3 Observations & A Question

It’s very hard (impossible?) to react and listen (at the same time).

Our most recent experience of something tends to overshadow our historically experienced one … but, never fully.

Your ego is your default control-mechanism — the more you feed it, though, the greater your illusion about that control becomes (not to mention the illusion it creates about yourself).

People often do things because of the way it makes them feel — what else would explain why would you wear a shirt like that?

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

U.S.Adult Interest In Election

AXIOS

RIP: Our Dearest Fletcher

You were a better friend than we know — how we will miss you!

Is Final

 

No idea is final.

 

-- Taika Waititi

Impasses

Do you ever feel like you are at an impasse about something in your life?

Something at work, a health-concern, a social dynamic.  Perhaps something with a family member, a friend or your spouse feels stuck.  Or, something in your mind or heart feels like you just can't get past it.

When you feel like you are at an impasse, physically, emotionally, psychologically, literally or in theory, what do you do? 

Do you try to force something? Do you patiently wait long enough for the arrival of something that somehow releases the situation?  Of course, there's often gradation surrounding and in between these two options.

I’m not saying that one automatically is better than the other. But, I do know one other thing about this kind of thing — that we are often fraught with impatience….  And, impatience, more often than not, comes down to some kind of battle related to trust...of something (or someone).

Impasses often involve assumptions that have become lodged and that seem immovable. It stands to follow, then, that release of impasses (or resolutions to them) are often about discovering assumptions that we didn’t know were involved.  And, the not so funny thing about, assumptions is what they often lead to:  conclusions.

Conclusions mask and solidify assumptions, often burying them completely.

This is where patience does come in.  It takes some time (and effort) to make enough space to allow for a revelation of something...usually at the assumption level of things.  Force may be efficient, but not always effective, especially in the long run.

Impasses invariably occur.  They're a simple fact of life.  Our response (openness) to them, though, can often result in unanticipated kinds of break-through.

A Depreciating Asset

I talk a lot about the responsibility of a leader is to be optimistic, to believe that good things can happen, because optimism is sort of a depreciating asset in an organization. People look up to their leaders. And if their leaders don't believe, then they don't believe. Now, it's not just blind optimism. It's optimism coupled with a credible plan.

-- Jeff Zients

Think Certain Thoughts

Ever noticed...how difficult it is to sit down and try to think certain thoughts, to come up with new thoughts, etc.? 

Or, is that just me? 

For me, new thoughts seem to come to my consciousness more from the side or from a context in which I’m not really trying to think them.  Such things tend to pop into my mind and from there I can take it and run with it, mull it over, test it, develop it. While consciously trying to organize prior thoughts is a little easier or natural, consciously trying to think of a new thought rarely works for me.

This may be a result of the habits and structure in my life. Perhaps, it actually works the opposite way for other people and the structure in their lives allows for engagement with ideas in a different way.

Now there's a thought....

Loss of a Single Species

Faith is about making all things new. 

-- Steven Charleston, Choctaw elder and retired Episcopal bishop

We all find the life that calls to our bones. Perhaps we nourish life by putting pen to paper or hands in the dirt. Perhaps we help those who are dying to walk with joy, or a classroom of kids to sing a little louder, or by feeding the birds. Perhaps we have claimed the title of aunt, uncle, godparent, neighbor, or friend to a beloved child. All of it is necessary. 

-- Lydia Wylie-Kellermann

3 Observations & A Question

There are many things in the heart of a man — some of them are known to him…

Much of what we don’t know about is simply related to our lack of experience with it.

There are few things quite as centering as the beauty of a peaceful dawn.

When does "you should have..." move from an admonition or encouragement to a kind of condemnation?

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

Words Used at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions & Alcohol Consumption

New York Times

GALLUP - Front Page

Today

Who do I want to be today?

A really great question. It is one, though, that has to translate to another one. In light of who I want to be today, what do I want to do today? Which, in the end, really needs to extend to the next version of the question, what do I want to do…for someone else today?

The answer to that question is probably the best answer to the first question.

Life Engenders Life

Life engenders life.  Energy creates energy.  It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich.

-- Sarah Bernhardt

A Mind Like Mine

What do I do with a mind like mine?

