Out and about with my mom and niece

Yesterday we all woke up at 5 a.m. to go meet my mom and niece at the airport. The rendezvous went without a hitch, and we got settled into the hotel in Sydney (luxury -- all the fun of Sydney without an hour-and-a-half commute each way!). That afternoon was a Sydney Symphony performance at the Opera House, and then a very nice dinner at our favorite Sydney restaurant (Redoak Boutique Beer Cafe) with good friends, and then a universal collapse (they due to jet lag, us due to fatigue).

This morning it was the hotel's really very good breakfast buffet, solemn (sung) mass at St. Mary's Cathedral (more on that in a minute), walking around the Rocks (which was unpleasantly PACKED with people so we didn't stay long), and the ferry ride to Manly, where we will decide soon on a place to eat dinner. (Manly also has at least one Internet cafe, which is why you're reading this.)

Mass was a musically fascinating experience: inside the church was some fabulous Renaissance (and earlier, and, for that matter, later) choral music. At the same time, out in the street, were the pipe bands and drums and brass bands and shouted commands of a parade honoring military veterans reservists. The mixture oscillated between really annoying and quite surreal. It also led to thoughts about various types of warriors: military, spiritual, intellectual, emotional. There are lots of ways to fight. There are lots of reasons to fight. Which are good, which bad? Are some better than others? Are some sinful? Does the sin lie in the fighting, or in the choice of methods? Or the choice of foe?