Today I'll start with a quote from Lennon, my eleven month old granddaughter, "Duh duh duh duh duh!" Yep, that's what she said. I'm not sure what she was trying to say when she told me that, but she was very emphatic when she said it. Actually she is in the first stages of learning the art of verbal communication...in other words, she's learning how to talk. It wasn't that long ago that her big brother was saying the same thing, and it was amazing how fast he turned those babbling syllables into words and became the chatterbox that he is today. The ability to talk is one of the things that sets us apart from the rest of the animal world, although it's an art that the vast majority of us find quite simple. I once saw a fiddle player showing off his skills at a country music show, and he would play holding his instrument over his head, behind his back, between his legs, and upside down, while the audience cheered and cheered at his phenomenal ability. But if you think that's cool, you should hear what I can do. I can TALK while running, walking, swimming, sitting, smiling, frowning, in the light, in the dark, and even sometimes while I'm sleeping! Are you impressed? You're not?!! I think I know why....you can do the same thing, just like everyone else you know.
I hate to say that "talk is cheap" after looking at my last cell phone bill, but I will say that talk is easy. Too easy. As a matter of fact, since we all have a tendency to spend most of our time doing what comes the easiest, talking is something that we do more than most anything else. But let me tell you something else that Lennon is starting to learn how to do now. She's learning to walk, just like all the rest of us learned to do. While we really can't say that walking is all that difficult either, it's not as easy as talking, so which of the two do we do more? Which one of the two is most likely to get us to where we need to be? Which of the two is most likely to get us into predicaments where we don't need to be? Now I'm not here to pin any flowers on myself, because I have the ability to be as vocal as anyone else, but as I feel certain that my fellow runners can confirm, one of the phrases we hear the most from people we pass on the street is, "You're doing what I need to be doing." Do you know what they're actually doing when they say that? Talking. That's all...just talking. Running, walking and exercising are just some of the examples of the areas where we talk too much and do too little. What about losing weight? Or kicking a bad habit? Or helping the needy? Or developing a closer walk with God? The list could go on and on. All those are areas where we've said we're going to do a better job. We've "said" we're going to do better, so now we've got the easy part behind us...."saying" we're going to do it. The next step requires a little more effort. It's what separates the men from the boys, the women from the girls, and the achievers from the wannabe's.
A few weeks ago, Mark Briggs, one of my facebook friends, reposted a statement that he had seen on Twitter that grabbed my attention, so I posted it on my page, which resulted in a few others also posting it on their pages as well. It simply said, "A year from now, you may wish you had started today." To how many areas of your life can you apply that statement? Before we actually do anything of significance, most of us will make the statement that we're going to do it, so let's concede that the verbal part of it is a necessary first step. But if saying it is as far as we go, we'd get just as much accomplished if we just said the same thing that Lennon said in the first sentence of this blog, "Duh duh duh duh duh."
Preston
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Thinking Out Loud, Volume CCLVIII
I'm sorry about telling that big lie. Now I realize that an apology with excuses is really not an apology at all, but please hear me out. Yes, it's true that I lied, but, I promise I didn't mean to do it. When I said what I did, I sincerely meant every word of it. Will it help if I remind you of all the other times you've heard the same statement I made come from other people? Were those other people speaking the truth? Maybe....maybe not. As a matter of fact, come to think of it, I've heard you make the same identical statement more than once. Were you being truthful? That's something that only you and God can answer.
That leads me to ask this question: Is it really lying if when I say it, it is actually meant as the truth, even though it didn't turn out that way? Let me ask the same question this way: If I make a false statement, but when I say it, I think it is true, am I still lying? I'm not totally sure how to answer that, but I can say that a false statement is a false statement...and when the truth is finally revealed, it looks bad on the person who has said something that was not the truth, regardless of his intent. Does it make any difference when we consider the fact that, like I was saying, I'm just one of many people, including you, who have made the same statement a number of times? Or does it matter that this "big lie" is primarily told by Christians? In fact, this may be the biggest lie that Christians tell. It goes without saying that something has to be done to get this situation under control and get this egregious error corrected. I promise to do my part.
