Saturday, October 31, 2015
Friday, October 30, 2015
Listen to Me
My 'Friday Poem' selection for the week, entitled "Listen to Me":
Listen to me, please, I need to talk to you;
Give me only a few minutes;
Accept what I experience, what I feel,
Without reserve, without judgement.
Listen to me, please, I need to talk;
Do not bombard me with questions, advice and opinions;
Do not feel obliged to settle my difficulties,
Could it be that you lack confidence in my competence?
Listen to me, please, I need to talk;
Do not try to entertain or amuse me,
It would make me think you fail to understand the importance
Of what I am going through.
Listen to me, please, I need to talk;
Do not feel it your duty to approve, if I need to tell my story
It is simply to be set free.
Listen to me, please, I need to talk;
Do not interpret and try not to analyse;
I would feel misunderstood and manipulated,
And could no longer tell you anything.
Listen to me, please, I need to talk;
Do not interrupt me to question me;
Do not attempt to force me to reveal what is hidden,
I know how far I can and will go.
Listen to me, please, I need to talk;
Respect the silences which help me to make progress;
Be very careful not to break them;
It is very often through them that things are clarified.
So now that you have let me have my say,
I beg you, now you may speak;
Attentive and at your disposal,
I, in my turn, will listen to you.
-- Author Unknown
Listen to me, please, I need to talk to you;
Give me only a few minutes;
Accept what I experience, what I feel,
Without reserve, without judgement.
Listen to me, please, I need to talk;
Do not bombard me with questions, advice and opinions;
Do not feel obliged to settle my difficulties,
Could it be that you lack confidence in my competence?
Listen to me, please, I need to talk;
Do not try to entertain or amuse me,
It would make me think you fail to understand the importance
Of what I am going through.
Listen to me, please, I need to talk;
Do not feel it your duty to approve, if I need to tell my story
It is simply to be set free.
Listen to me, please, I need to talk;
Do not interpret and try not to analyse;
I would feel misunderstood and manipulated,
And could no longer tell you anything.
Listen to me, please, I need to talk;
Do not interrupt me to question me;
Do not attempt to force me to reveal what is hidden,
I know how far I can and will go.
Listen to me, please, I need to talk;
Respect the silences which help me to make progress;
Be very careful not to break them;
It is very often through them that things are clarified.
So now that you have let me have my say,
I beg you, now you may speak;
Attentive and at your disposal,
I, in my turn, will listen to you.
-- Author Unknown
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Space Readies Us
Rushing makes spaces small. Being still in a space can reveal to us just how big it is. How could we have scurried right by it, without noticing? I have not only done that emotionally at times, but also physically...speeding down some oft-driven road, I haven't seen what you see when you just walk by it. Matters of the heart may work in similar ways.
Recognizing this, a thought has dawned on me. What if something isn't so much getting away from me as much as the possibility that something is coming to me? What if, in fact, it has been waiting for me? To wait for it?
'Getting away' often feels like losing something. But, if that is not really what is happening, then it would seem possible that something else is being readied, to be gained, rather than lost. I am often stuck in the loop of my own expectations. And, as a result, I may not recognize that something is about to be given. Perhaps, I just need to be readied to receive it. Not recognizing this could end up with me missing it altogether.
I admit I am a bit apprehensive, but also a bit fuller of wonder, too...what is coming? Will I wait for it...or rush on?
Recognizing this, a thought has dawned on me. What if something isn't so much getting away from me as much as the possibility that something is coming to me? What if, in fact, it has been waiting for me? To wait for it?
'Getting away' often feels like losing something. But, if that is not really what is happening, then it would seem possible that something else is being readied, to be gained, rather than lost. I am often stuck in the loop of my own expectations. And, as a result, I may not recognize that something is about to be given. Perhaps, I just need to be readied to receive it. Not recognizing this could end up with me missing it altogether.
I admit I am a bit apprehensive, but also a bit fuller of wonder, too...what is coming? Will I wait for it...or rush on?
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Getting Away From You
Do you ever feel like something is getting away from you? Even when you feel preoccupied with finding it?
I feel like this is happening to me. But, I don't know what it is...that is getting away. But, it feels like something is.
And, it appears that the only way to find it, is to stop being so busy about doing so. Running-busy inescapably seems to becomes a circle, rather than a straight line to anywhere. I have to stop trying so hard and slow up enough to find something in the space I occupy, rather than the one I strive to get to. It is around me, but I am rushing past it again and again. I need to wait in a space for it to come, rather than scramble-searching for it...perhaps the wind from my own scurry pushes it away.
I have to stop, in order for what I am looking for to be...with me.
I feel like this is happening to me. But, I don't know what it is...that is getting away. But, it feels like something is.
And, it appears that the only way to find it, is to stop being so busy about doing so. Running-busy inescapably seems to becomes a circle, rather than a straight line to anywhere. I have to stop trying so hard and slow up enough to find something in the space I occupy, rather than the one I strive to get to. It is around me, but I am rushing past it again and again. I need to wait in a space for it to come, rather than scramble-searching for it...perhaps the wind from my own scurry pushes it away.
I have to stop, in order for what I am looking for to be...with me.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Look For The Fear
Fear will push you to avert your eyes.
Fear will make you think you have nothing to say.
It will create a buzz that makes it impossible to meditate...
or it will create a fog that makes it so you can do nothing but meditate.
Fear seduces us into losing our temper.
and fear belittles us into accepting unfairness.
Fear doesn't like strangers, people who don't look or act like us, and most of all, the unknown.
It causes us to carelessly make typos, or obsessively look for them.
