Been doing some fun stuff with my photos and experimenting with various artistic filters. I like this one especially.
One great thing about the many filters available is that a bad photo can be turned into something spectacular.
I find this quite therapeutic.
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Monday, December 07, 2009
Discernment: Testing My Own Voice by Brad Jersak
I came across this today as I was following through on thoughts about listening prayer. Brad has written some really good stuff in his book: "Can You Hear Me? Tuning In to the God Who Speaks"
Here's what he wrote on Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice
Discernment: Testing My Own Voice by Brad Jersak
In recent days I have been thinking about our dialogues with God and how we weigh them. I started noticing that when the prayer conversation alternates: God, then Brad, then God, then Brad, and son on, I was diligent to test what God is allegedly saying. I test to see whether the voice of God is really God or not God. I check that voice according to the three-legged stool of the Word, the Body and the Spirit, as recommended in Can You Hear Me? Tuning in to the God who Speaks.
But I neglected to test MY voice. And why should I? After all, it’s my own voice, isn’t it? Or is it? But when I began to categorize the themes that came under the umbrella of ‘my voice,’ I noticed something. On the one hand, there was the voice that agrees with and responds to God in faith. We could call that the voice of my ‘true heart,’ or the voice of the ‘new creation,’ or the ‘new me.’
On the other hand, there are these other voices that I assumed were my own as well: The voice of condemnation (beating myself up) that would then trigger the voice of self-pity (feeling sorry for myself), and the voices of shame, self-hatred, fear, worry, anger, and so on. In my head, I would hear and say, ‘I am afraid; I am angry; I don’t like myself; I’m not worthy,’ etc. Perhaps you know those voices as well.
THE VOICE THAT IS NOT EVEN ME
And then it occurred to me, esp. as I read the dialogues from prayer journals of about sixty Bible school students, if the voice of my true self loves God and responds in faith and love to the voice of Christ, what are these other voices? On occasion I suppose I could have been hearing an unclean spirit. Or I suppose I might have been dealing with a wound in my heart. But mostly, I found these voices could not be cast out like a demon nor could they be healed like a wound. In fact, my greatest discovery was that those voices were NOT ME at all! ME is my true self. ME is the heart Jesus gave me. ME is the new creation. So what was I hearing that masqueraded as ME?
The Bible calls it the old nature (Rom. 8), the old Adam or Eve, the flesh or desires of the flesh (Gal. 5). In modern terms, we refer to the false self, the ego. My mentor, Ron Dart, calls it ‘the craver’ that underlies all of my cravings, demanding that I feed it but knowing it’s a bottomless pit. It is that vacuous demanding echo of something that was crucified with Christ; something to be reckoned dead (Rom. 6) but still far too talkative in my head; something to be disowned and discredited; marginalized and silenced as far a possible.
DISOWNING AND DISCREDITING THE VOICE OF THE FALSE ME
How do we silence the voices of the flesh or ego? We’re half way there when we begin to recognize that voice and declare, that’s not me. That’s not the beat of the new heart Jesus gave me. We can step back and hold it at arm’s length and begin to make a practice of disowning it—even to the point of refusing to call it my ego or my flesh. It is an ‘it’ of days gone by.
Besides disowning it, we can discredit the ego’s voice by challenging its motives and its fruit. The flesh or ego always has a motive. For example, when it is accusing you, its motive is pride and self-righteousness and it is punishing you for not living up to its standards of perfection. Your stumbles embarrass and offend the ego, triggering a barrage of condemnation. OR when the flesh lapses into self-pity, its motive is to seduce fleshly sympathy out of others—a deadly counterfeit of compassion that brings death rather than life. The ego can multi-task, both accusing and sulking at the same time, but when we step back quietly and watch that ludicrous inner dialogue, it ceases to be credible.
We also discredit the ego/flesh by challenging its fruit. Jesus called us to test everything, including every voice, by the fruit it produces. In testing the fruit of the ego, we see that when we have listened to it, NOT ONCE has it ever produced a smidgeon—not the slightest sliver—of goodness in our lives. So why give it a voice at all, much less the freedom of speech it currently enjoys under the guise of being ME just because I hear it beaking off inside? It is as if we’ve said, ‘As long as you don’t claim to be God, you can say whatever you want. By pretending to be me, you have free rein because I don’t discern MY voice. I only discern God’s voice.’ The resulting fruit has been most rotten.
