Rejoining the Stream
Far from being a cruisy introduction back into the swing of university life, the past week consisted of a sudden bursting back upon the world, or a bursting of the world back upon me. Transferring faculties was a little daunting, but I am now a proud Education student, happy to be studying a degree that will actually get me a job. The ever-loyal arts student in me was, however, immensely gratified when an old friend of mine, who is now focussing on the Arts segment of a combined degree admitted that even though she would be spending far fewer hours in formal classes this year, she found that she was spending “every second reading”. I only wish that this debunking of the infamous “bachelor of attendance” myth had come from a former commerce/law/science student, seeing as engineering is probably the only faculty that has as many taunts thrown in their direction.
In terms of the class-time/ independent study balance my new course seems to be situated on the Arts end of the spectrum, with 8 hours of classes and a three-day week of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. As well as starting back studying teaching, I also started actually teaching at church. Sunday the 19th was my first day teaching primary Sunday school for the 5pm church service. Apparently the children behaved better for my presence, which was an encouraging change from high school scripture teaching, but I wonder how long it will take the new-scary-teacher novelty to wear off. Its sooo hard to find the right balance with kids…you know on the one hand I’m scared of them and want them to like me, and on the other hand I can comfortably slip into my scary persona and frighten the living daylights out of them. Highlights so far have included discovering that John the Baptist actually wore a novelty glasses and moustache set, and shocking a child into silence by rousing at them in Japanese. I’ve also started teaching English language classes at Church on Tuesday mornings. Its such important work, helping these people out of the isolation caused by the language barrier. They’ve assigned me to work one-on-one with one of the women there, who speaks so little English that she can’t even be integrated into a beginner’s class. However, we soon discovered, much to our mutual relief, that she and I both speak French. Tomorrow I’ll have to be more discipline and use as much English as possible.
Having Mondays off gives one more freedom to enjoy the weekend without the pressure of needing to recover or study in preparation for the coming week. I’m thinking about going in to uni on Fridays, however, since it will give me more opportunity to either use the computers, library and gym, or hang out with my friends (depending on how disciplined I’m being). The last two Mondays have been spent doing chores, running errands and writing blogs etc. This Friday was much more interesting. In the morning I went to see my specialist in Sydney and despite taking ample materials with me I managed to do almost no study during the entire round trip. The first leg of the journey was spent chatting to the elderly lady in the seat next to me. She was rather loquacious, confiding to me that her daughter is always telling her she talks to people too much, so we had something in common. It turned out that she was quite an inspirational woman, having managed to raise twin daughters and work as a professional accountant in the days before women’s liberation. I suggested that she should get involved in helping and counselling younger women, but she told me that no one was interested in what she had to say. I guess it just goes to show what the ageist miss out on.
On Friday evening at FOCUS (Fellowship of Overseas Christian University Students) we had a pot-luck international dinner to celebrate the first week back of uni and the beginning of the Introducing God course. I rang up a friend in the group and suggested that, if she was cooking, rather than going all the way home, I could go round to her place and we could cook together. She wasn’t, but she said I could come anyway. However, I ended up feeling quite terrible, because here I was basically taking over and messing up a strange kitchen for my own purposes. I made a carrot salad according to our family recipe, and spaghetti bolognaise. The evening went well but there was plenty of my food left over, so I gave it to my friend’s housemates as a kind of ‘kitchen-rental’.
If it doesn’t sound like I did much actual study this week, that’s because I didn’t. I attended classes, but the rest of my time was spent doing all those beginning of semester chores like fee-paying, paper-sorting, book-buying etc., and, of course, catching up with friends whom I hadn’t seen for a while. On Wednesday I went shopping with my sister, whose wedding photos won her a handsome gift voucher for the jewelry shop she purchased her accessories from. I quite considerately insisted that she should not be allowed to spend so much money all by herself, and my selfless offer to be her shopping partner earned me some lovely presents for my imminent 21st birthday. On Thursday I had lunch with Helen from China, who gave me the most gorgeous present (embarrassing seeing as my present was pretty cheap) and Apeksha from India, a fellow Bollywood fan.
