The progressive journey

I enjoyed driving to and from Bendigo in regional Victoria yesterday. It was time for the bi-monthly gathering of my Formation Group of students who are studying with the Australian College of Ministries (ACOM). It was once again refreshing to share the day with these guys. There is certainly something special about opening the doors of our lives to one another, in a safe place, over time - I really appreciate the honesty and the transparency plus the shared insights we receive when we get together.

We kicked off our day by each selecting two black and white Aussie landscape/people images I had displayed around the room. As we considered what each image was saying to us it was interesting to observe that one or two common themes were emerging from the process. One clear theme was about the JOURNEY we each are on...

Prior to meeting together I had encouraged the guys to come prepared to reflect upon something they had found meaningful from a recent article, book or Scripture they had been reading.

Here is what I brought to the group, based on my recent readings from my 'Mere Christianty Journal' by CS Lewis;

"We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road, and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man...There is nothing progressive about being pig headed and refusing to admit a mistake. And I think if you look at the present state of the world, it is pretty plain that humanity had been making some big mistakes. We are on the wrong road. And if that is so, we must go back. Going back is the quickest way on."

It was a good day in Bendigo and I certainly had a bit to think about on my drive back home...