Archive for the ‘Wisdom’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

It Looks Deceptively Steady

December 18, 2024

The Yoga practitioner in the classic tree pose standing on one foot, the other foot planted on the inside of the other thigh, arms raised above the head looks smooth and steady.

If you are the practitioner, it is not as it seems. The body may sway slightly as it adjusts micro balances. Toes grip the mat firmly. The mind maintains constant focus. The body feels energy from sole of the foot through the tips of fingers.

Someone meditating, perhaps you, from the outside looks so serene. But to the person, there are moments of serenity interspersed with moments of the mind wandering where it will.

The wise person goes deeper than what appears on the outside in order to understand the energy and dynamics.

Posted in Awareness, Meditation, Wisdom | Leave a Comment »

Are You Polite or Kind?

December 13, 2024

Think on the various conversations Jesus participated in as recorded in the various Gospels.

The rich young man, Nicodemus, the Syrian/Phoenician woman with a sick daughter, the Samaritan woman at the well. And more.

He was strong, but kind, with the rich young man who was a perfectionist regarding keeping the laws of the religion. But Jesus saw his heart. He pointed out to the man where he needed to grow.

Nicodemus, a religious leader, came with questions. Jesus answered directly, but also by giving him something to think about.

I love the way he bantered with the Syrian/Phoenician woman before telling her of healing.

The Samaritan woman, opposite of the rich young man who thought he did everything right, went to the well for water when the other women would be gone so as not to face them. Jesus did not pat her on the back (metaphorically) and tell her things could be worse. He saw also the condition of her heart, confronting her with how to grow becoming healthy.

Being polite is withholding feedback in order to make someone feel good today. Being kind is being candid about how they can get better tomorrow.

Let us ponder on how to be candid, yet kind, like Jesus.

Posted in Attitude, Grace, Wisdom | Leave a Comment »

Be Careful of Our Speaking

December 12, 2024

“Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.” — Ambrose Bierce

“How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire.”—James

“A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.”—Proverbs of Solomon

We can know all these thoughts, and, yet, still we can say hurtful things.. 

The most important moment in your life can be the pause before answering someone. Or the pause between a thought and a response.

Posted in Wisdom | Leave a Comment »

Tilling the Soil

December 10, 2024

Thinking more on yesterday’s post (just scroll down one on the website). The Parable of the Sower and understanding when the soil is prepared for the growth of the Word.

Farmers in my area completed the harvest in a timely manner. The fields once hiding the view from rural roads now afforded a view across the way to the ponds and woods in the distance.

No sooner had they put away the harvesting machinery, out came the tillers. Soon most of the ground was tilled lying prepared through the winter for spring planting. Next May sprouts of corn and soy beans will green those dormant fields.

Returning to our church-going friend who wishes to share what a relationship with God means with another. I suggested beginning with a question. This acts in the same manner of tilling the soil. The soil (person) must be prepared for sowing the seed (Word). Otherwise, our well meaning person wastes time and effort, perhaps even alienating the other.

Let us now look at ourselves. We also must prepare our own soil for the Word to take root, grow, and multiply. We often find that best preparation is silence. Sitting in a supportive chair. Perhaps contemplating some story from Jesus. Silence. Allowing God to speak.

Walking in nature without Air Pods or headphones. Aware of the sounds of the season—birds, frogs, dogs, the wind, a train in the distance. In the silence of our head, we open ourselves in preparation for the planting of the Word. Or perhaps cultivating that Word already planted (maybe another contemplation from farming).

Posted in Wisdom, Witness | Leave a Comment »

A Blessing for Today

December 4, 2024

May I live this day

Compassionate of heart,

Clear in word,

Gracious in awareness,

Courageous in thought,

Generous in love.

John O’Donohue

I posted this a year or so ago. But I needed a refresher. Bet you did, too.

Posted in Wisdom | Leave a Comment »

Operating from Theory

December 2, 2024

Many years ago I accepted a position as sales & marketing manger in a small electronics company. The product was a computer peripheral that appeared to solve a real problem for digital designers. This was early in the computer market. I had an idea of how to go to market. I didn’t know how short our financial runway was.

My position turned out to have been superseded by a newer way of going to market. We had no time. We went out of business.

I bet most of us have entered something with a fixed idea of how it works or what it means. 

“I am sure that Jesus meant this when he said that,” only to face a question when someone asks, “But what about this?”

What would you do when confronted with another way of approaching something? Maybe a new way of reading Paul’s letters. Maybe a new way of thinking about what church really is. Maybe a new way of organizing your life.

The key question:

Do we have the courage to face a new thought and consider how we might change?

Posted in Growth, Wisdom | Leave a Comment »

Premature Theories

November 29, 2024

Sherlock Holmes, “The temptation to form premature theories upon insufficient data is the bane of our profession.”

We call it “jumping to conclusions.”

My mind forms a picture of a kid jumping over a water puddle following a rain. The jump is short landing the poor child in the deepest part of the puddle splashing water, becoming wet all over much to the parent’s chagrin.

I hired a young man newly graduated with a B.A. from a leading state school in Ohio for an entry level position. Something came up in conversation. He replied, “I took a course in that at university. I’m an expert.”

We read one part of a sentence from Scripture. We conclude we know everything about that idea. We read it in English. It was written in Greek.

We look at someone newly arrived. We note their clothes, height, weight, hair. We assume we know all about that person.

We know nothing.

We jumped into the middle of the puddle splashing bad thoughts all around. 

We didn’t clear the puddle, that is gather sufficient data, in order to form a more accurate conclusion. Realizing that when more data arrives we may need to revise that conclusion.

Life is all about “I don’t know” and “I wonder about that”.

Posted in Wisdom | Leave a Comment »

The Only True Measure of Success

November 27, 2024

…is to leave the world a better place than you found it.

Do not fall into striving for social media success.

Do not measure success by the size of the house or the price of the car in the garage.

What do those matter?

Leaving a wake behind the boat of your life’s journey of peace, joy, calm, service.

That is success.

Posted in Wisdom | Leave a Comment »

Decide What To Do

November 26, 2024

An exchange from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien on moving forward despite the difficulties we face:

Frodo: “I wish none of this had happened.”

Gandalf: “So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

People around the world recently survived democratic elections. The losers face worries about the future. The winners reside in hope that what they voted for actually works. Since politicians (as well as church leaders) promise much only to discover how hard change is, most will be disappointed.

What we as individual people can do is to take Gandalf’s advice, decide what to do with the time that is given us.

We can choose to follow Jesus’s examples and teachings, or we can live in an uncertain future in our minds.

Posted in Wisdom | Leave a Comment »

The Pursuit of Happiness

November 19, 2024

I love it when modern social science discovers ancient wisdom. Reading in Adam Grant’s excellent book, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know, “Psychologists found that the more people value happiness, the less happy they often become with their lives.”

We can read in almost any ancient wisdom literature, such as the Proverbs in the Hebrew scriptures, this same wisdom.

Unfortunately, we seem to be living out the philosophy developed by Jeremy Bentham in the late 18th century and later publicized by John Stuart Mill, “it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong.”

Bentham pushed for many good social advancements that once adopted has made life better for many. He got this wrong. 

But look around. Perhaps you, yourself, are captured by this idea and certainly many people around you, who think that life is all about the pursuit of happiness.

Happiness will not be found that way.

Happiness is a byproduct of pursuing a life of service to others. Service that is performed through a spiritual alignment with God regardless of your particular brand of faith.

Posted in Service, Wisdom | Leave a Comment »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »