Thanksgiving

Thankfulness. It is super fitting that I posted the previous post on this day as well. Because thankfulness and contentment are very closely related. And perhaps after I complete this blog, I will write one on gratefulness, because that is the third part of the same wheel. But today is Thanksgiving Day, as in the official holiday.

Unfortunately it has been four long years since I got to enjoy an American Thanksgiving in America. It simply is not the same, in fact nothing at all like it, outside of the country. Today I am in Southeast Asia, and there is nothing special about this day here. No one is off from work, no one is preparing scrumptious food, no special events on TV (unless intense political unrest counts), and the consumeristic leanings of society at large are pretty much the same as they are on any other given day.

But I can be thankful, more thankful than I normally am - at which I think I have been steadily improving as I get older - I can be more intentionally grateful, and I can state those things for which I am specifically thankful. While I am intensely thankful for all the standard stuff and I do NOT take them for granted, my wife, my kids, my grand daughter, my son-in-law, my parents, my heritage, my Lord and all that His is to me, there are other things that I am thankful for. Call this the non-traditional-thankful-list.

I am thankful for work. I know I know, I am crazy, at least according to the thinking of the modern world, but work is important. Nothing is quite as satisfying as having important work and doing it well. I am thankful for warmth. The older I get, the higher this one moves up the list. I am thankful for the people who don't particularly like me - they challenge me to be/become someone they may eventually like. I am thankful for freedom, not only political freedom, but the freedom to travel, to chose, to decide, to create, to make the world a better place for everyone. I am thankful for beauty - and the older I get the more each moment takes on importance and beauty. And I am thankful for the internet, which allows me to talk/impact/coach/mentor the entire connected internetdom, to have locationless work, to have a reach that is mind boggling. I am thankful for the technology that allows me to leverage the connections I have across the world, which affords me a method to be in constant communication with my family which is always so spread out geographically. The combined paycheck of this paragraph is breathtaking.

And I am thankful.

I still haven't found what I am looking for ...

Few people find what they are looking for it seems.  No matter what they get (or you and I get in the end) in life, there seems to be a human trait that simply always yearns for that which I think I don't yet have.  Bono sang it precisely, " . . .  I still haven't found, what I am looking for . . . " And I would argue that he can't even tell you what it is, even when and if he thinks he got it. 

One of the key aspects of maturing trust in God is addressing this issue.  Contentment.  Few arrive at this point early enough to cherish it.  I think we should commit ourselves to pursuing, developing, and embracing contentment.  We are not discussing that weird idea that everything is perfect in the world, and that every desire I have ever entertained is now satisfied and sated.  Nor are we discussing the other side of this wrong understanding, where I stop striving and reaching for better competence in my work, or more understanding as I pursue God and love my family.

What we are discussing is an internal decision that "this" is "enough" for today.  A choosing to not want nor direct more resources toward me and mine.  One thing to be carefully considered in this internal decision is where you rest on the scales of "haves" and "have nots" and I can promise you, you sit higher than you think you do.  If you are reading this, then the masses of humanity have and use far less than you every day of their lives.

But the paradox is that the higher you sit on this scale the more you want of everything.

The mad dashes of a hurry up and wait life

Early morning flights are a stress-filled mix of mad dashes from point A to point B, with long stretches of waiting.  I have experienced 100's of such early morning flights.   I usually am surprised to find myself actually on the plane at last!

I think that most of life works in a very similar manner.  For instance, there are often 20-30 hours of waiting (and studying, and researching and thinking) for God to speak in sermon prep.  Then the mad dash of 25 minutes to gush it all out.  

There are many such key moments of activity in life, that pivot on the quality and character of the time spent waiting.  The waiting is the shaping, forming, development time for the mad dash of action, doing, accomplishing.

Non-romantic rides in the dark

Non-romantic rides in the dark.  I have been to Odessa four times now.  Odessa is famous in the former USSR as a premier vacation spot, as a place honeymooning couples frequent, as a romantic seaside resort.  

But trying to find a taxi at 5:00 am in the morning to get to the airport is not part of the advertising.

When you finally procure one, then you get the thrill of speeding through the dark city, dodging cars, potholes and dogs at the speed of terrifying.  Thank God there were so few other people on the road to dodge at this ungodly hour.  We ran every red light, exceeded every speed limit, and broke every known traffic law.  As always, I feel very very near to God in these situations.  Certain death always does that to me.

Then the driver tags on an additional 10% fee of extortion for the pleasure of his company. All in all just another non-romantic drive in the dark.

Back in the USSR

Recently I had a re-education.  Back in the  former USSR after a two year absence. Many things have changed, many things have stayed the same.  It is so BIG!  When living in one of the smallest countries in the world, or walking the crowded streets of Southeast Asia where the masses of people press in all the time, you can quickly forget that there are places in the world that have almost unlimited space.  

It gives a sense of peace, that is less related to the absence of conflict and more related to the fact that you can be alone very easily.  There is a profound sense of peace that comes from this wide open spread-out-BIG amount of space.  It feels simple, non-complex, straightforward . . . until you try to navigate the local transportation, or the police station or the state orphanage, or the bank.  Then you find a complexity that completely overwhelms you.  This is the "wall of bureaucracy  that every Slavic person in the former USSR fears and has deep pride in, all at the same time.

