Writing poetry

I'd love to be a famous poet someday, or at least to write one or two decent poems - that would do. This has been on my mind for years. Trouble is, I've hardly written a poem for a long, long time. But I've been working up to it in all sorts of ways. I'd tell you about it but you might laugh. Anyway in the last week I've written a few of the suckers and I think I might finally be able to start chugging away. Here is what I think the tricks might be, at least for me:

1. Learn to write truely about things. Not all the time, but at least on occasions. You must (I think) have the capacity to do this, or there is no point proceeding. You have to be able to write about something, read it back and realise that you conveyed that thing just as it is (not in its entirety, but in its essence or in the detail you were concentrating on), and that no word is either lacking or superfluous.
2. One of the things I've done is to look at the content of poems written by poets I respect. In the lyric poetry that is apparently in vogue at the moment1 the poets seem to focus on one event or scene. They describe it in some detail and draw out associations, which they may also go into in detail. So you have to milk one thing for all it's worth. The trouble with my old poems is that I took the one thing and wrote about it briefly - which was nice and all but unsatisfying to read. You need something that you can get your teeth into, but that is different from a novel's narrative. I think that reading a poem should be an exercise in looking at the world carefully and pausing awhile on one thing.
3. If you're having trouble getting started, start by talking about one true thing.2 It can be something very small and humble. But make sure it is leading towards your main subject, otherwise you will have an o'er pithy poem.
4. While I do want to examine my subject in some detail, I also need to know when to stop. In the past I've started writing with a vision of what I want to get across, the feeling I want people to leave with. I think a better approach is to have an idea of the sort of direction you want to go in, but have no particular expectations of what you will say. Then you can just go with what is working and stop when you have said enough. If this means you neglected to mention an important part of the experience, then so be it. Better to say some things truely and consideredly than to include everything and say it badly.
5. Because I approach the world with an analytic, overviewy, self-aware sort of style, my natural inclination is to write in horrendous abstracted, psychological language - telling rather than showing.3 I suspect that for me, the way out of this is not to try and ape an orthodox method, but rather to focus on the outcome. I need to make sure that I include sensory description. I don't really care how I do this, just that it is there (and is true).

Best wishes for any fellow wannabe writers out there. May you also write one or two decent pieces before you die.

1 B Emery, "Fiction and Prose: Thin Partitions do their Bounds Divide," in JS Batts, M Bradstock, JL Sheppard, T Thorpe, L Vellins (eds), Five Bells: Australian Poetry (Vol 16 No 4 2009), 38.

2 Paul Simon, in an interview I once heard.

3 Thanks to Mikey for helping me see this.

Black or White?

I got Benny to recommended me some recent books. I've loved Julius Winsome (by Gerard Donovan) and David Malouf's The Great World, been ho-hum about Robert Drewe (The Drowner), and really disliked The Lost Life (Steven Carroll). Benny assured me that the last book, Journey to the Stone Country (Alex Miller), would be a "like" and he was emphatically right about that.

The book's set in country Queensland. One thing I've noticed is that when introducing the various characters the author doesn't mention their race. This is what he writes when we first meet David Orlando and Bo Rennie:

The two men talking by the mine vehicle turned and watched the Pajero drive up.
One was wearing a white hardhat with an empty lampclip, a site ID clipped to the
pocket of his shirt. As he turned to watch them come up the plastic site ID
caught the sun. The other man wore a pale cowboy hat set back on his head, a
stripy shirt and blue jeans, his pointy-toed riding boots turned over at the
heels. Annabelle recognised in him the style of man who had worked for her
father; the itinerant stockmen who stayed a season, mustering the scrubs then
rode out with a polite goodbye and were not seen again, or who maybe reappeared
a year to two later to muster the scrubs again, greeting you as if they had not
been away and no time had passed. (Journey [Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, 2002], 17-18.)

Turns out David, the first man, is White and Bo, the second, is Aboriginal. I think most books would mention this straight-off, but it's not important here. Makes me wonder if we too often define people by their most striking physical characteristics and fail to notice other, perhaps more important, things.

Is that allowed!?

Since I left Crossroads two years ago to head up to Sydney, a couple of house churches have started up. I've been lucky enough to go along to one of them while down for Christmas. It's been a positive, encouraging experience, and I'm told that they've been great for fostering community, and for including people who, for a variety of reasons, would find it difficult to go to a regular church service. I think house churches provide a wonderful opportunity for us individualistic Westerners to share our lives with people and be hospitable. They haven't had a lot of visitors along though and I wonder if non-church goers would find going to a stranger's house a bit intimidating.

I'm wondering if meeting in a community hall might be a good way of making church more accessible for non-Christians but also keeping the intimacy. One of the problems with this is that people would no longer come to your actual home - so it would cease to be this natural thing of having people pop over midweek to visit you and then again on Sunday for church. But I think that meeting in a community hall could be a symbolic way of showing that churches are at the centre of our communities. I imagine that local church buildings used to communicate this, but these days people see churches as archane religious institutions. I wonder if meeting in the same hall where people come for yoga and dance classes, market garden fairs and weddings will convey this message anew - as well as providing a space that people are already comfortable to come into.

Pearls of some price

This time in Tassie I've been introduced to a couple of little known cafes. Cafe A Go Go is a tiny one-room cafe attached to the servo on the highway just outside Kettering. The outside walls are decorated with silhouetted skating ladies in various states of undress. Inside it's intimate and funky. It's the sort of place that you'd expect to find in the city, but somehow the fact that it's in the country makes it even cooler. A great place to pop in, chill out and have a chat.

The other is Culpeper's, a short walk along Sandy Bay Rd out of the Hobart CBD. The room you enter into is pretty uninspiring, but if you just walk through the doorway to your left and along the little hall, you'll come to a back room painted a delightful green, with lovely wooden detailing and a beautiful view down Montpelier Retreat and over some old Salamanca buildings. Culpeper's does a cheap, healthy and delicious burger.


H/T Dan, Zoe and David

Working class teenagers

Last night Toilet Block Tuesday (the nickname for Crossroads' Tuesday night service) held a fair in the park behind the Moonah Community Centre. Jake explained that we did it to show that the gospel's for everyone, not just for people who've grown up going to church or who have friends there. It was a fantastic event - lucky door hampers, guess the number of jelly beans, throw bits of wood at old plates, face painting, sausage sizzle, crafts for sale, free Christian books and Bibles, a band, a talk by Jimbo, footy, rugby and cricket. Some teenagers got to have a positive experience of Christians and Christian community, and a couple of ladies and some primary school kids got to hear the gospel.

I edged my way into the group of teenagers waiting to get their faces painted. I'd worn my Element skull and snakes t-shirt (because I didn't want to imply that Christianity's only for the middle class) and they were impressed. I joked around with them and shot questions at them. I didn't care when they smoked and swore, but I did care when a kid was never getting a go and when the guys said smutty things about their friend. It all made me wonder if perhaps the trick with teenagers is to launch yourself into their world and to be really honest and unpolished (and kind), while at the same time staying confident in your authority, so that when you need to tell them off you'll be listened to. I managed it for a short while - dunno how I'd go day-in day-out.

Beginning the journey

This is a cool part-Bible that has lots of easy to understand asides explaining foundational Christian concepts and doctrine. A good one to give to a new Christian or someone who's checking out Christianity.

We'll get a crown of dirty old thorns and stick it in his head

I lived in Dublin for nine months a few years ago. While I was there, I bought the Give Up Yer Aul Sins series. But back in Tassie I'm pretty sure a creepy man let himself into my flat and stole them. I'm delighted to find them on YouTube. Enjoy!

There's more where this one came from - The Story of Lazarus is particularly endearing.

A time to be silent and a time to speak

What should we do when we see a non-Christian friend of ours doing something we think is wrong? It depends a bit on where they're at - whether they would be glad of our advice or whether they are opposed to what we think's right. In either case, it might be nice to say something in the hope that it will help them out. Or so that they might see that what they're doing is not on - in the hope that, at the right time, they will realise their need for forgiveness. Or it may be better to keep our mouth shut to avoid implying that if they would only act this way it would make them a good Christian like us, and that if they refuse we will be judging them. Whatever it is we decide to do, we need to be careful not to become self-righteous. It's not like we're these perfect beings - and it's only because of the Son that we can have confidence before the Father. We need to keep imitating the surprising mercy, patience and graciousness that he has shown to us sinners.

