Posted on

Resisting Resistance

I consider myself to be a pretty motivated guy. My problem is that occasionally (ahem!) my motivation gets sidetracked by other things. We live in a distracting world, and I live a distracted life. As a pastor, professor, and writer, I find myself pulled in every direction of the wind on an almost daily basis. I’ve got people to visit, classes to teach, a day school with which to connect, services to plan, and writing to do. Lots of writing to do.

I write newsletter articles, bulletin announcements, lesson plans, devotions, church email announcements, and sermons. As I always say, “Sundays never stop coming.” That means I find myself staring at a blank document on a computer screen weekly as I prepare to write about the text I have studied, the background I have gone over, the central theme I have deduced, and the illustrations I think will fit.

Have you ever tried to write something creative, thoughtful, memorable, and faithful every single week? It’s no easy task. It takes thorough background study, a unique “take,” a free-flowing outline, solid theology, and motivation. Lots of motivation.

I recently read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. In the book I discovered something that I had suspected all along. I discovered something with which I had been battling all along. Pressfield named it for me and described it for me. The enemy with whom I have been battling much of my adult life is named Resistance.

Pressfield says:

Have you ever brought home a treadmill and let it gather dust in the attic?…Have you ever wanted to be a mother, a doctor, an advocate for the weak and helpless; to run for office, crusade for the planet, campaign for world peace, or to preserve the environment? Late at night have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn’t write, a painter who doesn’t paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what Resistance is. (The War of Art)

I’ll let you read for yourself Pressfield’s remedy to overcoming Resistance. But one of the things in the book that really struck me was the sentence, “No matter what, I will never let Resistance beat me.”

I am ultra-competitive by nature, and those are “fightin’ words.” I will never let Resistance beat me!

Yesterday it almost did. Every Friday night my wife and I go out somewhere for dinner. After a difficult week of work we enjoy a relaxing evening trying one of Milwaukee’s awesome restaurants, or an evening with friends, or a local wine bar that has Milwaukee’s finest selection. We look forward to it all week.

Yesterday afternoon I was working on my sermon for this coming Sunday, and it just wasn’t flowing. I was having a hard time getting more than three sentences down on the page. It was now almost 4 p.m. and I wasn’t getting anywhere. I said to my wife, “Are you ready to go somewhere?” She asked me if my sermon was finished, knowing full well that if I don’t get it finished by Friday, I’m a very unhappy and crabby person on Saturday morning.

Tammy told me gently, but firmly, to get my sermon finished. Ah, Resistance. You bitter, bitter enemy. You almost snuck one in there.

But when two battle against you, you will never win! Suddenly I had motivation. My sermon seemd to flow. I looked at the clock when I was finished and it was 6:01 p.m. Victory!

My reward? A wonderful evening out with my wife. A free Saturday morning. A sermon that is finished with creativity and textual faithfulness. A message that will be “shipped” Sunday morning.

A partner in the battle against Resistance is a good thing.

What do you do to battle Resistance?

Posted on

Decompressing a Pinch Point

If you’ve ever experienced a significant bout with back pain you know that it affects everything you do. That’s been the story of my life this past week. Five years ago I suffered a herniated disc. It was pain so excruciating that I never wanted to suffer it again. But last Monday, while running, I felt a twinge in my back, and here we go again!

Today I went to the Physical Therapist and he showed me what’s going on in my back. It seems that two of my vertebrae are pressing on a disc, squeezing it out like jelly out of a donut, and then pressing on a nerve that causes pain all the way down my left leg. For the first time in my life I was put in traction. It’s a weird sensation, but seemed to do a bit of good.

The reason for the pain in my back is a good explanation of what happens in some organizations. Some issue, idea, or argument becomes a “pinch point” that irritates a small corner of the kingdom, and before you know it, the pain spreads to the rest of the organism.

The pinch point:

  • Affects everything that goes on in the organization.
  • Restricts the flow of energy and ideas.
  • Focuses all the attention on just one area.
  • Takes time and effort to work through the pain.
  • Diverts attention away from other things that could create a happy and healthy organization.

My Physical Therapist is trying to alleviate the pinch point by “decompressing” the vertebrae and alleviating the pressure on the nerve at that place. Sounds like a good idea for an organization experiencing a pinch point of its own.

When pinch points happen:

  • Discover the source, or pinch point, and treat it instead of the symptoms.
  • Acknowledge that other people in the organization may be hurting and in need of “treatment” as well.
  • Allow energy and ideas to flow into and out of every other area of the organization as a way of combatting the pinch point itself.
  • Use every resource available to ease the pain, “decompress” the personalities involved through the love of forgiveness, and take the time to make sure that it is lasting healing.
  • Provide specific times of healing that promote a healthy organism.