I’ve talked to enough people that I'd be surprised if we all don't say something like this, at one point or another.

Over time, we come to recognize that there are clear patterns or pathways to the way that our minds seems to work. Some of it is innate. Some of it is conditioned. And, some of it is developed. Either way, the combination often seems to resort to the modality in which it tends to go. Why do I think this thought over and over? Why do I come back to this way of thinking so often? The answer, in part, is that this is a mechanism that provides some type of ease in navigating our perceptions of the world and life.

We think the way we think, largely, because it is easier for us to think that way. Whether by habit, by design or intention, we seem to choose mental routes because they are familiar to us…and, in that way, easier. Sometimes, it may be appropriate to fight those patterns in an effort to develop new ones, especially when the ones that have developed are destructive.

But, aside from those scenarios, perhaps the better use of our effort and energy would be to ask ourselves something closer to, what can I do with my mind that works in this way? Where can I apply it? What use could it be to me beyond the confines of itself?

What could I do with a mind like mine?

LT: Doesn’t Complain

Leadership doesn’t complain.

Let It Flow

I’ve noticed…that I am rarely (if ever) in perfect flow. 

What I mean is, because I’m still tinkering with too much of the details of my life — assessing them, organizing them — I never fully let them translate who I am to where I am and to those around me. The combination of perfecting myself, in the context of truly serving the needs of others, not only stunts my growth, but inhibits my ultimate sense of being — which is really where the crux of my existence and where the meaning of it lies. 

A little more of this and a little less of that pails in significance against the scale of any perfection I can give to someone else. The real value of what is in me is what flows from me or through me. And, because of that dynamic, what is really significant then is the flow within me, not the perfection of me (although some of that tends to happen in the state of flow). The irony is that it is in the process of giving myself that I actually gain what I need and it is that service to the needs around me that ultimately matters the most. 

One metaphor may help illustrate this:  a reservoir. Often, under this premise, we see it as our job to distribute some of what we have accumulated in our reservoir, but never at the expense of being fully depleted. Accordingly, we are constantly monitoring how much we think we have to give and pretty oriented to what we have to preserve. A better metaphor of what we can be, at least in terms of water, might be that of a spring. Understanding where what we have to distribute comes from can be illuminating.  If we try to manage a spring like a reservoir, the less this true resource actually gets distributed to where it needs to go. 

The source of a spring is relatively infinite, and if we were to recognize and believe that orientation about ourselves to the world, the less preoccupied we might be with self-preservation and the more we might be freed up to be in the business of distributing the water that flows through us — after all, that is from the source of all life and is a sustenance of it.

I want to learn more about less tinkering and more release.  In other words, how to...let it flow.

Protecting God

As a general rule, I would have to say that human beings never behave more badly towards one another than when they believe they are protecting God.

-- Barbara Brown Taylor

3 Observations & A Question

Most of your ideas about other people are what you ultimately have to let go of.

Where you spend your time impacts what you see — how you see, what you think, what you conclude….

We all have desire (and need) for a degree of control over our lives — but, we all also know what it feels like when someone else is exerting that control over you. 

You do realize you don’t get any points for what you’re against, right?

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

Cigarette Smoking & Vaccinations

GALLUP - Front Page

If you do these 8 things, you’re mentally stronger than most

These days, we could do with all the mental strength we can muster. 

Mental strength is the ability to productively regulate your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, even in the face of adversity. And adversity is in no short supply. If you want to overcome more challenges, achieve more success, experience more happiness and less stress — it takes mental strength. 

After spending decades studying mental strength and interviewing and surveying thousands of people for my recent book, “The Mentally Strong Leader″, I have good news. The mentally strongest people tend to share certain habits we can learn from. There are patterns I’ve noticed when it comes to what they say (and don’t say) and what they do. 

1. Manage emotions without minimizing them
2. Remember confidence isn’t the absence of doubt
3. Talk to yourself like a friend in need
4. Know your resilience needs and draw on resources accordingly
5. Don’t let the daily grind get you down
6. Unlearn as needed 
7. Act like an epicenter of encouragement
8. Act like change is happening for you, not to you

Continue here....

