A list of the top ten New Year Resolutions has been compiled by Kimberly & Albrecht Powell of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I have no idea how they came by this list, but it seemed one place to start for a little inspiration on this matter. Here is the list:

Hmm, I’m afraid these ones do not inspire me terribly.
After all, I don’t smoke, I already go lots of walks, the bulge is tamed, I enjoy my life, drinking is not a problem, I am not in debt, I am always learning new things, I do help others, and I’m already reasonably well organized.

I’ve seen another list that adds “save money, get a better job, eat right, get a better education, reduce stress, and take a trip.”
Well, those are all kind of hackneyed and except for the last two, are not terribly relevant in my situation.

I’ve found another list of only five, for Managers this time:

Goals - yes!
I like defining goals, and then setting out to meet them. They work much better for me than resolutions.

Does anyone remember Eric Berne’s Transactional Analysis that became popular back in the 1970s?

Berne figured that people’s psychology could be seen as the interaction of three main ego states within the self - Parent, Adult and Child - and each would supply internal messages criss-crossing the mind, both conscious and subconscious, to direct thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
The Parent ego state could be separated into Critical Parent on one hand, and Nurturing Parent on the other. The Critical parent would do the growling and blaming while the Nurturing Parent would do the, well, nurturing.
The Adult ego state was mainly made up of whatever was rational, logical and objective.
And the Child ego state was also separated into the Adapted Child which is the well-behaved-according-to-society part, and the Rebellious Child which was usually getting into all kinds of unfortunate messes and tribulations.

Now when it comes to New Year Resolutions, this is what I see happening in me….

A New Year Resolution comes along, generated from my Parent ego state within.
Perhaps it is one that requires me doing something I really should be doing but am a bit lazy about - like “clean up my desk at the end of the day”.
Now if there is a “should” about anything, that is usually the Critical Parent speaking. You can surely see the finger wagging with it. And Parent ego states invariably hook responses from the Child within.
So for the first couple of weeks into January, my Adapted Child trots along obediently cleaning up my desk every day until out pops that Rebellious Child who pouts and announces the challenge: “Make me!”
Oh-oh, as any parent knows, unless considerable diplomacy is used, that becomes a call to man the battle stations. Or maybe the Parent is tired and says “what does it matter? and isn’t this a bit trivial?” and that’s New Year Resolution #1 down the gurgler.

But when it comes to goals, I find something else happens.
These are much better things because command language is usually left out - the shoulds, must and oughts that can provoke resentment and guilt. They are more likely to be objective statements - and as the TA folks would say, originate out of the Adult ego state.
Unless one starts to hassle oneself with extra “shoulds” - as in, I must achieve my goals, worry, worry - then goals are far more likely to be achieved than resolutions obeyed. It’s all about human nature, I guess.

Now here’s another list I have found, and these ones are quite lofty but very worthwhile:

If I can keep out the finger wagging “I should” and instead, think about each one as a goal, a specific behaviour that I can choose to employ, then I am probably about set for whatever else I decide to do through the year.

I have actually known it for quite a while… that what is moral and what is legal is not always one and the same thing.
Same about fairness. As kids we used to wail “But it’s not fair!” as though everything simply must be fair or else. Or else what? Well, not in this life.

It is looking as though our once lovely classic car will likely be written off. The insurance company would allow us to insure it only for the maximum amount that they believed was its worth, and that value came from a set of tables that listed commercial prices for old cars. We had ours valued and a greater sum agreed upon, but it is still a very low sum and is the total amount payable should the car be written off.

But here is the catch… We may accept a cheque for the sum insured, a sum that is likely to amount to only half the cost of repairs, but the car then changes ownership and belongs to the insurance company.

What? Whoa there!
That is our car, our once lovely classic car that is unique and hard to replace with another the same in kind and condition. Why must we forfeit our car just because some irresponsible youth drove on the wrong side of the road and caused us this damage? We don’t even know him, and he did this to us, and we are to lose?
Yep, life is not fair.

The likely outcome… since we mean to keep the car, we will be ourselves paying out of our own pocket to do so. It is a lot of money, and much more than any 18 year old kid is likely to have, nor his Dad to want to pay in his place. There will be no legal obligation for them to contribute - under terms of the insurance policies - although it is easy to see that maybe there is some moral obligation to put right such a situation.
What is legally right, and what is morally right, is not one and the same thing.

But talk about fair… what do you make of the following?

Marluddin Jalil, a Sharia judge in Aceh, is blaming last year’s tsunami on the sins of the people, particularly of women. The Sharia police claim the tsunami happened because women ignored religion.
Tsunami was God’s revenge for your wicked ways, women told (Times Online)

In such conditions [poverty and decay] wild theories about the tsunami thrive. In a version of Pop Idol organised by the American and Indonesian Red Cross in Barak Lampaseh camp in Banda Aceh, the winner was 12-year-old Sheila Mentari, whose song told how God sent the wave as punishment for sin. She said her father, who died in the wave, would have approved.

A fellow villager Marzuki Lidan, 46, who lost his wife and children, was among the enthusiastic audience. He said: “The Sharia police are good Muslims doing an excellent job. We must listen to them and follow God's rules. Otherwise the tsunami will happen again.”

But why pick out the women in particular?
And is this really God’s justice?
Or man’s attempt to make sense of these massive tragedies that plague our planet at present?
After all, if any one of us deserves His justice, then surely we all do?

And justice is supposed to be a good and welcome thing - a putting right, not just retribution.

I get the feeling that justice is sprinkled piecemeal around the planet, some of it here, some of it there, and some of it missing some folks altogether… in this life, anyway.

Matthew 5:45 He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

I no longer make New Year resolutions since I know for sure that I will only go and break them all. Making them is one great way to get nowhere - at least, for me that is so. Instead, I like to list lots of goals and then work towards achieving them. There seems to be less compulsion, therefore I am not hooking my sneaky little rebellious streak.

This year I did achieve one of them. Getting this little website up and running happened this year, and it has been a fun thing to play with. At least that is something. The rest of them, well… they can carry over to next year, I guess.

Next year sure needs to be a much better year for us than was this one. Too many unhappy things - a year best pushed under the rug. And it is going out with some more sorrow as well.

