Newton's first law of motion states that an object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
I find this true of my life. For most of my 36 years, I have lived with the mindset of wanting to do and be more but not being willing to do whatever it takes. I sought the path of least resistance, the path that required little or no hard work, the path that would not require me to give up comfort activities or change my habits. So of course I stayed "at rest" - stuck on a plateau, safe but going nowhere.
Decisions have always paralysed me into a state of frozen inertia. Even something as trivial as what to pack in the baby's bag before an outing can take forever. Will a romper do or should I add a fleece jacket in case the weather changes? Does she need an extra pair of shorts? Should I pop a raincoat in just in case? What if it's hot? What if it's cold?
Recently, I was struggling with a sense of failure over what I clearly knew to be the results of this inertia. Because I wasn't willing to take the initial step, important decisions about our finances were left dormant and festering like the weeds growing out of control in our backyard. I had a reason for every non-decision. No time. Can't find contact number. Don't feel like calling. Don't have info at hand. Too tired. Another time.
I had all sorts of internal conversations as I batted the case for and against action back and forth inside my head. Finally, I was ready to take the first step.
It started with calling VicRoads to make an appointment to take the driving theory test and vision test. Surprise! They have Sat appointments! So hubby doesn't have to take the day off to drive me there and back and mind the kids.
Next, I started applying the action exercises Suze Orman recommended in her book The 9 Steps To Financial Freedom. I went online and found a bank offering the highest savings rate for online accounts and applied straightaway, linked the account to our existing account and set up a RSP and DDA to fast track our savings. I also did a funds transfer to take advantage of the high interest offered for keeping a minimum balance in our online account. I repeated the process with my Sg funds.
I checked out the Australian Scholarships Group, a non-profit org that pools parent contributions for the education of kids till tertiary level. I liked what I saw on the website and emailed for details. A consultant came the very next evening to tell us more. We ran the numbers, came to a joint decision on the monthly contributions and filled out the forms to enrol the girls. We only need to pay the contributions till they hit Year 7. After that, we will receive an annual cheque that will be enormously helpful in covering their school fees, books, uniforms and whatever else they need. Once the girls reach tertiary, they will each receive a monthly allowance direct into their accounts.
Another major decision made, another step in the right direction. The more action I took, the more excited I got. I was finally breaking free of my inertia and moving towards financial freedom!
It's amazing how empowered and strong and alive I felt as I gained personal momentum with every little decision taken. An object in motion tends to stay in motion. As in physics, so in life.
Right now, I'm researching private health insurance options. Just last night, as a few other ladies and I worked at cutting and laying out platters of sandwiches, slices and sweets for our church's Floral and Craft Festival, I discovered the lady I'd teamed up with to do sandwiches is a HBA insurance sales agent! I'd already checked out the HBA website and liked what I saw and was ready to find out more, so this was perfect timing. She'll be getting us the brochures and walking us through the application process. Isn't that great?
One thing I've noticed: when you start making a step in the right direction, you set certain processes in motion, and things - whatever is helpful to achieve your desired outcome - start to fall in place. Lots of writers and motivational speakers describe this phenomenon as "the laws of the universe" conspiring to help you.
It is like the parable of the growing seed in Mark 4:26-28. "A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain - first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head."
But the man first had to do the work of scattering the seed. Likewise, it is only when I'm finally willing to do the work of making that first tough (or simple) decision that I will start the chain reaction to allow other good things to come into my life.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
An Inspiring Speech from a Civil Servant
My aunt in the States forwarded this by email today, and it's too good not to pass on.
Very rarely does a civil servant publicly confess her faith, much less one so senior. Perhaps she was placed where she is "for such a time as this". I am encouraged and inspired by PS (PSD)'s faith, courage and candour.
SPEECH AT HER WORLD WOMAN OF THE YEAR 2006 GALA DINNER, 6 MAR 07
Minister Vivian Balakrishnan
My Dear Family, Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen
1. Thank you for being here to share this evening with Esther and me. Thank you Simon for your very kindwords. And thank you Her World and the Judging Panel for giving me this honour.
2. This award came as a complete surprise to me. Sometime in early January, Simon told me that Her World would like to give me this award and asked if I would accept it. My first question to Simon was “Why me?”
Simon mentioned my contribution to the community through my book on my journey when my elder son, Samuel, was battling cancer about 2 years ago. I told Simon that I was very honoured and flattered by the award but there are so many other women out there who have gone or are going through even much more difficult trials than I had.
To be honest, I was concerned because when Simon mentioned the award, the first two words that came to my mind were “vanity” and“pride”. I wanted to be sure that if I do accept the award, I would do it for the right reason, certainly not for vanity and pride. I told Simon that I would need to pray about it.
3. That night, I asked my family members to help pray for me. Sam said “Mom, so long as you are unsure, don’t accept it.” I told him that I was unsure because of my concern that I was doing it for my vanity and pride. Yet I also know that if I accept the award, it would a wonderful opportunity for me to share with others God’s love for us, and to thank God for all He has done and is continuing to do in my life. Sam said he would pray for me. The next morning, he asked why I would want to accept the award. I repeated what I told him the night before. Sam then said “Go for it, Mom”.
4. Two weeks after I told Simon that I would accept the award, we found out that Sam has a relapse. His cancer has returned but we thank God that the tumouris localized, at the old place, in his thymus gland. Sam had a surgery about a month ago to remove the tumour but unfortunately not all could be removed. Sam is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment andfurther down the road, will be having a stem cell transplant using stem cells from Russell, his younger brother. My husband and both my sons, whom I am very proud of, are here with me tonight.
5. As a Christian, I am taught to “be joyful always; to pray continually; to give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will” for me (1 Ths 16-18). I am also taught not to be “anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, (to) present our requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Ph 4:6-7)
6. Indeed, notwithstanding Sam’s recent relapse, Godhas granted my family and I much peace. Sam himself is very much at peace, still living life normally and we are greatly encouraged by that. We have learned that when we trust and obey God and do His will, He will give us many reasons to be thankful for. Yes, even with our new trial, our new journey of faith, there is much my family and I are thankful for.
7. And this award tonight has given me the opportunity to reflect on the many blessings in my life and for thanksgiving.
8. God knows my strengths for He is the one who has blessed me with them. He also knows where I am lacking and ensures that I am well supported there.
I have a husband who besides being the handyman in the house, happily does the grocery shopping – I know nothing about where to get the value for money stuff – he does. I have a younger sister who lives with my family and is like a surrogate mother to my sons whenever I or my husband are away. I have a faithful and reliable domestic help who has chosen to work with my family for the past 18 years.
I am deeply thankful that I have a large but close knit extended family who is always there to love, laugh and cry with me. I feel very blessed to have friends, some of whom are here tonight, who will stay with me through thick and thin, where at times no word need to be spoken for their presence is comfort enough.
9. I have been very blessed in my career as well, not just in the kinds of challenges and opportunities Ihave been exposed to, but in the relationships that have been formed over time. I am very thankful for the many good bosses, mentors and colleagues in my life, many of whom have become firm friends. If not for their care, compassion and unstinting support when my son fell ill 2 years ago, and even now, I would have found it almost impossible to work.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan was my Minister in 2004 and when he heard about Sam’s illness, he went out of his way to support me, giving me time to take care of Sam and even offering me the use of his office in the Singapore National Eye Centre should I need a place to rest or work whenever I accompany Sam to the National Cancer Centre for his treatment. I thank God that he was my Minister at that point in time. God has truly been taking very good care of me.
10. Throughout my life, I have taken on and am still taking on many roles. But one thing is clear. I am no superwoman and I don’t believe in superwomen nor for that matter, supermen. I think it will be impossible for anyone to play all his or her multiple roles equally well. For me, I have a simple philosophy. What I can’t do well or can’t do at all, I outsource. When my sons were very young and looking at picture books, they would point to the lady in the kitchen and say “Aunty Lina”, my maid, never “mummy”. When the Her World team wanted to shoot the video of me, they had suggested that one scene be of me in the kitchen preparing meals. You should hear the hysterical laughter in my home when I shared this with my family.
11. But of all my roles, the one that I treasure most is that of being a mother so I thank the Judging Panel that in deciding to give me this award tonight, they have recognized my role as a mother.
12. Motherhood has given me the deepest pain yet the greatest joy; the most tears yet the most laughs; humility yet pride. And most of all, it has allowed me to get to know my God so much more, beginning with Sam’s battle against cancer in September 2004. So I thank God for giving me this opportunity to be amother to my 2 wonderful boys.
13. There is a story in the Bible about a man who before going on his journey, entrusted his 3 servants with his money. To one, he gave 5 talents of his money, to another 2 talents and to the last, one talent, each according to his ability. When he returned, the one who was given 5 talents said he had put them to good use and gained the master another 5. So also the one who was given 2 talents; he gained 2 more but the one who was given one talent, simply hid the money as he was afraid of losing it.
When the master returned, this last servant thought his master would be happy. But his master was furious because he has not made good use of the talent that was given tohim. The master expected him to be a steward, not a mere custodian of his talent.
14. So likewise, God has given us gifts and resources according to our abilities and expect us to invest them wisely. We are responsible for ensuring that we grow well whatever we have been put in charge of.
