The Works of the Flesh Versus The Fruit of the Spirit

INTRODUCTION

              Many remarkable things take place when God converts a human being. God’s Spirit works with God’s Word in the heart of every believer, first, to enable belief in the sinner (who beforehand is dead in trespasses and sins until the Spirit regenerates him/her), and second, to transform the regenerated or born-again sinner through the renewing of his/her mind. The former has to do with Justification and the latter has to do with Sanctification. Like love and marriage going together like a horse and carriage, you can’t have one without the other.

              The individual is Justified by God the very moment he believes. He is also Sanctified by God at the same moment, but unlike Justification (which is a legal transaction in God’s court of law), Sanctification is progressive. It is the Son, i.e., Jesus Christ by His perfect life, death and resurrection who Justifies a sinner. It is the Holy Spirit who begins the work of Sanctification in the heart of the sinner upon his Justification. Both Justification and Sanctification are a work of God. However, unlike Justification, the (redeemed) sinner gets to participate in his Sanctification by doing the works God has prepared for him/her beforehand (Eph. 2:10).

              The Works of the Flesh versus the Fruit of the Spirit shows (according to Scripture) the “before and after picture” of the Christian. Before his conversion the sinner produces only works of the flesh. After his conversion the Holy Spirit produces fruit in the (redeemed) sinner. 

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SOCIALISM - My Part in its Downfall

SOCIALISM: My Part in its Downfall

The further society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.

George Orwell

Preface

Unlike Spike Milligan’s book, Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall, my SOCIALISM: My Part in its Downfall is not meant to be a humorous book. Sure, you may find some sections funny (whether intended or unintended!). However, the intention of this book is to be a serious reflection on the modern state of affairs. Okay, I will try hard not to be too serious all of the time, and I promise to inject some (of what I call) humour into what follows.

Socialism is now very much unashamedly out of the closet, (if it ever was in the closet!). At its base, Socialism is all about wealth redistribution by government. If this sounds to you like what you think government is supposed to do, then this book is intended to help you think this concept through. What is government for? Is it there to protect the freedom of the individual? Or is it designed to look after the masses through a system of wealth redistribution?

America added a bill of rights to sit beside her constitution. Why? To protect the individual citizen from unlawful government interference in their lives. Socialistic governments increasingly expand as they implement more and more of their (wealth redistribution) social programs, and, as they do so, individual rights, i.e., basic freedoms for the individual, more and more decrease. Bigger government means greater taxes. Taxes are the reason why America came into being in the first place! A high tax burden creates angst among the people, and they become revolting. Thus, the American Revolution in brief.

Socialism is not about the haves giving to the have nots. Rather than the individual “haves” cheerfully participating in the voluntarily (tax-free or tax-deductable!) giving of charitable donations, Socialism is about the government taking from these “haves” and redistributing their wealth to a society of its own creation, i.e., the entitlement society. Thus, Socialism is a self-perpetuating system of wealth redistribution. Instead of rolling up their collective sleeves to work hard and earn an honest crust, the people now look to the government expecting a handout. In Western democracies, one can either vote for freedom, or one can vote for free stuff.

What about the destitute and the disabled, those who are unable to work, those who are unable to find employment? Government welfare should be a last resort, and even then, it is not the role of governments to dole out other people’s money, but simply to encourage charity in society. There is the way of Socialism, and then there is the Christian way. In the former, government is a major player. In the latter, government is merely the referee. 

   

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BOOKS

Books

In ancient times books could be written on vellum, parchment, and papyrus. Nowadays, we use paper and electronic devices. With the advent of eBooks, book lovers have really begun to appreciate the, smell, look, and feel of physical books. One can only wonder if in days of yore there were people that preferred the smell, look, and feel of animal skins over newfangled wood-pulp paper! Did they lament the transition from skins? However, a book is still a book regardless of what it is written on.

The Bible is a book that is made up of sixty-six books. The first mention of a book in the Bible is, ‘This is the book of the genealogy of Adam’ Genesis 5:1. Henry M Morris says, ‘The record thus was written, not just transmitted orally. Quite possibly, Adam himself wrote the section (chapters 2, 3, 4) which concludes with this statement and signature of Adam. Similarly Noah (note Genesis 6:9) was the probable original author of Genesis 5:1b – 6:9a.’ The suggestion then is that Moses utilised these books when writing the first five books of the Bible.

