Saturday, May 30, 2009

Forgiveness

Without forgiveness we can never be free to try again. Without forgiveness we can never love another person for what that person is, and loving a person for what that person is and how for what we want that person to be is the only kind of love which allows us to live freely without the demands and expectations which cripple and isolate us. Forgiveness and love and inseparable. We cannot have one without the other. We cannot live in relationships with others unless we can forgive others and forgive ourselves.

Dorothy Rowe

I read this as I was researching this assignment, and was stuck by the clarity of it, and the importance of forgiveness, once again.... She's not a Christian by the looks of it, but wow!

Friday, May 29, 2009

Irrational beliefs

I was given some hand outs this week, as per usua, at college. One though, was a list of 10 Major Irrational Beliefs, as found by A Ellis.

I would post them here, but I don't think they are helpful on their own. Once I read them, and recognised many of them in myself, I was keen to, to see what you all though of these beliefs, but then realised that it might be more helpful to add a counter argument from the Bible. All of them, every one are real, and pervasive in life today, and yet, they are so clearly counter- argued in the Bible!

Anyway, thought I would share. I will probably do the counter arguments much the same as I am writing here... when I am supposed to be writing a very long assignment due next week....!!! Now... where to start....

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Beautiful writing recently.

I haven’t been blogging much recently, but I have been doing a lot of reading. Lots! Anyway, I keep coming across gems of writing, so, while they won’t fit into the assignments I am writing, I thought I would share them here. Enjoy!!


Sometimes the suffering
Has no voice, it is silent.
It is a question of survival,
And the poor have no choice.

By Sister Naoko Iyari, MMB
In God’s Image 1990


Counseling is the process of helping clients get “unstuck” and develop a sense of direction. G Egan.


The ethical life arises as the life of liberty in service to God through Chris by the power of the Spirit. The Christian life is also the celebration of life, for as we live in the Spirit we celebrate the life of the triune God. Offering ourselves as a thanksgiving for God’s love and mercy lavished on us in Christ is the pathway to true joy and fullness of life.

This returns us to the human ethical quest where we began. I noted in chapter one that well-being and peace of mind have repeatedly formed the object of philosophers deliberations. The biblical writers declare that within the community of Christ we gain an even greater peace than the great ethical thinkers sought. Our Lord mediated to us peace with God (Rom 5:1), a peace “Which transcends all understanding”(Phil 4:7). This greater peace is not ours because we have sough after it, but because the Holy Spirit showers it upon us as a byproduct of our ethical quest, the quest for God’s kingdom and righteousness. Knowing such peace is the cause for great celebration. And it is in this context of celebration that we discover the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise for “all these things” are truly given to us as well (Mt 6:33).

The Moral Quest, by S Grenz

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Soooo mad!!!!

I got mad today. Really really mad.

Really mad.

Two weeks ago I was crushed.

Today I am just plain mad.

What causes someone to mistreat another. What causes someone to think they can hurt and damage children, or people who are vulnerable, who care and want to help?

How dare someone hurt and mistreat another, and think it's ok. Not only does it damage that person, but if they don't deal with it, forgive, and let it go, it will fester in them, and grow, and in turn that hurt will go on to hurt others. Sometimes in self preservations, just because they don't know any different.

I know someone who was hurt years ago, and while I still see the amazingness, and beauty in this person, they have been damaged to the point where they hurt others, often because they are just so scared they don't know what else to do.

But who am I really mad at? Satan. I had the damage he wrecks on people, in relationships and lives. I hate how he sneaks in through depression and other slippery illnesses. I hate how he causes one person to hurt and malign another because of the sneaking voices he puts inside their head.

How do we, as Christians stand up to him? To the one who causes people to do such terrible things to each other..... how do we fight back in love? and completely baffle him? How do we challenge thinking that isn't God's way?

One day... I hope healing and wholeness will come.....

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Process vs product in life choices

I was sitting at a market waiting for a friend last Saturday morning, and was a few minutes early, so sat down to read my book. However, a man came down and sat next to me and started up a conversation. Anyway, he had just moved to Sydney from Perth, and was doing contract work. In the course of conversation he told me about his life now as well as telling me about what he would like in life in the future.

It really got me thinking about plans and how we get there, keeping the now, and the future in delicate balance.....and not letting now be all there is, because there is the danger of still being in the now in ten years time, with all the hopes, dreams and plans still somewhere in the future... it made me think about the decisions I have made through my life, and where I am going.....

In the light of this conversation and thinking about this guy, I had another conversation with someone else about personal mission statements! I was struck and challenged by the thought of writing one(I am trying to work out what our work one is right now too!!) and what changes I might potentially have to make as a result. While so many things are good, and right, we can't do everything that looks good. How do we choose, and how do we know what God's plans are for us in life.... interesting random themes and conversations to think through. Hard too, when decisions made potentially have an effect on more than just us. I can't do everything, and be everything to everyone, so how do I choose....??