Las Lajas

When the imposing Sanctuary of Las Lajas flashed up as my screen background this morning, I wondered what it was.  Perhaps an intricate testament to the wealth and power of an ancient oligarch?  With doors the height of three people, it dwarfed the few people on its balcony.

The second option was that it was someone's testament to the power of God.  Housing a miraculous painting of Mary, this is what it was.

I assured myself that the second option was better.  Better to build magnificent buildings which praise God rather than ourselves, right?  

Las Lajas spans a river and so acts as a bridge as well as a destination for pilgrims.  Its tall doors and windows are intricate and magnificent.  Situated in the south-west of Columbia, its architecture rivals anything in Europe.  It is in perfect condition, unlike most in Europe, having only been completed in 1949.

Is this what God desires?  Magnificent buildings to let the triune God know that they are great?  It might be easy to say "yes".  The building is eye-catching.  It made it to the screen background library of a popular software company.  It is exposing a lot of people to something about God.  But what?  And how much more, if the energy that went into the building was channeled into loving service of neighbour in the name of Christ?  What would Columbia look like then?!

ScoMo-No! The Awkward Alliance

ScoMo, Prime Minister of Australia, has brought the country into an new awkward alliance.  Here is a review of the before and after situation, and an alternative approach.

Before the awkward alliance  

Australia had ..

- $90B worth of conventional submarines on the way

- An easy option to convert these to nuclear powered submarines

- A positive alliance with France

- A neutral relationship with the EU

- A warm but frustrated grin from regional partners

- A never-ending alliance with the UK

- A low hum from China

- Its strongest alliance with the US

After the awkward alliance  

Australia has ..

- a vague possibility of a some nuclear powered submarines at indeterminate cost at an indeterminate time

- a less vague possibility of hiring some submarines from the US

- a real possibility of more US submarines in Australian waters.

- Stuff all relationship with France

- A "bad global citizen" badge from the EU

- A audible grumble from regional partners

- A never-ending alliance with the UK

- A low growl from China

- An explicit vassal relationship with the US

With less weapons and less allies, Australia's national security is threatened, rather than weakened, by the alliance.  Australia already saw the US and UK as our greatest allies.  The alliance just gave away the freedom that surrounded those relationships.  It gave away the sovereign right to do what is in our national interest.

To reinforce the value that we place on our relationship with the US and UK we could simply and loudly adopted their stance on climate change.  That would have been good for us as well!  Now that bloke from Down Under has wrapped us even more tightly around the little finger of Uncle Sam.

We are all indigenous

We are all indigenous people.  Most of us, however, have long lost our connection to our place.

Indigenous Australians have a rich and tangible connection to these lands now called Australia. They can trace their heritage back 60,000 years according to science.  I can trace my family tree back three generations now.  That just starts to get to people who came to Australia from other places.  None of them came from Scotland, but with "Scott" as a surname, red hair and skin that frizzles in the sun, I guess that's where I come from.  I have some great family traditions, a sense of pride and precious relationships going back two generations.  But further back than that I have pretty much nothing - a few stories that have been handed down and some old newspaper clippings.  Pretty paltry compared with 60,000 years and places that are still scared, and oral traditions and languages that are still alive.  It is a rich and wonderful heritage that Indigenous Australians hold.  Those of us it are rightly jealous and are alone and adrift by comparison.

With the Scottish, there is probably some English is my heritage.  My children have some Chinese heritage as well.  Like most Australians our heritage is mixed and a bit of a mystery.  You have to look to the newest of Australians to find heritages of one culture only.  Most Indigenous Australians have a mixed heritage - some that is Indigenous to Australia, some that is not.  So, if we classifying everyone as conquered or conqueror and assume that the people of today carry all the prejudices and all the responsibilities of their ancestors, we get to a paradoxical place where Ingenuous Australians who have non-Indigenous heritage are both conquered and conquerors - oppressed and oppressors.  So let's not divide people using this artificial binary.  We are all Australians.  We are all responsible for injustices that were done and for unjust systems that persist.  We are make use of the benefits of the invasion.  What we need is a way forward that doesn't polarise us.

