Stop praying 'safe' prayers

I don't think the title of this accurately expresses what I want to say, but it certainly expresses a feeling. Yesterday I had a good discussion about prayer with our eldest son. Over the last few weeks he has urged people in our church to be praying for the civilian population of Mozul in Syria as they are caught in a war zone. He has also urged us to be praying for those fighting against ISIS and for their success.

As we talked yesterday afternoon, we talked about how we pray when we are together as a church. He pointed out, correctly, that the majority of our prayers are for people within our congregation and some health issues that they have. We agreed that it is right that we should do this. This is our church family and we should be praying for one another.

But, all those people have access to excellent doctors and post-surgery care.

The people in Mozul do not.

That's the background to my thoughts. Now, here is my uncomfortable conclusion to this.

Is it possible that we Christian people have fallen into the position where we only pray for something where we are confident God will answer that prayer through professional people? For example, do we only pray for people who are ill when we know they will be seeing a well trained and very experienced doctor? Do we only pray for people to find work when we know they are still have the safety net of Centrelink payments here in Australia?

If so, what does that say about our praying? What does that say about the God to whom we are praying? If God is the God of the impossible, as the Scriptures declare him to be, is that what is reflected in the way we pray?

I don't write this to condemn people who pray for those in the church who are ill. As I said earlier, this is something we surely should be doing.

But when do you pray for the impossible?

"Thou art coming to a king,
Great petitions with thee bring"

A song for our time

Today we heard a sermon from Psalm 10 from Rev Dean Carroll. I was leading the service so was looking for songs that we could use that were appropriate. So I looked at the Scripture Index in the Rejoice songbook of Presbyterian Church of Victoria. We didn't sing the song, but I used these words as a benediction.

It is truly a song for our time.


In my hour of grief or need
When a friend is friend indeed,

Now, when Satan walks abroad,
Be not far from me, O Lord.

When the powers of evil ride
Through the world in open pride,
Flaunted sins and boasted shame
Bring contempt upon Your Name,
When the godless man is strong,
When his mouth is filled with wrong,
Bitterness, deceit and fraud,
Be not far from me, O Lord.

When the poor becomes his prey,
When the weak are led astray,
Right is wrong and truth is lies:
Then, O Lord our God, arise!

Timothy Dudley Smith – Rejoice 496

Weddings - commitment or entertainment?

I've reached that age where I can truly start saying, "Over my lifetime, I've seen these changes" and then talk about how things have changed over these years. There are many topics that would fit under that banner, but right now it is weddings that I have in mind.

Commitment

You see, when I was a lad, I went to a number of weddings at the church I attended with my family. I don't remember anyone telling me what these ceremonies were for, or what they represented, but it isn't hard to realise that at these times a young couple was committing themselves to each other for life. So, understandably, I grew up understanding that a wedding was a ceremony of commitment. This made perfect sense as my parents loved each other madly so the example of married life I saw as a boy was a very positive one. Committing yourself to one person for the rest of your life was, I assumed, what everyone did.

Then I got a bit older, started mixing with more people, and realised that not everyone had the same experience. That's not the point of this post, but just a reality of life.

Optional

When I left school and started work (I didn't go to university. There was such an era where this happened.) I was working with people who weren't married but were living with their partners. Or they had been living together for some years before getting married. This made no sense to me when I started to mix with these people.  After all, if you're going to build a life together and buy a house together, you are already making some significant commitments, so why not actually get married?

It seemed now that marriage was optional and the wedding was an unnecessary expense. Suddenly, or at least suddenly for me, people had to define why people should get married rather than justify not getting married, or 'living in sin' to use a phrase that you can't use anymore.

If a wedding just provided a piece of paper to show you were together, then no wonder people decided it wasn't worth the bother. For what it's worth, I think that is a terribly poor understanding of the wedding and that piece of paper. Suffice it to say that there was a period of time in the not too distant past when getting married was really seen as optional, and outside the church, it seemed undesired.

Then things changed.

Experience

Even those who had been living together for some years and who looked very settled, they still wanted a wedding. They didn't think the piece of paper mattered for their relationship, but they - and usually it was she - wanted the experience of the wedding. This makes sense. After all, don't most people grow up thinking about the possibilities of their own wedding when they attend the weddings of their friends? Don't we all, boys included, imagine the music that would be played, the place of the wedding, the fun of the day?

It was at this time that people were starting to spend massive amounts of money on their weddings. Houses were mortgaged and loans taken out to pay for the reception venue at ridiculous costs. Wedding cakes that would cost a week's wages were ordered and the fanciest stationery used for the invitations. People would approach ministers of big churches to use the building, not because they had any interest in the church and faith, but because it fitted with their childhood dreams. It was a fantasy wedding and some people would have it at any cost.

Movie makers knew this and were making movies like "The Wedding Planner", "Father of the Bride", and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" to name a few.

Two things to note on this. One, while people would pay megabucks for reception venues and cake, they would often make just a small donation to the minster (sometimes me) even though I would invest a number of hours into the wedding. Not everyone, but a number. Two, it is tragic to see a huge amount of money spent on the wedding, and for that couple to end their relationship before the wedding is paid off.

Things have changed again.

Entertainment

In Australia, we can't get enough of weddings as entertainment. A royal wedding means every house in the country has a television showing this grand event. When it's something as special as that, I understand why people would watch it.

But our TV makers know we love a wedding and royal weddings only happen once every generation. So what to do? Well, they could have an agreement with some celebrants and film those weddings and the preparation that goes into such a ceremony of commitment, but why would we do that if we can find something better?

Australian TV makers know exactly what to do.

Create a wedding.

Create the experience for two which will become entertainment for the rest of the country.

And I'm ashamed to say, Australians love it. There are two shows on at the moment. "Married at First Sight" means two people agree to get married to someone they have never met before. In fact, the first time they do meet will be at the venue where the ceremony is held. In a country that rails against arranged marriages, there is a large degree of hypocrisy here and the producers and watchers of this trash should be aware of this.

