D.A. Cairns's Blog, page 52

Bad Angels

[image error] Nearly everyone knows the story of Lucifer: the chief of God's angels who rebelled against God and was cast to earth. This angel is also called Satan or the Devil. The Bible tells us that a third of the heavenly host was also banished and Satan leads this group of troublemakers. We call them demons.

Angels and demons abound in popular fiction and film. Interest in the supernatural realm has always been strong because humans are also spiritual beings. Although we have earthly bodies now, the essence of who we are is spirit just as God, who created us, is a spirit. Angels and demons often appear in human form, in disguise as it were, so that many who have encountered them have not recognized them as supernatural beings.

[image error] Leaving demons aside because we can safely say that they are all evil, let's consider the question of the character of angels. People are described as angels if they are either beautiful and kind, or both. A Google search of images of angels brought up a plethora of female beauties with wings; some of them even sexy. The Bible mentions angels 273 times, and describes them as created beings who cannot die. They most often appear in masculine human form, or in dazzling white. The typical response to seeing the latter is fear and awe. Most angels do not have wings. Humans do not became angels when they die.

Angels are essentially ministering agents of God who are more powerful and more knowledgeable than humans but not omnipotent or omniscient. The carry out a range of benevolent functions including the provision of physical needs, encouragement, guidance and protection. They also rescue people, deliver messages to them. and care for them at their death. These nice functions are why we like angels. Even people who don't believe in God, sometimes like to believe in angels because they are nice and helpful.

[image error] Angels are also warriors and executioners. An angel destroyed the Assyrian army, and another one smote the firstborn of Egypt during the time for Moses. Angels can cause blindness and bring plagues. Angels can do things which most people would not consider very angelic, nevertheless they exist to do the will of God so we can assume they are righteous and holy. They also have free will as we do.

I have allowed myself to be sidetracked again from my promised comparison of the angels in Touched by an Angel and Supernatural, but as I find the general topic fascinating I am rolling with it. More next week.

What do you think of angels? Have you ever seen one? Do you believe in them?

Further reading about angels according to the Bible.
http://christiananswers.net/q-acb/acb-t005.html

Photo sources:
http://warui-shoujo.deviantart.com/art/Lucifer-s-Fall-184183566
http://www.indigoangelslight.com/
http://dark.pozadia.org/wallpaper/Dark-Angel-Lord/

Touched by an angel/kissed by a demon

I'm a fan of two very different television shows which feature angels: Touched by an Angel and Supernatural.

In each episode of Touched by an Angel, Monica is assigned to help someone deal with a serious personal issue. She is assisted and supported by her supervisor, Tess, and sometimes the Angel of Death who despite his name is a nice angel who escorts people to Heaven. At some point in the episode, having posed as a friend or co-worker to the person who needs help, Monica reveals herself as as angel and delivers to them a message of love and encouragement.

Touched by an Angel is classic wholesome, family viewing which tugs at the heart strings and provides inspiration and hope. It emphasizes the compassion of God for his fallen creation, and it reminds me how much God loves me.

Supernatural used to be about brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester, searching for the demon who killed their mother, and killing whatever evil things they encountered along the way. Throughout various twists and turns, their mission became stopping the apocalypse, and then surviving the apocalypse...and killing whatever evil things they encountered along the way. In season four, angels were introduced to the mix when we met one called Castiel.

Supernatural is a violent and gory show which laughs at sexual promiscuity and pornography, as it emphasizes the pre eminence of man as his own saviour. It is a quintessential example of post modernist humanism. The line between good and evil is constantly blurred. It leaves me wondering why people, including myself, are so entertained by such horrible things.

I believe in angels and demons because the Bible teaches that they are real. I don't need to see them to believe in them, just as I don't need to see God to believe in Him. I don't like the angels in Supernatural and next week, I am going to explain why.

How about you? Do you believe in angels and demons? In ghosts? Have you ever seen something supernatural?  Have you ever been touched by an angel?

A Lot like Me

A couple of mornings each week, I go out for a run accompanied by my iPod shuffle. Shuffle is a pretty good word to describe my style in the initial phases of the workout. It takes me a while to find a stride and I have to spend a lot of time stretching before and after. I'm always amused by how stiff and sore I feel when I start, and how I feel like I am dying throughout most of the journey around the suburban circuit. There's pain in my ankle. My knee aches. I can't breathe. My legs feel like anchors. At the end, after I've sprinted home and onto my porch to begin my warm down, I feel good, and I'm pleased that I compelled myself out onto the unforgiving bitumen and concrete. This discipline is of benefit to me: body, mind and soul.