I have also noticed that when the dialogue is between God and my true, restored heart, God tends to take the lead in the conversation and I find myself following, responding, led by the Spirit to listen. Conversely, when the ego/flesh dialogues with God (when it lets me, for it aggressively tries to unplug from the conversation through doubt or shame) it consistently tries to control the conversation, attempting to argue God into corners, silence or defensiveness. Here I see his relentless patience on the one hand and the complete waste of time on the other. I want to say, “Ego, would you just get over yourself and listen to what God is saying?” Of course, it never does. The flesh/ego does not really listen and its innumerable arguments are a distraction from where God would like to take the prayer time.
SPIRIT TO SPIRIT CONVERSATION
Finally, I do not silence the voice of the ego/flesh by obsessing over it. That only feeds it. Rather, I am learning to give it a brief, passing nod: “I see you, you blood-sucker. But I know what you’re up to and I’m not listening to you today.” And then I quickly move on to listen to the voice of God’s Spirit interacting with the responsive, faith-filled and loving voice of my renewed spirit. 1 Cor. 6:17 goes so far as to say that in uniting with Christ, his Spirit and my spirit become one. I.e. I don’t even need to distinguish between the Holy Spirit and my spirit, because they are in an ascending spiral of heavenly agreement.
True discernment simply means refusing to listen to all that is not God AND all that is not me. To me, this latter half was an ‘aha moment’ that I hope will upgrade our discernment and bring readers fresh freedom as well.
Here's what he wrote on Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice
Discernment: Testing My Own Voice by Brad Jersak
In recent days I have been thinking about our dialogues with God and how we weigh them. I started noticing that when the prayer conversation alternates: God, then Brad, then God, then Brad, and son on, I was diligent to test what God is allegedly saying. I test to see whether the voice of God is really God or not God. I check that voice according to the three-legged stool of the Word, the Body and the Spirit, as recommended in Can You Hear Me? Tuning in to the God who Speaks.
But I neglected to test MY voice. And why should I? After all, it’s my own voice, isn’t it? Or is it? But when I began to categorize the themes that came under the umbrella of ‘my voice,’ I noticed something. On the one hand, there was the voice that agrees with and responds to God in faith. We could call that the voice of my ‘true heart,’ or the voice of the ‘new creation,’ or the ‘new me.’
On the other hand, there are these other voices that I assumed were my own as well: The voice of condemnation (beating myself up) that would then trigger the voice of self-pity (feeling sorry for myself), and the voices of shame, self-hatred, fear, worry, anger, and so on. In my head, I would hear and say, ‘I am afraid; I am angry; I don’t like myself; I’m not worthy,’ etc. Perhaps you know those voices as well.
THE VOICE THAT IS NOT EVEN ME
And then it occurred to me, esp. as I read the dialogues from prayer journals of about sixty Bible school students, if the voice of my true self loves God and responds in faith and love to the voice of Christ, what are these other voices? On occasion I suppose I could have been hearing an unclean spirit. Or I suppose I might have been dealing with a wound in my heart. But mostly, I found these voices could not be cast out like a demon nor could they be healed like a wound. In fact, my greatest discovery was that those voices were NOT ME at all! ME is my true self. ME is the heart Jesus gave me. ME is the new creation. So what was I hearing that masqueraded as ME?
The Bible calls it the old nature (Rom. 8), the old Adam or Eve, the flesh or desires of the flesh (Gal. 5). In modern terms, we refer to the false self, the ego. My mentor, Ron Dart, calls it ‘the craver’ that underlies all of my cravings, demanding that I feed it but knowing it’s a bottomless pit. It is that vacuous demanding echo of something that was crucified with Christ; something to be reckoned dead (Rom. 6) but still far too talkative in my head; something to be disowned and discredited; marginalized and silenced as far a possible.
DISOWNING AND DISCREDITING THE VOICE OF THE FALSE ME
How do we silence the voices of the flesh or ego? We’re half way there when we begin to recognize that voice and declare, that’s not me. That’s not the beat of the new heart Jesus gave me. We can step back and hold it at arm’s length and begin to make a practice of disowning it—even to the point of refusing to call it my ego or my flesh. It is an ‘it’ of days gone by.
