I was reminded today of how much I enjoyed studying Bruce Dawe's poetry during high school... there's one line in the below poem that I just love, and particularly love to use to describe my relation ship with God. "one constant in a world of variables"...
Something about this poem just makes me pine for the 'ordinary' life... or at least be fascinated by its observation.

One constant in a world of variables

Not wanting to be out done by the Morrises, here is my lip-dub attempt. Hope you enjoy it.

This series of skits from the Armstrong & Miller show got me thinking about the importance of keeping the context in alignment with the language, particularly concerning the Bible.

this made me giggle when I logged into aboutlife this morning...
don't you think that these two look like they should be the same picture?

I often wonder what it i that drives people. How they respond to certain circumstances, events, situations.
For some, the slightest inconvenience can invoke such anger that I'm fascinated by it - kind of like a car crash where you don't want to look but you can't turn away. I'm sure my actions appear rude (apparently people don't like being stared at), but I just can't help it.

In my mind, everything turns into slow motion. I can hear people talking but it seems irrelevant to my mind so it only processes it as 'noise'. All the while, a voice over in a Woody Allen stylee starts to analyse and critique the unfolding scenario. Questions like "what has happened to this person throughout their life to invoke such a vehement response?" are not uncommonly heard.

My mind's response to being in the middle of such a situation is so fascinating to me that I think over it for days. I even begin to wonder if other people respond in the same way. I know one thing - God has given me the ability to process things in he way that I do. What I'm yet to learn is why. I'd also love to know that I'm not alone.

Another thing that fascinates me is how we (I) equate success with achievement.
When you're achieving your targets (whatever they may be), you tend to feel justified to be able to call yourself successful.
But what about those moments when you're not achieving, despite your best efforts?
Is your right to call yourself successful diminished?
why is it that so much of our feeling successful is dependent upon actions, opportunity and accolade?
why can't we just be successful?

Since visiting the Andy Warhol exhibition, Ian and I have been discussing a lot of the parallels that we found with Andy's work, his philosophy, and God's view of us.
One of the things that we both loved about Andy was that he saw art in everything - even generic boxes of brill-o.
What that reminded us of was the fact that, just like Andy Warhol saw art in everything, we can see God in everything, as well as see "God's artwork" within everything... for we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works (eph 2:10).

I've been exploring a lot of different forms of creative expression lately. The latest fad that has grabbed my interest is that of stencilling.
Those of you in the UK would be familiar with Banksy and his line of work, us aussies have to be content with seeing photographs of his work online, or purchasing his book (which is quite a good read, I must say). After reading through 'wall and piece' it inspired me to try my hand at stencil art.
Don't be too concerned though - I'm not about to skulk around in a hoodie defacing public property.
most of my work will be on items such as t-shirts, singlets, bags, etc... Here's the first of such items - a social comment on how the environment is paying for our technology

When we were in Edinburgh last September, we foolishly passed up the opportunity to visit an exhibition of all things Andy Warhol, so when the opportunity came to Brisbane, we jumped at the chance. And I'm so glad we did.
It's amazing to think that one man shaped so much of modern art and design as it is today. The way he was able to create intrigue out of the mundane, and individuality out of repetition are things that resonate so strongly with me. It's both the simpleness and the complexity of his work that inspires me to aim for the same mood/composition/image within my work.
Lately I've been following a creative thread of turning my photos into stencils and spraying them on to things, the first of which being a suitcase. Initially I thought 'it can't really be considered art, all ive done is trace over a picture to turn it into a stencil'. Then when I looked at half of Warhol's methodology, that's basically what he did, except with silkscreen. And at his peak, was charging celebrities $25k a pop!
It was such a well-curated exhibition. The images flowed seamlessly from one style to another, and the media clips and items from warhol's time capsules were placed in amongst paintings from the same era, giving you a bit of an idea of his life at the time of each work.
It's hard to think that there would be someone else in our generation that would do the same thing for art as what Warhol did, but then again, he didn't always see the things that he was doing as either ground-breaking, or even art for that matter! he was simply enjoying the process of being creative. If there is one lesson I learned from today, it would be just that... Enjoy the process of being creative.

Ian and I have been enjoying some family time in Brisbane over the last few days. One of the things that we have enjoyed the most while we've been here has been the ability to pop over to visit Ian's sister and bro-in-law in the city, and then head back to mum & dad's place in the north-western suburbs. It's such a novelty to us!
Heading back from such a visit, we encountered the weirdest thing ever.
So, we're driving along one of the main streets in the city, when we hear this sudden BANG on our car roof. Ian and I instantly think "what was that?!?!" and start looking around the car for an idea. At this point we pull up at some traffic lights, and another car pulls up along side us. The driver and I catch glances, so I wind down the window and ask him "is there something on our roof?"
He replies "Yeah... dunno what it is though. Looks like a giant iced vo-vo" (for those of you unfamiliar with iced vo-vo's, they're an aussie biscuit with pink marshmallow and coconut on top).
We pulled up at the closest petrol station to inspect things further, and sure enough, there was a giant blob of pink marshmallow coated in coconut splodged onto our roof.
I don't think we'll ever work out exactly where it came from or what exactly it was, the only assumption we can make is that someone's thrown it off their apartment balcony and our car has been in the wrong place at the wrong time...
Bizarre....

just been thinking through something I read in Hebrews this morning, regarding Christ's death and our inheritance.
it's hitting me particularly close to home at the moment since my Nan's passing on new years eve, and the legal swamp that the family now has to wade through in executing her will.
There's a passage in Hebrews 10:16 that talks about when a person's will takes effect. The person must be proven dead in order for the contents of the will to be executed.
In Christ, we know that our inheritance is a life free from sin, and in whole relationship with our Creator, that was His promise while he was on the earth. However, we are not able to claim that inheritance until Christ died. If Jesus hadn't died, his 'last will and testament' would not have taken effect.
paradoxically, we can't lay claim to any part of the inheritance unless we 'die to ourselves' also. It's not all one-sided. That is why today, Good Friday, is such a significant day.
I'm still brooding over this thought a little, so there may be some additions or retractions to this blog...