Mark Gilroy

a prayer for a job promotion

2013-05-05T14:52:00.001-05:00

God's Help is a book of prayers on specific topics that I worked on a year ago and that was published by Howard Books (Simon & Schuster) in 2012. The 101 prayers are organized into six categories:

Home and Family

Attitudes and Emotions

Work and Finances

Spiritual Growth

My World and Nation

Mission and Service

This is the third sample prayer I've posted - and this is an example of how specific the prayers are. I look forward to posting two more sample prayers over the next couple of Sundays.

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” - Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)

Heavenly Father,

When so many people are out of work I am grateful that You have blessed me with the means to a livelihood. I know that with a roof over my head and food on the table I already live better than many in the world.

So it is with a sense of gratitude for all I already have and have been given that I come to You with the request for promotion. I truly believe You have planted in my heart the desire to grow in my skills, to assume greater responsibilities, to exercise leadership to a greater degree in ways that helps others to grow.

I pray first of all that You would help me to walk worthy of a promotion. Reveal in my heart and spirit ways that I need to grow and personally improve to be ready for promotion. I pray that You will bless my work and influence and that all I do will positively contribute to the growth of my company and the workers around me. I pray that You will bring me and my work to the attention of those in positions to offer promotion.

But I affirm that promotion ultimately comes from You and I will not forget to thank and praise You for Your work on my behalf.

That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and, hence, is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. - Abraham Lincoln

a prayer for courage

2013-04-29T22:39:00.000-05:00

God's Help is a book of prayers on specific topics that I worked on a year ago and that was published by Howard Books (Simon and Schuster) in 2012. The 101 prayers are organized into six categories:

Home and Family

Attitudes and Emotions

Work and Finances

Spiritual Growth

My World and Nation

Mission and Service

I look forward to posting sample prayers for four more Sundays.

bless my spouse

2013-04-21T08:48:00.001-05:00

God's Help is a book of prayers on specific topics that I worked on a year ago and that was published by Howard Books (Simon & Schuster) in 2012. The 101 prayers are organized into six categories:

Home and Family

Attitudes and Emotions

Work and Finances

Spiritual Growth

My World and Nation

Mission and Service

I look forward to posting sample prayers over the next six Sundays.

don't wait for the perfect time - or you'll never get anything done

2013-04-08T19:06:00.001-05:00

When the clouds are full of water, it rains. When the wind blows down a tree, it lies where it falls. Don’t sit there watching the wind. Do your own work. Don’t stare at the clouds. Get on with your life.

Ecclesiastes 11:3-4 (The Message)

Investors know that timing is everything - but they also know that no one gets timing right all the time. So they preach that successful investing is achieved through consistency and diversity over time. When the sun shines. Even when it rains cats and dogs.

Of course someone bought Apple stock at the right time and got rich - but Forrest Gump was a make believe character. And none of the can't-miss stock tips I've received have made me rich. (Though I may just be listening to the wrong people.)

One of my kids asked me when I knew I was ready to have kids. The answer was simple; when Lindsey, my first child was born. Nothing but the miracle of birth could have prepared me for fatherhood.

Business plans are great. Outlines are wonderful. Planning, pondering, preparing, predicting, and other forms of prognosticating on what is the best path to take are necessary for success. And there are better times to make a move than others. But if we wait for the perfect time - or until we think we know when the perfect time is - we'll never act.

Phrases that show the importance of timing, like strike when the iron is hot, are insightful, but so is the simple adage that there is no time like the present. In Aesop's Fable of the ant and the grasshopper, the ant followed Solomon's advise to not stare at the clouds but work - get on with your life. Consistency over time.

Marriage. Kids. New home. New city. New career. New workout program. New endeavor. New habit. New attitude. New mission. New you.

Plan and ponder. But don't kid yourself that you can measure every cause and effect to the point of knowing the perfect time to act and do. The uncertainties of life and the Law of Unintended Consequences mean that even the very best plans get scrapped and rewritten once we start the journey. Doesn't mean the plans were bad. But it does remind us that the only test for whether something we want to do is possible is doing it.

So what's on your heart and mind these days? And what are you waiting for?

There's no time like the present.

redundancy, repetition, and saying or doing the same thing over and over

2013-04-02T20:21:00.001-05:00

Is it possible that redundancy is underrated?

Most of us value efficiency to a much greater degree. We want to drive redundancy out of our personal and corporate lives. Redundancy means wasted time and energy. Right?

But having spent more than 30 years in publishing, I've come to gain a begrudging respect for the sometimes necessary discipline called redundancy.

Just think about the book business. Everything is redundancy! (Is it any wonder I'm crazy after all these years?)

A writer writers a book. Then rewrites the same book. At least a couple more times. Then hands it to an editor who tells him or her how to rewrite it yet again to make it better. (The mean editors smile when they hand off their shopping list of improvements.)

