When authorities clash. Issues with submission.

Do not give money to beggars. They are a public safety risk.

Do not give money to beggars. They are a public safety risk.

Do not give money to beggars. They are a public safety risk.

This message was broadcast over the loudspeakers at Melbourne Central the other day, and I was horrified. What does this say about our society when we can't even give money to beggars?

I wasn't happy because giving to the poor is something my God commanded me to do, and it's something I enjoy doing as well. Arguments against it are, "Yeah, but they'll just spend it on drugs." God never told us to judge whether or not we should give based on what they were probably going to do with that gift. He quite simply told us to give.

If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. Deuteronomy 15:7,11

He who despises his neighbor sins,but blessed is he who is kind to the needy. Proverbs 14:21

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:17-18

These are just a few of the many, many verses about giving to the needy in the bible. The verses on giving cover a number of things, such as the blessings that come with giving, the fact that if you listen to those who cry out in need God in turn will listen to you, and that it is sinful to ignore the cries of the needy. Not once in the Bible does it say, "Give to the needy unless you know they're going to abuse what you give to them" or "Only give to people who don't look like they could be a public danger". We were called to give, not judge then give.

So in my heart I decided that I would give to beggars if they approached me at the station, in obedience to what Jesus commanded. And then later I realised that to do this while knowing my actions went against the authorities at the station was as much as sin to God as ignoring the poor was.

What to do? What to do?

I cannot compromise on God's Word. Therefore, I must submit to authorities unless they contradict God. In this case the authorities went against God's commands, so I feel quite justified in still giving to the poor. And yet I don't want to rebel either. Is there a way to obey God in both without compromising either of God's commands?

Solution? The thing is, giving doesn't necessarily have to be a monetary gift. I can still give, in obedience to God and love to others, while submitting to the authorities God has placed in my life.

So next time, rather than give a beggar money, maybe I'll buy them a cheeseburger =)

My newest entertainment

There's this cool little button, at the top of the blog, that says, "Next blog". So you click it and it takes you to someone else's blog. It's really fun! I'm serious. And it seems to pick the next blog based on common tags with the blog you're currently on. Here are some cool things I have noticed:

a. Clicking "Next blog" from my blog or Sam's usually leads to a mass of Christian family blogs (this makes sense coming from Sam's blog... but mine?). Eventually the Christian family blogs peter out into just family blogs, then to crafty blogs and then to some seemingly random blog theme (like outdoor adventures).

b. Once, the theme went from Christian family blogs (x lots), to family blogs (x many), to Spanish blogs (x 3ish) to Spanish football blogs (x 1 million... I got bored and quit long before the theme changed).

c. Both Christian and non-Christian families alike tend to have a son called Cooper.

d. Cooper usually has a brother called Jack.

e. If I have kids I will not be calling them Cooper or Jack. I'm not sure if I'll even start a blog for them (kids should make their own blogs, I say! Slackers).

f. A lot of family blogs have a countdown for when the next baby is due. This freaks me out, because the countdown looks like some alien floating in the vacuum of space. I think it's meant to be the baby. But it's not cute. Embryos are cute.

Cute embryo.


Aliens floating in the vacuum of space are... how to put this delicately... freaky (sorry Sam, I know you want one of these).


People should make a baby countdown with something cute in it, like embryos, or puppies, or maybe your husband... you know. Cute stuff. Not the Alien.

ANYWAY, it's fun to look at people's blogs. It's kind of relaxing, and it's a good substitute for actually updating your own blog. I'm off to click that favourite little button... hee!

It's over. Kind of.

Something significant happened today. Something that should have happened a long time ago. And I was in a foul mood because of several factors:
a. I have been to uni EVERY DAY for over four weeks now, including easter and weekends
b. This excludes the last 2 days because I was sick from medications and then in hospital
c. I still feel sick
d. I have a lot going on that I feel like I'm failing at
e. The person who left has kind of screwed us over several times already and was very much due to go. For someone so desperate to leave she took her sweet time
f. She proceeded to trash the carpet moving her stuff and seemed surprised that I was still expecting her to pay for cleaning
g. Her boyfriend then proceeded to talk condescendingly to me, and I was so angry that I have no idea what he said, nor do I care. I don't have a high opinion of him. And that's fine, cos I believe she looks down on my boy anyways, even though he is way more awesome =P

(and if she reads this that's too bad for her)

I am annoyed.

But anyway, due to my anger and the significant event, I listened to some Eskimo Joe and came across this song that sums up the situation pretty well.

A friend went away to another town
Where you set your watch to the sound of a pound
The first girl I loved soon followed it seemed
And when the second one went we were choosing teams
She got hers and I got mine
But somehow everybody seem to get on fine
But we were losing friends over love
Losing friends over love

When I went out just the other night
I said, "Put your hands up, cause we're gonna fight"
But who am I to act so tough
When I learn so little
And forget so much?
Now the heart will break when it hits the ground
So wake up little girl you're a woman now
But we were losing friends over love
Losing friends over love
We were losing friends over love
Losing friends over love

Alright now

Some move forward and some move back
Some buy a ticket and don't come back
How did everything go wrong?
We all just try to carry on
Some grow up and some fall down
Some buy a ticket and leave this town
How did everything go wrong?
We all just try to carry on

No one says a word but their lips are poised
But everyone's got an opinion of course
And we were losing friends over love
Losing friends over love
All the stupid things you do at night
When you been up for three days
And you're so uptight
And we where losing friends over love
Losing friends over love

She could run away to London
She could run overseas
And go round in another town
It all seems the same to me

Alright now

I'm tired of trying to being the nice mouse. I'm not nice. And it wasn't my love that lost friends.

Poetry and pictures on public transport

Today I was travelling to Flinders Street, because that's where teenagers like to hang out. On the train I experienced the awful horror that is "trying to make train travel more cultural by displaying awful artworks". The poems are generally awful, especially any by so-called "poets". The haikus all follow a similar structure of "placing the poem or stating an object/a line describing an action/random supposedly meaningful last line". It's all pretentious and terrible.

Oh, and then there's the children's artwork. This basically consists of an evil looking portrait similar to:

This is followed by the child's age, the title of the picture and Theme: innocence.
Innocence? How is drawing someone who is clearly deranged, dangerous and possibly possessed related to innocence? And then I realised this actually gave new meaning to innocence.

So now,

Innocence: (n) The drawing of something ugly and evil without knowing that it is ugly and evil.

Melbourne's public transport art gives me nightmares.