Fear pushes us to fit in, so we won't be noticed, but it also pushes us to rebel and to not be trustworthy, so we won't be on the hook to produce.
It is subtle enough to trick us into thinking it isn't pulling the strings, that it doesn't exist, that it's not the cause of, "I don't feel like it."
When in doubt, look for the fear.
-- Seth Godin
Fear will make you think you have nothing to say.
It will create a buzz that makes it impossible to meditate...
or it will create a fog that makes it so you can do nothing but meditate.
Fear seduces us into losing our temper.
and fear belittles us into accepting unfairness.
Fear doesn't like strangers, people who don't look or act like us, and most of all, the unknown.
It causes us to carelessly make typos, or obsessively look for them.
Fear pushes us to fit in, so we won't be noticed, but it also pushes us to rebel and to not be trustworthy, so we won't be on the hook to produce.
It is subtle enough to trick us into thinking it isn't pulling the strings, that it doesn't exist, that it's not the cause of, "I don't feel like it."
When in doubt, look for the fear.
-- Seth Godin
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Human Experience
We are not human beings having a human experience, we are spiritual beings, having a human experience.
-- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
-- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Friday, October 23, 2015
TODAY
My 'Friday Poem' selection for the week, entitled "TODAY":
Today I’m flying low and I’m
not saying a word.
I’m letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep.
The world goes on as it must.
the bees in the garden rumbling a little,
the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten.
And so forth.
But I’m taking the day off.
Quiet as a feather.
I hardly move though really I’m traveling
a terrific distance.
Stillness. One of the doors
into the temple.
-- Mary Oliver
Today I’m flying low and I’m
not saying a word.
I’m letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep.
The world goes on as it must.
the bees in the garden rumbling a little,
the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten.
And so forth.
But I’m taking the day off.
Quiet as a feather.
I hardly move though really I’m traveling
a terrific distance.
Stillness. One of the doors
into the temple.
-- Mary Oliver
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Inner Signals
Emotional self-awareness is a leadership competency that shows up in model after model. These leaders are attuned to their inner signals, recognizing how their feelings affect them and their job performance. They integrate their guiding values into their work. They can deduce the best course of action. They see the big picture and they’re genuine.
Studies also suggest that your experiences with your parents can generate the kind of reflective competencies upon which self-awareness depends.
Keep in mind that self-awareness isn’t just navel-gazing. It’s the presence of mind to actually be flexible in how you respond. It allows you to be centered, and know what your body is telling you.
The physiological state of your whole body can drastically affect how you respond in a given situation if you don’t pay attention to it. (For example, a study in 2011 indicated that judges hand down stricter sentences when they’re hungry.)
This is also true when we’re threatened or challenged at work: The brain quickly judges people who are not like us in one certain way, and those like us in another way. If you’re not aware of that as a leader of an organization, you may find yourself making all sorts of gut-based decisions that require more reflection.
-- Daniel Goleman
Studies also suggest that your experiences with your parents can generate the kind of reflective competencies upon which self-awareness depends.
Keep in mind that self-awareness isn’t just navel-gazing. It’s the presence of mind to actually be flexible in how you respond. It allows you to be centered, and know what your body is telling you.
The physiological state of your whole body can drastically affect how you respond in a given situation if you don’t pay attention to it. (For example, a study in 2011 indicated that judges hand down stricter sentences when they’re hungry.)
This is also true when we’re threatened or challenged at work: The brain quickly judges people who are not like us in one certain way, and those like us in another way. If you’re not aware of that as a leader of an organization, you may find yourself making all sorts of gut-based decisions that require more reflection.
-- Daniel Goleman
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Monday, October 19, 2015
Disappointment
Disappointment. It rings like a smallish word; easily dismissed. We don't appreciate its inconvenience. We move on. We tell others to do the same.
Truth is, I was pretty disappointed this last Saturday when Michigan lost their football game to Michigan State on the last play. But, I wouldn't acknowledge it that way initially. I fumbled around for at least two other options; one, was to look for a silver-lining. The second was to over-state something, to choose victimization (by the refs earlier in the game), to be angry. Lot's of things other than just simple disappointment.
I don't like disappointment. It's irritating. I don't like to disappoint others. It risks something in me.
It took a good run yesterday to sort out the things above and to realize I was just disappointed. I had wanted something to happen. I looked it was going to happen. But, it didn't. I was disappointed, but my habitual response wanted to make it something else.
...and, of course, the deeper reality is that we live with disappointment about things that are much more significant than the outcomes of football games.
Being disappointed, in simple ways though, allows something else to occur. Something good, in fact. Disappointment is like space. I need to be in a space...unfilled, uncluttered by a bunch of other stuff to see other things that are true. To see that there is more going than just what I want to happen. More going on, that is more important. More about myself that I need to see. More in someone else that I need to embrace.
Disappointment gives us this opportunity -- where would we be without it? Where are we without it? ...too quickly somewhere else, too numb a place, or worse, too often in too violent a place. There is more and disappointment can give it to us, can bring us to space in our life that allows us that more. Disappointment is not small after-all; it shouldn't be dismissed...it is, in fact, a healthy more.
I am disappointed. There, I said it. And, thank God for the gift it is.
Truth is, I was pretty disappointed this last Saturday when Michigan lost their football game to Michigan State on the last play. But, I wouldn't acknowledge it that way initially. I fumbled around for at least two other options; one, was to look for a silver-lining. The second was to over-state something, to choose victimization (by the refs earlier in the game), to be angry. Lot's of things other than just simple disappointment.
I don't like disappointment. It's irritating. I don't like to disappoint others. It risks something in me.
