Forget to Live

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.

-- Albus Dumbledore

Great Opportunity

The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are.

-- John Burroughs

Something to Lose

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.

-- Steve Jobs

Frigid, We Cling

On these frigid days and nights, we cling to each other's bodies, if not for the warmth we seek for our bones, then for the comfort we seek for our souls.

After nights like last night, ending at 18 degrees below zero this morning, there's been good reason to cling.

Young Men

Young men are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution than for counsel; and fitter for new projects than for settled business.

-- Francis Bacon

Breathless Expectation

Naturally, we are inclined to be so mathematical and calculating that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. Certainty is the mark of the common-sense life; gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation.

-- Oswald Chambers

...like an exorbitant snow that we awake to this morning!

Robert Downey Jr & Sting

Wow! Good vocals and guitar...didn't know Downey had it in him!

Humanity First

Pain often begs for your humanity first...and then often for God.

Holacracy

Only the respect of the led creates a leader.

-- Ricardo Semler

I have not read the book, Maverick, but based on this description, it is now on my list. It is an autobiography by Ricardo Semler. Here is some of how he used the concepts of holacracy at his company, Semco:

1. Treat workers like adults: Run companies on trust, rather than producing and enforcing an encyclopedia of rules. Empower employees to make decisions, and cultivate a culture of forgiveness rather than permission.
2. Share information: Share all corporate information with employees, from salaries to strategies and productivity statistics to profit margins. This transparency is a corollary of treating workers like adults.
3. Make managers accountable to their subordinates: Give the power to hire and fire managers to the employees who will live with the consequences.

Read the rest here....

Desire To Be Certain

The problem is that the overwhelming desire to be certain can eclipse the need to grow or be different, and it can limit our potential.

-- Jennifer Wilson

No Habit

No habit has any real hold on you other than the hold you have on it.

-- Gardner Hunting

7 Crippling Parenting Behaviors That Keep Children From Growing Into Leaders

7 Crippling Parenting Behaviors:

1. We don’t let our children experience risk
2. We rescue too quickly
3. We rave too easily
4. We let guilt get in the way of leading well
5. We don’t share our past mistakes
6. We mistake intelligence, giftedness and influence for maturity
7. We don’t practice what we preach

Here are some snippet-explanations for each item:

1. Kids need to fall a few times to learn it’s normal; teens likely need to break up with a boyfriend or girlfriend to appreciate the emotional maturity that lasting relationships require. If parents remove risk from children’s lives, we will likely experience high arrogance and low self-esteem in our growing leaders.

2. Sooner or later, kids get used to someone rescuing them: “If I fail or fall short, an adult will smooth things over and remove any consequences for my misconduct.” When in reality, this isn’t even remotely close to how the world works, and therefore it disables our kids from becoming competent adults.

3. Kids eventually observe that Mom and Dad are the only ones who think they’re awesome when no one else is saying it. They begin to doubt the objectivity of their parents; it feels good in the moment, but it’s not connected to reality. When we rave too easily and disregard poor behavior, children eventually learn to cheat, exaggerate and lie and to avoid difficult reality.

4. Be careful not to teach them a good grade is rewarded by a trip to the mall. If your relationship is based on material rewards, kids will experience neither intrinsic motivation nor unconditional love.

5. Kids must prepare to encounter slip-ups and face the consequences of their decisions. Share how you felt when you faced a similar experience, what drove your actions, and the resulting lessons learned. Because we’re not the only influence on our kids, we must be the best influence.

6. Just because giftedness is present in one aspect of a child’s life, don’t assume it pervades all areas. There is no magic “age of responsibility” or a proven guide as to when a child should be given specific freedoms, but a good rule of thumb is to observe other children the same age as yours.

7. As the leaders of our homes, we can start by only speaking honest words – white lies will surface and slowly erode character. Watch yourself in the little ethical choices that others might notice, because your kids will notice too. If you don’t cut corners, for example, they will know it’s not acceptable for them to either. Show your kids what it means to give selflessly and joyfully by volunteering for a service project or with a community group. Leave people and places better than you found them, and your kids will take note and do the same.

-- Tim Elmore

Why do we do this?  It is worth your while to read beyond these snippets and some of the answers here....

Enlarge

God is delighted to watch your soul enlarge.

-- Meister Eckhart

Whirled Beat - Doin' Laundry

...now that's doin' laundry!

True Acquisitions

Our true acquisitions lie only in our charities, we get only as we give.

-- William Simms

Trying To Be Happy

If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time.

-- Edith Wharton

Happiness vs Meaningfulness

While lives of meaningfulness and happiness overlap, they are distinctly different, according to Stanford research.

"Happiness was linked to being a taker rather than a giver, whereas meaningfulness went with being a giver rather than a taker," Aaker said.

