Our best work. What should I do when I grow up?

Have you ever done a poor job on something? if you have, have you felt badly about it?  It seems like a lot of times we feel badly because we didn't try very hard.

And conversely, we usually feel pretty good when we do our best. Unless we get a sense that others didn't feel like it was a good job.

Which brings us to the possibility that the best work we can do is work that we have an ability for and that we try out best at.

Can we have conversations about real life through mass communications?

Recently reading the news on a website for a local radio station - the headlines were: woman dies in car crash. Man charged with abusing 13 week old baby.  VT Sugaring facilities smashed and robbed.

While these are current events, I think there are a lot of other current events happening also (including positive things).  It seems like a lot of our news is entertainment based.  I noticed this as I found myself scrolling down the page in search for the next shocking headline.  I wanted to be entertained and excited.  That feeling then made me want to read this webpage tomorrow to be shocked again. 

Then it hit me - this is why I don't watch much TV or read many traditional news outlets.  Our media channels are often based around a traditional profit model in which the company makes money if viewers come back and bring their friends.  And we know viewers/readers will come back if they are shocked/excited. 

So here's the bummer - in some of our public spaces, especially media driven spaces (like TV and newspapers) we aren't having conversations.  We're trying to entertain and excite each other.  So the broader social issues from immigration to gender identity are not being discussed in these channels in an honest, serious way.  Yet, those are the things that create the fabric and future of our shared nation and culture.

I wonder if there are mass communications that would enable us to have conversations about important things.

Living with Cheeks is a gift!

Here's a post I made yesterday at the Birch Blog about how great Cheeks is!

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Many of you know Cheeks.  She’s been the Program Director at Bethany Birches for many years (this will be her 9th summer).  She also happens to be my wife.  We got married after working here at camp together for a few years.

To me, Cheeks has been a gift from God.  Let me explain:

Many days I realize this through various circumstances.  Today, I realized it again.  This time it was related to the fact that she doesn't get distracted by stuff (you could even say she doesn’t care much about stuff).  Seriously.  She doesn’t like to spend a lot of money on stuff.  She uses stuff until it breaks down entirely.  If she looses something, she shrugs it off and mentions that she didn’t really need it anyway.  Take her purse/bag for example.  Right now, there’s a hole in it and one handle has broken off.  She’s still using it.  If it broke entirely, she might never get a new one.  She might use another bag in the closet or fill her pockets.

I am quite different.  I like stuff.  I like high quality stuff and I like when it performs well.  If it gets scratched or damaged, I like to repair it.  Take my bike for example.  I rode it today and it was wet.  When I got home, I hosed it off and set it in front of a fan to dry.  I washed it so the chain was free of grit and used the fan so that nothing would rust.

Here’s the thing.  We only get so much time on Earth.  Old people tell me that it goes fast.  Researching, getting and taking care of stuff takes a lot of time.  And, those of us who care about our stuff can at times be on the verge of caring too much for it.  This is part of why Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell his stuff.

Back to me and Cheeks.  She is a constant example of what it looks like to care less about stuff.  With her attention not focused on stuff, she tends to focus on people… and she’s very good at considering others!  Not only is this a blessing to me, it’s a witness.

I hope you find a way to bless those you live with today like Cheeks blesses me.  When that way is unclear, look to Jesus.  He will show you.

Tuna

Pearls before swine

Perhaps you've heard the teaching from The Bible... in Matthew 7 about how you ought not to cast your pearls before swine (pigs).  Check this out - this is a good illumination of that passage:

Simplicity and Getting Things Done

Seth Godin writes a blog. Today he posted this:

Hooked on hacking life

Perhaps you can quote the GTD literature chapter and verse, understand lean and MVP and the modern meeting standard. Maybe you now delete your emails with a swipe. It's possible you've read not just this blog but fifty others, every day, and understand go to market strategies and even have a virtual assistant to dramatically increase your productivity.
That's great. But the question remains, "what have you shipped?"
You're saving a ton of time, freeing yourself up to... do what, precisely?
The productivity industry doesn't do this work to entertain us. They're trying hard to help you get more done better. Emphasis on done.
Striving to get smarter, better and faster helps us create our future. The risk is that merely collecting, trading and discussing the tools turns into the point.
It's possible that your next frontier isn't to get more efficient, it's to get more brave.

I like it. I struggle with this. I love tools! I love tracking and understanding and learning.  Sometimes I forget to simply do the thing ("ship").

