been a while...

I confess I've been pretty slack on the blogging front of late. I'm not quite sure why - I think that it's probably because blogging is a discipline, and like lots of disciplines, I'm not great at keeping them. No, it doesn't take a lot of time to log on, write a few words, and post, but actually having something useful to say (I think there's more than enough trash on the internet without me adding any) is a different matter.

It's not because I'm too busy, either. I made a vow a number of years ago to never use that as an excuse for anything. I feel there are far too many people who wear busyness as a badge of honour - trying to say "I'm the busiest person ever". To me, if you say you're too busy to do something, it's because of one of two reasons - either your time management needs work, or you can't make whatever is being discussed a priority. (I don't have an issue with people prioritising, either - it's healthy - but don't use busyness as an excuse to get out of something you don't want to do!)

The fact of the matter is, I just need to bite the bullet and take some time out more regularly to reflect more. I'm meeting with my good friend Andrew Turner this afternoon, and I'm sure this will be one of our topics of discussion...

learning from a learner driver

On the way to church this arvo, we went past a learner driver, and on the back of the car was a big sign saying "Be Patient".

It's so easy to get frustrated with people who are learning, and easy to forget that we all had to learn at some point, too. What a great reminder that if we are sitting behind a learner driver, we should be patient with them (something I excel at... ahem...), because the last thing they need is pressure, and they're not going to learn and develop if they can't be "on the road".

For all parts of life, I think the same applies - it's easy to get frustrated with those who are learning skills, and easy to forget our own path. What's more impacting for me, though, is that I need (humbling as it is) a big "Be Patient" sign stuck on my head, to remind myself to be patient as I'm learning, to remember that others had to develop over time, and weren't instantly great at the things they do.

Be Patient...

delayed gratification

I've been thinking a bit lately about how much we are shaped by the instant gratification that our culture has sold us on. A lot of the decisions we make seem to be dictated by how I feel right now - whether I can be bothered making that phone call/sending that encouragement/going to the gym/reading that book/doing that cleaning.

Once again, the gym made me thing about it, because I was sitting at home on Tuesday, deciding whether I'd go or not. To be honest, I really didn't want to - I was happy at home, warm, had other things I thought about doing. But, I did go, and 1/2 way through my workout, I thought "why would I have wanted to miss how I feel now?"

I wish there was a way of experiencing how we are going to feel ahead of time. In other words, I wish my body/mind would allow me to know how I was going to feel after I'd been to the gym/finished the assignment I needed to do/ticked some things off my to do list/etc... but allow me to feel that as part of the motivation of actually doing it.

I wonder if that's where habits and rituals help. If we do something often enough, our body/mind is much better able to know how we are going to feel, and so give us extra motivation to get on and do it.

everybody needs good neighbours?

Driving around yesterday, I was surprised to see 2 churches (a Baptist and a Uniting church) right next to each other - and I mean literally next door to each other. We were on our way to a family lunch, driving past as their services were finishing, and I found myself wondering why on earth 2 faith communities would want to set themselves up that close to each other.

The more I thought about it, the more amazed I became - think about it... at the same time yesterday, these 2 God-families were probably singing similar songs, listening to a preacher each, having tea and coffee, talking about the events coming up this week. It seems very odd to me. I guess it's no different to what happens all the time on a Sunday morning, it's just that this time, they were right next to each other.

We have issues at our church at times, with our neighbours complaining about the noise we make - I wonder if either of these churches ever find themselves frustrated at the "noise" of the other - one church singing songs while the other is trying to pray, for example...

Like I said, seems a bit odd to me...

change of address

I decided to change my blog to a more logical (though some would doubt that I have achieved this) name, so my apologies if you've been wondering what happened to my old blog and have just stumbled over here. From now on, please update your favourites and links to http://randomcogitationist.blogspot.com

prayer

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about prayer. Subconsciously, we seem to have this idea that prayer is about changing God's mind, or maybe about convincing God to do things the way we'd like to. We know that part of prayer is about what God wants, but there seems to be a bit of a mentality that I've seen (especially around church prayer meetings - not as much at our church, thankfully!) that if we do things right (get enough people coming, pray for long enough, hard enough, etc), then God will act.

I'm sure you've never heard (or prayed) things like "God, we just (why do we use "just" so much when we pray?) pray that you'll turn up tonight", "God, we pray you'll do this or that".

I'm actually starting to think that prayer is a lot more about me, than God. Sound ego-centric? Maybe. But what if I approach prayer from the perspective that I'm not trying to convince God, but trying to get his heart. In praying for someone I know who's sick, I'm trying to understand that God cares even more about that person than I do, I'm asking God to help me bring healing and restoration to them when I see them next. In praying for a situation, I'm trying to find out what God is thinking about/doing in that situation. In confession, I'm not telling God anything he doesn't know, but being honest with myself about my sin, and understanding how amazing it is that God forgives me.