Of course I am aware that I haven’t been keeping up with my distant/online friends (especially Nicole, Karen, Lisa, Claude, Uncle Colin and Marlean) Apologies, Hugs and Kisses guys. I will EVENTUALLY get up to date with my emailing. In the mean time, I do try and keep my blog up to date so we have some sort of communication going.
Equally Sublime. Equally Ridiculous: Discrimination and Inequality Part 3
So, in the third instalment of this increasingly long-winded epic, we come to this wonderfully beauteous and radical understanding of what it means to be human, an understanding which, I believe, needs to stand at the core of any Christian position to these issues. A Christian approach, we have established, must dispense with all the half-baked, selfish emotive preconceptions that surround most attitudes to discrimination/inequality, and cannot afford misuse nor misinterpretation of scripture. It will therefore require an informed use of both biblical theology and systematic theology.
Systematic theology means fitting all the things the bible says together to build up a coherent picture of God’s will. If you will allow me a little Foucauldian indulgence, whilst biblical theology is diachronic, systematic theology is synchronic. Fortunately, the puzzle of systematic theology has been given to us with the central piece, around which all the others must be made to fit, already in place. The command to love God with our whole being. Everyone (well most people) know now to love someone: by respecting/admiring/adoring them, and by doing stuff to make them happy. This is why we are told that glorifying God and obeying his commands is the WHOLE duty of man. It is the purpose for which we were born and which supersedes all other desires and loyalties.
Its pretty easy to see what an explosive idea this could be in the wrong hands. September the 11th, and various tragedies of history like the Crusades, have often been cited as proof that such thinking is an evil and dangerous threat to civilization. If the God to which you are loyal is glorified or pleased by discrimination, inequality and cruelty, then it most certainly is.
What is God pleased by anyway? How do we show love for him? I mean its not like the owner of the universe is going to be impressed by a dozen red roses and a diamond ring (see Psalm 50:8-12.) Well God made humanity in his image and when you love and admire someone you adore their image and their work, hence the boy band posters and CD’s that linger in the back of many a cupboard as embarrassing reminders of adolescence. So here’s the big amazing, humungous coolness….GOD MADE HUMANITY IN HIS
IMAGE. That makes us amazing and beautiful creatures, the sublime and glorious pinnacle of creation…we rock! There’s something in that Olympic slogan “celebrate humanity”. Loving and serving others is one of the highest possible callings there could be (high enough for God to die for it), and causing them unnecessary harm is a very grave thing indeed, because humans REFLECT god’s image and glory (James), Because they are MADE BY God, because they are LOVED by God, and most importantly, because loving other humans is the one central COMMAND that our God has given us for life (See Mark 12:28-34, John 15:12.) So not only is every human being innately worthy of respect because they carry the image of the Lord of the Universe (see Genesis 9:6), but by valuing them we are giving tangible form to our love for God, to whom we have pledged absolute devotion (1 John 4:19-21).
Now what we must realise is that this is true EQUALLY of EVERYONE PURELY BY VIRTUE OF THEIR HUMANNESS. They apply to both sexes since “in the image of God he created himg; male and female he created them.” They apply to all races since “he made from one man eveyr nation of mankind” (and remember that people in Bible times had contact people of all colours form India to Ethiopia). They apply to all ages, for Jesus said “let the little children to come to me...for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” and “honour your father and your mother.”, to all places “…”and to all classes, since “Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker”. This last quote is quite clear…if you disrespect another member of the human race, you insult its creator. People of all colours, classes, genders, ages and abilities demonstrate some facet of the nature of God. Even if we don’t see it, we need to search for it and celebrate it.How arrogant could we possibly be to trample upon God’s reflection?
