Looking at the future use to be very hard for me.  For the last 10 years I have had no idea where I was going to be from one year to the next.  All of the jobs I have held the past 10 years I knew was temporary and that has been hard.  But now I am in a situation I hope to be for a long time.  But I still look into the future.   There are things that I want to accomplish personally and professionally.

So I begin to wonder how do I close the gap between the reality that I am living now and the life I want in the future?   I do not think I am going to stay where I am forever,  but the life I am living right now is good, it is right for myself and my family.  Am I still going to be able to say that 10 years from now?  5 years from now?

My kids are getting older and there are some things in my life that are always changing, and some other things never seem to change much.

How about you?  Are you in a place in your life that you want to be or are you trapped in a life you don’t want, feeling stuck and unable to move? How much do you think about the future?

Try imagining the future…….What do you see?  Imagine it so vividly and specifically that you can actually see it. Then, take it even further. Hear it, taste it, feel it, walk around in it!

Where are you living?  Who are you with?  What are you doing? Is there a gap between where you are now and where you want to be?  Don’t think of that as a bad thing!  You see, it is this gap that releases your energy and creativity.

Once I took my first call as a pastor I thought that I needed to stop dreaming about the future, and start living in the present.  That is true, but I also need to think about the future not only personally, but for the church as well.  This future, this vision is what moves us. The gap, between the way things are and the way we want them to be, is that space where our drive, energy and creativity have room to ignite.  This energy and creativity moves us towards the place where we ant to be. Without a vision, a vivid picture of the future in the mind, there is no gap, and we will never discover our power, our purpose, and our mission.

What does your future look like?  Does it excite you? Does it scare you? Where are you headed?

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For more insight check out:

The Future of An Illusion

Best of Taste of Home, The First 10 Years

I love road trips.  I love the sense of adventure, the sense of unexpectedness. For most of my road trips I do try and make a plan of action, but after we leave –  more often than not plans change.

While, there are certain aspects of road trips that are the same,  the type of road trips has changed for me over the years.  When I was in college, a group of friends and I planned a road trip from our college in Iowa, to my home in Vermont, down to NYC and then back to Iowa, about 2,600 miles.  It was fun, it was adventurous and it was memorable.  Guys, traveling in a car, stopping where we needed too, not knowing what would happen day to day.  I will never forget it.

Last December, my family took a road trip.  We left our town in NY and drove Virginia for a friends wedding and then up to Vermont to visit my family and back home for a total of 1,485 miles.  We loved the wedding and we loved visiting my family, but traveling that much with two children under five has its challenges.  We stopped more, we planned more (and tried to keep on track), even though we wanted to keep some aspects of the trips adventuresome, you can’t do that  too much when you have two small children.

As I get older I start to ask myself…..am I too old for adventure, am I too old for road trips?  Am I too old for that kind of self-expression?  It’s hard to think that the old I get the worse this may be, I have always imagined retirement as a time when I will be traveling the US and the world with my wife.

The truth is that we don’t tend to see many role models of lively, intelligent old people in the media, I often think of the ventriloquist Jeff Dunham and his puppet “Walter the grumpy old man”.

The fact is that life expectancy is up from age 45 in 1900, to 80 for women and 74 for men in 2000. This means that things are changing both in the world and in the church. Of course, there is still the likelihood of some physical decline as we age, but many older people are discovering that their mental health is more important to them. They tend to shrug off their aches and pains and concentrate instead on growth and development in other areas.

They become much more spiritually aware and keenly interested in things outside of themselves. They want to be more active in a way that we are not use too.  They make their own choices, and stay involved with meaningful activities long after they “retire.”  Because let’s face it, no one ever really “retires” anymore.

So how do we minister to those who like to go on road trips and those who seem to slow down but never really do.  What do you do to stay active physically, mentally, and spiritually as you get older?  Or if you are younger, how do you imagine your “retirement?”

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Illuminations: Essays and Reflections

Audition (Vintage)

I was at a conference earlier this week for Lutheran pastors in their first three years of ministry who live in the northeast part of the United States.  It is one of those conferences that I really do not look forward going too.  One of the reasons is that I have so many things going on all the time and  it seems almost impossible to leave town for a week without something falling apart.  I also dearly miss my family when I am away for more than a few days.

But after I arrive on site, I unpack and I start to relax.  Then I am glad that I took the time to go.  My time away helps me regain energy and enthusiasm for ministry. I usually pick up one or two ideas to use in my ministry, my time away provides me an opportunity to reconnect with friends and colleagues and a chance to make some new connections.

