Here is my fiscally sound economic strategy.
1) If I don't buy the latest U2 Album, I will save money.
2) However, since I know that if I go online to Itunes, I will probably buy the latest U2 Album, I will not go on Itunes and be tempted... thus I will save money.
3) If however, I hear the latest U2 Album on the radio, I will likely be tempted to visit Itunes and buy the latest U2 Album, therefore, I will stop listening to the radio and will not go on Itunes and not be tempted... and I will save money.
4) On the other hand, if I hear someone humming the latest U2 Album, I will wonder what they are humming, turn on my radio, hear the latest U2 Album, go to Itunes and buy the latest U2 Album, therefore, I will put my fingers in my ears so that I can't hear anyone humming the latest U2 album, and will not turn on the radio, go to Itunes, and buy the latest U2 album... and money will be saved.
5) I am not aware of it, but there is a slight chance that I might be able to read the lips of someone singing a U2 song, and not recognizing the words, unplug my fingers from my ears to hear the tune, leading me to the radio to hear the song, then going to Itunes and downloading the latest U2 album, therefore I will pluck out my eyes and... AAAAAIIIIIGGGGHHHHHH!!! That hurts! Okay... I will wear extremely dark sunglasses, put my fingers in my ears, not turn on the radio, not go onto Itunes, and not download the latest U2 album... thus saving myself a fortune and dooming the entire world economy.
Dang you, U2, for causing this economic crisis!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
The short and short of it... A Trip Summary!
I was sitting on a warm sandy bank of the Salmon River, wearing a heavy coat, but warm and content. A half empty bottle of cool beer sat next to me in a slightly carved out section of the bank. My fishing pole lay next to me, cold water still glistening on the line that I had just removed from the river. In front of me, the river flowed by downstream, right to left. I watched as my friend's (Russ) bobber drifted lazily by hoping to see that familiar tug that indicated a fat Steelhead had just bit on the hook. I smiled - content and happy and completely void of all thoughts of work, family, and the daily grind. Fat, happy flakes of snow floated by as yet another small flurry wafted gently around us, dropping white dandruff all over my heavy coat. I was completely unaffected by its cold or wetness and could only enjoy it for the beauty of its design. Across the river, about two hundred feet away, a herd of mountain Big Horn Sheep grazed on the free wild mountain grass of the lower slope of a mountain. They were visiting the lower elevations while their normal homes were being covered in fresh white powder. I watched the sheep butt heads over a few fine tufts of grass and thought of the wonder and miracle of Idaho.
On the way home on Friday, we passed a field of fallow land covered by a herd of Elk at least 300 strong. We had to stop our truck and wait as a small family unit of 20 or so Elk crossed the road in front of us.
My fishing pole remained empty for the entire seven days I was in Idaho, but I had the fishing trip of a lifetime. Planning your next trip? Might I suggest the Land of the Yankee Fork in central Idaho? Your cell phones won't work. Your radios won't work. The fishing might suck. But you will not find a better place to recharge your batteries.
On the way home on Friday, we passed a field of fallow land covered by a herd of Elk at least 300 strong. We had to stop our truck and wait as a small family unit of 20 or so Elk crossed the road in front of us.
My fishing pole remained empty for the entire seven days I was in Idaho, but I had the fishing trip of a lifetime. Planning your next trip? Might I suggest the Land of the Yankee Fork in central Idaho? Your cell phones won't work. Your radios won't work. The fishing might suck. But you will not find a better place to recharge your batteries.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Deep Thoughts Before A Fishin' Trip
I read this headline on AOL:
Proof that tiny reality star actually eats.
And here is a breakdown of my thoughts:
Wait... what is a reality star? Is that some sort of pulsar that exists in one plane of reality but not in others? And why is it so tiny? And what kind of matter is it eating? I mean, if its tiny, I can see why astronomers might not have...
Oh, wait... its just another darn People Magazine story. Never mind. Apparently I had left my astrophysicist filter on my brain this morning.
I need a vacation.
And on that note, I'm off to wintery Challis, Idaho for a week of sitting on the bank of the mighty Salmon river while getting snowed upon and watching the river allegedly filled with fish float by in front of my hard rock perch. Oh, and I'll be eating hot dogs and drinking beer while enjoying all this outdoorsy scenery and fresh air - to which I say, there's a reason I go back year after year for more! Have a great 11 days while I'm gone.
Will
Proof that tiny reality star actually eats.
And here is a breakdown of my thoughts:
Wait... what is a reality star? Is that some sort of pulsar that exists in one plane of reality but not in others? And why is it so tiny? And what kind of matter is it eating? I mean, if its tiny, I can see why astronomers might not have...
Oh, wait... its just another darn People Magazine story. Never mind. Apparently I had left my astrophysicist filter on my brain this morning.
I need a vacation.
And on that note, I'm off to wintery Challis, Idaho for a week of sitting on the bank of the mighty Salmon river while getting snowed upon and watching the river allegedly filled with fish float by in front of my hard rock perch. Oh, and I'll be eating hot dogs and drinking beer while enjoying all this outdoorsy scenery and fresh air - to which I say, there's a reason I go back year after year for more! Have a great 11 days while I'm gone.
