Perplexed and pondering

“But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.”

(Luke 1:29)

I really like the New Revised Standard Version’s translation of this verse.  The alliteration (perplexed, pondered) is nice, but I also think that these words are evocative.  They capture the feeling of the moment – with Mary need time to deal with the brain churn following the angel’s appearance and unusual greeting (if you can have such a thing as a normal greeting from an angel).

I can readily identify with Mary – in that I’m not very good at thinking on my feet.  I’ve always been a bit slow on the uptake.  I like to stop and think, and ruminate or cogitate, to digest and adjust my thinking.

So I’m finally reacting to the Tiger Woods story.  I remember being intrigued by some of the adverts that Accenture produced (before they dumped him).  I particularly liked those that were in the ‘split percentage’ format.  I admire (present continuous) Tiger’s prowess as a golfer; his dedication to practice and fitness; his ability to remain calm amidst the tumult of the crowd (mostly); his charming way of dealing with fans and media alike.

I do not seek in any way to minimise the magnitude of his errors.  He has acted badly, and he needs to address that.  His performance as a husband and father do not match his performance as a golfer.  But to some degree that applies to all of us – we are found wanting in some area of our lives.  Hopefully not to the same extent, and hopefully our dirty washing isn’t the subject of tabloid headlines.

I hope that during his break from golf, he takes the time to be perplexed and ponder what he should do - that he reflects and ruminates; puzzles and wrestles.  I hope that he is able to find restoration and forgiveness with his family.

As he has been a role model to so many aspiring golfers (young and old alike), maybe he can be a role model in the way that he puts the pieces of his family life back together.  But it will require: 

• 100% effort, 0% compromise; 
• 100% sincerity, 0% denial; 
• 100% integrity, 0% spin.

I am part of they

Child protection services in Dundee have just received a fairly damning inspection report, against a backdrop of a recent high profile case of a child dying at the hands of his mother's drug using partner. I'm not going to comment on any of the details.

However, I was intrigued by the response from a long standing councillor. Rather than simply saying, "It wisnae me!", he expressed a more balanced view. He looked at himself and accepted his share of responsibility. Effectively, he was saying "I am part of they". You can find the newspaper story here, but I particularly liked - and respected - the following comments:

“I’m an elected member with 46 years’ standing. In all that time I have never had such a damning report put before me.

“I’m duty-bound to ask, what was my role in this?

“I feel more than a little ashamed as a member of the authority when this report is before us.

“Where did the failure occur? Were we alerted early enough?

I wish that more of our politicians were like this - sadly very few of them are.

Manage like your hair's on fire

I came across a blog entry with this wonderful title - and had to read it. I guess that Rafe Esquith has an interesting and inspirational story to tell, but I was particularly interested on the six levels of moral development:

Level 1: "I don't want to get in trouble."
Level 2: "I want a reward"
Level 3: "I want to please someone"
Level 4: "I follow the rules"
Level 5: "I am considerate of other people"
Level 6: "I have a personal code of behavior and I follow it"

This is relevant for me just now as I am preparing some bible studies for teenagers on the Sermon on the Mount, and need to convey to them the standards that Jesus is explaining to his disciples. So I can definitely use this.

As I was thinking about this I began to wonder if there should be another level:

Level 7: "I follow the standards of Jesus"

Of course, none of us can actually live up to that, but it seems to me that it's a pretty good target to aim for.

While thinking about teachers with their hair on fire, I was reminded of this TED video. I can't imagine what would happen if Clifford Stoll's hair caught fire, but I can see that it has probably happened to him on more than one occasion!

Timidity... and all its friends

"Timidity, confusion and populism have been the enemies of effective action."

Financial Times
13 March 2009

In how many areas of our lives is this the case?

Silhouettes in the exits

I came across this CBS interview with Chris Martin of Coldplay. It seems to fit with a number of themes that are on my mind just now - including striving. It lasts 12 minutes or so, and I think it's worth watching - probably best to watch it before (or instead of) reading my ramblings below.




Watch CBS Videos Online

I love Steve Kroft's summary towards the end which includes this:

"They're... confident that they're not yet as good as they are going to be."

