qohelet.

got a few things...

first have a look at this blog entry titled 'one cup, one life' - pretty special.

second, this week I've briefly started to look at the book of Qohelet (aka Ecclesiastes). The book in itself is confusing - however I've only briefly looked at it... So far this theme has stood out to me:

...And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realised this is also striving after the wind. Because in much wisdom there is much grief and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain. (Ecc 1:17-18)

Knowing stuff is hard!

One of mt collegues who's currently in seminary today said that where he comes from there are many broken and bending roads, and you can tell who the drunk drivers are because they drive in a straight line down the roads, whereas the sober drivers follow the broken path.

It was an interesting observation. Can that be applied as a metaphor to life?

fun.

Would more people take the stairs if they were more fun?



nh

truth's?

What are the big truth's in life? and who decides them?

It is often said that we should focus on the big truths that unite us - a statement that I fully endorse, however it becomes problematic when there are disagreements about what those truths are. Something may be a clear big truth to one, yet a small truth to another.

Just a thought...

nh

barak.

Studying the book of Job at the moment.

The word ‘curse’ or ‘cursed’ appears 4 times in the prologue to the book (Chap 1&2).

The Hebrew word used in theses instances is barak which actually means bless.

I wonder what the author was attempting to say.

What is blessing? What is cursing?

“Do you still hold fast to your integrity, curse (or bless) God and die!” - Job’s wife

To be ‘blessed’ are we really cursed? and to be ‘cursed’ are we really blessed?

Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.

...But woe to you who are rich, for you shall be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.
Luke 6:21-22, 24-26

change.

According to a guy by the name of John Marshall Roberts, cultural transformation comes in three ways:

1. By forcing people to change (physical realm): You somehow get control, and then you insist--through regulation or otherwise--that people do what you know to be right. The thing is, once you lose control, the people rebel.
2. By persuading people to change (mental realm): You appeal to the power of reason and get people to support your agenda because it seems rational. The problem here is that someone else comes along and persuades them otherwise. Plus, what we believe with our thoughts isn't what guides our lives.
3. By inspiring people to change (spiritual realm): You appeal to their higher selves and aspirations so that they decide for themselves that they want the change you're after. Then, the transformation becomes a moral compass point.
   

I found these idea's interesting... really interesting.

in the meantime - here's some michael jackson propaganda to look at...

envious.

I was reading about a woman, who had adopted a no-impact lifestyle with her husband for a year and this is what she said in retrospect:

“What I realized was that so many of my rituals were so bad for me (my health), for us (our bank account and all the family time lost to my scurrying off to shop), and for the environment. What I learned from No Impact was that there is a steep cost to supporting all your stuff. To a life devoted to getting and having. In my days of high consumption, I'd been searching for something. It turned out that it was right in my own home.”

You can read the whole article here.

We’ve heard it said many times, that simplicity is important, but here it is in actuality. I’m incredibly envious. Such a life has the ability to recognise the connection that ought to with people, with the stuff in our trolley, the stuff our houses are made of, the stuff in the garden. That is truly inspiring simplicity.

Who wants in?

Check out noimpactproject.org

anger.

I've been doing a lot of reading regarding the omission of some of the 'darker' psalms being omitted from church liturgy. According to Brueggemann these Psalms would be groped as 'Psalms of Disorientation' and would fit within the genre of the lament.

Some of these would be Psalm 58; 83; 88; 109; 21 - there are plenty more.

I like contextualise things... So similarly I found the controversy surrounding Michael Jackson's song 'They Don't Care About Us' very very interesting on a few levels.

You can read about it here .





there's no real train of thought here just a jumble of thoughts really.

peace.

nh

enemy.

Want to talk about loving enemies...

Watch this...



peace.

nh

projections.

watch!

prayers.

A friend sent me a link to the website of a faith community in Canada and I came across a list of prayers that are prayed in the community that went beyond ego and ethnocentricism (not sure if thats a word) yet still son intimatley involved and connected to the individuals and the community.

enjoy.