Simon and Garfunkle summed it up well. That longing of home that seems ingrained in us....
I have spent the last 11 years in a state of limbo, living away from the home I grew up in, getting to know new city after new city (ok, so only 3, being Christchurch, Perth and Lima), but each time involves a new attempt to make new friends, find a new church, work out that space where you fit in the jigsaw puzzle of people and houses and cars, and ultimately, find the best coffee in town (very hard to do in Lima).
I travel a lot and find myself in many places that could never be my home. During those times I long for my home, which can be defined as where my wife and my stuff are to be found. But when I return to that place I soon start to think about what has been our more permanent home, Perth. When I am in Perth I find myself seeking to return to my home and family in New Zealand. The desire of home for me is almost inexhaustible.
(Caveat time: I am not desperately missing home, crying in the fetal position every night, we love the place that God has placed us for this season in our life, God is so faithful, and we are seeing Him work miracles, we wouldn't miss that for the world!)
I was recently working in a very isolated region of the pampas in Patagonia, southern Argentina. In that far away place I started to sense a deep ache for my home and family, particularly for the relationship with my father, who is my hero. The ache was centered on the things I was missing out on by electing to be so far from my family, the fishing and camping trips with Dad, the talks about love and life, the realization that for so long I had wanted my Dad to be my friend and, in this stage of my life when the benefits of such a friendship could be so tangible, I’d transported myself so far away from him that any meaningful relationship was reduced to internet and telephone. Visits, while a fantastic experience, are akin to putting a sticky plaster on such an ache – after a week or two they fall off, and a sticky plaster actually does very little to stop an ache.
The Bible refers numerous times to the earth not being our home; one verse in Ecclesiastes in particular has caught my attention recently, 3:11 where it says that He has set eternity on the hearts of men. It’s a tough ask to pull our minds away from the daily pursuit of an earthly reality, but I am constantly reminded that earth is not our home (and I am thankful for that when I see the mess we’ve made of it). Maybe some people are really spiritual and maybe this comes naturally for them, but I need to be challenged to set my heart on eternity, I want to have an ache for my eternal home in the same way i thirst for my earthly home, and foster a relationship with my heavenly Father in the same way I yearn for my earthly Dad.
It’s good to be homesick.
Home, where my thoughts escaping,
Home, where the music’s playing,
Home, where my love lies waiting silently for me……
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Homeward bound, I wish I was....
Can you handle the truth?
Without my specs, I’m blind to most things, including how many fingers I’m holding up. But even with my specs, I know that there are aspects of my life that could be improved if I was aware of them.
Even for those blessed with a self-reflective nature, it’s still easy to fall into a pattern of doing things that might not be the best or most beneficial way. It’s hard to look at your own life objectively and critically — or as I’ve heard it said, it’s difficult to see the moral spinach in your own teeth.
Say you’ve been living in a house for five years — or as I have — for 15 years. Sometimes there are things that you just don’t notice any more, like the dust on the top of the kitchen light or the piece of paint that’s peeled a little over the door frame. Then for some reason — such as cleaning the house for a dinner party — you’re made aware of these things and it’s like a veil’s been lifted from your eyes and you think ‘How did I not notice this before?’ It’s glaringly obvious but you’ve walked past it every day.
The reason I bring this up is because someone spoke to me last week about a certain way I operate and how I could possibly change for the better and it was incredibly true and consequently hurt like hell.
I haven’t stopped thinking about it since that conversation and I’ve been wondering how I didn’t see it before and how great it is that I can do something about it and how thankful I am for having a friend that was brave enough to point it out to me (even though gratitude wasn’t the first feeling I had when they first brought it up).
Chances are, other people can see what you can’t so if you’ve got a close friend or family member that you think you can trust with shedding light on your blind spots, why not ask them to think about it for a week and then sit down with them over coffee?
Apt Bible verse to back me up:
"But if you correct those who care about life, that's different — they'll love you for it! Save your breath for the wise — they'll be wiser for it; tell good people what you know — they'll profit from it. Skilled living gets its start in the fear-of-God, insight into life from knowing a Holy God." Proverbs 9:8,9 (The Message)
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Why Post?
‘Post’: to display something in a public place
It seems that the sword has triumphed over the pen (temporarily, at least) as the efforts to persuade me to post have succeeded.
Money could not; incriminating publicity could not (see‘Paid to Post’ scandle descends into “Postgate”; Tue Feb 20, 2007), but finally the ‘pen’ has submitted to the latest threats of physical assault, recognizing that I value my health and well-being more than my sustained resistance against joining the avalanche of happy-go-lucky, carefree cyber-writers, web-posters, and ‘my-space’ bloggers (Although, now that I think about it, the threats did come by word in the first place, so what did actually triumph?).
So, having maintained silence for such a long time, I suspect by now the audience anticipation for the “debut Post” must be so greatly heightened as to surely guarantee disappointment. I would at this point draw your attention to the words of an ancient writer who was instructing a group of wayward-but-well-meaning church-goers, who stated, “I care very little if I am judged by you or any human court. I do not even judge myself.”
In light of such opening remarks, I assure you my debut contribution will be brief.
Actually, it is more of a question. Two words, but ample room for response:
“Why Post?”
Perhaps I could better capture the tone of my question by asking, “Why bother?”
I recognize that I picked up this attitude toward posting not because I actually believed it had no value, but, in being honest with myself, something in me didn’t believe that what I had to offer was of any value.
Maybe you can only value the work of another if you first learn to see value in your own.
Other people's diets are boring
I feel so damn Bridget Jones talking about this stuff (which: can I just make it clear that that’s not a good thing; I feel no kinship with Ms Jones apart from these brief, avoided episodes, mostly because it feels deeply wrong that a frumpy klutz with permanent foot-in-mouth scored one of the world’s limited supply of eligible human rights lawyers. Much less Hugh Grant. TMI? Let’s move on…). I lost some weight and God taught me some stuff. So:
(Oops) I did it again
Spectacular things, once-off things, things that only take a limited amount of time and attention – I like ‘em. But this personally administered makeover has been the opposite of that – a cumulation of small changes in lifestyle over a long time. It shouldn’t be a surprise – it seems to be a model God is fond of. Like: remember Him each time you meet and eat; pray without ceasing; Sabbath-out on a seven-day rotation. The Big ‘Once’ is sometimes appropriate, but God has reminded me again that lots of what I am is a result of what I do repeatedly.
The knee bone’s connected to the…soul bone, actually
It’s about loving people for who they really are, right? Because beauty is only skin deep? Except when it’s you and your beautiful soul? The unspoken assumption being that there is some sort of ‘you’ – maybe even the truest ‘you’ – which is distinct from your body. The philosophers and theologians can debate the technicalities, but here is what I’ve noticed: my body and my mind and my emotions – and presumably my soul – are intimately – inextricably? – connected. Physical tiredness short-circuits mental agility. My emotional status impacts on my physical capacity. I sin because I didn’t go to bed early enough. I feel distant from God because my mind is undisciplined. It’s not completely worked out, but it feels like important information.
Old-school variety show
Hands up if you’ve heard this before: we’re living in a post-modern age, where it’s not about facts or truth, it’s about relationship, and the thing people hunger most for is connectedness, community, the sense that someone cares. Well, don’t burn your graphs and flip charts just yet, people. There are modernists in your midst. Nerds. Geeks. Children of The Enlightenment. Fact-hungry eggheads who would rather calculate than communicate. I know – I am one. I tried following the touchy-feely principles – ‘eat a diverse diet, lots of colours, mostly fruit and vegetables, only a little processed food’ – and all I got was confusion and guilt. But with hard data – ‘a peach has 60 calories, a muffin has 600’ – I can make informed decisions. My point? If I’m talking to people about God-stuff, some of them will probably want information, not just relationship. Some of them will respond to the rightness, the completeness, the intellectual elegance of a God-based worldview – or any number of other God-things. Some of them will mostly want to know that He loves them. But that diversity is ok.
