Why don’t you hear us, O God?

August 28, 2013

Why don’t you hear us, O God?

A teacher was speaking. I made a hurried note, because I was driving across rural northern Indiana at the time. “Read Isaiah 58” was all I noted.

So I returned home late last week, opened to Isaiah 58 in the Kindle app on my iPad and began reading. What a great passage. A preacher could easily develop a sermon series from this passage.

I’m going to contemplate this for a while. So, pull out that old Bible and read it to prepare for a few meditations.

Isaiah, speaking God’s words to his people, answers the question I began with. But, to start at the beginning…

“Shout out, do not hold back!

Lift up your voice like a trumpet!

Announce to my people their rebellion,

to the house of Jacob their sins.”

This is God talking to Isaiah. He’s encouraging his prophet to speak. In fact, not just to speak, but to do so dramatically. What is it he is to speak? It’s about how the people have stopped doing the Lord’s will–what the Lord wants.

Before we condemn those people of 2,800 years ago when Isaiah preached, we can think of ourselves.

“Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers” (if you followed “Car Talk” on National Public Radio) talk of the famous “dope slap.” That’s when you’re acting like a dope or said something stupid and somebody (maybe even yourself) slaps you on the side of the face. You dope.

That’s a little crude, but it’s what Isaiah is doing to the people of his nation. He’s saying something like, “Wake up people. You think you are so good, but you’re not. Oh, and here’s why.”

Probably all of us need one of those “dope slaps” every once in a while. Usually just when we think we’re so smart, or so good, or so wise, or so beautiful.

Has someone tried to give you a verbal dope slap recently? Did it wake you up? Or did it miss the mark?

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Spiritual Seekers

August 27, 2013

My life has been a journey of spiritual seeking. Because of that orientation, I’ve read writings, analyses and biographies of many spiritual seekers of many traditions. There is one glaring hole in my search–Muhammad.

My wife and I watched the documentary / biography of Muhammad that aired over PBS last weekend. Didn’t learn a lot. But it did start some interesting thinking.

Muhammad’s sayings were written and collected by his followers and compiled in a book called the Qur’an or Koran. Essentially these were teachings on the many revelations he received from God–the God of Abraham. Because of these, he is revered as a prophet of God.

Since I’ve studied philosophy and religion at the university, I have a certain attitude toward scholars in that area. Many try to maintain some sort of scholarly skepticism toward that which they study and teach. None in the documentary came out directly skeptical about Muhammad experiencing revelations, but I picked up some of that attitude during the interviews.

I’m not suspicious of revelations in general, they just need to be tested. There are too many so-called revelations that are delusional. From what I picked up from the series plus what little reliable commenting I’ve read make it seem like his revelations bear the test quite well.

The world was multi-cultural back then. Medina’s residents included Jews, Christians and pagans, as well as Muhammad’s followers. Not that it isn’t now, but we really seem to have adopted the rural attitude that everyone should be just like us. They all lived together quite nicely until economics entered the picture. What is the saying, money is the root of all evil?

The early Christians were very aware that there were many people unlike them in the world and that they needed to interact and get along with them, too.

An interesting thing to pick up from the program was the role of the mosque. Not just a place to come occasionally to hear preaching, his was open to everyone to come and discuss, and it was like a community center. This not like most Christian churches–and an idea we need to pick up.

I’ll have to read more. I’m interested in details such as how did they pray or meditate, how did they communicate, what challenges did they face. These are useful for our own edification.

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To Let The Oppressed Go Free

August 26, 2013

Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking out for freedom.“Is this not the fast I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?”

I’m studying Isaiah 58 right now. These are the words of the Lord spoken through his prophet. (That’s what prophets do, you know.)

This week is the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington where Martin Luther King, Jr., caught up in the Spirit, deviated somewhat from his prepared text and spoke about his dream. A dream where people were judged on character, not on skin color.

I was only a kid, living in a small village where everyone was either of German or Irish descent (read “white”)–well, except for one “hillbilly” family that moved in, and they were white. I never knew a black person until I was in college.

