Over a million dollars of trash

We all dream about it and from time to time we hear about it happening.

Imagine finding something in a rubbish pile only to discover that it’s worth over a million dollars. It’s enough to have you rummaging through every bin in your neighbourhood.

Out of New York comes the story of Elizabeth Gibson who found a valuable painting while out for a walk. She decided to take the painting home and later found that it was a stolen artwork that had been missing for many years. She discovered the origins of the painting via some internet research.

Reuters is reporting that the oil painting is by by Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo. It is titled Tres Personajes or Three Personages and yesterday it sold for over a million dollars at a Sotheby’s auction.

Elizabeth had returned the painting to its rightful owners but still received a $15 000 reward and an undisclosed percentage of the sale.

Gibson walked by the vibrant, 38-inch by 51-inch (97 by 130 cm) work, then “immediately knew I had to go back. I knew I had to take it,” she said weeks before the auction.“It was a huge, powerful and beautiful painting and I said to myself, ‘It is wrong to be in the garbage,'” Gibson added. She was told that shortly after her find, a trash collecting truck had come by and hauled away the refuse.

Have you ever discovered something valuable amongst some rubbish or going cheap at a garage sale? Have you ever given something away only to discover its true value later?

I guess you’re a bit like me in wondering why I never find such amazing items.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

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Australia gets ready to vote

We’re only a few days away from deciding who will lead Australia for the next three years. Will John Howard still be the Prime Minister on Sunday morning or will Kevin Rudd and his Labor team defeat the Coalition.

For those outside Australia it may surprise you to know that voting is compulsory for Australians over the age of 18. Those who fail to turn up to a polling booth on election day can be fined.

If you’re an Aussie who hasn’t quite made up your mind on who’s getting your vote you can check out the how should i vote website. You enter your postcode, then take a twenty question quiz and you’ll be presented with your own how to vote card for your electorate. I saw a link to the site on Hamo’s Backyard Missionary blog.

Of course, it is difficult to get a true understanding of all the issues in a simple twenty question quiz but it might help steer you in the right direction.

If you’re a Christian who’s trying to decide who should be our Prime Minister there are a lot of other issues you might like to consider.

Salt Shakers have gone to a lot of effort to help inform Christians on how to vote. You can find a link to their Christian Values Checklist from their website. Unfortunately any such list will only tell the story from the worldview of the people putting it together and I found that several issues that I feel are vital were missing.

The Salt Shakers list seems to focus on legislating morality and doesn’t even touch on how we look after the poor, how we treat indigenous people or asylum seekers. There’s nothing in the list about world aid and ending poverty or even about creating a fair workplace for Australians. I feel that the Bible has much to say on these issues and that they must be considered if we are to get the full picture. Thankfully they have a lot of other resources on their site, apart from the checklist, which may help you towards a decision.

My regular Wednesday morning guest on 98.5 Sonshine FM is Ross Clifford who is the Principal of Morling College in New South Wales and current President of the Baptist Union of Australia. Each week we chat about a range of issues relating to spirituality and belief.

Today we looked at the topic ‘What Would Jesus Vote’ in an effort to equip people to do their homework so that they can discover who deserves their vote.

You can hear our discussion using the media player below.



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Beating Christmas Commercialisation

A lot of us talk about how much we dislike the commercialisation of Christmas each year and then we go ahead and buy into it anyway.

If you’re looking for a way to make the Christmas season about giving rather than consuming this may be of interest to you.

I got an email today from Evan asking me to highlight ChristianVolunteering.org on The Journey. He explained the site and the vital service it provides.

ChristianVolunteering.org is a free directory with over 2,000 volunteer opportunities in ministries serving the poor. The site’s partners include the Salvation Army, GospelCom (BibleGateway.com), World Vision, the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions and over 1,000 ministries serving under-resourced communities.

In addition to volunteer opportunities for individuals, you can also search the site for opportunities that might be appropriate for church small groups and for short-term missions trips. If you just type your postal code, you can get a listing of the volunteer opportunities in your region.

I had a quick look at the site and founf that they have an impressive range of opportunities to serve others. I figured that I’d be writing this post only for readers from the United States but I even found some volunteer positions here in Perth, Western Australia.

Can I encourage you to check out the site and see if there’s anything happening in your area that you can contribute towards?

Even if there’s nothing there suitable, why not do your own research and find out how you can help others during this time. I know that many cities have Christmas celebrations for the homeless or appeals for food for those doing it tough. Please consider how you can be part of a very different Christmas this year.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

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