sinus infection

I saw a very cheery doctor today who informed me that I have a sinus infection. Never before have I seen someone so look happy while explaining a treatment as gross as "nasal irrigation". Not going into details here, but for those who are keen, Wikipedia has an entry about it.

Not sure that I'll be rushing to the chemist to buy an irrigation pack, but I have made friends with the delightfully named Fess nasal spray.

Very thankful that I'm now on antibiotics, and, God willing, I'll be feeling better in a few days time.

you know you're watching too much daytime TV when...

... the tunes you can't get out of your head are ad jingles. Right now it's the acoustic guitar from the "Lite and Easy" commercial.

I'm still fighting off the bug I've had for a few weeks now, and my husband has also come down with it. A household of mild misery. Am off to the doctor tomorrow to see about some antibiotics.

Today I felt indebted to the advice from one of the youth group girls about daytime TV, namely that the midday movies are a great pick. So I put my feet up, set my mind in neutral, and watched a B grade movie about a young college student who gets caught up in organised crime. He learnt many valuable moral lessons from the experience and won the heart of the honest and beautiful daughter of the head of the organised crime ring. Ahh!

Now I'm about to settle back and watch "Stockinger", the daggiest detective on TV. The show is set in Salzburg, where I lived for about eighteen months. I love it.

Hope to write something a little more meaningful soon. Also hope to be watching a lot less TV : )

reading the Bible "chronologically"

A few years ago I did some intense study of Islam. Part of this involved reading the entire text of the Qu'ran, which isn't a chronologically ordered text. To help me understand it, I looked up a scholar's ordering of the different chapters and read it through accordingly.

After reading all the Qu'ran, I realised that I couldn't be certain that I'd read every single chapter of the Bible. Although Bible knowledge is by no means a pre-requisite for salvation - that comes through Christ alone - it struck me that as a Christian with eight years of tertiary education it was pretty lame if I hadn't read the whole Bible!

So I found a chronological ordering of the Old Testament and am a bit over half way through reading the program. You can find a similar one here.

While I usually prefer reading books of the Bible from start to finish, I've found the chronological approach, which sometimes jumps between books, helpful.

• It has filled in the gaps in my knowledge of Bible history
• It has increased my confidence in the Bible as an historically accurate and historically coherant document - at points I can compare different accounts of the same events
• I am able to see prophecies being fulfilled and worked out, often centuries, or even millenia, after they were initially made (eg. Gen 12:1-3 is still being fulfilled today)
  

At the moment I am reading sections from 2 Chronicles and Isaiah. This is giving me a much stronger sense of the historical background to Isaiah, which in turn helps me to understand:

• why God expresses so much anger over sin in Isaiah (eg. Isaiah 1)
  
• what an incredible relief the promise of God's future saving actions (eg. Isaiah 2:1-5) must have been to a people wearied by centuries of spiritual failure, warfare, and corrupt spiritual and political leadership

If you are hunting around for a Bible reading system, I recommend the chronological approach!

PS Lest anyone mistake me for a Bible reading "guru", I should point out that it has taken me nearly two years to get from Genesis to Isaiah! I am not attempting to stick to a particular number of readings per day or per week, because I find that dated reading systems are a sure recipe for guilt and lapses! I have tentatively set myself a deadline of finishing by the end of this year, but have told myself that if I don't make it, that's ok!

character over looks?

The votes are in, and it seems that Pilgrim Penguin readers are more impressed by bunny character (Koko Black) than bunny good looks (Honey Bunny). However, I am aware of some vote fixing that went on, with one reader voting from three separate computers!! So maybe take the result with a grain of salt.

One of my favourite time wasting sites on the internet is Disapproving Rabbits - here's a little video offering that appeared today.

cute penguin story

Cute penguin story here.

evidence from a crime scene

Observe what I found in the bunnies' hutch this morning. Particularly take note of the colour of the fur. Perhaps Koko Black gives as good, or even better, than she gets...



... and to think that they look so cute, fluffy and innocent!

