Is it still important to me if it costs me?

I received my Foxtel magazine today and in it was one of those letters starting with the words 'important changes'. That is code for 'you are about to be worse off'. In this case Foxtel have surveyed their customers and they have conveniently told Foxtel that they really don't want the magazine anymore. So, in an effort to protect the environment, they are no longer going to supply the magazine unless their clients ring up and say that they want to continue to receive it.

Now, excuse my cynicism, but companies are often passionate about the environment if they can see an opportunity to make money out of it. A few years ago Westpac also told me how passionate they were about the environment and suggested that I consider receiving my bank statements electronically rather than on paper. How noble of them to consider the environment in that way.

What do Foxtel and Westpac have in common? They both make money out of being passionate about the environment. Foxtel will save quite a bit of money by printing fewer full colour magazines and on postage and Westpac, I'm sure, has saved money by not printing out statements and mailing them. In both cases I have continued to read the letter looking for the sentence that says "We recognise that our company will save money and we are therefore going to reduce our fees. In fact, we are so passionate about the environment that we will halve our fees and take a financial hit in order to encourage our customers to join with us in protecting the environment." Of course, no such sentences ever appear in these letters.

It is rare to find businesses who are willing to take a financial hit in order to protect the environment. If it costs more they will pass the fee on. If they save money they hang onto it.

So, as I write this blog dripping with sarcasm and cynicism, I think of my faith. Do I only get passionate about it when I get something out of it? When there is a direct benefit to me? What about when it costs me? Because in Christianity, to quote a certain environmental campaigner, it is 'an inconvenient truth'. Christianity costs. And I need to be as passionate when it is going to cost me as when it brings me great benefits.

Am I in His hands?

It's only 9.30am but I have already come across examples of the extreme variety of life's circumstances. Mike Pilley & I met for breakfast this morning and our readings for the day came from Numbers 1 & 2 and Acts 24. Numbers 1 & 2 are all about the census of the Israelites and the ordering of the tribes. Mundane stuff to read about but very important in the ordering of their lives at the time.

Acts 24 sees Paul up before Felix on trumped up charges. Because Felix is more interested in politics and trying to get a bribe out of Paul than administering justice, Paul was still awaiting a decision on the case 2 years on when Felix was being replaced.

And then, on the front page of The Age is the heart wrenching picture of this poor little nine year old chap who lost his parents in the tragedy at Christmas Island.

As I look at that picture, a song runs through my head as it has done for a couple of days now; "I'm in his hands". We have been practicing this piece at band practice to the newer tune written by Phil Laeger.

How do I reconcile this thought of being in God's hands when looking at a picture of an orphaned boy? "The days I cannot see have all been planned for me" - I believe that, yet I see the little fella's face.

Life is never simple or predictable. Sometimes it is utterly boring, such as times of census. Counting, collating, organising. Sometimes it is frustrating, such as Paul's time under house arrest awaiting for the corrupt court's decision on his case. Imagine what he could have achieved in those two years if he had been free. And sometimes life is utterly tragic, as it is at this time for Seena who will, no doubt, become a political football for Labor & the Coalition as they try to make political mileage over him.

Is he in God's hands? Yes, I believe he is, despite the circumstances which tend to say otherwise. But, we also have to do our bit to ensure that justice is done.

If you would like to hear Phil Laeger's version of the chorus, here is a link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ighpk8Dlwz4

Death or Glory

"Then a voice came: "Go to it, Peter—kill and eat."
Peter said, "Oh, no, Lord. I've never so much as tasted food that was not kosher."
The voice came a second time: "If God says it's okay, it's okay." Acts 10:13-15

It was an interesting group of chapters today with two seemingly different Gods talking. In Exodus 35 the order came out - if someone works on the Sabbath they must be put to death. People couldn't even light a fire on the Sabbath.

Then in Acts there is Peter who has only ever eaten kosher food being told to eat none kosher food. No wonder he was reluctant given that he comes from a tradition where even breathing the wrong way in Old Testament times was likely to get you killed.

Peter received a word from a voice that he identified as the Lord, "If God says it's okay, it's okay".

It's sometimes a bit difficult to know exactly what God is asking us to do, but it's likely that God, at some time, will ask us to do something quite radically different to what we think, or have been brought up to believe, is correct.

If God says it's okay, it's okay.

Help me God to have the courage to act when you tell me to do something which, for whatever reason, doesn't seem right to me.