Will
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
My Constant
A little more than a week ago, a colleague of mine was standing in front of a packed church in Kenya on a communion Sunday handing out food and necessary supplies to children and women who were wearing nothing but rags. He said that as he stood there watching the poorest of the poor lining up for basic needs, he couldn't help think that here was a group of people the Jesus had come for specifically. These 800 people were truly God's children.
This was in a middle class neighborhood church in Meru, Kenya on the side of Mount Kenya near the equator. The church, not unlike the one I attend myself, was in a neighborhood with homes and businesses and was established by allegedly fiscally sound parishioners. Yet, when a survey was conducted on request of the new in coming Pastor, it was discovered that nearly 200 families and over 500 children were literally hanging on by their fingertips, often going without food or money for days at a time. Needless to say, this came as quite a shock to this neighborhood church. In a country so used to extreme poverty, they had assumed themselves above such needs, and while willing to help their neighbors, it was with the understanding that God's blessings would be waiting for them when they went home at night. To discover such need on their own doorsteps was eye-opening. As a church, they repented of their blindness to the need within their own community and vowed then and there to make sure that none of the 200 families went without from that day forward.
The 800 people were at the church that Sunday to sign up as the second group of neighbors to need help. 800 in addition to the 200 families already in dire straits. In Africa, there is one surplus commodity and that is need.
When I heard this story, I think my heart broke a little. Not from the knowledge that so many people need help, but from the idea of a church repenting of its sin and seeing the truth in its very midst. I imagine this scene repeating all over the United States again and again and the American people coming back to God by discovering the suffering in their own communities. My heart yearns for just such a reawakening. But I am afraid that we here are still in the dark, still in denial about the suffering on our own doorstep. We are still looking for a bailout on a physical level, when we need a bailout on a spiritual one.
On the TV show, LOST, there is a time travel element called the Constant. On the show, the Constant is supposed to be the one person that you can focus on so that you don't slip away into madness during moments of temporal flux. We are in a state of flux right now that is in no way temporary. What is our constant? The President? Congress? Wall Street? What is keeping the American people from slipping into madness during this period?
When I left my last job, I knew only one thing that I wanted in my next job - a feeling of worth and value. At my previous job, I was told many times that I was expendable - that my skills were a dime a dozen and that I was easily replaced with others who required less money. This corporate mercenary tactic seemed prevalent in the entire capitalist system. Loyalty, job performance, nor skill seemed to matter so much as the bottom line. As long as the company needed to make more money (none of which ever trickled down to the employees actually doing the job) nobody was safe. If you played the game, and played it well, there were stock options and bonuses and all sorts of perks. If you didn't play it well, there was only hard work with little hope of reward. It seemed to me at the time like a fiscal popularity contest, like something a High School senior in the best clique might create. Those with the perks, kept the perks. Those without the perks were expendable and easily replaced by others without the perks.
Is it any wonder now that so many people are upset with AIG and their guaranteed bonuses? The people who signed these contracts were the people that were upholding the status quot. They were the people with the bonuses giving bonuses to other people with bonuses. The average schmoe at AIG probably doesn't get a thing. And what justification do they have for receiving their bonus? It was guaranteed. Not earned. Guaranteed. Why does the High School Quarterback get to be King of the Prom? Because it's guaranteed. That's the way we always do it. That's the way that it is done. And as long as the system remains constant, business can continue as usual.
That is their constant. That is their justice. Bonuses guaranteed and not earned. We are doing fine while others suffer because that's the way it works. That our secretary, Sally, might be losing her home to foreclosure because AIG had to lay her off doesn't bother us, so long as our bonus comes through on time and in the guaranteed amount. We can go home tonight content with the fine legal system that protects our guaranteed money.
Don't you just wish for one moment that you can shake these people and say, "Open your eyes! Look at the world around you! Look at the suffering in this world! Now, tell me how you can justify such excess?"
Don't you wish someone would shake you and say the same thing?
I don't make much money. I never have. I doubt that I ever will. I don't hate people with money, but I hate people who think that money is the end all and be all of life. I look at someone like Bill Gates who repented of his sin and started giving away the vast amounts of money he had to help people around the world. I look at Bono who spends almost as much time fighting for the poor of Africa as he does glamming around the world as a rock star. These people were given wealth by God and have discovered that they have a responsibility to use that gift to help others. We all have that responsibility - no matter how big the gift we've received. I try to help out as much as possible, but I know that I don't do nearly enough. I am in awe of those that do. But money, in and of itself, is a tool and not a measure of value. Value is what we get from our use of the tool, not the tool itself. In that case, I feel like I get value for my money. Lots of value. I may not make much money, but I earn all that I make, and I get even more value from it.
For my constant is the Lord,
the Creator of all things,
the arbiter of value,
the distributor of gifts,
and the scales of justice.
My bonus is the kingdom of heaven,
my prize the brotherhood of saints,
and God is my ultimate rest.
Until then, I will work for him.
This was in a middle class neighborhood church in Meru, Kenya on the side of Mount Kenya near the equator. The church, not unlike the one I attend myself, was in a neighborhood with homes and businesses and was established by allegedly fiscally sound parishioners. Yet, when a survey was conducted on request of the new in coming Pastor, it was discovered that nearly 200 families and over 500 children were literally hanging on by their fingertips, often going without food or money for days at a time. Needless to say, this came as quite a shock to this neighborhood church. In a country so used to extreme poverty, they had assumed themselves above such needs, and while willing to help their neighbors, it was with the understanding that God's blessings would be waiting for them when they went home at night. To discover such need on their own doorsteps was eye-opening. As a church, they repented of their blindness to the need within their own community and vowed then and there to make sure that none of the 200 families went without from that day forward.
