Happy birthday, Dad and Mozart!

Yesterday was my father's 94th birthday which he shared with MOZART born 250 years ago. Unfortunately, Dad's last birthday was his 54th as he died nearly 40 years ago. Funny, after all these years I never realised the two shared the same birthday. Yesterday I played a CD of Mozart to celebrate and then turned on to ABC Classif FM because I thought there might be more Mozart. Would you believe, it was playing exactly the same piece on the CD from his Piano Concerto No 21. My favourite Mozart piece in his Clarinet in A.

Deeeeeeepression?

Yesterday, Dr Geoff Gallop, Premier of Western Australia for the last 5 years, retired from politics, citing Depression.

It recalled for me my own on-going struggle in managing this debilitating disorder I've had for the best part of my 66 years, and my premature retirement from full-time parish ministry in August 1982.

Depression affects some time or another about one person in five.
There are different kinds and expressions of Depression.
Does this make any sense to you?

Forty four degrees in Ryde, NSW

Yesterday was the hottest I experienced since I arrived in the city of Ryde, just west of Sydney, early in 1990. After church, I spent the rest of the day in close contact with a faithful electric fan until I retired to bed to spend the night spread-eagled like an expiring star-fish. I never knew air could be so hot. I thought of those who have limited excess to power and water supplies and wonder what will happen as climate change continues and climate change affects and limits all our lives.

We really must find ways of being better stewards with the resources we have, for we can never take energy for granted and need to explore and invest in suitable alternative energy resources like solar energy, for example before we run out of oil.

When it is 44 degrees one can do little but think, and drain my late father-in-law's Warragamba Dam just that little bit more.

What is a good memorial?

I attended a funeral on Friday. I long to say at funerals that the best way to honour some one dear who has left us is for each of us to take personally on board even but one quality of that person, so that when our turn comes, some one else will take some quality of ours as their own. In this way, the qualities we need for the survival of good character on the face of this God's earth will flourish in the face of everything ranged against it.