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Entries by Dr Dion Forster (1887)

Monday
Jan072008

The courage to live for eternity... Because, the world is not enough!

Last night we started a new sermon series at Bryanston Methodist Church. It is a series on living for Christ, in our world, with courage!

I had a great time preaching the first sermon in the series. The title is styled on the James Bond movie 'The World is not enough'. In this series we will be examining Mark's Gospel - a direct, to the point, charge to believe in the Messiah, and then to submit to discipleship under the Lordship of the Messiah.

Mark frames this charge in the words of Jesus "The Kingdom of God is near... come and follow me" [Mk 1.15-17].

The whole of the Gospel of Mark can be divided into two sections. Everything up to Chapter 8 aims to prove that Jesus is the Messiah - a figure whose life will have consequences for social issues, religious issues, moral issues, and of course spiritual issues. From Chapter 8 to the end of the Gospel (with the inclusion of the redaction of Chapter 16) the Markan narrative aims to show what kind of Messiah Jesus is. Essential to understanding the 'secret' of the Messiah's nature and character is COURAGE and HOPE. Jesus is the kind of Messiah who enters life like most of us do. He has no privilege, no extraordinary powers, no status, no wealth. All that he has is the right to choose for God's Kingdom, in a world that chooses all sorts of other Kingdoms, and the chooses this Kingdom with Courage. Of course that is what leads both to his death, and our liberation!

It's called discipleship...!

Here is the MS Word transcript of the sermon. The courage to live for the Kingdom of God.doc

And here is an MP3 audio recording of the sermon. Courage to life for God's Kingdom.mp3 [8MB]

My we all find courage, blessing, and the hope of Jesus as we face this new year! It will take courage!

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Sunday
Jan062008

Hope!


"Hope is like the bird that senses dawn and carefully starts to sing while it is still dark" - Author unknown.

Saturday
Jan052008

Begging for a living, dignity, humour and Britney Spears' pregnant sister!

I love the narrative of Peter and John who encounter the man begging for money outside of the temple.

It arrests me! It reminds me that even when I don't have anything to give the person begging for food and money at the traffic intersection (and if the truth be told, I have SO much to give - if only I learn to live more generously!) the one thing I can do is validate the person's human dignity.

When Peter and John walk past the beggar, and he asks them for something, Luke records the following:


But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, "Look at us!" [Acts 3.4]

This passage reminds me to look... and not just to look, but to truly see! This is a person who is asking for food, or money. He has needs, feelings, desires, hopes, aspirations, longings - and most importantly he bears the image of God!

Peter and John take it a step further, they ask the man to look back at them. Perhaps they need to have their humanity validated and recognised, even by the poorest of the poor! And so, they affirm his equality with them "don't avert your eyes - look at us. We too are as poor and needy as you are! But, we share the same stamp of God within our lives!"

Giving is a very powerful thing. Having the courage to see is the first step towards feeling. And, when we are brave enough to feel for another human person, we might just be moved to live generously - as generously as the God who looks upon us, and calls us to look upon Him in return!

This picture says it all. This man has empowered himself. He has filled his humanity with the dignity of humour. In this pithy little sign lies the truth of our equality - the beggar on the street is the same as the pregnant sister of the pop star Britney Spears!

I wonder if he takes PayPal payments? I'd be willing to throw in a few bob! He sure made me think!

Saturday
Jan052008

Pairing your Apple iPhone with the new Apple Wireless keyboard (via bluetooth)....

I have all of the technology pictured here (i.e., an iPhone with bluetooth, the Apple bluetooth wireless keyboard, a hand and a desk...) However, what I don't have is the ability to pair the Apple wireless keyboard with the Apple iPhone! Heck I wish there was some smart programmer out there who would design an app to allow me to link these two Apple devices. This would make my iPhone infinitely more useful!

Pairing Apple's Wireless Keyboard With the iPhone


AppleInsider has a thorough review of Apple's Wireless keyboard. Toward the end of the review, the reviewer comes up with a brilliant request for Apple,

"One feature I'd like to see added requires new software support on the iPhone: the ability to pair the phone to the Bluetooth keyboard. Imagine using the duo (below) as a hyper thin traveling companion for taping out notes.
That, my friend, is a genius idea, especially if they create an attachment to perch the iPhone as shown. Make it happen Apple.

