You are here: Home / 2006 / Archives for May 2006
post

Immigration vs. Outsourcing

May 31, 2006 By 2 Comments

Everyone with a pulse in the US is probably aware of the whole immigration debate going on here right now. (If not, the link is the Googled “immigration debate”. There’s only about 60 million sites that can fill you in.)

And for years we’ve been hearing complaints about jobs going overseas due to outsourcing. Dilbert is dealing with that in his usual humorous way today. Apparently even some Christian prayer lines have been outsourced to India.

So what’s your opinion? Are the two issues related in any way?

Speak up and leave a comment.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS Feed.

Filed Under: Interesting Tagged With: , , ,
post

You’re Just Passing Through

May 30, 2006 By 4 Comments

Last night we had a going away party for some friends of ours who are moving up to Boston. There was a ton of good food. We had a lot of laughs and bunches of great conversation. And now we have a really good reason to visit that wonderful city.

The whole evening was a solid reminder of the reality that life is a very transient thing. For an increasing number of us here in America it is becoming normal to move around quite a bit. Gorgeous and I have been married a little over 8 years and we are on our fifth home and third state.

Yet some folks live in the same place their entire lives. Do you suppose folks who do ever lose site of how short life is? I know it would be tempting for me to believe that this life was a more permanent thing if I stayed in one place for a long time.

But the reality life is fleeting. The Bible says

Your life is like the morning fog–it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.

Not one of us knows how long we have here. I don’t see anywhere that it’s written we are promised to be on this world tomorrow. Keeping that in mind can help us make the most of today.

The other life lesson that was reinforced by our friends leaving was that we shouldn’t hold our possessions too dearly. They had to lighten the load considerably to make their move due to the tremendous disparity in housing costs between Savannah and Boston. They de-ballasted by giving away a ton of stuff. The chair I’m sitting in while I type this was one of their gifts.

We have the capacity to put way too much importance on our stuff. Voice in the Wilderness says you can learn a lot about folks and their stuff just by looking in the church parking lot. When you move around you have an incentive to lighten the load that isn’t there when you stay put for a long time.

Right before He told a story to illustrate how short life is Jesus pointed out that

Real life is not measured by how much we own.

It goes back to what I said about life a while back. The meat (the real substance) of life is the sum of our relationships. Everything else is just flavoring.

Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS Feed.

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: , ,
post

A Day to Remember

May 29, 2006 By 5 Comments

Today is Memorial Day here in the States. The holiday’s roots go back over 130 years to shortly after the Civil War when the federal government set aside a day to honor the fallen from that war.

And then after World War I the significance of the day was officially expanded to honor the dead from all our nation’s wars.

This holiday is personal for me, and not only because I am a Navy veteran. It is a day for me to remember some of the incredible people who have given their lives in support of the liberty we so easily take for granted.

Today is a day to remember Sonny Bubeck who was engaged to the best friend of a girl I was dating at the time. I watched Sonny die when his F/A-18 Hornet did a lateral hard-over right off the catapult on the USS Saratoga and crashed into the Adriatic Sea. His plane was loaded with war shots because we were flying over Bosnia at the time trying to keep the various factions on the ground there from massacring each other.

Today is also a day to remember one of my flight school roommates, Rich Calderone.

Rich was a monster on the ping-pong table. He was the inventor of our constantly changing ruled “room-ball” where the ball could hit on any surface in the room after it hit your paddle as long as it hit once on your opponent’s side of the table. His specialties were the ceiling fan rocket shot and two-walling it off the wall behind his opponent so that it hit their side heading in the wrong direction and was impossible to play.

Rich died when his helicopter crashed one night off the USS America.

If you would, in honor of Sonny, Rich, and the thousands of others who have given their lives defending the liberty that we all enjoy today, please take a moment to watch this video clip, We Support U. And remember their sacrifice.

There is another reason why this particular holiday has special meaning to me. Because Memorial Day is a time set aside to remember the fallen, it is a day when Taps is traditionally played.