And yet we do. That’s because nobody’s perfect, No one has given God that absolute devotion he requires (See Romans 3:23). The bible tells us we’ve all failed, both as individuals, and as a collective species, to live up to our calling as his creatures and as his sublime image-bearers. This explains why humans, often look more like lazy, war-mongering, cruel angry screw-ups than sublime beautiful beings. The Bible teaches us that once the image of God is marred even the slightest bit, its no longer up to scratch, it doesn’t matter how much, it is still marred (See Romans 3:23). This is true for other beautiful things, like a set of antiques…once one part of the set is lost, it doesn’t matter how beautiful the rest is, its lost most of its resale value. We’re all part of a massive failure to live out our purpose, and the bible therefore describes us as “dead” (See Ephesians 2:1-10).
Its more than ridiculous its tragic. But once again it’s equally tragic for everyone. The bible is quite clear that NO ONE CAN BOAST (See Ephesians 1 Corinthians 1:28-31; Ephesians 2:10) because we are all alike fallen from grace, we are dead, and in death all are equal. This is one reason why the Bible tells us not to judge…because we will be judged by the same measure, and we will fail (Matthew 7:1-4; Romans 2:1). The other reason is that we are simply not omniscient. Jesus tells a story about a man whose field was sown with weeds by an enemy. The man couldn’t pull up the weeds until harvest time (the next life) for fear of pulling up the good plants (Matthew 15:24-30). These three points together form the most radical part, I think, of a basic Christian approach to discrimination. For they mean that there can be no devaluing of other human beings based on our judgements of real/imagined moral inferiority. If their part of the image of God is marred so is yours, if you have potential to change, so do they. Your pitiful good works are not enough to distinguish you from them, and for all you know you could end up spending eternity with them. This excludes any disrespect for other humans on the basis of creed/sexuality etc., whatever our moral position.
Basically, our value lies in our humanness, no more no less, and since we share that with every other homo sapien on the planet, I see no grounds so far for inequality or discrimination…in fact, I would call it criminal, judgemental, and even irreverent.
Yee Hah...
The last week was spent savouring the delights of the New England region in the company of my octogenarian grandmother. My paternal line is firmly rooted in Tamworth, located about 8 hours train ride north of my current home, and best known for the Australian Country Music Festival that takes place there each January. However, although I do consider the Golden Guitar to be one of the few “big” landmarks in Australia that has a right to exist, for me visits to Tamworth will always be about family. I disembarked at the same station where my father used to watch trains as a boy, drove past my grandmother’s old high school, attended the church where she married my grandfather, and saw where my grandfather lived in when he was one of the first students of the University of New England. It turns out that even his grandparents were residents of Australia’s “country music capital”. Having such long-term connections with the place, I did feel justified in buying a cheesy country-music-festival cap.
Outside of the festival season, however, the area is far from lively and exciting, so I spent a lot of time reading & watching films. Apart from introducing my grandmother to the delights of my favourite trashy nineties movies (I will be forever grateful to the post-modernist movement for enabling me to argue convincingly that such films are a valid and interesting form of cultural expression), I also continued to pursue my interest in films from other cultures. Together my grandmother and I watched
- Khabi Kushi Khabi Gham, a frighteningly cheesy Bollywood love story, that still gives some interesting insights into Indian self-perceptions and values despite its complete lack of realism
- Kandahar, an Iranian film about Afghani women that’s worth watching for the excellent cinematography, albeit rather depressing. It feels that much more legitimate when I consider that it is a non-Western film made prior to 9/11
- Whale Rider, having studied South Pacific literature I was particularly eager to see this film, which is based on a novel by a famous and pioneering Maori writer. It really is well acted and beautiful. Colour is used very well and the exploration of Maori culture and life is far from naïve or essentialist
- Keeping Mum- Well, not exactly foreign. It was thoroughly British, but judging by my mother the implacable determination to solve every problem by the consumption of tea appears to be a colonial cultural trait as well.
