Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Given the setting of the Philippians, I suspect...
Twenty Questions
posted by DJL
While we’re on the theme of noticing: Jim Moore’s poem “Twenty Questions” is a wonderful reminder to pay attention to the ordinary, as in the ordinary we often behold the extraordinary. Or, to put more of a point on it, I sometimes suspect that if you can’t find the extraordinary in...
Philippians 4:5b-6
posted by DJL
The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. I wasn’t sure whether to include the powerful statement, “The Lord is near,” as the end of the last verse – the way it’s marked in...
Noticing Tintype
posted by DJL
With 53% of consumers pounding the pavements, freeways, and malls looking for a good – no, make that great – Black Friday sale, it’s going to be a busy, busy, busy day. Who knows, I may end up running out to a store yet today as well, but in the meantime this brief but beautiful...
Philippians 4:5a
posted by DJL
Let your gentleness be known to everyone. “Gentleness” is one of those words I’m not completely sure what to do with. It’s not that I don’t have any idea what it means; it’s more that it feels like its meaning has been narrowed by our popular use of the word. We want to find a...
On the Origin and Value of Thanksgiving
posted by DJL
While I knew that Abraham Lincoln is credited with establishing Thanksgiving Day as a national holiday, I didn’t know it had previously been the custom of presidents and governors and others to declare “a day of Thanksgiving” on a regularly occasional basis. (That is, they did this regularly, but according to no set calendar.) So in addition to the thanksgiving celebration of the pilgrims we know so well, George Washington twice declared days of national thanksgiving (in 1789 and 1795). John Adams and James Madison did the same on several occasions (though Jefferson never did). While often these days of thanksgiving were declared to...
Philippians 4:4
posted by DJL
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. What does it mean to rejoice? Really. We say that word all the time…at least in church. And we’ve read it here in Paul’s letter numerous times already. But what does it mean, really? In brief, rejoicing is simply to take joy in...
8 Strategies for Avoiding Black Friday Madness
posted by DJL
It’s finally happened: Black Friday isn’t on Friday anymore, but starts Thursday night. (Actually, a couple retailers experimented with this a year or two ago, but now it’s gone more or less mainstream.) Despite employee protests, the critical commentary of cultural pundits, and the outrage of religious leaders, retailers say they are merely responding to customer demand. And they’re probably right…sort of. I’m not honestly sure how many people came away from last year’s spending frenzy actually wishing stores opened even earlier. But I do think that we have been lured into thinking 1) that there are few things more important...
Philippians 4:2-3
posted by DJL
I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life. We are at...
Moneyball and the Future of the Church, Part 2
posted by DJL
2. Challenging Cherished Practices Harvard Leadership Guru Ron Heifetz makes a critical distinction between technical and adaptive problems. In the former, we need to revise our way of doing something in a particular context; in the latter, we need to revise (or reinvent) our whole way of thinking about the context in which we are doing things. Again, Moneyball provides an excellent example. (If you haven’t seen the film or read the book, it may be helpful to refer to my earlier post to recap the story.) If the problem is that the A’s don’t have enough money to buy the best players they really only have one option if they want to win:...
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