Spunky Bruiser

 

Spunky Bruiser- link to Podcast

Spunky Bruiser is a shop in Darlinghurst Sydney that repurposes second hand clothing into unique sustainable Australian Fashion. I had an encounter with these guys and ended up helping to make a one off Salvo shirt. 

 

A few years ago I was watching a TV documentary about a clothing company called Spunky Bruiser that made fashionable clothes out of the second hand clothes found at op shops or even the unsellable clothes headed for the tip.  They would cut sections of the fabric up and use them to put together trendy new clothes to sell at markets and in their store in Darlinghurst, Sydney. 

At one point in the show they were in a Salvo opp shop and I thought, I need to meet these guys and check it all out.  So I found their number and organized time to visit the shop. 

I toddled off to the trendy part of Darlinghurst and met Bex and Christian and listened to their beautiful heart for sustainable fashion and ethical clothing.  These were seriously good people and I liked them straight away.  I wanted to be as supportive as possible and arranged for bales of second hand clothes from the salvos warehouse to be made available to them for free. 

I also wanted to experience the making of one of these unique one off garments and so purchased a shirt and asked if we could maybe make a Salvo branded shirt out of old Salvo tee shirts and branded clothes I had in my drawers at home.  They said yes, so I rocked up one day with a few pre loved Salvo branded clothes and participated in the making of my very own Salvo recycled shirt.  We cut up about five second hand shirts and a ripped old pair of jeans and pieced them together to one of the fabulous Spunky Bruiser designs.  I was intimately involved in choosing what piece of shirt went where and I did some cutting and pinning while Bex and Christian did all the sewing and construction.  The work involved to actually make a quality shirt is significant and we don’t pay anywhere near what we should for most of our clothes.  

Well the result was amazing and it, to this day, is one of my favorite shirts and I will never throw it out as I understand what was involved in making it. 

I had lots of ideas about how to get some of my refugee friends to sew clothes for Spunky Bruiser and even entertained the thought of making all the year 12 jerseys in this way for a private girls school.  But it is expensive and challenging to bring ideas like this together and nothing came of it. 

Bex and Christian were so kind and generous to me and I love that they have endured and that Spunky Bruiser is still a very cool and successful business. People often come along with a few favorite pieces of clothing and the Spunky Bruiser team do their magic and give it a whole new lease of life.  

I will always look back on my time with Bex and Christian with gratitude and fondness and I have great respect for what they stand for and who they are as people. 

There are some exceptionally good and creative people in this world and I got to meet and engage with these two for a while and it was good for my soul.  So, If you have a heart for ethical fashion and love high quality clothes, check out Spunky Bruiser.  Their shop is in Darlinghurst and they are on line as well.    

Bless ya,

 

Bryce

 

Love is not easily angered

 Love is not easily angered - link to Podcast

It is important to be angry at injustice as it can fire us up to get involved in important work.  But in loving relationships, the anger caused by the petty stupidity and selfishness of the flawed humans we do life with needs a bit of tolerance and grace.

 

There is plenty to be angry about in this life.

There is the outrageous statistics and personal trauma of rape and domestic violence in this country that is just sickening.  Rightly so, lots of people are protesting and furious about this. 

People are angry about immigration policy, angry at the banks for ripping off the little guys, angry at the police or the church or the justice system or any number of authority figures who abuse their power or are incompetent. 

It seems to me that being angry is often appropriate and reasonable.  Jesus got angry and lots of people who ended up doing good things did so because they were angry. 

I will never forget being at the funeral of a guy who overdosed at the Salvo rehab I was involved with and the magistrate of the drug court at the time spoke at his funeral.  He said I am so angry that this has happened and it just fires me up to do even more to fight against the scourge of drug addiction in our society. 

We should be angry about injustice. Edmund Burke is attributed to have said “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

The founder of the Salvos William booth did a whole angry speech.  While women weep as they do now I’ll fight.    

