Archive for the ‘Cultural Ideas’ category

Vacation State of Mind

July 15, 2008

Sunday nights I’m involved in a conversation that has blossomed into a real reach into the inmost areas of what it means to be human and to follow God. One of the areas of interest that has caught my attention is the human condition and the way that we relate to each other.

The following is an excerpt from the book Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales.

Cox (a police officer on a small nature park describing instances of people becoming lost on a piece of land one mile long and three0quarters of a mile wide) went on to describe the astounding failures of mind he had witnessed on this tiny spit of land. He told me about a group he’d found on top of the tallest dune in the park. They had noticed that they could see the Atlantic Ocean to the east and asked Cox if the water to the west was the Pacific. He said he had rescued many people who’d become lost and were unable to think through their panic and recognize that they were only a short walk from a heavily traveled road (you can hear the cars from just about any spot in the park). He told me I’d be surprised by the number of people who ask him how far it is between the mile markers on Highway 158.
 
Cox seemed to take it all with good humor, but he also seemed a bit in despair of the human condition. Referring to the numerous injuries that occur when people fall while trying to run down the dunes, he said, “Yes, gravity still does apply here, even when you’re on vacation.” He told me that people come here suffering from what he called “a vacation state of mind, where all the old rules are suspended.” I’ve used this phrase since, and I owe the concept to Ranger Cox. When we find ourselves in a jam, we can often trace the cause to our vacation state of mind. “

Since a vacation is coming in the near future, I thought this to be appropriate for a single thought. How do we embrace the joy of being in the moment of “vacation” while at the same time retaining the anchors of a life lived on the planet Earth? Perhaps a better question would be, “If we were living a life fully aware and fully connected with the Source, would we need or even relish a vacation at all?”

Hyperlinks and life

July 8, 2008

I’ve wanted to write about this for some time now. The world that exists now did not exist several years ago – both in terms of time and in relation to global mentality. Where we once saw life itself as a line within time, we now see life as a multi-layered experience sandwiched inside of other multi-layered experiences within the hologram of Life.

In any given day you will see hundreds of “hyperlinks” on your computer screen. These “hyperlinks” will take you on a journey to another website and another context based on one word. You can continue to follow “hyperlinks” and end up in an entirely different train of thought than you began with. Years ago this would not only have been impossible, but also frustrating.

We are in the middle of a transformation from living “sequential” to living “holistic”. Where we were once happy to have “just the facts” we now want backgrounds and profiles and histories so that we can see the “whole” problem, person or situation.

This switch in perceived needs is changing the development of the next generations mind structure from an old sequential, rational, linear, left brain approach to an abstract, intuitive, holistic, right brain approach to living.

We can see this in many areas of our world, but none more significant than media.  Both in web, print and video we no longer have just “one thing” to look at and understand. Each advertisement, show, special or informative bit has multiple streams that we can connect and disconnect with at whim. I can watch a show or sports game and simultaneously know scores from other games and highlights of news pertaining to all sports…and if the news is big enough, global events – as they happen in real time.

This has to change the way we connect with one another and the way we perceive real connection in our lives. The way we choose to interact with this new perception will also dramatically effect both our perceived and actual influence in this world.

Independence Day

July 4, 2008

It’s the fourth again, and with that comes some different kind of feelings around our country. For some they immediately think of the wars going on and have either a positive or negative reaction. For others there is a sense of patriotism – the flag, belonging etc.

Today, I can’t say that any of those emotions have “grabbed” me, yet. I haven’t seen any parades or lit any fireworks, but a sense of interdependence rather than Independence is what has me now.

I am more connected to the space around me now than ever before. That sense of connectedness probably has to do with the talk I’ll deliver Sunday on Awareness, but I hope it will last longer and continue further than Sunday.

To release Independence and individuality and “I’ll do it my own way” to interdependence on the Central Force of the Universe and simply allow myself to flow with the waves of creative energy – not striving against it or pushing it forward brings with it a renewed freedom. Not an easy thing to do either. There is the constant tug to control things and “do” what I’m expected to “do”. However, when we allow our “need to be in control” ego’s to sink and our true self to rise to the surface. We come to the surface with a new vision – a new way of “seeing”.

