It wouldn’t be a big deal, but its in the little country town of Donnybrook. Its one of the best kids parks we have been to and the local community have done a great job of getting it up.
Ellie & Sam loved it and it was great to see such a facility in a little place like this. Worth a stop off if you have kids!
I have just started reading ‘The Missional Leader‘ and have found some excellent insights, particularly the emphasis on the fact that ‘if the spirit of God is present then there is hope’.
This quote resonated deeply:
“In these biblical narratives God is constantly present in places where no one would logically expect God’s future to emerge and yet it does over and over. There is nothing in these stories about getting the wrong people off the bus and the right people on to accomplish great ends and become the best organizationin the world. This God who calls us is always calling the wrong people onto a bus that isn’t expected to arrive.”
Missional Leader A. Roxburgh & F Romanuk Pg 18
It flies against the great thinking I read in ‘Good to Great’ and yet it also sounds a lot like God…
When we woke up yesterday morning I could hardly move because there was so much crap everywhere!
But we got the annexe set up and moved the crap in there. Then all was left to do was enjoy a beudifuul Busso day.
We started the day by going op shopping to pick up some of the stuff we realised we didn’t have in the camper eg a toaster… However at our first stop at the SDA shop I happened to notice a familliar purple covered book siting there quietly on the bottom shelf.
Someone had obviously finished with their copy of Transforming Mission by David Bosch and had decided to give it to charity. For $4.00 I was able to buy a book that 3 years ago cost me $49.00 brand new. So now I have 2…
BARGAIN!
I don’t need 2 copies of TM so if you’ve been genuinely hanging to get one but haven’t been able to afford the $$ then let me know and its yours for $4.00 and a few bucks for postage.
From the Op Shops we headed back to More Cafe for lunch. Nice… as always then Simmos for ice cream before home for dinner.
In the evening I met with the crew from Eaton Baptist who are part of our re-imagine program and who have been exploring how their church may look as a missional community. A very encouraging evening!
We left for Busselton at 4pm today – a really dumb time because we ran right into rush hour traffic. But Ellie had her first dance lesson today so we couldn’t miss it. The traffic was so crazy near Perth that we pulled off the freeway and had dinner and then gave it another shot at 6.15…
We have 4 days of Forge work, consults with churches, catching up with friends (including ‘Toddy’ – who comments on here!) and running a processing day for South West churches
We got here an hour ago and set up the camper. My first thoughts are ‘this is a very small space in which to spend 6-9 months…’
Anyway, the family are asleep and I am using my phone as a modem to access the net and check some email.
I’ll let you know how we go in this little adventure!
I guess a lot of our understanding of suburban life actually shows up in our movies and fiction so it’s interesting to look at some of the more memorable Australian films and novels that depict some aspects of suburban life.
I am far from an expert here, but if I were to list a few of my favourites they’d be:
Film
The Castle – This one should go “straight to the pool room” We used to use The Castle as induction training for young American SBC missionaries who came to Oz on short term visits. After arriving here bleary eyed and jet-lagged we’d make them stay up late while we laughed at humour that made absolutely no sense at all to them! Seriously, The Castle is a wonderful movie albeit a caricature of blue collar Australian life. Even down to Bonnydoon as the weekend hideaway… “Ah… the serenity”…
Muriel’s Wedding – This one’s just a bit of a hoot!
TV
Neighbours – would have to be the classic, but I have actually never watched it – and yes I wear that as a badge of honour!
Home & Away – see above
Kath & Kim – ah… now you’re talking! Some might even call this a caricature… but its only funny because we all know people just like the characters in the show! Gotta love the amount of laughs that we can poke at ourselves in this one.
Novels:
Winter Close by Hugh Mackay This is one of my all time favourites as Mackay describes the relationships in an ordinary suburban street. Its a must read if you are genuinely seeking to reflect on suburban life
Cloudstreet by Tim Winton – This Aussie classic is set in the developing suburbs post war and is just a wonderful read. Then again I have heard plenty of people say they thought it to be crap… I am an avid Winton fan though!
So what about others?
What are your favourite Aussie novels, films & TV shows that give us insights into suburban life?
Grendel writes a daring post on the Aussie icon – the chiko roll. He suggests it doesn’t deserve its status as one of our most celebrated fast foods. I have to say he pretty much nailed it!
Jason Clark writes a valuable reflection on how we navigate the waters of new movements of the Holy Spirit with particular reference to the Lakelands experience.
And Sub-text offers some excellent insights into spirituality and mission in suburban contexts. There’s a lot of good stuff there so check it out.
After preaching this morning at a local Church of Christ and then this afternoon at the Sudanese church communication has been on my mind.
This morning was a ‘repeat’ sermon, something I find both easy and difficult – easy because I know it, but difficult because I haven’t had to work it thru as tightly as a new one.
Then this afternoon I had my first time speaking to a group of African people. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I prepared a sermon, but after arriving had that gut feel that I should change it. So with 5 minutes to go I scribbled an outline of a new message and gave it a shake. Seemed to go ok.
So here are some quotes I came across that reflect 3 qualities I reckon are vital in a good communicator, passion, humour, conciseness
Don’t memorize, internalize. – David Brooks
Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent. – Dionysius Of Halicarnassus
Learning is directly proportional to the amount of fun you have. – Robert Pike
Always be shorter than anybody dared to hope. – Lord Reading
Grasp the subject, the words will follow. – Cato the Elder
Once you get people laughing, they’re listening and you can tell them almost anything. – Herbert Gardner
The eloquent man is he who is no beautiful speaker, but who is inwardly and desperately drunk with a certain belief. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. – Carl W. Buechner
Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening. – Dorothy Sarnoff
I reckon if you observe these then chances are people will enjoy whatever you have to say!
I keep getting asked “So you must be leaving soon?”
Next year we are doing a 6-9 month trip around Oz, across to US and then back home again, but it is not till next year!
I guess relative to when I expect to die, next year in April is quite soon… However we are here in Perth for the next 8 months doing business as usual.
So if I look at you odd when you ask that’s why. 8 months does not feel like ‘soon’ to me!
We have often said this in relation to church buildings.
We build our places of worship and then they can so easily exert control over us and even dictate how we live our life of faith. By calling them ‘sanctuaries’ we already give shape to how we will view them. I could give many examples here, but probably the most obvious is that once we have a building of a certain size we feel the need to fill it and to keep on filling it – so we can build a bigger one. This in turn determines how we see our mission and what form our ecclesiology takes. I’m sure there are some exceptions to this rule, but our buildings definitely shape us. For those of us who meet in homes this applies equally but there are different strengths and weaknesses.
So I have been pondering how our suburbs shape us.
I’m sure that the type of buildings we erect and the form of the suburb gives shape to our interactions. Its noticeable that in almost all of today’s homes the primary living areas are at the rear – away from the rest of the world and that these days very little living is done ‘out front’. A second obvious factor is the remote controlled garage door phenomenon. Now almost everyone has a garage with access to the house and no need to be seen at all by the neighbours.
I’m sure this has changed the way we interact in communities. I have noticed that two of the families in our street use their garages as outdoor living areas and they are subtantially more ‘interactive’ with the rest of the street than those who live ‘out the back’.
I remember reading Simon Holt’s book God Next Door and appreciating his observation on the loss of the front porch. Now we have the rear alfresco area in its place. I began to wonder about a social experiment where a group of 4 or 5 families moved into the same street and intentionally built ‘back to front’ houses with living and alfresco areas at the front and where the primary social activity occurred out there. I began to wonder how it might affect the vibe of the street if half of it were built this way.
What do you observe about your own suburb in terms of how its form affects the shaping of its community
