road trip

Life is in many ways akin to a road trip. We have a destination (whether or not we know it), we take certain roads to lead us there, and we go through a series of states - some longer than others, some more exciting than others.

Going through a big, empty state can be boring, and even painful - you can't wait till you get to a more lively state where you can begin to really enjoy it. But perhaps it's best not to get too anxious about getting to the next state line. Maybe if we explored our current state, we would be able to appreciate it for what it really is, and get the most out of it.

you were an island, and i passed you by
when you were an island to discover

picking up the fruits

Saw this in passing today:

"I think that if you shake the tree, you ought to be around when the fruit falls to pick it up."

I often think of the many times I've labored so much in something, only to find that my labor has been in vain. I shake the tree a few times, nothing falls, and I move on. But success in anything comes only in perseverance, consistency, determination. Thus we are to keep shaking the tree, till it finally gives in and shows the fruits that it's hiding so high. Indeed, the higher the fruit, the longer it will take to fall. It is no surprise then that the trees reaching up to heaven will take what seems to be an eternity for its fruits to finally reach the earth.

is that common sense peeking through?

In the New York Times no less. Interesting how the guy who wrote the article is not white - nor is it surprising. I guess white people get their life wisdom from "Friends" and "Sex & the City."

who throws a shoe...

...honestly?

the case for naivete

I may not be the most perceptive person in the world, but my gut is usually right when an action is made from ulterior motives. But I've realized lately that sometimes, you need to give the other person the benefit of the doubt, for a few reasons.

Primarily, if you deal with someone thinking of their ulterior motives, you're likely to treat them differently, and that in turn will make them treat you differently. All from a "gut" feeling. Also, even if they are acting out of ulterior motives, persisting in kindness is not a manifestation of weakness or stupidity. Perhaps pretending to be naive is not such a bad thing in cases where you think someone else has other plans when they're being nice to you.

"find your happy place"

This is in response to this article.

People seem to be so anxious to find a peaceful getaway. Here, they are willing to find happiness in sweeping floors and doing other self-satisfying service. But the major problem here is that they are doing all of these things to make themselves happy. They're not sweeping the floor to help someone else; they're doing it to relieve stress. Such "zen" can only be temporary.

It seems that people try so hard to find something they're missing when it's right there breathing in their face. No need to go to upstate New York and try the newest trend to find peace. Peace has been around for an eternity. This new wave of "zen" and "karma" is just common wisdom of the day that is sure to fade. It's almost a type of consumerism, and it seems that there are many willing buyers out there who so desperately need to buy their peace in the latest book or yoga lesson. It will come and go, take different forms, but it will never be the everlasting peace.

I think this sums it up:

One need not look so far to find peace. It's much closer than you think.

full faith

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:5-8

use your time wisely

In the spirit of giving advice that I don't follow myself, here's something I heard Will Smith say that was pretty interesting. He said if you run every day, and read every day, then you're good to go in life. I would add pray to that. So pray, read, and run. I don't run, but maybe one day

for those taking exams

Commit your works to the LORD,
And your thoughts will be established.
--Proverbs 16:3

love is not a victory march...

...it's a cold and it's a broken 'hallelujah'

out of right field

Looking at past experience, I think it's fair to say that the best things in life are usually totally and completely unexpected (so are the worst, but I'd rather not focus on that right now). Too often, we wait for something to happen to make us happy. But I barely know what's going to happen in 10 minutes for me to base my mood on a future event that will almost definitely not happen the way I thought it would anyway.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
--Philippians 4:6

Soon, life will be a jigsaw falling into place. It might not be the picture you wanted, but then again, since when does anyone know what they want?

take a lesson from me
don't get stuck on a dream

deer readers,

i hit a deer on the way home today. before all two of you get too excited, everything's okay. i'm too exhausted to go into the details, but it happened something like this:

left, right, and all the grays inbetween

There are two obvious extremes when it comes to passion. There is the overly "rational" and passionless human being, and the irrationally passionate human being. Somewhere inbetween, there is a balance that I will eternally strive to find.

The overly rational will tend to see things very objectively. He realizes that the minority of issues in life are black/white. But the obvious danger is that, for this individual, things become less clearly "right" or "wrong." Over-rationalizing a situation makes it exceedingly difficult to find which side is right. An overly rational man will see two similar houses and realize that there are pros and cons to each, and will want to determine each's square footage, yardage, metrics, acreage, tonnage. Without consulting one's "gut" (heart), such a decision can be achingly painful.