So anger that helps us focus on doing what is important is a good thing.  However today scripture says that love is not easily angered.  And this is where the rubber hits the road or in my case with the lovely Sue, where the eye rolls happen. 

Anger in the small everyday interactions of our lives is an important thing to talk about, as this is where domestic violence and the breakdown of relationships begins.  When we get angry over petty things, a loving relationship cannot flourish.

There is no place for abuse in any loving relationship, but there has to be a degree of tolerance for the normal stupidity and selfishness of the flawed human you are trying to do life with and getting angry is rarely helpful.  

 I asked the lovely Sue if she is ever angry with me and she shook her head with a sheepish grin. 

I didn’t believe her, so pushed a bit harder.  I got specific and asked if she had been angry with me today at all?  Turns out she had been a little more cranky with me than I thought. 

Here’s the list. 

She was angry when I interrupted her in the bedroom where she is working at the moment to ask what she described as stupid questions while she was doing some prep work for me for Good Friday and Easter Sunday church services at Maroochydore next Sunday.  I asked her if she would like to come and help me do this meeting at Maroochydore as she was so invested in helping prepare it.  She said - No, I’m doing the Easter meetings in Melbourne aren’t I?  Flying out on Thursday afternoon. It’s been in the diary and talked about for months. Oh, yeah.

She was angry when I went to the ensuite toilet which is a thin door away from her work space. 

She was angry when I asked her to test my new wireless microphone on teams by calling me for no reason and she did this three times before I got them to work. 

Then we had to go to the shops to buy a selfie tripod for my upcoming podcast insta stories.  I told her this was an exciting new feature of the podcast I am planning, which will no doubt go viral with all the young people who currently don’t listen to the podcast at all.  Sue’s response was a less than subtle eye roll. 

Anyway, we chose a selfie tripod and we were at the checkout when she asked me if I had my wallet with me to pay for this.  I did not.  It was in the car.  We then returned the item and she sent me off to get the wallet.  But we were at Carindale shopping center which is a 17 hectare maze of shops, corridors and elevators and she sighed heavily as she realized I would get hopelessly lost if I tried to navigate my way to the car and then find my way back to this particular shop on my own, so she had to come with me to the car to get the wallet. Then back to the shop. 

Now, I’d love to say that this was not typical in the life of the lovely Sue, but unfortunately a day like this is not uncommon.  But she is not referred to as the lovely Sue for no reason, she is not easily angered and loves me very much.  Although some days she does a lot of deep sighing!

Bless ya,

 

Bryce

Friendship on the Larapinta Trail

 

Friendship on the Larapinta Trail - link to Podcast

When people step out of their comfort zone together and share a unique experience, it creates growth and a relational bond.  When the salvos ran an adventure trek along the larapinta trail we ticked all these boxes.  It was fabulous!

 

I have always loved hiking.   There is something about being in the great outdoors for extended periods of time that has been good for my soul.  I can still recall when I was a young teenager going on a hike through Lorne on the Victorian coast and pitching a tent under a massive fern and having a fire and a cup of tea under its canopy surrounded by towering rainforest.  I was with a mate of mine and his two friends who I had never met before.  I recall enjoying this time together at a level that I was not accustomed to in my regular settings of lounge rooms or cafes. 

Ever since that time I have been trying to say yes to every opportunity to get out there into the bush.  Into the wild.  I’ve been in bushwalking clubs and most recently started trail running.  So when the salvos invited me to participate in a one week trek starting at Alice Springs along the MacDonnell Ranges to do sections of the larapinta trail I was as keen a mustard.

The idea was to leverage the corporate adventure market and get companies like Virgin Australia to use this opportunity to foster team work and camaraderie amongst its employees and raise some much needed funds for the work of the salvos.  My mate Peter was the organizer and wanted a front line salvo type to be on the team to share stories and experiences with the participants. 

So off I toddled with Peter to the airport and then to the hotel in Alice Springs to meet the 10 or so participants in this adventure.  Complete strangers but we were excited to get to know each other and experience a classic outback Australia adventure. 

