Growing Deep Devotions Series
The following staff devotions I have written for the capabilities section of the LEA "Growing Deep" Leadership and Formation Framework. These capabilities are grouped around growing oneself, engaging the community, leading the team and focusing on outcomes. Each of these capabilities have in turn four descriptors which I have written on from a devotional, theological, and professional perspective. These devotions were road tested on my school's leadership team and used for our weekly whole staff devotions. Each devotion begins with questions for self-reflection which are taken from the Growing Deep Staff Reflection Check List. The devotions are in the word files with accompanying powerpoint slides for visuals.
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Small Catechism Devotions Series
For the 500th anniversary of the Reformation I used the idea of a colleague and friend Matthew Wilksch and introduced the Small Catechism for staff devotions over eight weeks of final term. Sometimes these devotions bordered more into a study but for each one I invited staff to read out aloud significant parts of the catechism and Martin Luther's explanations. Also I explained some of the theology and context behind Luther's intentions in writing the catechism as well as including some questions for discussion at the end. In some ways when delivering these devotions it felt like confirmation instruction and catechetical teaching but hopefully it was received openly, even by those who would not yet call themselves Christian.
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Soft and Hard Eyes
Jesus said this about the eyes in his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:22-23; our eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have! (The Message). Or as it might be remembered from a more traditional translation; The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! (NRSV)
A person’s eyes are said to be a window into their soul. That’s why that exercise of standing in front of a person and staring directly into their eyes for an extended period can be very disconcerting but also deeply personal and highly bonding. Writers on spirituality talk of soft eyes as compared to hard eyes. Soft eyes help us look at the world in a different way to the usual; they help us see things in a more soulful way. Seeing with soft eyes is a receptive mode. It is receiving and being open to what you are receiving. Seeing with hard eyes is the judgmental, analytical, harsh way of viewing the world. Soft eyes help us step into the world aware but compassionate, welcoming mystery and grace that we might otherwise miss with hard eyes alone.
Rod Windle and Suzanne Warren state in a training manual written on conflict resolution for schools in the US which uses this technique; Soft eyes happen when we relax the muscles around our eyes and let ourselves see with our peripheral vision as well as with our central, focused vision. We see the individual in front of us, but we also see the people to either side, the clock above his head, the lights on the ceiling and the pattern on the floor. We take in everything and are distracted by nothing. Seeing in this way sends an entirely different set of signals to the brain from seeing with hard eyes. As our eyes see more, somehow our brains become more open to the diversity of possibilities that always surround us. Soft eyes also tend to have a calming effect on the people around us, and often on ourselves as well.
Physiologically, we normally use what’s known as our foveal vision. A tiny area of the retina which helps us see details in a focused, analytical way. Things like threading a needle, reading a newspaper or looking at a screen. Foveal vision is about actively retrieving information through our eyes. It’s great for detail but too much of it, and we end up with eye strain, tension around the eyes and in other parts of the body. When we use our soft eyes, we use our much neglected peripheral vision. The aim is to see the detail still but to maintain our wider field of vision so that we are in the moment, more fully are aware of what’s around us. Soft eyes can be particularly useful in a sport where players can receive a pass focusing on the ball while sensing where everyone else is positioned on the field, in their periphery.
Parker Palmer in “The Courage to Teach” writes; Soft eyes, it seems to me is an evocative image for what happens when we gaze on sacred reality. Now our eyes are open and receptive, able to take in the greatness of the world and the grace of great things. Eyes wide with wonder we no longer need to resist or run when taken by surprise. Now we can open ourselves to the great mystery.
Our eyes are a window to the soul, to God, to other people and how we view the world. As our sight is transformed through the grace of God, may we gaze on people, on the world with soft eyes as the light of Christ shines through us.
A person’s eyes are said to be a window into their soul. That’s why that exercise of standing in front of a person and staring directly into their eyes for an extended period can be very disconcerting but also deeply personal and highly bonding. Writers on spirituality talk of soft eyes as compared to hard eyes. Soft eyes help us look at the world in a different way to the usual; they help us see things in a more soulful way. Seeing with soft eyes is a receptive mode. It is receiving and being open to what you are receiving. Seeing with hard eyes is the judgmental, analytical, harsh way of viewing the world. Soft eyes help us step into the world aware but compassionate, welcoming mystery and grace that we might otherwise miss with hard eyes alone.
