A year ago I started a blog, 300-320 words each day.
It wouldn’t be a nice, cheery, Christian thought for the day, nor an evangelistic, preachy Bible study containing comfortable or familiar clichés.
My friends are Christian, sort-of-Christian, used-to-be-Christian and definitely-not-Christian. Conversations usually start with the ordinary, everyday, personal, humorous or sad… They may then extend the intellectual or the spiritual…
Here’s a few random lessons I’m learning and puzzles I’m musing on:
Everyone has it tough: – their own pain, regrets, failures and demons. Some keep theirs secret; others are very public. Some deny them, others live in self-pity. Some think theirs are unique or worse than anyone else’s…
I respond with honesty to my own hurts and empathy to those of others.
Life’s a positive experience: I mustn’t focus on the negative or passively let life pass me by. I’ve a year less than when I started my public musing.
Everyone is valuable; everyone has something to teach me; I’ve something to teach them. My friend Bob says, ‘Life is fun’.
The spiritual is undervalued: Our world prioritises money, experiences and possessions. We risk underestimating values – like loyalty and courage, personal qualities – such as compassion and patience, belief in the supernatural and faith in God.
I believe in truth: I cannot accept that all truth, views or values are relative, nor can I accept the ‘I’ve got all the (correct!) answers’. Some views of truth seem to be too simplistic, some arrogant and others intellectually lazy. I continue to wrestle with this…
Listening is vital: I’m still learning to listen better to people and situations. My daily challenge is to listen to what God is saying to me and discern what I should be saying to others.
Last week I mentioned wisdom – Solomon’s and Jesus’ story of the two builders. My wise friend David Minton said, ‘The wise man builds a house; the foolish man builds sandcastles’.
malcolmsmusings.org 