When the writer is finished, the editor edits the same manuscript that has been worked over too many times to count. After that, a typesetter puts the very same manuscript into a professional and polished format, with a proof reader ready to make yet another round of marks.

What happens next? The editor and writer get to read the "blues" and then the "proofs" one more time - and invariably, find yet another error or way to improve the text. In the old days of publishing, when a writer wanted to rewrite at the "blues" stage, the contract outlined a series of fees since "cut and paste" really meant cut and paste back then.

After final corrections and changes are made, the book is printed, and a new person, the reader, pores over the same material - and sometimes finds yet another error.

Does anyone else circle printed errors they find in books?

But the end result of having numerous alert and adept people cover the same book is a work of power and beauty - or at least on that has its best chance of achieving that loft status. (And yes, occasionally, too many cooks spoil the soup.)

The old cliche tells us that anything worth doing deserves our best effort. I couldn't disagree more. There are a lot of activities in life that aren't worth our best time and energy.

But some things are. Many things are.

And when we want to put our best foot forward, redundancy - another set of pushups, another read through and light edit, another prayer, another conversation - can be our best friend.

No surprise the carpenter's motto is "measure twice, cut once."

At the risk of being redundant, when something or someone matters to you, some extra attention and repetition - also known as redundancy - can go a long way to affirming that.

a modest (and slightly defensive) defense of church attendance

2013-02-02T18:15:00.002-06:00

Not only does church attendance in America continue to decline - now less than 17% on a given Sunday - but the trajectory is even worse when you consider population growth. The attendance line is going south while the population line is inching north.

I've heard all the reasons for not going to church - I can experience God anywhere, too much hypocrisy, it's boring, it's not relevant, it hasn't kept up with social patterns, etc. - and I've probably uttered more than a few variations of the above comments myself.

But even if all the above reasons to not to go to church are true in varying degrees, don't you suspect, in light of human nature, some of the objections are simple rationalizations based on people having different interests and priorities? It sounds better to say I don't attend church because it isn't what it's supposed to be rather than I want to go to the lake or get to the game in time for tail-gating.

Interestingly, a lot of religious thinkers are the ones that speak most negatively about the church as problematic, including the charge that church is just too religious. (Okay. I know I'm more spiritual if I say Christianity is a relationship not a religion, but ... just saying.) I'm not sure that persona of honest transparency and sophisticated thought does anything to fix real and perceived problems or attract new attenders - and the self-flagellation is possibly more effective at pushing even more once-regular attenders away. If it's that bad, why go?

One local church in my metropolitan advertises on the radio that they are the church for people that don't like church because they don't like church either. (My paraphrase, but fairly close.) My guess is if you attend there it will actually feel a lot like ... uh, church. I asked someone that attends and they confirmed there is a sermon, some singing, an offering, encouragement to join a small group and other things that sound an awful lot like every church I've ever attended, despite the promise of this being something entirely different. The person I asked was quick to point out they are very friendly. I've gone to lots of very friendly churches. Maybe you can drink coffee and wear shorts in the sanctuary but I forgot to ask. But what I find interesting is that in order to invite new people to come to their church, a church would use a marketing premise that basically says many other churches aren't very good places to be. Arrogant? Irresponsible?

By the way, I know some preachers preach better and some worship leaders lead music better. Some teachers teach better if you got to a Bible class. Some facilities are much better too. But without throwing a guilt trip out there, shouldn't some of the appeal to attend church be based on what you bring to the table? (Literally.) Oh, and, shouldn't we regularly show up at a place that emphasizes the importance of God even if some humans facilitate a more conducive setting to experiencing God than others? And on the subject of guilt, I'm not going to bring up what a casual to negligent attitude toward attending church says to the kids.

My point is that some of the most dismissive critics of the church take for granted their own church upbringing. They have a base of understanding and nurture where they don't have to attend a Bible study or hear a sermon to know quite a lot about God and Jesus Christ and the Bible, but they sure aren't encouraging someone with no (or limited) religious framework to experience corporate Christian fellowship sufficiently to make up their own minds. At least give someone an opportunity to reject Christ and Christians without warning them off before they show up.

I understand your church experience may have been crummy. I'm sure there's been abuse, hypocrisy, irrelevance, and so forth. But where else are you going to go?

I'm not trying to be holier-than-thou. I confess I've gone to church many times with less than stellar motives and attitudes. But sometimes something special has happened for me despite myself.

I think the writer of Hebrews - who was alarmed that the church of his day was losing its faith - has something powerful to say those of us who have spiritually evolved enough to claim church attendance as an optional activity:

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hebrews 10:24-24, NIV

Mark Gilroy Joins Worthy Publishing Team - press release

2013-02-01T15:29:00.000-06:00

WORTHY PUBLISHING GROWS TEAM BY ADDING

MARK GILROY AS SVP, ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

The Worthy offices in Brentwood, Tennessee.

