Little notes from Heather and Martin

Sarah recently got a kitten, a wee boy named Shadow.  Today he was outside when Martin and I were blowing bubbles....









He jumped for them a few times, tried to pounce them, seemed confused when they kept on disappearing, and generally was a heap of fun to watch :-)

A friend recently drew this to my attention.  I found instructive the maps of:
where Google streetview is available (map 1),how much maternity leave is available in different countries (map 6),global population density (map 12) andalcohol consumption (map 14 - look where NZ ranks!) and the maps of where MacDonalds operates (map 5) and of the longest straight line you can sail in the world (map 38) were just plain interesting :-)

Martin and I are currently reading the Old Testament book of Ezekiel.  Two recent chapters have really struck me.

Ezekiel 16 is an extended metaphor of God's relationship with Israel.  God describes how, when he found her, Israel was rejected and weak - like a newborn baby that no one was bothering to take care of.  He took care of her, then later married her and gave her riches.  In response, she rejected him: she gave the gifts he'd given her to other men (i.e. offered them to idols - idolatory seems to be a huge theme in Ezekiel) and was as promiscuous as a prostitute.

The chapter is full of pain and anger.  God is no dispassionate force here: he is a person.  Rejection hurts him.  His wife taking other lovers makes him jealous and angry.

Then a few days later we came across Ezekiel 20, which starts like this:
In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain elders of Israel came to consult the Lord, and sat down before me. And the word of the L…