Towards a Theology of Personal Development (2): Watching our Thoughts
Ever been lost in thought and had someone ask, “A penny for your thoughts”? Ok, realistically anyone under 60 is not likely to express it this way, but they might well ask, “You look lost in thought. What’s on your mind?” It can be a confronting question. After all, our thoughts are private, and even if we answer the query, we’re likely to edit it a little. I remember once reading that someone was working on a gadget that would give you the ability to know exactly what others are thinking, and my response was “well that’s a fast way to ensure...
Read MoreRefresh: Blending Amish and the 21st Century
With AI racing away and already impacting our lives more than we likely imagined, today’s Refresh from January 2022 has a fresh pertinency. As I re-read it I thought, “Oh yes, this is genuinely important.” So here is a repeat of some thoughts on blending Amish and the 21st century… Refresh: Blending Amish and the 21st century… OK, so I accept some will think this is one of my sillier blog posts, but I recently wondered if it might be possible to navigate life part Amish, part 21st century. Of course a whole lot of qualifiers need to be thrown in, and I realise...
Read MoreDeveloping a Theology of Personal Development (1): Inner Work First
I’m about to start an ambitious project – mapping out a theology of personal development. Now some may scoff that it’s impossible, and that the focus on us each developing to be the best version of our self is a reflection of Western individualism, and that it has little to do with the world of the Bible. In that world, commitment to the communal good quickly transcends individual good. The African concept of ubuntu (I am because we are – or we cannot decide our actions until we have stood in the shoes of the other) is far closer to the biblical ideal. In short, a...
Read MoreRefresh: Four Flavours of Regret
I’ve sat in many postmortems, dissecting meetings or events to learn from what went wrong, and to consider repeating what went right. More recently I have been part of a few pre-mortems, predictive meetings where we answer the question, “if something goes wrong, what is it likely to be, and what should we do now to make sure it doesn’t happen?” I now consider it part of responsible planning – thinking ahead of the likely blockers of desired outcomes. I think a pre-mortem is especially important when it comes to the area of regret. What are we doing now that we...
Read MoreLooking Inward – Listening Outward: The role of feedback, and it not being all about us…
How do you react when someone gives you some negative feedback? Do you swing into self justification? “Well thank you very much, but actually, this is what you don’t understand…” Or perhaps you go in the opposite direction, taking everything said on board, and then amplifying it, making it far more critical than was ever intended. “Oh I know, I’m really terrible at that. I’m sorry about it. I hope I haven’t made things too difficult for you. I feel awful about it.” Or do you sit with it, think it over, taking on board what you decide is...
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