luckycanuck | Entries tagged with theology

I'm within 7km of making the 200km I planned on. will be glad once this is over. It has been good to do a lot of rowing and I have gotten better at it, but rowing every day and putting aside everything else is not so good. Tomorrow's row will put me over the top, possibly before work.

I get the feeling that today there has been (and possibly there is currently) a lot of sex in my house. None of it by me, but the guys that two of the girls are seeing have both been here. One of them told me there was some pre-Christmas "sweet lovin'" and one of them is currently in her room with her guy. I wonder if both of them get seriously involved whether this is going to mean a change of dynamic in the house. We've all been quite inwardly focussed, but that may not be as likely if people have a lot more to focus on outside of the house.

As for me, I'm still single after nearly three years if you don't count a phase of being jerked around a bit last year. I''ve either been very picky or simply disinterested in relationships, or both. I'm very comfortable around girls, I think I've established that fact for myself plenty of times, but I've gotten rather unaccustomed to talking to girls in that way.

I'm trying to decide where I will attend church on Christmas Eve this year. It is a custom that I haven't missed since 2000 when I was in Korea and church in a language I understood was wildly impractical.

I always wince a bit when I hear people talk about "the true meaning of Christmas" as being together with family and friends. Of course, that is a good way to spend Christmas given that most people have time off around this time of year, but that's not actually what Christmas is about. I am about to have my second consecutive Christmas away from my family. Family traditions seem to be of less and less importance every year, and as a result, I tend to attach more theological importance to Christmas. It is, for me, primarily a religious holiday celebrating the incarnation of God amongst us.

At any rate, I've either been in Sydney or Canada (or Dapto in 2007) for Christmas Eve in previous years, but I've never had Christmas Eve in Canberra, so maybe I will go to the same church where I was confirmed three and a half years ago.

Speaking of Christmas, and if that theological rant didn't interest you...

HO HO HO! I'm Santa Claus and I approved this message.

I was up early this morning and went to church. I've been to the Anglican churches in Gladstone and didn't much care for their style. I can recall in 2007 wanting to have some spiritual connection whilst on the campaign and having nowhere to go to satisfy it. As I said to Choirbikie over the phone, "I'm hungry but there's nothing to eat."

I managed to avoid any stabby feelings, the crowd was small, and the sermon was pretty good. It was all about Mary (who sat and listened) and Martha (who was a flurry of activity) and the lesson was that when showing someone kindness, make sure you are showing them the kindness they need. If someone needs a respite from crowds and chaos in the days before he is crucified for the sins of the world, it's probably best to give him some space and silence rather than buzzing around insisting that everything be just so. Also, in as much as doing "the Lord's work" is involving, it's important that there is opportunities for calm.

Cupcake Goddess came over and we had tea and a long chat about her new place and my new place and about the timing surrounding when to tell people about Asperger's and the priesthood and other personal details. I think the new people I live with will be fine with all of it, and I'll let things out at appropriate times after the election.

Speaking of which, I'm still not sure where I'm going, and I did virtually no work today. (I didn't even go to the gym.) Tomorrow I'll go to work and I hope they will have decided something. Tomorrow night I could be sleeping in Queensland.

So far polls look mixed. One 52-48 and one 50-50. Hard to tell, but apparently people are uneasy with the way in which Rudd was rolled.

I've been eating up perishables before I go, and Helga was kind enough to make me a bowl of chicken stew. We both seem to subscribe to the bachelor school of cooking (that is, cook with as little effort and as little washing upp as possible. No Masterchef for me.)

This evening I left work early (6:30 is early for me on a sitting day) and went to a film being screened by the Israeli Embassy.

( Cut for video. )

Oh yes, and the Prime Minister may not be Prime Minister in another 24 hours. Someone in the Labor party has moved a spill (basically a vote to elect a new leader) and we will know the result of that vote tomorrow. I don't think he will be kicked out. The most likely replacement has so far shown no interest in the job and I think she would be mad to take it at this point. Still, this does not make him look like a strong leader and it does not make his party look like it has got its act together.

EDIT: Ok, so Gillard, the most likely replacement who everyone thought had no plans to take on the job, is apparently the one who has moved for the spill. And that's not the sort of thing you do unless you think you can win.

The LIberals have had three leaders since the last election, and now it looks like the PM and the "bright young things" who work for him may be replaced as well. All this time, the Nats have had only one leader.