This epitomises the striving aspect that I was writing about yesterday. In Coldplay's position, it would be easy to cruise along in 'survive mode' for a while, using their back catalogue to generate royalties, resting on their laurels or just bumming around. Instead they're continuing to write new music - seeking the unattainable perfect song. I like that!

I thought that the way that Martin seeks feedback at concerts was intriguing - the silhouettes in the exits. Makes me wonder if we have learned where to look for genuine feedback on performance.

I agree with Chris Martin's sentiment:

"Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically..."

I'm pretty sure that my own worst performance occurs when I'm half-hearted about things.

I enjoyed the way that he didn't take himself too seriously, and admitted his difficulties in dealing with questions about his wife - there seemed to be an honest approach throughout the interview.

Also, I can identify with his electronic messages and scrawled notes - I'm struggling to organise the various scribbled notes that are cluttering the study at home, as well as dealing with all the electronic articles etc that I've accummulated in recent years. I carry a wee voice recorder with me in the car, so that I can capture any thoughts that come to me (my memory's not too great).

Finally, I liked the way that he gave credit to Dylan for the quip that he used. (I have a bit of a hobby horse about acknowledging the source of material!)

A problem shared is...

... a problem passed on to you, off my plate, no longer my problem!!

Just noticing a wee trait emerging and thought I'd note it down for possible future reflection.

Thriving on Chaos

I came across the quotation below in an article by Michael McKinney, writing about the current financial crisis. I think it has much wider application as well.

"effective visions are beacons and controls when all else are up for grabs... To turn the vision into a beacon, leaders at all levles must model behavior consistent with the vision at all times."

Tom Peters, Thriving on Chaos

Eloquent cocoons #2

As I munched on my sandwich at lunchtime today, I was reading "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller, and came across the quotation below. It seemed to be an apt follow on from yesterday's entry - in more ways than one! The background is that Miller has gone to hear an author give a book reading.

"I wish I were the sort of person who liked everybody and everything. I have friends who can listen to any song, watch any movie, or read any book, and they think everything is just great. I truly envy people who can do that. I say all of this because, as the author finally started reading from his new book, I didn't like it at all. I fought my critical nature but couldn't help but compare his new stuff to the genius of his previous work. His words were vaporous and cliche, trendy and full of sales pitch. They weren't his words, they were words that sell, words that tickle ears and reach a specified demographic."

Values, teddy bears and a pound of flesh

I was originally going to call this entry “Hypocrisy, teddy bears and a pound of flesh” – but that would be judgmental (not good!), so I’ve amended the title.

Now that Gillian Gibbons is safely heading back to the UK, I thought that it was safe to blog about this. (The last sentence started its life as a joke, but as I type it I wonder…)

Anyway, Gillian’s story can be found over at the good old BBC. There was outrage in the UK, including from the Muslim Council of Britain; and there was some (limited as far as I know) protest in Sudan that the sentence was too lenient.

What judgments did we make? Did we wonder why a teacher wasn’t aware of the potential offence in a culture that she had entered? Did we think in terms of ‘fundamentalists’?

Next story – Wendy Alexander has apparently received illegal contributions to her leadership campaign (see BBC again). One aspect that really puzzles me – why do you need a fund to fight an uncontested election? Surely you just turn up on the day, vote for yourself without spoiling the ballot paper, and you’re in! Anyway, the donation was from someone not on the UK electoral roll and was, intriguingly, for slightly less than the amount where donations have to be made more public.

What judgments did we make?
Political sleaze?
Cannae run a raffle, never mind the country?
“Off with her head!”

Anyone spotted the connection yet?

I’m quite fond of quoting Burns, especially:

“O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us

Tae see ourselves as ithers see us."

Also, something about specks and beams.

One final question about these two cases – who clyped?

The church meeting blues

I’m a member of a Baptist Church, which means that we are congregational in our governance. Last night we had our quarterly church members meeting.

Mostly it was dull – there were a couple of highlights, including feedback from our housegroups’ thinking about the direction for our church. But overall it was dull.

I can’t imagine that this is what Jesus intended his church to become.

My thinking was crystallised by one topic that was discussed at some length (the only topic that was discussed at all really). Without going into details – the deacons and pastor had made a decision which they were bringing to the meeting for endorsement. The rationale for the decision-making approach was the need to act speedily on this topic.