Cool story regarding doing the thing (shipping) - we're low on Lynx registrations (next week's snow camp).  Last night I created a two paragraph regular ol email via our camper database software (Campwise). No pictures. No attachments. Not even HTML. I simply asked people to come and tell their friends. I said we'd give them a $25 discount because we aren't full. I sent the email Fri. evening. Within 2 hours, 4 more campers were signed up and I had heard from 10 parents. Today, I'm still hearing from parents about that email and a few more have signed up.

KISS (keep it simple stupid)

Lent & Fasting

Each Lent, I wonder what I should give up or take on.  I rarely feel right with God for more than a couple days in a row and so Lent often seems a time to reach out to God more fervently.  This year, I was struck by  a passage in Isaiah 58 that calls into question our individual-focused routines of giving up chocolate, coffee, etc.  I suspect those small sacrifices are very good. Our heart needs them.  Yet, there is more to look toward.  Here's the passage:

Isaiah 58:6-10 NIV “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

This video then helped me along a bit further in understanding of the type of fast that is desirable to the Lord.



May we be strengthened to loose the chains of injustice this whole year and in that process, may our addictions be transformed and lost.

Happy Feet

Happy feet

In the movie, a penguin named Mumble follows his curiosity to find what's "out there." Swept up by his passion he almost dies and is placed in a position that allows him influence. In this position he does what comes naturally to him. He is reminded of his gift by a small child. And so he starts dancing!

He leads the way for his tribe and his guides are his sense and what was already given to him (his God-given giftings).

In the end, being true to his gift and the journey this took him on, saved his tribe.

This is similar to how we follow God and lead others along the way. Not a lot of certainty. Not a lot of proof. Only what we've been given and a compass for the next step. Only the voice of the one that whispers in the wilderness.

Calling

Don't take that promotion if you aren't going to be happy. The problem with promotions is that they end up getting you into a new job. It's great if it's the work you're best suited for. And it might not be a great move if the work you are doing right now is the work you're most suited for.

The biblical author Paul wrote a lot about the nature of our skills and motivations (gifts given us by God). We were created with a certain set of gifts. And when we use them and work in areas that exercise those skills, we excel.

Pursue something you're good at or something you like. A lot of times they are the same thing. You will make a greater contribution to the world doing what you were meant to do, promotion or not.

For more on this watch the movie Happy Feet.

Or listen to this interview with Seth Godin.

Passion and work

A friend of mine posted this video on Facebook recently. I commented:

this is a very important issue - the nature of the deeper passion - the essence of this video - what is it you like doing? I have been uncovering the importance of a 15-year-long passion in my life and finding that it lies at the heart of what I do best at camp. And I'm learning to teach our college-age staff about the importance of this underlying love and passion and to release themselves to embrace it.

Another friend commented about God's plan. I commented

I agree! God's "plan"/way/intention/expectation for us is better than our own. In this sense, God is like a manufacturer of a product and has a full understanding of what the product is capable of and how to use it best. While this analogy is pretty weak (because products don't feel things and we do), it helps me when thinking about how best to serve, as Jesus instructed. I've experienced a deep fulfillment when fulfilling my call and at times, a lack of fulfillment when running from my call.

 

Where does your passion lie?

What do the Hobbit, Sandy Hook and CCCA have in common?

We all know about The Hobbit and many of us in the USA on the East Coast know what Sandy Hook means.  CCCA, however, may not be a familiar acronym to you.  It stands for Christian Camp and Conference Center.  Bethany Birches, where I work, is a member.

So here's what the Hobbit, Sandy Hook and CCCA, especially this video, have in common: they all show us what we already know.  That life isn't safe. And furthermore, a meaningful life requires risk, challenge, struggle.

I love this section starting right here.  Take a look...

Servant Leadership, Marketing, Jesus

Reading a post today from Tanveer Naseer's blog I found the stuff of Jesus. I love when this happens!

In this post he's talking about Peter Drucker and an ancient book ('Xenophon's Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War'). In the book, a father asks his son: "Tell me how best to get a man to do something that must be done..." The son replies with an answer that is inferior. 

 The father's reply:
“’Simply take care of those you lead better even than they would or could take care of themselves. Always put their needs before your own.’”

Jesus said (as recorded in Mark 10):

Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else.

