Faith & Life Inspirational Message

In addition to being involved in the world of religion and spirituality, I also have been fairly involved in the world of innovation.   Much of this grew out of collegial work that I have done with a friend of mine.   I will admit that I never thought too much about innovation before he and I began doing some thinking and, then, some writing on the topic of innovation.   A couple things occurred to me in the process.   In the first place I realized that it did not matter too much whether I used the word, innovation.   In fact, I have been fairly innovative much of my life.   When I learned the meaning of the language of innovation and looked at my experience, I recognized there was a match.   Part of my misunderstanding was thinking that innovation was solely a business word.   I knew businesses needed to be innovative---especially in today’s climate.   And since I was not in business, the language of innovation did not apply to me. ...

This inspiration is rooted in a rather serendipitous time I recently had with some athletes, coaches and a professional music composer.   While it is not unusual for me to hang out with athletes and coaches, there typically is not a music composer thrown into the mix!   But he added a tremendous leavening effect to the dialogue and spurred me to thinking about things about which I normally would not.          The intent of the meeting was straightforward.   If people who are not in the same fields or who are not alike spend time together, new and different conversations are likely to happen and, possibly, new ideas arise.   I am sure we would have to do it more than one time, but that one time was enough to suggest the possibilities.   And they were exciting.   And even more, it was a great deal of fun.             I was fascinated to listen to the music composer...

One of the things I have learned from my involvement in the world of innovation is to be open and attentive to what might come from unexpected places.   I don’t see myself as highly creative, but I do think I have been innovative.   Certainly, being innovative is one form of creativity.             One thing I have done for much of my life is to read papers, magazines and other resources.   Recently, I heard an innovator say that he spent a half hour each day just reading things that had little or nothing to do with his area of work.   In my case that would mean spending a half hour each day randomly reading things that had nothing to do with spirituality or religion.   I am not sure I spend a half hour doing it, but I do spend some time.             Another thing I have done is to expand the resources that I read.   Thanks to a younger friend...

I really enjoy finding things when I was not looking for them!   This may be true in much of life, if we would but just learn to live more spiritually attentive.   That is one of the ways I would define contemplative spirituality.   Too often, I think, people assume that something like contemplative spirituality is some esoteric, mystical kind of religious experience that normal people would never be given.            To the contrary, contemplative spirituality is little more than living one’s daily life with a significant level of awareness and with an attentive spirit.   That way you can find things when we are not really looking for them.   That certainly adds a dash of serendipity to life.   And who is against serendipity?   At least my understanding of serendipity is something that is always a good deal.   Maybe that is a good definition of God: a serendipitous God.   God is the Being ...

The phrase, freedom of exploration, I read somewhere.   I have no idea, since I read fairly widely.   I do remember when I saw it that my interest was piqued.   Perhaps it is because I have some interest in the process of innovation that it intrigued me.   But I also thought about my work in the discipline of spirituality.   Let’s look at both of these arenas.             The freedom of exploration seems like a suggestion or, even, advice to me.   I can imagine saying it to someone.   “Go ahead, explore freely.”   I do not know how you could order or command someone to do this.   It feels more like permission.   “Go ahead.”   There is an element of encouragement that I very much like.             I value both words, freedom and explore.   Our American culture talks a great deal about freedom.   It is assumed ...

I am a sports enthusiast, but this is not about sports.  It is applicable to sports, but the focus finally is spiritual and not sports.  It could be about business and business teams, but it is not about business.  It is applicable to business, but the focus finally is spiritual and not business.  When you think about it, the term, “team,” is used in a number of contexts.  And I think that is wonderfully appropriate. As unlikely as it seems, I am now connected in the Twitter world.  When I write that, I am amazed at myself.  But I also am intrigued with the way the world communicates.  And there is no doubt our contemporary world communicates in quite different forms than when I was a little Quaker boy on an Indiana farm!  If I have some good news and want to proclaim it, then using contemporary media seems appropriate. The neat thing about “tweeting” (the verb for Twitter!) is the message can only be 140 characters.  A character is ...

In addition to being involved in the world of religion and spirituality, I also have been fairly involved in the world of innovation.   Much of this grew out of collegial work that I have done with a friend of mine.   I will admit that I never thought too much about innovation before he and I began doing some thinking and, then, some writing on the topic of innovation.   A couple things occurred to me in the process. In the first place I realized that it did not matter too much whether I used the word, innovation.   In fact, I have been fairly innovative much of my life.   When I learned the meaning of the language of innovation and looked at my experience, I recognized there was a match.   Part of my misunderstanding was thinking that innovation was solely a business word.   I knew businesses needed to be innovative---especially in today’s climate.   And since I was not in business, the language of innovation did not apply to me.   I was...