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Pruned Like an Azalea

Pruned Like an Azalea

I wrote this as a submission piece which was rejected. I’m just publishing it here, ‘cause I can.

When I was younger, around the age of 6 or 7, I was left at home without enough supervision to keep me from wandering into the garden. Not alone, but also in a different time from what we live in today. As with many memories we have of that age, the specifics of the whole are fuzzy, but I had presumably recently seen my Mum pruning back the roses and other plants, because of what I proceeded to do on my own.

There was an azalea out the back, and I must have decided that it too required pruning. I did not understand the reason or the necessity for pruning, but Mum had done it, so I would help out.

Mum came back up the driveway to find this beautiful azalea pruned to within an inch of its life (and very possibly beyond). From what had been a plant easily my height, and probably taller, this poor azalea was now maybe half its original height and very devoid of leaves, not to mention flowers.

Here’s what my Mum said about the azalea;

“…it didn’t look well for a while, but it grew and blossomed more than it had before!”

An even wiser source than my Mum says this about pruning;

“I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He takes away every branch that does not bear fruit in me. He prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it will bear more fruit.”

John 15:1,2

We’ll Always Need Pruning

Here is what the Oxford English Dictionary has to say about pruning;

trim (a tree, shrub, or bush) by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems, especially to encourage growth:

Just like a rose bush needs to be pruned to help it grow, so we do as well. Leave a rose and never prune it, and you will get flowers, but not as many as if you had pruned it, and as time goes by there will be fewer and fewer of them. As with us, we may bloom in the good times, but if we don’t encounter adversity, then we won’t change and grow, and over time we will bloom less and less, eventually dying with a whimper.

One of the Bible’s most inspiring verses is found in Jeremiah in the 11th verse of the 29th chapter.

For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope.

It is a wonderfully affirming verse. It is a verse that has helped countless numbers. God not only has plans for us, but he has plans that will prosper us, ones that will not hurt us, and ones that are filled with hope.

However, immediately prior to this beautiful verse we see the Lord asking Jeremiah to tell the exiled people of Israel that they must spend seventy years in Babylon. Not only that, but in verse 7 the Lord tells the Israelites to work for the good of the city, and to pray for the prosperity of that city. There is no suffering in silence going on here; God tells them not complain at all. This is His plan for them and only at the end of seventy years will He “fulfil [His] gracious promise to [them] and restore [them] to [their] homeland.”

What had the Israelites done wrong to deserve this treatment? And from their own God as well?

But what do we see happen following their return to Jerusalem? The walls go up to defend from the many that would tear them down, and not long after the temple is rebuilt. The nation of Israel goes home.

Rejoicing In Adversity

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

James 1:2,3

Just as the Israelites in the time of Jeremiah’s ministry were told to prosper their new masters, so James brings us this very tough message. “Consider it pure joy … whenever you face trials”? Really? Joy in trial?

But what I left out in the verse from Jeremiah was that the Israelites would prosper as the city they worked for prospered. God would not only bring them from their trials, but He would prosper them as a result.

As Jerry Bridges points out in his wonderful book, Trusting God, James asks us not to rejoice in the trials themselves, but “because of their beneficial results.”

Paul addresses the same idea in Romans;

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Romans 5:3,4

Both James and Paul make a very clear distinction; whilst we are pruned, whilst we suffer in trials and adversity, we are to take joy for the growth that will come next.

How can they make such promises? Because God already did so in Jeremiah. Here is the full context;

“For the Lord says, ‘Only when the seventy years of Babylonian rule are over will I again take up consideration for you. Then I will fulfil my gracious promise to you and restore you to your homeland. For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope.”

Do Not Be Anxious, Be Strong and Courageous

Roses are not the only plants that benefit from pruning. The productivity of fruit trees relies upon regular and effective pruning. Allowing a fruit tree to go unpruned will simply see flowers appear, but will not push the plant to use its life and energy to produce fruit. Only when you start cutting away the dead and unproductive parts of the tree will the remainder start not only to flower, but to bear real fruit.

There will be a time when the apple tree will look a little morose, somewhat worse for wear. It’ll be devoid of leaves and will look bare and small.

When we are encountering those same trials, when God has set us aside for pruning, we too may look a little worse for wear. That’s OK! We were never intended to be creatures that would enjoy and desire pain. Having your leaves and branches lopped off is supposed to hurt. And just as a tree doesn’t regrow immediately, so too will we take time to come back to be fully ourselves. As someone wise once told me, if our problems were solved immediately, what would we learn?