During these self imposed torture sessions, randomly selected songs from my playlist provide impetus and sustenance. It's all rock, mostly hard, and heavy metal. Sometimes, I listen to the songs. Sometimes, I erratically move my arms and my head which really disturbs my rhythm and sometimes, I even gasp along with familiar lyrics. The music allows me to focus. My mind can run away and play in fertile fields of imagination while my body is left to suffer as a beast of burden.

These road runs are among my most creative and productive times as new ideas and possible solutions to problems are born. In the midst of the noise and the agony, while my body demands I cease the insanity, and blinds me with sweat, I can also reflect and pray. I am prone to excessive reflection. I have a propensity to think too much and to over think, but I recognize this as a gift, and I run with it- pardon the pun.

Yesterday, it was the Offspring who got me thinking with their song, A Lot Like Me, and especially these lines
                                   
                                      Where do you run?
                         Where do you go?
                         When the holes in your truth
                              are beginning to show.

When and where are you particularly creative? What is your reaction to these song lyrics?



Photo sources:
http://good4sports.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/light-jogging-and-longevity/
http://www.medclient.com/tag/running/

'tis the Season

It has always interested me that the Christ in Christmas is ignored, or at best downplayed significantly, by so many Australians. There are some people of other religious faiths who naturally do not celebrate Christmas. Then there are the majority of Australians who do celebrate Christmas, but would describe themselves as not religious. The latter often use the line "I have my own beliefs".

[image error] What is particularly curious is the deliberate exclusion of Christ from Christmas. Someone recently said to me that Christmas had nothing to do with religion. She meant for her personally, but it sounded so dismissive that it made me wonder. I understand if people don't want to emphasize the religious aspect of Christmas. If they do not want to acknowledge that the birth of the single most influential person ever is personally significant; fair enough. However you can't say it is not important. To deny the poignancy of this historical event, and its subsequent, and continuing impact on billions of people seems a bit ludicrous. Whatever else it may be to people, Christmas, as the name suggests, is patently about the birth of Jesus Christ. To say otherwise, is insulting and offensive.

There are number of universal values which are associated with Christmas aside from overtly religious ones. Omitting the few Grinches who dwell among us, most people, Christian or not, recognize the Christmas season as a time for family and friends, for giving and receiving, and a time for relaxing and reflecting. We all desire peace and we wish others well. There is a spirit of generosity and hospitality, a kind of communal bonhomie which permeates life, from the workplace to the market place, to our homes and neighbourhoods. It is a happy time, and a hopeful time for most people.

Generally, people will give the same basic answer to the question, "What does Christmas mean for you?" so it makes perfect sense to me, in identifying these common values, to also acknowledge their source. Values do not originate in vacuums. Are Christmas values not also Christian values, or religious values? Or do they spring from the hearts of men, as humanists would have us believe. What is the origin of faith, and hope and love? Where do these cherished and indispensable qualities come from? Are they human or divine?

Photo sources:
http://madjank.com/religious-christmas-cards-photo-wallpaper-hd-of-christmas/
http://www.commentscod.com/comments/religious-merry-christmas-graphics-picture/4

Top 5 reads of 2013

I know it's only the beginning of December, and the festive season is just starting to kick into gear, but I don't want to wait until after Christmas to share with you my top five reads of 2013. 

After a bleak 2012 during which I did not read a five star book, (one day I am really going to go to town on the number of allegedly five star books in existence), 2013 brought me more joy, and a little difficulty when it came to narrowing the field to only five books. The battle for places was not as intense as I may be leading you to believe, however. I have read nineteen books altogether so far this year, and most of them were average - entertaining, interesting and definitely worth reading - but not outstanding. 

Without further ado, here are the five books I most enjoyed in 2013.





It's shocking and repulsive, intriguing and bizarre, and all gloriously factual, albeit coloured with cynicism and sarcasm. 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18179458-girt







Such a magnificent literary tome surely begs, and should quite rightly and without equivocation receive a review of such extraordinary length, virtue and perspicacity, so as to render all other book reviews of spurious consequence. 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3836.Don_Quixote




An epic saga told from three points of view, bursting with extraordinarily beautiful and powerful language, Frankenstein is a harrowing tale of two tormented souls. 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18490.Frankenstein


Part mystery, part fantasy, part science fiction and all delivered with a good dose of humour.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15731639-above-his-station









   Time Flies is a laugh out loud collection of anecdotes about aging by a        great comedian. 

   https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/186618.Time_Flies

A Successful Failure

I was pretty optimistic as I headed off to the local market this morning. On my two previous trips I sold a few copies of my first two novels. This time, I had a third, and I raised the ante a little with the table set up and bonus offers.

