Whatever I find interesting
Thank y’all so much for your thoughts and prayers as my wife and I navigated through this challenging time.
Things went remarkably well through it all.
Now I’m working at getting my bearings and digging out from under a week of missed work.
I’ll be up and running shortly. Then we’ll get back to the blog tour.
Thanks again.
Enjoy!
I will have to delay my part in the High Calling Blog Tour.
We received a call this afternoon to tell us that Gorgeous’ father passed away.
We are flying out to Wisconsin on the first flight out. I’ll finish the tour after I return.
Thanks so much for your understanding.
I was recently invited to participate in a beta preview of a new faith based website called The High Calling. The site is designed to help followers of Jesus Christ bridge the gap between their religion and their work.
Marcus Goodyear was kind enough to send me an invitation. He also asked if I’d be willing to review the site and I am glad to do it, especially when you figure Mark is already an active blogger over at Good Word Editing.
So over the next few days I’ll be writing about the site here. I thought about just doing one long review of the site. But I think it will be better to break it up in smaller chunks. So let’s get started.
There is definitely a huge need for some serious help in connecting faith with work. There are far too many Christians who lead ineffective lives because they so thoroughly compartmentalize their lives away not realizing that all facets of our lives are interconnected.
As a quick example, my current primary employment is in the maritime industry. As a result I spend a lot of time down on the docks. And since I’m at the mercy of the ships, my schedule is far from 9-5.
Yesterday was Sunday and I had to go out to a ship in the morning. If things went well, the plan was to take care of my business then head out to church. Before I went up to the ship I needed to attend, I stopped by one of the offices to gather some paperwork.
On my way out of the building I ran across another guy I know who is a client of ours. The way he was dressed got my attention. He usually has wears jeans and a polo shirt, which is sort of the unofficial uniform of the management types at the ports. It’s what I usually wear too.
But yesterday this guy had on dress clothes and a tie. Because it was Sunday morning I’m guessing he had a similar plan to mine, only his church doesn’t have as casual a dress code as the one I go to.
What took me back is that I would have never pegged this guy as a church-goer. Often you can tell. Unfortunately too often it is because the person is obnoxious about their religion.
But I’ve had it happen before. There are several rough types I work with and around on the docks that spend most Sunday mornings sitting in a pew somewhere. Then they come back and are exactly the same in the workplace as everyone else. The only way you’d know is if you happened to notice they were dressed differently when they stopped by the office on a Sunday morning.
It made me wonder how I’m perceived out there.
And it is confirmation to me that we need a site like The High Calling.
(I never made it to church yesterday myself, by the way. There were complications when I got to the ship. The Captain was yelling at a government official. Fortunately for all concerned the Captain noticed the guy from Homeland Security had a gun and backed down. But it slowed everything down for me and I missed church. Some days are like that.)
Like I said, over the next few days I’ll be talking specifics about the site and mention both things I like about it, and things they might consider doing even better. If the idea getting better at connecting your faith with your daily work appeals to you, you might consider going ahead and sign up to become a member of TheHighCalling.org .
If you are interested in getting more feedback on the High Calling site, check out these folks who are also participating in the tour:
Gordon Atkinson
L. L. Barkat
Gina Conroy
Craver VII
CREEations
Milton Brasher-Cunningham
Mary DeMuth
Karl Edwards
Emdashery
Every Square Inch
Amy Goodyear
Marcus Goodyear
Al Hsu
Jennwith2ns
Chalres Foster Johnson
Mike McLoughlin
Eve Nielsen
Naked Pastor
Ramblin Dan
Charity Singleton
Stacy
Camy Tang
Today is one of those days that far too many of us have forgotten the significance of. Or maybe we’ve never really given it much thought. And I don’t know what your views are on God and spiritual stuff. (If you are up for and interesting thought excersize, check out this article on the logic of believing.)
But the reality is it doesn’t matter what you believe, at least in one respect. Choosing to believe or not believe doesn’t make an event that happened in the past any more or less true. It either is or isn’t, whether we choose to believe or not.
I’ve been reminded once again this week by John Eldridge how we are all part of a grand epic on the scale of The Lord of the Rings
You have a distinct role to play in the battle of the ages. And I bet you don’t even know it.
