So: you don't want an iPad?

The reservoir of will and discipline

Researchers have suggested that "Choice, active response, self-regulation, and other volition may all draw on a common inner resource."


They conducted four experiments: "In Experiment 1, people who forced themselves to eat radishes instead of tempting chocolates subsequently quit faster on unsolvable puzzles than people who had not had to exert self-control over eating. In Experiment 2, making a meaningful personal choice to perform attitude-relevant behavior caused a similar decrement in persistence. In Experiment 3, suppressing emotion led to a subsequent drop in performance of solvable anagrams. In Experiment 4, an initial task requiring high self-regulation made people more passive (i.e., more prone to favor the passive-response option)."


They concluded that, "These results suggest that the self's capacity for active volition is limited and that a range of seemingly different, unrelated acts share a common resource."


Fascinating, methinks.


(HT: Tony Schwartz)

things new

New Year's Day is a good time for new things - like a new (different) Bible reading scheme and a new (different) Bible translation in which to read it.

So I'm having a go with Every Day In The Word, which goes through the whole Bible in one year, covering the Psalms twice. And I'm setting-off reading the NRSV.

We'll see how it goes.

into the new year

I've often found Matt Perman's blog to be a thoughtful resource. This piece is no different - I especially appreciated his comments on defining priorities for the new year, focussing on 3-5 primary things that you want to accomplish this next year. It's good to take time to reflect on larger-than-usual tasks.

Analog Rituals

Over at 99%, Scott Belsky makes some interesting points about what he terms 'analog rituals' and the value of repetitive actions - what he terms "the granularity of prioritization".

It strikes me that there's a lot of (unintended) biblical wisdom in the article, in particular the creational nature of 'analog' experiences: we were made not simply as able to see & think but also to touch & taste. Whilst the digital lifestyle offers much, it also has the capacity to remove, by making redundant aspects of sensory perception.

Learning from 'Ten Timeless Persuasive Writing Techniques'

It makes for an interesting article on its own - but maybe more so if you ask yourself the question, How do those suggestions apply to the task of preaching?

Pamela Stephenson: reflecting on Strictly, life and work

From an article in today's Guardian, a couple of paragraphs worth pondering by those engaged in ministry:

My experience on Strictly has highlighted two difficult truths in my life: first, that, although it is an important developmental task for my age group, I am not finding it easy to face my own mortality, and dancing gave me brief respite from that painful, inevitable process. Second, over the years, the job I do has taken its toll on me – as it has on many of my colleagues. Mental health professionals are on the frontline of the war against human anguish, angst and antisocial behaviour. However well trained and capable we are, it is impossible to be a receptacle for the shadow side of humanity with absolute impunity. I have been surprised to receive many positive messages from colleagues. I had thought they would ignore my flight into fantasy, but rather, they have let me know that dropping my professional demeanour and giggling like a seven year old in public has actually found their favour. In a strange way, I may even have acted out some of their own fantasies of escape and soothing. Anyway, it's healthy to get fit, to laugh, to do something you enjoy, to dance.

Dancing is the physical expression of our emotional selves, and personally I have found it to be a life-affirming path to a new-found style of happiness. I have only one regret from the entire experience – I never got to dance my Argentine tango (which would have been in the final round). But I believe it's good to have one dream left unrealised; it keeps hope alive, and the longing can remain poignant, omnipresent and painfully bright.

with head bowed

I'm taking a few moments just to bow my head and give thanks for my Dad, who passed away 5 years ago today. I sat with him whilst he took his final breath - nothing could have been more painful, yet strangely privileged too, commending him to God's care.


He was flawed, but warm and loving and always wanting to make others smile.

I miss him lots.

the power of a rhetorical question

Whilst reflecting on the life and ministry of Francis Schaeffer, Martin Downes asks a rhetorical question that reminded me just how powerfully they can be deployed: noting that Schaeffer's ministry was largely undertaken in obscurity, Martin asks,

How did we ever get into the mess of thinking that the best men to follow are easy to spot because they occupy the biggest platforms?

No answer needed.

the uncertainty principle

Ever heard of Heisenberg's principle? OK, smarty-pants; most of us haven't heard of it. But I came across a reference to it in an article in the NYT on learning habits and was intrigued.

Apparently it stems from quantum physics and is simply stated in Wikipedia as stating that

by precise inequalities...certain pairs of physical properties, such as position and momentum, cannot be simultaneously known to arbitrarily high precision. That is, the more precisely one property is measured, the less precisely the other can be measured.

Which got me thinking: how often does that happen in life? You look intensely at one thing, you lose the ability to correctly perceive another. Step back; take stock. Keep the bigger picture in view.

Kudos, Mr Heisenberg.

in murren (iii)

in murren (ii)

in murren (i)

absolutely no comment!

on lake thun (iii)

on lake thun (ii)

on lake thun (i)

from the schilthorn (iii)

from the schilthorn (ii)

from the schilthorn (i)