daily life as life goes on . . .

Stengths of Pastors as They Age – Arthur Brooks on Carey Nieuwhof Podcast,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1gDbrOmwvo&list=RDCMUClUd0Z_Y7-PgkCjjwddM5Qw&start_radio=1, 51:55

Taken from Script on nieuwhof’s Website – https://careynieuwhof.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/CNLP_599-%E2%80%93With_Arthur-Brooks.mp3.pdf

CAREY NIEUWHOF: For the average pastor, or priest in your tradition, who’s

53, which is close to the average age of pastors these days, where do they play to

their strengths? Where do they hit their head against the wall?

ARTHUR BROOKS: Their strengths are coaching and teaching, coaching and

teaching. So it’s, you always move into a role where you’re identifying talent and

developing talent as you get older. That’s what you want to be doing.

CAREY NIEUWHOF: So you’re less the operator, more the sage.

ARTHUR BROOKS: You’re more the instructor. Always it’s your instructor curve.

Now that also means that you’re instructing people at a broad level, but not trying to

have the big original breakthrough, helping to interpret what is out there and what

it actually means. So that means that, by the way, that one of the greatest things you

can do as a theologian late in life is write commentary.

All right is actually writing commentary, because you’re pulling from a million

different sources and you’re saying how it all hangs together and you need to know

a lot, you have to have a big library in your head.

Plus, you’re trying to explain it to other people. So you’re a teacher. So that’s an ideal

kind of thing to do, for example. So if you’re going to be doing pastoral work, you

want to make sure that it’s especially good to be doing pastoral work for younger

people in the profession.

As you get older cultivate the newer people in the profession if you can go into

teaching a class or two and then be doing the kind of synthetic work that looks big

picture as opposed to having the new huge breakthrough that nobody’s ever seen before.

Photo for the day:  Some days??

What are you giving to Jesus?

• Fear and Self-hatred.

• Fear of the unknown.

• pain,

• anger,

• resentment,

• hating my past,

• jealousy,

• mourning,

• struggle to forgive,

• feeling like I’m not good enough,

• stuck.

• fears and anxiety,

• overthinking,

• self doubt,

• judgement,

• anger,

• past mistakes,

• expecting change but not doing anything to change it,

• not being myself,

• feeling like I don’t deserve to be loved.

Sometimes I find that I just have to admit – I can’t do two things at once. 

We have been attending an evening group for the last while – Tuesday nights.  But, another group, that had taken a hiatus for a number of months is back up and running next Tuesday.  Which to attend (I haven’t yet found a way to be two places at once)?  We decided on the second option – and were saddened to have to announce that last night to our friends.

At some point we all have to manage being a disappointment to others.  The question is can we leave well, can we love well, can we still be accessible?  Not an easy choice but an important one!

Today’s photo – sometimes blackboards (greenboards) contain the most wise thoughts:

I’ve learned over the years that being simple is a good thing.

You are often remembered for short phrases / slogans, than for long-winded fully-developed theorems.

My grandchildren called me “grandpa with the moustache”.  I am known to enjoy sweets, particularly “Nanaimo bars”.  I love “pink elephants”.  And then there is the phrase, “Yada Yahweh”.  Each of these short phrases become filled with further meaning over time – but the anchor for understanding lights up people’s minds when things are KISS (Keep is Simple, Stupid).

Today’s photo lets you see what a combination of Jenga pieces and Duplo blocks looks like before the world comes crashing in!