On being still, not silent
I recently listened to a fascinating podcast where Alastair McIntosh reflects on Quakerism and unpacks some of its convictions. In a throw away comment he notes that it is often said that Quakers gather together in silence (no drums of smoke machines for them !) but that this is not entirely accurate – they gather together in stillness. He goes on to quote Ps 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God”, which is not the same as saying “Be silent and know that I am God.” Silence or stillness, is there a difference? Most assuredly there is. We live in a noisy world....
Read MoreWhen Belief is Aspirational
Have you ever asked if we do what we believe, believe what we do, or sit in an uncomfortable space of a bit of both, with belief and action sometimes congruent, sometimes not. It’s worth thinking about as it digs into the gap between what we say we believe and how we then live. For example, what are we to make of the simmering resentment we might feel towards another while we continue to happily pray “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” Or how do we evaluate ourselves when we have a failure of courage in the face of a challenging situation while we continue to affirm...
Read MoreYours, Mine and God’s: Holding Anxiety Well
I direct the AVENIR Leadership Institute and we recently hosted an exceptional masterclass on Managing Leadership Anxiety led by Steve Cuss, the author of an outstanding book with that title. I can’t remember if it was during the class or in conversation afterwards, but at some point Steve commented that when faced by people working through a problem or facing a difficult issue we need to decide what of the problem is ours to carry; what is theirs to carry and what is God’s to carry. It also works in reverse. When I am facing a difficult situation, what part is mine to carry,...
Read MoreA Cold Dark Night on the Side of Everest: How Expectations Shape Outcomes
I recently enjoyed listening to psychologist Alia Crum speaking on the Hidden Brain podcast about reframing your reality. She recalled a crisis point during her time as a PhD student when she was working in the early hours of the morning in the basement at her University. Feeling overwhelmed by all that was required by her, she was surprised when a friend walked into the room and seeing the distressed look on her face, said simply, “ah. It’s a cold dark night on the side of Everest”, and left. Crum said it took a while for the significance of what had been said to sink in,...
Read MoreOn Turning 65…
Well, the title is a give away. This week I turned 65. No matter how hard you try to massage it, that’s pretty sobering. You know it because some try to gently tell you that 65 is the new 55 – but since when has 55 been a deeply desirable age? Others console you that you are “only” half way through the 60’s, presumably not realising you are struggling to accept they have started. Yet others reassure you that age is a matter of the mind, and you are only as old as you think you are – which is fair enough until you look in the mirror and it gives its own...
Read MoreAnd a child shall lead them…
Rosemary and I have been blessed to have a weeks holiday together with our three children, their spouses and our three grandchildren. Getting everyone together is something you don’t take for granted, especially in these Covid ridden days, but the 11 of us have been together in a 5 bedroom AirBnB between Denmark and Albany. Although the temperature has been icy, we have been spared the heavy rain that is usually part of our winter and have been able to explore as widely as you can when you have a 1, 4 and 7 year old in the party. Jesus taught that unless we become like little children...
Read MoreWhen a number breaks your heart…
Numbers usually sound a little cold. Aid agencies know this. Rather than tell us that roughly 689 million people currently live in extreme poverty (that is, survive on less than $1.90 a day), they will usually tell the story of one child, knowing that as we sense the sadness of the one story, we will start to sense what it means when you multiply it 689 million times. Without the story, the number is quickly glossed over. The results of the Australian 2021 census came out this week – so it has been a week of numbers. In the midst of a vast array of data, one figure stabbed at my heart....
Read MoreThe Virtue and Vice of Agnosticism
We are sometimes too sure of things we should be open minded about, and too uncertain about the things that really matter. Agnosticism, that tantalising space where we see all sides of an argument and put a definitive answer in the too hard basket, is sometimes a virtue, and sometimes a vice. Let me give a few examples from my almost 65 year sojourn on this planet. I became a serious follower of Jesus when I was a teenager – back in the 1970’s. Some things were very clear in that distant era. I didn’t go to my school ball (even though I had a beautiful girlfriend) because...
Read MoreOn Isolating for a Week with Covid…
You’ve got it. The title of this post is what is happening for me as I write. I’ve had an inner struggle between my easy going self and my Gestapo self, the former telling me that given I have Covid, no one will expect me to post this week, and my sergeant major self telling me that it’s no excuse, after all, what else have I to do with my time other than write blog posts now that a week of appointments has been cancelled. The sergeant won (he usually does), but my gentler self is giving a reader alert that my words might be strung together a little untidily as a covid...
Read MoreA Spirituality of Simplicity
Can less be more? Or, in the world of church and Jesus following, can fewer services, ministries and activities help us draw closer to God? It may sound counter intuitive, but let’s play with the idea and see where it leaves us. It is actually a relevant question. After all, Covid shut downs have seen most churches run significantly fewer programs, and it is important that we ask if that has been to our spiritual detriment, or if in some strange way, it has helped us become a little more like Jesus. If the former, we should probably get back to business as usual as quickly as possible,...
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