If you are anything like me you certainly don’t act like you know it.
And here’s the kicker. By not acting like we know we are actively a part of a larger war that has been raging throughout the ages, we are actually playing a part anyway. It’s just probably not the role we’d want to go out and audition for if we were going to be in the movie.
The war we are a part of is the ultimate struggle of Good vs. Evil. The battles themselves often go unseen. What we see in the headlines every night are the results of those battles.
A drug deal gone bad and another child’s dead. A politician or a preacher has a moral failing. Bombs going off killing dozens. A child predator was caught only to be set free.
Rescue workers risk their lives to save natural disaster victims. A charity is gifted with millions that will allow it to greatly expand the work they do. An athlete overcomes a significant handicap to win the prize.
In any epic tale there are some key players. There is a nefarious villain who is out for total domination and wants to enslave as much of the world as they can. Whether it is the White Witch from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe or Sauron in The Lord of the Rings, the truly gripping tales have an evil villain who is a force to be reckoned with and who has the upper hand when we enter the story.
The other player each of these stories has is a champion who plays the role of guardian of all that is good. Edmund comes face to face with Alsan the lion, rightful but displaced ruler of Narnia. Middle Earth had Gandalf always showing up at the hot spots, laboring long and hard to protect the remaining free peoples.
And the thing about these stories is that at some point the champion is faced with a hard choice: Are they willing to lay down their lives for their cause?
Aslan chooses to offer his life in exchange for the wayward Edmund who’s life is forfeit because of his poor choices.
Gandalf stands to fight the overwhelming power of the Balrog and plunges into the depths of Khazad-dûm.
Both of these heroes give their lives in exchange for their companions.
In the same way, as the ageless story goes, Jesus offered up his life in exchange for his friends. Mel Gibson covered that whole side of the story quite thoroughly in his movie, The Passion of the Christ
We see Aslan on the table being humiliated, tortured and killed. Gandalf falls to his demise in the depths of the mountain. And Jesus is beaten, hung on the cross and dies.
Jet Mel sort of glossed over the most exciting part of the story.
Both Aslan and Gandalf return to lead the armies of the free people in a final battle and ultimate victory.
Today marks the anniversary of the pivotal day in our own ongoing war. It is the day when Jesus rose up from the tomb where he’d been buried after he died one of the more horrible deaths imaginable.
You can dismiss that story of Jesus being alive after he died as a myth or a work of fiction along the lines of the other two stories I’ve been talking about if you like.
But please understand you must do that in spite of the overwhelming evidence that says it’s true.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is arguably the single most well documented event in history. It is a historical record that has withstood countless assaults over two millennia.
Choosing to disbelieve doesn’t alter the historical record. Making that choice doesn’t make the event any less real and true.
Do you not have enough faith to believe history? The truth is it takes more faith to disbelieve in spite of the evidence!
Today marks a great victory in the epic battle of the ages. Today the enemy of all that is good and wonderful thought he had the upper hand only to be sent scampering off into the darkness.
But that’s not the end of the tale. Just like Aslan and Gandalf still had to lead their people in desperate battles yet to come after they returned, we still have fights to face. A battle is coming that is bigger than any of us can imagine.
What role will you be playing when it happens?
I had a shattering realization Friday that this former New York boy may have indeed truly become southern.
Trust me, the thought is probably at least as frightening for me as it is for my local neighbors here in Savannah.
Most folks know I have more than a bit of a sweet tooth. I come by it naturally from my mom who likes her treats. Gorgeous was excited when she met a man who liked chocolate even more than she did.
And Gorgeous will vouch for the fact that Dr. Pepper has long been my soft drink of choice. She’s a diet Coke girl, but I prefer something with a little more zip.
Since I’m on the road so much and at all hours, it is not unusual for me to grab a snack when I stop for gas. And lately I’ve taken to grabbing a Moon Pie and a Dr. Pepper, mostly because I like them and because it’s a cheap snack combo.
I never really thought anything of it until Friday.
I was driving back from Jacksonville up I-95 late Friday afternoon and I hadn’t had much of a lunch so I was a little peckish. I had to stop in the little coastal town of St. Mary’s, Georgia to tank up with gas. Gas is cheaper in Georgia than Florida, so I try to make sure I refuel north of the line.