Now, of course, I am running around that unpleasant place in between holidays and return to normalcy. This is the section of the space-time continuum reserved for the storage and processing of all the things which you were too busy to do during the year, and put off for the holidays, during which you procrastinated and found much more enjoyable ways to employ your time. (L)uni returns on Monday, but by a lucky twist of fate I won’t be returning till Tuesday. For those of you who don’t know, I’ll be studying for a Graduate Diploma of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) at the University of Wollongong. Since most post-graduate students are good hard-working citizens with jobs, all my classes this semester are on during the late afternoon/evening. This means that there won’t be much incentive to exchange my common-nocturnal-species-otherwise-known-as-university-student-on-holidays body clock for that of an ordinary human being any time soon.The real test of my resolution to keep my blog up-to-date will come with the return of everyday stress and clutter to my life...but I’ll do my best.
With All My Heart: Discrimination & Prejudice part II
I am well aware that my last post on this subject ended in floating in the air in a somewhat preachy place above the middle of nowhere. When I first set out to write on this topic I didn't realise that the post would be so long or that the writing of it would be quite so difficult and time-consuming...
Why the Groundwork was So Important:
In Part 1 I tried to show, very briefly, how many people's approach to the vital issue of discrimination is often contaminated by a mixture of inconsistent ad-hoc ideologies, individual and societal self-interested, and poor biblical interpretation. For this reason, I suggested that, discovering a truly Christian understanding of this vital issue of discrimination and prejudice would require us to take a Cartesian approach. Since we are assuming a Christian worldview, our point of departure is slightly less abstract than the famous "Cogito ergo sum". It is the word of God, which itself commands us to renew our minds. We also know that all of the commands in the bible hinge on two fundamental ones: Love God and Love your neighbour.
Twisting the truth to suit our own interests and preconceptions is a practice so old and entrenched that it probably predates time itself, as is the problem of people who fail to see the forest for the trees, forgetting these fundamental principles for the sake of keeping the lesser ones. That is why I have emphasized this aspect so strongly...because it is absolutely vital that we build everything with these two commands in mind.
Down to Business
Get over yourself:
So....finally what these actually mean for discrimination and prejudice. Well, firstly, loving God with all our hearts means a radical and absolute abandonment of "prejudice" in the literal sense- ie of "pre judgement". If we really love God with our whole hearts, then when we enter his presence we will leave our preconceptions, customs, desires etc, at the door. Whatever we were taught to do & think, whatever we WANT to do or think, is irrelevant-serving, obeying and doing the will of God is the alpha and the omega, it is the whole purpose of the Christian life (see Mark 2:21-22, Ecclesiastes 12:13, Galatians 2:20, 1 John 5:3 ) This excludes any favouritism based solely on self-interest or self-justifying loyalties.
For example, whilst I don't believe that we should eradicate all patriotic feelings or actions, (this is impossible mainly for pragmatic reasons) the kind of patriotism that says "my country right or wrong" has caused a lot of damage in this world. It has allowed superpowers to shamelessly pursue their own interests at the expense of thousands of lives, and, closer to home, was the rationale our foreign minister gave for stealing oil from a fourth-world country, and motivated youths to rage about Cronulla beaches dressed in flags. Here is a discrimination against people purely on the basis of their skin colour, culture or the place in which they happen to be born, based on a loyalty, not to God, but to an abstract entity that only really emerged as a result of the Industrial Revolution 200 years ago. There are many other examples of prejudice and inequality that results from a failure to submit ourselves to God. If people started really submitting to a higher power than their desires. or traditions, or the capitalist-rationalist-liberal-Western worldview we've grown up with with a lot of the world's problems would be greatly ameliorated.
There are two other important aspects of loving God with our whole heart that have a radical and potentially world-transforming impact on ideas of inequality and discrimination...to my mind these are some of the most beautiful and liberating aspects of Christian doctrine...but unfortunately its almost midnight and I've been waffling on again.
Since I want to do these beautiful truths justice I'll have to finish up and make you wait until part three...where I explain how all human beings are...
EQUALLY SUBLIME...EQUALLY RIDICULOUS
Intermission
Hi! Just letting people know that the reason I haven't posted or emailed in a while is that I'm at my Grandma's house in Tamworth and she doesn't have a computer let alone internet access so I can't really post until I get back. Look out for a post some time after the 17th of February
"I make no apologies for being egotistical..."