-- Scott Mautz

Not Satisfied

He who is not satisfied with a little, is satisfied with nothing.

-- Epicurus

Solidarity Doesn't Have To Mean Prejudice

There’s a fundamental difference between positive patriotism and negative nationalism. Positive patriotism is taking pride in your country. Negative nationalism is looking down on other countries.

-- Yuval Noah Harari

The lesson here is that ingroup solidarity doesn’t require outgroup prejudice.

You can love your people without hating others.

-- Adam Grant

From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a b****.’

-- Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 astronaut

Why do we have to keep reminding ourselves that it is US who keep politicians in power (you know, “we the people”)?  

We’re the ones who have to ask, are they truly promoting the ideas and actions that help make us a better society (some certainly are)?  Or, are they simply using racism to appeal to the vagaries of our base-instincts (fears)?

LT: This is the kind of leader we need right now

When leaders have done their jobs, or are qualified to assume power, they do not need belittling, name-calling, or character assassination. That approach may win devotees in the short term, but it will leave no lasting positive impression. It is a tale of trumpery, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. 

A leader’s job is to make the case for collaboration that inspires the people to seek common ground, transcend their differences, and build consensus in pursuit of the common good.  It’s the people’s job to identify such leaders, and then follow wherever they lead. Continue here....

-- Yonason Goldson

I Don't Want To Be

I’m wondering…sometimes if I’m not just a massive construct of all the things that I shouldn’t be — rather than what I want to be.

Wisdom Begins in Wonder

Suffering As His Own

“When you hold a lunch or dinner … invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; and blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.” 

-- Luke 14:12–14

For who that has read the Gospel does not know that Christ counts all human suffering his own? 

-- Origen

3 Observations & A Question

Be aware of what you expose yourself to...not beware, but aware.

Anymore, you really have to prioritize your health.

The politics of fear is SO boring — not to mention that it preys on the vulnerable.

When you’re in trouble, who do you turn to?

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

The Wind Blows Through the Doors of My Heart

'Poem for the week' -- "The Wind Blows Through the Doors of My Heart":

The wind blows

through the doors of my heart.

It scatters my sheet music

that climbs like waves from the piano, free of the keys.

Now the notes stripped, black butterflies,

flattened against the screens.

The wind through my heart

blows all my candles out.

In my heart and its rooms is dark and windy.

From the mantle smashes birds' nests, teacups

full of stars as the wind winds round,

a mist of sorts that rises and bends and blows

or is blown through the rooms of my heart

that shatters the windows,

rakes the bedsheets as though someone

had just made love. And my dresses

they are lifted like brides come to rest

on the bedstead, crucifixes,

dresses tangled in trees in the rooms

of my heart. To save them

I've thrown flowers to fields,

so that someone would pick them up

and know where they came from.

Come the bees now clinging to flowered curtains.

Off with the clothesline pinning anything, my mother's trousseau.

It is not for me to say what is this wind

or how it came to blow through the rooms of my heart.

Wing after wing, through the rooms of the dead

the wind does not blow. Nor the basement, no wheezing,

no wind choking the cobwebs in our hair.

It is cool here, quiet, a quilt spread on soil.

But we will never lie down again.

-- Deborah Digges

You're Only As Young As

You're only as young as the last time you changed your mind.

-- Timothy Leary

The Man, Ideology, and Populism

A man can’t go very far without political ideology. And, political ideology can’t go very far without populism. But, in combination, these three things can create quite an effect, if not force.

At some point, each of the three needs a serious review, because in combination, they’re creating something that you’re going to have to live with whether you like it or not.

Pay attention, especially to the words. Because, invariably, once the activity that surrounds any one (or all three) of these starts to match up with the words, you have a reality. If you're in the protected group, you may be thinking "what's the big deal?" But, if you not...you're scared.

Does the character of the man representing the ideology of the popular group line up with what is good for humanity at large?

A populous perspective would likely say something like, "I don’t really know" or even "I don’t care". "As long as my needs are met and nothing is interfering with those, then I’m good". The problem with that mentality, not to mention the disposition, is that it fails to recognize that no group can live in isolation from other groups anymore. And, therefore, policy has to consider the needs of more than just one (your) group.

