Views from the Lake

Mission

2007-09-13T18:03:00.000-07:00

I have been struck by two remarks on mission that I heard this past week.
The first was in the testimony of one of the cadets at the Welcome to the Cadets on Friday. He said, "The need is the call." The second was an advertisement for the CIA which used the slogan, "Some heroes are inspired by the mission, not the recognition."

As a Salvationist I believe these can and should be combined. I'm reminded of William Booth's remark, "Go for souls, and go for the worst." That is our mission and the need is still there.

Coming back to the recently mentioned Generation Me book. The author describes the current generation as unwilling to donate their time to charitable causes unless it is on their terms. I wonder if that has become evident in the Army too? Are we still inspired by our mission? Or has our mission evolved/changed/been diverted?

Some very good friends of mine are in the process of adopting a child. I wonder if it is time that the Army starts to call it's soldiers and members to tackle the large number of unwanted children that live in this country? Is that part of our mission?

Many questions, but few answers.

Perfection again!

2007-09-10T17:33:00.000-07:00

I've just started reading a book that the challenging Steven Bussey recommended to me. (Challenging in a good way, he always pushes me to learn more and expand my knowledge!) It's titled Generation Me, authored by Jean M. Twenge.

And following on from my previous post regarding perfection this quote caught my eye:

Many teens feel that the world demands perfection in everything, and some are cracking under the pressure.

Perfection is a favorite subject of mine. Those who know me will testify that I am a perfectionist. It is a good thing and a bad thing.

Good because it pushes me in everything I do and hopefully it means that these things are achieved. And I feel useless when I don't have anything to do so it means I'm always busy.

Bad because it means I don't get much sleep and I'm constantly thinking about what needs to be done.

But I am not a teen, so I wonder what effect such pressure to be perfect is having on our teens?

Turning to the Church, how does this pressure to be perfect affect how we teach and how we disciple our teens?

2007-09-08T19:06:00.000-07:00

I need to expand on my previous post:

I am fascinated by the quote. It might have something to do with the fact that my Dad once described me as 'a Jack of all trades, and master of none.' The idea of excellence in everything we do resonates with me. I believe we are called as Christians to pursue excellence in all we do.

I have often used the quote that if your employment is work then it's not what you should be doing. What I mean by this is that if you consider it as work and not as enjoyable then maybe it's not what you should be doing. Not to say that it isn't meant to be tough and difficult, but there is Joy to be found in those times. Then work and play is one and the same thing.

And then there is the line about not knowing the difference between 'his love and his religion.' As Christians there should be no difference between our love and our 'religion', in fact our love should be our 'religion'.

I say all these things because I am on the journey to find them.

What's your red rubber ball?

2007-09-06T14:41:00.000-07:00

This is taken from "Rules of the Red Rubber Ball" by Kevin Carroll:

The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play,
his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation,
his love and his religion.

He hardly knows which is which.

He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others
to decide whether he is working or playing.

To him he's always doing both.

James Michener

The definition of an authentic Christian???