The future that may never come

Jess and I try to live our lives as presently as we can, and prioritise our families and relationships. One thing we often say is that we wont ‘Sacrifice the present for the future’. That may hit your ears oddly, as it still does mine. Aren’t we supposed to work now and play later? Didn’t the ant live through the winter while the lazy grasshopper froze to death outside. This type of living seems odd in our current uncertain times, when many are trying to secure their financial future. But we find we have more than enough, and that the future is even more uncertain than we realise. Perhaps the future we’re trying to save is not the one we want, better to enjoy the present. Just my thoughts…

Hungry People

Right now I’m pretty hungry. But I guess that’s not really anything compared with the way millions of people living in poverty feel. People in my city, people in the world. Right now there’s serious famine starving Africa in a destructive way.

 

It’s difficult to imagine what we could do to change that, but the truth is we can. People have already jumped onboard to make a difference to the needy. These great and inspiring people work for organisations that see and (try to) fill the needs of the world. No one joins an NGO or not-for-profit for their own gains, these people are paying a great cost so others may live/eat/marry/grow. Spare a thought and a prayer for those people. Maybe you’re one of them, maybe you could be.

So what do we lack? Well that’s where everyone comes in: people are acting to help those in trouble, but their financial resources are not up to the task. You could change the world for real people, make a difference in the lives of our human brothers and sisters. You could be a hero, and all you have to do is click your mouse a few times. Or you could think about how your lifestyle affects those on the other side of the world, think about how you could live your life to give others a better chance. You could be one of those people, living a call to help others.

Change is possible, but it always costs us. Then again, not changing costs us to. You don’t have to take a vow of poverty, but you can think before you buy “Do I need this? Or could I be a hero instead?”

If you want to make a difference right now, do it! I recommend TEAR Australia as a personal favourite. But there’s obviously World Vision, UNICEF and Oxfam and countless others. I thought I’d do a little for sharing what I thought with you, may be you can share it with others. The world is full of problems that you have the ability to solve, be empowered!

What to do…

I spent some time on this week’s comic. It’s supposed to be encouraging really. See, it’s about the ingenuity and achievement of people, who do amazing things, but are stumped when it comes to solving problems. We can use our creativity and smarts to solve the worlds issues, we just have to fight the fear and want it. i think that’s where faith comes in, at least for me, and where hope for something better is so important.

Desperate times call for…

Strange how in life the harder path is so often the better path. And by ‘harder’ I mean more costly to us and by ‘better’ I mean more beneficial for everyone. When things get tough it’s so easy to sell out others, rather than take to brunt ourselves, I guess that’s a broken survival instinct (broken in that it is short sighted).

The world will no doubt be transformed by those who take the harder path, not by those who save themselves. I hope I don’t cry out “I have no other choice!”, I hope to put others first in all circumstance.

Technology will kill us all! …Probably

The most pain my computer can give me is if it doesn’t work. Based on this, I’d say the Robot Apocalypse is a long way off of it’s full realisation. Still, Jess and I have become more aware of the devastating impact our technology has.

I had heard a long time ago that for each mobile phone there’s 80 garbage bins worth of waste in the manufacturing process. That’s to say, a lot; I reckon I probably don’t produce 80 bin loads in a year!

It was one of those vague, ambiguous, possibly non-true type facts that you never really check up on to see if it’s accurate, but keep you scared none the less. Well the other night, Jess and I were looking into maybe getting a new phone for Jess. Her plan had expired so we thought we could get one for practically free, and besides that’s what you do right? Jess and I try to be conscious of the human and ethical implications of anything we buy, so she did some research into what brands were ‘ethical’. Forebode….

Saturday for Christ’s Return

I'm a big fan of unity, and so I don't like to take up a negative stance against those who believe much of what I believe as well. Still, I think that we should be able to think independently and disagree on many things, constantly trying to find the truth and broaden each others minds. That said, I find it rather amusing that yet another Christian group has picked the date of Christ’s return. Guess what, it's this Saturday!

More accurately, Jesus' return to earth is Saturday, with the subsequent destruction of the Earth on the 21st of October. My sister is miffed that she'll miss her 25th birthday this year.

Wecanknow.com makes the argument that 'Noah knew, and so can we' but their site is so bulky that the actual details of their reason for believing this, and their reason for picking this Saturday, are well hidden. Never-the-less, they invite you to pour through the data and pray for a revelation of the truth.

focussing on the destruction of the world is dangerous. We begin to live as thought the planet and our lives don't matter. It's like the old hypothetical 'What would you do if you had only a day left to live?' Provocative perhaps, but I think a way more challenging and telling questions is 'What will you do if you don't die tomorrow?' 'What will you do if the earth doesn't burn?' 'What if we have to lie in the bed we made for ourselves?'