The 800 people were at the church that Sunday to sign up as the second group of neighbors to need help. 800 in addition to the 200 families already in dire straits. In Africa, there is one surplus commodity and that is need.
When I heard this story, I think my heart broke a little. Not from the knowledge that so many people need help, but from the idea of a church repenting of its sin and seeing the truth in its very midst. I imagine this scene repeating all over the United States again and again and the American people coming back to God by discovering the suffering in their own communities. My heart yearns for just such a reawakening. But I am afraid that we here are still in the dark, still in denial about the suffering on our own doorstep. We are still looking for a bailout on a physical level, when we need a bailout on a spiritual one.
On the TV show, LOST, there is a time travel element called the Constant. On the show, the Constant is supposed to be the one person that you can focus on so that you don't slip away into madness during moments of temporal flux. We are in a state of flux right now that is in no way temporary. What is our constant? The President? Congress? Wall Street? What is keeping the American people from slipping into madness during this period?
When I left my last job, I knew only one thing that I wanted in my next job - a feeling of worth and value. At my previous job, I was told many times that I was expendable - that my skills were a dime a dozen and that I was easily replaced with others who required less money. This corporate mercenary tactic seemed prevalent in the entire capitalist system. Loyalty, job performance, nor skill seemed to matter so much as the bottom line. As long as the company needed to make more money (none of which ever trickled down to the employees actually doing the job) nobody was safe. If you played the game, and played it well, there were stock options and bonuses and all sorts of perks. If you didn't play it well, there was only hard work with little hope of reward. It seemed to me at the time like a fiscal popularity contest, like something a High School senior in the best clique might create. Those with the perks, kept the perks. Those without the perks were expendable and easily replaced by others without the perks.
Is it any wonder now that so many people are upset with AIG and their guaranteed bonuses? The people who signed these contracts were the people that were upholding the status quot. They were the people with the bonuses giving bonuses to other people with bonuses. The average schmoe at AIG probably doesn't get a thing. And what justification do they have for receiving their bonus? It was guaranteed. Not earned. Guaranteed. Why does the High School Quarterback get to be King of the Prom? Because it's guaranteed. That's the way we always do it. That's the way that it is done. And as long as the system remains constant, business can continue as usual.
That is their constant. That is their justice. Bonuses guaranteed and not earned. We are doing fine while others suffer because that's the way it works. That our secretary, Sally, might be losing her home to foreclosure because AIG had to lay her off doesn't bother us, so long as our bonus comes through on time and in the guaranteed amount. We can go home tonight content with the fine legal system that protects our guaranteed money.
Don't you just wish for one moment that you can shake these people and say, "Open your eyes! Look at the world around you! Look at the suffering in this world! Now, tell me how you can justify such excess?"
Don't you wish someone would shake you and say the same thing?
I don't make much money. I never have. I doubt that I ever will. I don't hate people with money, but I hate people who think that money is the end all and be all of life. I look at someone like Bill Gates who repented of his sin and started giving away the vast amounts of money he had to help people around the world. I look at Bono who spends almost as much time fighting for the poor of Africa as he does glamming around the world as a rock star. These people were given wealth by God and have discovered that they have a responsibility to use that gift to help others. We all have that responsibility - no matter how big the gift we've received. I try to help out as much as possible, but I know that I don't do nearly enough. I am in awe of those that do. But money, in and of itself, is a tool and not a measure of value. Value is what we get from our use of the tool, not the tool itself. In that case, I feel like I get value for my money. Lots of value. I may not make much money, but I earn all that I make, and I get even more value from it.
For my constant is the Lord,
the Creator of all things,
the arbiter of value,
the distributor of gifts,
and the scales of justice.
My bonus is the kingdom of heaven,
my prize the brotherhood of saints,
and God is my ultimate rest.
Until then, I will work for him.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Happy John Day!
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
John 3:16
Thursday, March 12, 2009
The Spell is Broken by Danny Ho!
As I listened to the sweet refrains of Nothing Compares 2 U as performed in Hawaiian by Danny Ho, son of Don Ho, at the end of the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall I suddenly realized what an idiot I've been - living a demitasse life while accomplishing some pretty remarkable feats. It occurred to me that if I poured one ounce of the courage I showed in going out and making my first film into the rest of my life, there was literally nothing I couldn't accomplish - which is probably rubbish, but anything sounds good when Danny Ho is singing.
In the meantime, however, my life is starting to become consumed with the obsession that is DANE - our next film. We have been working these last five weeks or so on a workable synopsis while at the same time hashing out such important details as to which character gets which gun and just how corrupt is our corrupt cop. Its things like this that make you long for the days when you can do something simple, like set up three lights, gel them, get the correct color temperature and f-stop and exposure time and make sure the shadows don't fall anywhere you don't want them and don't forget the negative fill and... ahhh filmic bliss! Writing is hard. Filming is easy. Danny Ho is still singing and that last statement still sounds good.