It took a good run yesterday to sort out the things above and to realize I was just disappointed. I had wanted something to happen. I looked it was going to happen. But, it didn't. I was disappointed, but my habitual response wanted to make it something else.
...and, of course, the deeper reality is that we live with disappointment about things that are much more significant than the outcomes of football games.
Being disappointed, in simple ways though, allows something else to occur. Something good, in fact. Disappointment is like space. I need to be in a space...unfilled, uncluttered by a bunch of other stuff to see other things that are true. To see that there is more going than just what I want to happen. More going on, that is more important. More about myself that I need to see. More in someone else that I need to embrace.
Disappointment gives us this opportunity -- where would we be without it? Where are we without it? ...too quickly somewhere else, too numb a place, or worse, too often in too violent a place. There is more and disappointment can give it to us, can bring us to space in our life that allows us that more. Disappointment is not small after-all; it shouldn't be dismissed...it is, in fact, a healthy more.
I am disappointed. There, I said it. And, thank God for the gift it is.
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Friday, October 16, 2015
October
The season of Fall has long had a special grip on me. Something exhaling, because it is over. Something coming, that isn't yet. I have often wondered if this time taps into something inherent within me or is simply something of nostalgia. Either way, the signals of the transition are resplendent -- color, coolness, and crunch. I am alive.
My 'Friday Poem' selection for the week, entitled "October":
Bending above the spicy woods which blaze,
Arch skies so blue they flash, and hold the sun
Immeasurably far; the waters run
Too slow, so freighted are the river-ways
With gold of elms and birches from the maze
Of forests. Chestnuts, clicking one by one,
Escape from satin burs; her fringes done,
The gentian spreads them out in sunny days,
And, like late revelers at dawn, the chance
Of one sweet, mad, last hour, all things assail,
And conquering, flush and spin; while, to enhance
The spell, by sunset door, wrapped in a veil
Of red and purple mists, the summer, pale,
Steals back alone for one more song and dance.
-- Helen Hunt Jackson
My 'Friday Poem' selection for the week, entitled "October":
Bending above the spicy woods which blaze,
Arch skies so blue they flash, and hold the sun
Immeasurably far; the waters run
Too slow, so freighted are the river-ways
With gold of elms and birches from the maze
Of forests. Chestnuts, clicking one by one,
Escape from satin burs; her fringes done,
The gentian spreads them out in sunny days,
And, like late revelers at dawn, the chance
Of one sweet, mad, last hour, all things assail,
And conquering, flush and spin; while, to enhance
The spell, by sunset door, wrapped in a veil
Of red and purple mists, the summer, pale,
Steals back alone for one more song and dance.
-- Helen Hunt Jackson
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Seeds, Mistakes, Sleep, and Now
I like these 'habit' recommendations:
Plant seeds:
Many people have ONE GOAL in life. And they aim their lives for that one goal. Good luck with that.
The real key is to plant many seeds. 1% of the seeds planted will turn into 50% of the flowers.
That's Garden Math.
What are some seeds?
Send a thank you letter. Send an intro letter. Send ideas to people. Exercise. Eat well. Surprise your spouse. Make a website. Come up with an idea. Write an article. Read a book. Think of 100 more seeds.
Every day plant some seeds.
Mistakes:
I was teaching my daughter to serve harder. She had a good consistent serve. She never missed. But it was too soft. Easy to return.
So I said, "hit it so hard you have to grunt".
She started missing. She was getting depressed. Every shot came in about 6 inches to the left of the box.
But then she adjusted. The shots started to hit in the box. And they were harder.
I asked her, "what was going on in your head?"
She said, "I saw I was hitting too much to the left so I moved it over."
If she kept hitting her safe easy shot, she never would have improved.
Only mistakes made her improve. ONLY MISTAKES.
Sleep:
Your brain is most active 2-5 hours after you wake up. Do your productive passion work then.
Stay away from people who claim they only need 3-5 hours a sleep a night. They are evil.
Right Now:
Every time I've had a problem in the future, it never came true.
Every time I've had a regret in the past, the regret kept me glued to the mud.
Right now you are dealt cards. No other hand before or after will help you right now.
So this is the only moment to focus on. Right now is best predictor of Right Life.
-- James Altucher
...more here.
Plant seeds:
Many people have ONE GOAL in life. And they aim their lives for that one goal. Good luck with that.
The real key is to plant many seeds. 1% of the seeds planted will turn into 50% of the flowers.
That's Garden Math.
What are some seeds?
Send a thank you letter. Send an intro letter. Send ideas to people. Exercise. Eat well. Surprise your spouse. Make a website. Come up with an idea. Write an article. Read a book. Think of 100 more seeds.
Every day plant some seeds.
Mistakes:
I was teaching my daughter to serve harder. She had a good consistent serve. She never missed. But it was too soft. Easy to return.
So I said, "hit it so hard you have to grunt".
She started missing. She was getting depressed. Every shot came in about 6 inches to the left of the box.
But then she adjusted. The shots started to hit in the box. And they were harder.
I asked her, "what was going on in your head?"
She said, "I saw I was hitting too much to the left so I moved it over."
If she kept hitting her safe easy shot, she never would have improved.
Only mistakes made her improve. ONLY MISTAKES.
Sleep:
Your brain is most active 2-5 hours after you wake up. Do your productive passion work then.
Stay away from people who claim they only need 3-5 hours a sleep a night. They are evil.
Right Now:
Every time I've had a problem in the future, it never came true.
Every time I've had a regret in the past, the regret kept me glued to the mud.
Right now you are dealt cards. No other hand before or after will help you right now.
