Managing Monday with C.S.Lewis – Take 2
Recently this blog explored C.S.Lewis as apologist. You find Lewis sayings everywhere – indeed, he is one of the most oft quoted people on Twitter. Here are some of his memorable insights from a selection of his works… Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different (from Prince Caspian) It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to (from The Problem of Pain) Forgiveness does not mean excusing (from Fern Seed and Elephants) All their life in this world and all their adventure...
Read MoreWhen wrestling with God: Jacob’s struggle, and ours…
Sometimes life does not go to plan, and you find yourself in a battle with what seems to be everyone and everything. In the midst of those seasons, it is easy to lose perspective and to succumb to the destructive trio of bitterness, cynicism and despair. Given that for most people it is not a question of if those seasons will come, but when they come, are there any biblical narratives that can provides some guidance and strength? Personally, I often go back to the account of Jacob wrestling with God. You find it in Genesis 32, from vrs 22 onwards. Jacob had stolen his brother’s birthright...
Read MoreManaging Monday with C.S.Lewis…
With the recent post on C.S. Lewis as apologist, I thought it only sensible to spend a few Managing Monday’s on citing some of Lewis’s insights… Joy is the serious business of heaven (from Letters to Malcolm) It’s so much easier to pray for a bore than to go and see one (from Letters to Malcolm) Everything is good when it looks to Him and bad when it turns from Him (from The Great Divorce) No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear (from A Grief Observed) The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts (from The Abolition of...
Read MoreC S Lewis as apologist…
You are probably aware of the work of C S Lewis. His Narnia series transformed more than a few childhoods, and while exploring Narnia’s imaginary fortunes, Lewis provides a narrative that interprets the main contours of the Christian faith in a way that is both accessible and meaningful. It is a remarkable feat. While Narnia forms its own kind of apologetic for the Christian faith, Lewis was also a systematic defender of Christianity. I’ve recently completed teaching a unit in apologetics at Vose Seminary (where I serve as principal), and here are some of the notes from our study...
Read MoreManaging Monday with Henri Nouwen: Take 4
Today we come to the end of our short series looking at some quotes from Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), who was a Dutch born Roman Catholic priest, academic, author and theologian. Nouwen reached the top of the academic ladder with posts at Notre Dame, Yale and Harvard, but made the surprising (although liberating) decision to leave academia and to work with physically and mentally handicapped people at the L’Arche Daybreak community in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Here are some of his thoughts… The hard truth is that all people love poorly. We need to forgive and be forgiven every day,...
Read MoreOn a High School Graduation…
This week I spoke at the year 12 graduation and awards evening of Carey Baptist College. Many of the graduating students have been part of Carey for over a decade, and they’ve been a close knit and supportive cohort. For teachers such evenings are bitter sweet… great to see students equipped and ready to move on, but it’s sad to say goodbye. The graduation is one last chance for the school to say what it hopes each pupil will remember, so it was an honour to have been asked to do this. Given that these evenings are long (with individual commentary on each of the 150 or so...
Read MoreManaging Monday with Henri Nouwen: Take 3
Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) was a Dutch born Roman Catholic priest, academic, author and theologian. Nouwen reached the top of the academic ladder with posts at Notre Dame, Yale and Harvard, but made the surprising decision to leave academia and to work with physically and mentally handicapped people at the L’Arche Daybreak community in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Here are some of his thoughts… You don’t think your way into a new kind of living. You live your way into a new kind of thinking – Henri Nouwen Each step of love is like a candle burning in the night. It...
Read MoreSome changes to the blog…
Thanks for reading this blog. For the last year I have been posting on Monday, Tuesday and Friday morning, and have been happy with the response – almost 20 000 page views this calendar year. But the frequency of posting is eating into my time a little too much – more particularly, it is slowing the progress on the 3 new book projects that a spoke about a few posts ago. This is to alert you that while the blog will continue to operate (this is definitely not a closure notice), posts in the foreseeable future, won’t be as frequent. As usual when a new post is up, I will send...
Read MoreManaging Monday with Henri Nouwen: Take 2
Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) was a Dutch born Roman Catholic priest, academic, author and theologian. Nouwen reached the top of the academic ladder with posts at Notre Dame, Yale and Harvard, but made the surprising decision to leave academia and to work with physically and mentally handicapped people at the L’Arche Daybreak community in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Here are some of his thoughts… Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the ‘beloved’ – Henri Nouwen The main question is not ‘How...
Read MoreExtrinsic, Intrinsic and Quest forms of faith…
OK, so this topic might not sound compelling. What’s this about extrinsic, intrinsic and quest forms of faith, and does it have any relevance? Actually, I think it does. It helps to explain why faith works it way out one way in some people, and so very differently in others. But let me be a little more systematic. It’s a topic I explore in my recently published book When Faith Turns Ugly (Paternoster, 2016). I start by talking about some of the pioneering work done by Gordon Allport in the field of personality theory, and do so in a chapter which explores Freud’s accusation...
Read More