Archive for the ‘Attitude’ Category

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Simplify

March 13, 2026

I wrote yesterday about how the word “neo” contains the meaning of not just new but re-new—refresh, strip away accumulated crud that a philosophy (or a life) attracts to return to the simple truth.

The same day that the article appeared the provoked my thinking about renewal meaning return to the simple beginnings, my meditation teacher dropped this statement into the day’s meditation:

Strip away added complications returning to simple presence.

Jesus made everything seem so simple. Yet, the bar for achievement often seemed impossibly high for the normal human.

Forgetting the bar, think only on the simple. Throw away all accumulated justifications and fuzzy thinking. Look at the few things he spoke with clarity. Living with these leads to participation in God’s Kingdom.

  • Choose to change the direction of our life (the usual translation is the single word Repent)
  • Acknowledge the change leads to living with-God in the Kingdom
  • Orient our life toward always acknowledging God (Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, mind)
  • Live out this Kingdom orientation with our changed life (Love your neighbor as yourself, and Love one another as I have loved you)

Simple, yet keeping it up requires practice and persistence. 

Posted in Attitude, Awareness, choosing, Disciplines, simplicity | Leave a Comment »

Change

March 9, 2026

“What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.” ― Maya Angelou

This thought is similar to the Serenity Prayer attributed to theologian Reinhold Niebuhr: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

My professor in graduate school hated that last part about accepting things you cannot change. But that is ancient wisdom. I use this thought when accosted by the daily deluge of news (which I mostly ignore). If I can’t do anything about it, why dwell on it? Live in the present moment.

I also like the tag that Angelou puts on the thought—Don’t complain. Once again, why waste that energy?

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Posted in Attitude, Awareness, discernment | Leave a Comment »

Overthinking

March 6, 2026

Philosophers have devised “razors” that “shave off” unlikely explanations. I rather like Hanlon’s Razor—Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

The razor of the day today is another of my favorites, Occam’s razor. “Explanations that require fewer unjustified assumptions are more likely to be correct.” We usually shorten this to “the simplest explanation is often the best.”

The other day, I read this thought from Adam in The Pump App (my fitness newsletter). I worry people overthink fitness and want everything to be perfect when it never will be. When you use that much brainpower stressing and beating yourself up, you are wasting the energy you can use to get moving forward.

The same thought holds true for far too many of us in biblical study. We think too much. Maybe Jesus meant what he said. Maybe there isn’t an underlying devious theology beneath what Paul wrote in his letters. 

We do need to read a complete thought and put it into context. But there’s probably not anything beyond what Jesus said and what he did.

Don’t overthink your fitness experiences. Don’t overthink your various relationships. Don’t overthink Jesus. Take him for what he said. No more. No less.

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Posted in Attitude, Thinking | 1 Comment »

Being an Influence for Good

March 4, 2026

One weird path my career traveled over the past 10 years entailed becoming known as an “influencer.” I was an early blogger, twitter user, podcaster, YouTube podcaster in the industrial technology market. When Dell and then Hewlett Packard Enterprise were entering the Industrial Internet of Things market, they brought me into their influencer programs.

I didn’t let it get into my head. All the gigs ended after only a year or two. But they flew me around to lead customer discussion groups or write articles. Fun while it lasted.

I never saw myself getting into this big money influencer gig. In fact, I advise people to avoid almost all influencers on the Internet. I’ve seen real charlatans in my areas of interest such as spirituality or fitness or nutrition or AI.

Influencing aimed at helping others sincerely, rather than for profit, requires more than just glib talk on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok.

In influencing others, example is not the main thing; it’s the only thing. -Albert Schweitzer

Posted in Attitude, communication, teaching | Leave a Comment »

Look For Helpers

March 3, 2026

Mr. Rogers had a famous quote: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ There are always helpers.”

Question for me…and for you.

Which describes us:

Do we ignore things?

Are we an obstacle?

Are we helping?

Posted in Attitude, Service | Leave a Comment »

Live An Integrated Life

February 23, 2026

Jesus hated people whose words and actions were not integrated. These reveal hypocrisy. I’ve recently pondered some of the political leadership class who are going around preaching one message, yet their personal life is completely opposite.

We have seen far to many of the religious leadership class whose cup is burnished bright on the outside, yet the inside is coated with crud. (To paraphrase Jesus.)

Do not be like these. Strive to align your words and life with the teachings of Jesus around love. 

As one rabbi said, after the commands to love God and love one another, all else is just commentary.

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Posted in Attitude, Living, Love | Leave a Comment »

Curiosity Killed the Cat–Not

February 16, 2026

What did school teach you?

Memorize the text and remember long enough to repeat on a test?

