Travelling with Gershom

Much, much dust in the wind around Doha these days. There have been high winds blowing from the interior of the country for the last couple of days, and this has kicked up a lot of sand and dust, and it is expected to continue for three more days. You can feel the grit in your mouth when you walk outside, and even inside. As I write this at my desk near the front door of my villa, I can see dusty trails on the floor where the wind has found it way in through the gaps in the door frame. Temperatures are down too. At 7:30 this morning it was 14 degrees (that's Celsius), pretty cool for this time of year. Coupled with a sand storm, well that's pretty miserable. Misery is, of course, a relative thing. When my daughter Stephanie and her friends bundle up for this weather they put on a hoodie or a windbreaker. Getting ready to drive to work requires windshield washer, and clearing a path to the car means hard work: Looks like I'll have to break out the broom in a day or two...

Actually, it's 1 for 14.5 million...dollars...for the license plate 1 in the UAE. Abu Dhabi businessman Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khouri, seen at the auction in the photo to the left, was apparently prepared to pay almost twice that amount to possess the plate. While the special number plate auction raised a significant amount of money was raised for the establishment of a rehabilitation centre for the victims of traffic accidents ($24.4 million), it still seems wrong somehow. Not the fundraising, but the willingness to spend so much on a license plate. Maybe it's just me. But I am certainly as materialistic as anybody else (sadly), and I could something better to spend the money on, and still support a good cause. How about Product (Red) for example, where the seller gives a portion of the proceeds to charitable work in Africa, at no extra cost to the buyer? My iPod Shuffle cost the same as the shuffles in other colours that do not bear the Product (Red) logo, yet Apple made a donat...

Just a quick note between flights...I am in Frankfurt airport for the first time, and I have two words for you: German sausages. Juicy, savoury, and crisp, with rich brown mustard on the side. That's the greatest. Two more words: self-disinfecting toilets. Flush, and an arm slides out over the seat, releasing a cleanser as the seat rotates clockwise 360 degrees. And that's the latest. Note to self: see if this technology is available for home. And if I can import sausages...

An article in this morning's Arabian Business electronic newsletter discussed the upcoming auction of licence plates in Abu Dhabi. Interesting reading, about the selling of "special" number plates for your car, with the proceeds going to charity. Here is a picture I took in Abu Dhabi a few months back, of a Rolls parked in front of a hotel: (Yes, it is actually a Bentley and two Rolls-Royces, but stop quibbling!) The center vehicle has the licence plate 5; here is a somewhat blurry enlargement for proof: This plate was purchased at auction last spring for a record-setting AED25,200,000, or C$6,917,380.43, at today's exchange rate. Similar auctions have been held throughout the Gulf, but nothing has come close to this. How much for an old orange NFLD plate, I wonder?

I recently stumbled across the blog of Andrew Jones , who has written a compelling article on "offensive language and the emerging church movement" in which he argues that what people find offensive varies across time, place, and culture. What I find interesting is the context: people who are finding their way to God, and the response of the mainstream church to them, who they are, and where they are in their spiritual walk. I was reminded of a friend who was relatively new to the church, especially a church of the evangelical Protestant variety. She would invariably use the name of God as a means of emphasis, in a very Newfoundland manner, with such phrases as "God, that was horrible" or "God, it was wonderful seeing them again". Having struggled with swearing during my own time looking for God, I was a little uncomfortable with this (as mild an oath as many consider it these days). I considered discussing this with her, but fortunately a more mature f...

I just finished reading The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan (his earlier book Your God is Too Safe was also excellent). A pastor on Vancouver Island, he offers a considered, gentle, and scriptural perspective in his writing. The Rest of God is about the Sabbath, about Sabbath-taking and Sabbath-breaking. Rather than dictating what Sabbath is or must be, Buchanan examines his own journey in becoming a Sabbath-taker, and provides hints and practices for us so that we can enter into the rest of God. Buchanan invites us to explore this call, and to taste and see that it is good. As overly busy modern people, it is easy to dismiss the Sabbath day as an archaic practice that doesn't consider that we have to work six or seven days a week in order to complete our assigned tasks. And we often get caught up with our failure to get something done, or at least I do. I look at my responsibilities at home and at work, my to-do list that gets longer each day, my languishing PhD studies, and I fe...

It's hard to believe that 30 days have passed since my last post (not the last post, thankfully). December has been a busy, busy month. And I suspect it has been for you as well, dear reader, what with Eid, Christmas, and the rapidly approaching conclusion to 2007. (I am reminded of an email I received from a colleague a few years ago, soliciting support for a needy family at Christmas. She attempted to create a sense of urgency by noting that "Christmas was vastly approaching", but only succeeded in creating an exchange of amusing emails ranging from wondering just how big the season really is {It's huge!} to pirate jokes {Maybe she meant avastly approaching.}) The end of one year and the start of the next is a time of reflection for many people, and I am no exception. 2007 was a great year, and I expect 2008 will be the same. Every year has been a great year. I have been blessed my entire life, with family, friends, health, all the things that truly matter. I...