January 15, 2012

I Have a Dream

I recall when the debate took place in the 80′s as to whether states should adapt a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I remember while in high school, students held a sit out because Oregon had not yet honored this day. I remember walking amidst the crowd of students with one of my favorite teachers, Chuck Wetherell.

As we walked, I remember his words as he surveyed the students…

“I bet you most of of these students have never heard “the” speech.”

Flying home from Atlanta to Portland this past weekend, I sat next to Walter. Walter was an elderly African-American who spent his entire life in Portland, Oregon. He and his wife were preparing to move to Atlanta, Georgia.

Together, we watched a football game on the screen located on the back of the seat in front of me. Together, we laughed and enjoyed each others company.

With this, I cannot imagine a day where this could not happen. In this, I cannot believe that in this day and age, we still find racial inequality in that one set of people deem another set of people to be of lesser value.

With this, I can only pause and ponder on that which he have become and that which we have yet to become. And as I ponder, I ask one question…

When do dreams come true?

May it not be on our shoulders that another generation passes before this dream is fulfilled. For in this, may we all begin to see the character of others and no longer the color of their skin. And from this, let us begin to march boldly into the future… as one.

As I listen to “the” speech, I cannot help but to turn back the clock and imagine the impact others in the civil rights movement must have felt from it. For in it was a man pointing people to a brighter future. A future reached through perseverance, discipline, and the willingness to dare to dream.

Has this hope for a brighter future yet drawn nigh? Has not this dream found its time to become unlocked from the hearts and minds of the many and ushered forth into the reality of the daily walk? The daily walk not that of one people, but that of all people… hand in hand, in step, and with the voice of a choir of angels.

What dream will you help unlock today?

This week, I am proud to join These Numbers Have Faces in seeking to bring this dream and the dreams of the many to fruition.

They are doing a campaign this week called “We Have A Dream,” spotlighting the amazing dreams of their scholars in South Africa.

This is a young woman named Busisiswe. When she was 7 she lost her mother to HIV/AIDS. At 13 she lost her sister to gang violence. But through These Numbers Have Faces she persevered and is now studying accounting at a prestigious South African University. Her dream is to fight poverty in her community and change it for generations to come. Amazing.

If you would, please share this image of this amazing young woman and her dreams for the future.

In the words of Dr King, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

In this, for all those who have never heard “the” speech, here it is. Do yourself a favor and listen, read, pause, and reflect.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: “For Whites Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”2

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

                Free at last! Free at last!

                Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!3

Posted by on January 15, 2012 in civil rights, Life, Martin Luther King Jr and tagged , , .

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January 9, 2012

Me and Dad: Golf

As we left the store on this dark and gloomy day, the smile on my face was as wide as the moon.

Today, my dad bought me my first driver golf club and he would not be denied his first opportunity to take me golfing to test this new club out. The rain was hard. The wind was fierce. We even saw lightning strike a power line on our way to the course.

This was golf in Oregon. This was golf with dad. This was for the love of the game.

A father and son… A new club…

We arrived at the small 9 hole golf course located out in the country. The parking lot was empty. We had the whole course to ourselves as the stormy weather had kept other golfers away.

The first hole was a short par 4 and straight as an arrow.

A metal framed barn sat in the near distance, just past the green about 150 yards… to the left, a country road. We made our way to the green, the rain washing us clean as the wind howled past us on every side.

There we were… just me and dad.

As I stood over my ball preparing to putt, dad was shuffling through his clubs to find his putter.

“SLAM!”

The metal framed barn across the way just got hit with lightning! Too shocked to be scared, I scrambled to throw my putter in my bag. No sooner than I could do that, I turned to see what all the commotion was behind me.

In a flash, several clubs had fallen out of dad’s bag. He quickly picked them up and proceeded to run faster then I have ever seen him run in my life!

Normal protocol for a kid my age was to be overwhelmed with fear. However, thanks to dad’s sprint to the club house, I found myself laughing out loud as I tried to keep up with a sprint of my own.

As we arrived at the clubhouse, my dad, slightly irritated at my laughing as well as my lack of urgency, sought out a “rain-check” for another day.