Last evening we were out driving in our 40 year old classic car, having just got it back on the road after a lot of restoration work. New parts had been sourced and imported from England, and it was running beautifully and looked a real picture.

Well, it was looking a picture… until we went around a bend in the road and another vehicle travelling too fast for the corner came straight at us on our side, not his own. Split second evasive action helped, but we took a major blow that demolished one side of the car - the structural centre pillar pushed right back into the rear door, both doors stoved in, one unable to shut and the other unable to open, and huge scraping and gouging to the entire side from front to back.
Thankfully no one was hurt, but our car was un-driveable, needing to be towed away, ourselves being returned home later by police car.

We feel so sad. It was our pride and joy. Yes, it was insured… but the cost to fix it will be well over twice it’s so-called commercial value. It will be considered a write-off.

But it isn’t a write-off. Well, not to us. We will get it fixed because it matters to us. I guess that is a goal for next year.

Yep, I’m looking forward to 2006. It surely has to be better than the year that is now nearly over. I like making goals, and then trying to meet them. There’s lots of them swarming around in my head already, just waiting to hatch. And were they just resolutions, I’m sure they would be broken long before the sun sets on New Year’s Day.

Bring on 2006… and welcome to a New Year, a fresh start, and good things instead to unfold.

And a Happy New Year to all you good folks reading this too.

I have come across a Jewish website founded to provide a Jewish response to the anti-Christian bias in the news media, entertainment, government and our western culture. These folks include distinguished rabbis, scholars, academics, authors and communicators, and they are all concerned about the way that the tyranny of political correctness is decimating Christianity.

Why would Jews, and very intelligent ones at that, be so concerned that Christianity is being attacked at its core from within and without? Why would they care about the disappearance of Christmas?

Here is part of a statement made recently by Don Feder, president of the organization Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation.
In this statement he is addressing the issue of Christmas, and asserting that It's OK To Say ‘Merry Christmas’.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Don Feder and I'm the president of Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation. Our organization was founded to provide a Jewish response to anti-Christian bias in the news media, entertainment, government and the culture.

Our board of advisors includes distinguished rabbis, scholars, academics, authors and communicators.

Let me anticipate your first question today: What on earth are we doing here? Why would a group of Jews - who don't celebrate Christmas - care about the disappearance of Christmas?

Because Christmas is disappearing from our culture, at an ever-accelerating pace - disappearing from stores, disappearing from schools and disappearing from the public square.

Because this is an overwhelmingly Christian nation and it's a matter of simple courtesy to acknowledge a holiday celebrated by 96% of the American people. Would a Christian living in Israel be offended if someone wished them a Happy Hanukah? Based on population, America is more Christian than Israel is Jewish.

Because religion - all religion which teaches God and morality — enriches our society, instead of diminishing it.

Because Christmas is part of the fabric of American life, from the earliest settlements on these shores, to the delightful 1897 New York Sun editorial (addressed to a little girl named Virginia), to the troops who celebrated Christmas in Europe and the Pacific during World War II, to classics like “Miracle on 34th. Street,” to the Americans serving in Iraq today.

I believe Christmas is under attack primarily for three reasons.

First the tyranny of the hypersensitive — who've decided that they have an inalienable right not to encounter beliefs or symbols different from their own.

But this is supposed to be a democracy. When exactly was a militant and perpetually aggrieved minority given the power to censor the majority religion?

Second, some over-zealous officials have taken it upon themselves to re-interpret the First Amendment to exclude any public recognition of Christmas. But the Supreme Court has never held that Christmas carols or Christmas decorations in schools, or community Christmas trees or Christmas parties are unconstitutional.

Of course, if the politically correct posse can't get you on constitutional grounds, they always have “sensitivity” or “inclusiveness” to fall back on.

Finally, I believe, there's a subliminal urge on the part of the cultural elite to undermine America's Judeo-Christian ethic. By purging public celebrations (or even acknowledgements) of Christmas, they hope move us further down the road to a spiritually sanitized - and spiritually bankrupt — America, one divorced from biblical values.

Christmas is a subtle reminder that Americans are people of faith.

Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation is here today to say “enough, already!”

If you're offended by a municipal Christmas tree or Santa in a holiday parade or a manger in a park - Get over it. There's a lot that offends me. That doesn't give me the right to ban it.

If you're a public-school administrator who thinks Christmas carols or decorations are in violation of the First Amendment, read the Constitution - even in light of the Supreme Court's current distortions thereof.

If you're a retailer who does 20% of his business during the Christmas season, and you won't even acknowledge the holiday that's enriching you - well, you deserve to lose that business.

The war on Christmas should matter to all people of faith - and all people of good will.

Don Feder also says this about his organization and the concerns of his fellow members:

Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation was organized because we recognize that Christians are the last remaining obstacle to the moral deconstruction of America, because attacks on Christians are motivated by hatred for the values they espouse.

But the morality of Christianity is also the morality of Judaism - hence the expression Judeo-Christian ethic. By maintaining their loyalty to the eternal values revealed at Sinai, Christians have become pariahs in the eyes of the establishment, but heroes in our eyes.
(read more)

These are the kind of people who will help strengthen our western civilization to better resist the encroachment of foreign ideologies determined to overwhelm us. One does not have to be a Christian to contribute to the effort of reclaiming the foundations upon which our society was built.

And a good start would be to drop the weak euphemistic “Happy Holidays” greeting and revert to what this occasion is really all about - not a day off, not a big turkey dinner, not even Santa - and say it right out front: MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

Postscript:
UK Church Leaders Speak Out Against Anti-Christmas Trend
by Kevin McCandless, Correspondent, Crosswalk.com

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”
~ G.K. Chesterton (1910).

The following is an abridged version of a published sermon by John Piper.
A link to the full sermon is given below.

The message of Christmas for you from Christ this morning is that what is good and precious in your life need never be lost, and what is evil and undesirable in your life can be changed. The coming of the eternal Son of God into the world as the God-Man, Jesus Christ, is a fact of history.

