DARK SIDE OF THE LENS from Astray Films on Vimeo.

One of the things I am most passionate about these days is helping people get clarity on who they are and what they are doing with their life. It actually really disturbs me to see someone scrabbling around aimlessly, or just marking time in life because they simply don’t have any sense of drive or passion.

I don’t get that.

Today at our church community I was teaching on this subject – of living with purpose – running the (unique) race marked out for you, calling people to live from the centre of their identity and be the ‘best you’ possible.

I think I know what this is like and I certainly do know how rich I feel when I reflect on the fact that I get to spend my life doing what I love and people even pay me money for it.

I used this clip as I reckon it just encapsulates so much of what it looks like when a person is fully alive and their soul is shaping their work. I think it is beautiful, poetic and inspiring.

Today we looked at ‘living with purpose’ and in a couple of weeks I will be finishing by looking at how we also live with passion and perseverance. I tend to think that passion flows out of purpose and perseverance is ultimately what sorts those who make a difference from those who simply turned up.

This made me cringe just watching it. Can only imagine doing it…

I remember working with a pastor who used to use that phrase a lot. In what was a tough church situation he would always be telling me that this week we ‘had turned a corner’. Then he’d tell me the same a few weeks later. I eventually realised he was right. We did turn a lot of corners and were pretty much going in circles. I don’t know if he felt that way, but it certainly looked that way to me.

Anyway this is a little more positive in that after a pretty bad tennis elbow injury I think I am on the mend and it looks like that I’ll be able to get thru summer and keep working. Very happy about that…

Its interesting how these challenges cause you to think differently about your world and over the last few weeks I have been considering many options to make the future more viable.

I guess the obvious one is to go back to doing something non-physical ala teaching, but its not one that engenders any passion in me at this stage – and I’ve got to feel some energy for my work or its a waste of time. Then there was the thought of just hiring blokes to do the work – and possibly even expanding and developing the business – all the while losing some control over the quality of the work… Nah… That was never my intention when starting so it would be a reluctant move, but one I would look at if completely stuck.

I have considered buying a dingo and truck and just changing hats altogether, but the capital outlay puts me off and I don’t really want to build a business from scratch again at this point. Perhaps when we are debt free again I might do this but more for the fun of it rather than as a necessity. I like the thought of a new challenge but now just doesn’t feel like the right time.

I have intentionally chosen to keep my business a one man affair with casual help when required. I advertise selectively and try to only take on jobs that I want. Some of my quotes are a tad obscene because I don’t want too much work and some jobs are not worth the effort. Lately I seem to have hit the right marketing balance for getting 3 days a week of work and I’m pretty ok when I have slow weeks as they are opportunities to take it easy or have a short break. Part of the reason I want to keep this current set up is that I get great physical benefit from the hard physical slog and have no need to do any fitness work. Lugging 220 big wet slabs of turf around today was as good a 3 hr workout as you will get anywhere!

It has also been good to have some decent workers to get me thru the last month, and while I haven’t backed off too much in my own intensity, I have been very conscious that everything I do with my right hand hurts. Its only been two weeks of physio though and already the difference is noticeable. I am able to grip things again. My biggest apprehension lately has been shaking hands with someone because that causes some real pain, but I think I’m going to be able to do that again soon!

So hopefully I will be able to strengthen up and make it thru summer with a bit of casual help. And from there hit a steady pace again. I imagine this business will have a life span, but for now I love it and don’t see myself making any big changes… very grateful to be healing up.

It seems the blog has been hit again with some Malware so I’m just testing to see if this gets posted.

As you were 🙂

This is a great article that explores why so many teenagers struggle to form a robust faith. It begins with these words:

(CNN) — If you’re the parent of a Christian teenager, Kenda Creasy Dean has this warning:

Your child is following a “mutant” form of Christianity, and you may be responsible.

Dean says more American teenagers are embracing what she calls “moralistic therapeutic deism.” Translation: It’s a watered-down faith that portrays God as a “divine therapist” whose chief goal is to boost people’s self-esteem.

I remember hearing Campolo one day say that ‘youth is made for heroism and not for pleasure’ and it struck a chord. When we try to offer young people more pleasure we actually work against the inner passions that are forming them, but when we call them to an adventure of faith that involves risk and courage then we begin to form something more substantial within them.

Some quotes from the article:

“Many teenagers thought that God simply wanted them to feel good and do good — what the study’s researchers called “moralistic therapeutic deism.”