Guilty pleasures
So there's a lot to talk about when it comes to food and body and morality and such. One of the things I’ve learnt is this: food is a moral issue to the extent that any stewardship is a moral issue. God has given me resources – body, health, money, skills, time, mind – and the point is to use them under His direction. If I use them poorly, I show disrespect to The Giver. But the chocolate itself (and the plasma-screen and the song) is value-neutral. That knowledge is freeing. It feels more true. It’s counter-cultural. I like it.
Jesus and James Cameron
I read today that James Cameron recently announced that his next big film project is a documentary that seeks to debunk the story of the resurrection of Christ. He also suggests that Jesus had a son with Mary Magdalene. Their attempt at a real-life The Da Vinci Code documentary will feature DNA researchers, historical "experts" and, of course, a truck load of controversy.
While this web page gives some details as to the plot that Cameron will be following, it got me thinking for a minute. I have faith that Jesus lived a breathtakingly revolutionary life while 'incarnated' here with us. In 'three and thirty years' he pretty much changed everything: the way many of us see the world, and the way many of us see ourselves. The accounts of his life, his teaching, his example, his signs and wonders, his leadership and his relationships demonstrated a way of living that was radical then as it is now.
Having lived this radical life, he was put on trial, crucified, killed and, after three days, was resurrected and after appearing to different groups of people on a number of occasions, he ascended to be at the right hand of his father, our Creator God.
Without steering in any direction, my faith informs that last paragraph.
My question is this: if a movie and scientific evidence (probably in reverse order) were to reveal that the DNA-verfiable remains of Jesus were found in a crypt in Jerusalem and it was indisputable...what effect would that have on you?
Would you ignore or integrate? And how would that integration look for you?
I'm not postulating anything here, just throwing out a question.
***Please bear this in mind: I'm striving to do this in the context of Titus 3:9, 2 Timothy 2:23, Colossians 2:4. That is to say, I'm not trying to start an argument or controversy here. I'm a follower of Jesus - that's my starting point. And it's my context for the question.
Ponderous...
Thoughts?
Our terrain has shaped a self that experiences a significant absence of community, tradition and shared meaning. It experiences these social absences...as a lack of personal conviction and worth, and it embodies the absences as a chronic, undifferentiated emotional hunger. The post-WW 2 self this yearns to acquire and consume as an unconscious way of compensation for what has been lost. It is empty.
(Cushman 1990)
Monday, February 26, 2007
Ephesians 6
The gathering out the back of our place converges this Thursday night. We've been unpacking a great letter Paul wrote a few years back called Ephesians. It's the end of the road this week with Paul's final instructions, warnings and encouragement. It goes a little something like this...
Work hard, do as your told and do it well—with a healthy attitude. And if you're the one doing the telling, lead well and don't abuse your position of authority. Don't allow your serving or your leading to become dysfunctional, but keep it integrated and in harmony with Jesus' heart.
Don't be glib with life, it's a bigger deal than that. We're in a battle where we know the winner, but it's a battle nonetheless. People go down from either side in a battle so get protection. Kit up with the resources he's given you: truth, righteousness, peace, faith and salvation.
Pray and keep praying. Get stuck into your bibles and live spacious lives out of them. And don't expect this journey to be without incident. It's life! Don't expect that the devil isn't a little perturbed that you love God and are becoming more like Him. He can't stand it. So don't be oblivious to Him, but don't spend your life dancing on his grave either. There's more enjoyment from living a spacious life than fighting with the stingy.
Open your lungs and shout from the rooftops then. Stand up. Get up. Stand in the place where you work (now face north). Stand in your homes. Stand in the valleys and on the mountaintops. Stand in your churches and stand when there's no-one looking. Stand for what is right and bow down to all that's holy.
Don't do life alone—you weren't meant to. Link arms and do life together. Cheer on those around you. Lift up those with bloodied knees from the dragging down of life.
Love fearlessly and hone your peripheral vision: there's a bigger picture at work. Play on.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
W.I.P.
It's a spot of poetry to kick off the new week, innit?
I’m a work in progress
I’m not finished yet
I will continually fail in areas I’d love to succeed
I will continually over-promise and under-deliver.
You know that
You love me all the same
You know what lies within and what fuels my heart
And, somehow, you love every part of me.
One day, we’ll be fully united—
Body, soul, mind and spirit
We will dance. We will cry.
We will sing. We will laugh.
And we will be overjoyed that your work in me is complete.
You're tops: To a great character
We’re paying homage to a character that needs little introduction, yet is the object of confusion and derision to the extent that extinction may be just around the corner.
Cautionary note: Before we even begin, this is an absolute tome – 1998 words in all – so I would highly recommend a) jumping ship now or b) fetching yourself an extremely good cup of coffee. In fact, if you make it to the end, let us know – the steak knives will be in the mail.
The apostrophe. Maligned. Misunderstood. Abused. Overused. Underused. Excluded. Ignored. Yet it remains one of the symbols of our time.
Take off the blinkers and you’ll see the little tacker poking up his motorcycle-helmet-clad-head all over the shop. Sometimes in places he should never be, sometimes in exactly the right place at the right time and sometimes wondering what he accidentally acquired…but we’ll get to that later.
For years, the apostrophe has served us so well. In fact, if the apostrophe had a middle name, it would be a toss up between ‘efficient’, ‘possessive’ and ‘versatile’. Therein lies the problem: the little fella’s so flexible it’s confusing. The fact is, even my grammar checker didn’t know what to do with him in that last sentence. One moment he owns stuff, the next he’s saving real estate on the page – or ink from the pen.
The problem as I see is that that which isn’t understood is feared. And, out of fear, we pursue one of two courses of action: abstinence or blithe overuse.
Now, I’m first to admit that the journey from caring for this little ‘above-the-line’ critter to being labelled ‘anally retentive’ is only a short one, but I’m prepared to go into bat for it all the same.
I don’t profess mastery either. I probably invite him along for the ride a little too often—it seems more inclusive than leaving him on the bench. So, in the interests of helping you with your condition, I’ve come up with a ‘Fast Five’ for discovering whether you’re suffering from being overly enamoured and defensive with regard to the motorcycle-helmet-clad-head (a.k.a., the apostrophe).1. You carry an Artline pen or can of white spray paint in the car with you (or saliva for the blackboard) just in case you need to fulfil your responsibility to the literary world.
Now, I’ll confess to four out of five of these. While my wife may disagree, I’d like to proclaim innocence on the second criteria. I’ve certainly succumbed to all others though. For random acts of literary vandalism (or enhancement), I both apologise and confess my sin. And, for the record, I’m quite capable of practicing grace in the area of the apostrophe – I just don’t think we should wallow in our confusion.
2. You can’t observe the mistreatment of the little fella without drawing the attention of those around you to the injustice that has been perpetrated.
3. When reading a book, the paper, or a magazine in a café, you find it very difficult not to correct error for the benefit, clarity (and perhaps admiration) of the next reader.
4. You’ve been known to exclaim ‘hello apostrophe’ while driving the car on observation of the work of serial overusers.
5. You find yourself posting tributes to the noble mark on blogs that hitherto had precious little to do with grammar.
This post is not intended to be a grammar lesson, but a celebration of the apostrophe. So, why I feel a need to mount a defence for the fella’s appropriate usage, I don’t want to stray too far off the highway of celebration. Yet, for some paragraphs, I would like to provide a perfunctory guide to its (no, not it’s) use. Perfunctory in that it is limited by the writer's literary intellect.
Key usage #1: Apostrophes own stuff
Indeed, they own many things: cars, houses, balls, jobs and, strangely, even people. The apostrophe steps in after the owner and usually before an ‘s’ to make the declaration: “I belong to him (or her, or it).”
Note 1: This is Fiona’s car, it is a Festiva. (This is also a demonstration of rhyme)
Note 2: This is Spot’s ball, just throw it and he’ll bring it back to you.
Pretty simple so far? Indeed. Yet there are a few clarifications that need to be made here.
If a group of people own something, leave the apostrophe until last.
Example One: The Cacophony Ensemble: A writers’ collective
Now this can be confusing and this is partly why the little fella needs to be stewarded well. If you have a Writers’ Blog, you’ve got yourself a blog for writers. If you have a Writer’s Blog then you have a blog that belongs to one person. Just one.
