Speaking of the natural world, I have noticed over a long period that “success” and “happiness” are not necessarily related to the competence, diligence or cleverness of the person involved. Each of us inherits or develops a style and persona, a set of values and attitudes; and these have a huge impact on how things turn out for us. You might think that you are smarter than your boss for instance, this may be; but what other factors have determined your relative rank in the company?

Confident, optimistic people seem to achieve positive outcomes more often than others. There is something about their thinking and behaviour that seems to be self-fulfilling: they expect to do well, and they do well. No doubt the psychologists have an explanation for this. And the opposite also seems to hold true. Negative gloomy people who expect the worst and believe they are victims often turn out to do badly, and are indeed victims.

So confidence and optimism are an important element in attaining successful outcomes in life, and thus, an important element in human natural happiness and joy. This is interesting.

The nearest scriptural, spiritual quality to natural optimism and confidence is HOPE. The Greek word is Elpis: and the Vines definition is favourable and confident expectation. And in the spiritual world, God’s people are people of HOPE (and confidence, and optimism).

“For ye are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”

Romans 8:24-25

Paul here is making the important point that hope relates to future events and future outcomes, you can’t hope for something that is already decided. So of course all believers are people of hope, they hope for the return of Christ, and for the resurrection of the dead.  And notice that we with patience wait for it. Patience means more or less “dogged persistence”. And that is how we wait for the return of Christ, and for the resurrection of the dead. We continue, we endure, we expect, we wait patiently, we persist.

This spiritual quality HOPE is a wonderful and powerful force, which can be applied to every aspect of our lives, and which will always favourably impact our position. With hope we wait, we expect, we never give in. And it is especially powerful when things look bad. Here is a nice little scripture about hope.

“For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.”

Job 14:7

In the word, a tree is often likened to a person. Thus Isaiah prophecies about the gospel age “….to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”  Isaiah 61:3 And referring to the words we speak Jesus said, “the tree is known by his fruit.” Matthew 12.

So these verses are powerful and relevant: though circumstances reduce you to “a stump in the ground”, God’s hope never leaves you.  ”Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down” Psalm 37 God’s power and grace restore you to life again, and your life and circumstances are blessed until you are fully restored.

This metaphor is also used in a prophecy of Daniel, in which Nebuchadnezzar the King is likened to   “a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.”  A messenger came from heaven and instructed “Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from its branches: Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass”……………..Daniel 4.

(Just in case you thought we were pushing the boat out too far in this idea. We never do that!)

If you think about the likening of people’s lives to a tree growing and spreading, and sometimes being “cut off” there are lots of situations which apply. For instance:

• You may lose your job or close your business.
• You may shift to a new town or an unfamiliar part of the city: by moving house you have lost a network of support and friendship which spread out like the branches of a tree. The doctor and the dentist, the guy in the cafe, you knew which butcher made the best sausages, the plumber, the sparkie and all the rest. You have left behind a precious body of knowledge that allowed you to function effectively, and will have to replace it in haste if you want to survive and prosper in the new neighbourhood.
• You may have to shift from one church to another.
• A loved one may die.
• A marriage may end and a family be divided.

This is where the hope of God becomes relevant and important. And why we love Job 14 and the “hope of a tree”. We have good reason to be positive, confident and optimistic. TO BE HOPEFUL.

We can face life’s problems and difficulties with a new positive attitude.

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into his grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in the HOPE of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience experience, and experience hope: and hope maketh not ashamed…..” Romans 5:1

This is one passage of scripture where the Amplified Bible adds impact:

-          Exalt in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings……….

-          Pressure, affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance

-          Endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character

-          Character produces joyful and confident hope

-          HOPE NEVER DISAPPOINTS OR SHAMES US.

Be full of confidence and optimism about the future. THIS IS HOPE.

Get working on your problems. Don’t hide from them, or avoid the issues. Face up and front up.

DON’T BE AFRAID. God will not let you down.

WITHSTAND ADVERSITY. God is with you. Never give up. Like a tree, you will grow again.

“Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and WHOSE HOPE THE LORD IS. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Jeremiah 17:5

You are a child of hope, saved by hope, restored by hope.

FAITHFUL HOPEFUL CONFIDENT POSITIVE OPTIMISTIC.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding, In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

THIS IS THE CORE TEXT

”Trust in the Lord with all thine heart”

“For by grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

“Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him” Hebrews 10:38

Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. It is not possible to approach God without faith, and faith in him is the beginning of your walk in Christ. And your trusting him is the beginning point of God’s plan for you.

“lean not to thine own understanding”

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah 55:8-11

God works in ways we can’t comprehend.

“And when they were come to Capernaum they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him saying, “What thinkest thou Simon? Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? Of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, “Then are the children free.” Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for thee and me.” Matthew 17:24-27

Don’t think things through for God, he has his own programme worked out.

“And I brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

God does not work with man’s wisdom. But by the Spirit and power.

If we are to rely on God more than on our own thinking, which in essence is the message, this involves being very attentive to God: that is prayerful, thoughtful, meditative. It is hopeless wanting God to guide you through the word, for instance, if you never take time to read the Bible. 0r to hope for spiritual insight if you never listen attentively to the gifts of the Spirit operating.

“in all thy ways acknowledge him”

Acknowledge in Hebrew is yada. It means to see or know. So acknowledge God means to “see God” and to “know God”. The way to apply this practically is to give God authority and precedence over your affairs. Include God in the picture.

“Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so he giveth his beloved sleep.” Psalm 127:1-2

You are not running your own show here.

You need to include God in your plans.

“Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” James 4:13-15

God is your master.

What does he want you to do?

“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof”                 Matthew 6:31-34

Seek spiritual things as your first priority.

Give the kingdom of God precedence in your affairs.

Make your arrangements in a prayerful, thoughtful way.

Acknowledging God involves an element of “surrender”. (Old fashioned concept here.) Not thinking about what you want to do, but what God wants you to do, and what is best for the kingdom and for God’s people. This is an idea very difficult for hard charging types of people. But it is important. It is possible to do the right thing in the wrong way. I think of some of the older pastors clinging desperately to the last shreds of power and influence when it might be better if they disappeared and left the platform for a younger man.

“he shall direct your paths”

“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.” Psalm 32:8-9

“not as a horse or a mule”  Not like a dumb animal.

Be open, be attentive to God

1. The word. “thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path”. Ps 119

Ask: what does the word say?

2. Spiritual gifts. Prophecy: “the secrets of his heart are laid bare” 1 Cor 14

Ask: what do I feel/hear in the gifts?

3. The Holy Spirit. “He will shew you things to come”. John 16:12-14

“And Jesus answered them…………..“Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father glorify thy name.” Then came a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.”

Some people are so intent on their own plans and ideas, they miss the leading of God.

This is a big point, if you have missed it. It is the way with Christians that we tend to pray with volume and at length, especially when we have a big problem. Not much listening, or straining to understand what the Lord is saying to us. I understand that this area can be open to abuse by some of our more boisterous brethren, but that does not make the exercise invalid. The word makes it really clear that God will lead us and guide us. But do we listen?

THE LESSONS WE LEARN FROM THE TEXT

1. Be humble before God.

“Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon the earth: therefore let thy words be few.” Ecclesiastes :1-2

2. The Lord has given us a spirit of knowledge and understanding.

“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” 1 Cor 1

“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them:……” Heb 10:16

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord; and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.” Psalm 37:23-24

3. We need to learn to think and act as the children of God.

“This I say therefore, and testify in  the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other gentile walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through ignorance, that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

But ye have not so learned Christ: if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

The budget

A year in Europe is a rare prize for non-Europeans, and can seem from the distance a daunting prospect. Here are a few facts and figures if you are interested. We did a fifteen month trip from    Australia in 2008/2009. It wasn’t so bad: expensive but not impossibly so. We worked a little bit, earning about £16,000 between us, to tide us over.

Everyone has a different style and different priorities, but maybe the various options over the spread have a sort of self correcting bias. We are not good at budgets or especially disciplined, but we restricted ourselves cheerfully to sensible options and more or less lived within our means. The budget conscious and highly disciplined would do much better we think.

In fifteen months we spent about $150,000 Aussie, including about $30,000 we earned while we were away. (I am a consultant and The Wife is a schoolteacher, we were eligible to work in Britain.) This big number included some one-off costs at the start, some of which has a lasting benefit: buying furniture and stuff for the flat we leased, buying an old car, which we lost money on of course. You will need to allow a couple of thousand for temporary accommodation while you find a place to live. Deducting the money we earned on the trot, and the rental income we gained by renting out our house and an investment property while we were away (in a country town and yielding a low rent, another maybe $25,000) the net cost out of our savings was $95,000 Aussie. You can cut and dice these numbers to mean anything, but consider also that to stay home would have cost us about $45,000. So an optimist would say it has only cost $50,000 extra!

We did not do it hard, we are sixtyish, and we looked after ourselves and had an absolute ball most of the time. Considering the experiences we had whilst away we reckon it was great value! But doing the sums you need to face up to the real costs, especially in the major cities which tend to be expensive. London where we were based is the most expensive city in Europe. The real cost of living and travelling averaged out at £900 a week. As you will gather if you read on, this included keeping a little flat full time in London to which we could repair every couple of weeks to re-charge the batteries. Had we not had our bolt hole we would not have lasted the year away ; a couple of months at the outside I’d guess, travel gets exhausting over the long haul. We also bought and ran a little five year old car: a very good idea.

Someone said to me the other day that he was planning a trip to Europe for a year. “We will rent out our house to a professional couple and use the rent to pay for our trip” he said. Yeah right! If you can get $2500 a week for the place! Just the same, if you live in one of the major cities and can be bothered clearing out your house it will certainly pay your rent for a small flat at the other end.

The bolt hole

We are pretty fit and active, we exercise every day and do a fair bit of physical work, but we found that six or seven days on the march is about enough. We learned to schedule a rest day after this period and have a day to do the laundry, check the email and lie around regathering ourselves as it were. You will enjoy the trip much more if you do this. This is especially true if you are travelling by train or air and dragging your bags around the known world. Even on an extended driving trip, where the car comes in very handy for the odd afternoon nap and the daily picnic, twenty to twenty five days on the road is enough. You start to get tired and get on one another’s nerves, and the idea of sleeping in your own bed begins to look better and better.

The possession of a bolt hole not only solves this problem, but gives you peace of mind and a fall-back position which will encourage you to be more adventurous with your travel options. It also gives you access to a “neighbourhood” and all the experiences which go with a place in a new community. We strongly recommend getting a flat as a base for any extended trip. It is a place to leave your excess luggage (most of it is excess by the time you have lugged it off the train and up eighty steps!) and a place to hook into a support network, doctors physios whatever, which might come in handy. It is comforting to have a familiar place, local shops, and a local cafe at your disposal. Good for the morale after you have been ripped off and worked over by the Italians for a week or two, or mugged by a gypsy in Istanbul.

We did not have to think too hard about living in London, one of our kids lives there and we set up house in his neighbourhood so we could catch up from time to time. We did not stay with him at any stage, but he was helpful during the set up phase because he knew the ropes and could do things for us. The good thing about living in a big city is that there is plenty to do in your off periods. London would keep you going for five years. There are museums and art galleries on every corner, and a thousand really good, low cost things to do. And about a hundred day trips that are really worth the effort. (If you choose London, by the way, be careful to get on a good underground line and find a place close to the station. The underground is your lifeline and some of the lines are awfully crowded. We lived in Queens Park and loved the Bakerloo line: reliable and not too busy!)

It costs more of course. Our one bedroom flat in inner London cost about £1400 a month including council tax. You could live in Bath for instance, a very pleasant town within ninety minutes of London, for about £950 a month, a thousand at the most. Or live in the country for even less. If you are interested in continental Europe, best to stay in the south of England though, near to the ports airports and trains.

One other option worth considering is to find shared accommodation. A good bedroom with ensuite bathroom in a nice clean house in inner London will cost about £200 a week or so. And cheaper if further from town. On the downside, the writer does not have the tolerance or flexibility to live with his own kids, let alone strangers.

Out of pocket expenses

When on the road, it costs about £160 to £180 per day on average, including accommodation food and meals, fuel and car expenses.  This figure will put you in sensible decent accommodation, but not at the high end. Arrangements are variable of course, ranging from highway robbery to pleasant and luxurious depending on the luck of the draw. A good B&B in England will cost from £60 to £80 usually. We did pay £100 once or twice to get into a very nice place. On the continent the costs are somewhat lower, maybe £50 to £75.

We bought the makings and had a sandwich or little picnic most days, especially if we had the car. We kept a little bread board and a serrated knife handy, and fed ourselves whenever possible. In southern Europe this is an absolute dream, the raw materials are awesome, and the people most solicitous once they work out that you are a sensible and practical person, not a POM. There is usually a river bank handy, to park and take the air. We never drove past a market, and we dug into the rabbit terrine and runny cheese or the funny garlic sausages with great alacrity. This method is cheap and usually very tasty.

In the evenings we ate in pubs and simple restaurants, getting a recommendation from our hosts whenever we could. We stayed away from take-aways and the motorway greasy spoon joints, which are both appalling. The cost of meals is about the same everywhere, but the quality varies hugely from country to country. The affordable food all over the British Isles is crap basically. It sounds good, and might look OK too, but it is prepared without the love. Eat the cheapest option with the least opportunity for being spoiled and save your money for other countries. In contrast it is almost impossible to get a bad meal in France, or in Italy.

It is usual on these trips to find a little something unusual that would go with the red handbag, or to feel a little cold just as you see a nice Scottish knitted jumper. We just went with it, especially if it was a low key or rural location. We got loads of nice stuff and have not regretted any of it. The budget supports shopping in moderation!

Of course, if the budget is tight go anyway, you will have just as good a time. Just restrict yourself to the more affordable options, or go for a shorter period. Or work more if you are entitled.

Dragging the bags

For the main trip to destination you will need to hit the limit, and to make other arrangements, if you plan to stay for an extended period. We found on the Internet a company that sends unaccompanied luggage and sent ahead a couple of large suitcases, timing it so we could pick the stuff up the day we arrived in London. It was cheap and worked well, and there is plenty of competition.

For tourist travel the less luggage the more you will enjoy the trip. The best kind of suitcase is the little carry-on bag on wheels that you see the business guys dragging for their overnight stays. We lived for three weeks out of one of these for each of us. It works, and it makes the intercity travel arrangements an absolute breeze. The issue, especially with rail and air travel is that there are stairs everywhere. You are charging to catch a train on platform 8, having arrived at platform 4: off the train (three awkward steps in a ruck of Germans); upstairs to the main concourse (twenty steps); one hundred metres at the canter then two stair cases down to platform 8 (40 steps) 100 metre sprint along the carriages wondering what is Spanish for twenty four; another big squeeze up into the train. (3 steps) So you have climbed up or down about 70 stairs just to change trains. It is far worse if you need to leave the station, or arrive at the station.

We were in Marseilles (worth a visit for the atmosphere and the food) and looking at the map decided to walk from hotel to station. It turned out to be about twenty minutes, mostly uphill on a warm day, no problem. When we got to the station, without exaggeration, there were a hundred steps up to the entrance. We dragged ourselves and our bags up to the rental car office, I was dripping sweat by this time, and after doing the paper work, made our way down again, to pick up the car. This is fair dinkum, and it was getting hotter every step.

So go easy on the suitcases. If you are a clothes horse, wear a nice sports jacket over a T shirt, and roll up plenty of T’s. (Tightly rolled clothes take up less space, it is the go.)

Travel costs within Europe

Sadly the travel adverts are misleading, although there are bargains to be had if you are smart. At a glance it looks as though you can get around pretty cheaply, but cheap airfares don’t make a cheap trip! The discount airfare might be £90, but the train fare for two returns to Heathrow will be another £60, and if you are not careful the taxi at the other end another £60. You get what you pay for with accommodation, so allow £60 to £80 a night for two wherever you are. (The prices somehow stay the same, but the quality and facilities vary a lot)

We found that we could have a nice weekend away, three or four days and a discount airfare for between £700 and £1000. Still a good deal, but not what it says in the travel adverts!

The big exception to this is off-season, and shoulder season deals in hotels. We had some excellent stays at really nice hotels within our £80 a day budget, and some were a lot less. The weather is crook of course, but if you are sitting by the log fire in the Cotswolds after a day of tramping round the hills you will not mind. Romantic souls, we were fascinated by the old style English seaside hotels, the sort that Miss Jane Marple stays in. We found a couple of rippers and had a marvellous time taking teas on the veranda as the visitors promenaded at our feet. This all takes finesse however. The winter weather in Europe can be really terrible, and it is miserable trying to look at things in slush and sleet at zero degrees. We did a stop-over in Brussels for a day, in January. It was minus ten degrees centigrade and snowing steadily. Not surprisingly we did not think much of the place, and our feet nearly froze.

Accommodation

There are options! Hostels, B&B’s, hotels, cottages (Gites!).

Hostels

We signed up with YHA Australia, and this got us into any YHA hostel in Britain. This is the cheapest option, very cheap! Hostels are generally conveniently located, and are clean and low key. We did not score any drunken parties or screaming arguments on the whole trip. As a person more accustomed to five star business hotels I was a bit wary at first, but I liked the easy going attitude of the staff, the “do it yourself” style and the accessibility of the hostels. There is a great mix of “off centre” people using them and they make great companions.

Many hostels have private rooms, so you do not have to share a dormitory, but it is necessary to book ahead a week or two to get these rooms in some places. The writer is past dormitories. Usually there is a shared bathroom but every now and again you get an ensuite bathroom. Bunk beds are the order of the day. And stairs: these hostel types think nothing of bounding up a hundred stairs four times a day. The best place we stayed was called Ambleside I think, on the shores of Lake Windemere in the Lake District in England. Awesome location, good brekky really cheap and wonderful views from some rooms. If you do hostels Stay Flexible! There are often stuff ups and strange arrangements. The best policy is stay calm and go with the flow.

B&B’s and guest houses

You have to be the gregarious type to really enjoy these places. They involve a lot of interaction, and the hosts are a very mixed bag. Towards the end of our trip we avoided them, we had had enough of strange and awkward conversations in three languages, and spilling orange juice on the phrase book. Having said that, we loved the places in France, and we hit upon a very reliable method for selecting them. First, for all countries we chose places in the country (we had the car most of the time) just out of town. These are often farms, they are quiet and the food is fresh and tasty. Also the people are a bit more “normal”. It gets a bit trying when the host looks like an axe murderer and mutters as he fries your egg. (Note egg singular. Although they say “and breakfast” you actually get half a breakfast. One of everything. Usually greasy and rather nasty.)

The second issue is the B&B guidebook. The best book is compiled by Alistair Sawday, and can be bought anywhere in a good bookshop in Britain. I think he does the UK and France. If you stick with Sawday you wont go wrong, especially in France.  Nice people, wonderful places. Our room on the Cote d’Azur (don’t get excited here, the beaches are rubbish) had views across the Mediterranean to St Tropez. Breakfast by the pool comprised fresh fruit and home cooked goodies, and our hosts were charming and English speaking. Armed with our sat nav we stayed at a variety of farm houses, vineyards and in tiny rural villages. Wonderful. And if you get to France, mussels and chips is a must. “Moules et frites.” Awesome.

Hotels

We used hotels when flying or travelling by rail. We opted for the cheap and cheerful approach here, selecting two star or three star places within walking distance of the main railway station. Most locally run places cluster around the station anyway, and you are staying for the most part where the local people stay when they are in town. The star system does not mean much: the more expensive the city, the crummier the hotel, but the stars and prices stay the same really. We did a “one star” in Venice and it was fine, in its own particular way. These joints are a bit like staying in someone’s big old house for the most part. Don’t be put off by the exteriors, some hotels are a floor in an old warehouse or apartment building: once you have got past the rubbish in the corridor and the bullet holes in the plaster you find a nice clean cheery hotel.