The other show is called "Australia's Cheapest Weddings" and this is a title that has some potential. After all, you dont' really need to spend a year's wages on a wedding ceremony and reception and this show could possibly give some great tips on how to do this and how to do it well. A bit like pinterest. But the ads I've seen for this show instead reveal it to be "let's laugh at the poor people" rather than something more encouraging.

And before anyone says, "you shouldn't judge a show you haven't watched!" well, isn't that the point of advertising? Isn't the point of advertising to entice me into wanting to watch the show?

What is a wedding to you?

If a wedding is a ceremony of commitment, then I pray you will be well prepared for your wedding. Make the commitment, make the most of the experience, and then enjoy life together fully from there on.

But if you are just after the experience, be prepared to be disappointed. You will never look like William and Kate, and you will never have the trumpeters and roses that you dream about. Your dream will remain a dream.

If you think a wedding is just about entertainment - are you just a voyeur?

Australia, we can do better.

The pain of a plebiscite

Here in Australia, we have recently had a federal election. The two major parties made many promises on various issues, but one of the stand out differences in this election between the two parties was their stance on the seemingly vexed issue of Same-Sex Marriage (SSM). The Liberal/National Party Coalition have promised a plebiscite would be held if they won power. The Labor party promised that if they were elected they would bring something to parliament within 100 days to change the law.

The Coalition won the election - just - but they won. As such, it would seem appropriate that they be able to carry out the planned plebiscite. But it isn't going to be that simple. The Labor party have indicated that they aren't definite in supporting the legislation for the plebiscite. While they are free to determine what they will do, I think it is fair to raise the argument that the people have voted for the Labor party position and have not supported it enough to elect this group to lead our country. Perhaps then they should accept that they have been voted down and just get out of the way.

The Greens have also announced they will reject the plebiscite legislation. A group of independents - who have more power now - have announced that they will not support the plebiscite legislation. This will cause a huge problem for the Coalition. It will mean that if the Labor party and enough independents reject the plebiscite legislation, then it won't be held, and they are then forcing the Coalition to break an election promise. That's my understanding anyway.

Australian politics is a messy business.

There are, as I see it, three main reasons these parties want to reject a plebiscite. First, the cost. Second, the impact on society, or at least on sections of our society. Thirdly, it is a decision that could be resolved with a vote in parliament.

Strangely enough, I agree with them.

The Cost

Reports in the media suggest it will cost $160,000,000 to hold this plebiscite. The fact that a plebiscite is not a referendum and so doesn't commit the parliament to anything is relevant here. Some have described it as a hugely expensive opinion poll, and perhaps this is exactly what it would be. Could this money be better used? Probably. Do we have plenty of money to throw around? Well, the reports from the government in recent weeks suggest we don't - and there is much to say about the Coalition's apparent economic heritage being embarrassed, but that's another story.

So, if we could save $160 million, why wouldn't we?

The Impact

There is a fear, and I think it is fair, that if we do hold this plebiscite there will be sections of our community that will be pilloried, mocked, damaged and scared to speak out. The Greens have said:

 "We've listened to the LGBTIQ community, 85% of whom are opposed to a damaging and unnecessary plebiscite because of the harm that it would do."

taken from The Guardian

I agree. But not in the way the Greens intend. Our country has changed amazingly quickly on this issue. 25 years ago you could say you affirmed a traditional view of marriage without expecting much of a response. Today if you do that you are the one who will be pilloried mocked and, at times, abused for daring to say anything.

Will a plebiscite cause harm? Probably. But I think those who will be most mocked and harmed in the process are those who oppose any change in the marriage legislation rather than those who support it. (I might be about to find out.)

A Parliament Decision

Under Australian Law, it could be a simple vote in parliament to change the definition of marriage to open it to same-sex marriage alongside the historical and traditional man & woman view. So, along with the Greens and Labor and some independents, I'd be very happy for our parliament to take a vote.

But here's something to keep in mind. While a vote in parliament can change the definition (and it is changing the definition, not providing equality), a vote in parliament can also affirm the current legislation.

My call to Australia's Parliament. 

My call the the members of Australia's Parliament is this - put it to a vote. And show the courage to stand against the tide of media and loud social commentary and vote for the legislation to stay as it is.

And if that happens, then my call to the community of Australia is to let this issue drop so that, as many have argued, our parliament can deal with more important matters.

This is my call.

Riding motorbikes, not cheating death.

We've all done it. Whether driving a car or riding a motorbike, we've all done it. Done what? We've all had one of those situations where we did something wrong which could have ended badly but it didn't. It could be going through an orange traffic light and realising it was too late as you watched the light turn red. It could have been missing the stop sign and going straight through an intersection. It could be turning a corner with too much power and ending up on the wrong side of the road.

We've all done it.

And most times nothing happens.

But this year for too many people on bikes, something did happen, and when it happens on a bike it doesn't end well.

A couple of days ago three bike riders died in 12 hours in completely separate incidents in Victoria. I don't know what the circumstances were fully, but it would seem that in at least two of them, rider error meant a terrible outcome for the rider, their families, and for other road users. Motorcycle riders are too well represented in the road toll in Victoria this year. At least half of these were unlicensed or on a stolen bike or both. 

You can't just jump on a bike and believe you won't get hurt. You might. Or worse.

Now I know that most people don't ride motorbikes or scooters, at least not in Australia. The danger here is that those in cars can easily forget there are bike riders on the road just driving to work or to an event somewhere. Most of us aren't racing or trying to set a best time on a freeway or even chasing thrills. We're just riding.

Please keep an eye out for the riders.

Riders, be wise in how you ride. Are you wearing solid black? Why? Are you lane splitting above 30kmh? Then you are breaking the law, and scaring the bee-geebers out of everyone else. 

Here is my riding prayer:

Lord, give me the wisdom to ride safely, and the courage to ride confidently. Amen.

