Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson The Glass Half
Whose view wins? Does it really matter?
WW3 EXPERIMENTS
1. Looking Around – Creator or Demiurge 2. The Parent Trap 3. Creation and Calling 4. Fear of the Fire 5. Y points
1. LOOK AROUND – WHO WINS?
GOAL To introduce the importance of worldview for shaping behaviour.
INTRODUCTION Do beliefs matter? Are they all the same in the end? Let’s look around to see what sort of world are we in and how does it work out?
EXPLORATION
Here is a good contrast in worldview. It involves a bit of reading and discussing a comparison.
STEP ONE
BIOGRAPHY OF Niccolo Machiavelli 3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527, was a writer based in Florence (today’s Italy) during the Renaissance. He was for many years an official in the Florentine Republic, with responsibilities in diplomatic and military affairs. After the Medici had recovered power, they imprisoned and tortured him for three weeks, and he no longer held a position of responsibility in Florence. It was in retirement (or was he under house-arrest?) that he wrote his masterpiece, The Prince, from which the quotes below are taken. They are instructions for a would-be ruler. His writing is at the start of modern political ethics. He also wrote comedies, carnival songs, and poetry. His personal correspondence is renowned in the Italian language.
STEP TWO : Some quotes to begin to get the measure of this man’s beliefs:
“Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries - for heavy ones they cannot.” “It is much more secure to be feared than to be loved.”
Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson 2
“A wise ruler ought never to keep faith when by doing so it would be against his interests.” “The new ruler must determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He must inflict them once and for all”. “Politics have no relation to morals.”
DISCUSS: From these short quotes, start to form your picture of the world that Macchiavelli imagines. Is it a world where people live their lives in love and do their best, or is it a dark world of power plays, corrupted without light? Or something else?
Now a longer quote from THE PRINCE: I say that every prince must desire to be considered merciful and not cruel. He must, however, take care not to misuse this mercifulness. … A prince, therefore, must not mind incurring the charge of cruelty for the purpose of keeping his subjects united and confident; for, with a very few examples, he will be more merciful than those who, from excess of tenderness, allow disorders to arise, from whence spring murders and rapine; for these as a rule injure the whole community, while the executions carried out by the prince injure only one individual. And of all princes, it is impossible for a new prince to escape the name of cruel, new states being always full of dangers. … Nevertheless, he must be cautious in believing and acting, and must not inspire fear of his own accord, and must proceed in a temperate manner with prudence and humanity, so that too much confidence does not render him incautious, and too much diffidence does not render him intolerant.
From this arises the question whether it is better to be loved more than feared, or feared more than loved. The reply is, that one ought to be both feared and loved, but as it is difficult for the two to go together, it is much safer to be feared than loved, if one of the two has to be wanting. For it may be said of men in general that they are ungrateful, voluble, dissemblers, anxious to avoid danger, and covetous of gain ; as long as you benefit them, they are entirely yours; they offer you their blood, their goods, their life, and their children, as I have before said, when the necessity is remote; but when it approaches, they revolt. And the prince who has relied solely on their words, without making other preparations, is ruined, for the friendship which is gained by purchase and not through grandeur and nobility of spirit is merited but is not secured, and at times is not to be had. And men have less scruple in offending one who makes himself loved than one who makes himself feared; for love is held by a chain of obligation which, men being selfish, is broken whenever it serves their purpose; but fear is maintained by a dread of punishment which never fails. (Ch. 17, as translated by Luigi Ricci (1903))
It was the verdict of ancient writers that men afflict themselves in evil and weary themselves in the good, and that the same effects result from both of these passions. For whenever men are not obliged to fight from necessity, they fight from ambition; which is so powerful in human breasts, that it never leaves them no matter to what rank they rise. The reason is that nature has so created men that they are able to desire everything but are not able to attain everything: so that the desire being always greater than the acquisition, there results 3 Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson
discontent with the possession and little satisfaction to themselves from it.From this arises the changes in their fortunes; for as men desire, some to have more, some in fear of losing their acquisition, there ensues enmity and war, from which results the ruin of that province and the elevation of another. Book 1, Ch. 37
STEP THREE COMMENTS
Some say that M was firmly tongue in cheek. It was more a satire about the Medici. Others say that he has been so persuasive that he can be called the founder of political philosophy . Here are two modern comments about him: Machiavelli calls the bluff not just of official morality—the hypocrisies of ordinary life—but of one of the foundations of the central Western philosophical tradition, the belief in the ultimate compatibility of all genuine values. His own withers are unwrung. He has made his choice. He seems wholly unworried by, indeed scarcely aware of, parting company with traditional Western morality. Isaiah Berlin, "A Special Supplement: The Question of Machiavelli" (1971)
The founder of modern political philosophy is Machiavelli. He tried to effect, and he did effect, a break with the whole tradition of political philosophy. He compared his achievement to that of men like Columbus. He claimed to have discovered a new moral continent. His claim is well founded; his political teaching is "wholly new." The only question is whether the new continent is fit for human habitation. Leo Strauss, "What is Political Philosophy?", published in What is Political Philosophy? And Other Studies (1959)
DISCUSS: Is this how the world really works? Is it reality-check time? the ‘real politick’?
