Resting and Abiding ... or disconnecting and restless?

For many years, I've felt the stopping of regular activities that is January in Australia. Due to current life circumstances, I'm not feeling it strongly this year, though have been aware of it as I've gone to church services that are much more skeleton attendance and because of that a different style ... and as I've had to go without my standard smoothie on public holidays when I was visiting my dad in hospital. But, while I've noticed it, I haven't been impacted by it strongly.

However, this morning I spoke with a member of our church community and we spoke about how she's always thankful when this time of year comes to an end and when regular activities are back on. Knowing a little about her life, I suspect that the rhythms of normal life, church and other activities, keep her connected in a way that doesn't happen without regular activities happening.

The conversation got me thinking about the perspective of having a period in church life of rest and abiding and using the summer months when so much else stops anyway for that. So much usefulness in the concept - but how do you do it and help people actually abide? How do you help people stay connected - with God, each other and themselves? How does it not become just about certain things not being on but truly a season of rest and abiding? And do we help people for whom the natural rhythms of the day-to-day are a key part of their abiding?

Just some pondering in the midst of this summer season in Australia, when so much stops ... and many of us are on holidays ... or, in the case of the organisation that I work for, running ministry programs around the state.

Starting to post again ...

It's a new year and one of the things I've been planning to do for some time is start blogging again. I expect that I'll be pondering issues of faith, leadership, friendship and life on here over the coming weeks and months, so do reactivate however you look at blogs if you are interested in keeping up with some of my thoughts and ponderings.

Reflections on Quiet

Place: Dave, Julie and Tucker's house

Drink: Coffee

Weather: Hot!

I'm reading a really interesting book about introverts called "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking" by Susan Cain.  It's a great book.

I've had many a conversation over the year about where I sit on the spectrum between extroversion and introversion and there is no doubt that I have a mix of characteristics that come from both of tendencies.    On tests I mostly come up with a slight preference in the extroversion direction and I think that is correct.  I do, however, have many tendencies and preferences that are in the introvert direction.  An obvious one of those is my preference for one-on-one style relating.

Reading Quiet, however, has led me to reflect about one of the ways in which I most definitely am up the extrovert end - the energy I gain from high stimulation.  One of the things that Cain is writing about in Quiet is the characteristic of introversion as highly reactive to stimulation and easily overwhelmed by it.  She's helpful in commenting on the fact that many people will be highly reactive to some form of stimulation but not others.  She's got me thinking though.

I love a highly stimulated life.  I love the energy that comes from having lots to do; the energy that comes from the lead up to a hyped event; the energy of lots of ideas; the energy of a busy environment with lots of people.  Except in specific environments like on retreat, I find low energy environments really hard work and they take energy away from me.

As I have sought to gain more balance in life, I've had less of the high stimulation in my life - time to re-engage some, limiting the negative sides of it.

Becoming a Disciple of Jesus

Regularly we water down what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?

I think this post states it well.

Here's some bits from it:

"A disciple of Jesus is simply someone who is with Jesus to learn from Jesus how to be like Jesus. It will involve loving Jesus and putting his teaching into practice. It will involve re-arranging your life and priorities so that you can do the things he said were best. And to enroll in this course of study, Jesus says you must…

1. Prioritize discipleship above everything else.

2. Completely die to your old life.

3. Give up everything you have.

I’m sure this all seems like an unrealistically high bar to our comfortable, postmodern Western ears, but these were Jesus’ own words to the “large crowds” that were following him. He wanted them to be aware of what it actually meant to follow him as a disciple. Perhaps we need to hear them today as well, when it’s easy to be part of “large crowds” that think Jesus is a great guy that can help them with their struggles, but really need to understand what it looks like to become his student in kingdom living."

Check out the post for more ...

Rhythm

Over a number of years now I've been aiming to implement some rhythms into my life.  As someone who likes spontaneity this has been a difficult process but one that I know that I need and that makes life work in much better ways.

These words in a blog post by Hamo ring true for me:
"Rhythm… I like it. I don’t like routine. I find routine boring. But rhythm is different. It’s recognising that our lives work best when they are in some kind of order and when we can anticipate what’s ahead."

Listening

How often do we really listen to each other?

