All in The Stuff That Matters
“You shall have no other Gods before me.”
When I hear this first commandment, something in me is stirred; a stirring that speaks of something magnificent and weighty in its simplicity.
Something that says that if we could get that first commandment right, we might not need the other nine.
I came across an interesting quote about Mother Teresa and her observation that loneliness is the leprosy of the Western world.
Wow.
As devastating and alienating as leprosy was in the ancient world, apparently loneliness is what we get to deal with in our culture instead.
Loneliness is an interesting phenomenon. In my experience, I’ve felt lonely when there’s no one in the room, but often times even lonelier when in a room crowded full of people.
Why is that?
How on earth could it be that we can find ourselves lonely in the midst of the company of others?
Because I’m guessing I’m not the only one who has ever felt this way.
My guess is, you can relate.
If you’re anything like me, you have your good days and your bad days. Days when you feel like things are going well, and others when no matter what you do, nothing seems to quite work out.
And if you’re like me, when all you’ve been doing is GO, GO, GO, emotions can run a bit fragile.
My oldest is in 8th grade, stuck right in the midst of the awkward middle school years. We all remember those times when we were convinced every single eye was on us every time we walked across a room, scrutinizing our gait, our hair, our clothes? (The irony here, of course, is that in actuality all attention is much more focused on themselves than on anyone else.)
But a core truth is still exposed in middle school; that the heart’s desire of every person is to find community, to fit in, and this is none more apparent than in those teenage years.
Take a brief moment out of your day today and look around at the people in your midst, particularly if you’re in a public place.
As you glance around, make an effort to look into each person’s inner being – in a non-creepy way, of course, because people get arrested for being creepy, and we certainly don’t want that.
But take a look. What do you observe?
What I see is complex and conflicted human beings.
This Christmas season has completely snuck up on me. Maybe it’s the spring-like weather we have here in SoCal, maybe it’s something else, but I’ve been having a “holy crap” moment right about now—hoping, pleading, and praying that Amazon can deliver on their promise to have gifts in hand before Christmas Day.
But this panic I’m feeling is more than just meeting deadlines and having gifts to offer my loved ones in a few days.
The panic I’m feeling runs deeper. At its core is the desire not just to give gifts, but to give good gifts.
You know, those ones that strike a chord in peoples’ hearts, the ones that say I see you; the ones my family will cherish, and remember.
Maybe that’s too much pressure, but the truth is we all want to give good gifts. But I’ve noticed a deeper question surfacing inside of me these past few months...
We had no idea Las Vegas was about to happen.
We recently released our latest coffee t-shirt, and as you can see from the picture, it has nothing to do with coffee.
We wanted to go with something simple; a message we could all rally behind, and so we went with “Love People”.
We figured it was time to get back to the basics—that we all can lean in directions opposite of loving people from time to time, and so we thought a tangible reminder wouldn’t be so bad.
Because loving people is one of the more difficult tasks we have.
I was driving down the 210 Freeway the other day stuck in the state of unfettered joy that is Southern California rush hour traffic (don’t tell me you can’t relate). You know, the kind of traffic where texting while driving is probably legal; where you get the privilege of studying the nuances of any and all scratches, dents, or other blemishes in the cars around you; where your desire for listening to yet one more podcast about business, spiritual development, or anything else for that matter has died a slow and painful death; where all you want to do is move out to the prairie, learn a new dialect, and watch cows in the pasture.
And I don’t even like cows, which shows you how much I hate SoCal traffic.
I’ve found that I’ve been a man of few words lately. Despite my genuine efforts, I’ve quite simply had very little to say, particularly in social settings. This, from an attention-getting extrovert…
No details seem to be available when my wife asks me how my day is.
In a discussion with a friend yesterday, I was unable to answer simple questions about the week, and even the weather.
The funny thing is, I’m not in any kind of emotional distress. Not angry, not agitated. Actually fairly happy, to be honest.
If I could choose one word to articulate how I’ve been feeling lately, it’s detached.
To My Dear Boys,
It’s a different world than the one I grew up in. A very different world.
In some ways, it’s a much better world. But in a lot of ways things are pretty rough. Hatred abounds, whether between the sexes, between nations, between ideologies, between races. It’s everywhere, boys. It plays out on social media, on the news, and in classrooms and playgrounds.
Avoid hatred at all costs, sons. It is everywhere, but it doesn’t have to be inside of you.