Rod Windle and Suzanne Warren state in a training manual written on conflict resolution for schools in the US which uses this technique; Soft eyes happen when we relax the muscles around our eyes and let ourselves see with our peripheral vision as well as with our central, focused vision. We see the individual in front of us, but we also see the people to either side, the clock above his head, the lights on the ceiling and the pattern on the floor. We take in everything and are distracted by nothing. Seeing in this way sends an entirely different set of signals to the brain from seeing with hard eyes. As our eyes see more, somehow our brains become more open to the diversity of possibilities that always surround us. Soft eyes also tend to have a calming effect on the people around us, and often on ourselves as well.
Physiologically, we normally use what’s known as our foveal vision. A tiny area of the retina which helps us see details in a focused, analytical way. Things like threading a needle, reading a newspaper or looking at a screen. Foveal vision is about actively retrieving information through our eyes. It’s great for detail but too much of it, and we end up with eye strain, tension around the eyes and in other parts of the body. When we use our soft eyes, we use our much neglected peripheral vision. The aim is to see the detail still but to maintain our wider field of vision so that we are in the moment, more fully are aware of what’s around us. Soft eyes can be particularly useful in a sport where players can receive a pass focusing on the ball while sensing where everyone else is positioned on the field, in their periphery.
Parker Palmer in “The Courage to Teach” writes; Soft eyes, it seems to me is an evocative image for what happens when we gaze on sacred reality. Now our eyes are open and receptive, able to take in the greatness of the world and the grace of great things. Eyes wide with wonder we no longer need to resist or run when taken by surprise. Now we can open ourselves to the great mystery.
Our eyes are a window to the soul, to God, to other people and how we view the world. As our sight is transformed through the grace of God, may we gaze on people, on the world with soft eyes as the light of Christ shines through us.
Purpose and Meaning in Life
As a young adult in the late 1980s I read a novel that was popular at the time by Douglas Adams called “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy”. In the story the main character, Arthur Dent roams the universe in a Vogon spacecraft in his dressing gown and towel, after earth has been demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass. The story was originally written for a BBC radio show and overtime it has been adapted to stage shows, novels, comics, a television series and a feature film. Anyone who has experienced “The Hitcher’s Guide to the Galaxy” story knows the famous scene in which the computer “Deep Thought” calculates the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything. Indeed this scene from Douglas Adams has achieved cult status with people readily acknowledging that the answer to the meaning of the universe is the number 42.
Ever since Adams wrote 42 as the answer to the ultimate question of the universe, people have wondered and theorized why he chose that particular number. If you search online there are copious theories about the significance of the number 42 and Adam’s intention in using it. Some English newspapers have suggested that Adams was paying tribute to the writer Lewis Carol, who was a mathematician. Lewis Carol made use of the number 42 in Alice in Wonderland and other writings. The number 42 is special in mathematics as it is a meandric, polygonal, pronic, abundant, Catalan number and importantly, the perfect score for the International Mathematical Olympiad. Another suggestion as to why Adams used 42 is because it is the number of lines used in the first modern book, Gutenberg’s Bible which had 42 lines of text per page. A third suggestion is that it is an obscure reference to the traditional number of rulers of Tibet. Adam’s close friend and voiceover in one of the movies, Stephen Fry, swore to secrecy that he would go to his grave never disclosing his friend’s reason for choosing the number. But one newspaper report is that Douglas Adams is reported to have said when he was writing the story he wanted to choose a simple number and at the time as he looked out into his garden, the number 42 came to mind.
For me, that goes to show who much we as humanity complicate things. When confronted with deep questions such as the meaning of life and what our purpose is, we can theorize, come up with great conspiracies, unduly wind ourselves up in intellectual knots, when really the truth is much simpler than we desire. When I was pondering these questions last night, I came across this Bible verse from Philippians two verse four. It’s in a section where we are told of the attitude of Jesus in coming to earth and taking on human form. In four words at the start of verse four we are told that “in humility (Jesus) valued others”. That nails the ultimate question of the universe for me. It’s that simple and that basic; in humility value others, in humility we are to value others above ourselves.