15. I have been in the Civil Service for some 26 years. I love what I do and I am very proud to be a member of the Singapore Civil Service. I used to tell my colleagues that as civil servants, we are custodians of the public funds that have been entrusted to us but I am wrong. Like the Biblical story that I have just shared with you, we are to be more than custodians, especially if we are at senior positions – we are to be stewards, with a responsibility to protect, nurture and growing what has been entrusted to us.
16. When I first became a Christian about 9 years ago, one of the first things I learned was that we are all God’s children. My sons are also God’s children. My husband and I are but only stewards of our boys, looking after them on God’s behalf. I pray often that we have been good stewards of our children. I think we are not doing too badly because I know my boys are walking right with God. And I know that so long as they walk right with God, they will multiply the blessings God has given them and bless others in turn.
17. Whether as a career woman or a mother or any other role that I have taken on, I pray regularly that I will be a blessing rather than a burden to whoever God has put me in touch with each day of my life. My God has given me much. And as the Bible says, from anyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. (Luke 12:48) I pray I will do justice to this award you have given me.
18. Thank you once again for this honour. I have been conferred this award but I think this award is for all the women who are blessed with the faith, the peace, the strength and the tenacity to overcome whatever adversity they may face.
God Bless All of you!
Very rarely does a civil servant publicly confess her faith, much less one so senior. Perhaps she was placed where she is "for such a time as this". I am encouraged and inspired by PS (PSD)'s faith, courage and candour.
SPEECH AT HER WORLD WOMAN OF THE YEAR 2006 GALA DINNER, 6 MAR 07
Minister Vivian Balakrishnan
My Dear Family, Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen
1. Thank you for being here to share this evening with Esther and me. Thank you Simon for your very kindwords. And thank you Her World and the Judging Panel for giving me this honour.
2. This award came as a complete surprise to me. Sometime in early January, Simon told me that Her World would like to give me this award and asked if I would accept it. My first question to Simon was “Why me?”
Simon mentioned my contribution to the community through my book on my journey when my elder son, Samuel, was battling cancer about 2 years ago. I told Simon that I was very honoured and flattered by the award but there are so many other women out there who have gone or are going through even much more difficult trials than I had.
To be honest, I was concerned because when Simon mentioned the award, the first two words that came to my mind were “vanity” and“pride”. I wanted to be sure that if I do accept the award, I would do it for the right reason, certainly not for vanity and pride. I told Simon that I would need to pray about it.
3. That night, I asked my family members to help pray for me. Sam said “Mom, so long as you are unsure, don’t accept it.” I told him that I was unsure because of my concern that I was doing it for my vanity and pride. Yet I also know that if I accept the award, it would a wonderful opportunity for me to share with others God’s love for us, and to thank God for all He has done and is continuing to do in my life. Sam said he would pray for me. The next morning, he asked why I would want to accept the award. I repeated what I told him the night before. Sam then said “Go for it, Mom”.
4. Two weeks after I told Simon that I would accept the award, we found out that Sam has a relapse. His cancer has returned but we thank God that the tumouris localized, at the old place, in his thymus gland. Sam had a surgery about a month ago to remove the tumour but unfortunately not all could be removed. Sam is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment andfurther down the road, will be having a stem cell transplant using stem cells from Russell, his younger brother. My husband and both my sons, whom I am very proud of, are here with me tonight.
5. As a Christian, I am taught to “be joyful always; to pray continually; to give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will” for me (1 Ths 16-18). I am also taught not to be “anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, (to) present our requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Ph 4:6-7)
6. Indeed, notwithstanding Sam’s recent relapse, Godhas granted my family and I much peace. Sam himself is very much at peace, still living life normally and we are greatly encouraged by that. We have learned that when we trust and obey God and do His will, He will give us many reasons to be thankful for. Yes, even with our new trial, our new journey of faith, there is much my family and I are thankful for.
7. And this award tonight has given me the opportunity to reflect on the many blessings in my life and for thanksgiving.
8. God knows my strengths for He is the one who has blessed me with them. He also knows where I am lacking and ensures that I am well supported there.
I have a husband who besides being the handyman in the house, happily does the grocery shopping – I know nothing about where to get the value for money stuff – he does. I have a younger sister who lives with my family and is like a surrogate mother to my sons whenever I or my husband are away. I have a faithful and reliable domestic help who has chosen to work with my family for the past 18 years.
I am deeply thankful that I have a large but close knit extended family who is always there to love, laugh and cry with me. I feel very blessed to have friends, some of whom are here tonight, who will stay with me through thick and thin, where at times no word need to be spoken for their presence is comfort enough.
9. I have been very blessed in my career as well, not just in the kinds of challenges and opportunities Ihave been exposed to, but in the relationships that have been formed over time. I am very thankful for the many good bosses, mentors and colleagues in my life, many of whom have become firm friends. If not for their care, compassion and unstinting support when my son fell ill 2 years ago, and even now, I would have found it almost impossible to work.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan was my Minister in 2004 and when he heard about Sam’s illness, he went out of his way to support me, giving me time to take care of Sam and even offering me the use of his office in the Singapore National Eye Centre should I need a place to rest or work whenever I accompany Sam to the National Cancer Centre for his treatment. I thank God that he was my Minister at that point in time. God has truly been taking very good care of me.
10. Throughout my life, I have taken on and am still taking on many roles. But one thing is clear. I am no superwoman and I don’t believe in superwomen nor for that matter, supermen. I think it will be impossible for anyone to play all his or her multiple roles equally well. For me, I have a simple philosophy. What I can’t do well or can’t do at all, I outsource. When my sons were very young and looking at picture books, they would point to the lady in the kitchen and say “Aunty Lina”, my maid, never “mummy”. When the Her World team wanted to shoot the video of me, they had suggested that one scene be of me in the kitchen preparing meals. You should hear the hysterical laughter in my home when I shared this with my family.
11. But of all my roles, the one that I treasure most is that of being a mother so I thank the Judging Panel that in deciding to give me this award tonight, they have recognized my role as a mother.
12. Motherhood has given me the deepest pain yet the greatest joy; the most tears yet the most laughs; humility yet pride. And most of all, it has allowed me to get to know my God so much more, beginning with Sam’s battle against cancer in September 2004. So I thank God for giving me this opportunity to be amother to my 2 wonderful boys.
13. There is a story in the Bible about a man who before going on his journey, entrusted his 3 servants with his money. To one, he gave 5 talents of his money, to another 2 talents and to the last, one talent, each according to his ability. When he returned, the one who was given 5 talents said he had put them to good use and gained the master another 5. So also the one who was given 2 talents; he gained 2 more but the one who was given one talent, simply hid the money as he was afraid of losing it.
When the master returned, this last servant thought his master would be happy. But his master was furious because he has not made good use of the talent that was given tohim. The master expected him to be a steward, not a mere custodian of his talent.
14. So likewise, God has given us gifts and resources according to our abilities and expect us to invest them wisely. We are responsible for ensuring that we grow well whatever we have been put in charge of.
15. I have been in the Civil Service for some 26 years. I love what I do and I am very proud to be a member of the Singapore Civil Service. I used to tell my colleagues that as civil servants, we are custodians of the public funds that have been entrusted to us but I am wrong. Like the Biblical story that I have just shared with you, we are to be more than custodians, especially if we are at senior positions – we are to be stewards, with a responsibility to protect, nurture and growing what has been entrusted to us.
16. When I first became a Christian about 9 years ago, one of the first things I learned was that we are all God’s children. My sons are also God’s children. My husband and I are but only stewards of our boys, looking after them on God’s behalf. I pray often that we have been good stewards of our children. I think we are not doing too badly because I know my boys are walking right with God. And I know that so long as they walk right with God, they will multiply the blessings God has given them and bless others in turn.
17. Whether as a career woman or a mother or any other role that I have taken on, I pray regularly that I will be a blessing rather than a burden to whoever God has put me in touch with each day of my life. My God has given me much. And as the Bible says, from anyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. (Luke 12:48) I pray I will do justice to this award you have given me.
18. Thank you once again for this honour. I have been conferred this award but I think this award is for all the women who are blessed with the faith, the peace, the strength and the tenacity to overcome whatever adversity they may face.
God Bless All of you!
Thursday, March 15, 2007
On Wealth and Giving
WEALTH
Hardly anyone wants to be poor; most people would like to be rich. Wealth brings power, standing in the community, increased leisure and freedom from worry-so it is thought.
Not surprisingly, in the richest part of the world many Christians are preaching a “prosperity gospel”-that faithfulness to Jesus will lead to personal wealth.
Tragically, this distorted message is now taking root in some of the poorest countries of the world. Is wealth a sign of God’s blessing? Is money the main measure of wealth? Why does money “talk”? Does the Bible endorse wealth, promote it or exclude it? How are we to respond in spirit and action? Our souls hang on our answers to these questions.
Wealth as Power
Principalities and powers form an invisible background to our life in this world. One of those powers is money. Mammon, as it is sometimes called, comes from an Aramaic word, amen, which means firmness or stability. It is not surprising that a common English phrase is “the almighty dollar.”
As an alternative god, mammon inspires devotion, induces guilt, claims to give us security and seems omnipresent-a godlike thing (Foster, p. 28). It is invested with spiritual power that can enslave us, replacing single-minded love for God and neighbor with buying-selling relationships in which even the soul can be bought (Rev. 18:11-13). So money, wicked “mammon” (Luke 16:9 KJV), is a form or appearance of another power (Ephes. 1:21; Ellul, pp. 76-77, 81, 93). “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7). Joseph, the righteous and Jesus are sold (Amos 2:6).
