Signs of the Times - June 2023

BEATING

TAX MAN FAITH AND HEALING

THE DANGERS OF VAPING

A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON THE WORLD TODAY

THE

TIME FLIES . . .

IN THIS ISSUE JUNE 2023 BEATING THE TAX MAN Nine steps to help you achieve financial peace PAGE 32

00 52

12

CURRENT

04 WHAT IN THE WORLD 12 A BRIEF HISTORY OF

#VANLIFE Living in your car never looked so good

26 PASSIVE VAPING: IT’S

TIME TO STAND UP FOR CLEAN AIR The very real dangers no-one is talking about

FAITH

18 WATERS OF DEATH,

WATERS OF LIFE

24 ASK PASTOR JESSE

00 54

CULTURE

54 HOW WELL DO YOU

KNOW YOUR HEROES? The life and legacy of CS Lewis

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

52 JIM’S TURNAROUND

When everyone else gave up on Jimmy, one person changed everything

WELLBEING

06 BUILD BOUNDARIES,

PROTECT YOUR MARRIAGE How to safeguard your most important relationship

46 FINDING THE FATHER FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 2

SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JUNE 2023

38 YOUR FAITH WILL MAKE

YOU WELL . . . SLOWLY The surprising power faith has in healing

44 THREE EASY DRESSINGS

THAT MAKE SALADS HEALTHIER

FUN

62 CROSSWORD & SUDOKU

Can you believe it’s June already? Just the other day it felt like we were welcoming in 2023 and somehow we’re back to burying our heads in our taxes (tips for that on p32).

Time is a funny thing. As we age, the days seem to melt together. Suddenly we find ourselves at the end of another year wondering where it has all gone. The famous adage is “life is short”. But the ancient philosopher Seneca saw things differently, saying, “It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.”

Experts say our perception of time changes as we age, which makes certain periods feel like they go by quicker. For children, the world is fascinating and full of new experiences and sensations. But as we age, we are less likely to experience new things and the world becomes more familiar. We operate at a fast pace within the workday, financial year and school terms.

We get so in routine that we switch off and run on autopilot. As a result, we let life pass us by. But experts say there are ways we can slow down time. By doing new things, learning new skills, growing in our relationships and reflecting on life often.

On the advice of Seneca, what if, instead of sitting in front of the television, we made an effort to better our relationships? (p6, p46). What if, instead of saying yes to meeting after meeting, we looked at navigating our finances and creating a better work-life balance? What if, instead of scrolling on social media, we did something out of the ordinary and tried out the phenomenon that is #vanlife (p12) or looked at how we could make a difference in the world (p52)?

None of us know how much time we have. But we do have control over how we use that time. So, may the pages in this magazine inspire you to make the most of your life. Let’s cherish the time we have and use it wisely. Let’s live fully, love deeply and make every second count.

Zanita

ZANITA FLETCHER Assistant Editor

VOL 138 NO 6 ISSN 1038-9733 EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Brad Kemp EDITOR Jarrod Stackelroth ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jesse Herford ASSISTANT EDITOR Zanita Fletcher COPYEDITOR Tracey Bridcutt GRAPHIC DESIGN Theodora Pau'u Talia Valderrama PHONE +61 2 9847 2222 EMAIL info@signsofthetimes.org.au WEBSITE signsofthetimes.org.au ADDRESS Adventist Media PO Box 1115, Wahroonga New South Wales 2076 SUBSCRIPTIONS Kelli Geelan PHONE +61 3 5965 6300 Australia/New Zealand, $A28/$NZ30; South Pacific countries, $A41; Other countries $A51 Published since 1886, Signs of the Times is printed 11 times a year by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and is registered as a periodical.

Seventh-day Adventist Church (SPD) Limited ABN 59 093 117 689 NOTE The inclusion of a person or their image within does not imply their endorsement of the Seventh-day Adventist Church or its beliefs.

Unless otherwise stated, Bible verses are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, Anglicised. Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc®. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton. All rights reserved worldwide.

COVER IMAGE:

Mart Production — Pexels

@SIGNSMAG JUNE 2023 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES.ORG.AU

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TIPS TO GET YOU THROUGH TAX TIME Incorporate a reward system. Think of how you can treat yourself on the other side of completing specific tax-related tasks. It could be as simple as going out for a meal or doing an activity you enjoy.

WHAT IN THE WORLD 4-DAY WORK-WEEK TRIAL

NO MORE TUNA

UNITED KINGDOM

PACIFIC ISLANDS

In the world’s largest trial of its kind, 61 UK companies reduced working hours by 20 per cent without lowering wages.

The study conducted at the University of Cambridge showed a decrease in anxiety, burnout and sleep difficulties among those participating. 39 per cent of workers reported being less stressed and sick days taken during the trial dropped by around two-thirds. 91 per cent of companies said they would continue with the four-day working week.—Good News Hub

Pacific nations are at risk of losing much of the tuna from their waters in years to come. For longterm sustainability, conservation measures need to be implemented.

These include reducing the number of fishing vessels, minimising bycatch, and improving monitoring and enforcement. A failure to agree to harvest strategies would risk the certification of 33 fisheries, which account for 85 per cent of all certified tuna.—Pacific News Service

UNITED STATES

Over the past 30 years, trees in the United States have shifted their populations 15.3 kilometres westward to areas that provide more conducive living conditions. This migration is due to rainfall and precipitation changes, human land use and pest infestations.

Saplings are drawn to better conditions, and as older trees die, younger ones take up residence elsewhere. Scientists worry this could result in ecological consequences.—Ripley’s News

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ANDREA PIACQUADIO, ARTHOUSE STUDIO, OLEKSANDR PIDVALNYI, TODD TRAPANI—PEXELS

MIGRATING TREES SPIRITUALITY ON WELLBEING

AUSTRALIA

The latest snapshot of Australian wellbeing from the 2022 Australian Community Survey indicated that spirituality or religiousness is positively linked with wellbeing. Australians who identify as “Christian” or “religious and spiritual” or who attended regular worship services have higher levels of satisfaction than other Australians and are more satisfied with their communities.—NSLS Research

Know your deductions. Knowing what you can claim may increase your refund. Did you know you may be able to claim things such as dry-cleaning and donations? If you want to get ahead you could purchase deductive items before June 30 so they’re deductible against this year’s income.

Set the mood. Make yourself a cuppa, put on your slippers, even light some candles.

A nice environment will help you feel more relaxed and concentrate for longer.

Ask for help. Using an accountant can be costly. However, they tend to know the insand-outs, so you could end up saving money in the long run. Investing in one could be beneficial until you’re confident enough to do it yourself. Fees for using an accountant may also be tax-deductible.

Hold a tax party. Invite some friends over and turn tax preparation into a social event. Set up a designated area for your documents, bring out the snacks, play some music, and make it a fun and collaborative experience. You can help each other with questions, offer advice and celebrate together once it’s all done.

W

ELL B EING

BUILD BOUNDARIES, PROTECT YOUR

ESTHER ANN—UNSPLASH

marriage

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The most important relationship we’ll ever have is with our spouse. Protect it at all costs.

BY JARROD STACKELROTH SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JUNE 2023

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W

e tend to protect things that are important to us. In the past, a wealthy man might build a castle to contain his wealth and household. Today, we don’t do anything important (or expensive) without some form of insurance.

Significant purchases all require it in some form, apparently. We get home and contents insurance to protect our stuff and the dwelling that contains it all, health insurance for our bodies, life insurance to cover those we leave behind in the case of our death—even travel insurance, to ensure we get our money back if something goes awry when we’re away from home.

But what about marriage insurance? In a day and age where some people are still paying off their weddings as the divorce papers are being processed, how can we protect and insure our marriages? Let’s face it—marriage is the biggest investment you’re ever likely to make. It costs a lot of time and money and if it fails, it is likely to cost even more!

When a marriage breaks down, it is not only the couple who are hurt but their children, their families, their friends and even their church, social club or school community.

VINCE FLEMING—UNSPLASH

a biblical framework

In the Bible, marriage is often used as a metaphor for the relationship between humankind (or the church) and God. It is a relationship that God seeks to protect. He wants it to succeed and treats it as vitally

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important—so much so that the daily prayer the Israelites would pray, and what Jesus calls the first and greatest commandment, incorporates a formula to protect it: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5).

