Reading The Bible From Different Perspectives

May 4, 2015

We were walking along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. So many events had happened over the past few days, that we just couldn’t get our heads around them. What did they all mean?

Was Jesus really the Messiah? It certainly didn’t appear so. He didn’t fulfill any of the Scriptures that we had been taught about the Messiah. Yet, after he was cruelly beaten by Pilate, he was killed by crucifixion. Stranger still, his tomb was mysteriously empty.

We talked and talked, but we just could not figure it out.

Then a stranger joined us. He asked what we were discussing as we travelled. We asked where in the heck had he been the past few days. Hidden under a stone?

Then the stranger, obviously a man of great learning, explained to us the very scriptures we were trying to understand. It was so obvious when he explained them. When we stopped for the evening, we shared a meal. When he broke the bread and offered a blessing, then we recognized him.

Often when I read the stories in the Bible, I like to read as if I were there. Just like reading a good novel. You become part of the action. I invite those in my classes to do the same.

There is a man I read fived days a week, Jon Swanson at 300 Words a Day, who has a doctorate in communications. I didn’t even know you could get a doctorate in that. Even more, he can actually communicate!

He likes to share the Bible as story. His new video series on YouTube, The Bible for my Friends, is worth watching.  He is working on 52 ways to read the Blble. Some of these are sure to resonate. And maybe even lead to a deeper understanding of God.

Let go. Read with imagination instead of intellect or emotion for a refreshing change.

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Leadership: Connections and Changed Behavior

May 1, 2015

My customer had a problem. During one process of assembly, if a little spring was not installed correctly–and there were six per assembly–it would lead to warranty problems when its customer used it.

So, we installed an automated vision system that would work alongside the worker to assure the quality of the product.

It was not an inexpensive solution.

The worker did not like this intrusion and refused to work with the vision system. So, they turned it off and decided at that level that the company could live with potential warranty risk.

The technology was good. But we didn’t change the behavior of the worker. So, it failed.

This week, I heard a speaker talk about technology in terms of changing behavior and connecting people.

It’s not just about technology, he said. Think the iPod, which changed the way we listen to music. The iPhone which changed the way we connect with friends and the Web. These changed behavior and connected us.

I thought about leadership in that way.

Good leaders connect us. They connect the team. They connect the company’s parts. They connect the company with customers and suppliers.

They aso lead us to changed behavior. We came into the company as a collection of individuals. The leader gets everyone to modify behavior to get along with each other–at least enough such that work can be done to fulfull the mission of the organization or committee.

I thought about how James tells us that unless our belief changes our behavior that belief is not real–or at least not deep enough. James was a leader in the formation of the church. He knew what he was talking about. No doubt he lived it.

So go about connecting people together and connecting them to the mission. And lead them to changed behavior that forges a team that accomplishes much.

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How Is The Life You’re Living Working

April 30, 2015

What are you doing right now? Well, aside from reading this.

What are your plans for the day? The week? The month?

How much time do you spend watching TV or movies?

He comes home from work, slouches on the couch in front of the TV, and gets up only to eat and use the bathroom until time for bed.

She uses every available minute to turn on her phone and check up on what her “friends” are posting on Facebook. Maybe taking time to text message a few virtual friends.

He sits for hours with the computer playing multi-player games and “hanging out” with his virtual friends.

How easy is it for our lives to slip away into meaningless activities! You look up at the end of a month or a year or a life and wonder where it all went.

Living a life with intention means that we relax when we intentionally mean to relax. And we choose our activities wisely.

Ponder on this question for a while:

Is the life that you’re living worth the sacrifice that Jesus made for that life?

Jesus made time for dinner parties with his friends and acquaintances. But he also healed, taught, mentored.

Try this. Sit and think for a while. Write a list of things you’d like to accomplish. Not so much a goal as a result. Or a place where you’d like to intentionally spend your time. Perform a service. Write a book. Participate in youth activities. Be a better employee.

Write your daily to do list based on what you want to be or what you want to do (hopefully the same). Review every month. What have I done where Jesus would be proud? Has my relaxation and entertainment been just a mindless waste of time or has it been physically/mentally/spiritually renewing? Have I connected with real people?

Live a life intentionally honoring the sacrifice made for us. 

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Who Has Integrity in Your Organization

April 28, 2015

I am reading a book on leadership. Got through a few chapters on the plane yesterday. I’ll have more details on the entire book on Friday (I hope).