Think leadership that changes things.  Think people like MLK, Ghandi, Lincoln. More recently, we have Steve Jobs who was a bit of a tyrant and was not a slave to others but was certainly a slave to his vision and arguably his customers, or at least his idea of what they would most like.

Mixed emotions when God is near

Wow. This week at camp we got a lot done on the cabin. With 10 people in there for parts of the week, all skilled, how could we not?! On Friday we received a check for $20,000. On Wednesday we tied up the fire alarm considerations. My aunts and uncles lived with us for the week which was glorious.

Now I am tired. In part because Dew (our dog) became very sick recently. Last night he was peeing blood (which I cleaned up multiple times). Earlier in the week he was pooping green. He probably still would be pooping green but he quit eating two days ago.  And so we head to the vet soon.Here's the thing - last night after realizing that one of Dew's organs may be failing I started crying. I remembered something God spoke to me 5 years ago about death. That made me cry harder. Yet in my tears I knew my Father was near. I felt him, sensed him. And this continues to be true for me. That God is nearer to my heart in times of challenge and change. Some say he is always near. Whether that's true I'm not sure. I am sure that struggle heightens my awareness if his presence.

May you experience God in your struggle and may your struggles leave you better than they found you.

Service and Humility

There's quite a bit of service happening in central Vermont.  Everyone I meet is wondering how they can help and what they can do.  By the way, there's no better way to meet people than through a catastrophe like a flood.

I'm noticing something today.  I'm extremely attracted to the people who are willing to help however they can be used.  I'm also attracted to the people who share willingly about their abilities and then start offering those talents in various ways.  I'm not particularly attracted to those who are annoyed or bothered if the type of work available is not important or what they expected to do.

My heart was opened two days ago.  We went to visit a man who's trailer was right next to the river.  Can you believe his trailer had no water in it?!  The water went under the trailer and messed with some out buildings but didn't damage the trailer.  I started to sense disappointment, that there was little to do here, especially little that didn't require some kind of machine/equipment that we didn't have (apparently our high-tech world has made me forget about the wheelbarrow).  On top of my disappointment, this dear brother was telling us story after story.  Half way through story time, I realized that listening may be helpful too.  My heart and mind kept opening up to that possibility.  The more I considered listening, the more I became interested in listening.  And then I didn't want him to stop telling me stories.  As long as he could heal and share through his stories, I wanted to listen.

Dear God, open me and whomever read's this, to the possibility that the work you have for us today is different than the work we expected to do today.  May it be so.

Brandon

A Praying Life

Last night, Cheeks and I read on the deck.  It was a beautiful night.  Just amazing.  Moon was bright, humidity was high so the 56 degrees felt more like 65.  And we read a few pages from our book, A Praying Life. I continue to appreciate the way this book draws me near to the heart of God.  In this section (page 199) Paul Miller talks about story.  He talks of how God is telling, sharing, weaving stories, and when we enter those stories, life becomes rich and wonderful and challenging.  When we try to tell a story and pretend it’s the one God is telling, we get lost.

My prayer for today is simple:

Lord, I know you’re telling stories in my life.  I want to listen to your stories.  Will you help me hear them?  What’s the plot?  Maybe it’s the plot that are in a lot of your stories - helping us see, saving us from destruction, drawing us near to you.  Help me be willing to sacrifice, give up, change or otherwise do what it takes to enter your story.

Tuna

Haunting

Recently, I started reading a book called Orthodox Heritic with a friend of mine.  I really like it so far.  The first parable is this one.

This story disturbs me.

Today, I came across this statement below from A.W. Towser. It speaks to the issue that Rollins brings out in this video.

A New Type of Preacher
Print Version / 
But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. --Acts 20:24 
If Christianity is to receive a rejuvenation, it must be by other means than any now being used. If the Church in the second half of this century is to recover from the injuries she suffered in the first half, there must appear a new type of preacher. The proper, ruler-of-the-synagogue type will never do. Neither will the priestly type of man who carries out his duties, takes his pay and asks no questions, nor the smooth-talking pastoral type who knows how to make the Christian religion acceptable to everyone. All these have been tried and found wanting. 
Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and has heard a voice from the Throne. When he comes (and I pray God there will be not one but many), he will stand in flat contradiction to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear. He will contradict, denounce and protest in the name of God and will earn the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom. Such a man is likely to be lean, rugged, blunt- spoken and a little bit angry with the world. He will love Christ and the souls of men to the point of willingness to die for the glory of the One and the salvation of the other. But he will fear nothing that breathes with mortal breath. The Size of the Soul, 128-129. 
"Lord, in the first half of this current century this need is even greater. Send to Your church today many who have 'seen visions of God and...heard a voice from the Throne.' Amen."

