Your commute is killing you. Interesting article (and a little scary); I’m right at that 45-minute mark each way and have started having back pain…
7 Ways to Make Commuting (a little) Better – haven’t tried the “learn a new language” idea, and books on tape have been hard for me to process… I think I need something a little more mindless; but it’s still a good list if you are stuck in a car on a regular basis.
Semi-related, 25 Healthy Changes You Can Make Today
Donald Miller – How to Partner with God in God’s Work. I was sort-of trying to make this point as part of my Baccalaureate message but I know it didn’t come across nearly as clear or concise – in every day and in every place we have opportunities to partner with God, using the multitude of gifts God has given us. Sometimes it can be as simple as working in the garden or baking a cake.
Following the Baccalaureate service someone thanked me for not being an “Open Theist” which really had the feeling of being a backhanded compliment. The weird thing is, open theism is a strange topic to even bring up in such a setting – it relates to how we understand God’s relationship with time, and there was nothing in my message to that would suggest I was a firm supporter of something like predestination. I suspect what this person was really affirming is that I didn’t seem to be a universalist, because I talked about Jesus in my message.
Love this quote from Anna Quindlen from a 1999 Villanova University Commencement address (via Inward/Outward):
“So here’s what I wanted to tell you today: Get a life.Get a real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house. Do you think you’d care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon, or found a lump in your breast? Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze over Seaside Heights, a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed hawk circles over the water gap or the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a Cheerio with her thumb and first finger.Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you.”
Jen Lemen – What’s True Right Now
Roger Olsen on The End of the World:
“I urge evangelicals to make clear to all who will listen that we DO believe in the return of Jesus Christ, but, as a whole, we DO NOT believe in staring into the sky waiting for it to happen. For the most part we agree with Luther who, when asked what he would do if he knew Christ would return tomorrow, said “plant a tree today.” In other words, carry on as always living as disciples of the crucified and risen Lord.”
Seth Godin on legacy issues in business… not too difficult to make the jump to legacy churches and questions of how we continue to support congregations with no interest in growth or vitality.
Dan Dick on The Folly of Fear.
From the Art of Non-Conformity – The Need For Change.
Chad Holtz offered a couple very raw, honest, and I believe important posts on how the church responds to people with addiction, and Chad specifically speaks of his own sexual addiction. I consider this to be a must read. First this. Then this follow-up. Finally, this one.
Andrew Conrad – 10 Ways to Connect.
I think I’m going to try the #Trust30 thing, but I’m not sure I’m going to put it all up on the blog. (As much as I like the idea of developing a discipline to write on here every day, realistically I’m not sure I can maintain it).
I think I need some clothes with embedded LED lights… (or maybe just a stole for the candlelight Christmas Eve service)…