Eurovision

I've just watched the first of the semi-finals for the Eurovision song contest. There was a time when I found the whole contest most puzzling. How could cultured people groups, who have given us so much high art, revel in kitsch and glitz? Then I realised that we all need a bit of relief from time to time. Can't have Herbert von Karajan without Benny and Bjorn.

So, who will I vote for on the SBS website? (At least, who will I vote for once the server recovers from too many people trying to access it?) I contemplated voting for the Netherlands because they put forward someone who can actually sing, but ultimately the singing turkey from Ireland has won my heart.

If you don't believe me, check here : )

contentment = being happy with what you've got?

A number of posts ago I observed that our bunnies think that the food in the other bunny's mouth is much more delicious than the food in their dish. However, this betrays a bunny-misunderstanding. The food in the dish is actually of the same quality as the food in their friend's mouth. Indeed it may even be of higher quality, given that it isn't already part-chewed and covered in saliva.

There's a lot we can learn from this analogy. Often we are so focussed on what others have, that we fail to see the good stuff that we've already got. When I pray in an organised and focussed way, I always start with thanks points for this very reason - so that I remember the good things that I have, and thank the Giver.

However, there is one problem with the "be thankful for what you already have" philosophy. Sometimes the food in the other bunny's mouth is actually more delicious. There are plenty of Australians with more money in their bank account than me (though on a global scale my family is rich rich rich). There are plenty of people who own more nice stuff and live in fancier houses.

What does God say about this?

Well the Bible does locate the secret in contentment in being happy with what you've got, but not in the way that we might automatically think. The apostle Paul actually divorces contentment from the amount of material stuff that he has:

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Phil 4:12-13)

The writer to the Hebrews connects contentment with the relationship that Christians have with their all-powerful, loving heavenly Father:

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can human beings do to me?”
(Heb 13:5-6)

In the end, our material possessions only get us so far. They may sometimes protect us from ill-health, boredom, social shame and even death, but they don't always deliver. When we have God, the maker of the universe, on our side what do we have to fear? He is able to provide us with everything that we need in Christ, both now and forever.

which bunny is superior?

I'm still feeling the after effects of being sick and don't have much brain today, so it feels appropriate to blog about bunnies again.

A few members of our church youth group are divided over the question of which pet bunny of ours is the superior bunny. This is probably the best kind of division one could have at church : )

So here are some descriptions of our bunnies, along with a photo. Please cast your vote as to which bunny is the superior bunny...

Honey Bunny

• is extremely cute - has a strong resemblance to Peter Rabbit
• is a go getting bunny - has found multiple ways to escape her hutch and is always first to try a new adventure
  
• doesn't mind being patted on ground level but has an aversion to being picked up - we are told this is typical for bunnies - she will bite if she deems it necessary
• is bigger than her sister and sometimes uses this to her advantage - she can be a bit of a thug

Koko Black

• is cute, but not as cute as Honey Bunny
• is a more retiring bunny, doesn't get herself into trouble
  
• isn't a big fan of getting patted on ground level, but tolerates being picked up and the odd cuddle
• is a follower, will try things after her sister has tested the waters a few times

the last rose of autumn

Thankfully, I've started feeling a bit better this afternoon. I wandered out to our backyard to say hello to the bunnies, and discovered on the way that one lone last rose has gone into full bloom.

the results are in

The Pilgrim Penguin resisted temptation and did not fiddle with the result by voting herself. Here are the results...

One third of voters believe that penguins are evil.

One sixth of voters believe that penguins are not evil, presumably innocent.

One half of voters believe that it depends upon the penguin in question.

The interpretation of results in part depends upon whether one sees the last group as fence sitters, or as accurate observers of penguin character. Whatever we conclude about this group, it does seem that the scales tip in the direction of penguins being evil. Take care next time you go to the zoo.

unwell penguin

I've caught the dreaded lurgy. Well at least some kind of virus that has left me largely contained to the couch. It isn't all that spectacular in symptoms - sore throat is the main one - but it has sucked away most of my energy. Mentally I'm still reasonably with it so daytime TV is not particularly alluring - on a recent Oprah episode I saw a family being told that they were all overweight because their house was too cluttered! An interesting, if somewhat implausible, chain of cause and effect...

