The old testament prophets were a remarkable bunch.  Blokes who (on the whole) spoke truth to power and told it the way they saw it irrespective of the popularity (or otherwise) of their views.

From them we gather this image of the wild man, calling the kingdom to account, naming those things that need to be named, living beyond the community and paying the price for their profession.

And then comes John.

Another prophet from the old testament mould.

Wandering outside the community, railing against injustice, calling people to account, to turn and return.

And that delightful phrase that describes him in the words of Isaiah as the “voice of one crying in the wilderness“.

Over the centuries, that phrase has come to be part of the english language, and used to describe anyone who is on the outside, calling out against the dominant culture, and usually being ignored.

John was crying in the wilderness.

Jesus too.

It went so well for John, and later Jesus they both where killed for their trouble.

Who are those crying in the wilderness today?  Whose are the voices we need to listen too even if the message seems unpopular?

In recent years we have seen climate change advocates move from the fringes to the centre.  Even if we’re not moving fast enough for many, at least these voices from the wilderness are being heard.

How about those calling for justice and freedom for asylum seekers in the face of mass media coverage and government warnings about the dangers they represent?

Those agitating for an end to villification on the grounds of sexuality?

Those advocating for change in the church?

What about those opposing intervention in aboriginal communities?

The reality of course is that there are always people making unpopular statements, always people ‘crying in the wilderness’.  And not all of them are valid or justifiable.  Some are unpopular and unheard because they are wrong.

But some aren’t.

Next time you notice someone crying in the wilderness, why not listen in for a moment?

Recently I was travelling in Sydney.  I’m not very familiar with the city, and given its size and complexity, we opted to use a GPS navigation unit in our hire car.

I’ve not used a GPS before, so it was quite an experience.  There’s nothing quite like a machine quietly and consistently telling you where to go!

More than once I thought “now I know how people can get a long way off track if the GPS unit glitches”. It’s so easy to blindly follow the GPS instructions without any idea where you actually are.

At the end of our trip we had gotten to know parts of the city well enough that we knew we wanted to take a particular route to the airport, using a particular combination of motorways we knew would be the quickest at the time we were travelling.

Unfortunately, the GPS unit wanted us to go a different way.

As I travelled through the suburbs, regional roads and onto the motorway of my choice, my GPS unit quietly and insistently tried to correct me – regularly telling me to do a U-turn, or to take a left or right in order to get me back onto the route it new would be the best way to get to the airport.  I repeatedly ignored its advice, taking my own route.

At some point along the journey, I started expecting the tone of voice of the GPS to change….to become more insistent, more frustrated, angry perhaps that I was ignoring its directions.  I was expecting it to act out of its humanity.

Of course the GPS doesn’t do any such thing. And for the next 30 minutes it quietly, patiently encouraged me to take it’s directions.

Somewhere along the way I got to thinking about Jesus.  One of the things Jesus taught (and lived) was grace, graciousness and forgiveness. Famously Jesus once said “don’t forgive once, not even seven times, but seventy times seven”. The point of course being that grace and forgiveness should not be a once-only deal.

Just like my GPS.

I wonder how my kids life experience might be different if I had the patience, grace and forgiveness of a GPS unit?

(by the way, we made it to the airport on time!)

This morning while I was out walking I stopped by the local department store to pick up a couple of things.

When I got to the counter and handed over my purchases, the shop assistant said “would you like to purchase a 10 cent bag?”.

I was a little shocked to hear that what I had taken for granted for so many years, I now had to pay for.  I’m as green as the next guy, but c’mon…..no bag for my shopping?  I had a 20 minute walk ahead of me, and no bag?

Certain that there is no way a bag is worth 10 cents (even if it is bio-degradable) and that the big retail chain was just working on another way to make a few more bucks, I politely declined, took my shopping in hand and grumbled my way out the door.

When did this happen?  I mean, I know you’re supposed to take the green bags to the supermarket, but I wasn’t even planning to go shopping – it was just an impulse visit as I walked by.

I imagined as I walked, that this was one change I will never get used to.  My whole life, when you go into a shop and buy something (no matter how small) you’re offered a plastic carry bag.  Somehow having that taken away from me seems monumental. Continue reading →

The Christian tradition has its golden rule “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.  According to Dave Andrews writing in Plan Be, it’s closely linked with Jesus calling us to ‘love our neighbours as we love ourselves’ and it’s also replicated by most of the world’s religions in their teachings.