God is God of gods. Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings. And the Bible is the Book of books. When author and booklover, Sir Walter Scott lay dying, he asked his son-in-law, John Gibson Lockhart to read to him. ‘From what book?’ asked Lockhart. ‘There is but one Book!’ replied Scott. The Bible is the most important Book in the world. It is God’s revelation to us. It tells the story of creation, fall, flood, and what God has done in Jesus Christ for our redemption. It is the story of the first Adam and the last Adam. The New Testament begins, ‘The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.’ Matthew 1:1. The Old Testament reveals how things went wrong for Adam and his posterity, and the New Testament reveals how the new Adam repaired it all.

    The Bible is the Word of God, a Book about Christ, who is also called The Word of God. After the Fall, God clothed Adam and Eve in skins, and began to have the Word of God tattooed onto skins. Thus, every time the Word was read it pointed to the Word, ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’ John 1:29b. In the first book of the Bible the first Adam is clothed in skin which points forward to the last Adam. In the last book, the last Adam is ‘clothed with a robe dipped in blood’ which points back to the first Adam. ‘His name is called The Word of God … And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS’ Revelation 19:13b & 16.

Adam (and his posterity) was to be the crown of God’s creation (Gen. 1:26-28; Psalm 8:4-8; Hebrews 2:6-8), but Adam handed his crown over to Satan by sinking his perfect teeth into the forbidden fruit. A million books, from Snow White eating a poisoned apple to Dracula’s need for blood to Frankenstein’s resurrected monster, have been written on Biblical themes. It is the Book of books! But more importantly, it is the Word of life, life everlasting. When a lot of Jesus’s followers began turning their backs of Him, ‘Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”’ John 6:67-69.

Don’t leave this earth until you have read the Book cover to cover. 

Modern Science & Transubstantiation

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Springsure, Queensland

The following is excerpted from my (eBook) fictional novel “A Stick in Time”, briefly in Dublin, but set mainly in the Queensland town of Springsure.

Nundah: A multilingual Australian Aborigine theologian.

Donald: A Gaelic and English speaking Canadian geologist from Nova Scotia who is in Australia with his daughter Isabel, a biologist. Both are doing scientific research in Springsure.

APPENDIX 10

Modern Science & The Doctrine of Transubstantiation

My dear traveller, the following is part of a deep conversation Nundah and Donald were having: Nundah said, ‘Is faith built upon reason or is reason built upon faith? That’s the problem! What we call “science” today used to be called “natural science” – it is a philosophy, a way of thinking. You can trace it all the way back to Aristotle and beyond, but it was mainly through Thomas Aquinas in the 1200s that a stick was stuck into the spokes of science, especially when scientific study began in earnest later with the Reformation of the Church in the 1500’s. It was during the Dark Ages, around the 1200’s, that the Doctrine of Transubstantiation began to really take hold in the minds of men. When the Reformation brought the Scriptures to the people in their own language they began to see that the Roman Church, that is, the Church during the Dark Ages, had been asking them to go beyond the clear teaching of the Bible. The people were being told to believe “by faith”, by which was really meant “blind faith”, not by physical observance, that the bread and the wine miraculously change into the actual body and blood of Jesus. It was unlike in Scripture where whenever a miracle occurred, everyone could see it – Jesus feeding the five thousand, turning water into wine, healing lepers, raising the dead etc.’

‘Donald, with your scientific background and credentials I know you can follow my line of reasoning. The subtlety of the Doctrine of Transubstantiation is that it was a blind faith approach. It was science turned on its head until it was put right side up by the Reformation, the time when the Church returned to using Scripture alone. The Doctrine of Transubstantiation is a case of putting reason before faith – as Thomas Aquinas had taught. In other words, if the “science of the day” says it, then you are to believe it, which is the same as saying that reason comes before faith.’

Donald allowed Nundah to continue, ‘The trouble was that when it came to science Thomas held to the views or philosophy of Aristotle and not to the Bible. That’s why, for example, the Roman Catholic Church held the view that the sun revolved around the earth and not the other way around till Copernicus, and then Galileo with his telescope, demonstrated otherwise! These two men believed that the Bible taught that the earth revolved around the sun. So, as it was for the people who have become the New Catholics, and as it was for you, so it now is for Isabel: she cannot believe in the virgin birth because she has put reason before faith and not the other way around as it should be. Modern science per se denies miracles.

