Back to school

Photo: D Sharon Pruitt

First day back after the holidays. I've never got past that feeling of dread when the alarm goes off on the first day back, yet today has been a good day. The city is quiet and we're rediscovering the rhythm and routine of life after the tourist season. Over the next few weeks I need to begin thinking about strategic partnerships that we can make with other arts organisations and with the churches in Edinburgh. I enjoy finding the  balance between planning and allowing the Holy Spirit to gently direct me in unexpected ways. There's always a pressure to lean towards the former, and disregard the latter as not business-like enough, but my experience so far in this role has shown that the unexpected encounters and apparently unintentional conversations can prove the most fruitful. So the challenge is to stay in step with what the Spirit is doing here and allow God space to work through the strategy.  And to remember that there is time enough for everything that has to be done.

While I was on holiday I read John Stott's The Radical Disciple and was reminded of the importance of developing younger people. I have identified seven people that I would like to pray for and, to a greater or lesser extent, mentor (one is my official mentee, the others are people in my sphere of influence). It's easy to underestimate the power of offering people the opportunity to test their gifts and I'm determined to invite them along to events and offer encouragement and help where I have the necessary experience or insight. It's time to step up and accept that I'm now one of the grown-ups.

Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths. But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you. 

2 Timothy 4:2-5

Northern Lights

A dramatic ending to a summer of drama... 

A new season

The season is subtly slipping from summer to autumn. There's a tinge of red and orange in the leaves of the tree outside my window, there's a sharpness in the evening air and tonight is the annual fireworks concert in Princes Street Gardens. This open air concert and pyrotechnic display marks the end of the weeks of artistic activity that draw thousands of tourists to Edinburgh each summer. Theatre, comedy, music, books, magic, film, dance, street performance all flourish over the months of July and August, and the start of September marks a change in the air for those of us who live and work in the city. There's a mixture of sadness and relief as the bagpipes are packed away and it becomes possible to get to your destination without tripping over a backpacker, juggler or flyerer. With one last burst of light in the sky life gets back to "normal'.
I wonder what that means. Normal is not about safe, mundane patterns of behaviour. Normal, for the disciple, is surely about seeking the light each day, about living in a radical, risky way where love flourishes in unexpected places. Normal is stepping out into new challenges and refusing to settle for well-trodden paths of the way things have aye been.
For me, this new season brings new challenges as I settle into my role in my workplace. There are priorities to set, new partnerships to form, funding to apply for and always the day to day challenge of how to manage people and projects in a way that glorifies God and builds his kingdom.
And this leads to a new set of questions. How do I find the balance of firmness and kindness as I manage people and situations? How do I carry out mundane tasks and jobs I find difficult in a way that demonstrates Christ's love? How much do I talk about Jesus to people who are paid to listen to me? How do I find expression of my own creativity when I am part of a business that has to make itself pay? How do I decide what to say 'no' to and remain faithful to my core calling?
What does it mean to be a creative evangelist in the place where God has led me for this season?