Up next, besides a week spent snowbound river side with a beer, a pole, and a charbroiled hot dog, is the crewing of DANE as we film our first Character Study and play around with things like Par Cans and HMI's and other assorted things. Costume dramas and prop fatigue and set dressing and script revisions and late actors and late crew and hair pulling and permission wrangling... ahhh heavenly producing! Keep it coming Danny Ho! Nothing Compares 2 U!
The Great Recession is upon us all and we stab at its belly but we can taste its smelly underside as it flattens us. Its going to be a while before we work our way out from under its girth. What a great time to start a film company! What a liberating time for spending frivolously on a film! What an incredible opportunity to throw your money away on something other than Ponzi schemes, Disney Fan Clubs, and the enabling of Pro-Athletes steroid habit! We've raised 0 Dollars so far and only have $10,000 to go! Be the first on your block to join DANE 09 - the exclusive DANE fan club for people with money! Put on some Danny Ho and sign those stimulus checks over to me!
Ah... to be young and in love again... I guess I'll just have to settle for being young!
In the meantime, however, my life is starting to become consumed with the obsession that is DANE - our next film. We have been working these last five weeks or so on a workable synopsis while at the same time hashing out such important details as to which character gets which gun and just how corrupt is our corrupt cop. Its things like this that make you long for the days when you can do something simple, like set up three lights, gel them, get the correct color temperature and f-stop and exposure time and make sure the shadows don't fall anywhere you don't want them and don't forget the negative fill and... ahhh filmic bliss! Writing is hard. Filming is easy. Danny Ho is still singing and that last statement still sounds good.
Up next, besides a week spent snowbound river side with a beer, a pole, and a charbroiled hot dog, is the crewing of DANE as we film our first Character Study and play around with things like Par Cans and HMI's and other assorted things. Costume dramas and prop fatigue and set dressing and script revisions and late actors and late crew and hair pulling and permission wrangling... ahhh heavenly producing! Keep it coming Danny Ho! Nothing Compares 2 U!
The Great Recession is upon us all and we stab at its belly but we can taste its smelly underside as it flattens us. Its going to be a while before we work our way out from under its girth. What a great time to start a film company! What a liberating time for spending frivolously on a film! What an incredible opportunity to throw your money away on something other than Ponzi schemes, Disney Fan Clubs, and the enabling of Pro-Athletes steroid habit! We've raised 0 Dollars so far and only have $10,000 to go! Be the first on your block to join DANE 09 - the exclusive DANE fan club for people with money! Put on some Danny Ho and sign those stimulus checks over to me!
Ah... to be young and in love again... I guess I'll just have to settle for being young!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
U2 and The Echo Within
My first exposure to the rock band, U2, was in the late 1980's as the band was sweeping the world with the success of its Joshua Tree album. There was this girl (isn't there always ;) who loved the band and since she was smoking hot, I decided that I should take a listen. At first, admittedly, they were not my cup of tea. Their rock ballads were, well, kind of granola to me. I pictured a whole bunch of peace advocates and no nukes people sitting around dreaming counter culture dreams and listening to U2 while complaining about the English in Ireland. Then Andy (of A Mile From The Beach fame) and our good friend Greg used one of the songs as accompaniment to a slide show for our Youth Group. The song was In God's Country, and I was officially blown away.
My secondary reaction to U2 has fed my fascination with this band ever since. Here is one of the most kick-butt rock groups in the history of rock and roll singing about faith. As I listened again to the Joshua Tree, I was surprised time and time again of the inclusion of the Christian message. I didn't understand a lot of what was being said, but I understood that it was cool that someone could sing about God and not become some preachy Christian rock band.
Through the years, my appreciation has only grown and not because U2 has become more Christian over the years, or less, or because of all the wonderful things they have done for Africa or Amnesty International, etc... My appreciation has grown because the band continues to create songs that are meaningful to them. They sing about love and about war and about politics and about lemons and all sorts of other things, but those messages are all infused with their understanding of the world. And their understanding of the world is infused with a deep love for Jesus Christ. They can sing a song that speaks of the deepest yearnings of a man for a woman with lyrics like, "Please, please, get up off your knees," and you can hear that yearning in the voice and imagine the sort of passionate embrace that these two lovers will embrace - or, you can also imagine an apostle standing on the side of a road in Jerusalem watching his Lord stumble while carrying a cross to Golgotha. U2 is a band that lives its faith and as a result of that faith, everything they do is colored by it. This is the kind of life that, as an artist, I want to live.
A short while ago I read the book The Echo Within by Robert Benson. This book was a quick and fascinating read about what it means to be called by God. I was startled right away with the author's assertion that being called by God doesn't necessarily mean that you are being called to deeper ministry at a seminary or a Bible college. Sometimes it just means that God wants you to use the gifts that you have to further His kingdom. I admit that I didn't connect these thoughts with U2 right away, but when I did, I realized that this was exactly what this rock band was doing. It means that for the rock band, U2, rock and roll is their calling. When put in that light, suddenly the idea of God's calling becomes much more eagerly anticipated. What is God calling me to do?
