I love the junk mail I get from our local Christian bookshop. I read it and think about it and often 'feel' that there is something there that could really help me in my Christian walk/life/relationships/wardrobe etc.
I then go to the store. I find the book I am after and then discover twenty others along the same line of thought and then get completely swamped by indecision. Should I be looking at one written by a man or a woman? Should I go for one that has a bit of a family focus? Am I bad mother if I completely bypass all the parenting books? I then carry around with me three or four painfully selected titles, with which I pace the store hoping that I have made the right choice. Will I read them? Will they challenge my faith? Do these particular books encapsulate where I am in my walk? Sigh.
At some point during the visit, I do a 360 degree turn and see row after row, shelf after shelf of books on topics from finding God's will to sex. And then my brain begins to do some weird chemically thing and it just stops and freezes - I see solid blocks of primary colours with an over dub of elevator music.
There is so much I don't know, about everything, and this store emphasises this like no other. I thought I knew a lot about prayer, but there is a whole aisle on this topic. I thought I knew my bible stories quite well, but there are walls and walls of bible stories. I thought I knew how to be married, but there are entire sections dedicated to this. The other people in the store seem to move with confidence, they know what kind of music they like, they choose just the right bible guide and they choose cards and gifts with barely a nervous tick.
But not me, more often than not, I retrace my steps, put all the books back and slink out to my car. I don't so much like the store afterall. I have been pondering this, as I tend to over ponder everything.
I don't like the idea of marginalising people. Would someone with a different 'faith status' than me feel comfortable walking into this bookstore? What makes these books so special? Are the writers people who don't sin and who go to church every Sunday? Maybe it is just me, but I like to think that God doesn't just reside between Dobson and Yancey. I like to think he can be found anywhere.
In fact, one of the most spiritually profound books I have read in the last year was 'Eat Pray Love' by Elizabeth Gilbert. The book follows a girl around my age, who discovers she no longer wants to be married so leaves her husband and takes a year to find herself. So she lives in Italy for a while where she EATS. Then she moves on to India where she lives in an Ashram and she PRAYS. She then moves on to Bali where she finds a lovely man and learns about LOVE. I loved the texture and grit with which this woman writes and the way that she approached her discovery. I learnt a lot about prayer and meditation, something that I never really 'got' from Christian books.
I also love the Harry Potter Books and the CS Lewis tales and The Lord of the Rings series. I will write more on these another time, but what I am saying is, that God is everywhere in everything. He can be found in the pages of any book, movie or song. The human heart is wired to love stories of good versus evil and being rescued by a good King/Prince/hunk.
There are people out there searching for this kind of story all the time. They go to movies, they read books, they listen to music - searching for something that resonates with the niggle that lies inside them. I say this like I am some kind of expert - well I am! I have known God my whole life, but still I didn't realise that he is everywhere and in everything and can be found in a flower, a song or words on a page - if we are brave enough to look.
Others with the same niggle may not have found God like I did. So they are out there still searching, looking, wanting the happy ending, the rescue, the hunk who sweeps in on his white horse, or the fair maiden to choose him for his heart not his brawn. But these people may not go to a church or associate themselves with a religion - so how do they then find their happy ending?
I then fast forward to wondering how these people would feel walking into my local Christian bookstore? Would they have a reason to go there? Do they know it exists? Would they too find the choice of books on every topic imaginable suffocating? Would someone approach them and help them find just the right book to scratch that internal niggle?
Again I fast forward to wondering how these people would feel walking into my church? What would they think of all the rows and rows of well groomed Christians in their Sunday best singing together, looking at a big screen and having 'communion' together? Yipes, just the thought of it makes me panic. If our church is not inviting for these seekers, where do they go to find God?
My answer. In us. Not in a bookstore. Not in a church. They find God through a cup of tea. A piece of cake. A friendly smile. A shared joke. A meal. A relationship. A pain eased. A hug given. A hand held. A child minded.
God is everywhere and in everything - from books to our hearts. We need to be out in the world being billboards of love to those we have around us. Simple. No panic attacks, steps to take, books to buy, or things to listen to. We just need to be available and willing. Simple right?
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Quote - Dale Carnegie
Everybody in the world is seeking happiness - and there is only one sure way to find it. That is by controlling your thoughts. Happiness doesn’t depend on your outward conditions. It depends on your inner conditions.
Dale Carnegie from ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
How rich are you?