Besides disowning it, we can discredit the ego’s voice by challenging its motives and its fruit. The flesh or ego always has a motive. For example, when it is accusing you, its motive is pride and self-righteousness and it is punishing you for not living up to its standards of perfection. Your stumbles embarrass and offend the ego, triggering a barrage of condemnation. OR when the flesh lapses into self-pity, its motive is to seduce fleshly sympathy out of others—a deadly counterfeit of compassion that brings death rather than life. The ego can multi-task, both accusing and sulking at the same time, but when we step back quietly and watch that ludicrous inner dialogue, it ceases to be credible.
We also discredit the ego/flesh by challenging its fruit. Jesus called us to test everything, including every voice, by the fruit it produces. In testing the fruit of the ego, we see that when we have listened to it, NOT ONCE has it ever produced a smidgeon—not the slightest sliver—of goodness in our lives. So why give it a voice at all, much less the freedom of speech it currently enjoys under the guise of being ME just because I hear it beaking off inside? It is as if we’ve said, ‘As long as you don’t claim to be God, you can say whatever you want. By pretending to be me, you have free rein because I don’t discern MY voice. I only discern God’s voice.’ The resulting fruit has been most rotten.
I have also noticed that when the dialogue is between God and my true, restored heart, God tends to take the lead in the conversation and I find myself following, responding, led by the Spirit to listen. Conversely, when the ego/flesh dialogues with God (when it lets me, for it aggressively tries to unplug from the conversation through doubt or shame) it consistently tries to control the conversation, attempting to argue God into corners, silence or defensiveness. Here I see his relentless patience on the one hand and the complete waste of time on the other. I want to say, “Ego, would you just get over yourself and listen to what God is saying?” Of course, it never does. The flesh/ego does not really listen and its innumerable arguments are a distraction from where God would like to take the prayer time.
SPIRIT TO SPIRIT CONVERSATION
Finally, I do not silence the voice of the ego/flesh by obsessing over it. That only feeds it. Rather, I am learning to give it a brief, passing nod: “I see you, you blood-sucker. But I know what you’re up to and I’m not listening to you today.” And then I quickly move on to listen to the voice of God’s Spirit interacting with the responsive, faith-filled and loving voice of my renewed spirit. 1 Cor. 6:17 goes so far as to say that in uniting with Christ, his Spirit and my spirit become one. I.e. I don’t even need to distinguish between the Holy Spirit and my spirit, because they are in an ascending spiral of heavenly agreement.
True discernment simply means refusing to listen to all that is not God AND all that is not me. To me, this latter half was an ‘aha moment’ that I hope will upgrade our discernment and bring readers fresh freedom as well.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Transferring to the next generation
'Tell the next generation...of...His power, and the wonders He has done.' Psalm 78:4 NIV
Karl Marx said that to conquer a nation you just have to block the transfer of values, morals and beliefs between generations. Our kids are like mirrors, they reflect what they see. 'Tell the next generation...of...His power….' If we don't; who will?
www.thewordfortoday.com.au
Karl Marx said that to conquer a nation you just have to block the transfer of values, morals and beliefs between generations. Our kids are like mirrors, they reflect what they see. 'Tell the next generation...of...His power….' If we don't; who will?
www.thewordfortoday.com.au
Thursday, September 03, 2009
A back door
“… God is faithful, Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it" (1 Co 10:13 NAS).
God builds a back door into every temptation with a lighted 'exit' sign over it. The way of escape comes with the temptation. So while you will never be exempt from temptation, you can be victorious over it.
www.thewordfortoday.com.au
God builds a back door into every temptation with a lighted 'exit' sign over it. The way of escape comes with the temptation. So while you will never be exempt from temptation, you can be victorious over it.
www.thewordfortoday.com.au
Saturday, August 15, 2009
We are still becoming
"God planted a garden...there He put the man whom He had formed."