Well it was just fabulous.  The scenery and vast expanses of the Australian landscape was awe inspiring.  The weather was perfect and the sky’s revealed the stars with a clarity I’d never seen before.  The sunrises and sunsets were spectacular and the ravines, gorges and water holes were refreshing and stunningly beautiful.

We trekked together every day and shared meals and before long became a comfortable and fun group.  The tough times and the wonderful times all blended together to create a shared experience with people of different fitness levels and life experiences that made a lovely supportive bond.  Even today some 5 years on I still smile and connect with these guys on facebook as they share snapshots of their lives. 

Two experiences I will recount to illustrate this fellowship.

We woke at like 3.30am one morning to climb Mt Sonder which is 1380 meters high at its highest peak.  There are two somewhat obvious but extremely relevant aspects to this introduction that I want to emphasize.  At 3.30am it is pitch black dark and 1380 meters is a long way up.  We were wearing headlamps and the track was not exactly a smooth well marked path.  There were varying level of fitness and I ended up sharing the journey with a lady named Sophie and we literally kept chatting to reassure ourselves that we were not alone and lost, to reassure each other that we were not completely insane and that climbing an enormous mountain at 4 o’clock in the morning would eventually turn out to be a good idea.  I think you could say we bonded. 

Eventually we reached the top and sat expectantly with the others who had arrived before us to watch the sunrise.  However there was one dynamic that dominated out minds.  Bridgette and Mandy had not arrived and we had heard from one of the guides that they were really struggling and would probably be turning back.  We all hoped they would make it and we could all experience this sunrise together.  Well the sun was just starting to discolor the sky when we heard the sound of walkers.  It was Bridgette and Mandy.  We all cheered and hugged and even cried together as we watched this once in a lifetime sunrise from this magnificent mountain top.  A shared experience none of us will ever forget.

A few of us flew to Uluru after the Larapinta trail experience and at one point Peter, Katie and I headed to the base of the rock one night and found a wooden seat, beautifully fashioned out of old branches.  The three of us sat there, in the dark and in silence for a few moments and just absorbed the deep presence and mysterious power of this amazing place together.   

We raised thousands of dollars for the salvos and Richard Branson even boosted this and matched dollar for dollar what we raised; so, at so many levels it was a great success.  But for me the most enduring memories are of the people, the amazing country and the surprising amount of love we experienced together in just one week. 

Here’s to adventures with friends we haven’t met yet! 

Can’t wait for the next opportunity!

 

Bless ya,

 

Bryce

Love is not self seeking

 

Love is not self seeking - link to Podcast

When I can honestly say, it’s not about me, I am on the right track to finding love and ironically, deep happiness for guess who? 

Me.

 

Back in 2019 when I used to go to the movies, there was an advertisement about a bank called “me bank”.  It was the word “Me” as an animated character singing a song and the words to the song were me me me me meeeeeee me me me me meeeee
 
It is a ridiculous conception in some ways, but also is not that far from the truth.
 
When it comes to finance and things like the national budget – I am not sure many of us are concerned about what is best for the country or other people, we usually assess spending in terms of how it affects   ….Well … Me!
 
If I was to visit the Taj Mahal or the Eiffel tower, I would not take a picture of the attraction alone, I would always include a picture of it with me in it.  A selfie!
 
This obsession with self and being the center of attention is manipulated by a powerful advertising industry that wants us to think this way, so they can sell their products that they tell me, will be essential for my happiness and wellbeing.
 
Now don’t get me wrong, I am all for joy and love happy times and a good belly laugh, but its important to the get the balance right.  As the old Arabian proverb says “all sunshine and no rain makes a desert”. 
 
We need to look after ourselves in a healthy and sustainable way but we also need to authentically serve and honor others.   There are ways to think of others and sacrifice our own preferences in a way that allows us to continue to flourish ourselves. 
 
