I had a great time with my exegesis class this morning. We're studying I John, I Peter and James together and I'm trying to teach them how to work with a text exegetically. It's quite a challenge because the class includes women who have only got a year 7 or 8 education through to university educated women, and from those who work in pastoral ministry through to women who haven't really thought about ministry at all. So, not only do I have to be incredibly accessible (while still being challenging enough for those who are totally on-board), but I also have to work at applying different things in different ways, so that everyone feels the relevance of what we are studying.
We're half way through the course now and they handed in their first piece of assessment today, which they've all done well in from what I can see so far. So, I'm feeling good about the course, which I often don't because the lectures are three hours long and by the end of them everyone is exhausted.
But today was fun. They are really getting the hang of finding the main point of the passage in the passage and have started to be comfortable with me asking them to argue their case (rather than wait for me to produce the 'right answer'). And in the process I get to challenge their thinking more, which means that better learning takes place.
Today we were looking at I Peter 5:1-4, and in verse 4 it talks of the 'crown of glory' being a reward for faithful service. One of the women was so uncomfortable with this and thought that really the relationship with God was sufficient. We shouldn't need any other reward or indeed look for any other reward. So, I had the privilege of upsetting her world view by asking her what this verse was doing here and whether Jesus had any reward in mind when he suffered and died for our sins. (And when she didn't think so, upsetting her even further by quoting the passage which speaks of Jesus' attention to the 'joy set before him' in going to the cross. One of the other women was scandalised that such a passage could be in the Bible and strongly disagreed with it!) She's going to take it up with her minister and pastoral team, she told me afterwards....
I'll miss teaching when we go to Oxford. It takes so much energy but it is worthwhile in ways I never expect.
Friday, 30 March 2007
Wednesday, 28 March 2007
List of Things I Am Grateful For...
It is 10am. There are some things which have gone well in my morning. It is important to notice and record them (in case I die before the end of the day). Not that I'm feeling paranoid about today or anything.
Things I am Grateful for:
1. That when I went out to have a blood test this morning, and the nurse taking the blood seemed offended that I had bruises on the inside of my arms (from previous blood tests), and lectured me on this (because clearly it was my fault) - that I didn't take it personally. It's always hard to come back from that if you take it personally and hard to prevent yourself from taking it personally. Particularly in the early pre-coffee part of the morning.
2. That I didn't try to implement all the confusing instructions provided by the nurse about bruising, and came to the realisation fairly quickly that one more bruise wasn't really going to matter that much. If I'd tried to do everything she'd said similtaneously it could have been interesting.
3. That I have a squashy parcel to post. So, when I went to the post office to post a parcel and bought a package for the parcel, after paying for it and the postage, the package promptly shrunk. I have no idea how I'm going to squish the parcel into the package but it is squishy. That is a good thing. If it were structurally incapable of squishy-ness I'd have to go buy another package.
4. That though the post office man couldn't seem to move his lips and had a limited vocabularly, it still was possible to communicate with him, even very slowly. And I wasn't rude to him, even though I really really wanted to be.
5. That it seems rather easy (despite communication issues) to make a passport application appointment, because I am going to need to change this appointment.
6. That I have been allowed to live with Levor as his wife although the certificate proving this is deficient, having been issued by the man who married us and was there on the day we were married, rather than the administrative gatekeepers of QLD, who require as proof of our marriage, my drivers license and passport. Obviously.
7. That although I need to acquire a certificate of marriage to have this passport application appointment, the QLD Department of Births, Deaths and Marriages hasn't closed down. This was my fear while I waited on the phone this morning on hold for 17 minutes while the recording told me over and over again of the Department's opening hours in a crackly voice. I think it's the sheer efficiency of QLD that I miss the most now that I live south of the border.
8. That by paying double the amount of money for this piece of paper I can receive it in a quarter of the time I would normally need to wait, further expiditing the passport application process.
9. That when I was carrying my warm, creamy coffee that I was so looking forward to drinking, and I dropped it, I didn't scald myself and I didn't curse the people who are incapable of buying lids which fit the top of plastic cups properly.
10. That there were two mouthfuls left in the cup after I dropped it and that I had the foresight to drink these mouthfuls immediately in the car park before taking another step.
11. That when I went to the bins to throw the cup out only to find that all the bins were out, that there was not a dead body near where the bins are kept (like there was last August). I wasn't really in the zone to find a dead body this morning.
12. That there was no death or structural damage caused by me this morning. Not to be taken for granted.
Things I am Grateful for:
1. That when I went out to have a blood test this morning, and the nurse taking the blood seemed offended that I had bruises on the inside of my arms (from previous blood tests), and lectured me on this (because clearly it was my fault) - that I didn't take it personally. It's always hard to come back from that if you take it personally and hard to prevent yourself from taking it personally. Particularly in the early pre-coffee part of the morning.
