Monday, June 09, 2008

some new friends

I made some new friends today. It was a day off, after a particularly busy weekend — leadership coaching in Auckland on Friday -> then Hamilton on Saturday -> return flight delayed by snow -> hence unexpected overnight, courtesy of Air New Zealand, in Wellington (which allowed us to catch up with my talented brother and sister-in-law) -> dash trying to catch another flight in order to present to lead the Sunday morning church service with perhaps 40 visitors present -> Sunday evening Soak service.

So the local 2nd hand book store called. Then later in the sun, on the back porch, over a cup of tea, I introduced my new friends to the better part of the emergentkiwi partnership.

In case your interested, here are my new friends … (which ends with the questions; How do you nourish your creativity? And what disciplines do you practise that invite the voice of the other to your table?


– Wolfgang Pannenberg and his book, Faith and reality because he’s a fine 20th century German theologian and I’m about to do series of Kingdom signs, so would value his intellectual stretch.
Church in the world, a compilation of statements of social justice by the Catholic church in New Zealand between 1979-1997, because I am fascinated by how other Kiwi Christians live their faith in society today.
Early Christian Fathers because they did theology as a minority church in a disbelieving world and were often mixing pulpit with writing, and such voices enrich me.
The Lives of the Desert Fathers because I consider much contemporary neo-monasticism is simply puffery, chosing only the best bits from monasticism, so I want to listen to the first monastics (and start a retro-monasticistic movement!)
– Raymond Brown and John Meier, Antioch and Rome because I am fascinated by the social world in which church is constructed. I think that missionalDNA can never be stripped from context, because environments profoundly shape a life lived.
– Kelsey, The Uses of Scripture in Recent Theology because I doing some research work on how Baptists engage the Bible and this offers a dialogical partner in method.
– Margery Sykes, The Bible Reading Fellowship story because I am fascinated by the narratives of people who start movements, especially those that involve the re:formation of spiritual practices.
– Eduard Schwiezer, The Good News according to Matthew because one of the joys of my life is the opportunity, through preaching, to keep engaged with the Biblical text and I need another commentary on Matthew.
– Sarah Quigley, Write because I’ve got a sabbatical coming up and this book offers some “creative writing exercises” which I suspect will nourish my soul and hone my craft.
– and a birthday present for a friend, which is a surprise so I’m not telling.

Total price, $100(NZ), or $75US. So those are my new (preloved) friends. Books – from different times and places and traditions and cultures – are one way of inviting the voice of the other, the voice of the unexpected to our tables.

And it’s one way I nourish my creativity. How about you? How do you nourish your creativity? And what disciplines do you practise that invite the voice of the other to your table?

Posted by steve at 03:08 PM

3 Comments

  1. I’ve gotten back into journaling after recently reading “A year in the Life” by Sheila Bender. She suggests journalling the voices of all our senses, not just the constant babbling of our minds (my interpretation of her words). Bender talks about journalling in terms of observing what is around us; evoking texture and complexities: words allowed to be for their own sake, with no other end than to be ruminated or savoured for as long as the flavour lasts: Soulmaking. (Delicious reading – the book, not necessarily my journal!).

    Nigel

    Comment by Nigel — June 10, 2008 @ 6:37 pm

  2. thanks nigel. good insight re journals. i have two journals – this one, and a private journal. the latter is much more about senses and moments, while this one is more a desire to be a sharer of resource through storytelling and a desire to have my thoughts pushed and probed and enriched my others,

    peace and out
    steve

    Comment by steve — June 11, 2008 @ 11:57 am

  3. steve
    I also have an online, and more personal blog/journal. However i am still not that confident in knowing how much of ‘me’ to put out there. Its a fine line that i don’t like to walk too close to.

    Still in One Peace

    nigel

    Comment by Nigel — June 16, 2008 @ 9:03 am

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