Curious fact#1: If you’re really, really, really famous and your name ends with an ‘s’, you can leave of another ‘s’ after the apostrophe has done his job.
Example One: At the table were Jesus’ disciples.
My point here is to demonstrate the common rule: using an ‘s’ twice interrupted by an apostrophe is just fine. In fact, it’s correct. You can read Thomas’s book all you like and you’ll still be, quite fairly, reading the book that Thomas wrote (or owns).
There’s definite grey in this one. Few would dispute Thomas’s book, but many would say Bill Hybels’ church or David Griffiths’ house. English is not always monochromatic! So, at risk of being nebulous and non-absolute, if the apostrophe follows the ‘s’ in a name that ends with ‘s’ and it sounds better (un-clumsy), just leave it be.
Let’s move on. I’m not an English teacher and I’m feeling as if I’m on treacherous ground.
Key UN-usage #2: Don’t use an apostrophe for plurals
Bear this rule in mind when you’re shopping for vegetables, as Grocers and the occasional pet shop owner seem to be permanently ensconced on the list of serial offenders. If it’s a plural, it doesn’t need an apostrophe!
Un-example One: ‘Potato’s $2/kilogram’ (No, the potatoes don’t own the money) For the record, potatoes will do just fine.
Un-example Two: From Guppy’s to Puppy’s (Someone, please, restrain me!) Again, for the record, From Guppies to Puppies will do just fine unless you’d like to get a little more specific and make it From Guppy’s aquariums to Puppy’s kennels….but I digress.
We’re moving on – all this chalk is bleaching my fingers.
Key UN-usage #3: Apostrophes can stay at home and stuff will still be owned!
Okay, listen up. If you’re going to mask the identity of the owner, or if the owner is inanimate, then sometimes you’ll just go with ‘IT’. This becomes a bridging rule of sorts, because we’re crossing over from Mr Possessive to Mr Efficient. It would be confusing if the same spelling and insertion of grammatical marks denoted the same literary intent, so the wise folk made it easy for us.
Let’s get there in stages.
Step 1: You should check the milk’s expiry date. (Yes, a carton of milk can own stuff. In this case it owns an expiry date!)
Step 2: You should check its expiry date. (No apostrophe)
Now, we just need to assume that whoever is being asked about the expiry date is aware it’s in relation to a carton of milk, but the big deal is this: when you’re using ITS to denote ownership, leave the apostrophe in the cupboard—his services are not required. In fact, the helpful rule here is this: any time you see IT’S, you should be able to re-state the sentence with ‘it is’ instead of ‘it’s’.
Step 2/Take 2: You should check it is expiry date. Ba bow. That won’t fly
We could unpack the literary rationale for the rule but it’s (it is) quicker simply to say: ‘don’t do it’.
Key Usage #2: A well-employed apostrophe will save you space (ie. Mr Efficient)
Here’s where the little fella comes struts his stuff (right there at the beginning of the sentence). Apostrophes can be used to contract words. Not all words, but a fair swag of common ones. Shakespeare was liberal with the apostrophe. He contracted whenever he felt moved to do so. There are a bunch of words that have commonly accepted contractions though. Here’s a bunch of obvious ones:
It is = it’s
We are = we’re
You are = you’re
Do not = don’t
Does not = doesn’t
Will not = ahhh…let’s not go there
Let us = let’s
I am = I’m
Sometimes it suits to spell it out, sometimes contractions help change the tone. Generally, it’s a little more casual. And other times, it just fits the meter of what the writer is on about.
So: ‘I am, You are, We are Australian’ might work, but ‘I’m, You’re, We’re Australian’ doesn’t quite fly. Sure, they say the same thing, they just don’t fly.
I think the lesson is over. We’ve avoided a lot of territory, but this isn’t intended to be a lesson in grammar, but the celebration of a hero. This fella is among the hardest working characters in the caper. And that’s only taking into account his ‘above-the-line’ work. Bring into play the work of his ‘on-the-line’ mate, the comma (an identical twin in all facets other than location) and you’ve got two of the dominant literary players of our time.
My plea is this: please respect the apostrophe. He means no harm. He only exists to bring clarity and brevity into the literary world. Simply acknowledge his strengths and his weaknesses. He can’t be all things to everybody, so don’t force him where he shouldn’t be. Sure, he just got three gigs in the last sentence, but let’s not overuse him by confusing homonyms with acceptable usages (i.e. It was ‘where’ back then, not we’re).
And, while I’m a voice in the desert crying out for mercy for this character, I’m also quick to acknowledge that our lexicon is a movable feast. It’s evolving. Words appear in our dictionary today that only years ago we’d never heard of (or were considered colloquialisms or slang). Words like ringtone, blog, detox and hoodie all want to be spell-corrected, yet you’ll find them in the latest edition of your dictionary. Some would argue, so long as you get the idea of what the writer is attempting to communicate, just leave it be. That’s fine. Whether I ‘right’ this sentence or I ‘write’ this sentence, it’s probably reasonable to accept that you get the gist. The apostrophe is worth fighting for though. Abuse this little critter and you could have a friend that is a dog rather than a friend who owns a dog. I’m all for having a dog as a friend, but it’s good to have clarity.
The apostrophe doesn’t leave us without real-life application either. You see, we’re all capable of being apostrophes, or treating others like one. We’re capable of being used where we shouldn’t (just because it’s obvious we must fit in there somewhere). And we’re also capable of being overused. To be burned out because we’re available and willing. And so, motorcycle-helmet-clad-heads get placed in square holes where they almost look appropriate until you discover that they’ve actually re-interpreted a context, or owned something that was never theirs in the first place. Or brought brevity to a context that was brief all on its own.
As you go about your work-a-day lives, look out for the apostrophes—in literature and in life. Spare a thought for their plight. Love and cherish them. And bother enough to discover, in concert with them, exactly where they belong and where they thrive. They’ll rejoice in being able to run with the freedom that comes from being in the exact place they were always intended.
Amen.
Friday, February 23, 2007
perspectives- healing part 2
Perspectives...different windows...people who change your opinion...those who help you see a different way...those who care...those who stop...those who think...those who bring perspective.
Today, a great friend of mine emailed me a portion of one of her pen pals private conversation that explored the story of a young mother, explaining to her child that she was going to die very soon.
In the midst of reading that email, my perspective changed.
Healing or any answer to any prayer that we may throw heavenward is never answered with a human shaped perspective. Although we don't understand, we can find rest in the divinity of God and the knowlege that miracles happen everyday, sometimes we just don't have the perspective to recognise them as such.
So for my friend who died way too young, leaving with us beautiful kids and many amazing memories...The miracle being that she was with us for the length of time that she was. The miracle being that we met, by some random chance. The miracle of healing being the hundreds of people that are hearing about her and her love of Christ as a result of her death.
Who knows the prayers we prayed may be right now being outworked in the lives of those who are being healed as they come to know Jesus Christ for the first time.
Who knows...
Lord, continue to keep changing my perspectives.
(Part One...)
Prone to wander...
I was listening to a podcast by Rob Bell while running this morning and he began quoting some fragments from an old song by Robert Robertson. While he was clearly afflicted by his parents to inherit such a repetitive name, Bob cast off the shackles and came up with some gold.
Sure, along the way he managed to utlise those oft forgotten words, Ebenezer and Hither and sure, he managed to incorporate 'interposed' within a song, but the gold is still there to be mined.
Come thou Fount of every blessing;
Tune my heart to sing thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above,
Praise the mount; I'm fixed upon it:
Mount of thy redeeming love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer,
Hither by thy help I'm come
And I hope, by thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home,
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love,
Here's my heart. O take and seal it;
Seal it for thy courts above.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wand'ring from the fold of God,
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed his precious blood,
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let they goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to thee
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart. O take and seal it;
Seal it for thy courts above.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Leonard Cohen: Anthem
Big kudos to Mr Cohen.