Passion, on the other hand, can be an extremely powerful thing. Indeed, crimes of passion are often mitigated because it is understood that, for a moment in time, rationality was entirely ignored. I admire such passionate people, because it reflects something I often find missing in myself. But passion without reason is fatal. One who is going to be so passionate must be absolutely certain (probably by asking other less-biased people) that he is right. St. Paul was passionate about God. Before his transformation, he was passionately killing Christians, knowing for a fact that he was doing God's will. Nothing short of divine revelation would have convinced him otherwise.

When different personalities clash, it is often because each accentuates the other's flaws. Yet when we put our flaws aside, and accentuate instead the other's strengths, it becomes possible to change the world in an incredibly positive manner. A group of twelve men, each different from the one next to him, was able to turn the world upside-down despite - or perhaps only due to - their differing views and personalities.

The power of a group of individuals who are willing to put aside their pride can lift each other up in a way that can hardly be overstated.

on prayer

Because I am utterly unqualified to speak on this topic, here is one take on prayer:

The very question 'Does prayer work?' puts us in the wrong frame of mind from the outset. 'Work': as if it were magic, or a machine - something that functions automatically. Prayer is either a sheer illusion or a personal contact between embryonic, incomplete persons (ourselves) and the utterly concrete Person. Prayer in the sense of petition, asking for things, is a small part of it; confession and penitence are its threshold, adoration its sanctuary, the presence and vision and enjoyment of God its bread and wine. In it God shows Himself to us. That He answers prayers is a corollary - not necessarily the most important one - from that revelation. What He does is learned from what He is.
--CS Lewis, The Business of Heaven (Readings for the Year, November 16).

Here's a take on the relationship of free will and God's will when it comes to prayer:

'God', said Pascal, 'instituted prayer in order to lend to His creatures the dignity of causality.'
He seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures. He commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what He could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an eye. He allows us to neglect what He would have us do, or to fail. Perhaps we do not fully realize the problem, so to call it, of enabling finite free wills to co-exist with Omnipotence. It seems to involve at every moment almost a sort of divine abdication. We are not mere recipients or spectators. We are either privileged to share in the game or compelled to collaborate in the work, 'to wield our little tridents'. Is this amazing process simply Creation going on before our eyes? This is how (no light matter) God makes something - indeed, makes Gods - out of nothing.
--CS Lewis, The Business of Heaven (Readings for the Year, November 17).

as if a glass could contain the sea

I've been guilty lately of trying to analyze my life through the lens of the earthly eye. It hasn't been working very well for me. Here are some alternate views on the topic:

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
--God.

It's like the sun swallowed up by the earth
like atomic bombs in reverse
as if a glass could contain the sea...
--The Afters

A puddle repeats infinity, and is full of light; nevertheless, if analyzed objectively, a puddle is a piece of dirty water spread very thin on mud. The two great historic universities of England have all this large and level and reflective brilliance. Nevertheless, or, rather, on the other hand, they are puddles--puddles, puddles, puddles, puddles.
--Chesterton

While we are encouraged to reflect on the infinite, we should never expect to fully grasp it. I believe the same concept carries into the reflection on one's life.

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
--Romans 13:1-7

the hollow statue

One of America's greatest blessings is its love of freedom and liberty. Indeed, this great country was founded upon freedom and independence from its motherland. At the same time, I'm beginning to think that this liberty has become one of America's greatest curses. Liberty seems to have shifted from a means to an end in itself.

We are told to live as "free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice." But that's exactly what is happening. Evil has put on the cloak of liberty, and the guise seems to be working very well. People are using liberty as an excuse to advance whatever ulterior motives they have--and the general American population buys it willingly.

But to what end? What is backwards is now called right, and what is crooked is now straight. Evil is cloaked in the word "choice." It has gotten to the point where we can now take another's life because sustaining that life would be "too expensive." But who am I to tell you what to do? It's your freedom.

It's _____'s way now
There is no way out
You can scream and you can shout
It is too late now
Because

YOU HAVE NOT BEEN PAYING ATTENTION.

all eyes on you

There are one of two things you probably want to do right now. You either want to:

1. get drunk and celebrate; or
   
2. get drunk and forget.
   

Obama won, get over it. But the question becomes, "what now?" I'm sorry to break it to you, but come January 2009, not very much will change. The sky won't rain gold, but it won't fall down either. Once this popularity contest settles down, the two extremes -- I hope -- will come back to the middle. Then the real fun begins -- we'll finally get to see what our new president actually stands for.

