Those Catholics...

I guess some nuns aren't who they seem?!

Chronos: The Essence of Time...

Fluidity in motion, time never standing still

Chronos never ending, beats at the Father's will

Seasons past, present air, future sun will rise

Clouds drift by, shadows grow, chronos in the skies

History, the generations, past defines today

Lessons learnt, mistakes revised, live another way

Memories, random thoughts, visions in my mind

Yesterday, illumination, chronos left behind

Unto that time of no time, eternity embraced

When I look back at footsteps made, chronos now retraced

And in that place of perfect bliss I'm free...immense peace

Chronos is gone, Omega now, celestial release...

Nemo Got Found!

This white man is an unapologetic fan of Disney Pixar movies. Having two sons who have grown up through some of Pixar's classic films such as Bug's Life, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Cars and most recently WALL-E has meant that we, as a family, have enjoyed these classic animated movies on two levels. First I enjoy them on a kid's superficially humourous level - they're just really funny! And secondly, I appreciate the deeper moral message of the movies - there is always a healthy theme in every Pixar work.

But this white man also has his decidely wicked side and whilst trawling through some very old emails from 2-3 years ago (don't ask why these weren't sorted or deleted ages ago...I know...Iknow!) he found this highly humourous teaser promo image for a possible Finding Nemo 2 sequel. Enjoy!

Even Quicker than Full Body-Suits!

An artists depiction of the 100 metres freestyle at the Maccabiah Games?

Disclaimer: if any Jewish brethren (or anyone else for that matter) find this satirical drawing offensive in any way, shape or form then feel free to let me or know. Or better still, take it up with G_D!

Aussie Oscars...

This white man was home this afternoon and had the opportunity to watch a little of the 81st Academy Awards from the US. I must have switched it on at a fortuitous moment as I watched the amazing work of Hugh Jackman, Australian performer extraordinaire who did a fantastic stage musical/dance medley. No wonder our Aussie Hugh is the toast of Tinseltown - such a diversely talented performer who really should be the pride of Australia when it comes to performing arts. And not long after that, Heath Ledger was awarded the Best Supporting actor award posthumously for his unforgettable portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight. Remove the emotion from Heath Ledger's death for a moment and please understand that even if he was still alive today he would have received that award and deservedly so. His portrayal was seriously that good!

And in the midst of all that Oscar goodness I couldn't help feel how much Australia really is a natural part of the whole Hollywood scene now. And I have to admit that I felt proud for that - not that I'm a huge Hollywood devotee or anything close but when my nation is represented well on a global scale then it makes me feel good. But... (there's always a 'but' right?!)

The Australian red-carpet fashion commentators who had their little five minute segment after the news tonight should take a good look at themselves for once. Their petulant criticism of the general drabness and bland fashion statements this year in lieu of a real acknowledgment this year of the current global economic downturn was arrogantly misguided. If there was a sense of actors 'dressing down' this year in response to the current economic situation then so be it. Most would agree that such a response on Hollywood's behalf was entirely appropriate and well thought through. It just goes to show that occasionally common sense and good taste can prevail in Hollywood...and that the taste of some supposedly knowledgable fashion commentators can be exceedingly poor.

Well done Hugh Jackman - you are a star!

Verse of the Day...

Grace Prevails...

This white man was happy to hear this morning that jailed Australian author Harry Nicolaides was pardoned and released from his six-year sentence and had arrived back home. Rather than going over the whole story again I'll just provide this link that explains the ordeal this man has endured.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/755294/aussie-author-pardoned-in-thailand

So at last, grace prevails...

The Burglar and Jesus...

A burglar broke into a house one night. He shined his flashlight around, looking for valuables; and when he picked up a CD player to place in his sack, a strange, disembodied voice echoed from the dark saying, 'Jesus is watching you.' He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked his flashlight off, and froze. When he heard nothing more after a bit, he shook his head, promised himself a vacation after the next big score, then clicked the light on and began searching for more valuables.

