Books and Bricks

 

The enemy is at the door. Still unseen, peril is imminent. Glimpses of encouragement are overwhelmed by a global threat that is no

t going away. Many have given up. Hope is in short supply. Politicians are fighting amongst themselves without vision, consensus or even a plan. It’s May 1940, Germany’s rise appears to be unstoppable and Winston Churchill has just become the Prime Minster of the United Kingdom.

 

The wheel turned. Churchill’s resolve, his rhetoric, his doggedness and his single-minded determination saw the UK firstly resist invasion and eventually prevail to victory. Most would expect that while Churchill served as PM he devoted every single moment of his life to his task of leadership. That, however, was not t

he case. Churchill was a complex and unusual character fuelled in many ways by eccentricity and a passion for life.

 

Even as PM, Churchill still found time to relax and engage in an eclectic mixture of hobbies. Churchill was an avid reader. His reading of history, warfare, literature, politics and biography fuelled intellectual growth and an education wider and deeper than any university qualification. He took up painting at the age of 40 and found in the creative arts an outlet that helped him deal with stress and sparked a renewed love of colour and life. He wrote and set himself a goal to write 2000 words a day – so th

at when he needed to write his skills were honed and sharp. He also laid bricks. Yes, Churchill was somewhat of a do-it-yourself bricklayer, building garden walls and even small buildings. Added to his 2000 words-a-day writing goal was a 200 bricks-a-day, wall building goal. Hardly a picture of physical health, Churchill’s bricklaying was a physical challenge and a distraction from the pressures of leadership and war. His bricklaying led him to landscaping and to the planting of gardens and orchards. Finally, Churchill was an animal lover. In his early life he was an accomplished horseman and polo player. With less time as PM he enjoyed a menagerie of dogs, cats, birds and fish.

 

During a time of difficulty, it might be tempting to dwell only on the problem at hand. Balance may suggest an alternative. The humble hobby remains much more than a refuge from the storm outside. Life affirming interests and pursuits broadens horizons, challenges perspectives, releases minds, develops skills and renews passions.

 

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is

true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Phil 4:8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tough times never last....

 2020 has been a hard year. Hardest hit are the millions across the globe who are grieving the almost 900,000 who have died. 27 million people have been infected, most with mild symptoms, but many have

battled life threatening illness for weeks and months. The economic cost globally is beyond calcul

ation. Financial pain is personal pain for millions. Lockdowns short or long continue to be an incredible burden to bear. Plans, dreams and hopes have been put on hold or abandoned altogether. Many lament their inability to travel and visit loved ones. It has been a hard year – no doubt. There have been lots of superlatives and quite a few imaginative swear words to describe 2020. But I want to ask a controversial question.

 

Is hard always bad?

 

Working out in a gym on a Navy base can be daunting. There are lots of very fit young men and women who train incredibly hard. They lift heavy weights.  They embrace ‘hard’ accepting that hard is the way to strength, to power and to

growth. Those who bench press 50 kgs aspire to bench press 60. I sometimes mentally add up the weights on the end of a bar bell and am amazed by the strength and agility of youth. Fit young people in a gym do not shy away from hard. They accept struggle, and even embrace the pain believing it will produce the result they desire.

 

From ancient times civilisations have embraced hardship, pain and difficulty as an effective path to developing character, strength and resilience. The old book describes it like this.

 

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into o

ur hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5: 3-5

 

It would be foolish and heartless to say that Covid 19 has been good for us. Rather it might be reasonable to acknowledge that from hardship, good can come. From pain, growth. From struggle, strength. From difficulty, a determination to find a way through. Humans have long found that when natural resources are spent – deeper spiritual resources need to be mined.

 

A popular, slightly corny, preacher in the US coined the phrase; ‘Tough times never last, tough people do’. 2020 will long be remembered as a tough year. The default response of bitterness and regret to the challenges of hardship is not the only option. Hardship can be endured, difficulty accepted, and struggle embraced in the hope that strength, determination and perseverance will flow.

Natural contentment

To the eye, a fresh, plump, ripe strawberry is a thing of beauty. However, many of the huge, fat strawberries found on our supermarket shelves are sadly lacking in the taste department. Often resembling a small apple, many of those wonderfully attractive, commercially grown strawberries can be dry on the inside and totally devoid of taste. 

 

Imagine our delight when we discovered a local grower where strawberries are picked in the morning and sold in the afternoon for $12 a kilo. Delicious, juicy, fresh, locally grown strawberries – wow – can it get any better? 