The problem today is that we put our faith in people. We have shifted from putting our faith in things above to putting our faith in those among us who promise the world. As I saw all the young liberals in Obama's crowd who were moved to tears by Obama's win, I couldn't help but think of how naive and bright-eyed they must be. They are convinced that "change" is right around the corner. They hold hopelessly optimistic dreams -- that health care will be free to everyone; that poverty will disappear; that liberty will be given the highest priority. These educated but inexperienced young people have so much heart and passion. Too bad they can't see that it's often not in the right place.

clearly ambiguous

As the election draws near, I have been thinking a lot about my own position. Yet the more I think of it, the more torn I am. The problem with the bipartisan system is that you must necessarily choose one or the other. One must force himself into either a square or a rhombus hole, even if you happen to be a triangular peg. Even more difficult is that Christianity doesn't fit easily into either. In my opinion, if Christianity were to become its own political party, it would be right-leaning on social/moral issues and left-leaning on economic and taxation issues.

Social conservatism and Christianity strongly overlap; the two are mostly in agreement with respect to marriage, divorce, homosexuality and abortion. But not the whole of conservatism is in agreement with Christianity. When it comes to taxation, the conservative tends to take the view of "every man for himself." The conservative says "I worked hard for my money, so why should I have to give it back?" Thus, the safety nets like health insurance are to be kept to a bare minimum. But this is a tricky issue. In an ideal world, people should be giving anyway. Unfortunately, they don't. In a secular society, then, there has to be some way to ensure that those who need assistance get it (with limitations on abuse, of course).

Likewise, conservatives believe that the market economy should be kept free and government regulation kept to a minimum. The problem, of course, is greed. Without regulation and enforcement, greed is bound to take hold of major corporations whose sole purpose it is to increase its wealth and size. This focus on profits necessarily leads to a disregard of morality. Even Greenspan - a strong advocate of free markets - has conceded his grave error.

In short, certain aspects of conservatism work in an ideal world - where people willingly give to the poor, use guns only for self-protection, and corporate greed is nonexistant. But such idealism is a fantasy and is downright dangerous.

the trouble with prosperity

The trouble with prosperity, wrote one Wall Street analyst, is that it is necessarily temporary. James Grant, one of Wall Street’s wisest commentators, theorized a model of “economic predestination” based on human behavior. Prosperity tends to breed overconfidence, which often leads to brash and risky behavior. When the economy is booming, Grant would be wary of a certain downfall to come. Egos often inflate quicker than the market, which eventually leads to a market correction. Likewise, crises encourage realism – a back-to-basics approach of how to handle a particular problem and emerge from it. In short, Grant theorized that when times are prosperous, the outlook will soon get worse; but in dismal times, one should expect to soon see the silver lining.

I think today's woes are a microcosm (or macrocosm?) of the cycle of life in individuals. Those who are living the life and rolling the dice now should be cautious. A good life often leads to sloppiness, idleness, and satisfaction with the status quo. But for those of us who are in some sort of personal recession, things are looking bright.

See the bird with a leaf in her mouth

After the flood all the colors came out

the trouble with prosperity

The trouble with prosperity, wrote one Wall Street analyst, is that it is necessarily temporary. James Grant, one of Wall Street’s wisest commentators, theorized a model of “economic predestination” based on human behavior. Prosperity tends to breed overconfidence, which often leads to brash and risky behavior. When the economy is booming, Grant would be wary of a certain downfall to come. Egos often inflate quicker than the market, which eventually leads to a market correction. Likewise, crises encourage realism – a back-to-basics approach of how to handle a particular problem and emerge from it. In short, Grant theorized that when times are prosperous, the outlook will soon get worse; but in dismal times, one should expect to soon see the silver lining.

I think that is a microcosm (or macrocosm?) of the cycle of life in individuals. Those who are living the life and rolling the dice now should be cautious. A good life often leads to sloppiness, idleness, and satisfaction with the status quo. But for those of us who are in some sort of personal recession, things are looking bright.

See the bird with a leaf in her mouth

After the flood all the colors came out

a fine line

The commandment not to worry about tomorrow is one of the most beautiful

a fine line

After hearing the commandment "do not worry about tomorrow,

A man’s heart plans his way,
But the LORD directs his steps.

be angry

One of the virtues I admire most about children is that one can be so angry at the other, to the point where one wants to kill the other - but 10 minutes later, they've both forgotten the whole matter, laughing and playing as if it never happened. For whatever reason, though, we lose this as adults. People grow up to hold grudges. Pride paralyzes us. Our memories become our enemies.

"'Be angry, and do not sin': do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil."
--Paul the Apostle, quoting King David. Eph 4:26.

It's quite possibly one of the oddest commandments I've ever read - but I've realized recently why it's so crucial to be angry. My best work is often performed during periods of anger and passion. This is not uncommon. In advising new comedians on how they should perform their act, experienced ones will often advise them not to think of what makes them laugh, but rather what makes them angry; those tend to be the best acts.

When one is angry, one is necessarily sincere; few people can successfully fake anger. Anger is irrational - it comes from the heart. It is therefore crucial to examine what the heart holds; what makes it angry, and what doesn't, and adjust accordingly. We are permitted - and indeed commanded - to become angry with evil. One who isn't angry when their beliefs are under fire holds a degree of apathy. One who is angry all the time is likely self-centered. Somewhere between those two extremes lies the proper dosage of anger.

Once we've figured out the dosage, we need to figure out how to apply it. We are not to use it to protect our own pride. It's often said that "X will get you in a mess, pride will keep you there." It's refusing to turn around when the signs unequivocally say "you're going the wrong way, idiot." Thus, the second part of the verse is just as crucial as the first. Like children, we should get angry, but once we cool down, we must rid ourselves of it entirely.

the unexamined life

It's often a good idea to take a step back, remove yourself from the continuum of time [if even for 5 solid minutes], and sit in silence to think about where your life is heading.

Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established.
-Proverbs 4:26

But in establishing your ways:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
-Proverbs 3:5-6

on frankness

There are two extremes when it comes to being honest with people. There is the overly frank, to the point of being unnecessarily rough, and there is the one who we'll call overly "kind" and refuses to point out the other person's flaws for any reason.

Pope Shenouda addresses extreme frankness;

You want to be sincere in defending the Truth. But your frankness often hurts people, they become upset and take a stand against you.
You ought to speak gently and wisely, with consideration for the feelings of others, as our Lord spoke to the Samaritan woman, so that he won her soul without hurting her (John 4).
-Pope Shenouda's Experiences in Life

and the other extreme, insincerity:

This hypocrite who speaks different from what is in his heart - his looks reveal him, as the eye is often the mirror of the heart which shows all his feelings. The features of his face or the tones of his voice could disclose him. The spiritual man is simple-hearted and does not conceal other than what he shows.

He is an open man, and what he says is what is in his heart. If he praises someone, he trusts him in his heart. If he apologizes, his apology truly comes out of his heart. Another may apologize, but his apology is not accepted because it does not come out of the heart.
-Pope Shenouda's Spiritual Man

Pope Shenouda writes:

One of his brother monks offended him very deeply so that he
came and said to me: “Should I go and tell him off ! “
So I said to him, “If his conscience is alive he will come of his
own accord to apologise to you. Otherwise there is no use in
telling him off. It will probably make this end up worse.
However, if he is really ignorant of the seriousness of what he
has done, it would be better for a third party to intercede
between you in this matter, to explain to him the extent of his
offence.
Whatever the case, it is better for you to wait, and who knows,
you might be lucky enough to forget him and forget his
offence!”

where the light is

One of the most embarrassing feelings known to human kind is being in the dark about something. When you're later enlightened about your misconception, you realize how foolish you were for saying something or acting in a certain way while in your ignorant state.

It's a lot like being angry for someone for driving slowly, then later learning that the driver was in fact a father who had just come back from the hospital and was bringing his newborn child home for the first time. Or like yelling at the young man behind the counter for counting too slowly when in fact he has a mental disability. Or like making fun of someone's parents only to realize they're deceased (that always happens).

Thus, one can say that most disagreements simply arise out of lack of information. Two sides have differing information, but they think the root of their disagreement is that the other person has poor judgment and poor values. Yet in fact, most people would likely share opinions if they had the same information. To get two people into agreement, you need to determine where the information gap is and fill it. Instead, what often happens is that the two sides attack each other on more superficial grounds, and one or both sides leave just as uninformed and determined as they came in.

And that is why St. Paul reminds us to speak the truth in love. Instead of attacking, we are to enlighten. It is our duty.

Have you ever been stuck in traffic, a“Have you ever been in traffic behind someone who
doesn’t move when the light turns green, so you honk your

“Most disagreements are like my example. Two people
have different information, but they think the root of their
disagreement is that the other person has bad judgment or
bad manners or bad values. In fact, most people would share
your opinions if they had the same information. If you
spend your time arguing about the faultiness of other people’s
opinions, you waste your time and theirs. The only relationships
thing than can be useful is examining the differences in your
assumptions and adding to each other’s information. Sometimes
that is enough to make viewpoints converge over time.”

Lately, I've been having trouble just sitting quietly and meditating.

Whatever things are true,
whatever things are noble,
whatever things are just,
whatever things are pure,
whatever things are lovely,
whatever things are of good report,
if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—
meditate on these things.

beautiful indifference

I woke up to a perfect day. 77, sunny and clear, with the smell of fresh cut grass in the air. The rabbits were playing in the yard, the birds were chirping, and that stupid squirrel still couldn't make up its mind about which way to go. Just another beautiful day.

While driving on my favorite backroads with the windows down, and the breeze just perfect, I decided to do something I now regret. I turned on the radio.

Today, the markets plummeted to historic lows. The U.S. debt is officially off the charts. Job security is an oxymoron. Every commentator has something to say about the "disaster."

Yet it seems that no matter what is going on in the world, the world itself hardly seems to care. Everything goes on as usual. The sun, believe it or not, will probably rise tomorrow. The grass will still grow, and the stars probably won't fall anytime soon. In short, all our problems, significant or not, collectively or individually, are just another drop in the ocean of history. But somehow we humans like to make our small problems become so big. While a third of the world's population starves tonight, we worry about a number on the boards.

One must realize his own unimportance before he can appreciate and understand his true importance.

Needless to say, I ignored the radio today. I switched to my iPod and drove on.

I worry
I weigh three times my body
I worry
I throw my fear around
But this morning, there's a calm I can't explain . . .

why america's youth love obama

Here's an important question: if one were to run an ad that encouraged the youth to vote, whose cause would it help? It is becoming increasingly clear that the liberals will overwhelmingly reap the benefits of a youthful vote.

Today's youth is bombarded with ultra-liberal views from a pre-pubescent age. I would have no problem with it if people were actually given a neutral set of choices, debated and discussed it, and chose a stance. Instead what we see are children being taught from a very young age that one's rights are more important than what's right. If it feels right, do it, so long as it comports with some vague societal standard that shifts from one generation to the next. The problem with blind liberalism, then, is not simply that there's no moral compass, it is that most adherents can't see why they even need one in the first place.

Liberalism is concerned with rights at the cost of morality. The liberal is constantly worried about his rights being infringed upon, never for a moment examining whether enforcing his right is the moral thing to do. He'll do anything to get what's fair, but maybe that's not what he really needs. Besides, who's moral values, and what moral values are we supposed to enforce in a secular society? The religious person is ready with an answer, but I often wonder what the agnostic/atheist has to say about morality. I would tell that person to look within himself to find the answer, but I'd be afraid that they have never thought about it seriously enough to give an answer.

The problem, then, is that these people often give the appearance of intelligence, societal progressivism, and elitism. Yet it's all an empty shell; nothing is holding up those beliefs other than self-interest. A conservative is criticized for being stagnant and for going against social progress. True, some conservatives may be very close-minded. But a true conservative will do not what is popular by today's standards, but by what is right under some form of objective moral guidepost that won't change in 10 years.

I pray that those well-educated conservatives can offer their views upon today's increasingly one-sided society so that at the very least, liberals can be given the chance to make an educated decision between at least two viable alternatives.

what are you waiting for?

i often hear people say that when X condition is fulfilled, life will be so much better. in a way, it's waiting for something: happiness, stability, peace, freedom. whatever it is, it's something that we hang our hope and our trust on to fill that need.

after years of waiting
nothing came
as your life flashed before your eyes
you realize
you're looking in the wrong place

i think one of my biggest fears is getting to a point in my life and feeling like it's all been in vain. X, Y, and Z have been fulfilled, but the inside remains the same. like a person who has lived his life in search of something but has in the end failed to find it; a person constantly preparing for something but never quite getting there.

this is the point, then, where i examine what thing or condition i'm putting my hope in. if it's anything earthly, i'm bound to end up like the person above. this is not to say, of course, that i shouldn't want a good life - one would be insane to say that he doesn't mind instability or lack of peace or freedom or whatever. every normal human being wants those things. the question then merely becomes, from where do you seek it?

C.S. Lewis, paraphrasing Matt 6:33, says "aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. aim at earth and you get neither." a true Christian is both hopelessly pessimistic and hopefully optimistic. pessimistic in seeing that nothing on earth will ever satisfy (see, e.g., Ecclessiastes). optimistic in knowing that God will never leave his people in need (see generally, the Bible).

my personal goal, then, is never to focus on one or the other, but to see the picture as a whole.

electioneering

say the right thing when electioneering
'i trust i can rely on your vote'
it's just business

I have to say that I am one of the many people who simply are unhappy with either candidate right now. Obama's ultra-liberal views have never quite meshed with mine, and I therefore can't imagine myself voting for him. But to make matters worse, I feel like he tries so hard to say the "right things" depending on who's listening. Even worse, he resorts to unprofessional remarks [like this] that really make me question his character.

