Celia, Author at

Who do you work for?

in Thoughts by Celia 31/07/201931/07/2019 0 comments

You are to have no other gods before me. You are not to make for yourselves a carved image or any kind of representation of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath or on the water below the shoreline. You are not to bow down to them or serve them; for I, ADONAI, your God, am a jealous God…

Exodus 20: 3-5a Complete Jewish Bible

It appears there is some recessive gene in my family, which expresses itself as you get older and makes you very interested in Hebrew word definitions.

It is disconcerting to be turning into older relatives in ways I did not expect but I am glad for it because it lights up the Bible in a whole new way.

The word translated ‘serve’ in the Ten Commandments above is the Hebrew abad which means “to work or serve”.

It is first used in Genesis 2 when humans are told to abad the Garden of Eden. (Genesis 2:5,15)

by: Celia

Tricky Question of Power

in Thoughts by Celia 26/06/201926/06/2019 0 comments

I have found myself thinking a lot about the situation around Israel Folau.

A lot of the debate around what has happened seems a bit reductive and seems to boil down to do I personally agree with him or not?

However there is, of course, a lot more going on.

by: Celia

Streams in the Desert

in Thoughts by Celia 22/05/201922/05/2019 0 comments

¹See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
The wild animals honor me,
the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen

the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise. Isaiah 43: 19-21

So it rained properly in Alice Springs last weekend. For the first time in a long time.

When I lived in a city, rain was a bit of a nuisance. It made it harder to get places and do things.

Here in Alice it is a major event.

by: Celia

Too Deep to Stand

in Thoughts by Celia 17/04/201917/04/2019 0 comments

When my nephew first arrived in Australia he wasn’t used to the sea. It was cold and full of mysterious and frightening things – slimy sea weed and fish and spiky anemones and seals. He refused to go in.

That was a few years back. Now he is six.

by: Celia

Blessed are the poor for theirs is the kingdom of heaven?

in Thoughts by Celia 06/03/201907/03/2019 0 comments

He is a bloke I knew from a soup kitchen once.

He changed his name by deed poll to show his concern for the environment. For the sake of anonymity I will call him N.

When he found out I had been overseas to visit family he gently chided me for the effect on the environment of the plane travel.

One night, to save electricity, he turned everything off at the power point when we left, including the fridge which held four shelves of frozen soup.