We did play another course that day. We just waited for the lightning to stop. (Of course that course was flooded, which made for some interesting strategy. But, i’ll save that story for another day.)

And so it was growing up with dad.

We golfed for the love of the game. And now I know that we golfed for much more than just the love of the game… but for the love of the memory.

Thankfully, those memories are many. (By the way, my dad was a great player too. He had a short game that was untouchable.)

I lost my dad in 2003.

What I would give to have one more time on the course with dad. I wish I appreciated then what I so miss now.

Time with dad walking the course.

As he grew older and weaker, he was no longer able to get out and play. Yet still, I would find myself on many occasions sitting with him and swapping stories about this course or that course.

Golf is one of those sports that gets personal for me. I can never play without feeling as if dad is at my side or a certain memory of our times playing a round or two.

Today, I wish I could get out more and play. When I do, I carry that club in my bag and look forward to that point during each and every game, where I pull it out and tee it up.

This one’s for you dad!

Watching the Masters is fun for me. But, to relive one of those memories with dad… priceless.

Without knowing it, dad was making his moments make a difference. In this, he was planting memories for me to unpack years later with a smile.

I wonder now how I am at making my moments make a difference?

I wish I could tell him thank you. But instead, I’ll just pull out that club and tee it up.

Thank you dad!

Speaking of golf and memories with my father, here is a recent episode of my blogtalkradio show with Greg Crawford talking about golf. To listen to the episode, click here.

Posted by on January 9, 2012 in golf and tagged , .

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January 3, 2012

Keeping Perspective: Going Outside to Go Inside

Going outside to go inside is something we should all seek to do.

Its called perspective.

Yet in this, it is so easy to think one has perspective when in the end, somewhere along the line, they’ve lost perspective.

When I oversaw a chain of bookstores, a few of them were located in a mall. I loved this as it gave me the opportunity to take our managers outside into the mall so we could then return back inside our store a short while later with something in hand… renewed perspective.

As we would walk through the mall, I would casually talk with the store manager about how they were doing, how the staff was doing, and just life in general. Along the way, I would subtly point out other stores as we quickly walked by and made brief observations of what caught my eye at quick glance.

As we would begin to draw close back at our store, I would always abruptly stop. Generally, this would be about 50 feet from the entrance and I would ask one question.

What do you see?

Way too often, we fail to go outside.

In this, I propose that by not seeking to go outside “your” world from time to time will severely stunt your ability to truly gain critical perspective about how one is doing on the inside.

When I was running several companies, I sought outside perspective all the time. Though they who I sought on the outside did not share with me that which was on my inside, what they shared was a perspective on something I needed to help grow me on the inside.

So, I poured myself into books by authors from all walks of life, I poured myself into others who have lived in all walks of life, and essentially in this.. went outside to go inside.

What was always amazing to me was as I would stand there 50 feet outside of the store with the manager, just how much they would see on the inside of their store that they didn’t see previously on the inside of their store.

And so it goes with organizations, brands, and products alike, sometimes its okay to step outside your “expertise” to gain critical perspective that will only grow your expertise.

In doing this, I woud propose that it will make you better. In doing this, it will help sharpen your focus, expand your reach, remove barriers from potential prospects, and quite frankly just make you better because you were willing to do it.

When one is not, than I question the perspective you even have.

In the accounting world, its called an audit. In the perspective world, its called wisdom.

Whatever you choose to call it, I say do it.

Posted by on January 3, 2012 in Business, Life, perspective and tagged , .

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January 2, 2012

Social Selling: The Power of Being… a Person

More often than not, people dive into the world of social media to hopefully drive people to them, their message, and their product. However, it is when they figure out that the beauty of social media is when one adopts a posture that rather instead, drives them to others.

It really is something to see that whenever we have a tweetup (a public, yep you guessed it, in person gathering of Twitter users) I always get asked by first time attendees as to what they are supposed to do.