Worship in surprising places

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I am a pastor. And I am stuck. There are things happening in the wider church to which I belong that are causing me great distress and heartache. Today as I look for something to help me through the turmoil, I turned to the Psalms. I chose Psalm 57 for no other reason than I remember someone referring to it recently. I can't remember who or why, but that doesn't matter.

I found here a repeated statement

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens: let your glory be over all the earth (57:5,11)

Most Christian people will read this and see it, rightly, as a declaration of praise and a prayer for God's glory to be seen. What surprises me, and possibly others, is the context in which this declaration of praise is made.

The Psalm opens with a plea for God to have mercy until the disaster has passed. And in verse 4 we read:

I am in the midst of lions;
I lie among ravenous beasts -
men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.

My response at times like this that are described, indeed in times like those I am experiencing, is to do what the Psalmist does in verse 1 "take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed." His response at this time is so much better. His response is to worship.

Then he preaches to himself - a discipline all Christians should take up.

My heart is steadfast, O God
my heart is steadfast.
I will sing and make music.
Awake, my soul!

This is no 'self-talk' though. This isn't a writer trying to inspire and motivate himself to face an enemy, or to face a difficult task. This is a man who has seen what God has done in the past and is trusting that this same God will bring him through these difficulties, though they are enormous.

His confidence?

For great is your love reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

 No wonder he can then say again

Be exalted O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth. 

 And if his love does reach to the heavens and his faithfulness to the skies, and if his glory can be over all the earth, then I can be very confident that his love, faithfulness, and glory can reach to me where I am.

Be exalted, O God.

Tonight I met the candidates.

Tonight I took the chance to attend a "Meet the Candidates" forum for the seat of Deakin. This was sponsored by the Australian Christian Lobby, and while the ACL have copped a bucket of criticism from some of my Christian friends, none of those concerns were evident tonight. Instead the ACL were able to lead this discussion in a way that was open and respectful and inclusive of all candidates, even those whose policies the ACL speak loudly against.

Which leads me to the outstanding aspect of tonight.

Respect.

Simple respect.

There are six candidates hoping to be our representative, and five of them were there tonight with representatives from Liberal, Labor, Greens, Family First, and Australian Christians. The member for the Animal Justice Party was unable to be there. Each was given five minutes to speak, and then there was a break to give attenders a chance to write some questions. Only a few of these questions were able to be put to the candidates due to the time and the number of questions.

I confess that I am not looking at this election with any great hope. I have no trust in either of the main parties - Liberal or Labor. The way the Liberal party have conducted themselves in the last three years has been a massive disappointment. The budget fiascos, terrible slogans, and then the change of leader/treasurer just made me sadder and sadder as the time has rolled on. As this election campaign has progressed, I found that the Labor party offered me a hope of something better, but that balloon has been well and truly popped. And I just can't vote for the Greens.

So I went tonight with a degree of cynicism.

But I have come away encouraged. As I heard these candidates speak, they spoke with great respect for each other. Even though there are significant differences of opinion and policy between some of them, they were able to speak about each other and these differences with respect. If only the leaders and front bench parliamentarians were like this. Maybe I would have more hope.

It didn't answer all my questions, and I'm still not sure which way to vote - and that's a longer discussion - but I am confident that whoever does win the seat of Deakin on Saturday we will have a strong representative for our community.

It's just a shame that their parties are rubbish.

Dark echoes

In 1997, for a whole lot of reasons that don't need reviving here, I found myself in a depressed state. It was painful and long lasting. 

But it is in my past.

Of Mostly.

I know I'm not the happiest of people in the world, and I would describe myself as melancholy, so the fact that I don't jump and clap every morning doesn't worry too much.

However, I do have periods of time when all clouds are lifted and I feel free - free to laugh, free to smile, free to enjoy life.

Today is not that day. 

There are no real reasons for this, although the lack of sunshine might have something to do with it. Some days are just filled with echoes from another time.

And I wait for it to pass.

Is the church homophobic?

Today, after a discussion with a colleague of mine, I had cause to try to consider again my thoughts on this topic. You see, in my mind the answer to the question "Is the church homophobic?" is "No."

But I might be wrong.

I have always rejected the term "homophobic" because it implies fear. 'Phobia' is the term we attach to all kinds of things to show that we fear them. Arachnophobia is a fear of spiders, claustrophobia is a fear of closed in spaces, and if you know someone with these fears then you know how they will react when confronted by a spider or small dark room. The sweating. The shaking. The fear in their eyes.

I feel none of that when I consider LGBTI people. And as I discuss this with most of my peers, I see none of that fear either.

So I reject the term 'homophobia'.

But in my reading today I came across this article, which in itself is very helpful. Here Wesley Hill describes his experience as a gay, celibate, Christian and the reactions he has received within the church. Interestingly, they are mostly positive experiences. The article itself is worth reading, and I encourage any reader of this to take the time to do so.

But it is the comments that really helped to shine a light. Rather than summarise, I'm going to quote completely what one commentator wrote:

To throw more complexity into this issue, and to speak from my own experience, I wonder if part of the issue here is language. To use an extreme example, xenophobia and racism are not the same thing. Someone can be horribly racist towards a certain people group without being afraid of them. Someone can see another race as fundamentally less-than, or as barred from opportunities we all share by merit of their skin, without being afraid of them. Someone can even be racist and kind, as some slave holders were to their slaves, while still believing on principle that they were lesser. We have no corresponding complexity of language for bias against homosexuality, and the word “homophobia” is woefully inadequate. When many Christians say they are not homophobic, they are probably telling the truth. That does not mean they still don’t experience, consciously or unconsciously, a bias against gay people, be it very small or very large.

Perhaps this writer has pointed out something that is helpful, but nonetheless confronting for the Christian church. While there are the equivalent words of Homophobia and Xenophobia, there is no equivalent word for 'racism' in this context.

Maybe this is a problem for those critics of the church.

