Early in our journey through this time, we listened to a rather wonderful teaching by English pastor Paul Scanlon. In this teaching he spoke about the habit of God of giving you a glimpse of something about your life, & then drawing you to a higher place before he takes you too far into that next step. Well, my wife & I independent of one another both saw something of the next step in our lives. We believe that God is drawing us to a higher place so that we will be equipped & ready to respond when the full revelation of this purpose comes to pass. For me this has meant getting to the place that Dr Meyer suggests. It has been a gradual process of becoming still, watching, listening for “that still small voice” or “gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19: 12). Here’s a key for you; you can’t hear that gentle whisper in a room full of noise!!
If you happened to watch the film “Gladiator” there was a scene that took place quite early in the film that for most people would have passed without much fanfare. It involves the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, played by Richard Harris, discussing the state of the empire with his favourite General “Maximus”, played by our very own Russell Crowe. The emperor exhorts Maximus to speak freely & Maximus duly responds. The relationship transforms from that of Ruler & Soldier to one of friends. Towards the end of the discussion Marcus Aurelius says “There is one more duty I would have you perform” (paraphrasing here) & the reaction of Maximus at this point is what intrigues me about this scene. He goes from intimate friend to, once the request is given by his emperor, immediately assuming the posture of soldier; coming to attention, hands clasped behind his back and saying “What would you have me do Caesar?” Now, this is a violent film & I am writing this article to neither condemn nor condone the merits of the film. If you will indulge me for a moment, I think that this little byplay between Maximus & the Emperor is a metaphor for all disciples. Read on if you dare.
I once heard the Aussie evangelist & God Squad president “John Smith” say “if you want to understand a generation, a good place to start is by looking at its art.” He is quite adept at using songs & images from the contemporary era to open up a discussion on the meaning of life, faith, belief etc. I think that it’s one of the reasons that people either love him or loath him, in church circles anyway, & that is that he is prepared to not simply react to the contemporary culture around him, but to look at it, study it, find out what it is saying, understand it & when appropriate, speak to it. It’s a little like Paul in the Acts of the apostles when he was prepared to examine the culture of the Greeks, then use their knowledge & understanding of art & the world to open up a question about faith & belief. (Acts 17, 16 - 34)
I am coming out a self imposed retirement next month, to facilitate a retreat for some year 11 students. I haven’t done this for a while & even though it is 4 weeks away every time I think of it the adrenalin pumps a little harder.
The working theme of the retreat is exploring “Faith, Hope & Love”. What I am asking with this post is that you might contribute a word or 2 to help me develop my thoughts on the subject at hand. For instance, I am trying to generate a word list of words relative to those three; i.e. what “other” words spring to mind when you see those three. What I am hoping to do is spend some time pulling apart some key words related to those themes.
Also; the brief from the school is that this is a Creative Arts retreat,
‘Tis fast approaching the season to be Jolly. For most, it’s a ridiculously manic approach to what is essentially a pause in the year. And it is a curious pause in the year. We catch up with friends, we have parties at work, we eat & drink way too much, we buy presents for people & some of us think of a small stable in Bethlehem. It’s an easy time to wax philosphical about the world we live in; any time where you stop is a time that lends itself easily to reflection.
I love the whole gift giving thing. I love taking time to consider who the gift is for & then contemplating what I could give them that would really suit their character & if possible, their needs. In a response to the phrase “random acts of violence” quite a few years back, someone coined the phrase “perform random acts of kindness & senseless deeds of beauty”. I first saw this on a bumper sticker in the 80’s I think. Right now, a local radio station is promoting a “love” day where part of there advertising has included slogans such as “because sometimes the greatest gift is something you do”.
I said it last year & I’ll say it again. $32+ million dollars on one race. $20,000 will build one house for a group of aids orphans in Uganda. I would be keen to hear other peoples “alternate spending ideas”.