It's the first day of December and Christmas will be here in the blink of an eye so I had a sign which promoted unique Christmas gifts including signed copies of my novels, original artworks by my daughter, and free gift wrapping.With each purchase of one or more of my books, I offered a choice of one other book for free: Jo Nesbo, Bill Bryson and Jayne Buxton to name but a few. On top of all that, I was there to greet people and chat about books, or anything at all.

This sunny day was matched by my disposition. An early sale of Ashmore Grief, buoyed my confidence further. I needed one more sale to cover my costs, and then it was full steam ahead to profit town.

Five hours later I was watching the clock, waiting to pack up and go
home, wondering why I had not sold anything else. Curious as to why I had less conversations and less interest than last time. Apart from the one wise lady who purchased Ashmore Grief, only one other person even picked up a display copy and read the blurbs of any of my books. You can see the multitudes streaming past my stall in the photo above, and the masses queueing to meet me and buy my books.

It was bad enough for me to pretty much decide never to return. The stall next to mine, was manned by a husband and wife, visiting this market for the first time to sell new books, and lots of them for only $5 each. Talk about competition. 

They were a lovely couple though. The guy is a web designer, the woman an editor and book reviewer for Reader's Digest. They both work from home. It was great to meet them. It was cool to meet the guy who designed a quit smoking program which he wants to publish, and another who apparently gained successive, multiple free entries into a certain Kings Cross establishment. The woman who is writing her own dictionary, and the guy who loves to read and would have bought a book if only it were written in his native Spanish.


I'm proud of my work. The lack of sales and recognition for my work is no reflection on its quality. Today's failure proves that I believe in what I do, and ultimately, by the grace of God and hopeful persistence, I will succeed.

Thanks for reading.

The Great Escape

The popularity of television, books and movies testifies to our desire to escape the humdrum of everyday life. Certainly, many books and television shows are watched for their educational value, but what we really want is entertainment. We want to be transported, if only in our imaginations, from where we are to some other fantastic place. From reality to fantasy. Along the way we happily gobble up debaucherous immorality: lies, sex and violence, and why not? We aren't doing it, and it isn't been done to us. Living vicariously through fictional characters is safe. It is also both amusing and instructive vis-a-vis human nature.


After many months of wondering what happened after the explosion in the final episode of season 14 of ER, and then subsequently forgetting about it when we couldn't watch it because it wasn't on TV and Leading Edge video store which supplied us with season 1 -14 didn't have season 15, we watched the final episode of the Australian police drama, Blue Heelers. Not being able to follow the trials and tribulations of the coppers at Mount Thomas was a blow, and by the time we neared the end of season 14 we were in despair. How could we go on without our much loved friends in the Victorian police department? And then, season 15 of ER appeared on the shelf at Leading Edge. Hooray!

Last night we found out what happened after the explosion at the end of season 14. *Spoiler alert. One of the main stars, a favourite character who had morphed from an annoying and narcissistic cowboy of a doctor, into the chief of the ER and everyone's best mate, appeared to have survived the explosion. He made it out of the ambulance and into hospital where it was eventually discovered that he was much more seriously injured than first presumed. Fatally injured in fact. First episode of a new season and they killed off one of the stars of the show. It was shocking, gripping, and emotionally draining, which is exactly what you want from television drama.

Dr.Greg Pratt died a horrible death. After the funeral his friends gathered at the local watering hole to eulogize him and eat deep fried mozarella sticks in honour of him. As we watched those deeply moving scenes, I felt a bit teary and I wanted to eat a deep fried mozarella stick. Then we watched another episode. Life carried on in the emergency room of County General, as it did in our home where after episode two, I brushed my teeth, went to bed and slept peacefully. Untouched. Unscathed. Safe, warm and well.

I cannot imagine a world without such entertainment. The escapism provided by the amusements of our culture is a reflection of who we are: empty, craven, and broken.The breadth of human experience, the highs and the lows, can be encapsulated in a forty minute episode, a two hour film, or a three hundred page novel. And it's all fake. Realistic? Sure, but completely counterfeit. All our hopes, our dreams, our fears, our grief, our suffering and our joy is there for us to enjoy, but how much or how little of this experience is our own?

Cheer up Grumpy

I like my job. I don't love it, but I usually enjoy most aspects of it. As with all jobs there are some things about it, particular duties or particular people which diminish enjoyment: things which tarnish the shine. It's easy for me to find fault with my job because it isn't what I want to do long term. In fact, I would happily quit tomorrow to be a full time writer. I need a lot more people to buy my books before I can do that though.

