Intersection

listen anymore? There is so much sharing, liking, spreading, linking, forwarding, buzzing, and re-tweeting that I often wonder if we speak and share well, but listen poorly . There is great value in the speed at which information, innovative ideas, and important causes can spread. The flip side is that we rarely sit and pour our attention into a person.

I see this in myself. I immediately disregard long text messages, blog posts that are triple this size, or someone that rambles when they speak. The challenge is to not disregard those people but listen when it is hard. Also, I believe we often do not even really listen to the great quote we retweet. How often do we meditate on something for ten minutes before we re-tweet it?  Share well. Speak well. Listen well. We need all three. If all we do is share and speak we will quickly become deaf.

Why do you do what you do? This question could refer to a job. It could challenge a habit, ritual, or practice that you uphold on a daily basis. Maybe it questions the way you think when you look in the mirror. Most of us fear this question because it could reveal something in us that we do not want to see.

Everyone please, stop reading. Stop tweeting. Stop blogging. Stop and ask why. This is more than clearing your head. Your answer reveals what moves you, and whatever moves you dictates where you are going and when you will get there. You may have thought you were flying in an airplane when really you are pedaling a tricycle. You’ll never know unless you ask why. Take the time to do that today.

When does it all fall apart? At what point do the walls of the system that you have created begin to crumble?

The moment when pixels on a screen became more precious than peace is when my castle began to crumble. And honestly the crumbling is good. It is healthy. Crumbling moments are painful but life giving. They are moments of discovery.

This is what I have experienced in the past few months: A life giving crumbling… no a shattering rather, a shattering of prideful goals, selfish ambition, recklessly rooted identity, and idolatrous motivation… all of which were fed to me by a monster. And guess what? This monster subtly feeds most young people dangerous ideas like platform, follower count, influence, leadership, upward mobility, and success. If left unfiltered these words act like a drug pumping up an ego like steroids inflate a NFL lineman.

In the Christian arena, the words of this monster can be heard in conferences, seen in Christian colleges, and read on “leadership” blogs. These unfiltered words shape our generation, and it all crumbled when I took an honest look at who I was becoming. Think about the danger in a generation chasing platforms and positions instead of peace and people. Consider the damage that a generation will cause when ambition is held higher than love. When online presence is more valuable than presence among the poor or if upward mobility veiled as “leadership potential” is talked about more than unwavering servant heartedness.

A few months ago the walls of that system shattered for me. Let me be clear, it is not that I do not care anymore. I care more than ever… just about the right things. I care about the river.

I believe there is a rushing river that God draws us towards. It is His River that nourishes souls, sustains the world, and filters out the toxic ideas. He draws us to the edge and invites us to jump in. He invites us to be swept away into his ideas, ways of life, and participate in healing the world. However, in that moment we often get lost. We get caught up with building massive bridges over the river or huge skyscrapers by the side of the river so everyone can come and look at it. We develop an irrigation system to reach more dry areas or build roads that might draw more people to the river’s edge. And then in conferences, colleges, and blogs we discuss how young people can be like the great leaders that built these bridges, buildings, irrigation systems, and roads.

I have come to realize that this not what God invites us to do. When I rediscovered this River, and his invitation… well, it all fell apart, I jumped off my half built skyscraper that I was busy constructing, and discovered that life in the River is so much better. So when does it all fall apart in your life?

When was the last time you fell in love with your work? Not your job. Your work.

I am talking about the one moment. You know it. The moment you fell completely head over heels in your gift and landed prostrate in your passion.

Maybe the moment moved you into the second period of the third paragraph in your first book. Maybe you feel it when you look down to find your feet on a stage, your hands wrapped around a microphone, your heart pounding, and your soul sliding through the speakers into the smiles of the crowd.

Maybe it flashed by as your partner tossed you into the air during the ballet. There it was when you scored the goal. Here it goes again when you walk out of the boardroom.

Taste it when you bite into the product of your new recipe. Hear it as you send the email. Feel it when you shake the hand of new partner. Smell it from the dust that flies off the lumber you cut to finish a client’s house.

This is your life. Do not waste it in a job. Capture these moments and live fully in love with your work.

What does it mean to be bold? How about writing a blog post that is only two sentences long?…

what would you create? I asked that question through my social channels earlier this week. The responses were wonderful, and I wanted to share my three favorites below.

A Time Machine. A Bean and Cheese Burrito. A society in which peace prevails.

Why is it that some people have the creative capacity to see a box of Legos and think… Time Machine? And why is it that others look at the same Legos and choose to follow the instructions on the box? The answer is simple. We have been taught to follow instructions, and compliance is easier than innovation.

Throw out the instructions. Look at the Legos you have been given. And imagine.

So if you were given a box of Legos what would you create?

Have you ever made the mistake of writing on a dry erase board with a permanent marker? It is a horrifying moment for many teachers, coaches, or leaders. It is almost as if you ran over your pet dog with your car and did not even notice.

While it may be horrifying when done to a board what if it was done in an organization? What if you became a permanent marker in your organization? Anyone can write on a dry erase board with a dry erase marker, but it takes someone special to pull out the Sharpie.

In staff meetings do you speak up when you disagree with your boss or do you settle back to you place like a yellow dry erase marker? Do you push to make customer service a priority every day? Or will your presence be forgotten when customers leave like a napkin wipes away the dry erase board.

This year, will you choose to be a permanent marker that leaves a lasting mark? Or will you be erased?

I do not claim to know the first thing about interior design, but I consider myself to be a redecorator. You can be one as well. In fact, whenever you walk into a room you have the opportunity to do the work of a redecorator. Each room you enter is filled with people and a culture. A supermarket is filled with a culture of busyness while the culture in a bank is usually one of stressful business.

What is the culture of the room when you arrive? And what is it like when you leave? Every room is an opportunity to influence a culture, to bring community to the supermarket aisles, and peace to the bank.

Will you redecorate the rooms you enter?

Dogs see the same reality as we do. They look at a building and see the structure, but they do not see the redness of the bricks. Dogs are colorblind and will never experience the world as vividly as I do. Often, people gravitate to homogenous groups and refuse to be shaped, influenced, or challenged by the rich diversity other cultures offer. People that live in uniform community are the dogs of our society. They will suffer from colorblindness. These people will see the world but miss the wonder of its beauty.

What colors are you unable to see? In other words, how have you closed your life story from the influence, narratives, and beauty of other cultures?