/karen/

Mother of memes

Monday, 08 September, 2008

Pre-ambling

The internet is against me: last night, having successfully finished the migration and redirected the domain name (*insert further geek talk*), the power blew, rendering us internet-less, computer-less, TV-less and, most unfortunately, dinner-less. But in God's mercy, we still had lights which meant we didn't have to retreat to medieval technology (i.e. candles). Also, somewhat fortuitously for our refrigerator, we discovered later in the evening that the power points in the bedroom and (what I have taken to calling) the Spare 'Oom (because of Kathleen and Narnia). The longest extension cord in the house was then utilised to keep our milk fresh, and we retired to the bedroom to watch the end of Australian Idol, as well as Rove and Dexter. (Yes, I never thought we'd be one of those people who have a television in their bedrooms, but when we moved the ginormous television into the lounge room, the displaced television needed a new home, and the bedroom was one of the few places that could accommodate its [in this age of flat screen-ness] cubic bulk.)

It is Monday and I am still at work, hoping to fit in a bit of blogging as we still have no electricity (and therefore no internet, though Ben can get mobile broadband) at home. However, the internet here keeps dropping out. God is telling us all to pack it in and go home.

But (I protest) I want to write a blog post! My adoring masses are hanging out for the next thing I'm going to say! (Joking, joking ...)

Fortunately you don't need the internet to write. And so here it goes ...

Meming

In the midst of my server migration haze, I've noticed I've been tagged for quite a few memes. Like the Baddeleys, I'm really not a meme person, but I appreciate the value of memes as writing exercises, tools in relationship-building and catalysts to kickstart blogging.

Archiving

However, this archive meme from Ali fulfills none of those functions and is merely a linking exercise (the meme is about finding old posts from your blog about family, friends, yourself, something you love, and anything you like).

In the internet's absence, let me try to answer from memory:

• Family: The first one that comes to mind is my post about September 11 (which happens to be my mother-in-law's birthday). I had photos of my in-laws and the cake and one of my mother-in-law's bears (I think).
• Friends: Friends ... friends ... my immediate reaction is to go to one of the blog posts I wrote about children of divorce and the wise words that George gave me—about how we're all part of these webs of relationships—family, society, school, church, etc.—and how divorce tears the webs apart so you're left hanging.
• Myself: Gee, this whole blog is about me!
• Something I love: Ben ... I think I wrote a post about synaesthesia and Ben once.
• Anything I like: This line from an old post still amuses me: “The New York Times reached new heights of awesomeness with their blog about songwriting ‘Measure for Measure’ ...”

Ramparting

Ali tagged me again later (or was it earlier? I can't check): this meme is about posting something on “that verse or story of Scripture which is important to you, which you find yourself re-visiting time after time”.

This one's easy, and I've actually been meaning to write something on this for a while. It's Hebrews 12:1-17. In fact, Elsie and I were reading it just today.

The writer of Hebrews starts by talking about the great cloud of witnesses, and he's referring to the people he's just talked about in chapter 11: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Israel during the Exodus, etc.—people who lived by faith, not by sight—who trusted in God and hoped for the fulfilment of his promises. They're the ones who encourage us to do what it says in verse 1—lay aside every weight and sin, and run the race with endurance.

But the biggest encouragement is found in verse 2: it's Jesus. We're supposed to remember everything the writer of Hebrews has told us about Jesus in the preceding chapters—that he's God's final word to mankind (1:1-2); that he's the creator of the world (1:2); that he's God and therefore divine in nature (1:3); that he sustains the world (1:3); that he has redeemed the world (1:3); that he is greater than the angels (1:4-14); that he is the founder of our salvation (2:10); that he calls us ‘brother’ (2:11-18), and that, in calling us brother, he took on flesh to become like us to save us (2:14-17) and is therefore able to help those who are tempted because he was tempted himself (2:18); that he is greater than Moses and brings a better word than Moses did (3:1-19); that he is a greater high priest—greater even than Melchizedek (4:4-10, 7:1-28); and that he is a better high priest of a better covenant (chapters 8-9) which is established on better promises through superior blood—not the blood of animals but his own blood—a covenant which has been established once and for all (10:12).

This (to use the rhetoric of sermons) is the Jesus that we are to look to—seated at the right hand of God, having completed his work on the cross.

But why are we to consider him? Verse 3: so we won't grow weary or faint-hearted. He's and encouragement to us to keep going.

However, the writer of Hebrews doesn't leave it there; he gives us an even better reason: it's because we are God's children—part of the family where Jesus is our elder brother. We're told that the Lord disciplines those he loves (which is a quote from Proverbs 3:11-12 which comes straight after the bit about wisdom—that it's about trusting in the Lord and not leaning on your own understanding, and then he will make your paths straight). We're told that God is a Father—something which you don't find in Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism. God being a Father teaches us something about fatherhood: fathers discipline their children, but they do it out of love. It's discipline with a goal: verse 10: “that we may share in his holiness” and verse 11: “the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it”. God disciplines us for our good so that we may become more like him, holy and righteous in every way.

All this precedes the “Therefore” of verse 12: lift your drooping hands and weak knees to run the race (12:1 but also think back to Isaiah 35:3: God has saved us so it is joy that motivates us). Verse 13: the straight paths for your feet is another echo of Proverbs 3 again. The lame being healed is another reference to Isaiah 35. The result is peace and holiness. So don't be like Esau—don't miss out on the blessing we have in Christ.

