Mike Oliver's Messages

Recently I've had a song coming to me. The words of it are seemingly about a young girl who waits for her boyfriend to return but he doesn’t show. “Delta Dawn” was made famous by Helen Reddy but has been sung also by Bet Midler and others. Why this song I asked as it circled like a vulture while I worked and again as I woke to another day. It’s as if the Spirit is speaking to me and I’m too dense to understand so I did some research and was astounded to find others had similarly come up with something spiritual in the song. The story in the lyrics is about the woman who waits for her man’s return just as the Church awaits Jesus return still these thousands of years later. It reminds me of the way the Church says Jesus will return but somehow that day eludes us, year after year, century after century. It’s as if Jesus plays this cruel trick on us who have fallen in love with him. But it’s not a cruel trick of Jesus doing; rather it’s a trick of our theological misunderstandin

An angel assists a saint in a most extraordinary way in the book of Acts (12). Peter is imprisoned and heavily guarded by the command of Herod while the church has set a prayer vigil to God. A supernatural being comes and looses Peter from his chains and confinement in such a way that though Peter does as he is commanded he is not completely aware if its real or a vision. While the angel was with Peter he was not himself but as in a rapture or a dream. However when he comes too his senses he finds himself outside the prison and walking to the believers gathered in prayer. Though his chains fell off, he clothed himself, walked past two guard posts and locked gates opened, yet Peter was not aware it was any more than a dream. When Peter arrived at the gathered believers though praying they were astonished that he was freed. There are two aspects of this account which strike me as important. 1) Jesus never had an angel give this kind of help when he was imprisoned to do God's wil

Having attempted to bring change to our last parish, and found some people eventually unwilling to tough it out and keep moving with us, I find myself trying to find out how it could have been done better.  The issue of change resistance is not necessarily about poor goal setting, but rather about process management.  In the book "The Call to the Soul" by Marjory Zoet Bankson there is a delightful piece looking at the inside of those faced with change, "In truth, a new call terrifies me." she says. "When I get a sense of a new call, I harbour a wish to fit it in with what I am already doing.  But I cannot because my life is already over full, and I do not want the work of shifting my priorities to make space for the unknown.  I deny my failure to acknowledge a new call and keep this secret urge to myself, without naming it.  I do not know what to say.  I "forget" to speak about it with friends.  Thoughts tumble and refuse to stay ordered.  I behaved