The Art of worship; part 4- The little drummer boy
Right now I am in the throes of planning our carols by candlelight. (23 rd of December, Warburton oval) Every year we have to go over lists of carols & Christmas songs & make decisions about which ones we will & won’t sing. The reaction to different carols from different team members is quite amusing to watch. What lights some people’s lights just doesn’t work for others. I guess that doesn’t surprise anyone. The reaction to “the little drummer boy” is generally predictable. I’m tipping that there wasn’t a boy with a drum in the stable at Bethlehem, & if there was, I’m tipping that Joseph & Mary wouldn’t have smiled politely & said “sure, come on in & play your drum. We’ve just traveled a looong way, had a baby & the baby is sleeping right now, but heck get out your drum & have a bash!! Only one thing drummer boy; I hope you can breast feed coz you’ll be putting him back to bed.”
I have just come back from a really hectic 3 day trip to Canberra. I left at 9 pm on Sunday, drove the truck to just over the border, slept for 5 hours, drove to Canberra, set up 2 shows, packed down 1, slept for about 8 hours, worked on the second show, packed it down, drove back to Melbourne & I was in my bed by 3 am this morning. (Wednesday.)
A funny thing happened when I got home. After the mad rush & the almost constant movement of the last 3 days, I stood in my very quiet lounge room at 3 am, & was almost overwhelmed by the stillness & the silence.
One of my favourite personal pastimes & a great soul re-generator is the practise of solitude. Solitude is an interesting & I might say, lost art form. We live in an era where we can be more connected than any other time in history. An ever growing array of electronic media are hunting down the corners of the globe connecting people & places in real time.
We once walked to the summit of Mt Kosciuszko & about 80% of the people that were at the peak of the highest mountain in Australia pulled out their mobile phones & called someone. Hmmm. In this era of connectedness, I would like to put a question out there; ready? When has there ever been a time in history when we have been so connected, & yet anecdotally you would have to say, so alone?
I find that the practise of solitude, that is being alone rather than being lonely,
Sorry for the absence. Life is really working on us at the moment but we are in there fighting & let me tell you, Bernie & I have more than a little resolve & conviction about what the next step of our life will be.
It’s (our next step) being fueled by more than a little prayer & as we pray we really feel the Holy Spirit leading us to meditate on a bigger world picture than we’ve allowed ourselves to have for some time. In fact, one of the convictions that is causing us angst & freedom in the same breath, is that we have allowed ourselves to live such small lives. One factor in this change has been seeing our church work to raise $20,000 to build a house for aids orphans in Uganda as part of the Watoto children’s project. Imagine that. $20,000 & you change the course of life for some children who would previously have been forgotten. As a result of this, I find that I now have a reason to get out & play live music again. I want to play & share what I’ve been given with people, but now I also want to use $10 out of every c.d. sale to buy a brick in the Watoto house. So even if you have an inkiling of a thought, invite us to play. It’s for an amazing cause. We’ll play pretty much anywhere, lounge rooms, coffee shops, big events, you name it. Coz you see, I know with great conviction that this isn’t about me, it’s about what I do with the gifts I’ve been given.
Another factor was visiting my good mate Andy Sorenson who is recording indigenous worship albums in Rwanda at the behest of the Rwandan government. the first one “Amani” is out & it’s amazing. The second one (I was privileged to hear a preview of this when I visited the Grove Studios) is just breath taking. Click here to go to his website & get your copy.
Finally, on the weekend just gone, I saw an interview with film maker Richard Curtis, one of the driving forces behind Live 8, make poverty history & comic relief. It was almost as if God was saying to Bernie & I “I’m not going to let this trail go cold in your hearts!” As we watched this 2 minute clip, I looked around the some 600+ gathered in the auditorium; there was scarcely a dry eye. Check it out & get back to me. I would love to read your thoughts. You need to go to http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/video/ & scroll down til you see the video titled “Yellow Dress”
Cheers.
MM
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