[The following is from Henri Nouwen's Bread for the Journey]
"The largest part of Jesus' life was hidden. Jesus lived with his parents in Nazareth, "under their authority" (Luke 2:51), and there "increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and with people" (Luke 2:52). When we think about Jesus we mostly think about his words and miracles, his passion, death, and resurrection, but we should never forget that before all of that Jesus lived a simple, hidden life in a small town, far away from all the great people, great cities, and great events. Jesus' hidden life is very important for our own spiritual journeys. If we want to follow Jesus by words and deeds in the service of his Kingdom, we must first of all strive to follow Jesus in his simple, unspectacular, and very ordinary hidden life. "
What hits me the hardest from this excerpt is my overwhelming desire to be spectacular and how much my desires are not to be like Jesus but to have his 2011 status.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
A Simple Life in a Complex World
There are times when life can seem very complicated. Just watch a political talk show for a half hour and it seems that there are never simple solutions to an issue. Or one person seems to have all the answers and if only they were in charge then things would simply fall into place.
Or take an issue of injustice, such as poverty. It might be fine if we were able to just given a million micro-loans and stimulate some people but there are always layers: environmental scandals causing widespread disease contributing to lose of hope and apathy...the list goes on.
Before my mind can even venture into these things, I easily get overwhelmed with living my own (despite it being relatively privileged) life.
Recently I read something that really put this into perspective for me. Henry Nouwen writes,
"What is important is how well we love."
Hmmmm...
Or take an issue of injustice, such as poverty. It might be fine if we were able to just given a million micro-loans and stimulate some people but there are always layers: environmental scandals causing widespread disease contributing to lose of hope and apathy...the list goes on.
Before my mind can even venture into these things, I easily get overwhelmed with living my own (despite it being relatively privileged) life.
Recently I read something that really put this into perspective for me. Henry Nouwen writes,
"What is important is how well we love."
Hmmmm...
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Refresh
Yeah...so much for everyday.
Starting anew. So I think my new goal is to write everyday, not necessarily post everyday. I have got to learn to pace myself! One day at a time.
I did abandon this for a while. I thought that I was being too ambitious and that I needed to find another way to get/be motivated. Yet the longer I go without an outlet for my thoughts, the more I find the desire for and need of it. I've come to the conclusion that journaling just won't cut it anymore. The time it takes for my brain-to-pen response is far too slow, making it far too laborious.
This seems to be the next best option. Typing is fast and doing so in a random word document seems just too...silent. Or isolated. My hope, again, is that as I process life that somehow clarity may be brought...and that whatever joy I get from writing would be refined in this space for God's purposes.
A toast to day one. :)
Starting anew. So I think my new goal is to write everyday, not necessarily post everyday. I have got to learn to pace myself! One day at a time.
I did abandon this for a while. I thought that I was being too ambitious and that I needed to find another way to get/be motivated. Yet the longer I go without an outlet for my thoughts, the more I find the desire for and need of it. I've come to the conclusion that journaling just won't cut it anymore. The time it takes for my brain-to-pen response is far too slow, making it far too laborious.
This seems to be the next best option. Typing is fast and doing so in a random word document seems just too...silent. Or isolated. My hope, again, is that as I process life that somehow clarity may be brought...and that whatever joy I get from writing would be refined in this space for God's purposes.
A toast to day one. :)
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Making it look easy
Speaking of So You Think You Can Dance, they certainly do make dancing look easy. Even the b-boys who do the flips and flares, they do it like someone flipping pancakes on Sunday morning.
Being at the beach the last few days has been fun. I love the fact that every restaurant you go into they have TV's with a surf film playing. You could almost bet on your life on it. After spend a little time watching these guys it is easy for me to start thinking, "That doesn't look so hard."
Amy and I spent a few hours riding bikes along the beach this morning and there weren't that many surfers out there making surfing look easy. Maybe a third would fall off their board before getting very far on the wave and another third would have to stop because of potential collision or not timing the wave right.
I have heard a few times that in order to become an expert in something, any activity, you need to do whatever that activity is for 10,000 hours. That is a very long time! If you were to do one activity for 1 hour everyday (without stopping) it would take you 27 and 1/3 years to become an expert. 27 years is a long time!
It is about at this moment in my thought process that I start to get overwhelmed at the thought of putting 10,000 hours into anything. What if I pick the wrong thing to put my time into? What a horribly fretful question, but its what I have been living in. I don't recommend putting too much effort into fretting, after all...I don't want to be an expert at that and I doubt you do either.
Being at the beach the last few days has been fun. I love the fact that every restaurant you go into they have TV's with a surf film playing. You could almost bet on your life on it. After spend a little time watching these guys it is easy for me to start thinking, "That doesn't look so hard."
Amy and I spent a few hours riding bikes along the beach this morning and there weren't that many surfers out there making surfing look easy. Maybe a third would fall off their board before getting very far on the wave and another third would have to stop because of potential collision or not timing the wave right.
I have heard a few times that in order to become an expert in something, any activity, you need to do whatever that activity is for 10,000 hours. That is a very long time! If you were to do one activity for 1 hour everyday (without stopping) it would take you 27 and 1/3 years to become an expert. 27 years is a long time!