But just as the tree doesn’t stop living when its branches are trimmed away, we should also learn to keep living through our own pain. Wallowing in what has happened, in the leaves that were torn from us and the branches that were cut away is not only unhelpful, but it goes in direct contradiction to what God has instructed us to do in times of trouble;

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4: 6,7

We are specifically told not to be anxious about anything. Similarly, in Joshua 1 verse 9 God tells Joshua to “be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Why should Joshua not be afraid or discouraged? He’s just lost his mentor, he is now the leader of a people who have been wandering the desert for 40 years, and any day now God’s going to have him lead them all into Canaan. So again, why is Joshua not allowed to be afraid or discouraged?

“For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Bearing His Fruit

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Matthew 7:15 – 20

Jesus spoke these words to the crowds in what is now known as the Sermon on the Mount. It is one of many lessons that Jesus explored, and one that has special significance to our purpose. Because it is by our fruit, our actions, that those around us will see what we are.

Throughout all the gospels Jesus speaks much of pruning and fruit; of our need to be obvious in our faith and to act in a Christlike way. Just as Jesus cursed the fig tree that bore no fruit, so too will we be “cut down and thrown into the fire” if we do not bear good fruit.

But bearing good fruit is no guarantee that we will be excused pain. In fact, it’s a guarantee that we will be pruned again. As I quoted at the beginning, “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

Again though, when we look at the whole of the passage, we see encouragement, rather than just more promise of pain.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

John 15: 1 – 4

We can be expected to be pruned, but Jesus assures us that we are not alone. As we remain in Him – which is the only way we can bear fruit – so He will remain in us.

Pain will come, most likely time and time again. It may come one after another, or all at once. You may suffer like Job, or you may suffer like Paul and Silas in the dungeons. But if you remain in Jesus Christ, then He will remain in you and the fruit you will bear as a result will be good fruit indeed.

May 17, 2012 1 comment Read More
In Lieu of Witness

In Lieu of Witness

So, over the past few years I’ve been published in the Baptist magazine Witness, but it is a bit difficult to find my articles online (if they’re there at all). So, here they are.

Past, Future, or Present– Part 1

Past, Future, or Present– Part 2

Climate Change is our Failure

Environmentalism isn’t its own Religion: it’s ours!

Stewardship Is Our Work

May 17, 2012 0 comments Read More
Stewardship Is Our Work

Stewardship Is Our Work

Originally published in Witness, 2011

It has quickly become apparent that I have a passion for the environment, after writing two articles in Witness that set forth, what I hope is, a strong case for Christians being biblically, morally and spiritually responsible stewards of the environment.

As a result, I am now in the process of developing an approach for my church to fulfil that charge; an approach that, I again hope, does justice to the following:

“The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”

– Genesis 2:15

This verse seems a self-evident call to all believers that I want to expand upon under this month’s theme of Work, Rest, and Play.

When we hear the phrase “work, rest, and play” I think we have a tendency to focus on those last two words; they sound so nice that ‘work’ sort of takes a back seat: this, despite the fact that it is the first on the list. Similarly, it was God who worked six days of the week, and rested on the seventh.

I think there’s a plausible case to be made for the idea that humans were set on this earth to work, to tend God’s creation, to “work it and take care of it.” Wendell Berry says it best:

“The ecological teaching of the Bible is simply inescapable: God made the world because He wanted it made. He thinks the world is good, and He loves it. It is His world; He has never relinquished title to it. And He has never revoked the conditions, bearing on His gift to us of the use of it, that oblige us to take excellent care of it.” – God and Country

And so, in light of this, we at Mitcham Baptist are going to be focusing heavily on recycling over the rest of 2011.

We all know how to recycle, don’t we?

Sure you do, but in all likelihood you’ve gotten lazy at some point and thrown the apple into the garbage, or the empty can of drink, or the church bulletin, when each of those items belongs in an entirely separate bin.

Mitcham is going to be focusing on four areas; 1) recycling the church bulletins, 2) general recycling, 3) sorting the waste for any items that belong elsewhere, and 4) composting with an aim to creating a garden.

Beneath these four points are a lot of sub-points, indented and using Roman numerals, which cover a lot of ideas that will hopefully be played out across the year, and into the future. If they succeed, maybe a time will come when I can take more time to elaborate on them. But for now, it is honestly very exciting to be a part of change like this; bringing an idea into a place which, as Wendell Berry again notes, has “lately shown little inclination to honour the earth or to protect it from those who would dishonour it.”

