Wh - a - - t?

I used to be Dead is on Amazon: My novel about the naughty and funny daughter of Jairus the Synagogue official in Capernaum is out now. It hit No:1 and 2 in its categories in its first week and is getting nice reviews too. You don't even need a Kindle device to read it. You can open it in iPads and iPhones with the Kindle App which is free in the iTunes Store. Get it and come back to the page to record your review.

If you've received this from a friend, you can subscribe at my web site for free. Click on the big Stay in Touch box when you get there. Stuff happens Am I right about this? The bottom drops out of our basket and we fall out. Some of us have this debilitating tendency more than others but I think I am right in saying most of us have it. When things don't work out, we have great difficulty in seeing the good in it. I do. I admit it. I go down like a cast iron jet. No-one plans for 'stuff' Demand for our product wanes, a competitor comes into the market with lower prices, our business folds, we get laid off, we don't get the price we wanted for the home or car we sold, a child departs from the ways in which he or she was brought up, our child does something dreadful, our spouse does something dreadful, we emigrate and spend the next 30 years recovering, our parents become senile and dependent, our Pastor shacks up with the music leader, we run out of savings, Labor gets back in and Collingwood wins the 2013 Grand Final. And these are only the external disappointments. There is an entire mountain range of personal mistakes to regret. We didn't plan any of it. In fact, we had glorious hope for the exact opposite in every single case. We really did. We genuinely planned and hoped, believed and prayed for it. Consider Moses Yesterday in church we had a lesson about the end of Moses' life. It's pretty rough. For doing his lolly one day when God told him to speak to the rock in the desert to get it to give the Israelites water and whacking it instead, and giving everyone a mouthful of abuse in the process, God told him he would never enter the Land of Promise. Not only that, but (nothing to do with Moses) the people he had brought there would soon go off the rails and behave like pagans. So he died knowing that he had spent his life doing everything he could to get a homeland for himself and the Israelites and it was in effect, a fizzer. How far down would your cast iron jet have taken you, if you'd had that news? However ... Here's what has happened since. Moses has been known to three enormous religions as one of the Great Prohets He's known to many nations as the ultimate law giver and leader. His laws have become the basis of civilised living. His miracles are astounding. People have sung his praises for three thousand years for his courage, patience, wisdom, determination. Moses got to stand on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus , the Son of God, right in the land of Canaan/Palestine/Israel. From Moses's faith, billions have some to know God. So? So, it's never over, until it's over is it? Did you think that just because you hoped for something it was your right to have it? That's as silly and sad as a five year old wishing she'll grow fairly wings. Persevere. Wait until the end of time to read the last chapter, not just the end of your days. Endure. Plough on, one foot up and one foot down. Who knows what the family, your friends, even the historians will say of your perseverance? Anyway — To infinity and beyond. Live long and prosper. Colin Pearce

Stuff happens

Am I right about this? 

The bottom drops out of our basket and we fall out.

Some of us have this debilitating tendency more than others but I think I am right in saying most of us have it.

When things don't work out, we have great difficulty in seeing the good in it.

I do.

I admit it.

I go down like a cast iron jet. 

No-one plans for 'stuff'

Demand for our product wanes, a competitor comes into the market with lower prices, our business folds, we get laid off, we don't get the price we wanted for the home or car we sold, a child departs from the ways in which he or she was brought up, our child does something dreadful, our spouse does something dreadful, we emigrate and spend the next 30 years recovering, our parents become senile and dependent, our Pastor shacks up with the music leader, we run out of savings, Labor gets back in and Collingwood wins the 2013 Grand Final.  

And these are only the external disappointments. There is an entire mountain range of personal mistakes to regret.

We didn't plan any of it. In fact, we had glorious hope for the exact opposite in every single case. We really did. We genuinely planned and hoped, believed and prayed for it.

Consider Moses

Yesterday in church we had a lesson about the end of Moses' life. It's pretty rough. For doing his lolly one day when God told him to speak to the rock in the desert to get it to give the Israelites water and whacking it instead, and giving everyone a mouthful of abuse in the process, God told him he would never enter the Land of Promise. Not only that, but (nothing to do with Moses) the people he had brought there would soon go off the rails and behave like pagans. So he died knowing that he had spent his life doing everything he could to get a homeland for himself and the Israelites and it was in effect, a fizzer.

How far down would your cast iron jet have taken you, if you'd had that news?

However ...

Here's what has happened since.

Moses has been known to three enormous religions as one of the Great Prohets

He's known to many nations as the ultimate law giver and leader.

His laws have become the basis of civilised living.

His miracles are astounding.

People have sung his praises for three thousand years for his courage, patience, wisdom, determination.

Moses got to stand on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus , the Son of God, right in the land of Canaan/Palestine/Israel.

From Moses's faith, billions have some to know God.

So?

So, it's never over, until it's over is it?

Did you think that just because you hoped for something it was your right to have it?

That's as silly and sad as a five year old wishing she'll grow fairly wings.

Persevere.

Wait until the end of time to read the last chapter, not just the end of your days.

Endure.

Plough on, one foot up and one foot down. 

Who knows what the family, your friends, even the historians will say of your perseverance?

Anyway —

To infinity and beyond.

Live long and prosper.

Colin Pearce