at this present point in time my wife valerie [aka the beautiful val] and i are living and working and interning and ministering with the simple way community in philadelphia…
before this i was a youth slash student pastor [disclaimer: no youth or students were slashed during my time there] at a vineyard church in stellenbosch, outside cape town in south africa for 6 years. i remember the one staff meeting we had in the first year or so of my being there and my boss chris-the-boss asked me if i could be doing anything in the world what would it be? without skipping a beat i responded ‘i would be doing this’ and i meant it…
my second last year there i had a sense it was my last year at the church and told chris so but then during that year i met tbV and we were going to get married and she still had a year of study to do and so i ended up doing another year at the church because it seemed to make sense. and it was a very tough year in many respects – SO MUCH GOOD stuff happened and great relationships with people and so i don’t think i’d change it, but i definitely think that i would not have been able to answer that same question with as much conviction and really meant it or believed it. and looking back, i don’t know how i could have played it differently, because i don’t know where else i was meant to be, but maybe i should have been more focused in making sure i was in the right place.
i say all this in introduction because if my friend chris-the-boss flew over to philadelphia and took me out for coffee and sat across the table from me and asked me if i could be doing anything in the world what would it be? then the answer would be – living and working and interning and ministering with the simple way community in philadelphia – with absolute truth and conviction.
is it easy here? no. is it always comfortable? not a chance. are there times of being frustrated and wondering what we’re doing and what impact we’re making and could we be doing this a lot better? absolutely. but there is a knowledge deep within me that this is where val and i are meant to be at the moment, and that feels amazing.
i know too many people who are simply in a rut of doing the thing they’ve always been doing. a bunch of my friends feel pulled to something else and yet they continue on day in and day out going through the motions of what they’re doing. some of them will get to that new thing place, i have no doubt of that. but i worry about the ones who ten years from now will be sitting in the same place doing the same thing [nothing wrong with that if it’s the thing you’re meant to be doing, not talking change for change sake] and talking about the thing they should be doing.
which is why i get super stoked by my friend chris lindemann. and my friend bruce collins. and my friends kleinfrans [he’s not] and michelle. and my friend megan giggles. and my sister dawn and her husband glen who just moved back to south africa when the easier option i imagine would have been to stay in the uk. and my folks who continue to live life and not simply exist or settle.
what about you? if you could be anywhere in the world doing anything in the world, would it be that?
You know this resonates deeply with me! Great post, buddy! Feel so passionate about this… Great to read a post by you again!
Hi Brett!
Really glad to hear you’re enjoying it (even through the toughness) over there. I couldn’t agree more with your post. Sure, God does take us through seasons, but if you’re choosing to be in the same season without listening to which season you should be going into, then there’s a bit of self-investigating needed (or rather, some listening-to-God-time needed)!
Glad to hear from you!
great post, and a great question to ponder….
[…] Be where you are – Brett Anderson […]
Dude, weirdest thing. I was thinking. Gosh, brett hasn’t blogged in ages… then wham.. the next day… there it is. Good blogs. Both of them. I like this a lot.
I am on my way back to SA, God has opened a door for youth ministry in DBN North. I am keen.
I do like what you said about your friends, yes UK can be “comfortable” … SA will be tough but I know God has a plan, and for that I am truly grateful. keep it up there dude.
We all have responsibilities. Perhaps some have children to look after, or employees in a company who earn theuir livelihood from you. Are you saying we should pck up and follow our whims?
i’m saying be led by the Holy Spirit Peter and avoid the trap of being in the same place you’ve always been just cos you’ve always been there but also avoid the trap of going somewhere different just for the sake of not doing the same thing… so whether you stay or go is not the issue – if you are in good relationship with God then I believe you’ll know when to go and where to stay – and also about being intentional in terms of what you’re doing where you’re doing it… don’t just exist, live. be. thrive. Jesus said He came to bring life to the full, abundant life and yet so many people, and sadly a lot of christians simply go through the motions…
Interesting idea. There are many people who have not the means to escape ie financial troubles. Then there are some who are completely in a rut ie kids at school, 9-5 job, 2nd job, looking after immediate family. They are way too busy and stressed to really be living their lives as they would like. It’s more like a continual battle. If it were a single person, thy could escape by just leaving and going off into a commune or small town. So maybe it’s wrestling between sacrificing your life for others? All gray areas. Oh to be 18 and just out of school with an air ticket in hand to anywhere…. Please tell me more about being intentional? Is that making the most of your time and focussing on the task at hand?