Today’s scripture reminds us that love is not self-seeking. 
Last week the lovely Sue had her retirement service.  She has had a tough season and her mobility issues have taken their toll, so she has decided to retire at the grand old age of just 54 after over 26 years of service as a minister in the salvos. 
 
My beautiful daughters, the lovely Eliza and the lovely Georgia plotted with me and a few friends, to put on a party for her and we wanted it to be really special.  The girls planed for weeks and worked hard to design a sensational grazing platter, with a spectacular cake.    The house was decorated up, all elegant like and we invited 40 or so guests to come and help us celebrate.  It was a lot of work!
 
Georgia rang me early on the Saturday morning of the party and said what are your plans for today, Daddyo.  My response was “to serve others above self in whatever way is most helpful”.  She had a giggle and it was a bit tongue in cheek, but actually we all knew that the greater cause, the success of this party was the number one priority for us all today.  I was given menial tasks like mowing lawns, carrying tables, getting ice and basically being available for whatever needed to be done that did not involve anything stylish or classy.
 
So the party was amazing and the lovely Sue was sincerely celebrated and honored for the ways she has loved others and made so many people feel special.  The guys she had helped through recovery were especially moving as they shared.   
 
All of us who worked to make this party happen experienced a deep and quite emotional love for Sue, as people shared about her impact on their life through the years.  It really was a wonderful party and the love we have for Sue was expressed though the hospitality of the food, the decorations and the sincere words of encouragement.  I loved it and was so happy for her. 
 
When I can honestly say, it’s not about me, I am on the right track to finding love and ironically, deep happiness for guess who? 
Me.
 
Bless ya,
 
Bryce
 
 

The Salvos Surfboard Billycart

 

The Salvos Surfboard Billycart - link to Podcast

Every year the Salvos put on a men’s camp and on the Saturday afternoon there is a Billycart race.  One year the team at a coastal salvo welfare center build the world’s first ever Salvo Surfboard Billycart.  It was EPIC!

 

Every year the salvos put on a men’s weekend to try to encourage guys to build relationships and form community.  We get together at a Salvo Convention Centre in Collaroy in Sydney and listen to speakers talking about manly bonding and some of the issues we blokes struggle with, like not listening to our wives and watching too much footy.  We have time to hang out, share meals, play cards and have some fun with things like a trivia night or a red faces night.  But the highlight for many, is the billycart race.  Each group of guys from the various salvo expressions across NSW are encouraged to build a billycart that we race down a steep hill on the Saturday afternoon.   There are often spectacular crashes and close calls as we roar down the hill like excited little kids.

The guys take this very seriously and some groups have welders and mechanics in the team and they often come up with veritable works of art. 

Well a few years ago, I was based at a beachside salvo center at a place called Maroubra and we had a few guys interested in going to the men’s camp and so we decided to have a go at building a billycart.  We had a brainstorming session and some bright spark came up with the idea of building a billycart from an old surf board we had lying around.  We were at a surf beach so it made sense to run with the theme.  It was a bit busted up but still looked OK and so the journey began. 

We found an old trolley and managed to secure the wheels from this to the front with a solid steel pole rising up to form a kind of steering wheel.  I had one of Sue’s old wheelchairs kicking around at home, so I stole the big wheels off this to make the rear section.  For weeks the guys at Maroubra built and rebuilt this billycart, coming up with new designs and strategies to make the steering mechanism work and finding ways to incorporate the fins at the back and give it enough strength to hold a man without snapping in half.  Now initially, we thought we would stand up on the surfboard but we soon discovered that there were certain safety specifications for the billycart to be allowed to race.   Standing was not allowed and we were required to have working brakes.  This had not occurred to me as brakes on my childhood billycarts comprised of a shoe skidding along the concrete or the bushes at the bottom of the street.  

Undeterred, we constructed a cable braking system and a seat and made our way to the camp with the world’s first ever Salvo Surfboard Billycart.