Apologies to Miles Franklin, from whom this quote was taken, and whose career was far more brilliant than mine has been this week. I will, however, make the arrogant presumption that there are people out there interested in my boring life and write a little update. By the way, if you do read this post, why not give my ego a boost and send me a comment to let me know someone actually does care.
Regarding what I said last week- My teeth are going well and my job hunting isn't going at all. I also feel as if the week has been thoroughly boring and am actually half looking forward to going back to (l)uni. Since my memory has not had any exercise these last three months I'm having trouble remembering what I did this week, so I'll begin with yesterday and work backwards.
Yesterday I went to church and farewelled my good friend Nicole who is leaving to take up a post-doctoral position in Sydney Childrens' hospital. She's a great and inspiring gal with a sincere faith despite hardship, a compassion for those that most people reject, and an ability to be both feminine and incredibly smart. We've become quite close and I've gained a lot from her friendship...Goodbye Nicole :-(
I also started reading a simple Japanese book. I try to do a bit of reading/writing/speaking and listening in my two non-native languages now and then to keep myself up to date. It really is amazing how quickly you forget things. It was very discouraging to have difficulty reading a children's book in Japanese, but also spurred me on to persevere since I know I need improvement. This week I also read part of the first Harry Potter book in French. This was much easier, and some of the translation choices were quite interesting. Some names have been changed: eg Hogwarts= Poudlard, Slytherin= Serpentard, Hufflepuff= Pouffsouffle, and the author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them is none other than “Norbert Dragonet”. Another strange thing I noticed was that they translated inches as centimetres...I mean its not like the English usually use inches either, but they're smart enough to work it out.
I also translated my website into French...which I am very proud of.
In English, I've started reading Thomas Moore's Utopia...more on that later.
I celebrated Chinese New Year on Saturday night,with a number of my good friends which I consider a great privilege. Dumplings appear to be the traditional food of the season (they're actually more like miniature meat pasties than European dumplings) and the other girls had a lot of fun at my expense when I was very inexpert at making them. I got to play with lots of cute little babies that got brought along. 
Wednesday and Thursday were taken up mainly with FOCUS stuff.
Enlighten me: Discrimination and Inequality...part 1
***WARNING*** this post contains quotes from the Communist Manifesto and the Bible
Introduction:
Given recent events in Australia working out a coherent and practical approach to questions of discrimination and inequality are more urgent than ever. Unfortunately, there are some serious obstacles to doing so, not least the fact that discrimination usually has a lot more to do with emotion, ignorance and plain evil self-centredness than it does with any intelligent moral/logical principles. It doesn't help either, that no one actually knows what discrimination means.
Leaving aside the twisted self-justification behind a lot of discrimination, even intelligent approaches to this issue will differ on the basis of worldview. Christianity, like any worldview, should lead to certain behaviours and attitudes, but can and has been twisted to justify any immoral behaviour people wanted. Hence some people associate Christianity with the firey-cross, right-wing ethics of psycho fanatics, and others think of Jesus as some cuddly hippy teddy bear. C.S. Lewis' tells us in Mere Christianity "...we are approaching [Christianity] in the hope of finding support from Christianity for the views of our own party. 
We are looking for an ally where we are offered either a Master or a Judge."
Since, as a Bible-believing Christian (...run for the hills!), and a woman with a disability specialising in the study of foreign cultures, this is an issue very close to my heart. I've been trying for a while to work things out. So here are some of my thoughts. I'm not claiming to represent all Christians or to be divinely inspired...but I'm trying to base what I have to say on an educated understanding of the Bible and "I think that I too have the Spirit of God." This post will be the first of several on this topic so keep reading my updates and please feel free to comment.
Some Basic Principles
There are some simple tricks that people use to twist the Bible to their own ends, and some simple misconceptions that confuse the well-intentioned.