hey Brian, I’m 37. I’m married. There are people doing this thing in nearby communities we know who have many kids. This thing is doable for everyone. It’s a case of understanding your context and then being intentional in it. It’s not so much doing everything as doing one thing well. The ‘rut of life’ is a choice, I’m convinced – your intentionality also starts with your immediate family and then moves beyond them. I imagine you have one evening a week when you can invite a neighbor or a work colleague round for a bring and share meal, or one night a month, or a sat morning intentional coffee with a guy you meet at the gym – whatever it is doesn’t matter so much as that you’re doing it. Some people to be able to do it need to perhaps make harder/wiser decisions with regards to job and life choices [so if you’re living in debt and needing two jobs to pay yourself out of that, that is the problem – head towards a debt-free life – if you’re in debt because of the size of your house/car or the neighborhood where you’re living you maybe need to make hard decisions about living in a more affordable place and so on… choosing simplicity [which doesn’t necessarily mean selling everything and giving it to the poor but it probably does mean not having the best or latest of everything – is a key to getting this right] – it’s a constant tension or journey of trying to figure out what is simplicity, what is community, what is intentionality, but living in the rut means you’ve stopped creatively asking those questions and that is the thing that needs to be shifted to get you started.
interesting this “Intentional” thing in the context of giving up things for a simpler life. Taking it to the extreme would be to actually become the person who is receiving the help for example: the vagrant or homeless person. To be intentional must be towards some kind of goal if I am reading this correctly then? A goal of helping others and living a more satisfying yet simpler life, keeping a balance.
i don’t have the best or latest of anything – maybe PC stuff, but that is work related. Clothes, cars and watches are all 2nd rate or non-existent (in the case of a wristwatch). One needs to look at the needs for example: food, shelter, warmth are taken care of. After that, we need further things such as social interaction, love, etc.. We don’t really need anything more. However we’re so pre-conditioned that we become very bored and this is what drives us to want more. Fast cars give us a thrill. Looking good feeds our ego and helps us find a mate. We seek entertainment so we buy TV’s, watch movies and other means.
How do we remove this drive to want more than our basic needs? Should we remove it or is it natural?
Debt is something that everyone is in. Even if you owe zero cash, you are probably still in debt if you are part of the regular system. if you go to a store and purchase goods, if you carry cash, all these things are part of the debt. The 1% control the other 99% of the planet. This is the problem. Look at the Wallstreet protests – thats what its all about. The richest 1% own half the wealth on this planet, leaving the rest in debt or starving. Crazy but true. Solve this, and you solve most of the earth’s problems.
There is enough food for everyone on earth. Enough for everyone. We can still have richer and poorer, but lets get rid of the super duper rich and starving to death poor inequality. Nobody should be eating with a gold spoon on a luxury private yacht or jet while people are starving.
Great work you’re doing at the SImple Way. We need a shift – a major shift of the young people to effect change. Go well.
hey Steven, i really dug your comments – would dig to post everyone’s comments on this blog as a separate blog cos it really seems like people are genuinely asking and seeking and finding and that’s what it’s all about – not giving away everything so as to get you to a point of not being able to give any more – and not giving nothing so as to be at the point of only focusing on your selfish needs – and who of us does not have selfish needs? so lots of balance and intentionality [to a specific end and goal and vision for sure] to be thought about and lots of compromise and hypocrasy to be highlighted in our lives – i think one of the keys is to not let this stuff paralyse you so that you do nothing – keep going back to the starting point of “small things with great love” but hopefully see those develop into great things with great love [and other small things with great love]