So this is the only moment to focus on. Right now is best predictor of Right Life.
-- James Altucher
...more here.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Dreams and Fears
Sooner or later, important action taken comes down to this.
Fear: Of being ashamed, feeling stupid, being rejected, being left out, getting hurt, being embarrassed, left alone, dying.
Dreams: Of being seen, being needed, becoming independent, relieving anxiety, becoming powerful, making someone proud, fitting in, seen as special, mattering, taken care of, loved.
Marketers put many layers atop these basic needs (horsepower, processor speed, features, pricing, testimonials, guarantees, and more) but it all comes down to dreams and fears.
-- Seth Godin
Fear: Of being ashamed, feeling stupid, being rejected, being left out, getting hurt, being embarrassed, left alone, dying.
Dreams: Of being seen, being needed, becoming independent, relieving anxiety, becoming powerful, making someone proud, fitting in, seen as special, mattering, taken care of, loved.
Marketers put many layers atop these basic needs (horsepower, processor speed, features, pricing, testimonials, guarantees, and more) but it all comes down to dreams and fears.
-- Seth Godin
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Failure Is
Failure is information -- we label it failure, but it’s more like, 'This didn’t work, and I’m a problem solver, so I’ll try something else.'
-- Carol Dweck
We put too much stock in concepts related to success and failure -- achieving those like results, and too quickly. Those are, perhaps at best, partial and retroactive descriptions of something...not tests along the way.
We need more tenacity, more grit, because there is more to discover than relatively arbitrary definitions of success or failure...and the unfortunate, preemptive conclusions they offer us.
-- Carol Dweck
We put too much stock in concepts related to success and failure -- achieving those like results, and too quickly. Those are, perhaps at best, partial and retroactive descriptions of something...not tests along the way.
We need more tenacity, more grit, because there is more to discover than relatively arbitrary definitions of success or failure...and the unfortunate, preemptive conclusions they offer us.
Monday, October 12, 2015
Would I Feel Better?
Would I feel better?
Would I feel better if my team had won?
Would I feel better if I knew
the ones I love are really ok, are better than ok?
Would I feel better if I knew
answers to questions which move between niggling and haunting me?
...if I knew I could make a difference or see how?
Would I feel better if...?
Perhaps I should just acknowledge
that I don't feel better today.
And, with patience, not probe too deeply for a why.
Would I feel better if my team had won?
Would I feel better if I knew
the ones I love are really ok, are better than ok?
Would I feel better if I knew
answers to questions which move between niggling and haunting me?
...if I knew I could make a difference or see how?
Would I feel better if...?
Perhaps I should just acknowledge
that I don't feel better today.
And, with patience, not probe too deeply for a why.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
When HotChurch Came to Town
In my jealousy and self-righteous anger toward HotChurch's pastor, I now see that I was becoming like him. I was driven, obsessed not with God, but against HotChurch. It was a hard truth to face. Sifting can reveal what's inside.
Yes, know God. And keep on, Friend, even with dust in your teeth. Continue here....
-- Keith Mannes
Yes, know God. And keep on, Friend, even with dust in your teeth. Continue here....
-- Keith Mannes
Saturday, October 10, 2015
What Julia Roberts Can Teach Us About Creation
I've often thought that nature is rather indifferent...to us. It will do what it does regardless of our response to it, regardless of our even noticing it. It seems to live, have purpose for something else, besides human approval. A friend and I talked about this years ago; he even wrote a poem about this...which I now want to find again.
Continue the quote above from in this article by Robert Barron here....
Friday, October 09, 2015
Geode
My Friday Poem selection for the week, entitled "Geode":
The plagues we wished upon ourselves
With aloe juice and cayenne
The planets we strained to reach
That was how being young tasted
Each of us a geode looking to be cracked open
And to crack each other open
Over and over
I am no longer young except to those who are older
In the way that youth moves along
The conveyor belt
At a consistent distance
I drink water now
I try to be gentle
The years crack you open enough
-- Alicia Jo Rabins
The plagues we wished upon ourselves
With aloe juice and cayenne
The planets we strained to reach
That was how being young tasted
Each of us a geode looking to be cracked open
And to crack each other open
Over and over
I am no longer young except to those who are older
In the way that youth moves along
The conveyor belt
At a consistent distance
I drink water now
I try to be gentle
The years crack you open enough
-- Alicia Jo Rabins
Thursday, October 08, 2015
Wednesday, October 07, 2015
Tuesday, October 06, 2015
The More Human He Is
"It is the very pursuit of happiness that thwarts happiness."
Being human always points, and is directed, to something or someone, other than oneself -- be it a meaning to fulfill or another human being to encounter. The more one forgets himself, by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love, the more human he is. More here....
-- Viktor E. Frankl
Monday, October 05, 2015
Everything I Learned About Leadership Was Wrong
Everything I learned about parenting is leadership and everything I learned about leadership was wrong.
-- Bob Chapman
-- Bob Chapman
Sunday, October 04, 2015
Vast Strength
So it's searchable:
Be strengthened by the Lord
and his vast strength.
-- Ephesians 6:10
Saturday, October 03, 2015
Forgiveness and Faith
What if everything in life really did happen for a reason? What if everything really did have a purpose and it always served us in the long run? What if life was always happening FOR us, not TO us? What if even the pain and problems had a higher purpose in the growth and evolution of our souls?
If you were to look back on your life, I would be willing to bet you’ve had some painful experiences that you would never want to experience again, AND yet, some of those horrible past experiences – you may already have realized that while you would never want to experience them again, thank God you did because it caused you to develop a depth of insight or caring, or a level of inner strength that to this day shapes who you are and the greatness of what you can give to others.