The Echo Within explores this idea with Robert Benson's life as our guide. He talks about the various steps along his journey and how each one ultimately led to the point where God called him to a life of ministry as a writer. He explains how not all of the steps along the journey made any sense or were clearly defined as signposts on the way, but that when he realized that he was being called, suddenly the entire journey became illuminated. He notes that there are many people along the path who contributed to his education and to his enlightenment, and that they aren't always what we would consider teachers. And he illustrated the many different false steps he'd taken down the path until he realized what he'd probably known all along - that he was a writer and that God wanted him to write.
What a fascinating concept - the idea that implanted in each of us is that one BEST thing that we were meant to do, and that part of our calling is to realize that this Thing and God's Calling for us are exactly the same. That we can be a great musician and a great Christian at the same time; that one doesn't have to bow down to the other. We are all unique individuals with lots of gifts, but there is one that makes us happiest and that is closest to our true nature. This is God's calling to us. Use this gift to glorify Him and to spread His word. God will do the rest.
And so, in the end, I see that God wants me to be a writer and He wants me to use that gift to further his kingdom. Now, the only question I have, is how does one do that? I imagine that as with all other things prayerful consideration is required to answer that question.
Book: The Echo Within
Author: Robert Benson
Summary:
The Echo Within is a profoundly affecting, honest look at the myriad ways we are drawn into our life’s best work.
Written out of his own lifelong search for and response to the calling voice of God, Robert Benson recounts his discovery of the meaning of vocation, work, and purpose through the ups and downs inherent in family life, professional choice, and spiritual experience. With clarity and insight, and in the elegant prose for which he is known, he gently invites and encourages readers to find such deep truths for their lives as well. In particular, he illuminates the way for readers to explore:
· ways to sense the Holy in our pursuits, both in the pursuits themselves and within ourselves.
· how to fall into our vocation and chart a course toward it at the same time.
· how to love the work we do, and the process of doing it.
For anyone beginning a new career or sensing a needed change in their life or wrestling with a transition suddenly thrust upon them, Robert Benson delivers wisdom, humor, and heart in what he’s learned about listening for The Echo Within—and how it can help us discover our calling.
Author Bio:
Robert Benson has written more than a dozen books about the discovery of the sacred in the midst of our ordinary lives, including Between the Dreaming and the Coming True, Home By Another Way, and Digging In. His work has been critically acclaimed in a wide range of publications from The New York Times and USA Today to Spirituality & Health and The Benedictine Review. He is an alumnus of The Upper Room’s Academy for Spiritual Formation and was recently named a Living Spiritual Teacher by SpiritualityandPractice.com. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
To purchase this book, please visit Amazon.com
My secondary reaction to U2 has fed my fascination with this band ever since. Here is one of the most kick-butt rock groups in the history of rock and roll singing about faith. As I listened again to the Joshua Tree, I was surprised time and time again of the inclusion of the Christian message. I didn't understand a lot of what was being said, but I understood that it was cool that someone could sing about God and not become some preachy Christian rock band.
Through the years, my appreciation has only grown and not because U2 has become more Christian over the years, or less, or because of all the wonderful things they have done for Africa or Amnesty International, etc... My appreciation has grown because the band continues to create songs that are meaningful to them. They sing about love and about war and about politics and about lemons and all sorts of other things, but those messages are all infused with their understanding of the world. And their understanding of the world is infused with a deep love for Jesus Christ. They can sing a song that speaks of the deepest yearnings of a man for a woman with lyrics like, "Please, please, get up off your knees," and you can hear that yearning in the voice and imagine the sort of passionate embrace that these two lovers will embrace - or, you can also imagine an apostle standing on the side of a road in Jerusalem watching his Lord stumble while carrying a cross to Golgotha. U2 is a band that lives its faith and as a result of that faith, everything they do is colored by it. This is the kind of life that, as an artist, I want to live.
A short while ago I read the book The Echo Within by Robert Benson. This book was a quick and fascinating read about what it means to be called by God. I was startled right away with the author's assertion that being called by God doesn't necessarily mean that you are being called to deeper ministry at a seminary or a Bible college. Sometimes it just means that God wants you to use the gifts that you have to further His kingdom. I admit that I didn't connect these thoughts with U2 right away, but when I did, I realized that this was exactly what this rock band was doing. It means that for the rock band, U2, rock and roll is their calling. When put in that light, suddenly the idea of God's calling becomes much more eagerly anticipated. What is God calling me to do?
The Echo Within explores this idea with Robert Benson's life as our guide. He talks about the various steps along his journey and how each one ultimately led to the point where God called him to a life of ministry as a writer. He explains how not all of the steps along the journey made any sense or were clearly defined as signposts on the way, but that when he realized that he was being called, suddenly the entire journey became illuminated. He notes that there are many people along the path who contributed to his education and to his enlightenment, and that they aren't always what we would consider teachers. And he illustrated the many different false steps he'd taken down the path until he realized what he'd probably known all along - that he was a writer and that God wanted him to write.
What a fascinating concept - the idea that implanted in each of us is that one BEST thing that we were meant to do, and that part of our calling is to realize that this Thing and God's Calling for us are exactly the same. That we can be a great musician and a great Christian at the same time; that one doesn't have to bow down to the other. We are all unique individuals with lots of gifts, but there is one that makes us happiest and that is closest to our true nature. This is God's calling to us. Use this gift to glorify Him and to spread His word. God will do the rest.