People with Indigenous Australian heritage are paving that way.  Their rich, 60 millennia old heritage is being shared.  When there is a big event a local person welcomes everyone to their land.  They don't tell them where the fence is or ask them to pay or even make rules about how the land is to be used.  They just welcome them.  People with Indigenous heritage are leading the way in preserving their culture, their sacred sites, their ancient ways of being.  The are preserving them not just for themselves but for all Australians.  We are all enriched by the presence and preservation of sacred sites, culture and language.  I can say I live on the land of the oldest living continuous culture.  A land that still holds the people who were first given charge of it by the Creator - the oldest living culture on earth.  This is my heritage too because it has been shared with me.  At smaller events when someone recognises the people of the country we are meeting on, I am reminded of the generosity of people who welcome others to their land - perhaps this is because they are in touch with the reality that they were given it in the first place.

So I am rightly jealous of Indigenous people - people of Indigenous Heritage - it is a gift passed down to be shared not a polarising classification of peoples to put them at odds with each other.  But there is one more important thing to be said.

As I listened to brothers of Indigenous heritage I heard a little of their pride, but I soon heard a much more disturbing truth.  Overwhelming the pride of owning 60,000 years of living culture is the reality that an indigenous heritage means carrying 230 years of debilitating, demeaning oppression in your genes.  The most prominent thing about being Aboriginal is knowing your ancestors were treated as second-class citizens for the last fifty years, and that they were treated as less than human for the 180 years before that.  I might be jealous, missing of a long, rich and stable culture that has continuity right back to the Creation but I am not jealous of massive rates of incarceration, appalling health and education levels and prejudice which still allows murder in custody for which no one is held to account.

We are all indigenous people.  We are almost all people of mixed heritage.  We all own our history.  We all own our future.  Together we will find our place.  Welcome to country.  

Mission by Partnership

Working in partnership with local indigenous organisations has a lot going for it.  Locals know the language and the culture without needing years of training!  And they are more likely to be around long-term and cost less to support.  Most importantly, taking expatriates out of the front-line empowers locals to step into that space, empowering them and achieving better missional outcomes at the same time.  This is the illusive "localisation" that many NGO's seek.  I got to say some of those things when I was interviewed by Wesley Mission about Global Mission Partners.  Watch the interview here.

What is the gospel truth about Coronavirus?

How to Christians understand the spread of Coronavirus?

Coronavirus appears to have originated in the wet food markets of Wuhan where live, often wild, animals are sold for food.  The sellers there struggle to make a living so many use their animal cages as a bed, guarding their livestock while they sleep.  This kind of close contact, it appears, provided the opportunity for the transfer of the virus from animals to humans.  See here for an Indigenous Australian insight.

When we give to the poor like the marketeers of Wuhan, we often do so out of compassion, out of a sense of responsibility and of solidarity.  These are all good motivations, but this example reminds us that there are solid self-interest, self-care, self-safety motives for giving to the poor. God has set us in a connected world.  What we do affects others.  The whole creation, not just the people, groans for the kingdom to come (Rom 8:22).  In a recent new story featured an oyster farmer who had inherited the farm from his father.  He was bemoaning the fact that he could not pass it on to his children.  It no longer produced oysters at a level that could sustain a family business.  The temperature of the water had changed.  We had all helped to change the temperature of the water.  The Coronavirus health message is clear: The health of the poorest in the global community is critical to the health of the whole global community.  In concerning ourselves with their health we will find our own healing (Is 58:7-9).