This love that is referred to is a self-sacrificial love, an attitude of honour, respect and mutual admiration. Love is a choice. You can choose to create an atmosphere, an environment, that helps your marriage thrive and prosper. There is no formula for protecting a marriage as each couple and their experience is different. However, keeping the aforementioned verse in mind, let’s see if we can find some principles to help us.

protect your heart

The heart is the seat of human emotions (not just the four-chambered pump that forces blood through your vessels). Protecting your heart means informing your emotions. I’ve heard many people say they love their spouse but they’ve fallen out of love. That means they are allowing emotions to cloud their judgement. Most affairs don’t start with sex—they start with emotional attachments to someone who is not your spouse.

Emotions can be controlled. That is a sign of maturity and growth. You don’t roll on the floor and throw a tantrum if you don’t get your

way, do you? In other words, set up boundaries around your heart. Don’t share intimate thoughts and feelings with someone who is not your spouse, especially in a one-on-one setting. That is, of course, unless the person is a trained therapist or health professional.

On the flipside, your spouse should know all your emotions, all the intimate details of your inner life. Make a commitment today to be completely open with your significant other. And commit to being a safe place for your significant other to be open with you!

originate in our thought life when we entertain things that are contrary to building up our marriage.

The worst mistakes often begin in the mind.

protect your mind

The mind is the seat of your thoughts. Jesus showed that thoughts and intentions were important when He equated anger with murder and lust with adultery.

These often

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your mind to develop admiration and fondness for your spouse. Think positively of them and your interactions will grow more positive as you go. You can’t change another person but you can train your mind and your focus on your spouse.

and want to align your life with, are really important because if you ignore or compromise them, your flame will dim and you will struggle to be happy. You might become resentful or bitter. Don’t get me wrong, sacrifice and compromise are good things. In The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work, Dr John Gottman’s research proves that 69 per cent of problems in a relationship are unsolvable. In other words, you don’t have to agree on everything.

But on the big foundational beliefs of your life, you should be able to find some agreement.

You and your spouse may have differences of opinion, culture and family of origin. In fact, after you’ve been married a while, you may find that nearly everything is different, even things that you thought were the same. But if you are heading in the same direction, you can look past the little disagreements and both your flames can burn brightly.

Prayer together can be a great activity to share hopes and dreams, have quiet time and ask for help, guidance and strength for your relationship. Have conversations to understand how you are both thinking and feeling about world events, things that happen in your family and in your lives. And have a community of strong relationships around you.

protect your soul

This one is important. The soul is the seat of your spiritual life.

Picture it like a divine spark or flame that animates the rest of your body.

When the flame is fed and welltended, it spreads light and warmth to the rest of you. If it’s neglected, it will grow cold and dark. When you are connected to another person in a relationship, they can also feed or destroy your flame.

Something that helps your flame to flourish is sharing goals, beliefs and vision with your partner, for what your life together will be like.

These core values, what you believe

GUS MORETTA—UNSPLASH

Where are your thoughts focused?

I heard a statistic recently that 100 per cent of young boys around the age of 11 have now been exposed to porn. It is pervasive and invasive and can cause a lot of damage to relationships. If one partner is addicted to porn, they will not find their spouse satisfying—which, by the way isn’t just a biblical suggestion: it’s a mandate (Ecclesiastes 9:9). They will entertain fantasy above the real thing. So, control your thoughts.

But more than just trying to stifle bad thoughts, make sure you train your thoughts on your spouse. How often do you go through your good memories in your mind? Do you focus on trying to think of all the good things they’ve done for you recently? It’s easy to fall into patterns of negative thinking. It’s easy to compare and keep tallies in our mind for all the things we’re contributing and all the things they’re not. Allow

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protect your strength

Strength is found in our hands and arms, often in our actions. So

what are you doing to protect your marriage through your actions? This means proximity and placement.

Do not use your actions to be flirtatious or touch someone beyond appropriate physical interactions. A handshake or even a hug can be fine but don’t hug for too long and don’t go around giving massages or playful touches. If you make some of these boundaries in the physical space, you will help protect your marriage.

Use your strength to serve your spouse instead. Spend quality time with them. Massage them, do chores, cook and make them gifts with your own hands. Use your strength to serve your spouse and you will find your love will deepen.

for your health

Marriage has been shown to be the most stable relationship for good health and financial status. It’s important enough to be protected.

Setting boundaries around what is and isn’t acceptable is a good idea.

If we set boundaries around our emotional, mental, spiritual and physical life, then we are not only investing in our relationships but we are protecting them—for ourselves, for our children and for all those who come into contact with us.

Jarrod Stackelroth is the editor of the Aus/ NZ edition of Signs of the Times and Adventist Record.

To go to the next level with your relationships, scan this code!

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Y R O T S I H A BRIEF E F I L N A OF #V

#vanlife... it’s the aesthetic

trend we’ve seen sprawled across the internet in the past decade. The reservoir of photographs framed by flung-open doors or windows onto a glorious, unpeopled view has stirred many an individual’s curiosity. For a long time, van life has been exclusive to the nomads, the hippies and the cash-strapped. But today, it appeals to a much wider range of people.

Some are still drawn to it for the travel opportunities, but many are choosing it for financial and lifestyle reasons, converting everything from cars, vans, buses, trucks and military vehicles into liveable homes. With its growing social media community and an outpouring of blogs and vlogs, the once-niche movement is now mainstream. However, the concept is not new. People started enjoying life on the road well before social media threw it into the spotlight.

Who started it and is it really all it’s cracked up to be?

BY ZANITA FLETCHER 12

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In 1855 Dr William Stables, a wealthy Scottish surgeon, had a severe case of the travel bug.

He commissioned Bristol Wagon Works to custom-make the world’s first caravan. His travelling home, which he named The Wanderer, was pulled by two horses, moved at three kilometres per hour and spent much time being retrieved from ditches. It had polished-mahogany panelling, a small bookcase, a Persian rug, stained-glass windows, a dainty kitchen and a corner for Stables’

ROMAN ODINTSOV—PEXELS

where it all started

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IMAGES SUPPLIED - ZANITA F 14

musical instruments.

Then, in 1915, the man we frequently refer to for inventing the lightbulb started organising lengthy auto-camping trips with three of his friends. Thomas Edison, along with Henry Ford (founder of the Ford Motor Company), John Burroughs (writer) and Harvey Firestone (founder of the first tyre company), would frequently travel to the Everglades, upstate New York and America’s backroads and forests. This famous quartet was known as the Four Vagabonds. Though they were among the first to start holidaying in vehicles, they cannot be credited for the standard of simplistic living we see in van culture today, as they would have up to a dozen support vehicles following them with fancy clothes, kitchen gear and enough food for multiple meals.

Before the Second World War, the Type 1 Sedan, commonly known as the Volkswagen Beetle, was already being used. But after the war, Germany required rebuilding.

Workers needed a light utility vehicle that could carry flatbeds and tools.

Cargo had to be moved and it made sense for groups of people to travel together. Hitler wasn’t satisfied with the Beetle and wanted a “people’s car”. So, he commissioned designer Ferdinand Porsche to develop something new. Porsche sketched a small light-duty vehicle with a rectangular body that could act as a small bus or enclosed cargo carrier. This evolved to become the Type 2 Kombi SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JUNE 2023

Transporter.1 It sold like crazy and paved the way for other companies to release similar vehicles.

new vistas of freedom

With two wars out of the way, people started looking for ways to enjoy life again. In 1951, a British officer wanted something more for camping in. He approached Volkswagen, who created the Westfalia. This model had a double side door, cabinets, a folding table, curtains, a kitchen setup and even a hammock. Motor Trend claimed it could “open up new vistas of freedom (or escape) from humdrum life”.2 When this van arrived in the United States in the 1950s, surfers on the West Coast embraced it enthusiastically. Until then, they had been using small converted vehicles but the van offered plenty of space and the opportunity to turn life into a neverending road trip.

Come the 1960s and opposition to the Vietnam War spurred a movement of hippies advocating for peace and love. This was when the VW was dubbed the Hippie Bus. Young people jumped at the opportunity to live a life of unbound freedom and unconventionality. They used vans painted with peace signs, flowers and words of protest to transport masses to rallies, protests and festivals. This continued into the ’70s as people steered clear of systems they deemed corrupt and chased independence.

They moved in convoys and connected over wanting to escape society

and live an alternative lifestyle.

the Instagram effect

Over the next few decades, van life didn’t receive much attention. Few still travelled in convoys and those who did still live in their vehicles were thought of as rambling nomads who aimlessly wandered from place to place, partially because they lacked stability and funds for a normal life.

However, in 2011 Instagram saw the first mention of the hashtag #vanlife and things took a turn. Since then, the hashtag has been used on more than 15 million posts, with some geo-tagging their social media accounts on their back windows to inspire other drivers to look up and follow their adventures.