Our power is in our problems as they unleash our resourcefulness and cause us to grow in order to respond consciously and compassionately to them. Radical forgiveness and faith in guidance or a higher meaning in our experience is the answer.
-- Tony Robbins
If you were to look back on your life, I would be willing to bet you’ve had some painful experiences that you would never want to experience again, AND yet, some of those horrible past experiences – you may already have realized that while you would never want to experience them again, thank God you did because it caused you to develop a depth of insight or caring, or a level of inner strength that to this day shapes who you are and the greatness of what you can give to others.
Our power is in our problems as they unleash our resourcefulness and cause us to grow in order to respond consciously and compassionately to them. Radical forgiveness and faith in guidance or a higher meaning in our experience is the answer.
-- Tony Robbins
Friday, October 02, 2015
Dear Millennium, Inadequate Witness
To end the week, a poem entitled "Dear Millennium, Inadequate Witness":
Say we no longer bear witness to a body-politic of trauma
after revolution
by anesthesia or erasure. Say we cover our eyes
to crossed olive-wood beams on a hill. Modes of witness
expose our inadequacy, the human. Forgetting
is a sign—yes, a thing once existed. Say we are unworthy
of witness, internal or external—
our damaged wisdom, for instance,
our diminished capacity for empathy
and heightened apathy to torture
mingled with doves
of unfettered desire
or an eclipsed divine.
-- Karen An-hwei Lee
Say we no longer bear witness to a body-politic of trauma
after revolution
by anesthesia or erasure. Say we cover our eyes
to crossed olive-wood beams on a hill. Modes of witness
expose our inadequacy, the human. Forgetting
is a sign—yes, a thing once existed. Say we are unworthy
of witness, internal or external—
our damaged wisdom, for instance,
our diminished capacity for empathy
and heightened apathy to torture
mingled with doves
of unfettered desire
or an eclipsed divine.
-- Karen An-hwei Lee
Thursday, October 01, 2015
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Disruption
Disruption is a gift. It breaks the habits we otherwise would become so content with and smaller by. We need disruption to look up, to look out, to look at things differently. Without it we would be swallowed up by ourselves; by our tendencies to refine, reduce, eliminate.
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Monday, September 28, 2015
Imprisoned
It is impossible to go through life without trust: that is to be imprisoned in the worst cell of all, oneself.
-- Graham Greene
-- Graham Greene
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Surrounded By Love
More pics from our annual church camping weekend here....
Saturday, September 26, 2015
No Greater Difference
There is no greater difference between men than between grateful and ungrateful.
-- R. H. Blyth
Truth be told, we have received gift after gift after gift.
As recipients of this kind of lavishness, why would we hold on to anything?
-- R. H. Blyth
Truth be told, we have received gift after gift after gift.
As recipients of this kind of lavishness, why would we hold on to anything?
Friday, September 25, 2015
A Pleasure
When should we give up a pleasure?
Something in between asceticism and idolatry is room to consider when to choose sacrifice.
Something in between asceticism and idolatry is room to consider when to choose sacrifice.
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Too Many
What if we're just trying to be too many things?
What if we became willing to just be who we really are, not everyone else? Would that be 'settling? Or, would that be a true becoming?
What if we became willing to just be who we really are, not everyone else? Would that be 'settling? Or, would that be a true becoming?
Monday, September 21, 2015
The Great Divorce
A dramatic presentation of the C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce last night by Anthony Lawton was nothing short of...sacred. Great content certainly helps -- this is a rather amazing book -- but the rendering of it over 90 minutes was riveting, not to mention convicting. A treat of many dimensions.
Sunday, September 20, 2015
My Two Days With Eugene Peterson
...they practiced the art of paying attention — to us, to what the Lord was doing in us, and to how they might participate in it during our visit.
...it was a mark of his lifelong habit of letting pastoral work be unhurried. In our conversations, there were no mass-produced answers to announce, no pithy truisms to make us write down. There was just careful, slow attention.
They give dignity to the unglamorous, ordinary work of pastoral ministry. The truth is, much of my life is nothing like what gets posted on social media. Read further here....
-- Glenn Packiam
...it was a mark of his lifelong habit of letting pastoral work be unhurried. In our conversations, there were no mass-produced answers to announce, no pithy truisms to make us write down. There was just careful, slow attention.
They give dignity to the unglamorous, ordinary work of pastoral ministry. The truth is, much of my life is nothing like what gets posted on social media. Read further here....
-- Glenn Packiam
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Friday, September 18, 2015
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Ever Notice?
"What do I get out of it?"
Ever noticed how short-lived the answers to this question are?
Ever noticed how short-lived the answers to this question are?
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Monday, September 14, 2015
Don't Understand
Though I am familiar with a few things about myself, there are also many things I don't understand.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Creator In Us
We become truly personal by loving God and by loving other humans...In its deepest sense, love is the life, the energy, of the Creator in us.
-- Kallistos Ware
-- Kallistos Ware
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Chain Yourself
It's 'commencement' time again: 
Like all great commitments, love operates simultaneously on two different levels: the level of gritty reality and the level of transcendent magic.
It’s the things you chain yourself to that set you free.
-- David Brooks
...from a rather marvelous commencement address. A wonderful challenge to commit ourselves to things that really matter.
It’s the things you chain yourself to that set you free.
-- David Brooks
...from a rather marvelous commencement address. A wonderful challenge to commit ourselves to things that really matter.
Friday, September 11, 2015
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Wednesday, September 09, 2015
Caine's Arcade
My wife's students were so excited about this. One of them went that night and started working on his own 'arcade'!
