Surrounded By Love

We are 'Surrounded By Love'.  Thanks, Dick, for bringing this into focus for us.

More pics from our annual church camping weekend here....

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?

A Pleasure

When should we give up a pleasure?

Something in between asceticism and idolatry is room to consider when to choose sacrifice.

We Want It

Something is purified by sacrifice.

We want it, just not the way to it.

Self-Create Focus

Self-create focus -- few things in this life anymore will do it for you .

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?

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.

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

Who Agree

A community is a group of people who agree to grow together.

-- Simon Sinek

Bear One Another's Burdens

"Bear one another's burdens..."  ...from here.

-- Galations 6:2

Someone Else

Most of us want other people to change.

Ever Notice?

"What do I get out of it?"

Ever noticed how short-lived the answers to this question are?

Easier To Let Go

It is easier to let go of what you don’t have to hold on to.

Don't Understand

Though I am familiar with a few things about myself, there are also many things I don't understand.

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

Chain Yourself

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.

How Hard

Pushing through hard things helps us realize that we get more from hard things than just knowing we can get through them.

Thank For Little

Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.

-- Estonian Proverb

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'!

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'.

Far More Self-Doubt

Men have far more self-doubt than women realize. 

-- Shaunti Feldhahn

From an interesting article here....

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.

-- Psalm 16:11

So it's searchable:

God’s plan for moving people from the broad road to the narrow road involves you.

-- Alistair Begg

Kalhaven Bike Trail

Great time today with youth and friends from church!

More pics here....

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

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.

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.

Misfortunes

The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.

-- Voltaire

One Leg

To stand on one leg and prove God's existence is a very different thing from going on one's knees and thanking Him.

-- Søren Kierkegaard

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.

Rainful Joy

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.

Convinced

How do we become convinced of something?  Is it not most often a result of suffering or struggle?

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.

Only Thing That Can Grow

The only thing that can grow is the thing you give energy to.

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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?

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.

Communities Build Bridges

Communities build bridges of all kinds, don't they?

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...".

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

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...

Organizing

For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned.

-- Benjamin Franklin

NEEDTOBREATHE

My, oh my, were they ready to go last night!

Handicaps

So it's searchable:

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

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.

Consistently Fought For

The soul that is not carefully attended to—the soul whose health is not consistently fought for—will erode spiritually, emotionally, relationally, and in every other way. This is why the fight against the wrong in us is a most important and necessary fight. Emotionally intelligent and spiritually healthy people answer the question, “What’s wrong with the world?” in the same way that Chesterton is said to have answered the same: “I am.”

-- Scott Sauls

Continue here....

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.

Most Informs

What most informs the way we see ourselves?

The Way We See Ourselves

I love this message my wife is sending to her students, as they start a new school year today.

The way we see ourselves is pretty important.

We Really Want

We really want people to see us the way we see ourselves.

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.

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

CUBS WIN!

Another fun time with the fam at Wrigley yesterday...this time they won!

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

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.

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

Of Itself

If you take care of your people, your people will take care of your customers, and your business will take care of itself.

-- J.W. Marriott

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....

Asking

Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the Kingdom. If you may have everything by asking in His Name, and nothing without asking, I beg you to see how absolutely vital prayer is.

-- Charles Spurgeon

I've been thinking about what I ask God for, as well as what I don't...and why.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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

Holding You Back

The only thing holding you back is you -- and your willingness to try.

-- Jeff Haden

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

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.

Life is not as idle ore,
But iron dug from central gloom,
And batter'd by the shocks of doom
To shape and use.

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.

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

Essence of Inhumanity

The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity.

-- George Bernard Shaw

What Is Love?

I've been thinking quite a bit lately about what love is. Perhaps, even more, about how it works...how it should work, especially when it isn't clear...how it should work.

Does it mean, for example, that it mean that we forebear with others or respond to them, about things that make it hard to 'be' together?  Is it accommodating?  Is it sensitive?  Or, it is tough?  Does it mean that we pursue or that we need to wait, patiently?

