Paying Attention

December 6, 2024

Love begins with paying attention to others. —John O’Donohue

Do we notice the person we serve when we perform an act of kindness?

When holding a door open for someone at the coffee house, pause, make eye contact, smile. Sometimes a smile is a little nudge of love that can perk up a down day.

When giving the person a couple of dollars to buy a StreetWise, looking at the person, acknowledging their existence. A bit of love’s energy flows to someone who needs it.

When someone speaks, listen with attention. 

[Note: StreetWise is a street magazine sold by people without homes or those at-risk for homelessness in Chicago.]

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Advent—Anticipation

December 5, 2024

[Updated to finish sentence] Elizabeth and Zeccharia lived an entire married life in anticipation of a baby. One didn’t come—until it did.

The last thing Mary wanted was a baby. She was anticipating a big wedding day. Then God said, you’re pregnant.

Luke writes of people who lived their entire lives anticipating a special kind of leader. They saw a baby and knew their prayers were answered.

Writings from the time around 2,100 years ago in the Palestine region of the Roman empire, indeed even further abroad, show an even more general attitude of spiritual awakening and anticipation.

I’m writing this during the first week of Advent. I wonder, what is my anticipation? What is our anticipation? Are we in an era of spiritual awakening? Or, are we in just another era?


Rather than “we,” what about “me?” Or you? Are we living with anticipation of a spiritual awakening?

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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.

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What If We Just Started?

December 3, 2024

What if we stopped endless debates on theology?

What if we just started, one small group at a time, to live differently?

The first three hundred years of the Jesus movement changed the world.

These little groups, in Greek called ekklesia, gathered to share meals, pray, and sing. But even more, they changed the relationships of men and women a bit at a time. Men were morally allowed promiscuity. And if babies were accidentally born, well, they were often left to die. Those early followers of Jesus caused a change in that culture.

And when illness and even epidemics swept through the ancient world, those early followers of Jesus were on the front lines of healing and bringing peace to the grieving.

Jesus followers were the leaders in spreading education.

What if we return to the roots of the faith? What if we saw needs and served them?

What if we just started now?

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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?

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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”.

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Gratitude

November 28, 2024

People in the US celebrate Thanksgiving holiday today.

It is traditionally a time for overeating, families meeting, families arguing (or hiding the disagreements behind a smiling veneer). 

Except for those who must work today. Commerce now never takes a day off.

The best celebration takes only a few moments.

Pause.

Reflect on those people, events, and situations for which we are deeply grateful. Or even those that touch us however briefly that leave a scent of fresh life.

Perhaps make a list. In your mind. Write it. Say thank you.

Perhaps a list of those that caused some grief. Write it on paper. Tear it into small pieces and toss in the rubbish. Say good bye.

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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.

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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.

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Both Sides Now

November 25, 2024

Joni Mitchell sang, “I’ve looked at life from both sides now…”

The song shares the experiences of being on both sides of an emotion. I love that song.

Sometimes seeing both sides doesn’t seem to work.

Your side of a theology or political debate is criticized for some outlandish claim. Others see it as hateful, perhaps.

You respond, “But the other side does it, too.”

I’m trying to find a place where Jesus, upon being criticized for something, says “but the Pharisees do it, too.”

Following Jesus means, “but Jesus does it, too.”

Sometimes it’s not both sides now, but Jesus way. The hard part for us lays in learning and doing Jesus’ way.

And that is often hard.

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