The coming of the Son of God into the world is so much more than a historical fact. It was a message of hope sent by God to teenagers and single parents and crabby husbands and sullen wives and overweight women and impotent men and retarded neighbors, and homosexuals and preachers and lovers and you.

“The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save it for you, not to destroy it.”

But not only that, the message of Christmas is that whatever is evil and undesirable in your life can be changed. Wherever people say about their bad habits, “That’s just the way I am, you’ll have to get used to it,” the message of Christmas has been rejected.

Before anyone says, “Oh, I’ve tried religion and it didn’t help,” let me ask this: How many of you have ever fasted for three days? Two days? One day? Have you taken the word of God, asked for a vacation day, gone away by yourself Friday through Sunday and saturated your mind with holiness and poured our your soul in longing to the Lord for change? Have you gathered around yourself two or three spiritual brothers or sisters, shared with them the habit you want to break, sought their daily earnest prayer and stood yourself accountable to them?
If not, then don’t say religion doesn’t work.

Moses fasted forty days, Elijah fasted forty days, Jesus fasted forty days and spent whole nights in prayer. When was the last time you wanted any change in your life bad enough to spend one whole day in prayer and fasting seeking it from the Lord, not to mention three days like Paul (Acts 9:9) or three weeks like Daniel (Dan. 10:2,3), or forty days like Moses?

The problem with most of us is not that the Christmas message is powerless, but that we don’t really want to be changed. “You will seek me and find me (says the Lord, in Jer. 29:13) when you seek me with all your heart.” When you want with all your heart to rid yourself of what is evil and undesirable, God will give you the Christmas gift of change.

God could give the gift of change apart from the struggle of prayer. But then we would never appreciate it as we ought. If he didn’t usually cause our prayers to mount up with fervency and earnestness before he changed us, then we would be like people who are fed before we are really hungry. The Christmas dinner of God’s transformation would go down on a full stomach. There would not be so many oohs and ahs to his glory.

What’s more, when God gives the gift of change it is always pure. But our motives for change, even the best change, are not usually pure at first. Only when we begin to seek him earnestly and saturate our minds with large doses of his pure Word and test our affections through self-denial, do our motives become pure and ready to receive the pure Christmas gift of change.

The message of Christmas is that what is evil and undesirable in your life can be changed.
“The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into to the world to save you from bondage to sin.”

By the power of Christ you can change.
We are not by nature beautiful people. But we have an incomparably beautiful Savior who came into the world to change us into his likeness (Rom. 8:29). Preserving the good works of grace in our lives and pressing on to change the remaining evil by grace is the lifelong vocation of every Christian. People who do not want to change are either perfect or disobedient. And since perfection awaits the day of Christ’s second coming, self-satisfaction is always disobedience.

The message of Christmas is that what is evil and undesirable in your life can be changed.
A critical spirit can be changed. Alcoholism can be changed. Irritability can be changed. Harshness and ingratitude can be changed. Laziness and overeating and masturbation and nagging can be changed. The habits of not tithing and excessive T.V. watching and gambling can be changed. The fear of talking to others and of having guests over to your house can be changed. The lack of appreciation for great music and great books can be changed. Indifference to beauty can be changed. And your disposition to remind somebody else to take this sermon to heart can be changed.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save us from fatalism. He came to stop people from saying, “That’s just the way I am.”

I wish I could say something to help you feel with me the thrill of accepting the challenge of breaking bad habits.
Isn’t it strange that physical and intellectual challenges capture our minds but spiritual challenges don’t, even though they are by far the most important. The challenge to run ten miles, or have an undefeated season, or make a 4.0 average in college or become vice-president of the firm may call forth amazing effort and discipline.
But offer the same people the challenge of changing their habits of prayerlessness or excessive anger or insensitivity at home or coolness in worship or hesitancy in witnessing or addiction to second helpings, and they will likely content themselves with a brief, “God help me do better,” before they go off to sleep exhausted from all the other challenges of life.
But the meaning of Christmas is that Christ came into the world to open a new gymnasium for godliness. And he said in 1 Tim. 4:8, “Bodily exercise is of some value, but working out in the gymnasium of godliness holds promise for the present life and the life to come.” If it feels good to run ten miles and lose five pounds, it feels a hundred times as good to conquer Satan by the power of Christ and break free from some unloving bent in our personality.
God’s Christmas card to you this year is a gift certificate for a personally directed fitness program in his Son’s gymnasium that can knock off more fat from the sinful sides of your personality than you ever dreamed possible.

1 Timothy 1:15 is a great summary statement of Christmas good news:
“The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
His humble birth, obedient life, substitutionary death, and powerful resurrection covers the sins of his people and saves us from the loss of any good and precious thing and from the bondage of any evil and undesirable thing.

Don’t belittle the mercy of God by saying that you cannot be changed!

When Paul calls the power of Christ which changed him from great sinner to great apostle—when he calls this power “mercy,” he exalts not himself but the Savior. The Christmas gift of change is always a gift, and never a wage. It can never be boasted in. It can be sought after the way a helpless, hungry man seeks food; and it can be accepted by faith. But it can never be earned. And so none of the changes God gives can be the basis of pride. The more like Christ you become, the more you exalt Christ and not yourself.

What God did on the first Christmas and what he does in forgiving and changing people today he did and does in utterly free, sovereign mercy, so that all his people will end the paragraphs of their lives with the words like verse 17: “To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” We are not saved from sin and changed into righteousness for the sake of pride but for the sake of praise. And when God’s work on us is done and we stand perfected before Christ in the last day, we will not exult in our worth but will sing with millions of angels: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and honor and glory and blessing.” Praise to you, O Lord. Amen.
1 Timothy 1:12-17

Christ Jesus Came Into the World to Save Sinners
December 25, 1983
By John Piper. ©Desiring God. Website.
Email: mail@desiringGod.org.
Toll Free: 888.346.4700. (USA)

This image is pretty, and my favourite colour too, but it says something else to me about Christmas rather than just the cheerful greeting at the top.

It reminds me of those cards my parents used to receive from friends over in England. Since we don’t get snow here in New Zealand at this time of year, such scenes have little relevance to my experience of Christmas although they are kind of pretty all the same.
But they are more than just pretty… they are idyllic, and they are surely unreal, artificial.