These questions put things in 'either-or' terms.  I suspect love isn't constrained by such definitions; that is, love is much more malleable, less prescriptive than we might like it to be...than simply this or that.

I have turned to a passage in 1 Corinthians for further perspective on what love is:

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. 

Love, it seems to me, is all these things, not just always one or the other. In other words, love is 'both-and', not 'either-or'.  There is a time for everything...and love encompasses time.

So then, the next emergent question appears to be one of timing.  When...do we love with patience, with waiting?  When...do we love with pressure, with confrontation?

At the very least, love appears to be quite imprecise...not very much about seeking to 'get it right'.  This, actually, is quite freeing.

Inevitable

Change is inevitable.  Growth is optional.

-- John Maxwell

Because They Want To

Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.

-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Mother of All Skill

Repetition is the mother of all skill.

-- Tony Robbins

Only Gets Better

Leadership is something that only gets better by doing it.

-- Maynard Webb

CT: Farewell, Cultural Christianity

As American culture changes, the scandal of Christianity is increasingly right up front, exactly where it was in the first century. The shaking of American culture will get us back to the question Jesus asked his disciples at Caesarea Philippi: “Who do you say that I am?” As the Bible Belt recedes, those left standing up for Jesus will be those who, like Simon Peter of old, know how to answer that question. Once Christianity is no longer seen as part and parcel of patriotism, the church must offer more than “What would Jesus do?” moralism and the “I vote values” populism to which we’ve grown accustomed. Good.  Continue here....

-- Russell D. Moore

Blood Into Ink

The purpose of literature is to turn blood into ink.

-- T.S. Eliot

I've been writing thoughts, phrases, and ideas more lately.  Perhaps this helps explain why.

Convinced

We seem to only be convinced of something that is, once we've become convinced of something that isn't.

It is part of the process of knowing, of believing -- to learn what isn't true, often the hard way, helps us believe what is true.

Requires Something

Nearly everything worth having or enjoying requires something.  Rather than simply a curse, perhaps there is something about requirement that affords us the ability to enjoy.

The easier way -- the one with less requirement -- is not the better way afterall.  It reduces our ability to appreciate, even participate in, what we enjoy.

Giving and Receiving

Knowing and understanding is a result of giving and receiving.

Ember

Is an ember something that is dying out or what keeps something burning?

I feel like an ember describes my sense of being the last few weeks; in other words, not much flame.  I am wondering, which direction things are going...that is, which is a more accurate description of me, at the moment...am I dying out or keeping something alive?

My instincts are to do something to make myself feel busier.  But, I don't think I fully trust this instinct...I suspect I need to burn differently for now.

Every Journey

Every journey down is really soil for a journey up.

Largely Through What Happens

If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that he speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts and minds open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize, beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear him, he is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, his word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling.

-- Frederick Buechner, Now and Then

...though He uses them, it seems His speaking is in a language beyond the limitations of words. His is a language of knowing, that He teaches me.

The Years Are Short

A compelling perspective on how much ordinary, even inconvenient, things matter.  Because it is often in such things, that we can have the opportunity to be the most present with someone else.

Clear Intention

Knowing what you want, uncomplicated by confusion, is a clear intention.  Your brain obeys clear intentions more easily than confused intentions – that’s why multi-tasking turns out to be so inefficient. Neither task receives adequate focus, and the brain is divided between competing intentions.  Every time you hesitate or feel mixed emotions, your intention is no longer clear.

Think of how hard it has been to make decisions in your own life when you felt ambivalent, indecisive, or unsupported in your decision-making. These factors affect not just you, but the entire situation.  Worse still are decisions that must be made where there is distrust, rivalry, and hidden agendas.  A group of people with mixed motives isn't conducive to reaching any goal smoothly, and when a bad result occurs and outsiders ask, "What were they thinking?” The answer is usually "They were thinking too many things at once."