I don’t speak of my church directly or singularly, but of the Christian church as a whole. Berry precedes the above statement by reminding the reader that the church claims “to honour God as the ‘maker of heaven and earth.’” How can we claim to honour a God who proclaims himself as the “maker of heaven and earth” and then partake, directly or passively, in a culture which misinterprets Genesis 1:28 for its own good?

Take a few moments to read verse 28, but also the verse which immediately precedes it:

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Only in reflecting God’s image are we to “subdue” the earth, and under the implicit instruction that comes soon after to “work it and take care of it.”

The Christian church as a whole ignores the first instruction God ever gave to us. In fact, the church goes further than that and actively participates in a lifestyle which runs contradictory to that first command.

A change in lifestyle is hard, no matter the circumstance. It has to be done with little steps, and just one at a time. So Mitcham is taking a small step, which will lead to more steps, which, I hope, will lead to a change in the lifestyle of our church, which might lead to a change in the lifestyle in more than one church.

One small step is all it takes.

May 17, 2012 0 comments Read More
Environmentalism isn’t its own Religion: it’s ours!

Environmentalism isn’t its own Religion: it’s ours!

Originally published in Witness, 2011

Given the opportunity to voice the prayer of my heart during a recent morning service I stood up and prayed for a change in how humanity treats our planet. I was approached afterwards by a member of the congregation and our conversation led to the belief that environmentalism has actually become its own religion, of sorts, and that some Christian’s are actually taking a stand against it because of that. I was dismayed, but not surprised, given the almost Pavlovian response that some Christians have to any passion that isn’t Christianity itself.

For environmentalism is not some contender for a Christian’s religious belief but rather an extension of our own faith.

Or it should be.
I don’t think that God put all that effort into creating a place for us to live just so that we could come along and destroy it. He was meticulous in what He created: He made streams come up from the ground and rain to fall on the dusty ground; He gave us trees that bore fruit and seed and “trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.”

And then what did He do?

“The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it,”

Genesis 2:15.

Is it too much to think that God wanted Adam and Eve to take care of the lands outside of Eden as well? God told them “to work the ground from which he had been taken.” God gave us the earth to “subdue it,” not destroy it. We are here as God’s creations, made in His image and if God put so much effort and care into the earth that He gave to us don’t you think He expects us to mimic His attitude?

God made us stewards of his creation and His son came along many years later and explained what good stewardship entailed in Luke 16:

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”

It’s important to remember that God doesn’t simply address the environment in the abstract. “The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants,” He says to Moses on Mount Sinai in Leviticus 25, and then again at the end of God’s word to us in Revelation He reminds us of the punishment for neglecting his creation:

“The nations were angry; and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your saints and those who reverence your name,
both small and great—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”

I spend every work day informing people of the tragedies our planet is suffering because of us, what is being done and what can be done. So it hurts me when I see or hear of Christians responding to the environmentalism movement as if it is some religious competition, when in reality caring for the environment should be a natural extension of what we as Christians already believe in.

May 17, 2012 0 comments Read More
Climate Change is our Failure

Climate Change is our Failure

Originally published in Witness, 2011

The polar bear swims despairingly for miles hoping that he can find food to eat; all the while the water around him continues to rise, creeping up our coasts. Heatwaves sweep across Europe at the same time that monsoonal rains buffet the Asian continent, and Australia is either in drought or flood. All the while the atmosphere is growing hotter and scientists are honestly asking whether earth will continue to be habitable.

And its stewards are to blame.

“The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”

– Genesis 2:15

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that God did not just intend for us to care for Eden, but all of his creation. Consider the work and artistry He put in to our planet, and imagine Him being uncaring whether we were good stewards of that gift.

“The nations were angry; and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead …
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”

– Revelation 11:18

That doesn’t sound like the actions of a God who wants us to treat the Earth as if it were our own little sandpit? The “wrath” of our “Lord God Almighty … has come” to “those who destroy the earth.”

It’s not as if God is springing this on us at the last minute either. The first thing God does with the man is to put him into the Garden of Eden to “work it and take care of it.” He made Adam a gardener. What does a gardener do? He cultivates the garden. He coaxes plants to grow, trims away the bad growth, and waters and feeds. A gardener doesn’t exploit the same garden he creates. He treats it with care, picks that which is ready, and tends that which needs tending.

That’s the second chapter of the His Word to us. Relatively clear directions. God made the world, knew it was good, and set us in his world to “work it and take care of it.”

