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@rockynti

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Shalom. Things that have been on my mind this week: How two seemingly contradictory things can be true at the same time. How rare it is to have finite “starts” and “ends”. How this new wave of AI developments seems to mark both the beginning and the end, everything is going to be okay. How human-made art will never die. How important it is to take responsibility and ownership of what is in your hands, rather than expecting adults to show up. How reflecting on your own mortality and privilege can offer helpful perspective. How the greatest moments we could experience can still be tinged with suffering and pain. How embracing and understanding “both and” helps make sense of the continuous rollercoaster that life can be. How little I know, and how accepting my role as a student will open doors I could never force open alone. How it’s becoming clearer and clearer to me what matters most. taken in London, United Kingdom by @rockynti

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10 days ago

Shalom. Things that have been on my mind this week: Rest. Recover. Reanchor. Remember. Everything all at once. taken in Soho, London UK by @rockynti

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18 days ago

Shalom. Things that have been on my mind this week: Thankful to the communities in Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Singapore, Cebu, and Manila for their hospitality, joy, and generosity. Grateful for the collection of humans I have been on the road with for the past couple of weeks; it would have been impossible without everyone’s sacrifice and creativity. How privileged we have been to share spaces with 40,000 people, united in faith. How every single person we met had a story, and it was truly a gift to hear them all. How it felt like a family road trip, meeting distant cousins, aunties, and uncles you never knew you had, and how comforting it is to know that the family extends to the furthest parts of the Earth. How I will do my very best to hold onto all the pictures I have stored in my mind from these days and nights. It’s not only the nights I’ll remember; the moments in between and all around were just as sacred as the thing itself; the moments when I was surprised by joy will leave a fingerprint on my soul too. Honoured & humbled. God is good. 🇵🇭🇮🇩🇲🇾🇸🇬 taken in Philippines by @rockynti

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24 days ago

Shalom. Things that have been on my mind this week: Why gather? Why travel 7,000 miles to create space for brothers and sisters to come together? Why prepare for weeks and plan for months to create an environment that inspires and points towards the transcendent? It’s all in response to a revelation. I was bluntly reminded in a moment of reflection that gathering is not for my sake alone, not for me to be seen, adored, complimented, or to fulfil my own ambitions. One reason I have sat with this week, bearing witness to the strangers I have met who now feel like family, is that we gather for those who have wept in secret places, hidden away from the world, so they can finally have their burdens carried; we gather to hold one another in our moments of doubt or fear; we gather consistently so those who have felt isolated or disconnected can always find a place to be pointed back to their true identity and purpose. We gather for those who are filled with joy, for whom hope is alive, to celebrate this truth with others. We gather because art, music and song transform us from the inside out. We gather for the opportunity for the cynic to be transformed into a mystic, and for those who may feel lost to be invited onto a path back home. We gather to ask for forgiveness, to be challenged and to be shine a light on the darkest parts of ourselves. We gather to inspire storytellers and to give courage to those who may have lost their boldness. It’s an opportunity to remember who we are and whose we are, and to realise that despite different languages, ethnicities, experiences, and cultural heritage, we are all one, united by Spirit. What would it look like if the world we’re in were filled with people who truly believed that the stranger next to them was part of their own family, and treated them as lovingly as they would want to be treated? Halfway through this adventure with friends new and old, four more nights to go this week. Every moment, a miracle realised. Onwards. taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia by @rockynti

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a month ago

Shalom. Things that have been on my mind this week: Eclipses. From exhibitions, pub names, strangers’ conversations, random posters, the thought that even when the sky turns black, the sun still remains and continues to sustain us. How I can underestimate the sheer magnitude of the sun, how destructive and yet life-giving it is. I realised this installation was the closest I would ever get to coming face to face with the Sun and broke my brain trying to imagine what it would be like to stand before it in its totality. How small we are in comparison to the universe that surrounds us, what a gift it is that we are here to see it all. How I wish I would have paid attention in GCSE Science. How science can contribute to the story of who we are and how we were created. How those before us had to have so much faith that the sun would return during an eclipse; we have more knowledge that eclipses are momentary, but I’d argue they were far the wiser. How they may have got more right about Creation than we would like to admit. How mystical the world can become when you open yourself to hear what is being communicated to you. taken in Heathrow Terminal 5 by @rockynti

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a month ago

: Shalom. Things that have been on my mind this week: how important it is to come together in the wake of a crisis. How hard it is to maintain clarity amid the chaos and rhythms of everyday life; how consistency trumps intensity. How grief is expressed differently, and rather than critiquing people’s responses or processes, we should extend compassion and grace; how “bad things can happen to good people”; how suffering is not an indication that God has abandoned us; how every single one of us has the power to bring light into someone else’s darkness. Wondering what this human world would look like if it emanated compassion, fiercely defended those in need, and we continually remembered to put others before ourselves. Hope remains; even when the moon blocked out the sun and we sat together in the darkness of the eclipse, it was only for a moment; the sun still sustained us, even if we could not see it. taken in Soho, London UK by @rockynti

