March 26, 2009
A while back (say somewhere between 10,000 and 50,000 years ago) we humans started to get with it. Tired of sitting around the fire staring at the same faces night after night, our small clans began discussing the benefits of joining together with other small clans. If we gathered enough of us together (we figured) all sorts of opportunities might present themselves: large scale agriculture, a more efficient division of labor, discos. So that’s what we did. And civilization dawned.
Now the question is “Why then?”. We had been sitting around the fires with our semi-nomadic family units for a couple million years. Why the sudden interest in discos?
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March 17, 2009
“Give, and you shall receive.”
A pretty simple idea, really. Live generously, and your reward will come – eventually, in some way or another. But today I’d like to consider this proverb in an unusual condition. I’d like to apply it to a conversation.
Most of the time, when we think of ‘giving,’ what we refer to could be any of a number of things. It could be money or possessions or perhaps time. Frankly, it could be anything at all. The only requirement of the gift, in order to live up to the proverb’s promise, is that giving it requires some sacrifice on the giver’s part.
So what does this mean in a conversation? read more »
March 10, 2009
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference”
– Robert Frost
Thanks to Frost’s famous poem “The Road Not Taken,” I can’t help but visualize my journey through life as a walk down a wooded path. For most of us our path is reasonably well defined. We can pick up what we need along the way – money, shelter, friendship – and we have a pretty clear notion of where we’re headed. Sometimes the path gets steep or rocky. Many times the path splits and we have to choose which direction to go. But there is almost always an identifiable path before us. read more »
March 2, 2009
A couple weeks ago I headed over the mountains with my wife and boys to a small gathering in the Willamette Valley. Given the time of year, I expected rain and grey and lots of both. With these somber expectations in my head, I was stunned by a magnificent scene about halfway there. We rounded another turn in the road and I was blinded. Sun bounced off the river next to us and smacked me square in the face; shouting “Pay attention! You’re missing things here!” From that point on I reveled in the spectacular beauty of a river winding through dark trees under a surprising blue sky.
I was lucky that day; forced to acknowledge the moment. And it got me thinking, how much of life do we miss because we’re not fully present? read more »
