We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?
My company has closed today across the US (and I believe some non-US offices as well) as a Day of Solidarity. We've had online Town Hall meetings during this time of quarantine touching on business issues, but mostly addressing the difficulties many of us face in this working alone / working from home environment. I've been very impressed with how the company actually is working to make sure the employees are doing well, both physically and mentally. It's quite exemplary, really.
Now, with the universal sadness and outrage at the killing of George Floyd, the company is addressing racial issues directly as well, and I have to say I'm generally very impressed with how we're responding.
You haven't seen much from me here on this topic - frankly I'm totally flummoxed by this whole thing. I simply don't know how to process it because I cannot imagine how people do this to one another.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I know it happens all the time (more's the pity), but knowing it happens and having any comprehension of it are two different things. I know about lots of horrific things that happen - or rather that people do, let's be clear on this - but I just don't have any sense of why or how it's possible. Call me naive, I guess, but I don't get it.
You probably saw my post from yesterday with the quote from Micah followed by the Lord's Prayer. That was the beginning of my process of dealing with what's going on, I suppose.
When I'm working at being cynical (or realistic, take your choice), I'm more than happy to acknowledge that mankind is fallen. We're sinners from the start. And frankly I know that's true. I have absolutely no doubt about that fact.
And so it's clear that this is just what happens between fallen people who don't know the Lord. Sadly, sometimes it's what happens between fallen people who do know the Lord. So all the cries for better training, better education, better social programs, while sort of sounding good sometimes simply miss the mark.
Sure, it's important for us to be our brothers' keepers, for us not to pass by on the side of the road, but rather to stop like the Good Samaritan. But that's the point - it's important for each of us to do it - not for some program to take our money and do it for us so we don't have to worry about it.
It's up to each of us. It's up to you. It's up to me.
Gandhi was right to say that if you want to change the world you should begin by changing yourself. The part he missed was how to do that. Unless I'm born of the Spirit, I won't change. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
It might sound dreadfully exclusive - and it is in some sense:"No one comes to the Father except through me," says Jesus - but it's actually the most inclusive message of all time. Remember He said that any who will can come to Him. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me."
So I guess it comes down to this.
Pray for our nation.
Pray for each other.
Pray for yourself.
(Pray for me while you're at it.)
And again -
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Grace and Peace to you all.
Here is the originally scheduled blog post for today:
Today we celebrate popular delusions and hot air balloons.
Why do I find that so appropriate?
Well, it plays on the popular delusion that hot air rises. If that were true, how could there be snow-capped mountains? Clearly it would be warmer up there - all the hot air would have risen there and melted the snow.
Delusions are popular, alright: popular and persistent.
Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?
My company has closed today across the US (and I believe some non-US offices as well) as a Day of Solidarity. We've had online Town Hall meetings during this time of quarantine touching on business issues, but mostly addressing the difficulties many of us face in this working alone / working from home environment. I've been very impressed with how the company actually is working to make sure the employees are doing well, both physically and mentally. It's quite exemplary, really.
Now, with the universal sadness and outrage at the killing of George Floyd, the company is addressing racial issues directly as well, and I have to say I'm generally very impressed with how we're responding.
You haven't seen much from me here on this topic - frankly I'm totally flummoxed by this whole thing. I simply don't know how to process it because I cannot imagine how people do this to one another.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I know it happens all the time (more's the pity), but knowing it happens and having any comprehension of it are two different things. I know about lots of horrific things that happen - or rather that people do, let's be clear on this - but I just don't have any sense of why or how it's possible. Call me naive, I guess, but I don't get it.
You probably saw my post from yesterday with the quote from Micah followed by the Lord's Prayer. That was the beginning of my process of dealing with what's going on, I suppose.
When I'm working at being cynical (or realistic, take your choice), I'm more than happy to acknowledge that mankind is fallen. We're sinners from the start. And frankly I know that's true. I have absolutely no doubt about that fact.
And so it's clear that this is just what happens between fallen people who don't know the Lord. Sadly, sometimes it's what happens between fallen people who do know the Lord. So all the cries for better training, better education, better social programs, while sort of sounding good sometimes simply miss the mark.
Sure, it's important for us to be our brothers' keepers, for us not to pass by on the side of the road, but rather to stop like the Good Samaritan. But that's the point - it's important for each of us to do it - not for some program to take our money and do it for us so we don't have to worry about it.
It's up to each of us. It's up to you. It's up to me.
Gandhi was right to say that if you want to change the world you should begin by changing yourself. The part he missed was how to do that. Unless I'm born of the Spirit, I won't change. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
It might sound dreadfully exclusive - and it is in some sense:"No one comes to the Father except through me," says Jesus - but it's actually the most inclusive message of all time. Remember He said that any who will can come to Him. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me."
So I guess it comes down to this.
Pray for our nation.
Pray for each other.
Pray for yourself.
(Pray for me while you're at it.)
And again -
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Grace and Peace to you all.
Here is the originally scheduled blog post for today:
Today we celebrate popular delusions and hot air balloons.
Why do I find that so appropriate?
Well, it plays on the popular delusion that hot air rises. If that were true, how could there be snow-capped mountains? Clearly it would be warmer up there - all the hot air would have risen there and melted the snow.
Delusions are popular, alright: popular and persistent.
Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
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