Womens' events

I don’t always like womens' events. I think that's because people often don't seem to be themselves. Everyone tries really hard to be polite and friendly and the topics of conversation are kept to what is safe and shared (raising children, clothes, husbands, common bungles or annoyances). I think this happens because we want everyone to feel included and the event to be harmonious. We also fear the opinions of other women. Just stepping into a room full of women can make us feel either insecure and unconfident, or competitive and self-promotional. This is made worse when we don’t know all the women at the event, because we really want these strangers to like us and we don’t want to embarrass ourselves or our host.

We end up trying way too hard. We need to relax, stop worrying about what the other women think of us, and be sincerely respectful, interested and caring. Women in charge of running events can create a helpful atmosphere by conveying their acceptance of everyone (perhaps by dressing down, being laid-back about protocol and acting the clown). They can also put on calm, happy music, provide yummy food and drink and make sure that women who don’t know anyone are looked after. The running of the event or the layout of the room can be engineered so that more intimate conversations are encouraged. It can also help to let people know what will take place, what will be expected of them and assure them that they won’t be asked to do anything embarrassing.

WWJD

Richard Hibbert, the head of the Missions department at SMBC, concluded the Project Fair by saying that what the students had been doing was finding out what pleases the Lord (Eph 5:10). I hadn't thought of that before - how cool.

Masculinity

Brian asked 'What would Paul say to a Salaryman? Exploring the implications of masculinity in the New Testament for Japanese working men'. Brian observed that to a Japanese Christian man, it is the "man" bit in which he is most likely to unthinkingly transmit an Australian, rather than a Christian perspective. This was an interesting observation - even if we are aware of our culture, I think we're often unaware of how our culture defines our masculinity/femininity.

When Paul is explaining how people are to live, he starts with Christ and then appropriates helpful cultural ideas. But some Christian books about masculinity (eg Wild at Heart) will start with cultural ideas and then appropriate the Bible.

Brian had lots of other interesting things to say, but I'll stop there.

Scantily clad women and sex scenes

Kathryn's paper was 'An evaluation of the effect of western media on Muslims' views of Christianity'. She said that Muslims interpret America's support of Israel as a holy war intent on bringing western (read Hollywood) values/Christianity to the Middle East. Culture and religion is seen as all of a piece.

Work

Andrew's paper was called 'Don't give up on your day job: Toward a theology of work'. I took fairly comprehensive notes which I'm a little hesitant to write down in case I got something wrong. But I don't think I did. Andrew said that the Bible speaks about work in five significant ways:

1. Ontological. God is a worker. We are by nature workers. Work is about making order from chaos. When we work: we do a good thing; we honour God by imitating him and we bear witness about the sort of God that he is.
2. Instrumental. Work can be used to achieve good things.
3. Relational. Work can bring justice and mercy to people.
4. Arena for worship. In this new covenent age, we are God's temple, and wherever we are (including at work) can be a place for worship.
5. Arena for receiving gifts. Ecclesiates says that working to gain things for yourself is very toilsome. However working to receive gifts is enjoyable and not as toilsome. [I can't fully recall this last point.]

How not to screw people round

The problem with churches getting involved in social action is that they don't always have the resources or experience to do a good job of it. An antidote to this is for a church to employ a social worker. Of course!


H/T Fiona

In his hands

Jill looked at Job too. She observed that for non-Christians, grief can eventually resolve into acceptance. Christians, however, do not have to 'merely' accept the reality of what has happened and move on. They have a personal, powerful God who is present in the midst of grief and in whom they can find trust and hope.

Right confusion

Roger's topic was something about Calvin's interpretation of Job. I'm only going to mention a few side issues.

The Job narrative adds some nuance to the view of man as the centre of all creation (Genesis 1-2). In Job we read that God "cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it" (38:25-26). God's care for the earth, even when people are absent, should humble us.

The creatures called Leviathan and Behemoth (40:15-34) show the world to be chaotic and evil. It is partly because this is a crazy, complex world that God acts with unfathomable wisdom.

The book of Job presents three reasons why we cannot understand (all of) God's will. The first is our creatureliness (above); the second is because God hides his will; and the third, because we are sinful (we are, but Job isn't).

Oh sorry was I being ambiguous?

After exams the students who did projects held a 'Project Fair'. I'll share some of their findings and reflections with you over the next few posts.

Derek looked at 'Deliberate ambiguity in the Solomon narrative'. He noted that scholars who commentate on 1 Kings decide from the outset if Solomon's being portrayed as a good or bad man. Their decision influences their interpretation of various passages throughout the book. However Derek argued that the writer of 1 Kings is deliberately employing ambiguity to make the reader ask questions and become engaged in the story. Passages are supposed to remain ambiguous, until the climax is reached and ambiguity resolved in 11:4-6.

Music

I don't own a lot of music and I'm okay with that. I wasn't last year - I was all bitter and twisted back then, but, thank God, I've come a long way. The music I own is more often than not, pretty daggy and I'm okay with that too. I did have in mind to flesh out my collection - get a selection of classic albums from the various (rock, pop and alternative) genres. But I rarely listen to the more eclectic stuff I do own and I don't pretend to be some sort of musicophile. But I was having a listen to a few albums on itunes the other day and now I want to buy:

• Extinction Level Event by Busta Rhymes [hip-hop]. I already own The Big Bang, which, were it not for some pornographic lyrics, I would absolutely love. I love Busta's meaty sound and thumping beats. And I love the melodic, pop-influenced sound on these two albums. If anyone knows of any other, more melodic hip-hop stuff that still keeps the rapping tight and punchy (so not Kayne or any of the RnB/hip-hop crew) I'd be very keen to hear about it.
• All three of Carlos Vives' albums [salsa]. I totally love everything Carlos does. His melodies are so infectious and happy. It's the best salsa dancing music.
• Seven Swans by Sufjan Stevens [indie]. I don't often listen to quiet music, or if I do, I'll just listen to classical music on the radio. So this one's for the Christian lyrics. I would like to own some Christian music, but I've just never liked any that's been branded as such. Finding this is thanks to Pryderi.
• One of Gnarls Barkley's albums [?]. I don't love all his songs, but I've just gotta have a bit of Gnarls Barkley in my life. I mean, I'm a dancer for Pete's sake.
• Blackout by Britney Spears [pop]. I like the more pumping, electronic sound of this album, and I don't think there's any soppy slow songs ;-).

Other than these I'm totally pumped for whatever album JT and Orishas put out next. And for Eminem if he ever stops being violent. And I'd love to bulk out my salsa collection.

Cuteness

My (poor little) year ones had to do an 'exam' yesterday. One of them was asking me, well, not so much how to do something, but what the answer was. So I said that I was afraid I couldn't tell him. He looked at me with some concern and said "Why afraid?". So I explained the non-literal meaning of the phrase.


Good thing I don't have kids or you would be inundated with 'cute' stories ;-)

Small kindnesses

Today all the SMBC students gave back. I did the world's most thorough weeding job out in the blazing sun. While I was working away, Christie told me about a new church that doorknocked their local area to introduce themselves. But that's not all they did - they also offered to do any odd-jobs or gardening. I think this is such a lovely idea.

Master of Divinity! project take two

I've changed my topic. When I wrote about this before, I said that God had made me a dancer and a thinker but that "I'm not satisfied to just let myself be, but am always wondering about how these things should play out". Thinking about it a bit more, I've realised this just isn't true. It used to be true, but, praise God!, I'm now pretty comfortable with myself. So the thing that puzzles and amazes me is rather that God made this world physical in the first place - and, even more so, that heaven will be a physical place full of physical people. I want to grasp God's plan for creation a little better. So my new topic's more along the lines of:

The physicality of the new heavens and earth.

It's not creation per se that I'm interested in, but peoples' life in the new heavens and earth. Some particularly relevant passages are Isaiah 65, 1 Corinthians 15 and Revelation 21-22.

