The posts have slowed down for me of late. It’s been a season of high travel, several bouts of sickness, and most recently watching my kids for the last four days while my wife was at the Synergy Conference in Orlando.
While I can’t provide a book review, ministry insight, or even a family picture today I’ll leave you with this beauty for your edification. There’s just so much in this short article that left me in awe. It makes me appreciate the era of internet journalism.
I hope to return soon with more refined reflections 
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,588369,00.html
Feel free to pass on your own reactions to this story if you have a helpful insight
“When the spine of identity is well-established, it is possible to risk relating in depth to those who are different from the self.”
- James W. Fowler, Weaving the New Creation: Stages of Faith and the Public Church (San Francisco: Harper, 1991), 156; referenced in What Color is Your God? by James & Lillian Breckinridge
In the Christian world there is much attention to identity as it relates to what would be called positional truth. And that’s important, but there’s aspects to identity that are just as important to explore for self and others. Perhaps part of why most of today’s faith communities lack depth is because there is a lack of attention to what truly makes each person who they are? Can we really be affirming of God’s creation in humanity without being willing to affirm the influences that shape identity, and thus spirituality?
What do you think? Do you think identity is appropriately addressed in your context or community? What’s your response to Fowler’s comment?
by Beav on February 27, 2010
“Nobody grows up in Florida, unless they’re an orange.”
I saw a movie again a couple weeks ago – Music and Lyrics, one of those romantic comedy ones. This line jumped out at me and was humorous to me. Hugh Grant says it to the love interest as she is stating that she needs to grow up and stop chasing dreams so she’s going to go to Florida to work and grow up.
This was funny to me because I was about to go to Florida, site of my organization’s headquarters, for a week of meetings as some organizational restructuring was getting rolled out. If applied in this context as the center of my ministry’s organizational life, the one-liner taps into that typical suspicion people get amidst organizational change.
Leading organizational change is hard stuff man. There has to be some serious conceptual work, solid organizational thought, strategic AND authentic communication, compassion and sympathy for those experiencing change, and ultimately a strong resolve and security to handle the backlash.
From what I can tell the process wasn’t perfect and the roll out wasn’t either, but I’m encouraged by where we’re going. The bottom line is that there were some overdue structural changes that aim to make a significant effort to empower previously marginalized groups and make it easier to partner with those needed to get the job done. So props to them. There is growing up that happens in Florida outside of oranges
by Beav on February 24, 2010
This week I’ve been at some organizational meetings and they integrated into the program a trip to Cirque de Solei’s La Nouba at Orlando’s Downtown Disney. Some of the show and elements were integrated into some of the organizational discussions and it was a fun group thing to do.
I’ll confess..I nodded off a couple times during it, but that could be a combination of jet lag and all-day meetings. Or it could be that I don’t find dudes in body suites contorting their bodies in unnatural ways very inspiring.
There were a few acts that were pretty amazing and it brings to mind both how much talent the various people were as well as how hard they had to work day in day out to translate that talent to a form of artistry. It’s similar to many of the Olympic athletes as well.
There’s times I ride some of the talent I have, but the results always are better when my hard work is matching or exceeding the talent level. Unprepared talent starts to look like non-talent after a while. Prepared talent ends up looking like “gifting.”
