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.
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.)
Just asking the question, “What will be my legacy?” is really helpful. Not because is farsighted, but because it involves evaluating the small decisions at hand. Each one piles up what will be our legacy, whether personal or professional…
It seems too that all we can do won’t necessarily overshadow who we were as we did it.
It’s a question I challenge myself with to keep perspective, and one I’m afraid to encounter if I’ve been failing in my relationships. That’s all the more reason to get used to the question and ask it often. :)
I hope all the little good things will add up to a life well lived and well spent. But most importantly I hope they reflect Goodness and Grace.
What do you think about it?
Today’s post was inspired by the Deeper Leader blog. If you’d like to share your answer, or read what others are saying, join in.
In my recent short book I discuss how creators and communicators have a pivotal position in society.
They are the Storytellers.
They help others seen the vision just out of reach, and remind us who we really are.
They are the modern incarnations (and I use that word to note the Divine aspect) of the prophets of old. The message-bearers. The truth tellers.
Is this you?
I know it’s me.
You can only live into this calling on your life, or run.
The running away is tiring and it doesn’t change a thing.
Read the rest of the Story and what’s involved for the modern-day prophet for free during July: Here (For that particular section jump to page 127).
Need a little shot in the arm from the ancients?
Here’s a passage from a prophet that works well as a call for the prophets…it’s a herald to the communicators to live out our calling.
Let it be your manifesto today.
Oh! If you can read it out loud. Do it. It’ll add some punch and encourage you!
Isaiah 43
6b Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
7
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”
8
Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,
who have ears but are deaf.
9
All the nations gather together
and the peoples assemble.
Which of their gods foretold this
and proclaimed to us the former things?
Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right,
so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”
10
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor will there be one after me.
11
I, even I, am the Lord,
and apart from me there is no savior.
Today is the last day of the two-month Spiritual Guidance for Bloggers Series. To me, this was by far the most satisfying, collaborative, and helpful series on this blog to date. Friendships were forged and relationships deepened in creating this series…the purpose of which was to help guide us through the difficult terrain of the blogosphere. To make us wiser and more thoughtful as we do what we do.
So many amazing bloggers shared their personal stories and practical advice. So much high-quality reading offered by so many gifted authors and sterling people. What an honor and grace to have them here. The response from readers and friends pleasantly surprised me, and injected a new hope that we can do right by this medium. Integrity and virtue is possible in this digital “wild west”. And better still, the will is there to do so.
You may have missed a few articles, but no worries. Clicking the category #4Bloggers will list them all for you. It’ll be an evergreen resource of guidance for your blogging efforts, and an encouragement if you run into a blockade. Simply come back, re-read, relearn, or absorb the wisdom and inspiration from others, anytime. May it bless you!
Tomorrow is the beginning of something new and exciting! (The spread-the-word before the launch <giveaway> with Rafflecopter is part of that. Enter and enjoy the free ebook. Your chances of winning other stuff are excellent.)
And now to our final entry by the vivacious Tamara Lunardo (@tamaraoutloud)
Tamara Lunardo
Tamara Lunardo works out her thoughts on life and faith at Tamara Out Loud, occasionally with adult language, frequently with attempted humor, and hopefully with God’s blessing. She is the editor of What a Woman is Worth, due out this summer through Civitas Press. Connect with her on Twitter and Facebook!
The Simple Work of Your Hands: Seeing Your Blog as Ministry
-by Tamara Lunardo
“You see your blog as a ministry, don’t you?” he asked, assuming. I’d been blogging for about a year, but I’d never considered it that way til that moment. “Ministry” sounded a bit too grandiose for something so mundane as a blog.
I just used an online space to tell my stories. I didn’t preach the Gospel; I didn’t heal the sick; I didn’t tend to widows and orphans. I just noticed and I thought and I felt and I wrote. And people came to that space to take in a little of life as I saw it, to laugh and wonder and cry alongside me.
But I realized this writing, it was a gift—not something I’d conjured, but something I was given. The gift was meant for the glory of its Giver and for the good of His people. And as I used it, imperfectly but faithfully, I could see that gift turn into ministry: The people who were reading told me that I was writing things they wished they could say; or that it gave them new perspective; or that it made them laugh (and this last is no small thing).
They didn’t need me to preach the Gospel, heal the sick, or tend to widows and orphans—they needed me to tell my stories.
Ministry is not a grandiose thing. It is a humble service, born of a grateful heart. It is a showing up just exactly where God’s placed you and saying, “I’m here to help.” It is His extraordinary gift made manifest by the simple work of your hands.
And He has not placed me in a pulpit to preach the Gospel, but He has placed me in an online space to tell the truth. He has not given me skill to heal the sick, but He has given me laughter to share as medicine. He has not given me resources to tend to widows and orphans, but He has given me stories to meet others in theirs.
And I am grateful; I am here to help. So I type out words, the simple work of my hands. And it is ministry.
I had the pleasure of hearing noted author and speaker Dr Amy Sherman today at work (Evangelical Seminary).
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