Walking along the footpath...

Clouds about, and it was a gentle sloping hill, as I walked along the footpath. I looked at the leaves, which were brown, Autumn was approaching, although there was still plenty of greenery around. Hey, there is a lolly wrapper on the ground, no bin in sight, so ether it was carelessly dropped or blown here from somewhere else. As I walk I wonder about my breathing. It's ironic as I breath in that the air goes Down to my lungs, when it really needs to go Up to my brain. If I had my nose on my chest, that would be more efficient. And an eye in the back of my head would be cool, although then I wouldn't know which way to walk. So many cars passing by. Open windows, and people sitting board inside. They don't see me as they pass me by. Is that by choice or out of ignorance? If someone is ignorant, is that by choice? People can find out stuff if they really want to, can't they, can't you? An itch on my arm, is it worth the effort to scratch it? Nope, it's gone now, where did it go? Someone walking the other way. I move a bit to the left so we don't touch as we pass by, probably shouldn't look at their face either, but I do.

I wonder if I can paint the color Grey with words ?

The Carrot, and Friends.

Yum Yum,
Vegitables are fun,
Put them in your mouth,
Not in your bum.

Cook them slowly,
Cook them quick,
Cook them over a candle stick.

On a plate,
In a bowl,
Stir them into a risso roll.

When they're cold,
They're hard as ice,
Heat them up,
They're soft as mice.

To the light a green arm stretches,
It swats at the queen of Narnia,
As she prowls around in the night,
Yellow brings hope, brings life,
To be born and to give birth,
All that is inbetween means existance,
A vegetable is.

Random fictional Story

...pulling himself slowely out from the mud. It slurped hungerly at his skin, not wanting to let go of it's unexpected meaty meal. This was a catch worth enjoying, and digesting over the next hundred years or so. But this jungle bog was not deep enough, not strong enough, to hold him. He Looked up into the noisy, stormy night of the sky, wishing he was an eagle, soaring high above the ground, with it's beady, birdy eyes, able to spy out the hidden things of the land. He needed to find her. She was out there, alone, and all he had was the...

, follow me...

Right, time to open myself up to God and Homelessness, and see what happens....

You can follow the journey,

Here:
http://selleverything-givetothepoor-followme.blogspot.com/

Poustinia

Poustinia is Russian for the 'Desert' and 'Hermitage'.

Other new words I have learned this week:

Jurodivia
Kenosis
Anawim
Sobornost

and I also:
Stood in a storm
Clung to a cliff
Sat in the desert
and saw a burning bush that did not burn.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

I have been thinking that one of the hardest challenges people might have of living homeless on the streets, would be the cold nights. Last night was a freezing 5 degrees and we are almost into summer! How do people survive, it must be as much a mental torture as a physical one. My friend in London says homeless people die in the cold nights there, all the time.

I wonder what emergency accomodation options are out there? On the basis of just providing shelter for the night I wonder if the Japanese style Capsule Hotel, would be a good idea...?

It provides the most economical use of space, could be open all night, and provided with tea and coffee, it could provide a helpful specific service, that can then direct people to other services for longer term help.

Of course you would need to keep the men seperate from the women and children, either on two floors or have two different hotels. I would call one 'Bankruptcy Hotel' and the other 'Smaratan Station'.

Say What?

I went to visit a minister in the city, this morning. I parked out the front of the church and put my money in the meter to max it out, for its 1hr limit...

I came back out 1hr and 5mins later to see a Parking Inspector writing me a ticket. I walked up and said 'How're you going?'. He said "I haven't finished writing the ticket yet, so you're fine." Then smiled and walked off...
SAY WHAT ??!!

A: Has there been a proceedure change to issuing tickets?
B: Is he the only friendly Inspector in existence? or
C: Do I look sexyier than I think I do?

Sell Everything, Give to the poor...

Hi folks,
Tomorrow Sat 4th Nov, it's my garage sale :)

- All money made goes to the Homeless community.

I hope to have fun !

UPDATE:
I had a great day, bro!

7am to 9pm and I didn't notice the sun till I woke up burnt the next day. A fair few people came by and chatted. It was like a community social event. I met and chatted with the neighbours for the first time, which was cool. Also a fair few people chatted with me about homelessness and social justice, talking about their own poverty experiences, which meant it was a great learning-connecting-understanding day.

I raised a good amount for the homeless community and will ebay the remaining good items this week, then the rest to the Salvos. Rock'in.

The challenge now:
Is to work out the best way to give the money, to help the homeless, effectivly...?
(Let me know if you have an idea.)

Update: I gave half the money to a charity that works with the Homeless, but I really want to do something on a direct 1 on 1 basis. I have been told cash wont help, as it will be used on a short term benifit, that will not change their outlook. Also that if you buy them something they will only try and convert the item to cash, usually a refund. I was told by someone that after they bought a street person a cheese burger and walked away they then saw the person return to get a refund on the cheesburger... So what about taking someone to a restarunt, or putting them up in a hotel room for the night. Giving them some dignity and friendship, but would that help in a long term sense?