Well the excitement was palpable at the starting blocks and I was designated the first driver as I was older and had had a good life.   Photographers lined the sidelines expecting a spectacular crash and I was soon shoved from the starting block and sent plummeted at high speed down the track.  All was going well until the first bend, but controlling this aquatic juggernaut became too much for me and I rolled and tumbled down the hill much to the cheers and delight of the crowd.  The cameras clicked furiously and a classic photo was taken. 

I managed to get the contraption back on its wheels and complete the race with only one more stack at the bottom and no serious injuries.  A second driver, seeing that I managed to survive the first run, volunteered to have a go next and he absolutely nailed it.  Controlling the board to perfection and managing to achieve the fastest time for the day.  This along with the unique design of our machine and his crash at the bottom which incorporated a fairly solid tree, secured us first place and we won a BBQ.  Unfortunately Sue’s wheel chair wheels did not survive the second crash and crumpled into a buckled mess at the base of the aforementioned tree.

The next year we rebuilt the billycart with proper bike wheels with brakes that worked better and incorporated a hammock, thongs as foot rests and gave it a lick of paint.  We won first prize again that year as well.

Building the billycart was a lot of fun and created great connections with the guys at the salvos who had heaps of challenges.  We solved the problems associated with its design and construction and it culminated in us all attending a camp and having the time of our lives riding it and crashing it.  It’s a memory we all share and it helped guys who are often excluded from such experiences feel the thrill and creativity of an adventure and the comradery of working on a unique and interesting project together.

Next year we thought we might try to make one out of a coffin and dress the driver up as a zombie.

But we are all a bit too mature for such silliness and the idea came to dead halt.

Bless ya,

Bryce 

 

Love is not Rude

Love is not Rude - link to podcast 

Love is not rude, but often we are more rude to the people we love than we would ever dream of being to the local butcher or a work colleague.  The lovely Sue and I have had a chat about this and she felt I was on to something important here.

        

Those of you who have met the lovely Sue will know that she has no left leg.  Of course this is interesting to look at when she is in the wheelchair as only one foot drops down below her dress and people wonder why such a young and attractive woman is in a wheelchair.  Often children are fascinated by this and don’t have the social awareness to hide their curiosity.  They stare and lean in without restraint.   Once Sue was in the pool and a kid with goggles on ducked down under the water to have a closer look.   

One of our nephews when he was just a little boy was so intrigued he lifted up Sue’s dress and stuck his head under it to check out what the heck was going on.  All this is fine and Sue takes it all in her stride, but when adults stare long and intensely it obviously is a bit more upsetting and inappropriate.  When I am pushing the wheelchair and see this, I tend to give them a death stare that helps them understand that gawking like this at my wife is not OK.  They catch my searing glare and usually realise that this is maybe a bit rude and sheepishly look away.     

Doing anything that is insensitive and disrespectful towards someone else is not very loving.  For many years people felt it was somehow OK to tell jokes or make smart comments about minority groups, but thankfully there is a growing understanding of the damaging impact these sorts of comments make on people.   

 

Today’s scripture in 1 Cor 13:5 reminds us that Love is not rude.  Rudeness can express itself in lots of different ways.  The guy who cuts you off in traffic.  The lady speaking loudly on the phone while in the train, people on their phone while you are talking to them, someone eating with their mouth open or burping in public.  People who gossip.  People who use foul language or worst of all someone who takes the car space you have been waiting for with your indicator on. 

 

I guess there are levels for this sort of thing and some people are offended more than others, none the less, if you love someone you will usually try not to offend them and be disrespectful.  That’s just silly.  But its easier said than done.     

 

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and I am aware that this is an area that I need to work on in my life.  I can be rude and insensitive.   

The lovely Sue is a very organised and naturally cautious person.  She can think of fifteen reasons why something will not go well, before even one of these has occurred to me.  So when she suggests a possible flaw in the plan I have in mind, I can jab back at her with comments like yeah and there might be a lightning strike as well or gosh I hadn’t thought of finding funding for this idea from my budget, I thought the magic pixies would look after this one.   

