What a Week!!

My apologies I haven't updated for a while, it's been a busy week.

I was in College four days this week, due to 2 extra days attending the Child Protection Course, which was really good and thorough, but involved alot of thinking and listening to processes and outcomes and some legislation. I felt absolutely exhausted when I got home last night, physically and mentally, but particularly mentally.

It's one thing when you have to listen to case studies, but it's another to think about offenders and how best to approach them in the context of a church fellowship, wanting to be open to all people who want to attend, but also at the same time ensuring the safety and security of your young people and children is the first priority.

I don't think I'll comment further here in detail about what we studied, but suffice it to say it was vitally important, but also slightly disturbing and uncomfortable.

Frustration is spelt 'W.I.R.E.L.E.S.S.''

Today has been my day off. I say 'has been', because it's nearly over, and what have I done all day?!

Messed about and faffed around with compauters laptops and wireless routers...

Suffice it to say that after about 5 hours I've sorted it, but I wish people would make things simple in the computing world.

The problem I had was that because we're with AOL, we received our new wireless router today. (well to be precise we missed a delivery and had to pick it up from R.M. delivery centre in Liscard Village) I plugged it in, switched it on, and typed in all the neccessary codes, etc, and had one problem after the other:

First, the router was on, but it showed no green internet light. (solution: plug in the DSL filter into the upstairs phone socket because thats actually the main one!)

Second, Meg's laptop wouldn't connect wirelessly after several attempts. (solution: switch off and restart laptop, plug in the yellow ethernet cable, get the laptop to 'recognize' the router, then unplug the cable and switch the LAN wireless circuit on, on the laptop!)

Third, my desktop downstairs using a USB wireless adaptor, would recognize the network (i.e. router) but wouldn't connect to it. After various attempts, I rang AOL who informed me it was because the particular adaptor worked with WEP encryption and the router was WPA encryption. (Solution: change the encryption software on the router via the laptop, which will result in the laptop being disconnected from the network!)

Now that encryption is changed, connect my desktop, and also re-connect the laptop, whilst making up my own encryption key so that the network is secure.

It's done, but I wish they'd tell you this stuff in the beginning!!

Support!

Off to my Support Group Day at College with Alison.

Technically I haven't got a Support Group yet, but I'm sure it'll happen soon!

Write later...

Oh Well!!

Today was meant to be a day off, but I have to meet with someone at 2pm, who's preaching in a few weeks time at church.

It's important that I meet with them and unfortunately there's no other option as they only have a certain window of time in which to meet, and I'm in College 4 days next week...

I'd better go and prepare, write again later...

Reflection, Long Words and Quietness!

Today has been a good day. I got quite a bit of reading done for College, I just have to type up my notes now so I can remember it all!

Thursdays are usually a day for planning, because it's when I specifically meet up with Alison for that purpose. We usually look at services that are coming up, and discuss and plan who's doing what, and what the structure and theme of them are, etc. We usually review any information I need to pass on regarding College as well.

We had some good discussions about the nature of 'church', and the fact that what convictions we hold, determine the outcome of how we plan services and how we see 'church'. We discussed meetings we've both had this week, both 'official' and pastoral. I really value the time we have on Thursday mornings, as I'm sure Alison has loads of things she could be doing, but she chooses to give a learning student the time!

It's good to reflect on the week we've both had so far, and to commit our work to God. We both reflected and talked about our roles, and being people who are available, both for people, and for God to speak to. That's not easy when you have a list of things to accomplish and you're aware of 'stuff' you have to get done, but it is really important. All of us, whether we're 'full-time' or not, (in quotes, because technically ALL Christians are full-time for God) need time to stop 'doing', and just 'be'.

In the Psalms, those famous words are uttered:

 Psalm 46:10 (New International Version)

10 "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

It's interesting to note that God infers that he will be exalted no matter what happens in the world, maybe that's why we need to be still before Him! All our scurrying around trying to glorify Him won't affect the outcome of His Glory, that's a given!

It's interesting that in my journey so far, this has been the biggest struggle for me: to stop trying to do things for God, but instead do things from God. What I mean by that is it's hard for me to come straight from a Bookshop Manager's job, where everything was about performance and targets and profit and loss; it's been so hard for me to realise that the one imperative for me as a Minister is going to be to STOP! To stop trying to do things for God, and to just simply give Him time and space in my life to listen to what He's saying. I've a suspicious feeling that being a Minister is not going to be about achieving things, but maybe more about watching things grow and change and observing them.

Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God being like a seed, well technically if you think about it, a seed just needs an environment to grow. Yes, the Farmer can give it the right soil, and water and a place where it gets sunlight, but that's all he does. The rest is up to the seed! The farmer will not influence that seed directly by anything else he does, he cannot make it grow, the rest is up to the seed and God!

Maybe we have too many 'programs' and 'visions' and 'meetings' and 'effort' in the church general, maybe we need to learn more about abiding in God, and resting in Him. Maybe then we would see real change...

Something to ponder more on...

Going Deeper...

I'm finding it interesting how developments in psycho-analysis and psychology in the early twentieth century are being linked with the development of the 'Theology By Heart' method of Theological Reflection.

It's interesting (though I'm not sure whether I agree with it or not) that William James, in his book 'The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature' (1902) wrote this:

'I do believe, that feeling is the deeper source of religion, and that philosophic and theological formulas are secondary products, like translations of a text into another tongue...'

The author in the book I'm reading ('Theological Reflection:Methods' Graham, et al)  points out that certain well known characters of Christian/Church History, (i.e. Augustine and Wesley) seemed to experience learning from God through dialogue with other believers and sometimes themselves, in the form of letters and journals. They reflected on their Theology from what they had written down themselves, not just what they had read in the Bible, and this experience of 'dialogue' changed them as they reflected on it.

I'm not entirely convinced that all of that can be put down to just psychology, that they were 'learning from themselves', but I have known times in my life where I have realised something fresh and new as I looked back on my own writing in a journal or blog, or something I had written to another person, or sermon notes/bible studies I had prepared. I don't neccesarily think that's all just psychology, but I think God can work through anything, even psychology; after all, he made our minds and the ability to reason as our Creator didn't he!

Interesting...

Headaches are good for the soul... (I think?!)

Just catching up on reading I should have done for the first lecture, last Monday.

I'm reading about Methods of Theological Reflection.

You may be asking "what the heck is that?", well basically it's about our practice as Christians informing our Theology. It sounds as if that means practice first, but it's actually a bit more complicated than that. In actual effect, it goes like this: we take part in an action because we believe things, but the very taking part raises questions for us about what we believe. In a way, it's a circle of theory and practice. Theological Reflection then, is the method of reflecting on our practice so that we can question our theology (what we know/believe about God), so that it effects the way we live it out!

Simple, see?!

*sighs*

I wish the book I'm reading at the moment was that simple, academics just LOVE to make things more complicated and go into every single minutae of a model or theory (in this case of Reflection) and then use LOTS of big words to explain and test it out!!

I'm enjoying thinking through all this stuff, but it is giving me a headache!