 

Well, actually it can. Yesterday we picked our first home grown strawberries, right here in Shoalwater, WA. After losing a few to the hungry and rather crafty ravens, a small investment in cloth bird protection allowed our strawberries to fully ripen in the sun. These little treasures, packed with sweetness, fuelled by rainfall, grown in compost and devoid of chemical fertilisers and pesticides were a taste of heaven. The locally grown strawberries seemed dull, lifeless and ordinary compared to our own shiny fruit which had travelled less than 15 metres from ‘paddock to plate’ and was enjoyed within an hour of harvest. 

 

2020 has been a tough year. The darkness, the struggles, the rules, the restrictions, the border closures, the politics, the changes and the economic disaster have sadly been intertwined with illness and death. It’s been a year when it often felt like the sun had stopped shining. 

 

However, the sun still continues to shine behind the clouds. 

 

The majesty, the mystery and the sheer magnificence of our world are not diminished by struggle. The natural world goes on. Plovers raise their chicks in the field, whales continue to migrate, pelicans awkwardly land on crystal clear waters,  tiny fairy penguins return each evening to feed their chicks and snails enjoy their slimy evening dinner all within a stone’s throw of our suburban backyard. A seed germinates in soil and life bursts forth, seemingly out of nothing. A plant produces a berry that not only feeds, but thrills.

 

All over the world, even in places of extreme suffering life goes on. Babies continue to be born. Children risk falling as they learn to walk, kids continue to play, teenagers muddle their way through and grown-ups try to grow up. People still fall in love and marry,  with or without guests at their wedding.

 

Despair in hard times is the obvious default. Faith looks up, past the struggle, to see the beauty. Hope looks out, beyond the darkness and insists that there is a better day coming. Love remains God’s finest gift and our greatest calling.  

 

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² 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. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength

Phil 4: 11-13

Plan A, Plan B

 

There has been a lot of talk of late in the Australian media about a possible vaccine for Covid 19. How should we react to this discussion?

 

The optimists will be thrilled that a way out of the pandemic is just around the corner. The pessimists will dismiss it as rhetoric from politicians keen to deflect attention away from the continued critical medical and economic challenges. The stock market, it seems, has already decided. Despite the economy being in tatters the stock market is only slightly down on the record highs of last year. The logic follows that the market has already priced in a vaccine. The market seems convinced that the economic shocks will be steep but temporary, that a vaccine is close, and that the world will soon return to normality.

 

The optimist, the pessimist and the investor (who has already priced in a vaccine) share the same delusion- they are all sure that they know what is going to happen in the future. Or to be more charitable, they are all certain that they think they know the future. Or to say it another way, they are all punting on their own view of what they think will happen.

 

There is, however, an alternative way of thinking. Laced with a hint of humility it might be simpler to accept that we actually don’t know if or when a vaccine might be ready for use. We can be hopeful. We can remain positive. We can support our leaders who are convinced that a vaccine is a great Plan A. But we need a Plan B as well.

 

Plan B might include more research into treatments. Plan B might include balancing economic and health concerns. Plan B might mean accepting we are simply not going to be able to hug our grandchildren on the other side of the country for quite a while. Plan B might include being thankful for all we have learnt about managing this virus. Plan B might include resourcing our medical heroes for a marathon not just a sprint. Plan B might include being flexible and adaptable to the windy path in front of us, wherever it may lead.

 

Faith has often been criticised as being a crutch for the weak. I would rather describe faith as being like a good pair of joggers. The road ahead is uncertain. There may be rocks and occasionally broken glass. At times the path will be clear and well-lit and at other times the path will be steep with poor visibility. We need all the support we can get. Strength, protection and confidence are needed as we stride out even when the path remains uncertain and unpredictable.

 

Faith does not promise that it will be alright. Faith rejects all political messiahs. Faith steps into the darkness and trusts the goodness of the creator, the guidance of the good shepherd and the sustaining strength of the enduring spirit.

 

Faith hopes that tomorrow the sun will shine, but has a raincoat at the ready for a possible storm.

 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5 

 

We could be heros

What does the Royal Australian Navy and Tasmania have in common? This week they are both celebrating the government’s recommendation to award Seaman Edward ‘Teddy’ Sheean, a posthumous Victoria Cross.

 Teddy was the 14^th child of a working-class family. He was raised in Latrobe in Tasmania’s north, close to Devonport. At the age of 18, in April 1941, he joined the Naval Reserves following in the footsteps of his five older brothers, four in the Army and one in the Navy. In May 1941 he was posted to Garden Island, Sydney where he was billeted on board the converted ferry Kuttabul. Later that month he was on leave back in Tasmania when the midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour occurred and Kuttabul was sunk. Twenty-one sailors died.

