tis the season of slaughter

As I watch the news of the Middle Eastern situation I get a feeling that I am seeing yet another ground hog day. Its seems that each side has their share of grievance that justifies their actions. The Israelis claim that they have been attacked and all they are doing is exercising the right to defend themselves. Hizbollah and Hamas can equally claim that they are the ones who have been attacked and are under threat from the American-Zionist conspiracy. The sad thing is that each side is right. The current state of Israel was founded on the terror of Irgum and the Stern gang. Among the atrocities committed by these "freedom fighters" were the assassination of Count Bernadotte (organised by none other than Yitzhak Shamir who later became prime minister of Israel), the bombing of the King David Hotel and the slaughter at Deir Yassan. The final toll at Deir Yassan is unknown but is estimated to be between 90 and 230 in addition to the 23 who were lead into a quarry to be summarily executed. Similarly, Hezbollah and Hamas have their own litany of atrocity and murder, including suicide bombers, and the random rocket attacks on civilians who live in Israeli cities.

In the endless blood feud that is the Middle East who suffers most? Is it the perpetrators of these crimes against humanity? While some may lose their life (as in the case of the suicide bomber) or spend extended periods incarcerated, the armed protagonists generally are not the ones who pay the highest price. Neither is it their leaders, who only rarely find themselves in harms way. It is the women and the children, Christian, Moslem and Jew. In the photographs from the battlefield, it is the mother wailing in inconsolable grief that is the enduring image. In the body count reported with the dispassion of a financial reporter commenting on a company's financial results, how many are actual combatants?

Yet this is a battleground for peace and democracy, if you believe the rhetoric of the Bush administration. Or this is the battleground to destroy Zionist imperialism and push back American hegemony if you read the polemics of their Arab/Palestinian enemies. And all the while children cry and children die. And for what. Neither side will gain the victory. It has become the closest thing yet to a forever war, where a history of grievance, animosity and hate feeds the next round. There will be no forgiveness and there will be no end.

O cry ye mothers of Palestine
Wail amongst the cedars of Lebanon
Be in travail daughters of Israel
For death is stalking
She is not sated with the blood of the innocent
She is not filled with the blood from martyrs
Wail and be in travail
For the forever war is your inheritance
There will be no peace in your generation
The slaughter will go on
And there will be no respite
Drink deeply from the cup
Pass it on from generation to generation
For all are drunk and heady
They stagger, yet never fall
Who will bring to an end
The tragedy that has befallen you
Shall your sons rise up and say no more
Shall your daughters refuse to give the fruit of their labour
To be the next generation of heroes
The land wails and is not at peace
It convulses and shudders with each barrage
Though time may pass
It is never healed

The ring says it all

We live in a world full of secrets. There are secret codes, secret organizations, secret conspiracies, and even secret engagements. The thing about a secret is that, well it's meant to be a secret. But for Kate and Chris their feeble attempts to hide what they were planning to do didn't fool anyone, not that they were trying very hard. And as I've seen time and time again when two people are in love there is no way they can hide it. So as of Sunday what everyone knew has become official. Chris with the help of Kate's family tried to hatch a cunning plan to make the proposal a total surprise but they were almost foiled by the airline. But all things worked in the end.

So to the happy couple to be I pray the richest blessing upon you both. May your journey be smooth but never dull. May the Sun always shine even when it is raining. And may each morning burst forth as a song waiting to be sung.

From to match to hatch and back again

There is indeed a season for everything. Over the last year, it seemed that it was the season for having babies. It started with friends of mine down in Christchurch with the birth of their little girl. Then, a very short time thereafter my ex flatmate and his wife had twins. For a while, it seemed that everywhere I looked another couple was doing the biblical thing and going forth and multiplying. Was it something in the water? Was it the food? Or was it some mystery virus? Who knows. But I suspect that this particular season of hatching has come to an end, for it has been a full six weeks since the last of the current crop of babies entered the world. And I haven’t heard of any new pregnancies in the intervening period (which is not surprising since I have run out couples who could produce a new addition). But wait you say what about you. Well since I am one of the few remaining uncoupled, I can say with the utmost confidence that there is no chance that I will be following the biblical unction any time soon.

This last weekend a number of us gathered at my ex flatmates house to celebrate the twins first birthday. It seems a strange thing to celebrate a first birthday since the babies in question are still too young to recognise what a birthday is all about. It was a good thing that they had in the intervening period shifted to a much bigger place since is doubtful that the 65 people who turned up could have squeezed into their previous place.

The day was also a time to dedicate the twins to God. They chose to do a Salvation Army dedication since Michele is a Sallie it seemed the natural thing to do. It was a simple and very moving ceremony taken by Michele’s father. They certainly have added a lot of joy to everyone’s lives and I hope they continue to do so.