Around this time of year, in the run up to Christmas, I find that everything accelerates. No doubt you find that as well. Life gets too busy… things to do, extra expectations to meet. We want to get everything done, and done in time.

Nostalgic cards like the one above encourage us to recreate the image portrayed… that is, of everything right, of everything ready, completed and perfect.

The image reminds me how one year we sprayed artificial “snow” out of a can on to our windows around the frames. Why? To make it look like a mid-winter Christmas, a real Christmas like on one of those cards. Using something artificial to make something seem real. Just like all those fake Santas everywhere in their padded red suits wearing white cottonwool beards, pretending to be real… and getting awfully hot dressed up like that in the middle of summer. There is a lot that is artificial and contrived about Christmas, and plenty to distract from the real message so well camouflaged by all the hassle and bustle, and tinsel and glitter.

This rather idyllic and secular scene says nothing too obvious about a God who became a tiny baby in order to redeem us one day. However, you might say that it suggests a form of perfection, and in that way relates to the Christmas story and the plan for salvation. God’s perfect gift to us was His Son, and the sacrifice that would later be made on the cross… God’s gift of grace that we may be saved by faith in the perfect Jesus. This secular image of perfection reflects something meaningful after all. And I would wish that through all the contrived artificiality of our Christmas celebrations, we may stop long enough to see the real meaning reflected in every expression of this forthcoming festive occasion.

Why does a mob of 5,000 Australians get out of hand on a Sydney beach?

One thing is certain… it is not just a result of bad temper, cell phones and alcohol.

I’ve heard this vigilante response being labelled as race riots.
I think those who are calling it that are using the wrong terminology, and in this case, terminology matters a great deal.

This is not just about race. It is far more than that.
It is about multiculturalism that is no longer working like happy families - if it ever really did.
It is about political correctness, and what it does to the supposedly dominant culture already existing in Australia, the culture which has Judeo-Christian origins even although this is said to be a “post-Christian” era.
It is about the everyday experience of ordinary people whose leaders refuse to hear their growing concerns, or if they are listening, are too weak to do anything about it.
It is about Australians getting ugly because underlying their bad behaviour are those very real concerns that are not being addressed, and about bigoted “white supremacist” vigilantes adding their brawn to the mix.
But to be absolutely frank, it is about Muslim immigrants and Islam. It is about unassimilated Muslims whose culture clashes with that of their host country, Australia.
It is about the agenda of Islam, and its incompatibility with the culture of the West.
And about certain Australians in revolt.

Australians are reacting to the same process that has been happening in Europe, and they want it to stop.

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo is the International Director of the Barnabas Fund and the Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity. He holds a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University and was awarded a Doctor of Divinity by Western Seminary, Portland, Oregon for his work in the field of pluralism. He has written and lectures widely in the field of other faiths. Both Patrick and his wife Rosemary hold dual New Zealand and British citizenship.

Here are some interesting words of his:

In 1980 the Islamic Council of Europe published a book called Muslim Communities in Non-Muslim States which clearly explained the Islamic agenda in Europe.

When Muslims live as a minority they face theological problems, because classical Islamic teaching always presupposed a context of Islamic dominance; hence the need for guidance on how to live in non-Muslim states. The instructions given in the book told Muslims to get together and organise themselves with the aim of establishing a viable Muslim community based on Islamic principles. This is the duty of every individual Muslim living within a non-Muslim political entity. They should set up mosques, community centres and Islamic schools. At all costs they must avoid being assimilated by the majority. In order to resist assimilation, they must group themselves geographically, forming areas of high Muslim concentration within the population as a whole. Yet they must also interact with non-Muslims so as to share the message of Islam with them. Every Muslim individual is required to participate in the plan; it is not allowed for anyone simply to live as a “good Muslim” without assisting the overall strategy. The ultimate goal of this strategy is that the Muslims should become a majority and the entire nation be governed according to Islam.

(M. Ali Kettani “The Problems of Muslim Minorities and their Solutions” in Muslim Communities in Non-Muslim States
(London: Islamic Council of Europe, 1980) pp.96-105

Read the whole of his paper to understand more about what is well underway in Europe.

Now look at the following little bit of news:

Saudi Prince Donates $40M to Universities
by Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press Writer.
Mon Dec 12,11:53 PM ET

BOSTON - A Saudi prince believed to be the wealthiest businessman in the Muslim world has donated $40 million for Harvard and Georgetown to expand their Islamic studies programs, the schools announced Monday.
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud, who gave $20 million to each university, is a nephew of the late King Fahd and worth upward of $20 billion, according to Forbes magazine, which ranked him fifth on its 2005 list of the world’s billionaires.
Harvard and Georgetown officials said they will use the gifts to add faculty and scholarships and expand their Islamic studies curricula.
“Bridging the understanding between East and West is important for peace and tolerance,” Prince Alwaleed said in a statement issued by both schools.
Harvard, which is naming its newly created program after Alwaleed, already has more than two dozen faculty researching or teaching in the field of Islamic studies.
“This program will enable us to recruit additional faculty of the highest caliber, adding to our strong team of professors who are focusing on this important area of scholarship,” Harvard President Lawrence Summers said in a statement.
Georgetown will use the gift, the second-largest in its history, to expand its Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. The center, which was founded in 1993, also will be renamed after Alwaleed.
“At this time of world conflict, Georgetown is committed to build upon our role as a Catholic, Jesuit institution in fostering greater understanding among religions around the world,” said the university’s president, John DeGioia.
Harvard plans to use its gift to launch the Islamic Heritage Project, which will digitally preserve Islamic texts and make them available on the Internet.
Georgetown plans to endow three new faculty chairs and expand its center’s library.
Alwaleed is an investor who chairs the Kingdom Holding Co.

Just in case you were wondering…
Yes, this is the same Saudi prince who donated $10 million for relief operations in New York following the 9/11 terrorist strike. It came with strings attached, the prince saying that the United States “should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stand toward the Palestinian cause”. Mayor Rudy Giuliani refused the gift and flatly rejected the prince’s position. “To suggest that there’s a justification for [the terrorist attacks] only invites this happening in the future,” he had said.