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“Some adults don’t expect much from youth pastors. They simply want them to keep their children off drugs and away from premarital sex. Others practice a “gospel of niceness,” where faith is simply doing good and not ruffling feathers. The Christian call to take risks, witness and sacrifice for others is muted, she says. “If teenagers lack an articulate faith, it may be because the faith we show them is too spineless to merit much in the way of conversation,” wrote Dean, a professor of youth and church culture at Princeton Theological Seminary”.

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“Corrie says she sees no shortage of teenagers who want to be inspired and make the world better. But the Christianity some are taught doesn’t inspire them “to change anything that’s broken in the world.” Teens want to be challenged; they want their tough questions taken on, she says. “We think that they want cake, but they actually want steak and potatoes, and we keep giving them cake,” Corrie says.”

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“She says parents who perform one act of radical faith in front of their children convey more than a multitude of sermons and mission trips. A parent’s radical act of faith could involve something as simple as spending a summer in Bolivia working on an agricultural renewal project or turning down a more lucrative job offer to stay at a struggling church, Dean says. But it’s not enough to be radical — parents must explain “this is how Christians live,” she says. “If you don’t say you’re doing it because of your faith, kids are going to say my parents are really nice people,” Dean says. “It doesn’t register that faith is supposed to make you live differently unless parents help their kids connect the dots.”

I reckon the last 8 days have been a quite embarassment for the Australian people as we have been unable to form a government and even now it still looks pretty shaky.

Which leads me to ask ‘is it the system that needs fixing?’

When all of Australia votes and it then ends up all coming down to the goodwill of 3 or 4 independents isn’t that a pretty dodgy system? Perhaps it needs a damn good overhaul.

Now of course it will be interesting to see how strong each parties convictions actually are and what turns out to be up for grabs. To sell out on your (apparent) convictions is going to really look bad for the major parties, but then if they aren’t willing to compromise it could be the end of the road for one of them.

Who’d like to be in that position hey?…

I like this and its pretty much how I work.

I’ve discovered that people are rarely satisfied with cheap – and nor am I. But there aren’t many who complain about a fair price for a good job and even fewer who get irate about a good job for free.

Make life easier – don’t do cheapies…

The good thing about running your own business is that you can take a sick day whenever you like – so long as you don’t mind not earning the $$.

But today I managed to do both.

While lazing on the couch watching Valkyrie at 11.00am (how often can you do that?…) the phone rang and it was SGIO asking if I’d like a quote on house and contents insurance. I had just had a ridiculous renewal notice come in from GIO asking for $1057.00 for the year – up $200.00 from last year – which was up $200.00 from the year before. I wasn’t happy.

So I told the SGIO people to give it their best shot and without batting an eyelid they proposed $870.00. Pretty good considering I hadn’t told them what they had to beat.

So I rang GIO after that and began to ask some questions about why my policy had gone thru the roof…

“Maybe its because you are in a bushfire risk area?” the guy suggested.

“You don’t know where Butler is do you?” I responded

Turned out he was from Melbourne and agreed that maybe that was a bit of a mistake… After some haggling I got their price down to $900.00 and then some tailoring of excesses and the actual policy conditions got us down to $700.00.

So for staying home today I figured I earnt near enough to $350.00. I normally check around insurers but over the last few years have found GIO to offer a good product at the best price. Not so any more it would seem.

I really don’t like all the secrecy that surrounds our political choices. It seems that to ask someone how they voted is like asking them how often they have sex and how they do it. I have had a few open conversations around politics, but I’m also concious that many people are quite guarded on the topic. (I probably won’t be so open about sex 🙂 )

Unfortunately as a church community we have been busy with some other pressing stuff these last few weeks and haven’t had time to address the election question at all, otherwise I would love to have spent some time as a community asking the question ‘how do we decide how to vote?’

The last time I did this I realised just how little thought anyone had given to the question – in fact simply letting people know it was the topic for discussion raised audible groans. I think many people consign their vote to the too hard basket or they simply vote as they have always done. (Or perhaps I am just speaking for myself and my own sloppy approaches.) I would have liked to have some open discussion as a church community around ‘how we decide’ and why we vote the way we do, but it wasn’t to be. Maybe next time…

As we approached this election I don’t think anyone was inspired by what was on offer and it became a very tough call to make a decision to actually vote for anyone.