The title of the conference I attended was Embodying Hope for an Anxious World. How do we as a church preach a gospel of hope and renewal when we are surrounded by things that make us anxious?  Whether it’s the economy, world conflicts or swine flu, the anxiety level is rising in everyone!

Our keynote speaker was Terry Leib.  Terry is an Associate in Ministry, and director of Family Life Services, a part of Diakon Lutheran Social Ministry in northeastern Pennsylvania.  Terry was a great speaker and really got me thinking about not how the world makes me (and everyone around me) anxious, but in fact I become anxious because of my reaction to the events happening in the world.

He also used the phrase “God image” quite a bit.  I found this idea interesting and something that I really want to use in my ministry.  Instead of going to people and telling them about the God that I know, a God of love, forgiveness, grace, and truth.  I first want to get a sense of who God is for other people.

Tell me about your God….. who is your God? what characteristics does your God have?  What does your God do? What does your God say? How evolving is your God?  With an idea of who your God is, then and only then can we move forward together and have a conversation about God.

For some, thinking about a God of love can be hard, because the only thing love has done for some people is bring them hurt and pain.  For others trust might be an issue, why trust God if trust is only a negative thing in life?  The more that we understand the God image of the people around us, the more we can develop a sense of purpose in ministry together.

It is hard to define our God image.  I know I have had a hard time this week thinking about that.  We define the things around us by our  job, career, family, social position, income or appearance, so how does God fit into all that.  What are the messages that have brought us to where we are today?  What has influenced you?  How do you define your God?

Tell me about your God…..

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Picture with the new Apple tablet

Okay so maybe this tablet you would need a subscription not only to a wireless carrier but a chiropractor as well!

I can’t wait until the announcement later today about the new islate, itablet, ipad or whatever you wan to call it.

Here are some of my predictions about the Apple event today:

• 10″ LED screen
• Camera on both the front  for pictures and iChat.
• Running iPhone OS 4.0 which should be announced.
• An optional data plan, through either Verizon or AT&T
• The ability to run iLife and iWork
• No built in itunes, but with itunes.com which will be announced today.

I have been reading rumors,  I have an anxiously awaiting this day.  I am also curious about the future for the iphone.  My contract with AT&T was up on January 14th, instead of running out and updating my 2G iphone to 3GS I have been waiting to see if Apple will make the jump over to Verizon — if they do, I have to say that I would switch in a heartbeat.  If they don’t announce it today, I can’t say that I will wait until they decide to either announce it later this year or the next.

What are some of your last minute predictions?

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For more insight check out:

Breaking the Tablets: Jewish Theology After the Shoah

Rumors of Peace

It’s all a matter of choice.  What do you choose?

I recently found this story on Kirk Weisler’s website and I wanted to share it.

Years ago, my friend, Harvey Mackay, told me a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point. He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey. He handed my friend a laminated card and said:

‘I’m Wally, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk I’d like you to read my mission statement.’
Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said:

Wally’s Mission Statement:
To get my customers to their destination in the quickest,
safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, ‘Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.’

My friend said jokingly, ‘No, I’d prefer a soft drink.’

Wally smiled and said, ‘No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.’

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, ‘I’ll take a Diet Coke.’

Handing him his drink, Wally said, ‘If you’d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.’

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card. ‘These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.’

And as if that weren’t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he’d be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.

‘Tell me, Wally,’ my amazed friend asked the driver, ‘have you always served customers like this?’   Wally smiled into the rearview mirror. ‘No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day.

He had just written a book called You’ll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, ‘Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.”

‘That hit me right between the eyes,’ said Wally. ‘Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.’

‘I take it that has paid off for you,’ Harvey said.

‘It sure has,’ Wally replied. ‘My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.’

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I’ve probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

Customers love riding in Walter’s cab. His cab ride hits their emotions, and emotions are something that no competitor can copy.

What does it cost the cab driver to offer such treats to his riders? Close to $5,000 a year. What does he get for his $5,000? He makes $12,000-$14,000 extra a year in tips.  Just for being courteous and offering a few snacks and the morning paper.

What makes him unique? This cabby thinks differently. He stopped thinking like every other cab driver in town, and discovered what it would take to turn his boring, mundane occupation into an experience customers would always remember.

Not with mirrors, magic or miracles. Just by thinking differently.  How do you think differently?