Nobody had a problem with the decision itself, but there were concerns expressed about the way the decision was made without reference to the church meeting. Those expressing their concerns were some of the more traditional members of our congregation – in fact, some of those with a long-standing Baptist background (unlike most of our members, including me).

So what? Well, this strikes me as an issue that needs to be carefully considered.

How do we equip our leadership team to make decisions, without constantly referring back to church meetings, and ensure that they remain accountable to the church for those decisions? I understand how difficult it is to serve in a leadership position in church (and other voluntary situations) – I’ve been there!

How do we deal with the concept of congregational governance as our church gets bigger and more complex?

But more fundamentally than any of these things – how do we have a conversation on these issues without people adopting defensive or antagonistic positions. I have a fair degree of sympathy with those who raised the issue, and also admire (to some extent) their courage in speaking up. I did not like some of the manner in which the concerns were raised. I was equally unimpressed by contributions on the other 'side' of the debate.

I was impressed by the graciousness and wisdom of the oldest person who spoke during the debate. I am saddened that this wasn’t reflected by the rest of us who took part.

The debate does need to continue – hopefully in a loving, listening and considerate manner.

Then at the end of the meeting the pastor announced that he’d received a message – during the meeting the son of our members had suddenly collapsed and died. May he rest in peace.

And may we learn to keep our issues in a sense of perspective.

PS - just before I published this I found a link to an article about leadership (thanks to Camel Crossing). It's not directly related to my comments above, but it provides some food for thought and given my interest in leadership, I may return to this in another post.

Trafficking #1

Back to a quotation that’s been rumbling around in the empty space above my neck…

“Our great problem is the problem of trafficking in unlived truth”
D L Moody

I was sitting in church on Sunday and thinking to myself - theology isn’t what we say, it’s how we live.

I think we often kid ourselves that theology requires huge intellectual capacity and 3 degrees from different universities (2 of which must be doctorates). But that’s daft. Yes, the words and thinking are important, but the lived out lives of Christians are always the best theology in my view.

I came across Camel Crossing, and was intrigued by ‘a conversation not a soapbox’. While the context was around blogging, I think that the thoughts can be applied equally to church and our mission. We need to find ways to have conversations not soapbox rants, both in church (hard to break the traditions though) and in our lives.

On the way home tonight I was listening to a Bill Hybels sermon. He said:
“When your back is against the wall, your true theology is revealed.”

I guess that’s when our truth is really lived, whether we like it or not – and after the day that I’ve had it’s ‘not’.

Blogging dilemmas update

I'm grateful to That Hideous Man for his comments, which confirmed my own instinct. So I did have a conversation with one of the parties, and all is amicably sorted. A simple administrative oversight lay behind the problem, so the 'offending' blog entry has been removed - and maybe, I've got a new 'electronic friend' in the process.

Blogging dilemmas

Dilemma #1

I sat down with a cup of coffee to clear out my e-mail this morning. I thought I'd give it about 15 minutes, then go and do something else. Well, I deleted one e-mail at a glance, and moved on to read the next one. There was a phrase in this one that I particularly liked, but it was only referred to as 'someone once said ...' So I Googled the phrase to try to find the original source and context. This story continues under Dilemma #2 below.

The point here is that a 15 minute e-mail clear out has resulted in one deleted e-mail, and more than 20 minutes so far pursuing a tangential thought, ultimately resulting in this blog. So how do you stop the Internet in all its guises from consuming too much time?

Dilemma #2

This is the real thrust of this blog entry. Having Googled the phrase, I came up with only 2 results. One was from the document that I had been reading. The other was from a blog, which I then had a look at. Worringly, the entry relating to the phrase that I was hunting was exactly the same as the e-mail that I had received. I mean, word for word copying - but without any acknowledgement of the source. The blog author has a different name from the e-mail author. They were both published on the same day - yesterday.

So what to do? First of all let me say that one of my pet hates is plagiarism. I'm all for using other people's material, and quoting it verbatim - but acknowledge the source, or at least indicate that it's not your original material. Aye, I know there will have been times when I've fallen short of this standard - but not the the extent of a whole blog entry!

