Where to start?

I'm sitting in New York Public Library wondering where to start writing about the last few weeks. There has been so much amazing stuff, many precious sacred moments, so many places seen and experienced, many thoughts had and a decent amount of angst in the mix too.

So I will start with this moment. What a luxury to be sitting in this quiet room in the midst of busy New York. I've been struck by the amount of public space in the cities I've been to in the US and Canada and the need for them. I've enjoyed the green spaces on the National Mall in DC and Central Park in New York, amongst many others. Space in the midst of life. Crucial.

And that is something that I really haven't had on this trip - space. And more than ever I'm aware of how crucial it is to me; how much my functioning well and capacity depends on it. It's been a lifelong journey of understanding this huge need of mine.
And the journey continues.

I've experienced so much yet have not included many of the things that help me process and feel my experiences before moving on to the next thing. This means that I've not had the capacity to fully engage with the next experience. This is a way I've chosen not to live but I've found myself choosing it this holiday and paying the consequences of it. Thankfully these days I'm very aware of what it takes to reset the button and can go there quickly but it's been a very powerful reminder of how easy it is to return to old patterns of living.

None of that takes away from the beauty and powerfulness of what has been experienced - it's just that they haven't been lived as well as they might have been.

And so today I'm thankful for this place of peace and quiet.

Conflicted

Do you feel conflicted with yourself?  I do much of the time!

Seth Godin discusses this conflict and suggests that we need to get better at self-marketing!

5 Types of Work that Fill Your Day

This is a good post on the different types of work that fill your day.

1. Reactionary work
2. Planning work
3. Procedural work
4. Insecurity work
5. Problem-solving work

(Thanks to Matt at What's Best Next for the link)

Perhaps I am stronger than I think

Perhaps I am stronger than I think.
Perhaps I am even afraid of my strength, and turn it against myself, thus making myself weak.
Making myself secure. Making myself guilty.
Perhaps I am most afraid of the strength of God in me.
Perhaps I would rather be guilty and weak in myself,
than strong in Him whom I cannot understand. 

- Thomas Merton (from Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours)

Thanks to Rachel Held Evans whose blog I read this on.

Why we will fail unless ...

I love TED talks.

This is a great TED talk about why we will fail.

Do you think about failure? About what keeps you from the things you most desire?  From what stops you being the person you most desire to be?

The TED talk speaks about why you will fail to have a great career, but the content could be applied to any area of life and passion.  There is some controversial material in there ... but I think helpful to get us thinking.

This week, in the midst of a busy week, I've been committed to ensuring I face some things I've procrastinated about and I've faced some other difficult conversations too.  It was worth it.

We will fail unless ....

Culture Shock

I've lived in Perth for over a year now.  I love it - it's a great place to be.

Over the last few weeks though I've become aware of some things that have shocked me about Perth.  On reflection about what I know about culture shock and transitions, I shouldn't be surprised.  I'm in the zone where I think I know the place and the culture and then all of a sudden something jumps out and surprises me, disorientates me and makes me aware of not being as understanding of the culture of the place I'm in as I thought.  Typical of transitions, yet disorientating at the same time.

Will we be ourselves?

One of the great books I'm reading at the moment is Wikichurch by Steve Murrell.  Some comments that he makes in there, combined with reading this blog post today, have me pondering how often we try and lead or live like someone else rather than being the person that God has called us to be and leading in ways that are true to how we are wired and also to what is needed in our context in this season.

I wonder what it means for you to be deeply true to who God is calling you to be and what is needed in the context that you find yourself in this season of life?

Joining Jesus on the cross

As I continue to sit in the midst of the story of these few days, I was encouraged by another blog post which gives another perspective on the cross.

Again simple but profound.

He quotes Dallas Willard: Jesus didn’t go to the cross so we wouldn’t have to. He went to the cross so we could join him there.
And then briefly explores that.


Where am I being invited to die ... so that new life might come?
Where are you being invited to die ... so that new life might come?
Where are we as a church, as a society being invited to die ... so that new life might come?

Another perspective

A friend's Facebook status expresses some of my sentiment from my last post.  Thanks Beth Barnett for words that speak my own heart.

"All you logicians and explainers, 
apologists and rationalists
keep your silence, this one day
algorhythmicists, hold your genius aside

Dare you explain the logic of the death of God?
Dare you rationalize the holy broken?
Dare you set a price on the head of Christ?
Dare you analogize the rawest disgrace, the hideous pitiful suffering -
with a scale, a law, a code, a currency, a formula?
Dare you construct a frame in which all this terror, abuse, betrayal, evil, malevolent injustice, pain and death make sense?

Shut up – just this once – please.

Let us gape at the senselessness

How else but that we see the senselessness of suffering
the senselessness of sin,
will we ever stop our rationalizing of our own corruption?
how else will we ever have our heart of sense restored?
Or even know our needfulness of it…"

Why did Jesus die?

It's Good Friday.  I wonder what your reflections are today?

And I wonder how you would answer a 3 year old wondering about the meaning of today, asking "Why did Jesus die?"