My response is always the same:

  • Come with the posture of getting to know others first
  • Be yourself
  • Don’t sell anything
  • Have fun

That being said, don’t get me wrong, for organizations using social media, of course one wants to drive awareness. However, I believe that the key to organizations using social media successfully is found with using social media like you’re an individual and not a brand.

In this, how can an organization, brand, or product begin to think like a person and not like a thing?

I know it sounds so simple, but it’s true. How often have you been turned off by an organization, brand, or product using social media like an organization, brand, or product?

And further to the point, how unique and refreshing did it seem when you encountered an organization, brand, or product that used social media like a person?

With this, which breeds loyalty and which just creates noise?

The also can be said for this new digital frontier now being amassed by countless affiliate marketers. Note to you: When selling your product using social media, think and act like a person, not an, organization, brand, or product.

With social media, people need to start thinking like brands and brands need to start acting like people. Notice I said…. Thinking for people and acting for brands.

With our viral footprints out there for the world to see, individuals need to understand this as it can impact your life in many ways. That being said, so can an organization make an positive impact if it simply began to act like an individual.

I mean, social means social, right?

So, for you organizations, brands, or products… if you want to stand out from the crowd which is filled with organizations, brands, products, and sales people:

  • Think like a person
  • Act like a person

In doing this, this builds credibility, trust, and loyalty in the long run.

Why did you dive into social media?

In how you are driven to others will determine how they will be driven to you.

What next? Read these previous posts to help get you started…

Like what you’re reading? If so, please feel free to tweet it, post it, email it, or like it. Thanks. G!

Posted by on January 2, 2012 in Life, social media, social selling and tagged , .

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January 1, 2012

All it takes is one. Will it be you? #life

I remember the day my dad passed. It was March 13, 2003.

Driving home that day I remember seeing the things I had seen my entire life and yet feeling so unfamiliar. This was the first time I had seen these things without my dad. It was as if my soul was screaming out to the world to slow down and hold up… it was missing somebody. It was leaving someone behind.

And yet still… the world continued on.

Life happens.

As I drove to the hospice house today to pay my respects to the recently departed Constantino Bustos-Cruz, I pondered this.

Who was crying out to the world to slow down and hold up for him?

In a world of 7 billion people, to die alone can no longer be but in this case for the love of a friend, Meg.

For  Tino, certainly he passed with no family to be seen or friends at his side, but because of Meg, I am certain he did not die alone and feeling unloved or unknown.

For it was only the day before when Meg visited Tino and held his hand. And with eyes closed and all the strength I am sure he could muster, he tapped her hand as if to say.. I love you too. I know you are here.

The singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn once wrote.. to be in the heart of a friend is to be king. And it is at that moment as Tino was nearing the end that I know that I know that I know that he must have felt like he was king.

He was in the heart of a friend and will remain there forever.

Who was crying out to the world to slow down and hold up for him? My friend Meg was.

In a world of 7 billion people, all it takes is one to carry another within their heart in their darkest hour to make this hour no longer dark… but as bright as the noonday sun.

You know, in life… we all have a role. Are you living yours?

As I sat there and looked upon the lifeless body of Tino, I pondered… why does it take death to bring such peace?

Thank you Meg for ushering in that peace at just the right time.

For who will you usher in that place of peace for this year?

And in doing this, may it not take death to bring it about but each of us playing our part living life with our eyes wide open.

Who will cry out for the least of these when they are gone? In the new year, may it not take them leaving before we begin crying out for them.

Is someone in your heart? Do they know they are king or queen? If not, make it so. Not for you… but for them. And in this, may this also be said of you, too.

All it takes is one, will it be you?

Posted by on January 1, 2012 in Life and tagged , , , .

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January 1, 2012

Did the weary rejoice? #life

I’m curious. As another Christmas season comes and goes like the blink of an eye, I wonder… for those who are as they say they are, what are the metrics of how you lived this season?

Did you live in such a way that would cause a weary world to rejoice?

For that matter, what does this even look like other than perhaps a new found strength and ability to rise up and live another day, but this time with a posture of victory and not that of defeat.

For those who are as you say you are, you know exactly that of which I speak.