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2 months ago

: Shalom. Things that have been on my mind this week: How I’ve never felt more at home than in a monastery with eleven monks. How I heard more in silence than I did in spaces filled with sound. How Brother Theodore and I are convinced neither of us is very religious at all. How we can sometimes become more infatuated with created things than with the Creator. How embracing the mystical opens up a new dimension to this seemingly predictable reality. How even the most sceptical of humans would leave Worth Abbey with the impression that there was more to life than what meets the eye. How punk rock monks are for dedicating their lives to confronting themselves before God; they’re not hiding from anything, instead they choose to face their morality and this reality away from the distractions of this world. How denominational divides and doctrinal differences have caused the community of Christ to attack itself like a compromised immune system, robbing the world of what it is so desperate for, a united body exemplifying the unconditional love of God. It is a miracle to witness all the different expressions of our tradition, like when your cousins come over for a family dinner: they kind of look like you, they can be a little annoying, but you are bound by blood and what separates is less important than what unites. How deeply we are all loved, and how distant we can become from this truth, how distracted we are by forging our identities when we already possess all that we’ll ever need. The week began in a sea of mourning, with brothers and sister honouring Professor Jason Arday, and it ended in an ocean of love. taken in Worth Abbey, English Benedictine Monastery by @rockynti

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2 months ago

: Shalom. Things that have been on my mind this week: How self-improvement strategies are more helpful when they are connected to others, when they point beyond ourselves, and point us to the transcendent. How trying to “see yourself”, by yourself, is a fairly difficult task. How we can become so focused on surviving city life that we miss taking moments to realise we are not alone in this. How for a long time I failed to realise that other humans are the essential ingredient in any form of self-actualisation. How people in our lives carry the puzzle pieces that we are so desperate to find by ourselves, but there are parts of us that can only be experienced, awoken, or unlocked in the company of others. How love is made concrete in community; it turns from an idea into a reality to be experienced. by @rockynti

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2 months ago

Shalom. Things that have been in my mind this week: the idea of “going around the block for the extra 1%”. Going the extra mile. Choosing the harder path, even if your effort will not be recognised. Better still, choosing the harder path for the benefit of others, even if it makes you look “weak”. How overfamiliar I have become with the easy way out. How knowledge of doing the right thing isn’t enough. How thinking about doing something isn’t actually doing the thing itself, as valuable as our thought experiments are. How costly it is to push beyond our comfort zones, to sacrifice our time, to do what we believe to be the most loving thing in the present moment. How full of distractions and numbing agents our lives are. How sobering it is to realise how fragile our bodies and minds can be, and yet how resilient they can become with intention. How the privilege of never going without or never having to sacrifice can rob us of seeing how desperate life can be for those around us. We all have something someone else is in need of, despite how “little” we have. How simply showing up can be the answer to someone’s prayers. taken in London, United Kingdom by @rockynti

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2 months ago

Shalom. Things that have been on my mind this week: Firmly a third of the way down the path of this life, which is fascinating. Questions that I’ve pondered: How can I help? As God continues to gather all of Creation back to Himself, how can I support His mission of love rather than being an obstacle? In a context that is trapped in The Matrix, how can I create moments to unplug, so I remember that as good as it tastes, “the steak isn’t real”? When I’m a little too intoxicated by my own emotions/experience of life, fasting seems like a good idea. If I was created with intention, what rhythms could help me to understand how I’m wired? Not purely for my own benefit, but if I have a deeper understanding of myself, I can better live a life reflective of my original design in support of the Designer. How much of a mystery I am to myself. How odd I am as a human, but aren’t we all? Yet we are more than the sum of our preferences and programming, more than the combination of our past experiences, present expectations and future hopes. How can I help others if I’m not even aware of what’s in my own toolbox, if I’m oblivious of my limitations, if I’m unaware of my unique offering? taken in United Kingdom by @rockynti

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2 months ago

Shalom. Things that have been on my mind this week: Tempo. How the natural pace of life should shift, growing and slowing as required. How it seems the Spirit of God does not move at one set speed or rhythm, yet like a river, like water moving through Creation, there are different tempos depending on a host of factors. How circumstances, events, and experiences we encounter are like different landscapes, climates, and environments the water (that represents the flow of our lives) moves atop and through. As the water runs through different scenes, it moves at different speeds, whether it’s coursing down mountains, trickling through deserts, crashing down waterfalls; the tempo is set as all the variables in that moment intersect. How I sometimes force a speed that is not conducive to the moment I am in or to the environment I am surrounded by, and it is better to listen before being forced to increase or decrease my internal metronome to match the moment. How easy it is to acclimatise to a pace that is unsustainable. Slowing down is not “missing out”. How it seems the “right” tempo is the one that best respects and honours the present moment; our tempo should be determined by divine flow. taken in London, United Kingdom by @rockynti

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3 months ago

Shalom. Things that have been on my mind this week: the space between entitlement and insecurity, and how gratitude seems to be the narrow path between the two. How it can feel like walking a tightrope, balancing the desire to be seen with the want to remain hidden. How the times I feel entitled to a position, want control over an outcome, or strive too hard for an opportunity, I must step back and remember that it is by grace that I am here in the first place. What on this earth is truly mine? How my point of view is a view from a particular point, and I may not see everything from where I am. How when imposter syndrome hits, and I doubt whether I bring value to the spaces or places I find myself in, I must remember that my voice is an important addition to the choir. That I’m here in this time in history for a reason. How every one of us has a unique perspective that is worthy of being heard. While I do not “deserve” anything, neither I am “undeserving” of anything; it is all a gift that I hold lightly yet intentionally. How it’s important to be humble yet confident, and how both can coexist in harmony. How unity opens the door to experiencing the miraculous, and how gratitude is an antidote to operating out of fear. taken in London, United Kingdom by @rockynti

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3 months ago