A life of meaning is more deeply tied to a valued sense of self and one's purpose in the larger context of life and community.

One can find meaning in life and be unhappy at the same time.

-- Alex Banayan

Continue Reading...

Hard Work

 

There's one trait that always comes through among the successful:  hard work.

Let me list six simple things that help...:

1. Get up early: Hard workers get up early. They take time to themselves when it's quiet, they exercise before work, and they get organized before the flood of activity starts. Try getting up early and you'll be amazed what happens.
2. Focus on what matters. Each day: Research has shown that 41% of the things "busy people do" are not important, so we have to avoid or delegate things that may distract us from what we need to get done.  Ever year of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)? Instead you should practice a little JOMO - Joy of Missing Out.
3. Pay attention to detail.
4. Do more listening, less talking: Not listening is an easy mistake to make - your mind is racing, you know what you want to say or do, and you're half-listening to the person or people around you. And when I was younger I was convinced that "doing my job" was the most important thing I could focus on.  It turns out that one of the best ways to "work hard" is to build great relationships with the people around you. Much research shows that personal relationships build trust, and from trust you develop the ability to work more efficiently and speedily. So by slowing down and listening you build the type of relationships vital to getting things done.
5. Develop yourself. Learn to use the tools around you: High performers are great learners. I got to many meetings as an analyst where someone mentions a book, model, company, or technology I've never heard of. I immediately write it down and make a note to look it up later. Over the years I've learned a tremendous amount about HR, technology, leadership, and business simply by following up on all the things I hear about.
6. Practice mental toughness: This means you should get comfortable with mistakes. You're going to blow it at times. You may lose the deal, give a poor speech, or handle a situation poorly. Pick yourself up and push ahead. That's life: everyone has been through such failures.

-- Josh Bersin

Click here for the rest....

Perfection

Perfection, in a Christian sense, means becoming mature enough to give ourselves to others.

-- Kathleen Norris

Patient

Love is...patient.  First of all, love is patient.

It is patient with me and that affords me the strength to be the same in myself and towards others.

Walter Mitty

I remember reading The Secret Life of Walter Mitty when I was in high school, or at least starting to.  I may have finished it, I don't remember now -- I don't remember the ending...perhaps a little frustrated with a guy who seemed to endlessly lose focus as well as somewhat intrigued with the notion of dreaming about the way things could be.  So, when the movie came out, I felt a twinge of something...that I should see it, at the very least to remind me of the book. Quite a story!

We often settle for a life that is safe and predictable, even as we often privately nurse small forms of our passions.   And occasionally life's circumstances twist us into an opportunity to find something we've been deeply longing for with the thinking that it can be found 'out there'.  We get up or are thrown out of our comfort zone, usually by something we are attracted to or really want, and discover that the 'out there' was really 'in here' -- I didn't have to go anywhere, it was in the back-pocket of my heart the whole time.  Though resigned on the front side, we are grateful beyond words for the aliveness we come out with.

Quite a story...of us!  So, jump!

Mentally Strong People: 13 Things They Avoid

Mentally Strong People: 13 Things They Avoid

1. Waste Time Feeling Sorry for Themselves

4. Waste Energy on Things They Can’t Control

5. Worry About Pleasing Others

8. Make the Same Mistakes Over and Over

11. Fear Alone Time

13. Expect Immediate Results

-- Amy Morin

Read the rest here....

Aim of Education

Character development is the great, if not the sole, aim of education.

-- William O'Shea

The more I reflect on this, the more true it seems (not that something can become more true...), especially when education seems to have become about so many other things. But, education, institutionalized or not, really is about the development of something. Certainly information (content) is involved. But, the development of habits (disciplines) related to the content of an education society seem among the more important things that occur (or need to). Knowledge is applied in living life. Character is what shapes the use (values) of that knowledge in living.

Fall Forward

Speaking of graces, what a wonderful read / contemplation by Ann Voskamp on a new year -- looking back and moving forward:

We are all going to botch it some days. We all sometimes get the notes wrong. But the song only goes wrong — when we keep thinking back to the wrong notes.

When a piece starts to fall apart — fall forward. Fall forward into the next bar. Moving forward is what makes music.

Read the rest...you'll be glad you did.

-- Ann Voskamp, A Holy Experience

Kindnesses Upon Graces

Many people don't seem to realize the many kindnesses on top of graces they have received...thinking somehow that what they have is something they should get because of their status, merits or efforts. Such people are not only sadly mistaken, but also not very attractive and often make others feel distanced and like they are unimportant or 'less than'.

I have felt this from others recently...I wonder how and where I do the same thing.

Snowflake

How fitting for one of the most frigid days in Indiana history:

A snowflake is one of God's most fragile creations,
but look what they can do when they stick together!