YouTube is also littered with people offering tips for life on the road and receiving hundreds and

thousands, even millions of views.

Young girls are at the forefront of such accounts with videos titled, Tips for Van Life as a Solo Female, How I shower in my van and even Female traveller lives van life with a pet snake. Others offer more honest explanations of their experience, titling their videos Things you didn’t know about van life and Van life is overrated.

The publicity on social media has inspired many to test out this way of life. For the young, it can be an excellent way to save, travel and delve into passions while not being tied down to a career or a family.

For retirees, it allows them to stretch their savings and travel as comfortably as they wish.

For those drawn to the simplicity van life offers, there are plenty of hacks and designs to maximise space.

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BALKAN CAMPERS—UNSPLASH 16

The classic image of the hippie bus has evolved. Now the trending look is a minimalistic cabin with wooden panels, white décor, southwestern blankets, fairy lights and hanging succulents. For those wanting something a little more glamorous, you can even kit your vehicle with a fireplace and bathtub.

There are, however, reasons for the rise outside of the Instagram appeal.

For many, van life is not a hippie lifestyle choice but a necessity. Australia’s housing affordability is a major issue that plagues potential firsthome buyers and there is a cohort of people living out of their vehicles because they have been displaced by rising rent prices. There was also a surge of people who moved into their vehicles during Covid-19. For some, it was due to the rise in rent or the loss of work. For others, the ban on international travel meant many were looking to travel within their own country.

Between 2019 and 2022, the van market became like the housing market. According to CarsGuide, Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace experienced a significant boom in the volume of searches for vans with a 30 per cent increase in price in 2020 alone and a 38 per cent increase in those living in their vehicles from three years earlier. A year SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JUNE 2023

2000 Toyota HiAce with 250,000 kilometres on the clock and a bed in the back could sell for an easy $A15,000. One couple from Bondi managed to sell their Mercedes-Benz Sprinter with 280,000 kilometres for $A89,000 . . . almost enough for a house deposit. For those in the business of outfitting vans, the boom led to waitlists of up to three years.

Social media has certainly fuelled the allure and created an image of what #vanlife entails. But the question remains, is it all it’s cracked up to be?

the good and the not-so-good

Now is probably a good time to tell you that I have experienced the #vanlife trend. At 25 years old, I bought a 1999 Mitsubishi Express and I excitedly chugged it nine hours home to fit it out. My plan was to live out of it to save on rent and cut back on work to instead focus on what I cared about. For me, that was spending more time with people and pursuing my passions. I lived in it on and off for two-and-a-half years.

For the most part, I loved it. I enjoyed building my own portable home. I liked the instant bonds formed within the community of van-lifers and that every day consisted of giving or receiving a tour. I liked the thrill of fitting everything

I owned into less than nine square metres and how easy it made going away. I pocketed the money I would have paid on electricity and water bills and likely saved money in not having a place to fill with bathmats, photo frames, cleaning appliances, gadgets, tables or an excessive amount of clothing. I cherish the days when I woke to ocean views or rolling paddocks. But not so much the days I woke up in a car park or a backstreet busting for a loo.

I didn’t like the constant use of public toilets, the unexpected vehicle problems and always having to think about my safety. Scrubbing dishes outside by the light of a headlamp got old and it didn’t take long for the cosiness to rub off when the rain settled in for days. I often wished I had housemates and a place to invite people. And some days I was simply exhausted by the mental toll it took to make the accumulative number of decisions that in a house would be unchanging . . . where I was going to sleep, shower, cook and so on.

Personally, I found van life fun and exciting—for the most part. It did have its drawbacks, especially when it came to convenience. Most people who embrace it rarely do so permanently, with the average person only lasting two to three years.

For some, van life is a hard “no”.

Maybe all it does is inspire you to “collect moments, not things”.

Over the years, the lifestyle has come a long way and appealed to various people, from inventors to surfers, social activists to travel influencers, retirees to people just wanting to escape the grind. The allure of adventure and simplicity has given birth to a worldwide social media phenomenon, leading many to test out life behind the wheel. For those who can tolerate fewer showers, one-pot dinners and cutting back to basics, it might be something worth trying at least once in your life. Whether you’re a seasoned vanlifer or just curious about this way of life, one thing is for sure: the history of van life is still being written and there are many more adventures to be had on the open road. Maybe one day, I’ll see you there.

Zanita Fletcher is a life coach and assistant editor for the Aus/NZ edition of Signs of the Times. She writes from the Gold Coast, Queensland . . . sometimes in the comfort of her van.

1. <newyorker.com/magazine/2022/07/25/the-vwbus-took-the-sixties-on-the-road-now-its-getting-atwenty-first-century-makeover> 2. Volkswagen Kamper, Motor Trend, October 1956.

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Water is a powerful thing. It can cause immense damage, but it is also life-giving. One of the strangest Christian traditions involves water.

MATT HARDY—UNSPLASH

BY JESSE HERFORD

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WATERS OF DEATH, WATERS OF LIFE SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JUNE 2023

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ARQUIDIS MOLINA—UNSPLASH

I

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still remember it like it was yesterday: the brightness of the sun on my skin, the chill of the water, the crowds of cheering people. We had gathered that Saturday afternoon on the shores of Lake Jindabyne, a half-hour drive from Mount Kosciuszko, Australia’s tallest mountain.

The lake itself sprawls over where the old Jindabyne once stood until the Snowy River was dammed, drowning the town. Nowadays, new Jindabyne is a tourist town that exists mostly as a watering hole for weary holidaymakers as they return from their foray into the Snowy Mountains.

The afternoon we gathered at the edge of that lake, hundreds of people had assembled for one purpose: to witness me being dunked in the waters of the lake. My pastor and I stepped out into the shallows until we stood waist-deep. He said a few words over me, I responded, then holding my back with his left hand, he put his right hand on my chest and lowered me backward into the water. For a moment, it almost felt as though I was about to drown, then suddenly I was jerked upward out of the dark water into the warm sunlight above. If an alien were to descend from the heavens, I wouldn’t blame them if they assumed they were witnessing some sort of ritualistic humiliation ceremony. And yet, I was hugged, congratulated and joyously embraced by the people standing on shore.

For the uninitiated, I am describing the ancient Christian practice SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JUNE 2023

of baptism. It emerged in Israel around 2500 years ago as a cleansing ritual. Early Christians adopted this practice from their Jewish brothers and sisters, using it as an initiation rite for new converts. As Christianity spread through the world, this practice changed according to time and culture. Infant baptism became commonplace for the Catholic church during the medieval period, with figures like Martin Luther reclaiming it in its original form through the Protestant Reformation. Today, Baptists, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists and more all practice baptism. So, what is baptism today? Is it an outdated sacrament we should do away with, or does it still have a place in our spiritual practice?

waters of death

The practice of baptism is all about life and death. I’ll be honest with you: drowning is perhaps the mode of death I’d prefer least if I could pick (I’d obviously prefer not to die at all, but that seems a little out of the question). Sure, there are about a million ways to die but of all of them, drowning scares me the most. I still remember as a child snorkelling in the ocean near where I grew up. All was calm and peaceful—the light reflecting off the white sand, the shoals of colourful fish, the beautiful coral. All that was broken when out of nowhere, an enormous stingray swam past. Steve Irwin had only passed away a year earlier, so my young brain was suitably freaked out.

Beyond that, my trepidation of the ocean goes deeper (pun intended).

There’s something about the dark depths of the water that is unsettling.

Perhaps it’s the idea that the further down you go, the stranger things you’ll encounter. Or perhaps it’s the knowledge that even though oceans make up 71 per cent of the earth’s surface and contain 99 per cent of all habitable space, around 95 per cent of it remains unexplored.1 It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to learn that the ancients considered the oceans with much fear and respect. Babylonians and Egyptians alike imagined many of the great monsters in their mythologies coming from the ocean depths.

Even in the opening passages of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, God is seen wrestling order and goodness from the grip of the abyssal waters.

In the books of Amos, Isaiah, Psalms and Job, the “Leviathan” is described as a great “dragon of the deep”.

Ultimately though, this great and terrible monster is defeated by God, symbolising His dominance over all creation, no matter how destructive and powerful some of its denizens are. It’s easy to imagine being in the

shoes of an ancient person with no sonar or camera equipment peering into a deep, black sea imagining the beasts that surely lurk in its depths.

