Roller Coaster

The last few days have been quite tumultuous. Several moments of joy, coupled with several moments of sobriety.

Saturday night, I led a discussion about the faithfulness of God in a Bible study group. (I tell you, these Australians like their Bible studies. I think that I could be involved in one just about every night.) I mainly wanted to highlight the tension that I have found between stories like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were bad people, and yet God remained faithful to his covenant with them; and passages like Exodus 32 (the Golden Calf, where God threatens to wipe out the Israelite nation and start anew with Moses). It seems to me that God remained faithful throughout the Patriarchs' unfaithfulness, and then somehow the Israelites pushed him too far. The consensus of the group by the end was that God is faithful; the only variable is whether we choose to be faithful. I continued to ponder about such things. And then I saw a rainbow on Monday, which perpetuated my ponderings.

Sunday was Kids' Day at church, which meant that the children sat up front for the lesson. I retold the story of Joseph, and spoke about how we ought to use our gifts. We let the kids act out most of the story, giving them props and such. The one of which I was most proud was a pot with a ball of wool placed inside for Potipher. Think about it--it's funny.

I spent Sunday evening at West End, a church located in Brisbane city. A motley crowd attends West End: some people from traditional church backgrounds, some people who have had bad church experiences, some homeless people. Here, I met Patricia. Patricia lives beneath a house that is a block from where the church meets. She attempts to make money by performing on the street. Her newest attraction is a pair of puppets, one clown and one girl. Patricia carries all of her belongings in a large old leather suitcase, but has trouble walking. She has been beaten while on the street. Her day is never complete without receiving verbal assaults. I will not bother asking questions about human suffering. One blog cannot contain such queries. Instead, I only ask this: Why must we, as humans, perpetuate suffering? Why does one broken human beat, spit upon, verbally assault, molest, tease another broken human?

Today was spent with a local high school chaplain. One lesson learned: do not leave your headlights on. Your car battery will die. It's not an urban myth.