I'd really appreciate any suggestions about how to narrow it down.

Holidays

I love holidays. The underlying tenor of relief has lasted six days now - and I didn't even think it was that difficult a year. I have worked really hard though and each year brings various challenges. Bible College World is a funny place to be, but tremendously useful and I thank God for his grace and faithfulness in it all.

Here's some of my more interesting holiday plans (I also have to do things like get a new driver's licence and - erm - do my tax):

• Buy another shrub for the front garden so no-one can tell when the grass is long.
• Actually write poems so I can tell people what it is I write.
• Learn Spanish. Find out what happens with Maria and the extraño.
• Read about the Trinity, liberalism and women pastors.
• Write a Bible college newsletter in a fresh new genre.
• Get into the habit of reading a bit of the Bible in Hebrew or Greek.
• Read a friend's book and play.
• Cook an extravagent meal for Bible study.
• Read a friend's hip-hop blog.
• Listen to albums on itunes and dream about which ones to buy.
• Listen to sermons on work.
• Buy some beautiful shiny cooking bowls from the cooking wholesaler in Surrey Hills.
• Take photos around Sydney.
• Go to the park on the other side of the harbour from Pier One/Two/Three.
• Do harbour walks.
• Go op-shopping.
• Swim at Sydney's beaches.

Oh, and blog more regularly.

We'll see.

Australian Idol

I love Australian Idol. It's always a pleasure to watch talented artists, and I enjoy the whole mentoring process - the judges are always making astute, creatively informed comments. This year I'm also loving seeing the characters of a couple of contestants. One of them (Stan Walker) is definitely a Christian. I'm not so sure about the other one (Toby Moulton), because there's a gag order on religious talk.

These men have the judges commenting on their character almost as often as their singing. The thing that stands out most to me is their humility. Even though they can't say much, they are a brilliant witness. I think more Christians should go on reality shows (unless of course the show's premise is spiteful or crass). Our culture might not care about metanarratives, but we care a lot about individual's stories and how a person's beliefs play out in their life.


- apologies for all the equi-length sentences. It's a bit jolting to read. I wouldn't get a good mark for "Sentence Variation" if I was one of my students.

Underwater

The way they teach us Ancient Greek and Hebrew at SMBC is grammar in the first year and Bible translation in subsequent years. This is well and good. In fact it has many pluses. But it's not language by immersion is it - or at least not in the first year. And I think I learn languages best by immersion. So, I haven't been doing particularly well, and I've been worried that all this pain will be for nothing and I'll never look at another word of Hebrew or Greek once I'm done here.

But I have a cunning plan. I've bought a New Testament with Greek on one page and an English translation on the facing page, and I've done the same for the Old Testament in Hebrew*. I like these far better than interlinears that give the English translation of each word under the word. I don't want to learn to give a literal translation of these languages - I want to learn to translate the actual meaning of sentences. So it's this that I want to expose myself to, again and again. My plan is to read as little as a sentence, or as much as a paragraph each day, first in the Hebrew/Greek and then in the English. I want to get into the habit of this now, so I've got more chance of keeping it up later. I'm not planning to employ amazing powers of observation or anything while I read, and certainly not to work out the grammatical status of individual words. I don't even care if I only understand one word in a sentence. I just want to be immersed.


*These were actually quite hard to track down, certainly on the net. I ended up finding them at the Bible Society bookshop. There seems to only be one option for each language. For Greek, it's the Nestle-Aland Greek-English New Testament, with the Novum Testamentum Graece for the Greek and the RSV for the English. For Hebrew, it's the Hebrew-English Bible published by the Bible Society in Israel, with the Biblica Hebraica Stuttgartensia for Greek and the NKJV for English.

Master of Divinity! project

I am two thirds of my way to becoming a superhero. In second semester next year we get to chose whether we do a project/thesis or two regular subjects. I've been hanging to do the project since I began my studies, and I think I've finally worked out some sort of a topic . . .

I want to look at what the Bible says about the importance and effect of physical closeness on relationships. I don't particularly have romantic relationships in mind, but of course it will play into that. The sort of situations I'm thinking of are those of friends (or missionaries) who are living in distant places, friendships between people on the net who have never met in person, and the relationship between Christians today and the Father, Son and Spirit who we can neither see nor touch.

I'm interested in this stuff largely because of me! I'm as much a dancer and aesthete as I am a writer and thinker, and, for some reason, (because I'm a thinker no doubt) I'm not satisfied to just let myself be, but am always wondering about how these things should play out. I'm also interested because I observe physical absence having curious effects in the situations described, but can't quite put my finger on the effects or say if they're good, bad or merely neutral.

I can think of all sorts of biblical passages and angles to take on this subject - the goodness of physical creation, the indwelling of the Spirit in us, Jesus' incarnation, why Jesus went to people to heal them when he could've done so at a distance, what 1 John 4:20 means etc etc. I'm going to try and work it out in January. But please do let me know if you have any suggestions :-).

amalgamate verb, -mat.ed. -mat.ing.

My Sydney church, Central Sydney Presbyterian, is joining up with another church, Abbotsford Presbyterian. We're doing it because the school hall we currently meet in is being extended, thanks to the government's stimulus money. A couple of Sundays ago both congregations voted for us to start meeting together, with a view to formally amalgamate halfway through next year. In many different ways, God's hand looks to be in the whole process, which is a great comfort and joy for us near-sighted people. It's going to be a really interesting time.

I don't know how other people in Central Sydney would characterise the church, but to me, it's a church of people who have integrity and desire to grow. People try to be honest about who they are and where they're at, and they really want to become more like Jesus. This means that we're pretty caring and concerned for each other. It also means we're pretty straight-up and blunt and we don't care about the niceties. We're a relaxed, casual bunch.

The church we're going to is a small, lively church full of elderly people. It's currently much more formal in style and more old-fashioned in aesthetic than Central Sydney. Thank God we don't have to somehow try to achieve unity and harmony - that's already been won in Christ. But we do have to live in accordance with this profound reality. It's going to be a good test I reckon and a rare opportunity to show the difference that the gospel can make in the lives of people. Stay tuned and I'll let you know how it goes.

The living's easy

Sometimes I'm good with people, but sometimes I get shy and find it hard to talk to them . . . and sometimes I talk, but keep myself back out of distrust. Still other times I'm trying hard to impress and not really being myself.

So I've prayed that I will share myself with people, and put them first. I like it when God answers this prayer because then I'm a little more like Jesus, the relationships are a little more like they will be in heaven and I'm more myself than at any other time. Too much time spent worrying over your image or fears turns you into a caricature of your true self. If, by God's grace, you can forget these things, then the living's easy - you have only to be the woman or man God made you to be.

We like some metanarratives

In this quote, Clark succinctly exposes some contemporary flawed thinking. He does back up his first point with some earlier argument, but I can only quote so much. It's a good book.

If authority is necessary to community and if it can function properly in community, then contra the postmodern critique, metanarratives are not essentially evil. Further, while postmodernism embraces local narratives as the antidote to oppression by metanarratives, it overlooks the oppressive potential of minority stories. The tribal conflicts in central Africa, Northern Ireland, and southern Europe indicate that minority voices can equally lead to violence. Postmodernism is also simplistic in failing to see its own interpretation of the world (that all metanarratives are evil tools of oppression that must be ddeconstructed) as an alternative metanarrative. Metanarratives are necessary and not necessarily evil; local narratives are hlepful but not necessarily good. . . . It is precisely the proper exercise of duly consituted authority, constrained by truth and love, not the rebellious rejection of all authority whatever, that safeguards against abusive authoritarianism.


- DK Clark, To Know and Love God: Method for Theology (Illinois: Crossway Books, 2003) 78-79.

A vision for life

A rockin' post over on the eighteen-heads-are-better-than-one MTS Tasmania blog.


Sorry about the lack of posts lately. I'm uncertain whether it's because I've been busy with college, or because I haven't had anything worth saying . . .