Just as he pulled the stereo out so he could disconnect the wires, clear as a bell he heard, 'Jesus is watching you.' Freaked out, he shined his light around frantically, looking for the source of the voice. Finally, in the corner of the room, his flashlight beam came to rest on a parrot.

Did you say that?' he hissed at the parrot. 'Yep,' the parrot confessed, then squawked, 'I'm just trying to warn you.' The burglar relaxed. 'Warn me, huh? Who in the world are you?' 'Moses', replied the bird. 'Moses?' the burglar laughed. 'What kind of people would name a bird "Moses"?'

'The kind of people that would name a Rotteweiller "Jesus".

At What Price...?

Like most who initially caught this piece of news from the UK, this white man was stunned when informed of 13 year-old Alfie Patten's claim to fame as Britain's youngest father. I guess what made the claim astounding was the fact that young Alfie didn't look a day older than 9-10. A scrawy, pasty pale, pre-pubescent 'pommy' pupil holding a baby puported to be his own...But now comes the truth...

Little Alfie is a victim of an audacious scam. He's really not the father at all; although one presumes that he must have done 'something' with the baby's mother to believe that he was. Or perhaps Alfie still believes babies arrive via storks leaving a bundle of joy on your doorstep? Who knows! What is now known is that the baby's 15 year-old mother Chantelle Steadman was told by her mother to tell all that poor little Alfie was the dad. Thus their grubbiest of schemes was unveiled - make a buck off the fact that this was supposedly a child born of the youngest father in the UK. And they've suceeded in their money-making scam already, despite the truth being revealed now. Thousand's of dollars have already been paid to the Steadman's from media outlets covering this sensational, now fictional story.

My point is this - at what price will people sacrifice their integrity, self-respect and all sense of personal dignity just for untold $$$? This is an outrageous deception, made worse because a young boy was exploited and used in such a low fashion. Just for the money...but at what cost?

Precarious!

Ever thought there were moments in your day-to-day job where things just got too risky? Ever felt so nerve-wracked in a precarious moment that the stress was palpable? Ever felt like "one wrong move" would potentially make a real mess of your day?

Think again...


This white man has had to "walk on eggshells" but that is ridiculous!

Only in Vietnam...

Wise Advice!

This white man detests receiving spam /chain emails that demand he pass things on to receive good luck or whatever ludicrous 'rewards' promised. So finally here is some rational advice on what to do when you receive these inbox curses. Heed this advice well:

1) Any time you see an E-Mail that says forward this on to '10' of your friends, or sign this petition, or you'll get bad luck, good luck, or whatever, it almost always has an E-Mail tracker program attached that tracks the cookies and E-Mails of those folks you forward to. The host sender is getting a copy each time it gets forwarded and then is able to get lists of 'active' E-Mails to use in SPAM E-Mails, or sell to other spammers.

2) Almost all E-Mails that ask you to add your name and forward on to others are similar to that mass letter years ago that asked people to send business cards to the little kid in Florida who wanted to break the Guinness Book of Records for the most cards. All it was, and all any of this type of E-Mail is, is a way to get names and 'cookie ' tracking information for telemarketers and spammers - - to validate active E-Mail accounts for their own profitable purposes.

You can do your friends and family members a GREAT favor (PLEASE) by sending this information to them; you will be providing a service to your friends, and will be rewarded by not getting thousands of spam E-Mails in the future!

If you have been sending out (FORWARDING) the above kinds of E-Mail, now you know why you get so much SPAM! Do yourself a favor and STOP adding your name(s) to those types
of listings regardless how inviting they might sound! You may think you are supporting a GREAT cause, but you are NOT in the long run. Instead, you will be getting tons of junk mail later! Plus, we are helping the spammers get rich! Let's don't make it easy for them!

Also: E-Mail petitions are NOT acceptable to Congress or any other organization. To be acceptable, petitions must have a signed signature and full address of the person signing the petition.

SO NOW YOU KNOW!

A Firefighter's Prayer...

Verse of the Day...

The Peace-Keeper Jesus!

"Blessed are the peace-makers for they will be called sons of God..."