As I read Steve's post about his response to this question, I felt relieved.  Relieved to read a simple yet not simplistic response to this question; relieved to have a simple yet broad understanding explored in the midst of understandings of this day being so narrow in so many circles.

I find myself ever more thankful for the implications of Jesus' death (and life and resurrection), yet more sure that no one understanding of this amazing action goes anywhere close to doing it justice.  And more and more frustrated by presentations and understandings that only represent and form people in one perspective of the many theological understandings that are around.

Today, I'm trying to put this annoyance aside in order to stand in gratitude - for the things I understand and the things beyond my understanding.  I have no doubt of the importance and impact of this act.

It silences me, it grieves me, it releases me, it frees me, it begs me on, it calls me to follow in laying down my life.
And the implications are not just for me (or any individual) - it has implications for the whole cosmos.

Death that is about life.
A death that re-orientates.
A death by a person who takes so much on and into himself.
A death that is about so much more ...

A person whose action of love is oh so complete.

Thanks that is lost for words.

Book: Singled Out

There are not many books written about the issue of singleness - and many of the ones that are around are cringeworthy!  Having read about this book over year ago through a review that Tamie did on her blog, I've been keen to have a read.

Singled Out: Why Celibacy Must Be Reinvented in Today's Church is a book worth reading.  The authors (two single women) are mature and honest in the way they approach the topic and look at both Christian culture and general society's view of celibacy.  They do a good job of critiquing myths around the issue and in building some alternative frameworks.  Definitely a good read for both single and married people, as it's as much a book for the whole church as for single people.  However, I reckon single people in their thirties and older would particularly find it a refreshing read.

Have a look at Tamie's post for a more thorough review.

Mastering by Going Through the Motions

This piece by Alison Sampson speaks to some things that I've been thinking about and living into on my journey.  Through reflection on her experience of playing hide and seek with her children, Alison reflects on what else she might master by going through the motions.

I have been reflecting on who I want to be and how I continue to become that person.  I think it often feels like we are going through the motions when we enter into actions that are aligned with the person that we are becoming.

Trust in God

TRUST IN GOD

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.

We are, quite naturally, impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.

We should like to skip the intermediate stages.

We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.

And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability . . .

And that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you.

Your ideas mature gradually; let them grow, let them shape themselves without undue haste.

Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could today (become) what time (that is, grace and circumstances acting on your own goodwill) will make tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be.

Give our Lord the benefit of your believing that his hand is leading you,
and of your accepting the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.

Teilhard de Chardin

(Priest and paleontologist, written during WW11 where he chose to serve on the front as a stretcher bearer.)

The Cost of Non-Discipleship

A friend regularly comments to me that she is convinced that it's no harder to choose well, in lines with discipleship, than to choose in unhealthy ways; we just pay the cost in different ways and at different times.  Given this repeated conversation, I was struck by this great blog post.  The post speaks about someone's paraphrase of Dallas Willard in words that speak so strongly of what has been God's statement to me for some time now: “If you think it’s hard being a disciple of Christ, you should try living the other way.” 

One Thing Remains

On yet another long drive, I was listening to the song "One Thing Remains" this afternoon and reflecting on it as one of the key songs of the last year.  While many other things have changed, one thing remains: God's love.  It's been a precious year of having a deeper lived understanding of that as once again much else has changed.  I wouldn't trade that lived understanding and knowledge for the world.

Getting to the Core

How do you know the core of the message you are trying to communicate?

That's a question that I have been pondering in numerous guises over recent times.  As I ponder, I'm conscious that it feels hard to work out the core of what you are trying to communicate - it feels like it's often too hard in fact.

But I'm reinforced in the belief that it is important.

Ideas that stick according to Dan and Chip Heath are ones that are simple (though often profound): they get to the core and are compact.

So if the ideas that I'm wanting to communicate matter then I need to do the work to get to the core and communicate that core in a way that is compact.

Present or Future Self?

How many of us use commitment devices of some kind in order to help us choose the things we want to choose?  One such commitment device is stickK.

Here is a great TED talk that recognises the benefit of commitment devices but explores some alternative ways of helping behaviour change that involves imagining our future selves dependent on what choices we make today as our present selves.  Motivating and helps us understand at a deep level the connection between the choices we make today and the people we will be or what we will have in the future.

The Prodigal God - by Tim Keller

I recently read the book "The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith" by Timothy Keller.  It was a great and easy read; though challenging to the core.

As you can probably guess, the book is based on the story of the two sons, often spoken of as The Prodigal Son story.  This story always helps me continue to grasp the Father's heart and who I am and the Father's embrace of me.  Over the last couple of years I've been in numerous situations where this story has been at the fore: considering Henri Nouwen's book last year in my faith community gathering and also having a print of the picture based on this story in my workplace last year.  The story has shaped me deeply over recent years.

This book refreshed much of that shaping - and shaped me afresh too.  A few points of Keller's book that stood out to me were: an emphasis on who the hearers of this story were (a mixed group of listeners); the emphasis on the eldest sons lostness as well as the lostness of the younger son; the fact that the story ends with us not knowing how the story really ends; the Father's initiative in coming out to both sons.  However, the thing that really struck me was Keller's exploration of Jesus as the "true elder brother" and the cost to the elder brother of the Father's welcoming home of the younger son.  This exploration has left me pondering - and thankful.

