Kristin

"Adventurous times" it says in the finance newspaper "Finansavisen" this morning. Nearly every kind of business is successful these days, appearently. We dont know what to do with the billions we earn because of the sky rocketing oil prices. The director of the company I am working in told me contently that were already 2 millions above budgeted income this month. From a norwegian perspective life couldnt be more prosperous and perfect, with the visions of a even better future. Economically.

Because if you look around a little, it seems the economical good times do not make sure everything else is fine as well. In the Middle East people keep killing each other, in a conflict that can not be solved with money. The terrorism is arising, and the US is trying to stop it in every possible way, and their business around the world is every day more successful, but it doesnt seem to help.

It seems to me that people in general gets more lonely, and more easily isolated from the ones around them. Elderly dont get visited by their children, they can sit indoors by themselves for a week without seeing anyone else than the lady on the TV screen. People doesnt know their neighbours, and they dont care. All their material things can help them, and they dont lift their eyes tolook around. The indifference is rising, and the commercials say its all fine to think about yourself all the time. Because you deserve it.

I think the world today needs to hear the revolutionary gospel of Jesus, and the way he cares about every single person, and that we also should follow his example. We were not created to live for ourselves, but to serve others. I pray that I will more and more "see the world through his (Jesus´) eyes". It´s clear to me that the world needs more love. If you look at the way Jesus lived, you see that to him it didnt matter how people were defined in other people´s eyes. He lived to serve the people around him, set their needs higher than his own. After all, doing this is what makes ME happy. And its delightful to think that getting a good job, earn a bunch of money and have a big house, doesnt really matter. Because it doesnt make you happy. I have seen it in Peru, and I think the same goes for Norway.

Summer in Oslo is great - the sun is shining almost every day and we are about to reach 30 centigrades!! The only tricky thing is that I am sitting indoors, answering phones at the central of a steel company named Ruukki at Furuset. It´s an ok job, and nowadays it´s really quiet since a lot of mechanical workshops and fabrics are closed.

Besides working- I spend a lot of time hanging out in the parks of Oslo making barbeques, taking a bath in the ocean, eating strawberries, and enjoying life with friends and family. This weekend Amund, Tore, Marit and me are going canooing in Lørenskog- what a blast! We will spend the nights in a tent, or maybe there will be no tent, who knows. Depends on the mosquitoes!