As my journey enters the "second half" moving from learning and earning to living and giving - I'm convinced it's all about relationships, creating lasting memories, community and social networking.
Last night Susan and I attended the performance of Screwtape Letters by the Fellowship for Performing Arts. Theatre from a Christian worldview that engages a diverse audience was worthy of consideration for gifting. It was about 6 years ago that we attended the Great Divorce by the same group and we both hope to see C.S. Lewis on stage: The Most Reluctant Convert when it comes to Cincinnati.
Most enjoyable was hearing from Max McClean the actor and founder of the Fellowship for Performing Arts. His question and answer postlude was enlightening. When asked about the humor in the performance his quote (which I will butcher) was that "the laughter of people allows the truth to enter their open mouths".
The number of performances that FPA does at college campuses creates ministry of Christian nudges for a broad audience of students and particularly for those aspiring to enter the field of theatre. What a wonderful way to seed the very souls of individuals that may never have been exposed to the great religious philosophers.
I think the plays are more meaningful for those who have read the C.S. Lewis books. It was surprising the number of people who raised their hands when asked who had not read Screwtape Letters.
C.S. Lewis said "I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once". Watching Screwtape Letters will cause me to read it for the third time.
Crossroads Church is almost done with a Sermon series based on the book "The Blessed Life" by Robert Morris. It is an excellent spiritual book that addresses the Biblical "rules" for giving. Giving the FIRST 10% of your treasure - the tithe - is explained in detail. Too often the devil is in the details. People ask - "Is the tithe on Gross Earnings or Net Earnings" or "Should my tithe be on AGI or Taxable Income"?
Susan has a friend that even created a more complex variable - what to do with 401K pretax earnings saved- since at retirement these distributions will be income (and taxed that way also). If one tithes on Gross Income before 401K savings deductions and then tithes on the distributions during retirement is this....... Double Tithing? Double Tithe-ation :)
I'm sure the answer is: "Tithing is in the eye of the Beholder" and "We Become what we Hold".
It was my 13th Spotlight for Vistage (10/17/2019) and I decided the theme would be "Rules of Life". Inspired by my original thought to have a mathematical equation depicting each rule, instead I performed an audible and had each Vistage member provide their own "Rule of Life". Stay tuned for a blog about each of those rules once I have interviewed them and got the story behind their rule.
Not willing to give up on my original idea, I did present one equation (a rule of life) that I hope I have passed on to my girls.
I have already blogged about this magical equation - the power of compounding principle. The Urban Myths that Einstein said this principle was the eighth wonder of the world, or the most powerful force in the universe is worth spreading. I've already blogged about this with graphs included:
J.D. quipped - "Just like you Garen to make a Rule of Life totally financial". "No" I replied. Delivering an act of kindness or one of your character principles to influence someone else can also compound. Just change the variables:
P= What principles are you delivering to influence people in your life?
r = What ROL (Return on Life) are you using to grow those principles in others (e.g. what % of the people that you touch receive your gift)
n = How often are you being deliberate about your influence - yearly, quarterly, monthly, daily or continuously
t= Over what time period are you doing this and how much time do you have left?
In a providential way, I happened upon the book "Make your Bed" by Admiral William H. McRaven (U.S. Navy Retired) and discovered it's origin from his May 17, 2014 University of Texas Commencement Speech. He said what I've always felt about the power of giving to others and changing one individual at a time - in less than 300 words:
"The University's slogan is 'What starts here changes the world". I have to admit, I kind of like it. "What starts here changes the world!" Tonight there are almost eight thousand students graduating from the University of Texas. That great paragon of analytical rigor, Ask.com, says that the average American will meet ten thousand people in their lifetime. That's a lot of folks. But, if every one of you changed the lives of just ten people, and each one of those folks changed the lives of another ten people - just ten - then in five generations - 125 years - the class of 2014 will have changed the lives of 800 million people. EIGHT HUNDRED MILLION people. Think of it: over twice the population of the United States. Go one more generation and you can change the entire population of the world, eight billion people. If you think it's hard to change the lives of ten people, change their lives forever, you're wrong. I saw it happen every day in Iraq and Afghanistan. A young Army officer makes a decision to go left instead of right down a road in Baghdad and the ten soldiers in his squad are saved from a close-in-ambush. In Kandahar province, Afghanistan, a non-commissioned officer from the Female Engagement Tam senses something isn't right and directs the infantry platoon away from a five-hundred-pound IED, saving the lives of a dozen soldiers. But, if you think about it, not only were these soldiers saved by the decisions of one person, but their children yet unborn were also saved. And their children's children were saved. Generations were saved by one decision, by one person. But changing the world can happen anywhere, and anyone can do it. So, what starts here can indeed change the world, but the question is: What will the world look like after you change it?
There's a spiritual message embedded deep inside this mysterious principle of compounding. Maybe Einstein really did think this was the most powerful force in the universe. What is behind this mysterious powerful principle - who created it and for what purpose? It is worth spreading - Belief in our Creator, his infinite love, and his gift of salvation.
Watching the path of Hurricane Dorian (now one of the worst Hurricane's in history- above Category 5), caused me to recall the only Hurricane that I have experienced first hand. When living in Slidell Louisiana (near New Orleans), our family sat through the "eye" of Hurricane Betsy in 1965. Only a Category 4 in winds, based on the Hurricane Severity Index it is still tied for #2 Most Severe Landfalling Atlantic Hurricanes.
My memories were playing football out in the back yard during the early stages (it hit New Orleans the evening of Sept. 9, 1965). Mom and Dad called us inside and within the hour a large pine branch had fallen directly where we were playing. D'Lane and I both remember the large pine trees (trunks with diameters of 3 feet) with the tips bent totally to the ground. Luckily no tree snapped or hit our house. Dad had taped the windows but probably wished he had boarded them instead. Mom said that not evacuating was one of her poorest decisions. Luckily no disasters for our family.
What amazed me is the path and predicted path of Dorian on MSN interactive site:
Dorian August 31 - Sept 4, 2019 10am
And the Historical path of Hurricane Betsy 1965:
Hurricane Betsy Aug 27 - Sept 12 1965
I wonder if they predicted the path of Betsy 1965 with any of the precision that they now have for Hurricane Dorian 2019.
As a 10 year old child this was just another exciting day to remember. The innocence of not being aware of natures power and potential destruction at that age, coupled with no tragedy of experience, allows that memory to be a good one. I'm sure there are others not so fortunate.
Last night I hosted the Boston Legal tradition #17. A tradition that started the summer of 2013 of three guys just enjoying company, conversation and good dining. I imposed on the guys the showing of two simultaneous movies - "Inherit the Wind" produced in Black and White in 1960 with one of the three (yes three '65, '88, and '99) remakes - the MGM 1999 version. What an all star cast - Spencer Tracy, Fredric March and Gene Kelly ('60) and Jack Lemmon, George C. Scott and Beau Bridges ('99).
While the 1999 television version stayed true to the script, there were some scenes changed that I would characterize as stronger feminism statements. After reading the Wikipedia "facts" about the Scopes "Monkey" Trial, I think the fictionalized movie did an adequate job of depicting the 1925 trial - even the "deliberately staged reason" for the small town of Hillsboro (really Dayton Tennessee). However there were some radical inconsistencies with the actual facts - but that's what movies and revisionist history is all about.
I got "wind" of this movie during the Sunday sermon at ACUMC on belief and faith. Also my breakfast book club with P.N. and R.M.2 on Ancient Faith and Modern Physics and my recent read of "Sapiens - A Brief History of Humankind" has spurred my thinking about apologetic arguments for Christianity.
The Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy about the inconsistency of evolution and religion continues to this day. I haven't been to the Creation Museum (right here in Cincinnati) but have been to the Ark Encounter several times (Ky - but a short drive from Cincinnati). It becomes a tension (like the courtroom) of education and ideas. Is the Bible the inerrant word of God? the inspired word of God? or just another set of ancient texts to be read as mythological stories by unenlightened ancestors?
I prefer how C.S. Lewis would have answered the question above if he had been in the courtroom:
“We must not be ashamed of the mythical radiance
resting on our theology. We must not be nervous about "parallels" and
"pagan Christs": they ought to be there-it would be a stumbling block
if they weren't. We must not, in false spirituality, withhold our imaginative
welcome. If God chooses to be mythopoeic-and is not the sky itself a myth-shall
we refuse to be mythopathic? For this is the marriage of heaven and earth:
perfect myth and perfect fact: claiming not only our love and our obedience,
but also our wonder and delight, addressed to the savage, the child, and the
poet in each one of us no less than to the moralist, the scholar, and the
philosopher.”
The yearning for knowledge points us to some ultimate source. The tension of arguing about that ultimate source allows each individual to explore their faith and beliefs. What better way to draw closer to God?
Drummond: Isn't there something... What touches you? Warms you? Everyman has a dream. What do you dream about? What do you need? You don't need anything do you? LOVE, and IDEA … maybe to just hold on to.
Drummond: You're alone and when you go to the grave there will be nobody to pull the grass up over you. Nobody to mourn you. Nobody to give one damn. You'll be what you've always been. ALONE
Hornbeck: You're wrong Henry. You'll be there. You're the type. Who else would defend my right to be lonely?
It's been about a year since I was introduced to the Bible Project www.thebibleproject.com . As a teen comic collector and fan of comic art this graphical web based narrative of the Bible was an immediate hit with me.
Timothy Mackie and Jonathan Collins are God inspired and gifted to put each book of the Bible (and other narrative series and themes) in 8 minute YouTube summaries that help a novice (and even experts) understand the timeless complexity of an interweaved unified story.
Now anytime I begin to read a book of the bible - I pop over to this website to watch the 8 minute summary prior to reading that book myself. I even bought the coffee table book that has all the final artwork - what a conversation starter.
If you sat down and watched each book of the Old Testament it would take 5 Hrs and 24 minutes; The New Testament 4 Hrs and 34 minutes. WOW - The Entire Bible in 10 hours!
Mom reluctantly permitted comic books in her house - the Bible Project would have convinced her that any media that ignites the Holy Spirit is glorious. She is smiling now about my love of comics.
It was Boston Legal #16 (or Cincinnati Legal) on Thursday May 23 hosted by J.P. and serendipitously the movie picked was No Country for Old Men. As K.C. pointed out we are just Old Men talking about politics when the Millennials are now a larger eligible voting block vs the Baby Boomers. Of course the skeptic in me had to look it up:
Yes Millennials are now 32% vs 30% Baby Boomers. Adding in Gen X and the younger generations are 57% - THE MAJORITY.
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