But for some reason, I was haunted by images of Ku Klux Klan cross burnings and murders. I can still remember nightmares that there was a local branch (don’t think there ever was–we didn’t have black people, but we did have a secret society of which my dad was a member called the Masons). I feared that they found out that I was pro civil rights and surrounded our house.

Later while I was in college, I endured much teasing about my civil rights stance (I still lived in town and drove 40 miles each way to college to save money since I was now mostly paying my own way). I remember driving through Mississippi to Louisiana in 1970 when I entered graduate school at LSU. Had an equal rights decal on my car. Arrived and then had the thought, what if my car had stopped in the piney woods? Still, I’m white. Not as bad as if I were not.

Progress toward freedom

There has been a lot of progress over the last 50 years. Like all human social change, there were cycles of success and cycles of regress. Many things are better for people of different colors, ethnicities, even gender. Many people have been set free. The leadership of Christians was an example to me that maybe the Christian church wasn’t all bad.

But we still have far to go.

Jesus understood. As have many spiritual people throughout human history. That passage from Isaiah is probably 2,800 years old. Yet, until we all change our hearts and begin to truly worship the one God, then we will not have the justice God demanded so long ago.

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Getting Things Done and Keeping My Sanity

August 21, 2013

Getting Things DoneThis time of year is always the busiest and most hectic for me. In business, I’m gearing up for the fall travel season plus planning for the next year.

I’m very involved with soccer and have been the referee assignor for 25 years. Practice for teams start at the beginning of August. I have almost all my games assigned for the year by then. Suddenly plans change. Referees drop games. Schools add games. I just went from needing to fill only 6 games to 21 games in the past three days. (OK, to my friends in Toledo, Columbus and Dayton, only 21 games is almost heaven, I know.)

I try to research and find topics 4-5 days a week for this blog. I have a business blog–The Manufacturing Connection–from which I derive a little income. I have several writing gigs.

Not to mention a new ministry leadership position in the church.

Getting Things Done

At times the workload seems overwhelming.

Then I take a deep breath. Maybe a walk around the block. Then tackle the list one thing at a time. Soon, I’m back in control, and much work gets accomplished.

I follow David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD). And I use a Web-based application called Nozbe to help follow the methodology.

This approach of living only in the present (that is, not worrying about tomorrow–see Jesus for advice); taking a few deep breaths to relax, then tackling the to-do list from most important (not urgent!) down, is how I’ve survived over the years. Try it.

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Passionate Pursuit

August 20, 2013

A young relative is in love. How do I know? He writes with great passion about his beloved. He thinks about her constantly. Her well-being is on his mind.

Jesus said, “Whoever will come after me, must deny himself…”

The phrase come after in the social context of the time usually refers to a romantic passion. The phrase must have been one of those that Jesus was famous for–using words in new ways to point to a relationship with God and totally confusing his audience to the point of making them think about what he said.

What have been the passions of your life? Remember pursuing a boy/girl or woman/man? Can you recapture that passion in your mind? Better yet, maybe you still have it. I wrote last week about what happens when that feeling dissipates.

Let’s think about this in terms of denying yourself. If you are pursuing someone so passionately, you don’t care so much about yourself (if you are, then you’d better check your emotional maturity index). You deny yourself such that your beloved is honored.

Paul tried valiantly, if confusingly, to describe this in his description of marriage–a picture of mutually denying yourself in order to honor your spouse. It seems confusing to read it. Paul would have been better served in getting his point across by telling a story about a husband and wife and how they act toward each other.

The world would have been spared much grief had translators understood denying oneself and become a servant (some translations slave) of Jesus. Perhaps a story rather than intellectual discourse would have helped. Nineteenth Century philosophers hated that word slave and the picture of Christians as sheep and wrote philosophies that ended up enslaving millions and murdering hundreds of thousands or maybe also millions.

How about a story about loving Jesus so much that your every thought is about him. All you want in life is to serve God passionately. You’re a servant. But an empowered servant, because the more passionately you love God, the more you will deny your own will to serve him and conversely the more God will make you stronger and stronger. They forgot that last part in the Nineteenth Century.

We need to remember it. The more passionately we follow Jesus, the more we try to please, honor and serve Him. But, Jesus then gives us great power.

