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 ====== Cleaning Up my Life ... ======
-Tuesday, Jan 7, 2020.
+Tuesday, Jan 7, 2020. At the beginning of a new year we might feel like getting
+a new start. We might feel like cleaning up in our life, and changing some things which
+caused us trouble. Usually, here we talk about our own life, about our own habits,
+about the patterns in our behaviour.
+But it is not that easy to change behavioural patterns. Do you know how to change
+them? Patterns of behaviour are actions we do again and again. Habits are important
+capabilities of humans, let us discuss that in more detail!
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-**  ... **
+** Behavioural Patterns ... **
+When you learn a musical instrument, you have to practice. We all know that. Usually
+we try to teach children, since there is a time in our life when we learn easily.
+When your body is still evolving, you can take up particular movements of your hands,
+your fingers. When you practice them a lot in an early stage of life, your body
+keeps them for your whole life!
+It is not only the hands and the fingers, which you shape when you learn a musical
+instrument. It is also your mind, your ears, your eyes. You learn to listen in a
+particular way. You learn the melodies and chords, you learn how to phrase music,
+how to build tension up and keep it, how to play together with others. You learn
+to listen to others, to play in a team. Musical education teaches you so much,
+and you start to develp particular capabilities and patterns.
+It is similar with all what we do in our life. Most of our actions day by day comes
+from patterns we have developed over time. Our reactions to other people. The way
+we treat others. The way we listen. What we tell them. All of it is patterns, habits,
+behaviour shaped over time.
+To develop new patterns, or to shape habits, we need time as well. And we need to
+use the time by building new patterns. When you want to change a pattern, you
+need decisions. You need many decisions, day by day. You need to actively do things
+differently. You need repetition. You need to shape the new pattern. Without this
+type of active activity, you will stay where you are.
+Often, we decide to change something. Then we do it once or twice. Then we realize
+that we fall back into the previous pattern. We are discouraged and we give up.
+The reason is that from the very beginning we have misunderstood the challenge. We
+need repetition. We need to build new habits. That is more a marathon than a
+sprint. Habits cannot be built by doing something just once or twice!
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-**  ... **
+** Develop New Habits ... **
+Jesus also wants us to work on the behavioural patterns of our life. The whole New
+Testament is an invitation to discover completely new patterns: the patterns of truth,
+love, faith, faithfulness. The gospel starts with the command to change our
+behavioural patterns. Its language calls this "repentence", and it is put into a
+clear framework. In the gospel of Matthew, we hear:
+<color #aa0000>
+In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
+</color> (Matthew 3, 1-2)
+The kingdom of heaven in at hand. That is the target point of John the Baptist. He is
+the prophet preceeding the messiah, he is coming to announce the "son of men", which
+we identify to be Christ Jesus.
+Sometimes people see Christianity primarily as a system of ethics. And indeed, ethics
+plays an important role. Behaviour is at the heart of our life. At the same time we
+have to see that ethics can only be understood properly if it is put into the overall
+framework of faith, which is deep trust in the love and truth and character of the
+eternal God.
+In this sense we need to see that the call to repentence, which we hear from John
+the Baptist, is not primarily a call to some particular ethical rule. It is a call to
+trust the Lord. He calls us to base our life on his full trustworthiness. When
+we live with him in a relationship of full trust, we have the proper basis to address
+our habits and behaviour, our ethics.
+Faith and trust is also a habit. Your emotions are linked to it. Your decisions.
+Your expectations. The perspective of your actions, the framework and compass of
+what you feel, what you think, what you decide, what you dream, what you do. John
+calls us to develop the habit of trusting the Lord. He calls us to develop the habit
+of living based on his character, his eternal love, his truth, the fidelity of
+his whole existence.
+To develop this habit of faith and trust, you need to take action. You need to
+do your bit, you need to practice. It is decisions today, in the morning, in the
+afternoon, in the evening, which need to be taken. Look into his word, the biblical
+books, the psalms, the gospels, the letters of the apostles. Pray to him, take
+time to bring your problems to him. Take also time to listen to him, to become
+silent, to wait for him to talk. It might take you time. There IS time during your
+day, whatever busy life you lead. Develop the habit of trust: repent :-).
 (Roland Potthast)