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For more insight check out:

Navy Strategic Culture: Why the Navy Thinks Differently

8 Steps to Positive Living: How to Think Differently, Know You Are Loved and Chaige Your Life

The start of the final season of Lost.  I am a big Lost fan since the beginning.  In seminary we would host Lost parties to watch the show together and then stay up until the wee hours of the morning talking about Lost and looking up theories about the show.

Being the last season of Lost there are lots of questions that need to be answered.  Over the next eleven days I will post eleven questions that I want answered before the series is over.

11.  What is up with the time travel?

FARADAY: The Island… Think of the Island like a record spinning on a turntable… only now, that record is skipping. Whatever Ben Linus did down at the Orchid station… I think… it may have… dislodged us.

MILES: Dislodged us from what?

FARADAY:Time.

–(“Because You Left“)

I have thought about time travel before.  The answer to time travel may not make or break the show.  The answer to time travel will not resolve the season five the cliffhanger.  But it is an important part of the show.  Lost  has presented us with various themes over the years and one of the themes is time travel.   This is interesting on so many levels, but in the end it boils down to the question:

Can we change the past?

I have seen several video’s lately that try and piece some of the episodes together in a progressive fashion that make a timeline.  When you look at the videos you try to catch a glimpse of the future and ask: Do we have the ability to change what’s already happened in the future or are we controlled by our fate?

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For more insight check out:

The Yoga of Time Travel: How the Mind Can Defeat Time

Cause & Effect: A Time Travel Novel

When I was a youth director, I had a poster on my wall that said “You are already a role model, the question is what kind are you?”

Like it or not we are all role models, from the person living on the street to the top professional athlete.  By role model I mean that we all have influence on the development of children – for better or for worse.

The way we see ourselves and the world is what decides how we will behave, and how we behave determines, what will happen to us.

Role models serve as living, breathing mental images that help us visualize the way we would like to live.

For example, if a child sees a homeless person sleeping on the street, this most likely will stimulate negative images in their mind and will direct them in a way where they will not want to end up there.  The same kind of image can happen when they see their favorite super start throw the winning touchdown, or shoot the winning basket.  They will want to act like the best, to be the best.  No matter how many times an athlete may say that they are not a role model, they are.

However, the more important role models are the ones children come in contact with on a daily basis.  While it is helpful to read about a significant person in a book or a magazine, or watch an inspiring life story in the movies or on TV, it is much more powerful when we can actually interact with someone who shows us possibilities for ourselves.

When we can do so on a daily or regular basis, as we do with parents, grandparents, teachers and pastors just to name a few, this has the most powerful impact of all.

It is not only what we say that matters, kids will learn from our actions as well, so the best role models do not only need to say the right things but they need to live a good example  as well.

Of course we cannot control everything.  The best thing that we can do is to tell them and show them the right way to live and let the kids figure out the rest for themselves.  They will make mistakes, we all do.  But hopefully they will remember the positive role models in their life and follow their example.

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With everything that has gone on in the world recently, a word that I can’t stop thinking about is Hope.

I think everyone could agree that a hopeful attitude is a good thing. But what exactly is hope? Can it be learned? Centuries of folk wisdom and religious teaching have taught the benefits of a hopeful attitude. Researchers believe that hope may be associated with good health and greater success, both personally and professionally.

But what exactly is hope?

Dictionary.com says that “hope is the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.”  Hope can also be an attitude, a state of mind, or a goal.  We can hope for something, we can be hopeful, or we can create a sense of hope.

Actor Christopher Reeve had every intention of walking again, and had he lived, I would not have been surprised to see him do so. His determination was led by a strong sense of hope. He once said “Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.”  I believe he chose hope.

This past weekend we celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. day.  In a speech called The Trumpet of Conscience, King said “If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.”

We live in a time where hope seems fleeting every day.  We read stories in the paper, watch the nightly news or read blogs online that we live in times where there seems to be little hope.  100,000 innocent people die and we do not have reasons why, that for many people, takes away any existence of hope.

However, in all other things being equal – a hopeful attitude helps overcome obstacles.  I have seen people rise out of what seems like impossible situations. It is people like that who can express how important it was for them, to never give up hope.

So what gives you hope? My hope comes from a number of places.

First, I find myself hopeful because of my faith in God.  My faith drives my belief that through hope I have the ability for active participation in the world in order to help others live and experience a better world.  I know we live in a broken world and I am determined to help others find a sense of hope in their lives.  My faith tells me that I have a God who loves me and who cares for me in all areas of my life.  Even though I am broken, God is there to help me and to make me whole again, and that gives me hope.