And maybe this is an issue for those in the church too; to recognise and admit that while we refuse to be labelled as 'homophobic' perhaps within us is something that makes us 'racist' to people who are same-sex attracted; that we still "experience, consciously or unconsciously, a bias against gay people, be it very small or very large."

Why would we welcome all sinners except these? That is very wrong. If I am accepted by Jesus and then by the people of his church - me, with all my failings and spots and dark sins I don't talk about - if Jesus can accept me, won't he accept any who come to him?

I believe the gospel says "Yes." So I should say "yes" too.

Chicago 2016 - The Journey Home

Air travel is amazing. There's no other way to put it. It still boggles my mind that we get on a plane in America and get off that same plane in Australia. That's a good thing to keep in mind when that same journey feels twice as long as it really is.


When we arrived at the airport in Chicago, I checked my email and found that out plane was to be delayed by 45 minutes. Normally that's not so bad, but when we only had 45 minutes between flights in LA, it mattered.
Then there was another email saying everything had been fixed and we would leave at the scheduled time. Whew!


But then the plane was delayed anyway! Would we get to our next flight?


As our plane pulled into gate 72 in LA, our next plane was in gate 74, so we had no problems getting to it. But if you want to get off a plane quickly, don't sit in the back seat!


Our flight from LA to Melbourne was wonderfully uneventful. But it felt so so long.

18 hours in the back seat of a plane will do this to anyone.

 It's good to be back in Melbourne. Although having sons in different parts of the world means we get to visit different places.

Good to be home with Daniel

We must give a huge thanks to my Mum and Dad for making this journey possible for us. Seeing where Tom has been studying, listening to the improvement in his voice, and meeting so many of his friends has been amazing.

Chicago 2016 - Day Fourteen (final)

Watching the news this morning and were pleased we weren't trying to get to the airport now. Traffic is nuts, but it might always be like that. But the train to the airport has been stopped because of an accident. So it would be a frustrating journey.

We hope that it will be cleared before we need to leave.

(Sadly,  we heard that the person hit by a train has been killed. There are worse things than being stuck in traffic.)

Chicago 2016 - Day Thirteen

We needed to leave earlier this week to get to the early church service at Covenant Presbyterian. There  are a few things that get me excited when I come to a church, and two of these happened today. First there was a sermon that was rock solid and gospel centred. It's all about Jesus, and looking to anything else, no matter how good it is, is folly. Give me Jesus. Secondly, they announced a new church that they will be planting in the next year. It's great to hear a large church being keen to send people out to start a new place of witness and worship.

We travelled back into the city for a short break before heading to Union Station - walking past Willis Tower on the way. This is a crazy tall building!!

We jumped on a train to head north to Grayslake where we were to have lunch with the Gossell family. These dear people looked after Tom over the Christmas Break from Uni and a few other times. Riding the train out through the suburbs also meant we were able to see another aspect to Chicago that we haven't yet seen. And the northern suburbs look very nice. 

We had a lovely time with the Gossells. Anne and Emily share an interest in Jane Austen, so they had a lot to talk about. But as we talked with Emily's parents, Ray and Linda, we found many areas of shared interests. It was lovely to sit in their backyard on a warm spring day (about 26 degrees) and enjoy good food and good company. We have a pool at home and it drives me crazy, but at least it doesn't freeze over like theirs does. Small mercies I suppose. 

We arrived back in Chicago and strolled to our rooms, enjoying a few more building views along the way. 

I had some hopes about going out tonight, but at about 9.00pm as I was packing my bag, I began to feel very light-headed. Not sure if that was because I haven't been drinking enough water or because our room feels like a sauna, but I just went to bed instead. 

So, that was that. 

Chicago 2016 - Day Twelve

Today Tom was able to see parts of Chicago that he had never seen before. And they weren't that far away. Which, I suppose, shows that Tom has been working very hard at his studies and singing and hasn't been able to aimlessly wander around the city streets like we have. So it was nice to be able to show him around a few places. 

There are many amazing buildings here, which you may have already picked up if you've been reading so far, and one of these has stones or pieces from a number of significant buildings around the world. The Sydney Opera House is there, as is Saint Sophia - a magnificent old church (now mosque) in Constantinople. This building also has fantastic gargoyle type things which made it worth looking up. 

The rivers here have many bridges crossing over them, and these bridges are able to be raised. Today we saw this happening, but not quite to the extent that you can see on The Blues Brothers. Nonetheless it was kind of exciting to see it happen. It really messed up the traffic though. 

After Tom returned to his room to prepare for the evening, Anne and I enjoyed some more live street music. That bass player was fantastic!! Again!!!! 

But the main thing today was the Showcase Concert tonight at Roosevelt University. We are very proud parents tonight having watched and heard Tom sing in a setting like this. Tom, with one of the girls at Uni, sang I Have Dreamed from the musical "The King and I". Her mum was sitting near us and was taking some sneaky photos, so I hope to get a copy of these. Tom also did a magic trick in another of the numbers performed tonight. 

Anne and I then had a chance to meet a number of Tom's friends and some of their families. It was lovely to hear people speak so well about Tom and the friends he has made with their children. And lovely to be able to meet those people who have become such good friends with Tom in his time at Roosevelt. We hope to meet them again sometime. Perhaps they will have the chance to come to Australia. 

After the concert, and after everything was packed up, the three of us with one of the other singers, Dusan - who is from Serbia - enjoyed a late night snack. Again, we had the chance to visit a local restaurant where I, because we are in America, had apple pie. And because we are in America, I didn't have cream.

Chicago 2016 - Day Eleven

Woke up this morning to the sound of yelling and chanting outside. It sounded like a protest rally but when I looked out the window I couldn't see anything like that. What I could see was a group of early morning exercise freaks running around the Bean or doing sit-ups. I assume it was them doing all the yelling. Far too early for that. 