Jesus comments are very different.
STEP FOUR BIOGRAPHY OF JESUS CHRIST Born in Bethlehem around 2BC (more or less) and executed in Jerusalem by the Roman Empire in 33AD, Jesus is the God-figure and prophet of billions of Christians. He lived a life of miracles, healing and teaching which Christians believe was authenticated by God when he rose again after being certified dead.. His life is historically verified, but there have always been competing experiences and views about him, different formulations and different movements (churches), and some of them are toxic. However, through confidence in him and his teaching, we have seen the powerful rise of powerlessness – that is, such values as the importance of community, service, humility and the relegation of power, trust in the outcomes of life, work to a purpose, personal self-control as the basis of all ethics. Due to his principle of broadly sharing the gifts and compassion of God, we witness the development in many places around the world, wherever Christians go, of universal health, freedom and education. It is unique in world
Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson 4 history. These became ‘common sense’ in many cultures that are at this time rejecting his leadership. Time will tell. STEP FIVE SOME SHORT QUOTES THEN A LONGER ONE ‘Crunch question’ according to Jesus is : Love God and love your neighbour. That covers everything. (get the full quote in Matt 22.38-40)
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.
If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.
Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to cast a stone.
The first followers put it in these words: Faith hope and love are all enduring values, but the greatest of these is love.; I Cor 13.13)
The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 5
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. He said: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
5 Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. 21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister[b][c] will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’[d] is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. 23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. 25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’[e] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’[f] 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.[g]
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[h] 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile,
Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson 6 go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[i] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Footnotes: Matthew 5:21 Exodus 20:13 Matthew 5:22 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a fellow disciple, whether man or woman; also in verse 23. Matthew 5:22 Some manuscripts brother or sister without cause Matthew 5:22 An Aramaic term of contempt Matthew 5:27 Exodus 20:14 Matthew 5:31 Deut. 24:1 Matthew 5:37 Or from evil Matthew 5:38 Exodus 21:24; Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21 Matthew 5:43 Lev. 19:18 New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
DISCUSS:
From these short quotes, start to form your picture of the world that Jesus imagines. Is it a world where people live their lives in love and do their best, or is it a dark world of power plays, corrupted without light? Or something else?
STEP SIX DISCUSS The two competing views. Who wins – M or J? Are people good or bad? Can government leaders be trusted? Is goodness stronger than ambition and laziness? It might be said that there are as many follow M as follow J. When the crunch comes, who will you follow? How do you know it will work out OK? Whose view do you trust? Why?
And others say it doesn’t really matter
STEP SEVEN The world view that there is no need for a worldview.
Not everyone believes that we need to pursue lives where there is meaning or purpose , to seek a worldview or to seek a cause or explanation for our lives. We just live them. Here is one such view, expressed very positively. “There is only one sensible thing to do with this empty existence, and that is:
7 Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson
fill it. Not fillet. Fill. It.” The pursuit of meaning is “filleting”, a waste of time. Here is just one person who holds and also promotes this view, Tim Minchin. Not picking on him, just quoting one source.
In Sept 2013, the comedian and composer Tim Minchin, was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters for his contribution to the arts. Minchin said: Arts degrees are awesome. And they help you find meaning where there is none. And let me assure you, there is none. Don’t go looking for it. Searching for meaning is like searching for a rhyme scheme in a cookbook: you won’t find it and you’ll bugger up your soufflé.
He finishes with: And in my opinion (until I change it), life is best filled by learning as much as you can about as much as you can, taking pride in whatever you’re doing, having compassion, sharing ideas, running(!), being enthusiastic. And then there’s love, and travel, and wine, and sex, and art, and kids, and giving, and mountain climbing … but you know all that stuff already. It’s an incredibly exciting thing, this one, meaningless life of yours. Good luck”
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Paul Johnson, recounts the event thus:
Tim Minchin, who is not yet 40, has won worldwide acclaim as a composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and writer. His musical Matilda received a record seven Olivier Awards - British theatre's most sought-after awards. He teamed with fellow UWA alumnus, author, artist and film-maker Shaun Tan to narrate The Lost Thing, which gained the 2011 Oscar for best animated short film.
Our graduation ceremonies mark the beginning of the next stage in the lives of our graduands. An important feature to the ceremony is the Occasional Address during which the guest speaker imparts some words of wisdom to the graduating class. In his Occasional Address to 225 Arts and Science graduands, their families, partners and friends, Tim Minchin not only delighted his audience, he inspired. He gave these nine life lessons that I want to share with you because they're worth thinking about no matter how old you are or what your position on campus. In short, this is what he said:
"One: Be micro-ambitious. Put your head down and work with pride on whatever is in front of you. You never know where you might end up.
