Mittagong Lace

Listen to the Postman

Neil Postman, that is.

I've been meaning to read his book called "Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business", which gives a critique of media and television and their extensive negative influences on our society.

In the meantime, I've read a key Neil Postman idea from the pen of Marva Dawn (probably my very favourite author along with J I Packer) - an idea called the Low Information-Action Ratio (LIAR).

[Quote from Marva Dawn, Preludes to Discovery, in 'The Unnecessary Pastor', p38]

This Low Information Action Ratio (LIAR) is caused by our society's plethora of contextless information. The result of our bombardment with too much data is paralysis - we are not able to, or become not willing to, act on what we hear and see. In fact, television has trained us NOT to act on what we learn. thus, the ratio of action to the amount of information received spirals continually lower...it makes LIARS of us to read the scriptures and not act on God's commands, to hear sermons and not put them into practice.

Jubilee Man's 100th Post

For Jubilee Man's 100th post, I've been tagged and am required to admit six quirky things about myself!

The rules of the meme are these:

1. Link to the person that tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog.

3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.

5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Here goes.

1. The person who tagged me is my lovely wife. You can find her here: http://www.loveasunnyday.blogspot.com/

2. Well, I've posted the rules of the tag above!

3. This is the meat of the tag. Six non-important quirks or habits about yourself. So, without further ado:

a) I flick my toes a lot. So much so that I wear holes out at the front of socks pretty quickly.

b) I go to bed usually between 12am-1am every night and get up at 6-6.30am.

c) I clean my study every Monday morning because there is so much paper around.

d) I am frequently frustrated at not having enough time to read books.

e) I read the Between Two Worlds blog (see link on my list) every morning.

f) I usually have to have a window open in the room where I am or else I feel claustrophobic - especially if someone else is in the room!!! I like fresh air and not someone else's!

Jubilee Man Answers That Personal Questions Thing

1. Were you named after anyone?

Not first name. Second name is William (my Grandma Paterson's dad, who was a jockey). My third name is Tuipiri - named after my grandfather Paterson.

2. When was the last time you cried?

It's been a long time, many years. Occasionally I might feel very emotional.

3. Do you like your handwriting?

Yes, I think it's very beautiful!

4. What is your favourite lunch meat?

Smoked ham thinly sliced.

5. Do you have kids?

Three (see below)

6. If you were another person would you be friends with you?

I'm not sure I would be patient enough. It takes a while - and a fair bit of space - to see me at my best in a friendship. I ease into friendships rather than put myself out there before someone.

7. Do you use sarcasm alot?

All the time.

8. Do you still have your tonsils?

Yes - they're in a box under my bed (joke).

9. Would you bungee jump?

No, for two reasons: firstly, a friend did it and the blood vessels in his eyes burst; secondly, another male friend of mine jumped wearing a shirt - it lifted revealing his need to wear what Kramer would call 'The Bro' (it put me off the whole thing after that). Weird story I know, but true.

10. What is your favourite cereal?

I would mix cereals for my ultimate cereal - Sultana Bran with Nutri Grain.

11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?

Yes.

12. Do you think you are strong?

Physically I am under-rated...mentally I think I am pretty tough.

13. What is your favourite icecream?

I don't eat ice cream usually. However - maybe a cornetto.

14. What is the first thing you notice about people?

Good question. Ummm - their sense of style combined with their speaking voice.

15. Red or pink?

Red.

16. What is the thing that you like least about yourself?

My lack of self-confidence.

17. Who do you miss the most?

Some of my friends from Bible College who I prayed with and opened my life to.

19. What colour pants and shoes are you wearing?

Blue jeans, brown shoes.

20. Have you ever re-gifted?

Oh yes!

21. What are you listening to right now?

The sound of the dryer.

22. If you were a crayon what colour would you be?

Sky blue.

23. Favourite smells?

Rain following a muggy afternoon. A new book. Double Delight roses.

24. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?

John Beasley asking me to come to church to hold a ladder for him while he replaced lights 40 feet up.

26. Favourite sports to watch?

Cricket in any form. A fast international Rugby match is hard to beat.

27. Hair colour?

Red turning to brown.

28. Eye colour?

Sky blue.

29. Do you wear contacts?

No.

30. Favourite food?

Caesar or beef salad, Lamb Korma with naan.

31. Scary movies or happy endings?

A scary thriller (as opposed to a horror movie) can be exhilarating.

32. Last movie you watched?

Amazing Grace - a fabulous film that heartened me to keep following Jesus as Lord!

33. What colour shirt are you wearing?

Dark blue with thin pale blue vertical stripes.

34. Summer or winter?

Winter.

35. Hugs or kisses?

Kisses.

36. Favourite dessert?

Vanilla or caramel mudcake with cream.

39. What book are you reading now?

Confessions of a Reformission Rev by Mark Driscoll; The Unnecessary Pastor by Marva Dawn and Eugene Peterson; Contemplative Youth Ministry by Mark Yaconelli.

40. What is on your mousepad?

I don't use one, I find them clunky and unnecessary.

41. What did you watch on tv last night?

America's Top Model with Cecily; news.

42. Favourite sound?

Heavy rain outside.

43. Rolling stones or Beatles?

Beatles.

44. What is the furthest you have been from home?

Physically, Singapore. Mentally and emotionally - a million years away.

45. Do you have a special talent?

I think I create goodwill and diffuse tension in people - making them feel at ease and more willing to open up to me.

46. Where born?

King George V Ward, Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney.

Slow Down, You Move Too Fast

In the last year or so my wife Cecily and I have been learning (purely by compulsion - it's required for our son Campbell who has Autistic Spectrum Disorder) to slow our lives down.

You would not believe the improvement in the quality of our lives at every level since we have had to do this: from a parenting point of view; (my) relationship with God; a genuine appreciation of, and enjoyment of, others; enjoying hobbies at a far deeper level than for many years - just to name a sample.

Here's how my lovely wife has summarised our recent journey:

'We had to get to a point where we accepted what we had done with Campbell so far had not worked, and was not going to work. I’m talking about the regular parenting things like naughty spots and reasoning and explanations and smacking and time outs and all of the stuff we all do all the time. We had to completely change our tack with him. We also had to look at our attitudes of how we perceived our children, what we expected from them and why, and what our basic presumptions were.

I realised that I came from a point of view where even though I loved them, I saw the children as unimportant, impositions and also a source of pride and status. What they did reflected on me. If I could make them behave, I looked better and got more kudos as a ‘good parent’. I also wanted them to go away and leave me alone when I was doing most things because they took up time and energy and nothing was as efficient. I also saw them as naughty and gave them consequences accordingly.

People said here and there to me, “Well, even if he autistic, how much of his bad behaviour is just plain old sinfulness?” The assumption was that you had to handle the ‘naughtiness’ with smacks and punishment and time outs, even if he was autistic. Well, the reality was that that stuff just didn’t work with him, even if he is sinful, which of course we all are. I needed other ways to deal with him, so I started reading stuff. One important book was ‘The Explosive Child’ which basically taught me to relax and realise that there are many things that just don’t matter. It also taught me that punishments and time outs put up power struggles. Better to work through and see the child as a partner in solving the problem.

RDI (our rehabilitation programme for Campbell) as well has taught us to take a far more interactive approach with all the children. We command less, and invite more. We do more things together, we slow down, we get rid of things we don’t need and that cause stress. We enjoy our company together and choose less pressurised lives. We don’t worry so much about things that make us appear good and acceptable.'