Last week some time I was sitting on an engine at Bombo, waiting for the opposing train to approach us. 

On single-line tracks like that through Bombo, just north of Kiama, trains in opposite directions can obviously only be on the track one train at a time. Stations like Bombo have a 'crossing loop' where a train is able to take to a siding to let the train coming in the opposite direction to go past, or cross. This is what we were doing.

Bombo is the station on the NSW rail network that is closest to the beach and ocean, and as such is quite dramatically picturesque. Especially in times of rough weather like we were experiencing at the time, with many roads and towns flooded.

When it occurs that we are waiting in a loop or for a signal, with all our work done in preparing the train, the cab swept out and so forth, we are permitted to read or do our own thing provided it's safe and legal. And so it was that I was reading an older copy of the Reformed Theological Review, which referenced Job 38:11:

¹¹ when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; 
   here is where your proud waves halt’?

Of course, in context it may make more sense. It is God speaking, asking a series of questions with God-like rhetorical flourish:

 ⁸ “Who shut up the sea behind doors 
   when it burst forth from the womb, 
⁹ when I made the clouds its garment 
   and wrapped it in thick darkness, 
¹⁰ when I fixed limits for it 
   and set its doors and bars in place, 
¹¹ when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; 
   here is where your proud waves halt’?

So here we were, watching the sea: it was pounding in on the beach to my right-hand-side.

And yet it was staying within its limits.

"Who shut up the sea behind doors... 'This far you my come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?"

Of course the answer is God.

Creation is not like a machine or clockwork clock. It was not set in place with 'rules' and God is sitting back in a lounge chair watching everything work automatically and, perhaps, wind down.

Even in this time of the flooding of the inland of our great state and beyond, it is God who is in control. 'This far you may come and no farther.'

The Spirit of God, inspiring the writings of the Apostle Paul, superintended him writing along a similar line in Colossians 1:

15 He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Emphasis added)

Every breath I take - and when I die, every breath I do not take - is governed by the very will of God. The fact that the universe does not blast apart; each atom going its own random way, is attributable to this active involvement of God in Christ.

Isn't that a wonderful comfort in this time of wild weather and uncertain economic times?

Before Christmas the Department of External Studies at Moore College rang me. They were in a bind, with 31 Doctrine I papers to have marked. Usually the bundles come in lots of 11!

I accepted, thinking I'd be on a lot of TBA days (ie work days but on standby at home) leading up to Christmas.

As it happened I was sent instead to an intensive block of "block school", also known as the "engine and air" course, completion of which allows me to take another step towards being a train driver.

So it wasn't until this week I got to marking Doctrine I.

It was interesting marking it, too. I always try to mark generously--both because I like to be marked generously but also because this is a certificate course and many, many students become rightly discouraged if marked by BD/MA educated markers who mark to the BD or MA standard! I prefer to ascertain if the students have a mastery of the subject and mark accordingly. The only time I've ever failed anyone was when the student answered two instead of three questions, back in the day when they had to write three essays. He demonstrated no mastery of the two answers he gave too!

Aaron Sorkin is one of the greatest scriptwriters of our time. His work includes much-loved and often quoted films such as A few good men and the epic TV series The West Wing.

He is perhaps less known or less appreciated for the 1995 rom-com The American President, although a number of cast members from The West Wing appeared in that film and they share similar styles, despite one being a serious drama and the other being a romantic comedy.

Given that Sorkin is a keen Democrat, it is perhaps not surprising that last week Federal MP and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese lifted a speech from that movie, which the Liberal party wasted no time or effort in posting onto YouTube (" mce_href="/">).

The left-leaning The Project on Channel 10 did its part to mock the indefensible, with a segment entitled, "And the Oscar goes to...". However they also gave Albanese a pretty easy ride with a cheesy interview. Interestingly, the interview is not on The Project's website, just a link to an AAP article under the title of their original segment.

Here was Mr Albonese's defence on The Project:

• When he (Mr Albonese) read the speech, he didn't detect any plagiarism because it read true of Mr Abbott.
• When he discovered the 'error' he tweeted 'D'oh' and attributed it to Homer Simpson in a humorous deflection of embarrassment.
• Mr Albonese notes that the Liberals did not complain about the substance (ergo, by implication, the speech was true about Mr Abbott) and, 
• then in a poor attempt at humour, he quotes another Sorkin great, A Few Good Men: "They can't handle the truth."

I am reading the book "Betrayal: The Underbelly of Australian Labor",
by Simon Benson (Sydney: Pantera, 2010).

On page 258 is a letter from Neville Wran to Morris Iemma on the day
of the latter's forced resignation:

> Dear Morris,

> The circumstances of your departure and your conduct throughout the whole distasteful affair reflect great credit upon you which, of course, could not be said of those who orchestrated the debacle. You
> will remembered your positive contribution to the party and
> the community long, after the Lilliputians, who created the impossible situation that confronted you, have been forgotten.

> Kindest regards,
> Neville Wran AC, QC.

The whole book resonates close to home; the ALP Party Machine with
local, state, federal and factional rivalries is not at all dissimilar
to the Sydney Diocese.