"Two: Don't seek happiness. Keep busy and aim to make someone else happy and you might find you get some as a side effect.
"Three: Understanding that you can't truly take credit for your successes nor truly blame others for their failures will humble you and make you more compassionate.
"Four: Exercise. Take care of your body: you're going to need it.
Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson 8
"Five: Be hard on your opinions. Be intellectually rigorous. Identify your biases, your prejudices, your privileges.
"Six: Even if you're not a teacher, be a teacher. Share your ideas. Don't take for granted your education.
"Seven: Define yourself by what you love. Be demonstrative and generous in your praise of those you admire. Send thank you cards and give standing ovations. Be pro stuff not just anti stuff.
"Eight: Respect people with less power than you.
"Nine: Finally, don't rush. You don't need to know what you're going to do with the rest of your life."
Video of Tim Minchin's speech in full, plus transcript, it is available on UWA website here: http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201309176069/alumni/tim-minchin-stars-uwa-graduation-ceremony Also on Tim Minchin’s own website: http://www.timminchin.com/2013/09/25/occasional-address/
STEP EIGHT DISCUSS The competing views. How strongly do you feel it is worthwhile to pursue a meaning to life or not? Minchin has talent, popularity, charm, success and happiness as a young man. What more could you want? He has learned some things about life. How wise is his advice for others’ lives who are in a different situation? For all of his energetic anti-religious stance, Minchin seems unaware how heavily indebted he is to a culture of Christianity for his values of work, service others, humility, sharing ideas, being defined by love, respect for power, being thankful, patient trust. It probably seems like ‘common sense’ to him, but it is only ‘common’ if you grew up in an historically Christian environment. How is that he is so unaware of this debt? Will such a positive humanism pass on to others? Does it matter? It might be said that there are many follow who this view, and who keep saying from where they are at: ‘does it even matter?’. o When does it matter? When the crunch comes, who will you follow? Among competing versions of power and happiness, how do you know this one will work out OK? Whose view do you trust? Does it really matter? Why do you say that?
CONCLUSION
We hope this discussion has been probing and that you have learned a lot about yourself and your beliefs.
The question of Worldview is not really philosophical ;although it requires some thinking through. 9 Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson
Not all values and opinions and priorities can be harmonised. Not all persons wish to be harmonised, some just want to win. Some just want to be left alone. Some don’t think there is any point in trying to find an answer.
Whose life do I want to be like? It is a legitimate question: How do I protect my goals and desires? From external threats and my own capacity to mess myself up. Can I spend so much energy defending them that I never achieve them? Like a runner who trains so hard they continue to get injuries and never run the actual race.
What sort of difference will I make in the world? Will it work or am I just fooling myself or trying to fool others? Who do I want to become like and who am I actually like now? It means dealing with this other crunch question: Who do you believe and therefore who do you believe in? How will you be empowered and refreshed to make the journey you r world needs?
The word in the New Testament for ‘trust’ is the word ‘faith’. Same thing. Do we know enough about the outcome of these two lives to see which direction we want to go in?
Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson 10
2.THE PARENT TRAP
GOAL To free people of one of the main pressures in entering upon our own spiritual path, the memory and modelling of parent-figures and education.
PREPARATION The mirror with writing (see concluding meditation below), writing materials and pencil, music.
INTRODUCTION Here is an exercise into two powerful patterns that impact upon our spirituality. This exercise is about your relationship with God and your relationship with your parents and culture. Powerful early influences shape the way we like to think in particular ways that we are partially not aware of. So even when we think we are open minded, we are taking a particular kind of approach.
PATTERN ONE I will soon ask you to take five minutes by yourself to answer one very profound question. I will tell you the question , and then why it is important, before I say “go”. The question is: ‘In what ways would you like your relationship with God to be BETTER than your relationship (is or was) with your parent?’ You may choose to start with how your parents gave you strength in your Spirit. Your answer to this question is important to progress on this journey. However, we need to respect those of us for whom it is too personal to talk about it in open session. So, I can tell you in advance that we will NOT be discussing this together.
STORY Leader tells a story about a person’s ( their own?) confusion that emerges when our relationship with our own parent (whether known or unknown, living or dead) imposes its pattern on how we relate to God. He is a “heavenly” Father.
EXERCISE Here is the question again. ‘In what ways would you like your relationship with God to be BETTER than your relationship (is or was) with your parent?’
Take five minutes of music to wander through if there may be issues of distance, punishment, santa- clausing, pressure, gifts, acceptance. Do you know whether they like you? Do you give them any attention? Now Go. Make your own confidential notes.
11 Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson
CONCLUSION A Powerful early influences shape the way we like to think in particular ways that we are partially not aware of. So even when we think we are open minded, we are taking a particular kind of approach. What would you like to share about this in you?