When I make that promise, it doesn't mean I'm going to stop making the statement that I had made...I just have to make sure it's the truth when I do say it. I know by now you're beginning to get just a little curious about exactly what it was that I said (or that we said), and I'm going to tell you what it is, but I've said it so many times in so many different ways, that I'm not sure just how to quote it. Here's just one example: I was talking to someone who was going through a difficult time in his life and I said, "I'll keep you in my prayers." I've also said, "I'll be praying about that," or "I'll help you pray over that situation," etc. However I said it, way too many times, I walked away and never thought about it again. Now, do you remember when you've been guilty of the same offense? I had been thinking about this same subject a couple years ago when I received a text from a good friend who was asking me to pray for her nephew, so when I saw it, I pulled over and stopped my car right then, closed my eyes, and said a prayer for that situation. I did the same thing recently when I got word that that the daughter of a friend had just found out that she had cancer. When my kids have asked me to help them pray about circumstances in their lives, I don't think I've ever failed to do so. I'm just afraid that I can't say the same thing when I've made that promise to more casual acquaintances, but I'm doing my best to correct that.
I think what I need to do is, when I make that promise, fulfill it immediately. Otherwise I may forget. It's a situation I sincerely want to correct, and with God's help, I'll fix it. It's something I'm gonna be praying about.
Preston
That leads me to ask this question: Is it really lying if when I say it, it is actually meant as the truth, even though it didn't turn out that way? Let me ask the same question this way: If I make a false statement, but when I say it, I think it is true, am I still lying? I'm not totally sure how to answer that, but I can say that a false statement is a false statement...and when the truth is finally revealed, it looks bad on the person who has said something that was not the truth, regardless of his intent. Does it make any difference when we consider the fact that, like I was saying, I'm just one of many people, including you, who have made the same statement a number of times? Or does it matter that this "big lie" is primarily told by Christians? In fact, this may be the biggest lie that Christians tell. It goes without saying that something has to be done to get this situation under control and get this egregious error corrected. I promise to do my part.
When I make that promise, it doesn't mean I'm going to stop making the statement that I had made...I just have to make sure it's the truth when I do say it. I know by now you're beginning to get just a little curious about exactly what it was that I said (or that we said), and I'm going to tell you what it is, but I've said it so many times in so many different ways, that I'm not sure just how to quote it. Here's just one example: I was talking to someone who was going through a difficult time in his life and I said, "I'll keep you in my prayers." I've also said, "I'll be praying about that," or "I'll help you pray over that situation," etc. However I said it, way too many times, I walked away and never thought about it again. Now, do you remember when you've been guilty of the same offense? I had been thinking about this same subject a couple years ago when I received a text from a good friend who was asking me to pray for her nephew, so when I saw it, I pulled over and stopped my car right then, closed my eyes, and said a prayer for that situation. I did the same thing recently when I got word that that the daughter of a friend had just found out that she had cancer. When my kids have asked me to help them pray about circumstances in their lives, I don't think I've ever failed to do so. I'm just afraid that I can't say the same thing when I've made that promise to more casual acquaintances, but I'm doing my best to correct that.
I think what I need to do is, when I make that promise, fulfill it immediately. Otherwise I may forget. It's a situation I sincerely want to correct, and with God's help, I'll fix it. It's something I'm gonna be praying about.
Preston
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Thinking Out Loud, Volume CCLVII
A little two year old boy is dead today, and his parents were charged and convicted in his death, although their sentence was nothing more than probation and an admonishment from the judge to never let it happen again. The cause of death was pneumonia. The parents were charged because they refused to seek medical attention for the child, although pneumonia is now very treatable in most every hospital in the country. Their defense was that medicine is against their religion. They believed that if God did not heal their child, then apparently it was not His will that he be healed. We live in a country where we have freedom of religion, and are supposed to be free from any interference from the government as to what we believe and how we practice our beliefs, but there has to be a line drawn somewhere. I think the line is where an act or a failure to act may cause harm to another individual, in this case, a small child who is totally dependent on his parents for survival. If you listen to the news much at all, you are probably familiar with the story of the Muslim father in Texas who shot his daughter because she would not agree to an arranged marriage that they had planned for her. And as we speak, there is a Muslim father who is on trial for intentionally running over his daughter in a car because she was becoming too "westernized."
That leads me to ask this question: If you really believe something but you're not passionate about it, how strongly do you believe it in the first place? But doesn't it also stand to reason that if I have strong religious beliefs that I would want everyone else to join my movement and believe as I do? Now let me ask you this: How many of you, after reading about the little boy that died of pneumonia, had a desire to become a part of the church to which those parents belong? To be honest with you, when I heard that story, it had the opposite effect on me. I believe that God can and does heal people, but I also believe that when He created us, He gave us the brain power and "common sense" to figure out how to take care of ourselves and each other. That's how some individuals among us are able to become doctors. I'm happy to report that the church with which I'm affiliated believes in doctors and medicine. I believe this story proves that we can become too "radical," and when we do, our actions actually become counterproductive.
What is our ultimate goal anyway? Do we want to live our lives so that others might have a desire to live as we do, or do we just want to make sure everyone knows how we believe? And how will my actions today affect my ultimate goal? I'm not advocating giving up on any of our core beliefs, but I am saying that if we become too extreme, we can actually do damage to what our belief system instructs us to do. I can give you another example of what I'm talking about. I've seen political candidates, who don't have a snowball's chance of winning, jump into a race because he wants to make a point, and what he ends up doing is taking enough votes away from the other candidate who is closest to his point of view and who could've won, so that the person who did win the election was the one with which he disagreed the most. Therefore, the net result is worse than if he would've stayed out of the race completely. I've also seen senators and congressmen who say it's going to be 100% my way or not at all. The "not at all" usually wins in that situation.
I believe in being passionate about my beliefs, and if you're a non-believer, I would like to bring you into my camp, but I don't think I will have any success in doing that if I make my way seem repulsive to you. If I'm here just to prove a point, I may be ignoring the fact that most other people don't really care about my "point" to start with. Results are what I'm after.
Preston
That leads me to ask this question: If you really believe something but you're not passionate about it, how strongly do you believe it in the first place? But doesn't it also stand to reason that if I have strong religious beliefs that I would want everyone else to join my movement and believe as I do? Now let me ask you this: How many of you, after reading about the little boy that died of pneumonia, had a desire to become a part of the church to which those parents belong? To be honest with you, when I heard that story, it had the opposite effect on me. I believe that God can and does heal people, but I also believe that when He created us, He gave us the brain power and "common sense" to figure out how to take care of ourselves and each other. That's how some individuals among us are able to become doctors. I'm happy to report that the church with which I'm affiliated believes in doctors and medicine. I believe this story proves that we can become too "radical," and when we do, our actions actually become counterproductive.
What is our ultimate goal anyway? Do we want to live our lives so that others might have a desire to live as we do, or do we just want to make sure everyone knows how we believe? And how will my actions today affect my ultimate goal? I'm not advocating giving up on any of our core beliefs, but I am saying that if we become too extreme, we can actually do damage to what our belief system instructs us to do. I can give you another example of what I'm talking about. I've seen political candidates, who don't have a snowball's chance of winning, jump into a race because he wants to make a point, and what he ends up doing is taking enough votes away from the other candidate who is closest to his point of view and who could've won, so that the person who did win the election was the one with which he disagreed the most. Therefore, the net result is worse than if he would've stayed out of the race completely. I've also seen senators and congressmen who say it's going to be 100% my way or not at all. The "not at all" usually wins in that situation.
I believe in being passionate about my beliefs, and if you're a non-believer, I would like to bring you into my camp, but I don't think I will have any success in doing that if I make my way seem repulsive to you. If I'm here just to prove a point, I may be ignoring the fact that most other people don't really care about my "point" to start with. Results are what I'm after.
