Just a quick technical heads up, the email subscriptions that I tried to set up aren't working properly. So if you subscribed, you probably didn't get an update email. I am going to work to get it all sorted out this week, and hopefully I can find a good solution.
Happy Labor Day.
CP
Friday, August 29, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Proper Indifference
Life is full of “X factors”. X factors are the little things that make big differences in the outcome of situations and circumstances. They drive change, they differentiate. We often hear about X factors in venues where there are elements that we can sense, yet we cannot define which played a big role in getting a result. I believe that one such factor is attitude, our perception of self and the world around us…and I believe a sub-factor can be indifference, and indifference properly applied.
I feel that there are two types of indifference that if adopted, yield markedly different results in our lives. The action of being indifferent is the same; indifference is a detachment, or lack of feeling one way or another about something. What distinguishes proper from improper indifference is the subject of the action. Just as it is with nuclear power, alcohol, bleach, and spandex, when used in proper context each can be used for good and can be productive things in our lives. However when used with the wrong motives, improper application, or with impure intentions results can lead to total destruction.
When we are properly indifferent, we are indifferent to the inner barriers that hold us back.
The key distinction is the following, improper indifference is projected on to the world around us, while proper indifference is applied to ourselves specifically, our fears and insecurities. Again, indifference to the world around you, bad; Indifference to yourself, good.
When we are indifferent to the people, places, and things that make the backdrop for the setting of our life stories, we disengage from the very things that God has called us to be engaged with. When we say we are indifferent about the world around us, we say we simply don’t care. Our hearts become hardened and disenfranchised, we do not feel, we do not love, and we do not take action in our own lives. We become self absorbed. Like a rest stop exit that you pass on a highway, the course of our lives goes unaltered and the pathways of our days, weeks, months and years are reduced from an epic journey to a simple commute from point A to point B. We lose the spontaneity and improvisational aspects of life that allows us to engage with and impact the people and things around us. Further, we lose the ability to be engaged by and be impacted by others!
Indifference strangles the adventure God has set out; it cheapens life, and isolates us from the very things we were called to be in community with.
Proper indifference or indifference to our selves is not a state of self-neglect or dejection. It is not resolving to passivity, or inaction; it is not indifference to sin or a stagnation of progress in our lives. The subject matter of proper indifference is not ourselves as people, but rather it is indifference that is targeted at our fears and insecurities. Proper indifferences acknowledges, and then ignores, the little things in our nature that keep us from loving, doing, and living our lives on a full and a faith-filled basis. Proper indifference defuses the element of “self”, and allows us to go full speed ahead, trusting, hoping, and living with hearts open to the world, it is saying “Screw it” to the things that keep our hearts closed off to the world around us, and “screw it” to the things that keep us from diving in head first and being fully engaged and fully invested.
If you have ever been cliff jumping or skydiving, there is always a point in time where we stand on the edge, we cautiously peer down below, we acknowledge our fear, then decide whether we jump. This is the same type of “screw it” attitude that pushes us forward, this is proper indifference. Improper indifference lets fear rule and leads us to walk away from those big scary moments.
Proper indifference yields an open heart and fearless pursuit of a life of faith.
Indifference is not the same as ignorance. It is not pretending that we do not have fear or insecurity each and every day as we walk the pathways of this life. It is not pretending that the cliffs we peer over are not tall. Fear and insecurities both can be very important barometers for our lives. They help us pinpoint areas where we need faith, and where we have a disconnection from the perfect love we are called to abide in. However, if we dwell on these elements, we end up building huge barriers to living a life on the edge in faith.
Proper indifference is being in the habit of proceeding through life in faith. It is removing the elements of self that keep us from being engaged, and setting them aside for the sake of having our hearts be fully Christ’s. The statement of “screw it”, changes from being something that segregates and detaches us, to something that drives us forward and keeps us taking leaps and bounds of faith in our daily lives.