Leader leads the way here into an open and reverential sharing time. You may need to take a short break.
PATTERN TWO The same influences can apply to other ‘parenting’ figures and their influence upon how we like to think. One way of looking at our culture is to compare our education backgrounds.
EXERCISE 2A This brief exercise asks for your perceptions about schooling, good and bad. In a few words, what is your perception at this point in time of the differences between how these different educational systems operate: Catholic schools Private schools Government schools Montessori Islamic madrassa Christian Parent-controlled schools Write these up on the board without much discussion except to clarify. Q. In your schooling, how much do you consider you reacted against these systems that you were immersed in? How much did you go along with it?
It doesn’t matter how right or wrong we are, nor which system is better or worse. What matters today, more humbly, is that we can easily identify some differences in values and influence. Each of us shaped by this system operating on our lives, a mixture of agreements and reactions.
EXERCISE 2B Our education affects us in even more detailed ways. The history of the end of the twentieth century, shows us that the western world was so utterly technological and consumerist that they could barely work with or do anything about relationships, communities, values or spirituality. As a result the West decayed in all these areas while the economy ‘flourished’. Does anyone disagree broadly with that? Notice how the cultural trend captured many in it. We will not now go into the philosophy since many get a brain-ache from that approach. We will simply illustrate by this question: The problem is that the government wants to turn a quiet street, one that is a favourite for quiet tree lined walks, into a major through-road for ten thousand cars and buses per day. Compare the different ways that the following professions may respond. Maybe give each person the role to play, choose one of these – Hairdresser or mechanic Scientist or surgeon, Dancer or musician, Engineer or builder, Historian or senator, Psychologist or GP doctor,
Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson 12
Accountant or real estate agent. Again, it doesn’t matter how right or wrong we are, but that the differences are likely to be obvious. List some of the important differences.
KEY QUESTION: Now take some time alone again. ‘How would you like your relationship with God to be better than your past educational/professional influences.’ 5 minutes of music
Overall , our parents, education and professional lives shape the way we think, the priorities we adopt, the company we keep, the community we identify with, and therefore our point of view. They all have their own values and priorities. They all have some great contributions to make. They are all partially blind, and need to be rounded out. In particular, our hyper-technological age badly needs to recover a more spiritual basis.
CONCLUSION TO THIS EXERCISE The patterns of our past impact upon our spirituality. Powerful early influences shape the way we like to think, in particular ways that we are partially not aware of. So even when we think we are open minded, we are usually taking a particular kind of approach. We need to be aware how this can lead us off course or on course. It also gives us a high calling to influence our children and peers with true Grace.
CONCLUDING MEDITATION – 5’ with music. Here is a task to do to help you with the parent trap. Pass this around while I play some good music. Pass around a hand-size mirror, with the words written on it “You are precious in my eyes, and I love you: God.”
Handout the Resource “The Fatherhood of God and the Heart of Jesus” to be read at home.
13 Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson
3.CREATION AND CALLING GOAL How does the work of the Great Spirit create harmony in our life? INTRODUCTION Where is God at work in the world? You can’t see a phantom spirit walking around but you can see things happen that are in harmony with his will. We are all breathing the same air, which is a great analogy for how we all participate in the same Spirit. In this study we are not looking at those big-picture things that are the usual subject of philosophical enquiry, but we look to see God in the normal working life of the average person.
So let’s take a full minute of silence, take some breaths, sigh if you need to, and we can begin in the same space. Leader times the minute and invites everyone to come back and get into the subject.
STEP ONE What do you work at? Paid role or unpaid volunteer role (includes stay-at-home work)
IN your group, name the pluses and minus of your current working task along these four lines: a. The role itself – do you get job satisfaction from doing what you do? Is there a reasonable balance of confidence and challenge? Where are you on the spectrum of : Crushing toil – Competence - Creative b. The wielding of authority. How do those over you treat you? How do you treat those below you? How do your peers treat you and vice versa? c. Are you making a contribution to others buy what you do? Where are you on this spectrum? Are you driven by ambition for the top? Are you content to be serving the needs of some in the wider community and making a living from it? Are you pressed down and held back by others’ control and the wastage of resources or the environment? d. Do you make good decisions? Is there are an ethical process for the common good and the safety and satisfaction of workers? Are you ready and able to contribute your ethical insights? Do you feel you are serving cheap principles, the wrong goals or nasty outcomes?