Ring the bells that still can ring
forget your perfect offering
there is a crack in everything
that's how the light gets in
*from Anthem.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Kerning anyone?
Even letters deserve a spacious life.
For those who've never needed to know, kerning is the space between letters. In some more agricultural word processing applications it is referred to as 'letter spacing'. In typography, it refers to adjusting the space between characters, especially by placing two characters closer together than normal. Kerning makes certain combinations of letters, like WA, MW, TA, and VA, for example, look better.
Not all people feel it's necessary to adjust the kerning values applied to some letters. Others, however take things way, way too far.
Here's an occasional spotlight on what happens when people no longer care.
A few years back I remember a Bridgestone tire ad where an old bloke says at the end, 'some people don't deserve tires' because of the way some people treat their 'rubber'. This pic from a restaurant in Victoria Park simply proves that some people perhaps don't deserve letters!
Cacophony Review: Characters in search of an author
I saw Stranger than Fiction recently and it was sensational. It had enough tragedy to make it fly as a comedy and it engaged on all sorts of levels. If you haven’t seen it, you probably want to stop reading right here.
I was a tad skeptical that Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Dustin Hoffman could appear in the same film and pull off such a coup. We won’t talk about Queen Latifah...
The film tells the story of Harold Crick (Ferrell), a methodical IRS agent who might have a touch of ye ole OCD. His world starts to fall apart when he's ambushed by a voice in his head, a woman's voice that's narrating his life. Turns out that voice belongs to Kay Eiffel (Thompson), a novelist who hasn’t published in a while and who really needs to kill off her latest protagonist, who happens to be an IRS agent named Harold Crick.
Through a sequence of events Harold hears Kay’s voice and sets out to track her down. In the process of that search Harold changes, embracing the life that’s always been his to pick up and run with. He fights for it. He fights against the cliché that’s been written prescriptively for him. He meets Ana (Gyllenhaal) and fights for her. He fights for other people around him. He learns guitar. And he sets out to figure out what’s going on with the narration in his head. He eventually chases down Kay, the author / narrator, and she is changed because of who Harold is and the trajectory of the story changes. Everyone changes. It’s a change-fest!
Even a couple weeks later I’m still mulling the storyline over in my head. I like a film like that – a persistent one. The biggest deal for me is how Harold’s life changes when he realises that if he cowers passively his life will be narrated to death. It’s when he comes to grips with the reality that his role in this story is crucial, that he needs to get to the author to have any hope of changing things. As a character in search of an author Harold is changed and he lives.
There’s something benign about a death-by-narration, it's so resigned and passive. As banal as Harold’s life seems at first his instinct is not to take his beating he enacts his agency to participate, to co-author his own life. Meditating on your own death helps greatly to pull your finger out and get on with really living your life. I once had a lecturer who encouraged us to pray that God would be glorified in our lives and in our deaths. There’s something so fundamentally challenging and right about such a prayer. It calls into question who you are, who Jesus is and what life on earth is all about. Try it.
Living a cliché is easy, it’s the line of least resistance. But once you see things can be different it’s pretty hard to derive the meaning from whatever it was you used to call living. Existence. Treading water. That’s not to say life isn’t monotonous and we should live on some fist-pumping AWESOME!-high all the time but that even the quotidian is infused with meaning once we know the Story and the Author. In fact the adventure of our lives takes place as we seek to know the Story is about our search for the Author. We hear Him in the tragedy and the comedy and the monotony alike. If we listen.
I’d love to give credit to whoever came up with this quote but I can’t remember where I picked it up. It goes a little something like this: Our task is to tell Jesus’ story with our lives and His resources. That, to me, sums up what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Living the gospel is not telling a new story – it’s telling a story that’s as old as history. It’s telling a whole story as well: with our bodies, minds, emotions in the comedic and tragic. It’s collaborating to tell a story – there’s no sense of white-knuckling it as we’re using Jesus’ resources.
Our key responsibility is to be a character in search of the Author. In that journey we’re changed and we impact those around us. It's in a Story that's bigger than us that we find freedom to live beyond ourselves. And when you get a community of people who together want to search out the Author... Well, that's just crazy talk! And the best part? The Author speaks.
Rules To Live By
1 - Do not attempt event management in a wrap dress and 8cm heels.
If you do attempt such an act, you will likely find yourself illegally street-parked on Murray St at 4.30 on a summer afternoon unloading a) four boxes of conference folders; b) three retractable signs; and c) a case of Little Creatures Pale Ale, in imminent danger of rolling an ankle and exposing legs that haven't seen the sun in oh, three years...
Worse, you won't care...
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
'Paid to Post' scandle descends into "Postgate"
A radical underhanded plan to lure non-active writers into posting on The Cacophony Ensemble took a nasty turn yesterday amidst allegations that some writers were offered financial incentives and being subjected to undue emotional pressures to contribute.
Embroiled in the controversy, serial recalcitrant non-posters Mr Douglas Smythe, Booragoon and Miss Karyn Ash, Como felt they could no longer stay silent and visibly broke down earlier today. Ash said that it was not simply the efforts to persuade her financially that had forced her to break her silence.
'My ability to function effectively in the workplace and in the student environment has been severely undermined by the undue pressures placed on me to write by The Cacophony Ensemble', Ash said.
'It's the labels, the barbs and the on-going innuendo that have resulted in the whole situation becoming untenable', Ash added.
'While their intent maybe ultimately wholesome, some of the methods employed to induce contributions have left me feeling uncomfortable and quite honestly, a little sacred. Sorry scared.'
Douglas Smythe also weighed in to the scandal by accusing The Cacophony Ensemble of heavy-handed bullying.
'I don't think anyone should be subjected to these strong-arm tactics regardless of their gender, creed, colour or beliefs. What these writers fail to understand is that the sword is actually mightier than the pen. The euphemism is not reality. It's been a long time since I was involved in the martial arts game, but I still have my sword and am willing to take up arms against my oppressors', Smythe said.
While Smythe and Ash sought the counsel of other friends in their distress, they were largely assured that their 'Paid to Post' problems were probably piqued by a penchant for alliteration and perhaps of their own fabrication. A suitable solution, it was suggested, would be to 'get over it and write'.
George Orwell: 12 Writing Tips
Some good fuel for writing from George.
George Orwell has earned the right to be called one of the finer writers in the English language through such novels as 1984 and Animal Farm, such essays as “Shooting an Elephant,” and his memoir Down and Out in Paris.
George expressed a strong dislike of totalitarian governments in his work, but he was also passionate defender of good writing. Thus, you may want to hear some of George’s writing tips.*
A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus:
1. What am I trying to say?
2. What words will express it?
3. What image or idiom will make it clearer?
4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?
And he will probably ask himself two more:
1. Could I put it more shortly?
2. Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?
One can often be in doubt about the effect of a word or a phrase, and one needs rules that one can rely on when instinct fails. I think the following rules will cover most cases:
1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
* From “Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell.
666
The Burnside Writers Collective just published their Anti-Christ Watch, a list of folks who may be frontin' for the dark side of the Force. And no, I didn't make the list. But hey, if you're going to fail at something...
I was a little disappointed that Oprah didn't dominate (514,000 google pages can't be wrong, right?), they had some interesting contenders. Bono figured, as did Coldplay's Chris Martin ("Bono-lite") and possibly one of the funniest men in the world, Jon Stewart. 
Apart from a few chuckles that the religiously self-righteous won't get (it made me laugh like I do when I think about people with End Times Flip Charts and the whole collection of Left Behind books), it was all pretty tame. That is until I came across a Florida preacher who has a 666 tattoo and says he is God. He claims to have followers in over 30 countries and says there's no such thing as the devil or sin. Here's some of what he says:
"Antichrist is the best person in the world," he says. "Antichrist means don't put your eyes on Jesus because Jesus of Nazareth wasn't a Christian. Antichrist means do not put your eyes on Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Put it on Jesus after the cross."
And de Jesus says that means him.
That's a set of nuggets, but I wouldn't be talkin' like that in a thunderstorm.
What's driving you?
As raw as you can be on a Tuesday/on a blog/with yourself, what's driving you right now?