And it’s not just that the music is particularly gripping for anyone who’s been in uniform. (Here you can listen to Taps and hear for yourself.) But there is a family connection, as well.

I am actually related to General Daniel Butterfield, the one usually credited with helping create the song and bringing it popularity. My grandmother’s maiden name is Butterfield.

Last year, my cousin, Hannah Sollecito was invited to participate in the Echo Taps project. Echo Taps was done to highlight the shortage of buglers to perform Taps at military funerals. 866 musicians spaced along 41 miles of rural New York between Elmira and Bath echoed the funeral dirge for nearly three hours, one to the next along the entire distance.

As a descendent of General Butterfield, Hannah was asked to be the first to play and started the chain. Here’s the Washington Post article from last year.

Take a moment today to remember our fallen heroes.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS Feed.

Filed Under: Interesting, Life Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
post

Famous Privacy

May 27, 2006 By 2 Comments

What do you do when you see someone famous?

Gorgeous and I are up in Charleston this weekend staying with some friends. We all went out to a pizza place to grab some dinner because, well, eating is fun.

Now the pizza place happens to be located right down the road from our church. And it just so happened that I looked over and noticed our senior pastor, Greg Surratt, sitting a couple tables away having dinner with another couple.

Now I’m pretty sure Greg would dispute that he is actually famous. But he does lead a church of 10,000+ people. And something tells me that probably a lot of them stop him to say, “Hi” when they see him out and about.

We ended up having a little discussion at our table about the whole thing. Do we go up and say hello, being part of the church he leads, and from an out of state campus” The friends we were eating with happen to go to one of the Seacoast campuses up here too.

Or do we skip the introduction because he deserves his privacy and may not get much of that when he’s trying to have an evening of his own out with friends?

In the end we decided that going over to them would really be about us, not him. So we didn’t disturb them.

Was that the right answer?

Have you ever encountered anyone famous? What did you do?

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS Feed.

Life Tagged With: , , ,
post

Who Wants to Be Rich and Happy?

May 26, 2006 By 5 Comments

Gorgeous and I are having a bit of a rough week. I guess you could say we’re on a passion search.

Don’t get me wrong. We got no problem with our passion, if you know what I mean. But that’s not what I’m talking about. (Besides, this is not that kind of blog. Sheesh!)

We’ve been asking ourselves lots of questions.

  • If money were no object what do you want to do?
  • If you could set aside all the things you have to do and had all the time in the world, what would you want to do?
  • What do you find yourself thinking about when your mind wanders?

Asking those sorts of questions helps refine what your passion really is.

Liz Strauss over at Successful-Blog some advice for folks who are searching to figure out what their passion really is

If you’re after an answer to that question, here’s how to spot something that’s your passion.You have a passion, if what you are thinking about is

  1. a pastime or idea you’ve been interested in from the minute you encountered it.
  2. a pastime or idea you talk about, read about, and write about even when you don’t have to.
  3. a pastime or idea other people know that you know a lot about.
  4. a pastime or idea you would miss sorely if you had to give it up.
  5. a pastime or idea that energizes you when you get to share it with others.

What does it matter what your passion is? Why bother answering these tough questions?

Well it turns out you are likely to be more successful throughout life if you allow yourself to work at something you are passionate about. Curt Rosengren says passion will fuel your success and he tells us why.

Passion is a renewable resource. Doing work that comes from the heart of who you are and what you’re drawn to energizes you. And that is energy you can put into doing the hard work of success.Success in your career doesn’t come with a snap of the fingers. It takes time. It takes effort. It takes commitment. Above all, it takes the energy and inspiration to make it all happen.

Curt feels so strongly about the subject that he calls himself a Passion Catalyst and has made his own career out of helping others figure out their passions.

But here’s the best part about finding your passion and letting yourself focus there. Not only are you likely to make more money because passion pays, but you will be happier too.

Again Curt tells us that to Focus on Money, Prestige, Success is a Recipe for Unhappiness.