Rooms are very small and often up narrow sets of stairs. (I am not paranoid about stairs by the way.) Bathrooms are sometimes communal, but you can pay a few bucks extra and get an ensuite. Use the Internet to really check the place out before you book. A lot of places have a section for customer comments and ratings, and these can be helpful. Breakfast on mainland Europe is usually brutal: give it a miss and grab a coffee at the cafe round the corner if you respect your digestive system. When you see what these guys have for breakfast you can understand how all the wars got started.

In the winter the grand old hotels offer very cheap deals, and you can get into some really memorable spots at an affordable price.  We are sentimental, and had a hankering to stay in the kinds of place where Miss Jane Marple always seems to be, the grand old British seaside hotel. We found some beauties, and sat taking tea on the verandah as the tourists promenaded below. I even wrote a letter to an elderly aunt on one afternoon, and toddled along the seafront to post it snail mail. There are surprisingly palatable dinners in these places too. Of course it will be winter, thus bloody cold and inhospitable, but as you sit by a blazing fire in the Cotswolds soaking up the atmosphere, you wont mind too much.

The hotels in the former eastern bloc countries can be really good too! Faded splendour sort of thing. We had a wonderful place in Krakow: straight out of a le Carre novel. We got an enormous suite of rooms overlooking the old church over the road for about sixty quid a night! The staff was formally dressed in uniforms first worn in the forties or fifties! It wasn’t the best thing about Krakow, which is a great place and a real surprise, but it was in the running.

Cottages and Gites

These can be really good although they are heavily booked in July and August, and over Christmas. There are a thousand companies touting them on the Internet, and if they get your email address they will drive you mad.  Apart from the peak times mentioned cottages are cheap and great fun, about £400 a week for two as a rule. If you choose a nice seaside village you can eat at the local pub, and light the fire on the cold nights. It is rather good.

A Gite in France is also a great option if you want to stay in a particular area for a week. Generally we are so excited when we are in France that we can’t stay still for that long. There is always something awesome round the corner, and another bowl of moules et frites in the offing.

Trains and stations

Rail is very efficient and very convenient in Europe. There is a great deal you can get in Australia or NZ before you leave, called maybe Eurail passes. We did this and scored an eight city first class trip through Western Europe for about $850 Aussie each!

The trains offer many advantages, even for short hauls. London to Paris through the tunnel is excellent, if a bit expensive. The train does 300 kph, really! Best thing, you take the underground to St Pancras, jump on the train, have a coffee, read a magazine, and get off at the Gare du Nord in the middle of Paris. Three hours all up max! And we loved the way the train drops you into the middle of town, no hassle ridden and expensive trip from the airport.

Some of the stations are rather good just to see. St Pancras, especially the Victorian section is an architectural tour de force. The Hauptbahnhof in Berlin is rather awesome in a Teutonic way: it is a multi story modern shopping precinct with trains streaming in and out every minute. Very nice sausages too.

Shopping

Spices in Istanbul and Marrakech, rugs and tiles in Turkey, clothing in France, shoes in Spain, outdoor gear in England, ski gear in Germany, fashions in Italy, glass in Venice…………..

A bit of strategic retail therapy is a big part of the fun on an extended trip. We “held back” while we were back home preparing for the trip to build up some shopping credits, so to speak, and ease the burden on the budget. We shopped carefully, and bought stuff we thought would last the distance, staying away from the tourist shops and more expensive areas through necessity. The quality of some of the stuff is just awesome, and the styles and designs are wonderful.

We loved the markets and bazaars, and never passed one. The weekly markets in rural France are a sight to behold, and the food pickings at them are fantastic. Even the bargain clothing can be really good quality and quite stylish: we did a lot of clothes shopping for our grandsons. Some of the market clothing and fashion stuff in Italy would sell at the top end home in Australia, we loved it.

Down south, the handicrafts and manufactures are splendid, don’t be cynical: the salesman might be a greasy snake, but the rug will be a genuinely hand crafted masterpiece. (Just try and avoid paying double the price if you can.) Here is a tip: the colours and designs are intoxicating, in Turkey the big plates and bowls are really extravagant and very tempting. But try and imagine whether it would fit into the house back home, and how you would use it. We did not manage to justify any pottery, partly for that reason, and partly for the difficulty of getting it back to England. (The rugs were another matter altogether.)

The big markets in Istanbul are worth at least a couple of days, the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar. The souks in Marrakech are also fantastic fun, if you manage to avoid being run down by a donkey. Our prizes: a silver teapot from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, some beautiful tiles from Turkey, a felt hat from the street markets in Florence, and The Wife got a great outfit from Carcassonne in southern France, a great ski jacket for €50 in Bavaria. (that’s about $A90, and the thing would cost $three or four hundred in Australia)

So if you can work a bit of shopping money into the budget, but don’t spend it in Marks and Spencer, buy something weird and wonderful from a market or a roadside stall, and remember it for years.

Itineraries

The enjoyment of the trip is dependent on the preparation to some degree, so buy a few guide books and study up before you set out. Mark four or five preferred attractions and make sure you tick them off first, then you can allow yourself to be distracted, which is fun! I am a bit bookish, so I bought and read good histories of Europe and some of the unfamiliar countries we visited, usually reading on the train or plane, and while we were on the move. I found it most interesting. And the book shops and cheap books are a major attraction in London. (Mr Hatchard first opened his wonderful shop on Piccadilly in 1790. It is still in the same spot. Foyle’s on Charing Cross Road is also splendid.)

Our idea (not trying to influence anyone here) was to see the places where the big things had happened, and pivotal events had gone down. So we visited the big cities and soaked it all up, and looked out for battle grounds, historic monuments and all that guff. In Rouen in Normandy, we found a marker on the spot where Joan of Arc had been burned at the stake, and in Scotland we walked the battlefield at Culloden where the English sorted out Bonny Prince Charlie and about 1700 of his troops in just over an hour. The Berlin Wall, the Roman Forum, Churchill’s War Cabinet Rooms, Stirling Castle, O’Connell Street in Dublin, the D-Day beaches in Normandy, Berchtesgarten, Hitler’s Bunker, Aushwitz/Birkenau, Wenceslas Square in Prague. It’s all good stuff.

Try and avoid if you can the Women’s Weekly World Tour syndrome, a big trip is not a geography lesson and you don’t have to see every country. We found northern Europe boring so we avoided it completely, did one quick trip into Germany and Austria and were freaked out so took them off the list. But we went through France three times and spent months there pottering about in our old car. And we loved England, Scotland and Ireland for the scenery and the history. Work out a wish list of destinations and prioritise. It will probably be cheaper and more fun if you book things on the run, picking up the special deals and building your ideas as you go. For the record only, our favourite destinations were London, Krakow, Marrakech, Istanbul, Prague, Paris, Venice, Florence, Sienna, Barcelona, Edinburgh. Some of the other big cities were more a duty than a pleasure.

A few sundry tips and suggestions

Get a modest studio or flat, or rent a room in a shared house, in a modest neighbourhood on the rail network. Don’t go for flash, the general cut and thrust at the local shops is part of the total entertainment package. The more expensive areas tend to be sterile by comparison.

Live carefully at home base, do your own cooking and economise. Use public transport and avoid the taxis, and walk whenever you can. Refuse to participate in the tourist rip offs. That way you can spend up while you are travelling. You will remember forever the lamb tagine from the side of the road in the Atlas Mountains, but one restaurant meal is much like every other in England.

Buy a good guide book and follow their advice.  And an accommodations guide, including a B&B guide if you decide to go that way. Alistair Sawday has the best guides we thought.

We did not do any tours. We thought we were too young and vigorous for that scene, and the writer is not the most social of people. Those tour bus types are so friendly! We have friends who have quite enjoyed this kind of thing: but really we recommend against it. Everything you see you are tripping over the rest of the group, some of whom will not be that mobile, you will be moving at the pace of the slowest member, a millionairess from Boise Idaho with radical right wing political opinions, and really, how many bloody churches do you want to visit?

If you are dropping into a city by plane or train you don’t need forever. Two or three days is enough really. Don’t bother with fancy hotels, they are full of Americans and Germans and are exactly the same as every other hotel you ever stayed at.

Do brekky at the cafe round the corner and soak up the local atmosphere as the workers pop in for a coffee. Get on the move nice and early and see the sights/sites. We found the local tourist bus one of the exceptions to the rule, they are usually a really good way to get an overview and decide your priorities.

Never ever get a taxi from the airport, and be very wary of the helpful people who usually cluster round every tourist airport. Our son got done over nicely in Italy, (it is an Italian speciality). He handed the taxi driver a fifty Euro note for the fare, but the driver gave it back to him saying “No, when I get the bags” or something. So a minute later he gives the same note back to the driver. But it is a twenty! The guy had palmed the fifty and given him back a twenty, then demanded the full fare again, which of course had to be paid to avoid a fuss.

There is always a train or a bus from the airport into town, and it is much cheaper and more fun. Once you are in the middle of town, sort out where the hotel is and then take a short cab ride if you have to.

Use the Internet to plan your trips, do your bookings and check airfares and other costs. There are plenty of good sites, including railbookers.com and expedia.com.

Spend a lot of time choosing your back packs, and go for a small one that sits nicely into the small of your back. Find one with a zippered pocket next to your body to deter the dippers, or if you are edgy wear it on the front when in a crowded tourist area.

There will be warnings about pick pockets etc. Use common sense. In fifteen months we did not have the slightest problem, and our hosts were usually more paranoid than we were.

Read the history books as you go, if you have the head for it.

Don’t freak about the language. About twenty words will get you everywhere in most countries, and you will pick it up quickly. If you like Clint Eastwood cowboy movies you will find you speak Spanish already! A good attitude is much more important, look directly at the person you are addressing, say hello first and smile, speak quietly and slowly using your new words first. Try and avoid saying any English words unless English is offered as an option. Use sign language, point and smile: you will be amazed how well it works. Be effusive in your thanks.

