Promises

There have been many times in my life where I wished I could find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Partly because I enjoy nice things and enjoy the idea of enough money to take care of my needs. Then I realize I've taken my eyes off of the rainbow. It's beautiful, simple, and complex at the same time. It's a reminder to me of all that is true, beautiful, and virtuous. It's also a reminder to me of the promise of a God who is concerned with us and desires to see become all we were intended to be. Are you living in that promise?

Beautiful Sounds

Have you ever encountered beautiful sounds? Like that of a symphony or single violin. It could be the playful laughter of three children or one baby giggling. Where do they come from? Why do the sounds touch us? How are we so connected to them? These beautiful sounds remind us we part of something bigger than we can imagine. When we hear something beautiful we distinguish it from all others by calling it "heavenly" or "extraordinary". The beautiful sounds in our life remind us of a transcendence we cannot comprehend, calling us, lulling us to sleep at night, comforting us in the midst of chaos. What are the beautiful sounds in your life?

Thats My King

This video says it all.

Eating The Apple Core

About a year ago my son asked me for an apple, so I gave him one. He took and began eating it, and it was interesting to watch him because he had no ordered way of consuming the fruit. He just ate the apple. I walked away for a moment to clean up another area of the kitchen we were in, and when I walked back over to my son a few minutes later he had began eating the apple core. Everything in me at the time wanted to stop him and let him know he was eating it wrong and then it struck me. There was nothing wrong with eating the apple core. In fact by eating core he was consuming beneficial nutrients the apple had to offer. So I let him eat it. Its amazing to consider how many times we limit ourselves simply because we dare not do something different. Sure there are necessary limits in life, but I wonder how many times we limit ourselves for no reason at all. There is something freeing in coloring outside the lines, and I believe its important to challenge ourselves from time to time to consider whether or not we are limiting ourselves for no reason at all. My son reminded me of a valuable lesson that day as I watched him eat the apple core. He reminded me to never unnecessarily limit myself to an idea or practice. In fact I stand a good chance at gaining more of an understanding sometimes when I choose to color outside the lines. All this to say when you see me eating an apple, and you watch as I eat the apple core, you’ll know I’m considering if I’m being limited in my thinking or if I’m pushing the boundaries.

The Argument

Have you ever been in a situation where no matter what you said someone else had something to say about it? For some reason I tend to be in the center of these types of conversations all the time, maybe because I’m an easy target, maybe because I’m willing to enter into them, maybe because I invite them. The how is less important than the why. I find it both exciting and interesting how the human soul desires to contend both through our physique and our intellect. It is as if there is something to be proved all the time. It would be an interesting social experiment if everyone on the planet practiced humility for 30 days. I wonder what the world would look like. Could we solve world hunger? Would people talk to each other with love and respect or would it be so difficult for some they wouldn’t speak at all? I’m going to throw out a challenge to anyone reading this; for 30 days would you join me and do your best to be humble? Try not to pick a fight, try not to be rude or disrespectful or proud. Lets see what our worlds will look like.

Human Touch

We live in a technological world filled with multiple methods of staying connected with people. These methods include, texting, email, and various other internet “friend” based websites. We have all these different methods of staying “connected” to each other and yet sometimes we are left with the inexplicable longing to physically touch someone. I recently took a trip to see my father in Berkley, Ca. I hadn’t seen my dad in a couple of years but maintained constant communication by phone. The first thing he did when he saw me was grab my face with both of his hands and kissed my head. After the plane ride home I was waiting for my ride and as I waited I watched different people embrace their loved ones as they came to pick them up. Human beings are wired for physical connection with each other. What is it inside our being that causes us to desire human touch? Do you think people would be happy living in a world devoid of physical connection? Do you get enough hugs and handshakes? No matter how many different ways we connect, we cannot escape the longing within our soul to physically connect to each other…maybe its time you reached out and touched someone.

Desire

Desire can be dangerous. I found myself watching the move “Alexander The Great” an awesome movie. While I was watching it I began thinking of all Alexander The Great did in his life, and I started dreaming of all the things I wanted to do and began diving into this world of desire. It was a hard thing because it took me down a path where all I could think about was attaining that which I desired. I spent the next day obsessing over my desires and lost sight of everything I was currently involved in. You see my desires began to consume me very quickly. I went outside and looked up into the sky and cried out “What am I supposed to do?” There are times in our lives when we can let desire get the better of us. When we do, its time to take a step back and begin to realize the things we wish to accomplish are good things, and its good to have desire, but we can’t let those things consume us, change us, transform us into someone else. I have learned that we have to be true to ourselves as we desire to reach out and change the world. There is definitely something within the human soul that drives us to reach out and do something, change something, become something, and to desire to achieve those things is good. It’s when desires begin to consume you that things get dangerous. What are your desires? How are they affecting you? I encourage you to “be” first and when you do that you’ll find yourself accomplishing your desires without sacrificing yourself.