Choices Overload? – Choose Wisely

Imagine you’re at the coffee shop counter.

“What can I get you, today?” asks the clerk. You’re confronted with a choice of regular or decaf or any one of a great array of specialty coffees. You decide and inform the clerk (more pretentiously, the barista), who then asks, “What would you like in it?” Sugar? How much?  None? Sure. Cream or milk or black? Did you say “double-double?”

My wife or I place our order, plain and simple: Two small coffees, both with double milk.

Source: Google Free

Later in the day our order would be for decaf coffees. The establishment offers numerous other choices, such as: baked-good treats – donuts, bagels, cream-filled fancies or soft or crunchy cookies – more decisions! There are options for paying, too – with gift card, loyalty card, cash or debit.

Being alive and living forces choice-making on us from the time we roll out of bed in the morning till we climb back in. A well-stocked wardrobe presents its own challenges: What shirt will I wear today? What colour of socks and tie . . . ? A lady may be concerned about what shade of tights, makeup and accessories will contrast or conflict with – or complement – her pants or skirt and top. It would’ve been easier in the good ol’ days when many of us had only one or two pairs of pants and a couple of shirts or blouses.

What should we have for breakfast, lunch and dinner? – And the decision-making goes on. If oatmeal is all you can afford and the only cereal you have, the breakfast choice is quite simple.

Leaving UK for Canada 43 years ago.

Two young boys and one-on-the-way.

Mum looks at peace; Dad looks glum.

They have long since gone to be with the Lord.

Our Canadian 'Adventure' continues.

CHOICES continue, too! ~~+~~

Options and choice overload – it’s hard to know whether we’re coming or going. Choices in life are not always between the good and the bad. They can be between the good and better or between what’s not so bad and what might be much worse.

I recall in my teens that I had made some less-than-good choices and had gotten in with some youngsters who were not following what I knew to be “the better way.” 

Thank God I wasn’t too far down that track before I realised that this wasn’t “me.” Basically, I said, “This is not who I am.” I had a choice to make: Go through the religious motions and live on the periphery of what only looked like a Christian life, or turn my back and walk away from Jesus altogether – something I was not prepared to do.

And so, there was another avenue: Embrace and pursue the kind of life that in my heart of hearts I knew fitted the higher call that was on my life. At the time I had no idea that I would come to Canada and serve in pastoral ministry for decades and be writing to you, as I’m doing just now. However, I reckoned I’d be involved in gospel and sacred music – as I had been since my childhood.

I began to refocus my life on the Lord and chose to live in the light of His grace, seeking His help in putting into practise the lessons I was learning along the way – one day at a time. The song bearing that title, “One Day at a Time”* has, I’m sure, inspired many to choose wisely and raise their gaze and keep their feet on ‘the better way’!

One day at a time sweet Jesus, that’s all I’m asking from you

Just give me the strength, to do everyday what I have to do.

