Effects,prayer, wishes

You wonder whether you have an effect. Whether anything you say has an effect. Two weeks ago I filled in one of those surveys having bought something from Shoppers Drug Mart. I noted that I couldn’t find my favourite toasted coconut marshmallows snacks and I also said something about looking for special sale items.

Guess what last week there they were on sale, a rack full of them by the cash desks. Did my comment have an effect? Difficult to say. Lin Yutang, a Chinese philosopher who studied and published in the US has a number of books I read the most well known being the Importance of Living. In it is a chapter called if my memory is correct "Why I am not a Christian." Although from a strongly Christian family the death of his mother had a depe effect on him. While an aunt prayed that it would not rain at the funeral for his mother and it didn't, he could not believe that a God would be interested enought to do such a thing.

Yet Edwrad Lorenz, a weather modeller and father of chaos theory, formulated that complex systems behaviour can be modelled with very simple equations and minor variations can produce wildly varying results. Philip Merilees later concocted Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas? I wonder if we can say that an individual's prayer can be paralleled here. Perhaps it is less a matter of ciritical mass and more about timing and being part of the same connected system?

Clearing up and old jobs

Well I'm still clearing up and tackling old jobs. These 3 chairs I recovered from the garbage probably 5 years ago. The cane in the seats was broken. I can tell you which street and which section of the street I got them. They like many of my other folding chairs are like family. Anyhow I finally bought the materials, researched on the internet the relevant information and started the first. I made a few mistakes on the first and broke a few strands. On the second I broke fewer strands however number three I broke none. I discovered that you have to push the strands of cane towards the slot and then downwards. Important information not covered in anything I'd read before.

There is no substitute for experience: Whether practical skills of repairing chairs or the spiritual life. I know my understanding comes from the practice, from the struggles and from rising above the difficulties. At the moment I have to make clearing up a spiritual discipline because the disorder is affecting my own mental, emotional and spiritual state.

String together

I happened on Dr Draw a band with a pretty unusual line up. Dr [Eugene] Draw an electric violin player together with a 5 string celloplayer, elctric harpist, keyboard, electric guitar, bass and drums. They play a fascinating fusion of classical, rock and jazz. Sometimes being in the right place at the right time and that day at the Taste of the Danforth I caught their afternoon stripped down and punkesque set and later in the rain in the evening a more gentler version.

Check out my music blog for a short clip I got with my little digital camera.

The Heart of Mentoring - Book review

The Heart of Mentoring: Ten Proven Principles for Developing People to Their Fullest Potential, by David A. Stoddard with Robert Tamasy

Navpress is a great publisher of books on discipleship and mentoring and I learned mentoring through Navigator’s own Paul D. Stanley co-writing ‘Connecting ‘with J. Robert Clinton and Regent College’s founder, James Houston’s ‘The Mentored Life. All published by Navpress.. Initially I confess some disappointment reading this new book, finding it a substantially lighter read. Perhaps the simplicity of the main idea that mentoring is essentially founded in meaningful relationship and the subtext that there is no difference between discipling and mentoring, is my problem. Reading the back cover and internal commendations from US corporate leaders and the extensive reference to the Harvard Business Review and FORTUNE magazine, revealed that this book is not written for me, someone in the academic arena, to read. This book is written for the corporate business person to encourage them to take their faith seriously beyond the churches doors and into the work and home environments. The message is Go out and make a difference.

There are plenty of stories from the corporate career journey; many examples and situations to resonate with. It tries to resist the “how to” approach of a method rather introducing what Christians would call fellowship into mentoring. If you want the theory read Houston’s book, the different models read Stanley’s, if you want the motivational talk then read this book by Stoddard.