… from trying to keep up with Australia’s “Stopping the Boats” campaign!
The Chasers explain it all:
Movie Review: Higher Ground
Higher Ground will have limited appeal to those interested in how room for doubt and exploring the nature of faith is accommodated or otherwise within the boundaries of family life confined by fundamentalist brands of evangelical Christianity, All characters are portrayed sympathetically, even those who portray the most obviously flawed expressions of their faith. This does not necessarily reflect badly on this particular brand of the Church, for any part of the Church where power trumps service would come off the same way. When religious faith is used primarily for comfort and security, one still has to meet the vicissitudes that life and relationship strew in the pilgrim’s path. The focus of this film is on one person’s journey, helpfully bookmarked throughout the screenplay by such titles as “Summons”, “Consumed” and “Wilderness”.
It had particular interest for me who, from time to time, engages with others in formal spiritual direction to explore the very kinds of questions this film raises. Others may respond as the only other patron in the session I attended this morning – yawning loudly and walking out half way through! (Showing at the Paradiso, Northbridge)
Expedient decency
Isn’t it funny how the best humanitarian outcome is seen as a government defeat? (See PM concedes defeat in asylum stand-off ) It could have been so different, with government leadership taking a principled stand rather than letting the opposition, a fear frenzied section of the population and empire building bureaucrats seize control of the discourse. What many of us have been advocating all along – community based processing of refugees regardless of how they arrive, is now more likely to become the default standard for a while. Let’s hope asylum seekers are not punished by freshly conceived draconian measures as a result.
Has anyone heard much about the American Autumn…
Has anyone heard much about the American Autumn? It’s touted by some as a mirror to the Arab Spring – and linked to the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations of the last few weeks. Hardly a whisper in the media here…
This theme just asked me what I’m up to!
I’m actually trying out some more themes. The green one was a bit hard on the eyes and the one I’ve just changed from was far too busy. WordPress has a number of freebies but I’ll shell out some $$$ if it seems like a good idea. This one appeals to me – easy to read, easy on the eye and you can read comments without having to open another page. Might want to do something about the header.
Acting on a whim
A whim is an odd or fanciful idea, something kooky you suddenly decide to do, like dress up like a chicken or drive to Vegas.
A whim can be a sudden impulse or a change of mind, like if you go shopping for school clothes but instead buy a pink cowboy hat. Whim is a shortened version of the equally silly soundingwhim wham which means “fanciful object,” like a tiny snow globe that plays “Hava Nagila.” If you go for a drive on a whim, you could wind up anywhere, perhaps even back to the store to return that snow globe.
from http://www.vocabulary.com/ (a great little online dictionary that is interactive)
I just spent $25 to convert this blog to its own domain – one of those occasions where I just acted impulsively without going into the ins and outs over whether there is any benefit (apart from shortening the URL). Maybe I have a hunch that it will provide an incentive for writing more and better. Maybe it signals renewed commitment to this exercise. Maybe I’m more a chip off the old block and am starting to throw little bits of hard earned moolah around more freely in my advancing years, just like my late pater did. Anyway, $17 for an annual registration plus $8 to keep the scammers and moochers at bay is not going to break the bank. And I may pick up a few tips along the way.
The eyes have it!
Strange thoughts occur during the waking moments of the day. This morning, various pairs of eyes paraded across the blank screen of my mind, as if awaiting assessment (or were they assessing?) – inviting, daring, willing me to read them. Here is a sampling – the dream state eyes are replicated by some cropped images.
Each set of eyes carries its own silent language. Is it a soul language? Contemplate the different pairs of eyes and you receive something different from each – innocence, beauty, wisdom, hope, trust, discernment – and stereotyping not withstanding , it is possible to attribute these characteristics across generation and gender.
What a gift we give each other if we use our eyes when communicating. When in teaching or mentoring mode, I will sometimes say in good humour, “Show me the colour of your eyes!” Such a startling demand banishes coy, deferential or defiant avoidance of eye contact and paves the way for some good locking of rapport.
This is why I am often bemused by those, who, from behind dark eye-shades, lobby for the banning of the hijab “because it hides the ability to communicate.” Try reading a face hidden by a pair of Gucci sunshades! Far easier to communicate with eyes peeking over a veil.