It makes sense that as well as being the home of monsters, ancient people equated the deep waters as the place of death. The flood narrative of Genesis 6 shows how water, when it is out of control, can result in death and destruction on an unimaginable level. The Jewish place of death is Sheol, which is often described as a pit or deep hole. This imagery combines the real-world Valley of Gehenna you can visit in Israel today, as well as old ideas about sinking into deep water. Ancient Jews, Babylonians and Egyptians all believed that below the ground was a boundless void of dark water and that the earth we live on is like one of many lily pads floating around a vast pond. Dig far enough and you might fall in! Though this may seem far-fetched to us, scientists have recently discovered an enormous reservoir of water beneath the earth’s surface estimated to hold three times the amount found in our oceans.2 Perhaps the ancients knew something we don’t.

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waters of life

But water is also described as life-giving. The Israelites had to pass through the waters of death (aka the Sea of Reeds) as they fled Pharaoh and his armies. This water which provided a life-giving way of escape for Moses and the Israelites then became a grave, quite literally, for Pharaoh and his soldiers. The water that flowed from the rock that Moses struck in Numbers 20 gave life to a thirsty people. When Jesus came onto the scene in the first century, He invited people into His

“

Baptism is about letting go of the old self and being made new. new way using this same language. He was baptised by His cousin John in a river. When He met a woman who just had been constantly abandoned by her many husbands, He told her about water that would give her lasting satisfaction. Then, perhaps most strangely, He invited His disciples to “drink of Him” at the last supper, offering them a cup of wine.

Years later, the apostle Paul pens a letter to the Christians in Rome. In his 22

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letter, he describes what happens when a person becomes a follower of Jesus and undergoes the ritual of baptism.

He describes the waters we are plunged into as a grave of sorts. To join Jesus in the new life He has promised us, we must first die to our old self. Our old ways, old perspective, old life: all this must be buried in the waters of death.

Only then will we be able to be raised into brand-new life with Jesus and into His brand-new family. As Paul says, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4).

Baptism is about letting go of the old self and being made new. Your regrets, mistakes, addictions: all of these things can be laid to rest when you give yourself to the One who gave everything for you. Make no mistake: baptism isn’t special on its own. It is merely a symbol of the life-transforming power of Jesus. I’m not perfect, but my life is far better today because of that decision I made all those years ago. If you’d like to discover how that power can transform your life, get in touch with us via the offer on the next page. You’ll be glad you did.

Jesse Herford is a pastor and associate editor for the AUS/NZ edition of Signs of the Times. He lives in Australia with his wife, Carina and their miniature schnauzer, Banjo.

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FA IT H

As a pastor, there are questions I’ve encountered more than once, sometimes about the Bible but usually about everyday life. If you’ve never had the opportunity to ask a pastor tough questions this is the right place. I’ll do my best to respond authentically and biblically!

I’d argue with anyone that Jesus was in all likelihood a visiting alien.—James Simon, Tik Tok It would be easy to dismiss such a comment as trivial but it hits on a popular belief that I think would be interesting to address.

The underlying idea is one I’ve seen perpetuated by pseudo-historians like Graham Hancock or less-than credible programs such as Ancient Aliens on the History Channel (which, by the way, at the time of writing has produced 19 seasons).

The concept is simple enough. Take a culture of historical note—the Khmer of Cambodia, Nazi Germany or ancient Israel—and find a link, however tenuous, to the extra terrestrial and you’ve got yourself a theory. Pyramids in South America? Aliens. Leonardo Da Vinci inventing the concept for an aircraft long before the Wright Brothers? Aliens.

Polynesians migrating through the Pacific long before the time of Captain Cook or Amerigo Vespucci? They must have been guided by . . . well, you get the idea.

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The problem with this logic is that it becomes too easy to assign credit for the world’s technological, historical and cultural accomplishments to some distant extra terrestrial intelligence. It’s exciting to consider that aliens may have had a hand in helping create the world we live in, but as the villain of a Pixar film once said, “Once everyone is super . . . no-one is.” Once you believe that everyone from Gilgamesh to Jesus were actually aliens, it becomes as trite as if they were actually just humans.

Jesus Himself never claimed to be an alien—in fact, His most shocking claim (to the religious establishment) was that He was both human and the Son of God. As His apostle, John, once wrote, “The Word [Jesus] became flesh and dwelled among us” (John 1:14). Far from being a visiting alien, Jesus was truly human. In another sense, He was, at the same time, “out of this world”.

Revelation is thought to have been inspired by him. Pliny the Younger recommended putting “persons to death, though they were guilty of no crime, and without the authority of any law”.

You may not believe Jesus was divine, but these early Christians did. It wasn’t just an intellectual faith either—it was “skin-in-the-game” trust that Jesus was who He said He was. It would be easy to accuse these people of delusion, stupidity or downright religious zealotry. However, for so many thousands of people to consistently go through pain and suffering for hundreds of years until Christianity was finally legalised in AD 313—that’s extraordinary.

I simply can’t account for the way in which these early Christians continually gave their lives for the cause of Jesus. The only logical explanation I can come to is that the story of Jesus must be true.

It’s all very well and good to believe in Jesus but that doesn’t mean I have to believe He was the Son of God.—Brenton Miller, Tik Tok That’s true! I don’t think any historian worth their salt today doubts the historicity of Jesus as a person. Whether He was divine is, of course, a different question entirely.

One thing that always puzzles me, however, is why His followers were so willing to live and die for the cause of Jesus.

The emperor Nero strung up Christians and lit them as torches during parties.

Another emperor, Domitian, oversaw so much persecution during his reign that the martyrdom mentioned in the Book of

To ask Jesse a question you can do so at signsofthetimes.org.au/askjesse or on TikTok:

JUNE 2023 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES.ORG.AU

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CONNOR DANYLENKO—PEXELS

CU

PASSIVE VAPING: IT’S TIME TO STAND UP FOR CLEAN AIR

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Vaping has been marketed as a “safer” alternative to smoking. But is it really better for you or have we been blinded to its dangers?

BY RENEE BITTOUN

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medical student of mine recently said he loved the smell of vanilla in the house he shared with friends who vaped.

“That’s OK, right?” he asked. “Well, no,” I said, “If you can smell the vanilla, you are probably getting nicotine as well.”

Nicotine is colourless and odourless, and is extremely well absorbed through your respiratory tract, including your nose, mouth, airways and even your ears.

Vapers exhale nicotine and chemicals, including the sweetsmelling flavourings. Bystanders can then breathe them in. The lung defences of smokers, vapers and bystanders are overwhelmed by repeated exposure.

There is a lot of vaping going on in young people aged between 18 and 24. Despite a good amount of debate about the health effects of vaping, there is scant discussion around the risk of passive vaping and the consequences for the health and wellbeing of non-vapers and their right to inhale clean air.

LUKAS MENKE—UNSPLASH

breathing out, breathing in

28

Researchers have examined the content of exhaled vapour from users in confined spaces, like cars, and larger venues. Although levels were lower than for tobacco cigarettes, they described levels of the exhaled toxic substances as “ambient air pollution” that should be avoided to protect the health of non-smokers and non-vapers.

SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JUNE 2023

“

The attitudinal change that made tobacco smoking around others socially unacceptable is yet to develop (for vaping).

The evidence for the effects of passive vaping on the heart is emerging but researchers have compared it to passive smoking, which can clog arteries and cause clotting problems.

Publications that demonstrate the harmful respiratory effects of passive vaping are growing.

lessons from passive smoking

In the late 1980s, passive smoking became the impetus to change legislation around tobacco use. Health professionals had learnt decades earlier from a study of British doctors who smoked that tobacco smoking caused immense harm and early death in smokers. But later they began to understand that living with a smoker, working with smokers or having close repeated exposure to someone else’s smoke could cause lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, and

worsen asthma and heart diseases in a non-smoker. The effects of passive smoking on children too were very concerning.

Advocacy groups began defacing or “refacing” billboard tobacco advertising and ridiculing their advertising. In 1982, I wrote a paper published in the Medical Journal of Australia called “A Tracheostomy for the Marlboro Man” about these efforts, the legal repercussions and the challenges from the tobacco industry.

By the 1990s, people had started suing hospitality venues and workplaces for putting them in harm’s way by exposing them to “second-hand smoke”. Successes led to changes in legislation.

Attitudes changed and nonsmokers’ rights came to the fore. We were all able to live in a smoke-free

environment in Australia for decades.

the legal angle

In Australia, vaping restrictions are in line with laws around smokefree areas and World Health Organization recommendations.