Creating things while careering down the chute

I'm not usually a fan of conferences, but here's a couple that look good:


Create


In the Chute In fact I have secret inside knowledge that tells me it's gonna be a ripper. Here it is:

• Secret inside knowledge 1
• Secret inside knowledge 2
• Secret inside knowledge 3
• Secret inside knowledge 4
  
• and the best of the lot: secret inside knowledge 5

Political correctness in street art

A while back I posted about street art in the Newtown area. Well an awesome book has just come out on this very topic. You'll remember ;-) that in my original post, I told the story of the 'I have a dream' piece:

it was done by a couple of guys illegally over a couple of nights with a cherry picker (!). The Aboriginal flag was added later. One of the guys, Andrew is now in England doing life because he murdered a guy in a squat. He then came to Australia, became a Christian, and later confessed his crime to his Christian mentor, who said he should go back to England and turn himself in, which he did.

Well here's what the book says:

Aiken was on the run from the law after murdering his flat-mate in England . . . but while here had made a decision to redeem himself and in 1997 went back to England to give himself up.

Clearly there's nothing untrue here, but it does make me wonder about censorship of Jesus. And this is in a book that can handle such quotes as, "i think Sydney has by far one of the worst street art scenes in the world".

Generous people

I'm self-aware, organised and generally disciplined. I put this down to the personality God gave me, the upbringing I received and the fact that I was born into the middle class. These things make it easier for me to avoid sins that other people struggle with, not through any impressive effort but because of God's gracious favour. But there's a flip side - I can find myself being disdainful of messy, sinful people.

However I'm increasingly realising that these people are no more sinful than I am. It's just that our sins lie in different directions. I'm good at avoiding sins, but less good at actually doing something positive. They're less good at avoiding sins, but put me to shame when it comes to being big-hearted, caring and generous. And my absence of a positive good is as much a sin as those sins I so conscientiously avoid.

Sex in the service of God

I asked Mikey if he'd read any good books lately and he put me onto Christopher Ash's Marriage: Sex in the Service of God (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 2003). He's already posted a number of quotes from the book, but what the heck, I want to as well. I've only read bits of it and quickly, but as far as I can tell Ash's thesis is that marriage and sex was created not to mitigate against loneliness, but to mitigate against ineffectiveness. Women was created in the context of man being given a noble job to do (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15) - to help him in that task (2:18). Ash writes (of 2:22-23):

Here is a natural and innocent affirmation of sexual desire and delight, of nakedness untouched by shame.

Yet we must not conclude that the final goal of this delightful and intimate companionship is to be found in the delight, the intimacy or the companionship. This is delight with a shared purpose, intimacy with a comon goal, and companionship in a task beyond the boundaries of the couple themselves. As we rejoice with the lovers in the garden, we must not forget that there is work to be done.1

Ash observes that this is not to deny the blessing of marriage for the lonely, and yet, "The Bible has a great deal to say about the longings of the human heart. This is more pronounced in some places than in others, but there is much about love, friendship and fellowship. It is very striking, however, that almost never are these longings and their satisfaction placed in the context of sexual relationship."2 He then refers to 1 John 4:7-21; 1 Thessalonians 2:6-8; 1 Corinthians 13; John 13-16; Philemon 7; 1 Samuel 18-20; 2 Samuel 1:26. He conclusion is that:

If in our society the unmarried (or those who are not in what are revealingly called 'relationships') do experience loneliness (as they undoubtably do), we are not therefore to point their hopes inevitably in the direction of a sexual relationship, but rather to human relationships of friendship and fellowship. This is a challenge to churches to be the kinds of loving communities in which real relationship is not coterminous with sexual relationship.3

He then speaks about unhealthy things that can result from warped expectations of the marriage relationship, noting first that a marriage fails the test of being a loving relationship "unless its charity extends beyond the bounds of reciprocity" (see Luke 6:32 and also 16:27f; Acts 5:1-11).4 He then notes that it is "only a short step" from the selfishness of an inward-looking marriage to the selfishness of self-actualisation, of seeking only your own fulfillment from your marriage partner. This is too much to ask of anyone. Ash says, "In the Bible's perspective the way forward is neither via individual autonomy nor in introspective companionship, but in the joyful shared service of God."5

However even this biblical attitude has its dangers. "Marriage is to be a visible and lived-out image of the love of the Lord for his people . . . The paradox is that when we begin to think of the marriage relationship as an end in itself . . . we slip very easily into a privatization of love that contradicts the open, outward-looking and gracious character of covenant love."6 Rather partners in a faithful marriage may be "imbued with a vision for a shared usefulness. They work together to build a marriage in which faithful love overflows in fruitfulness beyond the borders of themselves as a couple alone."7 Only by God's grace, by his strength in our weakness.


1 Ash, Marriage, 121.
2 ibid, 117.
3 ibid, 122.
4 ibid, 123.
5 ibid, 126.
6 ibid, 127.
7 ibid, 369.

Education and equality

I was raving about Noel Pearson recently over on my other blog - not to mention that on facebook I said that I wanted him to be the next PM. Well anyway he's written the latest Quarterly Essay, entitled Radical Hope: Education and Equality in Australia. I really recommend a read. It's not written quite as sharply as his other work, but it's still a lucid and pleasurable read. And as always, his thinking is insightful, visionary and wide-ranging. He addresses such things as: the place of minority ethnic groups in sovereign states and in modern times; President Obama's promotion of 'No Excuses' and the American educational system; the repetitious and blinkered history of Aboriginal education in Australia; the benefits of (unremarkable teachers) providing effective instruction; government's responsibility for cultural transmission; the cultivation of skills, creativity, critique and self-esteem and the danger of ethnically-based pride.

Miss Lockett's rules

On Sunday afternoons I am happily paid to teach some small classes. At 2:30 I've got a grade one English class and at 4:00 we go onto Maths. I didn't start with any particular rules or classroom philosophy in mind, but here are some that have sprung up along the way:

• Our class motto is: Have a go. Even if you can't do it all or you get some bits wrong, do what you can.
• If you've got something to ask or say, put up your hand.
  
• If the teacher is busy helping someone else, you have two options - skip what you're finding hard and go on with something else, or ask one of your classmates for help.
• You can work together or help each other anytime you want. The only time you can't do this is if it's a test.
  
• I don't like boasting about marks or hearing kids say "It's easy" because it makes other kids feel bad.
  
• You have to play quiet games in breaks because otherwise it distracts the other classes around. You can't climb on chairs because one of the teachers thinks it's unsafe and we need to respect her. You can't keep working because your brain needs a rest. You can do anything else you like.
  
• If you're naughty you'll probably just be told off/given the silent treatment/told you're being immature and unimpressive. You may be threatened with the naughty chair or the black slip (which is actually yellow).

I also have a grade 4 Writing class where the students learn to write stories and essays and other things. There are less rules for this class because I run it more like a seminar. I love this class too - I get to teach the same things about writing that I would teach a class of adults.

The artistry of cooking

I like finding similarities amongst various creative modalities, and between creative pursuits and everyday life. So dancing is a great metaphor for how men and women should relate. Cooking also has the vibe of a metaphor about it, though I don't know what for - leadership perhaps? Anyway here's what I do to produce a successful meal:

1. I have a vision of what it will be like, what sort of 'genre' of meal it will be, how simple or complex it will be, what the dominant flavours will be.
   
2. I take a lot of care preparing the various elements of the meal. I tend to sacrifice hasty complexity for simple excellence.
   
3. I rely on my palate to determine balance and harmony of flavours. Things have to go with each other, and not just the immediate ingredients - I have to keep in mind what else will be added along the way.
   
4. I get help from other people with these various practical or 'aesthetic' aspects.
   

Insiders

I used to be extremely cynical about the media's ability to understand and accurately portray issues. This made me disinclined to follow the news and dubious about everything I heard. And then . . . I discovered Insiders! On Insiders they get journos from the left and right together to discuss the week's events. I love it because it exposes me to different analyses of and opinions about what's happening and because my understanding of politicing is improving. I'm getting better at seeing what politicians say in political terms. You'd think this would make me more cynical, but I always knew this was just part of the territory, so now I'm happy that I'm more able to discern the substance from the spin.