In the meantime I use my wireless keyboard with my iMac and my Sony Vaio UX 180P (a perfect pair with seamless connection every time!)

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Saturday
Jan052008

10 Golden lessons from Prof Albert Einstein... [Note the caption on the picture...]

This link was sent to me by a friend. I thought it was quite good. See if there is anything that this physicist can teach you about life.

Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving - Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was an amazing physicist. He figured out so many universal principles and equations that he was way ahead of his fellow scientists at any point of time. But he is also remembered for another thing; a quality which made people call him a genius: his words. Prof. Einstein was a philosopher who clearly understood the laws of success and explained them like the way he did with his equations. Here is a list of 10 things out of the numerously wonderful things he had said; 10 golden lessons that you can put to use in your everyday life.

1. A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.

Most people don't try new things because of their fear of failure. Failing is not something to be afraid of. It is often the losers who learn more about winning than the winners. Our mistakes always give us opportunities to learn and grow.

Continue reading '10 Golden Lessons from Albert Einstein'

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Friday
Jan042008

I like this idea! Subversive art and culture jamming!

I thought that was such a creative cultural expression - in fact, I think it is an art form!

I love it when people find creative ways of taking the 'virtual' world of the web into 'real life' [a.k.a. webspace to meatspace]... Here's one persons attempt at taking a quirky element of Wikepedia from the internet to the streets. I think it is wonderfully subversive, twisting together two cultural icons, graffiti and the [citation required] tag!

Here's the article:

Matt says: "I recently started a culture jamming... campaign that involves recontextualizing ads and signs -- or anything that makes a dubious claim -- using stickers with the [citation needed] tag found in Wikipedia articles. This blog post describes the project and has the first few pictures."
200801021113One of my favorite quirks about [Wikipedia] are the little [citation needed] tags that users can place in an article, indicating that a dubious claim needs a reference. One day an idea struck — what statements are more dubious or outright ridiculous than those in advertisements? Thus, an OM project was born. I had 250 8×2 inch stickers printed, which I handed out to friends, who circulated them further. In true wiki fashion, the final placement of the stickers is a collaborative effort, now distributed and anonymous. If anyone sees one somewhere, please make a photo! I’ve been tagging my photoset on Flickr with citationneeded and wikiffiti.
Link
So, if you see a few [citation needed] stickers in your local mall, or on a sign near you, you might be able to guess where it comes from.

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Friday
Jan042008

Thank you. A new day is dawning.

My father's funeral went off very well this morning. The Rev Derek Wilson, a close family friend, conducted the service. He was wonderful, and the service was very meaningful - a fitting celebration of my father's life.

I am feeling quite relieved tonight. So, it is time to move towards integrating this part of life into my being. A new day dawns tomorrow. I am not sure when the empty feeling in my heart will go away. Perhaps it never will.

Thank you to all those who attended the service (and were able to do so. It was POURING with rain!), and thank you for the many kind messages, phone calls and text messages. I have passed on the greetings to my mom. She is very grateful.

Here is a prayer that I found particularly meaningful:

Lord our God, you are the source of life. In you we live and move and have our being. Keep us in life, and death, within your love. And, by you grace, lead us to your Kingdom. So, almighty God, we thank you for the life that you give us. It is full of work and of responsibility, of sorrow, yet there is much to celebrate and a good measure of joy. Today we thank you for Donald Ian Forster, for what he was given by you, and for what we received from you through him. Help us in our mourning and teach us to live for the living in the time that is still left to us. Thank you for gift of eternal life, a gift that can give light and joy to our days and years here on earth.

God, we thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ. Help us to see that it is he who opens the gate to the life that shall never die. AMEN.

Thursday
Jan032008

'Back to the shopfloor' - seeing things from the other side.