Many common misconceptions of the Bible are the result of a failure to understand the basic principles of Bible interpretation. Two things that are particularly pertinent are the principles of "biblical theology" and interpretation in context. Biblical theology is quite complex, but one thing it means is that God revealed himself progressively to the world, just like we are taught concepts progressively at school. Some things are said and done earlier in the Bible are to prepare the way for things later in the Bible, and are thus fulfilled and made obsolete by later events and teachings. (eg. see Galatians 4:1-7, Hebrews 10:1-10) This becomes particularly important in issues of racism (Compare Deuterony 3:1-7 and Colossians 3:11) , ableism (Compare Leviticus 21:16-24 & Luke 14:21-4)and homophobia. South Africa's use of the Old Testament was a tragic example of poor Biblical theology
Interpreting the Bible in context means basically applying the same common sense to it that you would to any work of philosophy or literature. If you interpret Elizabeth's refusal of Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice without reference to the whole story you will think her mean , and if you don't interpret the whole story in its cultural context, you won't realise what a courageous woman Elizabeth Bennet actually was to refuse two proposals. In the same way it is important to interpret parts of hte Bible with reference to the whole, and to interpret the whole Bible with reference to the context in which it was written. How to translate the Bible from its original culture into ours is a topic of hot debate, but in reality, the Bible itself often gives you clues as to whether the particular command is meant to be transcultural, or what the transcultural principle behind the command might be. These issues often arise in the context of discussions regarding gender, sexuality and classism. For example, the argument that the rules concerning sexuality are outdated in our open liberal society can be easily debunked by a quick examination of the institution of pederasty.
Finally, it is important to realise that you're particular point of view, no matter how dearly you hold it, is not the pinnacle of human enlightenment (shock!). You're only human so whatever you think is bound to be flawed somewhere. You need to take a leaf out of Descartes' book and question our most basic preconceptions.
What is Discrimination/Prejudice and Why is it Wrong?
Diversity, equality and freedom and are the three watchwords of our society. Infringing on these through prejudice and discrimination are considered mortal sins. In my circle, when issues of discrimination come up, the trio, "sexist, racist or homophobic" often emerges as a sort of checklist of what to avoid. Nobody really tells you why they're to be avoided...but my mind, raised as it has been in the liberal West, also recoils from prejudice and discrimination instinctively...they're bad, they just are.However, when I started to think about it, I realised that things are a lot more complicated than that, and a failure to account for this leaves the good guys open to attack. Will an intelligent and Christian approach have different fundamental principles and definitions?
Well, freedom, equality and a proper appreciation of diversity are so far from existing in our society that I should most certainly hope so! The world is diverse, always has been and always will be, and yet people are trying to genetically engineer, outlaw or segregate people who don't fit with the desires of the dominant people in society. And when differences cannot be reconciled, as often happens on the issue of morals, for example, the pitfalls within the quagmire of relativism are so great that noone has really been able to come up with a way in which all sides can coexist. As far as equality goes...1 billion people in the world live on less than $1 a day...enough said. And regarding freedom...well those people can't even choose to cross a border without risking their lives
I can't help but think that Marx was on the right track, when he said Modern Western society "... has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom -- Free Trade. In one word, for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, it has substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation." The "freedom" and "equality" that we cherish is nothing but a smokescreen. The free market does not equal freedom, a 'level playing field' does not equal equality. These are just ways of making capitalism work, there's no higher principle involved, and all it means is that those from former undreclasses who are genetically or financially well-endowed are able to move up. Today's rhetoric draws attention to their improvement, so that we can feel enlightened. Even the trio, "sexist, racist, homophobic" points to the forms of discrimination that Western capitalism can at least claim to have done away with. Those that are still foundational to our society like ageism, classism, ableism, 'locationism',nationalism these are all swept under the carpet, despite the suffering that they cause everyday. (Of course these forms of discrimination are also related to and brutally reinforce aspects of the supposedly abolished "sexist, racist, homophobic" trio.) I mean, how is it fair that some Sub-Saharan African lives in grinding poveryt while we have all the fun, how is it equality that people with disabilities spend their entire lives locked away in institutions? How is it diversity when women can be thrown out of pariliament for breastfeeding?
