Burnout or bore out: Reflections for the New Year
There’s no doubt about it, burnout is a real problem, and large numbers of people have pulled back from aspirational careers, putting new boundaries in place, and taking clear and tangible steps to make sure they never land up in the same place of over stretch and exhaustion again. And fair enough. But even as we self protect, I wonder if we are not running the risk of over compensation. It could be that we enter a new year not at risk of burning out, but running a serious chance of boring ourselves out – with only the safest of challenges accepted and only the teeniest of goals...
Read MoreDeeper-Wider: To be and to do…
You might know that I am very involved with the Carey Group and wearing my AVENIR hat, helped devise their vision document Carey 2026. It’s framed around the theme “Deeper Foundations – Widening Reach” or more simply, “Deeper-Wider” – a wonderful refrain for a missional movement like Carey. In an age when many are content with shallow slogans and triumphalist grandstanding, Carey has committed itself to becoming a reflective movement, unafraid to dig ever deeper into the Christian faith on which it is founded. At the same time it has signed up to...
Read MoreQuestions for the New Year: Two Prompts from Genesis 16
Photo by Zane Lindsay on Pexels.com Genesis 16 is one of the more troubling passages in the Hebrew Bible, dealing as it does with Abram and Sarai’s initial attempt to deal with their childlessness by having a child through Sarai’s servant, Hagar. Though the plan originates with Sarai, when she sees that Hagar is pregnant she feels very differently about it, a reminder that there is usually a significant gap between theory and practice in all matters of the heart. This is not Sarai or Abram at their finest – Abram giving his consent for Sarai to abuse Hagar so horribly that...
Read MoreAs a decade begins…
With the twenty teens recently ended, I thought I would post a bit of an update about the blog, fill you in on an exciting new venture I am part of, add some reflections about the start of the twenties, and close with a prayer I have found meaningful. This site has carried 359 posts since it officially launched in August 2015. Some have been picked up by other sites and reposted over and over again, yet others have made it onto the reading list of a variety of courses and are sometimes quoted back at me, and yes, some have been read by only a smattering of faithful followers, before quietly...
Read MoreQuotable: For the New Year – take 2
As 2019 gets under way, here are a few gems for the journey. The first three are attributed to Mother Teresa, the remainder, unknown. In the end, dear friend, it is always between us and God, not between us and them. Mother Teresa If you judge people, you have no time to love them. Mother Teresa God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer. Mother Teresa In the blink of an eye it could all be taken away. Be grateful always. Unknown There will be many chapters in your life. Don’t get lost in the one you’re in now. Unknown You will never always be...
Read More