“Decompression” can provide health in an organization experiencing a “pinch point.” Now let’s hope it does the same for my back.

What examples do you have of “decompression” helping an organization through a “pinch point”?

Posted on

Bach’s Birthday (and Mine)

J.S. Bach and I share a birthday (March 21). It rolls around just about this time every year. It’s the first day of Spring which is, I suppose, appropriate for me, since I detest Winter. We’re on our way to warmer weather.

And it’s appropriate for Bach, because spring is a time of new creation. Bach was a creative genius. He didn’t introduce new forms, but he took old forms and interjected new things into them. He was a master at the contrapuntal technique. He brought organized motifs into his music. He took forms and textures from Italy and France and adapted them into his own music to create something brand new.

I’m in no way claiming to be a creative genius, but I believe that Johann and I have some similar characteristics and experiences:

  • Bach came from a musical family, and learned his craft from an early age. My dad is a creative spirit who is a writer, director, and music lover, all of which I have received from him.
  • As a young man, Bach sang in a well-renowned choir. As a young man I had the privilege of singing in Eldon Balko’s Schola Cantorum. My parents saw to it that I went to this Saturday morning music school every week. I actually loved it, and count it as one of the formative experiences of my life.
  • Bach had an adult mentor named Johan Adam Reinken. Bach loved Reinken’s music so much that one summer he walked 48 km in order to hear him play the organ. I had mentors outside of my family that taught me to play the guitar, encouraged life skills in the Boy Scouts, and affirmed my affinity for singing. Glad I never had to walk 48 km to be with them!
  • When he was about 18, Bach took on a job as a servant and private violinist in the chapel of a Duke. He learned the importance of earning an honest days’ wage while perfecting his craft. As a young person I worked as a caddy, a bus boy, in a pharmacy, and in a one hour photo shop (remember those?). Those jobs taught me a number of things, including the fact that my education was important so that I didn’t have to have jobs like those for the rest of my life.
  • Early in his career Bach took a leave of absence to learn from Dietrich Buxtehude. He came back to his home church and introduced some newly learned techniques, much to the chagrin of his congregation. A year-and-a-half ago I was granted a three month sabbatical. I came back and introduced some new ideas, thoughts, and creative techniques…hopefully not too much to the chagrin of my congregation.
  • At one point in his life Bach had to write one cantata per month. I can’t imagine writing a cantata every month. But I suppose some people can’t imagine writing a sermon every week, either.
  • Bach was a Lutheran. So am I.

J.S. Bach showed that creativity and musicianship are the result of passion, pursuit, and practice. I’d like to have more of each of them in my life. That’s what I plan to celebrate on my next birthday. And J.S. Bach will be there to remind me.

I’m curious: With which famous person/people do you share a birthday? What have you learned from them?

Posted on

A Day in the Life of a Debit Card

Life is rough when you give until you can’t give anymore. But that’s who I am. It’s why I exist. To give everything I have so that people can get what they need…and sometimes what they greed.

Some days I’m busy. Other days I just sit. But today was an eventful day, to say the least. When I woke up I was at the mall. In the wallet. Out of the wallet. Sliding through the slot. Pin number punch-in. Giving away funds. Back in the wallet. Time for a rest. Woops. Back out of the wallet. Sliding through the slot. Pin number punch-in. Giving away funds. Back in the wallet. Time for another rest.

I enjoyed the scents of the mall while my cents were being depleted. It’s one of my favorite places to go. I get to taste and touch such variety.

My owner gave me to her daughter to do some shopping, and I was enjoying the ride. We went through department stores, specialty shops, and a big book retailer. We tested perfume, tried on sweaters, and looked through magazines. But my senses really perked up when I began to sniff the deliciousness of P.F. Chang’s. Mmmm. One of my favorite restaurants. I could sit there all day and simply bask.

One more time. In the wallet. Out of the wallet. Sliding through the slot. Pin number punch-in. Giving away funds.

But this time…NOT back in the wallet. I stay in the hand. We walk out the door. It seems like it all happens in slow motion. I hear some giggles. I feel myself in the hand, but waving in the air. The next thing I know I am fluttering in the wind, falling to the street, coming to rest on a yellow line. Just when I think the ordeal is over, something black and round runs over me, and I am down for the count.

After that I don’t remember anything at all until I feel my limp body being picked up by an unfamiliar hand. I’ve heard horror stories from my comrades about being in the wrong hands, hands other than owners’ hands. I’m terrified. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want my owners funds to be completely depleted.