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Avoid The Inoculation Theory of Learning

August 19, 2013

My 6-yr-old grandson was in town for his first overnight a couple of weeks ago. We told him we were going to church on Sunday. He asked why. ” Your grandpa is singing,” was one answer–which didn’t impress him. “To learn about Jesus,” was the next answer. He said, “I already know that.”

I see this attitude often. I have taught and mentored kids and adults to become soccer referees for over 20 years. Most take the entry level class and think they should immediately start working top level games, and, oh by the way, I really don’t need to return for additional training year after year.

Many years ago I ran across a quote. I don’t remember its entirety any longer. The concept remains. People think of education like being inoculated from a disease. You get a little injection of it, then you’re immune for life.

Continual learning

The thing is that life requires of us to keep learning. One reason is that we need to learn new things simply to survive. We learn about new dangers–why we should watch carefully at intersections for cars running stop signs, why we should buckle seat belts, why we should be careful of the influx of coyotes in the neighborhood.

We also need to learn in order to grow. Early in my life, I was a baby. I just reacted to stimuli. Then I went through all the stages of growth that developmental psychologists have described so well. At every stage you may think you are mature, but you aren’t. Years later you look back and think about how poorly you handled a situation that today you’d handle much differently.

That is why one of the most important Spiritual disciplines is study. Read from the Bible or other thoughtful writing every day. This weekend I was leading a discussion on the first part of Exodus. I’ve read it before. I saw the movie when I was a kid. There are insights I just picked up yesterday. You never stop learning.

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Dare To Communicate Clearly

August 16, 2013
Old Church Leadership Style

Leadership

Jesus spoke directly and clearly when he was speaking directly to an individual. Even his parables were clear when you figured out the key. The biggest problem with his message to his listeners was that it was so radical it took time to soak in.

Donald Miller wrote several books I admire. Yesterday, he wrote about being clear. Referring to a poetry reading by former Poet Laureate Billy Collins, Miller writes, “How can any of us get what we want in life if we don’t communicate what we want clearly? Billy Collins might as well have been echoing the words of Jesus: Ask and it will be given to you.”

He says later in the essay, “Everybody kind of knows what they want, but few people have taken the time to reflect so they can communicate in such a way people understand. Most leaders kind of know where they want to take people but revolutionary leaders say it clearly.”

Ah, here is a key–take the time to reflect. Don’t short circuit the path from thought to mouth. Actually think about what you want and where you want to go. Victoria Elizabeth wrote recently on a Website called Problogger that we should blog like Hemingway. Use short sentences and research the truth. There’s more, check it out if you’re a writer or leader.

Miller says this process of thinking and speaking clearly is especially important for leaders. “The reality of leadership is this: The world is standing before you, curious, asking where you’d like to take them. If you kind of have an answer, they’ll follow somebody else. If you want to be a leader, communicate clearly because that’s the only way anybody can know whether or not they want to join you.”

This is important for leaders. And for all of us trying to communicate the Gospel. Think things through. Find the truth. Use simple sentences. And, “Know where you want to take people and ask them to come with you. Then, confidently take them there.”

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Avoid Confusion and Distraction

August 14, 2013

BikepathI’m reviewing my notes from Henry Cloud’s Boundaries for Leaders for something else I’m writing and these words attracted my attention. “Set limits on confusion and distraction.”

In this book, he meant that organizationally. As you organize your company, department, ministry, family, assign tasks and responsibilities and hold everyone accountable for their actions and results.

Assigning your children tasks to help around the house at an early age with no thought of pay teaches them responsibility, accountability, and focus. These are life skills that will help them throughout their lives no matter what happens. My capitalist friends may cringe–thinking that everything must have a monetary reward–but they would need to calm down a little. Even economists will occasionally talk about intrinsic rewards.

Do you lead a group in either a marketplace company, a nonprofit agency, a church or volunteer organization? Think on these things. Think about each person–their tasks, responsibilities and desired results. Clearly state to them, ask for response that these are understood. Keep people focused on what is important.

This works for yourself, too.

What about you or around you contributes to confusion and distraction?

  • Not sure about your goals
  • Messy desk
  • Sloppy recordkeeping
  • Too much social media
  • Thinking you’re the exception to multi-tasking blues
  • Too many goals
  • Inability to say “No”

Now is the time to work on your own confusion. Eliminate distractions when you think or work. Organize your workspace. Organize your house. Organize your daily routine.