God is in the business of directing the history of nations.  Repeatedly in the prophets we hear how the Lord of history God determines the future of the nations (Is 2:4).  Is this what is happening now?  Because the virus travels person to person, it’s epicentres are the places where people travel most – first Milan and now New York – the places of those who have the wealth and inclination to travel.  It is as if God is saying, “Don’t think you can be assured of protection in your modern rich environments.  I have power that can unsettle even these.”  God is resisting and bringing low the proud (Luke 1:51-52).

I have always taken our dog for a morning walk so I know the local morning walkers.  These days my wife joins me, and we use the commuting time that we have saved to go for a longer walk.  There are a lot more walkers these days.  Families are rediscovering jig-saw puzzles and warm ways of being together.  And the simple joys of a book or a garden and many familiar things that we have been rushing past, have shown their true value.  What is God saying?  “Life does not consist in busyness or consumption or power!’ It never has!  All the essentials of life; love, relationship and spiritual sustenance are still fully and freely available.

Churches have had to stop and rethink what it means to be church now we can’t put on a big show on Sunday.  At our church, we have never engaged with each other with such joy and such depth.  Churches are dropping notes in letterboxes, not just of their members, but across their communities, offering to lend a hand.  We are the people who are unflustered by pandemics.  We stand in the constancy of Christ’s living presence.  We stand in the compassionate and courageous tradition of Christians who risked their lives to give victims of an earlier pandemic from Romans streets to a proper burial.  This is our time to offer our communities a steady, compassionate hand and a pathway to Christ.

Slowly the virus is making its way to places as poor or poorer than the wet markets of Wuhan. To countries where hospitals and health care are a shadow of those in Milan and New York and Sydney.  Their only real protection is their isolation from the rest of the world.  In South Sudan the only cases are four UN workers.  The general population can’t afford to travel.  In places like this, if Coronavirus got started it would have an untameable impact.  What is God saying here but to get outside of ourselves and engage our compassion, our sense of responsibility and of solidarity, and help – to give generously?  It will be an act of self-care that will help to heal us.

An introduction to Poverty

If we are to get involved in helping people in poverty we must start with a good understanding of their situation. This series of articles that I wrote for GMP provides a foundation to begin from.  Read them here.

An Introduction to Development

What are the key ideas underpinning International and Community Development?  Helping the poor overseas or at home requires a thoughtful ethical and strategic foundation.  This series of articles I wrote for GMP provides this foundation.

Changing the world without leaving home

Globalisation means that we are connected with the rest of the world.  Sending money overseas can certainly help poor people.  Changing our habits at home if often overlooked but can have a potentially greater impact on the poor, and on us.  This series of articles that I wrote for GMP explores this idea.

Helping can be tricky

Mostly helping can be tricky in terms of attitudes.  Read this series of articles that I wrote for GMP to  check that you are on the road to helping rather than hurting.

Chicken Shed

Dear Mr Morrison, I spent this Saturday afternoon protesting. I should have been repairing my chicken shed. But I have to get out on a Saturday afternoon to protest just to restrain my own government. They are torturing and killing people who are seeking asylum. Mr Morrison, go to Nauru, spend a few nights there, pray with people there. Act in love. If you do that I am pretty sure I won't need to protest any more, and I can get back to the chicken shed. Yours Sincerely Colin Scott

Australians' Day

There are three waves of Australians. The first Australians were here from the beginning, as far as anyone can tell. They lived with the land, understanding custodianship like no one before or since. They preserved the richness of the land and thrived amongst its harshness. And they survived the coming of the second Australians.  But they still long thrive again.

The second Australians arrived much later, initially with some good intentions toward those who were already here, but the desire to conquer and control soon took over and there was robbery, as Sir Henry said. Even when they decided not to be English, at the beginning of last century, they left the first Australians out.

The second Australians made a policy to try to keep any third Australians out. Bit by bit the White Australia Policy became more multicoloured.  The third wave contributed all over the place - business, politics .. But the still long to be recognised fully.