So there you have it. Finding your passion can make you rich and happy. And now you’ve even got some pointers on how to get started working out what your passion really is.

All and all a good day.

Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS Feed.

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
post

Exercise is a Pain

May 25, 2006 By Leave a Comment

Exercise is such a pain. Why is that?

I mean the best part of working out is finishing, at least in my book. I’ve never been one of those guys who loves spending hours each day at the gym.

My idea of a work out involves not getting a good parking place.

Am I alone in this? Looking around America, I don’t think so. We seem to be getting heftier, don’t we?

We had a friend visit from Australia a while back who said, “I’ve never seen so many obese children as you have here in America.”

And she’s not wrong.

My challenge here is one of priority, I think. I’d rather sit in front of this computer than go down to the YMCA and get on a machine. I know part of that is convenience. If the Y was in my back bedroom I might be more inclined to actually get on a machine.

I stress “might” because I also know the reality is the lack of convenience is just an excuse. And when I’m looking for an excuse, any excuse will do. I could just as easily say I don’t go to the Y much because it is near the airport. Or the TV’s are too loud. Or the A/C is too high (or too low). Or they don’t serve coffee.

The truth is I could pick any excuse because it doesn’t even matter. What I claim, my excuse, is not really why I don’t work out. I don’t work out because I don’t want to work out. I mean I want all the benefits of consistent exercise, health, stamina, looking good, and all that. But I don’t want it enough to actually pay the price, which involves an investment of time and effort. I prioritize it so low that it rarely actually happens.

Our nation is so wealthy that we seem to be able to afford to not do a whole bunch of things these days, exercise included. So many of us are unwilling to put in the work required to excel that we end up living lives of quietly despairing mediocrity.

I remember a quote from Finian’s Rainbow when Sharon asks Finian if there are any poor people in America. He answers something like, “Yes, but they are the richest poor people in the world.”

And how true that is.

I can see a good side to this trend, though. With so few people actually exerting the effort required to excel these days, it means that we really don’t have to do all that much extra to stand out. As the saying goes, it only takes a little extra to change ordinary to extraordinary.

Even so, I still canceled my Y membership yesterday. I just wasn’t getting a good return on my investment.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS Feed.

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: , , , ,
post

What is Life?

May 24, 2006 By 7 Comments

Yesterday in my talk about heroes I mentioned that Jesus told us we have an enemy whose only purpose is to “steal and kill and destroy.” Did you click on the link to the verse where Jesus told us that? If not, take a look.

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.

Jesus said everything He did – the teaching, miracles, healing people, his horrific execution, and world changing resurrection – was for one reason only: to give people life.

That statement begs a question.

What is Life?

Only three little one syllable words, yet the question is huge. So big in fact that I’m not going to pretend to give a definitive answer to it. And I want to hear what you have to say about it. Go ahead and leave a comment at the end of this post with your thoughts.

At the same time, if this is really a blog of “practical life philosophy,” then we ought to look at the question of Life, eh?

Is life simply the sum of our biological function? I mean Jesus did heal a whole bunch of physical maladies. Even so, that seems like a pretty small view of the term. I’m sure the theologians would holler, “Wait! Wait! There’s more to life than that.”

The thing is we humans seem to somehow be “aware”. We know we exist, and yet we question that existence. What other living thing on this planet does that? Why are we different that way, then?

Why is it all of us deep down have a similar craving to be healthy, happy and rich? Is that what it means to be fully alive?

I recently had a conversation where I said that I believe communication is one of the fundamental keys to life. Because without communication there are no relationships. Without relationships life is pretty pointless.

But is Life simply the sum of our relationships? That may not be the whole enchilada, but I really think we are on to something now.

It makes sense in terms of what Jesus said about His motivations. Did he come to help us with our relationships? Was He kind of like a cosmic, all knowing version of Dr. Phil?

While that question is a bit simplistic, and may even be seen as blasphemous by some, I don’t think it is all that wide of the mark.

