Praying Your Way Out

February 19, 2015

There is one God, the Father,

From whom are all things, and we to him;

And one Lord, Jesus the Messiah,

Through whom are all things, and we through him.

–1 Cor 8:6 (The sh’ma rewritten by Paul)

One of the guys at last night’s Bible study asked about the situation when you aren’t as “on fire” in the spirit as you had been for a while.

There was a survey of 17,000 followers of Jesus where they asked that question. Did you ever feel away from the spirit, and, if so, what did you do to get back? More than 3,000 said yes. Reading the Bible daily and praying were the path back into the spirit.

We call those spiritual disciplines or spiritual practices. They are a means through which you can rekindle the fire of the spirit. They also should become so habitual that they form your character.

Paul, good Jewish boy and eventually Pharisee, no doubt prayed the Sh’ma every day. “Hear O Israel, The Lord, the Lord our God is one. And you shall love The Lord….”

Paul, after his meeting with the risen Jesus, “rethought” his Jewish teaching in light of the coming of the Messiah. Recorded in 1 Corinthians is a new prayer with which to begin each day. A new Sh’ma.

There was a man who lived in 19th Century Russia. He lost everything he had including wife and kids. All that was left was his Bible and a teaching from a priest quoting Paul, “You should pray without ceasing.” The priest taught him the “Jesus Prayer,”

Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

You can say that prayer with breath. Inhale Jesus Christ, son of God; Exhale have mercy on me, a sinner.

This peasant’s story is recorded in The Way of a Pilgrim. He tried to live praying without ceasing. And people kept coming into his life at just the right moment with just the right assistance.

The Jesus Prayer is powerful. I am now trying to memorize the “new sh’ma” and incorporate it into my life. It helps maintain focus when all around is chaos.

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To Lent or Not To Lent

February 18, 2015

My mind was full of competing thoughts. All were bouncing freely through the brain. There are now three partially written meditations cluttering my computer–and my brain.

Then I noticed that it is Ash Wednesday.

I completely missed Fat Tuesday–Mardi Gras!

Oh, but that is OK. I don’t have to store up all the bad things in order to make it through 40 days of fasting. Among the traditions of my youth, observing Lent was not one that was observed. Most of the kids in my village did. Most were Lutheran, descendents of German-speaking Alsatians who came to America in the 1840s. We (the Methodists) sort of wondered about those Lutherans. Mom said to never marry one.

Mostly when we talked about ritual, we used the term “empty ritual.” This feeling was only strengthened when stories went around about what various people in town gave up for Lent. My favorite was the guy who gave up watermelon every year. Of course, we wouldn’t see any watermelon for another six months! Talk about empty.

We also didn’t have church and get ashes. Didn’t have a clue about that.

Someone just tried to define a ritual as something we do to change God, while a practice is something we do to work on ourselves. But I know many who gain great spiritual comfort from the traditions of ritual. That is not a bad thing.

It is good to set aside time to reflect on Easter. That is the single day/single act that sets us aside from all others. The day that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. He was alive. He was hope in person.

It was good to be reminded. I need reminders.

If you give up something, do it wisely and reverently. I have a friend who gives up fried food, desserts, and (hardest of all) beer every year for Lent. He loses 15 pounds. But then comes Easter 😉 But he does it out of reverence for the season. He’s 85. Has been doing this for at least 20 years. It reminds him of why we have Lent.

What will we do in remembrance?

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Friday Leadership Meditation

February 13, 2015

The other day while looking for something in the Bible, I chanced upon the short letter of Jude. It captured my attention. The next 10 minutes were devoted to reading the entire thing.

It reminded me of several passages in Paul’s letters. Passages where Paul addresses the problems that occurred in the little communities around the eastern rim of the Mediterranean.

We know a leader must have a vision. The vision must include the reason for the existence of the organization or group. Why it exists. What is it’s purpose. Who does it serve. What are the benefits.

As we read through Paul’s letters, we develop a sense of a consistent message.