Perhaps:
_the latest book you read
_the latest sermon you heard
_the looming deadline
_our desire to look good and impress folk
_the job/position/role that you don't have
_the latest life crisis
In 2 Corinthians 5:14 Paul says 'Christ's love compels (drives) us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and there fore all died'.
What drives you today? What do you want to be driven by?
(anonymous comments are encouraged if that stimulates boldness...)
Monday, February 19, 2007
Just like me
What's rolling around my head - probably because of the Donald Miller book I've just finished reading - is how we become imitators of Christ.
And yet, even as I write, I'm aware I could be barking up the wrong tree. The moment I start talking or writing or thinking about becoming more like Jesus, I turn what should be a pursuit of relationship into ritual or endeavour. Or worse, legalistic competition.
While there are things that I seek to be quite intentional about with Fi (my wife), I don't live in a calculating, mathematically-driven, 'see-what-I-can-get-on-the-board' fashion. We hang out. We talk. Sometimes we talk nonsense (and sing nonsense), sometimes we're chunky, sometimes we argue and sometimes we say nothing. And then I look at the sometimes cerebral approach I have with Jesus. As if he is an inanimate genie-like creature in the corner. Or worse - a Tamagochi that only responds when stimulated but is otherwise stationary. Jesus is alive and active. Regardless of my moves and stimulation. He pursues relationship with me and with those around me. He exists, at least in part, to intercede on my/our behalf. So, we don't talk ourselves into a lather to wake Him. We open our eyes to see him and our ears to hear what He's already doing.
Perhaps there's two things at work here. We pursue intimacy with Jesus because He's absolutely worth hanging out with. He loves, guides, instructs, leads, hears, comforts and pours out grace as he invite him into our lives and re-align our journey and enter in to what He's doing and His plans for us. And yet, as we do, we quickly come face to face (and read of and hear about) someone who is completely otherly. Not like us...and in a good, sublime way. Pure of heart, altogether lovely, altogether worthy, graceful, merciful, righteously angry when it's called for yet never descending into the dysfunctional places we go.
About the same time we discover this, we might discover Paul's instruction to imitate Christ just like he does. Before too long, if we're not careful, we're moved off the main highway into a self-righteous side street. Suddenly we're doing stuff, ticking boxes and generally striving to be more like Jesus rather than more with Jesus. Our efforts become like forced rhythms than an 'easy yolk' and the idea of us being in relationship with him becomes a little more muddy. Yet our lists make more sense. My lists make more sense. It's easy to calculate how you're doing when you can scan down the list for validation and self-approval. And yet, Jesus stands at the door of our hearts (and our heads, and our souls) and knocks. He waits to come in, hang out and have a meal with us.
Abide. Abide. Abide. Wrestle and rest.
We're back to the top. Back to a place where we need to remain. In communion with Him and inspired to become like him as a product of being with Him. Fresh intimacy. Fresh revelation. Fresh transformation. Not from memory, not by rote, but because of what He's doing and has done. And yeah, I become like Him. Slowly. Sometimes backwards, sometimes forwards. Yet it's a result of the main game, spending time with him.
We end up where we first began: remembering that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
You're tops: Steve Prefontaine
Ok, I'm buzzing a little at the moment. Partly because I've just come home from church, but also because I just had a freak encounter with a guy at Riverview called Ben Fields.
But I'll back up the bus a little before I get there.
I run. I'm a runner. I love running. I began when I was about 13 and since that time, barring ugly injuries (of which there have been a few) I've run pretty much constantly for the last 25 years. Sometimes up to 140-150km a week, these days a more sedentary 40-50km a week. Long distance running's my bag and as you go along, you grab a few heroes along the way.
Locally, I can't go past Herb Elliott (no relation), John Landy, Ron Clarke, Rob De Castella and Steve Monaghetti.
Beyond these shores though, I've got five big heroes: Sebastian Coe, Said Aouita, Haile Gebrselassie, Emil Zatopek and Steve Prefontaine. Each of these runners were renowned as much for the way in which they ran as for their accomplishments. I'm only going to talk of two of them for now...
Emil Zatopek, a Hungarian, won the 5000m and 10000m at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki and then decided he'd give the marathon a shot. He'd never run one before so at the 20km mark, when he could stand it no longer, he asked Jim Peters (England) who had been the pre-race favourite whether the pace was 'a bit slow'. When Peters looked at Zatopek as though he had been smoking something strange to be asking such an insane question, he made his own arrangements. He won a third gold medal in the Helsinki Olympics, cleaning up the all the long distance races in process. And he did it looking ugly. That's one reason why people loved him. He ran with a contorted, almost demented head tilt as though ever sinew was stretched and he was about to burst something. But he dominated. Actually he crushed other runners; grinding them into a pulp with withering bursts that were powered by pioneering interval session that are emulated to this day.
Steve Prefontaine never won an Olympic medal. He did run in the 1972 Munich Olympics but finished fourth in a race that he wished he could erase from his memory. At one point, Steve held practically every American distance record from 1500m to 10,000m (that's 1500m, 1mile, 2000m, 2-mile, 3-mile, 5000m and 10000m if you're wondering). The guy was a freak. He reckoned that anyone who sat on the shoulder of another runner to let them do the work before running to victory was a whimp. Steve's philosophy was that every time you get to a start line, you pull out you're very best (he held the same thinking on many of his training runs too!). You run hard. Not surprisingly, Steve was a front-runner. As much as his coaches tried to convince him otherwise, he always led from the front and basically said to everyone else: 'catch me if you can'. If you're good enough, you'll beat me...but you'll have to catch me first. Steve said: 'A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more'. He ran to see who had the most guts.
The crowds loved Pre. They wore 'Go Pre' T-shirts, they chanted 'Go Pre' in the concluding stages of most of his races (which was usually a chant to victory). Adding to the folklore, Steve's coach at the University of Oregon, Bill Bowerman, used Steve as a guinea pig for some running shoes he concocted using his wife's jaffle iron. We now now those shoes as Nike... Steve was part of the genesis of all that.
Steve died tragically in a car accident on the evening of May 30, 1975. He'd run in a meet that afternoon and was perhaps a little ticked off. He'd had a few to drink. But what probably killed him was an insatiable love for speed. On foot and behind the wheel.
Steve once said, 'To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift'. He believed that if you're given an extraordinary gift, with it comes the responsibility of stewarding that gift and not wasting it.
He was full of great one-liners (like the one on the poster just here). He once said: 'Some people create with words, or with music, or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say "I've never seen anyone run like that before." It's more than just a race, it's style. It's doing something better than anyone else. It's being creative'.
The guys cult-status and legend was phenomenal when he was alive. It has only grown since. As with anyone cut off in their absolute prime there is a sense of loss and frustration about the unanswered questions of what he might have gone on to achieve. Yet all this fuels the legend as well. How he ran, why he ran and his attitude towards running.
If you're still with me, all this is both a homage to a hero and a preamble to why I'm buzzing.
I was singing at Riverview tonight and happened to be wearing one of two 'Pre' t-shirts that I recently purchased.
So, the service is over and a guy called Ben Fields walks up to the platform and says 'I couldn't help notice your t-shirt, I went to school with Steve'. At this point I just about fell off the stage. Ben went to Marshfield High School with Steve Prefontaine. They ran together in the track team. I told Ben about my other 'Pre' T-Shirt. This one is a replica of a shirt that used to be awarded to guys on the team who racked up 2000miles in a season and has on the front 'Pirate 2000 mile Club'. Ben excitedly told me that he had that t-shirt. The legit version. I asked Ben what his event was. Ben was a mile runner with a PB of 3'59!! Yep, a bloke walked up to me at Riverview knowing I must have been a runner to be wearing a Pre t-shirt and let me know he was a 3'59 mile runner who ran with Steve Prefontaine. Yikes! Ben seemed a bit excited too! I don't blame him!
I could go on, but I'm tired. I hope this isn't the last of our 'You're Tops'. I doubt it will. There are a whole lot of incredible people out there. For very different reasons. Steve's just one of them...