Why then have we so neglected our planet? Why have we set ourselves against the will of God in this?

In Genesis 9, verse 13, God says to Noah that he will place his “rainbow in the clouds and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”

God’s covenant is not just with man, but with “every living creature” and “the earth.”

And look at what we have done to the living creatures and the earth. There is no need to run through a list of the disasters we have allowed and actively caused. We know them. But we think it isn’t our problem. We think Christianity doesn’t direct us or help us to care for the environment.

Timothy Keller says that “there are no better intellectual and spiritual and moral resources for a passion for care of creation and the environment then you can find in Christianity,” and I have to agree. The Bible is very clear about how we should treat his creation, but we’ve ignored it and hidden it under the pillows, hoping never to remember it’s there.

May 17, 2012 0 comments Read More
Past, Future, or Present– Part 2

Past, Future, or Present– Part 2

Originally published in Witness, 2011

Last month Witness dedicated itself to looking into our memories. This month, we turn our eyes outward and into the future, and you know me, I do love a dictionary explanation;

the future: a period of time following the moment of speaking or writing; time regarded as still to come

But how can we discuss the future when it’s … you know, in the future. Thankfully, there are people who have already experienced their future, as well as their past and present. They’re dead now, sadly, but one thing I know is that they are often the wiser for having lived their lives.

We, on the other hand, are still living. We sometimes don’t know how to live, either being focused on our past or on what may or may not be to come.

J.R.R. Tolkien is, to me, a source of inspiration, wisdom, joy and intelligence. He is that ‘thing’ that I hope to one day become well versed in. For the moment though, I’m only partially versed in his life, but it’s enough for me to understand a little about what I want to talk about.

Tolkien was born in 1892 and died in 1973. Over that time he lived and saw some of the greatest leaps in human thinking and science and life that our race as ever experienced. Sadly he also saw those massive leaps used for the utter destruction of human life. Serving in World War I and witnessing World War II has shone through in his writing, his life, and his academics.

Throughout all of Tolkien’s written work and those few glimpses of his personal life, we can see a beautiful blending of the past, mixed with the future, that make his present.

No one could have come out of WWI without being affected, and Tolkien didn’t seem to shirk that influence. Spend any time reading the Lord of the Rings, or any his wider work, and you will see sweeping stories of good versus evil. The atrocities and horrors of The Great War impacted young Tolkien, and that irrefutable sense of right and wrong stayed with him.

But he didn’t wallow in what he saw either.

The world of the Lord of the Rings was born in the trenches of WWI. Afterwards, Tolkien continued that work, made a family, told them stories, and became one of the 20th centuries greatest authors and linguists, an academic achievement many would not be aware of.

He lived.

At the same time as all of this happened, however, Tolkien was witness to that unstoppable force called technological advancement. It destroyed the natural world he had grown up amongst and cherished, swapping it for dirty brick factories which belched smoke into the world, initiating one of the greatest crises this human-filled world has ever encountered.

This distaste of wanton destruction for technological advancements sake is exemplified in Tolkien’s the Lord of the Rings, when The Shire suffers similar degradations. The settled life of the hobbits is disrupted, uprooted, and much of the surrounding environment is destroyed. Prior to that there is much to be seen about Tolkien’s view on technological advancement from the way that he writes the Ents of Fangorn and their attitude towards Saruman and his machines, which is to say, not very nicely.

Upon retaking their home, however, the hobbits do not do away with all the technological advancements. The future is upon them, and they do not hide away from it entirely. Their lives return to a settled routine, but houses are rebuilt using bricks and they begin to welcome the outside world in.

Because you can’t simply hide away from the future.

But nor must we adhere to everything that the future has for us. The old phrase says ‘we are to be in the world, but not of the world.’ Technological advancement for its own sake should not have a place in our lives, or in our churches. But to hide away from the future, what it holds, and where it is going, will do nothing but leave a church stagnant and devoid of members.

As last month I portrayed a need for using our past to make our present – to combine the two without ignoring one or the other – so I’ll do the same this month. We cannot expect to convey the Gospel to the unreached if we do not reach out to them, and we cannot reach out to them without being in the world. Only by being in the world can we shine His light.

In the end, I believe that our attitudes towards the past and the future must reach a happy medium so that we can live today. God told us to ask for our daily bread, not tomorrows. Both the past and the future must play a part.