As we journey through life, with maturity we learn that we are not the centre of universe, that our mortal lives on earth are short, everything we experience is a gift from God, and meaning is made through having humility like Jesus as we value others and in turn serve them. What is our purpose and the meaning of life, the universe and everything? Some would say its a number 42, I would say its a person who in humility values us so we can value others.
Ever since Adams wrote 42 as the answer to the ultimate question of the universe, people have wondered and theorized why he chose that particular number. If you search online there are copious theories about the significance of the number 42 and Adam’s intention in using it. Some English newspapers have suggested that Adams was paying tribute to the writer Lewis Carol, who was a mathematician. Lewis Carol made use of the number 42 in Alice in Wonderland and other writings. The number 42 is special in mathematics as it is a meandric, polygonal, pronic, abundant, Catalan number and importantly, the perfect score for the International Mathematical Olympiad. Another suggestion as to why Adams used 42 is because it is the number of lines used in the first modern book, Gutenberg’s Bible which had 42 lines of text per page. A third suggestion is that it is an obscure reference to the traditional number of rulers of Tibet. Adam’s close friend and voiceover in one of the movies, Stephen Fry, swore to secrecy that he would go to his grave never disclosing his friend’s reason for choosing the number. But one newspaper report is that Douglas Adams is reported to have said when he was writing the story he wanted to choose a simple number and at the time as he looked out into his garden, the number 42 came to mind.
For me, that goes to show who much we as humanity complicate things. When confronted with deep questions such as the meaning of life and what our purpose is, we can theorize, come up with great conspiracies, unduly wind ourselves up in intellectual knots, when really the truth is much simpler than we desire. When I was pondering these questions last night, I came across this Bible verse from Philippians two verse four. It’s in a section where we are told of the attitude of Jesus in coming to earth and taking on human form. In four words at the start of verse four we are told that “in humility (Jesus) valued others”. That nails the ultimate question of the universe for me. It’s that simple and that basic; in humility value others, in humility we are to value others above ourselves.
As we journey through life, with maturity we learn that we are not the centre of universe, that our mortal lives on earth are short, everything we experience is a gift from God, and meaning is made through having humility like Jesus as we value others and in turn serve them. What is our purpose and the meaning of life, the universe and everything? Some would say its a number 42, I would say its a person who in humility values us so we can value others.
A Theology of Sickness
My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
I, like many of you, and like the staff who are not here this morning, have been sick.
On Thursday morning last week, when my wife flew down to Adelaide to be with her family, I became sick. Then on Saturday my son got sick, and then two nights ago my daughter got sick during the night. When your partner’s away and you’re left looking after the kids and you become sick, you really begin to value everything your spouse does for your family. It’s an insight into what it can be like for a single parent.
I find that sickness does that. When I become sick, I realise how much I take my health and my body functioning well for granted. When I become sick, I realise acutely how much I need the help of others just to get through each day. And when I am sick, I realise how much I need God. When I am sick, it’s a spiritual wake up call for me, once again, that I need to continually learn to depend on God and live in his strength for my life. It’s a lesson in grace.
You see when I am sick, and I don’t think this is just a bloke thing, I try to solider on. If you are old enough, do you remember those television advertisements for Codral cold and flu tablets? The advertising jingle went; “Solider on, with codral, solider on, solider on!” That’s exactly what I try to do when I am sick and under the weather. I come to school do chapel, devotions, Holy Communion service for staff, respond to emails, write for the newsletter and other bits and pieces, then I realise I’ve got no strength to carry on and go to those afternoon or evening meetings I have in my diary. I try to just push on, with what meagre energy I have to get through the day. That’s what a lot of us do when we are sick, don’t we?
