Blog blong Jon

Sailing, another dream, ANZAC Day, selflessness, new inverter, stiff neck and end of 1^st term.

It’s hard to believe this time last year I was on a 32 foot yacht sailing from Auckland to Port Vila. The trip took 11 days. I then visited Utas and Moru village on Ambrym Island and now I’m here with my whole family on Santo Island - my how things change.

Had another dream, in the dream it looked as if a large group of cyclist were killed in some horrific accident near Blenheim - off the edge of a cliff - during the dream I had recollections of the Crave Creek Tragedy. My father was very upset wanting to get to Blenheim from Tauranga ASAP for the funeral service - it was in talking to dad I heard of the accident. There were a lot of dead people, a lot of caskets. I ended up at the funeral service - taking more note of how the celebrant led the service than the actual service (something I tend to do since it’s my job at times - why in the dream did the celebrant walk out backwards after the service?) At one stage Viv and I were telling Phillip, Simon, William and Connie to stop going over to the caskets and touching the dead cyclists.

What brought the dream on? It was not a premonition. Perhaps it was more to do with the previous evening. Last night I finished reading the Regeneration trilogy by Pat Barker. A sad ending, but how can any book that is faithful about war have any other kind of ending? (Writing this coincides quite well with last Tuesday being ANZAC Day.) The last book in the trilogy, The Ghost Road, moves between the head hunters of Vanuatu (with their skull houses); enjoying and living for the fun of the chase, the thrill of the hunt, of the capture, the buzz of brining back a head, or bringing back a live person who’s head would be required at some stage in the future - albeit that day could be several years away and a such a person could in the mean time live-it-up, even acquiring great wealth, but live with the constant knowledge that their head had to be available at a moments notice. Now we might say that way of life is barbaric yet Barker cleverly juxtaposes the skulls houses of Vanuatu with the skulls French farmers uncover while ploughing their fields - fields that were once covered in rotting German and English soldiers during World War One.

I didn’t like the crude graphic vulgarness in the book - the morals were disgusting (just like war is savage and disgusting). And I guess when one does not believe in God, then logically there is no need for any kind of objective moral standard because we as individuals become God. And ‘we’ can then do whatever we want. And so, human thought up ideas, codes of ethics so to speak (like bill of Human Rights) become nonsense because by whose ‘human right’ do we make the basis for all ‘human rights’, i.e. if I impose my ‘rights’, they will impact and hinder someone else’s ‘rights’. Hence we need God. Why? God is objective, outside of our subjectivity, outside of our communities collected subjectivity (that currently seems to be collectively on a moral downward spiral - what used to be bad is bad no more, only that that once was shocking.)

I guess Barker was trying to compare the carnality of certain solders living-it-up before they die with those caught in Vanuatu whose head is about to be used. The three books don’t focus on Vanuatu, but on World War One. Anyway, I wonder if we at times, question the “stupidity” of “natives”, of “head hunting”, or perhaps even the silliness of the unsophisticated ni-Van way of live now in 2006, letting ourselves have smug thoughts of how-civilized we in the west are, when we forget the barbaricness of our modern, rather too clinical, killing machines that are used in war today, or of the immorality and shortsightedness of how we in the west eat and use so much of the worlds food resources (two thirds of the worlds resources used by one third of the words population), add to that the weird reality that current generation of children in the west are the thought to be the first generation in human history whose life expectancy is calculated to be less than their parents - due largely to overeating, to luxury, and ‘comfortable’ lifestyle. Perhaps we are not as sophisticated as we think.

This makes me think of selflessness and a couple of examples of it. Daniel (the guy from the Lions Den), when hanging out with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, didn’t want to join in with the palace luxury and rich food and whatnot (Dan 1:8). A palace official was concerned thinking it might mean Dan and his three mates would fade away but after a ten day trial “they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food” (Dan 1:15). Even Nebuchadnezzar noticed them, they stood out. These four Hebrew men practiced the spiritual discipline of selflessness (and not selfishness). They became great leaders who helped a nation.

Another example of selflessness is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Here we have God the Son, super cool, super powerful, with the ability to do anything. While in his penthouse flat in heaven, he takes off his crown and de-powers himself becoming a human. Not only that - he suffers death on a bloody cross (even though he was innocent) in order for us to be able to have close friendship with him, for us to be able to have peace, that deep inner peace and joy that is often hard to explain. How does this work? Simply put (no doubt too simply) - because of the forgiveness of sins by the death of Jesus on a bloody cross. His dying paid a debt I could not pay. How do I know it works? Well I’m a professional sinner, I don’t want to be, it’s just part of being a human. When I (and zillions of other people) have got on our knees, and talked to God about the problem of our errors and sins, and asked for forgiveness, something actually happens. Weird as it seems - we often experience a profound sense of deep forgiveness. Give it ago.

To give some closure to the thoughts on war - since it was ANZAC Day last week. May we never forget the bravery of those who selflessly gave their lives so we may live today! May we make our lives count and be worthy of their sacrifice, as well as the sacrifice of Christ.

What’s happened during the past week?

We received a new inverter (to replace the one that blew up) kindly given to us by friends of Viv (a bible study group at St. Peters that Viv went to in Tauranga - thanks heaps guys - it’s working well). I had fun picking up the inverter. It arrived in a suitcase packed with ink for our printer, another computer keyboard (for the Talua library) and a laptop. The suitcase arrived on a inter island ferry from Port Vila - about 6:15pm last Friday. I was at the wharf waiting. Picked up the largish suitcase and rested it on front of me on the motorbike and drove home - slowly as the only light working on the bike was the park light. Each time a vehicle came the other way I’d have to virtually stop as I could not see where I was going. And as for the bumps on the road, they show up clearer in the dark, they are the dark spots on the road (even if I could only make out the next few meters ahead of me). And it didn’t rain much. The fun of living here!

The only problem with the bike trip is it might have been what put my neck out, for a few days this week I’ve had a rather stiff neck, at least its getting better now. Riding the bike back from town I’d put my neck on the suitcase to stabilise it.

Lectures finished yesterday - exams start today. I spent much of the last weekend marking essays. I found this hard - trying to be impartial, and fair. I developed a simple format to help me mark the papers objectively (to a point). I then went through each essay individually with the students to try to help them in future writing.

On the weather side of things - it is cooler at night but still can be very hot and sticky during the day. Yesterday was particularly humid and unpleasant. We have our ups and downs. There are still days we could just pack it all in. Today William vowed and declared he wanted to go home and coming here was a major mistake. He does not enjoy correspondence school much at all. He will just sit there looking at anything but his school work. So if you are the praying kind of person, a few prayers for us would really be appreciated. For Viv as she teaches the kids, for the kids as they do their school work, and for our health. I’ve had stuff start to weep straight out of my leg for no apparent reason. Its in-between (by at least 25mm) two cuts made from slipping on old coral. So I guess something got in I didn’t see and treat.

Nothing is simple in a way, be it cuts and bruises, they all take longer to heal. Today we opened a Weetbix packet to discover they tasted and smelt tainted from some kind of washing powder. No doubt stored in the shop or a ship beside the powder and the smell has cross contaminated. Not a great thing to happen considering a medium size packet of Weetbix costs over $6.

God Bless
Jon