and recording this dream, I was more sure the numbers were 2:3 more so than 3:2, but both verses served to be very powerful pointers to what has been forming as a path that God has set before us for our future) He also informed us that this verse was given by those in authority there. We immediately preferred to read the reading but try as we might we could not find the verse. I resorted to using the index and found a page to Ezekiel. It was not the reading. We were not helped by using the prayer book which only has selected readings. The man waited patiently as we floundered along until we gave up the search. After all, we could check up the reading later in our own time.

"The man then gave us the Eucharist. The wine was filled to one third in a simple mass-produced kitchen glass, the kind with vertical concave arches around the outside. The bread was more unusual because it was in tablet form. It could have could have been a vitamin for all we knew. We partook in the communion and what happened after that has faded from conscious memory.

"This was a remarkable dream over other dreams that I have had in the past because I was given a Bible verse and that never happened before. More over, I was able to recall it confidently enough to be sure it was Ezekiel 2:3 or 3:2 (or possibly I was meant to take both equally as seriously). I did not think either chapter could offer anything enlightening. The numbers themselves seemed pretty uneventful. So I was a bit blown away when I checked the verses in the Bible the next morning and found a coherent message that seemed to confirm my existing path and encourage my continuing along it."

When St. Judes was damaged by a fire early Saturday 18 October 2014, Peter remembered this lost dream and began looking for it. Back then, we blogged a short reflection after it happened.

Menergy 2018

Imagin 190 men at a four day Men's gathering comprising of edgy workshops and small groups that bring men into an emotionally safe place where they may be able to experience deeper feelings and transform in positive ways. This Men's Wellbeing event in Victoria is called 'Menergy' and is an annual highlight for Peter to both be immersed in and be of service to men of all ages. Enough said. The opening ceremony illustrated above (no photos allowed to be taken) was just before sunrise on day 2. The image is dark in an attempt to catch the memory of being 'welcomed to country' by a local Aboriginal Elder. A later highlight: a cold water swim just before sunrise on day 3. Much learned. Looking to Menergy 2019.

Menergy Count Down to October

Peter wants to give all our blog followers a heads up about a very significant (for men) four day gathering at Licola, Victoria, in October this year, from Thursday 11th to Sunday 14th of that month. For readers overseas, at least know that many brave and committed Victorian men are indeed gathering each year to do men's work like this. Men from of all ages and from all walks of life come together to experience life with other men in a much deeper way. And there is no alcohol or drugs allowed. The program has been carefully developed by Men's Wellbeing, based in Queensland, and the movement has taken off in Victoria, now in its seventh year. The Lions Club 'village' at Licola is just large enough to accomidate the expected number of men, round about two hundred. Fire and ritual is important. Self-discoveries are taken away. Men are affirmed. The Gathering is organised by a team of committed men who volunteered at the end of the previous gathering in 2017. Peter sees his committment to attend as an importent part of his service to support the powerful healing and wellbeing work alongside other men at the gathering. Wives and female partners may be the catalyst needed between men deciding to go or not. There is a cost to cover the four day journey plus the nutritious food, which might be a slug to the wallet, but men who have experienced Menergy for themselves know it is worth every dollar and they come back to keep the fire burning in their hearts. Check out the last year's promotional video.

Official Menergy Site

St. George River

During our stay at Lorne, our friends took us to St George River, where it meets the sea. Their dogs had a run along the beach, some braved the water, and Peter found an elevated spot to do another sketch. After that the afternoon sun began to make some very magic images in the still (or rippled) water of the river, so Peter shifted from sketching to photography. That was fun. Barb and friends returned from the beach when the amazing light had mostly gone. It did not matter. We make our fun wherever we are.