Jude shines light on the problem that subsequent leaders enter the organization and the vision they share is nothing like the original vision. The new vision potentially subverts the original. It takes the group down a different path. Paul often fought against that problem. Both men wanted the vision they shared to stay strong and focused.

Maybe you have witnessed such a situation. Maybe your church was going down a path, then new pastoral leadership came. Different vision (or worse, no vision), different path. All the momentum of the old is lost.

It caused me to ponder the responsibility of leaders to not lead people astray by chasing after false visions. Leaders have the power to lead people astray, to disrupt all the good work done before. We can really screw people up.

As we develop our vision statement as leaders, we must take care. We must be grounded, knowledgeable, wise. Learn from Jude the power for bad or good we have.

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More on Lying, Fudging, Pressure on Media

February 12, 2015

I’m still in Orlando as I write this. Had an interesting conversation with a reader at lunch on Wednesday about the Brian Williams affair.

The first disclosure is that I am a member of “the media.” So, even though there are not as many marbles at stake in what I’ve done compared to TV news, the principles apply.

So, it seems that this TV anchor guy made a trip to Iraq to do some “on the spot” coverage. Usually these guys fly in, stay at the Hilton, get filmed at a safe spot where there is desert behind them, then immediately leave. In this case, Williams was actually flying somewhere in a helicopter was shot down. Somehow he became “confused” and thought that actually he was on that copter, not the trailing one where he actually was.

Second disclosure–I’ve never been in a battle. Came close to being a Navy pilot, but not close enough to claim anything. So, maybe the “spin doctors” who have been dredged up to blame psychological trauma for this lapse of memory are correct. But somehow I don’t believe it.

Pressure

In my little niche of media, a salesman would frequently come to me and beg, “Gary, if you could just run a friendly story about this company, they will buy an x-month advertising package with us.” I’d just say, “Let me talk to them and see if they have anything worthwhile to say.”

This might be worth $40,000. (By the way, they almost never bought. They were happy with free publicity.)

Imagine that you are the top salesperson or executive of the TV news operation. A dramatic story of being shot down would attract hundreds of thousands of viewers. That translates into higher advertising revenue. See where I’m going? Much of the media works that way.

So, what if Williams had that much pressure from somewhere. That is at least as credible a story as PTSD or something.

Dave suggested a scenario something like this at lunch. I thought, something to consider.

Even so, there had to be many people who knew the simple truth. Yet, the network perpetuated the story for years. Maybe it’s Williams, or maybe it’s someone else. There are still ethics involved.

it would have been just as unethical for me to promote a product just for advertising dollars to readers who depend on my for objective reporting as for NBC. It’s just as unethical when you decide to deceive someone.

I will not attempt to claim 100% ethics in every situation–that would, of course, be a lie. But I hope that I’m close to 100% and apologize when I’m not.

Jesus set the bar so high for us, that those of us who follow him had best get that 100% or know the reason why and ask forgiveness.

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Where Does Lying Get You

February 11, 2015

I am in Orlando at a conference. It all started with arriving over an hour late–so in my room at midnight Sunday. Meeting early Monday. Reception until after 10. Followed by another early morning and late night. Now 7 am breakfast meeting. That’s the glamorous life of a writer traveling to a resort area on business.

Speaking of the glamorous life, I have been reading a little (very little) about this Brian Williams performance art and drama. As I get the story, he reported that he was in a helicopter in Iraq that was shot down. Now they say he was in the helicopter trailing and never went down.

Confusion? Lying? We’ll never know.

But that incident started a train of thought. Supposing he did lie. Supposing you and I have ever lied about doing something. Embellished a resume. Tried to impress a prospective employer.

In the end, what do we gain.

We read in the Bible, let your yes be yes and your no be no.

Say what you need to say. Sgt. Joe Friday, “Just the facts, Ma’am.”

If we let who we are speak through what we do, what does that say about our character?