For example, New South Wales legislation says people cannot use e-cigarettes in smoke-free areas under the Smoke-free Environment Act 2000. These include: • all enclosed public places within 10 metres of children’s play equipment • public swimming pools • spectator areas at sports grounds or other recreational areas used for organised sporting events • public transport stops and platforms, including ferry wharves and taxi ranks JUNE 2023 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES.ORG.AU

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within four metres of a pedestrian access point to a public building • commercial outdoor dining areas • in a car with a child under 16.

Vaping on public transport vehicles such as trains, buses, light rail and ferries is also banned.

But people are still vaping in their homes and other places where it’s permitted. The attitudinal change that made tobacco smoking around others socially unacceptable is yet to develop.

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are smoke-free areas enough?

Though debate continues about vaping, its safety and efficacy as a quitting aid, we cannot wait for years to see the full effects of passive vaping.

Based on the public health precautionary principle, today’s challenge is to engage and inform non-vapers, particularly young non-vapers, about their rights to be “vape free”, breathe in clean air and take a stand.

Renee Bittoun is a respiratory physiologist with 40 years of clinical and academic work in nicotine addiction and smoking cessation. She started the first “Smokers’ Clinic” at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney in 1979. This article was originally published in The Conversation. To find this article and more, visit <theconversation.com.au>

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Beating the

TAX MAN

MATHIEU STERN—UNSPLASH

Nine steps from ancient wisdom to help you achieve financial peace during tax time—or any other time of financial stress.

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BY JOSEPH SKAF SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JUNE 2023

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mid Australia and New Zaland’s challenging financial landscape of rising inflation and skyrocketing interest rates, families and individuals alike are struggling to maintain their financial commitments. As the average borrower with a $A500,000 loan is now (at the time of writing) paying an extra $A908 per month, disposable income is significantly reduced.

Times are tough, that’s for sure.

But there are always things we can do to improve our circumstances.

Below are nine practical steps, based on biblical principles, to achieve financial peace during the current economic downturn.

step 1: establish a budget and determine your income

step 2: establish an emergency fund

“The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.” Proverbs 21:5

“The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.”

Proverbs 21:20

Establishing a budget is one of the first steps in gaining control over your finances. Start by identifying recurring expenses such as rent or mortgage payments, school fees and utilities (internet, insurance, water and electricity). Then, look back at your bank statements to see if you can identify any other recurring expenses.

Once you have established a budget and identified your expenses, the next step is to determine your income. For those who work for wages, this may be a straightforward process. However, suppose your income varies from month to month, it may be helpful to think in terms of averages for longer periods of time (such as three months) for both your income and your expenses.

An emergency fund can be a wise and responsible way to prepare for unexpected expenses or financial crises. This fund should be a separate bank account with a balance of at least $2000, which can be built up over time to cover three-to-six months of living expenses. This fund can provide a safety net in case of unexpected expenses or income loss.

step 3: manage your expenses “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?” Luke 14:28-30

The 60/20/20 rule recommends allocating 60 per cent of your income to essential living costs, 20 per cent to discretionary spending and 20 per cent to savings. Adjust these percentages to suit your unique financial situation but they can be a helpful guideline when deciding which expenses to keep and how to organise your spending habits.

step 4: tackle your debts “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.”

Proverbs 22:7 34

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If you have credit card debts and other loans, creating a plan to tackle them and reduce your overall debt is important. One highly recommended method is outlined in the book The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape. A simplified version of this method is as follows: • Begin by adding the minimum repayment amounts of all your credit cards into your “Recurring Expenses Category” budget. This will ensure you make the minimum payments on time, avoiding additional fees.

• Pay off the smaller debts first rather than focusing on the most expensive ones. This can provide psychological benefits and motivate you to continue tackling your debts.

• Use all the money in your savings account (different from the emergency fund), or “Fire Extinguisher” account as Pape calls it, to tackle those debts until they are . . . well, extinguished.

This may require some sacrifice, but it can provide a sense of relief once the debt is paid off.

• Consider cutting up all your credit cards and using debit cards for every purchase. This means you’re only buying things for which you can pay upfront. This financial discipline can pay off and help you avoid the psychological trap of credit cards that can often tempt you to spend beyond your means.

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step 5: enjoy more free things “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:4

In tough financial times, it can be easy to feel like you are missing out on life just because you’re spending less. However, many free or low-cost activities can bring just as much joy and happiness. Consider going for a walk in the park, exercising outdoors or going to more affordable gyms. Starting a garden can save you money on groceries long-term, provide daily physical exercise and give you a sense of accomplishment.

Other things that bring a lot of happiness and are free include being part of a faith community, reading inspirational books and spending quality time with family and friends.

step 6: practise generosity

ONO KOSUKI—PEXELS

“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.” Proverbs 19:17

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The Bible teaches that great joy comes from being generous. Whether giving to those in need or volunteering your time, there are many ways to practise generosity, even in tough financial times. Some people choose to tithe, which means giving away 10 per cent of their income each pay. By giving to others, you can experience a sense of purpose and joy that goes beyond material possessions.

SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JUNE 2023

step 7: seek help “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17

It’s important to remember that seeking help is not a sign of weakness but a wise and courageous step towards financial health. There are many resources available for financial education, including books, podcasts and affordable professional financial advice. Consider asking a friend who is good with money to coach you through their system and philosophy, or look for free financial counselling services in your area.

step 8: practise gratitude “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18

In tough financial times, it can be easy to focus on the negative and feel discouraged. However, practising gratitude can help shift your mindset and focus on the positive aspects of your life. Before going to bed, try noting down the things you are grateful for and what went well during the day. By focusing on gratitude, you can cultivate a more positive and hopeful outlook on life.

step 9: trust in God’s provision “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

Matthew 6:25, 26

Even amid financial challenges, we can trust in God’s guidance to find peace and hope. He will provide for our needs because He loves us.

While tough financial times can be challenging, navigating them with peace and wisdom is possible. Why not try to put into practice some advice from the Bible that not only withstood but thrived through all the great financial crises of our planet?

Joseph Skaf is a pastor and stewardship director of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He holds a degree in economics and has a background in investment banking. He writes from Newcastle, Australia.

“ Practising gratitude can help shift your mindset and focus on the positive aspects of your life.

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ELL B EING

YOUR FAITH WILL MAKE YOU WELL . . .

TIMA MIROSHNICHENKO—PEXELS

slowly

Modern science supports that faith can bring healing from fear and pain. Maybe not instantly, but over time.

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BY LACHLAN TOWNEND JUNE 2023 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES.ORG.AU

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uffering is as much a part of the human experience as death and more so than taxes. As a physiotherapist, I see people every day in the clinic who are seeking help with their pain. I too have had my own personal struggle with pain. I have prayed, yet no healing has occurred. I have screamed out to God in anguish asking, “Where are You?” If you’ve been in pain yourself, you may know the pain and suffering that comes when waiting for healing.

Though miracles happen for some, many have seen clinician after clinician, hoping to find answers, only to be disappointed after many “cures” have been promised yet failed. Once exhausting modern medicine and alternative therapies, some turn to the only glimmer of hope they have left . . . a divine miracle. They pray, partake in anointing services, go on healing retreats and when their pain remains, they are left questioning their faith.

Despite the reality that pain and suffering are part of being human, I’m yet to see someone who has completely come to terms with it.

There is something about suffering that is just not right. Perhaps the only logical conclusion is that we were “made for another world”, as CS Lewis surmised.1 The Bible begins telling of a world free of pain and suffering and ends telling of a world free of pain and suffering. We are stuck in the middle, which if you know the story of the Bible—or simply if you breathe and

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bleed blood—is one that is full of pain and suffering.

But I’m here to tell you that there is hope at the end of the tunnel.

Jesus brought healing from suffering everywhere He went, declaring to people, “Your faith has made you well” (Matthew 9:22; Mark 5:34; Luke 17:19). I believe in the miraculous, instantaneous, unfathomable healings of Jesus. And despite lacking miracles experientially in my own life, I believe miracles still occur today.

In mainstream 21st century thought, the concept of faith healing is met with zealous opposition.

This scepticism is twofold: science attempts to completely explain away the supernatural realm and experientially, many of faith have sought miracles, only to be left frustrated, angry and doubting their faith altogether. But there’s another option that I want to bring to the table.

That is that faith can bring slow, scientifically measurable healing.

The claim that faith brings about healing is hard to back up with rigorous science in a community of faithless scientists. Lisa Miller is one scientist that, despite heavy scrutiny, has swum against the tide. Dr Miller is known for her research on spirituality and depression. Her studies show that spirituality is protective and healing of many depressive

“

There is something about suffering that is just not right.

disorders2, inferring that faith can make you well . . . not instantaneously, but slowly, progressively, bit-by-bit.

