3 Observations & A Question

A book is meant to be opened – but, doing so is not up to it…it is up to you. 

What to resist and what not to — is the question.

Those who have suffered greatly seem to be the ones who know something far more deeply and are the most capable of helping others.

When do you feel the most alive?

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

Today

We all have fears about the future. And, they can overwhelm the present. 

But, if we look back at the past, though difficult things have surely happened there, too, we also recognize how much we have to be thankful for. 

So, there seems to be a certain kind of collision between the past and the future, in the present moment. 

Gratitude, it seems to me, is the pivot-point for us and puts us in the best position to face the future.

Everything is (always) starting again...today.

All Are Grateful

Jesus established a table of hospitality where all are guests and no one owes anything to anyone else. Around this table, gifts pass without regard to payback or debt. Everyone sits. Everyone eats. And, recognizing that everything is a gift, all are grateful.

-- Diana Butler Bass

More Thanksgiving pics here...

Gratitude Is Peace

The movement of grace toward gratitude brings us from the package of self-obsessed madness to a spiritual awakening. Gratitude is peace.

-- Anne Lamott

How does this happen?  Continue here....

Daily Gratitude Practice

Enough

Ever noticed…how constantly worried we are about whether there will be enough?

We rarely seem to reconcile our fears about scarcity with Jesus’ claims about the abundant life.

Perhaps we should consider this:

 

We don't all have to own everything. Abundance comes from sharing what we have. 

-- Robin Wall Kimmerer

Grace and Gratitude

Grace and gratitude belong together like heaven and earth. Grace evokes gratitude like the voice of an echo. Gratitude follows grace like thunder lightning. 

-- Karl Barth

3 Observations & A Question

We must move more into our bodies — our greatest intelligence may not be exclusive to the mind after all.

The real opportunities of the present moment are too often preoccupied by our regrets of the past and our fears of the future. 

A forest can practically heal you.  

How can we let gratitude more inform our working conclusions?

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

May We

  If we don't, we end up with things like this, or this....

Nothing

Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness. 

-- Reinhold Niebuhr, The Irony of American History

Mankind & Power, Con''t

Another lingering reflection, about the power of mankind and how mankind so often uses power for destructive purposes.

Sometimes, in our current political context, I think I'm just watching a movie about the Roman Empire (Gladiator II comes out this Friday, so maybe I am...).

It’s almost as if we don’t understand what real power actually is, not to mention the one it actually possesses. History is fraught with epic flows of power-plays that, across the landscape of time, invariably seem rather short-lived (relatively speaking — not, of course, to those who have been systematically annihilated by them).

I find myself increasingly out of place with the prevailing winds of our cultural understanding of the purposes of power, especially when it comes down to the impacts on collective good (or even personal good, for that matter).

Invariably, this current understanding of power seems to simply translate to a kind of personal power that often ends up having very little to do with the benefit of mankind. It’s almost as if that part gets forgotten against the backdrop of securing and then fortifying personal power. Over and over again it is easy to observe how that kind of power disintegrates until, finally (often after so much corresponding death), there is a rising again of something represented by a more of collective understanding of how power should be used.

Some kings (or dictators...whatever) throughout history certainly (in some cases) have had a dramatic effect on their world. But, inevitably in time when that kind of power was used to suppress the basic needs of humanity at large, it ends up falling apart and withering away.

Not only is it a gross (literally in most cases) misuse of it, it is also a serious misunderstanding of the true nature of power, especially in terms of things like goodness — it is so shortsighted, so self-serving, and so…actually powerless in the end.

It is often claimed (by those in power) that power is most legitimized by its ability to maintain peace. But, why is it then so observable that it too often simply creates the opposite effect?

Perhaps, this is because there is a fundamental flaw and true understanding about the best features of power, and the greatest virtues it can create.

Maybe that's the silver-lining here....

Great necessities call out great virtues.

-- Abigail Adams

LT: To Work For Them

The best bosses are in tune with what it feels like to work for them.

-- Robert I. Sutton

Government

I'm wondering...about government, especially at the national level.

What are the primary purposes of government?  

Perhaps what we are facing today is actually another form of that question — how do those purposes change over time?

Belonging

The gospel, in the end, is about belonging. And, belonging is really most manifest in a sense of community. 

