Greeting from Breathe,
We have an invitation for you. Come away with us!
We’ve been pursuing lifestyle change for nearly 7 years now, and if there’s one thing we’ve learned it’s that the quality of conversation is key. Emails can be good, conferences too. But there’s nothing like some quality time to go deeper, get to know some people on the same journey and make space to hear from God.
So we’ve booked out a whole YHA...
Join us on 8th– 9th October in (sunny??) Derbyshire for a roughly 24 hours of chill, chat and change. We’re joining with A Rocha’s ‘Living Lightly’ to explore the theme of ‘enough’. We’ll make sure there’s some inspiring input, but more important than anything will be the time to get to know other around meals and a few select activities. Some of us might make some personal space for retreat while we’re away. Some will prioritise the group times. Some will bring kids. It will be flexible and also fun.
Have a look at the details which are attached, or available on the website and on Facebook. Let friends know (book a room together?). And if you’re interested, send booking details to Elly at enough2011@live.co.uk.
There are 23 rooms in the YHA and we have no idea how quickly they’ll go, so if you’re interested get in touch.
And for the moment, here’s a second installment from Phil Whittall on the smart use of ‘smart’ technology.
Be blessed,
Breathe
smart / wise
Not so long ago I was given a second hand smart phone. This was an upgrade on my old phone which while still mobile was insufficiently competent for the 21st century. Dial-up speed internet and making calls and that was about it. Now I could tweetfaceblog anywhere and everywhere. I had become truly connected.
A few days later we went for a walk as a family. My little boy is running around with sticks and bashing things as we walk. While he is lost in the world of imagination and wonder I’m waiting for him and my wife to catch me up so I check a few blogs that I like to read, I make a couple of moves in some chess games I’m playing, I keep up with my friends’ Tweets and Facebook statuses and the latest headlines. As it turns out not much had happened in the world in the twenty minutes since I last checked. I plugged in to the wired world on my phone but I tuned out from those around me.
Was I keeping up with the whole world while missing out on the world of those who matter most? Consumerism can have a major impact on our physical environment, but it also affects the interior life. It shapes not just where we live but how we live, not just what we own, but who we are. Much has been made of the pace that contemporary life is being lived. We're constantly busy, constantly connected, constantly moving and constantly stressed. Life is being lived at a breakneck pace. This can't be smart, after all it’s called breakneck for a reason.
The author of Ecclesiastes writes, “I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live...”[i]
That’s a pretty different way of viewing time. Instead of rushing about harried, hassled and hurried there is in mind a way of life that has an eternal view that appreciates the beauty of the moment that enjoys the now. Everything has its time. Today is not being robbed by the invading worries of a future day. As another wise man said, “Tomorrow has enough trouble of its own.”[ii]
Increasingly every moment of every day is being crammed with noise, filled with messages. Silence is squeezed out, creative rest is banished, and it’s ever harder to listen to your own heartbeat, let alone God's.
I'm inclined to think the abundant life Jesus talked about may be costly, but not in the way modern life costs. I may not get everything I think I want but I'll gain something I couldn't gain any other way. This doesn't mean a rejection of technology and family movie nights, it's just wisdom to know that email, mobiles, and TV and so on make good servants but terrible masters. The call of Jesus to the weary to carry a different burden and the promise of God to lead us to green pastures and still waters[iii] is more needed than ever.
Phil Whittall is a co-founder of Breathe and author of the Simple Pastor blog.
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