Money is not the only form of wealth, and not the first one named in Scripture. In ancient societies of Old Testament times, real wealth was associated with land. Even today in many Third World countries, land is the only permanent possession. Crops, cattle and houses could be destroyed by calamity, but the land will remain. So will the family.
In God’s threefold promise to the descendants of Abraham (presence of God, peoplehood and a place to belong), the land figures prominently. Poised on the edge of Canaan, Israel was promised a good land to gain wealth. “Remember the Lord your God . . . gives you the ability to produce wealth” (Deut. 8:18).
Land belonged to God but was trusted to families.When the land had been mortgaged or sold to pay debts, the Jubilee year (Leviticus 25) was the instrument of returning land to the original families.
How this applies to Christians today is a sensitive question. The meaning of “in the land” to Israel has now been encompassed by the phrase “in Christ” through which both Jews and Gentiles become joint heirs (Ephes. 3:6). This includes economic sharing and justice but does not literally mean a common piece of geography (see Stewardship). So we are already seeing that Scripture appears to be ambiguous on this subject.
There are two voices of Scripture: one blessing the rich, the other cursing; one declaring that wealth is a sign of God’s redemptive love to make us flourish on earth, the other declaring that wicked mammon (Luke 16:9), usually gained at the expense of the poor, is an alternative god (see Money). We need to look at each of these in turn.
Wealth as Blessing
The idea that wealth is a sign of God’s blessing(Deut. 30:9; Proverbs 22:4) is illustrated by the lives of Abraham, Job and Solomon.
In contrast to those who praised the Lord because they were rich (Zech. 11:5) but were soon to be judged, it is noteworthy that each of these exemplars depended on God rather than their wealth (Genesis 13:8-18; Job 1:21).
The wise person in Proverbs is essentially a better-off person with servants-equivalent to our modern household machines;-- neither fabulously wealthy nor living in grinding poverty.Some wealth is a good thing; too much or too little would be alienating from God (Proverbs 30:9).
So the wise person prays, “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread” (Proverbs 30:8).The prosperity gospel now being preached worldwide is not satisfied with a comfortable existence or merely praying for our daily bread.
We can critique it on at least three grounds. First, it encourages perverted motives: focusing on profitability. Second, it misinterprets God’s deepest concerns for us: material well-being rather than total well-being. Third, it misinterprets God’s promises to Israel as immediately applicable to Christians without being fulfilled and transfigured in Christ (compare 1 Tim. 6:3-10).
Nevertheless, the Old Testament clearly presents wealth as a means of God’s grace.
Wealth as Sacrament
The Old Testament affirms that God is the true owner, proprietor and giver of wealth (1 Samuel 2:7-8; Proverbs 3:16; Eccles. 5:19; Hosea 2:8). We are merely stewards (Proverbs 3:9). But the fact that God gives wealth, indiscriminately it seems, produces what Jacques Ellul calls “the scandal of wealth.” God sometimes gives wealth to the wicked (Job 21:7-21; Psalm 73:12-13).
Why would God do this if wealth were a sign of being blessed?
Contrary to the common argument that wealth is the result of “our hard-earned labor” or “our faithfulness,” the Old Testament takes a more sacramental view.
Wealth is a free gift of God, a sign of God’s grace given generously and without merit.
Further, wealth points to the final consummation when our wealth will be taken into the Holy City (Isaiah 60:3; Rev. 21:24-26; see Ellul, p. 66).
It is a gross and dangerous oversimplification to say the Old Testament endorses wealth as the blessing of God and the New Testament proclaims it is a curse.
Wealth as Temptation
Even the Old Testament warns that the pursuit of wealth for its own sake is vain and harmful, leading to self-destructive autonomy (Psalm 49:6-7; Proverbs 23:4-5; Proverbs 28:20; Proverbs 30:8-9; Hosea 12:8).
Proverbs 10:15, for example, “The wealth of the rich is their fortified city,” is illuminated by Proverbs 18:11, “They imagine it an unscalable wall.” Wealth is an illusionary security. Wealth will not satisfy (Psalm 49:6-7; Eccles. 5:10).
Several points need to be made here.
First, no one is made right with God (justified) by the fair acquisition of wealth (Proverbs 13:11) or by dispersing it on behalf of the poor. In the absence of a “principle” or “doctrine” about money, we are called to find our justification not in our use of money but in our relationship to God. We are accepted by faith through grace.
Second, instead of becoming stewards of wealth for the benefit of the poor (Proverbs 31:5, 8-9), we are tempted to use what wealth we have to dominate others (Amos 2:6)-a subject taken up by John Chrysostom in his sermons on Luke 16. Just as the brothers of Joseph enjoyed their fine meal and did not “grieve over the ruin of Joseph” (Amos 6:6; Genesis 37:25), very few wealthy people have been able to resist becoming desensitized to the poor.
Third, especially reprehensible is yielding to the temptation to enlist God’s Word to serve our lust for wealth (2 Kings 5:20-27; Micah 3:11), to “baptize” greed, a matter symbolized in the commercialized temple which Jesus cleansed.
When we turn to the New Testament we discover that “Jesus Christ strips wealth of the sacramental character that we have recognized in the Old Testament” (Matthew 6:24; Luke 6:30; Luke 12:33; Ellul, p. 70).
The rich fool trusts in his barns and investments and is not ready to meet God, nor is known by God. The rich already have their comfort (Luke 6:24); they have nothing to look forward to.The rich young man must give everything away and follow Jesus. True wealth is not the accumulation of houses, farms, jewels and money but something more.
Though these passages seem to argue for an antiwealth New Testament ethic, it is not that simple. Jesus affirmed the extravagant and wasteful display of love when the woman poured perfume on him head: “She has done a beautiful thing to me” (Mark 14:1-11). And Jesus himself accepted the generous financial support of women with means (Luke 8:3). How are we to resolve this tension?
Heavenly Wealth
Unquestionably many of Jesus’ negative statements about the rich and the wealthy are addressed to the spiritual malady fed by material abundance.
“Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15; compare James 5:1-6).
As an alternative god wealth must be repudiated, if necessary by giving it all away (compare Luke 16:13).Ultimate security and blessing cannot be found in the accumulation of things (compare Matthew 6:19).
At this point Scripture gives us a harmonious, though disturbing, single message. Possessions are solely and simply a matter of stewardship, not ownership, and this life’s assets are to be used with a heavenly orientation.
What are these heavenly treasures, and how do they relate to everyday wealth, or the lack of it?
We gain an important paradigmatic perspective on this question from the Old Testament.
There the inheritance received by Israel through the promise was a threefold blessing:a. the presence of God (“I will be with you”),b. the people (“you will be my people; I will be your God”) andc. a place to belong (“the land will be yours”).
As noted above, what we are given “in Christ” more than fulfills the promises made to Abraham and his descendants.God is with us in an empowering way through the Spirit. What greater treasure can there be than to belong to God and be known by him?
In Christ we experience peoplehood, a new family with hundreds of brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, children and lands (Matthew 19:29; Mark 10:29-30; see Church-Family).
The promise of a place is fulfilled doubly: first in true fellowship here on earth through a full sharing of life with other believers, and second in the place which Christ has prepared for us (John 14:2) in the new heaven and new earth, the city of God (Hebrews 11:13-16).Presence, peoplehood and a place-these are true wealth for the Christian.Money in the bank, ownership certificates of bonds and title deeds to properties are only an optional extra to this wealth.
But what are we to do with the temporal wealth God has entrusted to us?
Stewards of Wealth
Stewardship is much more than giving money to the church or to charities.
It is caring for God’s creation, managing God’s household, bringing God’s justice.
Old Testament social legislation pointed to the coming (and present) kingdom of God with principles that were economically gracious: the provision for the gleaning of the poor by not harvesting everything one could (Ruth); the provision of the sabbath for the land and for indebted people; the cancellation of debts with Israelites and resident aliens in the seventh year-thus stressing neighbor love (Deut. 15:1-6); the command to lend without interest to one’s neighbor (Deut. 15:7-11); the release of Israelite slaves on the seventh year (Deut. 15:12-18); the provision of Jubilee, by which the hopelessly indebted could start again (Leviticus 25); the command that kings and leaders must not enrich themselves by that leadership but should live simply as brother-leaders (Deut. 17:16-20).
While these commands are not to be slavishly followed under the circumstances of the new covenant, they reflect a minimum standard for economic life for people “in Christ.”
Christian stewardship cares for the earth, releases debts, empowers the poor, brings dignity to the marginalized and equalizes opportunity. But there is also direct giving.
Probably no other single factor indicates our true spirituality more than what we do with the wealth we have and in what spirit we share it.
Christian giving is marked by hilarity (Luke 6:38; 2 Cor. 9:7) that takes us beyond a calculated tithe and reflects the generosity of God.
The Lord might well ask in this area as in others, “What more do you do than the pagans who know not God? And why?”
First, we are to invest primarily in people, especially the poor. The only treasure we can take from this life to the next is the relationships we have made through Jesus (Luke 16:9). The treasures in heaven are relationships that have been formed through the gracious use of money, the investment of the things of this life in a world without end, often in the context of everyday work.
Second, we are to give wisely and carefully. It was John Wesley who advised: “Gain all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”But the giving must take us beyond merely relieving the symptoms of people’s distress through giving alms.
