Faith Venture

Plugging In to the Spirit

December 1, 2023

The weekend following Thanksgiving Day finds my wife turning all that food into energy as she begins decorating the house for Christmas. It is her favorite time of the year. And in 50 years of marriage she has accumulated manger sets, ornaments for the tree, Santa figurines, candles, and God knows what else.

I am not the Grinch, but I don’t experience the season quite the same way. I do enjoy rising early and plugging in the Christmas trees (yes, plural). The distinctive light in the early morning dark brings a sense of the Advent season to the soul to begin the day.

I found an old note tucked away in my digital files from a book long out of print where the author Michael Ray talked of the Highest Goal. He concluded the highest goal for each of us lies in the experience of connection or truth, like that described by the contemplatives of the past 3,000 years or more. He says, “If you live for the highest goal, you are living a life of the spirit.”

That is a good definition we can live with. Its simplicity beats the thousands of words that Paul uses to also try to describe life in the spirit.

To return to our Christmas trees, I view this same thought as “plugging in” to the spirit of God. I often think of it as the “supreme creative force of the universe.” There are times I am plugged in and can feel the light surging through. Then there are the times when the plug has been vibrated loose. In those cases sort of like The Righteous Brothers sang, “I’ve lost that lovin’ feeling.”

In such cases I must return to the roots of simplicity. Thinking long term far beyond my current problems and concerns. I return to my path leaving the path someone else tries to divert me onto. It is time to refocus attention and look at others with compassion. Throwing off the yoke of preconceived ideas and prejudices, I can look at other humans as siblings—fellow children of God.

The simple act of plugging in a few Christmas trees during the season has the effect of reminding me to plug into the spirit of life.

Posted in advent, spirit | Leave a Comment »

Perceived but False Problems

November 30, 2023

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that ain’t so.” — Josh Billings

Peter Diamandis, engineer, doctor, entrepreneur, calls this an example of “Category 3 Problems.” These are perceived, but false problems. Problems that are either based on false data, outdated trends, cognitive biases, or a scarcity mindset. Most importantly (and perniciously), they prevent us from recognizing all the progress we’ve made and blind us to the opportunities in front of us for innovation and creating a world of abundance.

Diamandis preaches “abundance” thinking as opposed to “scarcity” thinking. Some people only see the negatives. Even when things are objectively better (like right now) people probably driven by a media propagating constant negativity and bad news feel as if they are living in scarcity.

I hear echoes of Jesus calling us to live in the abundance of the Spirit within the Kingdom of Heaven. I hear the apostle Paul describing the Fruit of the Spirit or life beyond the Law.

We can grab that life and learn to dispel those things we know for sure that just ain’t so.

Posted in Attitude, Disciplines | Leave a Comment »

Study Groups

November 29, 2023

Did you ever wonder why the Hebrew scriptures are appended to the stories about Jesus and the early church along with advice to the first followers?

Let’s take a look at a story from the Christian scriptures called the Road to Emmaus found in Luke’s history. Two of Jesus’s followers were walking to a village called Emmaus shortly after the death and resurrection of Jesus. They were trying to get their minds around these sudden turns of events.

A man joined them along the way. He explained to them from the Hebrew scriptures the meaning of Jesus’s coming, ministry, death, and resurrection. They sort of went, “Wow, that makes sense.” They reached a house and had something to eat. The stranger took a loaf of bread, blessed it, and broke it. The two guys went something like, “Hey, wait a minute, you’re Jesus, aren’t you?” And the man disappeared.

The first Jesus-followers took that story to heart and searched through those ancient texts looking for every mention that could point to Jesus. And that is why the first council of bishops back in the 4^th Century appended the section we call the Old Testament to the Christian scriptures called the New Testament when then compiled the first Bible. (Yes, there was no Bible for 300 years.)

Now let me take you to a different time and place. I attended freshman chemistry with 699 of my closest friends. Well, actually, I probably knew 10. Grading was done on a strict normal curve. A small percentage received As, a larger group received Bs, a massive group got Cs, a group larger than the Bs got Ds, and a group larger than the As received Fs.

I was getting Cs. Then somehow I was invited to form a small chemistry study group. We went over the texts and notes before the tests (there were two tests that combined formed your grade). After being in the study group, my grade went to B.

Yes, I’m suggesting that small study groups form a tool that would be of great help in pursuing your spiritual discipline of study.

I suggest a few ground rules.

