Reverse Your Thinking
Here is the clip that I used at this weekends conversation at SVA. Many of you were requesting the words, but the video format is more impacting. Does your thinking need to go in reverse?
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Pain In The Ash
The season of Lent is almost here, it begins next week and flows from Ash Wednesday.
Interestingly enough, the huge celebrations of Fat Tuesday sprang up as a reaction to the imposition of religious ritual concerning the observance of Lent…a season in the church year whose focus is on repentance and realignment with God.
In and of itself, having a time of spiritual realignment is good for everyone…however, when the grip of religion laces its fingers around anything, it tends to strangle out the beauty and grace, and in their place are born rules, regulations and legalism.
Fat Tuesday, then, became the last opportunity before the 40 days of Lent to go and sin wildly. As I ruminate on this, isn’t that always what happens in our lives when rules replace relationship? When we live by a check-list of dos and don’ts, we begin to think and respond in contractual terms instead of relational exchanges. When this happens, we experience Fat Tuesday’s surrounding every area of our life.
For instance, when a marriage becomes contractual exchange, then love is something that is earned in light of certain actions having been done well. And, contractually, if certain actions are not done, or are not done to the expectation of the other person, then love is contractually withheld until those things are accomplished.
This is not a marriage though, it is a contract based on rules. A relationship that is based on an unconditional covenant understands that sometimes things don’t always happen or get done the way we want, desire, or expect, but since the marriage is based upon covenant love, love is always infused regardless of contractual performance.
You might also see the Fat Tuesday effect in marriage happen when a spouse is bound by duty to “do something” “be something” or “go somewhere he/she doesn’t want to go.” Since he/she did their contractual duty they feel justified to over indulge some area as a “reward” for their work. Maybe a husband finds justification in going on an extended hunting trip because he just got word that his In-laws are coming to stay for an extended period, so he needs to get out-of-town for a while before that happens and his In-laws rules cramp his style…or perhaps a wife limits out the credit card on a spa day because her husband’s college buddies are due the next day, and since she is being the “good wife” and allowing it, she’s gonna splurge!
Do you see how contractually we live? Do you realize contractual living, or religious living results in the creation of Fat Tuesday’s? When genuine love and relationship fills our world, we can enjoy life, have fun and not feel guilty about it! Isn’t that a novel concept. Religion creates Fat Tuesday’s…Fat Tuesday’s create guilt and shame…Guilt and shame turn a powerful season of grace and alignment like Lent into a ritualistic experience of dos and don’t devoid of their real meaning.
When we approach God contractually, we turn something that is holy, cool, and cosmically awesome like Ash Wednesday or Lent, into a check list of contractual duties to appease God into liking us again…This is so far away from the God revealed through Christ.
If we would live in a sense of daily alignment, in other words, simply realizing that God is for us, not against us, and that as we make mistakes, or perhaps over-indulge in something that isn’t good for us, we stop, and have a relational conversation of confession, repentance and forgiveness. God isn’t standing by with the lightning bolt of contractual misuse ready to smite us, but rather is simply waiting for us to say…“man, I blew that one, I’m sorry, please forgive me..”
In that moment, the spirit of religion is thrown out the window, and a relationship is born. Religion focuses on rules to keep you in line. God invites you into a relationship, where the interactions are based upon a mutuality of love.
Because I am so grateful that God loves me on my best days as well as my most abysmal days, I look forward to a season like Lent not in such a way that compels me to go out and get bombed out of my skull because I won’t be able to drink for the next 40 days, but instead, I long to have a season offered to me where I can realign my thinking process with God’s…Where I can experience grace in the midst of economic trials…Where I can be reminded that God doesn’t care about how well I perform for Him, only that I love Him, and He is thrilled that I simply showed up!
Maybe what I am saying is that an excessive emphasis on rules naturally finds its outlet in sin or doing things that we normally wouldn’t do if we lived relationally. Perhaps Fat Tuesday’s exist because the religious rules push people where they don’t need to be pushed. Maybe, just maybe, some of the dumb choices that are made in the Fat Tuesday’s of life wouldn’t happen if we understood God relationally and religiously…hmmm, I think I’m right.
What would be even more powerful is if we all realized that God intends our lives to fully experience fun..joy..laughter…and good times. Sure there are some incredibly hard valley’s we will go through, but the religionists among us seem to think that that is all that God wants us to experience…”Stay in the lines, only use these colors, don’t have fun if at all possible, chin up, gut in…etc.”
As I think of Jesus, and all his human interactions, I think of how often He was at parties, amongst friends, enjoying the things of life…not just sitting in Temple or Synagogue assailing Himself religiously. Jesus had an incredible sense of humor that is lost in translation from the Aramaic and Greek into English. He enjoyed living, had fun, and avoided the mistakes of the Fat Tuesday’s of life while enjoying all the celebrations of this life.
