Sunburnt Suburbia

Is war gaming Christian?

 

I like playing tabletop war games. I find playing the role of a leader in battle interesting, and the way a game tries to simulate the important aspects of the 'real world' really sparks my imagination. However, I also try to be a Christian. Jesus did not agree with violence as a solution to conflict between peoples. Matthew 5:39 and Matthew 19:19 provide just two examples of a consistent theme. So I worry about being a hypocrite.

This leads to the question - does playing war games mean that I agree with war? It is always easy to provide a logical sounding justification for an emotional preference, so any answer to this question will have bias. A game and real war however, are not the same thing.

I know that I am against proactive war. In February 2003 we marched in London against the war in Iraq, and I still think that military force in Afghanistan and Iraq was wrong. I do think that war against an illegal invasion, or to prevent use of state military forces to murder civilians has a stronger justification. 

Playing a war game reminds me that war does cause injury and death. The game becomes a form of remembrance, which does have value. Not remembering history does doom us to repeat it. 

In the end though, war games do provide me lots of enjoyment, more than abstract games like Go or Bridge. Part of a Christian life is joyful play, and that is what war games are - as simple as that. 

Another brush with kindness

Last Saturday we went out past Narbethong to help a woman do more clean up after the Black Saturday bush fires. Habitat for Humanity organised the day. We cut down a hazelnut orchard that the fires had killed, and cut into firewood a large gum that had also been killed. 40 people came out, all to help one person deal with the aftermath of disaster.

It is now 2 and a half years since the bush fires, but Pam still has some time to pass before she can rebuild her house. Standing in the setting sun brought on stories of recovery, and how it was not going well. It appears that for many, things do not go well. It sounds like the risk adverse bureaucracies plan to avoid future disasters by depopulating the area. They make the permits necessary for rebuilding so difficult to get that many just give up and move on. 

Queen's Birthday Holiday

Campbell and Melissa invited us to their beach house for the Queens Birthday long weekend. Unusually for all of us, we had a particularly ad-hoc time. We just let things happen at the relaxed pace, and were thankful for the nice weather, nice food and nice wine. 

The warm, sunny winter weather encouraged us to sit in the sun and look out over the sea. Melissa said that if she was asked what she did in the weekend, she would say eating. We did however fit in some weeding in the garden, 3 sets of tennis, some walks along beaches, a 4-hour trip on Campbell's boat to get a beer, two games of CrossFire, and two action movies. 

Wine tasting embarrassment

Last night we had a wine tasting dinner party. We had six finalists from the Cellarmasters 'Wine of the Year" competition to try. Campbell, Melissa, Kate and Michael came along to participate - the same group of friends as last year. 

Some of us tried to pick the grape varieties and describe the wines with precision. Others just decided which they liked. And others just decided to enjoy them. I tried to pick the grape varieties, and got most of them wrong. But so did all of us trying to do this, so the embarrassment was shared. 

Family gallery crawl

With Bryony making her home in a shared house, and Callum busy with his own social life, family activities now occur only rarely. We needed a family dinner to celebrate Susan's new job, so Bryony suggested a day in Prahran looking at commercial art galleries. She needed to visit some galleries for an assignment, and persuaded me that it would be a good experience. So last Saturday we dressed up a little and went off to trendy Prahran.

Our first gallery was rtist, a new space in a trendy part of town. Apart from one artist, who's name I cannot remember, the works were well-crafted clichés. There was no outstanding originality or distinctive style. 

Next was Helen Gory Galerie. This gallery contained some memorable works. We saw still-lifes by Morgan Allender. I did like her paintings, even if I found them too nostalgic. Ms Allender's paintings sit in almost timeless past - any point in the last 400 years - but certainly not the future. The subject hails from Flemish 17th century works, and the style reminiscent of late Impressionism, with touches of surrealism. 

Our lunch was yum-cha at Hutong Dumpling Bar, based on a recommendation taken directly from the Cheap Eats iPhone application. We had a great meal and a great time. God has blessed us with fantastic children. 

After lunch Bryony jumped at the opportunity of a private tour around the art works in the Cullen Hotel, named after the works of Adam Cullen it contains. They have lots of prints and some originals. I didn't know anything about Adam Cullen before the tour - now I like his works. He reminds me a lot of Brett Whitely, though I think Adam has more discipline and commercial savvy. 

We finished our gallery crawl at Anna Papas Gallery. Downstairs were some sculptures in wood and aluminium. Upstairs were prints comprising two layers of translucent paper with cut-outs in the top layer. The technique interested me; the abstract images bored me. 

We had a special day together, and I thank Bryony for organising it.