Faith & Life Inspirational Message

                 Sometimes I realize how lucky I am.   It is not the kind of luck; however, I would go to Las Vegas and try in the gambling venues.   I don’t think I would have any more success there or betting on horse races as any other average sucker.   And perhaps what I am calling luck is not even luck.   Often I think what we might call “luck” is little more than being prepared and available at opportunistic times.   Something good happens and we call it “luck.”             I admit that sometimes things happen that we do not deserve.   Something comes our way that we did not see coming and we are given a gift.   In theological terms this is called “grace.”   Grace is nothing more than an undeserved gift. I have been graced so many times…graced by people, by events, by God no doubt.   And all one can do in the face of grace is says “thanks.”             Recently a friend gave me a book.   It is entitled, The Mentor Leader , by Tony Dungy.   I like focusing on

                 Some time ago, I finished Krista Tippett’s book, Becoming Wise: an Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living .   It is a fine book.   Much of what makes it such a good book are all the authors and sages Tippett interviews.   The range of people she introduces us to is remarkable.   The interviewees range from writers to prophets to paupers.   In the process we learn that wisdom is not the same thing as knowledge.   Of course, they can be related.   It is hard to imagine a wise person who does not anything.   But many people who are smart and know a great deal are not wise.               Because the people Tippett interview are so interesting, it is easy to overlook her own contribution to the book.   She does more than simply string together stories.   Sometimes it is her own interpretation that I find intriguing.   Sometimes her insight is at least as profound as the person she interviews.   She has a fair amount of knowledge.   I know she has bee

                 What if the title of this inspirational essay were really true, namely, that there was no meaning to express.   That would be sad!   It would be sad because that is a key distinguishing feature of what a human does: make meaning.   In fact, that is one way I like to talk about religion and spirituality; they are ways people make meaning.   Of course, they are not the only ways.   But they are key ways.             So if there were no meaning to express, then I would have serious questions about why we are living?   If there is no point to life, then why go through the motions?   Sure there are some short-term pleasures.   If we are lucky, nice things may happen to us along the way.   But at some point, life usually brings some share of suffering and, then, death.   Hopefully these are not the point in life!             I wandered into this reflection when I read parts of an old book that I had not thought about for years.   The book is entitled, B

                 I try to read a great deal in order to think more broadly.   And I try to read things outside of my ordinary realm of interests in order to have challenges to think differently.   I know that one of the keys to creativity and innovation is to hang out with people different than you are.   We almost never get new ideas hanging out with people who think just like we do.   Since I cannot always have coffee or a meal with different kinds of people, the easiest thing to do is to read something by people like this.   It is amazing how vast the possibilities are.             One such piece I recently looked at was the commencement address at Barnard College by Abby Wambach, famous women’s soccer player who is now retired from the sport.   Of course, I don’t personally know Wambach, but I do know about her.   I watched her play many times.   With just a little effort, you can find out about her.   Born in 1980, Wambach is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a

                 One of my favorite spiritual words might be surprising.   It probably does not even seem like a spiritual word to most folks.   That word is “lingering.”   If you look it up in a dictionary, you will find that it means something like staying with something as it is leaving.   It means parting in a very slow fashion.   A third kind of meaning is to hang in there with something even while it is dying.             I like the fact that it is a verb.   I or you can become the noun if we become “lingerers!”   But the word itself is a verb.   It is an action verb, but the action is slow and deliberate.   And I would grant, it is not essentially a spiritual word.   However over time, it has acquired spiritual overtones for me.   I’ll explain.             When I pondered the dictionary meanings, the thing that struck me is the fact that lingering happens when something or someone is passing away.   Certainly, death is the stark example.   But it is true of

                 Occasionally, I return to a little reading from a favorite book or a favorite author. Recently, I did this with one of the authors whom I have come to admire, namely, Muhammad Yunus.   And I actually met him a decade ago.   Yunus is a businessperson and one-time professor.   He is from Bangladesh, which is a very poor country.   And he became known worldwide when he received Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.             Yunus was instrumental in forming the Grameen Bank.   The purpose of this bank was to do micro-lending---giving very small amounts of money to people (mostly to women) to begin their own little business ventures.   As he puts it, he wanted to help the poor leave poverty!   His is a man who is small in stature, but huge in ideas.   He is a soft-spoken person, but his actions reverberate with immense sound.             In his insightful book, Creating a World Without Poverty , he tells an interesting little story that illustrates his style.