Thoughts?

Just do it

One of my friends recently wrote to say Happy Birthday.  He added:

Hope you have a year full growing in Jesus and obeying and following him!

I replied by asking if he'd pray for me, specifically for obedience.  This past winter I was sensing God inviting me to let go of a few habits I'd been developing. In talking with my friend, he said, why don't you just do it? Just give up whatever God invites you to give up.

My answer was: because I don't want to!

Lent is almost over.  But, before Lent I remembered this conversation and decided to just do it.

I've remembered that sometimes "just doing it" is the only way to do it. For example - Jesus says "love your enemy." Generally, waiting until you feel like loving your enemy won't accomplish the task (I often prefer to procrastinate). Picking an action that is loving toward that person and performing it will cause the obedience Jesus asked for. I believe as I practice, it will get easier, and eventually, I will actually like to love my enemy. And, on top of all that, the joy that comes from being near God is great.

SNOW in MAY

It's been snowing around here!

Take this picture for example... April 21, 2010, we woke up to a few inches of snow.

Then, this morning, May 9, we woke up to a tiny bit of snow.  And I'm seeing occasional flurries.  

                                        

Living in the mountains is fun.  I just can't understand why people without modern methods of heat would have chose the mountains!

Tuna

Creation - Creator - Dishes

I just posted a few thoughts from my time in New Hamburg at Hidden Acres while at a conference.  What is below went out to a lot of friends today from camp and I thought I'd post here too:


I've spent this week in New Hamburg, Ontario at Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp.  I've been having a blast!

I have also experienced two wondrous creations of God and humanity.  Two disciplined teachers.  One is named Bryan Moyer Suderman of  Small Tall Music and the other is named Tom Yoder Neufeld(yes, it seems the Canadian Mennonites really like taking on their spouses name and then going by all three (first, middle, last). 
Both of these men have been speaking truth.  While truth is very interesting, I want to tell you about what I found at Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp this past week.


I found a community of humanity and adventure.  Have you ever gained a deeper vision for how to live simply by being together with a group of friends?  That's what I felt this past week.  Hidden Acres is utilizing some good practice in environmental stewardship.  For example, they recently built a new retreat center.  It cost them more than $1 Million to put up.  After having it, their electricity bill went from $16,000 to $18,000 - that's only $2,000 more/year!  Part of it is because they don't have a dishwasher in the whole facility & a lot of it is because of the extreme insulation and geothermal heat.


The lack of dishwasher adds to another one of their distinctives.  We were able to form a special community together over the week in part because we all took turns washing dishes after meals.  Work tends to bring people together.  Our community forming happened also through taking off our shoes!  They encourage people to take off their shoes when they enter a building and put on their slippers.  We all brought slippers because they told us to.  This keeps things clean, requiring less time and energy on the vacuum (and floor buffing and new floors later down the road).


You see, not only do these quirky, unique ideas help us build relationships and shared experiences, they represent an alternative way to live.  Let's think about the dish washing.  They have two, three-bay sinks.  So, there were six of us washing dishes (two drying and two wiping down tables and floors).  Those six bays were filled once or twice depending on how dirty the plates were (2-3 gallons/sink = 12-18 gallons).  I expect a dishwasher would use more water than this old-fashioned method and definitely more electricity for the 60 place settings we were washing each meal (especially when you consider that most of the heat for the hot water comes from the heat of the earth!).


So the alternative route in this case is saving us energy and water and giving us a reason to talk, an experience to share while cutting down on consumption of resources.  We don't think that way right now.  We tend to evaluate processes based on their efficiency of time (or resulting cash profit).  Which is good.  But, can we think about our use of resources in more ways than just how much time it saves? For example, we drive a car, alone from our house to work when there might be a bus or train.  And we'll say, sure, it might consume less resources to take the train that is already running but I have to get their early or, I don't want to be restricted by the schedule of the bus.  What if we could email on our laptop or read through that report etc. while we were on the train or bus?  What if you could catch up on your voicemails or podcasts while in transit.  It's very well used time then, no longer wasted.