And so, in the end, I see that God wants me to be a writer and He wants me to use that gift to further his kingdom. Now, the only question I have, is how does one do that? I imagine that as with all other things prayerful consideration is required to answer that question.
Book: The Echo Within
Author: Robert Benson
Summary:
The Echo Within is a profoundly affecting, honest look at the myriad ways we are drawn into our life’s best work.
Written out of his own lifelong search for and response to the calling voice of God, Robert Benson recounts his discovery of the meaning of vocation, work, and purpose through the ups and downs inherent in family life, professional choice, and spiritual experience. With clarity and insight, and in the elegant prose for which he is known, he gently invites and encourages readers to find such deep truths for their lives as well. In particular, he illuminates the way for readers to explore:
· ways to sense the Holy in our pursuits, both in the pursuits themselves and within ourselves.
· how to fall into our vocation and chart a course toward it at the same time.
· how to love the work we do, and the process of doing it.
For anyone beginning a new career or sensing a needed change in their life or wrestling with a transition suddenly thrust upon them, Robert Benson delivers wisdom, humor, and heart in what he’s learned about listening for The Echo Within—and how it can help us discover our calling.
Author Bio:
Robert Benson has written more than a dozen books about the discovery of the sacred in the midst of our ordinary lives, including Between the Dreaming and the Coming True, Home By Another Way, and Digging In. His work has been critically acclaimed in a wide range of publications from The New York Times and USA Today to Spirituality & Health and The Benedictine Review. He is an alumnus of The Upper Room’s Academy for Spiritual Formation and was recently named a Living Spiritual Teacher by SpiritualityandPractice.com. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
To purchase this book, please visit Amazon.com
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Stranger is fiction?
As an intellectual conceit, the idea of a dinner with Jesus Christ of Nazareth would be fascinating. Think of all the questions you would ask him. Think of all the great stories he would tell. Your evening might begin with a quick nosh on some appetizers as Jesus discussed his childhood growing up in Nazareth, and then somewhere over salad, he might begin to talk about his ministry. I would imagine that there might be a few surprises - some things we have never heard and some things that we don't want to hear. As with all meals that we've had over the years with old friends or distant heroes, the evening would be full of unexpected twists and turns that would nevertheless be entirely satisfying.
So it was with great anticipation that I started reading Dinner with a Perfect Stranger by David Gregory (see details below). Its the story of Nick Cominsky, a young married man with a daughter, who is struggling with his marriage and his job. One day he gets an invitation to have dinner with Jesus Christ. Now, at this point, you could take the story in two directions - the one I suggested above or a more straight-forward, YEAH RIGHT approach. The author chose the latter approach and I found that it was oddly compelling because even though its represented exactly as the story appears, there was a part of me that kept wondering whether the author might weasel out at the end and have Jesus turn out to be an actor or something. Anyway, Nick is certain that this is a practical joke set up by his friends in the office, but he is curious enough to check it out and goes to the dinner. What follows is a conversation that stays with Nick and with us readers for a long time to come.
What would it really be like to have a conversation with Jesus? I love David Gregory's approach to have the conversation be very, very personal. His concept of Jesus is not the one that many of us would conjure up as a fascinating dinner guest - a virtual authority on anything and everything. By instead having Jesus be Nick's personal Lord and Savior - the type of Diety that might take an evening off from His busy schedule to spend an evening having dinner with us on a one to one basis - David Gregory makes Jesus even more real and powerful. This is not the sort of diety who needs to tell us about all the great things he's done, but is the sort that wants us to join him on our own personal journey into a more loving relationship with God. Jesus doesn't shy away from tough talk. He's not Nick's buddy. But His concern and love for Nick shines through - like the ultimate best friend and brother all rolled into one. This intimate conversation shared over the course of a meal at a local restaurant was profoundly moving by implication. It makes the reader want to have the same sort of conversation with Jesus, and at the same time, makes us realize that there is nothing preventing that but our own stubborness.
As soon as I was finished, I picked up the second book in the series, A Day with a Perfect Stranger (also by David Gregory) which picks up with Nick's wife, Mattie, a few weeks later as she contemplates ending her marriage to Nick because he's now become a Jesus Freak. I knew this was going to be a much harder sell because of two very important things - that Mattie was dead set against the idea of religion and that she was a woman. That's not to say that women are any less capable of having a relationship with God, but that they think differently about things and that the approach David Gregory took with Nick was not going to work with the character of Mattie. And I was right, it was a much harder sell... but it totally worked. In this book, the genius of a personal Jesus became much more apparent.
In this second book, Mattie is flying on a business trip while contemplating ending her relationship with Nick, when a stranger sits next to her on the flight and strikes up a conversation. As we begin to suspect that this stranger is, in fact, Jesus the conversation remains relatively neutral - probing, but neutral - not at all like the more or less direct conversation with Nick. The concept for this story might also be a lot more far fetched. We've all had the conceit of imagining dinner with Jesus, but who's ever thought that Jesus might sit next to you on an airplane? Though, to be fair, if you knew Jesus was on a flight with you, you would either breathe a huge sigh of relief knowing that it wasn't about to crash, or, conversely, imagine the worst and that Jesus was there to call you home. ;)
The conclusion to the second book was also more satisfying as we discover some of the very personal reasons for Mattie's rejection of religion and how a personal relationship with God is able to start the healing process of these feelings. It reminded me very much of the woman at the well and of Jesus saying that He will give us the water of life. Mattie's character begins as a normal woman who we only realize at the end was truly disfunctional and broken when Jesus begins to heal her. How many other people out there do we know that are completely normal? How many of them require Jesus's healing touch?