A couple of days ago we heard that Macy's Store also had a magnificent Tiffany Glass ceiling, so we went to have a look at that. While it doesn't have the sun shining through it like the dome in the cultural centre, the lights reflecting on the glass tiles is truly beautiful. I'm glad we heard about this and took some time to find it. We may have also bought some stuff at Macy's while we were there. 

We were very pleased to have the chance to meet another of Tom's teachers today. She was very encouraging about Tom's progress in his singing and once again it was great for parents to hear this about their son.

After lunch together we visited the Chicago Art Gallery. Sadly, we did not allow ourselves enough time to see all that this gallery has together in their collection. There is a Van Gogh exhibition at the moment, and while I know some others would appreciate this much more than I did, it was interesting to see something of the progression of his works and the theme of 'home' in what he did. As good as this was, the medieval collection was astounding. The colours of these old paintings is amazing, and the depth of detail meant you could stand in front of these for a long time. The fact that many of these had biblical themes also made them interesting for me. 

I was surprised to see a relic of a tooth from John the Baptist. 

A collection of Japanese Art was also there - one of many collections in the gallery. Again, there was a lot here that was interesting. Here's just a couple of photos. 

An evening walk through the park to look at the stars in the northern skies proved fruitless. Too much city light to see anything more than the moon and one or two bright points. Nice night for a walk though.

Chicago 2016 - Day Ten

Some days it's just hard to get out of bed. Today was that day for me.  Although to be fair I did sit up late last night watching basketball. As I mentioned yesterday it was Kobe Bryant's last game, and he played a great game. And the Lakers won the game. It was great to watch it happen.

We paid another visit to the Artisan shop we visited the other day. Anne bought a new pendant, so we are bringing something genuinely made in America. Then we walked to the Whole Foods Market, our new favourite shop in Chicago. If this store was in Melbourne we'd be there.

This afternoon we went back to the House of Blues & were given a chance to have a look at the venue even though we weren't attending a show. What a room! It looks fantastic.

Then we had a wander through some streets we hadn't been through yet. Again the different style of architecture continues to stand out as one of the great memories of our visit.

Today we also heard more live music in the street. I think the improving weather is not just bringing out the blossom but also the musicians.

Bronwyn kindly brought me a book on Chicago Blues. I've enjoyed reading about some history of the blues here but also learning about since current venues and players. Always good to learn stuff.

Chicago 2016 - Day Nine

We are feeling the weather slowly warm up today, although it certainly has a wintry edge to it.

We left our room this morning with the plan to visit Macy's, but as they don't open until 10.00am, we were too early. So instead we Nordstrom Rack again where we were able to find another suitcase. A red one. Nice.

Today contained two great highlights. The first and greatest of these was sitting in on Tom's singing lesson. We heard Tom sing like we haven't heard him sing before. We knew he had improved and that he was feeling better about his singing but to hear it ourselves was wonderful. It was also nice to meet his teacher. He has a huge voice too!

He had nice things to say about Tom too. Parents always like to hear those things.

We had planned to visit the Museum of Contemporary Photography, but they are closed while they prepare for the next exhibition. Oh well.

After lunch we walked along the lake shore through the parks here. A lovely walk on a cool day. We stopped at the museum & enjoyed the view across to the city. Took some photos of some birds and it was there we had the second highlight of the day.

We saw squirrels!

They are so cute!!

I am now watching Kobe Bryant's last basketball game for the  L. A. Lakers. This is the biggest news story in America today. Although the Golden State Warriors breaking the  NBA record tonight for most wins in a season might be a big a story.

Chicago 2016 - Day Eight

Today has been a quieter day, and a day where we have learned a lot. 

It is hard to sleep in here. We have Venetian blinds in our room (does anyone think these are good things?) and our room is on the east side of the building. So when the sun rises our room immediately fills with light. So there's no lazing around in the morning. 

We checked online and found that there is a post office not too far from us, and one that we had walked past a few times. Well that's not strictly true. We had walked past the building it is in a few times, but there is nothing on the building to let us know the post office is inside!! Anyway, the lady at the front desk of the building was able to direct us to the post office so we could finally buy some stamps. 

Except they didn't have any international stamps!! How hard is it really!! Well, that's not strictly true. They did find some international stamps but we had already purchased a pile of other stamps to use. One more thing we can cross off the list. 

Our room was very warm this morning. For some reason when the sun is beating through the window the thermometer decides to blow warm air as well, so by the time we were heading out it was very warm. Because of this, or perhaps just because I am an idiot, I decided not to wear a coat this morning. Dumb, dumb, dumb. 

Anne and I went on an Architecural Tour today looking at some of the landmark buildings that were built after the Chigaco Fire of 1871 (**Check that date**). The evolution of buildings here, both in height and in style, is fascinating. We have a greater appreciation of some of these buildings now. If you visit Chicago, we would encourage you to take at least one of the tours from the Chicago Architecural Foundation. 

But if you are not doing these tours in summer, wear a coat. Standing in the shadows of the buildings with wind blowing around you will chill you to your core. Trust me. Experience tells me this is so. I have spent the afternoon inside with my beanie on trying to warm up. But it has been nice to do nothing through the afternoon. 

It was good to chat with Daniel today during one of his early morning starts at work. He looked as cold as I felt. 

Tom joined us for dinner at Rudy's Bar & Grill. We enjoyed some of their famous Burgers - which were large but not impossible. When the waitress recommended we enjoy a chocolate cookie for dessert she described it is something we could share. But even with three of us we couldn't finish it. 

For a late night experience, Anne and I went to Andy's Jazz Club. There we heard a jazz session from the (misnamed) Fareed Haque & The Funk Brothers. The venue was great and felt like a classic jazz spot, and I found myself feeling like SpongeBob and Patrick developing an appreciation of free-form jazz. But I was looking for the Funk and Groove sound. We only heard a bit of that, but it was very good. Shame they didn't play more. 

The walk back to our rooms was without incident, which can only be a good thing.