May 17, 2012 0 comments Read More
Past, Future, or Present– Part 1

Past, Future, or Present– Part 1

Originally published in Witness, 2011

‘Memory,’ as described by the Oxford English Dictionary, reads like this;

something remembered from the past

‘Remember,’ as described by the OED, reads like this;

have in or be able to bring to one’s mind an awareness of (someone or something from the past)

From the outset, in this month of remembering the year that has passed, I would like to remind everyone that, while memory and the past are both necessary and, naturally, inescapable, they are not the future, nor are they the present, where those we are trying to minister to are living.

Without extemporising on the nature of the present passing into history, I will quote from one of the wisest men I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading, J.R.R. Tolkien. The quote comes from the fifth chapter of the second portion of The Return of the King, Tolkien’s third and final book in his Lord of the Rings Trilogy;

“The Third Age of the world is ended, and the new age is begun; and it is your task to order its beginning and to preserve what may be preserved. For though much has been saved, much must now pass away”

As the book continues, there are many lessons to be learned about living in the past, and living for the future.

Frodo, the story’s primary hero, has worn himself out and has trouble leaving his past behind him which, in the end, forces him to leave the world behind for literally greener pastures. Samwise Gamgee, however, who stuck with Frodo every step of the way, spends much of the end portion of the book preparing a future that involves gardens, a wife, and many children, and then doing the most important thing of all; living in it.

Too often, I think, we find ourselves living in a world made up of our yesterdays. We forget that time is moving on and we try to hang on to that which was once safe to us in an effort to remain safe. But I don’t think our lives as Christians were ever meant to be lived as ‘safe.’ God has called us on to lives that will glorify him, even if it means sacrificing aspects of our own lives; time, money, relationships, and even our lives, in some cases.

But having said all of that, we cannot simply ignore the past either. Our histories are what make us what we are today.

Frodo, for example, had few friends, and the entire weight of carrying the One Ring to Mordor was his alone to bear. Samwise, on the other hand, was always someone who had friends and, upon his return, set about making a life for himself. He did not let the horrors he had experienced dissuade him from living, but rather, used them as impetus to live.

Maybe more than most, Sam had the justification to hermit himself away and forget what he had to sacrifice. But he didn’t. He came right home and set about using Galadriel’s gift to restore his world; bringing back beauty and life to a town that had been destroyed by the unnecessary headlong plunge into technological advancement (which will be the subject of next month’s “Part 2”).

Sam’s home had been all but destroyed. Nothing looked the same. Advancement had come along out of nowhere and pushed his people into a place they weren’t willing to go. Instead of simply resorting to default though, stepping back into the past because the past had been nice and comfortable, Sam and his friends took some of the future and placed it comfortably alongside their past, to make their present, and their future.

I think that is something we should be doing more of. People like to shun anything of the future because ‘that’s not how it was in my day’ or, worse in my opinion, ‘that’s not how it was in the Bible.’

For people’s information, the organ’s use in church – often the symbol taken up by those upset with technological progress in general, but specifically as the progress is implemented in a church – was once as hated and misconstrued as the drum kits use is today. Church regulars saw it as a musical instrument of the pubs, and definitely not fit for church. But here it is, now the token for indignant outrage whenever the drum kit or electric guitar appears more than it does.

It’s hanging on to the past because it is safe, rather than accepting the fact that the world outside is moving on, and so are the people you are trying to minister to.

May 17, 2012 0 comments Read More
Bumblebee and the Race Home

Bumblebee and the Race Home

By Joshua S Hill

It was late at night and dark outside and Bumblebee felt trapped. They had thought themselves so clever parking their car so close that she would never be able to get out on her own. Her driver didn’t even know and couldn’t do anything about it.

Bumblebee had enjoyed herself so much. She had gone and visited a different place with different cars that she didn’t know and then had gotten to go back to the place with all the cars she did know. Then she’d driven again with some of those cars to the same place she’d been just the night before.

And then the boys parked their stupid car and walked off laughing.

So Bumblebee had had to sit there, quietly, squished between two cars and she didn’t like it one bit.

Time seemed to go really slowly and it soon got really dark and Bumblebee knew that it must have been very late.

Finally she heard voices; the sound of the stupid boys and the nice voice of the driver from the car parked behind her. Then Bumblebee heard her own driver’s voice, and she sounded tired and confused, because the others were laughing and she didn’t know why. She hadn’t noticed that Bumblebee had been squished between the two cars.

When she finally did notice, she sighed, and the others laughed even more. Bumblebee admitted that maybe it was a bit funny but all she wanted now was to get her driver home safely. Car doors opened and closed and Bumblebee’s driver sat down tiredly into the driver’s seat.