In the preface to his book 10, J John writes:


"There are lots of quotes in this book and where I can I have tried to give due credit to their authors. The eighth commandment applies to words as well as things... For the unconscious use - or abuse - of any such material, I ask forgiveness."

Should I enter into an e-mail dialogue with either party or both, or should I let it go?

There is a discipline involved in getting this kind of thing right, but surely it's not too onerous. Of course, beyond the lazy/careless excuse there are other explanations, but I'll leave that to the consciences of the individuals concerned.

I once came across a situation where a whole series of presentations had been pinched from the Internet and only changed where there were specific cultural references that wouldn't have worked. I ignored this at the time, as it didn't seem to be worth picking a fight over. I now regret that decision.

Thoughts would be appreciated.

The well of human spirit

“It's time we tapped the well of human spirit that runs so deep in our land.”
Ronald Reagan

I had planned to have one final post from Out of the Storm – maybe it can wait. Tonight I feel duty bound to write about something else.

I’m feeling very drained as I write this. Emotions have been running high at work today. We’re introducing a new job evaluation scheme, so everyone’s job has been re-assessed. Generally it seems to have worked out OK, but there are a few jobs that have come out very badly. Quite a few of the ‘losers’ are in my service area.

So I’ve spent a large part of the day meeting with the staff concerned, explaining what happens next and how we plan to support them through the changes. The changes are not insignificant (up to 20% reduction in salary – after a 3-year period). It’s not that the jobs are overpaid just now – it’s simply the case that they don’t fit well with the new system.

I expected a very difficult time. In itself this didn’t worry me – I’ve been a manager for long enough to know that tough days are part of the deal. I’ve sacked people for a variety of reasons, I’ve been instrumental in closing down business units, I’ve told people that they’re not getting the promotion that they expected … but somehow today’s issue seemed to be less fair. These people perform well and have never caused any trouble.

But … I was completely amazed by the reaction that I received – without exception. Of course the individuals were emotional and angry and confused, but they behaved with decency, integrity and professionalism that I hadn’t thought possible. They have taken the bad news, processed it, asked the right questions and let us know in an honest but measured manner what they think.

At the end of a tiring day I feel very proud of my staff – and I have told them so. They have shown exceptional character and I will re-double my efforts to ensure that the impact of the new scheme is minimised for them. People often surprise me, but not usually in such a positive way.

question everything

More from Out of the Storm:

When Luther gave men the open Bible he gave them permission – by the application of plain reason to the text – to challenge centuries of official Church teaching. Well, if the pope and his minions were wrong, who was to say that other authorities might not also be doubted? Without intending to do so Luther encouraged men to use their God-given intellect to question everything.

Question for today - I know I'm happy asking questions about everything - but am I happy listening to questions?

And more pertinently, am I happy to change as my response to those questions?

Out of the storm

I recently read this book by Derek Wilson, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Wilson presents Luther as a passionate individual, who sometimes finds trouble by sticking rigidly to his position. (Naturally, this appeals to me.)

It’s over 20 years since I read Bainton’s ‘Here I stand’, so comparisons are difficult. But my impression from reading Wilson is that there is less of a heroic emphasis on Luther. While Wilson clearly admires him, he does show Luther in unfavourable light at certain times.

“We must feel the force of his passion because, if we do not, we have not got close to the real man.”

For me, it felt like Wilson was close to capturing the real man.

I particularly enjoyed the final section of the book when the author assesses the impact of Luther over the intervening centuries, up to our times. It is a fascinating analysis and well worth reading.

Reflecting on the book – from a personal perspective – maybe I need to be more aware of the possible consequences of ‘taking a stand’, and learn to pick my battles more carefully. It’s not about avoiding defeat, so much as being sure that winning is worth the cost.

Anyone for integrity?

I've been thinking a bit about integrity lately - troubled by a colleague's apparent inability to grasp the concept and their willingness to exploit every opportunity for the benefit of their department, whatever the greater good might demand.

If this sounds sanctimonious, then maybe it is! I know that I sometimes cross the boundary between being right and being righteous.

Anyway, a couple of articles on this topic caught my attention, over at Mark Sanborn and Harvard Business Online.

So, I've been thinking: 'Is there a distinction between public and private integrity?'