Hope to be better and a fully functional penguin soon.

God and natural disasters

I'm writing this with some caution, given recent events in Burma and China.

Georgina has asked a great question: what we are to make of natural disasters which cause so much pain, death and destruction, when we also know that they are from the hand of God?

Here's an outline of a biblical response to this:

1 Before humans decided to disobey God, there were no natural disasters in the world as everything worked exactly as it should in perfect harmony (Gen 1-2).

2 As a result of our choice to disobey God, chaos has entered into the world (Gen 3, Rom 5:12; Rom 8:18-25). We are all subject to decay, and the created order isn't exempt. Natural disasters are just one outworking of this chaos in creation.

3 People who suffer and die in natural disasters or accidents are not necessarily any more sinful than others (Luke 13:1-5). Sometimes we suffer directly because of our sin (eg. John 5:1-15), but a lot of bad stuff just happens to people without any rhyme or reason to who is or isn't affected.

4 I'm extrapolating a bit from Luke 13:1-5 here, but I take it that natural disasters should serve as a warning for us to repent. Reminders of our mortality should drive us to make sure that we are right with God.

5 Finally we see that natural disasters aren't God's ultimate intention for us. When we read Rev 21-22 we see a renewed, transformed world where everything works as it should. The curse has been reversed (Gen 3; Rev 22:3).

Now, there is still a big area of mystery. Why does God choose to operate in this way at all? Why some people and not others?

I don't know.

What I can say for sure is that when I look at the start (Gen 1-2) and ultimate fulfilment of creation (Rev 21-22) I see that God is good and has good plans and purposes for His world. When I look at Jesus I see that God suffered in the most costly way possible in order to rescue us from our sin and the chaotic world that resulted from our disobedience.

Does a loving God judge?

Intuitively, teaching Christians who are struggling to trust God about judgement and hell seems like a really bad idea.

However, over years of working in Christian ministry, and in working through my own struggles, one particular aspect of hell and judgement has struck me as being enormously comforting. It is simply this:

God's judges because He cares.

A few years ago I was chatting with a friend who was studying the history of slavery as part of an arts degree. She was most disturbed because she had been learning about the transportation of slaves from Africa to North America. Some had been left to die of starvation during the voyages across. Had God just forgetten about them? Did God really care? By extension, was God at all concerned about the things that she was going through?

Most arguments for atheism, including one I heard recently from Peter Singer, revolve around unjust human suffering: if God cares about us, why does He allow so much suffering without intervening? Either God doesn't exist, or God is bad.

One facet of a response to this question is to consider the judgement of God.

God does care about wrongdoing, and He cares about it so much that He judges evil. This happened when Christ died on the cross (1 Peter 3:18), it is happening now as He allows people to continue in their sin (Rom 1:18-32), and He will finally and ultimately judge in the future when Jesus returns (Acts 17:31).

The vivid descriptions of the judgement of God in Revelation are not written primarily to scare the living daylights out of us - though this isn't necessarily an improper response to the texts - they are written to comfort and encourage Christians. God will see that justice is done. The Lamb will win (to steal a line from Bewes) and evil and wrongdoing will be done away with. Revelation 19:11-21 is one of my favourite passages in the Bible (well the first half anyway) - Jesus is the triumphant victor who has redeemed His people with His blood, who enacts judgement on all evil. He is the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

God will see that justice is done for the African slaves who died on the boat, God will see that justice is done for children who are abused, God will see that justice is done regarding Burmese officials who refuse aid workers access to their country, to name only a tiny drop from the great ocean of injustices that have been and are being committed in the world.

Of course, we must be careful about being too zealous in calling for God's justice, because we know that if he enacts justice with regard to our lives and doings, we will be in deep deep trouble. We all deserve God's judgement, but God in his kindness takes away the punishment that we deserve in Christ.

Gordon has recently put up a great post that explores the encouragement we can derive from this forgiveness and rescue from hell, called "Hell: a help for depression". It's well worth a read.

evil penguins?

There is a new optus ad with penguins. This brings joy to my heart.

