Like these lyrics from Peter Mayer “We are blessed, we are broken, given one more chance to be found in you. We are in One Peace”…. a very clever play on words – whilst we may feel like we are in pieces – we are within Peace, and can journey into the world as peacemakers… which fits nicely with some of the next thoughts!
Lots of encouragement from Maggi Dawn today – including
… our weaknesses are usually the flip side of our strengths, and I hold to the old adage that it’s better to make a few mistakes than never make anything at all.
As we look back to Elijah (1 Kings – as #digidisciple(s) were last month) we can learn a lot from him, and how we should react as disciples in a digital age:
When contemporary debates demand that we prove God is real, or that our God is not a delusion, outdated or displaced by science, what should we do? Should we, metaphorically speaking, rush to build an alter, pour on water and call down fire to prove that we are right? It’s important to engage with contemporary debates and to be thoroughly involved in our world and our culture. We also need to pay attention to how we and our God are perceived in the world. There’s a place for listening thoughtfully to genuine challenges to our beliefs. But there’s a difference between engaging with genuine argument and allowing the latest popular media fad to set the agenda for us.”
I am inspired to watch how Maggi decided not to be drawn into a debate that served someone else’s agenda, and focused upon what she needed to do. She got the work done, and when someone later asked (face-to-face) why she’d not engaged – she explained and said ‘that’s not my God that you’re talking about anyway’ and entered a great conversation.
We need a lot of discernment (online) to decide which challenges are worthwhile, and which are simply distractions.
So… can we take some time from the arguments, and seek ways to be creative … we’re all creative, and are being created as Brian Draper says:
Art releases us to explore and articulate ‘truth’ without always having to pin it like a butterfly to a wall; it liberates us from having to be right or wrong all the time, and from judging others accordingly. Instead, it opens possibilities for expressing something of the otherwise inexpressible.
Something I’m hoping to see people engage in for #BIGRead14!