it's all about life

I am reading at the moment:

Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw

Tribes by Seth Godin

My big read for 2008:

Transforming Mission by David Bosch

20 NOVEMBER 2008

If you have an idea don't keep it to yourself, trying to improve it before unleashing it on the world.  Gossip it, let the conversations you have develop the idea - it may become the idea for others too ... and then something might begin.

This old world needs new ideas - your ideas - like never before.  (Hey, just because fuel prices are falling again doesn't mean the environment is not on the brink of crashing.)

Yesterday, I mentioned how we need people to do more than turn up; we need them to turn up with a briskness and a cheerful readiness (alacrity).  Sharing your ideas will draw out the curious from the institutionalised - those who will not be offended by your idea.  

Jesus piqued people's curiosity - some were even willing to move from the safe to the risky.  Seeing this made me ask a number of questions:

If safe and secure to risky and adventurous were a continuum, where do we find ourselves on it?  

Is it possible to move along this continuum, from the safe to the risky?

Is it true that the more I understand who I am and what I am strong at, that I can move from the safe to the risky?

Jesus wasn't looking for safe believers; he was looking for people who would risk living freely and truly, as he did.  He was willing to offend his listeners to draw out the curious - the ones he could believe in.

19 NOVEMBER 2008

I learnt a new word yesterday: alacrity (briskness, cheerful readiness).

Any group or organisation wants its people to do more than simply turn up.  Behind this is the truth that life is more than "turning up."  People are amazing and the possibilities of life lived through amazing lives are beyond what we dare to imagine.

My challenge to the church - the organisation I find myself in - is to value people as it says it does.  What does your organisation believe about people?

Dee Hock (the founder of VISA) describes the challenge well when he writes: 'It's a story of confinement and interminable boredom in school and church, along with sharp, rising awareness of the chasm between how institutions profess to function and how they actually do, what they claim to do for people and what they actually do to them. (One From Many).

How can we help people to be released into their remarkable lives so they might turn up with alacrity?  Now that's a question that captures my imagination.

18 NOVEMBER 2008

I have just finished reading Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions and Marcus Buckingham's The Truth About You and have placed them on my virtual bookshelf with a small review each.

I had a conversation recently with someone as passionate as I am about helping people to explore and discover their strengths.  He mentioned his concern for schoolchildren to discover that they all have strengths and this clarified for me how I am concerned for adults aged 30+ to explore how they can live through their strengths (especially those in their 40s-60s).  Usiing The Truth About You is a great place to begin.  Just get in touch with me if you want to know more about how I can help you explore your strengths.

16 NOVEMBER 2008

Have you come across the new book from Seth Godin yet?

It's called Tribes and it is a must-read.

It's only 147 pages long, so this, together with it's cute size, gives the impression that you will soon read through it.  

But you won't.  It's full of really honest, challenging thought-creating, key-issue stuff around the whole thing of leading movements over managing institutions (Godin called them "factories").  

Tribes begin movements: 'A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea.'

Check out more on the website that has been happening on the way to the book being launched.

   12 NOVEMBER 2008

A couple of days ago I asked why we are so interested in finding out the details of other people's lives, rather than finding out the amazing details of our own.

At the moment I am reading through Marcus Buckingham's The Truth About You which digs down into the wonder of who you are, and therefore, also the wonder of every human being.  I recommend it as a very practical book (includes DVD and notebook) to explore who you are.

It is my joy to walk with those who are discovering who they are meant to be, and how who they are can make a significant contribution into the lives of others.  This is something I offer free of charge and you are welcome to get in touch with me to find out more (just use the Contact Me information, above). 

What would a world look like lived through the remarkable contributions of human beings?

From the 13 March 2008