Almsgiving may be a perversion of giving, because, as Ellul (p. 112) shows, it binds the recipient in an obligatory relationship, demands gratitude and does not usually address the reasons behind the person’s poverty.
So individuals and churches should invest in people and causes grappling with the systemic powers that hold people in bondage to a cycle of poverty.
There may be no greater area of discernment needed for the Christian in everyday life than to decide when, where and how to give money away.
Third, some form of voluntary impoverishment is required of all followers of Jesus.It is not sufficient to say, as many do, “The rich young ruler was a special case” (see Matthew 19:16-30).
We are all in need of profaning the false god of Mammon and relativizing wealth in this life as something less than full treasure in heaven.There are several dimensions of voluntary impoverishment.We start by relinquishing ownership to God.We practice continuous thanksgiving, which is the only way to become content whatever our circumstances (Phil. 4:12-13).
We should pay our taxes with a generous heart, knowing that some of this is being used to provide services and care for the poor and disadvantaged.We should give directly to the poor with no strings attached as personally as possible (Luke 16:9; Stevens, pp. 159-65).
We should give to God’s global work (2 Cor. 8-9).
Finally we should be ready, if so commanded by Christ, to sell all. Christian people do not have a monopoly on giving, any more than they have a monopoly on gifts of teaching and administration or showing mercy. What makes giving a spiritual ministry, as Paul notes in Romans 12:7-8, is an extra anointing that God gives to people who are harmonizing themselves with God’s Spirit.
Then those who show mercy do it “cheerfully,” and those contributing to the needs of others “generously.” Throughout the New Testament it is the interiority of the matter that is emphasized: freedom from manipulation and covetousness, motivated by true love for God and neighbor. As Jacques Ellul notes, “Ultimately, we follow what we have loved most intensely either into eternity or into death” (Matthew 6:21; Ellul, p. 83).
Article By R Paul Stevens
Originally published in The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity by Robert Banks and R. Paul Stevens.
©1997 by Robert Banks and R. Paul Stevens.
Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515, USA.
www.ivpress.com
References and Resources
1. J. M. Bassler, Asking for Money in the New Testament (Nashville: Abingdon, 1991);
2. J. Chrysostom, On Wealth and Poverty, trans. C. P. Roth (Crestwood, N.Y.: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1984);
3. J. Ellul, Money and Power, trans. L. Neff (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1984);
4. R. Foster, Money, Sex and Power (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985);
5. D. J. Hall, Stewardship of Life in the Kingdom of Death (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988);
6. J. C. Haughey, The Holy Use of Money: Personal Finances in the Light of the Christian Faith (New York: Doubleday, 1986);
7. L. T. Johnson, Sharing Possessions: Mandate and Symbol of Faith (London: SCM Press, 1981);
8. R. J. Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger (Dallas: Word, 1990);
9. R. P. Stevens, Disciplines of the Hungry Heart (Wheaton, Ill: Harold Shaw, 1993);
10. C. J. H. Wright, God’s People in God’s Land: Family, Land and Property in the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990).
Hardly anyone wants to be poor; most people would like to be rich. Wealth brings power, standing in the community, increased leisure and freedom from worry-so it is thought.
Not surprisingly, in the richest part of the world many Christians are preaching a “prosperity gospel”-that faithfulness to Jesus will lead to personal wealth.
Tragically, this distorted message is now taking root in some of the poorest countries of the world. Is wealth a sign of God’s blessing? Is money the main measure of wealth? Why does money “talk”? Does the Bible endorse wealth, promote it or exclude it? How are we to respond in spirit and action? Our souls hang on our answers to these questions.
Wealth as Power
Principalities and powers form an invisible background to our life in this world. One of those powers is money. Mammon, as it is sometimes called, comes from an Aramaic word, amen, which means firmness or stability. It is not surprising that a common English phrase is “the almighty dollar.”
As an alternative god, mammon inspires devotion, induces guilt, claims to give us security and seems omnipresent-a godlike thing (Foster, p. 28). It is invested with spiritual power that can enslave us, replacing single-minded love for God and neighbor with buying-selling relationships in which even the soul can be bought (Rev. 18:11-13). So money, wicked “mammon” (Luke 16:9 KJV), is a form or appearance of another power (Ephes. 1:21; Ellul, pp. 76-77, 81, 93). “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7). Joseph, the righteous and Jesus are sold (Amos 2:6).
Money is not the only form of wealth, and not the first one named in Scripture. In ancient societies of Old Testament times, real wealth was associated with land. Even today in many Third World countries, land is the only permanent possession. Crops, cattle and houses could be destroyed by calamity, but the land will remain. So will the family.
In God’s threefold promise to the descendants of Abraham (presence of God, peoplehood and a place to belong), the land figures prominently. Poised on the edge of Canaan, Israel was promised a good land to gain wealth. “Remember the Lord your God . . . gives you the ability to produce wealth” (Deut. 8:18).
Land belonged to God but was trusted to families.When the land had been mortgaged or sold to pay debts, the Jubilee year (Leviticus 25) was the instrument of returning land to the original families.
How this applies to Christians today is a sensitive question. The meaning of “in the land” to Israel has now been encompassed by the phrase “in Christ” through which both Jews and Gentiles become joint heirs (Ephes. 3:6). This includes economic sharing and justice but does not literally mean a common piece of geography (see Stewardship). So we are already seeing that Scripture appears to be ambiguous on this subject.
There are two voices of Scripture: one blessing the rich, the other cursing; one declaring that wealth is a sign of God’s redemptive love to make us flourish on earth, the other declaring that wicked mammon (Luke 16:9), usually gained at the expense of the poor, is an alternative god (see Money). We need to look at each of these in turn.
Wealth as Blessing
The idea that wealth is a sign of God’s blessing(Deut. 30:9; Proverbs 22:4) is illustrated by the lives of Abraham, Job and Solomon.
In contrast to those who praised the Lord because they were rich (Zech. 11:5) but were soon to be judged, it is noteworthy that each of these exemplars depended on God rather than their wealth (Genesis 13:8-18; Job 1:21).
The wise person in Proverbs is essentially a better-off person with servants-equivalent to our modern household machines;-- neither fabulously wealthy nor living in grinding poverty.Some wealth is a good thing; too much or too little would be alienating from God (Proverbs 30:9).
So the wise person prays, “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread” (Proverbs 30:8).The prosperity gospel now being preached worldwide is not satisfied with a comfortable existence or merely praying for our daily bread.
We can critique it on at least three grounds. First, it encourages perverted motives: focusing on profitability. Second, it misinterprets God’s deepest concerns for us: material well-being rather than total well-being. Third, it misinterprets God’s promises to Israel as immediately applicable to Christians without being fulfilled and transfigured in Christ (compare 1 Tim. 6:3-10).
Nevertheless, the Old Testament clearly presents wealth as a means of God’s grace.
Wealth as Sacrament
The Old Testament affirms that God is the true owner, proprietor and giver of wealth (1 Samuel 2:7-8; Proverbs 3:16; Eccles. 5:19; Hosea 2:8). We are merely stewards (Proverbs 3:9). But the fact that God gives wealth, indiscriminately it seems, produces what Jacques Ellul calls “the scandal of wealth.” God sometimes gives wealth to the wicked (Job 21:7-21; Psalm 73:12-13).
Why would God do this if wealth were a sign of being blessed?
Contrary to the common argument that wealth is the result of “our hard-earned labor” or “our faithfulness,” the Old Testament takes a more sacramental view.
Wealth is a free gift of God, a sign of God’s grace given generously and without merit.
Further, wealth points to the final consummation when our wealth will be taken into the Holy City (Isaiah 60:3; Rev. 21:24-26; see Ellul, p. 66).
It is a gross and dangerous oversimplification to say the Old Testament endorses wealth as the blessing of God and the New Testament proclaims it is a curse.
Wealth as Temptation
Even the Old Testament warns that the pursuit of wealth for its own sake is vain and harmful, leading to self-destructive autonomy (Psalm 49:6-7; Proverbs 23:4-5; Proverbs 28:20; Proverbs 30:8-9; Hosea 12:8).
Proverbs 10:15, for example, “The wealth of the rich is their fortified city,” is illuminated by Proverbs 18:11, “They imagine it an unscalable wall.” Wealth is an illusionary security. Wealth will not satisfy (Psalm 49:6-7; Eccles. 5:10).
Several points need to be made here.
First, no one is made right with God (justified) by the fair acquisition of wealth (Proverbs 13:11) or by dispersing it on behalf of the poor. In the absence of a “principle” or “doctrine” about money, we are called to find our justification not in our use of money but in our relationship to God. We are accepted by faith through grace.
Second, instead of becoming stewards of wealth for the benefit of the poor (Proverbs 31:5, 8-9), we are tempted to use what wealth we have to dominate others (Amos 2:6)-a subject taken up by John Chrysostom in his sermons on Luke 16. Just as the brothers of Joseph enjoyed their fine meal and did not “grieve over the ruin of Joseph” (Amos 6:6; Genesis 37:25), very few wealthy people have been able to resist becoming desensitized to the poor.
Third, especially reprehensible is yielding to the temptation to enlist God’s Word to serve our lust for wealth (2 Kings 5:20-27; Micah 3:11), to “baptize” greed, a matter symbolized in the commercialized temple which Jesus cleansed.