After reading her book The Awakened Brain,3 I was intrigued by how her research related to my field of physiotherapy—musculoskeletal pain. The research suggests that psychological distress plays a role in the development of persistent pain and it can be reduced by addressing contributing factors like depression.4 Also, the joyful heart is the faithfilled heart, which reminds me of the ancient proverb that declares “a joyful heart is good medicine” (Proverbs 17:22).

This doesn’t mean you can’t be a depressed person of faith—but that it is simply less likely for a person of faith to feel “down” due to the hope inherent in the Christian faith.

Considering the relationship between depression and pain, can

faith bring healing from pain also?

The research shows that one in five people suffer from persistent pain.5 In my home country of Australia that is 5.1 million people, which is an enormous amount of suffering.

Yet, there are many ways in which faith in God can bring healing from pain in ways that are supported by modern science.

Pain is a helpful protective mechanism. If you put your finger on a hot plate and turn it on, the pain will increase as the temperature increases.

When it becomes unbearable, you will react by pulling your finger away from the hot object to protect your finger from damage. It goes without saying, please do not try this at home. If your pain system is functioning as it should, your finger would not be damaged due to the protective buffer between the onset of pain and tissue damage. Again, please don’t try it.

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AZIZ ACHARKI—UNSPLASH

Consider pain as an alarm system, warning of us of impending danger.

Unfortunately, it can become overprotective in people who suffer from persistent pain, like a fire alarm that is so sensitive that it wakes the family up when all you’re doing is making toast.

One thing that makes us more sensitive to pain is fear. If you are fearful, your body goes into a heightened protective mode and becomes more sensitive to danger signals, producing even more pain.6 The apostle John declares that perfect love drives out fear (1 John 4:18).

What if I told you that the faith that grasps the perfect love of God could bring healing from pain? I believe this can happen and that the love of God can rewire the neural pathways away from fear and pain, towards hope and love. It might take longer than we imagined, but when we’re in pain, any progress is a win.

Belief alters our pain. Positive expectations bring about relief from pain (placebo) and negative expectations bring about increased pain (nocebo). Individuals who are given a sugar pill will get pain relief despite the pill not containing any active pain-relieving substance due to the belief that their pain will be relieved.

In the same way, if prior to getting a needle you are told it is going to hurt, you will have more pain than if you were told that it would be a light prick. This shows that our beliefs and expectations influence the pain we experience.6

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Pain thrives in hopelessness and I believe faith in Jesus is the antidote.

Faith in Jesus brings hope that restoration can be our ultimate reality rather than pain, suffering and death.

The apostle Paul describes that while we’re here on earth “we groan and sigh”, but that one day we will be given new bodies where pain will be no more (2 Corinthians 5:1–5). This hope, grasped by faith, can bring healing from the pain we experience in the here-and-now.

So, to the sceptic who doesn’t believe in the supernatural realm, or to the believer who lacks experiences of supernatural healing, there is another option. Faith can bring healing, in slow, scientific ways.

The faith healing I have described is not instantaneous but it is miraculous. If you are in pain, you can rest assured that God is not the author of pain and suffering, rather “the enemy (commonly referred to as ‘Satan’) has done this” (Matthew 13:28). If you trust God, He will bring you healing—perhaps through an instantaneous miracle—or more often slowly, as His love works within the laws of nature.

Jesus is able to sympathise with our pain—He suffered and felt abandoned by His Father as He hung on the cross 2000 years ago. But God did not abandon Him and hope didn’t die—Jesus rose from the dead and lives today. We can put our trust in Him to receive mercy and grace that will help us in times of pain.

This life will be full of suffering in many forms but my invitation to you is to trust the God who brings healing— if not in this life­, then in the life to come where there will be “no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

Lachlan Townend is a physiotherapist and a youth pastoral worker at Kingscliff Seventh-day Adventist Church. In his spare time, he loves surfing, basketball, travel, reading and hanging out with family. He lives on the Gold Coast with his wife, Emily and dog, Otis.

1. Lewis, CS (2017), Mere Christianity. Harpercollins Publishers.

2. McClintock, CH, Worhunsky, PD, Balodis, IM (2019), How Spirituality May Mitigate Against Stress and Related Mental Disorders: a Review and Preliminary Neurobiological Evidence. Curr Behav Neurosci Rep 6.

Available from: <doi.org/10.1007/s40473-019-001950>; McClintock, CH, Anderson, M, Svob, C (2019), Multidimensional understanding of religiosity/spirituality: relationship to major depression and familial risk. Psychol Med. 3. Miller, L (2021). The awakened brain: the psychology of spirituality and our search for meaning. Allen Lane.

4. Steven, JL, William, SS (2011), Impact of Psychological Factors in the Experience of Pain, Physical Therapy. Available from: <doi.org/10.2522/ ptj.20100330>.

5. Yong, RJ, Mullins PM, Bhattacharyya, N (2022), Prevalence of chronic pain among adults in the United States. Available from: <pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/33990113/>.

6. Butler, DS, Moseley, GL (2018). Explain Pain.

Noigroup Publications.

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THREE EASY DRESSINGS THAT MAKE SALADS HEALTHIER

1. Simple lemon vinaigrette Ingredients: lemon, olive oil, mustard and honey.

This dressing is loaded with the good stuff. The vitamin C in the lemon helps you absorb more iron from the leafy greens in your salad, while the extra virgin olive oil is one of the best oils for your body, providing healthy monounsaturated fatty acids and high amounts of powerful plant compounds called polyphenols.

As part of a healthy diet, extra virgin olive oil has been shown to improve longevity, giving this type of dressing our tick of approval. A classic dressing with a zesty, citrusy flavour that works well with simple salads needing a bit of oomph.

2. Green goddess dressing Ingredients: avocado, olive oil, lime juice, walnuts or cashews and fresh herbs like parsley and coriander.

Did you know adding avocado to your salad helps your body absorb fat-soluble nutrients such as lycopene, lutein and carotene from other colourful veggies?

Made with avocado and zesty herbs, this salad dressing provides an avocado hit in a deliciously creamy dressing, minus the saturated fat content.

Avocados are one of the only fruits to contain healthy monounsaturated

VALERIA BOLTNEVA—PEXELS 44

WE’VE ASKED THE DIETITIANS AT SANITARIUM FOR THEIR FAVOURITE DIY DRESSINGS THAT ARE SUPER QUICK AND EASY TO MAKE AT HOME. fats. These fats help to maintain healthy cholesterol levels and boost satiety, so you’ll feel full for longer, even after eating a salad—perfect if you are watching your weight.

3. Hummus Ingredients: chickpeas, lemon juice, olive oil, tahini, garlic and optional spices such as cumin and turmeric.

More than a dip, hummus makes a tasty and healthy addition to salads and bowl food. Traditionally made with chickpeas and tahini (a sesame seed paste), hummus provides the plant protein and high fibre benefits of legumes and seeds with a tasty kick.

Chickpeas are packed with vitamins and minerals including iron, zinc, B vitamins, calcium and magnesium for energy and immune support, as well as looking after your bones and muscles. Did you know legumes, such as chickpeas, are also great for blood sugar control and weight loss, as they are low GI? Try our golden turmeric hummus—a cheap and easy-to-make recipe that’s a deliciously good dip and salad addition.

Article courtesy of Sanitarium Health Food Company. Visit sanitarium.com.au or sanitarium.co.nz and subscribe to Recipe of the Week for a delicious plant-powered recipe in your inbox each week.

SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JUNE 2023

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Finding the Father

In searching for a father from my past, I found the Father I’ve always been looking for.

JOCHEN VAN WYLICK—UNSPLASH

BY KAREN COLLUM

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ast Christmas, I received the wonderful gift of a subscription to a genealogy service.

I’ve spent hours over the holidays sifting through records related to the Webbs, Hawkins, Kings and Winters. It’s been fascinating unravelling the history of my extended family and I’ve made some interesting discoveries. My fourth great-grandfather on my mum’s side, Joseph Pengilley, came to Australia on the ship Theresa as a convict in 1839 after being

Most of my time, however, has been spent trying to find a father.

My great-grandfather Ernest Alfred James Webb (known as Alfred) was born in 1890 in a little country town in north-west Tasmania. His birth certificate lists his father as Alfred James and his mother as Mary Ann Webb. Surprisingly, in a time when everyone took on the name of their father, Alfred was given his mother’s last name, not his father’s. To make things more

given the job of driving a bullock wagon of potatoes to Burnie to put on the ship to Melbourne. Alfred put himself on the ship that day too and left the empty bullock wagon standing on the wharf. He never returned.

