tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post1924772214244052349..comments2023-09-25T09:37:40.536-07:00Comments on kairos : kisses: Incarnational PeregriniAndrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-3623907661242355912007-07-30T13:37:00.000-07:002007-07-30T13:37:00.000-07:00Okay, here are some examples...We're told we need ...Okay, here are some examples...<BR/><BR/>We're told we need to get on the property ladder, because property is a good investment. Unless, of course, it is situated on a flood plain...Renting, on the other hand, is seen as throwing your money away, because it goes to someone else (the landlord) and gives you nothing at the end (mortgage payments go to someone else, but you get a return). And I hear this argument within the church as much as outside of the church.<BR/><BR/>Now, I'm not saying owning a home is wrong. But it might be that God calls us off the property ladder - certainly, that's what we felt he called us to. It might be that renting is a different sort of investment, an investment in the here-and-now of where you are, rather than in some future return.<BR/><BR/>From the moment it is built, a house deteriorates. Stocks and shares go down, as well as up. Booming economies crash. We can hope in medical advances, but eventually we will die. I read recently that only 8% of the world's population has a car, so, do we need one? Perhaps, in the culture God has placed us in, we do - but do we even stop to ask the question, or do we simply assume a need?<BR/><BR/>I'm not saying, don't steward what God has given you. I'm not saying be an aesthetic monk. But it is always worth asking, are we storing up treasures on earth, or in heaven?<BR/><BR/>All we can do is be obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. God calls each of us to lay certain things down, and to take certain things up (including our cross). But the specifics will vary from person to person (that's why it is your cross, not anyone elses).Andrew Dowsetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-39370899721845029372007-07-28T08:08:00.000-07:002007-07-28T08:08:00.000-07:00Phil,Apologies for not replying sooner - I've been...Phil,<BR/><BR/>Apologies for not replying sooner - I've been away on holiday, and at my Bishops' Advisory Panel, and not been online.<BR/><BR/>You'll have to wait a little longer for a response to your questions, while I think, but I wanted to acknowledge your having asked them :-)<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your encouraging words re the random reflections I post here. As for the book, you never know...but I wouldn't expect one any time soon ;-)Andrew Dowsetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-906902923506938612007-07-25T05:52:00.000-07:002007-07-25T05:52:00.000-07:00I'd love to get more examples/thoughts of what u r...I'd love to get more examples/thoughts of what u refer to as:<BR/><BR/>"choosing to reject the trappings of security that culture places its hope in (those things that put distance between us and poverty, or disease – that make us ‘of the world, but not in it’)."<BR/><BR/>I feel God is calling us as a family to this but I'm not sure what it looks like!<BR/>How do we take away the distnace between us and poverty???<BR/><BR/>Phil<BR/><BR/>P.S Your blog posts are v thougtful and wise - Thank you for sharing your reflections... <BR/>...when's the book out??!!!(Phil)https://www.blogger.com/profile/05442486716836287583noreply@blogger.com