Thursday, February 6, 2014

Friends


One of the things that I enjoy about Facebook is the ability to keep up with what’s happening in my friend’s lives without having to work very hard.  I can see pictures of this friend’s trip to Disney and follow the exploits of the child of this friend without ever interacting with those friends.  (One of the things I HATE about Facebook is how opinionated and stupid some of my friends sound with their posts and links, but that’s a topic for another blog.)

As I am writing today, I am on a train from Fort Worth to Lincoln, IL, to spend some time with my mom, who is on hospice.  I woke up this morning in St. Louis and decided to move to the Observation Car to see the beauty of Southern/Central Illinois in the winter (note sarcasm, please).  About 7:30 this morning, my phone rang and the name was one of an old friend that I haven’t talked to in entirely too long.  We chatted about his recent trip to South America, my mom’s illness, church work, my future plans, the upcoming Super Bowl, etc.  It was a much-needed talk.

And it got me thinking.  Too often in our connected/digital/technology-driven world, we are satisfied with the illusion of community instead of meaningful community.  I would contend that, despite our ability to easily connect with friends and loved ones in unprecedented ways (Facebook, blogs, Twitter, FaceTime), we are lonelier than we’ve ever been.  In a world of fantasy sports and fantasy sex, we have settled for fantasy community.  And our souls are more damaged because of it.

My friend, Steven, simply used his morning commute to reconnect with a friend.  And it made my day.  Seeing pics of his sweet family on Facebook is one thing; hearing the love in his voice for his amazing wife and beautiful kid is something entirely different.

And sacred.

And real.

And just what I needed to hear in the midst of a difficult stretch.

Friday, January 31, 2014

Goals


“Time sure flies when you don’t know where you are on the map.”
Derek Webb, “Eye of the Hurricane”

As 2013 flipped to 2014, I had many conversations with friends about resolutions and goals.  I shared some devotional thoughts at our company staff meeting about the horrible follow-through percentages when it comes to resolutions.  And I challenged our employees to set goals instead of making resolutions.  Resolutions make for good January conversation fodder; goals are more concrete and come with a plan, ideally.

I take our 1-1/2 year old son to school most every morning.  Our ritual includes listening to Derek Webb’s CD “I Was Wrong, I’m Sorry, and I Love You.”  (Please withhold your judgment regarding what I am doing theologically to my son.  I’m hoping to nurture a thinking child.)  We do tracks 5 & 6, then go back to track 2.  Webb is a master of the thought-provoking line (“If you’re the only one who runs a race, it might be to get away” and “On that day, we’ll run out of time for death and tears” come immediately to mind.) and one that hits me every time I hear it is the quote above – “Time sure flies when you don’t know where you are on the map.”

I am NOT a planner.  I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants-and-hope-it-works kind of guy.  Usually that leads to a lot of activity and very little productivity.  So I am trying to change – at least a little bit.  My wife (who IS a planner/preparer) and I are trying some new things to get things done – a weekly staff meeting, an allocated spending plan, a monthly menu, etc.  So far, it’s proving helpful.  But it’s still January.

I have broken our 2014 goals down into six categories: personal, financial, family, 8th Day Collective (our church), reading, and work (Accolade & Yahwear).  Each month I am writing out specific things that I hope to accomplish in that month, as well as stretch goals and “on the horizon” goals.  In January, I accomplished about 50% of my goals, and 11% of my stretch goals.  While that’s not anything earth-shattering, it sure is better than having no idea where I am on the map.

One of the goals that I didn’t accomplish in January was to blog weekly.  (I DID, however, blog weakly.)  So this is the first attempt to make that goal happen in February.  I have a plan for blogging as well, so look for thoughts on hospice and friends, train rides and books. 

Two questions as I wrap this up: 
1) What are YOUR goals for 2014 and what kind of plan to you have to make that happen?
2) What topics would you love to have me start a discussion about here on the blog?