Read through the things that Jesus has to say. He is consistently beating the same drum. He talks almost exclusively about our relationships, both with God and with each other.

Jesus summed up what was most important to us this way:

Jesus replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Jesus said the Life He came to give was all about relationships.

That’s my take. Share yours. Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts.

Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS Feed.

Filed Under: Jesus, Life Tagged With: , , ,
post

We Need More Heroes

May 23, 2006 By 3 Comments

A friend of mine just got out of the military this week after serving our country {i.e. you and me} for something over 11 years. When I asked him how long he’d been active duty, he rattled off the exact years, months, weeks, days and hours.

Do you think wearing the uniform was a big deal to him?

I think he’s a hero. But he probably doesn’t look at it that way. He feels he was just doing his job. Of course doing that job meant spending years in Iraq over multiple deployments during both a war and an “insurrection” which is just as deadly dangerous as a war.

Here’s the thing that blows me away, especially when I read all the junk the news media pumps out about Iraq day after day: One of the options he is seriously considering is going back over there as a civilian contractor for a while.

Now I know the money is pretty good. But quite frankly it would have to be pretty stinking outrageous to tempt most folks to go over there. Um, people have a tendency to blow up and stuff. I’m not sure how much money is worth the risk of getting blown up.

So I don’t think it is just the money that would get him back there if that’s what he decides. I think he truly is a hero. And that’s a good thing in my book.

We need more heroes. We need more folks to make the difficult choices, and be willing to actually sacrifice something to help make this world a better place.

Does that mean you have to fight a war? No, not necessarily. But it does mean that you have to stand for something worthwhile, good and supporting of your fellow man. And whenever you actually take a stand for something, it most likely will involve a fight.

Because there is an enemy out there that doesn’t want you or anyone else to stand for anything remotely good. Jesus said that enemy’s sole purpose was to “steal and kill and destroy.” Paul told believers to

Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil.

There’s a real war going on all around us right now as you read this. All that hurt and heartache that you see around you and in the news is simply mass casualties from that war.

What this world needs is a whole bunch of heroes who are armored-up and standing firm against the enemy. We need more warriors who are willing to put it all on the line, pay whatever sacrifice is needed, to take a stand for truth and for justice for those who can’t fight for themselves.

There has been a fun Superhero Quiz going around lately. I’ve had a good time with it.

But my question is this: are we going to be content to just be pretend heroes? Or are we going to actually strap on the armor and get in the fight for real?

Oh, and Aaron – no matter which way you decide to go career-wise at this point, you are already a hero in my eyes.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS Feed.

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: , , , ,
post

Sleep Deprivation Experiment #748 Complete

May 22, 2006 By 2 Comments

Well we successfully made it through this week’s sleep deprivation experiment. I managed to get through it without driving off the road, making any technical blunders, or getting short with anyone. (Although I did have one minor issue with my camera at 3 AM on Sunday morning…)

This time we added a twist to the experiment. I really didn’t have to work all that many hours this weekend. They just all happened to be at night. And I learned something.

I must be getting older. (Oh, there’s a shocker!)

It used to be my motto was “Anytime – Anywhere.”

Now obviously that motto wasn’t original with me. Google the two words and you get nearly 50 million hits. Some of them I’m sure you don’t want to click, if you know what I mean.

But when I was younger that pretty much summed up where I could sleep if I decided to. Sleep was never a challenge for me. My dad would probably tell you that I acquired that skill at an early age. I remember a little friction many of my teenaged mornings when he insisted I get up before I was awake.

My time in the Navy only reinforced that special ability. Spend 6 months with your bed about 10 feet directly underneath JBD number 4 and you’ll be able to sleep through a hurricane. (Check out How Aircraft Carriers Work if you want to know what a JBD is.) Heck, I even slept strapped in an ejection seat. More than once! (Makes you feel safe, doesn’t it, knowing folks on the pointy end of the spear might be asleep on the job!)