2. That I didn't try to implement all the confusing instructions provided by the nurse about bruising, and came to the realisation fairly quickly that one more bruise wasn't really going to matter that much. If I'd tried to do everything she'd said similtaneously it could have been interesting.
3. That I have a squashy parcel to post. So, when I went to the post office to post a parcel and bought a package for the parcel, after paying for it and the postage, the package promptly shrunk. I have no idea how I'm going to squish the parcel into the package but it is squishy. That is a good thing. If it were structurally incapable of squishy-ness I'd have to go buy another package.
4. That though the post office man couldn't seem to move his lips and had a limited vocabularly, it still was possible to communicate with him, even very slowly. And I wasn't rude to him, even though I really really wanted to be.
5. That it seems rather easy (despite communication issues) to make a passport application appointment, because I am going to need to change this appointment.
6. That I have been allowed to live with Levor as his wife although the certificate proving this is deficient, having been issued by the man who married us and was there on the day we were married, rather than the administrative gatekeepers of QLD, who require as proof of our marriage, my drivers license and passport. Obviously.
7. That although I need to acquire a certificate of marriage to have this passport application appointment, the QLD Department of Births, Deaths and Marriages hasn't closed down. This was my fear while I waited on the phone this morning on hold for 17 minutes while the recording told me over and over again of the Department's opening hours in a crackly voice. I think it's the sheer efficiency of QLD that I miss the most now that I live south of the border.
8. That by paying double the amount of money for this piece of paper I can receive it in a quarter of the time I would normally need to wait, further expiditing the passport application process.
9. That when I was carrying my warm, creamy coffee that I was so looking forward to drinking, and I dropped it, I didn't scald myself and I didn't curse the people who are incapable of buying lids which fit the top of plastic cups properly.
10. That there were two mouthfuls left in the cup after I dropped it and that I had the foresight to drink these mouthfuls immediately in the car park before taking another step.
11. That when I went to the bins to throw the cup out only to find that all the bins were out, that there was not a dead body near where the bins are kept (like there was last August). I wasn't really in the zone to find a dead body this morning.
12. That there was no death or structural damage caused by me this morning. Not to be taken for granted.
Tuesday, 27 March 2007
On Being Weak
There is a saying, originating Levor tells me, from Nietzsche. It goes: "That which does not kill us makes us stronger". It took me years of using this saying and applying it to life to work out that it is wrong. Not only is it wrong, it presents a view of the world which is destructive.
It's wrong because some things are really hard and actually make us weak. When we lose people who give us strength and courage and remind us of who we are, we are made weaker. Merely surviving the loss does not make us stronger. When we go through something really hard, it can make us stronger in some ways and leave us shaken and weak in others. Life is not so simple that everything that hurts us (but doesn't kill us) puts wind in our sails in some way.
And the view of the world it presents is upside down. We don't have value because we are strong. If we are rendered weak by the circumstances in our lives, we aren't less as people. We might feel hollowed out, and we might be able to do less, but life is not about our productivity or our independence. Life is about our relationships and what we give to each other, and we don't need to be strong to love those around us and do good to them.
Nietzsche I believe died of syphilis. Prior to his demise his sister made money from 'showing him' to others - her raving, pitiful brother, who was no stronger from having met a disease which did ultimately kill him. Ironic for a man who despised pity as a weakness.
And those of us who know Jesus, know his goodness is demonstrated by his pity for those of us who are weak and pitiful: that is one of the things we love about him. Not that he makes us strong but lends us his strength and encourages us in our weakness, showing us what love looks like so we can love those around us like this and not despise their weakness. It is a great freedom to be able to confess our weakness and yet have meaning and strength outside of ourselves.
It's wrong because some things are really hard and actually make us weak. When we lose people who give us strength and courage and remind us of who we are, we are made weaker. Merely surviving the loss does not make us stronger. When we go through something really hard, it can make us stronger in some ways and leave us shaken and weak in others. Life is not so simple that everything that hurts us (but doesn't kill us) puts wind in our sails in some way.
And the view of the world it presents is upside down. We don't have value because we are strong. If we are rendered weak by the circumstances in our lives, we aren't less as people. We might feel hollowed out, and we might be able to do less, but life is not about our productivity or our independence. Life is about our relationships and what we give to each other, and we don't need to be strong to love those around us and do good to them.
Nietzsche I believe died of syphilis. Prior to his demise his sister made money from 'showing him' to others - her raving, pitiful brother, who was no stronger from having met a disease which did ultimately kill him. Ironic for a man who despised pity as a weakness.
And those of us who know Jesus, know his goodness is demonstrated by his pity for those of us who are weak and pitiful: that is one of the things we love about him. Not that he makes us strong but lends us his strength and encourages us in our weakness, showing us what love looks like so we can love those around us like this and not despise their weakness. It is a great freedom to be able to confess our weakness and yet have meaning and strength outside of ourselves.
