A WELCOME NOTE:
Greetings, and a very warm welcome to you. Thank you for taking some time to share in my philosophical foibles. It's my hope that within these entries you might find encouragement, challenge, laughter, counsel and companionship for the journey ahead. Carpe Diem!
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There's lots of talk flying around about pursuing one's dream(s). You see it on posters. Read it on bumper stickers. Hear it in movies. But what is this business of pursuing one's dreams really all about anyway? How do we bring it from the realm of the ethereal and the abstract into the tangible world of the real and the achievable? Well, let's take a look at a few of the signposts along the road of life that will help give you an indication of what you were called or meant to do with your life, or at least, what you can engage in to the betterment of yourself and others.
You may be familiar with the well known concept about boiling a frog in a pot of water. There's a smart way to go about it (not that you have any such intention, of course). If you place a frog in a pot of boiling water it will immediately hop right out if possible. I mean, come on...it's flippin' hot. However, place that same frog in some nice cool water, and gradually increase the temperature to a boil, and that sucker will just continue to park off right there and eventually boil to death. What's the moral of the story then? The danger, as it relates to the frog, lies in the threat of subtlety and stealth.
There is a verse in the good book (no, not the TV guide) that reads: "Sorrow may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning."
One of the things I like about the Bible is that it makes no attempt to gloss over the brokenness that is so often found in the world. Sorrow is an everyday part of life on this side of eternity. It's important to acknowledge that we live in a reality that has been distorted and scarred by our own imperfections and weaknesses. How is a physician to embark on a course of restorative action if there is no admission regarding the existence of the illness in the first place? Authentic joy in this life can only be experienced when we stare heartache in the face, and by the grace of God, overcome it.
I feel sad today. It's more complex than my ability to express or fathom. I suppose it's the result of a sober awareness that this life is often not as it was intended to be, and in many respects not as I expected or hoped it would be. Some things lost. Some things never found. Other things found and subsequently lost. Still other things found that would have been better left lost. For now at least, I'm just going to allow myself the space to be sad...the license to mourn. I hope that's OK with you. Besides, I question the legitimacy of any claimed joy that refuses to acknowledge the reality and validity of occasional heartache. So, I thought I'd take a few moments to share some quotes on the subject of sadness that have given me pause for thought. Here they are...
How does one measure success in life? What does it look like? What are its trademarks? How much of our lives have been needlessly squandered in pursuit of a definition of it that is neither worthwhile nor accurate? There is seemingly no end to the ways in which a materialistic and self-absorbed culture would seek to impose its interpretation of success upon us. Suffocating notions of it are so pervasive in our everyday experience that few people actually stop for a moment to question the trajectory of their own life in practically mindless allegiance to them. We are all guilty of this to some degree or another. A sweeping statement perhaps, but one that is true nonetheless in light of human temperament that is self-centered and self-serving by nature outside of the redemptive influence of God.
Life can be plain flippin' hard sometimes. Believe me, I know. I'm not the type to advocate sticking one's head in the sand and thinking happy-clappy thoughts, as if real challenges and problems don't exist, or as if they'll magically evaporate just because we will them to. No. There are times when our circumstances are simply gruelling, and it's a reality which I have no intention of dismissing.
Today is a day when the permanence of hope is celebrated by billions of people around the world. It is a hope that has been made available to all people, no matter their creed, culture, language, race or economic or social status. It doesn't matter what your belief system happens to be, hope is something we can all use more of.
Good day boys and girls. I hope everyone is fine and dandy this gorgeous Cape Town day, or wherever and whenever it is in the world as you are reading this. I'd like to direct your attention to a freshly published article of mine. If you've ever been curious about trying your hand at a freelance career of some kind, you may find the following read useful:
I was reminded today of my favourite artist, Michelangelo. I'm fascinated by his sculptures in particular. Sketching or painting something with convincing realism is hard enough to do, but carving insanely intricate lines out of a massive, solid chunk of marble just astounds me. It's all the more baffling when you consider he had no power tools, and that he consistently worked through the night with nothing but soft, flickering candlelight to guide him.
We see them all over the place. At our front door, alongside our car windows, on street corners...beggars, deadbeats, bums...you know the kind. Always with their hands out, always looking for charity. What, oh what are we to do with all these pesky bums?