Tuesday, September 08, 2015
No Real Substitute
There’s simply no real substitute for physical presence.
-- Frank Bruni
From a delightful article here.... Not only is there power in being present, there is wonderful opportunity as well. Like most good things, though, it takes a commitment...and usually one that includes a lot of other less enjoyable things. Nonetheless, you have to 'be there'.
-- Frank Bruni
From a delightful article here.... Not only is there power in being present, there is wonderful opportunity as well. Like most good things, though, it takes a commitment...and usually one that includes a lot of other less enjoyable things. Nonetheless, you have to 'be there'.
Monday, September 07, 2015
Far More Self-Doubt
Men have far more self-doubt than women realize.
-- Shaunti Feldhahn
From an interesting article here....
-- Shaunti Feldhahn
From an interesting article here....
Sunday, September 06, 2015
Involves You
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
So it's searchable:
God’s plan for moving people from the broad road to the narrow road involves you.
-- Alistair Begg
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
-- Psalm 16:11
God’s plan for moving people from the broad road to the narrow road involves you.
-- Alistair Begg
Saturday, September 05, 2015
Friday, September 04, 2015
Miracle of Efficiency
As an operating device obeying the mind, the brain is a miracle of efficiency. One thing is does amazingly well is to take repeated patterns and turn them into automatic habits and reactions. If you smile when you see the face of a friend, your brain has created a default reaction, a nice, positive one. If you can't end a restaurant meal without ordering dessert, that's also a default reaction but a negative one. Unlike computers, the human brain can decide how to change is wiring so that new pathways weaken and then erase undesirable reactions.
The root of all bad habits and negative behavior lies on the inside, where our biases, prejudices, beliefs, and self-judgments have taken root. If you believe that eating makes you happier, your brain will make a default connection. Every time you feel sad, your will face a chemical reaction that impels you to eat. So the real question is how to change your brain's default settings? Continue here....
-- Deepak Chopra
The root of all bad habits and negative behavior lies on the inside, where our biases, prejudices, beliefs, and self-judgments have taken root. If you believe that eating makes you happier, your brain will make a default connection. Every time you feel sad, your will face a chemical reaction that impels you to eat. So the real question is how to change your brain's default settings? Continue here....
-- Deepak Chopra
Thursday, September 03, 2015
Football Season: 2015 UM 'Hype'
We did what we thought was expected. It's not wrong. It's not enough. It's not the Michigan standard.
-- Jehu Chesson, 2015 UM Receiver
Hard to believe it is football season again already! There is a somewhat indefensible, even unexplainable, comfort that comes from simple things we are familiar with in our annual routines. I, for example, don't have particularly high hopes for anything in particular this 'football season', or especially even for tonight's opening game, and yet also have a strange excitement about another season.
There is something about having something familiar to look forward to...something in the near and proximate. We are creatures of both routine and change...like seasons.
Wednesday, September 02, 2015
Pangs of Memory
Gratitude changes the pangs of memory into a tranquil joy.
-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Applicable to a number of situations, one I'm contemplating today is our son leaving for his final year at college...which may be his final leaving, too.
An opportunity, for regret or for gratitude. I want to choose the latter today because, in fact, one can lead to the other...and does.
-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Applicable to a number of situations, one I'm contemplating today is our son leaving for his final year at college...which may be his final leaving, too.
An opportunity, for regret or for gratitude. I want to choose the latter today because, in fact, one can lead to the other...and does.
Tuesday, September 01, 2015
Monday, August 31, 2015
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Will Sustain You
Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you;
he will never let the righteous be shaken.
-- Psalm 55:22
A time of open sharing at church today seemed very much to me like 'casting our cares' on the Lord. I've often read this through a lens of cause and effect. Like, 'if' we cast our cares on God, 'then' He will care for us.
But we tend to be too much either / or, while God seems to be much more both / and. God says He will sustain us, so...why wouldn't we cast our cares on Him? He promises not to let us be shaken, especially in the ways we fear most. God wants us to go to Him with our concerns...because He WILL sustain us.
and he will sustain you;
he will never let the righteous be shaken.
-- Psalm 55:22
A time of open sharing at church today seemed very much to me like 'casting our cares' on the Lord. I've often read this through a lens of cause and effect. Like, 'if' we cast our cares on God, 'then' He will care for us.
But we tend to be too much either / or, while God seems to be much more both / and. God says He will sustain us, so...why wouldn't we cast our cares on Him? He promises not to let us be shaken, especially in the ways we fear most. God wants us to go to Him with our concerns...because He WILL sustain us.
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Friday, August 28, 2015
Perils Alone
I will not fear, for You are ever with me, and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.
-- Thomas Merton
God lives with us, in our circumstances.
-- Thomas Merton
God lives with us, in our circumstances.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Comfort Zone
We seem to grow proportionately to our willingness to move outside of our comfort zone.
We can, and should, move towards challenging things...rather than avoid them. This is how we grow; how we become increasingly alive.
We can, and should, move towards challenging things...rather than avoid them. This is how we grow; how we become increasingly alive.
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Monday, August 24, 2015
Entirely Of Our Choosing
We have no choice, we must all die. How we live, however, is entirely of our choosing.
-- Simon Sinek
What then will I actually choose today?
-- Simon Sinek
What then will I actually choose today?
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Delight?
For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he crowns the humble with victory.
-- Psalm 149:4
It is still hard to image that God delights in us. But, God says he does. So, what would it be that makes this feel impossible or untrue? And, how do we combat how we so often feel with such a truth?