Here’s where the spiritual wake up call kicks in. At some point during those days I have to say to myself, this is not working, I need to stop, I need to go home, put the laptop away and rest for the sake of my own wellbeing. You see, I don’t know about you, but for me most of the time I am racing around school doing everything I need in my own strength and in my own abilities. The more I get caught up in that cycle the more my life revolves around me, me doing everything in my own strength. Then, when I soldier on through being sick, hit rock bottom, and realise I cannot solider on by myself, God reminds me, “Look stupid, look to me for strength, depend on me when you are weak and sick, I can give you rest!”
That’s what the spiritual life is like sometimes. Experiencing our low points, our weaknesses, our self inflicted mistakes, so that God can reveal himself to us and show us how much we need his grace every single moment of our lives. God’s grace is sufficient for us, even in times of sickness, for his power is made perfect in our weakness.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we pray for healing for those amongst us who are sick today. When we are sick teach us that your grace is sufficient for us, teach us that we cannot soldier on all the time but can rest in your power and our weakness. Amen.
I, like many of you, and like the staff who are not here this morning, have been sick.
On Thursday morning last week, when my wife flew down to Adelaide to be with her family, I became sick. Then on Saturday my son got sick, and then two nights ago my daughter got sick during the night. When your partner’s away and you’re left looking after the kids and you become sick, you really begin to value everything your spouse does for your family. It’s an insight into what it can be like for a single parent.
I find that sickness does that. When I become sick, I realise how much I take my health and my body functioning well for granted. When I become sick, I realise acutely how much I need the help of others just to get through each day. And when I am sick, I realise how much I need God. When I am sick, it’s a spiritual wake up call for me, once again, that I need to continually learn to depend on God and live in his strength for my life. It’s a lesson in grace.
You see when I am sick, and I don’t think this is just a bloke thing, I try to solider on. If you are old enough, do you remember those television advertisements for Codral cold and flu tablets? The advertising jingle went; “Solider on, with codral, solider on, solider on!” That’s exactly what I try to do when I am sick and under the weather. I come to school do chapel, devotions, Holy Communion service for staff, respond to emails, write for the newsletter and other bits and pieces, then I realise I’ve got no strength to carry on and go to those afternoon or evening meetings I have in my diary. I try to just push on, with what meagre energy I have to get through the day. That’s what a lot of us do when we are sick, don’t we?
Here’s where the spiritual wake up call kicks in. At some point during those days I have to say to myself, this is not working, I need to stop, I need to go home, put the laptop away and rest for the sake of my own wellbeing. You see, I don’t know about you, but for me most of the time I am racing around school doing everything I need in my own strength and in my own abilities. The more I get caught up in that cycle the more my life revolves around me, me doing everything in my own strength. Then, when I soldier on through being sick, hit rock bottom, and realise I cannot solider on by myself, God reminds me, “Look stupid, look to me for strength, depend on me when you are weak and sick, I can give you rest!”
That’s what the spiritual life is like sometimes. Experiencing our low points, our weaknesses, our self inflicted mistakes, so that God can reveal himself to us and show us how much we need his grace every single moment of our lives. God’s grace is sufficient for us, even in times of sickness, for his power is made perfect in our weakness.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we pray for healing for those amongst us who are sick today. When we are sick teach us that your grace is sufficient for us, teach us that we cannot soldier on all the time but can rest in your power and our weakness. Amen.
A Spirituality of Serendipidty
Jesus said; The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. (Matthew 13:44)
Later in his life, I remember my father using the word ‘serendipity’ in his speech. It was a word I hadn’t heard many people use before. But I sensed that it had a special meaning for my Dad. A dictionary definition of serendipity is “an aptitude for making discoveries by accident.”
Malcolm Gladwell, a Canadian journalist and speaker talks of three levels of serendipity; Columbian, Archimedean and Galilean serendipity.
Christopher Columbus set off not sure of where he was going, when he arrived did not know where he was and, on returning, was not sure where he had been. He confused Arabic and Italian miles, was looking for a route to Asia, thought he had landed in the India but in fact had discovered America! His discoveries were pure luck. This is Columbian Serendipity.
Among other problems he was trying to solve, Archimedes had been pondering ways to measure non-standard solids. During his bath, he stumbled on the solution. More than ‘pure’ luck, his chance discovery could be described as ‘deliberate’ luck. He had been seeking to solve the problem but wasn’t expecting to find the solution in the bath of all places! This is Archimedean Serendipity.