Anyway, as I was staring into the cooler at the sodas, I decided to mix it up a little and I grabbed a Vanilla Cherry Dr. Pepper instead of a regular one. I’d paid for my gas at the pump so I only had to count out a couple dollars to pay for my snack.
But as the lady at the Flash Foods where I stopped rang it up she informed me, “That’s a Vanilla Cherry Dr. Pepper, you know. Is that what you want?”
I assured her I’d intentionally grabbed that flavor of soda. But I couldn’t shake the question.
Why would she ask me that?
Then it dawned on me. That particular snack combo is a distinctly Southern thing.
I’ve become Southern by personal preference and didn’t even realize it. And it only took me 20 years! Sheesh!
It is amazing how our entire perspective can be changed in a moment sometimes.
This morning started out with a discovery that really got me excited in an incredibly self-centered petty sort of way. I saw that I’ve finally risen to the top of the Chris Cree’s on the internet.
Call me the King of Chris Cree’s. Of all the Chris Cree’s out there I come up first.
At least according to Yahoo and Google. For some inexplicable reason MSN Live search still thinks the highest I rate is the third spot. Good thing for me no one really uses them for search, eh?
It was an ego stroke that left me feeling pretty good. I let out a Homeresque “Whoo-Hoo!” and went about my day, all happy like. Because, after all, it’s all about me, isn’t it.
Then about mid morning the reality of life caught up with me and completely refocused my attention back to those things that are important by completely upending my perspective.
I just came back into the office after enjoying a few moments of absolutely perfect sunny 70 degree weather while taking care of some business out at the port when I was told of the phone call.
Tina, our secretary at the job I go to every day died during the night.
She had been sick for a while. When Gorgeous and I were on vacation over New Years she had gone into ICU at the hospital for a bit. She hadn’t been back to work since.
She was home by the time we got back in town and the reports were that she was having good days and some rough days was was steadily improving. Apparently the doctors were a bit puzzled, said she had some sort of lung infection that wasn’t responding to treatment.
They said it wasn’t cancer, but it sure treated her like cancer. She was steadily loosing what little weight she had to begin with. Then this past Friday they said she’d gone back into ICU, she was having trouble breathing again.
I was shocked to find out that Tina was only about 3 years older than me. I’d worked with her for years and assumed she was 10+ years older than that. I know that part of her problem was that she made some unhealthy choices, smoking heavily and a diet that was mostly snack foods.
Even so it doesn’t feel right to see a person like that leave this world so early. How will her young daughter understand it? What other changes are in store for her husband?
The part that makes me angry is that I failed her as a friend. Didn’t once visit her in the hospital. I let the petty busyness of life, things like the concern for Google ranking, distract me from an important thing.
“Oh, there’ll be time for that. Later.”
In my distraction I blew right through later into Too Late.
When you get right down to it, the only things in this world that really matter are the relationships with other people that we have. Good, bad or indifferent.
We can choose to be a friend. Or we can let ourselves get distracted with all the busyness and skip over the important parts.
Just like Tina choosing her diet or smoking habits, the choice of how we relate to people – whether we prioritize them above the “stuff” we think is so important – is completely up to us.
Choose more wisely than I have over the last few months.
But God said to him, ”˜You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ — Luke 12:20
You’d think I’d learn by now. I mean it’s not that complicated, really.
It all started because Gorgeous said I needed to start thinking about getting healthier. She was right, as usual. I’ll be cresting the big 4-0 this year and I’m finally beginning to recognize my own physical mortality.
So we started adjusting our diet a bit. More fresh plant life and fewer burgers. Cutting back on the fast food in general. Even though I’m pretty much a convenience eater, that part was pretty easy.
Then we set our sights a little closer to our cravings and said we’d cut back on the deserts and sweets. Used to be we’d never consider sharing a desert at a restaurant. Now it’s kinda fun.
A couple weeks ago the whole healthier diet thing took a painful turn for me. I like coffee. Lots of coffee. Historically I’ve consumed mass quantities of the stimulating beverage every day. But I know it can’t be good for me.
So I’m working on a consumption reduction program where coffee is concerned.