Sometimes I have driven from my house to camp a few times in a day.  I've done this to "save time."  Then later in the day, I'll go home and work out like I try to do at least four times/week... go for a run, lift weights, something like that.  Interestingly, I could have walked 3 miles already if I had just walked from my house to the office rather than driving.  My exercise would already be done and I wouldn't have used an extra gallon of gas in the process of getting to and from work. 


Going back to the dishwasher - when it was my turn to wash the dishes, I had mixed emotions... in part because I wanted to still be sitting at the table sipping coffee, in part because I wanted to be reading my email.  Interestingly, when I was done washing the dishes (10 minutes later) I was energized from a conversation I had and the joy of working together with friends.  I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down and tore through a few emails and then went on to the evening session.  I'm not sure I would have been as efficient in my emailing or even got up from sipping my coffee had I not been put into this unique system of washing dishes. 


And here is what I suppose we will have to become comfortable with if we are to give ourselves over to something that seems as contrary as washing dishes at a retreat - the mystery of change.  If we could bring ourselves to engage in new ways of living that were more friendly to creation, would we find more energy and savings in other places (my energy to zip through emails)?  Would we find more connection to the creation and maybe even the Creator?

Brandon      

Truth (while having a blast with Mennonite Camping)

I've spent this week in New Hamburg, Ontario at Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp.  I've been having a blast!

I have also experienced two wonderous creations of God and humanity.  Two disciplined teachers.  One is named Bryan Moyer Suderman of Small Tall Music and the other is named Tom Yoder Neufeld (yes, it seems the Canadian Mennonites really like taking on their spouses name and then going by all three (first, middle, last). 
Both of these men have been speaking truth.  For more about truth...

I've been thinking about truth.  It feels like something that causes clarity and belonging.  Many times we are taught (or teach) doctrine & confuse it with truth.  Doctrine is the child of truth and tradition and only retains it's heritage as it allows it's parents to continue to inform it.  And, this morning, this wonderful parent, truth, got up to speak to us camping folks through Tom.

You will know when truth is present because, among other things, it empowers you to know something.  And sometimes, that something will be called heretical by others.  Maybe because it's threatening to our doctrine.  Maybe because if we allow this truth to influence us, it means change.  For example: this morning, I was reminded that God changes his methods and ways to allow us to become one with him.  We know this is true because he first adopted a group called the Israelites.  They thought they were the only group that God was interested in.  Eventually, God adopted a new group of children that were referred to as Gentiles.  And then on top of it, what was known as the "law" (set of rules and ways to please God) got added to and changed... instead of one set of behaviors, it became a new set of behaviors (sort of like moving from a suggested speed limit to cars governing their own speed).

So, you can imagine that it was hard for the Jews, an only child, to accept another sibling into the family.  And it might have been even harder to accept this new law, this more internal law.  It seems that it is equally as hard for Christians to accept God's love for his non-Christian children.  I wonder if we would live differently if we understood God's love for all his children.  I wonder if we would be able to join in this strange, scandelous acceptance if we allowed the truth that God loves everyone.  Can we become the new creation Christ is inviting us to become?  


Some of you might be thinking that if God loves everyone, everyone will go to heaven.  First, that isn't our focus (whether this one or that one are in or out - we already know which ones are in or out - the ones who feed the hungry and cloth the naked or don't - Matt: 25:32-45).  As long as we are bound to caring about the final destination, we miss out on the current destination (that's a whole other issue - why we want to care about the present and the present destination).  Secondly, I don't believe that.  God loving everyone doesn't mean everyone will respond to that love and seek God.  So again, we see the importance of truth and the role it plays in our transformation and capacity to love.

OK, switching abruptly back to this other creation named Bryan (I have to switch abruptly because in re-reading the above, I realized that what I wrote doesn't connect well and, I don't have time to add more thoughts and re-write - I'm at work and I've got to get a move on!)... you've heard of Community Sustained Agriculture (CSM)?  He has a CSM as well.  And his music is absolutely delightful.  If you get a chance, give it a listen.  


P.S. - I understand now why people curl.  It's fun!

A good read on world wealth distribution

Cheeks and I often talk about resources and how we use them. I've always been fascinated by the way that resources are split up among people across the globe. This study is enlightening regarding global wealth distribution:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/430626/2006-World-Household-Wealth-Distribution

And if you are discouraged after reading that, check this out:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/opinion/24kristof.html?emc=eta1


Tuna