When peering through his telescope, unsure for what he was looking, Galileo was relentless in his search for surprises. This is Galilean Serendipity. Galileo discovered Jupiter’s moons, new stars, the phases of Venus, sunspots which confirmed that the sun rotates, and that the planets orbit around the sun, not around the earth. Failure was never an option for Galileo as long as he just kept looking.[1]
Life, change, growth in learning, transformation, happens to us in those accidental discoveries, in those serendipitous moments.
Likewise, I believe that God works in serendipitous ways. We often find God by accident. We discover God in all the unexpected places and in the most unlikely of people.
Nadia Bolz-Weber, a US Lutheran pastor who spoke at the recent ACLE conference in Adelaide, has written a book called Accidental Saints; it is subtitled Finding God in all the wrong people. Bolz-Weber reflects that the transformation that has happened in her life has not been intentional, rather she has more often than not tripped over it accidentally.
You see, God has a habit of placing all the wrong sorts of people around us that we keep bumping into with all their jagged edges so that we can discover by accident that they are bearers of his grace and mercy. That is friends good news for us despite the uncomfortableness it might cause us in our daily relationships.
And I reckon, that’s what my Dad discovered in his old age, that’s why he kept using the term serendipity, he discovered God’s serendipity, the treasure that is God’s kingdom of grace, which is alive and kicking amongst us.
A discussion question to share in pairs; What serendipitous moments have you had in which you have discovered God alive in your life?
[1] http://sirjohnjones.com/serendipity/
Later in his life, I remember my father using the word ‘serendipity’ in his speech. It was a word I hadn’t heard many people use before. But I sensed that it had a special meaning for my Dad. A dictionary definition of serendipity is “an aptitude for making discoveries by accident.”
Malcolm Gladwell, a Canadian journalist and speaker talks of three levels of serendipity; Columbian, Archimedean and Galilean serendipity.
Christopher Columbus set off not sure of where he was going, when he arrived did not know where he was and, on returning, was not sure where he had been. He confused Arabic and Italian miles, was looking for a route to Asia, thought he had landed in the India but in fact had discovered America! His discoveries were pure luck. This is Columbian Serendipity.
Among other problems he was trying to solve, Archimedes had been pondering ways to measure non-standard solids. During his bath, he stumbled on the solution. More than ‘pure’ luck, his chance discovery could be described as ‘deliberate’ luck. He had been seeking to solve the problem but wasn’t expecting to find the solution in the bath of all places! This is Archimedean Serendipity.
When peering through his telescope, unsure for what he was looking, Galileo was relentless in his search for surprises. This is Galilean Serendipity. Galileo discovered Jupiter’s moons, new stars, the phases of Venus, sunspots which confirmed that the sun rotates, and that the planets orbit around the sun, not around the earth. Failure was never an option for Galileo as long as he just kept looking.[1]
Life, change, growth in learning, transformation, happens to us in those accidental discoveries, in those serendipitous moments.
Likewise, I believe that God works in serendipitous ways. We often find God by accident. We discover God in all the unexpected places and in the most unlikely of people.
Nadia Bolz-Weber, a US Lutheran pastor who spoke at the recent ACLE conference in Adelaide, has written a book called Accidental Saints; it is subtitled Finding God in all the wrong people. Bolz-Weber reflects that the transformation that has happened in her life has not been intentional, rather she has more often than not tripped over it accidentally.
You see, God has a habit of placing all the wrong sorts of people around us that we keep bumping into with all their jagged edges so that we can discover by accident that they are bearers of his grace and mercy. That is friends good news for us despite the uncomfortableness it might cause us in our daily relationships.
And I reckon, that’s what my Dad discovered in his old age, that’s why he kept using the term serendipity, he discovered God’s serendipity, the treasure that is God’s kingdom of grace, which is alive and kicking amongst us.
A discussion question to share in pairs; What serendipitous moments have you had in which you have discovered God alive in your life?
[1] http://sirjohnjones.com/serendipity/