The Dawg Run

Quote of the Day

2012-01-26T06:28:00.001-08:00

"Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods"

- C.S. Lewis

Actually, Complaining Does Help . . .

2012-01-25T09:04:00.000-08:00

I couple of years back, I received an email from a close (married) relative which said, "One of us has come down with a terminal illness which typically shortens a person's lifespan. We won't go into more detail as complaining never helps anyone and we are trusting in the Lord for healing."

This may be THE MOST IDIOTIC EMAIL I HAVE EVER RECEIVED.

First of all, people who love you want to know what is going on with you - the good, bad and ugly. Secondly, sharing your struggles has the power to give those behind you strength. For centuries people have found comfort in the book of Job, Psalms and Lamentations (that's right, the Bible has a book called "Lamentations" in it). The reason people find comfort is that they discover that they are not alone in their sufferings - they are not the only ones who doubt and question.

One of the most devastating aspects of suffering is the feeling of isolation. When you can connect with a person who says, "I have traveled this road and I know how you feel", there is great comfort and healing there.

In an ironic twist, those who keep a "stiff upper lip" and refuse to share honestly about their struggles may be the most selfish of all - no one benefits from their story because they arrogantly and selfishly refuse to share it. And don't get me started on people who believe we should always be happy for the good of society - that way lies madness.

Here are a couple of stories that came my way recently that illustrate the point:

Don't Carpe Diem

To The Mother With Only One Child

Quote of the Day

2012-01-25T07:57:00.001-08:00

"We shall be judged more by what we do at home than what we preach abroad"

- John Fitzgerald Kennedy

FOOOOORK!

2012-01-24T12:40:00.000-08:00

Silo Solo

2012-01-24T06:59:00.001-08:00

by Joyce Sutphen

My father climbs into the silo.
He has come, rung by rung,
up the wooden trail that scales
that tall belly of cement.

It's winter, twenty below zero,
He can hear the wind overhead.
The silage beneath his boots
is so frozen it has no smell.

My father takes up a pick-ax
and chops away a layer of silage.
He works neatly, counter-clockwise
under a yellow light,

then lifts the chunks with a pitchfork
and throws them down the chute.
They break as they fall
and rattle far below.

His breath comes out in clouds,
his fingers begin to ache, but
he skims off another layer
where the frost is forming

and begins to sing, "You are my
sunshine, my only sunshine."

Quote of the Day

2012-01-21T14:02:00.000-08:00

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."

- Albert Einstein

I'm Gonna Show You

2012-01-21T12:20:00.000-08:00

Inspiration: Powerful Beyond Measure (how great are you?) from Ben McDonald on Vimeo.

Quantum Leap: How John Polkinghorne Found God in Science and Religion

2012-01-21T12:09:00.000-08:00

There are few books that you read and can remember clear as day 20 years later. Dr. Karl Giberson's Worlds Apart: The Unholy War Between Religion and Science is one of those books for me. So when I found out that Giberson was working with my personal friend and hero Dr. Dean Nelson on a book about world-renowned physicist-turned-Anglican-priest Sir John Polkinghorne, I marked the release date on my calendar. As anyone who has read Nelson or Giberson's work would expect, it is wonderful.

This is a great book for those, like me, who sometimes feel as if they are caught between the scientific ignorance of the faith community and the philosophical arrogance of the scientific community. Quantum Leap examines not only the spiritual and scientific thoughts and beliefs of Sir John Polkinghorne but the man himself as well.

In typical Nelson / Giberson fashion, the book takes head on the hard questions of the existence of God, the purpose of prayer, miracles and the afterlife while leaving plenty of room for detractors such as Stephen Weinberg, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan, and E. O. Wilson.

It is a great read for anyone interested in approaching the issue of a scientifically informed spirituality and/or a spiritually informed view of science.

This book just might make you smarter. Highly recommended!

Quote of the Day

2012-01-21T07:54:00.000-08:00

"If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much."

- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Why Do I Feel Like This is My Future 5 Years from Now?

2012-01-19T11:36:00.000-08:00

http://youtu.be/uU6U-8LP1DY

Quote of the Day

2012-01-17T10:30:00.000-08:00

No one can settle how much we ought to give. The safe rule is to give more than we can spare

- CS Lewis

I Love This Kind Of Stuff

2012-01-17T10:28:00.000-08:00

http://youtu.be/IJymVGJ3Eag

Quote of the Day

2012-01-16T14:06:00.000-08:00

‎"A right delayed is a right denied."

~Martin Luther King Jr.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-16T06:40:00.001-08:00

"Kindness is loving people more than they deserve."