Man Does Not

The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, man does not.

-- Oswald Chambers

A Non-judgmental Presence

From 'A Henri Nouwen Society Blog':

To the degree that we accept that through Christ we ourselves have been reconciled with God we can be messengers of reconciliation for others. Essential to the work of reconciliation is a nonjudgmental presence. We are not sent to the world to judge, to condemn, to evaluate, to classify, or to label. When we walk around as if we have to make up our mind about people and tell them what is wrong with them and how they should change, we will only create more division. Jesus says it clearly: “Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge; … do not condemn; … forgive” (Luke 6:36-37).

When we are free from the need to judge or condemn, we can become safe places for people to meet in vulnerability and take down the walls that separate them. Being deeply rooted in the love of God, we cannot help but invite people to love one another. When people realise that we have no hidden agendas or unspoken intentions, that we are not trying to gain any profit for ourselves, and that our only desire is for peace and reconciliation, they may find the inner freedom and courage to leave their guns at the door and enter into conversation with their enemies.

In a world that constantly asks us to make up our minds about other people, a nonjudgmental presence seems nearly impossible. But it is one of the most beautiful fruits of a deep spiritual life and will be easily recognized by those who long for reconciliation.

-- Henri Nouwen

Trick Shot Titus

Increase / Decrease

He must increase, I must decrease.

I can afford to feel smaller.  This is important because it is often the opposite out of which I live - I can't afford to feel smaller.  Even though I believe in the matching statement from the book of John above...somehow, it feels like there is something specific in this for me in 2014.  I don't know what this means, what it may look like, but it feels like something for me to both be aware of and to submit to....

2014 - What Kind of a Person?

After another year gone by, what lies ahead?

 

"Do things become clearer as you grow older or do you just get better at settling for smaller answers?", asks Julie in play called 'Oblivion'.

Growing older doesn't necessarily mean your life gets narrower. It provides countless opportunities to travel, learn, meet new people and expand your horizons.  The problem is...not every person views life as an opportunity to grow and broaden their experiences.

In fact, each of us faces a choice. The world sorts us into one of two types of people. As we head into 2014, I'd like to suggest that you ask yourself which kind of person you wish to be:

One who grows clearer with age: These are the people who embrace change, who recognize that it is inevitable. They don't get shocked when their children become adults, their job morphs into something new, or the character of their community starts to transform.

One who gets better at settling for smaller answers: These people tend to fear change. These unfortunates end up living in smaller and smaller boxes. They keep jettisoning the aspects of life that scare or unsettle them.

Finish reading here....

-- Bruce Kasanoff

2013 in Review

Here are some of my favorites from 2013:

January:
Dead or Dormant?
Choosing Strength
Aggressive Forgiveness
Letting Them Go
Hope for a New Year!

February:
I Asked
Blessed Are Those
The Need for Silence
Not A Reward

March:
New, Undiminishable Hope
Real Manhood and Steubenville
Once You're Motivated
Neuroplasticity and Habits
All Fortune

April:
Emptiness
What You Know vs What You Feel
the Table
Tragedy
Immodesty

May:
Will Himself Restore You
With Deep Affection for the Forest
Awakens
The Problem is Not the Internet - It's Me
Freedom Attracts

June:
Awareness
Law and Freedom
Rigor
Farther Away
Discernment in Solitude

July:
Even If You Fail
Poverty
Our Hands Are Too Full
Pictured Rocks
What I Really Need the Most

August:
Content Of Their Character
8 Things You Should Not Do Every Day
Meaningful Expression of Care
Through Each Other's Eyes
Seasons of Grieving

September:
The Only True Disability
Only He Who Listens Can Speak
The Difference
Killing Our Kids With Kindness
It Is Doubtful

October:
Conformity
Fine Word...and Doubt
Focus - Well You Don't Say
Talking A Good Game About Being Open-Minded
Comparison

November:
Best Football Play of All Time
Boring Romance
Being Honest - I Need Help
Sleep On It
Standardized Test Scores

December:
What We See
The Angels Sing
Dare Not Explain It Away
Nelson Mandela
The Bridge

Opportunity to Experience

Suffering may be someone’s fault or it may not be anyone's fault. But if given to God, our suffering becomes an opportunity to experience the power of God at work in our lives and to give glory to Him.

-- Anne Graham Lotz

What We See

To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only Him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us.

-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dog On It!

Riches of Heart

God examines both rich and poor, not according to their lands and houses, but according to the riches of their hearts.

-- St. Augustine

Not To Be Mended

I feel that I am not to be mended, but transformed.

-- Seneca

This, perhaps, is the real energy of our joy...we're not just being fixed or refurbished, we are being made completely new. The old has gone, the new is here!