Here are some great thoughts thanks to this post:

TEN STEPS TO LISTENING, BY MORTON KELSEY 

1. CEASE TALKING ABOUT YOURSELF AND BE SILENT. 
2. BE SILENT WITH THE OTHER PERSON IN AN ACTIVE WAY: open, active, receptive, alive, without letting your mind wander or daydream. Keep eye contact, let your body language tell the person you care.
3. LISTENING INVOLVES PATIENCE. It may take a period of time before the person trusts you enough to tell you what he/she really wants to let you know.
4. AFTER YOU HAVE LISTENED CAREFULLY AND REFLECTIVELY, YOU NEED TO REFLECT BACK WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD, and ask for more details. This is called feedback on what you have heard.
5. LISTENING IS A GIFT WHICH ONLY A FEW PEOPLE ARE BORN WITH, BUT IT CAN BE LEARNED. Having learned how to listen, don’t ever let it be rote.
6. LISTENING OFTEN INVOLVES SHARING OURSELVES. People who come to us need to know that we are wounded too. This sharing is mostly to put the other person at ease, and is never more than the person can bear to hear. The troubled person coming to be listened to should not become my therapist! We listeners are the wounded healer.
7. WE USUALLY MUST LISTEN TO THE MORE SUPERFICIAL LEVELS OF COMPLAINT BEFORE WE ARE LET INTO THE DEEPER AND MORE VULNERABLE PLACES. If we pass the first test of acceptance, then a dam breaks and the whole human pours forth. It is hard to hear this kind of pain, but if we do not listen to this dark side of others, we seldom see these people in depth. They remain for us like a child’s painting—with no shadow or perspective or depth.
8. BEYOND THE DARKNESS/SHADOW LIES A BEAUTY WE NEVER KNEW EXISTED. In this deepest level of the human psyche we discover that within another human being we have communion with God.
9. LISTENING REQUIRES A PRIVATE AND QUIET PLACE. Usually an hour at a time is enough for most people.
10. LISTENING USUALLY MEANS HOLDING MY OWN CONCLUSIONS IN ABEYANCE—until the other comes to his/her conclusions. Whenever I argue or interrupt, I probably have a sensitive spot in my own being that has been struck, and my attitude stops fruitful communication. I give unsolicited advice only when I see pitfalls the other hasn’t which might destroy the other person.
11. OUR ONLY TASK IN LISTENING IS TO ENABLE THE OTHER: to grow, to take responsibility for his/her own life, to form his/her value system, and to come to own full potential by his/her own choice.

Rules of Thumb for Change Agents

Steve has listed these rules of thumb for change agents:

• Stay alive – care for yourself and keep a life
• Start where the system is – empathy for the group and the people
• Look for green zones – places of promise
• Innovation is as simple as a good idea, initiative and a few friends – work with the willing
• Celebrate well – build in lots of success milestones
• Light many fires – utilise the complexity of any group by seeking movement in as many places as possible
• Keep optimistic – with a focus on the better future

from “Rules of thumb for change agents”, a chapter by Shepard in Organization Development Classics, 1997.)

I reckon they are helpful.

Prayer Window

How do you go at remembering to pray for things that you want to pray for?

Lots of people have systems in place to help prompt them to pray for things.

I loved this idea about a prayer window that I read about here.

Impact of Interdenominational Organisations ...

I work for an interdenominational evangelical organisation.

I love that and there are so many great things that organisations like mine bring to the Christian spectrum.

However, there are some impacts of interdenominationalism.

Rory ponders whether in seeking to downplay the things that we don't agree on we lose some things and things that are important in the discipleship journey.  There are impacts, for example, of downplaying the sacraments.  This may not be significant in the interdenominational context that we are involved in together; however, often these situations shape our theology and practice strongly and we carry these influences over into the whole of our church and life contexts.  This certainly does impact the importance some place on the sacraments amongst other things - and may well have broad implications.

What do you reckon?

What is your land?

What is yours to toil? To work? To plow?

Have you found it?

Are you working it?

Are you plowing it?

What would it look like to look for it, to find it, to work it, to plow it?

It takes courage to find your land ... to work it ... to plow it ... to trust for things to grow.

(inspired by this blog post)

Discipling People Older Than You

It's been great over a number of years to play a significant role in the lives of some people who are older than I am.

For some people this is quite strange and sometimes people feel a bit uncertain about how they might go about being in an intentional discipling or mentoring role with someone who is older than they are.

This is a great 3 minute video that speaks just to that topic and says some quite helpful things.