It doesn’t take much observation to note that what one group wants is still predicated on assumptions about the whole combination. In spite of our (American) fantasy about it, nothing is (or can be) isolated. No one group can really dominate another for long, without creating the very resistance it wants to foil.

Thus the problem.

The problem with populism is its inherent my-group vs your-group dynamic. The problem with political ideology is that it often is too distant from grass-roots reality, even as it claims features that appear to show that is its primary concern. The problem with the man is that without integrity for the higher good of all three things, it becomes something quite different than what it should be...what it needs to be.

Populism too often ends up running on the energy of fear and ends up in the ever-deepening ditch of quid pro quo (or worse) — missing the mark of the needs of the larger frame. Somehow we have to all live together...each giving things for the sake of the greater good.

Maybe more of this would help, too (John nails it again).

Trust First

Leaders take the risk to trust first.

-- Simon Sinek

Convinced

Ever noticed...how we become convinced of something?

Or, perhaps more importantly, why?

He Waits For Us There

4 Observations (from Others)

The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already.

-- Leonard Tolstoy

It is easier to remember things together than alone.  

-- Rachel Held Evans

The time it takes to engage with ideas — whether factual or fictional, emotional or intellectual, accurate or inaccurate, efficient or inefficient — might strike some as a drag. But the time given to working through those ideas, adopting and adapting, developing or discarding, changes our minds, changes us. It’s not about the wisdom we glean. It’s about what wisdom we grow.

-- Joel Miller

The most powerful determinate of who you are is inside you.

-- Dr Carey, Educated 

Prior 4 Observations (from Others).

This Is The Leadership We Want?

Is she Indian or is she Black? I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t. Because she was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she went, she became a Black person. I think somebody should look into that.

-- Donald Trump 

What?!? "She became a Black person"?  How exactly does one do that?  

Besides, even if she could (still not sure how), why would THAT be a problem?  Your white ignorance (not to mention arrogance) is showing again….

What does it really mean that a whole political party is still behind this guy?  That's what is a bit scary to me.

The palpable, collective self-interest, as opposed to public service, is astounding.

Can you even imagine what would happen to a black man who speaks the way Trump speaks (not to mention the actions he has already been convicted of)?  He would be nowhere near a top ticket candidate for any political party (in part, because a black man would have already been put in jail).

Developmentally, Trump is like a petulant human child, in terms of maturity. And, we want him to help lead a world in need of profound levels of wisdom and empathy?

The only possible explanation I can see is that this, ultimately, is way more about pure unadulterated power than it is about anything like greatness or returning (to something good).  There is little that is great or good about what this ideology represents or how they are (and intend to) going about it.

Attacking people’s identity is not leadership (not to mention loving).

Hold A Belief So Tightly

When you hold a belief so tightly you cannot see another's humanity, it will eventually obscure your own.

Case in point?  “[A] very good afternoon.”

Sonya Massey's Murder and America's Readiness for a Woman of Color as President

America (and, unfortunately, especially white America) MUST demand this kind of thing stops — “this is kind of sad, but what am I supposed to do?” is NOT good enough:

Sonya Massey called 911 because she was concerned she was in danger in her home.

When police arrived, she was in danger.

Massey was executed in her kitchen by officer Sean Grayson, a man who had been previously discharged from the Army for serious misconduct, had pled guilty to two DUIs, and been referred to take “high-stress decision” classes by a past police department.

Not only did Grayson and other responding officers woefully fail the 36-year old mother of two teenagers when she was at her most vulnerable, they killed her without any efforts to deescalate the charged situation that they themselves created, and they showed a complete disregard for her after her death.

And in a week where my social media feeds exploded with boundless enthusiasm over Kamala Harris’ announced presidential campaign, Sonya Massey’s name and face were far less prominent, especially among white people.

Most sharing their grief and anger at such a clear display of the sickening consequences of systemic racism were other Black women, reminding us that this nation has never been a place where people of color have felt truly safe in the presence of law enforcement—and for good reason.

The lack of visible and vocal white outrage at Sonya Massey’s murder has me asking the question:

Is America truly ready for a woman of color as president?