Joy To The World!

Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

-- Isaac Watts

No improvement can be offered on these words, this song of joy.

We thank you, our glorious God...as in this prayer.

The Angels Sing

The singing of angels.  Singing seems synonymous with angels to us and yet it is something we hardly ever actually expect to hear.

What would it have been like this night so long ago?  A line from the famous carol snuck into me this year and got my attention:

Christ by highest heav'n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

-- Hark, The Herald Angels Sing

The Highest of Heaven was pleased to dwell with us!  Besides the notion of this being a bit unfathomable, what is it that would make God want to 'live with us'?  ...but, He does.  If we understood the ramifications of this, our response would be much like that of the angels because:

The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.

-- Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem

 

Pursuit & Force

Pursuit without forcing something is a delicate task.  And, it is easy to give up on the former out of fear of the latter.

Waiting is just hard...we are so inclined to take matters into our own hands.  An active waiting doesn't give up, doesn't quit, but is willing to wait....this may, in fact, be at the heart of love.

...and the goal can't be to 'try without getting hurt' in the process.

Be Still...and Wait Patiently

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him....

-- Psalm 37:7

Some people I call Christmas Christians. The most important thing about their Christian faith is believing that the Baby Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. Their favorite hymn is "Joy to the World."  Others I'd label Lenten Christians, whose faith revolves around sin, guilt and forgiveness. Their symbol is the cross.  Then there are Pentecost Christians, on fire with the Spirit's energy and gifts.

I'm an Advent Christian...Advent Christians can't rest content. We long to be what we are not yet.

As an Advent Christian, God's promises help sustain me in hope. I can accept my experience of exile and the existence of suffering in the world. I don't have to pretend that this life is all there is. I can live with my longings; I don't need to deny them. I can be mindful of the reality around me. I can sing of the reality to come.   Read the rest here....

-- Ronald Klug

After a too busy season that has now landed me in a chair with a view to the mountains of Colorado Springs, I am finally able to sit in some stillness today and ponder much of waiting I haven't been doing.

 

Pike's Peak has stayed here the whole time I have been gone...and maybe a few years before that. (I do live some illusion that stillness requires place, when it is actually more of a state of being - but, hey, this scene does help me). I am reminded again of 2 things: 1) that space needs to be created, and 2) that being still is essential to well-being.

I am hoping again for just one more thing...the Hallelujah Chorus, somewhere, somehow.

Chilled Faith

Do not be too quick to condemn the man who no longer believes in God: for it is perhaps your own coldness and avarice and mediocrity and materialism and selfishness that have chilled his faith.

-- Thomas Merton

I appreciate this reminder - it helps pop the bubble of judgment that so easily grows within me.

There Is Still Something Good

Business takes its lumps in our culture today and some of it is most certainly deserved -- greed is alive and well. So it is nice to see an example of the other side of things - good things that often goes on unheralded:



...at the very least, it taps into the spirit of something very human we all enjoy - listening, surprise, and giving to others - especially this time of year.

Dare Not Explain It Away

Twice now in the last month (that I recognize anyway), I have received something from someone that would be easy just to 'explain away'. Both times, once the initial 'that's nice for someone to do' has passed, I have felt tempted to dismiss the 'message' on the grounds someone was just following a protocol or with something like 'well that's just that person doing their job' -- either way, the conclusion tempting me was that it was not really personal (how could it be, if the sources had no first-hand knowledge of my current experience / needs).

But, what I have risked missing in that temptation, is the reality that God is wanting me to know something; and, that He is using others to communicate it to me. If I dismiss the message, I am really dismissing something else, Someone Else, that wants to 'courage' me to continue faithfully in the battles of life.  ...like refusing gifts at Christmas.

"God (himself) wants you to hear what is being said to you...He sees you" is something I am allowing myself to receive. I dare not explain it away. So now I repeat it to myself, "God wants you to hear this...", when I can. The truth of this is vital to both my well-being and sensibilities. I have challenged myself to receive these for what they are, rather than yield to the temptation to toy with what they aren't.

Thank you, God, for impressing this gift upon me...and for the ways you let me know that you Care. Help me to listen, recognize, and receive these gifts of yours to me.

Another Day

Thank you for another day...another chance to give.

...not another day to live, another day to give.

I don't feel this at all...today.  I'm frustrated, tired, and discouraged.  I feel stuffed with myself, with no room in my heart.

But, the thought above...that this is not why I live...gives me courage to at least consider more than just what I feel today.  To unstuff myself.  To allow room to be created.

Today is another day...to give!

Sleep

It's significant that a recent study found that getting enough sleep turned out to be a major preventive in depression.