Anecdotal information suggests that around that time, someone told Alfred “who he really was”. The information was so upsetting that he ran away. I have a hunch it was something to do with his father, the

about God the Father. But what kind of Father is He? What characteristics does God the Father have? And what does that mean for those of us searching for a father today?

Creator and Sustainer

Genesis 1:1 tells us that, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” God the Father is the Creator God. He’s the One who hung the stars, put the spikes on echidnas and gave giraffes ridiculously long necks. He’s also the One who created humankind in His own image (Genesis 1:27). All through Creation week, God the Father declares His creation to be “good”, but He declares the sixth day—after the creation of humans—to No matter who we are, be “very good” (Genesis 1:31). deep down, we are Knowing that you are created by a loving God can give you a all in need of a good sense of value and worth, even father. if your biological father was not able to provide that for you.

God made you, He sees you and He delights in you!

But God didn’t just create mysterious Alfred James. For young you and forget about you. Jesus Alfred, the news was devastating. talks about the love and care of In an era where being born out of Father God in Matthew 6:25–34. wedlock was your burden to carry, Speaking to a large crowd on the I can only imagine the shame that side of a mountain, Jesus reminds would cause a teenage boy to jump the people not to worry about their on a ship and leave everything he’d lives. Instead, He encourages them ever known. to “look at the birds of the air; they You see, no matter who we are, neither sow nor reap nor gather in deep down, we are all in need of a barns, and yet your heavenly Father good father. The Bible talks a lot feeds them. Are you not of more

LAURA FUHRMAN—UNSPLASH

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found guilty of sheep stealing. I’ve got family from Ireland and Scotland and Germany with wonderful names like Nicol MacNicol and Rosina Regina Christina Schuhmacher. I’m distantly related (husband of my second great-grand aunt) to a World War I pilot who was the first person to fly a passenger plane across Bass Strait from Tasmania to Victoria in the 1920s.

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confusing, there are no records of an Alfred James that link to my great-grandfather. I can’t find Alfred’s father anywhere.

Whilst I don’t know the full circumstances of his birth, it appears that Alfred was raised by his maternal grandparents, James and Emma Webb. It’s very possible he didn’t even know his mother was actually Mary. When Alfred was 16, he was

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value than they?” (verse 26). If God sustains the birds, then He will sustain you too because He loves you.

Knowing that God created you and He sustains you also means that you can walk through life without fear. God the Father promises to be with you. “Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

His only Son

Sometimes it can be hard to picture who God the Father is. Jesus made it easy for us to really grasp the character of God the Father.

In John 14, in the lead up to His death and resurrection, Jesus tells His disciples that He is going to prepare a place for them with His Father and tells them they know the way to get there. The disciples are confused, and Thomas asks directions on how to get where Jesus is going. Jesus makes a beautiful statement: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). The way to eternal life with the Father is not by following a set of rules or a particular road or path, but through a relationship with the person of Jesus. Jesus is the way to the Father.

And not only is Jesus the way to the Father, but He also shows us who the Father is. His very next statement to Thomas is, “If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen 50

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him” (John 14:7). Jesus makes it crystal clear: if we get to know Jesus, we’ll also get to know the Father.

The Jesus I know is kind, loving, forgiving, caring and gentle. He is just and merciful. He fought against injustice, called out the best in people and lived a life of service.

When people met Jesus, they were transformed by His love and mercy.

That’s what God is like too. Our Father God, Creator of heaven and earth, Sustainer of life, the One who is with us in every circumstance is kind, loving, forgiving, caring, gentle and full of mercy.

Finding the father in my family tree is still proving to be difficult, but finding my Father God is thankfully much easier; I just look to the person of Jesus. I read the stories of Him healing the broken, sitting with the destitute and bringing hope to the hopeless. When I immerse myself in the story of Jesus, I discover the heart of Father God. I know God created me, He sustains me and He is with me always. That’s exactly the kind of Father I was looking for. That’s exactly the kind of Father I need.

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Karen Collum is an Australian children’s author, chaplain and theology student.

She lives on the Gold Coast, Queensland.

To discover the Father for yourself, scan this code!

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turnaround

“I’d lost my health, job, wife, kids, house and freedom.”

In the space of a year, Jim’s life was turned upside down. He worked in the liquor industry for more than 20 years, but after choosing to give up his drinking and recreational drug habits, cracks in his marriage started to appear. Jim and his wife started free counselling sessions at the ADRA Community Centre in Blacktown (Sydney, NSW) to try save their marriage. Through individual and group counselling, food parcels, crisis relief, emergency housing and other tailored programs, the centre not only provides a safety net, but helps build stronger individuals and families for more resilient communities. These services are provided free of charge thanks to the numerous volunteers who give of their time and energy.

“We were looking for someone to help us recommunicate and reconnect,” Jim says. “I was very much in love with my wife and loved my two little girls. I wanted my family to succeed.”

Unfortunately, his marriage didn’t survive. Jim found himself on a downward spiral, struggling for the right to spend time with his children and restart his life. After a custody-related altercation with his former father-in-law, Jim spent seven months in jail.

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But rather than spiralling further, his time in jail gave him a new perspective.

“I’d never been in trouble with the law before,” he shares. Eddy Johnson, the counsellor he’d seen at the ADRA Community Centre in Blacktown, kept in touch with Jim and encouraged him throughout his time behind bars.

“Pastor Eddy wrote me letters constantly while I was in jail, and the letters he wrote changed my life,” says Jim. “He gave me verses in the Bible to read, especially Job. I felt I was unjustly in there, but it was good for me.

It straightened me out completely and humbled me.”

While in jail, Jim started attending Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings and decided to study counselling himself.

Now, he’s two years away from becoming a drug and alcohol counsellor.

“I’ve been involved in the AA and Narcotics Anonymous fellowship for more than 10 years now because of my recovery,” Jim shares. “I always had an interest in helping others, but my life used to be about getting excited when a big deal came across. Now I get excited when I get a call from a mother saying that I’ve helped her son overcome addiction. That high is better than any drug I’ve ever had. I want my life to be more about service than getting served.”

Although his path was tough, Jim is thankful for the experiences. “I found myself through the process,” he says.

When he was released, the judge strongly recommended that Jim continue counselling, so Jim returned to the ADRA Community Centre to continue his counselling with Eddy. “[This is] ongoing sponsoring in the sense of having someone reliable to turn to,” Eddy shares. “The benefit of being a sponsor is the joy of seeing concrete, positive change occurring over time.”

Jim also attends the Saturday afternoon Bible study group that meets at Blacktown ADRA offices. Eddy hosts

the gathering, which begins with a Bible study and ends with a potluck supper and socialising. The group has become a second family to Jim and other participants.

“Before, I was an angry man,” Jim recalls. “I would hit challenges head on with an angry attitude. But now, I hit them with the understanding that God gives you certain challenges so you can grow as a human being. If you embrace that and work through it, you can become a better person.”

ADRA supports a wide variety of ministries and initiatives throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Ashley Stanton lives in Sydney, where she works in its communication and marketing team. Signs of the Times is a proud partner of ADRA.

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WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR HEROES? This author had an opportunity to put his extensive knowledge of CS Lewis to the test on Australian TV’s “Hard Quiz”. What he discovered surprised even him.

WIKICOMMONS

BY NATHAN BROWN

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n 2016, I noticed advertising for a new quiz show called Hard Quiz coming to ABC TV in Australia.

What caught my attention was the show’s gimmick: the opportunity to pick a specialty topic on which all the participants on that episode would be quizzed, with the opportunity to be asked even harder questions in a final play-off round.

Interested in the opportunity to experience a TV show from the inside, as well as to choose a topic for a few minutes’ attention on national television, I pondered what I could nominate as an “expert subject”.

The topic I chose was The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis.

I had written on it in the form of a book report to my class in early primary school, had completed an Honours thesis in English on Lewis’ A Grief Observed, presented at an academic conference with his stepson Douglas Gresham and visited the places from Lewis’ life around Oxford—and have returned to reading the stories many times.

Now this was an opportunity to test my Narnian knowledge, but also to remind people of these enduring children’s classics. If nothing else, I would have a prompt for re-reading the books myself as preparation for SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JUNE 2023

filming what became episode seven of the first season of Hard Quiz.

It seems a long way from the “dreaming spires” of the university city of Oxford to a television studio in inner-suburban Melbourne. It’s also a long way from the life of a mid-20th-century professor of medieval literature to an evening television timeslot in late 2016. But such is the enduring power of his stories and the vision they offer of

mother as a result of cancer when young Clive was 10 years old broke up the once-happy Lewis home.

