Change

It is almost a cliché any more to say that we live in a rapidly changing world. Not only is there a constant stream of change in our lives, but the pace of change is accelerating. New ideas lead to new inventions, and new technologies lead to new services every year. In many ways, it is an amazing time to be alive.

In July of 2010, engineer Peter Smith gave a talk in University of Waterloo’s Beyond the Ring Lecture Series, an excerpt of which was recently published in the University of Waterloo Magazine. Smith says,

"I want to take you through some lessons I learned.

The first lesson is, change is good. How many people like change? If you don’t, learn to love it. Because change creates opportunities."

Now that is an interesting concept; learning to love change because it creates opportunities. Most of us can see that change creates opportunities in business, but even there, not every change is good for everyone…or is it? Some may have a thriving business today and be left holding a handful of obsolete buggy whips tomorrow. Consider the current prospects in the book industry, for example. The invention of the electronic reader means you can carry hundreds of titles with you in your hand or backpack, all on one lightweight little device. Those who are quick to see the business opportunity in that will seize the day. Meanwhile, even at this early stage, hard copy publishers are quietly downsizing and already going out of business. Their opportunity must lie in the change somewhere. Will they see it?

But that is just business, what about in the rest of lives? Is change creating opportunities of us? Let me suggest that it is, and give you a few examples.
• The handheld electronic reader already referred to allows you to download and carry great tomes by the likes of Tolstoy or Dickens without feeling the weight at all. (I know some of you are gasping!) Further, you can add your Bible, your text books and study guides, a few dozen novels, biographies, inspirational titles and various and assorted other genres on the same device, all with no extra weight. What’s more, many of those titles are free. If you love words but hate carrying heavy books around, you are so in luck!
• The invention of social media allows you to create community with old and new friends and acquaintances instantly. Your community knows when you are sick and sends you sympathy, and when you are excited they celebrate with you. How good is that?
• The invention of the cell phone means you virtually need never to be out of touch from your family or friends. Stuck in traffic and late for dinner or an appointment? No problem! Just pull over to the side of the road and make that call.

So let me ask you, dear reader, do you love change? What opportunities is change creating for you these days? Your adoring public would like to know!

Posted by Carman

Walls

One of the meeting places we frequently use, when we need to go off-site, or want to put all our attention into the meeting and not into cooking, KP, washroom duty and the like, is Scarboro Mission. This Catholic retreat centre in the east end of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) is a wonderful place for just such a gathering. This weekend the various directors of our camping program will meet there for just such a meeting. They'll be considering reunions, retreats and camps past and future and will no doubt have a wonderful time networking, challenging each other and motivating one another in new and creative directions. (Our CPI group have met there too.)

What does this have to do with walls?

One of the great things about Scarboro Mission are its walls! In every hallway you'll notice photographs, pictures, posters, all promoting the work the Mission is proud of and promotes. You'll see the most wonderful photographic art illustrating the principles peace and justice, of the commandments, the beatitudes, the golden rule, even the stations of the cross in ways that most of us have never thought about in quite this way. There are carvings, sculpture, fabric art from the countries its missionaries visit, and whose citizens come to learn or retreat together. It is wonderful and inspiring "art" that surrounds those assembled--as they're on their way to dinner, taking a break, moving back to residence rooms. And I think it helps shape the meeting.

I've just been reading this in a book about Community by a favourite author of mine, Peter Block.

"An empty wall is a testimony to the insignificance of the human spirit," observed pioneering street life researcher William H. Whyte. Our job is to affirm the significance of the human spirit, and filling the walls with photos and with art by citizens, youth and employees is very doable. The library or art galleries in the community would be willing to curate public space. They do it frequently for restaurants and shops. It is not a question of cost; it is a question of consciousness.

At the end of the day, we have to ask, how can we create aliveness when the wall sits sadly empty?"

Have a look around at the walls where you work or plan or meet in community. Are they alive? Or do you have some work to do there?

Posted by Marion

Surprise

One of the words we talked about for a bit in the Fired Up! mission statement conversation was surprise. In the final version, this word didn't make the cut. But this is not to say that the concept isn't still very much alive and well, there and elsewhere!

The word the Fired Up! folk went with was "open." They want to remain open to whatever way God wants to speak to them, or to experiences and opportunities and to people who come their way. I applaud them. But I hope they are ready to be surprised. Because that's what I see happening all around. And I'm beginning to be convinced that the Spirit they're open to works by surprise.

People and congregations who try to stay in control, or on top of things, wary of moving too far out of the box, leery of spontenaity or unpredictability are most likely to speak of being weary or over-busy or stressed-out. But folks who are open to being surprised tend to feel more hope, to expect things to work out, to roll with the punches more easily.

Here's a link to a sermon about just this idea. Remember that sheet God surprised Peter with in Acts 11? That was just a small part of the surprises he and the new church had to deal with! History is filled with just such surprises; so why would we not expect the same?

Open your eyes; expect to be surprised! Then send us a note about what you're seeing that is surprising you today. Let's share our stories. I'm betting there are a ton of them. Can't wait to read yours!

Posted by Marion

Ideas

One of the perks of my job comes after evening meetings when I find myself driving home sometime after nine o'clock listening to CBC's Ideas radio program. I've been listening to Ideas for years and years and have come to appreciate the eclectic range of topics discussed there. If it does nothing else, Ideas offers many interesting or unusual facts to be injected into some future conversation.

