Richard's Ramblings

A good mate in Perth, WA, has his birthday today. I sent him a greetings text, and posted on his Facebook Wall. Aside from Leisa’s family and a couple of her High School chums in Brisbane, our dearest friends in this hemisphere are in WA and New Zealand. As it happens, Leisa is in Brisbane this weekend and will catch up with one of those NZ friends who is guest lecturing at St Francis Theological College. And she’ll meet up with her oldest High School friend. For most of the time, we rely on Facebook and other cyber-channels of communication to stay in touch. While travelling to be with each other in person is expensive, and until recently was impossible because of the pandemic lockdown, it still brings incomparably more joy than digital chat. I was reminded of this when Peter Ireland sent an article by Philip Yancey, read it at  https://philipyancey.com/why-go-back , reinforcing that the best online services are a poor substitute for Real Life™ gathering together for worship and fello

  At Synod last weekend, I did something which I’ve never done before. (No, not annoyed the ecclesiocracy, I’ve done that before, Sheree confiscated my blue voting card this time to keep me out of trouble.) I ordered food online to be delivered to Alex Park (the Synod venue). Many of you will be old hands at this lark, but it was a novelty for me. You sign up to the delivery service, UberEats, Deliveroo, Doordash (I used Doordash), whoever, their app knows where you are from your phone or iPad’s GPS location server, and you are presented with the menus of nearby eateries, accompanied by tempting photos of pizza, curry, kebab, fish n’chips. I plumped for a boring Subway sandwich because I didn’t know how long hot food would stay hot during pick-up and delivery. Pay online, and a map pops up showing you where the delivery driver is, and how long before they get to 1) the eatery, and 2) you. I suppose one of the earliest food deliveries in the Bible is Genesis 22. Abraham is about to sacr

  So, I endured periodontal torture this week, when half of my gum line was prodded and scraped at to try to ensure that my teeth stay anchored to my gums for the foreseeable future (which, at my age, might be all of my future before the Lord comes or takes me). The other half will be tortured in a couple of weeks or so. Custom has it that I weave this personal anecdote into a Ramble. OK, what does the bible have to say about teeth? Much is concerned with words dear to the hearts of those who think that the Gospel is about damning >99% of people for whom Christ died, to eternal damnation. Gnashing of teeth, and all that. But I go for the many instances in Song of Songs, eg ch6, “ Your  teeth  are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing. Each has its twin, not one of them is missing.”  An almost identical phrase precedes it in ch4, both of them following an early chat-up line of mine to Leisa, “Your hair is as a flock of goats, cavorting down Mt Gilead”. You should have seen