Genesis 2:8 NKJV
What does it mean to plant? To bury seeds beyond human view so that they germinate and eventually produce fruit. You're still becoming what God planted. There are talents in you that haven't been discovered and dreams that haven't been fulfilled. It means God believes in you - even when you don't believe in yourself.
www.thewordfortoday.com.au
Genesis 2:8 NKJV
What does it mean to plant? To bury seeds beyond human view so that they germinate and eventually produce fruit. You're still becoming what God planted. There are talents in you that haven't been discovered and dreams that haven't been fulfilled. It means God believes in you - even when you don't believe in yourself.
www.thewordfortoday.com.au
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Multnomah Falls, Oregon
In May I visited friends in Oregon. They very much wanted for me to see as much of Oregon's beauty as possible. One thing we did was to drive down the Columbia River Gorge stopping at all the waterfalls along the way. They were breathtakingly beautiful! Here is one view of the Multnomah Falls. The Multnomah Falls were the only ones I'd heard of. What a sight to see all that water plunging down the cliff face...
Each waterfall had its own particular beauty, no two were the same.
God's artistry was abundantly manifest all along the way. Even the moss and the small forest flowers had such a delicate beauty that my soul was fed and I was blessed more than I can say.
Each waterfall had its own particular beauty, no two were the same.
God's artistry was abundantly manifest all along the way. Even the moss and the small forest flowers had such a delicate beauty that my soul was fed and I was blessed more than I can say.
Joy comes in the Morning
“His favour is for life; weeping may endure for a night but joy comes
in the morning.” Psalm 30:5b NKJV
Joys are always on their way to us. They are always travelling to us
through the darkness of the night. There is never a night when they
are not coming – Amy Carmichael.
in the morning.” Psalm 30:5b NKJV
Joys are always on their way to us. They are always travelling to us
through the darkness of the night. There is never a night when they
are not coming – Amy Carmichael.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Raise the bar!
"Do it...in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the
Father through Him." Col 3:17 NIV.
Whatever our work, let's 'raise the bar' because we're Christ's
representatives. Let's set the industry standard for excellence.
Knowing we follow Christ should give employers and customers
confidence they'll get nothing but the best.
www.thewordfortoday.com.au
Father through Him." Col 3:17 NIV.
Whatever our work, let's 'raise the bar' because we're Christ's
representatives. Let's set the industry standard for excellence.
Knowing we follow Christ should give employers and customers
confidence they'll get nothing but the best.
www.thewordfortoday.com.au
Sunday, December 21, 2008
My friend Paulette
My very dear friend Paulette Hopple died on Thursday morning. It was sudden, yet not unexpected. For 20 years she'd had a death sentence over her because of a rare form of scleroderma which had attacked her lungs. Through much prayer God gave her more strength, vim and vigour than most of us without any disease. She was someone who never did anything by halves... it was always full on.
I've always been impressed with her keen interest in people, and no matter who they were she wanted to know them, was concerned for them and wanted to encourage them in whatever way she could. I remember on a visit with her earlier this year in Mae Sai. She would always speak with the beggars who'd come across from Burma; she wanted to know who they were, what language they spoke and what were the circumstances of their life that had brought them to begging. Invariably she would give them some money or pay for a good meal for them. I found this care about people to be quite overwhelming.
She had been serving God in Asia. While on a 6 week trip for language data collection and a literacy workshop she experienced increasing difficulty with breathlessness at the slightest exertion. She knew it was bad but did not stop until completing the literacy workshop in which training was given to speakers of the ethnic language with whom she worked. These folk were being trained to be literacy teachers for their own people in their own language. After this her breathing become more laboured and she ended up in hospital. Her heart was unable to oxygenate her blood and gave out just after midnight December 18.
I miss her, and will continue to do. She was a good friend to me. We've been friends since being in grad school together in the mid 70's, so it's been a long blessing.
All her friends and colleagues around the world are in shock, and feeling deeply the effects of sudden loss. Though it seems as if her life was cut short, it wasn't. It was God's time for her. It might not suit us, or make sense to us, but it was definitely God's time.
This mornming I was reading John 14:1-3 and was impacted afresh by Jesus' words when he said: "I am going to prepare a place for you ... When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." Jesus had finished preparing Paulette's place and came to get her! Wow! And, I'm sure she was ready to go and knew it was time.
When will our places be ready? Will we be ready to go with Jesus when comes to get us? I pray we will. I pray I will.
Bless you all!
I've always been impressed with her keen interest in people, and no matter who they were she wanted to know them, was concerned for them and wanted to encourage them in whatever way she could. I remember on a visit with her earlier this year in Mae Sai. She would always speak with the beggars who'd come across from Burma; she wanted to know who they were, what language they spoke and what were the circumstances of their life that had brought them to begging. Invariably she would give them some money or pay for a good meal for them. I found this care about people to be quite overwhelming.