There is a program called 'Back to the shopfloor' on BBC World that I have enjoyed watching from time to time. The central idea behind this 'reality TV' program is that they take managers, CEO's, business owners, and the like and place them back on the shopfloor for a week. Here they are expected to work as their employees would, facing the same challenges, lack of resources, pressures, and demands. The hope is that they will gain a new perspective on their business through this experience and so make changes that will suit the needs of their customers and better support their staff to meet those needs.

Making the arrangements for my father's funeral has been a 'back to the shopfloor' experience for me. I have experienced and seen things from an entirely different perspective. Of course, as a minister, I have done hundreds of funerals over the last 16 years. So, I know more or less what should be done and how it should be done.

Yesterday I went with my mom and sister to make the final arrangements for my father's service tomorrow. We met with the undertaker, and then later in the day met with the minister. Here are a few observations.

The undertaker.

This is a difficult process at best. Somehow it seems to have to deal with all of the most 'base' of issues. One has to talk about money (i.e., how much money do you have, do you have a policy, what kind of coffin do you want, how much do you want to spend on flowers, what quality of service sheet do you want etc.). One also has to do what is necessary to wrap up the legal matters, such as canceling the ID book of the deceased, arranging for the death certificate, deciding whether to have a burial or a cremation, and then deciding what to do with the remains.

The undertaker we met with did her best! It was the first working day of the new year and she had skeleton staff and 6 funerals to take care of that day. When we arrived at her offices we entered a stark room - it reminded me a lot of a government building. It was neat, but cold. We had to wait for about 40 minutes to see her as she finished with other families and dealt with a few administrative matters. While we sat in a row on old office chairs we looked directly at a wall that advertised various funeral plans, photographers, coffins, and burial services... It was quiet, except for the phone that rang constantly. Nobody offered us any refreshment. When we did get to meet with the undertaker she was clearly at her wits end. She did her best to remain calm, but her cellphone rang numerous times, people came into her office to collect things, and her office phone was also constantly interrupting our time together. My mom was heartbroken by the experience. Here are a few observations:

  • Do your best to make the atmosphere welcoming and soothing (get some cheap comfortable furniture, place one or two pieces of affordable and inspirational artwork on the walls, play soft instrumental music to break the silence).
  • Attend to the PEOPLE that come into the office. This is my great weakness! I also tend to focus more on tasks than people. But, at times such as these it would be great to A) Make appointments with people. That way you can control when they arrive and leave. You can create some 'buffer space' to return phone calls and do administration. And, when you have a family with you, you can give them your undivided attention. B) Offer some basic refreshment, such as a glass of water or a cup of tea. C) Take time to explain what you're doing, why you're doing it, and reassure the family by answering all their questions (even if you have had to do this all day for every family that comes in!)
  • Be sure to appear calm, in control, and caring. I constantly had to repeat telephone numbers, write out the spelling of names, remind the person that I had already given this or that form to her, confirm times and arrangements (and at one point even asked her to make a note for herself, since she kept forgetting!) On the day of the funeral you don't want to arrive and find that the address the coffin has gone to is wrong, or that the flowers, or service booklets are missing. My suggestion is that such persons should have a clear 'tick list' that they should go through as they work with each family. And, perhaps also have separate little files or folders with each document they need pre-copied and kept in that file for use.
In short, I left the undertakers office feeling a little concerned. My mom was quite sad by the mechanical nature of the process, and clearly the surroundings were cold and unhelpful. We also felt a little worried about whether the arrangements will actually be made.

The meeting with the minister.

This was an entirely different experience. The minister that we met with was an older man who has been in pastoral ministry for many years. He was warm, affectionate, empathetic, calm, sure of what needed doing, not hurried, and generally pastoral.

We met in his office where we sat on comfortable chairs around a small coffee table. We did not sit across from his desk, with him behind it, and us on the other side. Rather the meeting felt like a conversation.

He had pre-designed forms on which the questions he would need to ask were printed with space to write the details. His manner was calm. He made us feel like we were the only important thing he had to do (even though, as we left we saw another family arrive for a wedding rehearsal and I spotted a note on the office board indicating that he had another funeral the next day).