However, I have noted that they appear to be rapper, gangsta-type penguins. I'm starting to wonder if there's a bit of an issue with the public image of the penguin.

Two further examples:

Feathers McGraw, the gun toting master of disguise from Wallace and Gromit

The criminally insane penguins from Madagascar

Should the Pilgrim Penguin be concerned?

it's enough to make you sick...

The Pilgrim Penguin has caught a virus and has spent today on the couch at home and will need to take at least another day off work. This is a bit of a downer. However, to brighten the day a little, she is going to share something from her reading. Be warned however, that you should not read this post while eating...

Alice Thomas Ellis quotes from a letter written to her:

"You throw doubt, tinged with scorn, on the efficacy of mice as a specific for children. In 1920 when I was four years old an old woman who lived near my family in Radlett and whom I used to visit on every occasion I could find, would give me sugar mice to eat.

These were made by skinning mice, which she had caught in an ordinary mousetrap, emptying them and then tying them by the tail to a wooden spoon where they were suspended into a strong sugar syrup in a cast iron saucepan over a slow heat. After some hours (or days) the mice became crystallised and, when they were cold, she would give me one to eat.

They were delicious and even the bones were crisp and edible (not unlike the bones in a mature tin of sardines). I remember her saying that I would never have chest trouble if I ate these 'sweetmeats'. I am now over seventy and have had little to complain about health-wise as one says these days, in the years between these delightful treats and now." (page 31 Fish, Flesh and Good Red Herring)

To think we wasted all our mice by poisoning them!!

bunnies are just like people: 2nd installment

Today the rabbits escaped from their hutch, again.

The larger of our two bunnies, Honey Bunny, is a kind of bunny Houdini. Today's escape involved a combination of tunneling under the hutch and moving bricks that had been placed to prevent escape! (She looks cute, doesn't she?!)



Getting them back in the hutch before they've had a run around seems unkind to me, so we blocked off the exits to our yard and gave them a lengthy playtime before I returned them to their hutch late this afternoon. However this meant that I had to commit to keeping an eye on them all day.

What the bunnies fail to understand is that we keep them confined for good reasons. There are numerous threats to their safety outside the hutch: cars on the road, mouse poison under the house, a large neighbourhood cat population and a vicious sounding dog that lives next door.

So what tenuous link will I draw between rabbits and us? Well I reckon that the way we relate to God is sometimes a bit like how the bunnies relate to me. The bunnies assume that they know what's best for them, but their knowledge is sadly limited. If they had been allowed to do as they pleased today there is every chance that one or both of them would have met a sticky end.

Sometimes it's hard to understand why God gives Christians particular guidelines for living in the Bible. Some of the commands seem really old-fashioned, and out of step with standards that most other people have.

While I can come up with reasons for most of God's commands to us, there are some where I don't know anything approaching the full story. These commands call for trust and obedience just as much as the ones I can explain do.

The analogy does break down of course, because God is much greater in his love for us than I am in my love for my rabbits (though I most certainly do care for them). Also the difference between God's knowledge and my knowledge is much greater than the difference between my knowledge and that of a fluffy bunny.

I would like it if our bunnies displayed a little more trust and obedience toward us as their owners, after all, we are not nasty killjoys!

How much more should Christians trust and obey our loving, all-knowing Father.

a cure for anxiety?

I've just started reading "Fish, Flesh and Good Red Herring" which we received as a housewarming gift last year from Jane. It's all about housekeeping and health manuals from times gone by, and is a ripper of a read.

Take for example this "cure" for women suffering from what we would probably now call depression or anxiety:

"W. B. Tegetmeier, a lecturer in Domestic Economy, claimed that a fit of hysterics 'is generally increased by any expression of sympathy' and suggests 'a very effectual mode of cure' which consists of dipping a towel in cold water ... and striking smartly with one end of it on the upper part of the chest.'" (page 17 - check out shelfari below for details)

While the cure is kinda funny - imagine going to a psychologist or psychiatrist for medication or talking therapy only to be hit smartly with a wet towel - it also makes me really thankful that as a society we've moved on in our understanding of mental health and in our sympathy for those suffering from mental illness.

