Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.
-Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 CE
This quote is a lovely reflection of the pursuing God, the God that brings peace and wholeness. And in tasting that wholeness and love we long to be ever-filled by such goodness
What touched you about it?
image from here: truthworks.org
Category: Authors
Featuring authors of interest and insights.
Vocational Small Groups?
I had the pleasure of hearing noted author and speaker Dr Amy Sherman today at work (Evangelical Seminary).
She spoke about the concept of the righteous…the Tsaddiqim <SAD-da-Keem> from Hebrew scripture.
These are people who prosper and bring others joy, peace, beauty, safety, intimacy with God, justice, economic flourishing, and more. “The city rejoices” because of them.
She told of one church in Kansas City that started off with good teaching and preaching about how the Kingdom of God looks when it’s lived out. Then small groups based on VOCATION began. When these groups got together they asked, “How can what we are good at and what we do for a living help others?”
What they came up with was amazing indeed. It was truly…
Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good!
Very inspiring! It could change everything you do in church, or ministry, and it makes a huge difference in communities.
So…What if small groups in your church were based on Vocational bonds and doing the common good? What would you dream up? How would you reach out and make a difference?
Her book highlights cases where vocation has brought great renewal and joy.
Gleanings from Krasner
I got the great privilege to sit under the wise teaching of Dr Barbara Krasner yesterday. (Contextual therapy and a family systems-centered healing perspective.)
With 48 years of experience as a therapist and scholar can you imagine the depths of her knowledge and understanding? But, probably not.
Every sentence was 9 months pregnant with power and meaning. Each concept could be a textbook of its own. Wisdom. Truly.
Gleanings
One of the things that struck me was that she said the first 10 sessions of therapy is almost wasted. People come with certain expectations or barriers every time they first begin therapy, which delays healing.
• Often we simply just want the other person “fixed”.
• We are too ready and able to blame or judge, which the Dr says has zero value.
• We also hope for magic. They assume she will have powers and skills to quickly produce healing and normalcy for them.
She says that she sees her vocation not as a person who has the answers, or simple fixes, but as one can help others see resources they can use to help themselves. Resources they are unaware of or haven’t considered. Communication resources, options, starting points. She helps them look “under rocks to see what they’ve missed, to see what’s working, even if it’s the most basic thing. They may not realize that hope is a choice for them.
Communication and Transactions
Krasner says it’s important to “simultaneously translate” what a person is saying and what they are intending to say. What is heard is often misunderstood and one’s upbringing plays into how we hear others poorly.
• Understanding the context of the message and the person is critical for coming to points of healing and trust.
The biggest reason people divorce?
• They cannot disagree and still stay connected.
(This is true for other kinds of troubled relationships also.)
The most important things we can teach our children?
• Forgiveness (With grounding in loving-kindess: Hesed love.)
Being a Follower: Leonard Sweet
I’m reading Leonard Sweet’s book “I am a Follower”.
It turns leadership on its head, which feels a bit ironical to have it as a textbook this 9 weeks in my Master of Arts in Christian Leadership course. But, then again, I didn’t expect to learn leadership ordinarily. We’re working from the ground up here. We aren’t learning to be bosses, we’re learning to be like Jesus, and influence others in the fashion of God’s Kingdom, not man’s (courtesy of the Sermon on the Mount, I might add)
It’s a challenging message for us.
Here are some noteworthy bits I’ve gleaned:
1. Jesus wasn’t looking for leaders…he was looking for followers. Instead of worrying about finding and keeping followers, we follow him.
2. The seduction to apply a secular business model has infected churches but has been a remarkable failure. Spiritual depth doesn’t come from this model. (Willow Creek’s self-assessment is an honest but damning example.)
3. God’s strength is made perfect in human weakness, and this will be illogical in a worldly model. God’s power is how we do well.
4. God will prune us, for our own good, so we may be more fruitful and glorify him more.
5. Strategy and planning common in many church models today can superseded the focus on the work of the Holy Spirit.
6. There is a going myth the technology and innovation are answers to our leadership and church problems.
7. God calls us to do something bigger than ourselves.
8. The Church’s obsession with leadership reflects our cultures values which usually center in ego and self-interest.
I will follow up with more from this intriguing and entertaining book. The man does not shy away from plays on word.
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on “Martha Stewart of Bethany”
Here’s a humorous and poignant lenten reflection from the irrepressible Prof Doug Jackson
excerpt:
The Lazaruses are a happy family – one of the few that Scripture gives us – and their happiness forms a complex choreography. There’s Martha Stewart of Bethany, very active and Baptist, worrying that the unleavened bread won’t rise and carving radishes into the shape of Torah scrolls. There’s the liturgical Lazarus, playing the gracious host, his very presence a passive but massive proof of the power of his guest. And there’s Mary, an early-day Pentecostal who simply will not learn propriety, performing over-the-top acts of quasi-erotic worship that bust the budget and embarrass the guests.