Pop Quiz, Hotshot

Ok, break out your imagination berets, kiddies. Moral dilemma-a-coming up.

You are an army officer, and it is wartime. You have been disconnected from any of your men, superior or subordinate. You are lost in the battlefield with no contact, radio or otherwise, with any friendly combatants. However, in your struggles to survive, you have managed to meet up with and stick with five or six other soldiers, all standard privates or corporals, with very little to no training in navigation or leadership whatsoever. They were stranded, hiding out in a mismatch of foxholes and dugouts, with no idea what to do or where to go. You know none of this ragtag bunch of troops, but being the highest in rank, you are now their leader. Their ticket to survival. As you trek across the wartorn landscape, your motley crew comes under assault. Shouting out quick orders, you pull your newfound buddies into a large crater, one that must've been made by a piece of artillery. It is deep, with a high lip towards your attackers: perfect cover. Your troops hit the side and begin to return fire. Hanging back a little from the firing line, you gauge the action in order to be able to make the best use of the soldiers under your command; you want to win this engagement, but most of all, you want to survive. All of a sudden, there is major problem.

A grenade has been tossed right into your position. Your men miss it, but you see it fly in. From your training, you know it is close enough to render all inhabitants of the crater dead or dying upon explosion. You have less than a second to act. You have three options.
1. Die, along with all your troops.
2. Throw yourself upon the grenade. Your training has also taught you that if the explosion is muffled by a human body, there is an extremely high likelihood that any others within a normal "dead zone" proximity will survive.
3. Grab the nearest soldier, whoever he or she may be, and throw them on the grenade, sacrificing them for the others.

If you choose option 1, you are all dead. If you choose option 2, you are dead, and this bunch of soldiers who were relying on you to survive are left all alone, nobody to lead them. They will likely be either killed or captured without a competent officer to lead them. Lost, confused and with no idea, you may have only spared their lives temporarily. If you choose 3, you are able to lead the soldiers onwards, possibly to survival, but at the expense of one of the group. His or her blood will be on your hands: for good or bad, you ended their life. This soldier, who you knew nothing about, will have their life, their dreams, their hopes, their loves all ended with your action of leadership.

What do you do? For my Christian friends out there, take into account your faith. What do you think God would have you do?

-Sean-

I wonder...

Do the Chinese people have scrabble?

-Pb.

When Best Friends Collide

Welcome!
I got my mum a cute little sign for Christmas from a homewares store. It says "Relatives by appointment, Friends welcome".

I am so blessed. I can look around me at any given time and count innumerable things that God has given to me: food on my table, good health, the ability to be educated, a free nation, among many others. But one of the things that blows me away the most is the friends I have. They say that you cannot choose your family, but can choose your friends, and it's very true. I like to think that it works the other way too: your friends chose you. My friends, chose me. They chose me. How I've ended up with such people for whom I would do anything and everything possible to ensure the wellbeing, safety and continued blessing of, and they for me. The love involved is astonishing. I love these people, I would dare say that I would die for them, because God says "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends". I like to believe that I would do that (but I sure hope it never has to be put to the test!) because these guys and girls are the world to me. The little events that led to me meeting, befriending and forming relationships with my mates are all evidence of God's master plan for us all, and proof of His boundless love for us. This post is a brief tribute to the God-given gifts my friends are.

My Best Mate

The main man himself, Ryyarn. My comrade, you rock. I cannot picture a better person to be my brother-in-arms for the rest of my earthly life. I love ya mate. May your life be as blessed by me as mine is by you.

The Breadtangle (The Supertiph, Lerchy)

"By yourself you're unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn't easily snapped" (Ecclesiastes 4v12, The Message). There ain't no nacho-loving, joke cracking pair of loonies that could possibly replace the preceptor and pet iguana. Breadtangle for life! I love you guys. Now who wants nachos?

The Boys (George, Carl, Lerchy, Ryan)

If when we grow up fellas, we have nights out "with the boys", you four are gonna be my "the boys". Through thick and thin, stick and stone I can see us holding out. Sure, life and God is gonna call us different ways no doubt, but regardless, you will always be the original "the boys" in my eyes. I love you boys. Deal with it.