Friday, February 16, 2007
Healing: What the? (Part One)
Sorry that my inaugral post is a macabre one, but that's life...
Thoughts on healing and why some recieve this baffling gift, with the same prayer said for another and they don't?
Great friend of mine, playing basketball this week, 30 years old has a heart attack and dies...
What's with that?
soon to be explored.
Hello Cacophony
A
Thursday, February 15, 2007
From the Dietrich's mouth...
“The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community (even if their intentions are ever so earnest), but the person who loves those around them will create community.”
—Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Life Together
I seem to have had a bunch of conversations with people over the last fortnight who are frustrated with those proclaiming a 'big vision' that is (seemingly, to them) oblivious to the most basic mandate we have: love one another.
I love big dreams. Big audacious goals that can't be done alone. And yet, amongst all of that, I'm realising that the biggest, hairiest and most audacious goal that we're unable to accomplish on our own is to love one another. To love those closest to us: my wife, my family, my next door neighour. Our 'city' is a little easier...because it's abstract and isn't articulated through the mundane. But a consistent, steady, applied and growing love of those closest to us - our community - that's tough. And it's why we need so much help.
So what do you do?
I dislike this question immensely, for a number of reasons:
- Depending on what I answer, I’m going to be pigeon-holed.
- It reeks of ‘how about that weather?’
- I am obliged to ask them back.
- I don’t exactly know what I do.
‘So what do you do?’ might be a fine question for someone who has a business card on hand to answer, but what about the administrative assistant who works for an obscure company part-time and doesn’t want to explain what they do ever again while watching their listener’s eyes glaze over and head continue to nod. Or the person who wants to be a successful writer but is currently working as a second-rate copywriter for a marketing agency catering to middle-aged clients.
It’s an annoying question because it forces the person to state ‘what they do’ in an attempt to categorise them eg. Phys Ed teacher – sporty not brainy, Engineer – nerd at school, Check-out chick – popular at school. If you don’t agree with me, try answering garbage collector to this question and watch the person carefully compose their face while they say overenthusiastically, ‘Great, great, that sounds terrific’.
My advice is to make whatever you do sound fantastic. If you’re a housepainter, say artist; if you occasionally tell your sister her bum looks big in her jeans, call yourself a fashion consultant. This is only twisting the truth ala my mum’s Christmas letters that get sent out to friends across the globe every December.
They read: Sarah is currently employed as a writer in a corporate communications business, and is studying theology in her spare time. She has plans to start a small business.
The reality: Sarah’s still on anti-depressants and is having a small crisis of faith. She mentioned once, while eating icecream out of the tub with a spoon, that she should start a small business. Even though she’s 26, she still lives at home with her mum.
Fair enough, ‘What do you do?’ is a common question, and one that I’ve asked before, often intended as a launching pad for further, more meaningful conversation topics. Nonetheless, it gives me the craps. Conversations shouldn’t be formulaic, scripted repartees that make you feel as if you could churn out the answer while thinking about the meaning of life at the same time. Life is short; small talk is cheap. Silent reflection is better than meaningless allocution. Unless it’s humorous of course.
Surely there are more creative ways of getting to know someone.
Valentines Cards
Missed out on expressing your generally positive disposition towards someone in your life this Valentines Day?
Then make sure you check out a selection of HR-approved eCards from The Onion. They've created a bunch of cards that comply with the "strongly worded wishes" of their legal department. It's a good way to get your message across in a way that complies with the most stringent of company policies. And with recent findings from The Vault revealing that 47% of people have been involved in an office romance and only 10% of managers willing to ignore them, these cards will help you go under the radar. If you do get fired there are always the Smoove B cards, which are a little more forward.
Monday, February 12, 2007
The Cacophony Leadership Series
Spiritual Alignment Checks
The Cacophony Leadership Series is a collection of unconnected leadership grabs about a range of leadership topics. In large, they are excerpts from an unpublished manuscript, Leadership Matters.
Every leader needs a series of spiritual alignment checks that are continually measuring and evaluating actions. Here’s ten to begin with:
1. If no-one knew I was behind this, would I be ok or secretly disappointed?
2. Do my decisions make myself look good or God look good?
3. Do I consider my role/position a right or a privilege?
4. While everyone needs vigorous encouragement (we’ll talk about that later) do I need affirmation and encouragement from others to ‘make this worthwhile’?
5. What matters more: what I’m doing or who I am in Christ?
6. Am I building the Kingdom of God or my own by pursuing this course of action?
7. Is my reaction to a particular issue motivated by what’s going to be good for the Kingdom of God or good for me?
8. Why do I have emotional reactions to particular outcomes and decisions? Does it demonstrate a bad situation or a weakness in my character?
9. Am I pursuing a course of action that’s fuelled by love and grace and concern for the individual, or is that secondary to me?
10. Is my leadership demonstrating the heart of God for His people or am I feathering a nest of my own?
Why is it so easy to make a list like this? Simple: you make observations about your own frailty as a leader and the frailty of other leaders you’ve struggled with over the years. And you consider the areas you battle with and test your integrity by.
The Cacophony Leadership Series
Gettting your culture on.
The Cacophony Leadership Series is a collection of unconnected leadership grabs about a range of leadership matters. In large, they are excerpts from an unpublished manuscript, Leadership Matters.
An organisation’s culture is expressed in myriad ways. Here are twenty-one ways in which the personality of organisation can be expressed:
1. The tone set by the team’s senior leader. Is it clear or unambiguous? Is it visionary and is that vision communicated with passion, clarity and a sense of excitement that energises and invigorates the team?
2. How vigorously vision is implemented—is there a rush to ‘put legs’ on the vision, or does it remain a romantic notion of a future reality?
3. The mission statement of an organisation, particularly if it describes and encapsulates the nature and expression by which an organisation fulfils its core business. For example, the Perth-based John Hughes Automotive Group have established customer service as a complete mandatory. This shapes every expression of the organisation through any service or product provision. It is something that will not be diluted. While other areas may be negotiated, this will not;
4. The degree to which leadership is expressed, developed and respected;
5. The way a team celebrates;
6. The trust and security of the leadership team—the degree to which they have the support of each other and their constituents;
7. The level of innovation and creativity expressed within the organisation and the freedom for it to be expressed and the freedom for it to be expressed;
8. The way an organisation promotes itself;
9. The level of consistency in the way an organisation is promoted—dilute the consistency and you dilute the organisation;
10. The products/programs/service it provides;
11. The degree of unity and understanding of the vision, and the vigour with which it is pursued, and the preparedness to dilute it;
12. The age of the organisation, the age of a team’s leadership, the age of the target market of the organisation. The ways in which these factors express themselves are not necessarily consistent, but they can be significantly determining factors in an organisation’s culture. A group of people with an average age of 55+ will likely have a more traditional and conservative way of communicating and implementing change when compared with a group of people with an average age between 25-40 who may be contemporary, organic, fluid and rapid in their implementation of change. Neither is inappropriate, the question is whether the culture is appropriate for the organisation’s constituents or for the change the organisation is seeking to implement.
13. The generosity and preparedness of those within the organisation to give to a cause greater than themselves;
14. The way it recognises its people;
15. How enthusiastic the team’s leadership, members and constituents are to be part of the team and the journey of the team;
16. The degree to which leader figures within the organisation are respected and their consequent ability they have to exercise authority and leadership within the organisation;
17. The level of encouragement within an organisation;
18. The degree to which the team is pursuing a common cause or overriding objective;
19. The visibility of its leaders and the degree to which they display the qualities of a team;
20. The method of reporting and governance within an organisation. This effects both the ability of an organisation to implement change and the level of engagement felt by the constituents;
21. The degree of volunteerism within an organisation. This is primarily a determining factor in a not-for-profit organisation. For such organisations, having 20% of the people performing 80% of the work is actually perpetuating a model of administration and growth that is undesirable. Such organisations thrive and grow as people contribute to the cause, not partake in it (and those people grow at the same time). As many leaders within such organisations have said, ‘we’re building a battleship here, not a cruise liner’. In one scenario, you have a ‘ship’ populated by passengers, on the second, you have a ship filled with people actively engaged in improving the ship—fuelling it, refurbishing it, steering it etc.
