how to be happy
from Dawson
Did
you know that you are the sum of the five people you spend the most
time with? One of my mentor’s said this to me at the start of the year
and it really stuck in my head. I’ve heard much the same thing said in
other ways by other great people, and let’s face it – it just makes
sense. The people you surround yourself with, the books you read, the
courses you participate in, the shows you watch – all of these are a
sure predictor of where you’re going to be 5 years from now.
5 Responses to “how to be happy”
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author musician theologian
Maggi has kept a blog since September 2003, writing about theology and faith, the arts and literature, and a little about life and random nonsense...
In an increasingly secularised society few people have a good working knowledge of the Bible. Yet a great deal of our culture is built on stories or ideas that come from the Bible. Literature, art, music, language and even the fabric of our society - such as our justice system - are built on Christian concepts and biblical references. The Writing on the Wall provides a fascinating introduction to the Bible's best-known, and most influential, stories. Each chapter gives some background to the text of the Bible, and shows how the stories have become enmeshed in Western culture. Adam and Eve, the ten plagues of Egypt, The Prodigal Son and Mary Magdalene all feature - along with how the Bible has influenced everyone from Shakespeare to Monty Python, and Caravaggio to Banksy. 
Giving It Up explores the Lenten idea of 'giving up', taking it beyond the traditional idea of simply abstaining from something, and suggesting instead that what we need to give up is our existing ideas about God. With a daily readings for each day of Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, it follows the heroes of the Bible who had to give up their own too-small ideas about God.
This is Maggi’s bestselling book of daily readings for each day of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. Advent is the beginning of the Church year, and marks the anticipation of the coming Messiah. These readings explore how beginnings and endings in our own lives are illuminated by the different Gospel narratives of Christ's coming.
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‘No woman should enter the ministry, especially in the CofE, unless she is prepared to put up with a hell of a lot of bullying, and strong enough to maintain self esteem swimming against the tide of a deeply negative and often misogynistic culture.’
Maggi, this is not acceptable. No other sphere of employment would get away with this. Any secular organisation would be hauled over the coals in court. This is nothing but institutional discrimination.
I’ve just returned from a residential weekend and many of the ordinands, both men and women, are seething about the current situation.
Andy, I agree that it’s not good enough; I’m not recommending it as good, just saying that that is how it is, and women had better go into it with their eyes open
It certainly makes sense to me, though it also fills me with an emotion not dissimilar to abulia: I only have one life, and I want to make the most of it: which five people should I be spending my time with to maximise my chances of success?
Questions like this are pretty unpleasant, but how do you avoid asking them of yourself in the light of advice like this?
Not sure about this, I am not fond of the distinction between quality and quantity of time, but if we are a missional people surely most of our time will be spent with people we wish to influence while less but more intense time will be with those who support and encouarge our mission. There are a few people who I see only once or twice a year for no more than a day or two but they profoundly shape who I am. Some people have done it through only one meeting in my life, and some of them were dead before I met them!
How difficult it is to seperate the people in our lives to only five (if we take this literally) who we spend the most time with, who influence us the most and in turn we attempt to influence.
The people I have the most intense time with are not my family but people who have come into my life for one reason or another, 2 especially have had the biggest affect on me and I would hope in some way I have affected them in a positve manner.
This is a tough one as neither of them were chrstians but their affect on me was life changing.