- Joseph Joubert

The Fight

2012-01-16T06:24:00.001-08:00

by Gregory Djanikian

It was over a girl,
One boy had spoken to her,
Had asked her out, the other
Had been feeling with her
The twitches of something serious.
It was a misunderstanding,
Something that might have been fixed,
Talked out or around,
But the whole school had turned out
To watch them settle it.
It was too late for talk,
It was no longer just their fight,
Something irrelevant and impure
Had entered it, honor, looking
More upright than the other,
Things which had nothing to do
With the girl, or desire,
Or what she had whispered to one of them
One night in a car.
So they faced each other,
Bringing their anger up
By saying what finally did not matter
But loudly enough so their bodies believed it.
There was a sudden coming together,
There were fists flailing
While everybody, hundreds, watched.
One was cut above the eye, the other's
Knuckles were bloodied against teeth.
It lasted half a minute until
One of them pulled back and said
Something like "This is stupid"
And the other dropped his fists
And watched him walk away

Quote of the Day

2012-01-14T18:33:00.000-08:00

Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.

- CS Lewis

Life: Act 2 (Audience Participation Encouraged)

2012-01-11T10:03:00.000-08:00

The challenge to picking a career when you are in high school / college is that you largely do so blind. Over time as you gain experience you learn that there is a difference in "work" and the "work environment". You may enjoy the work but cannot abide the environment. You also learn that just because you are good at something does not mean you actually enjoy doing it; it may just be a talent as opposed to a gift. Many people by their mid-thirties are not working at a job that matches their college degree. And that's when the chase begins.

Before you know it, you are chasing a paycheck from one career to the next. Instead of asking "what fulfills me" we start asking, "How can I get the most money for the things I can do?". Or to put another way, "How can I sell myself to the highest bidder?"

I am trying to take advantage of this economic downturn and period of unemployment to STOP. LOOK. And LISTEN. To really ask myself how I want to spend the second half of my career-life. And I may have had an epiphany this morning . . . . I listed every job I have ever had and wrote down what I liked and disliked about them. Every. Single. Job. Some of the likes and dislikes are obvious and others are more subtle.

This is where you come in. If you wouldn't mind taking a look and chiming in if you know of a career that might be a match I would be greatly appreciative (I figure there is some odd career out there that I have never considered).

So without further ado:

LIKES:

Variation in work
Caring for people in need
Learning new things
Responsibility
Not confined to one office all week
Challenging
Public speaking
Teaching / training others
Opportunity to intellectually grow
Study and research
Writing
Inspiring others
Helping people
Emotionally caring for others
Business casual
Salaried (additional small commission is okay)
Moderately Independent
Regular work hours (a little on call time is okay)

DISLIKES:

Mindlessly shuffling paper
Not stimulating
No Respect
No privacy in work space
Irregular hours
Regular long distance travel
Sales
Paying my own taxes
Work weeks consistently over 50 hours
Being on call 24/7
Servicing Salesmen
Corruption / Dishonesty / Cronyism

Thanks!

Why I Hate Religion

2012-01-11T09:58:00.000-08:00

The true church is the people - the body of Christ. Organizations who call themselves a "church" and collect and spend money are businesses that exist to support the real body of Christ.

http://youtu.be/1IAhDGYlpqY

New Specs!

2012-01-10T11:54:00.000-08:00

Well the new glasses have arrived. Annie is surprisingly patient with them (wearing them for 5 whole minutes at a time). They are transitions so they darken in the sun.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-05T16:42:00.000-08:00

All you can do is try to know who your friends are as you head off to the war

- Regina Spektor in The Call

Time Travel

2012-01-05T15:47:00.000-08:00

I have noticed that every now and then I will see a photo of Annie that seemingly leaps a full year into the future and leaves me wondering, "How is she growing up so fast?". This is no small feat as I am with her just about every day.

These photos stopped me in my tracks and made me say, "Whoa!":

A-MEN and AMEN!

2012-01-05T08:59:00.000-08:00

http://youtu.be/DUn6luZQaXE

Shoulders

2012-01-05T06:50:00.000-08:00

by Naomi Shihab Nye

A man crosses the street in rain,
stepping gently, looking two times north and south,
because his son is asleep on his shoulder.

No car must splash him.
No car drive too near to his shadow.

This man carries the world's most sensitive cargo
but he's not marked.
Nowhere does his jacket say FRAGILE,
HANDLE WITH CARE.

His ear fills up with breathing.
He hears the hum of a boy's dream
deep inside him.

We're not going to be able
to live in this world
if we're not willing to do what he's doing
with one another.

The road will only be wide.
The rain will never stop falling.

2012-01-04T09:33:00.000-08:00

http://youtu.be/WY0QcSQf_mc

Extraordinary

2012-01-04T05:52:00.000-08:00

Aimee Mullins is one of my heroes. She recently told part of her story at The Moth. It is worth your time.