A Powerful Pause

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Too often I act on impulse. I speak or act without hesitation and more often than not find myself regretting my hasty reaction.

pause

I found too much of myself reflected in zenhabits’ post “The Pause Upon Which All else Relies”

When we fail, it’s because we act on urges without thinking, without realizing it…What if instead we learned to pause after each urge? What if we stopped, looked at that urge, paid close attention to what it feels like inside our bodies, but didn’t act?…

If we can pause, we create space. Space to breathe, to think, to be without acting.

Leo does an excellent job of mounting an argument for being mindful of our urges and intentional about creating pauses but as a follower of Christ and inhabited by the Holy Spirit I’d like to add this encouragement.

This Pause creates space for the Holy Spirit to speak.

My urges are sinful, selfish, and prideful and when I act immediately I’m doing so with consideration for only myself. When I pause I provide an opportunity for God to breathe truth and perspective into the moment.

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. James 1:19-21

As we ingest God’s Word daily into our lives let us give God room to breathe that Word back into us and make us mindful. That is the power of God to transform my actions. That is the power of God’s Word to save me, even from my own urges.

Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him. Proverbs 29:20

Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly. Proverbs 14:29

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Did you close out your day?

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good_book_wrapWe live in a fluid culture where the intersection of work and life intermingle with out respect to place or time. As a result we often find it difficult to turn off work mode. We aren’t present with our families or we are lying awake at night thinking of projects and deadlines. To cope with this reality I think you’ll find it invigorating to set boundaries and space between these worlds and a large part of that process for me has become a routine I call “closing the day.”

Listen to me carefully. I’m a man with sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, night owl tendencies and my circadian rhythms have me doing my best work at 2am. If I can close a day trust me… you can do. Your body and soul will thank you.

Here’s how

  1. Inbox Zero – Every day. Your time for this goal may vary but at the end of the day there shouldn’t be a single email in your inbox. Not one. Be diligent and learn the tricks.
    1. Organize your email into 3 folders: Action, Hold, Archive – If you can respond to an email in less than 2 minutes do so. If not it should hit one of these folders. Action if you need to do something, Hold if you are awaiting someone else to take the next action, Archive for archiving. Simple. GTD preaches Do, Delegate, Delete, Defer.
      1. Forward emails to your Evernote Account if they reference an active project and you need them at your fingertips.
      2. Defer emails into tasklists or appointments as quick as possible.
      3. Anything left over, stick in Action folder and process tomorrow before you check the new messages.
      4. Get read of the junk, use another email address for newsletters or use filters to automatically sort emails. Don’t forget to Unsubscribe, Unsubscribe, Unsubscribe
  2. Everything in its place and place for everything
    1. Calendar – Live by a calendar or 3. Place events there so you know where they are assigned and don’t think about them again. If you need take some action prior to an event you might add it as a separate appointment depending on the time you need to allocate. Live by the motto, if it isn’t on a calendar it doesn’t exist. Tooltip: Use Google Calendar
    2. Tasklist – Anything that isn’t an appointment or a reserved time block goes here. Use an app that syncs to the web so you have them with you at all times. Throw it in the tasklist, put some reference info in the notes, and stick it on a day. You can prioritize and sort later – Tooltip: Try the 2Do app or Wunderlist system
    3. Notebook – Things you need to remember, reference material, project data, meeting minutes. This is your second-brain. Get a good notebook or try the incredible Evernote system. I create work and project folders and drag the info into Evernote. I don’t have to worry what I did with it I know its there when I need it. Tooltip: Get a Ecosystem Notebook, made in USA with nice perforated edges, download Evernote everywhere
  3. Close the Day
    1. At the end of each day review your calendar and tasklist.
    2. Juggle what needs to be moved
    3. Set priorities and timelines for the next day. Now you are done.

Put it up. Everything is tied up into a nice tidy bow so walk away. Seriously, know that you did all you could do today, everything is in its place and you know what you are facing tomorrow. Less to worry about and less to invade our minds. You will sleep better I promise ( or else I’ll give you the name of my sleep doctor).

One last piece of advice. Set times you are offline. I call it airplane mode. From 5-7p every evening I make a habit of putting my phone on silent and face down in another room. Nothing earth shattering will happen and if it does I’ll find out about it at 7:01pm

What is your system? Do you think “Closing your Day” will help you be more present and rested?

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Staking out a Third Way

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ArrowsI have no formal education in Political Science beyond my 8th grade civics class so I’m very much an empty talking head but I’ll tell you what I know.

Labels, Rhetoric, and the DNC/RNC party’s bent toward whatever is politically expedient isn’t working out very well for this country.

So I dare propose we try something new: discussing ideas between real people and then working to get sensible people elected.

The premise is that we have now promoted political labels to the point of being an obstacle. There is much more that makes us common than makes us different.

Practically it looks like this:

1. Start Listening & Talking to people with different ideas than you.

Last year a group of friends that like to talk politics decided to take our conversations offline. We created a safe place of mutual respect and the craziest thing happened. We were no longer simply liberals and conservatives but we were Americans that disagreed on a great deal yet also discovered a vast common ground.

To be clear there are divisive issues that touch the core of our faith and emotions and many times we must agree to disagree. But due to the relationships and intentional respect I learned a great deal about how others see these issues. If we can suck the vehement rhetoric and posturing that normally accompanies these issues we might make real progress.

Lastly, you’ll realize that those wedge issues have little to do with foreign diplomacy, how we fund street repairs, ensuring quality education, reducing crime, or any hundred other practical functions of government.

