Continuation...

I decided to post a continuation of the puzzle from before. This one doesn't require that you know the answer to the previous puzzle - I guess I just extended the story (honestly, though, I have no idea where the story is headed!). Puzzle writing is fun, I think. Anyway, have a go. This one's a bit more difficult than the previous one.

Sans Script

You awaken in the professor's house, groggy and tired after your ordeal the previous day.

You remember escaping from the cold, dark maze, then emerging into the blinding light of day - what was left of it, anyhow. It was late, and the sun began to set spectacularly after that. You arranged a rendezvous with your rescuer, who had helped you through a remote computer terminal. He introduced himself as a professor, one of a team unlocking the mysteries of the subterranean labyrinth in which you had been trapped. People appeared inside at various locations without warning, trapped by some sort of teleport mechanism. Some escaped, some didn't. You take some comfort in the fact that you are not alone in this - but feel sorry that some did not make it out alive. The professor took you in for the night, tending to your most immediate need - rest.

This morning, however, you see no sign of him. Evidently, he had left earlier in a rush, with a flurry of upturned papers strewn over the floor of the kitchen. All sorts of bits of paper haphazardly adorned the floor - article cutouts from Nature, Science, JAMA and many others. A hand-written note left on the table was barely legible. "Find me at the university in the relevant department". A sense of panic wells up inside of you as you realise that you hadn't been informed of what department that might be - indeed, you don't know what sort of professor he was. Your composure and sense of hope returns, however, as you examine the watermark behind the words.

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Night owl...

On night shift again. Tonight's almost been an absolute miracle that we now have some semblance of peace and order in the department! When I got here, it was crazy, manic - many patients in the waiting room, some waiting for more than four hours, and with all sorts of problems. Just another example of how there is a serious shortage of health professionals all around the country, especially in rural regions.

One of the patients sleeping here tonight is an example of one that this health system, despite all the good will in the hospital, probably cannot help. An elderly gentleman with chronic alcoholism, he was brought in by ambulance when the pub he frequents had missed him for four days! But then again, it seems he doesn't want to get better. It might just be his confusion - but there are a whole heap of other possible things. I just hope we can help him and find out, but even if we can in here, it's hard to see him turning from his old habits in the long term.

Anyhow, I'm glad to see that this department has turned from something closely resembling ER earlier on, to something now looking more like? well? sleepy heads and shut eyes anyway.

Nobody has yet answered my puzzle! Maybe they're all off doing the CISRA puzzle hunt! It will be nice to see someone solve it soon, though. Perhaps after CISRA, they'll come here and do the puzzle. Oh well. I'll drop another hint soon.

I have been thinking about Christians and the way they're represented in the world. It's sad to see some people close to me so against Christianity because some prominent Christians (notably the leaders of our country and of the US) are viewed so negatively, because of their role in the Iraq war, because of seeming arrogance and self-righteousness, and because of their relationship with the church. I think that politics is one area where churches should be very careful. Financial contributions, for example, to the Howard government by Hillsong church, comes across as a dangerous alliance crossing the traditional separation of church and state established centuries ago. It is clear that the two bodies share similar ideologies. Members of the government make frequent appearances on the Hillsong stage, and receive resounding applause. For the public, it appears that politicians are hijacking the faith bandwagon to build their support base.

Is this a dangerous thing per se? I think it can be. It is true that it is God who enables those in power to govern, and it is He who placed them in that position. However, to then claim that they are God's appointed (and therefore mandated) leaders is a false extension of this truth. On one hand, it is an extension. On another hand, though, it is the complete opposite - claiming a mandate to do whatever I want to do, is much different to fulfilling my duty to serve the country. The agenda should be one of service, and not powermongering. Certainly, a government should not seek simply to be re-elected, but should rather seek to genuinely serve the population that they govern. Not that the current government are alone in spending so much on their public profile, however. Christian politicians everywhere are declaring their faith in order to try and par with the government, showing themselves to be men and women after God. I don't think this is a bad thing - it is nice to know that there are Christians in politics. However, I don't think that this should be a real reason to vote for them. It is easy to say I'm a Christian - it's hard to behave as a model Christian. Indeed, it's impossible, with all of our human failings, to live up to the standards that Christ Himself set for us.

I hope that Christians in the public light increasingly recognise their situation. As real ambassadors for Christ, especially with their profile, Christian politicians should even more seek to serve the public genuinely, and display their servant heart. It is true servanthood that is the hallmark of the true Christian.

Puzzle time...

This one's for those who are suffering Puzzle Hunt withdrawal symptoms. It's just a puzzle I came up with one day, I can't remember how - but give it a go. Please post answer guesses in comments if you feel like, or else email me (so others can have a go)! I'll put hints in the comments area - if it seems like nobody's really getting the answer in a few days' time.

Anyway, here's the puzzle! Good luck! (Oh, and Happy Easter too - thank God for the Cross of Christ, that we may live!)