Read these passages together for what they say about these four lines of your working life. Give them about fifteen minutes e4ach to keep it moving.
a) Work is co-creating with God. Work itself is a calling (something we were made for) and not a curse, but normally it can be hard Genesis 1. 26-28; 2.15; 3.17-19; 1 Cor 3.9; Eph 2.10 b) Work needs an authority system but how are you handling the ego and responsibility issues that arise in the flow of normal fallen humans?. Gal 6.2-5; Eph 6.5-9,2 Thess 3.10; Luke 10.7 c) Ambition and service. Are you trying too hard to get your joy out of this? Is it just a few hours that holds no meaning at all? Are you expressing gratitude to workers around you (especially at home) for their contribution? Yes they get paid for it, so …? Eph 4.17-28; Col 3.1-15; Col 3.22-4.1; Ecc 5.19; Prov 31.31; Eph 2.9 d) Ethics. How often does someone say ‘business is business’ when want they are really saying is ‘ I don’t care about these people’. Doing the right thing never comes easily, so are you ready for the respectful conflicts? Eph 4.29-5.18; Phil 2.1-4; Ex 23.12; Dt 5.14
Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson 14
Step back now and discuss : how this conversation has been for you? What have been you feelings? Did you experience a sense of ‘gratitude’, ‘uplifting’ , ‘potential or opportunity’ as well as ‘challenge’? Both these impulses are a sign of God at work in your work, according to those Bible readings. Did you feel ashamed at the things unspoken or disclosed, or perhaps ‘put down’ or ‘unworthy’ ? Are they a normal sense of ‘raise your game’, or they condemning feelings? If the latter they are not from God. Do not listen to them when you shape your life. You are made to be more than this.
STEP TWO – Pleasure
Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. Aristotle
We need to talk about pleasure. A lot of our talk about pleasure is limiting, resist the temptation to an addiction to pleasure. No wonder a lot of people are lonely and miserable. “He that loves pleasure must for pleasure fall.” ―Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus “Many of us pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that we hurry past it.” ―Søren Kierkegaard
Yes, I know, the joke is that of it feels good it must be wrong. Couldn’t be further from the truth, really - good things are really good, and godly pleasure is deeply resonant and satisfying. Yet in the media these pleasures are made to appear weak or goody-two-shoes, whatever that means, or like poor old Ned Flanders in the Simpsons.
Yes, there is a thrill attached to doing things that are larrikin, prideful, put-down, naughty or anti- authoritarian. In books and TV characters who do this can be quite attractive. There is our dilemma, such a thrill seems like free-falling, limitless and dangerous.
Can I reframe that? Pleasure is an experience of beauty. Beauty is ‘useless’, in that it is valuable in itself. Beauty does not have to justify itself by raising more money or preaching a message or being efficient or being productive of anything other than beauty. Laughter, art, sex, feasting, dancing, music and even wine – all these are applauded in the Jewish and Christian scriptures as some of the gifts of God. And to see this in even more ultimate terms, God’s “glory” is a particular kind of weighty beauty. Pleasure is no small thing. To savour pleasure is just as dangerous as enjoying God. The risk therefore is no excuse for avoiding the God-given beauties of the world. For instance, from the whirlwind world of media fame:
I do have a childlike enthusiasm at times. I certainly enjoy life and get pleasure sometimes in childish things. Brian Baumgartner, actor in The Office
I love spending time with my friends and family. The simplest things in life give me the most pleasure: cooking a good meal, enjoying my friends. Cindy Morgan, actor in The Caddyshack
Sleep my little baby-oh, Sleep until you waken, When you wake you'll see the world, If I'm not mistaken. Kiss a lover, Dance a measure, Find your name, And buried treasure. Face your life, Its pain, Its pleasure, Leave no path untaken.” Neil Gaiman,The Graveyard Book (and an author of Doctor Who)
15 Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson
DISCUSS: Do you experience any of these kinds of beauty? Do you just notice them while passing on to more efficient productive things? Are you able to stop and savour, enjoy, create and celebrate?
STEP THREE - the shape of a work-life balance
Most discussion of work-life balance has three problems in it. 1. The word ‘balance’ makes it sound that if we make time for a good personal life – enough time with our kids, time for exercise, time for fun with partner and friends, etc - it robs our work, and vice versa. In fact, a healthy personal life makes us more productive at work and a good job-satisfaction makes us good to live with. They rise or fall together. 2. We think that if we set it right it will stay right. In fact, it is more like ‘navigation’ than ‘balance’, needing constant juggling and re-negotiation with those who matter to us. 3. We think it is just about time allocation. It is not just that. As the step-one study above shows, it is about our job satisfaction, which reaches into our sense of calling and creation. That’s a spiritual thing. The life factor reaches into the work factors and vice versa, they are both happening within us and go with us into both places. Balance is also about whether we think it’s going anywhere that matters to us, how we are treated, how we treat others, and how right we feel about the decisions being made and the things being said. DISCUSS: In what way would you say that these important life-factors are spiritual things? IN what way would you say that God cares about it at all?
INVITATION TO CONSIDER: If we invite God into our work-life balance, he can do his work more colourfully. Maybe not more easily, since it wont just be ‘go with the flow’. Maybe not more securely, since it is a risk to live by faith and you find your calling takes you somewhere ‘interesting’. But satisfaction, rightness, meaning and purpose. Please consider.