And a special word here for Australians and New Zealanders. Europeans everywhere are generally much more courteous and polite than we are, and put more emphasis on good manners than you might expect. They take more time over the formalities. They do not understand our humour or our deadpan expressions and style. Remember to say good morning, please and thank you with a smile and a nod!

Going for it

Our trip really started in the doctor’s surgery. I was having a few little problems with anxiety and depression and wondering whether quitting work would help. Doc leaned back at some stage and said, “Well Ross, I don’t see many people sitting where you are sitting, who are over seventy and having fun.” Later when things got annoying at work I remembered what she had said and quit the job. Best thing I ever did.

Of course we could have bought a flash caravan or a Mercedes instead of doing the trip, and we would still have the object we purchased. We now reckon experiences are worth more than objects, and they last longer! Our adventures will be with us for the rest of our lives.  And we intend to do another big trip before we get too decrepit.

Take the plunge. Stick your neck out and get into a few difficult situations. You will love it.

In the crypt beneath York Minster excavations have revealed the remains of the Roman forum which pre-dated the Minster on its commanding site. We are reading the placards in a desultory way.  As yet we have no love for churches or taste for ecclesiastic architecture. But I am rather taken with the Roman construction work – I have probably never seen building this old – or anything Roman.

This is the place, the commentary reveals, where Constantine was crowned Emperor of all Rome. We vaguely know about Constantine. He was the bloke who converted to Christianity in three hundred and something, thereby slanting the course of European history for a thousand years. His triumphal arch stands at the base of the Palatine hill in Rome. And he built Constantinople, Rome on the Bosporus, modern day Istanbul. Istanbul is on our list.

We are impressed by the Roman forum but it doesn’t make much sense to us; why is it underground? And why was Constantine way the hell up here in the north of England? A couple of unschooled Australians, we are a blank page. (I probably need to clear this up at the outset, like many Australians we were actually born in New Zealand, a very long time ago.)

York has a character and a feel to it we have never come across. It is deep somehow, or thick, in a way we cannot yet relate to. And deep literally too it seems, as succeeding generations have built on the rubble left to them by their forbears. There is a sense in some places that past generations still go about their business here, in an unobtrusive way, quietly and just out of sight.

Last night we had darted into a side-street cafe to have a hamburger. We do not know this yet, but on the street outside the Roman legions had swaggered past on their imperial business. And on the site of the shop four or five sturdy buildings have already stood, prospered and crumbled, and forty generations of Yorkshiremen have lived and died.

We are on the road, but not in a good frame of mind. No echoes of Kerouac here. It is late and I am hungry, and the blood sugar is low, I can feel the beginnings of a diabetic “hypo”. The bloke in the bed and breakfast is a fuss pot, eighty quid feels like extortion for the use of a cupboard sized room with floral wall paper. And Jane, the Englishwoman inside the sat nav, is already taking on a hectoring tone. Despite our fitness programme, our feet and legs are hurting. We are not in a pattern yet and nerves are exposed. Harsh words have been spoken.

But we have achieved a fair bit, we agree. We are fully equipped for travel: the tidy low mileage old car, the aforementioned sat nav, rain jackets, walking shoes and a new digital camera. Back in London we hold a twelve month lease to a two room flat, the middle one of three stories in a Victorian terraced house in Queens Park W9. Zone two on the underground; Bakerloo line. We have not firmed up our plans yet, but there is a pleasantly unsettling sense of possibility hanging over our affairs. We are certainly not in our comfort zone.

Have you ever found yourself doing a sort-of boring job for a sort-of uninspiring organisation, earning money you sort-of don’t absolutely need? In just such circumstances a little while ago I lost my cool one day, and sort-of quit. It was either in the face of the perverse and relentless incompetence of utterly stupid people, or as Carol says: “Because you are a Cranky and Impossibly Demanding Old Bugger.”

There was no plan B. (“59 year old marketing manager, modestly competent but increasingly erratic, seeks autonomous part-time role with convenient access to medical centre”.) My wife of forty years, happily and gainfully employed in the school library, was concerned that left alone at home I would develop destructive tendencies. No OB sitters came forward. So it was she who came up with THIS: finish the house, find a tenant, sell the car, and go away.

At first it had seemed far-fetched and fantastically inappropriate. We have none of the advantages usually associated with long-term international travellers, and none of the forceful ways of those who nonchalantly cross time-zones. We are not particularly well-off, I am not really healthy, and we are not especially smart, nor resilient. We are not seasoned travellers, not very confident, and past the best of middle age. We are subject to random anxieties and occasional hot flushes. We decided to go for it.

We set out some six months later from a small country town in western Victoria, sustained by a modest income and equipped with about thirty words of community centre French. We wanted to experience continental Europe and the United Kingdom. To see the places where the big things happened, read the signs both real and metaphorical, and judge things for ourselves, at first hand.

It worked out quite well. We know the spot at Rouen where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. We have stood on the site of Hitler’s bunker in Berlin, and at the very place in Canterbury Cathedral where St Thomas A’Beckett was murdered. (“Who will rid me of this turbulent priest.?” The King, maybe Henry IV, reputedly said this. A team of knights took him at his word and skewered poor Thomas at the foot of his own altar. It caused difficulties.)

We have walked the battlefield at Culloden, straining to sense the savagery and grief of the seventeen hundred brave Scots who died in one hour for the cause of Bonny Prince Charlie, and at Stirling Bridge where hundreds of years earlier, Mel Gibson had routed the English invaders. (They later smoked his head – William Wallace, not Mel – and placed it on a spike on Tower Bridge in London.) To the victor the spoils. We have walked the D Day beaches.

Along the way we have marched through misty evening rain behind the skirling and pounding of the Ullapool junior pipe band, and sung a glorious hymn in St David’s, Llandudno with a 50 male voice choir. (Those Welsh boyos can really sing.) We have eaten confit duck in a Dordogne vineyard, heard a string quartet play Gershwin in a tiny church in Krakow’s market square, sung Christmas carols at the Royal Albert Hall (the soprano had the most enormous breasts) and learned how to survive for three weeks living out of a 10Kg carry-on wheelie bag. Rule number one: wear your undies two days.

The sum of our new understandings is that experiences really are more precious than possessions, and make us happier. That our good health is more important than any job or any amount of money, and that ordinary unimpressive people moving at their own pace and in their own style can go almost anywhere, and do almost anything. We reckon that there is no better time to start than right now.

Our experience has not been life changing and this is not a self improvement story. The writer, already on the portly side, gained five kilograms in weight, and drove his blood-sugar levels through the roof. However in a lower-case sort of way it has been life affirming for us. We have cleared up some family mysteries, faced up to a few personal demons, and visited graves and sacred sites.

I still do not believe in Ghosts, but I have most assuredly seen one. In twenty beautiful European cities, we know where to find a clean toilet and where to buy the best sausages. We have seen the very best (Michelangelo’s David?) and the very worst (Aushwitz/Birkenau?) of recent human accomplishment. We are minor experts on church interiors. And we have become quietly resilient, and modestly determined. We know what we can do.

Chapter Two

“How long have you suffered from anxiety?” Doctor Vicky is concerned, conscientious and Greek in that order. I am confident, Australian, and offended. I am not anxious and never have been. “Of course you are I can see it from here.” I hadn’t come to be analysed, I had a sore stomach and I wanted it cleared up. “Your stomach is sore because you are anxious Ross, and it will not clear up until we sort things out.”

We worked our way through the events of the past two years. I had closed the family business as it went out backwards, and we had lost a fair bit of money.  We had sold the family home in Melbourne and now lived in our modest beach house down the coast. One of the kids had been through a bruising divorce. I had taken a demanding job in a large organisation and it turned out I was not good at taking direction from my superiors. I lacked corporate sensitivity. The Wife’s much loved father had passed away, and soon after dear old Wally my own Dad had also died. I discovered I was crook with Diabetes. I was suffering rather volatile periods of depression. There were a few other things. Apparently it is a matter of rearranging the furniture inside your head to accommodate the changes.

In layman’s terms there are two ways to manage anxiety while you rearrange the furniture; first you learn to adjust your objectives in order to accommodate your new (reduced) capacities, then you expand the envelope in stages to increase those capacities and learn to cope again. (It would be misleading to make too much out of my stomach aches, panic attacks and heart palpitations. Most of the time I was empty headed and buoyant, as happy as Larry. It is just that, as F Scott Fitzgerald noted of himself, (At the time he was forty odd, alcoholic and deeply depressed) you are a bit like a cracked plate. You are perfectly good for light duties and still attractive on display; but not to be trusted with important tasks or on gala occasions.) It turned out I was really good at expanding the envelope but fair at best when it came to adjusting plans to accommodate reduced capacities. At least in hospital you have time to lie about and work these things out.

Back on my feet and back in harness I reviewed the situation with Doctor Vicky. “From where I sit Ross, I don’t see many seventy year olds who are really having fun. If you have things you want to do, and you can afford it, get on and do them now”.  It did not register at the time, but when a few weeks later management committed their next outrage against logic and best business practice, now long forgotten; I tidied the desk, cleared the computer files, and made for the exit. Goodbye cruel world, I’ve gone to join the circus.

The Wife was disconcerted by this unexpected development but rallied gamely. (She is of the school that sees sickness as a sign of weakness, and believes that people should get a grip and pull themselves together.) I was regularly advised along these lines, but was holding out for a softer option. On the bright side, the day I stopped work my stomach stopped aching.

We had been working slowly towards the “eco-friendly house”, and this unplanned increase in my leisure time allowed us to do the mostly labour intensive work involved in insulating and re-cladding, double glazing and building the water reticulation system. All ready for a low-emissions retirement. As we worked we thought things through, and that is when The Wife came up with the plan. These things are not clear cut at the time. We sort-of didn’t have enough superannuation, and I sort-of wasn’t well enough, and The Wife sort-of wasn’t ready to throw in her job in the library.  But the alternatives were not appealing, so we went with it.

