Where Life and Faith Meet
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4Ü #211

For those who can no longer sing

10 November 2005

NOTE: This 4Ü archive entry was reformatted by a computer. If you find any broken links, formatting problems, or have any suggestions, please email us.

WASSUP - Beauty

What do you see?

Last weekend Sue and I had the privilege to return to the Southern Mountains and stay at one of New Zealand's finest resorts, Millbrook. I was teaching on "the spirit of leadership" to a group of Australian and NZ business leaders.

Apart from the wonderful company, the fantastic food and the learning insights gained, the highlight for me was the visual feast of beauty.

The eyes literally drink it all in. Drunk in the very best sense of the word.
Your eyes become a window to your soul as the mountains do their work on you.

Allow yourself to be arrested by beauty.
Open your eyes and see.
Drink deeply.

Andrew

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INSIGHT OUT - For those who can no longer sing

By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion

Psalm 137:1

Held in captivity in a place I don't want to be
Tormented by a song that can no longer be sung
A foreign land a long way from home
Beauty destroyed
A dream in ruins

Hope comes from the tears themselves
A reminder of home
A longing to return
beauty restored
to sing once again

This has been written with people in mind who are trapped in some form of addiction / captivity. Read all of Psalm 137 to get the full picture. Please remember that while the pain is huge there is a way home; home to healing and wholeness.

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OUTSIGHT IN - Prepared

For all the preparation very few are actually prepared.
Preparation becomes an activity and not a state of being.
At some point preparation needs to give way to preparedness.
A readiness for .... whatever.
Are you ready?
"For what?"
There is no answer to your question other than ... "whatever?"
You see we have turned the corner of history and have moved from certainty into an age of uncertainty
You can make preparation for the knowns but you need also to be prepared for the unknowns.
It's not an "either / or" but a "both / and".
New York City had never precisely prepared for what happened on 9/11 but they were ready.
They prepared for airplane crashes, high rise fires, building collapses and other disasters so when the unknown struck, they were ready.
Prepared is a state of being.
A readiness.
An attitude.
A knowing that I'm ready.

Are you ready?

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SEE YA SUNDAY - "Hot Potato issues - Part 2"

This Sunday morning - 8.30am & 10.30am
We are starting a new series - "Hot potato issues"
We'll cover the three big topics that no one wants to talk about yet everyone wants to talk about; Politics, Sex and Religion.

  • Politics and Power - Nov 6th
  • Sex and Porn - Nov 13th
  • Heaven and Hell - Nov 20th

Bread & Wine - 9.45am - Weekly Communion

The Ride - 7.00pm - "Jesus at the movies" - Mark Campbell

Thanks for this time to chat.

Andrew
St Columba
Where Life and Faith Meet
andrew.norton@stcolumba.org.nz

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It's free but don't steal

If this is of help to others, you are welcome to forward it. This e-mail letter is 97% original - 3% cut and paste & 100% fat free. 4U is copyright to Andrew Norton. That means you can't cut and paste it and call it your own (that's stealing). I'm happy for it to be used but please refer to the author.

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LAST WORD - Tragedy

The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives.

Albert Schweitzer


© 2008, St Columba Presbyterian Church, Auckland