Some of you will be aware that I am big on the merits of creating a positive atmosphere. I really do believe that there is something called ‘a vibe’ and the more positive it is the better things can be. I have been to lots of different places and organizations and I am always alert to the feel of a place. When I was in industry my position had me travelling around many different factories in the course of a normal week and each visit was a study in picking up the atmosphere of a place.
That preamble is to lead into my saying that I am overwhelmed right now by the highly positive atmosphere at NWUC! It is a buzz just to be a part of it. Last Sunday morning as we celebrated Palm Sunday and our World Premiere’ launch of Brad’s new single the level of excitement, acceptance and openness was terrific. I made no secret of the fact that due to some property issues I was not exactly at the top of my game that morning; but people need to know the healing power of a positive place!
I have had a number of people ask me how I am travelling since Sunday morning and I don’t think that people believe me when I say that I am fine. The spirit of Sunday’s service has given cause to remind me just what we are on about. Our call is to ‘build communities of care and hope’ and it strikes me that right now we are doing it quite well thank you very much.
Next Sunday is a great example of what I am burbling about today. Many months ago now a couple of ladies came to me and talked about the possibility of having Holy Communion classes for our older Primary school kids. Kath and I bounced the idea around and decided to give it a fly; neither of us having done such a thing before. Flowing out of those conversations last year, on Easter Sunday we will be baptizing two children and bringing six into closer community with God and the church as we celebrate one of our most important Holy Communion services.
There is such a buzz of excitement about this day that I am having sleepless nights worrying about getting it wrong!! Just kidding.
Another word that sums up our gathering right now is that of anticipation. Yes, we are anticipating a great day on Sunday but it is much deeper and longer term than that. I am seeing it in our revamped home groups and in the ever growing relationships. Of late I am seeing it in our social gatherings and the sense of fun that permeates so much of what we do. This kind of atmosphere becomes quite seductive and before you know it others will want to know what is going and even against their better judgment will come along to check it out.
Summing up it is a very good place to be and my dream is that the vibe will grow even more as we journey on.
This will come about if we remain committed to one another and have a strong sense of loyalty, care and support of each other. In doing this we will find ourselves drawn into the whole mission of God for us across our own communities. Yes, it might be in the formal stuff that we do; Playgroup, Go M.A.D, ANZAC Day etc; but the miracle comes when we see that mission of ‘building communities of care and hope’ happening in our immediate communities! Across the fence, at work, school or in casual encounters at sport, over a cup of coffee or at a party. You see, it really isn’t rocket science!
Cheers - John
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Famous for being famous
It might just be me but don’t you think that we are all getting a little bit petty? I am so tired of the childish antics of both Australian and Indian cricketers that this former lover of the game has simply lost all interest in it! I don’t care if we are calling people names, spitting, or making all manner of weird gestures; right now I am so over it.
I fully support the ongoing fight against Japanese whaling but when we start lobbing bottles of blood at people my interest wanes. Protest or harass if you must; but must we lower ourselves to such levels. What exactly are we seeking achieve by this tactic?
Something is wrong here. I heard an interview today about the celebrity fascination in society. One person said that people are now famous just because they are famous. I hadn’t thought about that before. In the past you had to be somebody or be exceptional at something, while nowadays it is enough to just be. I mean, just what does Paris Hilton actually DO!!??
It seems to me that we sway between two different ends of the pendulum these days. We appear to be either completely self possessed or seek to live our lives vicariously through the lives of the rich, famous and / or dead! Why is it so? Why do we either hold everything so close that we strangle it or seek identity through personalities that we are highly unlikely ever to meet and probably wouldn’t like much if we did?
One of the big interests of mine is that of this thing called self image. We speak of people having a poor self image and indeed I would have put myself in that category not too many years ago. I have now come to a place of realising that having a good ‘self image’ begins with having the courage to look beyond oneself.