H/T Angus

Community and the rest

This post doesn't contain fully-formed thoughts . . . just the beginnings . . . So I've just come back from visiting Hobart for a few days. I mean look at that photo - it's so beautiful. Katie, a Tasmanian friend up here said to me that in Hobart you have a community made for you, wheras in Sydney you have to create your own community. I've been thinking about that. There's this whole web of people who I know really well in Hobart and who know, respect and love me. So I'm at ease and confident when I'm there. In Sydney I get a bit overwhelmed by all the strange people, though there's things I really love about living here. I was thinking though that wherever I am, I'm the same person and there are people around who I can get to know. So there's no reason not to be as open and friendly with people in the city - it'll just feel a little harder because the environment doesn't invite intimacy and community. But people are still people and we all yearn for this stuff. Once I stop being scared of the people, I should actually be at an advantage because I've grown up seeing what a healthy community is like . . .

'Research has found'

When people direct debit they never increase the amount they give, as they do if they give via some other means. This is probably not because direct debit makes people miserly but rather because people cease to be conscious of their 'giving'. Other options are electronic depositing and, for those who do direct debit, putting a card in the offering bag with the amount you're giving on it.


H/T Bruce

A golden opportunity

Here's some things you can give money to that normally get overlooked:

• a mission education and awareness campaign in the church;
  
• responding to emergencies in the world;
  
• funding people who work in the home office of mission agencies;
  
• topping up missionary tentmakers*.

* People who go to another country to share their life and the good news about Jesus with folk and who do a regular job which earns them money in the regular way.


H/T Bruce

Another kind of sister

On Friday I was privileged to be given the opportunity to see inside the beautiful Auburn Gallipoli mosque. Afterwards, I was equally privileged to be assigned the task of wandering around Auburn and chatting to Muslim women. Not about anything serious, just connecting with them. We Westerners are so hopeless at this. We're afraid of people from other cultures; afraid of disturbing their private space. To people from cultures all about relationships and community, we come across as cold and uncaring.

So on Friday I smiled at women and passed comments about the weather. And they smiled shyly back and made comments of their own. One lady told me that if I was going to buy a top, I should buy a small or medium because that brand stretches. Normally I'm shy and scared of people around. Now I see that it is possible for me to chat to people in my own community.


H/T Richard

Bad praying, naughty praying!

Christians do all sorts of things imperfectly or just plain wrong. We know that's just the way it is in this messy place and time. We know that we can draw confidently near to God and he will delight to forgive and change us . . . except perhaps for prayer . . . We Christians always seem to be beating ourselves up over how pathetic we are at prayer. The way we act you might think failure in this area is an unforgivable sin.

Let's stop being surprised by the sinfulness we see in our 'prayer-life'. When we do see it, rather than berating ourselves, let's say a simple "sorry" to God. Then let's press on, expecting messy but also wonderful things.

Duh

Here's* a very creative sermon from David Cook. It's this sort of thing that makes me go "Ooh I get it! So this actual real person who actually existed had their little real daughter miraculously come back to life!"


* The sermon is the 23 Sep 2009, on Luke 8:40-56. I have been told how to link just to the individual sermon, but I can't remember how and can't be bothered finding out.

Things to live by

Here's some things that I've been learning and living by over the last few months:


Whatever my talents, I'm an ordinary person.

There are things I'm at a loss to understand, and that's okay.

There are many good things in my life, for which it makes sense to be thankful.

There are also bad things, as there are for everyone.

God is over the good and bad. He has always been there for me and has shown he is worthy of trust.

All about the peeps

If you're struggling with a relationship in your ministry, you're in the right ball park. Ministry is about people, not tasks, and dealing with people is always going to be difficult.

Ministry is unusual in this regard. All other jobs are about achieving some sort of practical task, except perhaps for counselling. This can make us feel like we're doing something wrong if we concentrate on relationships, but it is exactly where our focus should be.


H/T Global Issues class

In it together

Someone suggested the other day that 1:2 discipleship is better than 1:1. If you are only teaching one person they may feel embarrassed when they don't know something. But if two are struggling, well, it's nicer.

Taking over

When you find yourself in a group of people, before you say anything, look around and think about the people who are there. Consider if any of them have positions of authority over you or if they should be shown honour. For example, I think that it is appropriate for me, a youngish, Western female to submit to men and to show honour to older women and perhaps to non-Westerners.

If you do find anyone who fits these bills, keep your mouth shut. Resist the urge to take charge. Sit there silently and look to the man or the older person to take the lead, and if they don't step up, pray that they will.

If we say we believe that it is better for some people to lead, then we need to actually give those people the chance to do it.

Noel Pearson

This post will basically be a potted summary of Noel Pearson's ideas, as outlined in the various talks and essays that make up his new book, Up From the Mission. I'm a massive fan of Noel Pearson (the head of the Cape York Institute and currently working for the Cape York Land Council) and am profoundly impressed by his wise mix of pragmatism, conciliation and standing firm. As someone who thinks that neither the truth nor the wisest course of action is the exclusive domain of either the Left or the Right, Pearson is a welcome figure in Australian public life. I am only just scratching the surface here and would urge all Australians to read what this Aboriginal leader has to say.

Pearson says:

My generation at Hope Vale cannot honestly point to colonisation and dispossession as the immediate causes of our social problems. The generations before us are an example of how the maintenance of true Aboriginal traditions within the context of adaptation to a Christian mission produced a successful community.1

He highlights one key cause of the current disfunction in Aboriginal society:

The right to self-determination is ultimately the right to take responsibility. Our traditional economy was a real economy and demanded responsibility (you don't work, you starve). The whitefella market economy is real (you don't work, you don't get paid).

After we became citizens with equal rights and equal pay, we lost our place in the real economy. What is the exception among whitefellas - almost complete dependence on cash handouts from the government - is the rule for us. There is no responsibility and reciprocity built into our present artificial economy, which is based on passive welfare (money for nothing).2

This [welfare] mentality is internalised and perpetuated by recipients, who see themselves as victimised or incapable and in need of assistance without reciprocation. Everyone in a passive welfare economy is susceptible to irrational (mis)appropriation and (mis)expenditure of money, because that is the very nature of the money. Money acquired without priniciple is expended without principle.3

He explains the factors behind the beginning and continuance of a second key cause of disintegration:

Substance abuse originally got a foothold in our communities because many people were bruised by history and likely to break social norms . . . . But when a young person (or an older non-addict) is recruited to the grog and drug coteries today, the decisive factor is the existence of these epidemics themselves, not his or her personal background. And for those who did begin using an addictive substance as an escape from a shattered life and from our history, treating those original causes (if indeed you can do anything about those original causes) will do little. The addiction is in itself a stronger force than any variation in the circumstances of the addict.4 Addiction is a condition in its own right and it is just as difficult to do anything about an addiction if you are a socially and economically strong white professional who became addicted through the careless drinking of exquisite wines, as if you are an unemployed member of a decimated and dispossessed Aboriginal tribe.5

My own view is that the most significant causal chain is this: (i) substance abuse and the chaos it causes lead to (ii) violence and other crimes, which lead to (iii) over-representation in custody and in the criminal justice system. This is as plain as day to anyone who knows life in our communities6

Pearson discusses how Aboriginal people might best respond to their circumstances:

I would urge people to draw a distinction between that trauma which is personal and immediate and which may incapacitate individuals or families, and that trauma which is inherited and more remote, and which renders people susceptible to problems, but does not leave them incapacitated . . . . Personal trauma needs to be recognised and attended to. Inherited trauma needs to be recognised, but it is also imperative that we recognised that economic and social empowerment is ultimately the best - and arguably the only - cure . . . . The danger with ideological fixation on inherited tauma is that we promote a culture of victimhood, rather than a determination to get back on our feet as a people. We must never let the true history of our people be forgotten or obscured, but we must avoid creating an ideology that turns history into a personal disability for able-bodied members of our community.7

Pearson explains why polarised politics fail:

[T]he distance between good and bad policies is most often very fine - they are seldom poles apart. People from both sides of the cultural and political divide usually believe the distance between their own correct policies and their opponents' wrong policies to be substantial. Politics is given to stark caricatures . . . . This polarisation leads to problems: a failure to distinguish between a potentially correct policy (for instance, policing relatively minor misdemeanours to restore order to crime-ridden , disadvantaged neighbourhoods) and an obviously incorrect one (police harassment and violence) . . . . The tensions involved in policy debates about crime in neighbourhoods centre around questions of freedom and social order. Obviously too much social order undermines freedom. Less obviously, too little social order also undermines freedom. People who live in optimally free and ordered communities often fail to appreciate the fact that a hight degree of social order underpins the freedom they enjoy.8

He provides some practical ways forward:

The truth is that, at least in the communities that I know in Cape York Peninula, the real need is for the restoration of social order and the enforcement of law.9

The High Court's ruling in the Mabo case has now recognised Aboriginal laws and customs as part of the legal system applicable to Aboriginal society and Aboriginal lands. This is a fundamentally important step in the right direction.