CONCLUSION The Christians claim dramatically that the Great Spirit has been influencing people like rainfall across history and for everyone. We have seen it in our work, our calling, and in pleasure and leisure. The influence of that Great Spirit, therefore, creates a work-life balance that is sustainable.
Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson 16
4. FEAR OF THE FIRE
PREPARATION It may not be quite right for your group to do this. If you introduce an image as strong as this, it may seem like an imposition, that would spell the end to the discovery process. The main thing is to follow their paths of engagement and motivation, the permission that these people in particular have given you as leader. If the FIRE can be offered and received as a helpful thing, go right ahead! Weigh it up, maybe ask permission, but don’t just ‘do the course’.
GOAL To increase our courage for the process of spiritual change with God in our life.
INTRODUCTION This exercise has three parts for one reason.
When asked what was the greatest commandment Jesus said one with three parts: Matthew 22:36 “[Jesus], which is the great commandment in the law?” And he said to him, ’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.”
One: Love with God and the whole self. God Two: Love with neighbour like self. God
Self Neighb our
So, this exercise talks about: Self 1.How to change the self, 2. How the self Disconnects itself from the Other, and 3. How a wild God can be approached, like a Fire.
17 Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson
PART 1 CHANGE When did you last achieve a new change of a personal habit? E.g. quit smoking, take up exercise, learn a language, lose weight, finding friends, finish a degree. We all know things that don’t work. What actually works? STORY of change from the leader’s own life Discuss Why this question? Because we don’t change by simply wanting to! And society can not change just because we want it to. Let’s just unpack that a bit, so that we are talking realistically about spiritual growth.
KEY QUESTION 1 – Tell of a time when you made a successful change and what it took to make and stick to the change? Buzz and feedback a list of ingredients on to the whiteboard. What stops us from doing it? Add to the list
CHANGE FRAME Initial commitment, New thinking, Effective support, Reinforcement.
DISCUSSION POINTS New resolutions often fail – what is the skill of “getting back up” to start again? The Threshold Factor – there has to be a “groan” in starting anything worthwhile. No pain no gain. Stepping up on to the threshold to address the closed door. Even when approaching a new and exciting experience. It looks like ‘commitment’ is one of those very normal relationship-type factors, not just a religious factor. It is the normal pattern in situations of worthwhile healthy change.
Moving on , there is a mysterious ‘disconnect’ factor, where we do not do what we want to do. Move to part 2.
PART 2 THE DISCONNECT BUTTON This exercise asks for honesty, and you must weather the sense of risk. As the exercise progresses, gradually add to your list of “disconnect buttons”. One of the great laments of life is where we ‘shot ourselves in the foot’, ‘snooker ourselves’, ‘cut off our nose to spite our face’ , ‘default to received values’ or we’ do not do what we want to do’. For example: The great and the awesome experiences of nature offer us so much, make us feel full up, but one of two things happens almost immediately. One is that we distract ourselves from what is best by creating external “noise”. Another is that though we get filled up for the moment, maybe a week, but the “fullness” quickly leaks. Another is that we crush the hope that risen, with a deprecating comment or a cynical remark, as though the negative is more real. Are there any other ways you can describe? Add it to the list.
Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson 18
We do it to ourselves and to others. We ‘disconnect’ from all that is good.
This session explores a little of what that ‘disconnect’ is about. We will NOT get to the bottom of it in one step, but we are looking for examples where we defeated ourselves by the methods above - external noise, leaking , or crushing hope.
Leader tells a personal experience of active “separate self” disengagement from the good/God. Eg turning the car radio on instead of celebrating creation. Write up this example to start the list.
KEY QUESTION 2 In small groups, tell each other one story of how you have done this, or (easier?) how someone else did this! People need a bit of time to think here. Alternative: Use the story of KIM (MYW5 Resources) and ask ‘when do you think Kim might have defaulted/disconnected to some other kind of response other than the forgiveness she is living out?’
DISCUSSION - No need to become too definitive. Just add to the lists. 1. Some of these stories are funny – when is it NOT funny? 2. Is this the first time you have talked about this? 3. How has this hurt us and hurt others? including our potential to live in God? Is this what distracts us from engaging with God, something so really good? 4. This is a very significant aspect of spirituality. It is close to what the Bible calls “sin” - understand ‘sin’ is not a list of do’s and don’ts, judgements and legislation - but a whole row of disconnect buttons, where we “shoot ourselves in the foot”, undermine what is best for us and others. 5. Some part of us is threatened by goodness, truth and the beauty of life. 6. There are all sorts of tricky disconnect buttons inside us. Need to know our own. 7. If we can’t deal with this, we cannot change anything.
Before we get lost in the difficulty of all this, I would like to introduce the concept of FIRE as a helpful image to go forward with.
