7Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."
8"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet."
My blog will take four routes: 1. FAITH. Thoughts around the Christian faith 2. VISUAL. Creativity in the visual arts primarily through photography 3. WRITING: Short stories, screen plays for short films 4. FILM REVIEWS: I watch, I write
7Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."
8"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet."
CELEBRATION
Share a meal and good times with friends.
7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
11"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"
So you have thought about your values. You have selected the five most important values. Now take some time to think over you values. Use the following questions to help you think through them. This process will help you to think about how you can live out these values but also the ways that you might fail to live out these values. Just because we have values does not necessarily mean we will demonstrate them. Knowing your values and just how to demonstrate them is on of the most important things for you to learn about yourself.
Value How can I best do it? How might I fail to do it? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Personal (and work) values – please do add your own if needed
Achievement Advancement/ promotion Adventure Affection
Arts Beauty Challenging problems Change and variety
Cleanliness/ ordered Close relationships Community Competence
Competition Concern for others Cooperation Country (patriotism)
Creativity Decisiveness Democracy (Having) Disciplined
Ecological awareness Economic security Effectiveness Ethical practice
Excitement Faith Fame Family
Fast living Financial gain Freedom Friendships
Fun Growth Hard work Helping others
Honesty Humility Independence Influencing others
Inner harmony Integrity Intellect Involvement
Job tranquillity Justice Knowledge Leadership
Location Loyalty Meaningful work Nature
Keeping good company Order (stability) Peace (non-violent) Personaldevelopment
Physical challenge Pleasure Privacy Public service
Punctuality Purity Quality relationships Recognition
Respect for others Self respect Serving others Solitude
Status Teamwork Time freedom Tolerance
Truth Work under pressure
I think mine would have to be (in order): Faith, Quality relationships, arts, physical challenge and fun.
We all connect with God in our own way, how do you? There are many different ways, this is a brief overview. John Ortberg in his book ‘God is closer than you think’ says, “Our individual uniqueness means we will all experience God’s presence and learn to relate to him in different ways. A spiritual pathway has to do with the way we most naturally sense God’s presence and experience spiritual growth. We all have at least one pathway that comes most naturally to us. We also have one or two that are the most unnatural and require a lot of stretching for us to pursue.”
He outlines seven different spiritual pathways and they are as follows:
Intellectual Pathway: People on the intellectual pathway draw closer to God as they learn more about Him. When there is singing at church, you may be looking at your watch waiting for the sermon to begin.
Prime example: Paul. The road to his heart ran through his head.
Relational Pathway: People who follow the relational pathway find that they have a deep sense of God’s presence when they’re involved in significant relationships.
Prime example: Peter. He came to Jesus with others.
Serving pathway: On the serving pathway people find that God’s presence seems most tangible when they are involved in helping others.
Prime example: Mother Teresa. She is quoted as saying the primary reason she served was not out of obligation or that it was something she was supposed to do, but that it brought her joy.
Worship pathway: For people on the worship pathway, something deep inside then feels released when praise and adoration are given voice.
Prime example: King David. He wrote psalms and poetry to God. He played instruments beautifully. He danced.
Activist pathway: If you have an activist pathway, challenges don’t discourage you; they energise you.
Prime example: Nehemiah. When he hears his beloved Jerusalem has fallen, he is upset and wants to act.
Contemplative pathway: If you have a contemplative pathway, you love large blocks of uninterrupted time alone.
Prime example: Apostle John. He was known to be one who loved to bask in adoration of God.
Creation pathway: For people on the creation pathway, there is something deeply life-giving and God-breathed about nature.
Prime example: Jesus. He often withdrew to spend time alone in nature, by a lake or up a mountain.