He listened. He asked questions about my dad, our family, and did not try to give 'pat answers'. He started and concluded the meeting with short and meaningful prayers.

So, here are my observations for us clergy.

  • Set an atmosphere of calm and openness. This can only be done if you are calm, clear about what needs to be done. This minister had also arranged his furniture and time to make our meeting conducive to a conversation. It was clear that he needed to get some information, but he was there for us, not like the undertaker where we seemed to be there for her.
  • Make sure that you have a pastoral manner. We went to the minister knowing that he is a Christian and that he would offer us some comfort and care from within the Christian tradition. So, it was not out of place for him to say a prayer with us. In fact we would have been sad if that had not happened. He was also wise enough to avoid giving us 'trite' and simple answers to our pain. Rather he asked us questions that allowed us to talk about how we were feeling, why we felt that way, and then prayed about those struggles, asking God to strengthen and help us (rather than giving us a few verses to go and read and saying 'this should fix you up!')
  • He was affirming and 'available'. I know what it feels like to have many demands and not enough time or energy to meet them. But, he assured us that he would pray for us, that the service would go off just fine. One idea that may be good here is to briefly tell the family about 'care options' after the service is done (i.e., if you have a group of visitors, bereavement support groups, and a group that sends out a message on the anniversary of the funeral etc. Many Churches also do a special service of remembrance and thanksgiving on Good Friday). Don't give too much detail at this point. Rather, this information could be contained in a little booklet that also had a few prayers, some open ended reflections, and a few useful numbers (I have seen this kind of booklet at Jonathan Anderson's Church in Kempton Park).
Well, these are just a few scattered thoughts and reflections.

Rich blessing to all!

Wednesday
Jan022008

Nothing to say...

Please forgive me if I don't update my blog over the next few days.

For the first time in my life I seem to have nothing to say!

The 'flow of consciousness' will return soon. Prepare yourself ;-)

Blessings to all. Thank you for the kind thoughts and good wishes.

Tuesday
Jan012008

Activity is my refuge, control is my defense, and intellect is my escape.

It takes me a little while to work through things.

I am not too quick off the mark in that sense. Activity is my refuge, control is my defense, and intellect is my escape.

I have anticipated my father's death since his first stroke on the 11th of January 2006 - it left his left limbs paralyzed and placed significant strain on an already weakened heart and lungs. At that early stage I knew that it was serious, but he did manage to recover a large measure of mobility and independence in spite of this disability. Sadly, however, he suffered a number of less severe strokes in the two years that followed, and developed a form of epilepsy that broke his confidence.

As those who have seen their parents age would know, it is heartbreaking to see one's father growing weaker.

He had a fall two weeks ago and fractured some vertebrae which meant that he had to be confined to bed for some weeks. The lack of movement placed fatal strain upon his lungs and heart. And so, he died.

I heard the news of his death with shock. Even expectation cannot do away reality. I had spoken to him just a day or so earlier and I knew that he was not well. I had, however, not anticipated that he would decline so quickly.

So, feeling the pain, I did what I do with pain. I pushed it aside and began to organize and arrange things. Megan, Courtney, Liam and I were in Durban on holiday, so I got us packing and we drove straight back to my mom's house in Johannesburg. Thankfully my brother Robin and his wife Mandy, and my sister Sueann were already there. Along the way I made arrangements...

I was shocked by my own lack of emotion. I know that I am sad, but I could not cry. I thought about this. Then I 'processed' it. I thought about the chemicals that would be released within my brain, and would spread throughout my body. I considered what neurons would be firing, what parts of the neuro-endocrine system would be kicking into action... I considered Elisabeth Kubler Ross' stages of grief, from 'On death and dying', and tried to place myself within various stages... It is silly, I know, but it is who I am, and how I am.

Today, however, I felt the sadness overcoming me. It started when I uploaded the photo of my dad. As I write this I am crying. It feels good! I am relieved. The tears are soothing. There is a sense of appreciation and value in feeling the pain that testifies to love.

I will take a bit of time out just to 'feel' these emotions. I will think, remember, and pray...