PART 3 GOD IS A FIRE - show a campfire picture, or sit around an actual fire
They say the ability to start and control fire is a significant difference between humans and animals. For humans, these three things about fire apply to all the really good things in our lives: Fire is essential – for heating and cooking, AND Fire is attractive – it draws us like moths, and can captivate us for hours, YET Fire is dangerous - to the careless and to those who do not respect it. So, we need fire, we are drawn to it AND we fear fire. These three live in tension, for if we allow the fear to overcome us, we will withdraw to an outer cold and darkness.
Read THE FIRE STILL COMES (Web RESOURCES) 19 Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson
KEY QUESTION 3 IN SMALL GROUPS Tell of a time when you were possessed of a strong fear of taking the next step, yet also of a strong passion, like the competing aspects of fire. E.g marriage, career change, emigration, travelling. How did you resolve that tension?
In your own experience at present, in what ways is God like that?
DISCUSS TOGETHER What commitment do you need to make? What support and reinforcement can we help you with? What new thinking do you need to pursue? What is stopping or disconnecting you?
CONCLUDING MEDITATION
FEAR OF GLORY NELSON MANDELA used this poem in his 1994 Inaugural Speech
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous - talented and fabulous? Actually who are you not to be? You are a Child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure about you
We were born to manifest the glory that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
God is wild, not tame. There is a legitimate fear in approaching the fire. Many are here to help us, but there comes an end to their help when we must venture alone into relationship with God. It is the crucial turning point in a life of many other change-processes. We can cling to our masks, our fears, our substitutes, but we were made for the beauty of the fire of God.
Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson 20
OPTIONAL PRAYER EXERCISE My fears are many. Your love is strong. My masks are stuck on. You are gentle and true. The past holds on to me. You call to me.
If I have any idols, I will topple them. If I have any substitutes, I will de-throne them . If I am blaming someone else, I will stand up.
The fire is so good, the journey so full of promise, The hope surrounds me, and there are friends by my side. Jesus, I will take the journey with you. Amen
21 Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson
5. Y POINTS
GOAL To name some relevant evidence that might cause someone to reconsider the truth of Christianity.
INTRODUCTION "Y Points" exercise asks people to stop and look at something they may have overlooked.
Here is an historic example that achieved this.
One of the strong street-traditions of the city of Sydney Australia is the word “eternity” hand written in beautiful copperplate font (pictured). Who devised this provocative banner? For many years after his conversion, Arthur Stace anonymously wrote the word in chalk on pavements everywhere. He was making a Y-point – say one thing that others are avoiding and which asks people to think on spiritual things. In his time, that was a powerful word. You can read more of his story here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Stace
The Y-point is the art of a good question. Just as some things that happen to us or someone's questions can challenge us to doubt our Christian belief system, so other questions can cause people to doubt their non-christian belief system. Open their world up with a why?.
In this exercise there are a few questions from common experience which ask you to explain certain things . Can you adequately explain unless you adopt a christian view?
You cannot argue someone into the Kingdom but you can convince and persuade them that other alternatives are inadequate, that christian faith makes sense, that the Christian sources of evidence must be explained by them somehow, or else a person is living in a fool's paradise. Here are several sources, each of them finishes in “y” and that helps us remember that this is about questions.
ACCOUNT FOR OUR SENSE OF DESTINY We all seek to live according to a purpose, we all expect and live as though there is purpose. We all seek to gain the security, freedom and power to make it through to that purpose. Many people even sacrifice their life in the name of their purpose, or even in just securing the freedom to pursue our own purposes. It is much more than an animal survival instinct, it is the human reflection of being made to resemble a God of purpose.
ACCOUNT FOR THE SHAPE OF REALITY Most people will say that the universe had to start from some great power source somewhere and sometime. If not its existence, then in the design of its mechanisms and the near-miraculous nature of
Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson 22 all that works. From the subatomic to the galactic and, in between, the harmony of ecology – all speak of a designer. They are accounting for the existence of things that constitute realitv.
ACCOUNT FOR OUR SENSE OF MORALITY We can go further and speak of the way all people have a mixture of motives. Humans are moral and relational beings (love and hate; right and wrong, true and false), but also capable of gross immoral actions and the most absurd self-justifications and rationalisations (murder within the family, justifying a lie or theft, emotional patterns that are self defeating). All these good things are anchored in a Creator God. All the evil things show the phenomenon called in the Bible by the special jargon word "sin". "Sin" is a special diagnosis of our problem, and deserves to be an unusual word, but it still needs explanation. Together, the facts of morality point to the need for relationship with our Maker.
ACCOUNT FOR THE MIRACLES IN HISTORY People can be asked to account for certain "facts" of Christian history, eg. the life and claims of Christ, the ongoing life of the church, miracles, etc but supremely the resurrection of Christ. In this arena we are on strong ground. It challenges anyone's alternative views of the purpose of religions in general, or of Christ's life in particular. Namely, it is one thing to discuss the inner workings of Reality, Morality and Destiny, but in History there is more tangible evidence, more accessible evidence and simply more evidence which can be talked about and evaluated.
