All hemmed in!
Right now I’m all hemmed in by scaffolding. My block of units is 9 years old and so the body corporate is using most of our sinking fund to repaint the exterior of our building. In order to make room for the painters I have had to relocate all my portable gardens and clear the veranda of furniture. Consequently, my living room and garage are chock-a-block and I feel claustrophobic. They tell me it will all be done in a week, on my side of the building, but, with nothing happening today, I have my doubts.
Meanwhile…
I’m working on a sermon for 19 July. I’ve been given the freedom to choose the topic and so I’ve chosen a few verses from The Book of Job. They caught my attention a few weeks ago when I was reading there. In his agony and in the face of discomforting advice from his so-called friends, Job longed for someone to defend and vindicate him. What he wanted is what we have in Jesus, someone who is able to put his an arm around both God and us and reconcile us. Also, when we’re being accused by the arch-deceiver, Jesus pleads our case and shows the wounds that won our freedom from condemnation and judgment.
Is this the first song to ever mention algorithms?
Nothing is real/ your mother’s a program/ you’re losing your mind/ true love is binary/ beauty’s a lie/ I don’t mind/ how could I?
Nothing is real/ open your heart/ all that you feel is coded/ imprisoned in pixels and algorithms/ Nothing is real/ the wind isn’t blowing/ the sun doesn’t shine… The Milk Carton Kids
This comes from one of the songs penned in the midst of a marriage breakdown, when nothing must have seemed real. Have you ever known that feeling, that heartbreak, and found yourself trying to kid yourself it’s just a bad dream?
Creation observation – from N. D. Wilson
Rumour has it that most normal men send at least eight million ‘forward swimming’ sperm looking for an egg every sexual act. Therefore, your chances of being here were about one out of eight million. Funny. Those were my odds too. What are the chances of us both being here? One out of sixty-four trillion…
We are a world of lottery winners. For every one of us here right now, there were at least 7,999,999 losers. They don’t even know how almost they were. From Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl
No fluke
An easy deliciously moist vegan chocolate cake
1) Heat the oven to 160ÑC. Line a 20 x 20 baking dish/cake tin – with baking paper.
2) Combine and whisk 1¼ cups of plain flour, ¾ cup of raw sugar, 1/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder, ¾ teaspoon of baking soda, ½ teaspoon of salt.
3) Add 1 cup of water, 1/3 cup of canola oil, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and a teaspoon of cider vinegar. Whisk until it’s all blended with no lumps.
4) Optional add-ins: chocolate chips, raisins, glace ginger, and/or walnuts.
5) Bake until a chopstick/toothpick comes out mostly clean – 28-33 minutes.
6) Cool. Cut into squares. Great solo or with a dollop of yoghurt or ice-cream.
By the way
My grandson, aka Golden Vessel, has released a new track: midwest. It’s the first recording for his own label: sumoclic, and the first song from a new album to be titled colt. Take a look at… https://youtu.be/WmsvhQNuOE
In My Life 