Hot... Bed... Action!

Well I woke up early yesterday morning wondering who had put a hot waterbottle next to my feet? But no, it was only that my bed was ON FIRE !! I had fallen asleep with the lamp on, and it took advantage of the situation by deciding, after three months, to leap off the shelf... or did it...?

Who is responsable...?
- Was it a freaky accident?
- Did I try and turn it off in the night and bump it off, so tired that I don't remember doing so?
- Perhaps the hippy boys I live with were so angry at my waste of electricity on Thursday evening, when I dried my clothes in the tumble dryer despite the 35 degree heat, and that now I was leaving the light on all night... they are trying to 'accidently' get rid of me!?
- Is Satan trying to kill me, before I do my Faith Walk? He certainly has tried before...

Is it a sign from God...?
- Wrath? Maybe Jesus really never made a mistake!?
- Goodness? Perhaps fire represents the Spirit of God and Feet represent walking, and since I wasn't harmed, God is saying that I walk with the Spirit?
- Am I an Angel? Revelation CH10 talks about an Angel with feet of fire... sure the Angel also wears clothes of clouds and has a rainbow over his head, but 1 out of 3 is a start...!

How can I use the situation to my advantage...?
- Some new pick-up lines come to mind...
'Hey baby, my bed is HOT... and I can prove it.'
'Feel free to smoke in bed, I know I do...'
'Like my lamp, you will melt in my arms...'

What are the cultural References...?
- Midnight Oil 'How can we sleep when our beds are burning?'
- Psalm 119:105 'Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path' (could be another sign...)

Was Jesus Perfect?

Today I had a ‘leading’ that I thought was from God, turn out to be incorrect. Gently tested, no mess, but still, a mistake. Right away knocking on my mental door came Doubt, Embarrassment, Fear and some guy who kept trying to analyse and second guess every other important decision I have been dealing with recently.

I wondered if Jesus ever made a mistake? And I hear you saying ‘Jesus didn’t make any mistakes, he was Perfect!’

But what does that mean? He was a carpenter, so did he make his first table and chairs perfectly the first go? If he did perfect carpentry, business must have been booming! His dad must have been pleased, nothing to teach, no complaints from customers, perhaps Jesus never even hit his thumb with the hammer, would God miss the nail? Was he a ‘know it all’? The Bible certainly says he impressed the Synagogue leaders when he was twelve. Imagine his school teacher: “Anyone, anyone.. ok Jesus has his hand up, anyone else?” Whenever there was a dispute did his mum just tell the other kids to ‘Go ask Jesus’. Was he unbeatable at cards and dice… another royal flush? ‘Jesus!’

He certainly wasn’t ‘perfect’ in his looks…the Bible says his appearance was nothing special. Probably not an athlete then, probably not a girl’s first choice for a date to the Bar mitzvah. Perhaps he even had a flabby tummy, it might have helped with his fasting. I wonder if some Jock boasted how he could bench press more than Jesus…

Being Human is learning from your mistakes. Not learning from your mistakes is being stupid. I guess looking at Jesus we need to equate perfection as ‘without sin’. And if sin and mistakes are different, then perhaps Jesus made some mistakes and was still perfect? Maybe we shouldn’t be so hard on ourselves when we make a mistake. And sins are forgiven, so there you go, no need to beat myself up so much. Tyler Durden has gone.

I think I’ll open the door to some Peace, Humility and Grace.

Knock Knock…Hello Jesus, perfect day… isn’t it.

(Disclaimer: I reserve the right to change my mind and say Jesus never made a mistake, the moment I feel God’s wrath may be on my back as a result of this blog…)


UPDATE:
I have been thinking about the story of Jesus's first miracle, changing water into wine. In that story, when the wine runs out, his mother says to the servants "Do whatever he tells you." This suggests to me that indeed Jesus does have a history for knowing how to solve difficult issues. His mother says 'Do', instead of 'try', and also 'whatever', and not 'if it makes sense'. She speaks with authority. She is saying that Jesus may give strange instructions but that they can be trusted to resolve the situation. This spoken authority can only come from previous experiences.

This also leads me to think that while John says this was "the first of his miraculous signs...", the 'first' may actually relate more to 'signs' and thus this act may not have actually been his first miracle, but perhaps his first public 'this is who I am' miracle/sign... His mother may have experienced him do miracles before, or she might just have total confidence in who he is.

Also I wonder about Jesus's feelings and midset at ths point. It is a much more important moment than the writers make out. A nice little story in hindsight, but if no miracle had happened then it would have been 'game over' for Jesus claiming to be the messiah, before it all started. I would have been thinking 'I hope this works...perhaps I'll do a little test in the back room, before I make this a public show...' But he has faith in God and himself (despite the timng not being what he was wanting [a whole other discussion]), and so he was probably thinking 'and were off and running!'