Now we have a local peruvian family coming for lunch and then Hannah in the evening so I better go prepare for hospitality number two.

However, today was a good day. I had two emails from volunteers filled with thanks and praise for the organisation and the support and care they get. That on top of a good meeting was just what I needed cause I also managed to finish some things that have been in the in-tray for weeks. Not to mention book myslef two speaking engagements that I have been trying to organise for awhile.

It feels good. Hopefully the start of some more good days….

And to be honest I find it hard to care much. And I don’t think that most people care that much either. I was at a church the other day checking out a minister and he projected four names on to the screen and asked the congregation if anyone knew who they were. Some people made some guesses but nobody got it. It turns out that they were all people who won gold in the last Olympics. I guess at the time it is all big news but four years down the track most of us don’t know the names of most of the winners. Perhaps some of the really big names we’ll remember for a bit longer but I reckon once someone beats their records we stop caring about them either.

I have to say also that TV commercials are disgusting. I think because I don’t watch enough TV to become immune to it, it really affects me. The other day I saw one for some kind of TV or something like that. In the ad there was some guy going on about how he wants something and he wants it now and he’s going to get it now. He was saying it was a revolution. I don’t know maybe I have the wrong definition of revolution but in my definition revolutions change things, they’re counter cultural. This attitude doesn’t seem counter cultural to me. In fact it seems very much in keeping with today’s culture.

However, the article also mentions that the average Australian woman under 30 buys 102 new items of clothing a year. 102!!! I couldn’t believe it. I don’t think I would even get over 20 and I am not compacting or anything like that. I do very intentionally try not to buy much but I didn’t think I was trying that much harder than other people. Maybe I am.

I enjoyed the conference very much. In my role as nominator I have been hearing sermons from different ministers around the place and some (one in particular) have been absoloutely appaling so I was feeling somewhat starved of inspiration. There was plenty at TEAR though. It was really good to connect with all the people who remind me that there is hope for a better world. People who show me (by the lives they live) that God is in the world and that he does hear the cries of the poor and will answer them.

Yesterday in the morning I caught a bus from Newtown (after dropping the car at the mechanic) to Central and then a train from Central to Chatswood. No dramas there either, I even got a seat on the bus.

Then last night I caught a train from Chatswood at about 8.30pm back to Central. Again no dramas (in fact we didn’t have to wait for a train at all). There was also a really excited vibe around the place. Lots of pilgrims singing and smiling and saying hi. We chatted to a young guy who is in the seminary (training to be a priest). It was a very interesting conversation and he too is having a good time.

I guess there must be a number of Sydney-siders who are being put out by WYD (I keep hearing them winge on and on and on) but not me and I am travelling pretty near to the centre. In fact my travel has been advataged by the whole event. So there is another point of view.