Flicker of Hope

You wander around the deserted complex, looking for a way out. The maze seems like a hopeless quest - each time you peer around the corner, your eyes stare deeply into an even longer corridor with numerous branches each way, illuminated only faintly with the dim, flickering yellow of well-worn ceiling lights.

Hours later, still wandering and ever more dejected, it is your ears, not your eyes, that finally give you some semblance of hope! A ticking noise emanates from a nondescript room several doors down, and you pick up your step in anticipation. Entering the room, however, there is not a living soul in sight. Several monitors flicker, most of them blankly, in what appears to have once been a crowded control room of some sort. The ticking noise comes through a speaker in the corner - at first you think it might just be static, but the eerie regularity of some of the blurts and blips that break through the noise makes you think there's more to it than randomness.

Next to the speaker, there is a monitor, less blank than the rest of them. Strange fractions scan rapidly across the screen in a repeated fashion. What could it mean? You grab a piece of paper and pen from your bag and jot down the fractions:

2/4 7/8 4/16 0/4 2/16 0/2 0/16 1/4 4/8 0/4 2/4 7/8 2/8 10/16 0/16 1/4 2/4 10/16 0/2 1/2 7/8 0/8 0/4 2/4

0/4 3/8 2/4 0/8 1/2 0/16 0/2 5/8 0/4 2/4 6/8 0/8 1/2 3/8 0/4 2/4 4/16 0/2 0/8 0/8 1/2 3/8 0/4 2/4

A-Team...

Working in the ED again since yesterday, I've been sicker than some of the patients that have come through our doors! It's only a matter of time before this cough clears up, and the worst of it's over now. Either way, I'm happy to be working, as it seems to distract my mind from my cough and sickness (ironic, eh?) - and the moment I stop doing things, the cough starts up again. Oh well. That's life.

Anyhow, just killing time at the moment, end of my shift - and we've cleared the rooms pretty well! Not patients going "kaput!" if that's the idea you're getting - no, patients getting better and going home, by and large. This is the ED doctor's idea of nirvana, or as close as it gets in some ways. Some like it busy, but this - the sound of silence - can't be beaten, honestly! Given how busy it was at the start of the shift, it seems miraculous. Go A-Team!

Just recently, I bought a book by Philip Yancey called "Prayer: Does it make any difference?", a commentary on prayer and its role in our lives. I have found it very helpful, even from the outset. It begins by detailing some extraordinary statistics - 90% of Americans in a certain news-media survey claim to pray on a regular basis, with about a third praying at least daily. Some renowned historical prayer warriors, such as Martin Luther, used to spend up to four or five hours regularly, daily, on their knees, rising early to open the day with communion with the Creator. Other faiths, such as Islam, also perpetuate the idea of prayer as an essential way to commune with God, so important that they stop what they do in order to pray five times per day.

I admit, though, that I am not a model prayer warrior by any means. Daily prayer, yes. But, like most people, I spend barely 10 or 15 minutes in prayer, relating to God (our Creator, the most important relationship in my life) my honest thoughts and pleas, my praise for him and so on. And a lot of the time, I'm so tired when I pray, that my prayers come out a jumble of muddled up thoughts with no structure, little focus and concentration. I have thoughts like, if God knows everything, then why do we have to present our requests to him anyway?

I guess, first and foremost, we have to look at prayer in a different light - it is our direct means of communication and relationship with God. It is for our benefit, that God's presence might be felt, his blessing come down, as a stream rolls steadily down the mountainside. We are so privileged to be able to bathe in this stream - one that is accessible at any time, under any circumstance. Amazing, eh? It is more than just requests - after all, God does know our requests before we ask (although he loves to hear from his children, and answers our prayers as a father to his child) - it is our communion with God. What greater delight have we than to bask in the presence of God's glory?

Then, why do we spend so little time in prayer? Is communion with God not more important than pretty much anything else? Why do we lose perspective? Our perspectives tend to be guided away, in this day and age, by the immediate concerns of this world. Working hard in the ED here, I barely get time to think about anything else but my patients. Taking a moment to breathe (or cough) is a rare thing! And it's not just this kind of work, either. It is a problem everywhere - so much so that Thomas Merton, when asked to name the single greatest spiritual disease of our time, answered, "efficiency". Idle time is frowned on, we should always be working! That's why it's so remarkable to have this time now to write this blog. And think about God, and pray. Our perspectives get skewed. When we step back, and have a look at everything properly, we realise that the concerns of this moment are hardly a speck in the woods. In the moment, however, they are all the world to us.

What we need is to remind ourselves, every day, of this perspective problem. Take a step back, and look at your life from start to finish. Go outside, look at the sky and the stars. Go to the beach, watch the waves roll in - no matter what we do, these things never change. God is in control.

I hope that we can take this step back in the midst of our busy lives, and remember what really matters!