Central to the recovery and empowerment of Aboriginal society will be the restoration of Aboriginal values and Aboriginal relationships10

First, the strategy must be aimed at creating an environment in which there is no more unconditional support for irresponsible lifestyles. Second, the strategy must include enforced treatment.11

Together with a strong foundation of social norms and investment in capabilities, we need to make sure that people have the right incentives to ascend the staircase . . . . This is why I have been so critical of the passive welfare state. It creates perverse incentives that tell sixteen-year-olds that it is better to go on the dole than to finish school, or that tell parents they will receive money irrespective of their
child's wellbeing and educational participation.12

One of the country's most successful industrialists, Forrest has inititiated an idea without parallel. The extraordinary feature of the Australian Employment Covenant is that Forrest and his private-sector colleagues are setting the goal of guaranteeing 50,000 jobs for Indigenous Australians. It cannot be overstated how fundamentally this opportunity changes the landscape.13

Pearson's desire is to see Indigenous people embrace:

'Everything that enables our younger generations in Cape York Peninsula to achieve their fullest potential, talent and creativity, so that they have the confidence and capacity to orbit between two worlds and enjoy the best of both.'14

1 N Pearson, Up From the Mission (Melbourne: Black Inc., 2009), 27.
2 ibid, 143.
3 ibid, 153.
4 ibid, 174.
5 ibid, 175.
6 ibid, 179.
7 ibid, 162.
8 ibid, 246-47.
9 ibid, 240.
10 ibid, 149.
11 ibid, 177.
12 ibid, 277-78.
13 ibid, 320-21.
14 ibid, 331.

Compensating Indigenous Australians

I attended the John Saunders lecture where the wonderful Peter Adam spoke about the right and wrong of our nation's history and called on non-Aboriginal Australians to compensate Aboriginal Australians for the theft of their land. He's giving the talk again on the 5th October in Melbourne. I found it unsettling and compelling and left convinced . . . until I spoke to some very smart people who pointed out some problems with the whole thing. I have listed these issues below - and my resolution of them.


1. While I agree that both the Old and New Testaments talk about recompense, it is only mentioned sparingly, certainly in the NT. This made me wonder if it is not always applicable. The NT emphasis seems to be much more on forgiveness and unity between, for example, Jew and Gentile. I wondered if the biblical writers push this even in cases where speaking of recompense would have been relevant.

I think that the answer to this may be that, yes, compensation may not be required. But that does not take away from the fact that it may be very good and fitting.


2. I also wondered about the legitimacy of corporate guilt for non-covenantal people. Often when a people is seen as guilty, it is their covenantal unfaithfulness towards God that is in view.

The only exception I could think of to this is in the first chapters of Amos - but I have since had more pointed out to me, so I no longer think that this is a legitimate point.


3. There is a sense in which recompense on a corporate scale becomes ridiculous. Human history consists of layers of wrong done by one people to another. On what grounds should recompense be given to the Australian Aboriginal people and none given to the other peoples that my Anglo-Saxon ancestors conquered?

I think that while this is true, the taking of Aboriginal land is a clear and nationwide wrong done in recent history, and as such, it seems fitting that we should take responsibility for it, even if we forget other historical wrongs.


4. I think that if recompense of Aboriginal people is valid, then it only makes sense to do it on a national scale. I think it will be impossible for just recompense to be given on a local scale, with local churches/communities/councils etc giving recompense to local Aboriginal groups. An attempt to do local-level recompense will fail at a number of points. For example, should the Aboriginal people who are currently living there be recompensed, or should they be recompensed by the people from the place they were born? Should European people who live in an area with lots of Aboriginal people pay higher recompense? Should recent immigrants be excluded? The mix of these questions will be impossible to sort out with any accuracy and justice.

So I think that the best course of action would be for the Prime Minister to give a once-of, costly recompense on behalf of all Australians. I think that more symbolic action is the only thing that has legitimacy at this stage in our nation's history.

Another possible course of action that has been suggested to me is that heads of the various Christian denominations make recompense on behalf of the church. I think this would be a brilliant example of the church taking the lead.


5. On a related note, I think that, as well as a national apology, it would be profoundly beneficial for non-Aboriginal people to receive a national we-forgive-you from Aboriginal people. Otherwise we are left feeling perpetually guilty, which doesn't help our country move forward.

H/T Sophie, Dan and Jono

A common sense guide to better living

We got a Scientology booklet on our doorstep the other day. It made for entertaining and saddening reading. Saddening because it was all about striving to be a better, more moral, caring person. This makes me sad because it's what I used to do and what I see most people doing, and it's an overwhelming, disheartening task. When I read things like this they ring with naivity:- "Now what do you suppose would happen if one were to try and treat those around him with justness, loyalty, good sportsmanship, fairness, honesty, kindness, consideration [etc] . . . ?It might take a little while but don't you suppose that many others would then begin to try to treat one the same way? . . . . If one is not like that already, it can be made much easier by just picking one virtue a day and specializing in it for that day."1 A kid might buy that, but adults should have learned better.

And the entertainment? Well here's a choice selection:

The way to happiness does not include murdering or your friends, your
family or yourself being murdered.

[E]ven if one were simply to frown when people do things to mess up the
planet, one would be doing something about it.

In some countries, old people, the unemployed do not just sit around
and go to pieces [sic]: they are used to care for the gardens and parks and forests,
to pick up the litter and add some beauty to the world.

There are many things one can do to help take care of the planet. They
begin with the idea that one should. They progress with suggesting to others
they should.

If others do not help safeguard and improve the environment, the way to
happiness could have no roadbed to travel on at all.

Stealing things is really just an admission that one is not capable
enough to make it honestly. Or that one has a streak of insanity. Ask a
thief which one it is: it's either one or the other.

. . . That is the alley to the trash bin of incompetence.

The new model eggbeater or washing machine, the latest year's car, all
demand some study and learning before they can be competently operated. When
people omit it, there are accidents in the kitchen and piles of bleeding
wreckage on the highways.

Movie stuntmen who don't practice first get hurt. So do housewives.

1 LR Hubbard, The Way to Happiness: A Common Sense Guide to Better Living (L. Ron Hubbard Library, 2007)

Connected communities

My Global Issues class headed out to Cabramatta last Friday to meet Pastor David Boyd from Jesus Family Centre. His church has about 400 people from what looked like 20 -30 different nationalities, and they have planted 38 churches in Asia, Africa and Latin America. David had all sorts of interesting and profitable things to say to which I said a hearty amen! but I'll just share one. He believes that the best missionaries are bicultural. He thinks it's foolish (wrong?) to send out, say Anglo missionaries to Latin America. The way they do it is to start with the multicultural people that come to them. They encourage these people to share the gospel with their communities of family and friends back home. And over time, they build up these communities. I'm not sure just how this looks in practice but God is clearly using it. David has written a book about his whole approach and its biblical basis, and I have no doubt that it is worth a read.

Keep it simple eh

Some more wise missionary tips about how to begin and proceed:

• Be a friendly person.
• Have fun with the people around you. Enjoy their company.
• Do things your way and leave the results up to God. Don't put pressure on yourself to be someone you're not.
• If you have a secular job, ask God that you'll love your job. People who are passionate about their work are attractive people.