Yesterday’s gone, sweet Jesus, and tomorrow may never be mine

Lord help me today, show me the way one day at a time.*

~~~

*Authors: Marijohn Wilkin; Kris Kristofferson

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Peter A. Black is a retired pastor – well, sort of – and lives in Southwestern Ontario. He writes a weekly inspirational newspaper column, P-Pep! and is author of Raise Your Gaze ... Mindful Musings of a Grateful Heart, and Parables from the Pond. ~~+~~

Language Learning By Marcia Lee Laycock

My face was beet red. I slouched into my chair with a dismal sigh. Bruno, my language teacher, having not the slightest inclination to save my damaged pride, was laughing. I managed a weak smile. It was a bit funny. I had just asked him if he wanted his sister in his coffee. When he stopped laughing, he told me the correct phrase and made me practice it several times. The difference between the word sister and the word sugar was in a single vowel. It was not my first nor last mistake of the day.

Later that afternoon, I despaired again of ever being able to speak Melanesian Pigeon, as another teacher outlined the grammatical structure of the language. I could barely remember English grammar, let alone bend my brain around a language made up of three European lexicons with a few national languages thrown in for flavour. By the end of that day, my enthusiasm for learning the trade language of Papua New Guinea had vanished. It was then I realized I didn’t want to learn it, I just wanted to know how to speak it.

I wanted to be able to communicate with the people we were to live with, so I had to dispel the illusion that I was going to wake up one morning and be fluent in their language. I had to face the fact that I had to work at it. I had to face the fact that I was going to make a lot of mistakes. I was going to be laughed at. I was going to feel dumb and have to continually ask questions. I was going to have to get used to having to listen so intently my head hurt. I was going to have to get used to being like a little child, again and again.

When I came to terms with that reality, a surprising thing happened. The process became a delight. I looked forward to going to the market to learn new names for old vegetables. I relished going to work, so I could learn new expressions and phrases. I loved standing in the middle of a crowd of black faces and just soaking in the sound. And best of all, I loved being able to communicate easily with the people around me. As my language skills grew so did my delight in living among them.

Such is the journey of a Christ follower – it’s the journey of a child, a journey of continually learning, listening, asking questions, making mistakes, yet continuing on because there is such delight in growing closer to and growing more and more like our master. When we come to terms with that reality we realize it’s worth the effort because the joy of being in His presence and soaking Him in can be compared to no other.

In Matthew 18, the disciples asked Jesus who would be the greatest in God’s kingdom. Perhaps they thought they’d learned enough, and done enough, to merit that position. Jesus says: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3-4).

Like a little child – willing to learn, willing to listen, willing to work at it. Again and again. 

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Marcia Lee Laycock writes from central Alberta Canada where she is a pastor's wife and mother of three adult daughters. She was the winner of The Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her novel, One Smooth Stone. Her second novel, A Tumbled Stone was short listed in the contemporary fiction category of The Word Awards, 2013. Marcia also has two devotional books in print. Her work has been endorsed by Sigmund Brouwer, Janette Oke, Phil Callaway and Mark Buchanan. 

Abundant Rain, an ebook devotional for writers can be downloaded here. Visit Marcia’s Website

Review of Theology in Aisle Seven by Carolyn Arends (Nesdoly)

“Words are sacred, and when they are used truthfully or beautifully—best of all—incarnationally, they cause us to consider and even experience our Creator” writes Carolyn Arends in the Foreword to her book Theology in Aisle Seven: The Uncommon Grace of Everyday Spirituality. In this collection of essays previously published as columns in Christianity Today she attempts and, I would submit, succeeds at doing just that.

The book’s 25 chapters are divided into six sections. In section one (The Good God) Arends introduces us to the God of the big picture in chapters that discuss things like God’s omnipresence and His righteousness, which turns out to be His love in disguise. Section two (Life in God) has chapters that deal with faith and the church. Laughter and the arts are two topics she addresses in Part 3 (Common Things that Matter Greatly).  Part 4 (Uncommon Virtues) tackles subjects like trust, hospitality, humility, and silence. Part 5 (Into the World) has chapters on vocation and neighborliness. In the final section (Last Things) she discusses our mortality and God’s eventual victory.

Arends has a wonderful way with words. Of course she’s had lots of experience if you count her years of songwriting. However, songwriting doesn’t automatically translate into column writing according to her editor Mark Galli. In the book’s Introduction he says of her literary ability: “It’s the unusual songwriter who can become an effective magazine columnist …. Over the last few years, as I’ve read and edited column after column, I’ve discovered something Billboard Magazine puts succinctly: Carolyn is ‘one of the most affecting communicators in any genre.’”  Readers of the book will be treated to passages like:

“I suspect I have sometimes unconsciously used spiritual disciplines as smoke signals to get God’s attention” – Kindle Location 168

and

“The old cliché is true: Laughter is a medicine that reminds us that our sickness will one day be healed and we shall be whole and holy. Until then, laughter is the Elmer’s Glue that attaches us to the goodness that inhabits this world, and to the gladness that hints at the world to come” – KL 567

and

"Death unaddressed is the bogeyman in the basement; it keeps us looking over our shoulders and holds us back from entering joyously into the days we are given" - KL 1029. 