Our pastor spoke about this website on Sunday. Very interesting. You plug in how much you earn (you may need to do some conversions to $US) and it tells you where you are in relation to the world's population.
Here is the link: www.globalrichlist.com
Makes you think doesn't it? We are so obsessed with how much money we need to pay the mortgage, buy food, pay the bills, dress ourselves and our kids etc. But when you start to think about how little people elsewhere survive on, it changes your focus from being one of how do we make our money last longer to how can we help someone else?
We have begun to rethink how we are helping others. Some places we are looking are:
Compassion International - child sponsorship
Hagar International - freeing children from the sex trade abroad
Oxfam International - why not buy a family a goat?
Scripture Union - bringing Jesus into schools
Are we doing enough to make the world a better place?
Here is the link: www.globalrichlist.com
Makes you think doesn't it? We are so obsessed with how much money we need to pay the mortgage, buy food, pay the bills, dress ourselves and our kids etc. But when you start to think about how little people elsewhere survive on, it changes your focus from being one of how do we make our money last longer to how can we help someone else?
We have begun to rethink how we are helping others. Some places we are looking are:
Compassion International - child sponsorship
Hagar International - freeing children from the sex trade abroad
Oxfam International - why not buy a family a goat?
Scripture Union - bringing Jesus into schools
Are we doing enough to make the world a better place?
Friday, October 15, 2010
Brain Pop: Perfect (or Perfection Part 3)
I wrote this next post a little while ago. I got distracted by the other 'Perfection' posts and didn't get back around to posting it. It is amazing how God teaches groups of people the same things at the same time and this whole 'Perfection' thing is just one example.
In a final response to the earlier posts, I have to say that the blogger did miss the point a bit.... I am hoping that this post can tie up some loose ends for my train of thought on this issue.....
So... several weeks ago I wrote.....
It has been a pretty strange couple of weeks around the traps of my personal life lately. I have been to the funeral of someone who committed suicide, I have stumbled upon a friend's nasty addiction, a family member is in a really unhappy place and a good friend has been dealt a personal blow of her own. On top of that my whole family has come down ill with various things requiring a myriad of medications and lots of visits to our local medical centre. It has been a crazy time.
But, God has chosen now to draw me in. Or, I have decided that now is the time I near to draw near to him. Or, perhaps this has been happening for a while and I needed some sadness to remind me of God's goodness.
I don't think I am a very good Christian. I get by on my own most of the time. I know I don't pray enough and I certainly don't read my bible enough. I love God and I know he loves me and I would definitely consider myself 'saved', but there has always felt as if something is missing, like some kind of connection just isn't there. I thought it was that God was hard to find, but I am realising that it is actually more along the lines of me not tuning my 'God Radio' into the right station.
Some things have been crossing my mind through music and reading lately that have made things in my brain pop. Literally, popped, thoughts that have picked up a track that lies in my brain and pops it right onto a new track so that a new train of thought can begin. It is cool.
One 'Brain Pop' has been about being perfect. I personally don't struggle with being perfect, I can live with a bit of mess, I think being a bit dishevelled keeps me real. But God is perfect. He doesn't make mistakes. He doesn't allow things to happen without a reason. He does things for our good. He is ever the same day after day, year after year, decade after decade. The God who David in the bible worshipped, is the same one I can worship. I have always thought these kinds of ideas were just fundamental bible knowledge things, but I am beginning to realise that they can actually be more.
Being perfect is impossible for humans. Oh, we can practice and try and try and try, but in the end, we are unable to do it on our own. But this is actually a quality of God. He just is - perfect. And this is where my brain popped - God's perfection is actually worthy of praise.
With my shopping list way of praying, or the good old fashioned 'ACTS' way of praying, it can be hard to miss praising God for his qualities, not just the amazing amounts of blessings he dumps into our lives. Being perfect sets God apart from me as a human and helps me to see that I need Him in my life. Being perfect and not making mistakes allows me to see that God is in control more than I will ever be and that if I lock into what he wants for me, things will be okay.
Through exposure to lots of imperfections in life like: suicide, addictions, betrayal, anger, jealousy, abuse and general human nastiness, I have found that God is perfect. God is so sustainable, he uses every scrap of human emotion to teach me things! At a time when ordinarily I would be under the covers eating whipped cream and not bathing due to the 'tragedy' of things I have dealt with in the past few weeks, I find myself up bright and early just needing to write down the reasons why God being perfect is so worthy of praise - what a mind blowing thing.