I operate under the burden of an onerous reporting and regulatory system. This is necessitated by the fact that we have a government contract for the provision of language and literacy training, and governments love paperwork. The trouble with paperwork is that...well, actually there is a plethora of problems with paperwork. One of the difficulties is that it is notoriously prescriptive and inflexible. In other words, it does not always account for the blurred lines of reality. A quick example: We have a form called an IPA on which we must indicate that a client has improved in one skill indicator over the course of 100 hours of training. (Of course we have to provide physical evidence of this improvement)What happens if the client has not achieved a demonstrable increase?  They have to. But what if they haven't improved? What if they can't? What if they are 60 years old and suffering from a myriad of health problems,and they had never been inside a classroom until they arrived in Australia two months ago? What then? I already told you, they have to show demonstrable improvement. 

Leaving aside the indelectable and infuriating issues associated with paperwork, I wish to speak of another aspect of my job which sometimes makes me grumpy. Last Thursday, I had an attack of the crankies and it was caused by an impromptu after class meeting in my room. I'm a specialist English language teacher. I have post graduate qualifications and eight years experience but I am now being asked to think about supplying suggestions for the diversification and individualisation of content delivery. I know, right? I thought I was employed to teach English to adult migrants and refugees. Now, I am to think about computer courses, learn to drive courses and horticulture courses so that the individual needs of my clients can be met? It's yet another perfect example of the unnecessary complicating of life. It's like a disease, a plague. Let's make everything more complicated and difficult.

So, last Thursday I hurriedly tried to complete my paperwork, which I should have been doing instead of sulkily attending the above mentioned meeting, before closing time, because as I said I like my job but not enough to do unpaid overtime. I wasn't a happy camper when I arrived home. 

Grizzly as I was, I did not welcome the invitation to go shopping for a pair of shoes for my daughter, especially as it was not an invitation. To cut a long story short, the time spent out with my wife and daughter resulted in an unexpected recovery of good cheer, and subject matter for a blog post.

What makes you grumpy? When have you been unexpectedly rescued from grumpiness?

Photo sources:
http://thegreenstraw.wordpress.com/category/paperwork/
http://www.redstripeclothing.com/news/post/2009/07/heaps_of_new_shoe_styles_instore!/

True to his word

The Tony Abbott led coalition has been in government for nearly two months now. It has been a period of bad news for many people as the new government has quickly set about doing what it said it would do: saving money by cutting spending. Jobs, benefits and bonuses...slashed.

There is a certain amount of hysteria coming from opponents of the government. I am one of those opponents but I am not surprised, and therefore not emotionally disturbed. Coalition governments don't spend, Labour governments do. We alternate between the two, with each usually lasting two to three terms, and this guarantees balance.

It's early days yet, too soon to declare disaster, but those whose jobs will be lost in the public service, including nearly a quarter of the workforce at Australia's premier scientific research organisation, will be less sanguine. Likewise, welfare recipients who will be soon forced to spend around 70% of their benefits on essentials. Proposed pay rises for very poorly paid aged care workers have been scrapped, more privatisation is planned, as are further attacks on employment conditions, and I could go on and on and on.

As I said, it's too early to see the full impact of the government's austerity program, but one thing is for sure: people will be hurt financially because in my view, Coalition governments care much more about the budget bottom line than they do about people.

Further reading:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/prime-minister-tony-abbott-cuts-14000-government-jobs-20131108-2x731.html
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/10/09/abbo-o09.html

Don Quixote

To mark the momentous occasion of me completing what is reputed to be one of the greatest works of literary fiction of all time, I thought I would share a collection of quotes from the pen of Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra, the author of Don Quixote. Some wise, insightful and sometimes amusing words to consider. 
You can read my review on Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3836.Don_Quixote

Selected quotes from Don Quixote:

"So long as they are books of honest entertainment that charm by their style and attract and interest by the invention they display..."

"What a set of absurdities thou art stringing together."

"...as the wicked are always ungrateful, and necessity leads to evil,  and immediate advantage overcomes all considerations of future."

"Fiction is all the better, the more it looks like truth."

"There is no happiness on earth to compare with recovering lost liberty."

"Better a blush on the cheek than a sore in the heart."

"Disordered attire is a sign of an unstable mind, unless the slovenliness and slackness is set down to craft."

"Why would you have us read that absurd stuff when it is impossible for anyone who has read the first party of the history of Don Quixote of La Mancha to take any pleasure in reading the second part?"

"For the most part, those who receive are the inferiors of those who give. Thus, God is superior to all because he is the supreme giver and the offerings of man fall short by an infinite distance."

"Thou art a blockhead!"

Which one do you like best?