As a writer and teacher, I’m always aware of the trap I can fall into. I can make my career sound like some exotic journey into great competence or I can make it sound like a series of steps where I learn a little at every stop along the way.

I try to be careful, and I hope I succeed. Maybe more of us should remember who we wish to be and act in accordance.

Or maybe we want to be a liar????

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Developing Trust From Others

February 5, 2015

Trust. One simple word scrawled on the page. I carry a small notebook almost everywhere I go. When ideas come from whatever source, I make a note. If they are worth saving, I take a picture with my iPhone and the Evernote app and save the page to Evernote.

For some reason I thought I should write about trust.

Trust, in itself, is not a spiritual discipline. It is the result or byproduct of living with-God and practicing spiritual formation.

Having the trust of your colleagues is crucial to an effective leader. Think about leaders with whom you have served–those you trusted and those you didn’t. Are you like me and still shudder when the mere thought of one of those latter leaders pops into consciousness.

Trust is a belief in the reliability of someone. Have you ever heard the phrase, “How you act speaks so loudly that I can hear what you say”? It’s when what you do and what you say are congruent.

In the Bible, trust is used exclusively in regard to God. God is the one who can be believed to be reliable beyond all others.

About 70 leaders in our church gathered last Saturday to study from “Crucial Conversations” a book written to help people not escalate problems when a conversation turns serious. I guess I thought then that it would be hard to have a crucial conversation with someone whom you don’t trust. At that point, it’s too late and you’ve lost.

What am I saying? When I teach spiritual practices, does my life reflect that I actually do them? When have I promised and not followed through?

The Acts 2 church grew because people were attracted to the way they lived. Would anyone be attracted to my church or fellowship because of the way I (we) live?

As my meditation on this word ends this morning, I’ve concluded that this isn’t one of those bullet point sort of lessons. I can’t give five easy steps to earn trust. All I can say is to look back at the end of every day and reflect on when you were congruent and when you weren’t. Then resolve to do more of the first tomorrow.

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Lure of Lifestyle or Spiritual Discipline of Simplicity

February 4, 2015

One thing about living most of my life in the same small city, I have seen many people grow from stage to stage in life. I remember when a bunch of guys were in their 30s and 40s. They were posturing for importance. Living an upscale and hard-driving lifestyle. Now they are 60s and 70s. They, for the most part, have come to see what’s really important in life—relationships, service, being comfortable in who they are.

Lure of Lifestyle

My friend Jim Pinto, who has turned his attention from automation (since he doesn’t write for me anymore) to thoughts on how to live, reminds us to focus on what’s important. In Lure of Lifestyle, he says, “Now, I don’t feel particularly miserly, but I really don’t understand the rationale of the luxury lifestyle. In fact, I remember the remark of a guy who ignored the champagne at a fancy reception and asked for a beer. “Hey!” he said, “I’m rich enough to drink what I want, not what looks good.”

These days, when I see somebody posturing beyond their means, I remember a Texas cattleman’s wisecrack: “Big hat, no cattle!” This was the name of a song by Randy Newman.”

Fits a Career

I think this fits a career, too. Most of the time I’ve been in leadership (I wish I had been this good all the time), the important question became, “How can I help you?” After defining roles and hiring the best people (I’ve missed a few times, much to my downfall—one guy turned out to be quite the political manipulator), that is the best approach to management.

Spiritual discipline

One of the basic twelve spiritual disciplines outlined by Richard Foster in “Celebration of Discipline” is simplicity or the simple lifestyle.

While there are many products that improve our lives, we can easily acquire a huge pile of junk. Stuff we use for a few days and then gather dust. Stuff that’s cheaply made and don’t last but somehow stays around.

We’ve got to have the huge pickup truck, not to haul things but solely to impress people. Or the Aspen vacation that we can’t afford but that will impress everyone back home.

Practicing the simplicity discipline, we buy what we need. We invest in experiences, not in things to impress. We focus on what’s important in life—not on what we think will impress people who are usually too busy trying to impress other people to notice you’re trying to impress them.