Less than two weeks later Teddy returned to Sydney to join the newly commissioned HMAS Armidale. Armidale sailed north to assist in the evacuation of Australian soldiers from occupied Timor. On 1 December 1942 around 1400h (2pm) Armidale came under attack from no less than thirteen Japanese aircraft. Within an hour the ship had taken a number of direct hits and the order was given to evacuate ship. Sheean assisted in the launching of lifeboats, but then noticed that many of his fellow sailors were in the water and were being strafed by enemy gunfire. He scrambled back to his gun on the sinking ship. He was twice wounded but continued to fire the gun whilst under continual enemy attack. Many of the forty-nine survivors claimed it was the heroic efforts of Seaman Sheean to shoot down one plane and keep the others at bay, that saved their lives. He was seen to be still firing his gun as the ship slipped below the waves.

Teddy Sheean could have blamed politicians and so-called experts for allowing a young man to be exposed to the horrors of war. He could have renounced his senior officers for making decisions that may have steered his ship into danger. Instead, his primary concern was for the safety of his mates. He took responsibility. He acted decisively. He laid down his own life with selfless devotion.

Teddy Sheean’s heroic service puts the dramas that we face today into perspective. We are again facing an enemy. We are under threat. People are dying. We need the inspiration of one who counted serving as being of higher value than self-interest. We kid ourselves that one person doesn’t matter, but Teddy Sheean challenges that false view. No individual can change the course of a war, but selflessness does save lives.

The actions of every person in the face of an invisible enemy can make a difference.

 

As was said of Jesus, who laid down his life sacrificially 

³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13  

 

 

 

Only two certainties

In April 1970 a farmer, Leonard Casley, had an argument with the Western Australian Government about wheat quotas. Wheat quotas limiting a farmers production years later were removed but at the time Leonard was impati

ent so he declared his farm of 4000 hectares an independent principality. He crowned himself His Majesty Prince Leonard 1 of the Hutt River Province. Holding to the British Treason Act of 1495 Hutt River succeeded from Australia and remained, in the Prince’s mind at least, loyal subjects of Queen Elizabeth II. For decades the Principality issued its own coins, stamps and passports, refused to pay Australian Government taxes and became a quirky tourist attraction.

 

The Australian Government never accepted this declaration. No other country in the world ever recognised Hutt’s independence. Tax notices continued to pile up. After abdicating his crown last year Prince Leonard died on 13 February 2019. On 31 January 2020 the Province was closed to tourists and this week was formall

y dissolved.

 

I am tempted to say this could only have happened in Western Australia but as a temporary, captive resident of this remote and independent minded state, it might be wiser if I didn’t. The Australian Tax Office has issued back tax notices for almost three million dollars which means that Prince Leopold’s successor, his son Graham, has to foot the bill. It all goes to prove those words written in 1795 by Benjamin Franklin

…

 

Our new Constitution is now established and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

 

The events of this year remind us that certainty is almost always a mirage. In the face of uncertainty we desperately cling to hope. A hop

e that cradles uncertainty lightly. A hope that hangs on in the midst of the storm. A hope that waits for a break in the clouds. A hope that trusts the sun will shine again.

 

We can fight the system and declare independence, or we can band together with co-operation, patience and hope and ride out the storm.

 

So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

Beware what we hope for.

Folklore says that during the Great Depression a star arose to warm the hearts of average Australians and to give them hope – Phar Lap. The legendary champion race horse, victorious in 37 of his 51 races, supposedly raised the spirits of a nation weary of difficult times, unemployment and food shortages. Phar Lap played the role of hero to a nation whose hopes had sagged.

Facing our own period of hardship today it’s not surprising that we are looking for a new champion. Recently this has led to a rather unedifying spat between Rugby Union and Rugby League over the playing future of teenage sensation Joseph Suaali. At 16, this young man is already 193 cm and 93 kg. Videos online reveal a dynamic runner of the ball, a wicked sidestep, wonderful ball skills and fierce tackling. It’s the sort of thing that makes old rugby souls get goose bumps – the prospect of a genuine talent that could revive a dying code. With a pedigree in Junior Rugby League and impressive stats in GPS Rugby it is no wonder that the rival codes are desperate to sign him and workout how they can fast track him to the senior ranks.

Sadly, the story of Phar Lap ended in disappointment with the champion’s mysterious premature death. Was it foul play or was he literally ridden into the ground. Did we expect too much? Was it fair for a nation to ride on a horse’s back expecting deliverance, rescue and economic salvation?

When two sporting codes are bleeding money, when officials and players are being laid off and taking pay cuts and when governments are doing their utmost to keep people in jobs it is rather unedifying to see a teenager being offered millions to play sport. Maybe it’s also a little unfair on him. But…it is great to have a distraction.

The promise of a new generation, the glory of speed and the fearlessness of youth are things to be welcomed and enjoyed. But not idolised.

¹⁰ His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. Psalm 147:10-12