Chicago 2016 - Day Seven

I don't mind saying that today has been a significant day. Before I get to that though, there are a few things we haven't found in Chicago yet. Bookshops, music shops, florists, live music and post offices. Today we crossed two of these off our list. 

Anyway, today we visited a few places on our list. We wanted to visit House of Blues, but arrived far too early, so kept walking to the Whole Foods Market (our new favourite store) to get some food. Then visited a shop with goods from local artists. There are some clever people out there doing great things. 

Wandered down the street the other way to Chicago Architecture Foundation to book some tickets for a tour tomorrow. I wouldn't have thought an architecture tour could be exciting, but having walked around a few streets and seen so many fantastic buildings here that I am really looking forward to learning more about them. 

We went back to the Cultural Center for an afternoon concert with Harp and Flute. The players are the principal players in the Chicago Lyric Opera and the performance under the large dome in the centre was wonderful. It was great to hear some live music, but I had expected that we would have come across more live venues and live music than we have seen. 

That changed today. 

When we came out of the Cultural Centre we heard the delightful sounds of jazz busking, and on the next corner was a quartet of trumpet, sax, bass, and drum. They were FANTASTIC! We stood and watched them for a while, took some photos, then went to have lunch. After lunch we left to go to the House of Blues and these guys were still playing. Even better, they were playing Chameleon!! So we stood and listened again. This is what I expected to hear in Chicago. I was a very happy Chappy when I heard this. 

We visited House of Blues, which looks a very intriguing place. I don't know if we will get there to hear a show, but might be worth the effort. We do have some other music plans in place. I did get to have a photo taken with some inspirational characters, so it was certainly worth the effort. 

While looking for a post office we did stumble across a music shop, and the cd's seem much cheaper here than in Melbourne, albeit that they are second hand. Couldn't find anything I wanted and decided that bringing some LPs home is just a hassle. 

So, we found some live music and we found a record store. But a post office seems like a phantom. Maybe tomorrow we will be Abel to end those postcards at last. 

Chicago 2016 - Day Six

Sunday in America. Surely there is one thing you must do on a Sunday morning in America - watch some 'Christian' TV. It was fantastic. The first one I found had some bloke ranting about something which apparently was from the Bible. I couldn't work out what he was talking about so keep flicking through the channels to find something else. 

The next one looked really scratchy, and that made me wonder what was going on until the camera panned out and I saw the "Moving Ahead in '91" banner on the wall. Has nothing happened in the church since 1991? Is there nothing more up to date to show than this? Anyway, after listening to him shout at his congregation for a while it was time to move on. 

Finally I found him. The man with the impossible teeth. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Joel Osteen!! (Insert sarcastic cheers here). It was almost impossible to turn away as I heard him speak about having a proper view of yourself. "No one can love you if you cannot love yourself" (Sucks to be depressed then) "Put on the breastplate of God's approval" (um, excuse me?) To be fair, there are worse things you can tell people than a positive self message, but you don't need to do that without Jesus. More about that below. 

I could look at those teeth and listen to this dribble for only so long, so the remote was pointed at the TV once again and then I struck gold; pure cheesy religious TV gold. "The Holy Spirit wants you to send $100 now. You may have never donated to this ministry before, but there's a reason you are watching today. Send $100 now, not to me but to the ministry." It was so good I wanted to stand and applaud. Instead, I changed the channel, found a gospel choir and just listened to them. They looked terribly bored, which was a bit out of place, but still sounded better than everything else I had seen. 

Tom arrived so we walked to the station, bought our tickets and jumped on a train. For three of us it was our first train experience in Chicago and a simple description of it is NOISY!! Not the people, just the train. 

Anyway, we got where we needed to be then walked to Covenant Presbyterian Church, the church Tom has been attending while in Chicago. (I would love to put a link here but can't see how to do that on the iPad. I encourage you to look it up online.) The sermon we heard today was interesting because there were some parallels with what I heard earlier from J.Osteen. The outstanding difference, and the thing that cheered my heart, is that the preacher at Covenant took the focus away from ourselves and put it on Jesus. 

What is my greatest hope? It is not anything in me except what Jesus has done. 

After church we journeyed back into the city and enjoyed lunch at Panera, which is so much more than a bakery. Great, great food and beautiful bread. Bronwyn also had a hot chocolate that is, well hard to describe. Another good place to know about in Chicago. 

We walked back to leave Tom at his rooms and then back to our own rooms for Bronwyn to pack her bag and wait for the bus to come and take her to the airport. She left in good time to get to the plane on time.

Today has been a good day. We now look forward to a sunny week in Chicago.

Chicago 2016 - Day Five

Today has been cold. Seriously cold. The snow that fell last night was still there this morning, so Anne and I wandered down to take some more photos. The snow is so light and fluffy here - very different to snow on Donna Buang - and was beautiful to see on chairs, tables, fences, and very beautiful on the trees. 

If I try to describe what the day felt like, it is best to use a Ballarat description. Blue skies, bright sun, and a light wind cold enough to cut through whatever you are wearing and quickly make you wish you had your gloves on. I loved it!

This morning we took some time to visit Tom in his place. It was great to see where he has been living for the last eight months. The views from some of the rooms, like so many places in Chicago, are amazing. Particularly the old library room. This room is beautiful with a rounded ceiling, interesting panelling and, as noted, the view. It must have been a difficult place to work in back then, but a great place to perform in now. 

Tom took us for a tour around the building and introduced us to a few of his colleagues as well. Now when we speak with him we will be better able to picture where he is talking about.

After lunch we followed the recommendation of a local bloke and visited Navy Pier. It gets real cold here! The view of the city from here is terrific, and having a tall ship on the dock added something special too. The size of some of the ships had me wondering how they got here in the first place! Did they build the boats in Chicago? I don't know. The best part of this expidition was the walk through Millenium Park, over BP Bridge and along Lake Shore Drive to get there - although that also had a detour up some stairs and across a busy bridge. 

