Random Thoughts Archives - Page 25 of 31

Competition

I’ve been thinking a lot about competition lately. We compete in business, politics, global affairs, sports, and even in many personal pursuits (I know people who live in angst because they have fewer twitter followers than a competitor). Competition can be good because it can bring out the best in us, but other times it can be ugly and harmful. The trick is knowing how to manage our competitive instincts.

One easy junkyard tip to share on this is to first identify who your competition is.

A recent conversation had me thinking about how our competitive natures can interfere with …

The Good Old Days?

D’Aun and I celebrated our 35th “dating anniversary” recently (here’s a post about that). I started thinking about what it was like 35-years ago. It was 1975 and I turned 17-years old that year. It was a year of turmoil. There was a tremendous loss of confidence in our government, our military, our leaders. In many ways, things haven’t changed much. Oh, the details have changed … but not the fears, the worries, the self-doubt.

Just for instance, here are a few things that happened in 1975 that I gleaned from Wikipedia. Take a look at this list …

Christmas Eve Blessing

This night is born Jesus,
Son of the King of glory.
This night is born to us
the root of our joy.
This night gleamed sea and shore together.
This night was born Christ,
the King of greatness.

Though laid in a manger,
He came from a throne;
on earth though a stranger
in Heaven he was known.

How lowly, how gracious
His coming to earth!
His love my love kindles
to joy in his birth.

From “When Wise Men Came Seeking” by Richard Slater, Salvation Army Songbook.…

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I thought I’d share something that I recently read … it struck me as unnervingly appropriate given the season that D’Aun and I have had. Truthfully, I’m not even sure I fully understand it and wish I knew more about it’s origin. But it’s still striking in it’s own way, and may it find a way to bless your time of giving thanks. If not, then consider it my blessing … Happy Thanksgiving!

The Gathering of Joy and Pain

To the singing of the harvest-song goes the life of a year, or of all the …

Vote Today! But do so with humility …

Election day is finally here. One of the nice things about being in Italy for much of October was the avoidance of all the campaign advertising. It was quite a shock to come back to the USA and see Wolf Blitzer talking about the “countdown to the polls closing” on CNN … with the digital clock reading 75-hours remaining! Absurd.

Anyway, given that today is election day, I wanted to share a verse with you. Titus 3:1-2 says, “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, …

Political Question

Before I went on my October break, a friend asked me to blog about political activism for followers of Christ. His specific question was:

“Help me figure this out….
1) Jesus strikingly refused to align with any political interest/cause. He changed the world forever.
2) It seems like a given in our faith communities these days that Christians should be political activists, even though our Leader was absolutely a-political.
3) Or, are we, as His followers, to work towards justice, mercy, and truth completely outside the political sphere?
I don’t know how to reconcile all that, and so far, I …

The House of the Lord

My month long break begins today. Hallelujah!

For the last month and for the month to come, I’ve been working through prayers and readings in the book “Celtic Daily Prayer”. The Morning Prayer begins like this:

One thing I have asked of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life;
to behold the beauty of the Lord
and to seek Him in His temple.

This comes from Psalm 27:4. I love this start because it expresses the foundation of this sabbatical month. Dwelling in the …

Devotional

I’ve been reading through Celtic Daily Prayer this month, and the devotional for September 19 struck me. No commentary to add…just read and enjoy the words:

O Son of Mary,
how wonderful
Your friendliness to me!
How deep! How unchanging!
Help me to pass it on.

Help me to find my happiness
in my acceptance
of what is Your purpose for me:
in friendly eyes; in work well done;
in quietness born of trust;
and, most of all,
in the awareness
of Your presence in my spirit.

Come, Lord Jesus, come as King.
Rule in our minds: come as peace.…