NASHVILLE, Tenn., February 1, 2013 – Worthy Publishing is pleased to announce that industry veteran Mark Gilroy has joined the executive team as a Senior Vice President, Associate Publisher. Gilroy will manage the rapidly growing Freeman-Smith imprint, working closely with founder Ron Smith, who will continue his creative work in product development and key account management.

Gilroy has had a successful career in all phases of publishing, working with top authors such as Max Lucado, Beth Moore, and Newt Gingrich, and on numerous bestseller projects. His most recent role in the corporate world was as publisher of the gift, specialty, and backlist books for Thomas Nelson.

“As we continue to build Worthy Publishing, we want to attract strong, energetic leaders and Mark Gilroy fits that bill,” said Byron Williamson, president and CEO of Worthy. “In my years of working with Mark at Integrity Publishers and Thomas Nelson, I know he has tremendous passion for books and great understanding of the marketplace. He and Ron will make a remarkable team.”

“I’ve enjoyed my recent work as an author, agent, and book packager,” Gilroy said, “but when Byron calls with a big idea you have to listen. I’m honored and excited to jump on board and work with the talented team at Worthy. I’m not sure how many individuals in publishing can match Byron’s track record for building great companies based on high-impact books.”

In addition to his work as a publisher, Gilroy has an extensive list of writing credits and in the past year has released two novels, Cuts Like a Knife and Every Breath You Take, which were met with critical acclaim in USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and other leading outlets. Gilroy has written with authors on many significant projects, including Walmart Way, with Don Soderquist, Sam Walton’s longtime right-hand man.

Worthy Publishing (www.worthypublishing.com), a privately held, independent voice in Christian and inspirational publishing, manages editorial, marketing, publicity, and distribution from its home office in Nashville, Tenn. Worthy Books focuses on a boutique list of new titles each year across a broad spectrum of genres, including fiction, current events, biography, devotionals, as well as spiritual and personal growth, and specialized Bibles. Worthy owns Ellie Claire, Gifts and Paper Expressions, as well as Freeman-Smith, a specialty book imprint.

CONTACT:

Morgan Canclini

Morgan@worthypublishing.com

817-944-1071

the detective I hate to love - or love to hate

2013-01-28T13:39:00.000-06:00

Rebus returns in the 18th full novel
featuring the difficult but successful
Edinburgh detective.

I've been reading Ian Rankin's John Rebus novels for close to a decade and have always had a love-hate relationship with this Edinburgh detective. I'm not alone. Rebus's cynical, impulsive, abrasive, self-destructive ways can play like fingernails on a chalkboard, making it hard for all but a few of the other characters to tolerate, much less "like" John - (poor DS Siobhan Clarke, how does she put up with him?). But despite Rebus' expertly drawn flaws, the curmudgeon gets his hooks in you. And it becomes obvious, anyone who tries as hard as Rebus to prove he doesn't care about anyone or anything has to be hiding something ... like how much he cares.

When Rankin retired Rebus in Exit Music - the 17th Rebus novel - and introduced a new Edinburgh character (Malcolm Fox) in (and of) The Complaints (think Internal Affairs in U.S. police terms) - it felt like a huge loss to me. Rebus hadn't run his course - and of course, Big Ger Cafferty, king of the Edinburgh underworld, was out of jail and needed someone to keep a careful - and obsessive - eye on him. There are lead characters that grow more and more weary with each passing novel - but Rebus was worn out and washed up when we first met him. If the chain smoking hadn't killed him yet, why put him out to pasture? Maybe Rankin planned for retirement to do to Rebus what Cafferty considered doing countless times but never did. (Grudging respect? A sense of kinship?)

I also knew I'd miss the old school rock and roll or blues music suggestions. It's always been a bonus to read through what's on Rebus' playlist in each novel, though he still favors his LPs with the comfortable hiss and pops between tracks over CDs or digital music (horrors!) for his late night melancholy as he looks out the window of his flat, a quickly disappearing bottle of Lagavulin at his side.

Standing In Another Man's Grave was a fabulous vehicle to bring Rebus back where he belongs, in the middle of a bloody crime scene. Interesting, I thought Rankin drew a bit much from a theme and process found in my least favorite Rebus novel, Fleshmarket Alley - (Rebus took a strong and clear and moral political stance, which I thought was a out of character - he normally couldn't be bothered with what the bloody politicians were up to unless it was murder). But having him work as a civilian investigator on cold case files - including a missing person case that may have multiple and current connections - creates the conditions for a triumphant return - even if his boss wishes he would crawl back under a rock.

I would note that Rankin has done as good or better of a job keeping Rebus true to form as any series novelist. That's why reviewing an individual book doesn't seem as important to me as asking if Rebus is really back. Is he?