Are we expecting too much from a nation that still seems more invested in white supremacy than in Democracy, as evidenced by Donald Trump’s steadfast support among White Christian conservatives?

In an America where people of color do not feel protected by white law enforcement, can Kamala Harris galvanize enough white voters who are truly burdened to dismantle the racism embedded in our foundation, one we have been complicit in and benefitted from?

Honestly, I confess that I have my doubts even as there are encouraging signs that renovation is happening.

It’s been a beautiful surprise seeing the way the Vice President’s candidacy has been embraced by White people, with the #AnswerTheCall and #WhiteDudesForHarris movements among a number of high-profile efforts to mobilize voters. It was something we might not have seen a few years ago, and that in itself makes this moment feel different, giving us all cause for cautious hope.

I want to believe this nation has finally reached a collective moral clearing: that after nearly two hundred-and-fifty years, we are ready to reject misogyny and racism once-and-for-all and to elect a qualified, poised, intelligent woman of color to our highest office.

But that aspiration is tempered by the reality that Sonya Massey should be alive right now and by the realization that power and prejudice combined to violently end her life in her home.

The relative silence in the face of her murder, makes me question if enough white Americans are truly ready to face the ugliness of who we have been, who in many ways we still are, and to build something better together.

The only way that a more humane version of our country will be possible is if enough white people condemn and oppose the dehumanization that visited Sonya Massey and that still shows up millions of times a day in less visible or glaring moments.

We need to inventory our own hearts, directly engage those in our circles of influence, and confront the darkest parts of our nation.

Every time we see and hear and speak and share about Kamala Harris, we should remember and talk about Sonya Massey. We should grieve her death and feel fury over the way she left this place.

On the campaign trail, Kamala Harris has confidently declared that we are not going back as a nation.

With every fiber of my being I hope she’s right.

And if she is, Sonya Massey should have lived to see it.

-- John Pavlovitz, The Beautiful Mess

What Looks Like Skill

What looks like skill is often consistent discipline.

-- Shane Parrish

What Needs To Be Said?

I've noticed...there is only so much time—in any given day, in our life-times, etc.  

So, what can be said and what needs to be said is worth thinking about.  

For me, the question may be closer to, what do I want to say?

The Universal Need to Grieve

This may be one of the better things I have read about our relationship with pain and suffering (two often related, but different things), especially in terms of remedy for what really ails us...avoidance:

The human instinct is to block suffering and pain. This is especially true in the West where we have been influenced by the “rationalism” of the Enlightenment. As anyone who has experienced grief can attest, it isn’t rational. We really don’t know how to hurt! We simply don’t know what to do with our pain. 

The great wisdom traditions are trying to teach us that grief isn’t something from which to run. It’s a liminal space, a time of transformation. In fact, we can’t risk getting rid of our pain until we’ve learned what it has to teach us, and it—grief, suffering, loss, pain—always has something to teach us! Unfortunately, many of us have been taught that grief and sadness are something to repress, deny, or avoid. We would much rather be angry than sad. 

Perhaps the simplest and most inclusive definition of grief is “unfinished hurt.” It feels like a demon spinning around inside of us and it hurts too much, so we immediately look for someone else to blame. We have to learn to remain open to our grief, to wait in patient expectation for what it has to teach us. When we close in too tightly around our sadness or grief, when we try to fix it, control it, or understand it, we only deny ourselves its lessons. 

Saint Ephrem the Syrian (303–373) considered tears to be sacramental signs of divine mercy. He instructs: “Give God weeping, and increase the tears in your eyes: through your tears and [God’s] goodness the soul which has been dead will be restored.” What a different kind of human being than most of us! In the charismatic circles in which I participated during my early years of ministry, holy tears were a common experience. Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi reportedly wept all the time—for days on end! 

The “weeping mode” is a different way of being in the world. It’s different than the fixing, explaining, or controlling mode. We’re finally free to feel the tragedy of things, the sadness of things. Tears cleanse our eyes both physically and spiritually so we can begin to see more clearly. Sometimes we have to cry for a very long time because we’re not seeing truthfully or well at all. Tears only come when we realize we can’t fix and we can’t change reality. The situation is absurd, it’s unjust, it’s wrong, it’s impossible. She should not have died; he should not have died. How could this happen? Only when we are led to the edges of our own resources are we finally free to move to the weeping mode. 

