Tales from Asia

Arrived in Cambodia yesterday and spent a sunny, hot and humid day walking and travelling in tuk tuks around Phnom Penh. I was struck again by the uplifting psychological, emotional and even physical power of a simple smile. Even strangers in the street make eye contact and smile here, just as I found previously in Thailand. Yes, some people are hoping to engage in business transactions by foreigners' attention whereas others seem happy simply to show friendliness and kindness. I find this cultural phenomenon very attractive and compelling and wonder what underlying cultural worldview and values this represents that I and we could learn from.

Spaces between People

I was amazed this week to be sent the following extract from Simon Walker's new book, 'The Undefended Life.' It resonated deeply with what I had been musing on in recent blog postings on leadership. Here's the extract (my own emphases in italics):

'Look at spaces between people...the life of God is constituted in the relationships that exist between Father, Son and Spirit. The divine is not an essence in each person but a quality of relationship between them. This observation transforms how and where we look for God's presence in the world. We tend to think of such things as the fruit of the Spirit as virtues or core attributes that exist within a person, like an internal ethical guide or a source of energy that leads to godly action. Our minds easily go to the notion of essence, the fruit of the Spirit as an essence in a person's character. But this notion...suggests that we should see the fruit not as within a person but between that person and other persons. The fruit of the Spirit is the character of the relational space that individuals foster around them.'