Just to be a bit of a spiritual geek - I found an online Bible Concordance and typed in 'Perfect' and found a great verse - it is a nice way to finish off this mini sermon...
my words arrive like morning dew,
Like a sprinkling rain on new grass,
like spring showers on the garden.
For it's God's Name I'm preaching—
respond to the greatness of our God!
The Rock: His works are perfect,
and the way he works is fair and just;
A God you can depend upon, no exceptions,
a straight-arrow God.
His messed-up, mixed-up children, his non-children,
throw mud at him but none of it sticks.
Thus sayeth B.
PS - 'Brain Pops' will feature in coming posts - seems that my brain is a poppin' place to be!
In a final response to the earlier posts, I have to say that the blogger did miss the point a bit.... I am hoping that this post can tie up some loose ends for my train of thought on this issue.....
So... several weeks ago I wrote.....
It has been a pretty strange couple of weeks around the traps of my personal life lately. I have been to the funeral of someone who committed suicide, I have stumbled upon a friend's nasty addiction, a family member is in a really unhappy place and a good friend has been dealt a personal blow of her own. On top of that my whole family has come down ill with various things requiring a myriad of medications and lots of visits to our local medical centre. It has been a crazy time.
But, God has chosen now to draw me in. Or, I have decided that now is the time I near to draw near to him. Or, perhaps this has been happening for a while and I needed some sadness to remind me of God's goodness.
I don't think I am a very good Christian. I get by on my own most of the time. I know I don't pray enough and I certainly don't read my bible enough. I love God and I know he loves me and I would definitely consider myself 'saved', but there has always felt as if something is missing, like some kind of connection just isn't there. I thought it was that God was hard to find, but I am realising that it is actually more along the lines of me not tuning my 'God Radio' into the right station.
Some things have been crossing my mind through music and reading lately that have made things in my brain pop. Literally, popped, thoughts that have picked up a track that lies in my brain and pops it right onto a new track so that a new train of thought can begin. It is cool.
One 'Brain Pop' has been about being perfect. I personally don't struggle with being perfect, I can live with a bit of mess, I think being a bit dishevelled keeps me real. But God is perfect. He doesn't make mistakes. He doesn't allow things to happen without a reason. He does things for our good. He is ever the same day after day, year after year, decade after decade. The God who David in the bible worshipped, is the same one I can worship. I have always thought these kinds of ideas were just fundamental bible knowledge things, but I am beginning to realise that they can actually be more.
Being perfect is impossible for humans. Oh, we can practice and try and try and try, but in the end, we are unable to do it on our own. But this is actually a quality of God. He just is - perfect. And this is where my brain popped - God's perfection is actually worthy of praise.
With my shopping list way of praying, or the good old fashioned 'ACTS' way of praying, it can be hard to miss praising God for his qualities, not just the amazing amounts of blessings he dumps into our lives. Being perfect sets God apart from me as a human and helps me to see that I need Him in my life. Being perfect and not making mistakes allows me to see that God is in control more than I will ever be and that if I lock into what he wants for me, things will be okay.
Through exposure to lots of imperfections in life like: suicide, addictions, betrayal, anger, jealousy, abuse and general human nastiness, I have found that God is perfect. God is so sustainable, he uses every scrap of human emotion to teach me things! At a time when ordinarily I would be under the covers eating whipped cream and not bathing due to the 'tragedy' of things I have dealt with in the past few weeks, I find myself up bright and early just needing to write down the reasons why God being perfect is so worthy of praise - what a mind blowing thing.
Just to be a bit of a spiritual geek - I found an online Bible Concordance and typed in 'Perfect' and found a great verse - it is a nice way to finish off this mini sermon...
Deuteronomy 32
The Song
1-5 Listen, Heavens, I have something to tell you. Attention, Earth, I've got a mouth full of words. My teaching, let it fall like a gentle rain,my words arrive like morning dew,
Like a sprinkling rain on new grass,
like spring showers on the garden.
For it's God's Name I'm preaching—
respond to the greatness of our God!
The Rock: His works are perfect,
and the way he works is fair and just;
A God you can depend upon, no exceptions,
a straight-arrow God.
His messed-up, mixed-up children, his non-children,
throw mud at him but none of it sticks.
Thus sayeth B.