22. The degree to which diverse expressions or areas of an organisation are linked to a common heart. Culture is easily diluted if it is not well understood. The result is a lack of clarity, confusion and a dilution of culture. Effectively, the right hand no longer knows what the left hand is doing and, if it does, it simply knows that it is doing things very differently.
The lion chaser's manifesto
I've been listening to a few podcasts lately by Mark Batterson, a pastor from Washington DC. He's written a book, 'In a pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day', which I haven't read yet, but Amazon are doing their best to help me with that. Anyway, here's the 'lion chaser's manifesto which I discovered today on his blog. Good gear. Very good gear.Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Grab life by the mane. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshipping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away.
Friday, February 9, 2007
From the lion's mouth
I listened to a podcast on this verse the other day and it reminded me again about leadership being effective stewardship.
The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.
-Daniel 4:17 (NIV)
Thursday, February 8, 2007
'I didn't get much out of the worship today...'
I discovered this great article today by a friend of a friend. Full of great stuff on one perspective of worship.
Read away. It's good gear.
From the horses mouth...
In this quote, the horse is played by Mark Twain. Thankyou Mark.
"Twenty years from now you'll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the wind. Explore. Dream. Discover."
Shut Your Snack Hole?
A picture might tell a thousand words, but the one below seems to take the temperature of much of contemporary western culture in a crispy chicken wrap. I'm lovin' it!
I'm a bit unsure of what kind or rant should follow. Perhaps something about:
• the vaccuousness of some corporate advertising?
• the sexualisation of fast food?
• our culture of consumption?
Ahh forget it. All this thinking has made me hungry.
From the horses mouth...
From W.N. Murray from The Scottish Himalayan Expedition, 1951
Until one is committed
there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back,
always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation),
there is one elementary truth,
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas
and splendid plans:
That the moment one definitely commits oneself,
then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one
that would otherwise never have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner
of unforeseen incidents and meetings
and material assistance,
which no man could have dreamt
would have come his way.
I have learned a deep respect
for one of Goethe's couplets:
"Whatever you can do, or dream you can -- begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Wrestlemania
We have a tendency to unintentionally/intentionally, through messy thinking, create a 'tin god' that fits into our little self-made box.
Most of us pitch our tents into one of two camps.
The first is the 'Buddy Jesus' camp. Here, Jesus is my Homeboy (you can have the t-shirt to prove it), my boyfriend and the guy I shoot hoops with (okay, I don't know basketball, but all the other euphemisms seemed rooted in the 'mother country'). Buddy Jesus is all-forgiving, graceful to the point of naivety, never angry and abounding in love. My 'Buddy Jesus' often speaks out love without any regard for the truth at all. He lets me do whatever I want, whenever I want...and just loves me all the same. He doesn't want me to change a bit. In fact, just like Buddy Billy, he loves me just the way I am. Every thing's sweet as a nut in Buddy Jesus camp - he's just alright with me. And I'm okay with him too.
Somewhere else (on far higher ground no doubt) and only a pendulum swing away, is the 'Angry God' camp. Here, God is as mad as hell and ready to smite with a mighty smite the first inkling of moral wavering. We're always in a bit of a bind in this camp. We know it's culturally uncool to sacrifice a goat, but we should really do it anyway. It's just the right thing. In 'Angry God' camp, people don't talk too much; just enough to let their 'yes' be 'yes' and their 'no' be 'no'. There's a cozy culture in the 'Angry God' settlement- a compassionless moralism that finds joy in staying away from the edge and in creating new legislation that 'helps' people stay on the good side of a wrathful God who, quite frankly, is quite p'd of with you. Beware the stray thunderbolts in 'Angry God' camp - they keep us on our toes and remind us who's in charge and, more enjoyably, who ballsed up.
Both of these camps are built on a lie. A half-truth is ultimately a kernel of truth wrapped in a lie. A shrink-wrapped lie of our own convenience.
There's a tension that lies in the gulf between these two camps and therein lies the problem: we don't like tension much so we tend to lob in to one camp or the other. Sometimes we're gypsies, skipping from one camp to the other as our pendulum swings from one side to the other. Generally though, we lay our foundations pretty deep in one camp or the other.
The bedrock of another camp looks like this: humble grace. God hates sin but he's a merciful lover. It's fair to say the folks in this camp have the story of God and the life of Jesus on their side. When sin abounded, grace abounded even more. Not because sin was okay, but because grace was bigger.
There's plenty of wrestling in these parts though. Not a tormented, pugilistic, anger-driven punch-up, but a strenuous search for what makes sense and is true of Jesus...and what is us just making stuff up because we decided it sounded pretty good (or someone told us to think it). We continually work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Not because we doubt our salvation, or because we're petrified of God, but because we know that if we're not continually pursuing what's true in Him, where we make camp becomes our lie.
God is slow to anger, true, but He does get angry. God gets angry, true, but he's abounding in love. God's compassion abundantly exceeds His retribution but it isn't oblivious to choices and consequences. He is a rewarder of those who go all out to find Him because He wants to be found. And He wants to be found with a childlike faith that says: 'What's next, Papa?', not a faith in intellectual overdrive that has well-constructed box for God that, although disconnected from relationship, can be readily articulated.
I think Paul wrote for us all when He told us to continually wrestle over these things because as we explore, we get a glimpse of things that are not easy to throw in either the 'Buddy Jesus' camp or the 'Angry God' camp. We come with a childlike faith and we're cheered on to grow up, reach maturity, eat some meat and stop slurping all the milk. But in the wrestle, we realise we need a balanced diet so we become neither spiritually fat nor spiritually emaciated.
Strenuous wholeness doesn't come from living a life with the top down, the radio on and the car in cruise control...and yet there's time for simply enjoying God, being still and just 'cruising' in Him. It's not all about wrestling. Wrestling informs the journey but it isn't the journey. Sure it's part of it, but we don't just wrestle, we live too. Wrestling clarifies and deepens our relationship with Jesus, but it doesn't define it. In him we find out who we are and what we are living for. And we find out what He's giving us to do. And we get moving. But not without continuing to wrestle...because the connection between His heart and our stuff is so easy to sever. And the connection of relationship is the deal that informs that stuff. It's the relationship that leads us to repentance, to obedience, to faithfulness, to participation, to servanthood and to truth. Not disconnected from the author, perfecter and finisher. That's why wrestling has to remain one of our regular pursuits.
One last thought: whenever I think of WWF or any of those phony wrestling deals, I just see something totally bogus and dodgy. (Only Ultimate Fighting has a genuine authenticity about it - but that's another post waiting to happen.) Our wrestle isn't meant to play itself out under the glare of the spotlight to the tune of "We will rock you" or "Eye of the Tiger". It's in community and in the silence, but never as a spectacle. I hope I haven't been guilty of that right here. The big deal is the strenuous wholeness that comes from the wrestle...as much as it comes from the basking, the walking and the enjoyment of the light of God.
Where do you live? And how deep are your foundations in the camp? Have you ever shifted camp?
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Top 5: Cheeses
Anyone who has seen 'High Fidelity' will appreciate a good Top 5. List-lovers unite...
You have to start somewhere. Surely cheese is the obvious place.
Top 5 Cheeses:
1. Aged Cheddar
2. Gruyere
3. Camembert
4. White Costello
5. Swiss
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with honorable mentions for:
6. Cheezewhiz (there's not many cheeses you can get crazy with)
7. Baby Cheeses (Hey, we respect the embracing of the nativity by the dairy fraternity)
8. Kraft singles* (academics sweat over possible reasons for our youth literacy problems - there's your answer)
*With an honorable mention to anything else that's wrapped in tight cellophane
Top 5: Single Malt Scotches
My father-in-law thoroughly corrupted me when I was attempting to woo his daughter by introducing me to the world of single-malt scotches. It's an expensive habit, but, in my estimation, one worth a gentle cultivation.
