Counselling to Life

Time’s still rushing by and I can hardly believe we’re at the end of July! I heard a very interesting thought around the years going by faster as we age, from someone in the UK. At age 5 – we’ve only lived for 5 years versus having lived for 50 at that age. Thus if we live for a hundred years – at age 50 half is gone with half left, and one has so much more to interpret life against compared to what you have at age 5!

At the same time, I’ve also been reading some of Abbot Christopher Jamison’s book, ‘Finding Sanctuary, Monastic steps for everyday life’. On the question of how one got to be so busy, he explains that we live in a consumerist society today. The underlying  assumptions to our culture thus is that there is an infinite supply of goods coming from an infinite production line; and thus … the consumer has to engage in endless productive work in order to earn the needed funds for endless consumption. He may be right that some of us fail to realize that we are free to make choices as to how busy we want to be. Do we really need everything we have or want? Standards of living can be very deceptive when we our desire for growth becomes related to our environment, rather than our spiritual, emotional and interpersonal life. Not wrong in itself – but are you living your life in a balanced fashion? Are you spending your time and your money in a way that reflects your values? Take a moment and reflect on what other people might deduce your values to be, if they were to look at the way you spend time and money.

The training / coaching materials around overcoming addictive patterns have made and are making significant impact and led to growth and change in a few people’s lives - locally and internationally. Otherwise, some are overcoming childhood trauma, and others are working on marriages and relationships.

For those who were involved in Theophostic training courses, or who counsel using these principles – have a look at the new training materials (from the US website only), as there have been significant changes. I’ve really enjoyed it (incl. the practical sessions).

Personally, I continue to find it a privilege to be part of others’ journeys to increasing wholeness and freedom, and I’m thoroughly enjoying my theological studies!

I’d like to leave you with a very interesting comment to ponder, by Abbot Christopher: ‘Before I could offer sanctuary, I had to find it.’