Refresh: The Arrogance of Procrastination
Some words just sound judgmental. Procrastination is one of them. It’s not usually cited on the list of virtues, and realistically it is usually unwise. This Refresh post from Aug 23 looks at both sides of procrastination – times when it is best not to rush in, and times when procrastination is a form of arrogance or entitlement. I thought it worth a repost. Refresh: The Arrogance of Procrastination It was a perspective I hadn’t thought of before, and it struck me as insightful. She said it with some emotion. “People always think that procrastination is about being lazy, or...
Read MoreBeing Human: The Divine and the Demonic…
Have you heard the quip that people in customer services understand why Noah only let animals on the ark? If you’ve had to deal with the ire of someone sent pears instead of apples, or whose order of milk chocolate ginger biscuits was substituted with the dark chocolate version, you will smile knowingly. Sometimes the smallest things can show us to be petty, mean spirited and filled with a rage that simmers just below the surface. The picture isn’t pretty. But it is not as simple as that, is it? Change the circumstances and the same people can be generous, sacrificial,...
Read MoreRefresh: Then I Remember, Death Comes Before the Rolling Away of the Stone
Regular readers of this blog know that Mary Oliver is one of my favourite poets. Some of her questions never go away (“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”) while others linger on, inviting deeper and deeper thought. Todays refresh post from July 2023 picks up on one of these insights, “Then I remember, death comes before the rolling away of the stone.” Here are some of the thoughts this line initially sparked… Refresh: “Then I Remember, Death Comes Before the Rolling Away of the Stone” It was a throwaway line in...
Read MoreThe Boredom that Sparks Creativity: 5 Potential Benefits from Seriously Dull Moments
What do you think of the saying usually attributed to Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, “Hurry is not of the devil; Hurry is the Devil”? Corrie ten Boom said a comparable thing, “If the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy.” Beneath both is the idea that too much rush stops us from observing what is really going on and prevents us from being open to deeper realities tucked just below the surface, things we need to pause a while if we are to notice them and be impacted by them. When people complain that God does not speak to them I have often wondered...
Read MoreRefresh: Amor Fati – From things happen to me to things happen for me…
This reflection on Amor Fati – the Stoic counsel to love your fate – was first published in June 2023, and drew many comments. I think it continues to have a lot to say to us. But what if we went even further and suggested that it is not just that things happen to me, but that in some way they also happen for me? Refresh: Amor Fati- From things happen to me to things happen for me… The Stoics have a lovely expression, “Amor Fati”. In essence it means love your fate, or at the very least, embrace your fate. Probably originating with Epictetus, the slave who became one of the...
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