Start by listening to voices you don’t naturally agree with. Don’t choose bombastic media outlets but find moderate sources that don’t automatically reinforce your perspective.

Labels & rhetoric are for those too unsure of their beliefs to think for themselves.

Listen long enough and you’ll be forced to thoughtfully reexamine what you believe. You’ll be better for it.

2. Look for the Right and Wrong in both the Left and the Right.

Tonight I praised an interview that President Obama gave the Atlantic on Iran and Israel.

 

My praise raised eyebrows because I’m a conservative and everything he says I should oppose. This current climate gets to the heart of the weakness of the current political party system.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) and Democratic National Committee (DNC) elevate themselves above all else. If someone is on our side we should stand with them and if they are on the opposing side we always oppose them.

To be clear there is much to be opposed but when we oppose it because of who said it we have missed the mark. Let’s return to the battle of ideas. Take a position because of what you believe and articulate why it makes for a better America.

That isn’t happening these days and the culprit is either:

  • Elected officials that have no conviction of ideas.
  • They are inept in making their case to the American public.
  • Few are concerned with anything other than re-election and party influence.

Voters choice, take your pick.

When you only listen to one-sided propaganda you will eventually accept it truth. Let us take a radical step of encouraging civil discourse amongst ourselves and we will inherently challenge the stranglehold that the 2 self-interested parties hold on American Politics.

My friend @kyranpittman said it best,

PS: Perhaps there is a glimmer of hope in AmericansElect.org

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How can I…?

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Time to play word association. Tell me what you think of when I say this name-

Gideon.

You probably thing of words that speak to the great strength, faith, and leadership of Gideon. How he led the Israelite people in battle and brought down the walls of Jericho. But take another look at the man you think you know.

Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” Judges 6:11-12

There is more going on here than first meets the eye. Notice where Gideon is threshing wheat. Threshing involves tossing the chaff into the air so the breeze can carry it off leaving the seed to fall back down. It would make much more sense to thresh wheat on a hilltop or at least in an open field but we find Gideon hiding in a winepress. (Understandable when you look at the Midianite oppression in the preceding verses). But look at what the angel calls him,

“O mighty man of valor”

While the angel knew of God’s call on Gideon’s life I can’t help but think these words might have been said with a sly grin. Gideon certainly didn’t appear to be a mighty man. He was a scared farmer in hiding.

The angel proclaims that that Gideon will be employed to save Israel from their oppression. (Judges 6:14) now look at his response.

To paraphrase – Me? I’m the least in my family and we are the weakest clan of my tribe. I’m the lowest of the low. You want me to do what?

In God’s response you can almost hear him whisper… I know but I’m God and I will be with you.

He whispers the same thing to you and I when we begin to protest that we don’t have the strength or skills to be of use. God does not use the able, he uses the willing.

Just look at what he was able to accomplish through a willing man called Gideon.

Let my prayer be to have a willing heart.

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The Fabric of our Lives

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I’ve been asking many of you to pray for my friends Cotton and Donna over the past few days and it occurs to me that quite a few of you don’t have the pleasure to know this family so I wanted to introduce them and tell a bit of their story.

The Current Situation

Donna has been in the midst of the a high risk pregnancy and over the past 3 days things took a turn for the worst. Skyrocketing blood pressure led to a hospital visit and then being rushed to UAMS here in Little Rock. She was diagnosed with HELLP syndrome and the situation went from bad to worse. At this moment Donna is in need of your prayers, tonight is going to be a tough night. I won’t dive into the details further but you can follow @cottonr on Twitter for updates. Pray for Donna and pray for the Doctors.

cotton_collage

Clockwise: Cotton & Donna | Cotton completing his 1st @Gowalla trip at the UofA | Messing around in Hotel dining hall | Myself, Christopher Spencer, & Cotton at WordCamp | Cotton holding Claire

 

A glimpse of greatness

Can I tell you a bit about my friend?

Cotton may be the most authentic, generous, loving, and joyful man I know. There isn’t a person around that knows him that doesn’t have a hilarious story and doesn’t love the guy. If you don’t like Cotton the problem is probably with you.

This is a guy that talked his way through police barriers to take MREs to tornado victims in Vilonia within hours of the destruction. He helped found a non-profit organization called The One that works to support the Van Homeless outreach ministry in Central Arkansas. You should hear him talk about the moving experience of volunteering overnight in a warming shelter that was saving lives in Little Rock last year… and that’s the just the tip of the iceberg.

I met Cotton at a geek conference a couple of years ago and we soon discovered that we were both gregarious guys with quick laughs and a shared love of technology. What neither of us knew is that we’d also discover a common love for Christ and an intense spiritual kinship. He’s family to Sunshine and I. He’s a dear brother in Christ and Uncle Cotton around our house.

My friend Greg shared the story on his blog today that will forever bond Cotton, @jgreghenderson and I. I’ve never written about our experience with that type of loss but, as we discovered through Cotton, many of you have been down that road as well.

Donna is saint (heck she’s Cotton’s wife what more do you want to know? I said He’s awesome – not easy to live with).

Honestly it doesn’t matter who they are right now. They could use your prayers.

But when I read in Proverbs of the blameless man, the kind, the giving, the merciful… I’m reading about my friend Cotton.

You can read his blog at CottonRohrscheib.com and follow him on Twitter at @cottonr.

God Bless you both brother. We are praying.

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