-- Deepak Chopra

Your Energy, Not Your Time

 

The reason we work 8 hours a day isn’t based on science. It’s just a century-old practiced based on running factories efficiently -- and is irrelevant in today's creative economy. Today the right focus is on your energy, not your hours, according to the author Tony Schwartz, who says, “Manage your energy, not your time.”

Schwartz explains we all need to manage four different types of energies every day:

• Physical energy: How healthy are you?
• Emotional energy: How happy are you?
• Mental energy: How well can you focus on something?
• Spiritual energy: Why are you doing all of this? What is your purpose?

Machines move linearly, humans move cyclically.  

-- Leo Widrich

If you follow the posts below, you can probably see that I am increasingly fascinated with the studies coming out on the organic nature of the human brain. Here's one that I think is quite helpful on what is going on in our society related to stimulus, patterns, focus, and rest and their effect on the brain:  Finish this good read on what research is revealing to us in this area.

Joy

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

-- John 15:11

I am grateful for 4 powerful words of Christmas -- their Advent teaches me to wait.

Joy is one that seems more...elusive, harder to grasp.  What does it mean to know joy?  Even more, what does it mean to know it completely?  This was Jesus' desire.  Something really powerful going on...powerful enough that he would die in order to realize it with us:

Fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross...

-- Hebrews 12:2

Conner's 20th Birthday Present - UM vs #1 Arizona

 

And almost a victory to add to a great game...SO CLOSE!!!  More pics here....

Won't Apply To Me

Its funny, you can observe what happens to your parents and relatives. But for some reason, you just don't believe those circumstances will ever apply to you.

1. Your son-in-law will see you old and naked.
2. In sickness and health, for richer or poorer are not exceptions. They are accurate predictions.
3. Your life will be magical.

Sad, funny, true...really worth reading.

-- Lisa Earle McLeod

Two Most Important Days

The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.

-- Mark Twain

Cages

We all live in cages with the doors wide open.

-- George Lucas

Most Powerful Thing

To realize that someone who wants to change and cannot do so, without our forgiveness, is a most powerful thing.

This thought woke me recently after watching the movie, The Warrior, with my son; a powerful story about fighting...for relationship.

Nelson Mandela

Resentment is like drinking poison and hoping it will kill your enemies.

As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.

No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.

-- Nelson Mandela, Nelson Mandela Foundation

More on the story of his death here.

Waiting and Resurrection

Waiting for Christ’s second coming and waiting for the resurrection are one and the same. The second coming is the coming of the risen Christ, raising our mortal bodies with him in the glory of God. Jesus’ resurrection and ours are central to our faith. Our resurrection is as intimately related to the resurrection of Jesus as our belovedness is related to the belovedness of Jesus. Paul is very adamant on this point. He says: “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ cannot have been raised either, and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is without substance, and so is your faith” (1 Corinthians 15:13-14).

Indeed, our waiting is for the risen Christ to lift us up with him in the eternal life with God. It is from the perspective of Jesus’ resurrection and our own that his life and ours derive their full significance.

...as followers of Jesus we can look far beyond the limits of our short life on earth and trust that nothing we are living now in our body will go to waste.

-- Henri Nouwen

Yeah, Baby! Dance-Cam Duel

Not your typical Dance-Cam after the first 30 seconds...gotta watch the kid and usher duelin'!



...you just can't not smile, if not laugh out loud!

OK, OK, as long as we're video-ing today...check this one out. I don't even like the song that much, but the musicality of this one is...well, you just can't beat it!

The Bridge

The bridge from fear — and its redeemed form, hope — to peace is active waiting....

We all long for peace, and at many levels.  We would desire love and joy, even more.  But, we'll take peace...there is so little of it.

The kernel of this longing is hope that it can still happen.  And, if hope can crawl into our view, the prospect of peace is aroused.  But, we can't strive for it.  The troubled effort to achieve peace does not work...ever.

We have to wait for it.  When we have hope for peace and are willing to wait for it, strangely, it unexpectedly arrives (Lamentations 3:24-26)...

...and it rings like Longfellow's bells of Christmas within us.

The Waters Below

The waters below are tempestuous.  Every truth becomes real, when a story surrounds it...reveals it.

The past couple of months have been increasingly anxious for me.  Obligations at work require that I make decisions that are impacting people's lives in tangible ways.  If we don't make them, we will not long have a business.  ...the rationale comes fairly easily, in the big picture; it's just business.

But, the disruption doesn't settle quite this easily - it isn't what we want to be.  It isn't what I want to be.  And, something lurks beneath the roiling, splashing surface - deeper things, deeper pains, personal memories of when I was the recipient of the decisions I now have to make.  It reminds me....

It reminds me that there isn't complete disconnect that I, myself, could be in the very same situation again...like the very ones I am creating.  How to prevent!?  ...instinct galvanizes my attention.  But, the solutions remain elusive.  Things I am attempting to control are really...out of my control.  And my memories remind me of how true this is.  The days continue...relief is not emerging, as the waters rage on towards a waterfall.  I dig at myself...questioning - looking for something, at least, I can control for (I tell myself).

...I have not been embracing Peace - peace itself or the Giver of it.  I have been seduced away...believing that I have to work harder at something, in order to save myself, if I could just find it.  The rain-waters fill up the gorge; the banks are increasingly separated.  As I dangle above them, I am closer to falling in...and being swept away.  Or, so it seems....

But, it isn't really true.  Fear, not Peace, is prevailing.  I am recognizing these waters...and that everything that really matters is actually still OK (even if life becomes more painful).  I am secure.  I can stand in this moment...trusting, waiting.  ...waiting for something far greater than simply the relief from the threatening waters below me.

...a Bridge is forming beneath my feet.

A Sense of Oneness

They are inspired. Not by being shown, which is only the first step in the leader’s task, but by connecting their personal needs and values with what the leader is proposing. Connecting is an act that arises from within the followers out of their own sense or degree of alignment. The success of the large vision aligns with their own personal vision of success---material, financial, but mostly spiritual---so that their involvement serves both the larger as well as their personal ambition. The only difference is a matter of scale.

The act of inspiration is equivalent to capturing the imagination of those who join and in that sense a oneness is created -- a non-manipulated, organic unity of spirit and effort.

A leader not only has a message he/she delivers in words but in spirit even more profoundly.

-- Jim Sniechowski

Inspiration

Inspiration exists, but it must find you working.

-- Pablo Picasso

Now

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.
The second best time is now.

-– Chinese Proverb

Boast Your Merits?

If you are to receive your due, you must be punished. What then is done? God has not rendered you due punishment, but bestows upon you unmerited grace. If you wish to be an alien from grace, boast your merits.

-- St. Augustine

Best Football Play of All Time

Since there probably won't be much to cheer about in Ann Arbor today; this should give anyone something to cheer about:



...well, after seeing the last play of the Alabama vs Auburn game:



...I'm not sure which is the best now (too bad this one couldn't have happened for Michigan), but the first one above is still a wonderful story.

Give Up Being Worried

You must once and for all give up being worried about success and failures. Dont let that concern you. Its your duty to go on working steadily day by day, quite quietly, to be prepared for mistakes, which are inevitable, and for failures.

-- Anton Chekov

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
  for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
  great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
  therefore I will wait for him.”
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
  to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
  for the salvation of the Lord.

-- Lamentations 3:22-26

 

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.

-- G.K. Chesterton

Essence...is Gratitude

The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.

-- Friedrich Nietzsche

Transformation and Thankfulness

Transformation is the natural consequence of thankfulness for the understanding of who you really are.

No Person Can

No person can consistently behave in a way that's inconsistent with the way he perceives himself.

-- Dr. Neil Anderson

Not Some Holy Huddle

The should be no walls of defense towards God or each other, even if we have been hurt. The pain we experience in life can be overwhelming, but we aren't meant to go through it alone. We are here on earth to be a home and a refuge for the lost and broken, but first we must learn the art of togetherness and celebration.

...to be on a journey -- suffering and laughing together, not some holy huddle where we all pretend that everything is OK, but a real community who believes not only in the God of miracles, but in the God of trials.

-- Rend Collective Experiment, CAMPFIRE

The Mind Is Everything

The mind is everything. What you think you become.

-- Buddha

Certain traditions would dismiss this observation, simply because of the source. But, if another source was named (which certainly seems like it could be), this would quickly be deemed as true.

This statement is worth both pause and serious consideration.  I think it is true. The mind is a wonderful and terrifying thing, especially in its influence over our being. Redemption makes the difference.

No Negatives Friday

I am fascinated by the dynamics of the human mind and brain (more to follow on this):

Like it or not—although this one’s really hard to like—we all have a natural bias towards negativity. While we appreciate positive experiences, we are much more finely attuned and give much greater weight to negative experiences like fear, threats, or even just bad news.

According to neuropsychologist Rick Hanson, our "brain is like Velcro to negative experiences and Teflon to positive ones.”

Or as my non-neuropsychologist father used to say, “It takes five pats on the back to make up for one, ‘Ah, (crap).’”

Read more

-- Jeff Haden

Not Abstinence

It is not abstinence from pleasures that is best, but mastery over them without being worsted.

-- Aristippus

Boring Romance

Romance isn’t measured by how viral your proposal goes. The internet age may try to sell you something different, but don’t ever forget that viral is closely associated with sickness....

The real romantics imagine greying and sagging and wrinkling as the deepening of something sacred.

-- Ann Voskamp, A Holy Experience

Continue Reading...it's worth your boring time.

Best Things Are Nearest

The best things are nearest:  breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of God just before you.

-- Robert Louis Stevenson

As If Nothing Ever Happened

Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick  themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.

-- Winston Churchill

Worship and Terror Are Leadership Bedmates

As a kind of liturgy, I stand before our five-year-old church every September and ask a question: “Should we continue to exist as a church for another year?” You can hear pins drop every time.

The entire community—new comers, old comers, elders, parents—are always caught off guard by my question. Surveying the faces, I can see their intuitive responses. I enjoy the awkwardness. They think that something tragic has happened. Is he quitting? Is he rejecting the Trinity? Is there some glaring moral failure we’re about to hear?

Of course the answers are always no. But it’s that immediate, guttural reaction of uncertainty that I’m after; even if for a moment everyone imagines worst-case scenarios. For me, there’s intention and rationale behind simply asking the “should we?” question about our future.

As the pastor, I never want to assume that we should keep our ministry going just to keep it going. I desire Jesus to breathe freshly into us each year. Now, I certainly hope that our folks affirm our existence. I hope that they say yes, we should continue for another year. But it appeals to me to ask if God wants the same thing.  Continue Reading...

-- A.J. Swoboda

Moscow Subway Ticket Machine

Being Honest - I Need Help

I often take things for granted -- things like being honest.

But it is helpful to be honest with one's self.  In fact, it is needed.  I think this is true because it puts us back in touch with our needs.  Often honesty becomes simply an effort 'not to lie'. But, being honest is more than just 'not lying'.  It is also an effort to face something that is true.

I had to communicate difficult decisions to people at work today.  It was hard to do.  People's lives were affected.  I knew going into it that I needed some kind of help.  A selfish kind, to be sure, but also a kind that would allow me to be in the moment and truly offer myself to the situation, not just the decisions I had to deliver on behalf of the company.  I knew my role.  But, I also needed to be more than that.  I needed help, to be myself, to be fully human in the situation - to be reminded of the kind of things that often recede in these kinds of moments.

I needed to be honest...to acknowledge the truth that I needed help.  So, I prayed...half unsure of what I was praying for and half sure that I needed to do it.

The anticipated situation came.  I did my job.  And, at the very end, I stopped and said a very human thing, "I'm sorry.  I'm sorry that we have to do this."

Later, one of the people affected mentioned to me how significant it was to her when I completed my task, but then acknowledged the human element of it through my apology.  Though the pain of the situation was still quite evident, something was released through the simplest act on my part.

In retrospect, I am kind of startled that I nearly missed that final moment.  I am even chagrined that it had nearly escaped me.  I wonder about my prayer earlier; about what it had done.  Had it been answered, in that 'moment'?  I suspect so.  Perhaps, even more significant is the notion that if I had not been willing to be honest, with myself, I might not have prayed for the help I surely needed.

I need to be more regularly honest; in part, so that doing so can lead me to acknowledging my need...and not mine only, but also those of others.

Honesty

The single most important element in any human relationship is honesty -- with oneself, with God, and with others.

-- Catherine Marshall

What is the key to leading people?

"No one cares how much you know until they first know how much you care about them.

When they know you care, then they will listen to you... and then they will do anything for you."

...Continue Reading

-- Jeff Haden

Crisis

When written in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of two characters.  One represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.

Leader?

A brilliant leader will recognize the limits of his or her tenure and will continue in leadership only by remaining sensitive to and aware of his or her personal strengths and weaknesses and align with the changing needs of the time. Such a leader will adapt and learn in order to remain in leadership. But the question is put -- does the situation still require leadership or has it become an issue of personal desire?

Someone who does not adapt to the situation but insists on his or her own way is not a leader but an autocrat, a dictator, perhaps a tyrant.  Continue Reading....

-- Jim Sniechowski

Desires

God speaks to us through our desires. Then as we lay them at his feet, he helps us sort them out and quiets our hearts to accept what he has already prepared.

-- Rosalind Rinker

Measuring Stick

Walk through life with a measuring stick – and your eyes get so small you never see God.

-- Ann Voskamp, A Holy Experience

Sleep On It

While we need no science to tell us sleep matters, science can enhance our understanding of all the reasons why. Over recent years, no doubt due largely to our preoccupation with the epidemic obesity we keep choosing to lament rather than fix, the links between sleep and weight have received particular attention.

Lack of sleep tends to mean lack of energy, which is apt to discourage exercise. Sleep deficiency also tends to produce irritability, and all the wrong foods tend to provide, albeit briefly, all the right comfort to dull this pain.