In the end, though both books were on the same subject, they were completely dissimilar in their methods. Each one brought a character into a relationship with God, but by utterly different means. And it left me with the impression that there is no one way to be a Christian because each relationship with Christ is going to be completely different depending on the individual - just as it would be with any other relationship. There can be no "fans" of Jesus - only brothers and sisters, only personal relationships are allowed. Jesus is more than just a guy we meet on a plane or a fascinating guy we invite to a cocktail party. He is the God who visits our home where our children want to play with him and our dog wants to cuddle with him and He asks us to sit down while He serves the hors d'ouvres because we've been standing on our feet all day. He is family, and yet, He is Father and Mother as well; comforting, stern, joyous, and helpful when we need it. David Gregory has written two books that made me feel I'd spent time with Jesus - and that's a pretty high compliment.
Books: Dinner with a Perfect Stranger and Day with a Perfect Stranger
Author: David Gregory
Summary: Dinner with a Perfect Stranger:
You are Invited to a Dinner with Jesus of Nazareth
The mysterious envelope arrives on Nick Cominsky’s desk amid a stack of credit card applications and business-related junk mail. Although his seventy-hour workweek has already eaten into his limited family time, Nick can’t pass up the opportunity to see what kind of plot his colleagues have hatched.
The normally confident, cynical Nick soon finds himself thrown off-balance, drawn into an intriguing conversation with a baffling man who appears to be more than comfortable discussing everything from world religions to the existence of heaven and hell. And this man who calls himself Jesus also seems to know a disturbing amount about Nick’s personal life.
…………..
"You’re bored, Nick. You were made for more than this. You’re worried about God stealing your fun, but you’ve got it backwards.… There’s no adventure like being joined to the Creator of the universe." He leaned back off the table. "And your first mission would be to let him guide you out of the mess you’re in at work."
………….
As the evening progresses, their conversation touches on life, God, meaning, pain, faith, and doubt–and it seems that having Dinner with a Perfect Stranger may change Nick’s life forever.
Summary Day with a Perfect Stranger:
What if a fascinating stranger knew you better than you know yourself?
When her husband comes home with a farfetched story about eating dinner with someone he believes to be Jesus, Mattie Cominsky thinks this may signal the end of her shaky marriage. Convinced that Nick is, at best, turning into a religious nut, the self-described agnostic hopes that a quick business trip will give her time to think things through.
On board the plane, Mattie strikes up a conversation with a fellow passenger. When she discovers their shared scorn for religion, she confides her frustration over her husband’s recent conversion. The stranger suggests that perhaps her husband isn’t seeking religion but true spiritual connection, an idea that prompts her to reflect on her own search for fulfillment.
As their conversation turns to issues of spiritual longing and deeper questions about the nature of God, Mattie finds herself increasingly drawn to this insightful stranger. But when the discussion unexpectedly turns personal, touching on things she’s never told anyone, Mattie is startled and disturbed. Who is this man who seems to peer straight into her soul?
Author Bio:
David Gregory is the author of the best-selling books Dinner with a Perfect Stranger and A Day with a Perfect Stranger, and coauthor of two nonfiction books. After a ten-year business career, he returned to school to study religion and communications, earning graduate degrees from The University of North Texas and Dallas Theological Seminary. A native Texan, David now devotes himself to writing full time.
Check out the books here:
Dinner with a Perfect Stranger
and
Day with a Perfect Stranger
So it was with great anticipation that I started reading Dinner with a Perfect Stranger by David Gregory (see details below). Its the story of Nick Cominsky, a young married man with a daughter, who is struggling with his marriage and his job. One day he gets an invitation to have dinner with Jesus Christ. Now, at this point, you could take the story in two directions - the one I suggested above or a more straight-forward, YEAH RIGHT approach. The author chose the latter approach and I found that it was oddly compelling because even though its represented exactly as the story appears, there was a part of me that kept wondering whether the author might weasel out at the end and have Jesus turn out to be an actor or something. Anyway, Nick is certain that this is a practical joke set up by his friends in the office, but he is curious enough to check it out and goes to the dinner. What follows is a conversation that stays with Nick and with us readers for a long time to come.
What would it really be like to have a conversation with Jesus? I love David Gregory's approach to have the conversation be very, very personal. His concept of Jesus is not the one that many of us would conjure up as a fascinating dinner guest - a virtual authority on anything and everything. By instead having Jesus be Nick's personal Lord and Savior - the type of Diety that might take an evening off from His busy schedule to spend an evening having dinner with us on a one to one basis - David Gregory makes Jesus even more real and powerful. This is not the sort of diety who needs to tell us about all the great things he's done, but is the sort that wants us to join him on our own personal journey into a more loving relationship with God. Jesus doesn't shy away from tough talk. He's not Nick's buddy. But His concern and love for Nick shines through - like the ultimate best friend and brother all rolled into one. This intimate conversation shared over the course of a meal at a local restaurant was profoundly moving by implication. It makes the reader want to have the same sort of conversation with Jesus, and at the same time, makes us realize that there is nothing preventing that but our own stubborness.