I often talk about Spiritual Disciplines (or practices). Adopt a couple of crucial ones. Every morning get up 15 minutes earlier than now so that you can spend time reading The Bible or other Spiritual book. Then spend some quiet time in prayer and meditation–even if it’s only 5 minutes.

Begin your days focused and organized.

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Lost That Loving Feeling

August 12, 2013
Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield, The Righteous Brothers

Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield, The Righteous Brothers

The powerful voices of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield, The Righteous Brothers, pound in my brain. “You’ve lost that lovin’ feeling, oh-oh-oh, that lovin’ feeling; Baby, you’ve lost that lovin’ feeling and it’s gone, gone, gone.”

Our small group has been reading Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus by Kyle Idleman. In a chapter called Passionate Pursuit, he discusses a concept I haven’t heard for years–acedia. That’s a Latin word usually translated as sloth–one of the “seven deadly sins.”

Like Idleman, I pondered why “sloth” was one of those sins. It just didn’t seem to fit. Then I read the Desert Fathers writings and came across John Climacus (or St. John of the Ladder) who wrote The Ladder of Divine Ascent. This great book from the 7th century describes for the early monastic movement what emotions to overcome on your Divine ascent, and he devotes a lot of space to acedia (uh-see-dee-a).

You have been pursuing something with great passion. Your girl friend / boy friend. Your profession. Your sport. A deeper Spiritual life. You think you cannot live without the object of your pursuit.

Then, something happens. Usually a little at a time other cares start to impinge on your mind, emotions, energy. You don’t seem to care as much. Don’t devote so much time.

Then Bill and Bobby are singing your song–You’ve lost that loving feeling.

Passion is used often these days to describe oneself. Once in an editorial I wrote about being passionate about automation and manufacturing (I still am, by the way). A friend wrote that she is a “passionate communicator.” (and she is). So many people begin something with great passion and then wither–like the seeds scattered on thin soil that Jesus describes that sprout fast and then wither in the sun.

If you’ve lost that lovin’ feeling in your Spiritual quest, there are ways to get it back. You begin by getting back into the Spiritual Disciplines. Read The Bible or a devotional every day. Meditate and Pray every day. Worship and Celebrate with your Jesus-follower friends. Remember why you were first in love. Stir up the embers in the fireplace and add some new kindling. Get the fire roaring again.

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Emotional Intelligence Requires Managing Relationships

August 9, 2013

I started thinking about emotional intelligence when I witnessed a nasty altercation that almost became physical in the waiting area of an airport this week.

We looked at acknowledging our own emotions and then managing them. That is a very hard step–especially when we are caught up in a deep emotion. It’s hard, but necessary to step back away from ourselves. There is a skill where you can mentally step out of your body and see yourself as others see you. That act can be very insightful.

Then we learn to look at others. Take notice of their emotional state. Listen to them. Ask questions or provide support to them.

We can see where this is going. First we see ourselves. Then we acknowledge others. Finally, we have the relationship among people.

I’m not sure that I’m the role model for relationship. I have been married (to the same woman) for more than 40 years. I guess that says something. I just returned home from a conference that I’ve attended for 16 years. Over that time, I’ve grown into relationships of another sort with many people I see every year. Those business relationships that merge over into somewhat personal are most gratifying. I’ve cheered their successes, empathized with challenges.

Sometimes relationships can be less healthy. Maybe there are ones where we just seem to feed some negative emotion of the other person. Maybe we just can’t help ourselves from annoying, provoking or enabling bad behaviour in certain other persons.

That’s where we need to go back to step one. Then step two. Then straighten out that relationship. Or–walk away from it. There are people with whom I’ll never get along. I just keep them out of my life as much as possible–like removing a tumor, I suppose.

Mostly, I’ve found that listening, empathy and a smile go a long way towards promoting many types of healthy relationships–from gate agents at the airport to people who are closest. Doesn’t mean I’m perfect. Far from it. And I tend to avoid confrontation when that might be the best response in a situation. But try my three little tips. See if you don’t get along better.

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