I am the official Door Opener

I was reminded of good things tonight.
Every now and then I join an excellent group of people who join together to take uni students who live on campus to Woolies. It's a bit of a hike for the students otherwise, especially with lots of shopping and so they're only too happy to jump onboard our bus of fun for a 5 minute drive to buy groceries as we go back and forth.
I act as the official door opener and professional conversationalist. I never knew I had it in me - to begin so many conversations - but I just keep talking until some unsuspecting person is tricked into chatting with me for the ride.

Tonight, a guy got on who I've seen around uni. To be honest, not the person I would generally talk to. If I had to stereotype myself and him.
But tonight, he was lucky enough (unfortunate enough?) to sit next to me. I talked about uni and holidays and Woolies and he grunted a couple of times and I thought, this is going to be an extra long 5 minutes. But I kept talking to myself and then he started talking. And had really good things to say. And then he initiated the conversation on the way home. He initiated conversation and questions about human rights and women's rights...and the oversecularisation of our culture....and community work. And was seeking real depth and answers to big questions.

Not that I have those answers, but I was thankful for the reminder that people are people. It doesn't matter what they look like, or who I think they are from their appearance.
And that we seek truth and goodness. And that my worldview is small, and God's worldview is big. Much, much larger than what I think or believe.

"We can name Jesus, orient out lives around him, and celebrate him as the way, the truth and the life, and at the same time respect the vast, expansive, generous mystery that he is."

I've been...

"How do you encapsulate a trip of a lifetime without lapsing into ecstatic cliches on the beauty of the landscapes or the splendour of their cultures? I don't want to retread that well-worn trail of self-discovery and growing up and heart-warming messages of the week, that's boring and we all know it. You meet a couple of soul mates. You meet a billion traveller douchebags. And all the while, goats are pissing in the aisle of your bus, small sturdy indigenour women are kicking the back of your seat and you're contemplating peeing in a Pringles can as you rattle through some desolately beautiful mountainous landscapes and you admit that you wouldn't want to be doing anything else."
-Neda Vanovac

I've been reading a few interesting thoughts and opinions from Rob Bell in "Love Wins: Heaven, Hell, and the fate of every person who ever lived" (Who doesn't love a super fast international shipping when Australia is the last place on the planet to have books released?). But my copy is currently being read by someone else so I'll share some quotes later...maybe.

I've been thinking a lot about Negligence. And Law. And Immigration. And Karl Marx. And Fair Trade Coffee. And Free Trade Zones in Sri Lanka. And I should be thinking about Economics and whether or not the fiscal stimulus averted Australia's recession. Instead, I'm thinking that I've only got 6 weeks left of the semester and then it's time for more holidays.

I should be planning those holidays. Flights booked. Check. Every other details. No check.
Ah well. I borrowed a book out of the library today about Thailand. At least I'm passively proactive.

I've been working on Soul Surfer, a movie coming out in cinemas this month...26th May...the story of surfer Bethany Hamilton...starring AnnaSophia Robb, Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt...tickets, reviews, advertisements...can you tell it's all I've been thinking about at work?

I've been watching Glee:Season 2. TV series should be banned during semesters.

I've been holidaying down with my family in Dubbo/Bourke and also catching up with lovely friends in Melbourne. And yes, in case you were wondering, Melbourne is all about the coffee.

Now, where's that Economics paper...