How to live 10 years longer

"living a pure life, no alcohol, no tobacco, going to bed early, praising God for his goodness and for the blessing of life".

and

Every Friday evening (the community of) Loma Linda falls quiet. On Saturday, Adventists take the day off from anything that could be considered work.

This includes browsing social media or, in some cases, watching television. For most, Saturday is a day to recuperate from the past week and to be with family and friends.

"Our Sabbath is more than just the church that takes place in the morning," says Dustin Aho, executive pastor at the huge University Church, which dominates the centre of town.

"The actual Sabbath day is in our name, Seventh-day Adventists, and so the day is crucial. What is more crucial to us is the time set aside for our community and for our God."

and vegetarianism. Here's the full story

Sleep, the path to Holiness

"If we really intend to submit our body as a living sacrifice to God, our first step  may be to start getting enough sleep. Sleep is a good indicator of how thoroughly we trust in God. The psalmist, who knew danger and uncertainty well, also spelt well: 'In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone O Lord make me to dwell in safety' (Ps4:8)

...for if we are not rested, the body moves to the centre of our focus and makes its presence more strongly felt; the tendencies of its parts call out more strongly for gratification.... Rest, properly taken, gives clarity to the mind. Weariness, by contrast, can make us seek gratification and energy from food or drugs, from various illicit relationships, or from egoistic postures... they pull us away from relying on God, and from living in his power."
(Willard & Simpson 'Revolution of Character' p141-2)

Read this today, and it rings true for me. I must admit I'm far more likely to faff about online if I'm tired than if I'm fully rested and alert. Does that happen to anyone else or is it just me?

Full, Empty.

"If you fill your calendar with important appointments
you will have no time for God

If you fill your spare time with essential reading
You will starve your soul.

If you fill your mind with worry about budgets and offerings
the pains in your chest and the ache in your shoulders will betray you.

If you try to conform to the expectations ofthose around you
You will be forever their slave

Work a modest day, then step back and rest.
This will keep you close to God.
(William Martin 'Rest')

Off the Rails

A rail franchise faces mass cancellations of trains because drivers are excercising their right not to work on Sunday. I'm glad to see that the legislation to protect that particular day of the week is still being respected, though some of the rail pressure groups want to chip away at it. They're calling drivers 'irresponsible' for wanting to take Sunday with their families, or with their God, or just resting.

Interesting isn't it: as consumers we want to exercise our 'choice' to travel/shop etc. any day we want, even though that cashes out as other people not having a choice on whether to work on those days, or at anti-social hours. There's no such thing as a free choice if it involves someone else having to service it.

From the BBC:
Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers Union (RMT) said the move was not organised action by workers but a case of the contractual right not to work being exercised.

He said: "Their contracts of employment say they haven't got to work on a Sunday. It's their choice. London Midland need to pay their staff a fair wage to work anti-social hours - and get the trains moving again

"If someone wanted to work a Sunday because they're short of money and said to the employer 'I'm coming in this Sunday because I want some extra overtime', then the employer hasn't got to give it to him. Quite rightly so. "

I don't often find myself agreeing with Mr Crow, but in this case I'll make an exception.

Missing the Joy?

"Adults who can't play aren't really mature enough"
"We think the world can't get along without us. One day a week it's good to discover that it does just fine."

Great meditation on Sabbath, rest, creativity and community.

Missing the Joy from The Work Of The People on Vimeo.

If you were after an alternative to Nooma, this might be it. Really provocative series of videos - this is No. 15. HT Evangelist Changing, who posts a really moving clip featuring my old theological college principal, John Goldingay.

Quit First, Ask Questions Later

Update: well I never, Alan Wilson has written a piece entitled 'Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix' for the Grauniad (Ht Thinking Anglicans). This may look like a co-ordinated Anglican message, but trust me, it isn't.


Hazel Blears has been doing some thinking since last week. She now wishes she’d done the thinking before her triple-whammy of the Observer article, the resignation and the brooch, but the horse - or possibly the chipmunk - has bolted.

Withoutapauseoranyspacesit’sveryhardtomakesenseofthings. High-speed, 24-hour culture has plenty of adrenaline, but not enough......................space. (Aside - tried to just have a long space in that gap but nether Blogger nor Wordpress would let me. Even our blog software can’t stand space) We shoot first and ask questions later, but corpses don’t give great answers - something Blears is discovering as she fights to salvage her political career.

Here’s the dilemma: if we don’t get instant answers to problems and issues then that’s ‘dithering’. But often the best answers come after a bit of time to think, consult and plan. Gordon Browns notorious Youtube video was a classic example of feeling a need to DO SOMETHING, and botching it. Brown is a naturally long-term man trapped in a short-term system, and finding it doesn’t suit him.

We can’t have it both ways. We naturally expect everything ‘now’, but if we want swift, decisive action from the government, church, banks, etc., then it’s less likely (unless the need is screamingly urgent), that they’ll get it right.

The quality of our politics, leadership, and national life requires that government and agencies be given time to think things through. This fights against our culture of the instant. Any government which gives the people what they want won’t be giving us what we need.

Repenting at leisure is all very well, but it’s better not to sin in the first place. 24-7 culture struggles to find the time to make quality choices. The ancient tradition of Sabbath - rest for yourself and for your workers - built in time every week to take stock and step back. A culture without this has lost its Pause button, and that’s not good.

this is a cross post from Touching Base, a weekly column at the Wardman Wire.