‘Yes,’ said Donald. ‘Scripture says that our understanding is darkened, that we cannot reason properly on account of our own sin as part of the fallen human race. Therefore we must continue to pray that God will shine the light of His Word into Isabel’s dark and stony heart just as I shined the light and illuminated the Virgin Rock from the chopper!’

Virgin Rock, Springsure

‘We must pray that God will give her faith, that she will believe what the Bible says about Jesus Christ, what the Bible says about His virgin birth, His cross, and His resurrection.’

‘O Nundah, I can’t bear to think of my daughter not living forever on the New Earth when the Lord renews it all and us with it. I can’t bear the thought of her going to that other horrible place! I was thinking as you were speaking. Before the Reformation the Church was ruled by priests and popes. As you know, the word pope derives from Greek πάππας meaning “Father”. The pope’s word was law. If he said the bread and wine became Christ’s body and blood, then that was what you were to believe – on pain of death, as those who suffered martyrdom for denying it attest. As Isabel’s father I taught her a great error for which I am as every bit as guilty as those papal “fathers” who taught Transubstantiation. I taught her to reject Christ on account of things like the Romish Mass! How many have thrown the baby out with the bathwater because of this impossible and unbiblical teaching of the Church? Everyone knows that the bread and the wine do not change their physical properties no matter how many papal encyclicals are written to defend it! It is because of this false doctrine that most of the science community rejects the miracles recorded in the Bible. If a major doctrine like Transubstantiation can be falsified then it very much weakens, no, it annihilates the miracles claimed in the pages of Scripture – so goes the reasoning of today’s science. No miracle of Transubstantiation, no other miracles!’

‘That’s exactly what the Reformers rescued the Church and science along with it from!’ interjected Nundah. ‘Yes, it all started with Luther’s Ninety Five Theses, but the battle of the Reformation soon raged around the Doctrine of the Mass. The Bible doesn’t say that the bread and wine undergo change. To reason that they do is to be unscientific. True science is based on the observable, the testable. And as such it is grounded in Scripture. Miracles are observable – the withered arm became visibly whole again, the dead person became visibly alive, the bread and the fish became visibly multiplied. Miracles are supposed to be observed so that the observers may see that they are miracles and praise God!’

‘So that’s where you’re coming from?’ said Donald. ‘Science is based on faith. If the bread and wine were to undergo a change as to their physical properties then, for what it’s worth, science could easily verify the miracle simply because the laws of creation are fixed, and if the bread and wine were to exhibit the least abnormality, it would immediately be detected. In other words, all is faith that is grounded in the fixed laws of creation. Whether the scientist is Christian or Atheist, both act first and foremost according to faith, as the great Augustine of Hippo attests, nay, as Scripture attests!’

INNISFAIL AND BABINDA

Excerpted from my From Mason To Minister

Innisfail and Babinda

I think I was in my second year at college when I was posted to a place called Innisfail in far north Queensland for three month’s summer relief work. I was to look after the Presbyterian churches at Innisfail and also Babinda, a much smaller town north of Innisfail. We drove north the 1,600 kilometres from Brisbane to Innisfail (which is about 100 kilometres south of Cairns, Babinda being about 60).

My family lapped up the tropical weather. My mother-in-law, Margaret Notini, came up by train to visit. She loved it too. We were able to spend some free time at the beach, swimming in the Pacific. The downside were the “stingers” in the water - which were mostly bluebottle jellyfish. However, the local council erected large nets in an effort to protect swimmers.

As I floated peacefully in the water admiring the bright and pleasant surroundings, I couldn’t help but think how wonderful is the Creator of all these things: glimmering sandy beaches, palm trees, and the turquoise ocean. Isn’t this the earthly “utopia” I had wished for when I was shovelling snow back in “Winterpeg,” Manitoba? I suppose splashing Pacific water on myself was one way of keeping cool under the glow of a glorious tropical sun! The sparkling beach sand was bleached white, and mango trees - branches breaking under the weight of their fat, juicy fruit - were more plentiful than palm trees!

At theological college, I had learned that although God reveals Himself through the things He has made -such as the enticing tropical scene I was viewing through my cheap sunglasses - the spectacles of His written Word are needed for us to see Him properly. John Calvin, likening the Bible to eyeglasses, is saying that everything about God remains fuzzy without the aid of God’s Word to clarify truth.

