Beyond traditional perspectives to explore radical discipleship for ordinary people.

Archive for February, 2008

Discontented? (Part 1) By Tim Creber

Published by
Tim
at 27 February, 2008 in Carbon Fast and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

There are two sides to discontentment. The good side and the not so good side. This week, I’m focusing on the not so good side…

This only works if you pause between each sentence and think before moving on to the next.

Think of everything that you don’t have (pause and think).

Now think of everything you have (pause and think).

Question – are you content? (Pause and think)

I’m ashamed to admit that I found it easier to think of everything I don’t have rather than everything I have. It reveals that I live in a world that has taught me how to instinctively think about what I lack, but provides little space to celebrate and enjoy what I have. I am not particularly content.

Contentment, as Wikipedia defines it, is ‘the neuro-physiological experience of satisfaction and being at ease in one’s situation.’ Discontentment is the opposite and arises when we compare and contrast our own situation with that of others. This is what we are hard-wired to do. Your life is ok, but if you have this, it would be so much better, is the message. The source of my discontentment is comparing and contrasting my life with the mythical lives of made up, unreal people in adverts, films or just people I don’t know to well. The extent to which I compare myself to this unreal and thus unattainable vision of life is the extent to which I am doomed to discontentment.

When I am discontented, I strive for contentment by attempting to attain the things others have that I need / want. I race to acquire more stuff, more success, more recognition… just more. The absurdity of it is well summed up by Arthur Gish.

“We buy things we do not want to impress people we do not like.”…

Arthur Gish

Question – What is the cause of climate change?

There are lots of answers to this question. One of the contributing factors is discontentment. Discontentment easily becomes coveting. Coveting easily leads to using resources and developing lifestyles that are not necessarily sustainable. But because I am pursuing my individual contentment, as I am told to, I can justify the adverse affects that my pursuit has on those who suffer most from things like climate change – the poor.

But what if contentment, or true happiness, is not about striving for what I don’t have? If my compass for happiness becomes more about enjoyment and thankfulness for what I do have, then my pursuit of it need not have such adverse affects on the poor. Furthermore, if true contentment lies in my relationship to others, to looking beyond myself, then this pursuit may even benefit those at the bottom of the pile. Here’s what I aspire to be able to say honestly…

‘I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done…I have learnt how to get along happily whether I have much or little. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation.’

St Paul (Philippians) 

ACTION POINTS:

Make a real effort this week to enjoy what you have and resist thoughts about things you don’t have but want / need.

Drop an email to a good friend this week who would be willing to journey with you on pursuing true fulfillment – make a habit this week of just emailing each other what you are thankful for. Name the things you are discontented about. 

Are we all junky’s? By Tim Creber

Published by
Tim
at 20 February, 2008 in Carbon Fast. 0 Comments

Let me ask you a question - what does it mean to be a man? This is a conversation I got into over the weekend - I know it sounds weird but keep reading!

I gathered from some of the ladies in the discussion that there aren’t many good men around, especially single ones. So, what’s happened to all the good men? This made me think about my comment last week about being an emotional junky. I want to explain myself a little more.

Addiction goes beyond habit - it’s characterised by something we believe we need and can’t survive without. I am a junky. The junky I see in me and most other people in the West is the addiction to feeling good, avoiding discomfort and pursuing ease. I guess in relationships this manifests itself in the mentality that when it starts getting tough or I need to put effort in, or ‘its not working for me,’ people part company. Sometimes this is a missed opportunity to become more human, i.e. that by confronting these instincts and working through them we find out true fulfilment lies in less of the self and more of the other, if you get my drift.

Humanity defined by ones pay cheque at the end of the month, the car one drives, the body one has, or the success one achieves, ultimately results in people tied up in themselves, addicted to the emotional feel good factor and self gain as the parameters of fulfilment.

Thank goodness there’s an alternative. I like what ‘Wild at Heart,’ the slightly controversial book, has to say. Two things are particularly appealing. Being human is about loving adventure and fighting a battle. The question is what adventure and which battle?

Jesus invites us on the adventure to stand up for what is right, to fight injustice, to befriend the unlovely, the lonely and the poor. We can only do this when we live for the other, not for the self. I find this so compelling and refreshing and yet incredibly scary. To accept this invitation frees me from being a junky and offers the possibility of authentic life.

So, what does my philosophising mean in reality? Lots of things, obviously far more than I understand or can even imagine. As we’ve been following Tearfund’s Carbon Fast, I thought I’d highlight some more really mundane yet profound suggestions that provide something practical to think about -

  • Day 10: Give your dishwasher a day off or promote it to an energy efficient one
  • Day 13: Switch to renewable energy where possible.
  • Day 14: Take a shower rather than a bath, you’ll heat less water.
  • Day 15: Snub plastic bags - take a rucksack instead.
  • Day 17: Only fill the kettle with as much water as you need.

They’re not glamorous, but cut to the heart of the issue because they mean thinking beyond what is easy, comfortable and the least effort. Can I challenge you, as I challenge myself, to accept the invitation?

ACTION POINTS:

1. Give some thought to your actions and beliefs that are more about adhering to our pervading cultures definition of real humanity that about Jesus’ invitation to adventure and battle.

2. Try to implement some of the actions from the carbon fast with friends and family (www.tearfund.org/carbonfast)

3. If you haven’t already, why not book in to Travel Light: Following Jesus in a Consumer Culture, 1st March 2008 from 10am-3pm at St Paul’s, Hammersmith. Look at www.ibreathe.org.uk/Conference2008 for more info.

Trying to be a Valentine, by Tim Creber

Published by
Tim
at 13 February, 2008 in Carbon Fast. 0 Comments

So, tomorrow is Valentine’s day - some of you won’t appreciate the reminder because you don’t have a valentine. Others of you really appreciate the reminder as you now won’t get in trouble with your valentine (I guess that’s likely to resonate more with the male readers). For the more thoughtful amongst us, expressing love to those dear to us will be a planned exercise - the rushed card and flowers as an after thought on the way home from work, whilst maybe achieving a few quick wins, is unlikely to provide much of the glue to hold a relationship together in the long run. I feel my experience is a case in point. My lovely valentine lives about 3000 miles away from me. Added to that, she doesn’t like chocolate or flowers and if I want to get a card to her I need to have thought about it 7 days before. With all the stereotypical quick win solutions used up, long distance love has forced me to forge something deeper - to work on the long term relational glue, as it were.

 So whats this got to do with the Carbon Fast? Hopefully you’ve been having a go at the daily actions (if not, take a look at www.tearfund.org/carbonfast). On reflection, I liken doing the carbon fast to developing a long distance relationship. A passion for the global poor, when they are 3000 miles away, is tricky to maintain. There are a lot of quick wins that can help us feel good, much like the card and the flowers get us off the short term hook. But what about the long term glue?

So, how are you intentionally nurturing love and passion for the world’s poor and shaping an appropriate lifestyle as a response?

Here’s two tips that I’ve learnt from a long distance relationship -

1. Regular, intentional communication - even when I don’t feel like it.

2. Doing practical things, even when I don’t feel like it.

How do the carbon fast and these two points fit together? If you’ve done one of the actions, how did you feel? To be honest, I really haven’t felt like doing any of them. But nurturing love for those affected by climate change won’t magically appear if I keep hoping. So, having a stab at a daily action, along with reading the stories of those affected by climate change, is my way of developing a deeper relational glue with many of the world’s poor. Just like being a valentine, whilst its great when love overflows in a nice feeling kind of way, I need to try and resist becoming an emotional junky.

So let me encourage you to put in a bit of effort - pretend you’re in a long term relationship with the world’s poor. How will you foster and express love when you don’t feel like it whilst doing it in love? I guess that’s a big challenge for all of us. Hopefully participating in the carbon fast is a practical way of helping us along that journey.

ACTION POINTS:

1. For some inspiration, check out low carbon man at www.tearfund.org/campaigning/Low+carbon+man and see his video diary at www.myspace.com/lowcarbonman

2. Today’s action in the carbon fast is about unplugging our mobile phone chargers when we’re not using them - if you’re not already, start the habit today.