I don’t want to go to far into what some would call “never, never land”, but the best way I can describe it is the way movie companies have remastered old films. They show the old and new versions side by side and the new version shows more color, clarity and details. That’s what happens when we become “Aware” of the world around us and really “see” with new eyes. One thing is for certain, once you have seen things in their renewed brilliance, you don’t want to go back.

When Balance isn’t really Balance

June 27, 2008

I’ve written quite a bit about the importance of being balanced. I feel that to find success in any area of life, balance must be a part of the equation. But what kind of balance? Sometimes I can sit outside or take a day off or go somewhere else and feel like I have found balance. I can begin to hear my internal dialogue and interior silence grow. I can even have  the beginnings of an enraptured feeling where I think I have it “all figured out”.

Is what I’m feeling true or not? You’ve probably experienced this before and wondered the same thing. I think that the only way we know if we are in balance is to be in balance in the regular rhythms of life.

Moments of self-discovery are essential, but can actually be detrimental if we lead a life hopping from one of those moments to another. Everything in life is balanced on the pivot of “now”. I have no control over event in the recent or far past; neither do I have any control over things yet to happen. The only place that I have any ability to “do” anything is right here, right now.

If the only way I can feel “in balance” is to escape living life in community, I have become severely off balance in both perspective and execution of life.

John Maeda is becoming a mentor-at-large. He had a conversation with a colleague about insecurity. And I think it has great significance on the idea of real balance. He said, “The thing about insecurity, is that if you are too insecure, then you don’t grow – because you’re paralyzed by fear of failure. On the other hand, if you have no insecurity, then you don’t grow either – because your head is so big you can’t recognize your failures.” The colleague replied, “Balance in all.” John continued, “If you are in the middle, however, you have to shift towards the edges and oscillate a bit in order to know if you are centered.” He responded, “You can get lost in the middle. You need mentors to give you courage.”

To this John questioned, “But all your mentors tend to go away as you age.” The answer, “Yes, because you don’t need them anymore.”

The key is to embrace the oscillation around center/balance, always checking that the pendulum doesn’t swing too far in any direction.

Small and Simple

June 26, 2008

John Maeda is a genius. One of the most enlightening things I’ve read in a while is his idea concerning small and large items and our expectations about something big or something small.

When we find that something small exceeds our expectations we are amazed and will likely say, “I can’t believe all of that came out of such a small thing!” However, when something large exceeds our expectations, our sense of awe is considerably lower. John says, “The smaller the object, the more forgiving we can be when it misbehaves.”

Something that is larger than us demands a rightful respect, but something small deserves our pity. The science of making an object appear fragile is a skill that has been practiced for ages in art. The iPod is a singularly great example of something appearing fragile but exceeding our expectations based on size.

“Pity”, says John, “gives way to respect when much more value is delivered than originally expected.” This is especially true when, through technology, we can hide functionality within simplistic design.

There is even more. When an object is small and simple and functionality is hidden for the owner to manage the items complexity, the object must also convey an embodiment of value.

The combination of these three attributes creates a unique end result. It can bring us to the place where how the things we own feel actually changes how we feel.

John says it best when he says, “Lessen what you can and conceal everything else without losing the sense of inherent value.”

Reduction

June 25, 2008

I’m loving the book, “The Art of Simplicity” by John Maeda. The first sentence of the book says, “The easiest way to simplify a system is to remove functionality.” He goes on to use the DVD player as an example. We really only need one button – play, but there are some who would like more, maybe to go back or go forward, still others would like more features.

The balance between simplicity and complexity is the basic question. How simple can it be and how complex does it have to be?

“The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction.” When you remove something, just think about it before you do it.

I am thinking about this in terms of life and church. How do we balance simplicity and complexity in those venues? Last week I wrote about the struggle between personal and professional vision. If we continue to add and add more and more we will soon drown in our own “vision”. There has to be a give and take if we are to “thoughtfully reduce”. This concept of reduction is John’s first of ten laws dealing with issues related to simplicity.