As I lapped up the good life on my summer break in far-north Queensland, I wondered if what I was seeing was anything like the Paradise of old. Mind you, when Adam ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, he sinned against God. And the Bible says that sin is the transgression of God’s Law (summarized in the Ten Commandments). But it’s a comforting thing to know that when God made us, He engraved His Commandments in positive form upon our hearts. For this means that each of us, in our own conscience, knows that it is wrong to steal, commit adultery, lie, etc.

Viewed through the “glasses” of God’s Word, the golden sands, palm trees, and turquoise ocean reveal something of the beauty of the Creator reflected in His creation. The bluebottle jellyfish? They remind us that something is not quite right with our present “paradise.” Why do these stingers have to spoil a pleasant day at the beach? If we ask this question, we have to go all the way and ask why death has to spoil life for us? Why is there pain, suffering, and death in creation?

In my studies, I learned that the Bible teaches that the wages of sin is death. This means that Adam’s sin - and our own sinful disposition which is inborn in each of us - accounts for the sin and misery we see in the world around us. Pain, suffering, and death do not reflect the nature of God, rather they reflect the consequences of our fallen nature, which is part of God’s judgment upon our sin. God created mankind perfect and placed us in a perfect Paradise in the beginning, but like starlings fouling their own nests, so we (in Adam) destroyed our own habitat. But worse than this, according to the Bible, we also destroyed ourselves.

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HAT-DOFFING

Hat-Doffing

As a fan of the old westerns it came to my attention early on that cowboys would invariably tip their hats to the ladies. Also, whenever at a burial the hat would be doffed and held in a hand covering the heart as if swearing allegiance to the flag. As an Army Chaplain I find myself likewise removing my hat automatically whenever I or someone else prays – at a Remembrance Day Service, for example. What’s with hat-doffing? Some like to connect it with military saluting, which, in turn, they connect to knights in armour raising the visor on their helmets for identification purposes.

Whether it is tipping the hat for women or doffing the hat for God, at the very least, it is sign of respect when men do this. When the spotlight of Scripture is shone on this custom we can see that hat-doffing, i.e., showing respect, is an expression of the Fifth Commandment, ‘Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you’ Exodus 20:12. This Commandment is repeated in Deuteronomy 5:16. In Ephesians 6:2 it is phrased like this, ‘“Honour your father and mother”, which is the first commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”’

Does this Commandment mean longevity and hat-doffing are connected? If we keep in mind that a civilised society is called civilised on account of its people behaving civilly toward each other, then it is easy to see that the promised longevity is simply the result of that society applying the sum of the Decalogue, which is about loving God and your neighbour as yourself. Honouring your father and mother means more than respecting your own mum and dad. Rather, its application means that, as an inferior we are to respect all who are superior (including God) and, as a superior, all our inferiors. In a word, we are to show respect to all others regardless of their station in life.

When the Gospel of Peace impacts any uncivilised society that society becomes civilised, as the Western nations attest. However, the more any nation turns from the teaching of the Gospel and its attendant teaching of loving one’s neighbour as oneself, the less respect people have for one another, resulting in such things as, e.g., a higher violence and murder rate. We might say in shorthand: Healthy pulpit, healthy nation. At the moment Western nations are at various stages of decay and disrepair because many congregations, if they hear anything at all about God’s Law, hear always only what is negative. And yet, the degree as to how civilised any society is is measured against how well its collective citizens keep the Ten Commandments, summarised in the words: love God and your neighbour as yourself. Christians delight in God’s Law (Romans 7:22) because ‘the Law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good’ (Romans 7:12). In His ‘Sermon On the Mount’, Jesus reminded, nay, He rebuked the Pharisees for their twisted view and misapplication of God’s Law. They had forgotten what every Christian knows: ‘For we all know that the Law is spiritual’ Romans 7:14a. The Pharisees’ miserable failure to keep the Law outwardly revealed their inward or spiritual deadness. According to Jesus ‘They are blind leaders of the blind’ Matthew 15:14. He says, ‘Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also’ Matthew 23:26.

To be sure, also some ‘Christians’ today, like the Pharisees of old, overlook the spiritual nature of the Ten Commandments, forgetting that spiritual things are ‘spiritually discerned’ (1 Corinthians 2:14b). One lot reveals that they are spiritually undiscerning by trying to keep the Commandments as a means of salvation, and the other lot illustrate that they are undiscerning by their rejection of that which is, not dead, but spiritual, i.e., God’s Law. In other words, in the churches today both legalism and antinomianism betray a spiritual blindness. God’s Law needs to be written on the heart before it can be worn on the sleeve. How can anyone have missed the fact that the Law needs to be internalised before it can be kept as God intended? Jesus reminds us what the Scriptures teach, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength…’ and … ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ Mark 12:30-31.  