Agree that everyone is willing to learn new things
Keep an open mind
Don’t let someone with fixed opinions on everything to dominate the discussion—a good leader/moderator gets everyone involved
Keep discussion open and civil
Agree to disagree (agreement is nigh on to impossible at times)
Psychologist Adam Grant says that we all tend to either be prosecutors, preachers, or politicians meaning that we have the right answer and seek to impart it; rather be a scientist who puts forth a hypothesis and then invites disagreement in order to prove or disprove it.

Footnote: I have read a few Jewish Rabbis who have rebutted the claims of those early Christians about John as a prophet and Jesus as a Messiah. They “prove” from text and tradition that neither meet the criteria. That is the intellectual reason that in general Jews do not accept the entire Christian story.

Posted in Disciplines, Study | Leave a Comment »

Many Nice People

November 28, 2023

Need to know what’s going on in the world? It’s easy to know enough without immersing yourself in the news-media-advertising-complex.

As side benefit you stop noticing so much the bad side of people (like my post yesterday about people whose behavior belies their stated beliefs).

This morning during meditation the number of good people I come across every day came into focus. We moved during Covid shutdown to a new city in a different state. We don’t know many people—even now. It’s not easy.

Several women I know volunteer at food banks and/or serve meals to those who need a good hot meal.

I had met a woman who at first glance looks like one of those girls you knew in high school who is pretty, knows it, and is a bit stand-offish. I recently had a chance to talk with her as she is one of the owners of the coffee house where I work once a week or so (writing, not making cappuccinos). Several people came through the shop who knew her and were happy to see her. She turned out to be nice to everyone.

There are people who reach out to those around who are hurting. Many people help out just with random acts of kindness, even small tokens like opening a door for someone or carrying a load.

None of these people rate headlines in the news-media-advertising-complex. But they form the backbone of the community or church or organization.

Be one of those. It is as good for your health as for those being served. And when you meet these people, say Thank You.

Posted in Doing, Service | Leave a Comment »

Put Christ Back in Christian

November 27, 2023

I had a few minutes to browse on Facebook the other day and saw a cartoon.

The older couple sit side-by-side on a couch. He says, “We need to put CHRIST back in CHRISTmas.” She replies, “I’d settle for putting CHRIST back in CHRISTian.”

I showed it to my wife. She just said, “Well, that’s so you.”

Perhaps the description is annoyed. Or disappointed. Or even despair. That’s what I feel when people grab media headlines portraying themselves as christian when simultaneously exhibiting no signs of the spirit of Jesus.

That has become so pervasive (not among a majority of people, but among a majority of headline seekers) that I prefer not to refer to myself as Christian identifying with them. I prefer to describe myself as what I try to be—a follower of Jesus.

Ignatius of Loyola developed a spiritual practice of The Examen. I don’t practice it exactly every night, but most nights I ask myself how have I been a good follower and where have I missed an opportunity and fallen short. And I always fall short somewhere. Which gives me room to be better the next day.

This is a good practice for those of us who profess to be followers to perform. Doing it honestly with self-awareness keeps us humble and striving to be better at following. And if enough people do that, maybe it could be a movement. And maybe we could put Christ back in Christian.

Posted in Awareness, Disciplines, Spirituality | Leave a Comment »

Let Go of Anger

November 24, 2023

Flashbacks of exploding in anger sometimes visit my conscious self. It’s embarrassing now. How frustrations or deep hurts overflowed into words and actions.

I could say that we live in an age of the angry young man where everyone is like that. Politicians around the world seem to be tapping into that anger. Except that angry young men have been around for decades—millennia even. Billy Joel released a song in 1976 described as a sardonic look at “the angry young man who will go to his grave as an angry old man.”

Maybe I lost the edge of that anger when I became 25 or so and my brain finished growing (biological fact, in case you missed that in class). Or maybe years of meditation. Or maybe the times, especially in business, where I was metaphorically stabbed in the back by colleagues or friends, and I realized in the bigger picture, I was better off gone from that environment.

Looking at that bigger picture, would you like the vision of yourself as one of those angry old men (or women)? No one around you? Doing nothing for the family or community? Probably taking years from your life?

I can’t imagine that a person exists who doesn’t experience something sometime that lights a torch inside. A mark of maturity and growing spiritual awareness is revealed when we can let it go. Quickly. Before we say or do something foolish. Hitting that internal pause button before we hit the keyboard return button that will send that email or publish to social media.

