The 22 kids at the Home of Hope are victims. Or they were victims until the folks at Project Rescue removed them from a situation over which they had absolutely no control. As you might imagine, I get a lot of questions about the notion of being a victim, whether I felt like a victim, etc. I know the precise time and […]
Continue readingWhy Is The Other Guy So Unreasonable?
It’s awfully easy to say, “You’re wrong. You’re an idiot. You’re a loser.” Not all that useful, though. Shouting at the guy on the other side (who thinks you’re wrong) isn’t likely to close the gap. If your only goal is to sound cool to your own team by belittling the losers on the other […]
Continue readingMoving Or Organizing?
I’m not a fan of rules. During the last decade or so of my career as a classroom teacher I discovered that the reasons behind a lot of rules were “it’s just common sense,” “that’s how I like to do it,” “we’ve always done it that way,” or “because I said so.” Those didn’t seem like they […]
Continue readingWhat If Something’s Not Quite Aligned?
A few weeks ago my bike’s rear derailleur got slightly out of adjustment. It wasn’t bad enough to make the bike unrideable, but you could tell something was a tiny bit off. You couldn’t see anything wrong, but the chain just didn’t quite feel right. It took about a quarter-turn of an adjustment screw to get everything […]
Continue readingHundred
HAPPY MONDAY! A parable inspires today’s word-of-the-week… HUNDRED Which sheep are you? Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he […]
Continue readingWhat’s The Deal With Taking Sides?
Seems like everyone’s taking sides. We’re divided along political lines, racial lines, gender, social, ethnic, cultural, generational lines. We’ve drawn lines everywhere, and it seems like everyone is supposed to pick a side. Stranger still, we’re all pretty sure God’s on our side. Thing is, dividing and taking sides isn’t what God does. We have […]
Continue readingWhose Truth Is It?
I believe in absolute truth. I also know humans view truth through the imperfect lens of their own experience. As the picture indicates, it’s impossible to consider truth independent of the perspective of the observer. Truth is a cylinder. From my perspective, it’s a circle. You’re certain it’s a square. I’ve observed that people of good will […]
Continue readingDon’t Stare At The Score
How much money did we raise? When you get involved with something like the FREEDOM TOUR you need a scoreboard. Dollars collected. Miles covered. People involved. Those numbers matter. You keep score so you can track progress and write reports. But it’s important not to stare at the scoreboard. Focusing on results is a great way to […]
Continue readingDealing With The Problem Of They
They focus on the wrong issues. They create illogical arguments. They stretch the truth and spin the story. They yell and treat others disrespectfully. Generally, they do all sorts of stuff that drives us nuts. And we spend a ton of time complaining about it. We write articles and make speeches. We protest. We fill our […]
Continue readingTED
HAPPY MONDAY! An acronym creates today’s word-of-the-week TED A few weeks ago I was invited to give a TED talk. TED organizes events with the tagline “Ideas Worth Spreading.” I had a great time preparing and giving my talk, and it was a blast being involved in the conference. I hope you find this inspirational. I hope […]
Continue readingWhy Should I Step Back?
If he pushed me first? If they were rude, or yelled at me? If she posted something unfair? If I didn’t begin the conflict, why should I be the one to take a step back? He started it! # # # “Good questions. What’s the fear?” “What fear? I’m not afraid of anything!” “Then why […]
Continue readingA Mile In Their Shoes
“Before you abuse, criticize, and accuse…walk a mile in my shoes.” That’s the advice of a ’70s pop song. Pretty basic–before we judge, it’s a good idea to find out how the other person sees things. A few days ago Presidential candidate Martin O’Malley was booed for saying, “All lives matter.” Why would anyone object […]
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