A wonderful gift to me some years ago now was the discovery in the Old Testament of something the Latin refers to as ‘Imago Dei.’ In the creation story found in Genesis
‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.’ Genesis 1:26,27
What are the implications of humankind being created in the image of God? I wonder what would happen if every person on earth: Christian, Buddhist, Islamic, Jew or 32nd Day Calathumpian, actually committed to live that way? It doesn’t matter if you actually believed it or not. Just to pretend that you believed it for six months might be enough to convince?!
It is a very dangerous world when we are allowed to work out our self image in isolation from anyone else. I am just finishing reading a book on the Jewish Holocaust of World War 2 and am struck by the fact that Adolf Hitler – a small dark haired man – created an image of the true Aryan race being tall and blond. In this process certain people were decreed to be non-persons and plans for their destruction were put in place. Of course we don’t do this kind of thing anymore do we?
Imago Dei! We are created in the image of God. When the creation process was just about done – however you wish to interpret the story – God looked to the pinnacle of his creation journey and made us in his image.
What if we claimed this as truth just for a week of our lives? We could make it our next project after giving up giving up what we gave up for Lent!
Imagine the image of God in our lives and in the lives of every person that we connect with each day. We might even think twice about spitting at them, or throwing something at them, or even calling them obnoxious little weeds? We might stop listening to gossip about people and instead think the best of people.
What was it that Jesus said when asked about the most important commandments? ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no command greater than these.’
Maybe; just maybe, he had something there?
Cheers - John
I fully support the ongoing fight against Japanese whaling but when we start lobbing bottles of blood at people my interest wanes. Protest or harass if you must; but must we lower ourselves to such levels. What exactly are we seeking achieve by this tactic?
Something is wrong here. I heard an interview today about the celebrity fascination in society. One person said that people are now famous just because they are famous. I hadn’t thought about that before. In the past you had to be somebody or be exceptional at something, while nowadays it is enough to just be. I mean, just what does Paris Hilton actually DO!!??
It seems to me that we sway between two different ends of the pendulum these days. We appear to be either completely self possessed or seek to live our lives vicariously through the lives of the rich, famous and / or dead! Why is it so? Why do we either hold everything so close that we strangle it or seek identity through personalities that we are highly unlikely ever to meet and probably wouldn’t like much if we did?
One of the big interests of mine is that of this thing called self image. We speak of people having a poor self image and indeed I would have put myself in that category not too many years ago. I have now come to a place of realising that having a good ‘self image’ begins with having the courage to look beyond oneself.
A wonderful gift to me some years ago now was the discovery in the Old Testament of something the Latin refers to as ‘Imago Dei.’ In the creation story found in Genesis
‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.’ Genesis 1:26,27
What are the implications of humankind being created in the image of God? I wonder what would happen if every person on earth: Christian, Buddhist, Islamic, Jew or 32nd Day Calathumpian, actually committed to live that way? It doesn’t matter if you actually believed it or not. Just to pretend that you believed it for six months might be enough to convince?!
It is a very dangerous world when we are allowed to work out our self image in isolation from anyone else. I am just finishing reading a book on the Jewish Holocaust of World War 2 and am struck by the fact that Adolf Hitler – a small dark haired man – created an image of the true Aryan race being tall and blond. In this process certain people were decreed to be non-persons and plans for their destruction were put in place. Of course we don’t do this kind of thing anymore do we?
Imago Dei! We are created in the image of God. When the creation process was just about done – however you wish to interpret the story – God looked to the pinnacle of his creation journey and made us in his image.
What if we claimed this as truth just for a week of our lives? We could make it our next project after giving up giving up what we gave up for Lent!
Imagine the image of God in our lives and in the lives of every person that we connect with each day. We might even think twice about spitting at them, or throwing something at them, or even calling them obnoxious little weeds? We might stop listening to gossip about people and instead think the best of people.
What was it that Jesus said when asked about the most important commandments? ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no command greater than these.’
Maybe; just maybe, he had something there?
Cheers - John
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