Now when phrased like that the answer seems obvious (it's NO for the avoidance of doubt). But if you re-phrase (as my colleague might), along the lines of remaining true to yourself, being pragmatic in public, avoiding discord, or recognising the realpolitik in any given situation, you can begin to see how people justify their actions to themselves.

Nevertheless - leading with my chin as usual - public and private integrity are indivisible, they always will be, wherever that leads me. And I know that it will lead me into further conflict with my colleague.

How else can we be light in this (sometimes) dark world?

sportsmanship par excellence

I used to play football with a guy who occasionally infuriated my team-mates, but always made me smile. He never claimed a corner if he knew it wasn't, he frequently conceded debatable throw-ins to the opposition - not out of generosity but out of honesty. But he never shirked a tackle or played 'soft' - he was just principled and honest. (He was - and as far as I know is - a Christian who went into chaplaincy, I think.)

Anyway I was reminded of Honest Ewan's sportsmanship - and integrity - when I heard about a football match played last night.

Short version of long story - the match between Nottingham Forest and Leicester was abandoned (voluntarily by Forest) when one of the Leicester players had a heart attack. Forest were leading 1-0 at the time.

The re-arranged match was played last night - and Leicester allowed the Forest goalie to score straight from the kick-off, to restore the 1-0 lead. I think that this is a brilliant display of sportsmanship, and it fair warmed the cockles of my heart.

Check out the story over at the BBC website.

Love and preparation

Over on his blog, Mark Sanborn quotes Joel Weldon:

“You prepare for what you love.”

I was thinking about this as I prepared for a meeting today - I was on the train travelling to the venue as I was reading the material. Just another routine meeting among dozens in every month. No fuss, minimum preparation - go in, hope there are no difficult questions, go home, file the papers... ready for the next meeting. As it happens, this isn't a meeting that would fall into the category of 'loved'.

Anyway, I think that I want to modify the quotation from Weldon.

For me, it's more a case of degrees of preparedness:

• We willingly and eagerly prepare for what we truly love;
• We reluctantly prepare for what we deem to be necessary;
• We 'wing it' for what we consider to be without value, but inescapable.
  
  

There may be other degrees - but I think that it's about recognising our attitude towards something - meeting, presentation, Bible Study, family celebration - by the way that we approach it. In my emerging thoughts about developing daily discipline (DDD), it's also about what we do after the event - do we review it, do we follow up actions, do we reflect and learn?

And also, is our preparation attitude reflected in the way we behave within a situation?

So what does this say to me about last night's church meeting? Hmmm... reflection needed!

Too much church?? #2

Since my last entry on this matter, I've been mulling it over.

As a complete aside - I was once at a seminar where the speaker described meditating as being like a cow chewing the cud. I like that! And having adopted it my brain is frequently full of half-masticated cud.

So what is it about church? Well, I think that we have a tendency to fall into habits that we struggle to break (usually an unspoken form of 'tradition'). This then presents itself in the following way:

• What did we do last?
• That went well.
• Yes - let's do more of the same.
• OK

Granted the thought process is never as strucutred as this, but if we are honest - when did your church last do something totally different? Just as an example, have a look at the nonprofitprophet's idea about guilt free Sundays. Could that ever happen in your church?

As ever, I have an opinion on this - and in a large part, we are unduly restricted by our history/traditions and the type of leadership that emerges as a result. I came across a quotation from a book called "After the Church: Divine Encounter in a Sexual Age by Claire Henderson Davis (I haven't read it yet, but the title makes it irresistible!). Anyway, she says:

"While the west has shifted to democracy, Christian churches still tolerate parent-childlike structures... in order to mature we must reconnect. Not to embrace the Christian cult, but to know where we are in the plot, to take the story forward."

So how do we go about this? Well, that's something that we need to wrestle with and debate - openly, robustly, honestly and lovingly. That Hideous Man has some thoughts on aspects of this - and my limited addition to his current posting is that maybe we need to have more arrows, but of different sizes - representing different emphasis. I suggest that a model worth exploring might be to include the "offering praise and worship" arrow in Marshall's view.

But how we get there is another matter - even if it's where we want to go.

I will be posting an entry on constructive dissent in the next few days - maybe that will have some impact on my thinking in this area - more cud to chew!