His father isolated himself in his grief and the relationship between him and his sons was irreparably damaged. This experience also seemed to sow the seed of Lewis’ rejection of his boyhood faith: “The doubts began as early as his mother’s death from cancer. He could not reconcile her suffering with what he

a scholarship to study at University College in Oxford in 1916. His studies were interrupted by the call of military duty. He completed basic training and spent some time in the trenches in France in 1918 before being wounded by “friendly fire”, after which he returned to Oxford.

Lewis became a long-time tutor at Magdalen College, Oxford and, later, Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University. He published significant academic works in his field of expertise, but it was his return to Christian faith and his subsequent writing across a number of genres for which he is best remembered.

Joy is not mere happiness but As well as including many features of rather an indefinable grandeur common autobiography, seemingly just beyond reach.

Surprised By Joy is most significantly the narrative of Lewis’ road to conversion. He traces the development of his had been taught about a God who appreciation of a quality which he was completely good and could do refers to as “joy”. This joy is not mere anything He chose to do.”1 Shortly happiness but rather an indefinable after his mother’s death, Lewis was grandeur seemingly just beyond sent to boarding school. He intensely reach, which he had found in stories disliked his early schooling and it and mythology, as well as other exwas in these years that he turned periences in his life. Surprised By Joy away from faith in God. follows this thread of “joy” until it However, his schooling—mostly leads him to God—“the source from at various boarding schools in Engwhich those arrows of Joy had been land—fostered a love of mythology shot at me ever since childhood”, as and literature, and he was awarded he described it.2

“ our lives and our world.

Clive Staples Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland in 1898. As the younger of two boys, he attended the local Church of Ireland with his family. His maternal grandfather served as a priest and indeed there were a number of significant churchmen in the family tree. Even as a boy, Lewis seemed to have a penchant for making up stories that featured talking animals, but the death of his

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This is not to say that his conversion when it came—intriguingly with the influence of future author of The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien and other fellow academics and friends with whom he would form a social group known as “The Inklings”—was a joyful experience for Lewis. Instead, he described it as a grudging surrender: “That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.”3 From this unpromising beginning, Lewis became a prolific writer and speaker for Christianity. His writings include autobiography, theology and philosophy, apologetics, literary criticism, poetry and fiction, ranging from children’s stories to science fiction. During World War II, rejected in his attempt to re-enlist, Lewis served his country as a regular contributor to a series of religious programs on BBC radio between 1941 and 1943, which were met with popular acclaim and were later collected in his book Mere Christianity. The topics raised in Lewis’ SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JUNE 2023

writing are varied, but often include rational arguments for Christian faith and theoretical discussions of the problem of pain and suffering and their function in the world and our individual lives.

One of Lewis’ most creative books was The Screwtape Letters, in which he created a series of letters styled as correspondence from an experienced devil to a younger protégé with advice on how he could best tempt, tease and torment his human target.

Dedicated to Tolkien and published in 1942, this small book offers profound insights into human nature but Lewis admitted that imagining human life from a devil’s perspective was not healthy for him as an author. “Though I had never written anything more easily, I never wrote with less enjoyment,” he commented in a preface to a later edition of the book.

As Lewis’ literary fame grew, his works grew to include Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain and Miracles. These books established him as one of the leading defenders of Christian faith of the 20th century and he was featured on the cover of Time magazine in 1947. He received correspondence from around the

world and was fastidious in replying to as many of his correspondents as he could.

One of these letters began a friendship with an American writer by the name of Joy Gresham. In the mid-1950s, she travelled to England with her two sons, where the lifelong bachelor Lewis married her in a civil ceremony in April 1956, to allow her to remain in England.

However, after Gresham was diagnosed with cancer only a few months later, their relationship deepened and they were married again by a clergyman at Gresham’s hospital bedside in March 1957. In June 1958, her cancer was diagnosed as in remission and a short but intensely happy period of marriage followed.

Tragically, the cancer returned and Gresham died on July 13, 1960.

The story of Lewis’ late-in-life romance has been told in stage plays and movies under the title Shadowlands, but his telling of the story was narrated in a small but raw memoir A Grief Observed, which was originally published under a pseudonym—and well-meaning people sent it to Lewis to comfort him in his grief—for fear of shaking the faith of those who admired him as a champion of Christian faith.

Having written extensively about the problem of pain, Lewis recognised the different dimension that his own sorrow brought to the problem of maintaining faith when experiencing such grief: “The stakes have to be raised before we take the game quite

seriously. I know this is the opposite of what is often said about the necessity of keeping all emotion out of our intellectual processes—‘You can’t think straight unless you are cool.’ But then neither can you think deep if you are. I guess one must try every problem in both states.”4 After decades of writing, thinking and arguing, Lewis had returned to the kind of experience of grief that had broken his faith as a young man, this time emerging with a different answer. But Lewis was himself unwell and died on November 22, 1963, with news of his death overshadowed by the assassination of John F Kennedy less than an hour later.

In popular culture, Lewis is still best remembered as the improbable author of some of the 20th century’s best-loved children’s stories. According to Lewis, they “began with a picture of a Faun carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy wood”,5 this image becoming The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, first published in 1949. The other six in the series were written by the end of 1954. They tell the stories of various children transported magically to a parallel world in which they contribute to the arc of the history of Narnia and meet the God-like character of Aslan, the Great Lion. The books are estimated to have sold more than 100 million copies in 41 languages and have been adapted a number of times as films, plays and radio dramas.

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MARK RABE­­—UNSPLASH

to about these stories on the evening we filmed that episode of Hard Quiz.

I was tripped up on a couple of questions I should have known and (spoiler alert) was beaten by a guy who knew quite a bit about wombats in the final round of Hard Quiz.

But I would love to hear the story one day of someone who saw that episode and was prompted to read or perhaps re-read the Narnia books— after all, they have been some of the most influential stories in my own faith and helped awaken my love of stories. Or, perhaps this article might work in the same way, whether the Narnia books or any one of quite a few other books by CS Lewis that I would be happy to recommend enthusiastically.

Nathan Brown is a keen reader and book editor at Signs Publishing Company.

1. Walsh, Chad (1976), “Afterword,” A Grief Observed: Afterword by Chad Walsh. Bantam Books, pages 103-4.

2. Lewis, CS (1955), Surprised By Joy. Fount, 1977, page 184.

scan me

3. ibid, page 182.

4. Lewis, CS (1964), Prayer: Letters to Malcolm Fount, 1998, pages 42-43.

5. Lewis, CS (1982) Of This and Other Worlds. Fount, page 64.

we live hurried and busy lives DISCOVER THE SABBATH Are you feeling like you’re constantly on the go with no time to catch your breath? Do you find yourself struggling to keep up with deadlines and the demands of your fast-paced work environment?

If so, you’re not alone! Stress and burnout are becoming increasingly common issues in today’s society, and they can take a serious toll on our mental and physical health.

But there’s a secret weapon that can help combat all that stress and burnout—it’s called the Sabbath! The Sabbath is a gift in time to rest, reflect and recharge. So, if you’re feeling overworked, overwhelmed and exhausted from the daily grind, the Sabbath is the perfect remedy.

Find out more at sabbathgift.info 60

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FUN

CROSSWORD

Crossword Puzzle

How closely have you been reading? Each keyword in this puzzle is also contained within this edition of Signs of the Times.

Happy digging!

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Hint: 4 Down

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lkswagen vehicle that Motor Trend d would "open up new vistas of m from a humdrum life" hical half-man, half goat character or of the first caravan SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JUNE 2023 62 ll town at the foot of the Australian

DOWN 1 The Volkswagen vehicle that Motor Trends claimed would “open up new vistas of freedom from a humdrum life” 2 A mythical half-man, half-goat character 3 Invented the first caravan 4 A small town at the foot of the Australian Snowy Mountains 6 Being thankful for what you have 8 The smoking of an electronic cigarette

SUDOKU EASY

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ACROSS 5 A club of fairy-tale writers 7 An alarm system that warns us of impending danger 9 A Netflix show starring Graham Hancock 10 A plan for how you spend your money 11 A ship bound for Australian from England 12 Have undergone a mass migration in the United States

Across: 5. a club of fairy-tale writers 7. an alarm system that warns us of impending danger 9. a Netflix show starring Graham Hancock 10. a plan for how you spend your money 11. a ship bound for Australia from England

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KEATON DICKINSON­­—UNSPLASH

CROSSWORD CLUES

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