Imagine what life would look like with a total disregard of fear of rejection, fear of failure, insecurity that we are unloved, fear that we won’t be loved back, insecurity in our looks, insecurity in our jobs…the list of things I would gladly set aside and become indifferent to is a long one.
When we become indifferent to all the things that hold us back, those little whispering voices in our heads and hearts that keep us from charging ahead into unsteady circumstances, we liberate our minds, our hearts, and our hands to give it our all. I am a huge believer that all we can do is give 100%, anything less will not do, and that is a terrifying concept to me. I can not dictate the outcome, I can only control my input (more on this concept in a few weeks), and therefore I make the choice to give it my all. As I wrote last week, this is a choice.
Indifference to the world around us leads to hearts plagued by apathy and inactivity; indifference to our fear leads to hearts filled with hope, energy, and a motivation to take action in our own lives. The verb is the same, the context and result are quite distinct.
When I look at Christ’s model, I can see both elements of indifference to self, and lack of indifference to the external world. When Jesus was engaged in ministry he was not simply a commuter, his heart was filled with compassion, he took tangents on his point A to point B pathways, he was deeply engaged with the people and things around him. At the same time, his “not my will but yours be done” attitude communicates a heart that was in touch yet unconcerned with any element of self.
Proper indifference means we are fully engaged in, yet fully detached from the world. We are in the world but not of the world. We become people not interested in popular conception, worldly expectations, or the progressive hurdles of modern life. We become people not concerned with self, we become better lovers, supporters, and servants of the people around us, and better livers of our lives.
So let us set our fears and insecurities aside and strive onward. Let us take on the challenges ahead, let us love fearlessly, let us live hopefully, and let us become indifferent only to those things that hold us back.
Its strange to consider that one of the hardest hurdles to clear will be me…one of the biggest challenges to overcome will be setting myself aside…
Also, special thanks to my friends and family for a fantastic birthday surprise last week, you all are amazing! Thank you for loving me like you do.
Screw it,
CP
I feel that there are two types of indifference that if adopted, yield markedly different results in our lives. The action of being indifferent is the same; indifference is a detachment, or lack of feeling one way or another about something. What distinguishes proper from improper indifference is the subject of the action. Just as it is with nuclear power, alcohol, bleach, and spandex, when used in proper context each can be used for good and can be productive things in our lives. However when used with the wrong motives, improper application, or with impure intentions results can lead to total destruction.
When we are properly indifferent, we are indifferent to the inner barriers that hold us back.
The key distinction is the following, improper indifference is projected on to the world around us, while proper indifference is applied to ourselves specifically, our fears and insecurities. Again, indifference to the world around you, bad; Indifference to yourself, good.
When we are indifferent to the people, places, and things that make the backdrop for the setting of our life stories, we disengage from the very things that God has called us to be engaged with. When we say we are indifferent about the world around us, we say we simply don’t care. Our hearts become hardened and disenfranchised, we do not feel, we do not love, and we do not take action in our own lives. We become self absorbed. Like a rest stop exit that you pass on a highway, the course of our lives goes unaltered and the pathways of our days, weeks, months and years are reduced from an epic journey to a simple commute from point A to point B. We lose the spontaneity and improvisational aspects of life that allows us to engage with and impact the people and things around us. Further, we lose the ability to be engaged by and be impacted by others!
Indifference strangles the adventure God has set out; it cheapens life, and isolates us from the very things we were called to be in community with.
Proper indifference or indifference to our selves is not a state of self-neglect or dejection. It is not resolving to passivity, or inaction; it is not indifference to sin or a stagnation of progress in our lives. The subject matter of proper indifference is not ourselves as people, but rather it is indifference that is targeted at our fears and insecurities. Proper indifferences acknowledges, and then ignores, the little things in our nature that keep us from loving, doing, and living our lives on a full and a faith-filled basis. Proper indifference defuses the element of “self”, and allows us to go full speed ahead, trusting, hoping, and living with hearts open to the world, it is saying “Screw it” to the things that keep our hearts closed off to the world around us, and “screw it” to the things that keep us from diving in head first and being fully engaged and fully invested.
If you have ever been cliff jumping or skydiving, there is always a point in time where we stand on the edge, we cautiously peer down below, we acknowledge our fear, then decide whether we jump. This is the same type of “screw it” attitude that pushes us forward, this is proper indifference. Improper indifference lets fear rule and leads us to walk away from those big scary moments.
Proper indifference yields an open heart and fearless pursuit of a life of faith.
Indifference is not the same as ignorance. It is not pretending that we do not have fear or insecurity each and every day as we walk the pathways of this life. It is not pretending that the cliffs we peer over are not tall. Fear and insecurities both can be very important barometers for our lives. They help us pinpoint areas where we need faith, and where we have a disconnection from the perfect love we are called to abide in. However, if we dwell on these elements, we end up building huge barriers to living a life on the edge in faith.
Proper indifference is being in the habit of proceeding through life in faith. It is removing the elements of self that keep us from being engaged, and setting them aside for the sake of having our hearts be fully Christ’s. The statement of “screw it”, changes from being something that segregates and detaches us, to something that drives us forward and keeps us taking leaps and bounds of faith in our daily lives.
Imagine what life would look like with a total disregard of fear of rejection, fear of failure, insecurity that we are unloved, fear that we won’t be loved back, insecurity in our looks, insecurity in our jobs…the list of things I would gladly set aside and become indifferent to is a long one.
When we become indifferent to all the things that hold us back, those little whispering voices in our heads and hearts that keep us from charging ahead into unsteady circumstances, we liberate our minds, our hearts, and our hands to give it our all. I am a huge believer that all we can do is give 100%, anything less will not do, and that is a terrifying concept to me. I can not dictate the outcome, I can only control my input (more on this concept in a few weeks), and therefore I make the choice to give it my all. As I wrote last week, this is a choice.
Indifference to the world around us leads to hearts plagued by apathy and inactivity; indifference to our fear leads to hearts filled with hope, energy, and a motivation to take action in our own lives. The verb is the same, the context and result are quite distinct.
When I look at Christ’s model, I can see both elements of indifference to self, and lack of indifference to the external world. When Jesus was engaged in ministry he was not simply a commuter, his heart was filled with compassion, he took tangents on his point A to point B pathways, he was deeply engaged with the people and things around him. At the same time, his “not my will but yours be done” attitude communicates a heart that was in touch yet unconcerned with any element of self.
Proper indifference means we are fully engaged in, yet fully detached from the world. We are in the world but not of the world. We become people not interested in popular conception, worldly expectations, or the progressive hurdles of modern life. We become people not concerned with self, we become better lovers, supporters, and servants of the people around us, and better livers of our lives.
So let us set our fears and insecurities aside and strive onward. Let us take on the challenges ahead, let us love fearlessly, let us live hopefully, and let us become indifferent only to those things that hold us back.
Its strange to consider that one of the hardest hurdles to clear will be me…one of the biggest challenges to overcome will be setting myself aside…
Also, special thanks to my friends and family for a fantastic birthday surprise last week, you all are amazing! Thank you for loving me like you do.
Screw it,
CP
Monday, August 18, 2008
Dieting - Choices
I think its important for you all to know that the following has nothing to do with food. The only reason I feel a disclaimer might be necessary is because I am confident that the last thing that anyone wants on a Monday morning is my opinion on healthy eating.
Due to a number of circumstances, my life lately has boiled to down to a lot of choices. The choices I face are not synonymous with options; I’m not choosing between left and right or A and B, these types of choices are circumstantial. I am making the kind of choices that are abstract and overarching, they are the kind of choices that dictate the kind of person I will be, they are the choices that define the manner in which I do things more than they define the things I do. The choice statements I am making (or at least trying to make) extend far above the directional and circumstantial choices. It is as if to say, “Regardless of if I chose A or B, Right or Left, this or that, I choose to be ___________”
The choices I’m talking about are hard for me, and often they are contrary to my nature. However, I trust they are the right choices and therefore I carry on. If we live honest, public lives, these life defining choices can be scary, they force us to take a stand and be known. They draw clear lines, in the ways we talk, interact, and live life with each other.
In American Culture we talk about diets an awful lot, probably much more than we should. In any case, I think when most people hear the word “Diet”, they immediately associate it with, “Less food”, “no flavor”, “no fun”, “misery”, “I’m STARVING”. The reality is that a healthy diet isn’t about less choices, it’s about good choices. Its about redefining the way we go about eating.
Diet’s largely are not fun; the elimination of options is constricting and uncomfortable. We often end up eating things that we don’t like, and worst of all, we feel like we miss out on some of life’s truest pleasures…i.e. desert! Ultimately, we diet because we want change; we want a higher and better quality of life. We want health, longevity; we want the satisfaction that comes with making GOOD CHOICES. Making the good choices for a diet comes at a price, but the good news is that there is a return on that investment and in due time good choices yield good returns. Ultimately, what we hope (or should hope) happens through dieting, is that our appetite’s change altogether and the once hard and non-appealing choices become what we desire.
I took a shot in the dark on looking up the Latin root word for “diet”. I’ll go ahead and say that I am not the type of person who has language research as a habitual part of my internet routine. However, I got totally lucky on this one…and it just so happens that the Latin history of the word is applicable to my point. Plus, I feel that talking about things like root words and language structure makes me at least appear smarter than I truly am.
The root word for Diet is a Latin word, Dieata, which means “a way of life”. Diet, is about our lives, it’s about the choices we make about how we live. When we take that to the context of food, yes, what I put in my body communicates something about the big defining choices of my life. Our diets, or the way we live, is tied closely with the choices we make. It’s a two way street, choices indicate something about my way of life, and my way of life should impact my choices.
If there is a disconnect between these two things, you either need to asses the choices you make to align them with your belief system (way of life), or you’re fooling yourself about your way of life altogether, and you probably need to get a grip on the real “diet” you’re living by.
In my life, I am in the process of aligning a few things…I’m changing some choices I am making, also I’m reminding myself of and recommitting to choices I’ve wavered from. I’m seeking to align the choices to the way of life I have chosen. I’m reaffirming the way I will go about things, regardless of what it is that I ultimately go about doing.
Many of these choices feel like “eat your vegetables” types of decisions. I am making choices that are tough, they don’t taste good…and a lot of times I don’t like making them. But they are good choices, and over time I truly and deeply believe that making some of these hard to swallow decisions will serve to align my appetite, choices, and way of life.
Choosing to love people in my life even after they’ve hurt me, and when I’m scared I won’t be loved back.
Choosing to be hopeful when the outlook is grim,
Choosing to stay the course that God has called me to,
Choosing to stay positive
Choosing to pour into others, and relying on God to make me full
These are all eat your vegetables choices…they are hard! But making good choices can change our appetites, and what we desire altogether. We often confuse action with feeling…love, hope, perseverance, positivity, an encouraging spirit, being a servant, are all choices…they are not feelings. We are called to do these things, not feel these things. To my knowledge, there are no biblical commands associated with how we feel, rather there are plenty associated with what we do. We have to get our hands dirty, we have to eat our veggies, and often times we have to choke down some really unappetizing circumstances.
I think many people miss the boat by waiting to feel before they act. Rather, if we make the decisions to unwaveringly embody love, service, leadership, hopefulness, etc. feelings follow suit. By choosing to be more loving, I am choosing to see the world in a way which empowers me to love, therefore engraining the characteristics of love in me. By choosing to be positive, I am making decisions that universally shape my response to the elements around me…therefore making me positive. While we all may not be in fact loving, positive, cheery, smiley, neat and well polished people; we can make choices to live loving, positive, real authentic lives.
For most of us, love, hope, patience, etc. are contrary to our nature, but what I am finding in my own life right now is that my appetite is changing as a result of the choices I am making in my spiritual diet. It’s a process, and for me right now, I’m not adjusted to the flavors of some of the menu choices I’m making, but I’m coming around. I want to be clear, that it doesn’t feel great, and its tough, but they are the right choices.
So as you’re looking at the world around you and specifically your life, I’d encourage you not to ask “What am I?” but rather “What do I chose to be?”
Hungrily yours,
CP
Monday, August 11, 2008
Opening Ceremonies - The Human Spirit
I guess its rather fortunate timing to begin a writing campaign (for lack of a better term), in conjunction with the beginning of the Olympic Games. Personally, I am enamored with the Olympics. I love both what they represent and what they imply about the human race. There are few sporting events like it, and in a broader reach there are even fewer things that have the power to unite the world’s attention peacefully around a redeeming focal point. Yes, it is competitive, and with competition comes struggle and conflict, but on a deeper level, the Olympics are a celebration.
To put it in perspective, right now there are about 10,500 athletes in Beijing, for those athletes medals are awarded in 302 events…mathematically, the ratio of success (Gold Medal) is small, and rightfully so. But I believe the captivation of the games extends far beyond, the 302 ceremonies for the awarding of Gold medals and reaches into something that we all connect with, and that is the human spirit.
As I watched the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics, I cannot help but be drawn to the spectacle. It is a true celebration, four years of anticipation culminating to here and now; years of work and preparation. What is so incredible about the opening ceremony is that not one medal has been awarded, there is no distinction between those who are Gold, Silver, Bronze and those who are unadorned…they are all people, simply and purely so. For a moment, the world stops and celebrates being human. We stop focusing on the benchmarks of wealth, status, medals, and our position on the self-prescribed world ranks, and we just agree that while we are all imperfect, and while we all might not be “Gold medalists”, we are all people, we are all in it together, so lets put the achievement aside for a moment and just be human, and lets be human together.
I do not know what it felt like on Friday night in the Bird’s Nest, but deep down I can imagine it, and imagine life in a world where we all live in those big dreamy moments.
For me, so very little of what is happening right now in China is about sports. I think the Olympics are a great reminder to dream big, and to truly celebrate the human spirit. The human spirit, and the celebration thereof, is not about self indulgence or egomania. Neither is it about glorifying ourselves as creation over the God that created us, but rather it is celebrating the things that bridge the divisions that are inherent in the world around us. It is the recognition that while there are many fleeting things that segregate people, there are far more eternal, deeply significant qualities that unify us as human.
While circumstantially my life might be disconnected from other nations, socioeconomic classes, races, and religions. I believe there are connecting points that bring us all together and bridge those vast chasms.
I most likely cannot understand the biting sting of living under the auspices of starvation, plagues, homelessness, or the deep loss of a child or a loved one, but I can indentify with the struggle to find optimism in tough situations and to carry a banner of hope despite how hopeless circumstances seem.
I most likely cannot understand what it feels like to summit Mt. Everest, be a soldier on the streets of Iraq, to be an athlete in Beijing, or to be a single mother taking care of kids and trying to make it work for her family. However, I can identify with what it feels like to be faced with HUGE challenges, to have deep fears, and to have to make decisions to carry on, and push forward despite how big the tasks laid before us seem.
I may never know what it feels like to wear a Gold medal, but I know what it feels like to have big dreams and give it a shot. Often I fall short but I know what it means to give it my best, and to celebrate the journeys that lead both to my successes and failures. And this is the spirit we must celebrate daily, we should adorn grace in those moments, boasting love for each other in our failures. We as people universally fall short time and time again, but we’re in it together, and our shortfalls are one of the universal connecting points of humanity. Our imperfection creates both room and a need for Grace; imperfection is an unavoidable but crucial part of the human spirit.
So I guess what I propose is that we start looking each new day as an Opening Ceremony to celebrate the togetherness that we have the opportunity to live in. I believe that if we at least attempt to focus on the ways that we connect with each other, despite how different and unique we all are, we will begin to love each other, exhibit grace, and live life in new and profoundly impactful ways. I encourage you to look at the world around you and celebrate both the things that make us different and the things the bridge the gaps of our differences to unite us in the spirit of being human.
We are capable of great things...
Let the Games begin.
CP
Intro Letter
Friends,
I wanted to send a brief note to let you know about a project I am starting to work on that I wanted to just have you all be aware of.
Basically as a result of some encouragement from a friend, I am going to start publishing my writings regularly via blog online. Over the past years, I have been in the process of writing about a lot of different topics, some of which I have shared, others I have not. I have come to the realization, that purely writing as an outlet of my thoughts is a selfish endeavor and at the end of the day, no one benefits with the exception of myself. I have decided to open up my writings for anyone who might be interested, to simply share my perspective and the things that are going on in the world around me.
I want to go ahead and say that what I will be writing about will be much less about what happens in my day to day life, and much more about what’s happening in the much bigger world around me. I in no way claim to be “right”, nor do I feel that the way I see or look at things is perfect…but its how I see it. My goal is not to convince anyone of anything, but rather to get you and whomever to ask questions of yourself, and to simply open your eyes to the world around you to look for the deeper workings of a big and powerful God.
I believe there is monumental significance in the little moments, and the little things that make up each day…I don’t want to miss those things, I want to seek God in matters big and small, and I want to share that with the people in my immediate sphere of influence.
I am not and will be offended if not a single person has any interest in what I have to say, for that is not up to me. Rather, I’m doing my part to stand heart and hands open to let God do what he wants with my life, my words, my thoughts…which are all inspired by his love and presence in my life.
If you do read my words, I pray that you do not see me, but rather you see the face of a man far greater than I, and a life moved to live by the themes of Grace, Truth, and Love.
I am thankful to have each of you be a part of my life, for it is your love that gives me the freedom to openly and shamelessly pursue such an undertaking.
Thanks, and the first post is up…I am going to shoot for once a week…maybe more, maybe less, we’ll see where the wind takes us.
CP
I wanted to send a brief note to let you know about a project I am starting to work on that I wanted to just have you all be aware of.
Basically as a result of some encouragement from a friend, I am going to start publishing my writings regularly via blog online. Over the past years, I have been in the process of writing about a lot of different topics, some of which I have shared, others I have not. I have come to the realization, that purely writing as an outlet of my thoughts is a selfish endeavor and at the end of the day, no one benefits with the exception of myself. I have decided to open up my writings for anyone who might be interested, to simply share my perspective and the things that are going on in the world around me.
I want to go ahead and say that what I will be writing about will be much less about what happens in my day to day life, and much more about what’s happening in the much bigger world around me. I in no way claim to be “right”, nor do I feel that the way I see or look at things is perfect…but its how I see it. My goal is not to convince anyone of anything, but rather to get you and whomever to ask questions of yourself, and to simply open your eyes to the world around you to look for the deeper workings of a big and powerful God.
I believe there is monumental significance in the little moments, and the little things that make up each day…I don’t want to miss those things, I want to seek God in matters big and small, and I want to share that with the people in my immediate sphere of influence.
I am not and will be offended if not a single person has any interest in what I have to say, for that is not up to me. Rather, I’m doing my part to stand heart and hands open to let God do what he wants with my life, my words, my thoughts…which are all inspired by his love and presence in my life.
If you do read my words, I pray that you do not see me, but rather you see the face of a man far greater than I, and a life moved to live by the themes of Grace, Truth, and Love.
I am thankful to have each of you be a part of my life, for it is your love that gives me the freedom to openly and shamelessly pursue such an undertaking.
Thanks, and the first post is up…I am going to shoot for once a week…maybe more, maybe less, we’ll see where the wind takes us.
CP
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