There is an important argument here for approaching our health holistically. Perhaps you want to lose weight, or avoid diabetes- you could decide, reasonably, to focus on diet and exercise. But if you ignore other aspects of your health, such as sleep, your own daily routine may conspire against your objectives. A culture widely prone to both obesity and sleep deprivation may be a quintessential case of meeting the enemy, and finding it is us.

I have seen just such patterns in my practice over the years, and a holistic view of health, orchestrating into a logical sequence of tweaks, can be just the fix. Often, with the requisite insights and skillpower, you can oversee just such troubleshooting on your own – no docs or drugs required.

Continue Reading

-- David L. Katz, MD, MPH

Road to Truth

There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth - not going all the way, and not starting.

-- Buddha

This Isn’t Capitalism — It’s Growthism, and It’s Bad for Us

Has capitalism failed? Or, if you like, is it failing? Let me be clear. I don’t mean: is capitalism useless, awful, worthless? I do mean: is capitalism failing at being the best possible means of organizing human work, life, and play?

Maybe what’s practiced in the USA isn’t capitalism at all. It seems to be a toxic admixture of capitalism for the poor, who are ruthlessly whittled down, in brutal Darwinian contests; and socialism for the rich, for whom there appears to be no limit to bailouts, subsidies, and privileges. It’s a lethal cocktail of cronyism for the powerful; and endless struggle for the powerless. It’s neither fish nor fowl; but a chimera.

So what is this system that is faltering, precisely, if it’s not quite capitalism?

I’d call it “growthism.” It’s not just a system or a set of institutions. It’s a mindset; an ideology; a set of cherished beliefs. And one that’s hardened into dogma. A dogma which is palpably failing; but can’t be dislodged—because it’s become an article of faith, the central belief of a cult, whose priests and acolytes threaten mysterious, terrible, divine revenge whenever their authority is questioned.

Growthism says: growth must be achieved at all costs. When growth is achieved; societies are said to be successful; when it is not, they are said to be failing.

...

The truest wealth of life is having lived a life that matters.  

Continue Reading

-- Umair Haque

Fall 2013

2013's Fall is now competing with the best of them:

 

Standardized Test Scores

"My daughter's new elementary school principal sent this message to all students as they received their state standardized test scores:

'We are concerned that these tests do not assess all of what it is that makes each of you unique. The people who create these tests and score them do not know each of you the way your teachers do, the way I hope to, and certainly not the way your families do. They do not know that many of you speak two languages. They do not know that you can play a musical instrument or that you can dance or paint a picture. They do not know that your friends count on you to be there for them or that your laughter can brighten the dreariest day. They do not know that you write poetry or songs, play or participate in sports, wonder about the future, or that sometimes you take care of your little brother or sister after school. They do not know that you have traveled to a really neat place or that you know how to tell a great story or that you really love spending time with special family members and friends. They do not know that you can be trustworthy, kind or thoughtful, and that you try, every day, to be your very best. The scores you get will tell you something, but they will not tell you everything. There are many ways of being smart.'

"My daughter, who did well on the test, shrugged about her scores, but read the letter over and over and held it close to her heart announcing, 'I really love this.'"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

NOTE: This message originated with a group of principals from several districts, who worked together to write it and get it out. They want to remain anonymous so that any attention the message receives will focus on children and their needs, not on praise for the principals. They hope that other educators will convey a similar message to the children in their care.

More here

-- Parker Palmer

Swords vs Prayer

Where we, like Peter, tend to grab for our swords, Jesus turned to prayer.

Finding God in Silence

It's a long listen; I did it in chunks over several weeks.

Lot's of 'nuggets' - here's a few I've found:

• Silence is primordial.
• The foundation of being itself is silence. It creates a sypathetic resonance with what's right in front of us.
• You can only appreciate something that you've already begun to experience.
• The ego uses words to get whatever it wants. We pull out the words that give us power, that make us right.
• The soul doesn't use words. It surrounds words with space - silence.
• ...if we're not willing to sit in the poverty of our silence.
• Beauty emerges from the silence around it.
• Time increases inside of silence - from chronological time to kyros.
• Whenever emptiness becomes its own kind of fullness, you've just experienced silence.
• Dualistic thinking is making things about sides (where you separate everything) and you pick one, and reject the other. We call this being educated. (min 40)
• Arguments are more often not love of truth, but love of victory (min 1:04)
• The dualistic mind loves to exaggerate the differences.
• The psychological defect...the need to exaggerate differences.
• Non-dualistic thinking is contemplation. The contemplative mind is being rediscovered.
• In the Christian tradition, knowing and not knowing are balanced - they are put together...it is called faith. (min 41)
• Enlightenment has come to mean rational. We've lusted after certitude.
• The paths to contemplation are great love or great suffering.
• Trinity (min 52)
• Faith and silence are practicing for death.