Just when I think my life is about to end in shreds I hear a voice speaking to my owner. “I found it in the street and didn’t want anyone to pick it up and use it….yes, I know where that is…yes, I’m not far from there…I’ll bring it to you in just a little while.”

While I’m still a bit nervous, I’m starting to feel more safe. Hmmm. I enjoy this car. It’s kind of nice. And it it’s taking me back to my owner…even better! There she is!

I get picked up, placed into her hands, and I’m home…safe and sound. I hope I never have to go through that again.

Even those who give, and give, and give some more get lost sometimes. They need respite, rest, and rescue.

You who give so much…what do you and where do you go to get respite, and rest, and rescue?

Posted on

It’s Not OK to Be OK…OK?

Last night 60 Minutes had a segment on The Equity Project, an innovative charter school in New York City (video here). It’s a school that “auditions” teachers from all over the country and hires “the best of the best.” When teachers are hired they are paid $125,000, and get no tenure. Out of all the interesting things the school is doing, and the creative ways they are being done, one teacher’s quote struck me more than any other. When asked about being a teacher in such a school, he answered: “It’s not OK just to be OK.”

In other words, excellence, innovation, creativity, passion, and hard work are expected from each and every teacher at the TEP School. So how do the teachers at the TEP School avoid being “just OK”? They prepare; they learn excellent classroom management; they creatively focus on taking students from Point A to Point B; they videotape their classes so that they can evaluate one another (can you imagine?); and they work hard. When they fail to live up to the exacting standards of the school they either work harder, or walk away (or get let go).

Tim Rice knows that it’s not OK just to be OK. You may recognize the name. Tim Rice is the other half of the duo (which included Andrew Lloyd Weber) that wrote such smash hits as Jesus Christ Superstar and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Rice had great success until he wrote the musical Chess. I bet you haven’t seen it (except you, Dad). That’s because it was a huge flop.

Rice admitted that it wasn’t very good. “In fact,” he says, “it was terrible!” So did he quit? Did he give up? Did he stop writing? No. He knew that it’s not OK just to be OK. So he worked harder than ever. He re-worked the musical. He says that it is now far superior to the original version, and it is slated to open again in London’s West End.

It seems that Tim Rice’s hard work has paid off. In addition to re-working Chess, he wrote, amongst other things, the musical The Lion King and has garnered three Oscars, four Tonys, and six Grammys. He has also been “knighted” and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Tim Rice has experienced both success and failure. But he still realizes that it’s not OK just to be OK. He’s not resting on his laurels. He could easily retire and never have to work again. But his craft, his art, and his passion all converge, so he’s happy to work hard every day. His new project is a musical called From Here to Eternity.

So what do TEP School teachers and Tim Rice have in common? They are passionate about their “art.” They chase after innovation. They do their homework. They are intent on getting better. And the key to it all is that they work hard. There’s no substitute for hard work. None.

If you really believe that it’s not OK just to be OK, what do you do? Go the extra mile. Stay later than anyone else. Pursue your craft. Use spare minutes to do the things that stir your soul. Read. Write. Do your homework. Evaluate. Don’t procrastinate. Finally, deliver.

How do you pursue being better than “just OK”? I’d love your thoughts and ideas.

Posted on

College Carpe Diem

Ben went back to school today. Back to Music City. Back to warmer weather. Back to the place that inspires him and the people that support him. Back to a place that is a passing point along the way, but a place that he increasingly calls “home.”

He was home for spring break with a few friends. They came. They played. They conquered (lots of food).

He went back to the place where possibility floats through the air like pollen on a spring day. He goes to a school where monumental talent surrounds him. The location provides opportunity almost unequaled. Across the street is Music Row. Down the road is the world-famous Bluebird Cafe. Downtown is the Ryman Auditorium and the Country Music Hall of Fame. ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC all have offices there. Recording studios and music companies dot the urban landscape.

Ben loves music and music loves him. He has written. He has recorded. He has formed a band called “My Red and Blue” (ask him the story behind that name…). He has hard copy CD’s of his EP (acronyms, acronyms…) called, “I Might Miss This.” He has been given opportunities to shop his music up and down music row.

I’m not sure how well Ben knows that he stands at a major crossroads in his life. College time seems to move faster than almost any other time of life. It’s here today and gone tomorrow. It’s a life filled with both responsibility and freedom. It’s a place where dreams are hatched and ideas take root. But nothing is yet written in the cement.

Some seize the day. Others let opportunity slip away. It’s never too early to start living your dream and shipping your goods.