I am also hopeful because of my family.  I love going home to my family every night.  When I see my family I am energized and hopeful again.  It is through them that I experience unfailing, never ending love.  It is through them that I am able to envision a future that is bright, and full of possibilities.  Being a parent and husband are the two most satisfying things in my life.

Lastly, I am hopeful because of my job.  I know I am called to be a pastor because of all the amazing things I have the opportunity to do every day.  I am able to spend time reading and reflecting on the Word of God, I am able to engaged in conversation about the word of God and see its impact in people’s lives.  I am able to walk with people through the most joyous times in their lives and saddest as well. And in every situation I see hope.  I see opportunities for new life, new birth and it is there that hope is present.

So where do you see hope in your life and the lives around you?

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For more insight check out:

A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Nothing is Impossible: Reflections on a New Life

So this year has not gone as I have planned so far.  There have been many set backs and there have been many times  that I have wanted to give up and quit.  But I am still here and as I move forward I want to spend the rest of the year thinking positive and I want to get back on track with my new year resolutions.

In order to do this I started with scripture:

And seeing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves. Then he said to it, ‘May no fruit ever come from you again!’ And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they were amazed, saying, ‘How did the fig tree wither at once?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, “Be lifted up and thrown into the sea”, it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.’ Matthew 21:19-22

These verses might not seem the most appropriate for someone who is having a rough year.  But this scripture tells me that my thoughts are not always about healing, saving, restoring, redeeming, etc.  Jesus tells me  in the verses above that faith is a force that can build up or tear down.

Positive thinking is a powerful thing, we move toward and become like what we think about.  We automatically behave in ways that match the image we have of our ourselves.  When we focus on what is going wrong, we tend to experience more of the problem. When we  focus on what is going right, many times we can come up with a solution.  Therefore, when we focus on health and wellness we move toward it, we are attracted too it.

All of our words spoken in faith, have the power to build and power to destroy. God gives us the power of words, it is up to us to determine how we use them.

So what happens if we find ourselves speaking negative and destructive words?

First, think back about all the destructive words that have been spoken to you over the years. Then release the negative and destructive words over to God and ask God to reverse each one of them into a word of praise over you.  Words can be destructive, they can hurt even more when they come from inside of you.  They are a constant source of hurt when your internal duologue is running constantly and is brining you down.  But they can build you up when they are used int the right way.

Second, start speaking to yourself and to people all around you with words of life and healing.  The more we are able to do do this the easier and more natural these words will come.  When we dream it, when we envision it the more likely it will become.  Then truly we can say that we have faith, and hope in ourselves and in the one who created us and who loves us.

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For more insight check out:

Positive Thinking Every Day: An Inspiration for Each Day of the Year

Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei 2: The Power of Negative Thinking (Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei)

Winter is a tough time for many people, especially people here in central New York.  We are surrounded by snow, and almost every day we are getting more snow.  The days are shorter and we spend more and more time inside.  Depression rates run high during the winter months.  It is a hard time.  So how do we dramatically increase the joy in our lives?

Everyone likes to feel good. However we tend to react to situations instead of taking control over our lives.  When things go wrong for us we tend to sit around waiting for it to pass, hoping that something or someone will come to rescue us, to help us feel better.

Instead of sitting around, what if we had a plan for pleasure?  I am sure that there are things in our lives that make us happy, things that put a smile upon our face every-time we encounter it.  For example, no matter how hard of a day I have, no matter what goes wrong in my life, when I walk through the door and see my wife and children I can’t help by smile.  Or when I have things on my mind, things that I need to think about, I will take out my guitar and start to play.  This helps clear the thoughts out of my mind and it helps me focus on the task at hand.  Not only does it give me time to think, but it allows me to pray as well.

The times that I have been hurt the most, or the times I have felt lost and alone, I turn to God .  I leave my worries and my cares in God’s hands and I feel much better about my life, I have a clearer pictures of what I need and who I am.

So have you ever thought about making a list of things that help you? Do you really enjoy listening to music? Cooking a delicious meal? Watching an inspirational movie?  Also have you thought about who do you turn too when you need help?  Do you have friends you trust? Can you turn to family?  Have you ever turned to God?

If you had a list of a couple of dozen things you could count on for a good time, you’d have plenty of options the next time you wanted to create a pleasure-producing experience.  If you had a list of people to turn too when you need a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen to you life might be a little easier.  I have been trying to add to my list every day.

What about you? How do you create you own happiness?  How does your faith play into it?

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For more insight check out:

Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe

All God's Creatures