Maybe we'll make a better bed. Maybe we'll treat the earth better. Maybe we'll live our lives more like we'd hoped. We have to put in the effort to heal and transform, because there's no reset button. I hope my life can be different because I have hope for the world we have. How about you?

Simple things

My monitor got scratched this week. It’s sort of a dramatic scratch that stretches out over the expanse of the corner, starting on the piano black frame and bursting onto the LCD.

At first I was furious and desperate to fix it. And then I realised that there was no real need. There was nothing wrong with it. I wouldn’t even notice it after a day or two, it didn’t affect my experience at all. It’s strange how I worry so much about stuff that doesn’t really matter. I want to live more simply.

[Verb] Something

Recently I was going through some old files at work and came across a pile of student responses to a play we had performed a few years back. The play dealt with some heavy issues and after the show students could write/draw a response to the performance from their perspective. There was lots of cool stuff, Some dirty musings, some absent scribbling's and some thoughtful, heartfelt messages too. This image was one that stood out to me and I wanted to share with you.

I thought it was profound in that it drew a clear distinction between our thoughts and actions. My intentions and ideals will have little impact on this world, but my movements and actions will affect it greatly.

In the Shade

We’re told so often to shine and grow and lead and be the best.

Recently I’ve been very pleased to let go a bit. Not try to run all the activities and groups I’m involved with. I think I’ve always desired to be the leader of the group, and that’s a stressful position to constantly take. I’m getting the message that it’s healthy to let others do the work, let others take charge and make the hard calls, the decisions and mistakes. I hope it’ll be good to live in the shade, under the tremendous effort and inspiration of my peers and leaders. When I feel healthy, maybe I’ll come into the sun again.

Waiting and Doubt

Sometimes waiting is hard, but not knowing what you're waiting for is harder. What if I'm wrong? What if it's not there? What if it's not what I think it is? What then? What now? 

You're waiting for something, or working toward something. I sincerely hope it's as good as you think.

Boxing

Bono feels like he still hasn’t found what he’s looking for. I think a lot of us can relate; a feeling like we’re not quite there yet, or there’s something more, a general dis-content. Maybe we are all coming short, or perhaps we’re just hoping for a brighter future. Either way we’d best know what we’re looking for, and then probably where to find it.

I don’t want to get stuck, I want to keep looking. I don’t want to avoid finding what I’m looking for. It may be hard to cope with, but I’d rather die in the right place than avoid it forever. Then I think we’;; have found what we’ve been looking for all along. Just a thought…

Pivotal Moment

I find that I say this to my self often, and then fail to free myself from my chains. I need a real change that will mean something real. Let’s hope this is it. This has to be it.

Waiting………….

Life isn’t a race, but why wait to get started. I’m often so scared that things won’t work out, but when I try things I’m always proud and excited. There’s still things I want to start, so maybe I should get them underway. If the right moment doesn’t come, I’ll have to do with the moment at hand.

What are you waiting for?

Distractions

These will pretty much take up my entire time…Still, sometimes it’s nice to be distracted.

But how do you tell the difference between your actual task and a distraction? I guess that’s why we have goals. A lot of people don’t really think about what their goals are, and so they never really achieve them even though they do all the things they think they’re supposed to do. If you don’t know where you’re going, you won’t know when you get there. Just a thought…

New and unusual pet

Sometimes life is an adventure that you should make the most of.

Sometimes It has dangers or distractions that you should avoid.

How do you decide which is which?

Positive Affirmation

I once had a friend comment on why they always complimented people. They said something like “its such an easy thing to do that cost absolutely nothing, why wouldn’t I just make people feel great?”

I think that’s an amazing piece of insight, especially when there’s so much negativity in our culture, not only in media images which feed our insecurity, but from our friends and family as well. I tend to compete and put people down without even thinking about it, I’m getting better at seeing the truly best in people.

You look great by the way.

The Plan

I wrote a list of all the things that I couldn’t control. It was a long and frightening list. I wrote it down and let go of it. While i trust that there’s a more solid plan going on, I also know that sometimes there’s nothing wrong with not having a plan at all.

Portrait of not getting it right

I think our society is plagued by fear of not getting things right. I could be wrong (Irony), maybe it’s just me who has this core desire to impress everyone and never show weakness. Well today I don’t care what people think so much. Today I’ll do my best and hope that people like it and not worry so much if I show a little vulnerability. Thanks for reading.

All’s fair in love and war

 

This is a result of an ‘Ends justifies the means’ thinking. I’ve been reading some Lee Camp, and am reaffirmed in the need to teach more creative ways of achieving our goals and resolving conflict than violence.

Page Turner

 

This drawing is based on a ‘post it’ I did a while back at work (below). It’s done completely on the computer with a Graphics Tablet that I borrowed (thanks Esther!). It’s about balance and distraction, Though it feels a bit fake and corny with the ‘gun vs bible’ motif. The objects in either hand are just symbols of conflicting priorities that I have, and how they’re proving more and more incompatible.