Hat-tipping and hat-doffing is one simple expression of loving God and your neighbour as yourself. Where do we find this in the Bible? ‘Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonours his head’ 1 Corinthians 11:4. This is where hat-doffing comes from. The male uncovering his head when in the presence of our heavenly Father is the application of the Fifth Commandment. The woman? She is not to uncover her head (1 Corinthians 11:5). 

GROWING OLD

Growing Old

Though we tend to look at it in the negative, growing old has its benefits. Sure, I may have been diagnosed with lumbar spondylosis and other things affected by the wear and tear of age, but I have noticed that the years have also given me a wealth of knowledge and experience to go with it. Job confirms this where he says, ‘Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life’ Job 12:12. Another benefit is the blessing of seeing your children’s children (Psalm 128:6).

One of the problems with getting old is hair loss. Jesus says, ‘But even the hairs of your head have all been counted’ Matthew 10:30. However, every time I visit the barber, he remarks on how thick my hair is as he’s thinning it! But grey hair? As they say in Scotland (especially in winter!) ‘I’d rather have grey hair than nae hair!’ There’s a Bible verse for this too, ‘Gray hair is a glorious crown; it is found in the ways of righteousness’ Proverbs 16:31. The NKJV gives a little bit of commentary where it adds the word ‘if’, and says it like this, ‘The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness.’ Could ‘the way of righteousness be what Neil Young is looking for where he sings, ‘Keep me searching for a heart of gold, and I’m getting old’? Wisdom is what we ought to be searching for. ‘If you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God’ Proverbs 2:4-5. The ‘heart of gold’ for the Christian is found in the new Jerusalem, ‘The main street of the city was pure gold, clear as glass’ Revelation 21:18b.

Where do we keep searching for this heart of gold, this hidden treasure, as we’re getting old? Look no further than Christ, ‘in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’ Colossians 2:3. It makes sense, that if you are not going ‘in the way of righteousness’, then you are going the wrong way, grey hair or nae hair! For Scripture says, ‘There is a way that seems right to a person, but its way is the way to death’ Proverbs 14:12. You would think that every grey-headed human being would be a follower of Christ. But, tragically, this is not so! There are those who are searching for fool’s gold. For, Scripture says, ‘The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”’ Psalm 14:1a. Why would you search for something you do not believe in? That would be most unwise! And Scripture says, ‘Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him’ Hebrews 11:6. Therefore, there is no ‘heart of gold’ for those who are not searching for it.

For me, growing old has simply meant growing closer to God. Whenever I feel sorrow for myself in all my aches and pains, I think of my body being renewed in the resurrection. Then, I ‘shall run and not be weary, … walk and not faint’ (Isaiah 40:31b). When I hearken to my youth and wish I were young again, then I think of dwelling with Jesus on the renewed Earth with my renewed body. For, Scripture says, ‘We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is’ 1 John 3:2b. This means that I won’t have an elderly body in Paradise. Nor will a Christian who has died as a child be as a child. Rather, we will be like Jesus, i.e., as an adult in our early thirties without the affects of sin and of living in a fallen world!

Christians grow old gracefully because God is the God of grace.  

BURNOUT & COMPASSION FATIGUE

BURNOUT/COMPASSION FATIGUE RELAPSE PREVENTION PLAN

Introduction & Definition: The terms “burnout” and “compassion fatigue” are somewhat self-explanatory. Both speak of an end result. Burnout is a candle burning brightly for the length of its wick, now spluttering towards its end. Upon extinguishment the melted wax solidifies and is engulfed in the ensuing darkness. Compassion Fatigue is an ambulance running out of fuel as it speeds on its way to the scene of a serious accident. It rolls to a stop at the side of the road and shuts off its lights and siren to save embarrassment. As is a candle with no wick left to burn, so is an ambulance with no fuel left to run: both are spent.