As soon as I was finished, I picked up the second book in the series, A Day with a Perfect Stranger (also by David Gregory) which picks up with Nick's wife, Mattie, a few weeks later as she contemplates ending her marriage to Nick because he's now become a Jesus Freak. I knew this was going to be a much harder sell because of two very important things - that Mattie was dead set against the idea of religion and that she was a woman. That's not to say that women are any less capable of having a relationship with God, but that they think differently about things and that the approach David Gregory took with Nick was not going to work with the character of Mattie. And I was right, it was a much harder sell... but it totally worked. In this book, the genius of a personal Jesus became much more apparent.
In this second book, Mattie is flying on a business trip while contemplating ending her relationship with Nick, when a stranger sits next to her on the flight and strikes up a conversation. As we begin to suspect that this stranger is, in fact, Jesus the conversation remains relatively neutral - probing, but neutral - not at all like the more or less direct conversation with Nick. The concept for this story might also be a lot more far fetched. We've all had the conceit of imagining dinner with Jesus, but who's ever thought that Jesus might sit next to you on an airplane? Though, to be fair, if you knew Jesus was on a flight with you, you would either breathe a huge sigh of relief knowing that it wasn't about to crash, or, conversely, imagine the worst and that Jesus was there to call you home. ;)
The conclusion to the second book was also more satisfying as we discover some of the very personal reasons for Mattie's rejection of religion and how a personal relationship with God is able to start the healing process of these feelings. It reminded me very much of the woman at the well and of Jesus saying that He will give us the water of life. Mattie's character begins as a normal woman who we only realize at the end was truly disfunctional and broken when Jesus begins to heal her. How many other people out there do we know that are completely normal? How many of them require Jesus's healing touch?
In the end, though both books were on the same subject, they were completely dissimilar in their methods. Each one brought a character into a relationship with God, but by utterly different means. And it left me with the impression that there is no one way to be a Christian because each relationship with Christ is going to be completely different depending on the individual - just as it would be with any other relationship. There can be no "fans" of Jesus - only brothers and sisters, only personal relationships are allowed. Jesus is more than just a guy we meet on a plane or a fascinating guy we invite to a cocktail party. He is the God who visits our home where our children want to play with him and our dog wants to cuddle with him and He asks us to sit down while He serves the hors d'ouvres because we've been standing on our feet all day. He is family, and yet, He is Father and Mother as well; comforting, stern, joyous, and helpful when we need it. David Gregory has written two books that made me feel I'd spent time with Jesus - and that's a pretty high compliment.
Books: Dinner with a Perfect Stranger and Day with a Perfect Stranger
Author: David Gregory
Summary: Dinner with a Perfect Stranger:
You are Invited to a Dinner with Jesus of Nazareth
The mysterious envelope arrives on Nick Cominsky’s desk amid a stack of credit card applications and business-related junk mail. Although his seventy-hour workweek has already eaten into his limited family time, Nick can’t pass up the opportunity to see what kind of plot his colleagues have hatched.
The normally confident, cynical Nick soon finds himself thrown off-balance, drawn into an intriguing conversation with a baffling man who appears to be more than comfortable discussing everything from world religions to the existence of heaven and hell. And this man who calls himself Jesus also seems to know a disturbing amount about Nick’s personal life.
…………..
"You’re bored, Nick. You were made for more than this. You’re worried about God stealing your fun, but you’ve got it backwards.… There’s no adventure like being joined to the Creator of the universe." He leaned back off the table. "And your first mission would be to let him guide you out of the mess you’re in at work."
………….
As the evening progresses, their conversation touches on life, God, meaning, pain, faith, and doubt–and it seems that having Dinner with a Perfect Stranger may change Nick’s life forever.
Summary Day with a Perfect Stranger:
What if a fascinating stranger knew you better than you know yourself?
When her husband comes home with a farfetched story about eating dinner with someone he believes to be Jesus, Mattie Cominsky thinks this may signal the end of her shaky marriage. Convinced that Nick is, at best, turning into a religious nut, the self-described agnostic hopes that a quick business trip will give her time to think things through.
On board the plane, Mattie strikes up a conversation with a fellow passenger. When she discovers their shared scorn for religion, she confides her frustration over her husband’s recent conversion. The stranger suggests that perhaps her husband isn’t seeking religion but true spiritual connection, an idea that prompts her to reflect on her own search for fulfillment.
As their conversation turns to issues of spiritual longing and deeper questions about the nature of God, Mattie finds herself increasingly drawn to this insightful stranger. But when the discussion unexpectedly turns personal, touching on things she’s never told anyone, Mattie is startled and disturbed. Who is this man who seems to peer straight into her soul?
Author Bio:
David Gregory is the author of the best-selling books Dinner with a Perfect Stranger and A Day with a Perfect Stranger, and coauthor of two nonfiction books. After a ten-year business career, he returned to school to study religion and communications, earning graduate degrees from The University of North Texas and Dallas Theological Seminary. A native Texan, David now devotes himself to writing full time.
Check out the books here:
Dinner with a Perfect Stranger
and
Day with a Perfect Stranger
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