But back to that Sydney beach…

Islam’s agenda in Europe has been clearly stated by the Islamic Council of Europe itself. It is consistent with the Qur’anic teachings of Islam - to achieve universal dominance whereby everyone shall be converted to Islam or die.
It happens by stealth and apparent displays of goodwill - in the USA as well as elsewhere.
Remember that proposed mega-mosque for London that was mentioned in the The Sunday Times?

And in Australia they are saying it loud and clear: this is a problem, and it cannot be allowed to continue.

No these are not just race riots.
Religion transcends race, and to use that terminology throws one completely off course and once again does not address the real problem.

I do not support vigilante behaviour - in my eyes it is wrong.
But when, just when, are we finally going to wake up?

One fine and sunny Sunday afternoon we took a little stroll. Wellingtonian Peter Jackson was in the process of building his set for his latest movie and, just happening to be in the area at the time, we thought we would wander along and have ourselves a look. There was no-one around, so I poked my camera through the high wire fence to take the following shots. This is the replica of New York. Do you recognize it? Well, we didn’t either.

At the NZ premiere of “King Kong” in Wellington yesterday, Peter Jackson had this to say of his movie:

“It really is a home-town movie, I guess more so than Lord of the Rings where lots was shot on location. Kong was pretty much Wellington 100 per cent — even the shot of the ship at sea, that was shot in the parking lot, because we didn’t want to get seasick.”

How to go to sea without getting sick? Of course, stay in the parking lot!

Now you will surely recognize the shots above as New York. After all, almost anything seems possible at the hand of Peter Jackson together with the Wellington local Weta Workshop.

‘Twas The Month Before Christmas

‘Twas the month before Christmas, and all through the store,
Each department was dripping with Yuletide decor.
The Muzak was blaring an out-of-tune carol,
And the fake snow was falling on “Ladies’ Apparel.”

I’d flown many miles from the North Pole this day,
To check on reports which had caused me dismay.
I’d come to this store for but one special reason,
To see for myself what went on this Season.

I hid in a corner and in a short while,
I saw the Store President march down the aisle.
He shouted an order to “Turn the store tree on!”
And also the “NOEL” in blinking pink neon.

Up high, grandly hanging from twin gold supports,
Four hundred pink angels flew over “Men’s Shorts.”
And towering over the Rear Mezzanine,
A 90-foot Day Glo “Nativity Scene.”

The clock on the wall said two minutes to Nine,
The floorwalkers proudly all stood in line.
I watched while the President smelled their carnations,
Then called out his final command - “Man Your Stations!”

When out on the street there arose such a roar,
It rang to the rafters and boomed through the store.
It sounded exactly like street-repair drilling,
Or maybe another big Mafia killing.

I looked to the doors, and there banging glass,
Was a clamoring, shrieking, hysterical mass.
And I felt from the tone of each scream and each curse,
That the “Spirit Of Christmas” had changed for the worse.

The clock it struck Nine, and the door opened wide,
And that great human avalanche thundered inside.
More fearsome than Sherman attacking Atlanta
Came parents and kiddies with just one goal - “Santa!!”

In front stormed the mothers, all brandishing handbags,
As heavy and deadly as 20 pound sandbags.
With gusto they swung them, the better to smash ears,
Of innocent floorwalkers, buyers, and cashiers.

Egged on by their parents, the kids had one aim,
To get to the man who was using my name.
They mobbed him and mauled him, the better to plead,
For the presents they sought in their hour of greed.

The President watched with a gleam in his eye,
As he thought of the toys that the parents would buy.
Of all Christmas come-ons, this crowd would attest,
That a visit to “Santa” was clearly the best.

It was all too much for my soul to condone,
And I let out a most unprofessional moan.
The crowd turned around, and I’ll say for their sake,
That they knew in an instant I wasn’t fake.

“I’ve had it,” I told them, “with fast-buck promoting,
With gimmicks and come-ons and businessmen gloating.
This garish display of commercialized greed,
Is so very UN-Christmas, it makes my heart bleed!”

I cannot claim to have written the poem, but I certainly share this real Santa’s reaction.
Hands up all those who hate the commercialization of Christmas. Hmm, me too.
But that doesn’t make me a killjoy. I still like Christmas trees, and I like the idea of giving and sharing. I just want it to be meaningful.

So, Christmas has become a Christian holy day, a birthday celebration for Jesus. That in itself is interesting. The most likely calculations actually have Him born sometime in September.
The other interesting thing… nowhere in the Bible are we told to celebrate the birthday of Christ.

For those who would like to follow up on this, the following paper makes a good read:
Christmas: An Historical Survey Regarding Its Origins and Opposition to It, by Kevin Reed.
(If you find yourself unable to access the paper directly via this link, simply Google the words: Christmas Kevin Reed.)

However, the majority of Christians choose to celebrate the birth of Christ anyway, and there is a good case for doing so without this being regarded as a pagan thing to do.
Is Christmas Christian?
A Response on “Christmas”

The writer, T.L. Hubeart, sums up as follows:

For the average Christian, who has hardly heard of Tammuz or Osiris or the idols of two or three thousand years ago, is certainly not regarding them as any kind of factor in his celebration. For him, the holiday is about Jesus Christ, a way to honor His coming to earth, and the fact that this holiday has been arbitrarily assigned to December 25th simply gives all Christians an agreed-upon day on which to honor Him. The fact that two thousand years ago pagans happened to be praising false gods on the same day is irrelevant to the believer today, just as the fact that a pagan in Paul’s day worshipped an idol while butchering an ox meant nothing when the apostle bought the meat from that ox.

Let us celebrate Christmas in a way that is pleasing to God, and let no idols of any kind keep us from giving him praise and worship.

I particularly like that last sentence.
Yes, let’s do that. I think the poem’s Santa would say Yes to that as well.

Racial tension sparks Sydney riots
12 December 2005

SYDNEY: Racial tension erupted into violence on a Sydney beach on Sunday when around 5000 people, some yelling racist chants, attacked youths of a Middle Eastern background, saying they were defending their stretch of beach.