Vietnamese School

In the midst of the tragic events that transpired last Saturday with the Victorian bushfire crisis, this white man neglected to make comment on his two sons, Kim and Luc beginning Vietnamese school. They will always remember what day they began their Vietnamese school odyssey, Saturday 7th February, the hottest and most tragic day in Victorian history. But it was a positive experience for the boys and they seemed to enjoy the class.

It is so important for Kim and Luc to own their Vietnamese heritage. In Australia, where everything is predominantly Western and English is obviously their first language, it would be easy for Kim and Luc to just flow with their Australian identity and ignore their Vietnamese identity. My hope is that Vietnamese school may just be the beginning of my sons equally claiming for themselves their shared identity as Australian-Vietnamese.

Disgraceful Attitude From a Christian Pastor!

This afternoon I received an email from my Mum highlighting the views of one Pastor Danny Nalliah, the pastor of Catch the Fire (unfortunate name?)Ministries in Australia. In short, Pastor Danny believes that it was the state of Victoria's fault that the horrific fires happened last Saturday. How so you ask? According to this man, Victoria was 'punished by God' for allowing the decriminalisation of abortion last year. He also backs up this belief of God's awful wrath and judgment by telling us all that he foresaw it in a dream. A dream of highly burning flames. God spoke to him then and said that He would remove His conditional protection over Victoria as a result of the relaxation of baby-killing laws in Victoria. For an overview of his opinion then click on the following link;

http://catchthefire.com.au/blog/2009/02/12/blame-the-apocalypse-on-climate-change-or-abortions/

This white man would just say this - instead of promoting negative, irrational and ungracious views of God Pastor Danny, why don't you focus your passionate energy towards the Whittlesea or the Yea Relief centres and actually concentrate on something more constructive to assist the hurting people who are suffering at this time. Suffering not because God lifted His protection from the state of Victoria (what an antequated and highly irrelevant old covenant of Mosiac law idea) because of the decriminalisation of abortion but hurting because of a terrible chain of unavoidable natural events that led to what truly was one of Victoria's darkest hours.

Fundamentalist propaganda from radical right-wing 'God-fearing' Christian extremists like you Pastor Danny give rise to nut-cases actually going out to light fires because they have 'dreams' and believe God is telling them to torch this evil world! In short, if it's not going to help then don't say it! Silence is golden (Proverbs 17:28) so keep your irrational extremist arguments to yourself Pastor Danny!

Disbelief Remains...

Four days later and this white man still can't believe what happened last weekend in his home state. Marysville, the idyllic cosy town that holds a special place in my family's heart has basically been erased from existence. They are saying that 1 in 5 residents of the town are presumed dead from the monstrous Saturday fire. It is just beyond belief...

Large-Scale & Personal...

This white man was listening to 3AW talkback radio this morning and was saddened to hear a comment made by some prominent somebody who's name escapes me but the comment went something like this..."the Saturday bushfire tragedy is so large-scale now that many, many Victorians would personally know someone who has been affected by the enormity of this natural disaster." The reason I was saddened to hear this is because it's true.

On Monday morning I listened to an interview with a Kinglake resident who had survived the fires with his life but lost his house and possessions. His story was no different than many that have broken the collective hearts of Victorians in the past few days but one thing was distinctive about this survivor - I know him and know him well. Jeff was a work colleague of mine when I was leading a homeless outreach support program at The Open Door, under the management of The Salvation Army. He wasn't just a work colleague - Jeff and I were a two-person team...we WERE the outreach program. Our mandate was simple - place homeless men, currently in crisis accommodation into transitional accommodation and then into long-term accommodation. In short, we housed the homeless. Remarkably Jeff also studied at Whitley Baptist Theological College for a time and, as young men we shared much in common. After 12 months as a team Jeff moved on to lead a new post-release program, finding accommodation and providing support for newly released prisoners. Shortly thereafter, I moved on into my current vocation as a pastor.

