Spotting God…
I have a small group of people who come to me for spiritual direction. It’s a richly rewarding experience to sit in the story of another person and to work together with them to discern what God is saying and doing in their life – an astonishing privilege actually. It has also reminded me of the many and diverse ways in which God turns up for people. For some it is while reading scripture, for others while in prayer, for many it is in the flow of life, though often it is then only recognised afterwards as an “I think that was God” realisation. Four things I am...
Read MoreAssuming Spiritual Responsibility
One of my more bizarre conversations as a pastor was when a man informed me I was the reason he cheated on his wife. As he said in a voice increasing in volume with each word, “It’s your fault! If you were a better preacher, and inspired me more, it would never have happened.” Hmmm. While I can’t say the conversation left me encouraged, it also didn’t cost me too many sleepless nights. But it does raise some interesting questions. How responsible are we for the spiritual well being of others, and for that matter, how responsible are we for our own spiritual well...
Read MoreAdam Raised a Cain: Reflections for Parents in Pain
Back in 2016 I wrote a post, Adam Raised A Cain, reflecting on the sadness of the Genesis 4:1-16 account where we discover that the worlds first parents raised a murderer, and that the worlds opening story of two brothers is of the one killing the other. It’s not a promising start, and reflects the Bible’s deep awareness that family is usually the source of both our greatest joy and our greatest pain. I thought it worth doing a minor edit of the post and thinking about our response when parenting doesn’t go as we imagined it would. That the Bible’s opening snapshot of...
Read MoreOption B: When Life Doesn’t Run to Plan
In their very readable book, Option B, Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant explore how to build resilience and find joy when option A for our life is no longer available. For Sheryl Sandberg it started when she discovered her husband Dave collapsed on the gym floor – never to recover. She suddenly found herself part of the enormous Option B club – that multitude of people who don’t get their first choice, but who find that it is still possible to have meaning and happiness when only their second (or third) choice is available. The book is an easy read – written with deep...
Read MoreThe Bias that Blinds Us…
Most of us would like to be good listeners, even deep listeners – people who see beyond the surface of things to what is really going on. Jesus was one of those people. When asked a question he rarely answered it directly, but moved it to a different level or replied with another question. In doing so he opened up new world’s of possibility. He could see in the hated tax collector Zacchaeus a man capable of great generosity; he could sense in the wild and demon possessed Legion someone who could be a sane, wise, witness to the community. David Augsburger has written, “Being heard...
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