So, a little less organisation today, time to give over some of the control, I will do my best not to 'process' or 'understand' what I am feeling. Time to simply 'be'. I think that's OK for now.

Monday
Dec312007

A tribute to my father, Donald Ian Forster, who passed away this morning at 6am

Megan, Courtney, Liam and I give thanks to God for the life of my father, Donald Ian Forster, who passed away today at 6am. He struggled to recover from a number of severe strokes over the last two years.

He was 64 years old. We will miss him. He was a brave man, a wonderful father, and a loving husband.

Please spare a prayer for my mom, Margie, my brother Robin, my sister Sueann, my eldest brother Gary, and myself.

The photograph above was taken on the occasion of my mom's 60th Birthday in July this year.

My dad's memorial service will take place at the Trinity Community Church - a Methodist Church in Cresta road, Sunward Park, Gauteng, on Friday the 4th of January at 11am.

"Blessed are those who die in the Lord, for they find rest from their labour... Though they die, yet shall they live"

Saturday
Dec292007

Launch of my new eBook "An uncommon spiritual path - finding Jesus beyond conventional Christianity"

This is an advert for my new book, so please feel free to skip it!

Getting a book published takes a little while (depending on who your publisher is, it could take quite a while!). Just ask my friend Wessel, he and I are doing an INCREDIBLE book on mission together (it is complete except for a few little touches). Pete has an incredible chapter in the book!!! So, keep an eye on this site. This one is being published by 'The Upper Room' and will be published locally and in the US (the US copies will take a little while!)

In the case of my books, and my fantastic publisher (AcadSA Publishers), it takes about 2-5 months to get a book from its final draft format, once you have written it, into print. Once you've written the text there is editorial work, cover design, the layout, format, indexing, registration with the copyright authorities, and then of course the actual printing and copying. So, you can see why it takes a while to get things done.

When I completed my last book 'Christ at the centre' some months ago, I started on the next book in that series. I completed the text for the book about two months ago. So, now we are on the home stretch! I hope to have the 'paper copies' available by the end of February!

However, with the advent of ebooks, I am able to get the book published in electronic format as soon as the text is complete and edited.

The book is entitled: An uncommon spiritual path - finding Jesus beyond conventional Christianity.

Here's the blurb from the book:

Are you tired of 'consumer' driven religion? Are you finding that the 'popular' steps to faith no longer satisfy your desire for true spiritual living? Then the novel and courageous approach of this book could be just what you have been longing for.

The truth is that people cannot be whole unless they have an active and deep spiritual life. One of the great shortcomings of many contemporary western cultures is that they lull us into believing that we can find peace, joy, and fulfillment in what we own, or in what we do. Sadly, many people have come to discover that the pursuit of wealth, power, and recognition by one’s peers, are shallow and meaningless against the backdrop of what it means to be truly alive. When one considers that a human person has physical, psychological, and spiritual needs, the pursuit of true and ultimate meaning becomes all the more important in a world that seems so increasingly devoid of depth.

This book charts a different course to the norm. It examines a way of life that may seem quite austere and strange to most of us. However, it will be shown that it is not the spiritual methodology, or even the content of this particular spiritual path, that brings blessing and peace. Rather, it is passing beyond methods, ideas, and even doctrines, that brings us into the presence of the God who gives and sustains true life; the kind of life Jesus speaks of in John’s Gospel (John 10:10)

This uncommon spiritual path examines the 'non-dual' spirituality of Henri le Saux (Swami Abhishiktananda - meaning 'the bliss of Christ'), a French Benedictine monk in India. His approach is challenging, courageous, and even unsettling in some instances. However, his deep commitment to finding Christ is an inspiration.


So, if you're interested in reading a copy, fire up your PC (or Palm handheld, PocketPC, Symbian phone etc.) and head over the Mobipocket, download the reader software and download a copy. Sorry Wes, no luck with the Mac users among us - unless you run Windows emulation...

You can find electronic copies of three of my four books by clicking on this link to Mobipocket. Or, you can order paper copies (of those that are already in print) from this site.

Exciting times!