The odds of me and everyone in our office having a job tomorrow are as solid as ever, unlike some of my colleagues and opponents.

Rudd looked positively unhinged as he spoke to the media. He never struck me as being able to cop criticism, and he was seething as he spoke.

He also said that Australians elected him PM not Labor factional leaders. But he conveniently forgot that Labor factional leaders delivered him (and Gillard) the leadership.

And now that the NSW and Victorian RIght is apparently backing Gillard, who is from the Left, Rudd, who is from the right, is appealing to the left.

Whoa. I'm getting dizzy.

One week ago: I found out I couldn't go to Bingham and felt very stabby about work.

Today: I probably still can't go to Bingham, but I am taking an active role in improving my work situation. I plan to apply for a job tomorrow and will give the Convicts network the word that I am looking for work. The week in the office has been pretty good too.

One week ago: I lost my watch. I love my watch. It's a nice watch by anyone's standard, and it was a gift from someone who cared about me (and who knew me well enough to realise that I would never buy this watch for myself) so it has sentimental value that I can't replace. I felt guilty for misplacing it in the shower at work.

Today: Rejoice! For this watch was lost and has been found!

The tail end of Lent was a bit of a low point (appropriately) but I seem to have been resurrected (appropriately.)

I also declined a place to live that is literally a stone's throw form the gym and an easy run/walk to work. I wasn't adequately confident about the people who lived there (one of whom hadnt even moved in yet) and given my capacity to be careful I will hold off. Another more suitable place may be looming. Or maybe I'm more of a snob than I thought. Maybe both are true.

I will be watching the British election closely. Five years ago today I was in London trying to defeat a Government. This time it looks likely to happen. I still have some friends there would will be hard at it for the next month. Odd that I feel more interested in an election halfway around the world than the impending election in my own backyard.

TW: 3 Rounds of - 60 Leg Presses, Row 50 calories, 40 situps, 30 pushups, 20 dumbbell swings, 10 pullups. Then 50-40-30-20-10 of incline press with increasing weight on the shorter sets. Then a run home.

And in closing, may I present the following short film, which is likely to be of interest primarily to Australians, especially

minxyminou

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Spicks and Specks - Picking out a sample of Bad Bad Leroy Brown

Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow. - Lamentations

( Work and Theology behind cut... )

I am pretty lucky.

Current Mood: pensive

I looked briefly at the property I was going to inspect today an hour before the inspection before deciding not to bother waiting. I didn't want to live there after one look at it and my thoughts of yesterday confirmed for me that I'm not in a position to buy or to want to buy.

I was going to drop my car off at the office (walking to work is becoming a habit) when I made an abrupt turn to stop at the Canberra Synagogue on account of it being the Jewish food fair and open day. They were unfortunately out of falafel, but latkes were there to be had, and I picked up a challah (for the non judeophiles that is a braided bread eaten on the sabbath and on festival days.) Challah contains eggs and is slightly sweet (it was compared to the French brioche by the woman who made it) so on two grounds it contains things I have given up for Lent. (Eggs qualify as meat under my Lent definitions.) However, Sundays are not actually fasting days during Lent. I generally maintain my fasting all the way through, including Sundays, but this felt like the right call. A one off chance to participate in some way in the customs of another religion, done.

( Theological rant behind cut. )
And to close this theological rant with a quote from my foray into Judaism this afternoon:

"Charity may not save us, but it makes us worth saving." - Professor Reuven Kimelman

TW: 100 shoulder presses, 100 chest presses, 50 handstand pushups, 50 weighted dips (and then a nice sweat in the sauna before heading off for dinner.)

Dinner and a nice chat was had with Cupcake Goddess about work and housing and family and relationships, and it continued after I we left the club (CG apparently hasn't discovered Canberra's pubs yet) and made it back to Chez Canuck for tea and challah.

Tomorrow I walk to work again, for the first day of the last big sitting week for a while.

On the run home yesterday whilst flush with endorphiny goodness, for some reason my thoughts turned to a prayer of an unknown Confederate Soldier from the American Civil War.

( Theological stuff behind cut )

As it happens, I've generally gotten the easier part of each pair in my life. But from time to time, it's good to be brought down a bit so you can appreciate the other half. Maybe I've been allowing myself to get complacent or smug. Having to find a new place to live isn't exactly an affliction, but when the dust settles (and it is) it may serve as a reminder of how good I've got it.