She had been serving God in Asia. While on a 6 week trip for language data collection and a literacy workshop she experienced increasing difficulty with breathlessness at the slightest exertion. She knew it was bad but did not stop until completing the literacy workshop in which training was given to speakers of the ethnic language with whom she worked. These folk were being trained to be literacy teachers for their own people in their own language. After this her breathing become more laboured and she ended up in hospital. Her heart was unable to oxygenate her blood and gave out just after midnight December 18.
I miss her, and will continue to do. She was a good friend to me. We've been friends since being in grad school together in the mid 70's, so it's been a long blessing.
All her friends and colleagues around the world are in shock, and feeling deeply the effects of sudden loss. Though it seems as if her life was cut short, it wasn't. It was God's time for her. It might not suit us, or make sense to us, but it was definitely God's time.
This mornming I was reading John 14:1-3 and was impacted afresh by Jesus' words when he said: "I am going to prepare a place for you ... When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." Jesus had finished preparing Paulette's place and came to get her! Wow! And, I'm sure she was ready to go and knew it was time.
When will our places be ready? Will we be ready to go with Jesus when comes to get us? I pray we will. I pray I will.
Bless you all!
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Koalas at Cape Otway
Having just returned from a few days travelling along the Great Ocean Road along the souther coast of Victoria, I can't help but post this photo of a koala in a gum tree in the national park at Cape Otway. There were many in the trees along the road to the lighthouse. Koalas are always so cute!
Nothing seems to phase them... and they were observing us as much as we were observing them.
There were so many of them that there was plenty of time to observe and move around to het a good view of them.
Nothing seems to phase them... and they were observing us as much as we were observing them.
There were so many of them that there was plenty of time to observe and move around to het a good view of them.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Spring Garden - Kangaroo Paw
Around Sydney at this time of year (Spring) are many beautiful gardens open to the public. Today (17Oct08) some friends and I went for a drive to 4 of these. They were really beautiful! Here is some red Kangaroo Paw in a garden bed of blue flowers. I'm not juch on the names of flowers but I sure do enjoy looking at all the beauty of them. I find it very refreshing to the soul, especially after the pain of the past weeks and Mum's death last week.
There are many more of these pictures at my Flickr page if you'd like to see them.
There are many more of these pictures at my Flickr page if you'd like to see them.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
My Mum, 8 Oct 2008
My Mum died this afternoon (8Oct) at about 2:20pm.
My brother, Peter, received a call from the nursing home this morning to say that Mum's breathing had become very shallow and they were moving her into the palliative care room. I'd intended to go up tomorrow but decided I should go today. She was deeply unconscious yet still held my hand. I sat with her praying and speaking gently to her for about 2 hours. At one point I asked her to squeeze my hand if she could hear me. She did and shook my hand quite vigorously for her weakened condition. I knew she was hearing me so continued to speak blessing over her. My sister Stephanie arrived about 1:30pm and I took the opportunity to go for some lunch. On my return I passed Steph driving off. She said Mum's breathing was extremely shallow and sometimes stopped altogether. As I walked down the hallway the nurse, Heather, met me to say that Mum had just died. She just stopped breathing.
The staff were wonderful! They came into the room to farewell to Mum and took the time to sit with me and give comfort. They talked of the good experiences they'd had with her, and they gave me opportunity to talk of Mum and what she meant to me. They asked if I'd like the chaplain to come and I felt it very right to say 'yes'. The chaplain was wonderful. We prayed over Mum and she anointed her with oil and committed her into God's hands. We had a good time talking and sharing together which helped me to process what had happened and was happening.
I don't know when the funeral will be, possibly Tuesday. We have yet to let all the rels know as well Mum's many friends.
Even though this has been expected for some time, it is still painful. I grieve Mum's passing, but I'm glad she's finally at rest. She's in God's hands, the very best place to be.
My Mum: born 3 July 1917, died 8 October 2008... a long life!