Bumblebee’s engine purred to life and her headlights flared on but she still couldn’t go anywhere. Finally the little red car ahead of her pulled away and that meant Bumblebee could move. She breathed a deep sigh of relief through her engine and then drove off, following the little red car closely.

She knew this little car. It was often at places she was at and more than once they had raced against each other. Bumblebee never lost going up a hill to this small little red car, but sometimes she had trouble when they raced from a red light.

They soon pulled out onto a big main road – one after the other – and Bumblebee got to go much faster than she was allowed on those small little roads filled so close with houses on either side.

Her driver didn’t seem too interested in racing tonight, and though Bumblebee could still see the taillights of the little red car ahead of her she tried to stop thinking about racing. They drove side by side for a little while before Bumblebee slid past the little red car who didn’t really seem to notice or care. A red light stopped her though, and she pulled to a stop at the little white line. If her driver wanted to race then it would be now, starting when the red light changed to green.

But then Bumblebee realised that the little red car was back alongside her and coming to a stop further ahead than she could go. The little white line that Bumblebee had to stay behind was diagonal and that cheeky little red car could go further ahead than she could. It wasn’t fair! She could feel her driver tensed ready to race, but it wouldn’t be fair! The red car would have a head start!

Even before the red light changed to green ahead of them the little red car was already rolling, cheating even more now! This wasn’t fair!

Bumblebee roared her engine and sped away from the line. Her driver was looking the other way seeming not to care at all as they raced up alongside the red car and started to overtake it. But Bumblebee knew that her driver was paying attention even though she didn’t look like she was; her foot was pressing hard on the accelerator pedal and they almost had the little red car, but then it’s driver must have really wanted to win because it suddenly pulled away with an almighty roar of the engine.

Conceding defeat with a poke of the tongue Bumblebee’s driver took her foot a little off the accelerator and let her coast along at a nice speed as they passed through several more sets of lights. Underneath the big bridge that sometimes turned her orange when she drove underneath it Bumblebee sensed that there was another opportunity to beat the stupid little red car still ahead of her.

Her driver signalled and pulled her into the left lane and with the big hill ahead of them more to their liking, gunned the engine.

Bumblebee crowed with joy as she passed the little red car who couldn’t go as fast up hills as she could! Especially with a big fat passenger weighing the car down. She pulled up behind, and then alongside, and then raced ahead of the red car as they climbed the hill leaving the little red car behind in their wake!

WOOOOHOOOO!

The grin of triumph that Bumblebee’s driver flashed at those in the little red car was exactly how Bumblebee felt.

Soon the road flattened out and the little red car started coming up behind them in the right lane, so Bumblebee’s driver signalled and pulled into that lane trying to block them. But the driver of the little red car was obviously enjoying himself and swapped lanes behind Bumblebee and sped up on her left, pulling in front of her just as the road came to one lane, forcing Bumblebee to slot in behind.

There was a red light ahead and both cars waited for the light to turn green.

But when it did the little red car didn’t go fast at all. Instead it went really slowly, crawling along in the one lane forcing Bumblebee to go slow as well when all she wanted to do was zoom right past it and show how fast she really could go!

Finally the little red car started going at a more normal speed but then had to come to a stop again at a red light. Instead of slotting in behind, Bumblebee’s driver signalled and pulled into the left lane ready to race again!

Bumblebee waited in anticipation of the light going green, but instead of playing fair and waiting as well the little red car started moving forward, and even before the light turned green gunned its engine and roared away.

NO FAIR! Bumblebee cried, not even bothering to race against a cheating car like that!

Bumblebee and her driver didn’t bother to try and race again or do anything clever, simply contenting themselves with getting home to a place where they could rest. Tooting one last time before they turned away from following the little red car – and it’s stupid driver and passenger – Bumblebee drove one road and then another and finally pulled up outside of her driver’s house.

It had been a fun race home even though the little red car had cheated. Bumblebee knew that, in a real race with no cheating, she would win each and every time.

Next time, she thought, as her driver locked and closed her door and went inside to sleep a deep sound sleep before a new day.

March 20, 2012 0 comments Read More
Bumblebee Meets The Lombat

Bumblebee Meets The Lombat

By Joshua S Hill

The road turned and twisted this way and that and the darkness continued to fall. The shadows grew longer and longer as the sun fell lower and lower. Soon the stars would come out and the moon would rise and Bumblebee wanted to be safe and sound before that happened.