Grace and peace for everyone…not just me, not just for my group, not even just for my church — for everyone. This is the ultimate and primary message (gospel) of the New Testament (and that isn't even inconsistent with the Old Testament — Isaiah 19, etc.).  It was never primarily about just Israel...or us.

Throughout history, other people were much more aware of this than we often appear to be.  Consider this reflection here.  

...and someone told to call them 'savages' (I wonder who came up with that?  ...I think we know, don't we?).

Americans' Improved Assessments of Crime

 GALLUP - Front Page

3 Observations & A Question

What to hold on to and what to let go of — that’s the question.

Friends are the ones who move closer to you, the more trouble you’re in. 

Some of the things that life seems to require of me now are starting to make me feel old — but, some of those are also probably keeping me young…determining which is which is the hard part for me.

Does anybody really think that looking down is the best way to get your bearings?

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

If you can answer 'yes' to these 6 questions, you're more successful than you think

What if I told you that unleashing success starts with realizing how successful you already are?

It's true. As a leadership and success expert I get asked a lot about "keys to success." My first response is always: "Before you start changing, adding, or subtracting, spend some time appreciating."

Success is more than just how much money you make, what job title you've achieved, or what accomplishments you've stacked up. There's nothing wrong with any of that, but true success is broader. It's about the kind of life you're living and who you've chosen to become.  

When you think about success in a more holistic way, it requires resilience, confidence, and other aspects of mental strength...continue here.

-- Scott Mautz

Sometimes

Outputs vs Outcomes

Before it's all said and done, you discover that you have to focus on outputs more than outcomes.

Outcomes have an insidious way of becoming something that controls you.  Focusing on them alone can deceive you into believing that you can control them when, truth be told, you really can’t (at the very least, as much as you would prefer).

Outputs, however, are closer to things within your control. And, because of that, they free you to choose what you want and to pursue them.  It is the pursuit that matters, not whether or not you succeed based on what are rather arbitrary external standards.  

In spite of how it often seems, outcomes don’t actually define you.  Ironically, it is what you put out that tends to define you.  Output often leads to outcomes, but not always.  And, just because they don’t doesn’t mean that you aren’t something when they don’t.  You are who you become because of what you do, not because of the results. 

Your goodness, for example, is not contingent on the recognizability of that goodness.  You are good whether it turns out well or not.  Attribution is simply an accessory; it is not necessarily proof of anything.  We all know that just because something looks good doesn’t mean that it is.

Work on the work, not on the results. Results, in the end, are impacted way more by things other than you anyway.  You can’t control much of anything, other than what you decide to do.  So, work much harder on what can control than on what you can’t. 

I am facing a searing example of this in my life right now. And, it is revealing to me these distinctions. They are calling me to deeper questions about the nature of things, including the nature of my own self. Though painful, the situation is purifying, especially in terms of what I need to focus on. 

The perception of others is not unimportant. But, in the end, it is not the deepest reality of what is needed. I need to focus on what I’m doing, rather than being distracted by how things turn out

It May Be Necessary

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.

-- Maya Angelou

Hold Tension

I’ve noticed…I hold tension for a long time — often too long.

For You

Jesus died for you doesn’t necessarily mean instead of you.

— Pete Enns

3 Observations & A Question

Sometimes it takes faith just to get up and get moving.

Once you have most everything you need, the rest is pretty much style.

Ultimately, life is a lesson in trust — what you trust in…who you trust in.

However you are feeling about the nature of things this week, you only need to ask one question — what is one small thing I can still do that could make our collectivle existence better?

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

On The Lighter Side: It's Going to Be Okay

On the Lighter Side:

…you might like (need) more than one ‘On The Lighter Side’ post today — click the link above and follow the thread.

Oh, and for what it's worth, Jonah Goldberg gives us what strikes me as some helpful advice right now.

Mustn't Confuse

You mustn't confuse a single failure with a final defeat.

-- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Besides the self-care you need to focus on, in any kind of grieving, perhaps this observation could be of use: 

And Yet It Moves

Only When You Lose

Ever noticed (apparently, many don't)...that, in games of many kinds, cheating seems to be only claimed if you lose?  

...otherwise, from the winner's perspective, everything was good — fair-and-square.

OK, we're not really talking about the game of Monopoly, right (although, the Get Out of Jail free card metaphor holds, too)?