It just frustrates ex-pats.  Deep deep frustration.  Unimaginable frustration that only those who have survived it can grasp.  I have climbed that "wall" many times in the past . . . now I generally pay other people to navigate it.

Finally, there is the air.  I should have left my contacts at home.  I must have had to take them out 40 times in three days.  The dust in the air, the constant breeze blowing off of the Black Sea, yet dry as the desert . . . contact lens hell.  Ja, its good to be back, for a visit.,

What you lose

This is the document that I am working on while traveling down the road with Sasha, his wife and his grandson David.  We ran out of Russian to say to one another a long time ago . . . about 15 minutes into the 4 hour trip.  Obviously my Russian language skills are phenomenally rusty.  That is a huge understatement.  For someone who has taught at the university level in Russia, that is a painful statement.

It is proof that what you don't use, you lose.  As I said to my wife after two days of this frustration, it is amazing how much I can understand and how little I can say!  I am pretty sure this principle applies to other things in life too.  What you don't use, you lose. Your love. Your mercy. Your compassion. Your character.  Your thoughtfulness. Your passion. Your kindness. Your generosity. Your thinking. Your inspiration. Your understanding. Your appreciation. Your creativity.

Places few Christians are ever found ...

I have been doing informal research for years, poking my nose in places that few Christians are ever found, without compromising myself as a Christ-follower.  One of the most fascinating places is the smoking room/terrace/balcony/cafe/bar/ especially in and around airports.  It is the ultimate concentration of non-christian world travelers and a great representation of the world as a whole; although lately it seems to be leaning toward Asians and Eastern Europeans who apparently smoke more frequently as a whole, than the basic Westerners do.

The conversations that flow in these places is so different and so not-church oriented, as to seem like I have landed on a strange and unusual planet that has never had contact with the Christ-following world.  They talk about business, culture, politics, sex and life in a complete spiritual vacuum.  Everything is generally aimed at being humorous and clever when talking about these topics above, while being curiously transparent and honest when referring to the self in any way. I conclude from this that smokers as a group are very genuine when expressing their understandings about themselves and families, and very self-depreciating about cultural subjects in general.  They understand that they are not experts in all the issues at play and their positions reveal that while they have a position, they are not defined nor confined by their current understandings.

I would argue that we Christ-followers have much to learn about how to dialogue about ourselves and life in general from the culture at large, perhaps especially from this hyper-Christ-absent segment.  One of the things that I have begun monitoring is how people perceive me in these areas, versus the general Christ-following population.  Do people perceive me to be genuine and transparent, or do they perceive me to be self-righteous and judgmental?  Do they perceive me to be willing to enter into real dialogue about world issues or do they perceive me as believing myself to be right about all matters?

I think these are critical differences between the non-praying world and the praying world.  What would Jesus do indeed, and where might we find Him on a sunny afternoon in the Istanbul airport?

So sick

Every keystroke hurts.  Every muscle and joint hurts.  My ribs and abdominal muscles are in agony.  My head hurts so bad, thoughts are running along pain nerves.  All day in pain waiting for the next retch. It is horrible what a microscopic virus can do to your body and the manner in which it does it.  But there is great value in this, two specific lessons everyone needs to learn and keep uppermind as they stroll through life.

One is the fragility of life.  This one is more difficult for the young than those who are growing older or those who feel the full heavy weight of age.  When you are young, indestructible is the word that best fits the minds of this group. There is generally just so little pain as a part of their lives, that they almost have to generate it.  I once asked a Ph.D. psychologist why young people were cutting themselves?  She answered, "so that they know they are alive."  Different lessons are coming in the future decades of life for this group.  Stages that we have all gone through in one form or another.

Two is that no matter how healthy and strong you are, it only takes a small event (bug, virus, ecoli, muscle pull, back strain, car accident, etc) to bring you to a startling halt.  This one always surprises me because I am very fit and strong, especially for someone my age.  But one small event can bring the strongest of us to our knees and completely humble us..

I guess these two lessons are the different sides of the same coin, that we are all weaker than we suppose.  But I believe the converse is also true, that we are far stronger than we know, and it is these weakest moments which help me revel in the strong.

On a cool evening by the lake

In the USA, it is a holiday called Labor Day.  September 2, 2013 has morphed into a cool evening by lake Ohrid after a beautiful day of relaxing. With a ipad mini combined with a bluetooth keyboard and a wonderful slow burning cigar, it has turned into an evening with loads of inspiration and possibilities.  What I can create, write, think, build, connect, produce literally has few limitations.

It is not work, yet it is productive.  We sometimes call it vacation, a break, a holiday, a day off or a change of pace.  I call it wonderful and special.  It is a wonderful byproduct of where I live and what I get to do.  Hopefully it will inspire someone else to spread their wings and explore all the possibilities of their potential and context.  It is all part of a new way of thinking and being.

http://beforeitsnews.com/opinion/2013/09/the-thinking-habit-that-changed-my-life-2445848.html