It's not a great history. There is a lot to do to make things right. But the only way to move forward is a Australians. We must stop thinking of when we arrived as our key identity and the other guys as the problem. One nation means all of us together giving each other the respect that we want for ourselves. Make that shift and it will he easy to find a date for Australians' Day.

Recycling Guide for Western Sydney

It's God's good Earth so care for it by recycling!

Enjoy!

1. Plastic bags
Plastic bags should not be placed in the yellow recycling bin. Soft plastics and plastic bags can be recycled through soft plastic drop off bins at supermarkets.
Woolworths
Coles

2. Ripped or torn clothing
These cannot be recycled but can be re-used. Old t-shirts, torn towels and linens make good cleaning and dusting rags - no need to buy cleaning cloths. After use put these in your red lidded bin. 

3. Electronic waste
mobiles,TVs, video and DVD players, stereos and speakers, printers, fax machines, electronic games and toys, game consoles, digital and video cameras, desktop and laptop computers, computer monitors, keyboards, computer mouse, hard drives, motherboards, network, video and sound cards, cables, microwaves, vacuum cleaners, hairdryers, alarm clocks, toasters and kettles, irons, drills and other power tools
PCRC
SUEZ Seven Hills

4. Aluminum foil
It goes in your recycling bin. Small pieces get lost in the recycling process so save foil and roll into a golf ball size to recycle. Foil with grease can be recycled, just make sure you give it a quick wipe. 

5. Nappies
These are not recyclable and should go in the red lidded bin. Maybe think about how to change to a more sustainable alternative. Read the Choice disposable and cloth nappy buying guide

6. Household batteries
ALDI, Battery World, PCRC

7. car batteries
PCRC

8. paint
PCRC

9. polystyrene
PCRC
HCRC

10. smoke detectors
PCRC

11. light globes
Incandescent globes and halogen can go in the red lidded garbage bin.
Compact fluorescents globes contain toxic mercury and need to go to a recycling centre ie
• compact fluorescent lamps
• fluorescent u-tubes
• linear fluorescent lamps
• mercury vapour lamps
• metal halide lamps
• sodium vapour lamps
• uv Lamps
• led tubes.
PCRC
Household Chemical Cleanout
Ikea Marsden Park

12. gas bottles and fire extinguishers
PCRC

13. motor and other oils
PCRC

14. polystyrene
PCRC

15. Clothes
Racer Allround Recycling

16. Shoes
Racer Allround Recycling

17. Handbags
Racer Allround Recycling

18. Soft Toys
Racer Allround Recycling

-----------------

Penrith Community Recycling Centre
(PCRC)
Gate 3, 96 Dunheved Circuit, St Marys
02 4732 7777
Monday to Friday - 8.30 am to 2.00 pm
Saturday - 8 am to 12 noon
Sunday - closed.

SUEZ Seven Hills M-F 7-4 S-S 9-4 free for  Blacktown Council Residents

Ikea 9am-3:30pm – 1 Hollinsworth road, Marsden Park

Racer Allround Recycling
Facebook
9607 9999
Drop off bins
WENTWORTHVILLE  – Station street, the Kingsway, Commuter carpark
TOONGABBIE  – Wentworth avenue
ST MARYS  - Corner of Forrester road and Glossop street, mosque carpark, inside gate, Enter at Glossop street.

Hawkesbury Community Recycling Centre

(HCRC)

 1 The Driftway, South Windsor.

I would like a car with cruise control

I would.

All of my friends have one ... Well, I haven't actually done a survey to say that for sure, but it is a pretty fair expectation for anyone with a solid job. No sense of privilege.

My devotion mentioned Matthew 7:7 "Ask and it will be given you." Initially I thought, "I don't need anything, I'm so over things. They don't have any power over me."

Then I thought about the cruise control. I would like one.

Then I thought about the people I visit around the world. One of them has a bike, with one good pedal.

It became a rights issue. What right do I have to use all those resources to get a car with a cruise control - a luxury none of my friends, no one in my culture, would deny me.