There were practicalities. Labouring around our walking track each morning, we worked through the list of preparatory actions. We applied for visas which would allow us to work in Britain. (The Wife’s mother was English, a lucky break.) We joined the youth hostels association; you do not have to be a youth these days. We redirected mail, noted email addresses and phone numbers, paid insurances, made arrangements with bankers, completed health checks, and scheduled last minute dental repair work.

Around the house we planted out the pots, thinned the garden, cleaned the gutters and replaced the dishwasher. We bought a new laptop, backed up all our files, set aside a couple of DVD’s for a rainy afternoon, and loaded our favourite CDs onto iTunes.

In the background we fossicked about on the internet looking for travel hints and ideas, filling out checklists and writing notes to ourselves. We haunted the UK real estate and motor vehicle sites seeking inspiration and pricing data, and interviewed our friends and contacts who had recently lived in the UK about living expenses, helpful hints, and absolute musts. From this emerged a long list of travel ideas and options.

We invited number two son, living in London, to find us accommodation near his home. He found a flat and negotiated the lease so that we could get off the plane and go straight to our own place. We got on the plane, Jane.

Forty eight hours later, in one rather long day we cleared customs and immigration at Heathrow terminal four, signed the lease at the real estate office, swept through IKEA buying manchester cutlery and crockery, and did a big shop at Tesco. We failed to purchase a television because by that time I was so cranky I could not hold a civil conversation with the poor bloke at the Sony store in Kensington High Street. Apparently this is the pace at which young people live these days.

London was a bit of a shock to us. We had been several times as tourists but were not really prepared for the harsh reality of life in the big smoke. Number two son made it quite clear in a little speech which he prepared and delivered. “You two are acting like old country hicks and I don’t like it. You are dithering round the like a couple of old moles at a christening and it unsettles me a great deal. I am used to my parents being decisive competent and active. You are not old and I do not want you to refer to yourself that way, or to act the way you are acting now. I want my actual capable parents back, and I want it now. Get your bloody act together.”

No mention that down the coast we have a winter time total population of 1400, most of whom we know by name; and that in metropolitan London there are 8 million, none of whom talk to you or acknowledge your presence. Let alone the other seven or eight million who live in the home counties and regard London as their base, or the couple of million tourists in town on any summer’s day. Tails between our legs we retired to our flat for a good hard look. Mainly The Wife looking at me.

Londoners are tough and strong and active; don’t let anyone tell you anything else.  They are awesome at any age. Their aerobic capacity is outstanding. Hardly any of them are overweight. Most of them could do a triathlon without training. They walk at a speed just short of Olympic qualifying pace, run up the stairs – hundreds of stairs – by-passing the escalators, or else they run up the escalators, by-passing the Australians. They do not talk and they do not show emotion, they appear to be able to live indefinitely without human contact, and they could stand and read a book on the underground platform while an acrobatic team did a trapeze act in the tunnel without glancing up or shifting their posture. It took us a month or two to get up to speed.

Regardless of our common heritage going all the way back to the convict fleets, Britain is a foreign country. Although they speak English there, it is a variable and not always understandable variety of English. They do not welcome strangers, regard Australians as an evolutionary half-way marker, and retain a strong conviction that England and the English are a superior brand in every aspect. And that is just the native born. Our Caribbean neighbours treated us with a monumental disdain, barely managing to acknowledge our existence. We were the wrong age, the wrong colour, the wrong nationality and living in the wrong neighbourhood.

In stages we eased past these cultural road blocks and established a workable pattern. We worked out what to eat and where to buy it. This is not as easy as it sounds, the shops are all different. There is a hairdresser on every corner, but there are no supermarkets! We contended with the City of Westminster to get parking permits and pay our rates (there is a line up of three Caribbean gorgons at the front counter who would intimidate Conan the Barbarian.) We worked out the best way to get onto the M4 and the best times to travel. If you don’t pay particular attention it can take two hours to clear the metropolitan area. We established our walking track around the beautiful and impressive Queen’s Park, and found the best cafe for our morning coffee. We studied our guide books.

So it was on about day thirty we loaded the old car, switched on the sat nav, and headed north: first stop York, to see York Minster and make the acquaintance of Constantine.

Psalm 31:23-24
“Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” 1 Corinthians 16:13
The big pay-off for being strong, of course, is being strong. And the Lord has never stopped from asking us to be this way. “Be strong and of a good courage” he told Joshua. Most often, we need to be strong for others; for our loved ones, for our friends in difficulty, for the brethren. Perhaps you sometimes feel “why does it have to be me?” Well, take a break if you like, but you wont feel better. The reward for being strong for others is this: when your own trouble comes you will be battle hardened and ready to go.
The blogger is a bit of an expert on trouble. Personal research assignments, you might say. The worst aspect of it is that problems arrive suddenly and unannounced in most cases. (The two a.m. phone call from a foreign country, one of our kids has perfected this technique!) There is no time to sort things out and get ready for the tidal wave. You need to be battle-ready every day. If you are involved in the community and in the church, caring for others, supporting them in their circumstances, you are ready to go. Remember the message of Romans 5: “exalt in your troubles and rejoice in your sufferings………..pressure, affliction and hardship produce patient unswerving endurance……………endurance develops maturity of character………….character produces joyful and confident hope.”
Things might be pretty quiet right now. “What is the guy talking about?” you might be saying. I was talking with an old soldier years ago, he said “We were living our lives, going along fine. One day we turned on the radio, and our whole world had changed forever.” He was talking about the declaration of world war two in 1939. Within a year he was riding a motor bike in the deserts of the Middle East, a despatch rider. Not safe. That’s what happens, and that’s why we need to be strong.
10. Look after yourself.
“Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. “Proverbs 4:23
Your blogger used to be a tough guy, always up for the next challenge. Our church runs a part time unpaid pastoral system. The pastor works a job during the day to pay his way, then tends to the assembly in the time left over, then tends for his family in the time left over, then tends for himself in the time left over. This worked really well for twenty years until one day this particular pastor just fell apart! As they explained to me in the rubber room; if you make too many withdrawals, and not enough deposits, eventually you will go into overdraft, and bad things will happen.
The worst thing about this is if your health suffers, you lose your sense of humour and perspective, you lose your cutting edge and enthusiasm, and then everybody pays the price. If you are running in overdraft your family suffers, the church suffers, your job performance suffers, and you suffer. If you push too hard for too long, you wont be worth a bumper to anyone.
Most churches run on volunteer labour, and there is always a tough guy somewhere in the picture making everyone look bad and feel bad if they take time out, or miss a weekend to go camping with the family, or take a holiday. Wise up and look after yourself. As the proverbs say “Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.” Take the long view, the twenty five year view. Look after your health, both mental and physical, and you will stay the course.

In trouble again? Well, stuff happens. Here we go.

1. Remember who you are.

Psalm 23:1-4

“The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff comfort me.”

2. Remember the Lord.

Psalm 138:3-8

“In the day when I cried thou answerest me, and strengthenest me with strength in my soul….Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.”

Psalm 18:4-6

“The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.”

3. Don’t be afraid.

Psalm 46:1-3

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.”

4. Ask the Lord to help you!

Psalm 102:1-4

“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee. Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily. For my days are consumed like smoke and my bones are burned as an hearth. My heart is smitten, and withered like grass so that I forget to eat my bread.”

Psalm 61: 1-4

“Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle forever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings.”

5. Of course you feel bad.

Psalm 42:9-11

“I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproached me: while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God? Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”

6. Take time out. Don’t over react.

Psalm 46:10-11

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

7. This is not the end of your life.

Psalm 37:23-25

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord; and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”

Things are not as bad as they seem.

8. Do things God’s way.

Psalm 127:1-2

“Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.”

9. God is going to help you.

Psalm 37:39-40

“But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.”

Psalm 118:5-9

“I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? The Lord taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.”

10. Make this a spiritual battle.

Psalm 34:15-19, 22.

“The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.”

Pray and seek the Lord for his help.

11. God will answer your prayers.

Psalm 91:14-16

“Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him and shew him my salvation.”

12. Be courageous and defiant.

Psalm 27:13-14

“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”

Psalm 31:23-24

“O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.”

13. God is going to take care of the details.

Psalm 23:5-6

“Thou prepareth a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

14. You are going to be happy in the future.

Psalm 92:12-14

“The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing.”

You have a victorious life ahead.

15. Take time every day to thank God for his love and blessing.

Psalm 103:1-5

“Bless the Lord O my soul: and all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

Psalms for believers in trouble. (With commentary)

Preamble: The folks at church always love this sort of thing. It is the Word, of course, thus “alive and powerful”. (“Active, operative, energising and effective.” AMP)

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

I realised rather too late in my preaching days that the only active ingredient in every talk is the Word of God, and that everything else is more or less useless. (I had laboured under the misapprehension that I had something to contribute myself.) The words of a preacher cannot work a miracle. It is the words of God that do that. The most blessed and powerful four words your pastor will ever say are “please open your bibles”.

In trouble again? Well, stuff happens. Here we go.

I hope we are talking real trouble here? Don’t sweat the small stuff, because there will be big stuff in due course, that really attracts your attention. If your problem is incidental, “suck it up, princess!”

“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given unto me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.””

1 Corinthians 12:7

1. Remember who you are.

Psalm 23:1-4

“The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff comfort me.”

You are a child of God, loved by God.

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption. Whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” Romans 8:14-17

Here the assumption is that you are a spirit filled person, committed to the Lord. If you are not, we have some very good news for you!! Send a comment and get the good news!

2. Remember the Lord.

Psalm 138:3-8

“In the day when I cried thou answerest me, and strengthenest me with strength in my soul….Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.”

Psalm 18:4-6

“The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.”

The default option for most people when they hit turbulence is to try and work things out for themselves, in their own strength. This is understandable; we are natural people operating in a natural world. It is not sensible though, your strength is in the spiritual world.