In this, perhaps it is you that needs to first believe in that which is truly deserved of rejoice. For with this, it is you who are weary more so than they you profess to help.

A friend said today of another who laid peacefully next to us, now lifeless.

The meek shall inherit the earth.

As we sat there and spoke of the life this one who has passed lived, she looked at him and called him among the meek.

Meek: enduring injury with patience and without resentment

Can we say that about ourselves? Rarely not.

And in this, perhaps is found the difference. Maybe this weary world we speak of who is in need of rejoice is actually us? Yet, we go about feeling good about ourselves for our good deeds and then return to a life filled with resentments and pain.

Maybe it is they who we deem are the weary who are the ones who truly rejoice… in the little things, victories, and all things we take for granted. In this, maybe there is more peace in this than we know?

For the meek will inherit the earth as they stand and rejoice… and for the rest of us… we’ll continue to live in denial, because in the end… it is we who are the weary.

May this new year bring change to this. May this new year bring an increased awareness of that which is worthy of rejoicing to each of us.

May this new year bring about the removal of barriers that keeps each of us from crossing the bridge from the weary to the rejoicing.

And in this, together… we all will be rejoicing… on the other side.

Today, I sat with two individuals who crossed that bridge. One remains and the other has left.

Both… now rejoicing.

I’m curious. As another Christmas season comes and goes like the blink of an eye, I wonder… for those who are as they say they are, what are the metrics of how you lived this season?

Did you live in such a way that would cause a weary world to rejoice?

Or have you just become… more weary?

In the new year, do you want to become unweary? Do you want to rejoice?

Than spend more time with the meek, and why not? Wouldn’t you want to be with those who will inherit the earth?

And in this, you too will have crossed the bridge.

Posted by on January 1, 2012 in Life, meek and tagged , , , .

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December 24, 2011

That One Night: Scenes from the Nativity

Photo & Video by @GunnarSimonsen

* Movie scenes from The Nativity

Posted by on December 24, 2011 in Christmas and tagged , , , , .

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December 21, 2011

Social Selling: Being Responsive

One of the most amazing experiences one can have while using a social networking platform is one that sadly doesn’t happen all the time. The experience I am referring to is when someone responds to a tweet where one has mentioned them.

Now, truth be told, I don’t expect people with 20,000 or 30,000 followers to respond to everybody, but when they don’t engage with anybody, I don’t buy it. I can see right there in their feed if they are bringing the SOCIAL to their SOCIAL media usage. For many of those users, I am simply following them because they provide good content. The ones here who standout amidst the pack and impress me most are the ones who seek to engage their community.

However, for the rest of us, what keeps us from being responsive?

  • Want to give someone the hint?
  • Don’t check who’s mentioning you often?
  • Don’t know how to check to see if someone mentioned you?
  • Don’t know what to say or how to respond, so you don’t?

With social selling, I believe a critical aspect that many still are failing miserably at is with how important it is to be… responsive.

I remember in my old brick and mortar days how bad I felt when at the end of the day my pockets were filled with notes with customers names and numbers on them. With this, I could not go home until I followed through with every last request and either responded right then or first thing the next day. It was just the right thing to do back then. So shouldn’t it still be… today?

Being responsive is critical when you are in the business of social selling. In being responsive, often times, it will be just that that sets you apart from your competition.

Think about it. Someone took the time to mention you, approach you, and reach out to you in a public arena.

In this, maybe it is the right time to begin reaching back, mentioning back, and approaching back? Otherwise, they just might not come back.

Do you have a response mechanism attached to your social media strategy? Is it even apart of your social media strategy? Because, in the end, what’s social media without being responsive? Just media, that’s all. And in that…. what’s the point?

What next? Read these previous posts to help get you started…

Like what you’re reading? If so, please feel free to tweet it, post it, email it, or like it. Thanks. G!

Posted by on December 21, 2011 in Business, business development, business management, Life, social media, social networking, social selling and tagged , , , , .

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December 17, 2011

Public Transit: Concerto #musicmoves

Here is the actual conductor from that light rail ride.