But, let's be honest, today was all about what happened tonight.

Tonight we had the chance to see Tom sing with the Roosevelt College Choir. They were performing with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra doing Schuberts Mass number 5 in A Flat. We really enjoyed the pieces the orchestra performed first, especially the work from the double bass crew I the second piece, Night of the Flying Horses. And one of them had a five string bass! Who knew they existed? 

Back to the choir. They were solid, professional, proficient, enthusiastic, and simply wonderful. Everything was in tune. The entries were spot on, even very quiet entries were precise, and when it was time for silence, this group of young singers stood silent and still. There are a lot of "Kyrie Eleison" and "Christi Eleison" and "Osanna" and "Amen" to be heard in this piece, and we heard them all. 

When the piece ended, the conductor stood still, absolutely still for quite some time, before nodding his approval to the choir and putting his baton on his stand. Then the crowd erupted into applause, a sound which magnified when the choir stood up to bow. Everyone was on their feet and I have no doubt that it was a great encouragement to the choir and to the orchestra.

As an extra blessing, we were invited to travel back into town on the bus with the choir. Not only did this save us a lot of time and money catching a taxi, but we were given a good cheer by the choir for coming to see Tom (and the rest of the choir too). 

It has been a good day, but more than that, it has been a wonderful night. We are delight to see how Tom has developed as a singer and as a young man. We hope to have the chance to say this to some of his tutors during the week. 

My final word today doesn't come from me. Instead I'll quote a friend of ours who posted this comment on Anne's Facebook page tonight:

Well done to Tom.  So exciting to see that young chap from St Andrews CC in Melbourne now performing on the stage in Chicago.  Just brilliant!!

Chicago 2016 - Day Four

Today was a day of walking, shopping, and hanging out with some friends. We had a wander through Macy's, which was a bit fancy but since that is where the visitor centre is we had no choice but to visit there. It is another fine example of architecture and building that Chicago boasts. 

Over lunch we looked through the pamphlets we picked up from there before heading out again to walk "The Magnificent Mile". The streets were crowded, the wind was cold, and at times the snow flurried past. 

Tonight it snowed properly. Bronwyn and I went out for a few minutes to take some photos. I had a quick chat to security officer who was standing out in it all. He didn't seem at all worried. In fact, he said, "This is nothing!" When it's really cold they aren't allowed to stand out in the weather for more than 20 minutes. It must be very cold on those days. 

So today we have seen more of Chicago. Here are some of those photos. 

Chicago 2016 - Day Three (Part 2)

Before I get onto day Four, there is one important thing I forgot to write about day three. I'm not sure how I forgot something as significant as this, but I did. 

We visited the Chicago Cultural Center which is just over the road from where we are staying. This was built as a library, but after the library outgrew the building and had to move it has been used as a building for other cultural things. Which is kind of irrelevant but gives the building some context. 

I have been 'moved' by stories, poems, sermons, sunsets, and a few other things. I don't know that I have never felt moved by a building before. But this building is something different. The foyer is incredible with stairways that draw your senses up to wonder what else is up there. Forget anything you've seen in Australia. This is amazing. 

The domes are truly amazing. I don't use the word 'awesome' often because I believe it is normally poorly used. In this context the term seems to fit though. The architecture and building and beauty is truly awesome. The tiles and the domes are built with Tiffany glass. But enough words. 

Here are just a few pictures.

Chicago 2016 - Day Three

As I write this I almost feel like my body clock has settled down. Almost. By tomorrow I hope it will be right on track. We will see.

Last night I sat down to check something on my iPad and fell asleep straight away. I'm not even sure I had opened the browser before I was gone. Anne woke me up long enough to get me to bed, where I had my first deep sleep for a number of nights. It was wonderful. 

When I woke up this morning at around 4.00, it was still a stupid early time to get up, but I had enjoyed the sleep. I was surprised at how quiet the city of Chicago was at this time too. I expected it to be much busier and noisier. 

So, let me tell you a bit about the rooms we have. We are in a building called Fornelli Tower and we are on the side of the building. From here we look over Millenium Park and over to Lake Michigan. It is an amazing view early in the morning or late at night with lights and trees working together to create a sight that is so beautiful. We don't know how lovely it looks in the sunlight yet as it has been a day of light rain and even some snow. 

There are two bedrooms which is very handy, as you will shortly see. There is a kitchen, table and chairs, W-Fi, and Cable TV - and it is amazing that there can be so many channels and still nothing I want to watch. 

In other great news today, Bronwyn, my sister, joined us here in Chicago. I have no shame in saying that God has graciously worked things out so we were here at the same time and here when Tom is singing at some University Events. 

Anne and I enjoyed a slightly longer stroll than planned this morning as we went to do some food shopping at the Whole Foods Market. I like this place. Lots of good food here. This afternoon the three of us went out for a walk to visit the Chicago Blues Museum. If you know me, you'll know that I was pretty excited when looking at Google Maps and seeing this museum located just down the road from us. Fantastic. 

Or it would be. 

If it was there.

But it's not. 

After that disappointment we walked through Millenium Park, took some photos of the Big Bean (it is called something else) and wandered past the Uni where Tom is studying. We chatted to a homeless bloke named Kenny who allowed me to take a photo of him (actually, he asked me to) and then stopped at one of the many Strarbucks along the way. Anne ordered me a hot chocolate but still said "No" to the whipped cream! Oh well. I probably don't really need it. 

Tom joined us all for the first dinner Anne has cooked for him in over eight months, which was delicious. Then we wandered next door for some ice-cream. The size of this thing was ridiculous, but I what you to know that I persevered and got through it all. Pretty sure I won't be doing that again. 

Tomorrow we might do some more shopping and wandering through the streets of Chicago. 