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Mentoring and Training

February 3, 2015

The other day at the coffee shop I chanced into a conversation with a young woman. She is a local community college student who is heading toward a degree-granting (BA/BS) university. She was full of enthusiasm for a career. She knew what she wanted to do.

I started thinking (that’s my weakness, but fortunately not while she was talking) that what people want to do is a question of training them in a skill. They can do computer science, plumbing, tool making, selling, marketing, writing.

But, what if we who are older and have been down the road realize that what is even more crucial is to help people realize who they can be.

Sometimes these things can be accomplished at the same time. I help teach young people how to become a soccer referee. That’s a skill. But that’s only the first step. Of course, they must continue to develop their skills–foul recognition, mechanics, physical stamina.

We also teach them how to be. Through providing them games and mentoring, we show them how to develop strength of character, decision-making skills, people skills. These things help them grow as people no matter what they choose to do with their lives.

Then we can reflect  even on ourselves as we are mentoring young people–realizing that learning should never end; evaluating who we are vs who we want to be; growing in emotional intelligence.

As we get older, one thing we should become is a mentor. Pick someone, help lead them into becoming what they can be. Help them explore their spiritual gifts and talents.

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Make It a Habit

February 2, 2015

Last night’s Super Bowl was an exciting game of American football. The outcome was not certain until only 17 seconds were left in the game.

In the final contested play, a New England defensive back stepped in front of a Seattle receiver and intercepted the pass. After the game, the back was asked about the play. He said he couldn’t describe it. Of course, asking people to analyze something in the height of great emotion is pretty stupid, but I bet it’s true that he didn’t know.

His coaches had taught him cues to watch and responses to make. Then they practiced it over and over. It became a habit. He saw the play develop. His muscle memory recognized the situation and acted just as he had been trained.

Paul uses an athletic analogy at the end of chapter 9 of 1 Corinthians. He talks of an athlete disciplining his body. He says he does not run aimlessly nor box by flailing away at the air.

If Paul had read Charles Duhigg’s “The Power of Habit,” he would have understood. Learn to read the “cue;” take action; reap the reward.

That is why spiritually alive people have cultivated habits to keep them spiritually in tune with God.

You rise early in the morning heading toward your favorite chair in order to spend 15 minutes (or more) reading from the Bible or other spiritual work. You follow that with prayer and meditation for a few more minutes.

It is your habit to regularly meet with other seekers. You regularly gather with others to celebrate and worship.

And many more–fasting, living simply, serving others.

Just as a trained athlete acts to win a game, we can act to deepen our spiritual lives.

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Leadership: Vision and Problem-solving

January 30, 2015

The Apostle Paul was a doer. A leader. A problem-solver.

Did you ever think that it was interesting, or even meaningful, that Paul only wrote letters?

He didn’t write a philosophical treatise. He didn’t write a scholarly book of theology (not that that subject existed in his time). He also didn’t write (to the dismay of many of my legalistic friends) a book of laws and rules.

Paul founded little communities of Christ-followers. Many of them. His letters reflect the problems presented to him by these various communities as they sought to live out this new life in the spirit.

Leaders must have a vision. We can see glimpses of Paul’s vision in his letters. Often, I think, he assumed knowledge on the part of the listener–knowledge we don’t have 2,000 years later. But his vision is clear.

How God revealed his “glory” through Jesus. How Jesus was killed and then resurrected. How the spirit came to dwell in believers. How we should live in community.

As his followers struggled to live in a multi-cultural and often hostile world, Paul wrote to them to give guidance and reproof as necessary. Sometimes we see the questions they asked. Sometimes it’s implied.

There were many other leaders in the movement at the time. Paul stands out, his writings are timeless.

Paul shows us the example of great leadership–a vision planted deep inside articulated clearly and often; action bringing the vision into reality; follow-up, care, and nurturing of followers; development of the next generation of leaders. And, like all great leaders, often misunderstood by outsiders.

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