He's still loathed and feared by colleagues and criminals alike. He still won't give you the time of day unless you have something he needs. He's still the character I hate to love or love to hate most in my commercial crime reading. But even if he has one foot in the grave - or both in another man's grave - he's back, and that's what matters.

Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes

2013-01-21T10:28:00.000-06:00

Take the first step of faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it.

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of education.

To be a Christian without praying is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.

Never succomb to the temptation of bitterness.

The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what's important.

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, "What are you doing for others?"

RIP stan the man: some key numbers

2013-01-20T22:33:00.001-06:00

Hall of Fame baseball player Stan Musial died on Saturday, January 19, 2013, at age 92.

Just a few numbers to consider:

22 seasons in the major leagues (1941-1963), all with Saint Louis

3,630 hits - 4th all time

1815 hits at home

1815 hits on road

3,026 games - 6th all time

6,134 total bases - 2nd all time

20 straight years as an all star

3 NL MVPS

3 World Series championships as a player

But perhaps the most impressive number and the true measure of his greatness.

71 years married

A tip of the hat and shout out to the legend known by his fans as "Stan the Man"!

how many people are reading on eReader devices?

2013-01-15T10:47:00.001-06:00

Where do you read books?

According the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 23% of adult readers have now read an ebook.

In a blog last year I noted that percentage as 12%. Recognizing that there are no comprehensive studies - and the numbers seemingly change dramatically on a month-to-month basis - that is a growth rate of almost 100%. During the same period, ebook sales in trade publishing have risen from 17% to 25%. Half of all fiction is now being bought for consumption on eReaders.

I remember the prophecies of the paperless office back in the early 90s. I'm still waiting.

But to state the obvious, the digital revolution in publishing - starting with daily news and now moving to long form content - appears to be a relentless and unstoppable transformation in how we consume what we read.

in praise of the napkin

2013-01-10T09:30:00.000-06:00

For a writer, nothing beats a neat and orderly office; a clean and clutter-free desk surface; a carefully constructed outline; color-coded file folders with supporting materials that correspond with the outline; a cup of coffee that never gets cold; a sophisticated sound system that provides appropriate mood music that doesn’t put you to sleep but doesn’t get you engaged enough to hum or tap your toes; a family that understands you might be working even if you are at home; and as an extra hi-tech bonus, straight from Star Trek, the “cone of silence,” to shut out distractions. (The “cone of silence” might come from Get Smart.)

Did I mention a clutter-free desk surface and cup of coffee that is always hot?

I can dream can’t I? Like most writers I have a day job. Yours might be called mommy or insurance agent or teacher or preacher or barista or lawyer or salesperson. The day job and everything else life throws at us makes creating an ideal writing space next to impossible. And if we’re honest, even if we had nothing to do but write eight to ten hours a day, we would still probably have a cluttered desk and certainly have to warm up the cup of coffee regularly.

Trying to suppress the reality that writing under almost any circumstances is more than a little bit messy and chaotic—and living fully in the “paperless” digital world—I think one of the almost forgotten but greatest tools for the moonlight writer is the napkin. It actually doesn’t have to be a napkin; the back of a church bulletin or an out-of-date business card or an envelope works too. Even the ripped corner of a business report can work just fine—just make sure the boss isn’t watching when you tear it up.

The point is this: Great ideas for starting or fleshing out a short story or how-to or song lyrics don’t always come during dedicated writing time. Ideas are often serendipitous—floating into our consciousness like a butterfly—there for a brief moment and just as quickly gone.

You need a way to preserve your brainstorms when they come, to be used when you do have time to write. A nice leather journal is great but too restrictive and probably a sign you are trying to perfect a process that is imperfect. I used to keep an electronic file called “Ideas” but it wasn’t always accessible when I needed it, even if I do use Google Drive now. I’ve texted and emailed myself from my Droid, but my thumbs aren’t quick enough to keep up with brain activity. Notecards are ideal but they don’t fit in a front pocket and I forget them anyway.

No. In the spirit of what writing is, herding ideas that run every direction like a thousand over-caffeinated rabbits, I think the napkin is appropriate. It serves as a symbol of multi-tasking—who says writers don’t get hungry?—and what is better for cleaning up messes?

Cherish your ideas when they come by writing them down on the back of a napkin. And if you forgot to bring a pen, ask the waiter if you can borrow hers or his!

_______

Mark Gilroy is a 30-year veteran of the publishing industry, starting with a stint as sports writer for a city newspaper when he was in college. His first two novels, Cuts Like a Knife and Every Breath You Take, featuring Detective Kristen Conner, have quickly garnered critical acclaim.

best selling books of 2012

2013-01-07T11:46:00.001-06:00

2012 was a good year to sell books as an author if your last name was James or Collins.

The January 4, 2012, online of edition of Publishers Weekly has provided a chart with three bestseller lists, all dominated by Fifty Shades of Grey and The Hunger Games.