Funny, isn’t it, how children sometimes inspire their parents?! If only the wisdom of “age” could be coupled with the energy and ideas of youth.

Ben went back to school today. May he seize the day.

What is it that inspires you enough to seize the day and ship your goods?

Posted on

An Ash Wednesday Giggle

Today I placed more than 250 ashen crosses on foreheads. Being a pastor provides a unique perspective on Ash Wednesday. As my blackened thumb drew each cross I spoke the words: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Talk about a “wake-up call” in word and in action. It’s stark. It’s almost “off-putting.” It’s a little uncomfortable.

Tall people, short people, young people, old people. People with high foreheads and low foreheads. People who could barely kneel and people who nearly leapt up to the rail. They all received ashes in the shape of a cross.

Ashes are a reminder of God’s Words to Adam in Genesis 3: “Dust you are. To dust you shall return.” Sin had entered the world, and with it, death. Not just for Adam, but for everyone.

But these ashes are in the shape of a cross: A reminder of the death of Jesus Christ to win for us salvation from sin and death. Death is a reality. But eternal life is now a much greater, deeper reality to all who have received the gift of faith. Forgiveness has carried the day. Not just for Adam, but for everyone.

The youngest person who received ashes from my thumb this Ash Wednesday was three months old. The oldest was ninety-three. Ashes were imposed on all 180 children in our school, and on most every person in our two worship services. Young or old, all will one day die a physical death. But it need not be the end.

When I was finished with the imposition of ashes I looked out into the church and saw a whole crowd of people with little black smudges on their foreheads. If you saw it, it might almost make you giggle. That might sound inappropriate on such a solemn occasion. But if you think about it, it may be the most appropriate reaction one could have.

Life has conquered death. At the end of the day the smudge of ash can be wiped off, just like physical death will one day be wiped away by new and eternal life. That ought to produce a bit of a giggle…right?!

Ash Wednesday is a chance for the Christian to laugh in the face of death. It marks the beginning of the forty days of Lent, a solemn season filled with contrition, sorrow over sin, and repentance. At the end of the forty days is the death of the Son of God.

But on the Third Day He comes dancing out of the grave laughing in the face of death, bringing joy to His people and life forevermore. So, go ahead. Laugh along!

What are your Ash Wednesday thoughts?

Posted on

Acting On A Tip

This past weekend our daughter, Ashlyn, attended the Southeastern Theatre Conference auditions in Atlanta. She will be graduating in May with a B.F.A. degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University. Regardless of whether or not she gets any jobs out of her auditions this weekend, it was a successful couple of days for her.

On Friday she had to get up in a hotel ballroom filled with hundreds of reps from theatre companies from all over the country. She had ninety seconds to say her name and auditioner number, sing a song, and do a monologue. She was in a group of forty. There were strict instructions on where to sit, when to get up, what to do when you got on stage, and where you were to go once you finished.

A couple of hours later she found out that she had callback auditions to theatre companies from Florida, Georgia, New York, Michigan, Colorado, Montana, and California. So now she had to go to various rooms in the hotel to attend the callbacks. Can you imagine walking into a room with a couple of people sitting there and having to “do your thing” all by yourself?

Last October she had to go to Tennessee to do preliminary auditions to see if she could even get into the auditions in Atlanta. Now she has potential job opportunities literally all over the country. As an actress, in this economy, one could certainly do worse.

When I asked her if she was nervous getting up in front of that huge room full of people she said, “Not really.” She said the the callback auditions were, however, different and a bit nerve-racking. But she made it through, and now waits for the results.

Here’s what I have learned from her experience:

  1. Focus on preparation. Sometimes preparation takes years. Ashlyn’s school, from day one, has prepared her for what she now faces. When the time had come, she was ready. Nervousness didn’t enter into the picture. Preparation means that when the moment for performance comes there is no doubt. You’re ready to go without hesitation.
  2. Play by the rules. It’s often tempting to “break the rules” and “go your own way,” but had Ashlyn gone longer than her allotted time or done something in her audition that “stretched the rules,” all would have been lost. Playing within the rules is most often to our advantage.
  3. Deliver the goods. When the time comes for you to do what you have prepared to do, give it your all; don’t hold back; let loose and do what you have been taught and prepared to do. You’re ready. People notice when you hold back. People appreciate it when you give it your best.
  4. Nervous energy isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, Ashlyn channeled her nervous energy to bring focus and vibrancy to her callbacks. As a result, she received positive reactions from those who were auditioning her.
  5. Prepare more than is necessary. In one callback audition, Ashlyn was asked to sing a pop-rock song from a musical. Out of her hip pocket she pulled a song from the musical, “The Wedding Singer.” Though she hadn’t done it for a while, she knew it and performed it well when it really mattered.
  6. Be confident, but not cocky. Confidence is a trait in which one recognizes both abilities and limitations, and moves forward with that knowledge. Cockiness, on the other hand, turns people off. Confidence may win you the job (or the sale, or whatever…). Cockiness may lose it all for you. Confidence comes from preparation, playing by the rules, and delivering the goods.
  7. Rest in the knowledge that you have done your best. When it was all over, Ashlyn was both relieved and ready to get back to school to continue further preparation. No matter what happens, she knows that she “left it all out on the floor” and that there are jobs out there for her somewhere.