My favorite thing about Arends’ writing, however, is the way she brings her life and personal experiences into these essays, transforming what could be lofty platitudes into engaging, humorous, often self-deprecating, and always relatable epiphanies.

She tells of how losing her voice during a singing tour gave her a whole new concert experience and taught her that God could work through weakness. She draws parallels between parenting her children and being parented by God. She paints a picture of the usefulness of a power-washer, but also the damaging potential of its strength (“…he [a neighbour’s teen] felt an ant crawling on his calf. Instinctively, he turned the nozzle toward his leg, obliterating the insect—and unfortunately some layers of muscle and tissue” – KL 499) and likens it to God’s simultaneous power (shown in His zero-tolerance of sin in the Old Testament) and mercy (shown through Jesus in the New Testament).

The chapters are brief (800 words maximum), the stories captivating, but the ideas in this little book are huge. Summer would be a good time to download this weightless/weighty volume onto your e-reader for those rainy afternoons at the cottage. Then, with eyes opened, don’t be surprised when you too begin to recognize God in the ordinary things, like thunder storms, wasps at picnics, and misty lakeside mornings, that cross your path this summer. 

(Article first published as Book review: Theology in Aisle Seven by Carolyn Arends on Blogcritics.)

(Psst—of course you can get more of Carolyn's great writing here on the blog, on the post just below this one actually. Might we be getting a sneak-peek at her next book?)

This book is available only in e-book format.

Kindle

Nook

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Website: www.violetnesdoly.com 

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Hedged In - Nesdoly

If you are like me, you don't like to feel confined. I don't like to feel physically confined. I remember fighting panic when we vacationed in our tent trailer and I slept in a narrow place between my husband, the canvas wall beside me, and the canvas roof that sloped to just inches of my face.

But David tells us in Psalm 139:5 that God confines us—fences us in, a hedge in front and in back, His hand on top.

If life is good we may scarcely be aware of this constriction. But when circumstances are hard, the job is unfulfilling, other pastures look greener, it is easy to try to wriggle out of the place we're in, to spring ourselves from what feels like a prison.

I read the blog of a special education teacher who wrote of this very thing in one of his 2011 advent meditations. His thoughts came out of a conversation with the furnace fixer, Mr. S., who confided in him, "I don't like my job," and then asked, "How about you? Are you thinking of leaving or are you going to stay?" Here's the rest of the story in Magical Mystical Teacher's own words:

“'I’ve thought about leaving,' I say to Mr. S, 'but where would I go?'


What I don’t tell him, because I’m not sure he’d understand, is that the only thing keeping me here—besides the children—is my sense of being placed here by God. Like the psalmist, I have found that God leads people who are willing to be led. If it weren’t for that, I’d be filling out as many applications as it takes to get out of here as quickly as possible.


However, until it is clear that I am supposed to move on, I listen for God’s instruction right where I am, confident that God will teach me the way to go, and lead me when the time is right."

Perhaps that attitude of trust in God, that willingness to stay or to go in God's time, not ours, is the secret of living without restlessness, anger, resentment, bitterness etc., in our hedged-in place.

Excerpt from Other Food: daily devos, January 14, 2012.

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Website: www.violetnesdoly.com

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Book Review: The Next Story by Tim Challies (Nesdoly)

If you’ve detected some changes in yourself, your kids or grandkids since the coming of the Internet, video games and smart phones, you’ll want to read The Next Story by Ontario author Tim Challies. When this pastor and writer began to notice how his beeping and ringing gizmos and gadgets had him on an ever shorter leash, he decided to do some investigating. The result is a holistic book that not only gives information about technology but also provides a well-researched, well-reasoned and biblically based context for its use.

In Part One Challies lays the groundwork for a discerning utilization of technology by first relating it to God and theology. Next he explains what theorists have discovered about ways it changes society and individuals. Finally he takes us on a tour of digital technology through history, showing us how we got here.

Part Two delves into modern digital technology’s impacts on communication, mediation (use of media instead of face-to-face contact), distractibility, family life, information (e.g. the sheer volume and questionable quality of it), truth/authority (e.g. Wikipedia versus an encyclopedia written by experts), and visibility and privacy.

Throughout Part Two, Challies relates technology’s challenges to the foundational discoveries about spirit, soul and body he arrived at in Part One. Each of these chapters has a “Questions for Reflection” and “Practical Application” section, good for personal or group use.

As someone who has interacted with digital technology for years, I saw my behaviours described often in this book and found myself thinking, “So that’s what’s going on!” Whether you’re a technology newbie, a seasoned digital immigrant, or a digital native, there’s something for you in its pages. Digital technology is here to stay. This book will help you see how you can remain its master instead of allowing it to master you.

Title: The Next Story: Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion
Author: Tim Challies
Publisher: Zondervan, 2011. Hardcover, 208 pages. $21.99
ISBN-10: 0310329035
ISBN-13: 978-0310329039

Review first published in Faith Today - July / August 2011 issue.