My brother, Peter, received a call from the nursing home this morning to say that Mum's breathing had become very shallow and they were moving her into the palliative care room. I'd intended to go up tomorrow but decided I should go today. She was deeply unconscious yet still held my hand. I sat with her praying and speaking gently to her for about 2 hours. At one point I asked her to squeeze my hand if she could hear me. She did and shook my hand quite vigorously for her weakened condition. I knew she was hearing me so continued to speak blessing over her. My sister Stephanie arrived about 1:30pm and I took the opportunity to go for some lunch. On my return I passed Steph driving off. She said Mum's breathing was extremely shallow and sometimes stopped altogether. As I walked down the hallway the nurse, Heather, met me to say that Mum had just died. She just stopped breathing.
The staff were wonderful! They came into the room to farewell to Mum and took the time to sit with me and give comfort. They talked of the good experiences they'd had with her, and they gave me opportunity to talk of Mum and what she meant to me. They asked if I'd like the chaplain to come and I felt it very right to say 'yes'. The chaplain was wonderful. We prayed over Mum and she anointed her with oil and committed her into God's hands. We had a good time talking and sharing together which helped me to process what had happened and was happening.
I don't know when the funeral will be, possibly Tuesday. We have yet to let all the rels know as well Mum's many friends.
Even though this has been expected for some time, it is still painful. I grieve Mum's passing, but I'm glad she's finally at rest. She's in God's hands, the very best place to be.
My Mum: born 3 July 1917, died 8 October 2008... a long life!
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Australian King Parrot and juvenile Crimson Rosella at Majors Creek
Originally uploaded by bhojman
I was down there last week and watched the parrots enjoying a feast of flower buds on the weeds growing profusely in one section of the land. Here is an Australian King Parrot (left) and a juvenile Crimson Rosella. At times there were well over a dozen feeding within 5 metres of where I was sitting.
I have started to develop a website: Hope for Today
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
View of Middle Harbour, Sydney
A good friend of mine has just moved to Balmoral in Sydney. This is the view from her front verandah. Hard on the eyes, eh?
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Mum, an update
My mum lives on contrary to her doctor's expectations. The nursing home she's in is really very good; the nurses and aides are kind and helpful. I am impressed, and very glad for Mum's sake. It's also a relief for me and my siblings to know that she's getting good care.
Those of you have had a parent go through dementia know exactly what it's like... one day my Mum is pretty well with it and her conversation is quite lucid. Other days she's so deeply asleep there's no rousing her. On yet other days she is off with the fairies, talking about some very weird things, some of which are quite funny. Sometimes she's really cranky and wants to go home and sleep in her own bed. I'm often told to call a taxi and to help her get out of bed so she can go home. This is quite impossible as she has lost the use of her left leg and arm... and has been bedridden for the past 4 months.
I find myself often grieving for her loss of mobility and sensibility. Getting old like this is awful. Up till her 3 falls in 2 weeks back in May she was doing very well and still living in her own home. Since the falls and brain hemorrhages and several some small strokes she's become totally dependent on others for everything. It's no wonder she's often cranky.
Those of you have had a parent go through dementia know exactly what it's like... one day my Mum is pretty well with it and her conversation is quite lucid. Other days she's so deeply asleep there's no rousing her. On yet other days she is off with the fairies, talking about some very weird things, some of which are quite funny. Sometimes she's really cranky and wants to go home and sleep in her own bed. I'm often told to call a taxi and to help her get out of bed so she can go home. This is quite impossible as she has lost the use of her left leg and arm... and has been bedridden for the past 4 months.
I find myself often grieving for her loss of mobility and sensibility. Getting old like this is awful. Up till her 3 falls in 2 weeks back in May she was doing very well and still living in her own home. Since the falls and brain hemorrhages and several some small strokes she's become totally dependent on others for everything. It's no wonder she's often cranky.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sydney from North Head
I love the views of Sydney from North Head. Years ago there were no fences so one could walk right up to the edge of the cliff and enjoy the spectacular views up and down the cost. Now there's a well fenced walkway and signs to say to stay within the confines of the walkway... boring, really. It's now harder to get close to the cliff edge. Even though there are several viewing points they're not really enough.
Anyway, the views are still so very spectacular.
Anyway, the views are still so very spectacular.
Friday, July 25, 2008
My Mum, the story continues
This week my siblings and I completed the clearing out of Mum's house in readiness for it to be leased. This was a hard job as there were so many memories, so many emotions. It all seems so final...
