Morning all. I am feeling a bit reflective this morning… it was, after all, a calm and inviting morning to have a swim. Every day we wake up facing many choices. The first one for many of us is whether to swim…
It is also a choice of whether to do life with people or alone…
Whether to open ourselves up to the possibility of new love…
Whether to race back from Shelley or take it easy (ok that is not a choice the A-team ever really ponder too long on)…
Whether to stay or if its time to go… (bye Sara for now)…
So… life is full of choices. And as a Baptist Minister, I am always interested in human flourishing and the choices that lead to this. While laid out in quite a stark way, I like what CS Lewis, the author of the Narnia books says…
“Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different than it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other.”
Have a great day… and I hope you are choosing to become more of a heavenly creature with every day!
30 comments
Alex Prendergast
20/08/2015 at 1:16 pm
Great photo’s but I prefer Tolkien. The Narnia chronicles were far to stereotypical.
fifi
20/08/2015 at 1:28 pm
Feeling rather enraged that I am categorised as mad, horrible, idiotic and etc. Suggest a separate blog is required if you are going to proselytise here.
#givemeabreak #servesmerightforgotitwasthursday
Tim Giovanelli
20/08/2015 at 1:41 pm
I think they wrote for different age groups… I tend to prefer Tolkien too…
To: timgiovanelli@hotmail.com
Tim Giovanelli
20/08/2015 at 1:56 pm
I certainly didnt mean to offend with the CS Lewis quote, just get people thinking.
Ill come and have a chat to you about my Thursday blog.
To: timgiovanelli@hotmail.com
Ali
20/08/2015 at 1:57 pm
I agree FiFi – just added to my morning after being monstered by ill mannered swimmers. Perhaps a post on swimming etiquette would be better.
Shelley Berning
20/08/2015 at 2:17 pm
Great blog Tim, and what a great swim this morning! A challenging passage by an inspiring thinker which reminds us how much of a gift free will is, and shows just how easily accessible joy and peace and knowledge and power are.
fifi
20/08/2015 at 2:20 pm
The key word at Bold and Beautiful is Inclusiveness.
A quote, like that, and its inference, is divisive.
John.St
20/08/2015 at 2:49 pm
Tim, Great blog.
I don’t see that quote as divisive at all. Just the opposite.
I also agree inclusiveness is what B&B is all about.
Which to me at least, means acceptance of others and not being judgemental of the opinions and actions of others whether you agree with them or not (or whether you have heard their story or not).
Keep up the good work. Keep people thinking. Challenge peoples thoughts.
Lips
20/08/2015 at 2:54 pm
Thanks Tim.
And thanks to all bloggers who dedicate their time every week to keep us entertained and inspired.
Love how the diversity of swimmers is reflected in the diversity of blogs.
Group hug!
Tim Giovanelli
20/08/2015 at 2:55 pm
Thanks mate, that was certainly my intention. I think it is one of the most profound quotes on human nature, the paths we take and the choices we make… and I guess you take or leave the bit about God… 😉
To: timgiovanelli@hotmail.com
John.St
20/08/2015 at 3:53 pm
Exactly!
and BTW I lean towards Ginger Meggs and little words cause I got a little noggin what don’t go too well.
Lips says it succinctly, thanks to the bloggers who put time and effort in that people like me don’t, it’s appreciated.
Alex Prendergast
20/08/2015 at 4:05 pm
Interestingly CS Lewis was a Christian Apologist.
Tim Giovanelli
20/08/2015 at 4:12 pm
As was Tolkien… they were a part of the same group called the Inklings…
To: timgiovanelli@hotmail.com
Jane
20/08/2015 at 4:46 pm
……..and now for something completely different. Yesterday some of us were lucky enough to swim above the most ginormous school of biggish fish we had ever seen – must have been hundreds of thousands, they just kept on coming. Sharnie thought they were Australian Salmon. I sent Elaine’s pics:
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#inbox/14f496f9f6efbdbc?projector=1
and
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#inbox/14f496f9f6efbdbc?projector=1
to Mark at the OzMus. He confirmed Sharnie’s ID as follows:
“Wow! What a great experience. I think the identification is correct.
http://australianmuseum.net.au/eastern-australian-salmon-arripis-trutta-forster-1801
What a shame there weren’t any “followers”, a couple of images of those would have been pretty cool!”
Cheers, Mark”.
Jane
20/08/2015 at 4:47 pm
Sorry – link to Lainey-Loo’s pics didn’t work, unless U want to scroll right down the email.
Gaetan
20/08/2015 at 5:01 pm
Very cool Jane they are pretty much shaped like kingfish aren’t they? Colors are a bit different but if I see one I’d think I saw a kingfish. It’s not often that we see new fish so this is exciting indeed! 🙂
Lucy
20/08/2015 at 5:28 pm
Hi everyone! I have a green Orca TRN size 8 which was left on Reg’s bench this morning. Will bring in the morning and give to Ian!
Elizabeth X
20/08/2015 at 5:48 pm
I think the quote is very simplistic rather than deep. Who turns just one direction in all their choices in life – to me it vastly underestimates the nuances and complexities of life’s choices. Me I am sometimes faced with so many choices pulling me this way and that I feel like a whirling dervish and I don’t even have the amazing flowing costume, though I do have a red fez – from a trip to Morocco but that’s not relevant at all !!!
Wish I had swum, wish I had seen the fish. Tomorrow !
Lips
20/08/2015 at 6:03 pm
I don’t think Ian is size 8.
slower Ian N
20/08/2015 at 6:50 pm
yesterday while swimming a double, I didn’t see the huge school of big fish but heard about them back on shore. They must have been quite compact, near the shoreline and not out wide at all.
LSA aka HKTQ
20/08/2015 at 8:19 pm
….and I’ll come and have a chat with you on return about the bit about You and Choices too…;)
Appreciate all the hard work you and the other Bloggers go to every day/week!
Have a good trip back to Wales, Sara and look forward to catching up in UK or Manly. xxx
kierin
20/08/2015 at 8:43 pm
Tim, how would you feel if an atheist wrote a similar styled blog but pointed out the foolishness of choices to believe in a God, etc. Get the drift? For the record I am a practicing Catholic, but I feel the B&B blog is not your personal audience for a sermon, regardless of how well intentioned you are. That’s my 20 cents.
Dale
20/08/2015 at 8:57 pm
Hi Lucy thanks, that would be mine, I will pick it up from Ian on Saturday, cheers Dale
Jane
20/08/2015 at 9:32 pm
Yes, I agree Gaétan. They are very similar to the Kingfish, Yellowtail Scads, Trevallies etc, all in the Carangidae family, but are in their own separate little family.
Jane
20/08/2015 at 9:35 pm
Yes, they were not very far out from the shoreline and very densely packed, but the “run” went on for miles it seemed.
Suzie P
20/08/2015 at 10:35 pm
Agreed!
Veena
21/08/2015 at 8:38 am
Classic Fi!xx
Veena
21/08/2015 at 8:42 am
Very succinctly put.
Beth Oakley
21/08/2015 at 9:13 am
I love your blog Tim. Thank you for provoking thoughtfulness and inspiring us with insight from the wonderfully wise CS Lewis. What we do with these words is our choice, and each individual response a reflection of our diversity. To play it safe doesn’t disrupt, and disruption engages us with our humanity, and leads us into greater awareness of self and our relationship with others.
Beth
Shelly
21/08/2015 at 9:49 am
I’m reminded of a song…by Lesley Gore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsYJyVEUaC4
It’s my blog day and I’ll write what want too !
who cares ! today blog is tomorrow fish & chip wrapper.
Love you all
Shelly
xoxoxo