It is about at this moment in my thought process that I start to get overwhelmed at the thought of putting 10,000 hours into anything. What if I pick the wrong thing to put my time into? What a horribly fretful question, but its what I have been living in. I don't recommend putting too much effort into fretting, after all...I don't want to be an expert at that and I doubt you do either.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
a day away
Trying to do this while without a computer isn't easy!
One thing that I have been really inspired by recently is So You Think You Can Dance. The folks who put themselves on that show have given their lives to dancing and excelling at it.
If others could only put themselves into their gifting as much as these dancers do, I think that the world would be much less broken as it is now...if I could put as much effort into my gifting as they do, then I think I would be a much more effective person.
Effort. Effective. What a fortuitous concept. As much as there is truth to these words they can also become an enemy. So often in my
spiritual life and relationship with Christ I want and expect growth and progress. But is this what relationship is based on? Is this what relationship needs; a constant goal setting, performance based reality.
No. 'Goals' and 'performance' and 'effectiveness' are words used in a world that require results. These are not relational words. And so there is a place for them as we go about work that we are designed for but when we come to relationships we must change our posture. Now we must love in the face of imperfection and have patience in the presence of inefficiency. We must seek to integrate this relational model at as many opportunities as possible into the world in which we work and strive and achieve. Without this we have lost purpose altogether.
One thing that I have been really inspired by recently is So You Think You Can Dance. The folks who put themselves on that show have given their lives to dancing and excelling at it.
If others could only put themselves into their gifting as much as these dancers do, I think that the world would be much less broken as it is now...if I could put as much effort into my gifting as they do, then I think I would be a much more effective person.
Effort. Effective. What a fortuitous concept. As much as there is truth to these words they can also become an enemy. So often in my
spiritual life and relationship with Christ I want and expect growth and progress. But is this what relationship is based on? Is this what relationship needs; a constant goal setting, performance based reality.
No. 'Goals' and 'performance' and 'effectiveness' are words used in a world that require results. These are not relational words. And so there is a place for them as we go about work that we are designed for but when we come to relationships we must change our posture. Now we must love in the face of imperfection and have patience in the presence of inefficiency. We must seek to integrate this relational model at as many opportunities as possible into the world in which we work and strive and achieve. Without this we have lost purpose altogether.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Aaaagghh!
I really didn't think this would be that hard, what gives? I made it to day 3, now I'm shooting for 4 straight days.
What makes this even more difficult is that I am going on vacation this week to San Clemente then to Seattle/Portland for some weddings, so we'll see how well I do. I downloaded an app onto my itouch that may be able to help me a bit!
Gotta run!
What makes this even more difficult is that I am going on vacation this week to San Clemente then to Seattle/Portland for some weddings, so we'll see how well I do. I downloaded an app onto my itouch that may be able to help me a bit!
Gotta run!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Saved by the minute
Who would have thought that 3 days would be such a struggle?
But here I am writing just before midnight. My wife and I were attending a party tonight of a friend who just graduated with a PhD in Psychology. What a crazy accomplishment! Our friends husband gave a speech and reviewed some of what it took for her to achive this great feat: 330 credit hours and 85 classes over 6 years. Talk about a commitment to the long haul!
Getting a PhD takes a lot of hard work and determination and it also has a support structure. Part of the purpose of this task of mine is to do gain discipline in the areas of my life that have no motivation beyond whatever benefits I receive from the task itself. I am in school right now and there are a lot of external factors that motivate me to do well.
As a positive motivator I will graduate one day, walk across a stage and have people cheer for me, get a piece of paper to put on my wall, etc. There are negative motivators as well: getting on academic probation if I perform poorly and getting bad grades in various classes, being thought less of by professors or classmates, etc.
However, this is something that has no benefit outside of the intrinsic value of the act itself. There is something to be said about people who can really accomplish personal goals without external factors weighing in on motivation. And while I don't believe that there is anything that can truly be disconnected from outside influences, it does make it hard when there is 'less' of an obvious 'gain'.
Just some late night thoughts.
But here I am writing just before midnight. My wife and I were attending a party tonight of a friend who just graduated with a PhD in Psychology. What a crazy accomplishment! Our friends husband gave a speech and reviewed some of what it took for her to achive this great feat: 330 credit hours and 85 classes over 6 years. Talk about a commitment to the long haul!
Getting a PhD takes a lot of hard work and determination and it also has a support structure. Part of the purpose of this task of mine is to do gain discipline in the areas of my life that have no motivation beyond whatever benefits I receive from the task itself. I am in school right now and there are a lot of external factors that motivate me to do well.
As a positive motivator I will graduate one day, walk across a stage and have people cheer for me, get a piece of paper to put on my wall, etc. There are negative motivators as well: getting on academic probation if I perform poorly and getting bad grades in various classes, being thought less of by professors or classmates, etc.
However, this is something that has no benefit outside of the intrinsic value of the act itself. There is something to be said about people who can really accomplish personal goals without external factors weighing in on motivation. And while I don't believe that there is anything that can truly be disconnected from outside influences, it does make it hard when there is 'less' of an obvious 'gain'.
Just some late night thoughts.
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