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Website: www.violetnesdoly.com

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One Thousand Gifts - a review (Nesdoly)

Title: One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are
Author: Ann Voskamp
Publisher: Zondervan, February 2011, available in hardcover and Kindle editions
• ISBN-10: 0310321913
• ISBN-13: 978-0310321910
 

“They say memory jolts awake with trauma’s electricity. That would be the year I turned four. The year when blood pooled and my sister died and I, all of us, snapped shut to grace” (Kindle location 45).

In this early paragraph from One Thousand Gifts author Ann Voskamp relates her first memory – a tragic accident that overshadowed much of her life. Then she whisks us forward to her adult self, the wife of an Ontario farmer, a mother of six, and a fearful woman on a quest to understand and trust a God who would allow a baby to be snatched from her family.

Through vignettes from her life she takes us with her on the journey. It begins when she discovers the Greek word eucharisteo which embodies "giving thanks," "grace," and "joy." At about the same time a friend challenges her to list one thousand things for which she is thankful. She begins keeping a gratitude journal.

Along the way we rush to the ER with her and her son the day he mangles his hand, overhear her dealing with a hurting child, and feel her toe-clenching fear as hog prices plummet. Intertwined through these and other stories is what she learns about God and trust, fear, beauty, humility, service, and more.

Voskamp’s openness and vulnerability are moving. She buttresses her vivid storytelling and poetic prose with quotes from sources as varied as St. Augustine and John Piper. The rich text begs to be read slowly and savoured.

One Thousand Gifts is a powerful and convincing apologetic for thankfulness. It illustrates how the practice of gratitude can morph from a mere exercise of accumulating items on a list to a trusting, joyful lifestyle.

Ann Voskamp is a member of The Word Guild and blogs at A Holy Experience.

© 2011 by Violet Nesdoly

This review was first published in the March/April 2011 issue of Faith Today.

Website: www.violetnesdoly.com

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Here's what I think: writing about contemporary culture - Nesdoly

I don't often write about controversial contemporary issues. There are a couple of reasons why. One is that in order to form a valid opinion on something, you have to have some knowledge about it.  On some topics I just don't feel well enough informed. Another is that when you express opinions that are not mainstream (and increasingly, those shaped by a Christian worldview aren't) you open yourself up to attack. It's not a position I put myself in without counting the cost.

However it's increasingly important that we as Christians learn to think for ourselves and relate to contemporary culture (both church and secular) on the basis of convictions. It's also a valuable skill to be able to articulate and defend those convictions.

I love reading well-thought-out articles on contemporary culture written from a Christian perspective.  One writer I've discovered recently who isn't afraid to take up that gauntlet is Dr. R. Albert Mohler (President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary). In fact his mission as expressed on the "About" page of his website (www.albertmohler.com) is " to address contemporary issues from a consistent and explicit Christian worldview." He has recently written articles on:

• Christians and yoga ("The Subtle Body — Should Christians Practice Yoga?").

• The popular trend of non-religious spirituality ("The War Between Spirituality and Science is Over"). 

• An open letter to Professor Karl Giberson responding to an article in the Huffington Post in which Professor Giberson attacked Mohler personally in  Giberson's defense of evolutionary creationism ("On Darwin and Darwinism: A Letter to Professor Giberson). I've just named three; there are many others.

Reading him is challenging me to try my hand at this kind of writing, if for no other reason than to clarify my own thinking on contemporary culture issues and their relationship to my faith.  Perhaps you're interested in joining me. Here's how the process could work:

1. Read articles from the daily news and bookmark those that arouse your  interest.

2. Choose one.

3. Free-write your reactions to get an understanding of why it caught your attention and why you agree or disagree with the position of the writer.

4. Refine your thoughts until you have articulated a position of your own,  to the extent of thinking of and answering objections to your ideas. (I can imagine this step might involve some research.)

5.(Optional) When you're satisfied with what you've said, post your piece on your blog (making sure to publish a link to the original article if it's online) or  send it to the publication that ran the catalyst article (perhaps as a letter to the editor). 

I'd love to know who your favourite contemporary culture commentators are. If you'd like, share names and links in the comments.

-- Violet Nesdoly

Website: www.violetnesdoly.com

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Same Trip, Different Attitude by Ruth Smith Meyer

Once again, we traversed the highway around beautiful Lake Superior to Thunder Bay--probably at least the twentieth time in the last forty-five years. (Oh dear, I can scarcely believe I'm even that old!)

One would think after doing the same route that many times, it would be growing old and boring. Not so! I've done it in the middle of winter, in the early spring, in the summer and in the autumn. It thrills me every time. Each season holds it's own special colour and beauty. For many years, we managed to have sunny weather most of the way. A few times in recent years we had fog when I have had to imagine the water out there in the lake and the trees high on the hills. Today we had everything from fog to light sprinkle to bright sun, to heavenly blue skies, to heavier rain. The varied greens of the spruce and pines, the poplar, birch and other species were rich and lush in the damp. The lake lay in deeper shades of blues and grays under brooding skies or reflected the sunlight and shadow. Sometimes, even while we drove through light mist, we could see ahead, the sun shining on the side of a distant hill. At other times, as we moved through sunshine, the shadow of clouds or sweeping rain were seen far ahead. It seemed we had a bird's-eye view of various types of weather.