Teaching

Michael tagged me for his teacher's meme back in May: “List FIVE of your favourite teachers, and tell us what made them great. Then tag some people whose blogs you read ...”. This is a tough one but let me see if I can do it. I hope Michael doesn't mind if I stretch the educational limits of “teachers”. In no particular order:

• Mrs Rontidis, St George Girls' High School: I first had her in Year 8. I don't remember anything about her classes, other than the fact that I enjoyed them. Wait, that's a lie: I remember her getting us to come up with short plays through improvisational drama, which we then put together and performed for some of the other classes in our year. I also remember her getting us to put together a magazine, my first foray into the world of publishing! But most of all, I remember her being concerned enough about me in Year 10 when she found me crying in the halls one day before roll call. She was concerned enough to take me into an empty classroom, sit me down and listen to me for the whole of recess. I don't know why I was finding Year 10 so hard because Year 9 was a breeze, but something was definitely pushing me to breaking point. At the end of it, she referred to me to my first counsellor. When I graduated from high school, she wrote in my autograph book how she used to see me surreptitiously trying to read books under the table in class, and was reluctant to disturb me with “real” work.
• Dot Jensen, St George Girls' High School: I first encountered Ms Jensen when I was in Year 8 because she ran the school's mentor scheme. She also had an eye for writing, and on the strength of my juvenilia, got me into the regional mentor scheme which paired me up with Australian author Libby Hathorn. I ended up having her in Year 9 and Year 11 and 12, and she taught me a lot about literature and writing both inside and outside of class. I think because of her, I and some of my friends formed a very short-lived readers and writers club. She was always very encouraging—a trait which she was continually caricatured for in Mock assemblies. I certainly appreciated it. Post-high school, I kept in touch with her for a while—certainly long enough for her to read and give me feedback on my Honours thesis. I'm not sure what's happened to her now.
• Phillip Jensen: I suppose this goes without saying: more than anyone, he's helped shape my understanding of the Bible. I remember going to my first real Mid Year Conference and being annoyed at him not moving beyond Point 1, but to this day, I still remember what Point 1 is (“Choose wisdom”). I don't have a personal relationship with Phillip—well, I mean, he knows who I am and will say hello to me whenever we meet—but I've never been a member of any of his congregations and have only sat under his teaching at things like Mid Year Conference, National Training Event, Club 5/Challenge conferences, and so on.
• Tony Payne and Greg Clarke: I could talk about Greg and Tony separately but it makes more sense to talk about them together because they taught me stuff about writing together (or at least tag-teamed). I learned about writing in my undergraduate degree, but I feel like I learned more from Tony and Greg than from all my university lecturers. They were the ones who taught me about writing as a ministry and what you could do with it—as if writing had a point and a purpose (shock horror!) beyond mere entertainment or information. As a corollary, they taught me about the ethics of exercising one's creativity as a servant of God. I'm still learning from them.

Randomizing

The last meme comes via Bec. The rules (which read more like a guide to netiquette and meme-iquette) are as follows:

1. Link to the person who ‘tagged’ you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. List six random facts about yourself
4. Tag six people at the end of your post
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by commenting on their blog
6. Let the tagger know the entry is posted on your blog

Hmm. I'm sure I've done this before. Ooh, the internet is back up: let me check. (Later) Yes I did. Bother, this means I need to come up with more trivia. Hmm.

1. The star I wear all the time was a present from my father for my 21st birthday. It's not a Star of David (which has six points) and it's not a pentagram; it's just a rather nice five-pointed star. I'm not sure where he got it from—Paris, I think—but I really like and I've worn it for the past nine years.
2. I have long hair because I'm lazy. Short hair requires more maintenance and it flops in your face while you're eating or brushing your teeth. Long hair you can flick over your shoulder, or tie it up, and forget it. Long hair only gets annoying when it starts catching on things or trailing in things you don't want it trailing in.
3. I used to be really good at maths. Well, I like to think I was really good: I went to a selective high school, I was always in the top maths class (but not top of that class; my friends Pauline or Janine were), I took 4 Unit Maths for the HSC and I got a good mark in it. So it's rather sad that the only things I can remember from 4 Unit Maths are that i² = -2 (wait, maybe I've got that wrong!) and the smooth wooden balls that spin around on smooth strings on smooth tables, where the string goes down a smooth hole in the table, ending in another smooth wooden ball which is spinning around under the table. (My brain used to wonder why the bottom ball wouldn't just pull the top ball down so that it would fall through the hole and end up on the carpeted floor.) When I worked at UNSW, some of my agility with maths came back: I could add up and multiply in sixes and eights (subjects were usually worth 6 and 8 credit points); alas, now I can't even do that, and find myself continually being tripped up by “Buy two get one free” signs.
4. You might think from this blog that I really like cooking and food, but that's not strictly true; I like food presentation. I'm fascinated by how people arrange food on your plate to make it look appetising. That's the thing I want to photograph, not the food itself. I feel like my appreciation for food is really borrowed from Ben who takes more delight in food than anyone I've ever met. (That said, the duck thing we had at The Vanguard last week was tasty!)
5. I can't explain my obsession with Hello Kitty. Truly I can't. It's not just Asianness and it's not just a childhood thing.
6. And let's end with a phobia: I have a phobia of those things that you see sometimes in door lintels and windowsills. I think they're spider's eggs or some such thing: they have these very thin stalks that sick straight up like little poles, and there's this tiny round white thing at the top—the egg, I think. They totally creep me out! I can't stand them and I don't know why. It's not because they're spider's eggs—I'm totally fine with spiders (and killing spiders). They're just ... eww. (Hence the phobia: irrational fear.)

Tag? (You're it!) Nope, Karen don't tag.

Here endeth the meming.

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