There was a thought that was mentioned in a chapter on integrity

In every organization, there are one or two people at the senior level who operate as chief ethics officers. You know them—they’re the ones you go to when you need to talk with someone you can trust,

So, aside from you, my readers, whom I am positive are the paragons of integrity–OK, enough of that–can you identify someone in your organization, team, committee or group who is the moral compass of the group?

I recently read a book where the starting premise was that Adam (of apple fame) should have spoken up, should have been the moral compass, should have known better and set a better example, but he didn’t. He wimped out. Instead of saying, “Eve! Are you out of your mind?”, he said, “OK, give me a bite.”

In my long and chedkered business career, I’ve worked for guys whose moral compass was a few degrees off true north. I know there were times when I said something. But how many times did I simply stay silent? Maybe I eventually quit rather than be part of it. But was that the coward’s way out?

What organizations have you been in where the senior leadership did not exhibit integrity? You could not trust them. What was the atmosphere within those organizations?

What should we–you and I–be doing right now to be one of those chief ethics officers? What impact would that have on the organization? On our colleagues’ lives? On our life?

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Given a Second Chance, What Would You Do?

April 27, 2015

What would you do if you were given a second chance to live? Wither away in bitterness? Help the person who tried to kill you? Dedicate your life to helping others in similar situations as your attacker?

Ten days after 9/11, a shocking attack at a Texas mini-mart shattered the lives of two men: the victim and the attacker. In this stunning talk, Anand Giridharadas, author of “The True American,” tells the story of what happened next. It’s a parable about the two paths an American life can take, and a powerful call for reconciliation.

Watch this TED Talk for a moving story of redemption. Not explicitly Christian, but that’s OK. It’s the power of love.

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On Leadership–Placing Blame

April 24, 2015

The results were in. The project had “gone south” as they say. Actual numbers were far from projected. Team members were discouraged. Worse, they were scrambling to justify themselves by placing blame on others. It was as if a serious virus had invaded the body of the organization spreading disease and death.

Now is the time for the leader to step forward. Can she bring everyone together and salvage something in order to move forward into the future. After all, things fail. Not all projects are successful.

But the leader, oh what a narcissist or worse. The leader places blame. 

“If only the economy were better.”

“If only the designer had done a better job.”

“If only the sales people were better.”

“If only….”

How about–“I’m sorry I let people down. I failed to plan adequately. I failed to get the team working together. I failed to make decisions quickly enough.”

One of my spiritual mentors says that when things are bad there are two responses we should never make. These responses to suffering, failure, bad results will prohibit any further spiritual (or other) growth.

These responses are placing blame and festering in bitterness.

Experience comes from making bad decisions. Wisdom comes from learning from those bad decisions.

The leader could go to the team and own up to the mistakes and then leading a reflection on what went wrong in order to position the team (or committee, business, church, non-profit) for future success.

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Working Your Way Through Suffering

April 23, 2015

She was dealing with a series of emotionally unstable people. Whether she saw one of them, or saw their caller ID on her phone, or saw an email–it all brought a tightness in her gut and constricted her heart. A psychologist might say that her “fight or flight” biology was activiated.

Every day, the scene repeated.

Sometimes, though the others’ emotions were sanguine. Sometimes, despondent. Sometimes, even belligerent. 

She suffered through every day. Never knowing what she’d be facing from loved ones and acquaintances.

Sometimes our sufferings are simply (if I can say that) seemingly intractable problems. Sometimes as a result of a tragedy that touches our lives–discovery of serious illness, death of a loved one. For some of my readers, it is the constant fear of facing evil in the body of fanatic anarchists who might torture and kill.

Do not ask why, advises an ancient Celtic Christian priest. 

He says that by working through your problems and sufferings, you will become stronger and endure. Without going through suffering, most of the transforming power of the cross would disappear. In the struggle, we can overcome through the power of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

As Jesus said to the church of Laodicea according to John in the Revelation, “To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throune, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.”

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Read With Mindfulness

April 22, 2015

Did you miss National “Pot” Day? 

Sometimes I wonder about all these “national days”. Or “national months”.

We are in National Overeaters Month. Did you know that?

Paul, the apostle, talked of keeping the mind and body fit along with the spirit. But Christianity often became just a theology rather than a complete way of life. If we are bringing our entire selves as a sacrifice to God making our body a Temple of the Spirit, then overall fitness should be part of our daily habits.

The reason I know that it’s National Overeaters Month is because among all the sources of information I digest daily are writings on health and fitness.