On the other hand, we have McCain, whose somewhat more conservative social views I tend to agree with. Yet because he is a politician, he bothers me just as well. After having Daddy Yankee endorse him, a Republican, as a "fighter" for the Hispanic community, it's hard to take him seriously anymore. But even more than him, it is his party that I have an issue casting my vote for.

The corruption of the Republican party is not, in my opinion, offset by their conservative social views. While some may not see it, today's dire economic circumstances are deeply rooted in greed and moral depravity. McCain has stated that he's "always for less regulation" when it comes to the economy. Great - look where that got us today. What possible good was he trying to further here, besides his party's own pecuniary interests? To make matters worse, he supported all those government bailouts that put the burden on the middle class. Essentially, the corrupt Republican wants to privatize the profits and socialize the losses. Instead of putting the burden on those who caused this mess, he shifts it to the responsible taxpayer. Oh, and he refuses to raise taxes for the upper class, who in all likelihood were profiting when the markets were up at our expense.

How about the 2005 Bankruptcy code amendments which Bush and his Grand Ol' Party passed? There is no doubt that the credit card companies really won this one. Yes, the reckless banks who were lending money by the shipload to people who make no income, charging them 30% interest, then pillaging them for all they have once they can't even afford to file for bankruptcy due to the new code's protections to the credit card companies. It is total disregard for morality at its finest.

I know how I feel about both candidates. I wouldn't vote for either of them if I had an actual choice. But I don't. It's one or the other. A vote for an independent would not only be a waste, but it would actually be a vote against either McCain or Obama. If Obama wins, I would have furthered that win by not voting for McCain (bracketing for a moment the extreme unlikelihood that my vote even matters in an uber-democratic state). Even if I could find an independent candidate that I 100% agreed with, a vote for him would be a vote for Obama.

Thus, I will be forced to choose the lesser of two evils. It is a shame that it has come down to this.

the unknown

Who can understand his errors?

Cleanse me from secret faults.

-Psalm 19:12

house of cards

We often hear about the house built on the rock versus the sand.

One can learn a lot about life by looking at today's economic conditions. Without getting too technical, the economy is in a mess because of one basic reason: people were investing in financial instruments that were either overpriced or worthless (click if you care). Essentially, people hung their hopes on these inherently worthless contracts, and when the bubble that was filling with too much air finally burst, the infrastructure made of air collapsed.

I bring this up because I think of how often I hang my hopes on thin air. I often catch myself guaging my happiness based on external factors. In other words, my level of happiness becomes a direct result of outside influences rather than inner peace. Yet I know that to have any sort of stability, I necessarily cannot rely on anything the world offers. Money cannot be my foundation, despite the idea that "money makes the world go 'round." Nor can my health, intelligence, friends, or even family. These things, while all good, should not be my foundation.

Let me anticipate a major objection here. One could rightly point out

Humility

Center on Principles

Stephen R. Covey

February 1994

Real character development begins with the humble recognition that we are not in charge, that principles ultimately govern. I don't talk much about ethics and values because to me those words imply situational behaviors, subjective beliefs, social mores, cultural norms, or relative truths. I prefer to talk about universal principles and natural laws that are more absolute. You may think that it's just a matter of semantics and that when most people talk about values they really mean these universal principles. But I see a clear difference between principles and values. Hitler was value-driven; Saddam Hussein is value-driven. Every person and organization is driven by what they value, bt they aren't necessarily ethical or principle-centered.

The Humility of Principles

The key to quality of life is to be centered on principles. We're not in control; principles are in control. We're arrogant when we think we are in control. Yes, we may control our actions, but not the consequences of our actions. Those are controlled by principles, by natural laws. Building character and creating quality of life is a function of aligning our beliefs and behaviors with universal principles. These principles are impersonal, external, factual, objective, and self-evident. They operate regardless of our awareness of them, or our obedience to them.

If your current lifestyle is not in alignment with these principles, then you might trade a value-based map for a principle-centered compass. When you recognize that external verities and realities ultimately govern, you might willingly subordinate your values to them and align your roles and goals, plans, and activities with them. But doing so often takes a crisis: your company's downsizing; your job's on the line; your relationship with the boss goes sour; you lose a major account; your marriage is threatened; your financial problems peak; or you're told you have just a few months to live. In the absence of such a catalytic crisis, we tend to live in numbed complacency so busy doing good, easy, or routine things that we don't even stop to ask ourselves if we're doing what really matters. The good, then, becomes the enemy of the best.

Humility is the mother of all virtues: the humble in spirit progress and are blessed because they willingly submit to higher powers and try to live in harmony with natural laws and universal principles. Courage is the father of all virtues; we need great courage to lead our lives by correct principles and to have integrity in the moment of choice. When we set up our own self-generated or socially-validated value systems and then develop our missions and goals based on what we value, we tend to become laws unto ourselves, proud and independent. Pride hopes to impress; humility seeks to bless. Just because we value a thing doesn't mean that having it will enhance our quality of life. No "quality movement" in government, business, or education will succeed unless based on "true north" principles. And yet we see leaders who cling to their current style based on self-selected values and bad habits even as their "ship" is sinking when they could be floating safely on the life raft of principles.

Nothing sinks people faster in their careers than arrogance. Arrogance shouts "I know best." In the uniform of arrogance, we fumble and falter — pride comes and goes before the fall. But dressed in humility, we make progress. As the character Indiana Jones learned in The Last Crusade, "The penitent man will pass." In pride, we often sow one thing and expect to reap another. Many of our paradigms and the processes and habits that grow out of them never produce the results we expect because they are based on illusions, advertising slogans, program-of-the-month training, and personality-based success strategies. Quality of life can't grow out of illusion. So how do we align our lives with "true north" realities that govern quality of life?

Four Human Endowments

As human beings, we have four unique endowments: self-awareness, conscience, independent will, and creative imagination that not only separate us from the animal world, but also help us to distinguish between reality and illusion, to transform the clock into a compass, and to align our lives with the extrinsic realities that govern quality of life. Self-awareness enables us to examine our paradigms, to look at our glasses as well as through them, to think about our thoughts, to become aware of the psychic programs that are in us, and to enlarge the separation between stimulus and response. Self-aware, we can take responsibility for reprogramming or rescripting ourselves out of the stimulus-response mode. Many movements in psychology, education, and training are focused on an enlarged self-consciousness. Most popular self-help literature also focuses upon this capacity. Self-awareness, however, is only one of our unique endowments. Conscience puts us in touch with something within us even deeper than our thoughts and something outside us more reliable than our values. It connects us with the wisdom of the ages and the wisdom of the heart. It's an internal guidance system that allows us to sense when we act or even contemplate acting in a way that's contrary to our deepest values and "true north" principles. Conscience is universal. By helping companies and individuals develop mission statements, I have learned that what is most personal is most general. No matter what people's religions, cultures, or backgrounds are, their mission statements all deal with the same basic human needs to live (physical and financial), to love (social), to learn (educational), and to leave a legacy (spiritual).

Independent will is our capacity to act, the power to transcend our paradigms, to swim upstream, to re-write our scripts, to act based on principles rather than reacting based on emotions, moods, or circumstances. While environmental or genetic influences may be very powerful, they do not control us. We're not victims. We're not the product of our past. We are the product of our choices. We are "response-able," meaning we are able to choose our response. This power to choose is a reflection of our independent will. Creative imagination empowers us to create beyond our present reality. It enables us to write personal mission statements, set goals, plan meetings, or visualize ourselves living our mission statements even in the most challenging circumstances. We can imagine any scenario we want for the future. If our imagination has to go through the straightjacket of our memory, what is imagination for? Memory is limited. It's finite; it deals with the past. Imagination is infinite; it deals with the present and the future, with potentiality, with vision and mission and goals with anything that is not now but can be. The man-on-the-street approach to success is to work harder, to give it the "old college try." But unless willpower is matched with creative imagination, these efforts will be weak and ineffective.

Nurturing Our Unique Gifts

Enhancing these endowments requires us to nurture and exercise them continuously. Sharpening the saw once a week or once a month just isn't enough. It's too superficial. It's like a meal. Yesterday's meal will not satisfy today's hunger. Last Sunday's big meal won't prepare me for this Thursday's ethical challenge. I will be much better prepared if I meditate every morning and visualize myself dealing with that challenge with authenticity, openness, honesty, and with as much wisdom as I can bring to bear on it.

Here are four ways to nurture your unique endowments:

1. Nurture self-awareness by keeping a personal journal. Keeping a personal journal — a daily in-depth analysis and evaluation of your experiences — is a high-leverage activity that increases self-awareness and enhances all the endowments and the synergy among them.