So, how did we get here?  Here's one perspective:

When Religion Loses Its Moral Power, People Default to Their Self-Interest, or Worse:  Engaging John Compton’s "The End of Empathy."

For This Election Day: Trusting in Christ’s Peace

 GALLUP - Front Page

Jesus woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased and there was a dead calm. He said to the disciples, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”

-- Mark 4:39–40 

Episcopal bishop Rev. Barbara Harris (1930–2020) invites us to rely on Christ’s peace:   

In the midst of uncertainty and swift transition, in the midst of personal and institutional upheaval, and amid the “fightings within and fears without” that separate peoples, races, and nations, we desperately need to hear a little good news. And this passage from the fourth chapter of Mark’s Gospel, which relates how Jesus calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee, is exactly that: good news.  

Who among us … having lived through a tornado, hurricane, or even a violent thunderstorm, can fail to be moved by this account of the terror-stricken disciples, convinced that at any moment their boat would capsize and they would be swept away into the sea. And who could fail to be moved by the image of Jesus standing up in that frail vessel and speaking to the storm: “‘Peace! Be still.’”… 

What they did not understand, and what many today do not understand is that although we may panic in times of stress and distress, God does not share our panic.  

That sense of panic that gripped the disciples out there on the Sea of Galilee is pervasive in our church and in our society today. When people panic, they tend to act desperately and unreasonably. Nations panic and go to war. Then they try to get God to sanction their actions as “holy.” In panic, people choose up sides in controversies and take irrational stands…. Few, if any, say, “Come, let us reason together.”  

Harris relies on Christ’s presence and wisdom:  

If Christ is at the center of our lives, we don’t have to rush into irrational action that often leads to impractical solutions. “Peace! Be still!” These can be our watchwords as we wait for the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit.  

Often as we sail over the tempestuous sea of life, our world is in storm on a personal, national, and global level. But not only is Christ on the ship, Christ is in command—even when he seems to be asleep. “He who keeps watch over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:3, Book of Common Prayer). And what a comfort lies in the simple thought: “His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me” [see Matthew 10:29]. 

Jesus hears us when we call, but he refuses to jump when we push the panic button. We are afraid to rely on that presence and the saving power. In our haste and our anxiety, we tend to rely on what we can see, count, touch, and feel. We forget that such things will pass away. We need, in the words of the old hymn, to “build our hopes on things eternal and hold to God’s unchanging hand.” 

Wondering

I’m wondering…how many people care about wondering?

Isn’t wondering a fundamentally different disposition than what we feel mostly surrounding us right now…especially regarding the election tomorrow?  Not so much about the outcome (though, who can avoid wondering about that, too?), as about the things that have gotten us to this state.  

What dynamics are truly in play (within our hearts, within our society)?  Could we truly contemplate that; take the time to listen to ourselves, to each other?  To wonder if we have been co-opted by those appealing to our most basic instincts?  To wonder how the system is offering us both benefits (money, tangible comforts, etc.) and serious liabilities (stress, conspiracy-based self-preservation strategies, societal-wide anxieties)?  To stop long enough to consider how it will 'roll' us, unless we come to sensibilities that address our true needs as human-beings sharing this planet?

You have to wonder....

Peace?

 If you want peace, work for justice. 

-- Pope Paul VI

A challenge to those on both ends of the justice spectrum.

Like this:

The Risk of Living the Gospel

Or this:

A Politics Rooted in God’s Love 

Rather than this:

Trump’s Madison Square Garden event features crude and racist insults

Real power is … I even don’t like to use the word … but real power is fear.

-- Donald Trump

4 Observations (from Others)

Fearlessness is necessary for the development of other noble qualities.

-- Gandhi

I wonder if spiritual healing has more to do with being opened than it does with being cured.

-- Nadia Bolz-Weber

You are under no obligation to remain the same person you were a year ago, a month ago, or even a day ago. You are here to create yourself, continuously.

-- Richard Feynman

It’s not that we don’t have time. It’s that we don’t have time for the things that are really important. There’s always enough time to do what’s really important, but we get caught up doing things that aren’t important.

-- Larry Winget

Prior 4 Observations (from Others).

Prime Purpose

 Our prime purpose in this life is to help others.

-- Dalai Lama