The way we can tell our tears have cleansed us is that afterwards we don’t need to blame anybody, even ourselves. It’s an utter transformation and cleansing of the soul, and we know it came from God. It is what it is, and somehow God is in it.

-- Richard Rohr

3 Observations & A Question

Much of what you do, when you’re not needed, impacts what you can do when you are. 

Too often when we seek information, we are really just seeking affirmation — our genuine curiosity is lacking.

Respect is treating someone with respect, even when the way they are acting is not respect-worthy (especially towards you). 

What If…the other person won’t start listening until you do?

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

Visual: Sunrise Layers

Visual - “Sunrise Layers”

Granby,  CO

Wonders never cease (even when our awareness of them does).  

Healing Begins

Healing begins where the wound was made.

-- Alice Walker

Though likely still inclusive of it, the frame of healing referenced here is larger than physical healing.

Rest

Rest, at the end of the day, is an act of submission.

We often seem to resent that we can’t afford to take the time to rest.  And yet, when life provides us times for rest, we often chafe at not being able to be more...productive.

I recently had to submit to rest.  It come in the form of a hernia surgery.  Obviously, I wouldn't have chosen that as an opportunity for rest.  But, it is hard to deny that what comes our way is not often exactly in the form we would prefer.   And, for that reason alone, we can easily miss something significant as we scramble to get back on track as soon as possible.

Why is it that rest is, more often than not, something we must choose?  In other words, unless it chooses us, we feel like it is closer to a wasting of time to do it. 

Perhaps it is influenced by our preoccupation with self-determinism.  We don't want to be dictated to.  We want to be in control.  To choose when we do something and when we don't.  Not all of this is inherently bad.  But, some of it is; maybe even more of it than we think.  

Healing, like growth, is not a linear function.  Even though I wanted (want) to know how long it would be before I could fully return to the routines of my life, I really just had to be patient with a process that is mostly unfamiliar to me.  In one week you can do this  In two weeks, you can do that.  But, before four weeks, don't do....

So, I watched that calendar, trying to cooperate with it (mostly to avoid a set-back), but also mindful of whether I beating the averages of...getting back on track.  Not really as mindful of the opportunity this situation was affording me.  I live a lot of my life this way.  Missing important stuff.  Eager to be productive.  But, for what essential purpose?  ...to be in control of the things I think I want in life?  

Rest is, after all, not something you can really rush.  You have to cooperate with it; to submit to its own time-table.

Besides, one of the forfeits of not submitting to rest is not really the constancy of my productivity, as much as it is the recognition that such a view of life is actually denying something.  It is denying that rest is really a kind of recognition that dependency is a vital part of my existence.  That rest is an opportunity to remind myself of that.  That I am not in control of as much as I would like to be and that that is not only okay, but important to know.

Because knowing that significantly alters what I am relying on in my life — myself, or something bigger.

Submitting is not as bad a thing as we have come to believe.  After all, independence is often not nearly as much about freedom as it is control.  When I demand to be in control, I both can't afford or benefit from the gift that rest gives to us.

Compel You To Become

The real value in setting goals is not in their achievement. The acquisition of the things you want is strictly secondary. The major reason for setting goals is to compel you to become the person it takes to achieve them.

-- Jim Rohn

To Give Of Myself

I’m wondering…about calling.  

Throughout history, there's been more than a little opining (especially religious) on the topic of finding one’s calling.  But, at the end of the day, isn't it really about whatever I have grown to want to give of myself for the good of the world?

That's what I am called to do, isn't it?

Wisdom Begins in Wonder

Christians and Partisan Talking Points

When Christians are more conversant around partisan talking points than the Sermon on the Mount, we demonstrate that our Christianity is secondary and a servant to our politics.

-- Rich Villodas

Imagining and contending for what you hope for in this world is one of the hardest and kindest paths I’ve discovered out here. In the midst of all this, don’t forget to imagine something better. Don’t forget to dream of what could be possible. And don’t forget to live into those hopes with faithfulness. Move in that direction, especially when all you know is “not this.” 