What about biblical principles then? They too place some value on freedom, equality and diversity. However, more basically, the principle is Love God (this includes obeying his rules) and Love your neighbour as yourself. I was surprised and struck as to the extent to which many forms of discrimination are so dramatically contrary to these principles....hmm I think a good place to stop. Tune in for hte next exciting episode...
Week's news (for those who care...)
My teeth (or more appropriately the holes in my gums where my teeth used to be) seem to be healing up nicely...although I am still nobly refusing to brush them ten times a day in the hope of curing my oral surgeon of whatever madness possessed him to think that possible. I will see the doctor again on Friday
I have discovered that holidays are like everything else in life- you don't know what you've got till their gone, and so I'm determined not to waste any more time, and to make the most of every day before I go back to (l)uni on 20th February. This goal I have pursued through the following means:
-exploring the wonderful world of internet chat until 3am in the morning
-watching movies and TV, alone and with friends, including SCRUBS, the West Wing and Air Force One (A big thank you to Susan Williams for making the final one not just bearable but funny)
-playing badminton for the first time in my life and failing miserably whilst improving my frisbee to the point where I actually scored a goal!
- visiting a friend in hospital and discovering that my childish snese of humour still finds a speech simulator that confuses "wanker" and "wonka" amusing
-swimming (of course!)
- catching up with old friends.
-trying to explain English grammar in English to people who have difficulty speaking English
I've realised that I need a new job and have been updating my resume. I hate doing my resume. Its so fiddly and boring, and I always feel quite insulted that a future employer can't be bothered reading more than two pages about me.
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Reflections on New years resolutions and news
The biggest news in this blog I think would have to be the fact that I AM ACTUALLY SHOWING SIGNS OF KEEPING A NEW YEARS RESOLUTION FOR MORE THAN A FEW DAYS! (I am referring of course to my new year's resolution to keep my blog up to date- I'm going to try and post once a week at least) There seem to be certain phenonomenon/events/actions in our world that form microcosms encapsulating so many concepts and dilemmas of the human race-I often look for such things as starters for poems. 
Take for example my poem "the human condition" in an earlier post, which was inspired by watching ants and considering how similar they were to our society, I'm not the only one who thinks so. Proverbs 30 is an excellent example of how a good poet can use snapshots of particular phenomenon in the natural world to open up worlds of truth.
Such things don't have to be in nature. Shakespeare recognised the inadequacy of the natural world for understanding humanity in his famous Sonnet 18. New Years Resolutions are an example of a people-made phenomenon that raises so many interesting questions. 
For some strange reason people in our part of the world put an imaginary pinpoint in their calendar, at which time is divided, and upon arriving at which all travellers must sing "Auld Lang Syne" as a right of passage. But what is time and how do we measure it? Does it flow slowly, naturally and purposefully like a river or is it pushed along kicking and screaming? Does it race along excitedly? Do we float on top of the water or are we buried underneath the slowly accumulating sedimentation? Are we completely separate from the river altogether, sitting on the banks urging it to stop?
New year's resolutions seem to encapsulate the conflict and mix of all these sensations that we feel at this time of year. On the one hand we feel a sense of loss and tragedy. All the missed opportunities of the year, all the things that we enjoyed but can never have again, the memory of so many mistakes. In a new year's resolution, and in that famous song, we try to cherish those memories and be happy in them, whilst also putting our mistakes behind us. We try to combine that urge to hold onto what we once had, and the urge to start again with a clean slate. And we make these resolutions with trepidation. What is the source of our fear? It is not so much to outside world as ourselves. New years resolutions to lose weight/give up smoking etc don't fail based on the falling of a meteorite or a freak hailstorm, they fail because our resolution fails. We know this, and so we don't trust ourselves. Yet we continue to make resolutions. Why? Well sometimes they work, we all want a better life, a better world and a better self, and occasionally people can achieve that....but can we?
Here is the paradox of humanity...those who climb to great heights also fall from them.
