"I shouldn't have driven
You shouldn't have driven - but we got there ...
It's you and me and the Holy Ghost
On the road to dawn heading down the coast ..."
The Whitlams, 'Thank you (For Loving Me At My Worst)', 1999
I'm happy now - I found a reason to quote a Whitlams song. I know I have just picked what seem like random chunks of the song, but there is a purpose behind it.
I'm terrible at praying. Actually, that's probably the wrong way to put it - rather, I don't really do it that often. At uni I tried the whole praying without ceasing thing at times, which didn't work out, and it's just gone downhill from there.
I even think about praying eg. 'I should pray about that'. People will be in a pickle or be sharing something with me, and quite often I tell them I will pray for them. The intent is there, and I often think about praying for them beyond that encounter, but if I'm honest it may not go much farther than that.
I was driving to Canberra bright and early on Wednesday morning to spend some time at another one of our bakeries (ironically, during this trip, there was an incorrect media release made that the company I work for is not doing enough to reduce the sodium levels in its products - I wish I didn't see heaps of metaphors in that but I do). It's a long drive and my CD player has recently carked it. So I thought about praying - but then I turned the radio on instead.
God had other plans. Maybe He's getting sick of my pseudo promises. He found a way to stop the car - literally. My plans to make it to Canberra by 9am were dashed as I waited for the NRMA, then waited at a repairers, then found perhaps the only car to hire in the small town I happened to break down outside of.
As soon as I got back on my way I prayed for the next 60km.
It was only after that that I pulled out the iPod - and the Whitlams came on. Suitable song don't you think? God is even in my iPod.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Purpose of my blog ... and ex boyfriends
"Some guy on the net thinks I suck
And he should know
He's got his own blog ..."
Ben Folds, 'A Working Day', 2010
I am continuing to sum up what I think about my foray into blogging with these lyrics. I'll get over it eventually, because I really am very keen to write this blog, and have been thinking about its content for ages. Notably, this song also oscillates between the ideas of being great at what you do versus the opposite, conflicting emotions I experience almost daily in my occupation.
The purpose of this blog was originally going to be to describe my methods of approaching Colossians 4:6 in my life, but it seems the horizons have broadened, especially since I've learnt that I'm not the only person to use the term 'salt' in their Christian outreach (for example, it is the name of the youth group in the church community we belong to, and the website http://www.twosalty.com/ sells what looks like some super trendy Christian threads). I think this blog will probably metamorphise into an analysis of the Christian vs secular worldview through my eyes (however valuable that may be).
Salt (otherwise known as sodium chloride!) is something I have to think about in both realms. My chosen career involves the science of food, and for the last four years that food has been bread. Australian legislation and our customers have been dictating all kinds of instruction to the industry on our use of salt over this time - firstly it was mandated that every loaf contain iodised salt, and now they want us to remove salt (<400mg/100g) to help us have less heart attacks or something. Not only will that partially negate the iodisation in the first place but it will reduce its shelf life - and bread without salt tastes wrong. Besides, we do actually need to eat some salt, it does perform a function in our bodies.
In the Christian realm I have been studying Acts through Moore College over the past few months and am at awe with how well Paul understood the idea of seasoning his conversations with salt (which makes sense, given he wrote Colossians). Whether the members of his audience are pagans, Athenians, Christian, Jews - he knows what to say to achieve exactly what God intended him to. My prayer is that God will help me have the same foresight and that I will be able to record the answer to that prayer in this blog.
So ... let's see how all that goes.
I have been thinking today about a particular time in my life when I was 'overdosing on salt' (I'm trying to keep with the theme here ... but I might be trying too hard). It is only now that I can truly see how sleeping with people before you are married can forever more add emotional complexity that would otherwise have not been there. There are other people besides my husband I am irrevocably tied to, for better or worse, and those people have been shown such a poor example of God's love through me that I want to repair but can't (often I take it out on them too). I'm sure there's lyrics that could go along with this (maybe by Tim Freedman?), and this could raise a whole other discussion point on forgiveness ...
... but I think I've reached my quota of thinking (and publishing those thoughts) for a while now.
And he should know
He's got his own blog ..."
Ben Folds, 'A Working Day', 2010
I am continuing to sum up what I think about my foray into blogging with these lyrics. I'll get over it eventually, because I really am very keen to write this blog, and have been thinking about its content for ages. Notably, this song also oscillates between the ideas of being great at what you do versus the opposite, conflicting emotions I experience almost daily in my occupation.
The purpose of this blog was originally going to be to describe my methods of approaching Colossians 4:6 in my life, but it seems the horizons have broadened, especially since I've learnt that I'm not the only person to use the term 'salt' in their Christian outreach (for example, it is the name of the youth group in the church community we belong to, and the website http://www.twosalty.com/ sells what looks like some super trendy Christian threads). I think this blog will probably metamorphise into an analysis of the Christian vs secular worldview through my eyes (however valuable that may be).
Salt (otherwise known as sodium chloride!) is something I have to think about in both realms. My chosen career involves the science of food, and for the last four years that food has been bread. Australian legislation and our customers have been dictating all kinds of instruction to the industry on our use of salt over this time - firstly it was mandated that every loaf contain iodised salt, and now they want us to remove salt (<400mg/100g) to help us have less heart attacks or something. Not only will that partially negate the iodisation in the first place but it will reduce its shelf life - and bread without salt tastes wrong. Besides, we do actually need to eat some salt, it does perform a function in our bodies.
In the Christian realm I have been studying Acts through Moore College over the past few months and am at awe with how well Paul understood the idea of seasoning his conversations with salt (which makes sense, given he wrote Colossians). Whether the members of his audience are pagans, Athenians, Christian, Jews - he knows what to say to achieve exactly what God intended him to. My prayer is that God will help me have the same foresight and that I will be able to record the answer to that prayer in this blog.
So ... let's see how all that goes.
I have been thinking today about a particular time in my life when I was 'overdosing on salt' (I'm trying to keep with the theme here ... but I might be trying too hard). It is only now that I can truly see how sleeping with people before you are married can forever more add emotional complexity that would otherwise have not been there. There are other people besides my husband I am irrevocably tied to, for better or worse, and those people have been shown such a poor example of God's love through me that I want to repair but can't (often I take it out on them too). I'm sure there's lyrics that could go along with this (maybe by Tim Freedman?), and this could raise a whole other discussion point on forgiveness ...
... but I think I've reached my quota of thinking (and publishing those thoughts) for a while now.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Starting a blog ...
"...let's have a toast for the douchebags..."
Kanye West, 'Runaway', 2010
I thought I'd start my blog by explaining how I feel about starting a blog. Even writing that sentence felt pretentious.
Hopefully I'll get over this feeling if I'm going to write more than once.
Kanye West, 'Runaway', 2010
I thought I'd start my blog by explaining how I feel about starting a blog. Even writing that sentence felt pretentious.
Hopefully I'll get over this feeling if I'm going to write more than once.
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