Of course the car I have or don't have won't much help my friend with a dud pedal - not unless I make the connection. Less stuff for me and more for him and his community, that would be good for both of us.

It's wallowing in first world guilt of course, but a bit of guilt might just be a path to a new, fairer and healthier world for all of us.

Big World Small World

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/apr/23/population-how-many-people-can-the-earth-sustain-lucy-lamble?CMP=share_btn_link

This article looks at the dilemma of the world's rapidly growing population. It touches on two possible futures, albeit indirectly, one where we use technology to reduce population growth, and another thwhere we embrace a big world where the growing population produces a bouyant economy for all.

My first reaction was that we need to shift our spending from keeping old white people alive to keeping young black people alive. Let's put out effort in where it is most needed. Let's give every one an equal chance at lifel. You can see what a huge change in our global mindset that this would need, and you can imagine the philosophic discussions it would generate.

The deeper question it later provoked was this: If God has a future for our world, what dues it look like? Is it one where the system God had set up checks itself by reducing the population as we approach the capacity of the earth. In this scenario we aid God by contraception and population control in general. Ethical dilemmas like who do we could in population control quickly emerge.

The second option is much more bold. It says the population of the earth is essentially limitless.  It says, as we learn to live with each other we will find ways to use the world's resources more economically, drawing from them a lifestyle for all which we can't currently imagine. Reduced consumption, more efficient production and better sharing would be it's hallmark. In this scenario how we live together rather than population control is in focus.

There is of course the possibility that there is a third scenario that I haven't thought of. The point is really that if God expects us to work for charge in this world, as God does, there must be a sustainable end point toward we were are working, this side of heaven. Then there is another discussion about where the boundary between here and heaven is.

Rocky Road

Craig McLachlan got the raunchy role of Frank-N-Furter because he "steps out far beyond what most other performers can do".  His presentation of promiscuous and sexually exploitative behaviour is what audiences want.  Now we are telling him that in the acting workplace as distinct from the acting role, this kind of behaviour is not ok.  There is a fine line there.  This is not to excuse Craig, should a court find him guilty.  It is however to remind ourselves that as shapers of our culture we all have some responsibility for allowing things that are not ok to be seen as ok.

Why you should give a goat this Christmas

I think David Sanderson would see himself as a supporter of those who are poor in our world, but his article "Why you shouldn't give a goat this Christmas" adds confusion rather than support to their case.

The goat of course is the quintessential Christmas gift from an Australian NGO. Your donation goes to a project which includes goats and your friend receives a card letting then know of you very practical love for them and for someone far away.

Firstly, David points out some of the things that can go wrong with aid and assumes that the goat is a victim of these. There have been some bad mistakes over the years, But the NGO community puts a high value on learning from them. If the NGO behind the goat is a member of ACFID, they will be carefully examining the goat project to make sure that locals get good value out of it. The goat, for example, would be sourced as close as possible to its new owner. This will stimulate the local economy adding to the benefit the recipient, who will probably be required to return a kid to the program within two years, kept accountable and encouraged to see the wider picture of positive change for everyone.

Secondly, David conflates at least three types of aid: bilateral - from government to government, private aid - from NGO to NGO, and emergency aid, which is delivered response to a crisis.

It is bilateral aid which has the worst reputation for importing goods rather than stimulating local markets. Plenty of Chinese product is going into African infrastructure right now, and Australia has also insisted use of Australian goods and services. Governments like to stimulate their own economies. NGO's on the other hand really need to justify importing goods, and there are times when this is necessary, for example, if the technology is just not be available locally, or in an emergency, where some essential supplies may have been wiped out.

As David says cash handouts are increasingly being used as an efficient form of emergency aid. The goat, however will be part of a longer term community development project which is aiming to change the opportunities of a community.

