Category: odds and ends

on lifelong things

How would you qualify a lifelong interest? Something that lasts ten years? Twenty?

In my entire life I would say the longest-running interest I’ve had is in dinosaurs. That interest ran probably from as early as I can remember till I was about 15. That’s 13 years of dinosaur mania.

On the other hand I only started getting interested in Roman history (and ancient history in general) when I was about 16, and that interest is still running. So that’s just shy of 10 years of interest in Roman history.

But I get the feeling that my passion for Roman history will last a long time, if not for the rest of my life. My interest in dinosaurs on the other hand has pretty much run dry. So despite its longer run in my life till now, dinosaur mania still lost out. Continue reading “on lifelong things” →

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on what truth is

On the eve of his execution Jesus is questioned by Pilate about his identity (John 18:33-38). Jesus tells Pilate that he is in fact a King, just as Pilate had been trying to get Jesus to admit all along, but adds “the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of the truth listens to me.”

To which Pilate (you can almost see the sneer on his face) replies “What is truth?”

What is truth? The classicist in me goes first and foremost to the ancient writers: Continue reading “on what truth is” →

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on being a good man

Remember that scene at the end of Saving Private Ryan? An old James Ryan, having remembered all the hardships and sacrifices that were endured to bring him home, kneels in front of the grave of Captain John Miller, the man who saved his life. It seems Miller’s dying words to him, “earn this,” have stayed with him all his life.

Ryan turns to his wife and says “tell me I’m a good man.”

What if the answer had been “no”? What if Ryan had tried but failed? What if he had never tried at all? Continue reading “on being a good man” →

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on confidence

The phrase ‘girls like a guy who’s confident’ is something I’ve been hearing a lot recently. I’m sure most of you guys have heard it at some point in your life, either from your dads or older guys.

My gut reaction whenever I hear that phrase is “I’m confident, I make decisions all the time!” But I’m starting to realise that being confident and assertively putting your foot down are two different things (and those of you who know me would probably chuckle at the thought of me putting my foot down). Continue reading “on confidence” →

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on being happy

We should gladly accept good things when they come, but don’t let them make you forget where the fountain of happiness is.

Good things, good people, good jobs, good moments come and go. If they don’t go they will change. And during that change they will definitely disappoint you along the way. Continue reading “on being happy” →

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homeric melodrama

When in the line of cruel battle

When the anguish and the fear and the cries to gods rise up

When the spears shatter and the knees buckle and the bowels loosen

When the ground is mud beneath and the longing comes to dig down and sleep and rest from sorrowful war

The man may stand and shout loud defiance

But when cruel battle continues its push

When companions turn and flee

When the man in an instant can suffer no more

And forgetting all pride he begs the bright gods with tears

No more, please no more

Will he turn, will he flee through the mud beneath?

Will his buckling knees carry him past the shattered spears and anguished cries?

Will the gods and companions call this man a coward

Who stands no more than he can

And flees and cries only when his warlike spirit has also fled

In the line of cruel battle?

Would that some god come and stand

In place of the man who flees and cries

Who speaks winged words instead of shaming and

Who wins the victory when none is deserved

When a man flees in the line of cruel battle.

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on godly jobs

It’s probably true to say that in church circles, the sacred enjoys a premium over the profane. I’ve heard more than a few people express the thought that pastoring or ministry or even bible study leading is a higher calling than playing music, setting up and welcoming.

Non-Christians seem to think we think this too, and maybe it’s because we privilege church-speak and hyper-spirituality over more mundane things such as getting to know people, social justice and caring for the poor. Recently when I objected to what people were talking about during a wedding I was at, my friend thought my objections were based on the fact that not enough people were talking Jesus-talk and sprouting halos (when in fact my objection was based on the fact that everybody in the congregation was so sickeningly successful and not enough of them were telling fart jokes). Continue reading “on godly jobs” →

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on japan’s treatment of its christians

Meet Amakusa Shiro, the charismatic teenaged leader of the ill-fated Shimabara rebellion in Japan, which began in 1637 and was put down a year later.

What started off as general discontent among the commoners of Shimabara against their heavy-handed masters culminated in the lynching of a local tax official. As the revolt gathered steam the rebels attempted to storm the local lord’s castle, but were repelled. As government troops arrived on the scene the rebels, under Shiro, captured the previously abandoned Hara castle and prepared to make their last stand there. Continue reading “on japan’s treatment of its christians” →

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