Read & Real Reflections

Being on holidays, I've done some reading but it seems most of the books I've read recently have a common thread. The main characters experience 2 worlds - the "real" and the "other" world which is usually accessed by dreaming. The other world involves the spiritual realm where evil versus good and it seems real. The books I've read include "Black", "Red", "White" by Ted Dekker and "The Novelist" and "The Awakening" by Angela Hunt.

Though it is fiction, it challenges my understanding of reality and perhaps my understanding of who God is. Do most of us put God into a box, however wide and deep its parameters? I think I do. I expect God to fit into my narrow minded understanding. Reading these books (and some blogs) challenge me on my definition of "God is good". We expect God to answer our prayers in a way that we consider to be good and if He answers it differently, we say, "Well that wasn't His will" and sweep it under the proverbial carpet. "It" being our perception of good and being disappointed in God's response.

In "Black", Elyon is depicted as an innocent and wise boy who loves playing. "See this magnificent waterfall? I made it for your enjoyment. I made you. I love you." And then laughter bubbles up and out from within His heart and Elyon & the main character (Tom) go running, dancing, skipping over the mountains and hills.

Who is God? Can we really get close to any true understanding of who He is? If our minds aren't capable of processing more than 1% of all the knowledge in the world, how can we expect to fully comprehend who God is? To that end, we need to pursue Him and yet, abide in Him.

Real versus Fiction.

Reading challenges me to think outside what I already know and embrace. It is not enough and yet, I confess that I am lazy and/or complacent. I don't want to pursue knowledge and understanding of God if it requires too much effort and time. I want it or the knowledge and heart of Him to come to me.

The other challenge is that of "community" or "body of Christ" and how we all fit together, or in some cases, don't. How close are we supposed to be? It seems to me that we go to church, nod at our brothers and sisters in Christ and go back into our own "real" worlds, living our own lives and barely making an impression on those we worship with.

I picture it like this" We walk around in our bubbles, occasionally bumping into each other and making a small dent, but rarely piercing the bubble and getting through to the person.

What is church for? What are friendships for? How much does it really impact on our own individual life? Do you want me to pierce your bubble and see you bleed? Why or why not?

Again, this takes hard work and time and I bet some of you are saying, "I don't have the time or energy to get involved".

Anyway, that's just some of the thinking I've been doing while reading and driving and holidaying. Imagine what else I might think up in the coming days??!!!

No Television

Our family did not acquire a television until I was about ten years old. When we did finally have a black and white one in our possession, some rules came with it.

• No TV before school on a weekday
• No TV until after homework is finished
• If the sun is shining and it's Saturday, turn the TV off and go and play outside
• Meal times are to be shared together in the kitchen, not eaten in the loungeroom
• No TV on Sunday - It's the Lord's day and we don't need to watch it then
• Certain TV programs were not allowed

We grew up with no adverse side effects and although each of my siblings and I are more lenient in allowing our children to watch TV, we didn't suffer because of it. When we were first married, we couldn't afford a TV and when we lived in our next home, we couldn't 'get' TV reception. We survived that too.

Last Friday, my students and I came up with an exercise not to watch TV for a whole week and the responses of the students and their parents has been eye-opening. Now I am beginning to wonder how we did survive without TV when I was a child. After all, we couldn't watch videos, play computer games, play on the computer nor did we have (since it was not yet invented) a Playstation or Gameboy.

A parent came to me and said, "My child gets up at 6am, what's he supposed to do at that time of the morning?"
One parent said, "A week is too long a time to go without a TV."
One dad suggested that the whole family take up the challenge.
A mother told me how her daughter had earned some extra pocket money by helping in the garden.
Another parent commented that her children don't get on as well as she thought they did and she wanted to turn the TV on to get some "peace and quiet".

I actually found it sad that students and parents are so used to TV. The TV has become a necessity rather than a luxury. Whatever happened to imagination? How did I spend my childhood not having access to a TV?

• We climbed trees
• We played cops and robbers
• We played Hide n' seek
• We rode our bikes
• We read books
• We drew and made things
• We played games and made up games
• We visited our friends
• We played cricket and footy (depending on the season)
• We cooked (or some of us did)
• We went to bed earlier than most children these days seem to
• I wrote stories and made up songs
• We played with blocks

What makes all this sad is we're letting the TV to our thinking for us. We're don't need to use our imagination or get creative because the TV does it for us. The TV dominates our life and we're all so used to it that we complain when it's taken from us for a week. A week without TV is hardly going to ruin our lives, is it?

Online Friendships

In 1999, my mum was very sick and in fact, she passed away on June 11th. During that time, I found support in a few different ways. I would go for a walk along the beach and throw shells into the sea, my friends Keith and Sandra would take me out with them and also, I would chat online.

My first ever internet chat friend was kellytwinks and I found her in a yahoo Christian chatroom. She was the daughter of a Southern Baptist Minister and she would get all her church to pray for my mum. She would send me email cards and emails full of encouragement. If we talked prior to me going for a walk along the beach, she would ask me to throw a shell in for her.

My attitude towards chatting online was that there were people just like me chatting there. I also decided that I would be me and be honest. I found a group of friends who I still enjoy a friendship with these seven years later. I believe that God introduced me to those friends. It didn't take long to learn that there were those who chose to be dishonest online and to discover those whose chat lives were consistent with their real lives. I did not expect to make "real" friends with people online but was pleasantly surprised when I did.

Unfortunately, chat has often been misrepresented, and just as in "real life", people aren't always who they seem. People also misinterpret those who chat online. In fact, someone told my husband that only people who are social misfits and unable to socialise with real people, chat online. A couple of my friends would say to me, "Pinch me. I am real. Those people you talk to online, aren't".

Despite all this, I continue to enjoy friendships with people from all around the world. In 2002, we went to the States and I met up with a few of them. I can honestly say that our friendships turned out even better than we had thought they would. One family we stayed with for 10 days but the time seemed to go by too quickly. We look forward to meeting with them again, hopefully sooner rather than later.

A couple of years after chatting online, I also joined a pw email club which was exclusive to pastors' wives. That was an interesting experience and I met and made friends with more women who were in the ministry. I also learned a new style of communicating called "yahoogroups" and started up my own with friends and family who I had met online or just knew anyway. That group has been going since February 2002.

Friendships change and, just like "in real life" we lose touch with some of those friends. I probably only keep in contact with a tenth or so, of friends I used to chat with way back then. Yesterday, I got to chat with two of the closest friends I had made online - Lori and Jan. We picked up where we'd left off and once again, made promises to stay in touch. I am still in regular contact with some of my other good friends. In fact, if I haven't heard from them in a week or so (sometimes less), I begin to wonder where they're at and might even email them or leave them offlines.

Now I have found another new world of internet friendships begun with blogging. I began blogging because I like writing and used it to communicate with my family and friends. Then I started venturing out and found other bloggers whose writing I enjoyed reading. Some of them I have even emailed with and a teacher from the other side of the world is now sharing a blog with me that I created For My Favourite Students.

No matter what medium was used when I made a new friend I value them all, knowing that God has put them in my life for a reason. Whether I chat with them online or whether I see them and chat with them over the phone or visit with them in our homes, I love each and every one of them. I am so glad that God has brought such beautiful people into my life!