Speaking the things of God

As I prayed before I recently preached at college, I asked God to stop me from saying "anything dodgy". In one way, that's a perfectly fine thing to request, but it also betrayed my lack of confidence and undermined that of my listeners'. A fellow student later reminded me that my confidence shouldn't be based on my (lack of) ability in translating the Greek, or identifying the 'big idea' of the passage or working out appropriate application. My confidence should ever be in the Holy Spirit who is with me each step of the painful process. With him at my side I may be bold.


H/T Matt

Festival of Dangerous Ideas

This is a series of provocative talks coming up at the Opera House. Titles include, 'Democracy is not for everyone,' 'The old should pay for themselves,' 'Why we enjoy killing'. The impressive and articulate Christopher Hitchens is also speaking about how religion poisons everything. It would be good for Christians to go along to this to have our beliefs challenged, and perhaps to ask questions, if there's a question time.

Kids on Divorce

Last night SBS' Insight program filled the studio with kids whose parents had divorced and asked them about their experience and advice. This is definitely an area in which kids' voices deserve to be heard.

Vanity?

You've got to listen to these talks on Ecclesiastes by Kirk Patston. I want to tell you why, but a rush of words won't capture it. You've got to take my word for it.

YOU LIKE ORANGE!???

So my Brazilian friend Angela and I were busy studying Spanish, when another friend came and asked us what she should wear to a Latin American themed party. I felt very in touch when my answer was the same as Angela's. So here's the Latin American female fashion aesthetic. Jeans. High, high heels. A tight, bright top. Big, shiny earrings. And you cannot have a balanced, nuanced colour palate. Ditch the palate - it's all about embracing a single colour. Angela told our friend to go to her wardrobe, imagine she's feeling the happiest she's ever felt and then pick her clothes. That's latina fashion. It's much the same for men except you've gotta work the machismo. Whatever you do, do not be subtle.

I love it. It cracks me up and makes me happy at the same time. And in case my description was at all unclear, the photo above should provide all the clarification needed.

How to support single women

Here's some ideas about how churches with lots of families can be sensitive to and supportive of single women. Some of it may also apply to women who infertile and to single men. It's written for husbands, but it can be for anyone.

• Be aware that single women may feel unconfident and lonely, and perhaps despairing and bitter. They may feel they are second-class women, not properly feminine. All these feelings will be heightened if there are lots of pregnant women and families around. Single women may also feel a lot of pain at not having kids. It may be heartbreaking for them to be around pregnant women or little kids. I don't know what can help with this. Maybe it's enough for people to be aware of it, and for Mums not to be offended if single women avoid them and don't help with the kids, and for single women to know they're not doing anything wrong if they feel like this.

• Show single women great respect and affection. Remember that the less honourable parts deserve greater honour (and I know this can apply to Mums too!).

• Encourage all the women, whether single or married, confident or unconfident, to reach out to each other and show interest in and respect for each other. You do not want only Mums chatting with Mums and single women chatting with single women, though of course a bit of this is natural and fine.

• Encourage the Mums to not only talk about their kids or their marriage or their new life when single women are part of the conversation. A bit of this is great and interesting and makes single women feel included, but too much is painfully marginalising.

• Value the role single women can play in the life of your family. You may want to seek their opinions about how you should parent your kids because even though they don't have kids, they do have life experience and know biblical truths. Include them in the life of your family, and really treasure them being Aunties for your kids and let them know that you do.

• Families are a bigger 'entity' than single people. They are much more 'present' and 'in your face'. I think this means they capture peoples' attention more. This can mean that people like church leaders spend more time chatting to or socialising with Mums and Dads. This is a tricky one because families are more complex and do, in a way, require more attention. But be careful not to gloss over single women because you haven't noticed them. This will probably be even more likely to happen if these women are feeling unconfident or unworthy, and so are themselves retreating into the background.

• Remember that single women don't have a man around (unless they're close friends with a guy or have a great relationship with their brother or Dad). This means they don't have someone to protect or provide for them. So, don't do things like leave them to catch a bus in the dark (unless of course they're totally fine with it). Show them the same graciousness you would like another man to show your wife if you weren't there.

• Single women haven't been through any life events in which it is culturally appropriate for people to look after them or celebrate them. Because they've never had a wedding, their family and friends have never bought them expensive homewares. Because they've never had a baby, they've never had dinners brought round. It's unreasonable, yet easy, for single women to feel neglected and get bitter about these things. It would be so lovely for people to do things for them or give them things, even when there was no 'occasion'.

• It's good to have Bible study groups that are demographically mixed. It makes it possible for single women to put their situation in perspective and to care for the other group members, whatever their situation, just as they are cared for in return.
  

• Preaching the Bible gives single women hope and comfort, rebuke and perspective, and teaches them how to live in a God pleasing way.

Brothers or sisters

I wonder if people who grew up with sisters are better at relating to women, and people who grew up with brothers better at relating to men? As a lady (I am one) I obviously understand women, but, as someone with a brother only, I sometimes feel like I have better learned how to relate to men.*

Nb This is the last of my catch-up posts. You're all now the lucky recipients of the last 2-3 years' worth of emails to my pastor. The pace is going to be a lot slower from hereon in.


*Gosh, what happened with the wording here. I wouldn't get a good mark if I was one of my students.

Through thick and thin

I was thinking that it would be so heartless and cruel if Christians were to tell Mums not to abort their babies, but then fail to support them when they had the courage to continue their pregnancies. So here's some ideas about how churches can proactively support Mums.

1. Be churches that Mums would like to return to. Churches that:

• are honest about and forgiving of sin;
• respect members whose lives are overtly messy/sinful and provide them with practical and emotional support;
• give financial assistance to those who need it, or help people access the government’s financial assistance;
• provide friendship and company for lonely people;
• provide practical support for families, especially for families in need of extra help;
• ask parents already attending church about their experience;
• help parents parent;
  
• take the time to get to know and befriend kids;
• give special honour to kids who have disabilities;
• respect, value and celebrate the role of Mums;
• celebrate pregnancy and treat the unborn baby as a baby;
• make single Mums (and their kids) feel welcome and valued.

2. Get out there and:

• give money to organisations that support pregnant women, fathers or families;
• encourage people to do voluntary/paid work for such organisations;
• run church events that are attractive to Mums.

Telling all the world

Enjoy answering questions people from other countries have about Christianity, but don't want to travel to them? Well you can sign up to answer questions sent into various Christian websites. The sites are aimed at different people (eg Muslims, Chinese, teenage girls). They get good traffic because they pay to have their sites appear in the right hand column of Google. Each site has a gospel presentation, multimedia stuff, someone's testimony . . . and a chance to ask questions. They get 1000s of enquiries from all around the world every day or week or something.

I think it's a great ministry for writers. The websites are pretty crusty and I find the right hand column thing a bit sleazy but I guess there's nothing wrong with it. If you're interested, this is the homepage.

New eyes

In the 'Doctrine of God/Person and Work of Christ' theology intensive I did in the holidays we were assigned a cool homework task. What you have to do is go to your church (or Bible study or whatever) and think to yourself "If I was a non/new Christian and I came along, what would I learn about who God is [substitute any other doctrine you care to]?".


H/T Max

I heart Chaplains

Chaplains play an awesome role. They get to rub shoulders with, develop friendships with, provide counsel and comfort to, and answer the questions of a whole bunch of people who may not otherwise have anything to do with the church. There are chaplains in schools, hospitals, unis, rugby clubs, shipping ports and some friends of mine at college are thinking of performing this sort of role with the traveling Grand Prix community! We should totally urge and encourage people to be chaplains. I should even pray for them . . .

At a distance

I get a bit intimidated at the thought of ringing people, and have realised that if I head off to Latin America it'll be increasingly hard to keep up relationships, especially as the makeup of my home church changes over the years. I think the big answer is that if I'm to sincerely believe in and value the body of Christ, then I'll put the work into these relationships.