The lockdown at the nursing home was lifted July 15; it'd been in place for 10 days. We siblings were very glad to be able to go visit Mum again. She continues to decline and is completely bedridden. It's an awful feeling to see her so weak and so helpless. She is lucid most of the time we visit though sometimes she talks about things that have come from the past somewhere. She sleeps most of the time and often drifts off to sleep while we visit her.
I find myself grieving deep inside, grieving for the person she once was, for the weakness in which she finds herself now, and for my own sense of loss. 91 is a good age and we all must die sometime... and I am at peace about that. However, I do feel deeply the looming loss of her physical presence here on earth.
The doctors are surprised that she lives on even with all that is wrong with her, and with all the weakness and heart failure she experiences.
Not any easy time...
The lockdown at the nursing home was lifted July 15; it'd been in place for 10 days. We siblings were very glad to be able to go visit Mum again. She continues to decline and is completely bedridden. It's an awful feeling to see her so weak and so helpless. She is lucid most of the time we visit though sometimes she talks about things that have come from the past somewhere. She sleeps most of the time and often drifts off to sleep while we visit her.
I find myself grieving deep inside, grieving for the person she once was, for the weakness in which she finds herself now, and for my own sense of loss. 91 is a good age and we all must die sometime... and I am at peace about that. However, I do feel deeply the looming loss of her physical presence here on earth.
The doctors are surprised that she lives on even with all that is wrong with her, and with all the weakness and heart failure she experiences.
Not any easy time...
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Aging mothers
My plans changed dramatically when I returned from a 5 week trip to Thailand mid May. My Mum had 3 falls in a couple of weeks. I was with her during her last fall. Each time she banged her head but had no obvious injuries. With the 3rd fall she ended up with a brain hemorrhage and lost he use of her left arm and leg and was hospitalised. She's been in hospital since. Things don't look too good for her. Besides the hemorrhage, she's since had a small stroke, battled a nasty urinary tract infection, had a chest infection, a large clot develop in her left leg, etc...
She was way out of it for a while but has come good physically, at least she doesn't look as if she's going to die any minute. We (my siblings and I) have been constantly at the hospital.
Yesterday she was moved to a nursing home where she will probably live out the rest of her days. Today we found the home in lockdown as a number of residents have come down with a nasty bug... not a good time for my Mum to have been moved.
On July 3 she celebrated her 91st birthday. Here are a couple of photos of the occasion. The second includes my brother and sister and a niece.
She was way out of it for a while but has come good physically, at least she doesn't look as if she's going to die any minute. We (my siblings and I) have been constantly at the hospital.
Yesterday she was moved to a nursing home where she will probably live out the rest of her days. Today we found the home in lockdown as a number of residents have come down with a nasty bug... not a good time for my Mum to have been moved.
On July 3 she celebrated her 91st birthday. Here are a couple of photos of the occasion. The second includes my brother and sister and a niece.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
The Burmese military and their lack of compassion!
The Burmese military are at it again! This latest seems to be par for the course, and a continuing indication that the country's leadership cares nothing for the ordinary people. Today's Sydney Morning Herald has news of the military forcing the cyclone victims out of the refugee places and back to their non-existent villages; places where there are no houses or food or medical supplies. This is all so heartless!
US slams Junta: SMH
US slams Junta: SMH
The Burma military's obstruction of international aid after Cyclone Nargis came "at a cost of tens of thousands of lives", US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates said today.
"Our ships and aircraft awaited country approval so they could act promptly to save thousands of lives - approval of the kind granted by Indonesia immediately after the 2004 tsunami and by Bangladesh after a fierce cyclone just last November," Gates told a regional security forum in Singapore.
"With Burma, the situation has been very different - at a cost of tens of thousands of lives."
Meanwhile, earlier reports said Burma's military government appears to be reasserting its authority over cyclone relief operations. Aid officials say the junta has been forcing survivors out of refugee camps and hindering the access it had promised foreign aid workers.
A UN official said yesterday the government was making cyclone survivors leave camps and "dumping" them near their devastated villages with virtually no aid supplies.
Eight camps set up for homeless survivors in the Irrawaddy delta town of Bogalay were "totally empty" as the clear-out continued, said Teh Tai Ring of the United Nations Children's Fund - UNICEF - at a meeting of UN and private aid agency workers discussing water and sanitation issues.