Look, you may be a very effective and capable school teacher or motor mechanic here on earth, good work. In the heavens, the spiritual realms, you are a King and a Priest. You are a child of the Most High God. Go figure.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:3

3. Don’t be afraid.

Psalm 46:1-3

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.”

You may be afraid as you read this. And you may have a very good reason to be afraid! There is no shame in this. We all get scared at times. King David killed Goliath the giant, (Goliath of Gath with hith helmet of Brath!”) but he wrote this:

“My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, oh that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away, and be at rest.” Psalm 54:4

Of course that fact that you are afraid cannot stop God from his purpose to bless and protect you. You may be doing the 4 am shift in the hospital (isn’t it amazing how much happens in a hospital in the middle of the night?). It isn’t fun. But God is with you.

One pastor with a dodgy ticker, and well known to the blogger, had an “episode” at a pastor’s meeting, and was raced to the hospital by one of his colleagues and then registered as pastor X. In the middle of the night he woke to see someone sitting at the foot of his bed. It was a nurse on night shift just spending a bit of time and saying a prayer. He was unknown to pastor X but a member of a local Pentecostal church. The word had got round like wild fire.

Just on a more general note, God is always telling people not to be afraid. Think of Joshua chapter one.

“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid. Nether be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest.” Joshua 1:9

4. Ask the Lord to help you!

Psalm 102:1-4

“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee. Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily. For my days are consumed like smoke and my bones are burned as an hearth. My heart is smitten, and withered like grass so that I forget to eat my bread.”

Psalm 61: 1-4

“Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle forever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings.”

An idle thought is not a prayer. Prayer is a spiritual and powerful process, anointed by God. On the knees, buddy, and make with the mouth.

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.” James 5:16

5. Of course you feel bad.

Psalm 42:9-11

“I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproached me: while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God? Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”

This is normal. There is no condemnation. And you are not stopping the Lord from watching over you either. Some suggestions for immediate release from panicky thoughts or the blues:

• Get down on your knees right now and thank God for all the good things he has done for you in your life. List them out for the Lord.
• Say a heartfelt prayer for another person in need of God’s help and support.
• Sing an old fashioned “chorus” out loud. (“my Lord knows the way through the wilderness”….) Your blogger sang it all the way to Fiji once, to ward off panic attacks: left it just a day or two too late to take the annual holiday!
• Go for a brisk walk, and think about the walking and the instant. The trees, the grass, the path under your feet, your breathing, the traffic, whatever.
• Put on a bright CD at high volume and sing along with it.

6. Take time out. Don’t over react.

Psalm 46:10-11

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

Things will seem better in the morning. When you get to bed tonight say over and over in your head the words to Psalm 23, or approximately Psalm 23.

When the problems are so overwhelming that we cannot see an answer, we are entering into God’s home territory. This is what faith is! “The evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

Remember the three Hebrew boys in the furnace, it started out as a very bad day, right in the middle of the problem, there was the Lord.

“Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.” Philippians 4:6

Tomorrow, get up and get going, do the obvious ordinary things. Give it your best shot. Something will turn up.

Take time out a few times during the day to talk to the King of Kings. “Lord: I am still trusting you here! Look at me! Here I am, your kid down here!”

You will be really surprised how really good and uplifting things can happen in the middle of disaster. Grab the good things and praise God for them. On one of the worst days of the bloggers life, his three year old grandson took him for a walk in some farm paddocks, and held his hand all the way.  “Look at the horses Gampaw”.

7. This is not the end of your life.

Psalm 37:23-25

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord; and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”

Things are not as bad as they seem.

Say your prayers and trust in the Lord. It is surprising how a bit of time passing can put things to rights, or change your perspective on things. Meantime “cling to the wreckage”!

Do not waste your time on “what might happen”! We spend much fruitless effort fretting about situations that never eventuate. What a waste of good stomach lining that is! Once the storm has passed there will be time to survey the damage and begin the big clean-up.

8. Do things God’s way.

Psalm 127:1-2

“Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.”

In the Amplified, the “bread of sorrows” is rendered “the bread of anxious toil”!

The more trouble you get in, the more specifically and carefully you should apply the word of God to your life. Do exactly what the word says. This is faith!

9. God is going to help you.

Psalm 37:39-40

“But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.”

Psalm 118:5-9

“I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? The Lord taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.”

What I love about Psalm 37 quoted here is that a busload of humanist philosophers could not change the meaning in a month. “The Lord shall help them.” Water that down if you can Pharisees!

10. Make this a spiritual battle.

Psalm 34:15-19, 22.

“The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.”

Of course the world is a spiritual world.  “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Genesis 1:2

And the church is a spiritual organisation, of which you are a vital part.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, where with ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perserverance and supplication for all saints.” Ephesians 6:10

The story about Moses, Aaron and Hur up on the hilltop is very informative for us. The soldiers were down in the valley doing their thing. Sword and shield, cut and thrust, the whole physical natural thing. They were wholly committed and at risk to life and limb. Possibly so absorbed that they forgot about the three guys on the hilltop. However: whenever Moses held up the staff of God the Israelites prevailed in the battle, and whenever he let it down the enemy prevailed against them. The battle was on the hilltop, not in the valley! And so it is with you, folks.

11. God will answer your prayers.

Psalm 91:14-16

“Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him and shew him my salvation.”

“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers.”          1 Peter 3:12

“The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” Psalm 34: 15-19

12. Be courageous and defiant.

Psalm 27:13-14

“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”

Psalm 31:23-24

“O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.”

We are not all equally endowed. At some times, the best we can manage is to stay on our feet and refrain from tears. Well, so be it. What “being of good courage” means in this context, is use it all up: do everything you possibly can. This is a football concept: don’t leave anything on the paddock. Tomorrow is another day, and you will find the strength and courage to go again.

You are a child of God, not a victim of circumstance. Do not think or act, like a victim. Stand to your full height, and push back hard. (This is not because it will make any difference to the outcome, although it might, but because it will make your a stronger and better person.)

For homework tonight: “do it with style”. If you think you will be slaughtered tomorrow (highly unlikely in these enlightened times) at least arrive at the execution in your best clothes and with a bit of swagger about you. Shoulders back, shoes shined, a bit of “product” in the hair, head high and all that stuff.

13. God is going to take care of the details.

Psalm 23:5-6

“Thou prepareth a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

The faithfulness of God is fathomless and wonderful. His capacity to bless and protect you is beyond understanding.

“Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Unto Him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20

(“infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes or dreams” AMP)

14. You are going to be happy in the future.

Yep! Unlikely as it may seem right now.

Psalm 92:12-14

“The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing.”

You have a victorious life ahead.

“Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord, that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel.” Psalm 128

15. Take time every day to thank God for his love and blessing.

Psalm 103:1-5

“Bless the Lord O my soul: and all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

“For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. Psalm 84:10

Amen folks. God bless.

It is fair to say that neither Paul nor Wally were particularly fond of the Germans who had been their military opponents in the 1940’s. (“Tedeschi” Wally called them, in his broken Italian) They did not make  a big thing out of it, and in isolated New Zealand did not often have to think about the subject, but they held their views firmly. Growing up in the liberated 1960’s, the post war generation took a more tolerant stance, or no stance. We were not deep thinking, or political. We formed our associations and friendships without reference to the past, or the ethnicity of the people involved. Living as young adults in Australia, our friendships covered the spectrum of nationality: Italian, Dutch, Turkish, German and Austrian, and some were Poles, and some Jewish.

Carol and I recently visited Germany and Poland.

We had already driven northern France and followed the narrative of the war: Dunkirk, The D Day beaches, the War cemeteries, the memorial at Caen. We had been thinking about it. We were stunned to travel through ground that had been fought over countless times and for hundreds of years. We slept for a few days in a Calvados farmhouse that in wartime had been requisitioned for German officer accommodation, in the bedroom where German army officers had slept. We were in a state of heightened sensitivity.

Our entry point to Germany was Berlin, and our hostel in a not too salubrious part of town in the former East German sector. I kept an eye out for George Smiley and the crew, but they chose not to make contact. For a student of modern history and a keen reader of Le Carre et al, Berlin is a wonderful place, at once confronting and stimulating. Walking the Unter Der Linden up to the Brandenburg gate, you feel as though you are a part of the great narrative yourself. Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, the Reichstag, Hitler’s Bunker, the Holocaust memorial. Spurred on by enthusiastic and knowledgeable guides we agreed on day two to travel by train to Sachenhausen, described as a work camp from the Nazi period.

We were relaxed and up-beat. Berliners are approachable, friendly and helpful. The whole place is well organised, peaceful, efficient and clean. We liked the Germans. The themes are a little jarring, but the buildings and memorials are well preserved, well organised and impressive in a Teutonic sort of way. There is no sense that the past is being swept under the carpet.

The train was on time, the carriages clean, the town we visited unexceptional and the walk to the camp bracing in the late autumn morning. The sign on the gate said “Arbeit Macht Frei”: work makes you free.

It was a bad day. The place was shocking. The prison population had comprised a volatile mix of criminals emptied out of the civil prisons, political prisoners, prisoners of war, and certain racial groupings, including Poles and Jews. Contemporary accounts describe a desperately brutal atmosphere, intolerable work conditions, ruthless administration, and violent guards.

The primary purpose of Sachenhausen was the provision of forced labour to bolster the war effort, nevertheless estimates of the death toll range up to 85,000 prisoners. I find context difficult. (“only 80,000 dead”). There have been greater evils, but by today’s standards this is horrific. Remember that 9/11 shook the whole world with around 3000 dead, Australia’s modern disaster the Bali Bombings killed around 200 Aussies. We changed the gun laws on the basis of seventeen deaths at Port Arthur.

At Sachenhausen the tour focus points include “the execution wall”, “the gas chambers”, “the furnaces“, “the medical laboratories”, and “the Jewish dormitories”. Look it up for yourself. I do not have the facts and figures at finger tips. But the camp was there, and it was bad.