Formational Children's Ministry by Ivy Beckwith

Ivy Beckwith is one of the people writing about children's ministry currently whose ideas I most resonate with.  Having read this book over the last few days, I would highly recommend it to anyone who has a role with children.

The title "Formational Children's Ministry: shaping children using story, ritual and relationships"is a very good descriptor of the book.  The key idea of the book is the formation of children (as opposed to giving children knowledge).  In discussing this formation, the book discusses the importance of story (God's story, their story, our family story, the story of the church through the ages and the individual faith community story), the importance of ritual and the importance of different types of relationships.

There are some good practical examples about how to engage story, ritual and relationships in the formation of children and it's a book with a balanced understanding of the role of family and the role of the faith community in the formation of children.  Another thing that I thought that Ivy does really well is speak across a broad range of expressions of "church" - broad evangelical, liturgical and emerging.

Without spelling it out constantly, the book also has a solid understanding of the current context of today's children, families and churches.  One of my favourite quotes from the book embodies this understanding:
"The millennials and futuristic adaptives, the two generations we currently teach in our churches, are not primarily linear thinkers.  They do think logically and linearly, but it is not the only way they think, and it is not necessarily their preferred way of processing information.  Therefore, lessons that are heavily dependent on linear thinking are not going to capture them the same as lessons that include kinesthetic, intuitive, affective, and 'loopy' ways of processing information." (p28)

Parents, people involved in children's ministry, ministers, teachers, friends of kids - I highly recommend it!

The Amazing South of WA

A lovely couple of days.

On Tuesday morning, my friend Kylie and I left Perth and drove to Bremer Bay.  A very wet drive.  The initial purpose of this trip is for me to see the locations of the Family Missions that happen around WA over summer.  That meant that we went via Brookton in the wheatbelt - check out the sites that the mission use and got a sense of the town.  I'm increasingly conscious that there are things you just can't know without seeing a place for yourself - it's so valuable.  Then a late lunch at Stumpy's Roadhouse - we've said that "roadhouses are our friend"!  Then the long drive to Bremer Bay.

We stopped in Katanning for a quick walk and Kylie was impressed with the friendliness of the locals driving past in utes!  We spent some time trying to work out whether we needed to eat there - or whether we would make it to Bremer Bay in time for the restaurant at the place we were staying.  A phone call to the place we were staying indicated that they thought we would make it.  We followed there advice - and made it in plenty of time.  But it is a consideration that I am learning to regularly take into account in my WA life, even more so outside of Perth.

Bremer Bay Resort more than met our expectations.  After settling into our room, we went into the restaurant and ordered dinner - lamb shanks for me, lamb curry for Kylie; glass of white wine for Kylie, glass of red for me.  Very satisfying.  TV / Computer time / Sleep followed.

As we woke up on Wednesday and opened the blind, we were greeted by a clear morning and a view of the local river.  After packing the car, we headed up for breakfast at the restaurant - the best breakfast I have ever had! Eggs Florentine.

I chatted to a friend while we ate; Kylie read some of her book.  We then talked for a couple of hours while sitting in a lovely spot.

Eventually we got moving.  And checked out the beach in Bremer Bay.

As we drove around the town we came across a "Barbara St".  Of course, I needed to take a photo.  Kylie suggested that it was a sign ... a sign of what?  It would be a pretty good place to live!  We resisted taking the sign!

Once we were finished with the township we headed out to the caravan park out of town.  This is the place that the mission team stay at - and part of my purpose on this trip is to check out such places.  The owner and staff were friendly and clearly appreciative of the teams presence there in January.  They also proved to be our tourist information - and pointed us in the direction of beaches to check out before we left the area - and recommendations for our next few days as we continued around the coast.  Before we left the Bremer Bay area we headed down to Blossom Beach which the owner of the caravan park had recommended to us.

Next on our journey was Cheynes Beach.  A very small isolated place - where a mission team is over summer.  We connected with the caravan park owner - who once again was helpful.  And after checking out the location of where they run the program in January, we headed down to the beach.

We walked along the beach - wanting to have a closer look at a boat that was on the water.

We couldn't have chosen a better time to be on the beach.  Sunset - and such beauty.

And in the midst of that - a gorgeous photo opportunity.

As I look at that sunset - and reflect on what such beauty draws out of me, I'm reminded of the rainbows that we saw on the trip yesterday.  A few different occasions we saw rainbows - on an occasion we could see the whole of a rainbow, another time we could see part of a double rainbow - special and a reminder of God's faithfulness.  

Life is breathtaking.  We saw and experienced many moments of such life yesterday and arrived into Albany tired from both days of driving but satisfied and having had a relaxing and fun day of exploring - as well as great interactions with staff of the caravan parks missions are connected with and gaining an understanding of the context they are ministering in.

No question - it was a day of experiencing the wonder of God's awesome creation.