"The government is moving people unannounced," he said, adding that authorities were "dumping people in the approximate location of the villages, basically with nothing".
After his statements were reported, UNICEF issued a statement saying the remarks referred to "unconfirmed reports by relief workers on the relocation of displaced people affected by" the May 2-3 storm.
In his remarks at the water experts' meeting, however, Teh said the information came from a relief worker who had just returned from the affected area and that "tears were shed" when he recounted his findings earlier in the day.
Separately, at a church in Rangoon, more than 400 cyclone victims from a delta township, Labutta, were evicted today following orders from authorities a day earlier.
"It was a scene of sadness, despair and pain," said a church official at the Karen Baptist Home Missions in Rangoon, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of official reprisal. "Those villagers lost their homes, their family members and the whole village was washed away. They have no home to go back to."
All the refuge-seekers except some pregnant women, two young children and those with severe illnesses, left the church in 11 trucks yesterday morning.
The authorities told church workers that the victims would first be taken to a government camp in Myaung Mya - a mostly undamaged town in the Irrawaddy delta - but it was not immediately clear when they would be resettled in their villages.
An estimated 2.4 million people remain homeless and hungry after the May 2-3 cyclone hit Burma. Burma's government says the cyclone killed 78,000 people and left another 56,000 missing.
Aid workers who have reached some of the remote villages say little remains that could sustain the former residents. Houses are destroyed, livestock have perished and food stocks have virtually run out. Medicine supplies are nonexistent.
Terje Skavdal, a senior UN official in Bangkok, Thailand, said he could not confirm the camp closures but that any such forced movement was "completely unacceptable".
"People need to be assisted in the settlements and satisfactory conditions need to created before they can return to their place of origins," Skavdal, head of the Asia-Pacific region's UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told reporters. "Any forced or coerced movement of people is completely unacceptable."
Agencies
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
The cruelty of Burma's leaders
Unbelievably, Burma's leaders are unable to be compassionate toward their own people; and they prevent anyone who would render assistance.
Burma's beggars being forced off the roads: SMH
Burma's beggars being forced off the roads: SMH
Police have begun clearing roads of thousands of cyclone survivors in Burma's Irrawaddy Delta whose desperation has reduced them to begging for food from passing cars.Agence France Presse, Associated Press, The New York Times
Most of the 2.4 million people in need of food, shelter and medicine have yet to receive any international aid, according to the UN. Volunteers from Rangoon and other cities have been driving to villages to deliver aid themselves.
But police are warning volunteers against making donations, and have threatened to suspend their driving licences.
"Aid goods should be given out at relief centres only," one officer told a volunteer trying to give food to cyclone victims.
"The people should learn to feed themselves. They should return to their homes. We do not want foreigners to think we are a country of beggars."
Police say they are trying to ensure the safety of the crowds of people who are lining the region's few roads. Desperation has grown so intense that hundreds of people stampede every passing car.
Six foreign staff based in Rangoon with the UN children's fund, UNICEF, were allowed by the junta to join teams of mainly Burmese workers to assess the scale of the devastation from Cyclone Nargis, which left 133,000 dead or missing.
Other charities such as Doctors Without Borders were also sending foreign staff into the delta.
"We're very pleased that we've been able to get international colleagues out" into the delta, a UNICEF spokeswoman, Shantha Bloemen, said in Bangkok.
Police, soldiers and immigration officers have staged roadblocks to question foreigners on the main route from Rangoon into the devastated town of Dedaye in the delta, which bore the brunt of the cyclone.
Police in Rangoon also yesterday detained 15 members of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy as they marched to her home ahead of the annual deadline for renewal of her house arrest.
The group was shoved into a truck by riot police after 30 of her party marched from their headquarters to Ms Suu Kyi's home, where she has been under house arrest for more than 12 of the past 18 years.
Security was stepped up around Ms Suu Kyi's home as the junta faced an annual deadline to decide whether to extend her current period of house arrest or release her. Most analysts expect her detention to be extended again this year.
The Indonesian Foreign Minister, Hassan Wirayuda, urged the junta to release Ms Suu Kyi, in light of the goodwill the world has shown in recent weeks. But in the aftermath of the cyclone, the anticipated extension has drawn little other international attention.
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