The Christian faith is meant to be lived moment by moment. It isn't some broad, general outline -- it's a long walk with a real Person. Details count: passing thoughts, small sacrifices, a few encouraging words, little acts of kindness, brief victories over nagging sins.
-- Joni Eareckson Tada
What we choose to believe matters, because it informs the choices we make.
he crowns the humble with victory.
-- Psalm 149:4
It is still hard to image that God delights in us. But, God says he does. So, what would it be that makes this feel impossible or untrue? And, how do we combat how we so often feel with such a truth?
The Christian faith is meant to be lived moment by moment. It isn't some broad, general outline -- it's a long walk with a real Person. Details count: passing thoughts, small sacrifices, a few encouraging words, little acts of kindness, brief victories over nagging sins.
-- Joni Eareckson Tada
What we choose to believe matters, because it informs the choices we make.
Saturday, August 22, 2015
Friday, August 21, 2015
Lord, Help Me...
When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom.
-- Proverbs 11:2
"Lord, help me to have the courage to be humble".
I haven't noticed much of a connection between courage and humility. But, it does seem to takes courage to be humble...to trust in something other than myself. The wise know this. The courageous know this.
"Lord, help me...".
but with humility comes wisdom.
-- Proverbs 11:2
"Lord, help me to have the courage to be humble".
I haven't noticed much of a connection between courage and humility. But, it does seem to takes courage to be humble...to trust in something other than myself. The wise know this. The courageous know this.
"Lord, help me...".
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Trivial Indulgence
Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.
-- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
-- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Energy and Self-Control
Researchers at the University of Nottingham recently published findings from their exploration of 83 separate studies on energy and self-control. What they found will change the way you start your day.
The researchers found that self-control and energy are not only intricately linked but also finite, daily resources that tire much like a muscle. Even though we don’t always realize it, as the day goes on, we have increased difficulty exerting self-control and focusing on our work. As self-control wears out, we feel tired and find tasks to be more difficult and our mood sours.
This exhaustion of self-control kills your productivity, and it makes the morning hours, when self-control is highest, the most important hours of the day.
But the trick isn’t just to spend your morning hours working; it’s to do the right things in the morning that will make your energy and self-control last as long as possible.
-- Travis Bradberry
There are some surprisingly easy things that can help us with this reality. Continue here...
The researchers found that self-control and energy are not only intricately linked but also finite, daily resources that tire much like a muscle. Even though we don’t always realize it, as the day goes on, we have increased difficulty exerting self-control and focusing on our work. As self-control wears out, we feel tired and find tasks to be more difficult and our mood sours.
This exhaustion of self-control kills your productivity, and it makes the morning hours, when self-control is highest, the most important hours of the day.
But the trick isn’t just to spend your morning hours working; it’s to do the right things in the morning that will make your energy and self-control last as long as possible.
-- Travis Bradberry
There are some surprisingly easy things that can help us with this reality. Continue here...
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Monday, August 17, 2015
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Handicaps
Is it possible that the very handicaps in my life are the keys to usefulness in the service of God?
-- Alistair Begg
Humble yourselves, therefore,
under God’s mighty hand,
that he may lift you up in due time.
-- 1 Peter 5:6
Saturday, August 15, 2015
The Unique Way
Every person needs to choose to follow Christ...and. particularly, in the unique way that God has made them to do so.
Friday, August 14, 2015
Consistently Fought For
-- Scott Sauls
Continue here....
Thursday, August 13, 2015
How God Sees Us
Perhaps, the question is, what do we allow to most inform how we see ourselves?
If we see ourselves largely through the lens of how we believe others see us, we set ourselves up for some serious problems and can only end up in arrogance or despair. We will always be trying to keep track of what others expect of us, what we need to be, and never be able to let our guard down or relax. For sure, we won't be able to be who we really are.
If we see ourselves primarily through a definition we come up with on our own, even if we succeed in shunning how others inform that, we likely will end up absorbed with ourselves, only able to serve our own interests, concerns, or threats. Not to mention, alone.
We must then learn to understand who we are based on something else....not from others, not simply from our own constructs.
Our only viable option is to see ourselves from God's perspective, how He sees us.
...then, we can discover who we really are.
And, it no longer is necessary to get others to see us in a certain way.
If we see ourselves largely through the lens of how we believe others see us, we set ourselves up for some serious problems and can only end up in arrogance or despair. We will always be trying to keep track of what others expect of us, what we need to be, and never be able to let our guard down or relax. For sure, we won't be able to be who we really are.
If we see ourselves primarily through a definition we come up with on our own, even if we succeed in shunning how others inform that, we likely will end up absorbed with ourselves, only able to serve our own interests, concerns, or threats. Not to mention, alone.
We must then learn to understand who we are based on something else....not from others, not simply from our own constructs.
Our only viable option is to see ourselves from God's perspective, how He sees us.
...then, we can discover who we really are.
And, it no longer is necessary to get others to see us in a certain way.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
The Way We See Ourselves
The way we see ourselves is pretty important.
Monday, August 10, 2015
Sunday, August 09, 2015
Other Way Around
As long as we imagine it is we who have to look for God, we must often lose heart. But it is the other way around -- He is looking for us.
-- Simon Tugwell
This couldn't be more evident to me than the recent baptism of my son, Conner. I am so proud of him, his willingness to fight for this life that God has put within him.
-- Simon Tugwell
This couldn't be more evident to me than the recent baptism of my son, Conner. I am so proud of him, his willingness to fight for this life that God has put within him.
Saturday, August 08, 2015
Tension Between
What is most characteristically human about us is the tension between the desire to be "free" — self-identifying and self-choosing — and to be "related" to love and be loved.