It might seem obvious, but I don't hear many people talking about it, and I hear even less people praying like it. I guess it comes back to the core reason why I pray - do I pray to change God's mind, or to get God's heart?

good vs great

I was thinking the other day about what makes the difference between those who achieve some good things in their lives, and those who achieve greatness, and it seems to me that the difference is not in the major decisions, but in the little ones. Part of the thought started because I'm struggling on a regular basis (especially at the moment, because it's cold, dark and raining) to be motivated to go to the gym - I'd really rather stay at home in the warmth (especially this week when I'm crook).

What strikes me is that the genesis of greatness is in the small decisions such as when you are lying in bed thinking "do I stay here for an extra 1/2 hour, where it's warm, dry, sleepy or do I get up and spend the extra time doing (insert something here)".

For athletes, it's the difference between choosing to stay at training a little bit longer when your body is already aching, and taking extra shots before or after practice, doing extra runs, or deciding to go in when everyone else does.

For musicians, it's the difference between choosing to go over the song that extra time, making sure that every note is covered, or deciding to go through the songs once or twice until you've got them under control.

For parents, it's the difference between choosing to spend that extra bit of time watching something you don't want to, reading that extra story, lying on their bed that little bit longer, playing for that extra 5 minutes, or deciding to do what you want (need?) to do.

For Jesus-followers, it's the difference between choosing to stop and listen, reflecting on the Words you've just read, making a conscious effort to make someone else feel loved, or deciding that you've done your devotion, you've served all day, and you want to put your feet up.

Note that in all of those things, the 2nd choice is not at all a cop-out - those people are putting in, most definitely. But greatness seems to come from making the small decisions to go that little bit further, do that little bit extra, give up that little bit more.

slow down...

Yesterday, we had a men's golf day for our church. It was great - perfect weather, and our team (we played by the Ambrose scoring method) came second.

On the way to golf in the morning, I went past a sign that said "Slow Down". Given that I was driving through beautiful countryside, on a crisp morning, with the sun beaming in my windows, on my way to a morning of golf, this was a great reminder of what I was about to do - slow down.

But it got me thinking - I wish there were more "Slow Down" signs in my life - especially when there was danger around the corner. It would be so great if God could prop a Slow Down sign in front of me when I was about to enter a time of increased caution - a narrow bridge, a slick on the road, maybe part of the road where no lines were marked.

I think all of us need to be reminded from time to time that we can't keep going at the same pace all of the time - sometimes, if we want to keep going on the journey we're on, we need to take our foot off the accelerator, and be more aware of what is going on around us.

Slow down...

where's the time go...?

I can't believe it's been nearly 3 weeks since I last wrote something on here... oops! It's funny how easy it is to just get bogged down in life, rushing from one thing to another, and not really taking any time to stop and think (and therefore have something to blog about...)

Part of my distraction has been that I finish up as the Director of Worship at our church this weekend. My role is returning to being solely focussed on ministry with youth and young adult's, which I can't wait for. For the last few years, I've been doing both roles, and it's been a lot of fun - there's been some challenges, but I believe (hope?) things are in a much better place now than they were when I started.

Now I get to focus in on my main passion, which I'm really blessed to be able to do. Hopefully I'll also get more time to read and reflect and post amazing, intelligent, deeply theologically, insightful comments on here (or at least what I've been thinking about, anyway).

This process has helped me sharpen what my primary calling and passion is, and challenged me to give up other things which I love and am passionate about, but which, ultimately are taking me away from the role I can play the best. What role do you play best and what's distracting you from it?

the star of the show

My friends Simon and Luke and I have been reading through "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller when we meet each fortnight - taking it a chapter at a time. Last week, we looked at the chapter on community (which I think is the one that challenges me the most). In it, Miller talks about how he (and I think most of us) function as though we are the star of the show - the central character in life - with other people coming onto our "stage" as we interact with them, saying their lines, then leaving.

I think this is deeply profound, because I know that's how I function most of the time - focussed on my lines, and whether people are adding or detracting to my story. Rarely do I consider what is happening in other people's stories.

It seems to me that if we each aimed to make other people feel like the stars (therefore being made to feel like a star by other people, instead of ourselves), true community would occur. It adds to the importance of listening, too, because in true listening we try to put ourselves in the other person's position - again, making them the star, rather than ourselves. It also to me embodies servanthood, because we aim to take the lowest position (the extra), rather than being the star.