To either side as she drove were green fields of nothing but cows. She had seen a horse or two, but they were well away now and all that were left were the stupid cows who did nothing but stand there and eat grass.

Bumblebee was glad she was a car. She could travel so far and see so many things. Her driver was nice to her too; very rarely did she treat her badly, and when she did, it was in a race, and Bumblebee liked races. She often won. She was good at racing.

There was a long stretch of road ahead of them now, and Bumblebee wished that her driver would go faster, but she didn’t. Maybe that was a good thing, seeing as how dark it was. Bumblebee didn’t want to hit anything; that always hurt when she hit something big enough, not those pesky little bugs that kept flitting against her windscreen.

Darkness continued to grow, and her big lights lit the road ahead, showing everything for as far as she could see.

The long stretch of road ended far too soon, and they were twisting and turning again, her lights barely showing enough road to rev the engine for. These roads could be fun, but not at this time of night when they had to be careful of animals and cars and other things on the road ahead.

Bumblebee’s engine felt good, purring away beneath her hood, and she felt as if she could drive forever.

Soon though the paddocks on either side of her fell away and were replaced by big trees, tall and full of other trees. Bumblebee wondered how far the forest stretched for, but was suddenly surprised by something that her lights lit up ahead of her. Her breaks hit quickly and she drew to a shuddering halt before she finally hit the big … thing in front of her.

She had only ever seen a wombat once before, though she had seen several kangaroos. This looked like neither of those animals, but maybe – she thought – it looked a little like both of them at once.

It was tall, very tall; much taller than she was, and it was almost as wide as well.  It had big legs that looked like they could squash her bonnet, and a long tale that Bumblebee thought might have been as long as she was long. Peering up at the creature she was shocked to see that it had short stubby arms, and that it was all covered in fur, black – maybe – but it was hard to tell looking at it with her yellow headlights shining so brightly.

“WHO are YOU! to come roaring through my FOREST! little yellow car!”

“I am NOT little, thank you very much,” Bumblebee replied, feeling a little scared. “And even if I was, I can drive where I please, for I am a beautiful car with a wonderful engine and a fine driver.”

“All cars are ugly to me,” the creature said in reply, its tail thumping heavily behind it. “You make loud noises and spout smoke into the air as you drive past.”

“I do NOT spout smoke ANYWHERE,” Bumblebee said indignantly. “And so what if I make a loud noise. You make a loud noise too, and you are rude!”

“These are my forests and these are MY! roads, and I can be as loud and as rude as I want.”

“Who said that these are your roads?” Bumblebee asked, feeling much less scared and much more angry. “And what are you anyway? You don’t look like a wombat, and you don’t look like a kangaroo either.”

“I! AM! A LOMBAT!”

“A lombat? What’s a lombat?”

“I am a lombat! And these are my forests and my roads and I will not let you pass!”

“But I need to get past,” Bumblebee replied angrily. “And just because you say that these are your roads and that these are your forests does not mean that these are your roads and that these are your forests!”

The lombat roared all of a sudden, thumping its tail on the ground and leaning its long face down to near Bumblebee’s headlights. “YOU! will leave!”

“I will NOT leave!” Bumblebee returned, revving her engine and tooting her horn loudly. “I have to get my driver where she is going before it gets too late.”

Bumblebee did not know what to do as the lombat kept thumping its tail and roaring so loud that she could feel herself creak at the joints. And then Bumblebee remembered something she had heard her driver say once;

“You can soothe them better with sweet words than angry ones.”

Bumblebee did not know who her driver had been talking about, but it seemed like good advice, and she knew that her driver was a very smart driver. So she thought that she would try it.

“Mister Lombat, you are such a … tall, creature. You must be very strong.”

The lombat all of a sudden stopped its caterwauling and turned its eyes back on Bumblebee. “I am very strong. Yes.”

“You must be very brave as well, to protect this forest and these roads all the time,” Bumblebee continued. “When do you have time to rest?”

“I … well, I often have to go very far to watch over all the forest, so sometimes I will sleep after I have travelled very far.”

“How far have you travelled?”

“Very far. These forests stretch for days and days to either side. Sometimes I have to travel for many days.”

“It must make you very tired, having to keep watch of so much.”

Bumblebee could see that the lombat was indeed tired, and she had to stop from honking her horn in excitement.

“Not so tired,” the lombat replied, but then yawned hugely, his big jaws opening wide. “But it has been a long day. I travelled far today.”

“I’m sure that you have,” Bumblebee replied. “What did you see today?”