In Taoism, there is a similar, but slightly different saying:

Regard your neighbour’s loss or gain as your own loss or gain (Tai Shang Kan Ying Pien)

As our home group encountered this chapter from Plan Be (blessed are the merciful) last night, I found myself particularly drawn to this saying from Taoism.  Inherent in it is a challenge to the individualism rampant in our society, and infecting much of the practice of the Christian faith as well.

Here however, we are reminded that we are in this together. I’m not just to treat you in the way that I would like to be treated, but I’m actually to identify with you in your triumphs and disasters.  We are community together you and I, bound up in relationship with God and with each other – and what impacts one, ought to impact the other.

What would it look like in your life, or your community if you regarded your neighbour’s loss or gain as your own?

“I am a teacher” said Toby Moulton, and in so doing, turned his back on the fame and fortune offered through the vehicle of television land’s Australian Idol.

Toby made the shock announcement live during Sunday night’s show, and left the program – just a couple of weeks before it’s grand finale.

To many, turning one’s back on fame and fortune seems inconceivable.  Those twin goals which seem in some way to fuel much of the life and strivings of Gen Y seemed somehow absolute.  Moulton’s declaration that he didn’t want either, didn’t want to be a famed recording artist but preferred to just ‘sing for his kids’ breaks the mould.

Australian Idol is an interesting program.  Putting aside the obvious truth that it’s a marketing exercise aimed primarily at attracting views and thereby selling television advertising time, much of the editing and marketing of the show (right down to the very name of the program) seems to be about creating idols who ought be worshiped and adored.  These fledgling young artists are shaped and presented as role models. Continue reading →

I recently purchased a new pair of sunglasses.  My previous pair had survived a long time before Mackenzie tore them off my face while riding on my shoulders, and dropped them on the ground just as Riley came running by.  Goodbye sunnies.  Ouch.

Today my new pair arrived and I went walking outside in the sun to try them out.  The lenses are a different colour to those of my previous pair….and the result is that everything looks different.  Colours are different, shadows are different, sunlight is filtered differently.  I have to say, everything looked really weird. Continue reading →

I had a birthday recently.  Not aparticularly big one, just a run of the mill affair.

As sometimes happens on birthdays, I got to reflecting on growing older.  On this occasion, I pondered why when I occasionally catch a glimpse in the mirror and see a slightly balding, slightly overweight, almost middle-aged bloke looking back at me, do I not feel like that is me?  Why do I still feel the same as I did when I was 25?

So I did what I always do when I’m stumped….I asked my folks.  “When do you start to feel like your actual age?” was the question I posed them. Unhelpfully they replied “never, we still don’t”.  The best advice they could offer was to go on feeling young for as long as possible.  That’s the trouble with my parents….I want a simple answer, and they give me something to think about!

I guess that same thought might be worth pondering for churches and faith communities.  What would it be like if we constantly thought of ourselves as young?  Would our energy levels be different? Our creativity?  Our flexibility and capacity to innovate?  Our willingness to create new traditions and practices rather than only giving expression to the way it has always been?

Is the sense of being young about always being willing to learn new things, try new things, be new things?

Is the Uniting Church, at just over 30 years of age, still able to be young?

Are you?

something a little more lighthearted today…..

Here’s my working list of the “best of” for Tassie….compiled as I travel around this fine state.  While it may seem like it initially, rest assured they’re not all food related…lest you get the wrong idea 😉

Feel free to leave me recommendations… Continue reading →

Recently my family and I travelled ‘home’ to Queensland for some holiday time with friends and family.  We thoroughly enjoyed our short visit, catching up with many whom we know and love, enjoying some beachside camping, and soaking up the Queensland sunshine, having had quite enough cold, rainy days in Tassie over the last couple of months.

Continue reading →

When Albert Einstein did a little informal self-analysis, he prized imagination and persistence above raw intelligence.  Some of his thoughts on the subject might just be helpful to us along the way:

imagination is more important than knowledge

logic will get you from A to B, imagination will take you everywhere

we can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them

never lose a holy curiousity

the true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination

Continue reading →