(seen at troyshantz)

I think that we need to stop worrying about the big decisions that we make knowing that most ways that we choose will be good decisions. What is more important is that are we in a place where we can live, obey, love and believe.

(seen at NeoTheo(b)logue)

"Western European civilization has witnessed a sort of atomizing process, in which the individual is more and more set free from his natural setting in family and neighborhood, and becomes a sort of replaceable unit in the social machine, His nearest neighbors may not even know his name. He is free to move from place to place, from job to job, from acquaintance to acquaintance, and -- if he has attained a high degree of emancipation -- from wife to wife. He is in every context a more and more anonymous and replaceable part, the perfect incarnation of the rationalist conception of man. Wherever western civilization has spread in the past one hundred years, it has carried this atomizing process with it. Its characteristic product in Calcutta, Shanghai, or Johannesburg, is the modern city into which myriads of human beings, loosened from their old ties in village or tribe or caste, like grains of sand fretted by water from an ancient block of sandstone, are ceaselessly churned around in the whirlpool of the city -- anonymous, identical, replaceable units."

Lesslie Newbigin, The Household of God

Thank you for being here...thank someone else today for the same.

(seen at the scriptorium)

"Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly."

~Robert F. Kennedy

(seen at Random Segues, through jerolson.ca)

"It is when we fail to recognize that we are heretics that we switch from seeking truth to guarding truth - or our idea of truth." - PMac

(seen at Clay.Humanclay.ca)

Perspective can change the face of pretty much any situation. Who knew that looking at something from a different angle could make such a difference? Inside, we as people, have the ability to change the way we look at something. It's a powerful tool that's not used often enough. Just like the saying "is the glass half full or half empty?" When I choose to focus on the positives of what's around the corner rather than the negatives, it just makes life so much more enjoyable.

(seen at Honest to Blog)

Today was a day for contemplating Self-Actualization.

When I feel like I'm failing, I want to blame the System. "Sane people should find themselves completely at odds with life in a dsytopia. Success is really a sign that you've lost your humanity."

Then the character on the other shoulder says something about taking personal responsibility, facing the absurd, being the sum of my choices.

Which voice do you suppose is the devil's?

(seen at the weblog of Mike Gingerich)

"it is easy to be successful, it is very difficult to be relevant" - Bono

(seen in a rough draft of Jordon Cooper's review of The Search to Belong)

Selected Insights from The Search to Belong

Common Myths of Belonging

More time = more belonging :: The first myth is that the greater amount of time spent in relationship with another person, the more authentic the community will be. This is a pervasive myth. In reality, time has little to do with a person's ability to experience significant belonging. Many people tell stories of first time, episodic introductions from which a spontaneous connection emerges. (p. 11)

Belonging is not controlled by time, and time by itself does not develop belonging. (p. 12)

More commitment = more belonging :: A relationship that involves commitment does not necessarily promote a greater experience of belonging. A married couple may feel very committed to their relationship, yet still feel the strain of "not belonging to each other". Every month I am reminded of commitment to my financial responsibilities, yet I never experience belonging because of those commitments. (p. 12)

To experience healthy community we need significant relationships. "Significant" is not the same as "close" or "committed." (p.13)

More purpose = more belonging :: …Groups were started to help people with their search for community, and the first order of business was to write a statement of purpose. After all, people who strive toward a common goal connect, right? We even changed our language. We no longer asked people to attend committee meetings. They were no part of a team. And this simple change was all in the hope of helping people connect in significant ways.
Although many positive accomplishments sprung from this newly focused approach, in reality this strategy has little connection with the community experience. Sometimes people who have a common passion and purpose do connect. But a common purpose or vision or goal does not guarantee that people will connect. (p.13-16)

More personality = more belonging :: Many people believe that some have a natural ability to belong. They assume that if a person is more gregarious, more extroverted, he or she will have little trouble experiencing community, whereas those who are shy will struggle to belong. (p. 17)

More proximity = more belonging (p.17)

More small groups = more belonging … Almost every book I read on a successful church touts small groups as the key. But I have read that churches that provide small group opportunities can expect about a 30 percent involvement from the congregation. Why only 30 percent? Because small groups do not accomplish the promise of fulfilling all facets of a person's search for community. Small groups deliver on one or two specific kinds of connection. (p. 18)

(seen at What is The Message? in this post)

In Israel, there is apparently an expression used to placate those who hold low-paying, low-status "mcjobs," that goes something like this: "There is no job that doesn't respect its owner." In other words, if you have a job so menial that no one will respect you, at least the job itself will respect you. In Hebrew, it's roughly pronounced, "ayn avodah shelo marbedet et b'aliyah." Probing the cliché by twisting a few of the words gives, "ayn kavodah shelo avodat al b'aliyah," which means "there is no capacity (void) that doesn't work on its owner."

At first, the sentence appears to make no sense. But with a little thought, we can interpret the probe to provide an insight into greed and desire. If one is greedy - has an unfilled capacity - that greed will continue to "work on its owner," eventually corrupting the owner to fill it, one way or another. In a way, it is a reversal of the "money burning a hole in one's pocket" cliché. An interesting probe, to say the least, and one that works in the best way - taking a trite idea that applies to one class of people, and sharpening it to probe those at the opposite end of the economic spectrum.