It is one thing to be resistant to political correctness, but quite another to resort to this!
Cool it, Aussies, this is not how its done.

Apparently there was an attack on two lifeguards last week, and the assailants were reported to be Lebanese. There was a brawl, there was alcohol, there was attitude and a festering anger not far beneath it.

Sydney’s Islamic community blamed the violence at Cronulla Beach on “racist and irresponsible” sections of the media which turned a common youth issue into an issue of ethnicity.

“Innocent people have been bashed as a result of this simmering racial hatred,” said Kaysar Trad, president of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia.

Unfortunately, I have no knowledge of what those “racist and irresponsible” sections of the media actually said, and it is too hard to make any sound judgement without all the facts. One also has to be aware of political spin, and maybe the placement of blame by the Islamic community is cunningly designed but not helpful either. The victims are victims, no doubt about that, but to what extent and in exactly what ways they are also the victims of much wider political motives is a most interesting issue for debate.

On a personal level, it is one thing to make a stand for patriotism, but quite another to resort to this kind of violence.
And yet I wonder, just maybe, if there is some element of prophecy in what has happened.

After Sydney not wanting to offend other cultures by putting up Christmas lights, and after hearing that the state of South Australia changed its opinion and let a Muslim woman have her photograph on her driver’s licence with her face covered, the following editorial written by an Australian citizen was published in an Australian newspaper.

Immigrants, NOT AUSTRALIANS, must adapt.
Take it or leave it. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians.

However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the “politically correct” crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others.

I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia.

However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand.

This idea of Australia being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle.

This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.

We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the langauge!

“In God We Trust” is our National Motto. This is not some Christian right wing political slogan. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home. Because God is part of our culture.

If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don’t like “A Fair Go”, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet.

We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change. And we really don’t care how you did things where you came from.

This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this.

But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about OUR FLAG, OUR PLEDGE, OUR NATIONAL MOTTO, or OUR WAY OF LIFE, I highly encourage you to take advantage of one other great Australian freedom… THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.

If you aren’t happy here then LEAVE.
We didn’t force you to come here. You asked to come here.
So accept our country that YOU accepted.
Pretty easy really, when you think about it.

Those Aussies… they call a spade, a spade.

Locked doors cause robbers.

But on this occasion, that same sentiment was voiced with an interesting and more thoughtful rationale.

The locked door is symbolic, and maybe the robber is too.
The locked door represents the way we are often closed to others, keep ourselves hidden and apart, do not share as well as we could, do not open ourselves to others and their needs, and are deceptive about ourselves. We keep too privately to ourselves and don’t live as communally as we should.
Empathy is encouraged by honest sharing of self, and with empathy comes stronger bonds of association, and the caring nature of love.
If more doors were unlocked, maybe more of the hungry would be fed - the spiritual hunger that leads to moral depravity.

The reason people steal is because they don’t have any association to us and they will never see us again. They steal from a person who means nothing to them. Hiding from each other lets compassion run low. There is little empathy among people in a society like this. The teachings of Christ just seem to kindle that feeling of empathy and the greater good. If we open our souls to each other then we will mean something to each other. If we mean something to each other then we will have no jealousy and no stealing.

I believe this second speaker does have a good point.

It is well known in psychological circles that a degree of dehumanization assists those who would harm others, and those who lack empathy are better equipped to act with criminal intent.

Baring one’s soul to the Islamic kidnapper has done very little to save the captured infidel his head. No amount of human fear and anguish on the part of the victim will interfere where the intent is driven by the perpetrator’s choice to cause grief in the name of a cause. This also demonstrates the effect of dehumanization, but it is important to note that compassion does not always result in the perpetrator from the sharing of oneself with others.

Yes to more openess with others, more honest connection, but yes also to the discretion of wisdom.

And that reminds me, someone I know has come up with a link to an interesting comment on Rudeness.
Check out this discussion as well.
It is suggested that this is an age of social autism - folk going about wired to portable entertainments that enable “limitless self-absorption”. The result is a gross lack of manners, a result of inconsiderate and antisocial attitudes. It is an age of “lazy moral relativism combined with aggressive social insolence”.

Oh dear. An example of locked doors robbing us all of real life?

I’ve just heard it again… the idea that locked doors cause robbers.

Yes, the fact that some have acquired more than others and must greedily withhold their spoils from the rest is the reason why we have theft in our community. It is all the fault of those who have more. After all, if we allowed each other to take whatever each other needed (isn’t wanted more likely the word?) then there would be no such thing as robbery and crime. Along with the expression of this sentiment was given the example of the early Christians, written about in the New Testament where it is said they sold all their possessions and gave to the poor, and shared everything so that none among them went without. Instead, these days, people hoard their belongings and keep them locked away from others who are needy. Therefore we have crime - needy people stealing to get what should be given to them instead.

Sometimes I just don’t know where to start when it comes to responding to these ill-founded ideas. Often they are a rendition of so-called Christian values built on a skewed unChristian premise and combine naivety, Marxism, a false sense of entitlement, and resentment stirred together with a very large measure of self-interest.

One of the ideas about human nature that I am often encountering is that people, generally and on the whole, are basically good. There is lots of evidence for that idea. People are often willing and generous - just look at how so many responded to meet the needs of those suffering from the effects of recent natural disasters! And if I ask for directions in a strange city when I am lost, they are readily provided with best wishes for a safe journey as well. Neighbours will look out for neighbours, and keep a protective eye on each other’s houses. Some will even mow your lawns while you are away, or collect and dump the junk mail for you. We are surrounded by good people, ones without ill intent, ordinary decent types who are basically honest and caring.

If we are, generally and on the whole, such basically good folk then why doesn’t it work, this idea of not locking doors and… well… all the rest? Oh no, surely you are not going to say that most are good and decent, but just a few are not. You and I are fine, but the other guy… he’s not to be trusted?

I know it can be hard to swallow, but how about the idea that exactly none of us is basically (intrinsically) good? Even although we are helpful, willing and generous, can be honest and caring and kind, go out of our way and put others first, want to please and protect, aspire to high ideals and behave with courage and integrity… still not one of us is basically good. Do you believe that?

