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