Preston
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thinking Out Loud, Volume CCLVI
I remember the phone call that changed my life. It was not something that I was expecting, so when I woke up that morning, I had no idea what was about to happen. I can even remember what I was doing when it came...I was fixing lunch, so when I heard the phone, I grabbed the one in the kitchen. After the conversation, I went ahead and ate my food, but my mind was in such a whirl at that time that the meal I was eating was the last thing on my mind. I thought the news was bad at the time, but it turned out to be one of the best things that's ever happened to me as far as my career is concerned.
Do you remember where you were on 9-11? I do too. I remember where I was when I heard the news that President Kennedy had been assassinated, although I was a small child at the time. I remember where I was when I heard about the explosion of the Space Shuttle. I remember where I was in our car as we heard on the radio the broadcast of the first game ever for the New Orleans Saints, and John Gilliam took the opening kickoff and ran it all the way back for a touchdown. I can even remember exactly where I was sitting just a few months ago when I learned that my little infant granddaughter had been born with Down Syndrome. We all have stories of how we can recall where we were when we heard some kind of big news, whether it was good or bad, and it seems to me that the events that we remember the most were unexpected. Within just the last few weeks, there have been two serious automobile accidents at the intersection in front of my home. I feel certain that from now on, all the drivers and passengers who were involved will recall their incident every time they pass my house.
Some of the big events of our lives are things we plan and even direct, but just as many are occurrences that we never see coming and they hit us like a ton of bricks. As you read this, you are probably recalling a few of the big unforeseen events in your own life. I remember one night as I was going to bed in a hotel room in Atlanta, I said aloud to myself: "When I woke up this morning, I sure didn't know I'd be spending the night in Atlanta, Georgia." It wouldn't make sense for me to advise you to be prepared for those types of events. How can you prepare for something that you have no idea of who, what, where, when, why and how? What you can do is look back at all of the unexpected events of your past and know that there will be more...some good, some not so good.
There is one bit of wisdom that I have gleaned over my lifetime that I can share with you now in regards to unexpected events: "I play the cards I was dealt." There's really no other choice. At my age, I surely would not want to have the feeling that I have to start my life all over again, but starting over is certainly better than giving up. I would just have to put my big boy pants on, adjust my attitude back to where it needs to be, and get moving. I'm somebody...I'm not a quitter, and I'm gonna end up a winner! I really mean that, regardless of what happens.
Preston
Do you remember where you were on 9-11? I do too. I remember where I was when I heard the news that President Kennedy had been assassinated, although I was a small child at the time. I remember where I was when I heard about the explosion of the Space Shuttle. I remember where I was in our car as we heard on the radio the broadcast of the first game ever for the New Orleans Saints, and John Gilliam took the opening kickoff and ran it all the way back for a touchdown. I can even remember exactly where I was sitting just a few months ago when I learned that my little infant granddaughter had been born with Down Syndrome. We all have stories of how we can recall where we were when we heard some kind of big news, whether it was good or bad, and it seems to me that the events that we remember the most were unexpected. Within just the last few weeks, there have been two serious automobile accidents at the intersection in front of my home. I feel certain that from now on, all the drivers and passengers who were involved will recall their incident every time they pass my house.
Some of the big events of our lives are things we plan and even direct, but just as many are occurrences that we never see coming and they hit us like a ton of bricks. As you read this, you are probably recalling a few of the big unforeseen events in your own life. I remember one night as I was going to bed in a hotel room in Atlanta, I said aloud to myself: "When I woke up this morning, I sure didn't know I'd be spending the night in Atlanta, Georgia." It wouldn't make sense for me to advise you to be prepared for those types of events. How can you prepare for something that you have no idea of who, what, where, when, why and how? What you can do is look back at all of the unexpected events of your past and know that there will be more...some good, some not so good.
There is one bit of wisdom that I have gleaned over my lifetime that I can share with you now in regards to unexpected events: "I play the cards I was dealt." There's really no other choice. At my age, I surely would not want to have the feeling that I have to start my life all over again, but starting over is certainly better than giving up. I would just have to put my big boy pants on, adjust my attitude back to where it needs to be, and get moving. I'm somebody...I'm not a quitter, and I'm gonna end up a winner! I really mean that, regardless of what happens.
Preston
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