The first time I read William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” I was captivated. This literary classic is not only rich in symbols, but the allegorical content set me thinking along paths I had not travelled before. I am very sorry that youngsters attending schools in Toronto will not be allowed to savour this masterpiece since their School Board has banned it under the mantle of racism (it contains the word “niggers”) as that aside, it is a marvellous adventure into the nature of our beings. Just as natural human goodness, order and leadership, are represented by a couple of main characters, so too are the more base of our instincts - essentially self gratification at the expense of the wellbeing of others - acted out by the savage boys from whom the veneer of “successful socialization” has very quickly worn away. The notion that we are all like that underneath our better selves is certainly consistent with the Biblical message that none of us is righteous and “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. Of course, if we compare ourselves with other people we can always be pleased with our own goodness, but what about those hidden character flaws that have us less than perfect… selfishness, small dishonesties, little white lies, a touch of greediness, laziness, can’t be bothered-ness, envy, covetness, bad temper, hatefulness, meanness, pride and self importance, plus a myriad other horrid little things? Maybe we are not quite so basically good after all.

Yesterday I was home on my own when the handle of my locked front door was tried. Whoever was turning it back and forth repeatedly had to be trying to get in. What if my door had been unlocked? I might not have lost just some of my material possessions, but a lot more besides. And what I would have been left with in exchange is unlikely to have been the kind of “sharing” in which the early Christians engaged among themselves. On the other hand, my locked door prevented a crime, not caused it. Until such time that all of us are truly regenerate beings, have had our basic natures thoroughly cleaned up, there is still a strong case in favour of locked doors staying locked and the key being used with discretion.

It is being proposed to build a massive mosque that will hold 40,000 worshippers alongside the Olympic complex in London. The mosque and its surrounding buildings would hold a total of 70,000 people, only 10,000 fewer than the Olympic stadium, and be opened in time for the 2012 Games. The new three-storey building will be called the London Markaz (Arabic for centre) and many times dwarf the largest Christian place of worship, Liverpool's Anglican cathedral, which has a capacity of 3,000.

“It will be something never seen before in this country. It is a mosque for the future as part of the British landscape,” said Abdul Khalique, a senior member of Tablighi Jamaat, a worldwide Islamic missionary group that is proposing the mosque as its new UK headquarters.
The Sunday Times

Here is a little background on this missionary Islamic group:
Tablighi Jamaat: Jihad’s Stealthy Legions
Be warned… it is not exactly comforting reading.

Well, the proposed mosque was reported in several online newspapers, but I have yet to see any reaction from folks in London, or in the rest of the United Kingdom. I am wondering if they have all gone to sleep, or if this is just the usual reaction of the silent majority - silence, just nothing at all. Has the mighty lion buried its head like the ostrich, or is this the hopelessness of despair? Oh I hope not yet to the latter, nor an abandonment to confusion and ignorance to the former.

A friend living in London did not know of this proposed mosque, but thought it was hardly news… there are mosques everywhere now. Immigration in the UK was said to be out of control, and seemingly beyond correction. Thanks to this post-modern age of multiculturalism and the liberal political correctness that is ruthlessly stripping western civilization of its Judeo-Christian heritage, the Islamicization of Britain has already begun.

But while this is going on in Britain, there is something else going on in the midst of Islam.
Compass News Agency, reporting in Iran Focus News online, has this story:

Christian Activities ‘Out of Control’

Reportedly, this same official [a top official within the Ministry of Security Intelligence who spoke on state television's Channel 1 warning the populace against the many "foreign religions" active in the country and pledging to protect the nation's "beloved Shiite Islam" from all outside forces] participated in the extended interrogation of the 10 evangelical pastors, complaining that Christian activities in Iran had gone “out of control” and insisting that their church do something to stop the flood of Christian literature, television and radio programs targeting Iran.

Over the past year, prominent government leaders have publicly denounced Christianity, Sufism and Zoroastrianism as threats to Iran's national security.

Under Iran's Islamist regime, several ex-Muslims who converted to Christianity have been either assassinated or executed by court order, under the guise of accusations of spying for foreign countries.

Apostasy is listed along with murder, armed robbery, rape and serious drug trafficking as a capital offense in Iran.

During a speech to high school students in Tehran six months ago, Shiite cleric Hasan Mohammadi from the Ministry of Education declared, “Unfortunately, on average every day, 50 Iranian girls and boys convert secretly to Christian denominations in our country.”

After the speech, which was reported by the Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency's correspondent Ramin Mostaghim on May 5, the father of one student in the audience told IPS that Mohammadi had “unknowingly admitted the defeat of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a theocratic regime in promoting its Islam.”

According to one Iranian Christian who spoke with Compass last week, “Neither the government nor the established churches can control what is happening spiritually across Iran right now.”

“We are hearing estimates that 60 percent of the Iranian people have now heard the message of Christ, even out in the villages,” the source said. Although many of the new Christians are young people, reports indicate entire families have come to faith in Christ and started worshipping in the privacy of their own homes.

“So really, the government can't do anything to stop the growth of Christianity in Iran,” he said. “It's out of control.”

Government officials in Iran admit Christianity ‘out of control.'

Admittedly, it is not good that a Christian lay pastor of the Assemblies of God Church, Hamid Pourmand, was arrested by the Iranian security police who refused to give any reason for his arrest and prolonged detention. At the time of this report, no one had been allowed contact with Pourmand since September 9 when he was arrested along with 85 other evangelical church leaders. But despite the persecution of Christians in Iran, the rest of the news is heartening.

A Christian friend has told me that an Iranian friend of his reports that secret church houses are popping up all over the place.
My friend went on to say that yet another friend just back from Peace Corps work in Kazakhstan had reported that Christianity is exploding there. Chinese Christians, in a project called “Back to Jerusalem” are preparing to send 100,000 missionaries into the Middle East (over a period of years, of course). He adds “Wouldn’t it be funny if Communist, atheist China was the source of the gospel penetrating the Muslim world?”

It is interesting how news travels in this way… reports sent on from friend to friend, an almost clandestine manner of sharing “underground” news of forbidden activities. In the Christian brotherhood where there is persecution we seek news that is passed on surreptitiously below the surface. Then as though carried by little creatures who scurry the course of myriad twisting turning burrows, the news pops up for air, divulged to soar on the winds of freedom. We breathe it in eagerly and with gratitude.