These lessons apply no matter what our vocation. I’d love to hear your examples of “preparation” and “delivering the goods.”

Posted on

I Am A Person

Going through a medical procedure makes one feel like “everyhuman.” There I lay in my hospital gown, I.V. in my hand, oxygen in my nose, soft music playing over the speaker, two nurses talking about their families, waiting for the doctor to come in and do my “procedure.”

Those two nurses do it every day for who knows how many people. To them, I was just “patient number six” (or whatever) that day. They do these procedures eight or ten times a day, every day, every week, every month, all year. Nameless, faceless bodies come through, table by table, tick off the check list, help the doctor. Next!

As I lay there waiting for the world to spin away through sedation, listening to two nurses talk, I wanted to scream: “I am a person!” Don’t get me wrong. They were very nice and very pleasant. But I felt anonymous just lying there. They didn’t know know what I do for a living. They knew nothing about my wife. They didn’t realize that I have two children living nine hours away from me in two different directions. They didn’t know that I love U2 concerts, riding my bike, and writing my blog.

Human beings have need for intimacy. We have a need to be known and to be loved. We have a need to know that someone cares.

Some areas of life create distance between people. We see it in politics, in religion, and medicine. It’s so easy to label, to judge, or to be dispassionate. But in the end, we ourselves need to be known and need to be loved. Sometimes we want to scream: “I am a person!”

God knows that need. He sent His Son into this world to become “Everyhuman” for us. The Son of God draws us close. He knows our needs. He creates not distance between us and God, but intimacy. He forgives our selfishness by His selflessness. He says, “I am a person.”

He became a person so that the space between humans and their Creator would be bridged. God knows I love U2 concerts, riding my bike, and writing my blog. More than that, He knows that I am a sinner in need of forgiveness because “I am a person,” and people are sinners. The perfect God/Man gave up His body on the tree for me.

God has created us to be social people: to care and be cared for, to know and be known, to love and be loved. We are truly human in the most wonderful sense of the word when we have special connection with one another. That’s when we exuberantly cry out with joy in our hearts: “I am a person!”…and someone cares enough to provide affirmation of that fact.

What is it that makes you feel like a “person”?

Posted on

Face to Face

When was the last time you sat down with some one face-to-face, one-on-one, with no other good purpose than simply to get to know them (better)? It’s amazing what you learn. By doing so, I have learned things I may have never known.

Learning these new things has enhanced my life. I have come to appreciate different perspectives. In a world of Bing and Google, I have come to new knowledge without looking at a computer screen. I have learned that wisdom, connections, and creativity come from the depths of flesh and blood.

In one day I sat with three completely different people:

  1. A person going through a major difficulty in life told me that he has learned that what is even more difficult is to see others who have no faith and no church. What perspective was brought from an unfortunate situation.
  2. A pastor from a different denomination taught me the finer points of church polity and offered unexpected encouragement that was really needed. A helpful introduction to someone else is also going to come about as the result of our face-to-face meeting.
  3. A person who deals with central city children each and every day taught me once again about homes and situations that I can only imagine…and hope to change.

In a fast-paced, technologically-driven world, we far too often pass up or fly right by face-to-face, one-on-one meetings. It’s a shame. There is much to be missed. There is much to be learned. There is much wisdom to be gained. There is much creativity to be sparked. There are many connections to be made.

I challenge you to sit down today, face-to-face, one-on-one, with another person…even if it’s only for fifteen minutes.

  • Ask probing and specific questions.
  • Avoid “yes or no” questions.
  • Explore something about the person you had never known before.
  • Keep your mouth closed for a while and simply listen.
  • Put yourself in the other person’s seat.
  • Try to discover one new thing about the person herself or himself.
  • Try to discover one new thing you can learn from the person.
  • Following the meeting, discern the creative spark that was lit as a result of the face-to-face.

What have you learned from having a face-to-face, one-on-one conversation?