The walls are situated about four or five hundred yards from the edges of the town as it was during the 1940’s. The number of prisoners getting off the trains in town and marching to the camp was considerable over time, certainly hundreds of thousands of people. Prisoners who wrote of their experiences in the camp highlight the terrible smell which pervaded the place (and presumably the town). Not just the usual prison smells of poor sanitation and unwashed prisoners, but the fumes from the constantly smoking furnaces where they cremated the dead. I had wondered from time to time as I read about these camps, what did the townspeople know and what did they do? I am not judgemental about this, it was a complicated and desperately sad time, but at Sachenhausen I decided that they knew thousands of prisoners were being mistreated and executed, and they did nothing.

The contrast with friendly open Berlin is the worry. On the one hand cream cakes and apple strudel, on the other gas ovens and furnaces. Of course in Berlin it is a different generation brought up in a prosperous and determinedly pacifist country. Germany between the wars was a deprived, resentful society smarting under the impact of military defeat and occupation, and the severe war reparations levied by the victors after the 1914-1918 Great War.

The day in Sachenhausen was disquieting. We all brooded about it. All the war stuff in Europe is upsetting, because of the death tolls and the damage done to people’s lives. But this is a different kind of upsetting, because it was not death “in the course of duty”. Not even, to use the horrible American euphemism for civilian casualties “collateral damage”. The dead of Sachenhausen were certainly not participants in the war, nor were they accidentally caught up in the conflict. They were sorted and selected and deliberately assigned to their fate.

We put the experience, and the paradox, to one side for further contemplation and continued our train journey through western Europe. But a seed had been sown. When the opportunity arose eight months later to visit Krakow in Poland, Carol and I determined to go and see the death camps at Aushwitz and Birkenau.

First I need to explain that geographically this is an entirely different set up, and thus no reflection on the German people in the war years. They did not know. The camps are located well outside Germany, and the surrounding Polish countryside was cleared of its inhabitants for a distance of thirty or so kilometres. The only other centres of activity within this zone were the factories set up by German industrialists to exploit the inexhaustible supply of cheap labour from the camps. There was a disturbing commercial dimension to some of the activity at Aushwitz and Birkenau.

In the present day neither place looks particularly forbidding or evil or dangerous at a casual glance. At Aushwitz the same sign is on the gate: “work makes you free”. The buildings had previously been used as an Army training camp, and are orderly red brick structures set out like a school or college. But Aushwitz is a bad place. It makes you feel a bit sick when you think about it. If you are interested there is a comprehensive book (called Aushwitz) recently published by the BBC.

There are a few things. Over one million people were murdered between the two camps, which are a couple of kilometres apart, in a four year period. At the peak of activity about 10,000 men, women and children were processed each day. The victims were systematically harvested, the body cavities searched for hidden valuables, all gold teeth removed for commercial purposes, and the hair cut off to be woven into industrial mats and fabrics. Recycling.

One of the terrible sights in Aushwitz is a large room, maybe fifty feet by twenty, stacked to the ceiling with human hair. There is another room full of children’s shoes. I must say I was frozen solid by the shoes. I started saying individual prayers for each pair, then realised I could not do this, but was too disoriented to pray for them collectively.  God bless these poor children. They did not know they were going to die. They willingly got off the trains into nice orderly stations and were asked to stack their belongings where they could find them afterwards, then invited to take a shower. After harvesting, their bodies were burned in a bank of furnaces. There is much else.

When you see the next group of foreign dignitaries looking shell-shocked on television after a visit to the camps this is probably why they look shocked and uncomfortable. You can’t grasp the forced death of a million people, but a pair of children’s shoes can be a real kick in the guts.

Here is the nub of the problem. How can a large group of cultured civilised people from the whole spectrum of political thought; ordinary people who love their children and look after their neighbours, make provision for their parents, and go to church Sundays; the people who brought us Beethoven and Mozart, how can this group of people condone a system which plans and operates a death factory for four years, killing up to ten thousand people each working day? What exactly were they thinking? And (you don’t know this but the books make it clear) why did the people directly involved feel no remorse when the crime was exposed to a shocked world? Why were only 700 of the over 8000 SS troopers who manned the camps tried after the war? And how did half of even these manage to go free?

It is a similar problem to the Berlin/Sachenhausen paradox, but on a vastly more horrible scale. There is no answer that I understand. And it is certainly not a German problem specifically. You may not know that the British authorities on the German occupied channel island of Guernsey promptly handed over the few Jewish people living on the island. They may not have been aware that these people were to be killed, but they toed the line without protest. The occupied French were very quick to comply with German requests for the shipping of Jews out of France. Many thousands of French people sent to their deaths by a French government.

The communist East German government were the ones who maintained certain parts of Berlin, and the concentration camps in East Germany like Sachenhausen. There was an element of political motivation, but they were punctilious in their attention to the preservation and display of the camps. It would have been very easy to let the weeds grow and the land be redeveloped. They did not. And naturally the Polish communist government preserved Aushwitz and Birkenau and all the camps on Polish territory. They wanted a remembrance, an inoculation for the future. To provide an insight for later generations, to the horror and inhumanity of the Nazi Regime, and of the depths of human cruelty.

I am not a serious or political bloke, and usually do not give a damn about these sorts of things. I am sorry for the soap box tone of this essay. I did not set out to be sombre, but it is a subject which defies satire. I thought about scrapping it for fear of boring or alienating you. But we did the trips, the camps were there, and we felt very bad. It is just the facts.

If you are going to Europe, we recommend a visit to Krakow. It is a great place full of interest; the site of Schindler’s factory, the birthplace of the Polish Pope, and the seat of Polish government in the middle ages. The dumplings, called pierogi, are outrageously tasty. It is only an hour by bus from town to the camps, and it will make you think.

We loved this trick, made possible by a robust and extensive transport infrastructure and London’s status as an international travel hub. (I do not have old blokes zip apart trousers, but I do have old bloke’s shorts with pockets on the legs. In fact, I have one get-up which yields me over twenty pockets if I wear the right shirt and jacket with the right trousers! You can never find anything.) The best aspect, especially for those raised in remote parts of the world, is that you start by walking down your own street, and end up practically anywhere. This is what makes London, despite the bad food, expensive shops, the crowds, the pace, the noise, the uncollected rubbish, and the poms: a very convenient base for travelling Europe.

For a start the rail network is extensive. The underground will take you from home to the central hubs, at Paddington, Victoria Station, or St Pancras; and thence to the ferry, the sea port, the national and international railways, or one of the five international airports. (Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and London City) Undercover all the way. Excellent.

It is a luxury, and a grave temptation for the travel inclined. Our favourite route: Queens Park underground to St Pancras (Impossibly, a beautiful railway station! The old section Victorian red brick of restrained and elegant design. The new part dome-like engineering and modern efficiency). And thence by Eurostar under the channel, through France at 300kph (Yep 300kph), to Gare Du Nord in central Paris. Have a crepe and a coffee. But stay away from the Nutella crepes, too sweet. Total elapsed time: three to four hours.

Looking at the travel adverts in the UK, you would reckon it was like a magic carpet. At first glance the airfares are astonishing, 10 quid to here, 50 quid to there. It is worthwhile, but there are a number of traps for the unwary. First; despite all the trains buses and planes, if air travel is involved any trip takes more or less a whole day. It is definitely not like going Melbourne to Sydney, or Auckland to Wellington. The trains from home to the hubs, and then to the airports will take up an hour or so, you need to check in two hours before an international flight of any kind because of the security arrangements, there are frequent (almost universal) flight delays, and a fair number of outright cancellations. In Marrakech we were told during a five hour delay (having got up at six a.m. to make the flight) that the pilot was not answering his mobile phone! The budget airlines charge heavily for everything: for a suitcase, a glass of water, coffee, food, early boarding. Ryanair recently looked into charging for use of the toilets, but the newspapers raised a stink, it turned out to be a bummer, so to speak.

And despite the low headline airfares, it cost us between $1200 and $2000 Aussie to go anywhere and do anything. The drawbacks are the exchange rate, high accommodation costs, incidental train fares (the Heathrow express from Victoria to the airport is thirty quid: sixty Aussie), and entry fees, food and out of pockets on the trip. Don’t be put off by this. The point is you go to a lot of amazing places and you learn things, taste and smell things and see things that are way beyond the imagination. When you have a good sausage in the hand, you don’t give a damn how much it cost. (probably four Euro: $7.50 Aussie)

Then the arrangements at the point of destination can be variable.  At the least, there will usually be a longish bus ride or train ride to get started. You do not speak the language! There are confusions and small frauds committed. Number two son arrived in Milan late one night and took a taxi to the hotel, he handed the cabbie fifty euros, but the guy handed it back and said “whena i havva got your cases” or some such. Having got the cases he announced the fare at fifty euros again. NTS handed back the note. “No no no: fifty euros!” says the cabbie. NTS looks at the note and it is a twenty. The Italian rat had palmed his fifty and given him back a twenty. Then charged him the full fare. This is standard behaviour. Not to be down on the Italians, (thieving angry peasants), but we ran into similar strife ourselves.

Appointed spokesperson for a party of four in Cinque Terra (one of the terras anyway). I purchased four day-passes for the train so we could shuttle along the coast and look the place over. We waited on the platform. No passengers. No trains; just a number of messages over the PA in Italian. Making my way back to the ticket office I eventually learned that the trains were on strike today. No trains. I politely enquired as to why the guy had sold me four train tickets when he knew there was a strike on. He shrugged. I wanted my money back. He shouted. He was not going to refund good money paid for perfectly legal train tickets. I shouted. He attempted to end the conversation. I invited him to come out the front and settle the matter in a physical way. (I had a new homburg hat on and was feeling feisty) He declined. I shouted and made insulting gestures. Eventually, cursing and showing great ill humour, he refunded our fares.