I can get a bit narky when I am second guessed, or questioned, but Sue and I are attracted to each other largely because we are opposites, and we need each other.  I think it is inevitable that the people we love and are close to will, at times drive us up the wall, but we always have options about how we will respond when these inevitable feelings come - and being rude is never going to foster the sort of love and respect most of us want in our relationships.   

I chatted to the lovely Sue about this behaviour and she didn’t disagree with me, in fact she was able to articulate more instances than I am comfortable sharing on this podcast, to help reinforce the point. 

So I apologised to the lovely Sue just before I came in to the office to write this podcast.  I am sincerely determined to do better.   

So the next time the lovely Sue rings me while I am in the car heading to the shops to pick up the breadcrumbs she asked me to get and I have to pull over, hook up the phone to the car system and answer it to see what she wants, only to discover that she has called me to remind me to go to the shops and pick some breadcrumbs, I will politely say yes dear, it’s all under control and thank you for keeping in touch.  Love you!   

But I may well need to switch over to the heavy metal playlist, so I can scream without being rude to anyone! 

Bless ya, 

Bryce 

Soccer stars

 Soccer stars link to podcast

A few years ago the Salvos started connecting with people in a local Park in Merrylands. We shared great food and often had a kick of the soccer ball with some of the kids. This soon grew and kids and their parents came form everywhere to join in.

 

One of the ways we started to build community when we started a Salvo ministry in Merrylands, a very multicultural suburb in Sydney, was to meet in the local park for a BBQ.  We had met a few people through things like providing welfare hampers and in our conversational English class at a local school and they were keen to gather and join together and make new friends.  At first the meals were quite simple.  Usually a BBQ with a simple salad but soon we invited everyone to get involved in the organizing and cooking the meal.  There were people from Syria, China and a variety of other cultures and the food was spectacular.  Our BBQ was soon replaced by a charcoal cooker and we stopped eating sausages and started eating things like kebabs, marinated chicken wings and dumplings.  We loved the time to just sit and chat on those balmy summer Sunday afternoons.  

A fabulous part of the gatherings was the presence of families and the children.  They were full of energy and life and wanted desperately for us adults to join in their games, take them to the playground and pay them some attention.  It didn’t take long for me to be providing whizzies and pushing kids on the swings and having a great time.

One kid was obsessed with soccer and managed to get me and a few of the dads present to have a kick with him on the oval.    Soon brothers and sisters joined in and we had the beginnings of a game.  Other kids in the park saw this and asked if they could join in.  Of course we said yes.  We eventually set up some shirts and drink bottles as goals and started playing a more serious game.  Well disputes arose about the rules and it was clear we needed a ref, so despite the fact that I am only versed in the rules of AFL, I took on the mantle and proceeded to shout at kids that seemed too rough or who actually picked up the ball with their hands.  The rules were quite simple at first. 

Before long I managed to remember to bring a whistle and we soon had some colourful cones to set up a goal and some sideline boundaries.  We eventually got fully inspired and purchased some good sized portable soccer goals – it even had a net. 

Well that changed everything and every kid in the park wanted to join in.  We were still playing with adults and so if a kid joined in, I told him to go get his dad or mum and get them to play too.  That was a good way to maintain a bit of discipline and maintain some semblance of order and fair play.  Although some dad got pretty serious themselves.  Luckily they soon ran out of puff and retreated to the sidelines for a cool drink and a rest.  Before long we had enough adults to form a team against the swarm of kids.  Maybe 7 adults verses 15 kids.  This went a little crazy and some Sundays we would have 40 or 50 kids playing together.  It was mayhem and just too congested to actually work.   

In the crowd of bodies following this white ball around were lots of little guys and girls who didn’t want to miss out.  The older kids were asked to be nice and give them a fair go, but it eventually became clear that this was frustrating the older kids and they were often too rough or just hogged the ball.   We ended up realizing this problem was a good way to justify splitting the group and having two smaller games rather than one big one each Sunday.  So we had a little kids match followed by the senior teams.  We had an A league apparently.  This worked well for a while but again kids hated having to sit out while the other teams had a go and often the kids would get bored and just join in again.