One such source discussed how we eat–indeed, over-eat–due to a response to our emotions. When we feel down, we eat. Doesn’t a big bowl of ice cream seem especially delicious and enticing when we have bad feelings?

Aside from opinions about religion, no other topic has such a diversity of views (and mis-information) than health. Especially nutrition. No carb, who cares about carbs, high fat, no fat, eat as much as you want, starve yourself, and on and on.

Most of us know that in America one of the greatest national diseases is piling our plates too high with food. I just returned from 9 days in Europe. The emphasis was on reasonable portions of high quality food.

One woman said to me following our first dinner served on the river boat, “The amount of food on our plates looked incredibly small. But after I ate, I was satisfied.”

The one buffet on board was for breakfast. I noticed people taking an omelette, a couple of scoops of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, cereal, bread. Wow. I found an omelette with a couple of the small hard-crusted rolls sufficient for the entire morning (considering that this week, breakfast is just an English muffin).

Neither my wife or I gained weight over the 10 days we were gone.

But…

Scanning my nutrition news yesterday, I ran across an article that said be careful of limiting your portions. You may not be getting enough to eat. This was an American source writing to Americans (this blog is read globally, so I try to differentiate). 

I would hate for someone to read this and use it as an excuse to pile the food on higher so as not to starve!

When you read, read mindfully. Be aware of context. Be aware when someone is just filling up space. Even when reading the Bible, be mindful. Don’t just grab a verse at random. Read it in the context of the paragraph, the story, the whole of the Bible.

Be as fit as possible within your capabilities and constraints–emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually. Take your entire body to God as a worthy sacrifice.

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What Is God Like?

April 21, 2015

“He is an old man with a long, white beard.”

“He is angry, vengeful, and if we don’t do the right things to satisfy him, we’ll go to Hell.”

“He is so full of love that he blesses everything and everybody.”

“She is the creator giving birth to the universe.”

“He constructed the universe and developed all the physical laws that run it.”

None of these, of course, can be found in the Bible without the use of much imagination. Jesus said Father. John said spirit and love.

The old man and many other myths come from the Middle Ages and its particular blend of fears and incorporation of pagan ideas into Christianity.

We must be mindful of how we come to God.

If our emotions rule us, they will construct a God in the image of whatever prevalent emotion we may have: fear, sympathy, love, disinterest.

If our intellect rules us, it will construct a God of distance, impersonal, giver of physical and other laws.

We work out our relationship with God bringing our whole self before the Father pleading for wholeness in our mind, body, soul. We move, as Paul put it, away from childish ideas about God. 

As in all relationships, this relationship grows over time. We discover more and more about each other. We grow closer, then more distant. We correct each other (well, maybe we don’t correct God, but we certainly try, don’t we).

Take care what rules us. Every morning ask for God to rule our emotions, thoughts, and actions during the coming day.

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Maintaining a Tranquil Mind

April 20, 2015

Everyone felt the stress deep inside. A large group of people needed to stay together as they navigated an airport in a foreign nation. None had been through that airport recently. But navigate they must in order to board the next plane taking them home.

The first plane landed at one end of the airport. The plane carrying the group over the Atlantic was scheduled to depart 50 minutes later–from the other end of the airport.

Some people in the group were reasonably fit and could make a fast walk/run. Others were challenged by one of a variety of physical conditions that would slow them down.

Upon arriving at the gate, which no one really knew was the gate, the group was divided and then shuttled from one queue to the next and back again.

At times like this, one needs to have practiced the wisdom of Proverbs so that it is deeply imprinted on the soul–“A tranquil mind gives life to the flesh.” (14:30)

We made it, of course.

And then made the JFK connection and arrived home safely.

I was part of a group that vacationed on a Danube River cruise from Nuremberg to Budapest. Ten days. Tired at that point. That’s why I reposted 10 days worth of blogs–which I guess didn’t get picked up by the email app. I’ll have to check that out. I tried to write ahead, but ran out of time.

International travel is a growth experience, if you choose to approach it that way. You pick up pieces of new languages. Experience other cultures. Learn that people are people no matter where you go. Good, evil, mostly good.

And with a little stress at the end, you learn about your character in the response to it.

This is where self-awareness enters.

I know that I can mostly maintain the tranquil mind. When things are out of my control and I have no knowledge of the system, I get quite snippy about perceived lack of good policy and procedure–especially at airports. But then I can settle back into the state of tranquility.

Nice to be home again. But I do miss Nuremberg and Budapest–two of my favorite cities.

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