Paperless?
For years it's been argued that books will disappear, and we'll all be watching screens. Recent decades have shown the reverse as printers, and photocopiers have become faster producers of paper. Book sales are up too.
However there's a marked change: online newspapers are replacing printed copy; many no longer have paper bills or statements; and increasingly people turn up to meetings with just a laptop or smartphone. I expect the last example is because they want to catch up with the latest cricket score or fashion during boring parts.
I encourage the use of smartphones during Café Church, so Biblical references can be checked [or the cricket etc.]! The risk is that the odd work email will catch attention, and before we know it our sabbath rest has disappeared.
Help or hindrance?
Most inventions or discoveries present us with choice: we can use explosives to fracture enormous lumps of stone to be carved into amazing architectural designs, or we can propel lumps of metal into each other; through nuclear scans we can understand inner workings of the body, or destroy cities in seconds; and silicon chips can offer us endless depths of information and social contact, or invade our privacy and pollute our minds.
It's always our choice. Who put that smartphone in your pocket so it can get your attention at any time: a permanent last in, first served recipe for chaos? Who let boundaries between work and rest be opened up? Who allowed a help to become a hindrance? It's a choice.
Genesis
The band has produced some great music, particularly when Phil Collins was a member, but I have to be in the right mood to listen loud. The book opens up the Old Testament, and always has wisdom to impart. When God creates the world, and moves from the basics of light, water, and soil to the peak of creation in mankind, he blesses them, and says, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth [Genesis chapter 1, verse 28 or https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis+1.28&version=NRSVA].
It's a gift of responsibility for our own species, and for the living world. We are custodians of creation, and that presents us with countless choices. Here's one; is it better to milk cows three times a day, rather than twice? When I've had conversations with the dairy community, whom I respect greatly [and for whom life is pretty tough at the moment with ridiculously low milk prices] I listen to the way they answer. If cows are seen merely as a resource to be exploited, a product, then I think x3 is merely for profit. If on the other hand the welfare of the herd is mentioned, then I see a true husbandman privileged to be working in God's beautiful world.
Let's enjoy the choices we have, and choose wisely.
Paperless?
For years it's been argued that books will disappear, and we'll all be watching screens. Recent decades have shown the reverse as printers, and photocopiers have become faster producers of paper. Book sales are up too.
However there's a marked change: online newspapers are replacing printed copy; many no longer have paper bills or statements; and increasingly people turn up to meetings with just a laptop or smartphone. I expect the last example is because they want to catch up with the latest cricket score or fashion during boring parts.
I encourage the use of smartphones during Café Church, so Biblical references can be checked [or the cricket etc.]! The risk is that the odd work email will catch attention, and before we know it our sabbath rest has disappeared.
Help or hindrance?
Most inventions or discoveries present us with choice: we can use explosives to fracture enormous lumps of stone to be carved into amazing architectural designs, or we can propel lumps of metal into each other; through nuclear scans we can understand inner workings of the body, or destroy cities in seconds; and silicon chips can offer us endless depths of information and social contact, or invade our privacy and pollute our minds.
It's always our choice. Who put that smartphone in your pocket so it can get your attention at any time: a permanent last in, first served recipe for chaos? Who let boundaries between work and rest be opened up? Who allowed a help to become a hindrance? It's a choice.
Genesis
The band has produced some great music, particularly when Phil Collins was a member, but I have to be in the right mood to listen loud. The book opens up the Old Testament, and always has wisdom to impart. When God creates the world, and moves from the basics of light, water, and soil to the peak of creation in mankind, he blesses them, and says, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth [Genesis chapter 1, verse 28 or https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis+1.28&version=NRSVA].
It's a gift of responsibility for our own species, and for the living world. We are custodians of creation, and that presents us with countless choices. Here's one; is it better to milk cows three times a day, rather than twice? When I've had conversations with the dairy community, whom I respect greatly [and for whom life is pretty tough at the moment with ridiculously low milk prices] I listen to the way they answer. If cows are seen merely as a resource to be exploited, a product, then I think x3 is merely for profit. If on the other hand the welfare of the herd is mentioned, then I see a true husbandman privileged to be working in God's beautiful world.
Let's enjoy the choices we have, and choose wisely.
Do roots hold us back?
A podcast gave me some wisdom: when a firm is taken over, previous history goes out the window. There will be pruning, and new patterns for a fresh start in a competitive market. Or if you're [Sir] Philip it might be milking to finance your latest yacht! Sometimes mistakes are made when history is ignored.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
Over the years many have told me of their traumatic start in life. For some, it was when they discovered that they weren't really wanted; for others, that they have been manipulated. Surely these roots in personal history hold us back. We can feel trapped by our past.
So why are roots important?
They help us with long term evolution. If we have felt fossilised by our past, we can be determined to make sure our successors are free. Otherwise we make the same mistakes all over again, and unfortunately I've seen that too often.
Weymouth and Portland used to be the second highest borough in the country for unwanted teenage pregnancies, for unwanted children. A huge effort has changed that through educational opportunity, empowerment, and aspiration. The pattern which had repeated itself from one generation to the next is no longer so strong. A fantastic shout of thanks to all involved for such amazing good news.
And then of course there is the staggeringly good news of peace. Europe, from ancient history until last century, has been in a state of rolling warfare, culminating in such ghastly and intense strife that it spilt across the rest of the world twice over. We need our roots to make sure we never take peace for granted, and that we do all in our power to avoid warfare.
Middle Eastenders
The Old Testament makes up 3/4 of the Bible, and covers the time before Jesus birth. Why is it important? It spans thousands of years, and helps us understand how nomadic tribes chasing good pasture settled down and learned to share. We witness the birth of the first nation state Israel, which was called to be a beacon role model for others.
www.businessgrapevine.co
Unfortunately the accounts are not always pretty. There are family squabbles, tribal rivalries, and unbridled nationalism. Every story line in the long running Eastenders can be found in the Old Testament. Yet there are huge successes too: an exiled community without any roots but faith in one true God rediscovers its identity. It's not about buildings, infrastructure, and geography ~ no it's about God. When they put him first everything else falls into place.
Laws that liberate
It's understandable to retaliate for an injustice, but if it's disproportionate then it's likely to trigger a backlash ~ and so an endless cycle of violence is born. The Old Testament records some of the first crude laws: an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. Justice was to be proportionate and then a line should be drawn. Crude, but an effective check to endless feuds.
Later the Ten Commandments emerge: respect above all for God, for ourselves, and for neighbours. They speak volumes today. We need these living roots today.
