View from my garden bench

Reading… It takes me a long time to read a book. I find it a task and the focus necessary draws a lot out of me. I tend to dip into a book over a year and have several going at once. Occasionally a book will grip me and I will read it in a couple of sittings but this is rare.

Currently I am dipping infrequently in to Henri Nouwen’s The inner Voice of Love. The other day this sentence drew me down,

‘You are confronted again and again with the choice of letting God speak or letting your wounded self cry out.’

Another book I am reading over a long period is Growing Leaders by James Lawrence. This fine book is a breath of fresh air synthesising Christian leadership theories into a British context, giving a voice to those ill at ease with the dominant culture of our time but grateful for its insights.  This morning I read,

Our primary calling involves laying everything before God and placing God above all things. Yet our secondary calling must surely encompass the relationships that are part of being human, a glorious gift from a relational God.

Our primary calling is God’s call to himself; our secondary calling is our service to the world.

That these two ideas have spoken to me is an encouragement I am pleased to share.

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