The lombat looked at Bumblebee in surprise. “You want to know what I saw today?”

“I really do.”

“Oh.” The lombat looked confused. “No one has ever wanted to know what I’ve seen.”

“Well I want to know what you’ve seen today,” Bumblebee replied enthusiastically. “I’m sure you have seen amazing things.”

“I have seen amazing things,” the lombat replied. “Things you may not believe. Today I saw trees ten times taller than I am, and platybear that climb them dancing in the branches.”

“You didn’t!” Bumblebee said, shocked and wondering whether the lombat was just making things up. What was a platybear? Then again, she had not heard of a lombat before, and here she was talking to a lombat.

“Oh I did indeed,” the lombat replied heartily, warming to his audience of one. “They danced a merry jig up in their trees, swinging from branch to branch and snapping their bills.”

“It must have been something wonderful to see!”

“It was wonderful beyond imaginings,” the lombat replied. “I love to see the platybear dance, but even they cannot compare to the beauty of the sights I saw after I left them.”

“Surely not.”

“Surely indeed! I was bounding along when the clouds lifted and the sun poked through and the landscape around me was revealed to me. I have travelled these forests for many years now, and each time that I see the view overlooking Edge Ridge my breath is taken away.”

Bumblebee was surprised at the emotion she heard in the lombat’s voice. His tantrum of earlier was forgotten and in its place was a creature who saw beauty and admired it and loved it.

“Tell me more about the view?” she asked, surprised at the her own desire to see Edge Ridge, knowing that she never could.

The lombat sighed. “When you stand in just the right spot, and the sun shines just right, it is as if you can see forever. The trees stretch across the land like moss on the ground; unbreaking as far as the eye can see. Birds will burst forth from the canopy and swoop and dance in the air before diving back into the treetops. And the sunlight makes the trees turn the most amazing colour of green I have ever seen.”

Bumblebee sighed, caught up in the imagery the lombat painted for her. But then she realised that she still had to get her driver to her destination.

“Mister Lombat,” Bumblebee said quietly. “Just like you have to protect your forests and the creatures that live in them, I have to protect my driver, and I have to get her to where she is going before it gets too late and very dark.”

The lombat looked at Bumblebee with a queer look in his eyes. Bumblebee did not know what that look meant. So she waited.

The sky overhead was almost black, and a star or two were starting to shine in the distance. Bumblebee knew that she was close to her destination, and it would not take long before they arrived. If only they were allowed to drive past the lombat.

“What is your name, little yellow car?”

“My name is Bumblebee,” she replied, started by the lombat’s question. “Because I am yellow, you see?”

“There are many bumblebees in my forests,” the lombat replied. “They do not sting me because I do not step on them. We are … I like them.”

The lombat was quiet a moment, thinking, Bumblebee suspected.

“I will let you pass. You are like those bumblebees. You have not stung me, so I will not step on you. But please, do not smoke and growl and hurt my forest.”

“Oh THANK you Mister Lombat,” Bumblebee shouted with joy, tooting her horn in excitement. “I won’t smoke and I won’t growl and I won’t hurt your forest Mister Lombat.”

The lombat finally moved off to the side of the road, and Bumblebee’s engine roared to life. “Thank you Mister Lombat, it has been lovely meeting you. I hope that we will meet again one day.”

“And I hope to meet you again one day, little yellow Bumblebee.”

Bumblebee started driving again, careful not to cough and smoke as she drove away. Her driver was impatient now to arrive at their destination, so Bumblebee sped up, knowing that her engine was not so big and large that it would make a loud noise.

Soon she drove down a long hill that was very long and very steep and into a car park where Bumblebee pulled into a white-lined park and came to a stop. She had arrived, safely, and in one piece, and her driver was safe and in one piece as well.

Her doors opened and closed, twice, as her driver and passenger got out. Bumblebee felt good, and when her driver patted her on the bonnet. “Good job Bumblebee.”

Bumblebee shivered with pleasure as her driver walked away, but she was immediately caught by a thought. I didn’t ask the lombat what his name was. How sad. I hope that I’ll meet him again. 

March 16, 2012 0 comments Read More
Video Games and the Female Audience

Video Games and the Female Audience

This video came out June of last year, but it’s only just made it in front of my eyes. I’m sad, because it’s really good and deserves a lot of attention! Watch it all, Daniel’s smart and so is Leigh. Where one starts and the other finishes, I dunno, but it’s definitely worth a watch.

January 23, 2010 0 comments Read More