So here they are folks, Letterman style:
5. Oban, 14yo: It's a great beginners brew - a west highland malt without the set of nuggets on the Islay malts. Even so, it's by no means light.
4. Glenlivet, 12yo: Oh hello to our Speyside posse here. Look... there are some sherry notes in there, which gives it a butterscotch undertone. Still I wouldn't feed it to a 4-year-old.
3. Highland Park, 12yo: Hailing from the Orkneys, this is rich whiskey with a bit o' smoke but not much peat. It's made in the Northernmost distillery in Scotland. That has to be good...
2. Laphroaig, 10yo: Some peeps reckon this is the most richly flavoured of all the single malts and that's a mistake many beginners make. Peaty? Yes. Warm? You betcha. Sweet? Darn tootin'. Heck it's even a bit peppery. More shiraz than merlot, more sandpaper than tissue...
1. Lagavulin, 16yo: It's an Islay malt and it's one bad mutha. Serving suggestions include seatbelts because it's peaty, smoky and mediciney. Very naughty.
The ‘M’ Word
About a year after starting full-time work, I started wondering if things might be getting a little out of hand in terms of my shopping habits. I’m not talking about the occasional splurge on an unnecessary hat or a pair of really cute shoes that didn’t quite fit. It was when I started bursting into stores wielding my credit card like a weapon and yelling ‘WHO WANTS TO SELL ME SOMETHING?’ that I thought I may have become … well, materialistic. If you answered yes to one or more of the above questions, you may need to seek help. Especially if you’re a guy that bought a bikini for yourself. Am I putting forward a solution? I’ve gone the cold turkey route — no clothes for six months. I’m on month four and haven’t bought a single item of clothing since November but I’ve found plenty of loopholes. In the last four months I’ve bought a hell of a lot of shoes, two bags, a watch, earrings and developed a keen interest in haberdashery. Obviously I’m not getting to the heart of the problem and I suspect that even a strict budget isn’t going to solve this for me — yeah, it’s going to be a wiser use of my money, but it’s not going to change the fact that I really like stuff. Stuff makes me feel good.
As they say in AA circles, admitting you’ve got a problem is the first step, so I’m just getting this off my chest, yo. But if you’d like to identify whether you have a similar problem, I have written up a short questionnaire:
Have you shelved your copy of ‘The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Financial Security’ and taken up a subscription to ‘Shop Till You Drop’?’
Things that I know to be true that counteract the statement ‘stuff makes me feel good’:
Jesus said not to store up treasures on earth.
Friday, February 2, 2007
Label me Elmo
So... a portion of the creative genius that comprises The Cacophony Ensemble have colluded to define some broad creative parameters for the labels/categories/genres that combine to form the writings you'll find from the ensemble. Believe us, they're plenty broad.
Above all, the intention is to shed some light (however filtered, misguided or well-informed) on the noises that surround us. Sometimes as amused onlookers and reporters, sometimes as curious participants, sometimes as participants, sometimes as frustrated folk and sometimes as people with a thought for a way out of the noise.
So, the labels/categories are thus:
JESUS_is more than alright with us
RUNNING_the simplest and most efficient form of physical exercise
LEADERSHIP_without followers is merely taking a walk
REVIEWS_movies, music and literature
THE CHURCH_gentle observations and thoughts about Christ's bride.
TRIVIAL PURSUITS_random gear and curious fun
SPIRITUALITY + THEOLOGY_God in the cacophony
CULTURE_the cacophony that surrounds us
YOU'RE TOPS_there's been some fine people who've walked this earth. We pay homage.
STUFF'N'THINGS_have you seen the iPhone yet?
CULTURAL ICONS_Chuck Norris et. al.
STRENUOUS WHOLENESS_getting tidy at being a well-formed human
VENT YOUR SPLEEN_step on to the soapbox and let rip
TOP5+_FOr lovers of lists, order and clarity
PHILOSOPHY_a bunch of words to confuse, bewilder or illuminate
All of us have our different inclinations and passions. That'll be pretty obvious as we get going.
It's what we're thinking. Thoughts?
Thursday, February 1, 2007
The Cacophony Ensemble
The Cacophony Ensemble is a writers' collective exploring the space and song within the noise. While we don't seek to be prescriptive in content, our glue is a desire to explore spaciousness, restoration, redemption, divinity...and levity across all the stuff that, together, is life.
We seek to grow in our ability to write well and, in doing so, communicate and decipher the culture of our day through the timeless lens of the gospel of Jesus.
We believe that there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live, yet we've noticed that discovering his melody in a broken world isn't usually realised through incidental or easy listening. While we don't seek to promote ourselves as answer-givers we do seek to wrestle well. To reveal or move towards truth through what we see, what we write and how we unpack what's going on with God's creation. We seek to explore love, grace, justice, humility and mercy in all the random and decisive moments of life.
We are not a mono-culture, but come from a diversity of faith traditions. We're united in our belief that Jesus' bride, the Church, is both beautiful and broken, yet it remains God's holy intent that the church be the means by which people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Crazy, but that's the deal.
9 regular contributors comprise the Ensemble with a burgeoning array of occasional contributors.
Simon Elliott
Simon liked the idea of being a journalist but discovered other ways to write. For 14 years he's been a copywriter and designer for The Globe and also, more lately, a pastor at Riverview Church and a MDiv student at Regent College. He lives with his wife, Fiona, his baby girl, Molly Grace Shakespeare, and Fella (an athletic kelpie). He loves Jesus, Fiona, running, rain, coffee, building the church, leading worship, growing stuff you can eat, leadership—heck, even a spot of writing. He has a weakness for song lyrics, meaningless statistics and rudimentary meteorology.
Coffee preference: short mac Favourite number: 12
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Brad Birt
Brad Birt has lived in 27 houses in 4 countries. These days juggles writing with a role in marketing and MBA studies. He likes to watch Ultimate Fighting with a good single malt scotch and finds an obtuse pleasure in their convergence. He’s 26 and lives in Perth with his wife and baby girl, Bijou Amri, and one day would like to learn to weld something. Anything.
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Sarah Green
Sarah is 26 and works as a copywriter at a marketing company during the day, which leaves her nights free to play online Boggle. Her appearance could be described as bookish, which means most times she visits a library someone asks for her help in checking out a book.
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Karyn Ash
Karyn is three fifths of an architect, one twelfth of a crazy cat lady and two ninths of a lawyer. The rest of her is pecan pie; about 10%.
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Amanda Powell
Loves: coffee, friends, creativity, candles, airplane food, Jamie Oliver, lip gloss & old suitcases.
Loathes: animals, bad smells, mismatched towels, spam, end times hysteria & gardening
Ambivalent about: waiting in queues, song writers, film reviews, purple, horoscopes & passport control
Intrigued by: shadows, comets, babies feet, blue bottomed monkeys, Thailand & history
Passionate about: God
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Garrick Field
As a consulting hydrogeologist Garrick spends far too much time in steel capped boots and a hard hat in un-pronouncable places looking at rocks, and then writing really scientific things about them and how wet they are.
Born in NZ, married to Simone from Perth, living in Lima, Peru. Loves the Lord, guitars (especially fenders), wife, wine, coffee, food, and dreams of crossing numerous foreign borders on a motorcycle.
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Clare O'Neil
Clare O'Neil is a twenty-one year old female. She is currently studying for her BA and planning to go on to study for a MA in the United States. She still retains a slight phobia of children under the age of two. Her accent only becomes obscenely 'Aussie' when she is tired. Last year she created a budget and one of her many boasts is that she is sticking to it. Clare will argue that her cassette walkman is better than an ipod. Any day. Clare has been described as geeky, weird, a terrible flirt, comical and as having a thousand faces. Of course, post-mortem she will be recognised as a genius, a revolutionary and a lover. But only if she gets offline, breathes the air outside and actually, truly lives.
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O T H E R C O N T R I B U T O R S
Gavin Eva International traveler and man of many mysteries. Now lives in Perth.
Michael Dunjey Climber of consequential mountains.
Douglas Smythe Exegeting the ski fields of Switzerland - one snowflake at a time.