But will it be enough? Is it a terrible lack of faith to be so unsure?

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke

I have been asked yet again “what is true Islam?”

True or real Islam is the way of living that the ‘Messenger of Allah' (Muhammad) practiced and taught, as it is understood by the majority of Muslims today. It is the Islam of the correctly interpreted Qur’an, the interpretation that takes into account the theology of abrogation (nasikh) as defined in the Qur’an and in the aHadith.

However, we see Muslims practising Islam in very different ways from each other and that often results in confusion among those of us with Judeo-Christian cultural origins, and leads consequently to a variety of different viewpoints. Not every Muslim is a radical fundamentalist, and not every Muslim is a moderate, and there is a lot that is hidden that unbelievers are not privvy to either.

Many Muslims living among us are peaceful people and simply want to get on with going to work, earning a living, and enjoying raising their families. They express horror at the acts of terrorists and have no wish to be killed either. Some could be described as more “Islam by culture” than “Islam by religion”, but that in itself is confusing since Islam does not separate religion, culture and politics in the way that church and state are separate in western society. It is also quite possible that many Muslims living in the western world are not particularly literate in their own faith, and have a genuine preference for the revelations of Muhammad from his Mecca period rather than those of his Medina period. The former are the more tolerant and peaceful revelations whereas the latter most certainly are not. And some Muslims would be called apostates by their more devout Muslim brothers.

We are constantly hearing that Islam is a peaceful religion - even Prince Charles seems to prefer this idea, and it is all too easy to assume that he must be well informed being who he is. But in that I must disagree. To believe anything on such flimsy credentials is very unwise and will quickly lead to error. I don’t wish you to accept my opinions either although I am reasonably well read on the subject. Instead, I point to the writings of authors whose credentials are worthy of respect, and to the evidence of the Qur’an and aHadith themselves. To listen to the explanations of Muslims themselves one must be cautious. Islam espouses “holy hypocrisy” or the practice of taqiyya which allows Muslims to deceive and give a false rendition of truth - or simply not tell the truth when it suits their cause not to do so.

So what is the real Islam?

The name itself tells all. Islam means “submission” and what is meant is submission, total and universal, to the will of Allah.
The problem we are facing is that of the aggressive encroachment of Islam into the West with the intention of whole world domination - total submission of all people everywhere to the worship of Allah - and to make sharia law universal. This is the real Islam, the Islam of the Qur’an.

Islam Undressed by Vernon Richards

The link above takes you to an excellent e-book that provides a critical analysis of “real Islam”, its people, culture, philosophy, and practices of yesterday and today. I recommend it as an answer to further questions on the subject of Islam.
As well as that, read the Qur’an and aHadith and be your own judge of what you find.

Knowing the true facts regarding Islam does not have to make a person a hater of Muslims. It is very important not to fall into that trap, hating the person because one does not share the same beliefs and has an objection, no matter how strong, to those beliefs. I am dismayed by what I read in the Qur’an - dismayed and frustrated by the misrepresentation of Judeo-Christian scriptures, the misinterpretations and distortions, and the amount of hatred and violence I find there. That is not the kind of world that I want to live in, and not the kind of way that I want to behave towards others myself. I do not hate Muslims, and I would far rather that they open their minds, hearts and souls to the truth and love of the real Jesus, not ‘Isa as they believe Him to be, and come to know for themselves that unlike Allah, our God is both righteous and full of immeasurable love.

A couple of months ago, right out of the blue, I received an email from someone who had once been a boy in my class at high school. I had not known him all that well back then, but I certainly remembered him as being one of the nicer ones. Boys were still those silly immature creatures that laughed at ridiculous unfunny things, disrupted the class and were hellbent on annoying we girls. I wasn’t that impressed with any of them at the time, probably because I had a couple of irritant brothers of my own to put up with, although this particular boy was not so bad.

Well, the reason for this Big Surprise email was that he had just recently discovered my contact details and after some hesitant deliberations had decided to go ahead and say Hello to me. But it was what he had to say after the Hello that really had me excited.

Some may have already read the following from the Faith page of my website, but I will quote it anyway:

In my dream I returned to visit the house I had once lived in with my parents and brothers as a very young child, the home of my earliest memories. Surprised to find that it was on the market, I had the opportunity to wander through it again. It was very similar to how I had remembered it, but had been renovated and redecorated. It was far better than my memories… it was made just perfect for me and had everything I could possibly wish for in a home of my own, and even more besides. The atmosphere within was incredible - a wonderful peace and a feeling of great love. I lingered for the longest time, basking in the glow of it’s unfathomable beauty, enjoying my very first home made over new, feeling it’s connection to myself. I sought the price of it and learnt that, while very expensive, it was just possible I could afford it… although it would mean quite some sacrifice.

This old classmate of mine had been wanting for some time to make contact with me but had not known where to find me. Then through a website bringing together old friends, he found my details. Besides being an old classmate, there was another good reason to find me. He was now the owner and resident of my old childhood home. He had lived there for a number of years, and had also renovated to add and improve many of its features. He said how it had responded well to the changes and visitors had all commented about the lovely feel it had to it. His wife had died three years ago and he had considered putting the house on the market then, but realized that it was irreplaceable to him. We chatted back and forth by email, sharing stories about the house - what I could remember, what he knew about it since - and then my new-found friend sent me a copy of the house plans with the alterations marked on them. Some were very like those in my dream! My father had had the house designed from a photo displayed on the cover of a glossy magazine, the original existing somewhere in Canada, and it was built with many features considered well ahead of it’s time. Many of these features still exist, and have been kept in their original condition. My old classmate has invited us to come and visit whenever we happen to be “back home” again… something I would really love to do.

Well, I am not the type to immediately leap this way and that making connections that are probably not rational and can not be proven. And exactly what meanings anyway can be got from these two events, my dream and the reappearance of my old home in my life? But there is something very comfortable about them coming together, like the completion of a gestalt. It simply feels good - just happy, peaceful and good.