BARAK
Judges 4 & 5 (1 Sam 12:11 & Heb 11:32)
The story of Barak is intertwined with Deborah, the incredible Judge and Prophetess of pre-Monarchy Israel.
When Hebrews 11:32 names Barak, the author is recalling Judges 4 & 5.
The Book of Judges operates in repeating cycles:
A great little poem from the perspective of the donkey by the gentle giant that was G. K. Chesterton. Just right for Palm Sunday!
The Last Laugh
Source: donkeyheaven.org
Book Review: ‘Quiet’ by Susan Cain
A few years ago I was in a bookshop and stumbled upon this book as I was browsing. I picked it up and was hooked immediately. I think I read the first chapter before paying for it. What follows is my review that I’ve recently rediscovered, and I offer it here.
The sub-title of the book reads: ‘The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking’. And although this book is secular, the author not only accesses her biblically Jewish roots, but what she says is as relevant to Christian ministry as it is to industry chiefs and educators.
Cain refers to the introvert/extrovert divide as the most “fundamental dimension of personality”, arguing further that in a world of extroverted pomp, introverts make up over a third of the human race! It is not the pomp of extrovertedness that she critiques per se, but rather the inevitable downside view that the sensitive and serious are seen as undesirable, in both the popular mind of culture and business.
Below is my script for Pause for Thought on BBC Radio Devon:
At the end of Disney’s The Jungle Book, Mowgli sees a girl from the village collecting water, and he is utterly enchanted!
The panther Bagheera and the Baloo the bear are trying to deliver him safely into the village; but whilst Bagheera knows he must go, Baloo wants him to stay with him in the forest.
But, alas, Mowgli is lost to this new world of wonder!
Below is my script for Pause for Thought on BBC Radio Devon:
Whilst watching The Jungle Book with my two year old daughter, the threat of Shere Khan the tiger loomed large.
All week I’ve explored key themes within the Disney film as it relates to following, contentment, trust, identity and belonging. Today, Shere Khan represents threat.
The constancy of threat in our lives is a very real challenge.
From accidents and illness, to national politics and global catastrophe – we are a threatened race.
The Jungle Book represents the pompous and the evil of the English character.
The Elephant is an English, old fashioned, pompous army colonel.
Shere Khan is the English, old fashioned evil villain.
Below is my script for Pause for Thought on BBC Radio Devon:
There is nothing quite like snuggling up with your children to watch a cartoon.
As my daughter snuggled in, we enjoyed Disney’s The Jungle Book, and so far this week, we’ve looked at significant themes within the songs: following, contentment, trust and identity.
Now we look at belonging.
Mowgli feels abandoned and alone. A crisis most of us feel at some time.
He walks from the lush forest into the wastelands inhabited by the vultures.
He tells them why he is upset so they decide to sing him a song, that begins like this:
Below is my script for Pause for Thought on BBC Radio Devon:
Using the brilliant Disney film ‘The Jungle Book’ this week, we’ve thought about following, anxiety and trust. Today we look at identity.
The monkeys had kidnapped Mowgli and taken him to their leader, the orangutan King Louie, who wanted the power of fire that humans had.
He sings, “I wanna be like you, I want to walk like you, talk like you, …”
Human beings learn by copying others.
It’s as if we copy others in order that we become ourselves.
So while we maintain our unique identity; to reach it, we need community. We need others.