The next season though is upon us, the season of matching. There are four couples who are about to walk down the aisle. One is in Australia which will be a good excuse for a short holiday in Melbourne. The other three are in various parts of NZ. It feels like only yesterday that I was in a home group that comprised a group of young singles. Then they all got themselves matched which was cool as I had heaps of wedding invites. The great thing about going to weddings is that I get a free feed (which is a most excellent idea). Plus I get an opportunity to embarrass my friends them in front of all their friends and family, though with Sean nothing I said could embarrass him! But I am getting older and wiser so perhaps I should behave myself and not say anything (But then again . . .)

We are family?

Friends, family, community. What do these concepts really mean? It may seem obvious. Surely a family is those to whom I am related by blood; surely friends are those to whom I share a common bond, born of overlapping interests, experiences and compatible personality. But is it as clear cut as that? Are those who are friends and family merely an accident of history and genetics? Like so much in life when you start to look below the surface everything becomes less clear. The boundary between friend, family and stranger is fuzzy.

If I were to make a list of the people I know and put them into each category there are many that I could, depending upon the definition of family, put into more than one category. For example, I've never met many of my blood relatives. Some died before I could meet them, while others lived in other parts of the country. Such "blood relatives" could easily fit into the list of strangers. Then there are friends whose relationship is more along the lines of a family member. I have many "sisters" in addition to my "real" sister. One constantly greets me my referring to me as bro as in "how is it going bro?". So even though they are not related to me by blood they are more like family to me than members of my family whom I have never met. In fact I might spend more time with them than my "real" family since my "real" family is spread throughout NZ and overseas, and I only get to see them about once a year or less. So because I might spend more time with those whom I consider my friends does this make them more of a "real" family than my "real" family?

And when I think about it, I find that I don't spend that much time even those members of my "surrogate" family. Many members of the "surrogate" family come from my faith community. Thus, most of my interactions with them occur around church based activities like the Sunday Service or home group. I also try to catch up with some for coffee or lunch when I can, and I keep in touch via txt and email in between times. However, due to other commitments and priorities my interaction with family and friends is actually quite limited. Indeed probably 90% of my waking hours involve no interaction with any of them. Of course there will be interactions with a large number of people during this period, but they will be casual and transitory such as dealing with workmates, clients, bus drivers, checkout operators etc. And in this I am sure that I am not unique.

While it is important to have time to ourselves, we all need some level of interaction with those who know and care for us. The level of interaction may be more or less depending on our personality type and situation. The lack of this type of interaction leads to what I believe is the curse of this modern age - loneliness. We are a generation and a society that craves intimacy but doesn't know how to find it. Is it any wonder then that there is an epidemic in mental illnesses such as anxiety disorders and depression. The level of substance abuse and addiction is also at alarming levels. This is the gap into which the faith community needs to walk. Nevertheless, I suspect that below the waterline, many members of the faith community are also enduring their own crisis of loneliness as they find themselves cut off by the pressures of living in 21st century NZ.

L'Italia, campioni del mondo

And now to indulge in my other great passion. Given that NZ has yet to produce a football team that deserves anything more than derision (a la the pathetic Football Kings (sic)) a long time ago I devoted my passion and fervent support to a side that was worthy of my attention. It had to be a side that had style, and emotion, with supporters to match. The team could be none other than the blue army of the Azzurri.

My choice was influenced to no small extent by the English supporters who were constantly reliving the glory of 1966 and hoping, ye even expecting, that this will be the year when history will be repeated. And yes history was repeated - England went out in the quarterfinals in a penalty shootout. Be gone I say O losers!

So to my heroes in the glorious Italian side I salute you. This team knows how to win, and how to take advantage of an opponent when he is down (Australia take note). So onto the final, and my prediction is 1-0 to the Azzurri.

It must be love!

I admit it. I've tried for years to deny it but there is no more sense in denying the obvious. I guess I came out of the closet at Bathurst. Yes at the Australian V8 petrol head race feast for boys who droll over who can go ridiculously fast over a hill circuit that was designed for nothing faster than a horse and buggy.

There is nothing sexier, nothing more primal, no nothing that brings out what it means to be a man than to be among the exhaust fumes and hear the deep-throated roar of a V8 with the pedal to the metal going 300k down cam rod. Tell me what can be more exciting than seeing 1/4 million dollar cars get totalled as they slam into each other and the barriers as they battle for absolute supremacy.

The genuine guys will understand what I am talking about. But I have found a new love. It is not Australian but Italian. In fact those that know me will realise I've always had a soft spot for the Italians - particularly Lamborghini. But now I've found something better from the stable of Bugatti. It is the W-16 veyron. In terms of perfect dimensions just look at the what it brings to the road

A W-16 engine that can produce 1,001 horsepower
A top speed of 250+ mph (400+ kph)
A zero-to-60 time of three seconds A zero-to-180 time of 14 seconds
A price tag somewhere in the $1.2 million range.

But instead of me talking about it why not see for yourself.




Love at first sight :)