Ideas

Ideas - so often we think they come from nothing.  We treat them as if they come out of thin air.  Sometimes it seems like that.  Those moments are precious.  Far more often, however, we have to work for our ideas, or at least work for the space that allows them to come.

Cheryl Lawrie's words on this struck me the other week:

"I remember how to have ideas now. It’s 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. You have to do the hard work of being interested in the world; of being in different places, of delving into really complex areas of life, of being interested in other people’s wisdom and experience and way of interacting with their world, of not being an expert. And then the ideas just come."

Standing for Something

"The best way to be missed when you're gone is to stand for something when you're here". Seth Godin

As I read this in a blog post a little while ago it had me thinking.

How often is it hard for us to stand for something?  Often I back away from standing for the things that are most important to me.  How about you?  But I know it is true that standing for things matters.

I'm aiming to stand for the things that matter to me.

What is it that you need to stand for this week?

A Prayer for You

Love these words - and I pray them for all who read this:

May you continue to fall more deeply in love with Jesus.

May you take time to simply be in his presence.

May you trust his work in you.

May you be blessed as you follow where he leads.

(words from this blog post)

Communion Liturgy

Here is a Communion Liturgy with great words.  It from a community on the other side of Australia but on the blog of someone on the other side of the world: how global are we!

It begins:

The table of bread and wine is now to be made ready.
It is the table of company with Jesus.
And of all those who love him
and choose the way of discipleship.

It is the table Jesus shared with all the wrong people
And its open boundaries challenge our selective friendships
It is the table of communion with creation
In which Christ became incarnate
And it anticipates the day when all creation
Will celebrate the fullness of life

So, come to the table,
You who have much faith
And you who would like to have more;
You who have been to this sacrament often,
And you who have not been for a long time;
You who have tried to follow Jesus,
And you who have failed.

Come.

It is Christ who invites us to meet him here.

----------

Read the post for more ...

Spiritual Practices

Embodying rhythms or practices into my life has been a constant journey for me over the last decade or so.  It feels like I'm finally getting somewhere in that pursuit.
This is a great post that speaks about practices - and links spiritual practices with any other practices in life.

America - Washington DC

I went to the US in May and I've been meaning to write some of the things from that trip up for some time.  I thought I would write up things from each city.

I was really in DC for the Children, Youth and a New Kind of Christianity Conference.  I will write up a post about the conference some other time.

I loved DC - and would love to go back.  So much history, so much of interest, so much to do and see. It was great staying really close to everything at a really basic but sufficient hotel - the Hotel Harrington.

We got a two day pass on one of the tourist buses - and that worked really well for me.  I loved seeing lots of things and being able to decide what I wanted to go back to.

Given the amount of time I had not at the conference, I ended up seeing a good amount of DC: the White House (from outside), the Natural History Museum, the American History Museum, into the Art Gallery to see the Impressionist section, the Air and Space Museum (including the biggest McDonalds!), Washington Monument, Martin Luther King Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean and Vietnam War Memorials, Capitol Hill, Georgetown and the National Cathedral.  Wow!

I loved so much - and would love to do it with more time, and to see some key things which I didn't get to see.  There was so much good stuff that I couldn't pick a favourite.  I was certainly struck by the Martin Luther King Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War Memorial.  Amazing places of acknowledgement.  I had significant moments at all of these places.

Sacred Idleness

One of my favourite quotes is a George Macdonald one: "there is such a thing as sacred idleness, the cultivation of which is now fearfully neglected."

This post discusses a recent NY Times article about The Busy Trap - and discusses the benefits of the type of idleness George MacDonald is talking about.

The Girl with the Dove Tattoo

I don't think I've ever finished a book within one week of the publication date before - even an ebook!

Brian McLaren's latest short fictional ebook, The Girl with the Dove Tattoo, is somewhat paving the way for his new non-fiction book that will come out in September.

Once again, I enjoyed the way in which Brian uses fiction to help us think and reflect on the real issues at play.  However, it was a particular interaction in the book that most inspired and impacted me - where the character Jesus is urging the character Crystal to follow him.  

Once again, I felt myself urged to put everything else aside and follow Jesus in practical ways that make a difference in our world and bring about peace, love and justice.

Live in the Difference

Live in the Difference

John Westerhoff

Don't try to make a difference--be willing to live in the difference God has made and continues to make.

(via inward/outward)