There are good reasons to buy a goat this Christmas. If it is from an ACFID member NGO you can be assured that their operation meets a high standard. The goat money will get there. The first thing it will do is stimulate a struggling local economy with demand for the essentials of life, Then the goat will arrive at someone's humble door, communicating a message of solidarity. The wealthy people across the sea do care. Finally, two years down the track a family will have a new income stream which will help them send their kids to school and put food on the table where there was none. That's a lot more like Christmas than another gingerbread house for Aunty Flo!

Celebrating the King of the Universe

What would celebrating a universal King that was born in a manger look like? We are nervous defaulting to familiar practices of our culture, decorations, feasting, and gift giving. We know how these have been corrupted. And we are are nervous doing something special, because the subjects of the universal King know that honouring Him can only be a full-time and lifetime pursuit.

The Bible nevertheless makes a big place for celebration and they are celebrations that use the cultural forms of their time and place. Celebration is central for the servants of the King. It re-cements critical events and their significance into our psyche. In that way it helps us be better subjects of the King throughout the year.

So what would celebrating the coming of the universal King to a manger look like? It would have to use the forms of our culture, and it would tell the story of the King's great deeds - how he entered human time and space humbly and purposefully - to bring all things back to the rightful King. And it would lift up the lowly (Lk 1:52).

Essential to the reign of the King is the righting of human imbalances. Those who are left out are to be included (Lk 2:29-32). Those who are poor find new resources (Lk 1:53). These values challenge our culture. Over all our celebration they pleas restraint from the wastefulness and self-indulgence and we are so accustomed to. Most of all they challenge our practice of gift giving.

It is in giving gifts that we most easily forget the poor (Gal 3:10). It is too easy to give generously to those we know will give generously to us (Lk 6:34). This is not really generosity at all! Living in a world where material things are scarce for so many we really need to direct our giving to those with little first of all, not just at Christmas.

So here are my tips for a holy but Australian Christmas.

Decorations
1. Have them! But focus on telling the story of the King - mangers, stars, magi. Drop the man in the red suit completely. The King is not honored by praise for impostors.
2. Have them but moderate your consumption. Put a limit on how many you will buy or how many you will have. Don't compete with the guy across the road on volume or your message will lose its credibility.

Feasting
1. Do it! Have food that you enjoy and don't usually have. If there is nothing in that category you have been indulgent all year round - try something simple! Put a limit on you consumption. Buy only what you can eat in one day.
2. Share it! Seek out people who are alone on Christmas day and invite them to your celebration.

Gift-giving
1. Make giving to the poor the major focus of you giving. Local and international mission agencies will give you plenty of options. For every gift you give your family, give a gift of equal value to those of lowly estate.
2. Limit your giving. Set a dollar limit together for your extended family. For the over 18's, put the names in a hat and each just buy a gift for one family member. Publish a list of what you would like so the gift isn't wasted.

Setting up tables and flipping them over

The Abbott government's overseas aid policy encourages engagement with the private sector.  For agencies following Jesus this means grappling with whether their role is to challenge business or to foster it.  Are they to follow Jesus in upturning the tables of the money changers in the temple (Mk 11:17), or in some less conspicuous example (Lk 14:13 for example) by boosting the livelihoods of the poor with business development and development by business.  Good governments, like thoughtful Christians, wrestle with the tension between these two competing calls for justice.

 

Jesus' most colourful and obvious interaction with business is his violent upturning of the money changers tables in the temple (Mk 11:17).  Entrepreneurial people had turned the need of worshippers into selfish business.  Jesus is quick to take them to task.

 

This incident reflects the churches role in challenging business when it is exploitative or inappropriate.  Campaigns for fairly traded products are a current example.

 

Jesus is also supportive of legitimate taxation (Mk 12:17), a challenge to both individuals and business today.  Churches and both sides of politics have taken up this challenge.