Competitors & Carers: Competitive workplaces fuel burnout. Those seeking promotion, those trying to climb corporate ladders, lack proper peer support because they are competing against their peers. Thus, they may crash and burn if they neglect self-care. Then there are those who are in the support industry, those who are the carers of their competitive peers and others. These succumb to Compassion Fatigue due to taking to heart their peers’ burdens and problems without offloading. It is a recipe for disaster when Carers themselves have to compete with their peers for recognition and promotion. Though very much related, Burnout and Compassion Fatigue are not exactly the same thing, but when combined in an individual, they cause the competitive Carer to flat-line. Logically speaking, it would be better to have one or the other than having both Burnout and Compassion Fatigue at the same time. However, since logic lacks compassion, it would be far better to suffer from neither! Therefore, recognise the symptoms.     

Symptoms: Humanly speaking, those with Burnout and/or Compassion Fatigue have nothing left to give. They are stressed-out to the max. Their vim, vigour and vitality, their drive, has been replaced by a hollow feeling: emptiness. Their zeal, zest and zing, their passion, has been turned into fatigue, and their flaming fire has become dying embers and burnt-out ash. Empathy has ceded to sympathy, which has finally surrendered to apathy. Pain-avoidance is now about self-preservation: Reflection becomes deflection as the hard-shelled tortoise retreats into itself. It is a turning inward. “Now solitaire’s the only game in town.”[1] Loneliness. Withdrawal. Avoidance. The brave face works hard to conceal by disguise the broken spirit. “The tears of a clown when no one’s around.”[2] Salty-tears. Self-reflection. Self-pity. Self-loathing. Self-medication. “Running on empty.”[3] Fatigue. Breathlessness. Anxiety. Tightened vocal cords. Gastric pains. Racing heart. Emotional pain. Hurt. Fear. Irritability. Smouldering anger. Crash. Reboot. Crash. Crash. “Someone help me, help me please. Is the answer up above?”[4] Help!

Triggers: Busyness. Competitiveness. Nurturing negative thoughts and attitudes. Being “happy” in misery. Viewing the glass as half empty and in need of a top-up. Stressful situations. Neglecting to care for self.

Cure: Self-care. Rest. Re-focus. Recalibrate. “Count your blessings, name them one by one.”[5] Set smaller goals. Calm down and slow down. Relax. Unwind. De-stress. Appreciate what you have. Appreciate creation. Stop to smell the flowers. “Be still and know that I am God.”[6] Be thankful. Be grateful. Be kind, especially to yourself. Seek professional help. LET, repeat, LET others help you!

Relapse Prevention Plan: You have not failed if you are burnt out. You have not let the side down if you are compassion fatigued. You have simply neglected self-care. Self-care is not a sin. Nor is it a crime. It is just something that you must do, if you are going to fulfil your responsibilities to your job, your family, your friends and yourself. Sick and ill doctors have to cancel the appointments of the sick and ill. A helpless helper is useless. Like the oxygen masks on airplanes, therefore, look after your own wellbeing – first! It is sensible, not selfish, to look after oneself.

·         Burnout and Compassion Fatigue have KO’d even champions

·         Learn the symptoms to avoid the punches

·         Eat well, and train your mind as well as your body before entering the ring

·         Take time between each round to self-assess and have others assess your present condition

·         If you are face down on the canvass then listen closely to the count before you even think of trying to get back into the fray

·         Don’t forget to relax between title bouts

Conclusion & My Personal Care: Read Bible daily. Reflect on passage. Pray. Instead of always running around the lake or through the park, occasionally have a relaxing walk while enjoying and appreciating God’s creation. Listen to the birdsong. Even sing along with the birds! Be thankful to God, for the sun sparkling on the water, for the breeze in the trees, for all of His handiwork. Don’t just glorify God. Enjoy Him too! Really enjoy Him! Relax on my own. Relax with my wife. Relax with my family. Relax in my spa. Relax on my couch. Relax through the night in my bed. Relax! Don’t let politics annoy. Don’t let busy traffic annoy. Don’t let Social Media annoy. Stay calm. Stay focussed. Be grateful for family and friends.

I thought I was looking after myself. It was only after I had crashed that I realised how much I wasn’t. I did not enjoy getting KO’d and “canvassed”! But God certainly got my attention while I was seeing stars!

The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.[7]

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[1] Neil Sedaka & Phil Cody.

[2] Hank Crosby, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder.

[3] Jackson Browne.

[4] Paul Anka.

[5] Johnson Oatman.

[6] Psalm 46:10a.

[7] Westminster Shorter Catechism Q & A 1.