I'm a fan of the following websites which offer real help to people suffering from mental illness

Beyond Blue

SANE

Feeling Like This - a Christian website based in the UK

One of my serious interests - the Pilgrim Penguin isn't only obsessed with bunnies and mice in the cupboard - is thinking about how Christians deal with and teach about mental illness. More soon...

And I thought I was wasting time writing a blog...

Enjoy!




You can see more of this here.

pilgrim penguin 2 : mice 1

For the blog entry which gives background to this post, click here.

I am claiming victory in the battle to evict the mice population from our home. I have used a combination of thick silver tape and steel wool to plug the gaps in our under sink cupboard. I have also thoroughly disinfected the cupboard and put some tape over a mouse sized gap in the floorboards near the pantry.

It's not aesthetically pleasing, but I feel a sense of satisfaction and cleanliness every time I open the cupboard to put something in the bin.

: )

bunnies are just like people: 1st installment

Now I have already had at least two scientifically minded people pull me up on my idea that bunnies are just like people, however I hope to prove this point over a number of entries on this blog.

Observe the two bunnies below...


They are sisters who have known one another since the womb. In this picture it looks like they are both they are very close and snuggly with one another. They could even be about to give one another a sisterly bunny kiss.

However, looks can be deceiving. What the picture fails to reveal - I blame my unsteady hand, the fact that it's a dodgy phone camera and the not entirely co-operative attitude of the subjects - is that one bunny is eating food from the mouth of the other bunny. It would appear that there is a bunny maxim that goes something like this...

The food in the other bunny's mouth is far more delicious than the food in the dish.

As you will gather from the picture, these are not starving bunnies.

What the bunnies are doing is really just a slightly less sophisticated version our own behaviour. We can think that the stuff that other people have, or the lives that they lead, are way more exciting than what we've got. It can even get to the point where we can't see the good things that we have, because we're so fixated on other people's lives and possessions.

Well I don't hold great hopes for modifying the behaviour of our bunnies, but I do hope that I can learn to grow in contentment (Phil 4:11-12; 1 Tim 6:6). There is plenty of room for me to grow in that department. To that end I have agreed to write a print article about it in the next month or two so that I can think harder about what it means to be content, and hopefully encourage myself and others in that path. I'll keep you all posted about with any major breakthroughs.

I also plan to continue anthropomorphising the bunnies.

"The Biggest Loser"

The last three evenings I have been feeling bereft: "The Biggest Loser" is no longer on telly! Now, my feelings of loss may come as a surprise to those who know me personally. Usually I'm more of an opera, symphony orchestra, art gallery type, not really one who would addictively watch reality TV. Nonetheless I love TBL. I'm really looking forward to the grand finale tonight.

So, what on earth do I see in it?

Firstly it's fascinating watching people interact in the hothouse environment of "the white house", but the focus of the show means that we are spared much of the minutia and crassness of other reality TV programs. This season I particularly enjoyed seeing how much of a difference it makes when people exercise a reasonable level of maturity, kindness and loyalty. While the red team imploded in a sea of nastiness and back biting, the blue team powered on: the finalists competing tonight are all blue team members.

I also love a good story of transformation, and that's what TBL is all about. Everyone goes in morbidly obese, and most come out the other side looking slim and glamorous. Of course there's an awful lot of hyperbole around this: talk of changing lives forever and people being able to do anything that they want now that they've lost weight.

Losing lots of weight does change a person's health and general outlook massively. I know this from personal experience, having once been a rather hefty penguin who lost over 30 kilos and kept it off. However, the loss hasn't changed my life forever - I will still grow old and eventually die, even if I do keep the weight off. Nor have I found myself able to do anything that I put my mind to as I result of losing weight.

We all need something more than what TBL can offer. Weight loss brings some benefits for a while, but it's only in Christ that we can have life to the fullest, life which goes on beyond death (John 5:24; John 10:10).



PS Who do I think is going to win? I reckon it'll be between Sam and Kirsten, though Sam definitely has the physiological advantage of being young and male.

Who do I want to win? Alison, because she's the dark horse and is just so darn nice.