Of course I still remember the noise sequence of a typical launch.

First there is the relatively quite jet engine noise of the plane taxiing into place. Then there’s the whine of the hydraulic motors lifting the JBD behind the plane which ends in two dull thuds followed by four loud clicks of the locking pins being driven home. Next you have a rush of the seawater surging through the cooling pipes. Shortly after that the whole room will start to shake as the plane runs up to full power, but can’t yet go anywhere. Then after a few seconds, the shooter will fire the catapult and the engine noise rushes away forward. The sea water stops. The four pins click and unlock. The hydraulics whine as they lower the JBD. Finally there’s the two dull thuds as the JBD comes back to rest on the deck.

The whole process takes about 2 minutes and then starts again.

I remember all that from 1992!

But my point is that I never had any trouble sleeping through that insane racket. Yet this weekend, in a very quiet house, with the boys not bothering me at all (they were very good), I couldn’t sleep more than a couple hours during the day. And this even though I was totally exhausted!

Why does getting older have to mean having trouble sleeping? I’m not digging this aging process!!

Hope you have a great day and sleep well tonight.

Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS Feed.

Filed Under: Sleep Tagged With: , , ,
post

On Planting and Harvesting

May 20, 2006 By Leave a Comment

I had a conversation with a friend of mine a couple of days back. My friend was getting discouraged about doing some good things that involved being especially nice to folks and not really seeing much back in return.

It prompted me to go on a bit of a rant.

Planting and Harvesting

I’m sure most you have heard of the principle of planting and harvesting (sometimes called sowing and reaping by the old schoolers out there). It seems to be a universal principle that you will always harvest what you plant in time.

The principle obviously works in agriculture. You can’t plant corn seed in a field and harvest wheat after those seeds mature. To get wheat, you have to plat wheat.

The Bible says it this way:

“Don’t be misled. Remember that you can’t ignore God and get away with it. You will always reap what you sow!”

And the principle holds true in other realms too. Down in Jacksonville last night (actually I guess it was this morning) one of the guys in the office had John Tesh on the radio. John was talking about some study or other that showed people who were generally nice and had senses of humor tended to be healthier overall than people who worried and were selfish.

Sure the results of the study may seem obvious. But this is another example of the planting/harvesting principle. If you are friendly, then most people will be friendly back to you. Doing nice things for others lowers your stress levels and helps you stay healthier.

And while it’s true that you will harvest what you plant in time, the challenges of the principle are twofold.

First, people tend to want to leave of the “in time” part of the equation. They forget that the farmer has to wait along time after he plants his crop, time spent working like a dog tending his fields, before he finally gets to the harvest. They think the principle is invalid if they don’t harvest as soon as they get the seed covered with dirt. How silly!

Here’s a Bible’s take on that one:

So don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.

Another thing that is true about the life principle of planting and harvesting, and this is much less obvious, is that you often don’t harvest from the same fields that you planted in.

For example, I have helped bunches of my friends move. And, as a result of the planting/harvesting principle, whenever I’ve moved I have always had plenty of help lifting furniture. But it is rarely the same people helping as I helped, mostly because one of us isn’t in the same spot because we’ve moved!

I shouldn’t be frustrated with Jim-Bob because he didn’t personally return the favor to me. The help will still come, just from another quarter.

It’ll come because the planting/harvesting principle still holds. What goes around comes around, eventually.

The last thing I want to point out about the planting/harvesting principle is that the size of your harvest is directly related to how much seed you plant.

Once again I go back to what the Bible says on the subject:

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

A Recap

What do we know about the principle of planting and harvesting?

  • The principle is universal (even if you don’t believe it!)
  • The harvest takes time to appear
  • The harvest often comes from a different field than the seed was planted in
  • The size of the harvest is directly related to the amount of seed planted.

That about sums it up.

Choose your seed well. Plant lots of it. Be patient. And expect the harvest because it is coming!

Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS Feed.

Filed Under: Principles Tagged With: , , , , ,
« Older Posts