Granted, It is useful to our lives to have memorized many things. Sure, you can look them up in seconds on your smart phone. But, what if you’ve made the intelligent decision not to always have the smart phone?

To this day, I still have qualms about chemistry. A year of high school and a further year in college did not help. I kept asking why. They kept responding, just memorize the balance equation and repeat it on the test.

But I was curious about how it all worked.

What is your religion teaching you?

Memorize these verses in order to recall them to win an argument?

Jesus often responded with a question when approached by someone with a question. Maybe that means questions are good. He also complimented people for asking a question.

Some people are afraid of questions. Perhaps a question might shake their faith. I’ve recently come across an interesting thought—The opposite of faith is not doubt; it is certainty.

I don’t have faith in gravity. I’m certain that if I jump up then I will come down. 

When Jesus says that he offers peace to us, I have faith I can receive that peace. But then I look around and question—there certainly doesn’t appear to be a lot of peace out there. What’s up, Jesus?

I’m curious. What did he mean? How do we receive it? What will it mean to us to ingest that peace?

It’s OK to question. It’s OK to seek that peace (or other things) Jesus offered with faith even though I may not be certain. That’s called life. Practices exist to help me find that peace. But circumstances exist that lead me to wonder if peace is possible.

I’m with the guy who was the most honest person in the New Testament, “I believe; help me in my unbelief!”

I will read, and question. I’ll continue to be curious. I don’t think curiosity really killed the cat. I don’t think it’ll kill be. I think we’re both stronger for it.

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Posted in Attitude, Faith | Leave a Comment »

Negative News and Anxiety

February 5, 2026

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?—Jesus

Researchers continue to observe effects on people from certain smart phone behaviors. The studies expanded following publication of Jonathon Haidt’s The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. 

Higher levels of doomscrolling were associated with significantly higher existential anxiety. In other words, the more you consume negative news, the more likely you are to feel uncertain about life’s meaning and your place in the world. We can’t say doomscrolling causes anxiety. It may be that anxious individuals are drawn to negative content. Either way, the relationship is strong enough to warrant attention.

There is a guy I talk with regularly at the fitness center. He’s Bob. He knows everyone. He’s Baptist, so most likely evangelical. I’m Methodist, so definitely Wesleyan. Similar, but different. Every fitness center I’ve used has TVs. They ask us not to turn it off. I mute it when I’m there. I was benchpressing dumbbells. He was on a machine. He looks up at the TV. “I hate those things. The news only serves to raise your negative emotions to make you feel bad.” I agreed. I have not watched TV news for 30 years with only a few exceptions (when visiting a friend).

We know what’s going on in the world. We don’t dwell on it. We follow Jesus’s teaching about worry and anxiety. They get us nowhere. They interfere with our life as Jesus-followers where we should be helping others.

Jesus didn’t say Follow me—to the sofa to watch TV news or doom scroll your smartphone. It was more like Follow me—and do as I have taught.

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Posted in Attention, Attitude, emotions | Leave a Comment »

Superpowers

February 3, 2026

I picked this up from Shane Parrish (FS) in Brain Food. I have probably hit each of these individually at some time. It’s interesting to see the list. Don’t scan it. It’s not a checklist. 

Dwell on each item. Think. Where am I on these things? Where do I need to grow?

Superpowers you can choose: 

  • Ability to change yourself & your mind 
  • Not taking things personally 
  • Not needing to prove you’re right 
  • Careful selection of all relationships 
  • Staying calm 
  • Being alone without being lonely 
  • Being ok with being uncomfortable 
  • Thinking for oneself

Reviewing these once again before posting, I cringe at memories unearthed by a few. Those of you who know me know what I mean.

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Posted in Attitude, Awareness, Growth | Leave a Comment »

Judging Others

January 26, 2026

I knew a teacher who would get to these wisdom pieces about not judging others, step aside from the text, and teach that we actually should judge other people.

He was partly wrong…and partly right. When we meet new people, we must evaluate. On the visceral level, do we like them, do we trust them, do we agree with them? This sort of evaluation helps us survive.

James, I think draws us deeper into these relationships.

Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. 

Remember, he writes to these small groups of new followers of The Way. Think of your church or small group. As you gather, do you speak ill of someone not there—or even to their faces? That is counter to Law according to James. It’s also counter to the teachings of Jesus about love.

Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 

I interpret James to be observing that type of person who takes perverse pleasure about judging people guilty (or innocent) according to God’s Law. I bet that all of us know someone like that. Hopefully that person is not us.

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

There is only one ultimate Judge. Why should we have the hubris so as to usurp God’s place?

This is an extension of James’s warning to be careful of what we say. We can start quite a firestorm with a comment. I know. I’ve done it in my life. It’s far better for everyone to hold our  peace.

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Posted in Attitude, Wisdom | Leave a Comment »

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