Imagine what we can learn from noticing trees and feeling their sense of harmony and tranquility: Instead of resisting and tugging against each other, would we all flow more energetically with each other?
Would we interact with more kindness and consideration for who we are and how we all fit together?
Would we appreciate each as distinct and yet part of one?
Thank You for Waiting. I’m Growing.
You are a bountiful garden. The fullness of your fragrances and the vitality of your vines are but only pale resemblances of the incorruptible spirit that saturates your soul. You are God’s very special gift to the world.
In “Keep Going” Austin Kleon writes that “making gifts puts us in touch with our gifts” – gifts we are called to use for a purpose, in service to others, as expressions of God’s distinct love for us and our love for God.
And thus the strain of the paradise paradox. Our gifts were given to us freely, undeserved, as grace upon grace. Yet the world tugs at us, telling us that time and talent should be quantified and compensated.
The market economy attempts to convince us that our gifts have a price, and while gifts certainly have value, when we use them for clicks, to boost sales, and to drive profits, we end up draining the gift of its divine magic. Because the market takes, and never gives, and we are mowed down, burned out, shriveled up, and sad.
You being you – and becoming who you are – is exactly what the world needs. May the glorious grace of your gifts be its own gain, and the manifestation of your uniqueness its own revolutionary reward.
Lifting Vanity’s Veil
Society is like a field, full of verdant greens, heavenly hues, and budding blooms. All need to be tended, understood, and cultivated.
Some things grow in neat, orderly rows. They are nice to look at and easily controlled. They are fertilized and fed, snipped and plucked, and finally shipped off for someone else’s gain.
Others grow untamed. They sprout according to rates and rhythms determined by the divine gardener. They don’t conform to any patterns in the pages of the farmer’s almanac, and so go untended, dismissed as useless, unlike the rest, and therefore unnecessary. Oh the patents, potions, and prophecies lost to the lawnmower.
Until it happened one night, in the storage shed, among the maintenance machines, the tools took life. It seems that just as iron sharpens iron, so too is purpose transferred to the blade.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
Handle with Care: Gloves Optional, Goggles Suggested, Microscope Required
Dear Friends,
A word to the wise – sometimes the rebuke is its own reward. For this is how we know the Spirit of Truth from the spirit of empty promises and deception.
A typical text message
Hi! The project is looking really good, but I was expecting something more upbeat and entertaining. Can you revise? I have a meeting in the morning. Would be great to show it then. THANKS!!!
A theoretical email
Hey there, saw your proposal and it’s a nice thought, but we’re already stretched so thin and don’t really have a process for managing all that. It would be a lot of work and just not sure we need it at this time.
The practical reply
Thanks so much for your response. I appreciate your feedback; regarding your process concerns, the proposed workflow and necessary resources are detailed on the final page of the document. Please let me know if you have additional questions.
An almost-immediate response
Oh, found it! That’s great but YOU don’t have time for that.
A conversation scenario
“I think we need to diversify our environment. It could really help us.”
“WHAT?! Are you crazy? You need to slow down. Everything is just fine. I heard that some kinds of snakes, I mean berries, are poisonous anyway.”
“I don’t want to bake pies …”
“Stop. You know what I mean. It could hurt way more than help.”