Tuesday, 20 March 2007
More Little People
Here are more of my niece and nephews, being hyperactive. (The niece is growing into the super-energetic thing more slowly...)
Sunday, 18 March 2007
A List
A list means that a blog is the genuine article. Not having a list on this blog has caused hours of introspection and anxiety for this little blog, and as an act of kindness, I its benevolent patron will now provide a list to soothe the sensitive feelings of the blog.
The List
Top Five Things I Like About Church
1. In some strange way I wind up caring about a bunch of people some of whom I really like, but some of whom really annoy me. And yet it really matters to me how they are and how well they are going. I like that because it is certainly not something I could do myself... definitely God at work!
2. Music. I never really sing outside of church and even though I don't always really like the music and sometimes even think it's a bit dreary, I enjoy singing songs about Jesus with other people.
3. Liturgy. I like praying the same prayers each week and out aloud with a group of people. The theology behind the liturgy is first-rate and therefore though they are prayed each week, the prayers are enriching and good to pray. The pattern of thanksgiving and confession, the creeds and the final prayer commending ourselves to God give us all a framework to think about God and respond to him, doing things we might not normally do during the week (even though we should).
4. Good sermons. I've heard a lot of good sermons, which have been well preached and changed me, even when I haven't known it or noticed it particularly. A lot of these have been preached by Levor, who is, it must be said, a great preacher. I could be biased on that point, but I really miss it now that he hardly ever preaches.
5. Bible reading. This can be done badly of course, but when it is done well it really rocks. Especially when we read more passages than we need for just the sermon. It's good to have Bible readings which intersect with what I might be reading or be completely different, and reading them aloud slows us down so we really pay attention.
Top Five Things I Hate About Church
1. Silly petty people. There aren't many but it never fails to amaze me how some people can be so nasty over such meaningless things. I guess you find them everywhere, not just church but it is always especially disappointing to find them at church because we're supposed to be a group of people learning how to love each other. And I walk away from encounters with these kinds of people wondering if they are even interested in trying to learn to love other people.
2. Poorly exegeted, badly delivered, shoddily applied, boring sermons. This is hard because often I get quite angry and spend the time I should be listening deciding how I would do the sermon better. Sometimes a great deal better. The challenge is to still listen and sit under the word rather than stand above it and rearrange it. Because it is still a sermon and I still am responsible to listen and let the word of God sink deeply into my heart. I guess it's one of those tricky temptations to think that because I could preach it better I don't need to listen to it. It's hard to remember that it doesn't work like that. (And its futile to pretend that I couldn't preach it better; there is probably pride there, yeah, but hey, it's true and I'm not going to pretend that I couldn't preach better sermons than some I've heard.)
3. Service leaders who think they are actually stand up comics. They aren't. They should connect with their inner comedian elsewhere.
4. Too much ball-dropping. Some informality is fine. When there is mistake after mistake after mistake, it just gets hard to keep engaging. And when so many of the mistakes could be easily prevented, it's hard to be patient because there is a sense that the people responsible for the mistakes haven't really cared.
5. Technology that doesn't work. I know, computers make it all easier and shinier. And when they don't work, it's worse than using an OHP.
There we have it. Not one list but two, and on the one post! My little blog can now feel actualised.
The List
Top Five Things I Like About Church
1. In some strange way I wind up caring about a bunch of people some of whom I really like, but some of whom really annoy me. And yet it really matters to me how they are and how well they are going. I like that because it is certainly not something I could do myself... definitely God at work!
2. Music. I never really sing outside of church and even though I don't always really like the music and sometimes even think it's a bit dreary, I enjoy singing songs about Jesus with other people.
3. Liturgy. I like praying the same prayers each week and out aloud with a group of people. The theology behind the liturgy is first-rate and therefore though they are prayed each week, the prayers are enriching and good to pray. The pattern of thanksgiving and confession, the creeds and the final prayer commending ourselves to God give us all a framework to think about God and respond to him, doing things we might not normally do during the week (even though we should).
4. Good sermons. I've heard a lot of good sermons, which have been well preached and changed me, even when I haven't known it or noticed it particularly. A lot of these have been preached by Levor, who is, it must be said, a great preacher. I could be biased on that point, but I really miss it now that he hardly ever preaches.
5. Bible reading. This can be done badly of course, but when it is done well it really rocks. Especially when we read more passages than we need for just the sermon. It's good to have Bible readings which intersect with what I might be reading or be completely different, and reading them aloud slows us down so we really pay attention.
Top Five Things I Hate About Church
1. Silly petty people. There aren't many but it never fails to amaze me how some people can be so nasty over such meaningless things. I guess you find them everywhere, not just church but it is always especially disappointing to find them at church because we're supposed to be a group of people learning how to love each other. And I walk away from encounters with these kinds of people wondering if they are even interested in trying to learn to love other people.