Bestselling Books of 2012
Nielsen Bookscan Top 20	Amazon Kindle Top 20	Amazon Print Top 20
1. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James (Vintage)	1. Fifty Shades of Greyby E.L. James (Vintage)	1. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James (Vintage)
2. Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James (Vintage)	2. Fifty Shades Darkerby E.L. James (Vintage)	2. Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James (Vintage)
3. Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James (Vintage)	3. Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James (Vintage)	3. Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James (Vintage)
4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)¹	4. The Hunger Gamesby Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)	4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
5. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)	5. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)	5. StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath (Gallup Press)
6. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)	6. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)	6. Fifty Shades Trilogy Box Set by E.L. James (Vintage)
7. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney (Amulet Books)	7. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Crown)	7. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
8. No Easy Day by Mark Owen (Dutton)	8. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)	8. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
9. Killing Kennedy by Bill O’Reilly (Henry Holt)	9. Bared to You by Sylvia Day (Berkley)	9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney (Amulet Books)
10. Fifty Shades Trilogy Box Set by E.L. James (Vintage)	10. The Racketeer by John Grisham (Doubleday)	10. No Easy Day by Mark Owen (Dutton)
11. Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly (Henry Holt)	11. Reflected in You by Sylvia Day (Berkley)	11. The Hunger Games Trilogy Box Set by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
12. Jesus Calling by Sarah Young (Thomas Nelson)	12. The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks (Grand Central)	12. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Crown)
13. The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan (Hyperion)	13. Defending Jacob by William Landay (Delacorte)	13. The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan (Hyperion)
14. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Crown)	14. War Brides by Helen Bryan (AmazonEncore)	14. The Official SAT Study Guide, 2nd Edition by the College Board (The College Board)
15. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)²	15. A Game of Thronesby George R.R. Martin (Bantam)	15. A Song of Fire and Ice, Books 1–4 by George R.R. Martin (Bantam)
16. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)³	16. The Innocent by David Baldacci (Grand Central)	16. Killing Kennedy by Bill O’Reilly (Henry Holt)
17. The Hunger Games Triology Box Set by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)	17. No Easy Day by Mark Owen (Dutton)	17. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (Amer. Psychological Assn.)
18. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (Little, Brown)	18. A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin (Bantam)	18. Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly (Henry Holt)
19. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney (Amulet Books)	19. 11/22/63 by Stephen King (Scribner)	19. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House)
20. The Racketeer by John Grisham (Doubleday)	20. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Berkley)	20. Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander (Simon & Schuster)
Nielsen/BookScan (week ending Dec. 30, 2012)	Amazon Kindle (as of Dec. 31, 2012)	Amazon (as of Dec. 31, 2012)

the lonely crowd at Christmas

2012-12-17T08:03:00.002-06:00

I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the word seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses.
-Taylor Caldwell

It is possible to walk down Fifth Avenue in New York City with a mob of shoppers and window watchers on a Saturday afternoon during the Christmas season . . . to attend a packed church service to experience Handel’s Messiah . . . to stand in a long line at the local movie theater on the opening night of the latest holiday blockbuster everyone has been waiting to see . . . even to attend the neighborhood Christmas progressive dinner with people you know and greet regularly . . . it is possible to do all these things and still feel lonely.

David Riesman, a Harvard professor and prominent psychologist of the 1950s, described this “modern” phenomenon as being a member of the “lonely crowd.”

Christmas reminds us we are never alone.

If you are feeling disconnected, isolated, and alone in the world, well, you’re not alone. As easy as it seems to simply reach out to others, in our fast-paced, media-saturated, competitive, busy, self-centered, preoccupied society, really connecting can be an imposing challenge. Is it any wonder that so many people turn almost exclusively to the virtual world of cyberspace for dating, chatting, socializing, and experiencing relationships rather than savoring flesh and blood encounters?

Excerpted from the Simple
Blessings of Christmas.

You can do Christmas shopping online to avoid the crowds and connect with friends on Facebook, but you just can’t do Christmas by yourself. So even if you find yourself alone in a crowd at Christmastime, the spirit of the season—the One who came to bring peace to all people, to reconcile God and man, to lift up and redeem people from every walk of life—will touch your heart. Even if you don’t know how to reach out to Him or others, He will reach out to you.

What does it take from you? Nothing more than an open heart. Why try? You just don’t know how, when, where, and with whom you’ll realize you are not alone.

“The virgin shall be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means “God with us.”
Matthew 1:23

Christmas Teaches Us Gratitude

2012-12-10T10:23:00.001-06:00

From the Simple Blessings of Christmas
Published by Simple Truths

Christmas day is a day of joy and charity. May God make you very rich in both.

- Phillips Brooks

There is a simple attitude that determines in our own minds whether we are rich or poor, blessed or cursed, and fundamentally positive or negative about life. To make that enormous of a difference, that attitude must be incredibly powerful. And it is. That attitude is gratitude.

One person gets a job and is thrilled to be a contributing member of a team—and to be paid for it to boot. Another person gets the same job with the same company and with the same pay and benefits and feels cheated. One person literally has a great job and the other has an equally crummy job. Why? The difference is an attitude of gratitude.

One teen looks under the Christmas tree, finds a simple and thoughtful gift from her mom, and knows she is loved; all that another teen can think about as he tears the glossy wrapping paper from the box is the new cell phone model he didn’t get. She had a great Christmas morning and got absolutely everything she wanted; he had a lousy Christmas and didn’t get anything good. Again the only difference was gratitude.

After a long pregnancy that generated more questions than congratulations; that nearly led to a marriage ending before it started; that included a painful and arduous journey; that culminated in her son being born in conditions fit for animals but not for humans, how did Mary respond?

Luke tells us that she “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (2:19). In Bethlehem, among the animals, she found joy. She could have complained that God was doing nothing good for her, that her husband was a lousy provider, that the innkeeper should be put in prison for denying her a bed in the house, but instead she declared the “great things” God had done (Luke 1:49).

This central Christmas story—and the joys and challenges of our modern holiday—remind us that gratitude changes everything. Whether there are gifts stacked to the ceiling with your name on them or you aren’t sure anyone is going to give you anything, stop and give thanks to God, the Giver of all good and perfect gifts. You’ll receive a special blessing in your spirit and discover you have everything you need.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17 

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami - review

2012-11-26T18:38:00.005-06:00

First things first. The title has nothing to do with IQ. The first character is the number 1 so the title is a play on George Orwell's 1984. Just in case you were wondering if I selected the title because of a possible correlation in title and my intellect!

If you aren't familiar with Japanese author Murakami, his novels are critically acclaimed - he has been awarded the Franz Kafka Prize, the Jerusalem Prize and many others - and are a fantastical mix of surrealism and a rich (sometimes dense) detailing of everyday life. He consistently deals with themes of loneliness and alienation and soul, the self and reality (and especially perception/imagination and reality). 1Q84 tackles all that and adds acute questions of the-ends-justify-the-means murder, religion and cults, destiny, sexual abuse, revenge, and parallel realities. Oh, it takes a while to catch on, but first and foremost, it is a love story.

Was it listening to Janacek's Sinfonietta that sent Aomame ("sweet pea") into another world with two moons? Did Tengo see the same two moons when he rewrote Fuka-eri's crude draft of Air Chrysalis? (And by the way, was that a story from the fevered imagination of a 17-year-old girl or was she describing things that actually happened?) Will either of them survive the revenge of a cult group called Sakigake and the brilliant and relentless pursuit of Ushikawa - a man with a large misshapen head that shouldn't be able to follow anyone without being noticed? And what of the "Little People" - who seem to hold special powers in 1Q84 and that seem to be looking for a bridge to 1984 - are they neutral or as malevolent as we suspect? And the big question: did Aomame and Tengo have to enter 1Q84 to find each other after 20 excruciating years of separation from each other and disconnect from the world around them? I don't think it's a spoiler alert to say that they became soul mates at age 10.

Enough. You're with me or not. If I've scared you off completely, don't run away before reading the last sentence of this paragraph. If you've read other reviews I've written what you might have already discovered is I don't actually review books - I recommend books. Sometimes quite different books. I know Murakami is not for everyone - though 1Q84 sold a million copies in Japan alone - and I'll have to admit, it's not my usual fare. But I recommend this book for its dense, other-worldly beauty - reading it creates that curious sensation of wanting (even needing and willing) it to be done and to never end.

The original Japanese was publishing in 2010-11 and the English translation was introduced in 2011. I read the lovely boxed set (very reasonably priced on Amazon and Barnes and Noble and others) that was given to me as a gift by my son Merrick.

is micropublishing for you? (should I consider self-publishing?)

2012-11-19T00:09:00.002-06:00

Micro Publishing from Mark Gilroy

the simple blessings of Christmas - already?

2012-11-13T14:09:00.001-06:00

No - this isn't another article on how early Christmas decorations go up in retail settings.

I would like to give a quick promo to a book of 31 Christmas devotions I wrote a couple years ago. If you want a book of daily readings that focuses on the Advent season, this might be just what you are looking for.

And I would quickly add it has sold out the last two years by the end of November. I'm not confident it will be available to order in December.

It is available directly from Simple Truths, the publisher (a free gift card is included if sending as a gift), as well as Amazon and other online retailers.

Click HERE to enjoy a short inspirational "movie" that is on a DVD included in the book.

stay strong sean!

2012-11-08T10:23:00.000-06:00

My son Zach and a group of his Ravenwood High School buddies met on our back porch this week to shave their heads as a sign of love and support for their classmate and great friend, Sean Karl, who is undergoing chemotherapy treatments.

Sean is a star tennis player who has won the last three state AAA championships and is committed to play for University of Tennessee tennis team.

A Facebook page, Pray for Sean Karl, has been created to show support. Sean was recently received a message of encouragement on youtube from the world's top tennis player, Roger Federer.

Stay strong - and I know the guys would have loved if you could been there for the head shaving festivities!

first time to vote

2012-11-06T13:35:00.000-06:00

This is my 10th time to vote in a presidential election, going back to Carter v. Ford. This is #1 for Zach. I'm proud he took the time to register and vote!

PEFS - presidential election fatigue syndrome

2012-11-01T12:17:00.000-05:00

My first year to vote in a presidential election was 1976 - Carter v. Ford. I was a freshman in college and stayed up most of the night - at least until coverage ended, which was probably two o'clock or so - back when there were three main channels and a couple fuzzy ones that required constant fiddling with the rabbit ears or that UHF loop in the middle.

I really enjoy presidential elections. In fact, Amy and I held watch parties for all three presidential candidate debates and the VP debate that was ... uh ... well ... unusual. (I say that will all respect and a really big smile.)

I'm not a news junkie as a rule - unless its football season - but I scan a couple subscriptions and read a blog or article or two most days of the week. But during a presidential election campaign I have one of the cable news channels on almost every night and read a couple articles every day. I love listening to the pundits parse every phrase and analyze poll updates. In detail.

The problem with this election, the 2012 Romney v. Obama election campaign, is that it has gone so long. The GOP nomination process was closely fought and lasted until June - that contest started in earnest more than a year ago with what seemed like a couple hundred debates. As long as the Republicans stayed in the news cycle, good or bad, the Democrats weren't going to be left out of the conversation and were running political ads as early as late winter and early spring - basically long enough to have a baby.

I love this stuff and I even know who is going to win the election and why. But I'm finally there. I am tired of the campaign and am ready for next Tuesday to get here. I officially have PEFS - presidential election fatigue syndrome.

I'll still watch coverage and stay up too late tonight. And tomorrow night. The cure doesn't arrive until November 6. Well, actually sometime around three or four a.m. on the seventh!

How the Irish Saved Civilization

2012-09-06T10:27:00.001-05:00

How The Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill. Anchor Books.

In 406 A.D the Rhine River froze solid - and the barbarians crossed this temporary bridge to strike one of the final blows to a lazy, corrupt, and aging empire. When Alaric, king of the Visigoths, showed up at Rome's gates in 410 A.D., the citizens still didn't know the end was at hand. Unable to defend themselves - it was a lot of effort after all - they negotiated a "sack" to spare the city from bloodshed:

"So they kept their lives, most of them. But sooner or later they or their progeny lost almost everything else: titles, prosperity, way of life, learning: especially learning. A world in chaos is not a world in which books are copied and libraries are maintained. It is not the world where learned men have the leisure to become more learned."

While working through Gibbons' The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire for my nightstand reading, I realized I needed a shorter "boost" to keep going, so I decided to reread Thomas Cahill's much heralded work that shows the disappearance of learning, scholarship, and culture from the European Continent from the fall of Rome to rise of Charlemagne. All the great works of western civilization would have been lost were it not for the fact that as the Continent became illiterate, one small "unconquered people" at the edge of the Empire were just learning to read and write - with gusto. As peaceful Rome turned to chaos, chaotic Ireland grew more peaceful - the key word being more. Following the lead of their eclectic and passionately spiritual patron saint, St. Patrick, and his spiritual son, Columcille, they built centers of learning that not only drew visitors from the Continent, but sent a wave of missionaries that restored and returned the Greek, Roman, Christian and even "pagan" classic literature to Europe.

Just a fun note or two on Patrick. He was not actually Irish. He was a Briton - "almost Roman" - that was captured, enslaved and brutally mistreated by the Irish as a young boy. Following a vision from God - like King David he was a shepherd and solitude and deprivation turned his thoughts toward God - he escaped Ireland and received a seminary education. But his heart beat for Ireland. In one of history's unique footnotes, he became the first missionary since the Apostolic Age. Also, he didn't drive snakes out of Ireland, but he did curb the Irish passion for violence - curbing the passions of that day for hard drink and, um, ah, for a liberated sense of sexuality, is another matter. One of the reasons Patricus was so well received by his one-time tormentors was that he may have been the only man to stand up to the Irish of his century and say, "I am not afraid of you, I fear only God." That they liked and respected.

I'm only one in a long line of many to recommend Cahill's short, poetic, sometimes rambling, but always charming narrative that brings history to life.

self promotion: I wanna talk about me

2012-08-26T20:35:00.001-05:00

How many times can I work in a reference to Toby Keith's big hit, "I wanna talk about me"? Funny song and a great reminder straight from Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People - everyone wants to get a word in edge-wise. It also raises the question of self-promotion with people you know.

So when promoting your activities - particularly with friends - particularly in the social media age we live in - how much is too much? not enough? orjust right?

Be aware you will always get one of three responses:

Anything you say to promote yourself will be too much with some.

Others sincerely want to know what you're doing.

Still more aren't going to notice anything you say anyway - so who cares?

Of course some argue the issue on moral grounds, pointing out that humility is a God ordained virtue and boasting is sinful. The counterpoint is that followers of God should be bold and believe in what they are doing; they ask the question, if you don't believe in yourself and what you're doing, who else should and will?

There is obviously no single answer. You can already read my mind on the topic. My typical response: the answer is yes and no, more and less.

Better go with your own comfort level, but know you can't control your intended responses no matter how careful or capricious you are. My simple counsel - as much a reminder to myself as a word to anyone else - is:

keep a spirit of humility and sense of humor - your project is not the center of the universe or a matter of life and death for others - even if your cause is life and death.
do not overdo it lest you become a nuisance - the rule of thumb for Facebook and other high relationship networks is three times a week; Twitter unlimited.
same as general conversation, make sure you listen as much as you speak - do you know what others are up to?
if you are on social media, at least in part, to promote something you are doing, be sure to return the favor to others.
keep it "soft sell" as most people don't like to be pushed.

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Mark Gilroy is author of the critically acclaimed novel Cuts Like a Knife. His second novel, Every Breath You Take, releases on October 23, 2012. A 30-year veteran of the publishing industry, he has served as publisher and executive vice president at several companies and currently runs a company that services retailers, publishers, ministries, and other organizations in the industry.

book review: istanbul passage: joseph kanon

2012-08-14T08:49:00.001-05:00

Istanbul in World War II? Whose side were they on? Allies or Axis? No peeking!

I'll admit, until I picked up Kanon's post WWII novel I didn't know either. As a city straddling two continents with competing histories from the East and West, no surprise they were neutral.

Their geography also made it not surprising that they were a shipping and smuggling center for both sides. I was surprised to learn that for much of WWII they were the safest transfer link in smuggling Jews from Europe to Palestine.

Leon, an ex-pat American businessman - he buys Turkish tobacco - has run low level operations - errands might be the better word for it - for the Americans and Allies. With Germany's surrender, he is asked to take on one more assignment. The more he is told how simple and safe it will be, the more he knows something big is afoot. He just needs to meet a small boat at the docks, take the passenger to a safe house, ask no questions, and deliver him to an airfield a few days later.

He escapes the ambush with the passenger alive - and quickly learns that the world political conflict has shifted between the US and Soviet Union. He has no one to trust - and both of the surviving superpowers, along with his Turkish hosts suspect he knows more than he is letting on.

Leon visits his Jewish wife - who is tucked in a sanatorium - every day - she hasn't spoken since a ship with children she was trying to save was sunk. Will he find answers in the silence?

Kanon is a great wordsmith - his almost drawl understated style ratchets up the internal highly reflective conflict of sorting through the shifting sands of friends and enemies on personal - and geopolitical - levels.

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10 signs football is upon us

2012-08-13T16:12:00.000-05:00

10. every morning at 6:30 your house's windows shudder and shake unevenly from the percussion section of local high school marching band practice - six miles away.

9. coverage of the US presidential election and European bailouts drop to pages four and five respectively when the USA Today NFL preview edition hits newsstands.

8. ESPN begins advertising the two-hour pre preseason special guide to new fall beer commercials.

7. a stack of decade-old-plus t-shirts your spouse, girlfriend or mom has been asking you to get rid of is carefully boxed and carried to the crawl space - and replaced by a box of decade-old-plus sweatshirts your spouse, girlfriend or mom had been asking you to get rid of that was carefully stored in the crawl space.

6. you are momentarily overcome by a light-headed giddy sense of euphoria that you won't have to watch any more baseball games to get a sports fix until the World Series is played sometime during football season in what appears to be blizzard conditions.

5. colleges and universities allow young people that are are into extracurricular activities like "pursuing a degree"and "hitting the library"back on campus in time for the first football game of the year.

4. you realize you know the first and middle names of every member of the offensive line of your alma mater even if you can't get first names of your own kids right every time.

3. ignoring pain from bunions and planter fasciitis you have your youngest child hold a football vertically on the ground so you can see if you can still kick a game-winning field goal as measured by the back of your garage roof.

2. you call your niece - at her father's and fiance's request - to see if you can talk her out of that Saturday afternoon wedding in the fall she is considering.

1. as you stretch out the inflamed rotator cuff and extend the half-locked knee joint, you think back fondly on all your old football injuries - even if you never played the sport.

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