The Centenary Connection Girls (Kirsty, Lisa, Sara, Kat)

Ain't much here to say except that each one of you rules like nobody else can. The long talks and conversations and whatnots that I have had the extreme joy to share with you all, the hours of laughing, the stupid plans, the hanging out, the humourous exchange of gifts at birthdays and Christmas...I love you girls. Friends till the end? I hope and believe so.

One80-Goers (Anybody and everybody)

It is everybody who ever has been and ever will go to One80 who made that place a second home to me. The community, the mateship, the crazy dares...nothing can match that in life. I hold all memories of One80 close to me, and will for always. I love you all.

Anybody else who is my friend, you rock too. Same goes for families of friends who put up with me, friends of friends, and pretty much anybody who is cool in my books. I could list some, but that means I'll leave some out so 'til next time, transmission end.

Ponybutt.

The Time Has Come, The Walrus Said

To talk of many things,
of shoes and ships
and ceilingwax
Of cabbages and kings!

Well, if you didn't know by now, I'm officially enrolled into Griffith University. I am doing the course with what may possibly be the longest title, EVER.

Bachelor of Human Services/Bachelor of Arts in Criminology & Criminal Justice.

Basically, I think it's just a mixture of SOSE and legal studies, albeit at a university level as opposed to a high school level. But, still, the first semester or so looks a tad boring, but oh well. Just gotta stick it out for the more interesting stuff later on! I hope to use the qualification that it brings to join either the Queensland Police Service or the Australian Federal Police later on in life, in my early-mid twenties. Pretty crazy.

It's a whole new chapter of life, and I'm looking forward to it a lot. Which is odd, 'cause if you'd asked me anytime up until the last few months of school last year, I would've said "I don't wanna go to uni." Why? Well, the idea of 3-4 MORE years of study didn't appeal much, nor did the debt I'd be in once I finished. I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to go. But all of a sudden one Sunday at church, I just realised in a snap-flash of understanding: I want to be a police officer. So I changed my QTAC junk around, and now I'm on my way!

A new journey in my life is unfolding. What new thing has God got for you this year? Where is he leading you now? Tiph, you are not allowed to answer with the obvious :-P

End.

Musings Pt II

It would seem that George and I are odd.

On New Years Eve, at the little get-together hosted by the ever gracious Byrne family, he and I played totem tennis for about 2 and 1/2 hours in total. During one section, we were talking about what might happen in the future, and this is basically how it ended up. We dunno how far away this is, but it will happen. Just you wait.

<> Mike is the "Supreme Overlord" of the world, having conquered it using George's sisters as his armies.
<> George is his second-in-command. But Grace will soon knock him off and take his place.
<> I have been sent to a Siberian labour camp by Mike for failing to use the telephone password when calling him.
<> There have been at least 8 world wars. Number 7 was started by the internet, indirectly. New Zealand wanted better internet services, so they declared war on the whole world. Everybody immediately surrendered 'cause they couldn't be stuffed annihilating the kiwis. Nothing has changed, except for the fact that the kiwis reckon they totally p-owned the world.
<> The evolution of the motor car has been reversed: all the old cars are coming back, as stylish, cool, unreliable and unsafe as ever.
<> Like in Back To The Future, games and pasttimes that require the use of your hands are considered old hat.
<> Black & white TV makes a comeback.
<> Everybody must obey the new rules of speaking, which are as follows:
<> The words "Didi Mau" must be said between EVERY syllable of every word. Their old Vietnamese meaning of "Hurry up" or "Work faster" or whatever it was has been forgotten over time, and now means "Mike Rules". It is the new equivalent of "Heil Hitler" or something.
<> All words must be sung.
<> All speaking must rhyme.
<> At the end of every sentence, one must say "STOP", as per how it was in telegrams early 20th century style.
<> All the above done in an arabic/greek accent.
<> OR ELSE.

So yeah. I look forward to seeing you all in the future, twisted or not!

- Sean