ACCOUNT FOR BEAUTY Why are our heads turned by beauty. Why have all homo sapiens practised the arts of drawing, music, dance, story and so on. Rock art is all over the world (most conspicuously at Burrup in Western Australia). The earliest grave unearthed in Australia is at Lake Mungo NSW, about fifty thousand years old. The burial was apparently ceremonial, the body arranged, and decorated with ochre. What meaning were these earliest humans enacting? Some beauty beyond death.
It is not just our survival that makes nature adapt to live but our many sources of satisfaction, like fun and pleasure – of which human beauty is basic. Who would want to live a grey life? The concentration camps are full of stories of those who could not live like that. Why are we humans so inspired by and to beauty? How do you explain that? Because of a Creator being of Glory who has made us in his Image.
NOTES ABOUT THIS EXERCISE In each of these five categories, the non-christian's view is found wanting.
All five Y Points are useful, and be aware that what you find the strongest may not strike another person the same way. Firstly because other major religions have a history of their own and you will have to be prepared to listen to this. It may be better to start on common ground first. Secondly, the following exercise shows that some people's openness is not to the evidence of history, where they may feel we can "blind them with science", but with the inner evidences of their own spirituality.
In discussion one must always continue to check word meanings as you go, for they have a habit of being `same word different meaning' or even vague or slippery meanings. 23 Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson
Remember to approach people's own hard fought conclusions with sensitivity, no matter how ridiculous you feel. However, do not allow your desire to be kind to them, to rob them of the gospel. You can be too kind by failing to lead them to the emptiness of their present position, by holding back from exposing them to the questions and emotions of disillusionment and meaninglessness as their world view takes a hammering. Christ does fulfill their yearnings..
Exercise Work through the following mini case studies on the sheet printed on page 23
Leaders copy the worksheet and hand it out. a. Explain the worksheet. Columns I-II Set the Scene. Columns III-IV get us into the heart-situation of people, sensitive to the entry point. Column IV reminds us how to act according to the needs of the other person, not out of our own needs. Columns V-VI are practical actions guiding us around from the entry point. Column V asks what we might say and do initially, leading on to column VI. Why think in a ‘leading on’ way? Because one quick word or action is not enough. When in column VI we ask ‘what Jesus would say and do’, we are saying we would also seek to say and do a similar thing. It may be right away, it may be a little later, but we do not want to let the entry point be the end point. Walk people through the first example, gradually asking for more input from them. Then turn it over to them to do the rest. Do this exercise in small groups. Start each group at a different case and then ask them to go down the list and cycle through to the top, doing as many examples as possible in thirty minutes. This will mean, when you come back together for discussion, every case study has received good input. If time is short or the group is small, do it all together but try to get comments from different people not just the same people.
Together for discussion Run quickly through each case. Invite all who have a thought to add it in, case by case, firstly from group discussion then any others. They have already felt the weight of each situation in small groups, therefore, the discussion now focusses on opening up more ideas. If they have not been in small groups, but you are doing this in one full group, go more slowly so that they feel the weight of the situation at heart-level, and appreciate their own vulnerability.
Leader’s Notes about this exercise Most people respond readily to this "mini-case-study" approach. They must be kept, however, to the task of evangelism, rather than just giving comfort or just being critical. Entry points must not be end points.
These are terribly brief examples. Everyone therefore imagines each case differently, so there are limits on how far you can go towards ‘the right answer’. This does not matter - emphasise that each person needs to find what they would do or say, and that the sharing of ideas here and now raises their capacity for discerning a response that will suit their situation.
Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson 24
This exercise can be extended indefinitely by using their own examples. Small groups often bring a situation or a question from their living week.
This not a role play. The major focus in MYW is genuine openness and "having a go". Adopting roles will probably not help to press home this major goal.
Q: What word would you write on pavements if you could?
25 Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson
MYW4.9 I The II What III What IV How does V What VI What situation as they said or does this this make you could you would Jesus Y it presents did? show is vulnerable? say or do say or do as going on first as a a Ypoint? POINTS at their Ypoint?
heart?
DESTINY Woman has “I knew I Excited? Jealous? You have No one lives just received would get it Rewarded? Fear her great gifts by bread a big if I wanted it Deserving? disillusionment? for the alone. promotion bad enough” Fulfilled? Offended by her world. Care for my
materialism? Keep in world my touch. way. REALITY Watching “The world Wonder? science is amazing Cant see shows but it came God in about the without material God’s help” world? HISTORY Reading It is all a DaVinci church Code conspiracy. I see it now. BEAUTY Friend When the spending craft group time with get leisure arts together, for the first we all feel a time. deep connection MORALITY TV news of I don’t violent know what abortion pro-life rally means when I watch them carry on. Your own examples?
Wonder workshop 3 by Ian Robinson 26