2. Educate your conscience by learning, listening, and responding. Most of us work and live in environments that are rather hostile to the development of conscience. To hear the conscience clearly often requires us to be reflective or meditative, a condition we rarely choose or find. We're inundated by activity, noise, conditioning, media messages, and flawed paradigms that dull our sensitivity to that quiet inner voice that would teach us of "true north" principles and our own degree of congruency with them. I've heard executives say that they can't win this battle of conscience because expediencies require lies, cover-ups, deceit, or game playing. "That's just part of the job," they say. I disagree. I think such rationalization undermines trust within their cultures. If you have back-room manipulation and bad mouthing, you will have a low-trust culture. A life of total integrity is the only one worth striving for. Granted, it's a struggle. Some trusted advisors, PR agents, accountants, and legal counselors might say, "This will be political suicide," or "This will be bad for our image, and so let's cover up or lie." You have to look at each case on its own merit. No case is black and white. It takes real judgment to know what you should do. You may feel that you operate "between a rock and a hard place." Still, with a well-educated conscience or internal compass, you will rarely, if ever, be in a situation where you only have one bad option. You will always have choices. If you wisely exercise your unique endowments, some moral option will be open to you. So much depends on how well you educate your conscience, your internal compass. When my kids were in athletics, they paid the price to get their bodies coordinated with their minds. You've got to do the same with your own conscience regularly. The more internal uncertainty you feel, the larger the grey areas will be. You will always have some grey areas, particularly at the extremity of your education and experience. And to grow, you need to go to that xtremity and learn to make those choices based on what you honestly believe to be the right thing to do.

3. Nurture independent will by making and keeping promises. One of the best ways to strengthen our independent will is to make and keep promises. Each time we do, we make deposits in our personal integrity account the amount of trust we have in ourselves, in our ability to walk our talk. To build personal integrity, start by making and keeping small promises. Take it a step and a day at a time.

4. Develop creative imagination through visualization. Visualization, a high-leverage mental exercise used by world-class athletes and performers, may also be used to improve your quality of life. For example, you might visualize yourself in some circumstance that would normally create discomfort or pain. In your mind's eye, instead of seeing yourself react as you normally do, see yourself acting on the basis of the principles and values in your mission statement. The best way to predict your future is to create it.

Roots Yield Fruits

With the humility that comes from being principle-centered, we can better learn from the past, have hope for the future, and act with confidence, not arrogance, in the present. Arrogance is the lack of self-awareness; blindness; an illusion; a false form of self-confidence; and a false sense that we're somehow above the laws of life. Real confidence is anchored in a quiet assurance that if we act based on principles, we will produce quality-of-life results. It's confidence born sp; of character and competence. Our security is not based on our possessions, positions, credentials, or on comparisons with others; rather, it flows from our own integrity to "true north" principles. I confess that I struggle with total integrity and do not always "walk my talk." I find that it's easier to talk and teach than to practice what I preach. I've come to realize that I must commit to having total integrity to be integrated around a set of correct principles. I've observed that if people never get centered on principles at some time in their lives, they will take the expedient political-social path to success and let their ethics be defined by the situation. They will say, "business is business," meaning they play the game by their own rules. They may even rationalize major transgressions in the name of business, in spite of having a lofty mission statement.

Only by centering on "timeless" principles and then living by them can we enjoy sustained moral, physical, social, and financial wellness.

progression/regression

sometimes i wonder which way we as a human race are going. on the outside, it looks like we're all improving. cars are safer, internet is faster, we're more "connected."

but really, are we as individuals improving? before i had a cell phone, i was a human phone book. before they let us use calculators in school, i could actually do math in my head. and before facebook, i had to use some sort of social skills to talk to people in real life. now, instead of using the brain that God gave me, i rely on machines to do things for me.

i can't put it more eloquently than this:

thy will be done

i often catch myself praying the same prayers over and over. praying daily is a good habit - praying the same prayers every day are not. "when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words." thus, prayer is not about quantity, or about robotically repeating a prayer five (or even seven) times a day. it's definitely good to pray a lot, but if you're just reciting things out of memory or habit with no passion or authenticity, you won't benefit much.

so how must i pray? "when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." therefore i first must shut the door to the distractions. i have to sit in peace because His voice is not broadcast from loudspeakers, but in the "still, small voice." this is why i'm not really a big fan of praying aloud in groups. it is too easy to be focused on what other people are hearing than on what God is hearing in those types of settings. obviously, prayer in groups won't hurt, but it is complementary, not supplementary.

yet i often forget (or don't know) what it even means to ask, seek, and knock. what am i praying for exactly? i guess the answer is, "who cares? you're not expected to know." therefore, i must pray that God's will be done - whatever it is. i must therefore put aside all my needs and wants, and "seek first the kingdom of God," and all these inconsequential and petty distractions will be given to me. as long as i love God, everything will work out for the best.

finally, i have to be real. once i knock down all the walls that the world has forced me to put up, i can truly begin to pray.

perfection is creepy

delusion

recycling

I sarcastically tell him you can try the best you can, the best you can is good enough.

unblemished sacrifice