Chicago 2016 - Day Two

I've had sleepless nights before, but last night was something out of the box. I know that jet lag can impact people, so it wasn't too surprising that we were pretty much asleep at 9.30pm. But when we woke up and saw light coming through the curtains, we thought we had slept through the alarm and leapt out of bed to get ready. 

But we hadn't slept through the alarm at all. In fact there was a very bright light over the car park that was the problem. So, while it was only 11.30pm, we were awake. With people outside calling to each other, and the TV in the next room on all night, and the light shining through the curtains, I'm not sure that I got any sleep until about 5.00am, and with the alarm set for 6.00am, it was going to be another long day. And it was. But it has finished well. 

The ride to the LA Airport was nothing short of amazing. I sit and watch Grand Prix drivers and sometimes wonder what it would be like to be in that car. Today might be as close as I get. The driver of our shuttle bus was amazing!! He got us there in plenty of time for our journey through customs. 

After flying from Melbourne to LA, four hours on a plane didn't seem so frightening, but it wasn't an exciting thought either. As it turns out it seemed to go very quickly. Flying across some of the states meant we were able to see some very different landscapes - desert in Arizona, snow somewhere else, and then rain in Chicago. It's nice and cool in Chicago today. 

We got off the plane, collected our bags, and boarded a shuttle bus. More than 100 minutes later, we were at our accommodation for the next few days. It seems to be a beautiful old building, and the rooms that we have look like they should be quite comfortable. 

Leaving our bags here, we went out to meet Tom for the first time in eight months. It was wonderful to see him waving to us as he walked towards us, and very wonderful to share a group hug on the footpath. We shared dinner together at a place called Vapiano. Good food and a comfortable place to be. It was so good to sit with Tom again. 

When we got back to our room, we coudn't open the door! Fortunately, our call for assistance was answered quickly and we were able to get in. So now, while Tom has returned to his rooms to continue his study work, we are sitting at a table enjoying a cup of tea while watching Star Trek Movies. 

Chicago 2016 - Day One

Chicago Trip – Day One

WHAT A DAY!!!

Today has been, without doubt, one of the longest days of our lives. We arrived at Tullamarine before 7.00am and joined a queue to drop our bags. And while trying to check in online was an exercise in frustration, the forty minutes I spent doing that probably still saved us twenty minutes this morning. 

Our plane was delayed for about an hour while some bags needed to be off-loaded. Two people had checked in their suitcases but hadn't made it to the plane. Who does that?? Anyway, once that was done, we were on the way with United Airlines for a 14 hour flight to Los Angeles. We were sitting in the very back seat, which wasn’t as bad as it might sound. I had a window seat and enjoyed looking out across Australia. 

Some good things about the flight – we were able to enjoy some movies, nobody could contact me (which is nice for a while), and the lady sitting next to us was from Stawell! So we had some mutual friends to talk about. Some not so good things about the flight – bumpy, so bumpy, didn’t get enough sleep, breakfast. And that cup of tea was a bit questionable too. Staff were great though. 

Getting through customs at Los Angeles Airport was easy enough, but I’m very happy that there was only one other plane landing at the same time. Some people enjoy the experience of wandering around a new airport in a new country. I am not that kind of person. Trying to work out where to go when you are tired and fading quickly is not easy, even if there are plenty of signs. At least Anne was able to see what we needed to see. 

 

So now we are in LA and we are exhausted. Eventually got to our accommodation after learning there are two Travelodges near the airport. Guess how we learned that! While we would like to see more of LA, we are so tired. And LA is not our great attraction, it is not the reason we have come to the USA.

Tomorrow we are off to Chicago. And that is the reason for this trip.

Motorbikes and News reporting

I don’t often read the newspapers, and when I do, I’m reminded of why I don’t. For all the pages that are used, there doesn’t seem to be a lot that is . . . well . . . news. However, today I did read something that caught my eye, even though the headline is tacky. “On yer bike for L plates”, p16 in the Herald Sun, Saturday February 13 2016. (The online version is given a better headline: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/victorian-motorcycle-riders-face-licence-road-test-for-the-first-time/news-story/b058710c19aba0ab5d4c0852475ba3da)

In this article the writer, Ian Royall, lets us know that ‘Training for Victorian learner motorcyclists from next month will include for the first time an on-road element.’ Now, I have no real problem with this idea. I know it has some issues practically, but when I got my learner’s permit I did feel unprepared for life on the road. 

What concerns me about this article is the connection made with a recent spate of deaths on motorbikes. “The new rules come after a horror start to the year with 11 riders, all male, killed on Victoria’s roads . . .” This is tragic, and we who do ride need to consider carefully how we ride and if we are contributing to the problem. But please, please do not suddenly change rules and expectations that have no connection to this problem. Were all 11 riders learners? I don’t know, but I don’t believe so. The fact that this number includes at least 4 men in their 40’s would suggest they weren’t all learners. So changing the learning regime would have made no difference. 

My second concern is simply the contradictions that the article contains. I continue a paragraph I quoted earlier:

“The new rules come after a horror start to the year with 11 riders, all male, killed on Victoria’s roads, the latest a 27 year-old Gladstone Park man who died after a collision with a car. . . on January 27.” 

The latest? Really? But Ian, what about the final paragraph in your article which reads, “Seven motorcyclists have died in Victoria in February alone, including four men in their 40’s and one 18-year-old.”

I’m all for better training, although I’m not sure all the measures suggested in the article are the best. I don’t want people dying just because they choose to ride a bike. And I’m pretty sure that many of these deaths weren’t completely the fault of the rider, so again, the measures suggested in this article might not prove to be the best. The best comment in the article belongs to Doug Fryer, Assistant Commissioner for Road Policing when he is reported as urging bikers to ride according to their skill levels and to wear protective clothing. I agree. 

If only that would stop drivers from pulling out in front of riders, or road surfaces being left to decay. But that’s another story. 

One more thing. On page 36 of the same edition of the Herald Sun are a number of comments from people complaining about traffic congestion. What a difference it would make to travelling time if more of us rode motorbikes.