Pride and Prejudice 2005

Recently, at a dinner with Christian friends, a comment was made: 'easy to get, easy to lose', 'hard to get, hard to lose' (in the realm of people's relationships). It was more of a joke but the discussion turned to whether it was ok for someone to be keen for a long time on someone else, basically saying that the time and effort was worth it because the person was special. There was a bit of discussion about the merit of this and during the discussion one person said "But what if she is out of his league?, even if he got her, he would be forever trying not to lose her."
This is the comment that I would like to comment on in this post.

The book 'Pride and Prejudice' is set in a time and place where people's social class divided them. You had a place in society basically based on your parent's wealth and you were to choose someone to marry from amongst your 'equals'. The people richer than you were considered your 'betters'. If a rich man asked a poorer woman to marry him it was a very strange thing indeed.
The main character, Lizzy, flies in the face of convention when the richest man in town, Mr Darcy proposes to her and she rejects him. The trouble of course is that in his pride he thinks of Lizzy as less than him, and of course would marry him because he was 'better' than her.
Today, it's not like days of yore. People are so rich (comparatively) that someones status is not often taken into account. However, there still seems to be some kind of 'class system' in our world, and sometimes more unfortunately, our Christian circles. Obviously the lines are not as clear cut as they used to be, but they are still there, just taking different forms. Things like confidence and good looks have taken over from wealth and status. People are still seeking security, it is just in different ways.
What are you saying when you say "they are out of so-and-so's league"? I take it that you are saying that one person is not good enough for the other. Just as someone in Lizzy's day could have said the same thing, but had different reasons in mind, the overall idea is the same.
Frankly I think this is a crap way to think about your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. It is clear from what the bible says that all Christians are equal in God's eyes and we should see people as God sees them. If you as the like-er, feel like the like-ee is out of your league, you are just as wrong as the like-ee saying that they are out of the like-er's league. You are equal in Christ and no person is better than another.
If you arent interested in someone of the opposite sex for whatever reason, fair enough, nothing wrong with that, but to walk around saying stuff like 'I am out of their league' promotes an unhealthy way of thinking that just isnt Christ-like.

The system is really down!

Alright, I thought email was bad before. Our computer system had some serious issues the last couple of days. Monday midday all of a sudden we had no email, no internet and no printing from all computers. It has just come back on a few minutes ago. Hooray for tech dudes.
Having email again is cool but I promised myself I was going to go for a walk down to the beach for some exercise during lunch. So, cant write any more.
Later.

Stuff

Over the last few weeks I have had a bit of a chance to think about stuff.
Since being told by rob that he didnt think I was suitable to do mts at this point in life I have had a chance to think about my options and so on. I think the most likely scenario is that I work for the next 2 years or so and then go straight to bible college (SMBC preferably). As I am now 27, I dont think I should wait 2 years, then do MTS, then go to college. One reason for this is that MTS is supposed to give you opportiunities to see what full time ministry is like and try your hand at various church type things. Well, at the moment at church I pretty much do exactly the same as Mark (of course he does other things outside of church for ECU) except preaching, and he is doing MTS, so I dont need to do it from that perspective. The other thing is that I would be in a far better financial position starting bible college this way.
So, between now and then I am thinking of changing jobs. Where to and all that stuff well I dont know. I have an option to stay at Dad's house in Sutherland for a year on the cheap. However, I also just applied for a 6 month contract (with option to carry on if it works out) working in North Queensland. It would be for about $45/hour and the flight up and 6 months worth of accommodation would be paid for! Pretty good and would be great to see more of Australia and save up some cash. There are lots of other options too like working in Sydney etc but I will see where God leads me.
Speaking of bible college, the question would be for how long and why. I think I would like to either go overseas or bush Australia possibly working as an engineer. Where and how and all those questions, would of course need to be worked out as they come up. With that in mind maybe I should plan to only do 1 year at college. If people at college think I should do more, I am happy to be convinced in that direction...
The trouble with doing stuff like that (overseas/bush) is that it would have a good go at making you give up due to loneliness. I think that putting conditions on God (such as "I will do this if you bless me with a wife") is totally dumb. However I also think you need to be realistic about the sort of person you are and what you can achieve in the situation you are in.
I guess we will see what happens...

Holiday Summary

Alright, I should be writing responses to people's emails but I need to also finalise the holiday in the form of a summary.
The holiday was great. No question. Thanks heaps to God for keeping me safe and fed and interested and not lonely.
When I set out, I thought "I can sleep in the back of my car for free". Now this is a true statement, however, to be able to use essential facilities such as shower and toilet, you need to stay at a caravan park, minimum. They cost roughly between $10-$20 a night and extra people are about $10 per person on top of that. Since I was staying at caravan parks, you get space to put up the tent, so why not. There is something cool about sleeping in the back of the car (it was pretty comfy and warm) but you have stacks more space in the tent. It's a pretty big tent and it still only took me 15mins to put it up by myself. Also, most of the time, in your caravan park fees, the use of the BBQ's they have there is often complimentary.
I hadnt thought all this through and so spend a fair bit of cash on counter dinners at local pubs and paid a fair bit for lunch each day.
With all this in mind, the far cheaper option would have been to bring cooking equipment etc. buy all food at Woollies (or safeway as it is called in Vic and SA) and keep it in an esky.
Of course the other thing I will do differently next time is go with some friends. Going it alone was cool and beneficial, however if I wasnt doing interesting stuff I would have felt lonely a bit. With friends you dont really have to be doing anything, you can just kick around and enjoy their company. It is also cool to have some people to share the cool stuff you enjoy along the way. I took lots of photos while I was away but it's not the same.

Summary of the Summary:
Next time, staying at caravan parks on the cheap and having friends with is the way to go. I think a system of driving to somewhere, camping overnight, spending the next day in and around the place you are staying at, then moving on to drive for the day after that (essentially moving at half pace)would be good.
These things are just the 'fine tuning' things.
Overall the holiday was awesome and lots of fun. Since the furthest west I had been was Wagga Wagga and the furthest south I had been (apart from last years trip to Tas) was Merimbula, I certainly expanded my horizons.
For the benefit of those planning a similar trip, here are some vital statistics:
Total K's driven = 4000 (well 3997.2, 400kms from Wagga to Wollongong)
Average k's per day = 400
Total cost of fuel= $500 (I lost the reciepts but that's close enough)
Total cost of food and accommodation = $400
I got to do all that for less than the cost of a plane ticket somewhere!
Thanks heaps to God who has provided everything I need. Most of all thanks for Jesus death and Ressurrection.