And yet, as I listened intently to the strained emotion of Jeff's voice over the radio, I couldn't help realising the irony that was present. Here was a guy with a good caring heart, a heart for the disadvantaged, now finding himself in exactly the same position as many of those I know he helped and supported - homeless and needing assistance to get back on his feet. And I bet there are no shortage of Salvos up there at the Whittlesea Community Centre helping Jeff through this devastating time. Jeff will make it through I'm sure and perhaps he'll realise the irony sometime soon if he hasn't already. It's funny how life can turn around and ironically, yet tragically place your "shoe on the other foot..."

Thinking of you Jeffery and continuing to pray for all affected by this worst natural disaster in Australia' recorded history.

Unimaginable Disaster...

Continue to pray for the lost, the hurting, the grieving, the homeless, the dispossessed and those still fighting the fires that have now claimed over 100 lives and destroyed over 1000 homes and properties in Victoria. This is simply an unspeakable tragedy...

"Victoria's Worst Day in History"...

The hottest day in Victorian recorded history 46.4 degrees C, combined with high speed northerly winds and a bone-dry land ready to burn all contributed to bushfires that have claimed approximately 40 lives and seen the destruction of hundreds of buildings and homes. This white man has awoken to news of this catastrophe and has to admit, it hasn't registered yet that his homestate has just endured such a hellish day that the Premier John Brumby described as "Victoria's worst day in history".

Back in 1983, I remember sitting in my grade six class at Camberwell South Primary School and seeing an all-consuming brown cloud of smoky dust descend on everything within sight. That was the result of what would infamously be remembered as the Ash Wednesday bushfires that killed 42 people around Victoria. And now, 26 years later it has happened again. My prayers go out to the grieving and affected, particularly the heroes who are fighting the flames. Just an absolute tragedy!

Rock of Ages Rock-Climbing?

A Child's Opinion of War!

What can you say to that!

The Slipperiness of Faith...

In many ways this white man believes that the faith we have and the way it expresses itself in life is somewhat like trying to balance that little bubble between the two marks on a spirit-level tool; like the one to the right if you're unsure what I'm talking about...

It is amazing how life tilts the balance one way, then the other and back again. And this continues on and on the longer our faith journey goes. For me, it is a shifting from one side of theological liberalism to the other of conservatism. Almost a bi-polar kind of Christianity if you will; a faith that for some time will embrace the 'safety' of good old Bible-based fundamental faith but then will see the need to escape over to a more unbridled and liberated faith that jumps headfirst onto what is a leftist theological fun-ride. It's not a shifting in and out of faith but stays within faith; just a positioning and re-positioning, and then a re re-positioning again of that always moving bubble. Perhaps the bubble never settles perfectly between the two lines whilst I breathe God's air on this planet. Maybe only after I've taken my last breath will I undisputably know my faith, my God in a perfectly balanced way and see that bubble stay there in one place between the lines, never to slide again.

And so, in the meantime this white man will continue to glide back and forth across the black lines of faith polarity. He'll find places of alignment with other journeyers, yet also have endless arguments with other like-shifting faith travellers as to what position is really best in their humble opinion. I guess that's why they always call having faith in God a journey in every sense.

Just Plain Funny!

This white man received this in an email this week - the pictures speak a thousand words so I'll just let them speak...

THE BABIES KNOW...

At Last...

At the risk of seeming extremely selfish, this white man says YESSSSSSSS!! Today Kim and Luc returned to school and I returned to one of my best friends; R & R, regular routine. So today for me it was back to gym for a robust workout. complete with a near-vomit so it must have been good for me! And then off to a local sushi shop for a light lunch. And it was good!

I guess what it reminds me is how important routine really is to our lives. As I've said before, I cherish every moment I have to enjoy life with Kim and Luc. I love being a "house-dad" and having them dictate my schedule from time to time. But the month of January really begins to throw me out of a natural rhythm that I really need and largely live by for the other eleven months of the year. So today for me was a celebrated return to my life - nothing exciting at all really, but everything to this white man.

And by the way, the boys have their new classes this year with great new teachers. And they, similarly enjoyed their return to their school routine - well that's what they told me anyway?! Maybe they were sick of their nerve-frayed father and likewise, appreciate the break!

Verse for the Day...