Random Thoughts Archives - Page 24 of 31

Holy Week Reflections – Olive Tuesday

Jesus spent a lot of time in an olive orchard this week. What is often called “the Olivet Discourse” was probably a Tuesday evening discussion with His disciples, sitting together in the orchard as they viewed the Temple and busy city of Jerusalem across the valley.

Gethsemane is a spectacular setting and has one of the most photographed views in Israel. I was first there in 1975, staying in a hotel atop the Mount of Olives. A few years ago I returned again with my church. Though bustling with tourists and over developed to handle the crowds, the setting is …

Holy Week Reflections – Pigeon Monday

What did Jesus have against pigeons? Or more specifically, against pigeon traders? To kick off Holy Week, I though I’d share an idea.

On the Monday of Easter week Jesus entered the temple grounds and tore the place up. It was always one of my favorite Bible stories when I was a kid. The vision of the Messiah overturning tables, driving people out, blocking people from bringing anything through the temple … it was all so exciting compared to the meek and mild stuff I was told about Jesus in most Sunday School lessons. This was a God who would …

What Does it Mean to be an American?

For the last few years I’ve had a crazy question bouncing around in my head. The basic idea is this: globalization is going to transform our ideas about citizenship as geographic boundaries become less meaningful.

First, a tangent on how this idea came to be. It started with our family genealogical research and learning just how very American I am.

The Goble family came to America in 1634 as Puritan immigrants from England. My forefathers were among the first white settlers of New England, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, the Ohio Valley, Texas, and the Oklahoma Territory. My family has been involved …

The Other Half of the Sky

If you peruse the various organizations that combat sex trafficking, you will usually find a consistent narrative that the women and children are victims. The men are evil.

Hard to argue with that.

But … here’s where I’m going to get into trouble. If we’re really going to solve the issue, we need to understand the motivations behind the perpetrators. What drives these sick, depraved men?

I’m not smart enough to answer that question. But I do think we need to ask it more often. An understanding of the issue shouldn’t stop with the simplistic narrative that we’re given by …

Wealth, Work, and the World

Some of you may read this post and think, “Well, it doesn’t really apply to me…I’m not rich.”

Nonsense. If you make more than $24k a year, you are among the wealthiest 10% in the world. If you are a student, that too is a form of wealth that only the privileged enjoy. So even though you might not have stock options at Google, you are probably still a wealthy person.

Having said that … I’ll share a thought about how that wealth is an enormous responsibility.

I’m often asked by successful young businesspeople how they can make a difference …

Family, Blogging, and Links

I have several links for you to click today…trust me, you’ll have fun with this…

A lot of people who read this blog were supporters of my son when he went to Thailand last year. Jedd was there to create a video for The SOLD Project, which combats child prostitution in that country. Well, here’s the awesome news: Jedd was given the Volunteer Service Award by the Bay Area Professional Videographers Association!

What this means is that his work was so good it deserved recognition. And it means that those of you supported him are seeing great dividends because …

Drifting from Prayer

My prayer life has drifted lately. Meetings, travels, and all the other exercises of life have drawn me away from the times of reflection and quiet that our souls need. What’s curious is that this happened without me even realizing it. My times of prayer continued, but my focus and energy had waned. Nothing new about this. It’s called life, I suppose, and such drifting is the part of the cyclical nature of a spiritual walk. But it’s still not what I want.

In the last week I have intentionally pushed the cycle toward prayer. My friend and colleague Mark …

Civility, Humility, Tragedy

The tragic violence in Tucson has led to more conversation about civility in our society. Whether the action of an unstable young man was fueled by the violent language of politics or not is important, of course. I tend to think that he was not. But having said that, this is the time to reflect on a key point that too many have forgotten: our words matter.

Democratic Congressman and Methodist minister Emanuel Cleaver said it well, “Whether the shooter was inspired by speech or not to do his dastardly deeds is irrelevant. The truth of the matter is the …