When I think of confession, I am immediately reminded of the verse I memorised in my early discipleship: 1 John 1:9 ‘But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to purify us from all unrighteousness.’ I was taught that confession was a personal practice between me and God. Yet when we read the famous story of the prodigal son, we see that his confession Read more about 112. How is my confession?[…]
I have read this little book by Henri Nouwen several times now and I think it will be one of those books regularly taken out of the bookshelf for a recap. It’s a book about the story of our lives. Our lives are made up of a mixture of both joy and sorrow, although if we aren’t careful the sorrow can take over the joy. Or on the other hand, our focus on joy may Read more about 108. Can you drink the cup?[…]
When was the last time you assessed the impact of technology in your life? My mum is 95 years old and has never been good with technology. She has never driven a car, never watched a video, never sent a text or opened a website, never held a smart phone or even know what an app is. All she knows is to turn on the TV and to push the red button on her landline Read more about 107. How is technology impacting your life?[…]
I was watching a TV show the other day where a doctor wasn’t allowing a patient to go through a cultural ritual and as a result, she was very anxious and uptight. After this incident, the doctor’s partner caught the doctor going through his own ritual in getting ready for a surgery – a certain way of washing his hands and repeating certain phrases that he said under his breath. He subsequently allowed the patient Read more about 106. How do you create habits?[…]
I opened my computer to book a flight yesterday and an hour later, I had read some emails, paid my visa bill, journaled a few thoughts but not booked the flight! How does that happen? How many times are you on route to do something but never actually get there? Do you find you get to bed at night and think – what have I done today that was worthwhile? Where did the time go? Read more about 104. How do you deal with distractions?[…]
They always ask the question – who’s a good boy, never how’s the good boy! I had to smile as I saw this meme. It made me realise how often we don’t pick up on the emotional needs of one another. A question that Peter Scazzero asks in his book, ‘Emotionally healthy spirituality’ is this: Can you be a mature spiritual Christian leader if you are emotionally unhealthy? His answer is a definitive, ‘NO’. The Read more about 103.How healthy are your emotions?[…]
For many years now, going back as far as I can remember, we have had a custom of spending some time in debriefing at the end of each year. We have created or borrowed a different approach each year to keep it alive and interesting. We have also added times of contemplation and the use of pictures, symbols and art to help visualize what has taken place. So, I would like to present you with Read more about 101. What’s been happening this year?[…]
Are you looking after your body? Here’s a question for you: What do you enjoy most – eating, exercising or sleeping? We need all three of course but rarely go without eating, often go without exercising and sometimes burn the candle at both ends, struggle with insomnia and miss out on sleep. All three are integrated and one effects the other. To enjoy a healthy life, it’s important to be mindful of Read more about 100. Are you looking after your body?[…]
I don’t remember crying much in my early years – apart from when my brother would tease me, as most older brothers do. There is a classic picture of me when I am small, sitting on the edge of a bench not wanting to be in a family picture – of course they are all smiling at the other end of the bench. I, on the other hand, was grizzling – a lovely English term Read more about 99.Do you weep with those that weep?[…]
Think back to when you started to learn to drive. There were so many things to learn and remember. Then as soon as you began to get the moves down, you started a bad habit like crossing your hands over the wheel and the instructor would say – no please don’t do that as you will fail the exam (at least in the UK). Sometimes we focus so much on things we should do, that Read more about 98. What could you stop doing?[…]