Get out of That Comfort Zone!
My father’s notebooks contained a saying, “The only difference between a grave and a rut is their length.” I used to have a wonderful rut. My life in California was good. For more than two decades Kim and I lived the American dream. But it became an encompassing comfort zone that etherized my soul. I miss California, the ocean, the mountains, the desert, the endless things to do and places to go. I miss my friends, church members, colleagues, students, and loved ones. People in California asked why on earth I would go to Louisiana, and people here…
What’s Your Tennis Ball?
Don’t push. Get pulled. Drew Houston, founder of Dropbox, said this: “The happiest and most successful people I know don’t just love what they do, they’re obsessed with solving an important problem, something that matters to them. They remind me of a dog chasing a tennis ball: Their eyes go a little crazy, the leash snaps, and they go bounding off, plowing through whatever gets in the way. . . . It’s not about pushing yourself. It’s about finding your tennis ball, the thing that pulls you.” We can live out our faith under obligation to all the things we…
Petrified! How Did That Happen?
I’m standing in northeastern Arizona in the Petrified Forest National Park. A dry wind rustles clumps of grass amid the treeless, barren hills. Broken sections of stone cylinders lie on their sides and populate the hills as far as the eye can see. The stones are big and small, in beautiful shades of white, tan, rusty brown, dark brown, and black. They all look like logs. Because they were. Scientist types tell us that 225 million years ago, when dinosaurs were just appearing—Day Five of Creation! (if you’re so inclined)—this very spot was a lush forest, green and full of…
Desperate to be Remembered
A young Frenchman died on a battlefield one hundred years ago in World War I. Countless others too. His grieving family kept his bedroom just as it was when he left, as so many families do. But this family wrote into the deed of the house that all future owners must keep the young man’s room just as it is for 500 years. Five hundred years! The soldier’s dress uniform is falling apart from age, and maybe moths. Photographs and possessions are neatly laid out–a private museum to his memory. But no one remembers him. His family is long gone,…
Your Year is Half Over
Your year of 2014 is half over. Yes, your year, no one else’s. Their year is half over too, but that’s their issue. Maybe you’re a carefree person who thinks that minutes and calendars are for people in bondage. That’s fine. But if you’re a person who sets annual goals or plans, beeeeeep! We’ve hitting the half-way mark on 2014. How are you doing? And are those goals and plans just earthly? I hope not. Can you think of ways they will help you live well in the face of eternal reality? Let me know. And God bless the rest…
