first ultra sound

We had our first ultra sound the other day. Man what a creator God is. I was spun out my the intricacies. What a beautiful feeling. It still feels a little crazy thinking about being a dad. wow

Questions, Ponderings and various stuff.

World War 1 was fought to make the world safe for democracy. World War 2 was fought for ourselves and our allies. Is this new breed of war being fought simply to make the world safer for consumption? Jane Holtz Kay

A little poem about lots.

Hold still little one while I paint you in brands.
No thought needs to go into where or at what cost.
The only cost worth considering is your own.
Your personal economic loss is far more important than another life.
And the freedom found in conforming to patterns and trends.

Was that freedom of choice you said?
I’m sorry I missed it, for some reason I thought you said compliance


In Launceston; no sorry Tasmania in general there is a huge push from Gunns (if your not sure who they are just Google them) to build a pulp mill close to Launceston pumping it’s effluent the Tamar River. On the other side of the coin there is also a large push from various public groups to attempt to stop this getting passed through Government.

I have always placed myself on the opposing party seeing it as something that will have a massive negative impact upon the local environment. However a couple of weekends ago while Ben and I were statueing in Launceston a conversation was started with another statue (haha just because I’ve got no friends and am limited to talking to statues!) about the pulp mill; his thoughts were as follow:

We should let the pulp mill be built, not because it is a positive move for the Tasmanian environment, but because we should be aware of the impact our consumption is having upon the environment.

As it stands we are happy to consume 1st grade paper etc at the expense of the Indonesian and the Chinese environments. We get to blindly consume copious amounts without having to deal with the social and environmental implications our consumption brings.(this does not just stop with paper)

I still don’t want to see the mill go ahead, but I think he has made a fair comment that needs consideration, probably not so much for the yes or no of the building of the pulp mill but of how we choose to live.

I went to hear Jim Ife last night speaking on poverty and the likes in Launceston. His lecture can be found HERE:

If social justice and poverty are of interest to you, definately check it out.
He finished with a quote that has stayed with me:

“Vaclav Havel so eloquently put it, in one of my favourite quotes, “We must not be ashamed that we are capable of love, friendship, sympathy, understanding and tolerance, but just the opposite: we must set these fundamental dimensions of our humanity free from their private exile and accept them as the only genuine starting point of meaningful human community”

Stupid dial up-internet

It's been a while, our internet at home has died, and Dodo don't know why. they are trying to fix it but anyway. I'll be back on line again soon. I'm using works time at the minute. So i should do something useful.
Just wanted to put the invite out there. I know it's a bit late, but it would be well worth it.

Hey check it out for an AWESOME fight!!!

Paul Briggs Vs Thomasz Adamek. It's on again. If you get the chance to see it; do. It's going to be a big one.

What a week!

This week has really stretched me. I've experienced some pretty intense moments with some of the young people I've worked with this week, from having all their possessions being burnt by their mother, being released from the Juvenile detention centre, experiencing bail breaches due to parents lack of care. It's been a real challenge if anything to figure out how to deal with this. Band-aids are all I seem to have in my arsenal, or so it seems. I'm measured upon how well I cover up the issues and make them go away.
Encouraging true growth and resilience in all of this seems so impossible from where I stand. Yet if it's a mountain left un-climbed what have I helped these young people with?... I don't know. Building long term growth into anybodies life I think can't fit into a 9-5 program. It could be a stepping stone, but it is still very reserved and distant, it highlights that expert/novice relationship. (I wonder how helpful they are)

It's in weeks like these that the I find the kingdom of God so hard to take a grasp of. I wrote a poem about one of the young blokes I met this week.
When a whisper is heard as a voice
When a voice is seen as a face
When a face has a name
When a name is recognised as a person
When a person has space to laugh and cry
Something will be found in that space
Something that can't be defined
Or measured
Or added or subtracted
It just is
It's tasted, smelt, touched and seen.
It's sensed
It just is
Maybe that's the Kingdom?...

I guess knowing how to be Jesus on Earth isn't discovered in a week, or a month or year. So I'll let you know how I go with building long term growth into peoples lives.