Homelessness

LEARNING that people slept on the streets of London William Booth, the founder of The Salvation Army, told his son Bramwell,'Go and do something!'Booth junior asked, 'What can we do?'.And hearing about homelessness in these days we may well echo his question.
Thousands of people - young and old - sleep on the street in Australia ever night. What can we do about it? The Salvation Army Historical Society will be focussing on the problem at the Inala Auditorium, 220 Middleborough Road, Blackburn on Friday
22nd August at 7.30 pm. There will be DVD footage about what the Army has done for the homeless in the past and is doing today. Nationally-known speakers will report on the problem and there will be music by the Camberwell Band and the 'Hope Choir' - the Army's equivalent to the 'Choir of Hard Knocks'.
There will be no charge for admission but what can we do about the problem? We can take part in a collection for work among street people.The offering may be in cash or kind such as hand-knitted garments such as scarves or beanies or newly bought socks. All are welcome!

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Courage to care

My son's mother-in-law, Gus Kaminski, died this week.She was a person whose warm love seemed to embrace everyone. During World War 2, in her native Netherlands, she was involved in hiding many Jews who would otherwise have gone to the gas chambers. Her own life was on the line but she had the courage to care and was later honoured as a righteous gentile by the state of Israel. Her memory is honoured. Now I remind myself of the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer shortly before he was hanged by the Nazis, 'With God every apparent end is only a more glorious new beginning'.

If all else fails...

I bought a new piece of computer equipment and despite being a little 'technophobic'was seeking to install it. Then in my frustration I decided that if all else failed I would read the maker's instructions.That helped a lot!

We sometimes make the same kind of mistake with regard to larger issues. We puzzle about the best course to take or the right decision to make then - eureka! - we realise that we should first read the instructions found in the bible and we discover that its ancient wisdom can be remarkably modern in its application to today's problems.

As a yound man I was contemplating marriage - a weighty decision for anyone! - when I referred to the words of Jesus in John 8.12 where he spoke about having 'the light of life'. I sought God's guidance and after more than fifty years am still married as a result of the wise decision I made.

But I could kick myself as I think of other issues about which I have foolishly fumbled instead of going first to 'the Makers' Instructions'.Still, I think I am learning at last!

It 'aint 'arf ''ot

A British comedy programme on T.V had the catch phrase, 'It 'aint 'arf 'ot, Mum'and it has been called to mind as our temperatures have risen into the forties.Sunlight can be life giving but it is possible to have too much of a good thing as warnings about global warming would emphasise. Sun stroke, skin cancer, dehydration and bush fires are part of Aussie life and, as we hide in our air conditioned premises, we may thank God for people who take the heat in order to help others, like fire fighters, for example.Their courage makes us realise that despite many ghastly things going on the world is not such a bad place after all. While we face the mystery of evil let us also take acount of the mystery of goodness and the God-like quality of self sacrifice.