Comments on: Restless http://johnorr.me.uk/2009/08/15/restless/ Random mutterings and musings of mine - a work in progress Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:43:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: John http://johnorr.me.uk/2009/08/15/restless/comment-page-1/#comment-4273 John Sun, 16 Aug 2009 12:34:44 +0000 http://johnorr.me.uk/?p=471#comment-4273 <p>As always, thank you for your comments.</p> <p>CB,</p> <p>I think you're right about the risk of complacency and that it may well be easy to mistake 'comfort' for an abatement of 'restlessness'. I guess I'm just trying to find words to express what is 'felt' rather than what is known and they'll never be adequate. Maybe I'm also looking for something that'll help me identify where I'll end up, but that may well be clear at the appropriate time and have nothing to do with any of these factors.</p> <p>David,</p> <p>I think your point about the pastoral work is well made and, in a sense, a vindication of what I'm suggesting are the pitfalls of shorter placements. True pastoral engagement is something that can take time to develop, like any relationship.</p> As always, thank you for your comments.

CB,

I think you’re right about the risk of complacency and that it may well be easy to mistake ‘comfort’ for an abatement of ‘restlessness’. I guess I’m just trying to find words to express what is ‘felt’ rather than what is known and they’ll never be adequate. Maybe I’m also looking for something that’ll help me identify where I’ll end up, but that may well be clear at the appropriate time and have nothing to do with any of these factors.

David,

I think your point about the pastoral work is well made and, in a sense, a vindication of what I’m suggesting are the pitfalls of shorter placements. True pastoral engagement is something that can take time to develop, like any relationship.

]]> By: David http://johnorr.me.uk/2009/08/15/restless/comment-page-1/#comment-4272 David Sat, 15 Aug 2009 22:35:54 +0000 http://johnorr.me.uk/?p=471#comment-4272 Interesting discussion. Any 'restlessness' that I have felt has usually meant that God has something up his sleeve for me.. like another church..or some challenging study leave. Another part of the holy adventure. As for 'professionalised' pastoral work... in any early time in a parish that may well be the case, but the longer you stay the less professional it becomes and the more personal it becomes instead. The church becomes 'your people' in the sense that God has put them in your care to teach, look after and enable them in his name. I suspect that the 'impermanence' lies in the nature of continued study with each section drawing in its turn to a close and that this may evolve as the first charge comes along. As for the call hitting 'our comfort zones', there is something in that. But, I've noticed that God often compensates for that in the way that you find yourself stretched in each parish. I felt most at home, so far, in the parish I would not have signed up for at college. Interesting discussion.
Any ‘restlessness’ that I have felt has usually meant that God has something up his sleeve for me.. like another church..or some challenging study leave. Another part of the holy adventure.
As for ‘professionalised’ pastoral work… in any early time in a parish that may well be the case, but the longer you stay the less professional it becomes and the more personal it becomes instead. The church becomes ‘your people’ in the sense that God has put them in your care to teach, look after and enable them in his name.
I suspect that the ‘impermanence’ lies in the nature of continued study with each section drawing in its turn to a close and that this may evolve as the first charge comes along.
As for the call hitting ‘our comfort zones’, there is something in that. But, I’ve noticed that God often compensates for that in the way that you find yourself stretched in each parish. I felt most at home, so far, in the parish I would not have signed up for at college.

]]> By: Crabbit Besom http://johnorr.me.uk/2009/08/15/restless/comment-page-1/#comment-4271 Crabbit Besom Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:29:04 +0000 http://johnorr.me.uk/?p=471#comment-4271 "The sense of being called to serve God in a particular place, in a particular ministry will only be resolved when that restlessness abates,"   - mmmmmm I'm in two minds about this. I understand completely everything you say about restlessnes - I felt it very much at the end of my last placement (which was truly wonderful), and put it down to knowing that it was coming to an end, that it was impermanent, that it was not my parish and probably won't ever be etc., but also knowing that I had somewhere else to move on to. My problem is that "The sense of being called to serve God in a particular place" could presage complacency - the parish we feel called to could hit our comfort zones. Perhaps we need some restlessness to keep us on our toes, attuned to God's will for the parish and us? I note you said the restlessness abates - not disappears. How do we ensure that we keep moving forward in our call and not succumb to complacency? How do we keep the challenge going and not get ground down by the daily round?  I agree with yor penultimate paragraph - and listening carefully to the Spirit is surely paramount. “The sense of being called to serve God in a particular place, in a particular ministry will only be resolved when that restlessness abates,”
 
- mmmmmm I’m in two minds about this. I understand completely everything you say about restlessnes – I felt it very much at the end of my last placement (which was truly wonderful), and put it down to knowing that it was coming to an end, that it was impermanent, that it was not my parish and probably won’t ever be etc., but also knowing that I had somewhere else to move on to.
My problem is that “The sense of being called to serve God in a particular place” could presage complacency – the parish we feel called to could hit our comfort zones. Perhaps we need some restlessness to keep us on our toes, attuned to God’s will for the parish and us? I note you said the restlessness abates – not disappears. How do we ensure that we keep moving forward in our call and not succumb to complacency? How do we keep the challenge going and not get ground down by the daily round?  I agree with yor penultimate paragraph – and listening carefully to the Spirit is surely paramount.

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