The other problem we had was that kids would swap teams mid match, without telling anyone.  If their side was losing – they would just start playing for the other side to get more action and have a chance at scoring a goal.  I struggled to know who started on what team.  We needed to make a way to distinguish teams and so a few of the mums got together and sewed up bibs.  This way teams started and finished with the same kids and we could maybe adjust teams in a more orderly way, if it became obvious that one team was slaughtering the other. 

One ten year old came to me and explained that all the famous soccer teams and individual superstars in the world started like us – just a bunch of kids playing soccer in a local park.  We could be the next Real Madrid he said.  And you could be the next Maradonna I said.  Who’s that he said.  Oh maybe that was a few years ago, who is your favorite player, can you choose one?   Messy he said.  Yeah its tricky to choose just one eh?    Awkward silences.   

Well with me as the main coach and expert on the field, world soccer domination was unlikely but what is true is that for a whole summer in 2018 there were a bunch of kids who came to a park in Merrylands every Sunday night to play soccer with the salvos and they absolutely loved it. 

 

I ended up watching a few of these kids play soccer for their local clubs and cheering them on from the sidelines.  My love of soccer has waned since then, but connecting with kids and being a part of their world has not. 

The kids in my life these days love making movies on their smart phones.  Maybe these guys will be movie stars and Oscar winning producers, who knows. 

Bless ya,

 

 

 

Blowing your own trumpet

 Blowing your own trumpet - link to Podcast

Boasting is something we really don’t like to see in other people, but can be slow to recognize in ourselves. When we blow our own trumpet, we drown out others and for me, my wife, the lovely Sue, is willing to help me see this and effect change.

It would be fair to say I am a passionate and enthusiastic sort of fellow.  I get very excited about ideas and projects and love seeing things succeed and progress.  This podcast is a case in point.  I am mildly obsessed with it.  Every few months a new development seems to arrive and I find a way to improve or grow the capacity of this thing.  Sometimes episodes get great responses and lots of downloads and I check this to see how it is tracking.  Sometimes I chat to some random person and discover that they love it and listen in every week.  I sometimes allow this enthusiasm to overflow into my everyday conversations.

But there is a fine line to this level of enthusiasm.  Where is the line where it shifts from wise stewardship of my natural gifts and opportunities, to being an arrogant self-absorbed pain in the rear end?  

As with most vexing questions like this, it seems to me that the gauge for this is not my adoring fans in the faceless world of podcast downloads.  It’s the lovely Sue. 

Now I have produced over 120 episodes of the Stories of Hope Podcast and almost all of them make some mention of the Lovely Sue.  Someone once asked me if she minded being referred to so often in the podcasts and the answer is simple.  She doesn’t mind at all, as she doesn’t listen to them.  Not that she misses a few, she misses them all.  She’s just not interested.   

I was discussing this with the lovely Sue’s arguably even lovelier sister, Ros the other day and she smiled and nodded, as she sometimes finds her husband’s passions about bike riding a bit tedious.  Turns out the lovely Sue’s mum, the lovely Helen in some ways feels the same way about her husband, John.  He goes on about his lawn bowls tournaments.

Now don’t get me wrong, the lovely Sue loves me more than anyone and is kind and thoughtful about my well being, but if I become proud or boastful, the atmosphere can turn a bit chilly.

In our scripture from 1 Corinthians 13 we read that love does not boast and is not proud.  There is no place in a loving relationship for one person to think they are better than the other.  When I start waaring on about podcast downloads or my mastery of a Ukulele song, I am drifting into the dangerous ego driven space of listing my accomplishments and dominating the space, that could well be occupied with others sharing their stories and achievements.  The most loving person in the room cares enough to give me the look of death and help me return to a more balanced and collaborative place.