 

That people will engage on productive business to sustain themselves is the backdrop of the whole Bible (eg Ez 27:13,17,19,25; Mt 11;160.  Working for a living is the New Testament norm (2Th 3:10).  There is nothing intrinsically dirty about being involved in business.  Dishonest business dealings, of course, are called to account like every other unjust behaviour (eg Ho 12;7).
 

That churches find themselves amongst the poor (Jn 12:8), helping people get started in businesses is as it should be.  It is recognition that the goal is not to give people health and education and other services but to enable them to provide these for themselves and their families - even more - to have the resources to pursue their own hopes and aspirations, whatever these are.
 

"But what if a business we helped start turns into a greedy, exploitative monster!?"

Firstly, we need to recognise that this is completely possible in the most perfectly planned and executed project.  Development projects are like lighting a fire - you never know where they will spread because they are about freeing people to pursue their own hopes and aspirations.  We hope they free people to be more of what God has created them to be (Jn 10:10), but we know that freedom can be misused (1Co 8:9).
 

Secondly, Christians engaging in this space are challenged to build a better breed of business - one that makes profits but values people.  With what is often a long partnership to helping small businesses get started they have an ideal opportunity to do just that.  There are some of these out there and a few examples at home, but we could do with a lot more models of profit making, people valuing businesses.

So set up trading tables and flip them over, followers of Jesus and leaders of good government, but don't think that you can do only one or the other.  The deeper challenge is creating something that builds wealth and honours people.  Jesus says this is possible with a proper alignment of the heart (Pv 14:34), not merely choosing one side of a dilemma.
 

God is not your bell boy

A respected Christian leader once told the story of how God had helped him. It went something like this...

He was busy at work and was really pushed for time to go and secure a house that he wanted to buy. He barely had time to get to the auction and back but he jumped into the car anyway.  Anyway God was good and interested in the details of his life he said, because he prayed for a parking spot and God provided one wonderfully close to the house. He was able to put the winning bid on the house and get back to work in time. God was his saviour.

Well of course God is interested in the detail of our lives but he is not a convenience service to call in when you need things to go your way little bit more. God is not your bell boy, waiting patiently at your door for your next self - indulgent command. God is not there for your convenience.  Sure, talk to him about everything that concerns you but in the context of putting the Kingdom first.  Does God want me to buy another house? How does God want me to use my money? Ask these kind of questions before you ask for s parking spot.

God the controller?

At the start of a new year we are assured from the pulpit that, "God is in control".  Well yes, but there is something disturbing about this familiar assertion.

Now the word "control" is used of God 's relationship to the cosmos, eg Hebrews 2:8, but our picture of how this works is not always realistic or healthy. Often Jeremiah 29:11,"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord , plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." (ESV),  is quoted as a rationale for believing God has our every moment scripted, a blueprint in scrupulous detail of exactly how our lives will play out.

This verse of course lies within the prophetic tradition -  the place of possibility, of "if" and "then", of choices for good or for evil (e.g. Jeremiah 12:16-17). Straight away there are two possibilities for the future. Which one is God's blueprint?

As well as not dealing well with choice and the possibility of sin, the blueprint approach gives a distorted picture of God's character. God is not intent on squeezing us into a preconceived plan. God is much more a god of possibility, a god of opportunity, one who wants us to use the gifts and opportunities before us. In particular he is not the god who is in control so that we can stop worrying but carry on doing what we were going to do anyway. He is not the god who is in control so that we can muddle along trusting that he will work it out in some meaningful way despite us. He is not the god who is in control so that things will work out the way that we would like them to.

The image of God that I want to suggest is of a master chess player. The end of the game is assured; not because every individual move is known beforehand, but because of the skill and creativity of the master.
We choose how to join God in the game, based on the position of the pieces at the time, rather than trying to second guess the detail of a universal plan. We make our move, not fearful of missing the perfect move, but enthusiastically contributing the skill and creativity that we have been gifted. We make our contribution alongside the master and contributing to his purposes, knowing that his skill and power is completely adequate to use our offering and bring about the final outcome.