When we turn to the New Testament we discover that “Jesus Christ strips wealth of the sacramental character that we have recognized in the Old Testament” (Matthew 6:24; Luke 6:30; Luke 12:33; Ellul, p. 70).
The rich fool trusts in his barns and investments and is not ready to meet God, nor is known by God. The rich already have their comfort (Luke 6:24); they have nothing to look forward to.The rich young man must give everything away and follow Jesus. True wealth is not the accumulation of houses, farms, jewels and money but something more.
Though these passages seem to argue for an antiwealth New Testament ethic, it is not that simple. Jesus affirmed the extravagant and wasteful display of love when the woman poured perfume on him head: “She has done a beautiful thing to me” (Mark 14:1-11). And Jesus himself accepted the generous financial support of women with means (Luke 8:3). How are we to resolve this tension?
Heavenly Wealth
Unquestionably many of Jesus’ negative statements about the rich and the wealthy are addressed to the spiritual malady fed by material abundance.
“Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15; compare James 5:1-6).
As an alternative god wealth must be repudiated, if necessary by giving it all away (compare Luke 16:13).Ultimate security and blessing cannot be found in the accumulation of things (compare Matthew 6:19).
At this point Scripture gives us a harmonious, though disturbing, single message. Possessions are solely and simply a matter of stewardship, not ownership, and this life’s assets are to be used with a heavenly orientation.
What are these heavenly treasures, and how do they relate to everyday wealth, or the lack of it?
We gain an important paradigmatic perspective on this question from the Old Testament.
There the inheritance received by Israel through the promise was a threefold blessing:a. the presence of God (“I will be with you”),b. the people (“you will be my people; I will be your God”) andc. a place to belong (“the land will be yours”).
As noted above, what we are given “in Christ” more than fulfills the promises made to Abraham and his descendants.God is with us in an empowering way through the Spirit. What greater treasure can there be than to belong to God and be known by him?
In Christ we experience peoplehood, a new family with hundreds of brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, children and lands (Matthew 19:29; Mark 10:29-30; see Church-Family).
The promise of a place is fulfilled doubly: first in true fellowship here on earth through a full sharing of life with other believers, and second in the place which Christ has prepared for us (John 14:2) in the new heaven and new earth, the city of God (Hebrews 11:13-16).Presence, peoplehood and a place-these are true wealth for the Christian.Money in the bank, ownership certificates of bonds and title deeds to properties are only an optional extra to this wealth.
But what are we to do with the temporal wealth God has entrusted to us?
Stewards of Wealth
Stewardship is much more than giving money to the church or to charities.
It is caring for God’s creation, managing God’s household, bringing God’s justice.
Old Testament social legislation pointed to the coming (and present) kingdom of God with principles that were economically gracious: the provision for the gleaning of the poor by not harvesting everything one could (Ruth); the provision of the sabbath for the land and for indebted people; the cancellation of debts with Israelites and resident aliens in the seventh year-thus stressing neighbor love (Deut. 15:1-6); the command to lend without interest to one’s neighbor (Deut. 15:7-11); the release of Israelite slaves on the seventh year (Deut. 15:12-18); the provision of Jubilee, by which the hopelessly indebted could start again (Leviticus 25); the command that kings and leaders must not enrich themselves by that leadership but should live simply as brother-leaders (Deut. 17:16-20).
While these commands are not to be slavishly followed under the circumstances of the new covenant, they reflect a minimum standard for economic life for people “in Christ.”
Christian stewardship cares for the earth, releases debts, empowers the poor, brings dignity to the marginalized and equalizes opportunity. But there is also direct giving.
Probably no other single factor indicates our true spirituality more than what we do with the wealth we have and in what spirit we share it.
Christian giving is marked by hilarity (Luke 6:38; 2 Cor. 9:7) that takes us beyond a calculated tithe and reflects the generosity of God.
The Lord might well ask in this area as in others, “What more do you do than the pagans who know not God? And why?”
First, we are to invest primarily in people, especially the poor. The only treasure we can take from this life to the next is the relationships we have made through Jesus (Luke 16:9). The treasures in heaven are relationships that have been formed through the gracious use of money, the investment of the things of this life in a world without end, often in the context of everyday work.
Second, we are to give wisely and carefully. It was John Wesley who advised: “Gain all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”But the giving must take us beyond merely relieving the symptoms of people’s distress through giving alms.
Almsgiving may be a perversion of giving, because, as Ellul (p. 112) shows, it binds the recipient in an obligatory relationship, demands gratitude and does not usually address the reasons behind the person’s poverty.
So individuals and churches should invest in people and causes grappling with the systemic powers that hold people in bondage to a cycle of poverty.
There may be no greater area of discernment needed for the Christian in everyday life than to decide when, where and how to give money away.
Third, some form of voluntary impoverishment is required of all followers of Jesus.It is not sufficient to say, as many do, “The rich young ruler was a special case” (see Matthew 19:16-30).
We are all in need of profaning the false god of Mammon and relativizing wealth in this life as something less than full treasure in heaven.There are several dimensions of voluntary impoverishment.We start by relinquishing ownership to God.We practice continuous thanksgiving, which is the only way to become content whatever our circumstances (Phil. 4:12-13).
We should pay our taxes with a generous heart, knowing that some of this is being used to provide services and care for the poor and disadvantaged.We should give directly to the poor with no strings attached as personally as possible (Luke 16:9; Stevens, pp. 159-65).
We should give to God’s global work (2 Cor. 8-9).
Finally we should be ready, if so commanded by Christ, to sell all. Christian people do not have a monopoly on giving, any more than they have a monopoly on gifts of teaching and administration or showing mercy. What makes giving a spiritual ministry, as Paul notes in Romans 12:7-8, is an extra anointing that God gives to people who are harmonizing themselves with God’s Spirit.
Then those who show mercy do it “cheerfully,” and those contributing to the needs of others “generously.” Throughout the New Testament it is the interiority of the matter that is emphasized: freedom from manipulation and covetousness, motivated by true love for God and neighbor. As Jacques Ellul notes, “Ultimately, we follow what we have loved most intensely either into eternity or into death” (Matthew 6:21; Ellul, p. 83).
Article By R Paul Stevens
Originally published in The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity by Robert Banks and R. Paul Stevens.
©1997 by Robert Banks and R. Paul Stevens.
Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515, USA.
www.ivpress.com
References and Resources
1. J. M. Bassler, Asking for Money in the New Testament (Nashville: Abingdon, 1991);
2. J. Chrysostom, On Wealth and Poverty, trans. C. P. Roth (Crestwood, N.Y.: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1984);
3. J. Ellul, Money and Power, trans. L. Neff (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1984);
4. R. Foster, Money, Sex and Power (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985);
5. D. J. Hall, Stewardship of Life in the Kingdom of Death (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988);
6. J. C. Haughey, The Holy Use of Money: Personal Finances in the Light of the Christian Faith (New York: Doubleday, 1986);
7. L. T. Johnson, Sharing Possessions: Mandate and Symbol of Faith (London: SCM Press, 1981);
8. R. J. Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger (Dallas: Word, 1990);
9. R. P. Stevens, Disciplines of the Hungry Heart (Wheaton, Ill: Harold Shaw, 1993);
10. C. J. H. Wright, God’s People in God’s Land: Family, Land and Property in the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990).
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
When You're a Prisoner of Yourself
Found the perfect description of what happens when we allow a personal flaw or struggle to so dominate our lives that we think everyone else sees us the same way as our inner critic.
This is an excerpt from an interview in Good Weekend (Mar 3, 2007). The subject shares about his sexuality crisis and how he tried to keep it a secret for fear of how others would view him. What's remarkable is that the conclusion he came to could very well apply to our own thorns in the flesh. Replace references to homosexuality with your own particular challenge and see what I mean.
========================================================
I've learned since then that the true torture of the closet is that you are at heart a prisoner of yourself: of how you see yourself, and how you imagine others will see you. Homophobia plays a large role, and to that extent it keeps you locked away. The problem is that you eventually see hatred even where it doesn't exist, and become a victim of something you are only guessing is waiting to harm you.
For the duration of the shoot, life felt good nearly all of the time, even with the limitations my heart and mind were placing on it. As the film came to an end, I could look at my life and imagine it as a party, with everyone gathered to celebrate my success. If I excused my secret from the room, asked it to stand outside, I could look around at the gathering that remained and be grateful that I had come so far and built such remarkable friendships. Then I'd invite my secret back inside, and realise that the only person in the room who still hadn't worked out how to like me, was me.
This is an excerpt from an interview in Good Weekend (Mar 3, 2007). The subject shares about his sexuality crisis and how he tried to keep it a secret for fear of how others would view him. What's remarkable is that the conclusion he came to could very well apply to our own thorns in the flesh. Replace references to homosexuality with your own particular challenge and see what I mean.
========================================================
I've learned since then that the true torture of the closet is that you are at heart a prisoner of yourself: of how you see yourself, and how you imagine others will see you. Homophobia plays a large role, and to that extent it keeps you locked away. The problem is that you eventually see hatred even where it doesn't exist, and become a victim of something you are only guessing is waiting to harm you.
