Tag: friend
Protected: Preparing for the Discernment Process (a follow up post; part 1)
Protected: A 7 Step Discernment Process
Re-inventing how we use Money?
When you don’t have enough money, you start to question the idea of it in the first place.
Who controls it? Why? and how?
You start to wonder if the typical system makes sense or if it’s really up to any good.
I’ve often wondered why the most important work doesn’t pay well. The answers are more complicated than I can talk about here or even truly understand without a lot of research. Nevertheless, many of the answers tend to stem from issues of power, the sources of control/power, and the desire to keep things a certain way for people who have amassed wealth and power.
The capital of the United States is now the richest city in the country and awash in new millionaires and billionaires; not because these folks created important and noble things, but because they are following a gravy train of money, special favors, and power for a very few.
I don’t subscribe to all of Charles Eisenstein‘s views, but what he has to say about money and what we can do to make our relationships better and the world a better place are worth hearing.
It’s good to question the influential things in our lives. It’s smart to vet them for their goodness and test them for their true benefits. If our ways are left wanting, it’s good to re-invent how we interact and exchange with one another.
Today, I give you this video as food-for-thought. How could we do things differently?
I’m planning a webinar on April 24th with my friend Bill Fox. I’ve learned that he is beginning to use a gifting model for his work. It’s intrigued me and I’m starting to investigate it for my purposes too. More on the webinar (topics and schedule) will be coming in the next week or so…stay tuned!…
OKAY UPDATE! My newest resource is now available using the gifting system. Check out the details HERE!
Please share this post with others. It costs you nothing :)
Everything…but connection
My friend Kayla visited her parents’ church over her summer break for 10 weeks or so.
They were attending this suburban church with a large attendance each Sunday morning and I thought she’d really enjoy the change. Maybe she would be disappointed to come back to her normal, small-town life.
When I asked her about it, she said, “I should have loved it. The music was amazing; the people friendly. They had lots of youth programs and small groups going, and the pastor chose meaningful things to teach. I should miss it, but I don’t.”
This surprised me, so I asked her why she thought this was.
She said something so simple that it gave me a punch of profundity.
“You don’t miss something you don’t feel connected to.”
I started to wonder about the people I’ve lost through death, circumstances, or diverging paths.
Some I missed and some I rarely thought of. Those I did not miss much weren’t really all too different (in general) from the ones I did miss. It didn’t directly reflect the quality of person they were or if we had a lot in common. Like Kayla pointed out, I missed the ones I felt connected with and to. Reflecting on that, the ones that had stronger bonds created more longing or loss in the void of their absence.
That may seem pretty obvious, but the critical gap comes in when we miss why we are connected and what it means to be available and vulnerable on a regular basis with others you can trust. Apart from that, you won’t miss much.
I sense something has been lost in many communities of faith and in many other places because we are so much more amused by our distractions than we are connected in deep ways.
Human connection is never really about measurable stats. We already realize this. It’s about investment in others, sure,
but it’s also about the reciprocity of that investment. It’s always a two-way street.
Some people are wonderful and you invest and hope for a harvest–of some sort–where you both benefit, and you assume they do too, and then it doesn’t happen. The fruition doesn’t manifest or withers on the vine. Maybe the soil was bad, maybe a storm came or drought, or pestilence, maybe something else thwarted success. Sometimes it’s obvious and other times you just sense something is wrong that is hard to make right again. Sometimes you just need to move on and other times, you have to try again in a new season with different seed.
That happens in faith communities and in interpersonal relationships. It happens in business and in extended family life.
If the connection is lacking you won’t be missed. And you won’t miss them. It’s likely that you will feel disappointed about that.
We overlook the idea and process of true connection even as we want it the most.
Is there some thing or someone you’d like to feel more connected with?
Oh,
3 more things.
1. I will be posting a “spiritual-themed” topic about once per week. The other times I will concentrate on other ideas depending on what strikes me and will often concentrate on topics related to helping you create and communicate better.
2. I really am excited to see what this year brings and I’m really happy you came today.
3. Check the top right sidebar to get the next post sent to you through Feedburner!