Tail gating, slow trucks, impatient speeding and road rage

From the other day:

Tail gating, slow trucks, impatient speeding and road rage

I drive to work on single lane country roads that are rapidly seeing housing developments extended out from the city limits. Traffic can get quite heavy and impatient, especially around morning and afternoon peak hour. The other day I was driving to work and had been tail gated by a couple of cars who then overtook in a rather dangerous manner, cutting in at the last minute on a blind corner. In front of my was a large tip truck towing a trailer, which these two cars then proceeded to overtake in a similar manner. My frustration at their actions was mounting until God dispelled it in a manner that only he could achieve with his heavenly sense of humour. As we rounded the next corner a similar truck to that they had just overtaken was pulling out infront of the two cars from a side road, forcing them to quickly slow down and not affording them any opportunity to overtake.

When I caught up to the cars at the first set of traffic lights it really brought home to me the spiritual application. How often do we not trust God to judge both the just and the unjust. He knows what we need and he will deal with others as they need to be dealt with. I am often frustrated by this world but need to recognise that God is in charge and he carries the burden of judgement, punishment and accountability, not I. And that realisation certainly makes the occassional frustrations on the road a lot easier to bear.


A Call for Balance and Priorities
From Chucky's radio segment and monthly newsletter:

We Worship our Work
We Work at our Play
We Play at our Worship

- a personal challenge for balance. The world will try and draw us away from a balanced state. I must not be deceived.

A Call to Perfection:

I have recently been challenged on the requirement of being Called to Perfection in "all" areas of my life. God doesn't want to be compartmentalised in my life. He wants free reign. I limit what he can do with my life when I limit where he can go in my life.
Another self defeating strategy that needs to be addressed if I am to maximise the potential for my Heavenly Vision given the use of Earthly Sight.

God doesn't call those who are prepared, he prepares those who are called.

God doesn't call those who are prepared, he prepares those who are called.

Ongoing interest over the years in creation and the fallacy of evolution. Recent weeks caught up on some reading on the matter - why? what purpose Lord?

Yesterday a deep conversation with the chaplain who turns out to be a qualified bio-chemist, reassuring to talk science with a man who has a scriptural view point. This morning I was able to open up a conversation with my car pool companion about evolution when he made a passing comment about it. Turns out he is Catholic, wife Anglican, believes in evolution but also believes in God! Good base level discussion to feel out each other and maybe set up for further comment. Enquiring minds still need to be willing to consider other options, and must be willing to look at other info - he was reluctant to take up my offer to look at some material because it "might prove his belief system wrong" - a bit head in the sand, but I am encouraged that we could talk about it.

Reminder that we don't need to create or seek opportunities, just listen for God's leading and be prepared for the opportunities when they arise.

m<><

Worship or Consumption

'Christ is not for consumption, but for worship' David Wells.

What a challenge in todays market driven, consumer based society.

When we have our motivation based on the need for personal satisfaction, then we need religion/Christ/ a God for personal fulfilment. Christ becomes a resource that we can use, one of many ways to reach a personally defined end.
When we understand that we are created beings, here for a purpose, then we will understand our role in worshiping him, and our need to fulfil that role. Then we realise that there is only one end, one that we do not define for ourselves, but which has been set since before creation.
The challenge - to live with that eternal perspective in an earthly realm.

Technology has its frustrations

Technology has its frustrations. Finally I am back after a week of glitches, mainly due to templating problems!

Life has been good this past week - relationships developed, experiences had, no profound progress towards any tangible goals but sometimes it is the intangible that is most important. I like the thought that the only things that matter when this realm is behind us are relationships and experiences, nothing of material value will count.

3 am this morning and I am standing in the rain, on top of the roof unblocking a downpipe! I am sure that there is a spiritual application there, let me dwell and return to enlighten later. Must away and see if the doctor wishes to restrict my future career prospects with a detrimental medical assessment.

Later:

I am still alive and have been given a green light for continued employment at Her Majesty's pleasure.

Application of my early morning experience: lying in bed, hearing the rain fall and the wind rush through the gum trees, knowing that I had not cleared the gutters recently I wondered if there would be a price to pay. The sound of gutters overflowing was not deafening: distinct enough to be recognised but subtle enough to be ignored. A sense of duty and practicality drove me from my slumber and forced firstly confirmation of the problem, and secondly the resolve to do something about it. It also gave me an excuse to stand in front of the fire enjoying the warmth and the light that played on the kitchen walls after the effort of climbing onto the roof, torch in hand, cutting a quick lap around the slippery perimeter, all the while testing the friction quotient of my warn out runners which now masquerade as yard shoes.

As Christians we often face situations or decisions that are loud enough to be noticed, but subtle enough to be ignored. What motivates us to act? From where is our sense of duty derived? And what simple pleasures may await us after we have answered the need before us? What provides the grip for our feet, the rain may be cold, the roof may be slippery, our shoes may be worn, and the very predicament we find ourselves in may be the result of our own original inaction - but some things just have to be done. And we genereally can't expect our wives to be taking care of house maintenance in the fury of the storm - a goading for husbands to take a lead in the spirtual walk.

Enough for today - m<><

On Resistance to Change, and why we Change our Resistance

Format for the posting screen has changed and my blogging mentor is not happy. I too am not keen, but this is a fairly normal reaction to something different, especially when it replaces something that makes up part of our reality, something that helps define our comfort zone.

If we are so adverse to change, is that why it can be hard for us to change our resistance to issues in our life?

Consider the frail arguments we throw up to friends, family, God when an attitude, decision or action needs to change - pride makes change hard on the inside, and apathy, laziness, an uncaring attitude makes life hard to change on the outside.

Anyway - the point of all this rambling after a week's abscence - not sure except I empathise with your feelings about the blog change Andrew. I have much to write, but little time. My one outstanding question is why can't I view my blogspot on the web?? Foiled by the very technology that has sought to free us!!!

m<><