How about if we go to our graves known as kind and compassionate rather than angry and bitter? We can do that. It does take work. And time.

Posted in Attitude, emotions | Leave a Comment »

Gratitude and Generosity

November 23, 2023

In America today is Thanksgiving Day. A national holiday. I was taught that it commemorates a meal after the 17th Century English Pilgrims in what is now Massachusetts survived a year and the people already living in the land provided food for a feast.

For some it is a time for family. Gathering the extended family for a turkey dinner. I have an Italian friend who told me she saw a video once about a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner and it looked nice.

Many have families torn apart by death or anger or misunderstanding. I imagine it is difficult to think of gratitude at those times. Psychologists tell us that conjuring gratitude even in those circumstances helps our mental/emotional balance. But, who am I to tell people that?

Many other people use the day both for gratitude and generosity. They provide food for homeless people and people whose economic fortunes are low. Some people in the community I lived in provided a community Thanksgiving dinner bringing together people who were alone and people less fortunate. A great idea of generosity and gratitude.

Instead of just one day, perhaps we could use the day, even those of you from around the world who read these words, to start a pattern of daily gratitude and generosity. Imagine what a world it would be if even half of the population practiced that!

Posted in Gratitude | Leave a Comment »

Confidence

November 22, 2023

So many people cannot contain emotions when they hear something they don’t agree with. Christians with a particular point of view who think the entire population of humanity agrees with then only to discover someone who doesn’t. Either an explosion of emotion erupts or a smoldering fire ignites.

“Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.”― Robert Frost

Even as a young lad I failed to understand the insecurity and sensitivity to criticism of many people. I remember people in my town worried about communists stamping out Christianity. I thought, “If Christianity is truly ordained by God, then we should have confidence that it will endure one way or another.” And I was only 11.

I still have that attitude. Although I have two podcasts in queue that appear to be people with whom I will not agree. I have discovered from experience, though, that even here I may learn something valuable.

Never miss an opportunity to learn that you are wrong or that you have bad information. It is the path to growth.

Posted in Growth | Leave a Comment »

If You’re Going To Do It, Do It

November 21, 2023

Arnold Schwarzenegger, body builder, actor, governor, has had a life-long mission of spreading fitness and health passion and information. He sent an email about establishing a “positive corner of the internet.” I signed up for his Pump Club newsletter and then got the Pump Club App. He and his co-editors deliver a wealth of health and fitness information within their positive “village.”

Recently he addressed a problem we probably all see—or even resemble. Doing things half-way. He sees people come to the gym only to sit on the weight machine bench staring at their smart phones. How can they be focused on accomplishing a great workout while distracted by many things?

He says, “If you give whatever you’re doing your all, you’ll never regret it. You’ll never look back in 20 years and say, ‘I wonder what might have happened if I tried harder.’ “

He uses a German phrase, Wenn schon, denn schon. “It basically means, if you’re going to do it, do it.”

The pastor or your boss asks you to lead a team to accomplish a mission. You can decide—do you focus and do it, or do you fit it in among many distractions and accomplish the minimum?

Do you say to yourself that tomorrow I’ll get up at 5:30 am, read something spiritually uplifting, meditate, workout at the gym, and be ready for a good day—while sitting on the couch watching TV and snacking at 11:30 pm?

Or, when you are going to do it, do it.

You can sign up for the newsletter and app at this link. To get the app, use the code ARNOLD.

Posted in focus, Physical | Leave a Comment »

How To Lose Billions of Dollars

November 20, 2023

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

How can you lose billions of dollars of assets?

I have heard many times, “I’m an American. I have a right to my opinion.”

My readings in literature and history teach that having an opinion is the human condition. Opinions are easy. Thought is hard. Informed opinions thoughtfully expressed are rare as a gem in the desert.

You can say whatever pops into your mind. On social media it is easy to just pop off something. And then you live with that forest fire that James warns us.

You can say what you want, but there are consequences. Not everyone will agree. Many will vehemently disagree. There is no rule that you will not suffer consequences from saying stupid or inflammatory things.

These thoughts sprang from thinking about Elon Musk, agreeing publicly with a white supremacist X post then seeing companies bail out of advertising with his company. He can say what he wants, but others need not agree.

“I’ve got a right to say what I want.” Yes, but that’s not always the responsible thing to do.

And again James teaches, “No one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”

Your tongue, or your social media post, can create a whirlwind of emotions. Taking a breath before hitting the enter key asking if this is the responsible thing to do works wonders.

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