Before we reached the most scenic part of the route, I had been reading aloud, bits from Stan Toler's book, The Buzzards are Circling but God isn't Finished with Me Yet. That reading already made me aware of the various challenges of life and the difference our attitude makes when facing those challenges. I guess if got my mind ready to see the scenes before me with different eyes. Instead of fretting because the sun wasn't illuminating each new sight with every single curve in the road, I was able to see the beauty of the lush green in the mist. The play of sunlight and shadow, bright moments and cloudy ones, the sweep of approaching rain and sudden downpours or moments of dense fog that obliterated all exept the close view, all became a reflection of life.

How often in the sunny periods of our lilves are we surprised at the turn in the road to be met with drops of rain on our parade? How often do we see ahead the sweep of rain, knowing that very soon we will be in the midst of another challenge? How often do we come upon a thick fog where we can only see a short distance ahead, not able to know for sure where the turns, the ups and downs await?

Now on our trip, as in life, would we not have had a goal in mind, we may have been inclined to just wait it out until the sun shone once more, or to have turned tails to flee the oncoming storm. In severe weather or road conditions, that may be the advisable and wise thing to do, but today it wasn't dangerous to go on, so we kept travelling. We had a goal in mind. We had reservations for the night ahead and a destination that called us for tomorrow. We had lots of time to make our day's journey, we didn't need to hurry. The goal gave us impetus to continue our journey and we found pleasure and benefit in the going. We would have missed the blessing of seeing the scenery in a different light had we avoided journeying through. The goal made the difference.

Think about it. What does that tell you about your life-journey? I know today will make a difference in my outlook in life.

Will they know? - CARLETON

 “They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes, they will know we are Christians by our love"

That phrase has been going through my head a lot lately. What does that phrase mean? First of all, who is "they"? It could be referring to non-Christians or as some would like to call them "pre-Christians". Or maybe "they" are anyone we come into contact with on a daily basis. So that makes we wonder, do people I come into contact with know that I am a Christian? Did the very patient lady at Superstore today know that I am a Christian? Should I have preached to her, so that she would know? Of course not! What does that lyric say again, by our love? How did I show Christ's love to her today? Good question.

As I ran around town today doing errands with both girls in tow, how did I share/show God's love for the people I came into contact with? I don't think I did very well today. Actually, to say I blew it would probably be good way to describe my behaviour today. Which I am thankful that I am now recognizing and I can try to do better tomorrow.

I am the role model of this for my girls. Well, my husband is as well, but since we have two daughters, it will be more from me. So what did I teach my daughters today about showing Christ's love to people? Not very much! Thank God, I have tomorrow. We have to make a conscious effort of how we are going to choose to behave and what we choose to represent, or who we want to represent.

When I was in the modelling industry we were told that before we ever left the house to look in the mirror and evaluate if we were representing ourselves and our agency appropriately as models. Now when I wake up in the morning and I am looking at my reflection in the mirror I think I need to be asking a better question. “Am I going to choose to represent Christ today?” When I come into contact with “they” will “they” know that I am a Christian by my love? I hope and pray that tomorrow will be a better day!

 

Cj Carleton is the 2008 Canadian Christian Writing Award winner for her first book “What Makes You Unique? Discover the Truth or Believe the lie”.  Learn more about Cj by visiting www.cjcarleton.com You can also connect with her on Twitter or Facebook.

Aging: the silver lining - Nesdoly

In June I shared some thoughts about writing and aging on my personal blog. Did you know, for example, that some agents won't take on aging writers? It can be a depressing time, with a lot going on - and off.

Of course, aging can also be a time of satisfaction as we take on new roles, strategize on how to age creatively and reflect on a successful writing career. There must be something to recommend it, considering all the characters aged 50 and older in recent novels.

Despite all the cliches about aging, as Christians, we really shouldn't be all that concerned about it. Here's why:

• God has planned each one of our days (Psalm 139:16).

• Even though their number is limited (Psalm 39:5; James 4:14), God promises us His attention, direction and success (Psalm 32:8; Isaiah 30:21).

• Our general assignment is to be faithful stewards of the time, talent and opportunity we've been given (Luke 12:48; Luke 19:12-26).

• God has a specific job for each of us too (Ephesians 2:10). Bible characters like Abraham, Moses and Caleb illustrate that when one's assignment isn't complete, age is no obstacle. In other words, God's purposes aren't hindered by His vessel's advancing age.

• Finally it is God who determines what our life's work is actually worth (I Corinthians 3:10-15) and He's the one we need to impress. Os Guinness calls it living before the "Audience of One." (The Call, p. 70).

As we focus our attention on the things above, we can be as oblivious to the advancing years as the woman described in Proverbs 31: "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come." (Proverbs 31:25)

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