PS - 'Brain Pops' will feature in coming posts - seems that my brain is a poppin' place to be!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Perfection Part 2
This is the follow up to the 'Perfection' Post from the other day....
The Cure for Perfection...
And this is the response I put up on the blog site....
My biggest struggle is to not lose myself in the pressure the world puts on me as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, teacher and individual. Although, I do put a lot of pressure on myself as well. I struggle with depression, and have done both before I have had children and after, it is not a great journey to be on but it is one a have to walk every day.
What I would say to the 'old me' would be, "You are actually fine. You are doing really well. Get outside, go meet some people, enjoy those moments of sunshine and light. Allow yourself some time to just be happy - being happy is the best gift you can give to yourself and others. Allow time for your soul to soar and be adventurous, there is so much life out there to see and do."
I know this is not meant to be about a religion - but I have found that having a belief in God has trawled me out of some dark and dusty places. Through learning about God I have learnt more about myself - most of what I learnt wasn't good - but through realising that my life has a plan and a purpose has inspired me to keep going and to try to reach my potential.
The Perfection Article hit me right where I am at. I want to be slim and beautiful with great skin and no cellulite, but unless I sell my house to pay for these improvements, I have to work with what I have got. And what I have got is; a God who loves me, a husband who adores me and treats me like a queen, gorgeous children who are full of life and laughter, a family who support all my cooky endeavours and allow me just be me, fabulous friends who have walked through life with me and shared their light and love and a great home where I am free to express myself and be at peace. I wouldn't swap these things to look good in a bikini.
I have not been raped, molested, bullied, teased, belittled, abused, neglected or hurt by anyone I love. I have lead a pretty charmed life. Then why is that I have struggled with depression and obesity? Because I did not know who I was, I did not know how strong I was, I did not see that I could help myself let alone anyone else. I did not see that life is a test, a challenge, an opportunity to grow.
It was never promised that life would be easy - lucky - because it is not. It was never promised that we would be happy - lucky because sometimes we are not - this is a choice - one we have to make dozens of times a day.
Be warned... There will be a Part 3 to this....
The Cure for Perfection...
And this is the response I put up on the blog site....
My biggest struggle is to not lose myself in the pressure the world puts on me as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, teacher and individual. Although, I do put a lot of pressure on myself as well. I struggle with depression, and have done both before I have had children and after, it is not a great journey to be on but it is one a have to walk every day.
What I would say to the 'old me' would be, "You are actually fine. You are doing really well. Get outside, go meet some people, enjoy those moments of sunshine and light. Allow yourself some time to just be happy - being happy is the best gift you can give to yourself and others. Allow time for your soul to soar and be adventurous, there is so much life out there to see and do."
I know this is not meant to be about a religion - but I have found that having a belief in God has trawled me out of some dark and dusty places. Through learning about God I have learnt more about myself - most of what I learnt wasn't good - but through realising that my life has a plan and a purpose has inspired me to keep going and to try to reach my potential.
The Perfection Article hit me right where I am at. I want to be slim and beautiful with great skin and no cellulite, but unless I sell my house to pay for these improvements, I have to work with what I have got. And what I have got is; a God who loves me, a husband who adores me and treats me like a queen, gorgeous children who are full of life and laughter, a family who support all my cooky endeavours and allow me just be me, fabulous friends who have walked through life with me and shared their light and love and a great home where I am free to express myself and be at peace. I wouldn't swap these things to look good in a bikini.
I have not been raped, molested, bullied, teased, belittled, abused, neglected or hurt by anyone I love. I have lead a pretty charmed life. Then why is that I have struggled with depression and obesity? Because I did not know who I was, I did not know how strong I was, I did not see that I could help myself let alone anyone else. I did not see that life is a test, a challenge, an opportunity to grow.
It was never promised that life would be easy - lucky - because it is not. It was never promised that we would be happy - lucky because sometimes we are not - this is a choice - one we have to make dozens of times a day.
Be warned... There will be a Part 3 to this....
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Perfection
This is something I stumbled upon through a friend of a friend's blog. It is worth reading right through to the end. You may need tissues. Well worth it though.
Powerful huh? Anyone spot anything missing?
There is a follow up post to this that I am currently processing - it requires some reflection. Stay tuned.
Powerful huh? Anyone spot anything missing?
There is a follow up post to this that I am currently processing - it requires some reflection. Stay tuned.
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