The chaos that is preparation

I am preaching Sunday night and attempting to spend some time preparing today.

Whenever I prepare for sermons, I seem to get a direction and then go through this period of chaos where nothing comes together and everything is muddled, and then I move into the phase of getting my thoughts in order.

I'm still in the chaos phase.

Very frustrating.

Anyway, here is a great quote I read while studying for uni the other night, which may or may not make it in some form into Sunday night's sermon.

Affirming values Leaders can do this in a number of ways. They can reaffirm existing values, remind people of the values of the past or they can lead the regeneration of values. Values always decay over time. Societies that keep their values alive do so, not by escaping the process of decay but by powerful processes of regeneration. There must be a perpetual rebuilding. Each generation must rediscover the living elements of its own tradition and adapt them to present realities. To assist in that rediscovery is one of the tasks of leadership. The leaders who we admire most help to revitalise our shared beliefs and values. They have always spent a portion of their time teaching the value framework. (Gardner, 1989, pp.13-14) John Gardner (1989) in his book entitled "On Leadership".