2. Poorly exegeted, badly delivered, shoddily applied, boring sermons. This is hard because often I get quite angry and spend the time I should be listening deciding how I would do the sermon better. Sometimes a great deal better. The challenge is to still listen and sit under the word rather than stand above it and rearrange it. Because it is still a sermon and I still am responsible to listen and let the word of God sink deeply into my heart. I guess it's one of those tricky temptations to think that because I could preach it better I don't need to listen to it. It's hard to remember that it doesn't work like that. (And its futile to pretend that I couldn't preach it better; there is probably pride there, yeah, but hey, it's true and I'm not going to pretend that I couldn't preach better sermons than some I've heard.)
3. Service leaders who think they are actually stand up comics. They aren't. They should connect with their inner comedian elsewhere.
4. Too much ball-dropping. Some informality is fine. When there is mistake after mistake after mistake, it just gets hard to keep engaging. And when so many of the mistakes could be easily prevented, it's hard to be patient because there is a sense that the people responsible for the mistakes haven't really cared.
5. Technology that doesn't work. I know, computers make it all easier and shinier. And when they don't work, it's worse than using an OHP.
There we have it. Not one list but two, and on the one post! My little blog can now feel actualised.
Thursday, 15 March 2007
Now we are 12!
12 years goes very quickly and it turns out that on the 4th March, Levor and I had been married for 12 years. Our wedding anniversaries are pretty much always a disaster because one of us gets sick or something, so we know not to try celebrating on the actual date. True to form, I was sick on the 4th, so we celebrated last Sunday and had a most excellent day.
We went to Bundeena and had a picnic on the beach, and then climbed up through the bush to the cliffs which overlook the ocean. And there we sat and watched the waves crash and the wind whip the water and toss the boats. It was good.
Then we went home and rehydrated (it was hot!), and walked over to the park near us where the Sydney Symphony Orchestra was playing for free. It was so hot they had to start an hour late (to preserve the expensive violins from the heat, apparently). We were worried it would be trashy classical music, but it was robust stuff (including the Lark's Ascension by Williams) and they played really well. We sat on the grass and shared cheese and port as the sun set and the air cooled. The ants were pretty happy about the cheese as well, so it was good that we could provide added protein for their diet at the same time.
It's a good surprise to be married for this long. The stats said we'd only make 4 years, so to get this far is humbling and makes me very grateful. And we've lived 2/3rds of our married life in Sydney, which is unexpected. And given we're in our early thirties, we've been married about 1/3rd of our lives, so I expect we are now completely different people to when we were married, having influenced each other for that long. Marriage is such a big thing, in this regard - you really hand yourself over to someone and risk all your emotional space for them, and take on their hurts and triumphs and sorrows and you can't remember where you stop and they start sometimes. I think if I'd realised how big it was 12 years ago I would have been too scared to say 'I do'.
But it still feels like no time at all! So, I'm glad that being married is for a lifetime because even a bit over a decade doesn't feel like long enough. Or maybe I'm just sentimental about Levor, whose company is so enjoyable and who is, on some days the only sane person in the world.
We went to Bundeena and had a picnic on the beach, and then climbed up through the bush to the cliffs which overlook the ocean. And there we sat and watched the waves crash and the wind whip the water and toss the boats. It was good.
Then we went home and rehydrated (it was hot!), and walked over to the park near us where the Sydney Symphony Orchestra was playing for free. It was so hot they had to start an hour late (to preserve the expensive violins from the heat, apparently). We were worried it would be trashy classical music, but it was robust stuff (including the Lark's Ascension by Williams) and they played really well. We sat on the grass and shared cheese and port as the sun set and the air cooled. The ants were pretty happy about the cheese as well, so it was good that we could provide added protein for their diet at the same time.
It's a good surprise to be married for this long. The stats said we'd only make 4 years, so to get this far is humbling and makes me very grateful. And we've lived 2/3rds of our married life in Sydney, which is unexpected. And given we're in our early thirties, we've been married about 1/3rd of our lives, so I expect we are now completely different people to when we were married, having influenced each other for that long. Marriage is such a big thing, in this regard - you really hand yourself over to someone and risk all your emotional space for them, and take on their hurts and triumphs and sorrows and you can't remember where you stop and they start sometimes. I think if I'd realised how big it was 12 years ago I would have been too scared to say 'I do'.
But it still feels like no time at all! So, I'm glad that being married is for a lifetime because even a bit over a decade doesn't feel like long enough. Or maybe I'm just sentimental about Levor, whose company is so enjoyable and who is, on some days the only sane person in the world.
Tuesday, 6 March 2007
Little people
I thought it was time to put some photos of my nephews up here. They like pulling faces and are very talented at this. It seems a shame to waste this talent, so here it is..
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