Short & Sweet - week beginning 20 August, 2012

A car with a view of the sky so blue...

"You take the high road, I'll take the low road..."goes the old Scottish tune penned by poet and folklorist Andrew Long.

Though no one quite knows the exact meaning of the song, one might imagine it depicts that one is taken by vagabonds and rebels, and the other by the gentry and civilised citizenry; one to the eternal life where all goodness and truth reside, the other leading to the ephemeral pleasures of the world and pain and destruction. When spending time on the road, which I have done a lot lately, one is given over to wandering thoughts about such things. My husband is currently executing a covert "get her to the bush" campaign; the still, small whispers of the bush are getting under my skin. It will be interesting to see where that road leads. It takes Stephen and Jan Johnson, draught horse breeders profiled by ABC Open, hours to prepare for a short trip to town. "I like the steadiness of it, the quietness and working with the animals," says Stephen. Oh, for the bush, where the stars and quiet resound.

The Word for the Week: “…for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me…. Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Jesus, Matthew 25:35-41.
Quote for the Week: "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices." Adam Smith, economist
Dictionary.com word for the week: nomothetic \nom-uh-THET-ik\, adjective:
1. Giving or establishing laws; legislative.
2. Founded upon or derived from law.
3. Psychology. Pertaining to or involving the study or formulation of general or universal laws (opposed to idiographic).
"Father Frank Brennan has penned a reflective piece on Australia's nomothetic treatment of asylum seekers for the ABC's Religion and Ethics page. He starts, 'Behind all the legal technicalities and political argument about boat people, there is room for deeper ethical reflection and a more principled proposal. But first, to clear away some of the debris.' Well worth a read, I say."

Girl With a Satchel