Obsession service: from tin openers to devotion

If you've spent the last two days checking your social networks without eating or sleeping or even going to the loo then your would have probably benefited from our services on Obsession.

They were based on the current Nexus art exhibition which considers the obsessive nature of prison life, counting everything all the time (prisoners, scissors, pencils, tin openers) and the lack of control leads to controlling behaviour in other ways.

At the service we considered the nature of obsession and whether if was good or bad. Good in the sense that it can be a release of stress and can be used to focus creatively to achieve some tasks but negative when it starts to interfere with everyday life and relationship.

People can be obsessive about faith and religion too, which is sometimes called 'devotion'. The big decider for us was whether obsession brings us closer or more distant from God and is where is the focus. If it is self interested and neglects our responsibilities to family and friends then perhaps it is not God focused.

For more on relationships, this week we start a four week series on connectedness.

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