If it helps, sometimes I’ve thought of this as the rhythm of turning away and then turning toward, almost like a beautiful dance…. We turn away from those things we’re against and toward the hopeful future we imagine. In a purposeful movement, we turn away from the practices or beliefs or habits that consume us, threaten us, reduce us, and distract us. And then we turn toward what brings flourishing, goodness, and truth to us. Turn away, yes, and turn toward…. What we turn toward should reorient us to the world in a posture of love, joy, and service. 

It can be a simple rhythm to begin with. Turning away from spaces in social media that have become toxic for you and turning toward inviting a lonely neighbor over for tea. Turning away from voices that bring shame and guilt to you or others and turning toward voices that preach freedom and wholeness and love. Or turning away from shrinking back and shutting up to keep the peace; turning toward owning your voice, your body, your experiences with boldness. Turning away from gossip and petty nitpicking; turning toward language of blessing….  

Begin with Against, and keep going until you find your For. It’s an act of defiant faith. It will give you something to lean into. It will give you a path to follow. 

-- Sarah Bessey

Nest

 

3 Observations & A Question

People rarely change their minds by thinking — but, their personal experiences often do.

A lack of humility is a lack of acknowledgment of the true vulnerabilities of our lives — which invariably seems to lead towards some form of oppression of others. 

Our individual and collective well-being is diminished when we spend more time speculating on, rather than serving, our community.

What do we need to just clear out of our lives, so that we can start growing again?

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

This is the key to ending the negative-thinking pandemic

What you don’t know can hinder your potential and growth. Unfortunately, it creates a paradox, because you don’t know what you don’t know. The quickest way to learn new information is to tap into the ideas and insights of the people around you, but people often don’t ask enough questions, says Jeff Wetzler, author of Ask: Tap into the Hidden Wisdom of People Around You for Unexpected Breakthroughs in Leadership and Life. 

“The biggest reason is because we don’t realize the question that needs to be asked in the first place,” he says. “We size up situations so quickly and jump to conclusions. We feel that those conclusions are reality, and it doesn’t occur to us there is something we don’t know. If you feel certain about something, it’s logical that you wouldn’t ask questions.”

Another reason people hold back from asking a question is that they overestimate how the other person is going to feel about being asked, says Wetzler. “We think the other person is not going to want to be put on the spot, but research shows that people actually appreciate being asked questions to express who they are and what they’re going through.”  Continue here....

-- Stephanie Vozza

You Are What You Love

You are what you love, not what loves you.

-- Charlie Kaufman

3 (4 actually) Perspectives on Democracy

3 perspectives still startlingly impacting our collective work on democracy:

In all social systems there must be a class to do the menial duties, to perform the drudgery of life. That is, a class requiring but a low order of intellect and but little skill. Its requisites are vigor, docility, fidelity. Such a class you must have, or you would not have that other class which leads progress, civilization, and refinement. It constitutes the very mud-sill of society and of political government; and you might as well attempt to build a house in the air, as to build either the one or the other, except on this mud-sill.

I repudiate, as ridiculously absurd, that much-lauded but nowhere accredited dogma of Mr. Jefferson, that ‘all men are born equal’. 

-- James Henry Hammond, South Carolina senator  1858

Arguments that some races are “inferior, rub out the sentiment of liberty in the country, and…transform this Government into a government of some other form. The idea that it is beneficial for some people to be dominated by others is the argument “that kings have made for enslaving the people in all ages of the world…. Turn in whatever way you will—whether it come from the mouth of a King, an excuse for enslaving the people of his country, or from the mouth of men of one race as a reason for enslaving the men of another race, it is all the same old serpent."

-- Abraham Lincoln, Months after Hammond’s speech addressing German immigrants in Chicago

...[t]he relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.

Never in the history of our Republic has a President had reason to believe that he would be immune from criminal prosecution if he used the trappings of his office to violate the criminal law. Moving forward, however, all former Presidents will be cloaked in such immunity. If the occupant of that office misuses official power for personal gain, the criminal law that the rest of us must abide will not provide a backstop. With fear for our democracy, “I dissent.”

-- Justice Sonia Sotomayor

OK, a fourth for good measure: