Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Refreshed?
Above is a link to a blog (the guy is actually taking a break for the month of April) that I really enjoy reading. He is a good writer and he writes interesting things.
I had a break this last week/weekend from the normal routine. I spent a few days in Toronto with very little that I actually had to do. It was reported to my wife (who flew back yesterday) that I look refreshed on Sunday as I spoke. I was told about this last night as I started feeling tired and as sick as before I left. I am not as sick as before I left, but I am not better yet. I need to remember to keep my medicine dosage up so that I can get better and then think about reducing it back to the original prescription. This is the doctor's advice.
Sunday was fun as I preached from a different kind of script than normal. I did an introduction that had an idea I had been working on, I spoke about the trip to Toronto, ad-libbing a fair bit. Then I read a description I wrote a while ago about outsiders and living on the outskirts. I then had a few notes that related to the rest of the sermon from the scripture passage (Luke 4:14-30). I was pretty comfortable with most of this, I just needed to write out an ending for this sermon. While I did not end entirely weak, I did not have a clear sense of where the landing strip was, but I brought the sermon to a close without crashing. What I see here is a need to write out the beginning and the end but I can outline the middle as long as I put the thought and work into it as I would normally if I were writing it out. The middle is not usually where my troubles lie in sermon preparation anyway. The middle, the body of a sermon is usually right there in front of people to see and to imagine.
I preach again this week on the 10 lepers. I am thinking about the idea of the way that people feel like they deserve things in life. Not just that you work and deserve a pay-cheque or something like that, but rather the idea that because you exist you deserve a certain standard of living, that because you are you, others should listen to you (whether or not you are worth listening to). We have a great sense of deserving in our society today, it exists in many portions of our society. It even exists within our Christianity. Sometimes we may feel (even if we don't think it) that we deserve to be saved, that of course God would save us, look at what good people we are, look at all that we do for him, look at all that we have given up. I think that is part of this story and I am going to be rummaging through this idea. I would appreciate any comments or idea that anyone might have to contribute to this (stories are always welcome).
I had a break this last week/weekend from the normal routine. I spent a few days in Toronto with very little that I actually had to do. It was reported to my wife (who flew back yesterday) that I look refreshed on Sunday as I spoke. I was told about this last night as I started feeling tired and as sick as before I left. I am not as sick as before I left, but I am not better yet. I need to remember to keep my medicine dosage up so that I can get better and then think about reducing it back to the original prescription. This is the doctor's advice.
Sunday was fun as I preached from a different kind of script than normal. I did an introduction that had an idea I had been working on, I spoke about the trip to Toronto, ad-libbing a fair bit. Then I read a description I wrote a while ago about outsiders and living on the outskirts. I then had a few notes that related to the rest of the sermon from the scripture passage (Luke 4:14-30). I was pretty comfortable with most of this, I just needed to write out an ending for this sermon. While I did not end entirely weak, I did not have a clear sense of where the landing strip was, but I brought the sermon to a close without crashing. What I see here is a need to write out the beginning and the end but I can outline the middle as long as I put the thought and work into it as I would normally if I were writing it out. The middle is not usually where my troubles lie in sermon preparation anyway. The middle, the body of a sermon is usually right there in front of people to see and to imagine.
I preach again this week on the 10 lepers. I am thinking about the idea of the way that people feel like they deserve things in life. Not just that you work and deserve a pay-cheque or something like that, but rather the idea that because you exist you deserve a certain standard of living, that because you are you, others should listen to you (whether or not you are worth listening to). We have a great sense of deserving in our society today, it exists in many portions of our society. It even exists within our Christianity. Sometimes we may feel (even if we don't think it) that we deserve to be saved, that of course God would save us, look at what good people we are, look at all that we do for him, look at all that we have given up. I think that is part of this story and I am going to be rummaging through this idea. I would appreciate any comments or idea that anyone might have to contribute to this (stories are always welcome).
// posted by Eric @ 9:47 AM 
