We were at my favourite local Italian joint on Friday night, together with the Hipos and Chews. After dinner we went to the Hipo’s which is just around the corner, and had drinks. Gezza served up some really good scotch and it was a great way to end the week.
The next morning, I prepped the stuff Tress had bought the previous day. We were going to bring a potato salad to Ruth and Jonathan’s, for the latter’s birthday. Woodend is a good 1.5 hours away so we started prepping and cooking earlier and left home just after 10.30am. We spent the day at their little farm, got to know some of their other friends, and generally enjoyed a day out in the country. I had picked up a polo for Jon a week and a half earlier and it seemed to fit him. We left just after 4, and got home in time to walk the little fellow for a bit.
On Sunday we heard a guy called CB Samuel, who is in Melbourne for the Justice Conference organised by TEAR. We’ve come to know Matthew Maury over the past 3-4 years. Matthew is the National Director of TEAR Australia and he has known CB for some time. CB spoke about national and systemic justice, and said God cared about those things – it is the character of God to care about justice and so we should too. I don’t think anyone disagrees with that. I guess the question may be what constitutes injustice. Many are very clear-cut black and white issues and clearly there is injustice. Many others however, are what social activists may label injustice but which can also be characterised, perhaps, as outcomes which aren’t favourable to certain groups of people. He alluded to Adani’s proposed coal mine in Queensland and suggested that wasn’t right. I believe that is in the latter basket, where I think the jury is still out.
What was clearer to me however, was our – my – consumption practice. He suggested we don’t think enough about our consumption. That may be an Australian problem at this time. Perhaps, given the trajectory of Australian spending on areas like welfare, that problem would not hound future generations who may be forced to simpler lifestyles simply because Australia will cease to be a wealthy country.
We had lunch in Doncaster, bumped into Jason and Mel, and later when doing grocery shopping, we teed up coffee with them. We had a wonderful catching up, just sitting down and chatting. Back home I did the usual cooking, Tress did some much needed vacuuming, and we ended the day in front of the idiot box, with Tress nursing a worsening cold. I’m counting the days to the next long weekend, when Tress and I are planning to go away to some place not too far away. We both need that little break.
Ante 