The language of the eyes is no new discovery – it has been around a long time.
Cicero (106-43 B.C.) is believed to have said, Ut imago est animi voltus sic indices oculi – ‘The face is a picture of the mind as the eyes are its interpreter.’
Jesus, in Matthew’s version of the Sermon on the Mount, declares, Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!
Matthew 6:22-23 (Eugene Peterson, The Message)
It was the French, however, who coined the phrase, Les yeux sont le miroir de l’âme. ‘The eyes are the mirror of the soul.’
So, ain’t it a pity that this blog can’t show you a pair of eyes so you can read its soul! But then it could read yours – and you may not be ready or willing for that!
Life happens…
… looks like postaday has gone out the window! It’s over a week since I’ve posted anything on my wordpress blog. I guess this eliminates me from whatever trophy or medal was to be awarded come December 31. Even though there was a sheer multiplication of immediate and insistent preoccupations and layered interruptions that interfered with my daily intentions, followed by the dismay of missing first one, then two days, and finally a whole week of scribing, I felt exhilaration. It was as if some shackles had been loosed. Having slavishly tied myself to writing something each day, no matter how banal, I was relieved to be able to give myself permission to be released. I’ll swing back onto the postaday merry-go-round, but now it will be under my conditions! So, maybe I’ll be here tomorrow and maybe I won’t.
Edit: I knew there was a reason I configured these posts to arrive in my email in-box. I get to see them as a recipient! I’m not happy with the curmudgeonly sounding ending. If my few readers are gracious enough to read this far they deserve something a little more promising, so I will make evey endeavour to be here tomorrow… and the day after!
Manipulating online causes
As someone who occasionally responds to on-line causes, I was arrested by this article: Uprooting fake online activism – Eureka Street.
It reminded me of how grateful I am that suspicion is an inherent part of my nature. When someone asks something of me, my internal radar goes into overdrive. Up goes the antennae, then the scanning software, always humming along in the background, goes into overdrive. What are they really asking me to do? Are the facts right? Are the facts selective? What is being left out? What is the other side(s) of the story? How does this fit into the big picture? What am I not asking that needs to be asked before deciding to trust this cause?
What I once considered a character blight I now count as a blessing! The on-line causes I have come to support are backed by people or organisations that have some runs on the board as far as integrity and effectiveness are concerned. New causes that are in sync with my personal and public commitments are investigated, assertions checked against a range of sources, including my own homegrown intuitive savvy, which has taken me a life time to learn to trust.
“Wise as a serpent, gentle as a dove” seems to be a worthy guideline as one negotiates the cyberspace plethora of causes that lobby for our attention.
When does free speech become license?
Today’s court ruling against journalist Andrew Bolt’s critical printed comments in relation to fair-skinned Aborigines has again ignited the “freedom of speech” debate: Ruling against Andrew Bolt will harm healthy debate, say libertarians | Herald Sun.
The libertarian position that all speech should be unshackled, un-monitored, uncensored is frought with problems. Generally, I am quite happy in most discourse to engage in unfettered argument. Sometimes the unbridled “free speech” that erupts from an impassioned position releases creative possibilities that swing the discussion onto a new plane. On the other hand, I can also play out enough rope to hang myself. If I want to avoid “hoisting myself on my own petard” I have to temper the freedom of my tongue (or keyboard) with discipline. And there’s the rub. Discipline according to who’s standards? In a relativistic climate, it becomes a difficult question to answer. Unless one voluntarily subscribes to a code of conduct, it is difficult to apply the kind of inner discipline that releases the full benefit of freedom of expression.
How do I give the best and fullest display of my thoughts and arguments in public discourse (thus exercising true freedom of speech)? I first have to consider the values upon which I base my thinking and allow them to shape my words. Then again, what we say will ultimately reveal our values anyway.
Will the court decision be helpful in proscribing what can and can’t be said and maintaining the right to protection from vilification? Libertarians argue no, it simply brings those so vilified into sharper focus and makes them targets for further slander and defamation. On the other hand, the ruling pulls us into line as a community and shows that, even if we see value systems as relative, true freedom for oneself is rarely achievable outside of consideration of what it means to be “free together.”
Wondering Pilgrim 