At less cost the London disappearing trick works in other ways, not restricted to outwards/international/3 dimensions/present time. For instance you can travel inwards. The eight million residents of metropolitan London include the former citizens of 120 nations. There are pockets of ethnicity everywhere, where you can eat an exotic meal, and sense the cadences, palette, smells, atmosphere and attitudes of foreign peoples and foreign lands.

The colour of Londoners seems to have changed perceptibly over ten years. Right now it is cafe latte. (Which they cannot make to save themselves. Always ask for a “double shot”.) The native English at one end of the spectrum are not so much white as pink skinned, the Africans at the other end more a lustrous navy-blue than black. In between is a wonderful blend of the olive, coffee coloured, brown and nearly black. Most heartening, to your mixed-race blogger, is the growing number of beautiful coffee coloured half breeds, with their estuary English accents and fastidious attention to dress and deportment.

Favourite London foods: Carol– Portuguese custard tarts; Ross–curry goat with rice and beans from the Carribean takeaway; Son number two–chilli crab Linguini from Sardinia; beautiful daughter in law– chicken and preserved lemon Tagine from Morocco. (The first time I got curry goat from the Queens Park takeaway they called it curry lamb to protect my sensitivities, but I know a goat when I eat one!)

There is backwards travel of course. Backwards in time to St Martin in the Fields (not in a field but in Trafalgar Square) where Mozart performed when in town, and Handel played the organ for evensong. There are excellent toilets in the crypt underneath, and a good cup of tea as well. Or Westminster Abbey, begun in the twelfth century. And traces remain of the Vikings, the Romans, the Normans and the Crusaders. There is a lot to think about too: the Great Fire, the plague, and the Blitz. Churchill’s war cabinet rooms are open for view, and St Pauls Cathedral, its dome memorably photographed (was that by Cecil Beaton?) standing intact over the rubble.

Nearby is a very interesting little church, a Christopher Wren design, which consists now of only the bell tower. I can’t remember the name if I ever knew it. The church layout, the nave, the altar etc, is now preserved as a garden, all planted carefully to remember the shape and scale of the bombed building.

It is a matter of great surprise to me that the well-prepared German military thought they could break the spirit of London merely by bombing the place to rubble. After all, they had plenty of people living in London, and a large following of right-wing English aristocrats. Anyone could have told them that Londoners love adversity, they yearn for a bit of bovver. They have a special language for it. “Fiwlffy wevva!” They had sing-songs in the underground stations as they sheltered from the bombs. When Buckingham Palace was hit, the Queen remarked “at last I can look the East End in the eye!” Londoners are never happier than when whining about the latest threat to their lives and their routine. Last year severe snow storms shut down the underground and stopped the busses and most road traffic for three or four days. (We stayed home more or less) Nothing happened! Everyone loved it!

There is a great variety of backwards. Not just the buildings and topography. At Greenwich up the river you can see the wonderful chronometers of the genius Harrison, whose instruments cracked the problem of determining longitude, and changed the world. Captain Cook took one to Australia on one of his voyages. At the Natural History Museum take a picture of the (dead) Dodo, that famous earth bound bird of the Galapagos Islands. I must say they do look like a good meal. Last year we touched the frescoes of Babylon at the British Museum- you were not supposed to touch them but we did of course- the vibrant and beautiful Lion mosaics that decorated the entryway to the city of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel and the three Hebrew princes. Centuries of British imperial kleptomania has ensured that Londoners can see and touch the every corner of the ancient world: China, Egypt, Greece and Rome.

Then there is the London of the imagination. Is this getting too weird? To Baker Street perhaps, where Sherlock Holmes and John Watson shared their rooms at number 221B. Or Paddington Station where a small bear was found with a note fastened to his collar. Or Kings Cross Station, Platform 9 ¾, for the train to Hogwarts School for Wizards.  The London of Dickens, where Oliver Twist asked for more (and is still doing so six nights a week at the West End). Catch the boat up the river from Richmond, following Three Men in a Boat, and their dog Montmorency. Or look out for Horace Rumpole making his way to the Old Bailey, or Bertie Wooster, Jane Eyre, Elizabeth Bennet, George Smiley or Bridget Jones. (Hugh Grant lives in Kensington I think. And so does Mr Darcy, whatever his name is.)

As might be expected given the sensory stimulation on offer, London is not without its challenges for sixty year old travellers. We were pretty fit on arrival, having long held to a daily routine involving a brusque 5 kms round the little town and along the beach. This was not sufficient preparation. First there are the steps. 25 down from the flat to street level, 32 down to the underground, then 30 or 40 or 60 up to street level at the other end. Steps and stairs in every building, often two flights to do a simple job, or to find the loo. Then the whole lot in reverse at the end of the day. You spend a lot of time going up or down.

After the steps, the loads. Driving (or parking to be specific) is so difficult as to be useless for everyday tasks. You carry the groceries, the laundry, the luggage, the camera, the umbrellas and the jacket, usually in combination. Up and down the steps. A load for every day. You might be lucky enough to find a reasonable mini supermarket within a mile. (Not many real supermarkets in central London: no space to build them.) Ours was actually only about a kilometre away. Even so a kilometre is quite far enough to carry three or four bags of groceries. We soon worked out why Londoners habitually buy one day’s food at a time.

After the loads, the crowds. Walking down Oxford Street on a Saturday afternoon, or round Picadilly Circus on Friday night is actually surreal. Unsettling and physically daunting. (Let alone Leicester Square on Saturday Night!) At any time, on any train or in any station it can be disconcerting for the newcomer. Being already half crazy, I found it rather a challenge at first, and had to ease into each new activity in stages to manage my tendency to anxiety. Number two son developed a rather telling imitation of “Ross on the underground”. The trick is to keep the eyes firmly closed and the legs tucked in.

I can record that we got in the groove after an adjustment period, and began to love the pace and the feel of the big smoke. We took a perverse pride in our six trains Sunday morning journey to our outer suburban church meeting. We loved the fact that our fellow Londoners ran up a hundred steps rather than taking the escalator, or ran up the escalator to save fifteen or twenty seconds. We consulted our well thumbed little map book to direct tourists and visitors. We noticed that we did the steps without discomfort, and walked all day if the programme required it. Carol blended. (I could not blend because I wear shorts. At times possibly the only shorts in London) We learned to survive, and we prospered. Carol zipped from school to school (over a hundred quid a day for relief teaching) and learned the ropes in the outer suburbs. One class had a single pink student, and even he was a tinker: a gypsy from Ireland. There are practically no consonants left out there. One young scholar was asked which football team he followed. “ewe-nigh-idd”. Manchester United. The rather charming outer London salutation is “lay-arr”. (see you later!)

Altogether we lived fifteen months in London, drove the whole of Britain and Ireland, and most of France, and visited seventeen countries for at least a few days. We have a list of our favourite cities, but London is in a category of its own: “second home”. We first saved up and planned the trip in 1970-71, just married and living on a hobby farm south of Auckland. Car repair costs, church responsibilities and eventually the arrival of number one son detained us. We made it as far as Melbourne “on the way to England” in 1973, and were detained again in Geelong for a very enjoyable eight years. It was 2001 when we finally set foot in London, and 2008 before we were able to live there for our long planned twelve months “overseas experience”. Too late to benefit the careers however; we are retired!

1. The Power and the Glory. Graham Greene

2. The Great Gatsby. F Scott Fitzgerald

3. Cloudstreet. Tim Winton

4. On The Road. Jack Kerouac

5. The Great Railway Bazaar. Paul Theroux

6. Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte

7. Howards End. E M Forster

8. Down and Out in Paris and London. George Orwell

9. Travels with my Aunt. Graham Greene

10. Plumb. Maurice Gee

11. In the wilds of Borneo. Redmond O Hanlon

12. Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance

Top Ten musical artists.

1. Thelonius Monk

2. Bill Evans

3. Oscar Peterson

4. Van Morrison

5. Ray Brown

6. Johnny Hodges

7. Dave Brubeck

8. Eric Clapton

9. Jacques Loussier

10. Ray Bryant

11. John Coltrane

12. Rod Stewart

13. James Taylor

Top Ten Albums

1. The Band. The Band.

2. Queen. Greatest Hits.

3. Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Beatles.

4. Hot August Night. Neil Diamond.

5. Eric Clapton Unplugged.

6. Dire Straits. Best of.

7. 461 Ocean Boulevarde. Eric Clapton.

8. On Top Again: Greatest Hits. Van Morrison.

9. Jim Croce. Jim Croce.

10. Living and Dying in 3/4 Time. Jimmy Buffet.

11. Play Bach No.1. Jacques Loussier Trio

Top Ten Films

1. Star Wars

2. The Empire Strikes Back.

3. The Dirty Dozen

4. Casablanca

5. The Big Sleep

6. The Field of Dreams

7. The Untouchables

8. As Good as it Gets

9. The Guns of  Navarone.

10. The Last Waltz. The Band.

Top Ten Songs

1. As time goes by.

2. Around midnight. Thelonius Monk.

3. Blueberry hill

4. I get a kick out of you.

5. Georgia on my mind

6. Mustang Sally

7. Brown Eyed Girl

8. The night they drove old Dixie down.

9. Albinoni Adagio

10. Tupelo Honey

11. Pachelbel canon.

12. You are so beautiful

13. Sultans of Swing

Top ten cities

1. London

2. Melbourne

3. Istanbul

4. Venice

5. Prague

6. Krakow

7. San Francisco

8. Paris.

9. Marrakech

10. Wellington

Top Ten Bands

1. The Beatles

2. The Band

3. Queen

4. The Eagles

5. Dire Straits

6. Manhattan Transfer

7. Duke Ellington Big Band

8. Miles Davis quintet. (kind of blue)

9. Dave Brubeck Quartet

10.

Top Ten Writers

1. Graham Greene

2. George Orwell

3. Henry James

4. Paul Theroux

5. E M Forster

6. Joseph Conrad

7. Redmond O Hanlon

8. Kate Atkinson

9. Alan Bennett

10. Jane Austen

11.