2020 Best of...

How do you sum up the dumpster fire that was 2020?

Frankly, aside from the last few weeks when the Northern Beaches of Sydney were placed into lockdown, this year, for me, was COVID uneventful.

I studied university full time this year - knocking off the majority of my geography minor - getting 6 distinctions and 2 credits.

Aside from that... my work was nearly unaffected.

This year, like last year, blogging was down depending upon my study schedule, nonetheless here’s the Rambling highlights of 2020...

You must have a plan for the orphans

The two things you listen through

The paid person must be the face of the controversy

Should the code be the minister’s middle name?

Why you should send the words of your prayer

Can celebrating the past show our one-ness?

Why everything must keep touching on the Corona

My first Tiny Bible Bit video

The four audiences of a sermon

Knowing how the church sausage is made does not make you a good eater

Breakdown of a healthy church budget

Nepotism questions which must be answered

The challenge of getting people back in the habit

Why a theology of space and place matters

Summer goals update #1

Four weeks ago I set myself 7 Summer goals.

How am I going?

1 - With my part of Sydney now going through another round of COVID lockdown, my gym has been shut. When I started my goals at the start of the month I was 83kg. My health app thinks that I got down to mid-82kg, I’m now post-Christmas back up to 84. My gym is scheduled to open in another week. Of course, twisting my ankle at work would mean that my gym activity would have been restricted at the moment anyway.

2 - I’ve currently recorded every Tiny Bible Bit going back to the start of 2016, including a three month sabbatical which I’d completely forgotten. So, I’m around 800 posts down...

3 - Duolingo still has 13 topics to complete... well on track for the end of next month.

4 - I just finished reading the Horrible Histories of the two world wars - fitting for a future history teacher who did no modern history - and I know the book (fiction!) I’m planning on reading next.

5 - Initially I ceased gnawing my fingernails for a good week. And then lockdown struck. As I’ve had to enter hot zones every day, my children are within a restricted zone and our Christmas plans were thrown into chaos, the fingernail preservation was put on hold.

I never thought that my chomping had to do with stress (I always thought it had to do with boredom), but anxiety may be a larger contributor than I assumed...

6 - Blogging has gone up ever so slightly... but not too much.

7 - Finally, every medical duty is still on the to-do list...

Hopefully, by the end of January, numbers 1, 5 & 6 will be back on track, numbers 2 & 3 completed and numbers 4 & 7 halfway through...

The shift of sex advice

Every so often I’ll have a chat to a young guy about sex. Usually, it will be in the context of marriage and the expectations of the first night/week/month.

I wonder how these kinds of conversations have changed over the years.

I suspect, the tone of the conversations has shifted from education to myth-busting.

In the past - especially before the prevalence of movies, trashy magazines and porn - the experience of sex would be filtered with mystery. Now, the filter is not only torn down, but a false image of sex magnified.

And, this projected picture colours our view and expectations of sex.

Generations ago, facials were not considered as a regular sexual act. Now, if you’re entire sexual diet has been fed by porn, it’s commonplace. It happens every time. 

Every. Time.

This could make for an awkward wedding night.

Now, I would like to think that “good Christian men” would never know of such things or dare expect them on their honeymoon but the torrent of porn (especially being exposed in your early teens) necessitates the shift towards painting a more realistic picture of sex.

Our young men deserve it.

Our young women deserve it.

Their marriage deserves it.

Leading singing or singing on stage?

 Last Sunday, restrictions on singing in churches were eased in Sydney and I’m curious how this resumption will effect those who, for the majority of the year, have been singing on stage without congregation participation.

I’ve written a bit about leading singing in church, including what I learnt when I had to leading singing once back in 2012, and I suspect that I will never be in a position to lead singing again (very much by choice!).

But I have the strong sense that some churches will now be led by those who will be conditioned to sing in front of a church instead of leading singing from the front.

How would you know the difference?

Simply, if no one sung, there would be no difference.

If the band can hear themselves over the congregation, then they are, most likely, singing and not leading.

If the congregation can’t hear each other over the singers, then the band are, most likely, singing and not leading.

With the resumption of singing, many churches will rekindle their fondness for congregational singing. I suspect, their appreciation for its importance will greatly magnify.

Now, I wonder, will those up the front be able to make space for this practice to occur most effective, transitioning away from the practices which they have been forced to develop during restrictions?

Why a theology of space and place matters

Over the last few months I’ve been periodically leading a bible study at my church. In doing so, a month ago I took my group through an exercise which was significant for the denomination I used to work for.

Since this denomination was an unification of three existing denominations - with subsequent amalgamation of facilities - it was important to allow space for elder members of the congregation to grieve what combining created and ended.

For some, they lost buildings full of memories.

They saw the place they got married sold.

They saw the place their kids got baptised demolished.

They saw the building they grew up in redeveloped.

And, this resulted in hurt.

Furthermore, my previous denomination was very active within the indigenous peoples and indigenous theology.

In many ways, they sort to acknowledge the pain caused to and the work required by/with the indigenous communities. 

In short, I grew up in and worked in an organisation which had a highly developed theology of space and place.

For, every believer holds to a theology of where they have been and what they have experienced.

They have places of significance.

They have spaces where they’ve strongly felt the presence of God.

In regards to the bible study I was leading, in order to begin to recognise the devastation of the Jewish exile, when we start to identify our own theology of place and space, then we can begin to empathise with what was lost in the exile.

As a middle-class Anglo, the more developed our personal sense of space and place is, then we the more we are able to relate to both those sent to Babylon, but also those within our own boarders who have been dispossessed of their lands, memories and significant places.

Summer goals

Full time uni = no time blogging.

Well, with the University year now concluded, I can get back to doing all the things which have been absorbed by the study monster.

Frankly, while my marks will indicate that this year has been fairly manageable, my sleep patterns would suggest otherwise.

In a post-uni Summer I’m going to do a few things which have been thrown off kilter in a two full COVID university semesters.

1 - Get back to the gym. When I started going to the gym regularly a few years ago I was 78kg. By the end of last year I was 81kg. While I didn’t blow out too much  during the COVID lockdown, I’m now 83kg.

Notice a trend?

My aim, over the summer, will be to get back to 78kg. Hopefully less. 

And getting back to a 32 inch waist, while only a 1.5 inch reduction, will be nice.

2 - Do an audit of the near 1400 Tiny Bible Bits posts from the last 9 years. I’ve never kept track of the passages I’ve used or the points I have made. So far, I’ve done 2 years worth of posts and... it’s taking a while. With a handful of hours each week, I should be done in a few months. I’m looking forward to seeing the results and discovering what points I’ve unknowingly recycled and what has been the places/themes I’ve touched on the most.

3 - Complete the German Duolingo course. I’ve been learning German, being now married to a half-German, since March 2018. I’ve only got a few dozen topics to completely finish and I’ve already got my next language in mind...

4 - Read 2 non-fiction books. I’ve now actually got time...

5 - Stop bitting my fingernails. I’ve tried to do this before, and was actually doing ok at it pre-COVID, but I used the global pandemic as an excuse to stop trying.

6 - Blog twice a week. I’ve got lots of topics up my sleeve. 

7 - Do all the health things which I’ve been putting off - general checkup with the GP, dentist, optometrist, skin check & actually finding out what my private health coverage entitles me to.

The aim will be to provide an update each month. Hopefully that will provide further inspiration to actually achieve some of the goals... and have a productive summer. Uni starts back at the end of February.