                 I have come to the conclusion there are multiple benefits from reading.   That is not a revolutionary thought and, certainly, not novel.   But that does not make it any less true.   In fact, it is always a relief to discover the truth of something that is true!   That may sound a bit weird, but think about how many people don’t know the truth of true things.   Indeed, I have even known folks who swore some true things were false.   So it is not as simple as we think!             In my case reading often delivers a few different dividends.   In the first place much of what I read is what I want to learn about.   For example, I have been invited to do a keynote speech on Servant Leadership.   I know some things about this concept, but I also know there is a history to the concept that goes back to the 60s.   If I want to know this history, then I will read about it.             However, in the process of reading, I hit upon ideas that are inherently

                 I have had occasion to return to Pope Francis’ papal paper, Gaudete et Exsultate (“Rejoice and Be Glad”).   Even though clearly it comes from a Catholic, I personally find that much, if not most, of what the Pope puts forth is good for all Christians.   And maybe some of the material is good for any person of any religious tradition.   I like to read the various commentator’s opinion.   They often see things differently than I do.   And they have different kinds of backgrounds and education, so they can bring forth things I could never do.   They enrich my look at the papal document.             One commentator, Brian Flanigan, has written one I really like.   He entitles it, “In ‘Gaudete et Exsultate,’ Francis calls on us on journey of ‘small holiness.’”   Flanigan teaches theology at Marymount University in Arlington, VA.   This personally intrigues me because that means he works about two miles from where my daughter lives!   Now that I like wha

               I am assuming that most of us who have a driver’s license and have spent time behind the wheel know what a T road is.   I grew up in rural Indiana and it was not uncommon to be on a T road.   Pretty quickly you learn there are only two options---well at least two good ones!   I know I learned this lesson long before I was old enough to drive a car.   But then I also know I was driving tractors on the roads long before I was sixteen!   Now that I think about it, I am not sure anyone ever wondered if that were legal!             When I assume things, I always am prepared to be on guard that my assumptions may not be shared by all.   For example, I am not sure younger, urban drivers grow up learning about T roads.   Perhaps, they have never heard the phrase and have no clue what I mean.   So for their sake a T road is a road that dead-ends into a perpendicular road---forming a T, as it were.   When you are driving up the trunk of the “T,” you do dead en

                 The idea of a routine is doubtlessly as old as humanity.   Even for those of us who have led a relatively stable life, the idea of a routine is still meaningful.   I qualify as one of those who has led a very stable life.   Growing up on a dairy farm means a daily schedule.   Cows must be milked morning and night.   There are no exceptions. Unless you can find a fill in, you are in charge.   I remember as a little boy how delighted I was to be able to go with my dad to milk the cows.   In those earliest years I don’t think it occurred to me that one day soon, I would have to do that job.             As I grew up and went to school, it was no secret what I would do when the bus dropped me off in front of my house.   Frequently, my dad would ask me whether I wanted to milk the cows to tend to the many hogs which we produced.   Somehow there never was a third option!   Most of the time I did not mind.   It was life as I knew it.   Some kids went home f

                 The English alphabet contains 26 letters.   Virtually all English words are made up of some combination of these letters. Most of the time when we are speaking or, even, reading, we give no thought to this.   But if we slow down to think about it, human language---English or any other language---is fascinating.   It is amazing to think that we now operate with a set number of letters.   And that a vast array of words is made of various combinations of letters.             At least one English word comes from a single letter. When I self-identify, I use a single letter, “I,” and we all know I mean “me.”   In Greek it takes three letters, “ego,” and in German it takes three, “ich.”   At the other end, we know there are some English words that require many letters.   There was one long word most of us kids learned that I think may have been 28 letters, but I never bothered to check!             I have been thinking about three letter words.   I have