Maps were made today, which will keep me busy with my demographic work.

TW: 10 Parliament hill sets (10 situps, run up the hill, 10 burpees, run down the hill)

Then walk home to walk back tomorrow morning.

Ooooooh Spicks and Specks is on!

Current Music: Red Red Wine - as played on Spicks and Specks on a bicycle powered record player

No caffeine was consumed today. And somehow I didn't feel any ill effects. Last year Ash Wednesday was on a sitting day which meant a busy work day for me and by lunch I was rather bleary eyed. Today I felt fine.

I was about to lead the running group when I noticed it was nearly 6pm and time for me to get ash smeared on my forehead. It was a more crowded service than I would have liked and at one point when the annoying guy three rows ahead insisted on shaking my hand during the peace. I mumbled something back but inside was saying "go away." Afterwards one of the old ladies of the parish was telling me her life story and wanted to know mine and I scarcely looked at her once as she droned on and on. These days, if there are a lot of people there, church is a drag.

Part of the Ash Wednesday liturgy talks about mortality. That's a subject I don't associate with death. I do associate it with frailty and flaws. And I am plenty mortal. I have flaws, and I am frail. I could be more patient, I could be more generous, and I'm not as bulletproof as I've felt (physically) in recent times. It's not bad to be reminded of that, even if it comes with an ash cross on my forehead.

TW: A full course meal of working out.

Appetiser: Medicine ball salad
Main course: Filet of deadlifts with SDHP sauce
Dessert: Push up tart with skull crusher custard

Mmmmm. That's tasty. It shoud be a good week at the gym, which is important as I've got a tug of war to compete in on Sunday.

( Theological stuff behind the cut. )
TW: 50 seated rows, 10 shoulder presses - five rounds. 10 pullups, 10 pushups - five rounds. 200 leg presses, row 1000m.

I've done enough Crossfit now that I am happy making up my own workouts based on their principles. I'm not entirely sure how I got from the car to the house tonight. I probably walked, but I don't recall actually taking any steps and I may have floated. I also found myself walking around the empty house giggling. WHEEEEEE! Endorphins are fun!

Current Music: Olympics

Comment on this post. I will choose seven interests from your profile and you will explain what they mean and why you are interested in them. Post this along with your answers in your own journal so that others can play along.

minxyminou chose:

Crossfit - I've only recently discovered crossfit but it has really shaken up my workout regime. You are constantly doing something, and you will break a sweat pretty quick.  I like the fact that their workouts are very focussed and are often named after people. Recently I did a Navy SeAL workout.

Investing -   My parents imparted to me an instinct to save, and I've been investing for just about as long as it's been legal for me to do so. I started early, and over the years things add up. It is nice to have some sense of financial stability, but I do worry that it might make me ambivalent about the kind of things that other people accept as just being part of life, or that it might make me selfish.

Obscure and unusual sports - Wife carrying. Downhill cheese racing. Running with the bulls. Joining a cricket team in Canada. (If I had grown up in Australia I'm sure I would have taken up ice hockey.) Swimming in the open ocean every calendar month, even in winter. One day I'm going to do Tough Guy, a massive obstacle course in England that asks "How much pain can you suck?". If it's obscure and unusual, chances are I will want to do it.

Stocks - Related to investing above. I've never owned property, and the idea scares me a little. It would probably mean going into debt, it would be putting all my eggs in one basket, and it's not something liquid that I can access at short notice. I think I would feel shackled to any property I bought. I prefer to keep my money in stocks which suit me much better.

Theology - Up until a couple of years ago I was giving serious consideration to becoming an Anglican Priest. I didn't, but I am still interested in religion (my own or others) and in trying to find ways to account for and understand God. So that brought me to theology. I never seem to come up with neat and certain answers, but I do get a lot to contemplate.

Travel - I lived on four continents before turning 30. My moving out of home experience involved moving to Korea. Since I first travelled to Europe for two months at the age of 20, travel has been important to me. To a great extent, however, it hasn't been just holidays. I've lived and worked in many places I've travelled to.

Being quirky (Added by Minou because I have listed so few interests) - Apparently I am quirky. Who knew. I'll take it as being a good thing. In my early years at school I read encyclopedias.  I find it hard to do anything involving numbers (such as grabbing a handful of lollies or setting the volume on the tv) unless it involves certain numbers. 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and so on are fine as they are just doubles and doubles of doubles. 9, 25, 36, 49, 81 and so on are also fine because they are square numbers. (I won't have a meltdown if I have to break from this, but tonight at the gym there is a reason I put my gear in locker number 49 rather than 48 or 50.) I'm a straight guy on a gay rugby team. I like being unusual.