One ingredient in my new healthier beverage program is to start each day with a cup of caffeine free tea. Sometimes I have a steamy cup of something that promises to “detoxify” me. Hey, I figure after nearly 40 years of consuming junk I could stand for some detoxifying.
And that is what brings me to my apparent learning disorder.
I am very much a creature of habit, especially first thing in the morning. I don’t really wake up all that quickly so routines help me get functioning more smoothly. My morning rituals are designed to help clear the cobwebs out while still moving in the forward direction.
And it seems I’ve gotten myself into a bit of a dumb rut. Each morning I get to my desk, fire up my computer, and set my mug down with that first cup of tea, bag in, still steeping.
The hard part comes in getting the dang tea back out of the cup before I start drinking. I typically don’t have a plate at my desk. There’s too much clutter to find a place to set one nearby. So once I fish it out with a spoon I want to make sure I get most of the water out of the bag so I don’t start staining my desk top, or the clutter that it would have to soak through to get to the desk.
That means I get my fingers down and dirty squeezing out the bag.
The problem I run into is that water is hot. Every morning. On my fingertips.
You’d think after the 17th morning or so of doing this that I would come up with a better way. But each morning I do a little hot finger dance at my desk, grumble, amazed at my own apparent inability to learn and change or overcome such a simple small obstacle in my day.
Yet I seem to insist on nearly burning my fingertips day after day. Why is that?
I mean I don’t think I’m stupid. Am I?
Eventually I figure I’ll come up with something. If you’ve got any ideas, I’m open. I know I’m trainable.
Thought you might want to know that I’ll be writing over here again soon.
I’ve never liked Halloween.
And it has nothing to do with my religious affiliation. I think it was because the whole thing was so unpleasant for me as a kid.
First of all the whole costume thing was an ordeal. I mean I was into drama. The idea of wearing a costume wasn’t the problem. It was more a function of my propensity to procrastinate that caused problems with the costume. (Do you think I could have put a couple more “pro” words in that sentence?)
Because I never bothered to decide what I was going to wear very early, there was this build up of stress for weeks before the event where I had to endure the crushing weight of knowing that the whole costume ordeal was heading my way.
One strike against the holiday.
Then there was the trauma of knocking on strangers doors. Naturally I am an extreme introvert. I grew up an only child in a very rural area. (My public high school graduating class had 57 of us. It was a big year. Our house was on a dirt road. You get the idea.)
So then I had to pile in the car and get driven from house to house to go trick-or-treating. If I’d tried to do it walking, I’d probably end up with about three candy bars for the whole night’s effort. In the dark I’d have to walk up some long driveway, often by myself (did I mention I was an only child?) and do one of the scariest things on my list: go talk to someone I didn’t know.
And ask them for something. While wearing some goofy costume that I hated because it had been the source of so much stress. In the dark. In the middle of no where.
Is it any wonder that I’ve never been successful at sales? I mean Halloween caused some deep emotional scarring here when it came to the whole cold calling thing, don’t you think?
The only thing that could possibly motivate me to press on through that kind of fear – was chocolate.
Oh, how I hated going through all that and ending up with Sweet-Tarts or Smarties. Or toffee. Or, God forbid, an apple or an orange!
I wanted chocolate and chocolate only.
I guess that whole experience growing up is why I try to make sure I am working on Halloween. Last year I took Gorgeous out to dinner so I wouldn’t have to be home. This year we had over 40 kiddies come to the door. I stayed in my study on the computer.
Gorgeous doesn’t get it. She thinks I’m some sort of Scrooge towards the whole think.
The truth is I’m permanently scarred. (Or is that scared?)
Enjoy!
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It has been a crazy week for me (and it’s only Tuesday morning!) We are short handed at work.
Corporate sent one of our guys to help out in the New Orleans office, which puts us 25% down on our staffing here in Savannah.
And then yesterday we had one guy in Jacksonville, and another in Brunswick which left me to cover everything going on in the port of Savannah all alone. (Whew!)
Oh, and today is the last day of the month and since we work on a monthly billing cycle I have a ton of paperwork to do.
Bundle all that with my shift in focus over to SuccessCREEations and posting here will be a little less than what y’all have become accustomed to.
That’s OK. There’ll be plenty to see over at SC until I can get back on a more regular schedule.
Enjoy!
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