Renew The Mind; Transform Your Life

The most positive presentation of the value of ageing that I've ever had the privilege to listen to.

Q. Is your church helping you to grow spiritually?

Grace Will Walk Us Home
by Thom M Shuman
Wild Goose Publications
www.ionabooks.com

Used under agreed non-commercial worship conditions as stated by the publisher.

Music
Atmos from Big Fish Audio - used under licence.

Grace Will Walk Us Home
by Thom M Shuman
Wild Goose Publications
www.ionabooks.com

Used under agreed non-commercial worship conditions as stated by the publisher.

Music
Atmos from Big Fish Audio - used under licence.

Praying the Scriptures is building your prayer life upon the firmest foundation!

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a massive blessing to the Body of Christ - helping us to value our differences.  Here's a link to a free version as featured in this podcast:
16personalities.com

All At Sea

Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on manoeuvres in heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with patch fog, so the captain, remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities.

Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing of the bridge reported, “Light, bearing on the starboard bow.”

“Is it steady or moving astern?” the captain called out.

Lookout replied, “Steady, captain,” which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship.

The captain then called to the signalman, “Signal that ship: We are on a collision course, advise you change course 20 degrees.”

Back came a signal, “Advisable for you to change course 20 degrees.”

The captain said, “Send, I’m a captain, change course 20 degrees.”

“I’m a seaman second class,” came the reply. “You had better change course 20 degrees.”

By that time, the captain was furious. He spat out, “Send, I’m a battleship. Change course 20 degrees.”

Back came the flashing light, “I’m a lighthouse.”

We changed course.

The Man on the Subway

“I remember a mini-paradigm shift I experienced one Sunday morning on a subway in New York. People were sitting quietly – some reading newspapers, some lost in thought, some resting with their eyes closed. It was a calm, peaceful scene.

Then suddenly, a man and his children entered the subway car. The children were so loud and rambunctious that instantly the whole climate changed.

The man sat down next to me and closed his eyes, apparently oblivious to the situation. The children were yelling back and forth, throwing things, even grabbing people’s papers. It was very disturbing. And yet, the man sitting next to me did nothing. 

It was difficult not to feel irritated. I could not believe that he could be so insensitive as to let his children run wild like that and do nothing about it, taking no responsibility at all. It was easy to see that everyone else on the subway felt irritated, too. So finally, with what I felt was like unusual patience and restraint, I turned to him and said, “Sir, your children are really disturbing a lot of people. I wonder if you couldn’t control them a little more?”

The man lifted his gaze as if to come to a consciousness of the situation for the first time and said softly, “Oh, you’re right. I guess I should do something about it. We just came from the hospital where their mother died about an hour ago. I don’t know what do think, and I guess they don’t know who to handle it either.”

Can you imagine what I felt at that moment? My paradigm shifted. Suddenly I saw things differently, and because I saw differently, I thought differently, I felt differently, I behaved differently. My irritation vanished. I didn’t have to worry about controlling my attitude or my behavior; my heart was filled with the man’s pain. Feelings of sympathy and compassion flowed freely. “Your wife just died? Oh I’m so sorry! Can you tell me about it? What can I do to help?” Everything changed in an instant.” 

Zoonami

We all have precious moments when providence or serendipity sends us a treat.  One such precious moment was last night in the freezing cold on Swanage’s Victorian Pier.  A crowd of us was there for the switching on the lights by Father Christmas (who arrived by boat!)

Waiting in the cold, looking out over the waves under the moonlight, a small girl asked her Dad if a big wave had ever flooded the pier.  Realising she meant a Tsunami, her Dad shared the word with her as he reassured her… but here’s the thing: I heard him say, “Zoonami!”

Of course, he didn’t say that, but it was too late, my imagination was engaged!  I ‘saw’ a flood of animals coming into Swanage Bay on surf boards (like the seagull I’d recently seen surfing on driftwood.)  (Thought to self: I probably need to change my medication!)

And this brings me to today’s two questions:

Q. What animal would you most like to be?

And
Q. Why?

Dog or Cat?

Cat or Mouse?

Dinosaur – but which one?

Fish, Amphibian, Reptile, Bird, Mammal?

Orangutan, Gibbon (Funky, of course), Gorilla, Chimpanzee?

They say confession is good for the soul, so I’ll lead by example!
I want to be an Otter.

Why?

They are massively playful, lithe, and love fish, of course!

To me, they stay young forever through their combination of frisky fun-loving living, insatiable curiosity, and healthy diet.

Once you’ve decided on your animal or bird (and shared it with us), how could you be more like your Avatar?

How could I be ‘more Otter’?  Hmm, I think that Sea Swimming is beckoning again!

I’m looking forward to a flood, a Zoonami, of witty, wise, and wonderful revelations of your favourite animals!

There’s no fruit without there first being a seed.

The man on the corner by one of Swanage’s many pubs proudly wore a T-Shirt with just two words: “Bad Seed.” I think he thought it was funny. I didn’t.

I want to sow “Good Seed” during this season of goodwill to all. The whole World knows we need this.

Specifically, I’d love, along with you, to play our part in growing the traditional seasonal fruits of hope, joy, peace, and love (or ‘charity’ if you like old-fashioned version!) Reminds me of the three angels I had branded with a spelling error: Faith, Love, and Hop. I kid you not. I’d like to have been ‘Hop’.  Have you tried skipping lately? It’s liberating. Children do it all the time… naturally… freely. Be childlike today.

How do we sow seeds of hope? Hope is always to do with the future – so anytime we can make anyone feel better about their future, we’ve sown seeds of hope. Paint a picture in people’s imaginations of a brighter better tomorrow.

How do we sow seeds of joy? I think Spike Milligan had the right idea:

“Smiling is infectious,

you catch it like the flu,

When someone smiled at me today, I started smiling too.”

[The full poem can be read here: https://noc-events.co.uk/sites/conference.noc.ac.uk/files/documents/Smile%20-%20By%20Spike%20Milligan.pdfbut be careful, it’s contagious.]

Stick a grin on your chin, and see who says, “Hey, I’m ‘in’!”

How do we sow seeds of peace? That’s the answer to a big Nobel prize-winning question! Maybe it’s as simple as always looking for what we share in common with others? I watched, “Derry Girls,” for the first time this year. It was a profound experience, highlighting the humour and the tension of the troubles in Northern Ireland. In one particularly touching episode the way to peace was by finding that common ground.

And, finally, and perhaps most importantly, how do we sow seeds of love? I think that’s the easiest question to answer. Those of us who want more friendship must show ourselves to be friendly. We, very generally speaking, reap what we sow – that’s the way of Nature. What does, ‘’being shown love,” mean to you? Once you can answer that, go and do that for or to someone else. 

Maybe, just maybe, we’re all about to have a very good day indeed!