Mark Keown

So what of 2008. Here are some thoughts. 1. Person of the year : Like everyone I have read, I go for Barrack Obama! He was the focus of the year. His defeat of Hillary Clinton and then of John McCain to lead the greatest nation on earth and in a sense have power over us all, was astonishing. His charisma is phenomenal, his speaking inspired, his presence powerful. I hope he can live up to the hype, one suspects, no one can. 2. Disappointment of the year : Sarah Palin to me is this person. She started with such high hopes, but she was clearly the wrong person for the wrong time. She seems a neat lady, a full-on Christian, but that is not enough in politics. One has to have a certain gravitas and wisdom to go with the passion and compassion; she lacked a little of both to me. She may come back more mature and be a political player in the future however. 3. Kiwi Person of the Year : John Key. He is no Obama, but he took the political scene here by storm. He won well and has shown great ch...

It is truly stunning that God became flesh. Who would have thought, the one who set the universe in motion, shaped it, selected planet earth in the milky way, filled it with glorious flora and fauna, placed his image bearers on it, granted them dominion, worked for their salvation despite their failings, would become flesh? Not just, a body (soma), but sarx, one with the creation. He, the Creator of all things, became a part of his creation, to save it. He did not despise matter or the human body. He entwined himself completely with humanity, his DNA forged into Mary's ovum, and became a zygote, a foetus, an embryo and then the child Jesus. And he did not enter the world as one might expect as a king, a man of power and glory, but as a powerless child of controversial circumstances in a humble Jewish home. What a story! And who was it that recognised him? Not Caesar, or Herod. The Angels of course did, as they heralded his entry into his world. It was the humble shepherds, ironical...

In light of the absence of anything decent to contribute to the world, I will make a few comments on the Black Caps that I need to get off my chest. I really don't get the selection of the Black Caps for the first test against the Windies beginning in Dunedin tomorrow. Here are some questions. 1) Why drop an opener who has just scored 83 against Australia in a test in Australia? That is a disgrace to me. Sure, Redmond has not done that well. But he has shown good promise in England despite not performing in the test. He appeared to come of age in that innings. So why drop him? Of course, it may be because his name is Redmond, remember Rodney? 2) Why drop NZ's best opening quick for the last 10 years, Chris Martin? I don't get this. Over 140 test wickets, bowled well in Australia, if not quite at full tilt yet. Surely, a couple of tests on NZ green wickets against the hapless Windies are just what he needed to go past 150 test wickets. Wierd! 3) Why drop NZ's exciting ne...