Monthly Archives: August 2012

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August 29, 2012

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Spirituality

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Ssssh!… God might be speaking

When we think of God we think of a Him. We also think of a being who created the world and who loves us unconditionally. We also think the opposite. We think that God is angry with us most of the time and that he is holding out on us. He has time for us but more in a teacher- class setting. He wants to teach us things but he’s too busy to engage in one on one tutoring.

With so many conflicting ideas about God, no wonder we don’t get him.

We also think God is far up in the sky, in some other dimension.

Which creates feelings of distance from God. Which then lead to hopelessness and guilt and shame.

A lot of the time we are waiting for that huge ‘eureka’ moment where God speaks to us.

But there could be another way God wants to speak to us that we often miss. Continue reading →

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August 24, 2012

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The work of art

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You’re not winning

One of resistance’s biggest strengths is convincing you that you have defeated it.

You haven’t.

It doesn’t matter that you spent the last 5 days awaking at 6 am and getting a lot of writing done. It doesn’t matter that you have been hitting the gym every single day and are starting to reap the benefits.

Resistance will return.

It will change and evolve as you do.

It will never give up.

So neither should you.

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August 19, 2012

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The work of art, Writing

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No time like the present.

It is never too late to start… but start today.

A great quote from Ricky Gervais.

If you have a dream or a challenge you want to face down you can still achieve it. It doesn’t matter if you are 20 or 60. If you are in anyway spiritual you probably believe in second chances. Or third and fourth. So bring your belief into real life.

What’s really stopping you?

Not enough time? Not enough money? Not good enough?

Then get up early. Ask for money. Practice.

There are no real good excuses.

But don’t leave it. Don’t wait until you have more of those things to pursue it. There is no time like the present is a cliché but more so it is truth. Because tomorrow will still be too soon if you delay. If you think that today is not the right time what difference will it be when you think about starting tomorrow?

Tomorrow will be a today soon enough.

At the end of the day it all comes back to fear.

What are you afraid of?

Failing? Succeeding? Or never knowing?

If you’re afraid of anything make it the last.

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August 18, 2012

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Addiction, Porn Talk, Sex, Spirituality, theology

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Russell Brand, Addiction and the Church

I caught up with Russell Brand’s (fast becoming one of my favourite people in the spotlight) show about addiction last night.

It was encouraging, discouraging, hopeful and despairing all in one drug fuelled (the topic of the show, I’m sure the producers were completely professional) BBC3 show. In fact that’s a lot like the emotions you go through when you’re addicted to something.

You’re up and then you’re down. You see light at the end of the tunnel and as Karen , one drug addict featured on the show commented, the next minute a train is coming towards you.

Watching the show made me realise how much different addictions have in common. There are huge differences too of course. You can’t say that crack addiction is the same as a shopping addiction or even a porn addiction but there are huge similarities. Continue reading →

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August 13, 2012

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LGBT, Sex, Spirituality, theology

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God is not a Hipster.

God is not a hipster. He’s not into bands that only you and He have heard of. He doesn’t shop exclusively in Top Man. He loves Coldplay and New York Pony Club in equal measure.

A friend, who thinks like us, looks like us and who cares for the same things that we do will naturally support us when someone questions or challenges our beliefs. But when we view God through those lenses (Hipster thick clear lenses) it’s pretty easy to fall into the trap of thinking God is on one side or the other. We fit God into our perceived ideas of what is right or wrong.

But when I hear that “God so loved the world”, my thoughts don’t directly go to being about how we are saved but rather that God is for everyone. Sometimes this is hard to swallow. Sometimes it would be so much easier if this was not true. But it is. And I am glad it is. Continue reading →

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August 10, 2012

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The work of art

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The Ricky Gervais Factor

Some people will always hate what you do.

Accept that and move on. But what we can also be assured of is that some people will love what you do.

I love Ricky Gervais. But I know more people who hate him than love him. One reason he is successful is because he doesn’t give a damn what people think. Not always a good thing, but you have to hand it to him. When he has ignored those voices and with dozens of awards squeezed onto his mantelpiece, I am sure he isn’t too worried.

If Ricky Gervais set out to please a broad audience he wouldn’t be half as good a comedian as he is. He may have a lot more fans but that’s the question that we all need to ask.

Are we doing what we do for the accolades or for the joy of the work and belief in what we are doing? Continue reading →

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August 9, 2012

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Satire, Spirituality

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The Prayer Hum

For a long time I judged the effectiveness of prayers by the number of prayer hums they received.

Those little sounds of affirmation that we give each other when we pray together. Go through a long prayer without as much as a sigh from someone and you feel like you have wasted your time. Actually a sigh might be worse. It might be a sign that you’re going on a little bit too long about how you want healed from your man flu. You’re getting no sympathy there buddy. Unless you’re just praying with men. Then the hums might be deafening.

Maybe it’s a Northern Irish thing. We’re too reserved to be shouting out Amen’s all over the place so instead we just grunt. Don’t want to be getting too big headed now.

But actually I have come to love the Prayer hum. I used to think that people only did it so they sounded holy themselves. You know like, “oh yeah God, what she said, that’s good! See how in love I am with you”. Like pretending you were fans of Cat Nap all along. Continue reading →