Suppers

i remember "supper" as a feature of my childhood and up into my adult life, maybe my late twenties?
In those days there was an evening church service which would finish around 8.15pm and mum and dad would invite friends for supper, or we would be invited or, when I was old enough for youth group, the group would go to somebody's house or to a local coffee shop. The coffee shop which was frequented by many youth groups around the area was called "yummys" and the shop with distinctive arched windows is still there, now selling yeeros and called "Gyradiko"
Sundays meals were turned on their heads compared to the rest of the week, the main meal in the middle of the day, something light pre-church (this would be eaten around 5pm) and then supper might have made it to the table by 8.45 or 9pm.
These post - church affairs were usually a pretty good spread made up of sausage rolls, cheese toast, crumpets, cakes, pikelets, cheese & crackers and who can forget the old cob loaf which is enjoying a resurgence? For youth suppers, girls were to bring a plate of food and boys a bottle of drink. Such a sexist rule but unquestioned at t he time.
I know that my mum & dad used to have supper of something like Milo and a piece of cake every night, sometime after us kids had gone to bed.
I was just thinking about all of this recently. Was this a tradition which started to keep people fed when church times clashed with normal meal times or did people in the wider community invite people to socialise over a post-dinner buffet? Does anyone still eat supper? Do any of my readers remember this kind of arrangement? What did you eat? when did it fall out of fashion?
Tell me your thoughts!

Random musings

It's cold here this morning and  I have set the day, or at least a chunk of it, aside for study which doesn't do much to help a person stay warm so very unusually for me, the heater has been turned on and my wheat bag is having regular little bursts in the microwave. It sits on my legs and I warm my hands on it.
Harry is locked in because who has the door open when it's 8° out? He hasn't eaten his breakfast, maybe he's leaving it to warm up in the weak sun. He'll go hungry at that rate.

I am not required at work on Wednesdays but as I'm the only person on-site in these times of so much working from  home,  have been going n most Wednesdays, just to keep an eye on everything. Yesterday I made sure there was nothing outstanding and committed to a day at home. Just now the Flick lady who changes sanitary bins phoned me to find out if anyone would be able to allow her access and we organised a time tomorrow. There really is something happening all the time,  not much, just enough to need a person there.

Caitlin and I have recently enjoyed "Pulse" on Netflix. It is an ABC production so it must have been free-to-air here at some point but I missed it. What happened to the days when everyone was forced to watch the same small selection at any particular day and time? I feel like there was a lot more community in that way of watching: the sharing of highlights in the lunch room next day and the little flash of excitement when you met someone who was watching the same show. Even when VHS tapes came along and we could watch at a time which suited, we were still locked into the same programming.
Having finished "Pulse", which I recommend by the way, I'm now watching "Indian Matchmaker" It's fascinating and I love the matchmaker. She goes all out to provide a good service but she's also brutally blunt about the self centredness and immaturity of some clients. I want to high five her.

Covid has this week come closer than before, the groundsman at work visited the centre of the Bateman's Bay cluster and is required to self isolate. It's not really a close call because I don't see him much and he hasn't been diagnosed, but it does illustrate how the virus is never so far away.

Now I have to go and write an order of service for a naming ceremony, my first attempt lacked detail. I also need to nut out a written statement of faith, in lay persons language. It will take some real thought to articulate that.

Science and Theology

In my chaplaincy class yesterday we were given some real life scenarios which have been encountered by the teacher and asked to discuss how we might respond to the client. As an aid to our thinking we were asked to consider the issue from a variety of view points: what does the bible say? the client? client family and friends? our own take on it and a scientific view, if there is one applicable.

At one point a classmate chimed in with "it doesn't matter about the scientists, they are all secular anyway"

Hoo boy, was that a red rag to a bull!

Number 1: I'm science trained and she just put me in a basket she knows nothing about. She also dismissed an entire community of people and a whole raft of knowledge.

Number 2: I bet she likes scientists when they are inventing convenient technologies or saving her life

What angered me most though, is that this woman who professes belief in God as creator and therefore in perfect design, was prepared to dismiss the entire area of study which helps us to understand the world. 

In my way of thinking, science helps to confirm the existence of a great designer. If we follow this way of thinking, we can't dismiss science when it doesn't suit us, we have to integrate the science into our theology.

I didn't get to say anything in response, my mic was muted and by the time I could have turned it on the class had moved on. I won't be forgetting it though.

I have a feeling I am going to be lobbing some philosophical grenades in class. Someone's gotta do it.