Being Chased!!!

How many of you have felt chased in your life.
This thought came about as I was chatting with a friend and I remembered the story of King David being chased by Saul.   A great series of passages in the life of two families facing a change in power. Not too far distant from our world. For the Biblical families were slightly dysfunctional.
SO we don't have to lose hope when it comes to having fruitful lives. We are going to face dangers and hardships.

The passages from 1 Samuel 18-21 also feature the great battle that David has to fight with Goliath.

Exploration

T.S. Elliott had a marvelous quote that my cousin John quoted and I wanted to share it with you. 
"We shall not cease from exploration , and at the end of our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."  This really describes the journey of life.  We tend to go in circles sometimes.  This is a cycle.  Of taking the time to return to center and gain much more understanding of what we did not know and to find out how much we still need to learn about.

This aptly describes the NASA space program in which they sent up over 100 shuttles to space and brought them back to earth each time.  Those journeys yielded answers to the questions that they posed but also raised questions at the same time.  And there are those times that the Challenger shuttle did not complete one of their missions successfully when it exploded in mid air 73 seconds into flight and the time Columbia disintegrated upon its landing from one of her missions. But even amid the failure of these two missions, learning went on of how to prevent future disasters and grow, expand and build a base of knowledge.
And it demonstrates that any exploration involves a degree of risk.
Even from disaster, the Challenger has birthed approximately 7 Challenger Learning centers that have taught kids and adults to work in teams and on projects

Our memoir class at the Bridgeport Public Library has been a place where we have been able to talk about memories of where we grew up when we were young.

The hurt and the pain

Life brings some tragic blows on many in this world.

I heard that there was another shooting in Bridgeport this past evening and affected a city Pastor's relative.

This week I attended a healing poetry workshop where we wrote about healing through the power of poetry.  I reacted to several poems and walked around the City Lights Gallery in Bridgeport where there were about 70 artworks from collages to paintings that depicted the violence that people were affected by.

Then I reflect back to when Jesus was on the cross and how he got insults hurled at him and was beaten beyond recognition.  And how he showed courage and love towards his oppressors.  

And I thought of what Jesus must have felt and of how after being with his disciples and followers and the religious establishment in Jerusalem.  For some of them did not get what he was all about.  After all that he had done for them and of how His father created the world and had markers along the way that pointed to Him.

And I fast forward that to today. And of how our society does not always get or understand what we are all about. Yet the miracle is that the Gospel of Jesus still goes out to the world and is changing many lives.

So my challenge to this audience is to reach out and identify with one hurt and pained individual and offer them hope with your words. Just like Jesus did on the cross. And along the dusty roads of Bethlehem.  Without taxi or bus or car.  But on foot and donkey mainly.

It can be done by cold cups of water or just sitting at another's feet or hugging them offering the solace and balm for the soul.  Of Gilead.

God's peace and shalom.

The Journey Home

Mark 8:3 "If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, for some of them have come a long distance." Back in Biblical times, the people did not have Ipods or Macs or PCs to get the scoop on eternal life.
They HAD to walk to hear of the increasing fame and power and love of Jesus.
Jesus wanted to feed them for that long journey back and in Mark 8:8, "the people ate and were satisfied.

" All from those 7 loaves and 5 fish that were given to them.
My challenge tonight is for us to realize that the journey home is ongoing. For we are all seeking something to give us rest, comfort and encouragement through this world.
That is offered through Christ on the journey towards Heaven.
May you find rest and encouragement through that journey of life.

Blessings through the many potholes along the way.

The Temptation Narrative

One of the major themes throughout Scriptures is the temptation narrative.  We have in the book of Genesis the devil coming in the form of the serpent to Adam and Eve questioning them about God.
For God wanted them to rely on Him and not the serpent. It was just Adam and Eve and God vs. the Serpent.
Today the same battle exists for our souls. For the enemy and God are in a wrestling match over who will control us.  For we must surrender to God for the positive outcome.
We have many encouraging Scriptures. One is found in James: Submit to God and the enemy will flee from you.

Before Jesus began his public ministry, He faced the test of the devil.  The devil tried to trick Jesus by offering him the whole world then if he would take the bait of his trickery.  Yet, the enemy did not win for Jesus went to the Scriptures and said often, It is written.  For Jesus was entrusted with the world and did not need to be given it.

And we are offered in the letter to the Corninthians the promise that no temptation has seized us except what is common to man.  And a way out is offered.
So weaved throughout this narrative is the common theme of redemption if we only will take that proper route so we can find peace and joy in the process!!!

Peace be to God for His power is greater than any physical or psychological or metaphysical force put against us!!!!

The lessons of Empowerment

I heard a shocking statement when I listened to the second part of the documentary on PBS, "Half the Sky."  The statement was that talent is universal and opportunity is limited. It is the same in the economic world.  The world has these limited resources but there has to be a way to make these resources available to many through ingenuity and imagination.  It is shocking since these problems have been going on for a long time but the results of progress have been very slow.

In the program, Gloria Steinham provided a quote, "there is progress in the imagination of equality."

It can happen through the involvement of people in their dreams. 

Think back through history of how many pioneers struggled through their challenges to make a difference for the blacks to gain suffrage/voting rights.

The benefit of empowering women is to provide them with a chance to provide for their children to go to school and to have their own business and live in a decent house.

Writing about this is a challenge for me since I don't experience the issues of women since I can not go undercover as one. But as I watched and learned from those going through struggles and saw how progress was being made, I learned more about what empowerment was. I typed much on empowerment but now I have a clearer understanding of what that really is.

So I encourage people to enter into the global dialogue as we help to make the problems fade away.  Then there can be a complete clear blue sky that we can all live underneath.

I welcome a dialogue from readers and writers so we can make lessen the depths of these problems.

Thanks and blessings.

The Hidden Beauty

Today the sky was very beautiful and inviting. I looked out my bedroom window and saw the blue sky with the white puffy clouds.  I went outside and almost could kiss the sky. Yet, its horizon was far off. It was that desire to be able to do that though.

About a month ago, I attended a leadership summit hosted by Willow Creek Community Church.  Its goal is to provide leadership solutions and dialogue to a world that is struggling with economic poverty, justice concerns, education and social change.  Tough issues to solve in one simple solution.
One saying that I heard this morning is that there is no silver bullet to any situation.
Yet to challenge the status quo is extremely important.

That is what Nicholas D. Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn have done.  They chronicled the lives of women in the world that have suffered from traficking, rape and abuse. Words that I normally don't use. Words that are not in my vocabulary.  But words that are in many of the lives of women in this world.
Their story and mission are on PBS on a two day documentary on channel 13 and also at www.pbs.org/halfthesky

This brings me to the thought and teaching of Jesus as he approached the children.  He said in Matthew 19:14, "let these little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."  I can only think back to the documentaries of that underworld of suffering that I see and hear about at mission updates or see on a Unicef commercial.  Not usually a lengthy dialogue of the suffering.

I only wish the world could open its arms the way Jesus did and welcomed the children to himself.  For they deserve that kingdom of God.  And the beauty is that Jesus left His original kingdom and dwelt among us.  And that Word was with God in the beginning too.

So I am at a loss of words of how I can physically change their world. A spreading of awareness, a special prayer maybe.  Or the shedding of a few tears as well.
And maybe just a smile to a girl or woman struggling at school, at home, or in the marketplace.
A place where we can be a world that has all the opportunities to live successful lives.

So when you look outside at the sky, remember to kiss it on your journey. And also remember the other half of the sky, that half-the women- who are fighting for a chance to succeed in this world.

Thank you!
Blessings.

Cooking up a cheerful pot

Good day today.  It rained a lot today causing flooding and the closure of the Milford Post Mall.
I stayed where it was nice and dry. In my room.
I could have left my room but stayed inside instead.

Then I realized I needed to make a recipe to make me feel a little better. Now this did not require 6 bags of groceries to make this recipe.

Ingredients:
Music
Food
Light
Laughter

Now these 4 ingredients qualify for what many cookbooks qualify: How to cook 100 dishes in under 30 minutes with just four ingredients!!!

The first one is music. Often overlooked in my life as I seem to await until I am in the shower with the soap and water running and eyes closed. Then the needle goes to the record and starts playing whatever comes to the surface of the record that has been placed upon the turnstile.

Food. Often sometimes forgotten when one gets in a duldrum of life. Yet, I realize that it is very important to have a good mix of food for one's soul to be extremely happy and contented.

The light which glows from within us is important and also important is the light that shines from outside and from the bulbs that are in our lamp stands and ceiling fixtures.

Laughter is always good and especially with a CD from Bill Cosby can make you laugh at the obvious as it is presented in a whole new light. Especially with 4 year olds learning about the birds and the bees without a formal lesson. You have to listen to the "Wally, Wally" routine to appreciate this humor.


Now crossing over into the spiritual dimension and realm, these four ingredients can apply to our walk in faith.
Our soul appreciates good music and can help us comprehend and carry the important truths that are found in the Scriptures.  It helps sooth any of our hurts and satisfy our longings as we listen to the truths that have had meaning throughout the centuries of time.

Food is what Jesus used often to illustrate his provision and his kingdom.  Jesus fed five thousand with 5 loaves of bread and two fish. Now these were tunas that were caught but small fish.  And fish have many bone in them.  So to make two fish minus all those bones feed 5,000 and still have some left over, that is definitely a MIRACLE.
And food is what Jesus used to display and represent himself. He often called himself the bread of life. And at the last supper, he cemented that image as he celebrated with his 12 disciples that meal, even with one that would betray him at the very end.
And Jesus used a cup of wine, from grapes that get squeezed under pressure and are aged.  To be served when the time is right.

Light is so important for it helps us out of our darkness. It shows the path of how one is to live their lives.  It dispels the darkness and for believers, Scripture states that lightness and darkness can not dwell together.

And then there is laughter. Jesus loved to laugh and I am sure as he told his parables, laughter must have happened sometimes.  I will leave that to your imagination.

So I thank God for this simple 4 ingredient recipe that can be done in 30 minutes or less.
Warning: It may take a little longer sometime.  And it may need to be taken repeatedly as well.

Blessings as you live out your lives!!!

Giving joy to the journey of life!!!

Good evening travelers of the journey!!!
What an interesting day today was.
I had an early morning meeting with men of the Journey reconvening after a summer off. To talk on a life of praise and to be thankful of how God held many of us together during health and employment trials.

A good quote from our speaker, Bill Jolly, was to make sure that we have our buckets full of praise of the events from THAT day. This is especially true since we can only carry gratitude forward for one day!!!  And he challenged us what if  that was the only thing we can carry with us.

I went through the Business Expo and showcase for Fairfield County and got to eat a great Quesadela and had birthday cake to celebrate the Better Business Bureau's 100th year anniversary and had my blood pressure checked and won a small bag of popcorn.

I am thankful for the many seminars I attended from Dale Carnegie to Selling for the non sales professional to a talk on how to give award winning presentations from Debbie Fay whom I have seen several times and always get value from hearing her again and again.

I met several people in my network from a furniture salesman to a graphics printer to a painter friend and an event planner while walking throughout the venue. That same venue where I was 5 days earlier to see Carrie Underwood and Hunter Hayes rock the place with the best Country music that there is.

I could celebrate at the end by being a pen popping professional for the big helium balloons on display. One woman standing nearby rescued one of those balloons!!  So at least I did some productive work there!!

As I was trying to find my way through the maze to get to one of the talks that I wanted to attend, it dawned on me the two words that are intricately linked to my activities for the past 26 months: Networking. It  can be split into Net and work.  The whole goal for those in transition and those seeking to fill their bucket with work is to think of the fishing analogy.  We are supposed to NET our Work.  Very simple yet very profound.  I have been learning the techniques of how that is done.
Now only to make that happen.  And also part of that is the fact that we are worthy of our work as well.  A definite net worth.

And I finally was able to get a call beamed down to me, Scotty, from my job coach. He was in the booth in between the Åmerican and Canadian flags supervising one of his cleaning crew.  We chatted for 8 minutes and I was reminded to ask for opportunities to net some work and he wanted a close up view of what was going on the ground.

So I challenge those who read this to be thankful for a few things and wake up in the morning with that thankfulness to kick start our day and then add to that thankful list even more things. To keep carrying it forward through our lives.  To set up a memorial for us!!

So I close in being thankful for my time at the concert on Saturday that released a little more creativity and passion to my work and to my Toastmasters club that allows me to lead and speak. For those nuggets that get planted and now nourished and sculpted into a work of beauty.

And now to find some work in this famine .  To bring into a feast. Yet, I am thankful for the bounty that surrounds my plate.
Of those faces and lives that I get to interact with each in every day.  Wherever I wander and go.
In times of tornado warning winds to times of searching for that next lecture and to those times when I run into the table and cause a minor tear to the jacket arm.  Times of trouble maybe but times to trust and know that all is going to work out in the end.

So I thank Todd and others who place value on my work and my renewed passion to get it back out into the world to make a difference no matter what or to where I go!!!!

the value of fear

Fear is the fuel of success.  And it also has a role in how creative we can become. In the past four talks on this theme of creativity, I have examined four elements.  The first was how education is the cauldron of creativity.  The second element that I focused on was the importance of play in our lives. We saw that demonstrated in the olympics. Remember that smellovision of what it would be like to actually smell what was going on from the perspective of the TV.  The third element that I focused on was the importance of having a system when one sells something.  The last element that was focused on was the development of the creative spark within us.  This time we are embarking on the role that fear can play to move us forward and out of our comfort zone to make some truly amazing discoveries.
We all start out fearing something in our lives.  




A great panacea for fear is to just get out there and take the first few steps of a journey.
Especially when you have absolutely no idea of what is in front of you.
This has happened a few times to me in my life.  Let me tell you about a few of them.
One evening, I ventured out on my own by the bus to get off at Trumbull Mall and then walk a block or two to a pot luck dinner for several small churches.
I got off the bus that evening and started walking and approached a bridge.  I had only 880 house numbers to go until I reached my destination.   I thought that by crossing over the bridge I could easily collect 300 of those numbers as a bonus.  But no. I only knocked off 30 of the numbers. Only 850 to go.
About 30 minutes into my endless walk I raised my hand in the air and a blue van approached. It slowed down and I crossed the street and  said I need 5000 Road but I am only at 4400.  Fred of Black Rock agreed and I hopped  in for the 9 minute drive to the house I needed to be at.  Fred's wife, Nancy, was surprised that he picked up a hitchhiker but Fred said, "I know that guy, he has been to our bible study and retreat before!"
Then there is the time when I went off to Washington DC on a bus for a rally for Pro life one year. I went with the local catholic organization.  When I got there, I recognized one of the individuals who went to my church.  I asked if I could hang out with him for the day; he said sure.
I ended up getting lost for part of the afternoon when I headed over to the Minnesota booth and had trouble finding the opening where I was. So I wandered for a bit while I listened to the various speakers that afternoon. After about an hour, I got brought back into the fold.

Yesterday. I headed out to the Barnum Museum for a presentation on mummies and the preservation of them and the significance to their cultures. What an excellent presentation.  What I found out from it was unique and how they are preserved to help the living communicate with them face to face.
But the significance of my venturing out was going out in a time with pending severe weather warnings.  It seemed fine for a while but as I approached the plaza where the Barnum was, a HUGE wind swept near me. I was near the big pink column of the square that I could cling to. I knelt down on my knees and hug that thing for all it was worth.  I motioned over to two cleaning crew of the bank and they brought me to the bank's lobby so I could wait out the storm.  Then I walked into the Barnum Museum which two years ago got  hit by the big bad 2010 tornado.  I was not going to let it get caught again!!!
Maybe these ventures can be called fool's errands.  But what they do teach about fear is sometimes going out in uncertain times will lead us to a greater appreciation of ourselves.  And when there is no calendar of planned events for the getting there, it involves some sense of trust.  And the need to realize a calculated effort.  But the greatest discoveries have come when there is no clear end in sight. Just a goal to reach. Whether that goal was to reach the moon by the end of 1969 per President Kennedy, or Rev. Martin Luther King's desire to end the civil unrest.

Now, let us take a few moments to discuss amongst each other some of the times in our lives where the circumstances of not knowing the outcome has led us to go on a path which has taught us something about ourselves.

Fear can be described using an acronym FEAR.  Frightened Eager Awareness Reaction
A solution can be termed: Facing each action realistically.
IT is all about how we react to what we are facing.  As I mentioned earlier, it involves a coping mechanism whether it is raising one's hand on a long walk, or looking for our friends on a journey or just kneeling down on the floor until help arrives.

Many in the sporting world have to overcome fear.  Take baseball players for example.  Each time that they get up to bat, they have to be aware of when that small ball approaches them at the plate. They could land on the base in the wrong way or bump into another player or could be hit in the face by the ball. Yet players take on an attitude of facing any of their fears face on and don't let anything get in their way.

And then there are the times when we go out all prepared with life jackets and oars, and an oar lock can break and once has to find his way home with some Yankee ingenuity.


When I was younger, I had many anxieties that caused me to act out in class and take up valuable teacher's time.    I took the time of this fear to constantly learn.  It took a long time to loosen that mantle of fear around my neck.  And sometimes I still carry it around my neck.

I even had fear of how I would react leaving my high school years and approach the larger collegiate world. I had counseling of what fears I faced and how I would handle them. Not much happened then from the counseling.
Now I face a fear of when I am going to get a job and be successful full time again. But I have gained markers along the way where others have granted me the chance to succeed. This happened when Tom Auray as President of Greater Bridgeport Toastmasters saw within me a potential to lead as I was appointed Seargant at Arms to get the room set up and torn down.
Throughout the year, I encouraged the club and advanced through the ranks of speaking and leadership. Then Tom asked me to take on the mantle of the Presidency for the year. I accepted.
This is a time to constantly learn, especially of how to govern a club that is often unpredictable of what to expect at each meeting. But I have been recognized with the ToastStar award at some of our meetings for leadership and motivation.

Fear has been described in the Scriptures as the beginning of wisdom.  Now how can you describe the beginning of wisdom. That sure is something.

Then President Franklin Delanor Roosevelt quoted, "There is nothing to fear but fear itself."  This sure teaches us not to fear. It seems kind of silly to fear.  It brings up an interesting riddle that we can discuss amongst ourselves now and that is: Why do we fear at all in the first place?  And how can that fear bring us further along in our paths of personal growth?