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Just returned from a great weekend visiting my daughter and 3 grand children in Toowoomba. One thing that drew my attention was that the shops were closed on Sundays....yes thats right...and not just a few shop's but ALL the shops.

So what does a person do on a Sunday when boredom strike's? Well in Sydney a lot of people end up at "Westfield". Now i reckon that if you did a poll of everybody at "Westfield" on a Sunday and asked the simple question "Why are you here?", what would you expect the response to be? I'm shopping for "needs"?... things that i must have..or more likely i'm just plain bored and looking for "wants"... things that i dont really need but what the heck its only money!

We've become a society thats addicted to stimulation. It can take the extreme adrenaline "rush" form of jumping out of planes or bungey jumping or the more subtle stimulation provided by computers, tv, mobile phones etc. I constantly ask wonder as to how many of those texts or calls are really that important.

As a society we just cant sit still, which gets me back to Toowoomba. On Sunday, when all the shops were closed,  we went to the local park and it was packed...kids playing on the swing's, picnics, people just sitting or laying and catching up on that good book, me chasing my grandkids. I realised that in gaining an extra shopping day we've lost a more valuable family day.

We've just returned from three weeks in Thailand, ten days in Phuket, four in Bangkok and four in Chiang Mai. I can honestly say I was happy to return home. Its so easy when your on holidays to lose touch with humanity even when you're in the midst of it. When you've got time and money to "burn" you can lose sight of the "ordinary-ness" of life around you, the struggle's that many people have just to provide what we in the west take for granted. But then again i suppose that's one reason we have holidays.

That struggle was evidenced in the lack of connectivness that was apparent in our interactions with the locals. I'ved noticed this lack of connectivness on other trips to asia where we're seen, maybe with good reason, not as neighbours but as a reminder of western imperialism ie the rich westerners who come to exploit our country... so lets get in first.

The sex industry is alive and thriving throughout Thailand and I noticed in reading a travel article written from as far north as Chiang Mai that the writter seemed to accept this as a part of their life. Even a local tour guide was introduced to us as "gay"almost in the same way that you would introduce someone as a friend or relative.

On a slightley different tact but with similar overtones whilst lazing by the pool i caught up with an author that i had not read in quite a while, and that was Aussie expat John Pilger . The book was "Freedom Next Time". In it Pilger presents the stories you dont hear on the sanitised and politicised dribble that we're "fed" daily in the papers and on tv. Chapter 5 on Afghanistan was alone worth the price of the book. Some snippets... as many as twenty thousand Afghanis may have lost their lives as an indirect consequence (p353)....In the international league of worthy and unworthy victims, Afghanis are the unworthiest.Bosnia with a quarter of the population..recieves $356 per person, Afghanistan gets $42 per person. (p354).......etc.

Anyway its great to be home. Cheers

I'm a confessed book addict. I buy books,I read books, I love books. I have a pile of unread books at home that you could'nt jump over, and this pile does'nt diminish it continues to grow. Some people collect stamps, some love footy, some enjoy cars...I read books. But like all good things that God created for our enjoyment this good thing can become an obsession(ask my wife-"what another book?"). An obsession is when that good thing controls us rather than you controlling it. The Apostle Paul  tells us in his letter to the Corinthians "I am alIowed to do anything but not everything is good for you. And even though I am allowed to do anything I must not become a slave to anything"

So every now and again I am promted to take a reality check and ask myself the question that everyone should ask about there "passion" in life...Is it beneficial?

I suppose it depends on what it is, but I find myself often asking this question particularly when I get to the stage where I am reading half a dozen books at once.

The majority of my reading would be christian books but I am also disposed towards history...church history or as I am reading at the moment a great read by John Mann, "'kublai Khan-the mongol king who remade China".

I am always amazed when I walk the aisles of the local "Koorong" bookstore the huge variety of christian books and it would appear that the great majority of these books are of the christian self help genre, which brings me back to my point, "Is it beneficial?"

With fewer christians now reading the bible I would venture to say that there are probably more christians reading books about the bible. Spurgeon, that great Baptist preacher of the ninteenth century said that reading a book about the bible is like looking at light through a stained glass window. Why read the filtered version when we can read the pure word of God. But some will say "but the bible is so hard to understand". Well pick up Eugene Petersons "Message" paraphrase, or as I am currently reading the 'New Living" translation. Like ice cream there is a flavour for everyone.

In a world where authority and truth are becoming blurred lets get back to Gods word which is the pure and unfiltered word of our King, Creator and Saviour.

Cheers

Last day on the high seas. We were up until 2am this morning playing the highly addictive sport of kareoke. The girls won the duet competition against some stiff opposition- one other chinese couple! The place was empty and the staff pulled out no stops in keeping us there until 2am.

Yesterday we got up close and personal with the orangutans in Kutching. Absolutley fantastic. Although not too fantastic for one lady in our group who got whacked on the head when one of the primates tossed a branch at her from a tree- the result was one nil to the primate and two stiches for the lady.

The town of Kutching is nice. The only problem was that everything closes at 6pm which is weird for asia as everywhere else we've been stay open until at least 11pm. Had a cheap
"Pizza Hut" meal before returning to the ship.

Today is our last day on the boat as we arrive to spend four nights in Singapore tomorrow. Its been a great trip so far and I would thoroughly recommend "Star" cruises. The food and service has been excellent.

Im sure I spelt that wrong! We arrived at the above yesterday. More shopping, not real cheap, although tyhe shoes are. In the arvo we took a taxi to some "Nexus" resort. Very swish. Cost the four of us $40 (120,000 RM) for a two hour tour.Today we're all day at sea (eat, read sleep eat read sleep.....) as we look ahead to seeing the orangutans, and hope that they look forward to seeing us. I heard somewhere that they're tempermental and sometimes dont come out to play. But heck I live with a houshold of females so I'm used to that!

Still having a great time, only 3 days of cruising left and then into Singapore until Thursday and then back to w........., anyway we wont look too far ahead.

Cheers Kevin