TW: 1 in the first minute, 2 in the second, 3 in the third... and so on until you can't continue.
Push press, 40kg, completed round 12 and made 12 out of 13 in the next round.
Bench Press, 60kg, completed round 11 and made 10 out of 12 in the next round.

It starts off ridiculously easy. (Especially for crossfit) but gets very difficult very fast. I'm not sure I like this. No wait, I am sure I didn't like this.

( Read more... )

I wasn't a Christmas orphan this year. It's not much of a problem for me, but it was nice to have the day with people all the same.

Current Location: Collaroy Castle

I was up early this morning and left the Collaroy Castle with the sofa bed still pulled out. I expect I'll be here a lot over the next few weeks, and I can't be bothered to tidy everything up to an immaculate standard. Yes I'm a lazy man.

Brunch was had with

minxyminou along with a nice long chat. Then I dropped her off at Chez Minou on my way back to Canberra.

Having made no stops I got into Canberra in time to make it to an evening service at St John's Reid. Two weeks in a row I've been to church, and this service was being led by my friend Susan who was just ordained as a deacon yesterday. She's a good fit in the role, having moved down from Sydney to Canberra because Sydney doesn't ordain anyone with two x chromosomes.

We're now into Advent, which means a lot of work for a lot of people preparing for Christmas (mostly with contrived work we create for ourselves rather than deep theological reflection.) It made me consider what I was doing for Christmas. There is the real prospect that I might be a Christmas orphan with no family around. If I am, it struck me that I might make myself useful doing some volunteer work. People need to eat, and it's about the best possible day for it. It could be great, but part of me is asking myself if I'm ready to spend Christmas day with people who may be unpleasant or annoying?

TW: Haven't been to the gym for a while on account of work demands and the trip to Sydney, so after church I got into my running gear and ran up Mt Ainslie. I managed to run the whole way, from my driveway to the beacon at the top of the mountain, and then back, without breaking into a walk for even one single step. Some of the steep parts were pretty, well, steep and there was plenty of strain in keeping my feet going at a run (even if it was a slow run.) I think this week will be a big one for working out.

A work colleague from another office was working from our office today while his was being carpeted. The fact that I was asked by a visiting school group from Gunnedah if I was Catholic got us chatting about theology. He's a pretty conservative baptist with whom I get on just fine despite the fact that we don't agree on a number of things.

He was telling me about his family and their religious background. They all live in the same town and all go to the same church. The concept of "getting saved" is a big one for them. That's an expression I've heard plenty of times from evangelical types, but I've never been sure of what they meant. As best as I can tell it is a dramatic conversion experience, and it seems like it's always referred to exclusively as a past event. That's never resonated with me. It seems to be that redemption and reconciliation is something that I experience again and again. The fact that you are travelling along the path doesn't mean you won't ever need saving again.

The men's showers at the gym are being renovated, so they are out of order for two weeks. They are offering use of the showers in the women's only section of the gym (which would seem to breach the whole "women only" idea) but frankly I'm not keen on that. Yesterday the gym was less crowded than it normally is which was a bonus. Today I went to the other gym in Civic which was much more crowded. Too crowded, in fact, for me to be able to do my normal workout.

TW: 100 clean and press, 20 minutes on the treadmill - slower pace, steep hills, and carrying a 4kg medicine ball (really gets the core)

I ran up Mt Ainslie today, and when I arrived at the top I noticed a lot more people than the handful of outdoorsy types and tourists ( Read more... )
TW: Triceps and Shoulders - 150 Skull Crushers, 100 Shoulder Presses, 50 Clean and Press, 50 Dips, and the the run upp and down Mt Ainslie.

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luckycanuck

June 2012

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Page Summary

Luckycanuck gets theological and talks about sex... subjects not related.
The Last Lazy Day
Desert Wine
What a difference a week makes
Lamentations of the Lucky
Indulgence Day
Things you think of when running
A remarkably undrowsy day
Giving up, and taking on.
Minou's Meme
Christmas Miracles, and Mass, and Nautical Adventures
Brunch. Advent. Plans.
Getting Saved
Introduction - Religion

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