But today, I'm considering the idea of ideas. Where do ideas come from? What is the spark of a truly new idea? How do visionary or imaginative people tap into that creative force that engenders a brand new thought?

You've likely heard the quotation: if you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you've always got.

I'm amazed at the number of folks I'm meeting or hearing from across our Mission who are actively seeking out new ideas, looking for new solutions to problems or challenges they've become aware of in their lives, or in their congregations. Maybe it's the ratcheting up of camp and reunion planning that has brought this notion to the fore, but I see it in other areas as well.

You've heard about Fired Up! leadership team who are trying very hard to make themselves into a congregation like no other. Not in negative or critical ways, but in creative and inspiring ways. They're looking for the ideas that will draw people into a new community where they can encounter a God-experience in new friendships, in opportunities for service and Spirit-led explorations. They expect to be surprised. They want to remain open to what comes. And they do expect new ideas to happen for them.

What are the challenges facing you? How do you get your best ideas? Do you have a story to share that we're waiting to hear?

Vision

The genius who conceived the idea of Walt Disney World in Florida was Walt Disney himself. Unfortunately, Walt died long before the park was completed. He never saw this dream come true.

And yet, in another sense, he did see it. In fact, he could “see” it when there was nothing there to see. I am guessing that before he even committed to the project, he could see the whole thing in his mind’s eye. As he developed the plans and blue prints, he could envision every detail of how the park would look and work. His was the genius behind the plan, and it was this vision that allowed it to happen. That was Disney’s vision, and his vision inspired his leadership and creative genius.

Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

Rick Warren always says, “Where there is no vision, the people move to another parish!”

Vision is a powerful and wonderful thing, yet vision is just imagination blessed with intention. Every child is born with imagination. We could all see great possibilities when we were young, and the visionaries among us still can. A leader is merely one who says, “I can see it, and we can do it!”

Some congregations are dying for lack of vision but it doesn’t have to be that way. We can envision and create a different reality. Which future can you see?

Imagine

How’s your imagination? Can you picture something that isn’t? or at least that isn’t yet?

Much of the conversation that’s going on in various places is really asking us to do that. We keep getting asked to discern or to vision a new future. Have you heard something like that before?

Our Merrie Bande of Bishops is working hard to come up with a strategy for accomplishing the 2020 Vision Goals that we as a mission and YOU as congregation members are going to work on for the coming decade. One of the things they’ve noticed in their travels is the struggle some folks are having to figure out what it is they’re called to be and to do. It’s hard work finding just the right balance between “what we’ve always done” and “where we’re called to go” in some unknown future.

It calls for imagination! You might want to look around your congregation for the creative, imaginative types who can help with this task.

Remember that saying “honour our past while creating our future”? Turns out we’ve got lots of skill and practice with the “honour your past” part of that and not so much with the “create your future” bit. I’m thinking it’s something we’ll be working on along with the many things we’re working on as we forge into our discernment, dialogue, vision/mission, planning, strategy sessions.

Fear not! Make ready to be surprised! Expect to work hard. This might just be the place the generations meet. ( Check out this for an interesting discussion of our diverse generations.)

Locate your most energetic and creative generation X and Y and let the Baby Boomers provide the backup song. Now, all together, let’s sing a chorus of “Imagine!” That should help.

LEGO

Etched into my mind is the very recent image of one of my grand-daughters on Boxing Day, her brow furrowed in concentration as she worked around the table with her cousins, each one feverishly attempting to build something using her or his new Lego set. It is, for me, a wonderful moment.

Call this a post-Christmas reflection on Lego; the little multi-coloured, interlocking building blocks so popular with children everywhere. You know the ones, the little blocks with the bumps on top that fit into a groove on the bottom of the next one. No matter the colour or the size, each bump fits perfectly into the groove of the next one in the hands of the child. It all reminds me of Dr. Larry Dossey saying that each of us has a God shaped hole in our lives that only God can fill. I find it an effective simile.

When our children first discovered Lego, the systems were pretty simple. There were blocks with eight bumps, six bumps, and four bumps, and there were different colours, but the system was pretty basic. Then one day, more creative minds at the Lego Group in Denmark got the idea of designing the pieces differently. Instead of building simple little walls, and houses, children would be able to build spaceships and castles! Suddenly the limits were removed and children could use the Lego system to build whatever their imaginations could conceive! Yet, despite all the advances, the little bumps still fit perfectly into the little grooves, just the way they always had.

Somehow all of this seems to me to be so much like the church. It used to be that each congregation looked pretty much the same. They were like basic building blocks; each doing the same things in much the same way. Now, however, more creative minds find new ways to express the gospel message, and congregations are beginning to do things differently. They find new ways to reach out to others, design 21st century entry points for people to come into fellowship, and think of inventive ways to serve their communities. Still, underneath it all is the same basic principle of the gospel: God is love and wants to fit into our lives. And people, despite all our modern or post-modern sophistication, still have the same God-shaped hole that was designed to be filled by the same loving God.

I do not know what form church will take in the future, any more than I know what the creative minds of children will build using Lego, but the possibilities are endless, only limited by our own imagination. It is as if God has provided the building blocks with the bumps and grooves of our lives, and invites us to come and play. What a wonderful, creative inventor!

So…what would you like to build?