I found myself totally uninspired by the two major parties. If push came to shove I would have chosen labour, but given the way Kevin Rudd got shafted I couldn’t with any conscience give my vote to that crew. I dunno how long Julia will last if she gets in either. I guess it all depends on what the back room bullies who really run the country want to happen…

The Libs really played the ‘boat people’ card really hard and cashed in on the fear factor. I do think we need sensible policies, but Abbott’s ‘stop the boats’ mantra reminded me of a ‘f*ck off we’re full’ sticker but in slightly better clothes. The garb might be nicer but its still ugly at core. Apart from the budgie smugglers which are enough to make anyone vote for a silly party, I was generally cringing every time I saw Abbott turn up at a sporting club, as the man has the most terrible gross motor skills and only made himself look a goose. Despite what Peter Costello may think of Abbott’s economic skills, I do tend to think his mob would be better financial managers of the country and if the economy was my primary concern then I guess I’d see past bad swim wear, xeno/homophobia and poor sporting ability to give them a vote. Of course I’d love to see Abbott get in and then resurrect Costello as his treasurer just so we could say we have a legit Abbott and Costello show…

Then there are the Christian parties and perhaps you ask ‘why wouldn’t I vote for them?’ Well I imagine we do share many similar positions, but I’m not convinced that trying to Christianise a country is actually of benefit in the long run. I don’t believe we should be legislating for a Christian way of life. God doesn’t ever force his way on us and and I think we can learn from that. I am convinced the most profound way to influence society with the gospel is to live it – to live counter-cultural Jesus centred lives that make absolutely no sense to anyone unless there is a God. We could get into separation of church and state but that is a bit more than I have time for here on…

So I finished up voting Green, and it wasn’t a protest vote. My reasons are below:

– If I had been really diligent I would have compiled a grid / table of the things that I believe matter most to God/Jesus as we read in scripture and then lined up every party alongside those issues to see how they stack up. I guess I did that mentally and saw the Greens performing much better on issues of caring for the poor, overseas aid, the environment and refugees than any other group. The issues of justice and environment (which of course is also an issue of justice if you live in a developing world country) seem to be primary ones for Jesus and on these the Greens score well. The Micah Challenge overseas aid ‘scorecard’ saw them top the class in all areas and that was impressive.

– Secondly I voted for the Greens because they seemed a bit more visionary than the other parties. I think some of their goals seem unattainable, but I like they have them on the radar. Much better to aim high and hit low than start low and stay there.

– I also liked the Greens forthrightness on issues where we would disagree. They have been portrayed as anti-Christian when in fact I think they simply are pro-secular. I realise that does mean they won’t be supporting Christian initiatives, but the stuff on which we disagree matters less to me than the stuff on which I see them doing well in. I think Jesus was much more concerned for matters of justice than for who our sexual partners are. I think we have enjoyed some great privileges as Christians at the moment, but they are not our right in a secular society and the playing field may change, but maybe it needs to.

I don’t vote unreservedly for the Greens as I don’t share their views on bioethics, sexuality and a few other things, but then I can’t vote unreservedly for anyone. Such is the state we find ourselves in…

They say you get the leadership you deserve and ironically the issues the Greens do well on are things that really ought to have been issues ‘Christian’ parties should have seen as primary a long time ago, because they rate so highly on God’s agenda. I get the impression that if the Christian parties really wanted to shape the future of Australia then they would have been wiser to base their policies around these issues of justice, environment, and care for others and create a vision for a better Australia that way. It would have been true to scripture and interestingly would have scratched right where many Aussies are itching.

We had our chance…

I realise a vote for the Greens is a vote for Labour and I can live with that. I don’t lose sleep that our PM may be an an atheist in a de facto relationship. I don’t lose sleep that Bob Brown is gay. I don’t know anything of Tony Abbot’s personal life but I’m sure if we scratched around we’d find plenty of dirt to hang on him (as we would with any of us)

So that’s why I voted Green this time around. In a sense it was like doing a multiple choice test and eliminating all other options so you are left with the most probable answer.

What I would add is that the political question is a complex and multi-faceted issue and I would happily respect the views of people who voted differently – however it seems that Christians who vote Green are often not accorded that same respect by their brothers and sisters. For the CDP to label the Greens ‘anti-Christian’ is rather lacking in perspective I would suggest, and may even be tapping into the ‘fear factor’ that motivates some Christians.

So I write this post partly because I want to give another voice to those who follow Jesus and see the world a little differently and partly because I think we can offer some very valid reasons for doing so. I don’t believe Christian Green voters should have to hide in the closet and be embarrassed by their choice. Nor should they be vilified for it.

I’m hoping this post won’t be me hanging my chin out there and giving you a free swing – because that’s not the goal. But feel free to disagree in a spirit of respect and grace and I’m sure we could have a great conversation.