It was my birthday last week. I really enjoy birthdays, I never do very much, but it is always fun to hear from friends and have a few special treats. This year I was given an ice cream maker which I am very delighted with. A week on and I am perfecting the skill of ice cream making, we have enjoyed mocha ice cream, chocolate ice cream and mango sorbet so far. As a result of the adverse impact this is likely to have my my waistline, and my birthday reflections, I have joined the gym and hope to exercise off the excesses of ice cream indulgence!
As well as an opportunity for treats and celebration of friends and life a birthday is also a chance to reflect and plan. I have always felt glad that my birthday falls at this time of the year a good few months after New Year so that I can see how I'm doing in the light of the resolutions I made. In our family we have another such opportunity in September when a new academic year starts for both husband and son and yet again a routine needs to be established after the summer break as we adjust to new timetables and a different but familiar routine.
I have been reflecting how easy it is to view the past through a false lense - sometimes I recall times as happier than they probably were in reality, sometimes I recall times as darker and bleaker than they were. This is struck me particularly strongly when I met up with a friend last week that I'd not seen for a very long number of years. Catching up on news was lovely but meeting reminded me of a time when I was less settled and much less happy. It is a little bit unsettling to be unexpectedly transported back to a very different time in life and very briefly relive those emotions.
So what have I concluded as a result of a birthday and a trip down memory lane - I enjoy getting older! I have a greater sense of who I am and what my life is about. I have a happier and more settled existence on so many levels, I have a much clearer idea about what creates a sense of well being and how to care for me in the midst of busyness and life. I am more than thankful for what I have. The practical result of these reflections is that I have joined a gym near where I work - a new year resolution for me personally! My other birthday resolution is to practise thankfulness on a daily basis and avoid the risk of living either in the past or for the future.
My January resolution, that this was the year of friendship and I would work hard to meet up with people I'd not seen for a long time, is still going well - this weekend I am meeting up with an old work colleague (we were trainees together) who I've not seen for about 7 years.
Stopping to take stock is good. Finding space to be thankful is even better.
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Wednesday 9 May 2012
Contentment and Honesty
In the context of my work with ChaplaincyPlus I have been in attending and promoting the Tuesday Talks at Birmingham Cathedral. Tuesday Talks, aimed at the business community in Birmingham City Centre, have a long established tradition and attract a number of regulars working in range of organisations. The talk lasts half and hour allowing those employed in the professional and commercial sectors in the City time to get themselves to and from Birmingham Cathedral and eat some lunch in the space of an hour.
The ten commandments are the theme for the current series of Tuesday Talks which is an exploration of whether these ancient laws have any relevance in contemporary workplace culture and practice. The talks are broadly based on John Parmiter's book Ten at Work (you can find the book and podcasts of talks by John Parmiter on the LICC website http://www.licc.org.uk/). For those who are interested the Tuesday Talks are also available on Podcast.
The series (and the book) start at the end with the tenth commandment first. Two weeks on in the series and we have looked at being content by not coveting anything our neighbour owns and remaining honest by not giving false testimony against our neighour. On a basic level I fully understand what this means but, to be really honest with you (I feel obliged to be after yesterday's talk!), on further and more detailed reflection the practicalities are a bit more complex particularly in a commercial context.
Being content with your staff, your premises, your IT systems, your clients, your distribution systems etc seems very countercultural.
Let me give you some examples: while I understand the concept that you do not covet what your competitors have, where does that leave a Christian who sees an individual in a rival firm with the skill set, knowledge and experience that would compliment their staff team? Should they headhunt or seek to poach that person? Or, in the pressure of pitching for work what added extras do you offer a potential client, do you offer things that you are uncertain you can deliver or which are strictly speaking outside the scope of your experience? Or, how do you conduct yourself in honesty when asked if there is spare capacity in your team to help another team, when you know that others want what you have and to release some of that resource risks losing it to an internal rival?
The workplace is increasingly pressurised. People are chasing fewer clients, fewer opportunities, profit margins are tighter, cashflow is limited and a climate of fear and suspicion pervades many (but not all) organisations. In some organisations smaller numbers of staff are undertaking an ever increasing workload. People are being performance managed on quantity rather than quality with that worrying sense that lurking somewhere nearby is someone who would take your job, your client, your opportunity etc.
I wonder if for Christians the key to contentment and honesty is absolute trust in God. Trusting God to provide you with the clients, the staff, the systems, the knowledge, the cashflow that you need for your business to thrive and prosper. I wonder if we covet and lie when we feel threatened, afraid and under pressure. It is easy to believe that God is only interested in our personal life rather than the whole of life. Clearly when the ten commandments were given in the Old Testement obedience to them was directly linked to personal and national wellbeing. God wanted His people to trust Him to meet their needs (whether spiritual, emotional or physical) and provide them as individuals and a community with protection against threats and enemies. Is it so different now? Do we have the courage to believe that God might be offering to do the same for us in our modern age?
I'd love to know what you think!
The ten commandments are the theme for the current series of Tuesday Talks which is an exploration of whether these ancient laws have any relevance in contemporary workplace culture and practice. The talks are broadly based on John Parmiter's book Ten at Work (you can find the book and podcasts of talks by John Parmiter on the LICC website http://www.licc.org.uk/). For those who are interested the Tuesday Talks are also available on Podcast.
The series (and the book) start at the end with the tenth commandment first. Two weeks on in the series and we have looked at being content by not coveting anything our neighbour owns and remaining honest by not giving false testimony against our neighour. On a basic level I fully understand what this means but, to be really honest with you (I feel obliged to be after yesterday's talk!), on further and more detailed reflection the practicalities are a bit more complex particularly in a commercial context.
Being content with your staff, your premises, your IT systems, your clients, your distribution systems etc seems very countercultural.
Let me give you some examples: while I understand the concept that you do not covet what your competitors have, where does that leave a Christian who sees an individual in a rival firm with the skill set, knowledge and experience that would compliment their staff team? Should they headhunt or seek to poach that person? Or, in the pressure of pitching for work what added extras do you offer a potential client, do you offer things that you are uncertain you can deliver or which are strictly speaking outside the scope of your experience? Or, how do you conduct yourself in honesty when asked if there is spare capacity in your team to help another team, when you know that others want what you have and to release some of that resource risks losing it to an internal rival?
The workplace is increasingly pressurised. People are chasing fewer clients, fewer opportunities, profit margins are tighter, cashflow is limited and a climate of fear and suspicion pervades many (but not all) organisations. In some organisations smaller numbers of staff are undertaking an ever increasing workload. People are being performance managed on quantity rather than quality with that worrying sense that lurking somewhere nearby is someone who would take your job, your client, your opportunity etc.
I wonder if for Christians the key to contentment and honesty is absolute trust in God. Trusting God to provide you with the clients, the staff, the systems, the knowledge, the cashflow that you need for your business to thrive and prosper. I wonder if we covet and lie when we feel threatened, afraid and under pressure. It is easy to believe that God is only interested in our personal life rather than the whole of life. Clearly when the ten commandments were given in the Old Testement obedience to them was directly linked to personal and national wellbeing. God wanted His people to trust Him to meet their needs (whether spiritual, emotional or physical) and provide them as individuals and a community with protection against threats and enemies. Is it so different now? Do we have the courage to believe that God might be offering to do the same for us in our modern age?
I'd love to know what you think!
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