So on Wednesday this week (Ash Wednesday) take some time to remember that you are human, a creation of God’s, made of earth, and that one day you will return to the elements of this planetary creation. In light of that truth, ask God to help you realign your heart and soul to His, not because you are doing all the right things, but because He is such a great God who loves you and will never leave you in the hard moments of life.
If you’re in the Seattle area, come and hang with me for an Ash Wednesday service at Snoqualmie Valley Alliance…it starts at 6:00 and will be interactive, reflective and powerful, you won’t want to miss it!
And guess what, you won’t walk away feeling guilty (that’s religion) but you will leave feeling the freedom that comes from our God of Grace and Truth.
Monty
The Power of Teaching: SNQ
Recently, I was filling out a series of security questions for an online portal. I was surprised when one of the potential questions was, “Who was your favorite teacher?” The question caused me to think through all of the incredible men and women who have affected my life and helped forge me into the person I am today. My wife, Amy, has been in public education all of our married life. She has worked as a teacher, consultant, and now as an elementary school principal. This has given me many opportunities to see and experience education from every angle possible.
The level of love and sacrifice a teacher must exemplify when married to all of the ongoing equipping and life-skills coaching required day to day is amazing. Here are some teacher quotes to inspire and remind you of the power of being a teacher!
A teacher affects eternity: he can never tell where his influence stops. ~Henry Adams
What nobler employment, or more valuable to the state, than that of the man who instructs the rising generation. ~Marcus Tullius Cicero
Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life, those the art of living well. ~Aristotle
We cannot hold a torch to light another’s path without brightening our own. ~Ben Sweetland
Grammar speaks; dialectics teach us truth; rhetoric gives colouring to our speech; music sings; arithmetic numbers; geometry weighs and measures; astronomy teaches us to know the stars. ~Latin Maxim
It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge. ~Albert Einstein
To me, education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil’s soul. ~Muriel Spark
Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant. ~Epictetus
“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” ~William Arthur Ward
A good teacher is a master of simplification and an enemy of simplism. ~Louis A. Berman
One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child. ~Carl Jung
The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind. ~Kahlil Gibran
A good teacher is like a candle – it consumes itself to light the way for others. ~Anon.
Modern cynics and skeptics see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those to whom they entrust the care of their plumbing. ~John F. Kennedy
Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people may be engaged in. That everyone may receive at least a moderate education appears to be an objective of vital importance. ~Abraham Lincoln
I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well” ~Alexander the Great
He who opens a school door, closes a prison. ~Victor Hugo
When you teach your son, you teach your son’s son. ~The Talmud
I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework. ~Lily Tomlin as “Edith Ann
Teaching is the calling that most reflects the character of God for it requires love, knowledge, understanding and grace. ~Monty Wright
Graduation: SN Quotes 6/3/12
As we enter graduation season, schedules are getting full, stress is high, and the future is being discussed by an expanding number of people. Who will our graduating young men and women become? Will they pursue their passion and purpose or will they be forced into a mold someone else designs for them?
Will they become Planet Changers, or will they become Planet Dwellers? My prayer is for our young men and women to realize their potential and move in a direction and path that unleashes their soul in creativity, beauty and transformation.
Here’s to our graduates. Some inspiration and thoughts to help them break the mold of the mundane and ordinary. To escape a “good enough” life or a”settled for” life. Dream some God sized dreams that are larger than you and have the capacity to push humanity closer to our potential, free of the influences that would strangle passion, creativity and love…
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“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…” ~ Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
The fireworks begin today. Each diploma is a lighted match. Each one of you is a fuse.
~Edward Koch
~Edward Koch
You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world.
~Tom Brokaw
~Tom Brokaw
[I]t is clear the future holds great opportunities. It also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to avoid the pitfalls, seize the opportunities, and get back home by six o’clock.
~Woody Allen, “My Speech to the Graduates,” Side Effects, 1980
~Woody Allen, “My Speech to the Graduates,” Side Effects, 1980
Wherever you go, go with all your heart. ~Confucius
Spread joy. Chase your wildest dreams. ~Patch Adams
Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value. ~Albert Einstein
If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm. ~Vince Lombardi
You cannot help but learn more as you take the world into your hands. Take it up reverently, for it is an old piece of clay, with millions of thumbprints on it. ~John Updike
Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. ~Judy Garland
It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves. ~Edmund Hillary
The important thing is not to stop questioning. ~Albert Einstein
Keep in mind that neither success nor failure is ever final. ~Roger Babson
If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. ~Milton Berle
What we are is God’s gift to us. What we become is our gift to God. ~Eleanor Powell
Graduation is only a concept. In real life every day you graduate. Graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of your life. If you can grasp that, you’ll make a difference. ~Arie Pencovici
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. ~Steve Jobs
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. ~Mark Twain