In every area of life, intentions become murky when you:

• Don’t really know what you want
• Think you don’t deserve to get what you want
• Feel skeptical that any result will come
• Have mixed motives
• Experience inner conflict

The secret to holding focus is to make it effortless. The image of a genius with furrowed brow concentrating like mad is the wrong image.  Awareness likes to be focused when it is pleased – that’s why two people in love can’t tear their eyes off each other.  They drink each other in; there’s no effort involved. So apply your focus to the things that charm you. Put your energy on things you love but also on things that most easily hold your attention and make you feel energized and vital.

-- Deepak Chopra

Other Side of Fear

Everything you want is on the other side of fear.

-- George Addair

Fork In The Road

Pain takes us to a fork in the road -- it can cause us to harden ourselves (self-protection) or it can be what opens us up...to more of life.

Pain creates opportunity for us to pay attention to things we otherwise might not.

More Disappointed

Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.

-- Mark Twain

Addicted & Bored

We are both addicted and bored...by the familiar worlds we seek to maintain.

Compassion

You may call God love, you may call God goodness, but the best name for God is compassion.

-- Meister Eckhart

This Is No Wall

Big news, there is no wall.  Mistakes make your brain grow.

-- Jo Boaler

...read more here about how our mindset affects our growth.

You Don't Care

If you aren't working hard, you probably don't care a whole lot about what you're working on.

-- Ann Handley

Rigor and Growth

As I reflect on my past, as well as on what I see around me, it seems to me that rigor is a key ingredient to our ability to grow as human beings.  Challenge creates opportunity for discovery within ourselves of things that just can't be gotten to otherwise.

Conversely, the avoidance of things requiring rigor often leads to atrophy and a stunting of our growth.

This seems to be true physically, mentally, regarding self-awareness, and spiritually.

None Of Us

None of us see things fully the way they really are....

Obliteration

The obliteration of biodiversity in the living world has received much less attention than climate changes, depletion of irreplaceable resources, and other transformations of the physical environment. It would be wise to observe the following principle: if we save the living world, we will also automatically save the physical world, because in order to achieve the first, we must also achieve the second. But if we save only the physical world, which appears our current inclination, we will ultimately lose them both.

-- E.O. Wilson, Pulitzer Prize winner

...for more, click here.

The Speech of the Sky

Last evening was one of the more beautiful evenings I've enjoyed in this life!  The nature of Wilderness State Park, MI.

More pics here....

CT: We Need to Start Talking about Sin and Righteousness Again

Most people believe the big cultural shift happened in the 1960s. But when I investigated the books and culture of the late 1940s, I found that the transformation happened then. There were tons of best-selling books, and some movies, arguing that the notion of human sinfulness was outdated, and that we should embrace the idea that we’re really wonderful.

When you lose awareness of sin and start thinking that, deep down, human beings are pretty wonderful, you lose the struggle of character building. Building character is not like being better than someone else at a career. It’s conquering your own weakness. But you won’t make that effort if you lose a sense of what your weakness is and where it comes from.

We’ve encouraged generations to think highly of themselves. In 1950, the Gallup organization asked high-school seniors, “Are you a very important person?” Back then, 12 percent said yes. Gallup asked the same question in 2005, and 80 percent said yes.

There are surveys called “The Narcissism Test” that ask whether respondents agree with statements like, “I like to be the center of attention because I’m so extraordinary,” or “Somebody should write a biography about me.” The median narcissism score has gone up 30 percent in 20 years.

Our economy encourages us to promote ourselves with social media, to brand ourselves and get “likes.” In theory, we know humility is important, but we live in a culture of self-promotion.

You may be able to build character and greatness through disciplined effort, but I don’t think you can experience the highest joy without grace. Nor can you experience tranquility. That only comes from gratitude...continue.

-- David Brooks

The Voices of the Earth & Water

The nature of Mackinac Island, MI

Fuel of Nature

Nature is fuel for the soul.

-- Richard Ryan

From the Upper Peninsula in Michigan today...in search of fuel.

If We Ever Wake At All

We awake, if we ever wake at all, to mystery.

-- Annie Dillard

Chief Want

Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fighting A Hard Battle

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

-- Ian Maclaren

Force

Force, though necessary at certain moments, may win the battle, but it rarely wins the war relationship-wise.