For the duration of the shoot, life felt good nearly all of the time, even with the limitations my heart and mind were placing on it. As the film came to an end, I could look at my life and imagine it as a party, with everyone gathered to celebrate my success. If I excused my secret from the room, asked it to stand outside, I could look around at the gathering that remained and be grateful that I had come so far and built such remarkable friendships. Then I'd invite my secret back inside, and realise that the only person in the room who still hadn't worked out how to like me, was me.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Time Management vs Self Management
Are you someone who makes lists of all the things you need to do? At the end of the day when you review your list, are you disappointed because you haven't accomplished as much as you would have liked? Does this sound familiar to you?
We hear a lot about time management and how we need to organise ourselves and manage our time more effectively. In order to regulate our time, new ways of thinking and being need to be developed. Our attitudes and beliefs need to be identified and at times altered in order to make beneficial changes. We need to develop self management strategies. When we manage ourselves better we tend to be less overwhelmed, more productive and happier.
There are various models for time management. One is making daily and/or weekly lists, then prioritising which items are the most important and tending to those first. Of course the challenge is that is if you don't like some of the tasks, you probably tend to avoid doing them. (I know this strategy intimately.) It also does not account for all of the complications which arise nowadays on the job. Emails, voice mails, urgent requests which must be dealt with immediately, or conference calls; modern technology has made our lives easier and more complicated at the same time. We are generally expected to do more in less time and with less support.
Steven Covey in his book, First Things First breaks tasks down into 4 quadrants:
§ Urgent and Important,
§ Not Urgent and Important,
§ Urgent and Not Important, and
§ Not Urgent and Not Important.
There is a great deal of value in this model and certainly gets one thinking about how to define the many things one has to do. The difficulty is that important projects can become urgent if one has procrastinated and that isn't necessarily a helpful way to operate. It would also be relevant to identify what is important to you and spend time doing that as well, because it might never become urgent. For example, your family may be very important to you, but you frequently miss your child's school or sporting events. Or your partner wants to spend more time with you, but somehow you don't make it happen. It's important, but not urgent. The other concern is when do unimportant things get tended to.
So how can we get things done in ways which are more productive and less stressful? David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, states that it is not about managing time, but rather about managing our actions. What would it be like for you to fully dedicate 100% of your attention to whatever task was present, of your own choosing with no distraction?
Allen says it is possible to get things done with minimal effort in both your personal and professional life while staying relaxed. Athletes describe it as being in the "zone". His strategy is to first get you thinking. What is something you want to accomplish? What outcome do you want to achieve and what is the very next action you need to do in order to move your project forward? Try this exercise and notice if there were any changes in your mood and perspective.
In addition, Allen has identified a five-stage method for managing workflow. These are described as:
§ Collect things that command our attention
§ Process what they mean and what to do about them
§ Organise the results
§ Review options for what we identify as needing to do
§ Do
This way of looking at things seems reasonable and many of us probably do something which resembles this. However, difficulties arise if there is a breakdown in any of the stages and ultimately it leads to what we choose to do or not do.
Allen's model for choosing actions in the moment includes the following:
Context - Does it require a particular location (office, home) and what tools are required (computer, phone, etc.) Time Available - When do you have to do something else? If you have a conference call in 15 minutes, then there are many things you won't be able to do.
Energy Available - Evaluate how much energy you have in the moment. Some tasks may require more physical energy, while others need creative energy
Priority - Given your context, time and energy what action will give you the biggest payoff? You are at your office and you have 30 minutes before a meeting and your energy level is low. View this as an opportunity to rely on your intuition to determine what to do next. Perhaps reading your emails or proofreading a report is the most you can manage.
We need to think about our work before we do it. Planning for it, as well as paying attention to what we are thinking and feeling leads to greater productivity with less effort. What better way to then have the time to do more of what we really enjoy!
Copyright © 2006 by Gail Solish. All rights reserved.
Gail Solish, MSW, RSW provides Executive/Personal coaching to managers, directors and executives focused on workplace development and relationship management.
Claim your FREE e-course "Unleash Your Potential and Increase Productivity and Fulfillment" at www.ActualizeYourGoals.com.
We hear a lot about time management and how we need to organise ourselves and manage our time more effectively. In order to regulate our time, new ways of thinking and being need to be developed. Our attitudes and beliefs need to be identified and at times altered in order to make beneficial changes. We need to develop self management strategies. When we manage ourselves better we tend to be less overwhelmed, more productive and happier.
There are various models for time management. One is making daily and/or weekly lists, then prioritising which items are the most important and tending to those first. Of course the challenge is that is if you don't like some of the tasks, you probably tend to avoid doing them. (I know this strategy intimately.) It also does not account for all of the complications which arise nowadays on the job. Emails, voice mails, urgent requests which must be dealt with immediately, or conference calls; modern technology has made our lives easier and more complicated at the same time. We are generally expected to do more in less time and with less support.
Steven Covey in his book, First Things First breaks tasks down into 4 quadrants:
§ Urgent and Important,
§ Not Urgent and Important,
§ Urgent and Not Important, and
§ Not Urgent and Not Important.
There is a great deal of value in this model and certainly gets one thinking about how to define the many things one has to do. The difficulty is that important projects can become urgent if one has procrastinated and that isn't necessarily a helpful way to operate. It would also be relevant to identify what is important to you and spend time doing that as well, because it might never become urgent. For example, your family may be very important to you, but you frequently miss your child's school or sporting events. Or your partner wants to spend more time with you, but somehow you don't make it happen. It's important, but not urgent. The other concern is when do unimportant things get tended to.
So how can we get things done in ways which are more productive and less stressful? David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, states that it is not about managing time, but rather about managing our actions. What would it be like for you to fully dedicate 100% of your attention to whatever task was present, of your own choosing with no distraction?
Allen says it is possible to get things done with minimal effort in both your personal and professional life while staying relaxed. Athletes describe it as being in the "zone". His strategy is to first get you thinking. What is something you want to accomplish? What outcome do you want to achieve and what is the very next action you need to do in order to move your project forward? Try this exercise and notice if there were any changes in your mood and perspective.
In addition, Allen has identified a five-stage method for managing workflow. These are described as:
§ Collect things that command our attention
§ Process what they mean and what to do about them
§ Organise the results
§ Review options for what we identify as needing to do
§ Do
This way of looking at things seems reasonable and many of us probably do something which resembles this. However, difficulties arise if there is a breakdown in any of the stages and ultimately it leads to what we choose to do or not do.
Allen's model for choosing actions in the moment includes the following:
Context - Does it require a particular location (office, home) and what tools are required (computer, phone, etc.) Time Available - When do you have to do something else? If you have a conference call in 15 minutes, then there are many things you won't be able to do.
Energy Available - Evaluate how much energy you have in the moment. Some tasks may require more physical energy, while others need creative energy
Priority - Given your context, time and energy what action will give you the biggest payoff? You are at your office and you have 30 minutes before a meeting and your energy level is low. View this as an opportunity to rely on your intuition to determine what to do next. Perhaps reading your emails or proofreading a report is the most you can manage.
We need to think about our work before we do it. Planning for it, as well as paying attention to what we are thinking and feeling leads to greater productivity with less effort. What better way to then have the time to do more of what we really enjoy!
Copyright © 2006 by Gail Solish. All rights reserved.
Gail Solish, MSW, RSW provides Executive/Personal coaching to managers, directors and executives focused on workplace development and relationship management.
Claim your FREE e-course "Unleash Your Potential and Increase Productivity and Fulfillment" at www.ActualizeYourGoals.com.
Monday, March 12, 2007
The Biggest Loser
This reality TV show is currently screening 7 pm weeknights on Channel Ten. Weight-challenged contestants (the lightest of whom weighed in at 109 kg at the start of the show) compete to see who can lose the most kilos and take home $250k.
Here's what our congregation was invited to consider in the lead up to Easter:
"So what challenge have you taken up as you make your preparation for the Easter events? Is there some deliberate sacrifice you have made as a means of marking your preparation? Perhaps you could determine to go and visit someone you know who is lonely or hard to love. Maybe you could do some baking for someone who is frail and living alone. What about spending some deliberate time at a designated hour of the day when you will pray, read and reflect on the meaning of your faith. And of course, you could decide to stop being so busy for a while so that you can discover what you have given up because of your constant activity.
...Australia's biggest losers are not those who are able to shed many kilograms, which is good for the physical well being. The biggest losers today are those who fail to appreciate the positive blessings which flow from spiritual discipline.
Whatever your situation, decide to do something to make your life, your heart and your soul ready for the surprising benefits of spending time with God."
Here's what our congregation was invited to consider in the lead up to Easter:
"So what challenge have you taken up as you make your preparation for the Easter events? Is there some deliberate sacrifice you have made as a means of marking your preparation? Perhaps you could determine to go and visit someone you know who is lonely or hard to love. Maybe you could do some baking for someone who is frail and living alone. What about spending some deliberate time at a designated hour of the day when you will pray, read and reflect on the meaning of your faith. And of course, you could decide to stop being so busy for a while so that you can discover what you have given up because of your constant activity.
...Australia's biggest losers are not those who are able to shed many kilograms, which is good for the physical well being. The biggest losers today are those who fail to appreciate the positive blessings which flow from spiritual discipline.
Whatever your situation, decide to do something to make your life, your heart and your soul ready for the surprising benefits of spending time with God."
Lenten Reflections
From the HXUCA bulletin
A LENTEN PRAYER
I thank you God for the sacrifices made on my behalf by Jesus Christ.
Help me during this time of Lent to be deliberate in spending time in your presence so that I may come to a point of more fully appreciating your sacrifice for the world.
Give me the strength to give something up - a habit, an excess, something that you have been reminding me of.
Amen.
Reflections
I have to be deliberate, determined, and disciplined in spending time with God. This means effort and persistence, not just wanting and wishing.
It means engaging in the daily self-talk that acknowledges my weaknesses (wanting to sleep just a few minutes more, thinking "Maybe I'll do this tomorrow") and chooses what's right over what's comfortable.
It's allowing the head to rule the heart, or the body for that matter.
It's putting my personal comfort and love of ease on the scales against the enormous sacrifice God made by sending Jesus to the cross for me - why me? - weak, unholy, inconsiderate, self-absorbed, cowardly, lazy, timid, conflicted me.
What have I done to deserve this sacrifice?
And what have I done in response to this sacrifice?
May I be awed and humbled by the meaning of Good Friday and Easter Sunday a little more each year.
A LENTEN PRAYER
I thank you God for the sacrifices made on my behalf by Jesus Christ.
Help me during this time of Lent to be deliberate in spending time in your presence so that I may come to a point of more fully appreciating your sacrifice for the world.
Give me the strength to give something up - a habit, an excess, something that you have been reminding me of.
Amen.
Reflections
I have to be deliberate, determined, and disciplined in spending time with God. This means effort and persistence, not just wanting and wishing.
It means engaging in the daily self-talk that acknowledges my weaknesses (wanting to sleep just a few minutes more, thinking "Maybe I'll do this tomorrow") and chooses what's right over what's comfortable.
It's allowing the head to rule the heart, or the body for that matter.
It's putting my personal comfort and love of ease on the scales against the enormous sacrifice God made by sending Jesus to the cross for me - why me? - weak, unholy, inconsiderate, self-absorbed, cowardly, lazy, timid, conflicted me.
What have I done to deserve this sacrifice?
And what have I done in response to this sacrifice?
May I be awed and humbled by the meaning of Good Friday and Easter Sunday a little more each year.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Take Personal Responsibility
From Kim Fulcher's Compass Life Designs Newsletter
Serena:
I've been following Kim Fulcher's newsletter for 2 months or so and find her writing immensely helpful. She's just started a series of articles on personal effectiveness, a topic that's close to my heart, and this is the first of them. It's on taking responsibility for our circumstances, something we know at the head level but sometimes find difficult to practise. It's easier to whine and point the finger at someone or something other than ourselves, because that means we don't need to do anything about it! But if we make a lifelong habit of doing so, we're just allowing ourselves to stay stuck. Ultimately, we have to ask ourselves if that's worth it.
Principle Number One:
Embrace Personal Responsibility
No one is responsible for your life circumstances except you. Yes, people and events may impact you in ways you cannot control, but ultimately you are the only person who can decide what you do with the experiences you’ve had, the dreams you aspire to, and the actions you take each day.
To be responsible quite literally means that you are “able to respond” to the events of your life. This ability to take in the present conditions of your life at any given time and to decide if those circumstances are working for you or not is always present. You always retain the power to take action and to change circumstances that aren’t measuring up to your standards.
One of the most debilitating, yet common, challenges I work with clients to overcome is what I refer to as a victim mentality. Perhaps you’ve had a difficult childhood and that has anchored you in a self-defeating cycle of feeling powerless and devalued. It’s possible that your heart was broken by an ex-lover who betrayed you or by a malicious co-worker who contributed to your being fired. In fact, it’s probable that you’ve been on the short end of the stick at least once in your life.
Don’t let these isolated experiences take away your power! It’s time to get real and to think logically for a moment. Most of us had difficult childhood experiences. In fact, I’ve never met an individual who came from a stereotypically “functional” family. I’m not sure there is any such thing. Yet this experience doesn’t keep effective people stuck in the past.
Most of us have had our hearts broken or been on the receiving end of less than optimal treatment in the workplace. Yet, the great majority of us have survived. In fact, you have too! Don’t allow your victim story to rob you of the life you deserve to live. Whatever your story is, let it go.
Effective people don’t live in the past. They’ve learned from the past. Then they’ve let it go. They live each day in the present, with their eye on the future they wish to create. When something bad happens, they take in the facts, invest themselves in their power, and take responsibility to address the situation in a way that compliments the life they want to live.
You are so powerful! Don’t give your power to the past—to people who have hurt you or to the experiences that undermined your self-confidence. Step into the full magnificence of who you are, investing yourself in the belief that you can handle anything that comes your way. Then take responsibility to handle it.
Until Next Week…Kim
Serena:
I've been following Kim Fulcher's newsletter for 2 months or so and find her writing immensely helpful. She's just started a series of articles on personal effectiveness, a topic that's close to my heart, and this is the first of them. It's on taking responsibility for our circumstances, something we know at the head level but sometimes find difficult to practise. It's easier to whine and point the finger at someone or something other than ourselves, because that means we don't need to do anything about it! But if we make a lifelong habit of doing so, we're just allowing ourselves to stay stuck. Ultimately, we have to ask ourselves if that's worth it.
Principle Number One:
Embrace Personal Responsibility
No one is responsible for your life circumstances except you. Yes, people and events may impact you in ways you cannot control, but ultimately you are the only person who can decide what you do with the experiences you’ve had, the dreams you aspire to, and the actions you take each day.
To be responsible quite literally means that you are “able to respond” to the events of your life. This ability to take in the present conditions of your life at any given time and to decide if those circumstances are working for you or not is always present. You always retain the power to take action and to change circumstances that aren’t measuring up to your standards.
One of the most debilitating, yet common, challenges I work with clients to overcome is what I refer to as a victim mentality. Perhaps you’ve had a difficult childhood and that has anchored you in a self-defeating cycle of feeling powerless and devalued. It’s possible that your heart was broken by an ex-lover who betrayed you or by a malicious co-worker who contributed to your being fired. In fact, it’s probable that you’ve been on the short end of the stick at least once in your life.
Don’t let these isolated experiences take away your power! It’s time to get real and to think logically for a moment. Most of us had difficult childhood experiences. In fact, I’ve never met an individual who came from a stereotypically “functional” family. I’m not sure there is any such thing. Yet this experience doesn’t keep effective people stuck in the past.
Most of us have had our hearts broken or been on the receiving end of less than optimal treatment in the workplace. Yet, the great majority of us have survived. In fact, you have too! Don’t allow your victim story to rob you of the life you deserve to live. Whatever your story is, let it go.
Effective people don’t live in the past. They’ve learned from the past. Then they’ve let it go. They live each day in the present, with their eye on the future they wish to create. When something bad happens, they take in the facts, invest themselves in their power, and take responsibility to address the situation in a way that compliments the life they want to live.
You are so powerful! Don’t give your power to the past—to people who have hurt you or to the experiences that undermined your self-confidence. Step into the full magnificence of who you are, investing yourself in the belief that you can handle anything that comes your way. Then take responsibility to handle it.
Until Next Week…Kim
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
The PDCA Cycle
Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)
Implementing new ideas in a controlled way
Also known as the PDCA Cycle, or Deming Cycle
From MindTools.com
Something needs to change: Something's wrong, and needs to be fixed, and you've worked hard to create a credible vision of where you want it to be in future. But are you 100% sure that you're right? And are you absolutely certain that your solution will work perfectly, in every way? Where the consequences of getting things wrong are significant, it often makes sense to run a well-crafted pilot project. That way if the pilot doesn't deliver the results you expected, you get the chance to fix and improve things before you fully commit your reputation and resources.
So how do you make sure that you get this right, not just this time but every time? The solution is to have a process that you follow when you need to make a change or solve a problem, a process that will ensure you plan, test and incorporate feedback before you commit to implementation.
A popular tool for doing just this is the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle. This is often referred to as the Deming Cycle or the Deming Wheel after its exponent, W Edwards Deming. Deming is best known as a pioneer of the quality management approach and for introducing statistical process control techniques for manufacturing to the Japanese, who used them with great success. He believed that a key source of production quality lay in having clearly defined, repeatable processes. And so the PDCA Cycle as an approach to change and problem solving is very much at the heart of Deming’s quality-driven philosophy.
The four phases in the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle involve:
Plan: Identifying and analyzing the problem;
Do: Developing and testing a potential solution;
Check: Measuring how effective the test solution was, and analyzing whether it could be improved in any way; and
Act: Implementing the improved solution fully.
These are shown in Figure 1 below.
There can be any number of iterations of the “Do” and “Check” phases, as the solution is refined, retested, re-refined and retested again.
How to Use the Tool
The PDCA Cycle encourages you to be methodical in your approach to problem solving and implementing solutions. Follow the steps below every time to ensure you get the highest quality solution possible.
Step 1: Plan
First, identify exactly what your problem is. You may find it useful to use tools like Drill Down, Cause and Effect Diagrams, and the 5 Whys to help you really get to the root of it. Once you’ve done this, it may be appropriate for you to map the process that is at the root of the problemNext, draw together any other information you need that will help you start sketching out solutions.
Step 2: Do
This phase involves several activities:
Generate possible solutions;
Select the best of these solutions, perhaps using techniques like Impact Analysis to scrutinize them; and
Implement a pilot project on a small scale basis, with a small group, or in a limited geographical area, or using some other trial design appropriate to the nature of your problem, product or initiative.
Our section on Practical Creativity includes several tools that can help you generate ideas and solutions. Our section on Decision Making includes a number of tools that will help you to choose in a scientific and dispassionate way between the various potential solutions you generate.
Note:
The phrase “Plan Do Check Act” or PDCA is easy to remember, but it’s important you are quite clear exactly what “Do” means. “”Do” means “Try” or “Test”. It does not mean “Implement fully.” Full implementation happens in the “Act” phase.
Step 3: Check
In this phase, you measure how effective the pilot solution has been, and gather together any learnings from it that could make it even better. Depending on the success of the pilot, the number of areas for improvement you have identified, and the scope of the whole initiative, you may decide to repeat the “Do” and “Check” phases, incorporating your additional improvements. Once you are finally satisfied that the costs would outweigh the benefits of repeating the Do-Check sub-cycle any more, you can move on to the final phase.
Step 4: Act
Now you implement your solution fully. However, your use of the PDCA Cycle doesn’t necessarily stop there. If you are using the PDCA or Deming Wheel as part of a continuous improvement initiative, you need to loop back to the Plan Phase (Step 1), and seek out further areas for improvement.
When to use the Deming Cycle
The Deming Cycle provides a useful, controlled problem solving process. It is particularly effective for:
Helping implement Kaizen or Continuous Improvement approaches, when the cycle is repeated again and again as new areas for improvement are sought and solved.
Identifying new solutions and improvement to processes that are repeated frequently. In this situation, you will benefit from extra improvements built in to the process many times over once it is implemented.
Exploring a range of possible new solutions to problems, and trying them out and improving them in a controlled way before selecting one for full implementation.
Avoiding the large scale wastage of resources that comes with full scale implementation of a mediocre or poor solution.
Clearly, use of a Deming Cycle approach is slower and more measured than a straightforward "gung ho" implementation. In true emergency situations, this means that it may not be appropriate (however, it's easy for people to think that situations are more of an emergency than, in reality, they really are...). In non-emergency situations, the Deming Cycle is likely to be quite powerful.
Note:
PDCA is closely related to the Spiral Development Approach which is popular in certain areas of software development, especially where the overall system develops incrementally. Spiral Development repeats loops of the PDCA cycle, as developers identify functionality needed, develop it, test it, implement it, and then go back to identify another sub-system of functionality.
Key points:
The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Cycle provides a simple but effective approach for problem solving and managing change, ensuring that ideas are appropriately tested before committing to full implementation. It can be used in all sorts of environments from new product development through to marketing, or even politics.
It begins with a Planning phase in which the problem is clearly identified and understood. Potential solutions are then generated and tested on a small scale in the “Do” phase, and the outcome of this testing is evaluated during the Check phase. “Do” and “Check” phases can be iterated as many times as is necessary before the full, polished solution is implemented in the “Act” phase.
Implementing new ideas in a controlled way
Also known as the PDCA Cycle, or Deming Cycle
From MindTools.com
Something needs to change: Something's wrong, and needs to be fixed, and you've worked hard to create a credible vision of where you want it to be in future. But are you 100% sure that you're right? And are you absolutely certain that your solution will work perfectly, in every way? Where the consequences of getting things wrong are significant, it often makes sense to run a well-crafted pilot project. That way if the pilot doesn't deliver the results you expected, you get the chance to fix and improve things before you fully commit your reputation and resources.
So how do you make sure that you get this right, not just this time but every time? The solution is to have a process that you follow when you need to make a change or solve a problem, a process that will ensure you plan, test and incorporate feedback before you commit to implementation.
A popular tool for doing just this is the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle. This is often referred to as the Deming Cycle or the Deming Wheel after its exponent, W Edwards Deming. Deming is best known as a pioneer of the quality management approach and for introducing statistical process control techniques for manufacturing to the Japanese, who used them with great success. He believed that a key source of production quality lay in having clearly defined, repeatable processes. And so the PDCA Cycle as an approach to change and problem solving is very much at the heart of Deming’s quality-driven philosophy.
The four phases in the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle involve:
Plan: Identifying and analyzing the problem;
Do: Developing and testing a potential solution;
Check: Measuring how effective the test solution was, and analyzing whether it could be improved in any way; and
Act: Implementing the improved solution fully.
These are shown in Figure 1 below.
There can be any number of iterations of the “Do” and “Check” phases, as the solution is refined, retested, re-refined and retested again.
How to Use the Tool
The PDCA Cycle encourages you to be methodical in your approach to problem solving and implementing solutions. Follow the steps below every time to ensure you get the highest quality solution possible.
Step 1: Plan
First, identify exactly what your problem is. You may find it useful to use tools like Drill Down, Cause and Effect Diagrams, and the 5 Whys to help you really get to the root of it. Once you’ve done this, it may be appropriate for you to map the process that is at the root of the problemNext, draw together any other information you need that will help you start sketching out solutions.
Step 2: Do
This phase involves several activities:
Generate possible solutions;
Select the best of these solutions, perhaps using techniques like Impact Analysis to scrutinize them; and
Implement a pilot project on a small scale basis, with a small group, or in a limited geographical area, or using some other trial design appropriate to the nature of your problem, product or initiative.
Our section on Practical Creativity includes several tools that can help you generate ideas and solutions. Our section on Decision Making includes a number of tools that will help you to choose in a scientific and dispassionate way between the various potential solutions you generate.
Note:
The phrase “Plan Do Check Act” or PDCA is easy to remember, but it’s important you are quite clear exactly what “Do” means. “”Do” means “Try” or “Test”. It does not mean “Implement fully.” Full implementation happens in the “Act” phase.
Step 3: Check
In this phase, you measure how effective the pilot solution has been, and gather together any learnings from it that could make it even better. Depending on the success of the pilot, the number of areas for improvement you have identified, and the scope of the whole initiative, you may decide to repeat the “Do” and “Check” phases, incorporating your additional improvements. Once you are finally satisfied that the costs would outweigh the benefits of repeating the Do-Check sub-cycle any more, you can move on to the final phase.
Step 4: Act
Now you implement your solution fully. However, your use of the PDCA Cycle doesn’t necessarily stop there. If you are using the PDCA or Deming Wheel as part of a continuous improvement initiative, you need to loop back to the Plan Phase (Step 1), and seek out further areas for improvement.
When to use the Deming Cycle
The Deming Cycle provides a useful, controlled problem solving process. It is particularly effective for:
Helping implement Kaizen or Continuous Improvement approaches, when the cycle is repeated again and again as new areas for improvement are sought and solved.
Identifying new solutions and improvement to processes that are repeated frequently. In this situation, you will benefit from extra improvements built in to the process many times over once it is implemented.
Exploring a range of possible new solutions to problems, and trying them out and improving them in a controlled way before selecting one for full implementation.
Avoiding the large scale wastage of resources that comes with full scale implementation of a mediocre or poor solution.
Clearly, use of a Deming Cycle approach is slower and more measured than a straightforward "gung ho" implementation. In true emergency situations, this means that it may not be appropriate (however, it's easy for people to think that situations are more of an emergency than, in reality, they really are...). In non-emergency situations, the Deming Cycle is likely to be quite powerful.
Note:
PDCA is closely related to the Spiral Development Approach which is popular in certain areas of software development, especially where the overall system develops incrementally. Spiral Development repeats loops of the PDCA cycle, as developers identify functionality needed, develop it, test it, implement it, and then go back to identify another sub-system of functionality.
Key points:
The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Cycle provides a simple but effective approach for problem solving and managing change, ensuring that ideas are appropriately tested before committing to full implementation. It can be used in all sorts of environments from new product development through to marketing, or even politics.
It begins with a Planning phase in which the problem is clearly identified and understood. Potential solutions are then generated and tested on a small scale in the “Do” phase, and the outcome of this testing is evaluated during the Check phase. “Do” and “Check” phases can be iterated as many times as is necessary before the full, polished solution is implemented in the “Act” phase.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Onwards and Upwards
At the end of CS Lewis' The Last Battle, the last of the Narnian stories, Reepicheek the mouse urges everyone on as they make their way into the real Narnia (the equivalent of Heaven). "Onwards and upwards!" he cries as he leads the way.
And that, in essence, is how I feel my life is unfolding.
Everytime I get too comfortable and feel that I've finally got my act together, or that my life is finally in balance, God prods me to move on to the next level.
It's a bit like coping with a new baby. Just when I'm congratulating myself that my milk supply has stabilized and Jordanne is feeding/sleeping well, she starts exhibiting new and challenging behaviours. She demands more frequent feeds. She refuses to be by herself. She becomes more wakeful. And so on.
I reckon the point God is trying to get across is that my whole life is a work in progress. There is never any point at which I can truly say "I've arrived" or that I don't need Him anymore. As long as I live, I will be stretched and challenged daily to live my life Onwards and Upwards for His glory.
And that, in essence, is how I feel my life is unfolding.
Everytime I get too comfortable and feel that I've finally got my act together, or that my life is finally in balance, God prods me to move on to the next level.
It's a bit like coping with a new baby. Just when I'm congratulating myself that my milk supply has stabilized and Jordanne is feeding/sleeping well, she starts exhibiting new and challenging behaviours. She demands more frequent feeds. She refuses to be by herself. She becomes more wakeful. And so on.
I reckon the point God is trying to get across is that my whole life is a work in progress. There is never any point at which I can truly say "I've arrived" or that I don't need Him anymore. As long as I live, I will be stretched and challenged daily to live my life Onwards and Upwards for His glory.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)