Boasting is something we really don’t like to see in other people, but slow to recognize in ourselves.

The Lovely Sue and the other women folk in the clan are seriously good wives.  They love their husbands passionately and have the gumption and strength to help them see, what they sometimes cannot see in themselves. 

Of course we men folk have a similar capacity to challenge any hint of pride and boastfulness in the ladies, but we choose to remain quiet and humble, not because we are afraid, but because we want to demonstrate true love. 

And I checked this with the lovely Sue and she looked me straight in the eye and she said, yes that’s correct!  

Bless ya,

 

Being Silly

 

Being Silly - Link to Podcast

Life can sometimes be a bit serious. We need to find ways to be playful and when I took a bunch of guys from Villawood Salvos on a bike ride, they found a playground and played like 5 year old's. It was beautiful!

One of the programs that I have always been keen to activate when working with troubled people as a salvo minister is recreation.

In one of my earliest roles I found funding to run fabulous recreational activities in Adelaide at a program called towards independence.  We did a lot of activities that are normally out of reach for people living week to week on the pension or unemployment benefits such as jet skiing, snorkeling, go karting and laser shooting.  It was terrific to see people laughing and relaxing, falling off jet skis and crashing go Karts,  Building memories together and trying new things. It was great relationally and gave context for deeper and more trusting conversations.

The annual Salvo Fraser Island fishing trip is another example of how recreation has built community.  There are dozens of guys who look forward to this trip every year and retell the stories from these trips with smiles and enthusiasm every time we meet.

At Villawood where I was appointed last year, we wanted to foster this dynamic and so went to local swimming holes and did few camping trips, but there was one activity that taught me a lot about how recreation and shared fun experiences lands for people who have been through trauma and are often sad.

We had a weekly bike ride and bundled 6 or 8 bicycles onto the Ute and headed to a local pathway and parkland that ran alongside the Georges River.   Without planning it on the first day we did this ride, the lead cyclists saw a terrific kids playground with swings and slides, and a big swinging disc that a few people could sit on.  There was a flying fox and all manner of climbing structures and monkey bars. 

They made a bee line for the playground, dumped their bikes and started playing enthusiastically.  We pushed each other on the swings, zoomed on the flying fox and the laughter and simple fun of this experience was a pure joy.  It’s like their missing childhood joy was activated in the safety and love of the salvo community. 

One guy sat up on a slide and was preparing to plummet down and I asked him when the last time he went on a slide was.  His answer shocked me.  I’ve never been down a slide in my life.  He grew up in a war torn country as a child and just totally missed these simple childhood experiences. 

We have been on dozens of bike rides like this and we always stop at the playground for a little frolic. 

I know in my life I need to find ways to let the inner silly child come out and be playful.  The lovely Sue reckons I need to find ways to let the mature and sensible adult come out as well, but none the less, playfulness is an important part of a healthy emotional life. 

When was the last time you were silly and playful? 

Often being with children somehow allows and encourages this sort of dynamic, in fact being childlike is described as being close to the way of God’s heart.  I often have friends with children over and tend to ignore the adults and play with the kids.  I hang out with serious adults all day – so I treasure time to be playful with kids.

But not everyone has kids in their life, so we adults need to loosen up a bit sometimes and be intentional about having some fun.

The lovely Sue and I go to the swimming pool for our hydrotherapy sessions about three times a week and at the exit of the pool there is a little A frame sign that always has a joke on it.  Corny stuff like; Why did the golfer bring two pairs of pants?  In case he got a hole in one or why can’t your nose be 12 inches long, because then it would be a foot.  Stuff like that.  But we always read it and have a little chuckle.  It is nice to find ways to smile. 

Games like heads up, which is like celebrity heads and charades, encourage us to act out and snort like a pig or jump around like a monkey.  It’s silly and makes us laugh, but the endorphins and oxytocin that is released in our bodies always helps us feel better. 

Go on, be a bit silly somehow today, I dare you!

Bless ya,