I've heard of a church that deals with this issue by allocating one missionary to each small/Bible study group (8-12 people). The missionaries get their basic financial support from the church as a whole, but it's the small group's responsibility to give them top-up money, fundraise on their behalf when they need a big chunk of money for something, write them letters, pray for them and look after them when they're back in town.

This seems like a good solution - ongoing, meaningful contact and support with only 8-12 people sounds do-able (even if you haven't yet met them in person). I guess it works best for a big church though, where they have the finances to support a number of missionaries.


H/T Tally

Little Ideas

Sometimes I wonder if determining the Big Idea in a Bible passage does violence to the passage. I mean, we somewhat arbitrarily pick the passage length and then expect to find a thread running through it . . . What makes us so sure that the Bible writer intended there to be a main emphasis going through that bit?

And what makes us so sure that there is a main emphasis anyway? Maybe the writer wanted to emphasize a number of points equally.

And what about the the legitimacy of this approach for the less logical genres?

I get that it's probably a useful teaching device more than anything - because people can only take in one thing*. But I just feel a bit uncomfortable with it . . . When I'm preparing a sermon I can usually see a million themes and ideas and my brain explodes trying to find the main one. It ends up feeling like a bit of guesswork.


* And as Mikey pointed out, it's also a good thinking device, particularly for the beginning preacher, forcing us to think clear, simple and orderly thoughts.

Calling

We had a timely lecture on 'the missionary call' the other day. Turns out that the call to tell people of all nations about Jesus and to teach them and help them mature is a call made to the whole church. We must all be involved; we have only to work out what our individual role should be. On the whole the Bible does not record people receiving an extra supernatural call - rather, they are appointed and commissioned by the church. This is been good for me to see as I haven't had any sort of supernatural calling - and yet, because he is in control of the details of our everyday lives, I have seen God ordering small and bigger things so that I might go.

Learning a language the non-overwhelming way

The Oxford Take Off in Latin American Spanish kit rocks! It's a kindly, patient and encouraging teacher. Each group of lessons is focused on a theme (eg shopping) and the vocabulary keeps repeating. You listen to an easy dialogue, answer comprehension questions, repeat some phrases, read over a little bit of relevant grammar, then participate in a 'conversation' yourself. It's like being a little baby and having people speak simply to you about concrete things. Maybe it came from this method which I'm told is excellent.

Demons

So far as I can tell, the supernatural beings that the Bible speaks about are GOD, angels, Satan and demons. I can't exactly remember what it says about angels, except that they're fearful beings and they praise God and help people.

So it seems to me that the supernatural beings recognised by people (jinn, ghosts, ancestors etc) are probably demons. Realising this may be happy news for some who feel trapped and oppressed by these beings, but it may be shocking and horrifying news for others.

Don't take my word for it

Sometimes people misunderstand the Bible because they're unable to read or they don't own one - and their preacher misunderstands it. We need to help those guys to read, and get Bibles to them in written/audio form.

Sometimes people misunderstand the Bible because no-one's told them that not every bit is immediately applicable to their life. We need to show them that the Bible speaks about the historical nation of Israel and later, the new Palestinian church.

Above and below

When us Westerners think of God, we think first of what he is like in his person, and what he has been like for all eternity ('from above'). When Africans grapple with the Bible they look first at God's work in the world, and at what he is like when he relates to us men ('from below'). It's all good.1


1 ibid, 107-08.

Christ as Ancestor?

In Africa, Jesus is sometimes seen as the ultimate Ancestor1. When I first read of this it seemed massively dodgy, like he was being reduced to the important-but-not-divine status of a Catholic saint. But hang on a minute, what do I know about the African conception of ancestors . . . Those with better knowledge than I say that this label has some legitimacy - for, like (but better than) the traditional ancestors, the Son is the Mediator between man and God. He is the head of humanity/the church and in him we who are alive now are connected with the rest of the Christian family who have died. And it may help to explain Christ's humanity and divinity. Yet, it has its problems, and not all Africans are happy with it.


1 TC Tennent, Theology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007), 122-31.

Reconciliation after genocide

A man from African Enterprise spoke the other day about their Rwandan Reconciliation project, which is being financially supported by the Bible Society NSW.This project is run in every Rwandan school and is part literacy training, part reconciliation/Bible teaching. The genocide happened 14 years ago, before these primary school kids were born, but many have family members who murdered or who were killed. Their readers are full of Bible stories of reconciliation. At lunchtimes there are Reconciliation Clubs for those who want to join where they role play the Bible stories and sing, dance and debate reconciliation. Then they go home and tell their Mums and Dads.

Useless Beauty

Useless Beauty is an awesome book looking at films that came out in '99 I think (American Beauty, Magnolia, Election, Run Lola Run etc). The author comments thoughtfully and knowledgeably on their themes (etc) and also mentions points of similarity and divergence with the biblical book of Ecclesiastes. A great read for Christians and for non-Christians who don't mind some Christian jargon and concepts.


PS Not sure what happened with the style of this post. I mean, it reads like a proper, considered, sober book review - not my usual exuberant style . . . Oh hang about, it does have "awesome" and "I think" in the first sentence . . .

Adult Ed churchy style

A church in Sydney runs an Adult Ed style program for a couple of weeks each Jan. People in the congregation who have skills in different areas each run a little course and they invite people from the community. Neat idea huh.

Aesthetics and worship

I'm perpetually (perennially?) interested in the relationship between beauty/aesthetic and truth. I'm seriously considered doing next year's Project on the topic. This article is very interesting and thought-provoking. I'm not convinced by some of his theology however. I'd like to be convinced but I think he's reached his points far too quickly and assumed too much along the way. Still, it all sounds so good.

Dangers in trying to properly apply the Bible

1. You can be so concerned to make the Christian faith accessible for the local culture, that you become too radical for the rest of the church to follow you.
2. You can be so concerned with the look of things that you neglect their feel. The same form can carry different meanings for different (sub)cultural groups. You need to respect people's intuition as to whether something is fine or problematic.
3. You can be so concerned to make things accessible that you forgot that it's God doing the work, and that he can make powerful use of half-baked, culturally alien efforts.

H/T John and Richard

Theology for different cultures

Contextualising theology is about properly applying theology. Behind it is the assumption that while there are fundamental biblical truths essential to the Christian faith everywhere, the emphasis and understanding of certain of those truths will vary across cultures, as will their expression. So it is to some extent necessary - and unavoidable - to read and systematise the Bible with the mindset, questions and needs of the specific culture in view. The validity of this approach can be found in the apostle Paul's example and command, as well as being assumed from the diversity of content and potential application of biblical material. Paul used the language, understanding and questions of the Athenian culture when speaking about the gospel (Acts 17). He also addresses more peripheral issues that are relevant to a specific cultural context (eg 1 Cor 10). And it can be inferred that in his example of adapting to different cultures to save some he also adapts his thinking (1 Cor 9:19-23).

The danger with contextualising theology is twofold. Firstly, the Bible's emphases and the questions that it asks of the culture can be overlooked. No culture asks all the questions that God would have it ask or emphasises the things that God would have it emphasise. The second issue is related to this – even if the right questions are asked, the answers can be misunderstood (and misapplied) if the values of the culture are too much in view. The Bible must be allowed to give its own answers even – or perhaps especially – when they are counter-cultural.

This is not a wise adage

The writer Richard Price rewrote one manuscript from page one to the end three times through. It took him and his editor 18 months. And while he was writing the first draft (that's the very first draft, not the final draft that then got edited three times), his editor allowed him to ring up at the end of each day and read out what he had written, while the editor said affirming things. That went on for a year. Richard comments, "It was like wrestling a zeppelin." (Paris Review Interviews, p385)

Goodness.

I like Godot but still . . .

"Characters paralyzed by the meaninglessness of modern life still have to drink water from time to time."

Kurt Vonnegut in Paris Review Interviews, vol 1, p195

He's talking about the necessity of plot.

A remedy against dumbness

If you haven't read Exegetical Fallacies by Dirty Don, you should - it's really good. Need to have your thinking cap on though.

Morbid/Realism

Make all of your important life decisions in a cemetery.

H/T Derek's pastor . . . and Luke (well he said that's where old skool Crossroads elders meetings should be held)