-- Paul Tillich
-- Paul Tillich
Friday, August 07, 2015
Seedlings Of Our Desires
Our thoughts are amazing things. They are the seedlings of all our desires, actions and beliefs. In fact, what we think about most of the time, we tend to become.
-- Jas Singh
-- Jas Singh
Thursday, August 06, 2015
Only Wisdom
The only wisdom we can hope to acquire is the wisdom of humility.
-- T.S. Eliot
To embrace what Suze is saying, it seems to me, we must acknowledge what Eliot is saying.
Though not 'new', this truth is a game-changer -- or, it keeps the game changed from the one we so often play in. Despite what the world says, I really don't need to be what humility is not.
-- T.S. Eliot
To embrace what Suze is saying, it seems to me, we must acknowledge what Eliot is saying.
Though not 'new', this truth is a game-changer -- or, it keeps the game changed from the one we so often play in. Despite what the world says, I really don't need to be what humility is not.
Wednesday, August 05, 2015
Not More Like You
The key to being a good mentor is to help people become more of who they already are -- not to make them more like you.
-- Suze Orman
-- Suze Orman
Tuesday, August 04, 2015
Monday, August 03, 2015
Be Persistent
Be persistent: If you want something badly enough, you need to work at it. This is especially true when it comes to relationships.
-- Bruce Kasanoff
I'm not on my A-game today. I'm not emotionally alert, having trouble seeing clearly, mentally foggy.
I can 'bag it' or press in more intentionally to try to overcome. Sometimes persistence seems natural; sometimes I have to choose it. I have a sense of what it needs to be today....
-- Bruce Kasanoff
I'm not on my A-game today. I'm not emotionally alert, having trouble seeing clearly, mentally foggy.
I can 'bag it' or press in more intentionally to try to overcome. Sometimes persistence seems natural; sometimes I have to choose it. I have a sense of what it needs to be today....
Sunday, August 02, 2015
I Shall Know Him
I'm sucker for b-shop quartet style harmonies. I went to a competition for my 10th birthday and have never forgotten it.
Saturday, August 01, 2015
Alike, Large
This is our Lord's will...that our prayer and our trust be, alike, large.
-- St. Julian of Norwich
The weight of the human future can feel very heavy at times.
Ask yourself what you really want (pray) and just take the next step (trust) in that direction. Do that again and again. You will arrive at a place you didn't anticipate (Lord's will).
And, you will realize that the load was lighter than you had guessed.
-- St. Julian of Norwich
The weight of the human future can feel very heavy at times.
Ask yourself what you really want (pray) and just take the next step (trust) in that direction. Do that again and again. You will arrive at a place you didn't anticipate (Lord's will).
And, you will realize that the load was lighter than you had guessed.
Friday, July 31, 2015
Straining At The Oars
Straining at the oars of prayer at times can be such a sweet burn in our spirit-muscle.
Just a whiff of the possibility that it matters is all it takes to keep rowing, to keep praying.
Just a whiff of the possibility that it matters is all it takes to keep rowing, to keep praying.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Natural Response
Compassion seems to be a natural response, even though it so often feels unnatural. It is when we see the object of our compassion through the lens of what we, too, have experienced, that we can offer mercy.
This morning's mercy to me came in the form of this awareness, that where I might want to react in anger (ironically, often because of anger towards me), I more naturally want to respond with mercy...because of the mercy that has been shown towards me.
In other words, what someone else is going through...is something, if I'm honest, I also have gone through (or still go through).
This morning's mercy to me came in the form of this awareness, that where I might want to react in anger (ironically, often because of anger towards me), I more naturally want to respond with mercy...because of the mercy that has been shown towards me.
In other words, what someone else is going through...is something, if I'm honest, I also have gone through (or still go through).
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Has Prepared
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived
— the things God has prepared for those who love him—”
-- 1 Corinthians 2:9
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived
— the things God has prepared for those who love him—”
-- 1 Corinthians 2:9
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Monday, July 27, 2015
Telling & Trusting
When we tell people to do their jobs, we get workers. When we trust people to get the job done, we get leaders.
-- Simon Sinek
-- Simon Sinek
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Lower Level? No!
We always have visions, before a thing is made real. When we realize that although the vision is real, it is not real in us, then is the time that Satan comes in with his temptations, and we are apt to say it is no use to go on. Instead of the vision becoming real, there has come the valley of humiliation.
The vision is not a castle in the air, but a vision of what God wants you to be. Let HIm put you on His wheel and whirl you as He likes, and as sure as God is God and you are you, you will turn out exactly in accordance with the vision. Don't lose heart in the process. If you have ever had the vision of God, you may try as you like to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never let you.
-- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest
Life is not as idle ore,God gives us the vision, then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of the vision, and it is in the valley that so many of us faint and give way. Every vision will be made real if we will have patience. Think of the enormous leisure of God! He is never in a hurry. We are always in such a frantic hurry. In the light of the glory of the vision we go forth to do things, but the vision is not real in us yet; and God has to take us into the valley, and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the place where He can trust us with the veritable reality. Ever since we had the vision God has been at work, getting us into the shape of the ideal, and over and over again we escape from His hand and try to batter ourselves into our own shape.
But iron dug from central gloom,
And batter'd by the shocks of doom
To shape and use.
The vision is not a castle in the air, but a vision of what God wants you to be. Let HIm put you on His wheel and whirl you as He likes, and as sure as God is God and you are you, you will turn out exactly in accordance with the vision. Don't lose heart in the process. If you have ever had the vision of God, you may try as you like to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never let you.
-- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest
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