I leave you with one more thought coming from page two. When faced with the need to reduce we have to deal with the problem of deciding what lives and what dies. John says that these decisions do not come easy to us because we are not trained to be despots. Our default is to let what is living live. Inevitably we would allow all functionality to stay if we could.

Tiger Woods – “Yes He (and We) Can!”

June 24, 2008

OK we’ve seen the great Tiger win and win and win. Some have said he made a mistake to play while injured, I just think he is an animal. Also, for the record, I don’t think he’ll be out the entire season.

Chip Brown went to Florida in March to take a look at the Woods phenomenon. Brown looked at the relationship between Tiger and us, and how Tigers greatness fulfills a need for greatness the many of us have deep in our hearts.

Brown writes, “You’re writing about a relationship, and you’re projecting on to him. It has to do with what we bring to the theater. If we didn’t bring that ache, that hunger to see him prevail, then we wouldn’t find it answered in Woods. It’s an equation.”

“The subject himself is actually fairly mundane, especially when he doesn’t have a golf club in his hand.” He focuses on the fascinating thing that is created between Woods and his admirers.

“The poet David Ignatow wrote about that ‘wild third thing’, that thing that two people make in concert.” Brown says that the thing that drew him was the “strange equation between the champion and those who venerate him.”

“Truthfully, it seems only a matter of time before Tiger will be known as the greatest golfer who has ever lived. We will be watching him, needing him to be exceptional so that we can feel exceptional also. Tiger is that rare champion who can ‘carry us beyond ourselves.'”

Be like Jesus?

June 23, 2008

We all know and believe that Jesus had a purpose when He was born and in His death and resurrection He fulfilled His purpose. What does that mean for us when placed over the desire for us to “know our purpose” and to “be like Jesus”?

No I’m not proposing heresy, but I am asking that we look closer to the words we use. Cliches become cliches because of the truth they contain. However, through time, the words can lose their original meaning. Yes we all have a purpose, but it doesn’t mean we have only “one” purpose. Jesus fulfilled His purpose not by dying and being resurrected. He fulfilled His purpose by “doing what He saw His Father doing”, by divesting Himself of His own ego and allowing Himself to become “no-thing” that He might be used to do “some-thing”.

This is where we find the reality of our “purpose in life”. Our purpose is to have no purpose – only to do our Father’s bidding. To allow Paul’s old man to die, is to be released from the bondage to the egoic self, the false self and to “be” who God desires us to “be”.

First Week of One Prayer

June 22, 2008

Lifepoint is a wonderful place. Can I say it again? Lifepoint is a wonderful place. The first week of One Prayer was great. Hearing from someone else and matrixing their point of view with our own has a magical quality about it. Sometimes a whole new perspective is gleaned. Sometimes when we hear something from a third party it carries more weight and we respond better. Think about (if you have kids) when you have told your child to do something and their response was let’s say…lacking.

Now think of times when the same words that come out of your mouth, came out of another adult’s mouth and your children reacted as though that were the first time they had ever heard those words. Same thing when hearing from someone somewhere else. We listen with different ears, and the results can be amazing.

We accomplished the change in the set by using a stencil of one of the One Prayer logos. The effect on the floor was done by using a gloss paint over a flat of the same color.

One of the things I loved about this morning was the baptisms. They have to be my favorite aspect of displayed Christianity. It is such a visceral moment to watch someone you know be baptized. I’m so very grateful to be part of the large story God is telling through the lives and events at Lifepoint.

Can’t wait until next week! I’ll tell you more about what’s coming up later in the week.

One Prayer

June 21, 2008

We are starting the series One Prayer tomorrow. We are one week behind other churches because of our own church schedule, but we are excited about this experiment of using messages by video from other churches around the country.

This will be a first for us, but I think it will have a great impact and also let our attenders take a look into other churches and hear other communicators. I can’t wait, it should be great!