The conductor was at the podium. The notes on the pages before her were waiting patiently to come to life for all the world not to hear, but to see.

I have never seen anything quite like it. The young lady sat in her seat on the light rail one day seemingly in a world all to herself. But was she?

Sitting there with a thick and scattered looking book of music scores on the seat next to her, her posture appeared to sit up as to signal the musicians inside her mind that the time has come for this concert to begin.

Without a sign of care or distraction at the passengers within this train staring upon her with both intrigue and mockery, she began the most powerful concerto that was never heard.

Effortlessly moving her hands to the music jumping off the pages before her, she was not just conducting the orchestra within her mind, she was conducting the orchestra within all of our minds who sat and watched.

As the train came upon its next stop, passengers both came and went. Unknowingly to the longer haired older gentleman who just climbed aboard, he took his seat directly in front of her… facing her.

What would she do? Would she get embarrassed? Would she stop?

I imagined along with many others on this train, no doubt, what might just happen next.

As the doors closed and the train began to move, the conductor once again arose in her seat to signal the orchestra that the brief intermission was over. And with this, she once again began conducting a most powerful of overature.

I only saw the back of his head as he sat virtually 2-3 feet directly in front of her. Yet in this, I can only imagine what went through his mind as she appeared to gently sway her imaginary baton in her right hand while inviting the brass section to begin playing with gentle crescendos with the other.

With light posts outside the train windows quickly moving past every few seconds from within the tunnel we were passing through, the rhythm in which she was conducting seemed not only to seamlessly drive the orchestra inside her mind, but that which was outside of her mind as well.

With every down beat of her conducting hand seemed to pass a bright light just out the window. Even my thoughts began to sway with each movement of her baton.

I wonder if anyone else noticed this? To her, it was all music.

In this, if we simply let this experience simply be just that… a young lady on a train conducting to music in her head, we would be losing out on something. For I believe there is a song inside each of us waiting to be brought to life. And the best of songs are the ones we did not set out to look for, but simply always seem to find us… if we let them find us.

What I loved about this young lady was that see was living her life and making music all the while and most likely unbeknownst to her, making music out of her surroundings as well… no matter who was around her or what they even thought.

Perhaps in this, there are conductors all around us waiting to raise up a song in each of us. Or, maybe we are the conductor?

Sadly, what keeps us from being the conductor is the thought that even though we know what the right thing is to do, we rarely do it for fear of what others will think. Ironically, it is the others who need not think, but simply play their song.

When music is played from a deep place, it transcends that which is only audible to the ear to a movement undefined but right that can be heard only from a place deep within the soul.

There is a concerto waiting to be played. Are you ready to play it? In this, I would venture to say that not only does the world need to hear your song… you need to hear your song.

Music moves. Pass it on.

Posted by on December 17, 2011 in Life, mass transit, max, music, public transit and tagged , , , , .

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December 17, 2011

Public Transit: Doorstep Living

How will you see this picture?

Noise. Its what’s distracting me when I am not living life on purpose.

I rode light rail into town the other day.

With riding mass transit, one can miss out on so much if they choose to ride with their eyes closed. All around us is a story waiting to be seen, heard, and told. All around us is perhaps a lesson crying out to be taught.

As the train turned and began its descent upon downtown Portland, the buildings along the street began to line up outside the windows that outlined this rail car.

As the doorsteps quickly passed by, each left a momentary imprint in my mind quickly giving way to the next. Until that one doorstep.

A young man laid sideways on the top step tightly woven into a maroon sleeping bag. He was sound asleep. At his feet sat up an older looking lady with short blonde hair. She had an aged look on her face that told the stories of what seemed a thousand lifetimes.

Sound asleep, the young man remained motionless as his friend sat up staring intently into a small circular mirror applying eye make up and preparing for her day.

I wonder if anyone else saw this. I wonder what they thought. Did it touch them the way it touched me? Was their initial thought, judgement? What would yours be?

What did she see as she looked into that mirror? Imagine doing the same in your house each morning, but with a light rail full of passengers passing by.

Pause: Take your heart past that which your eyes have seen and that which perceptions your mind has known and tell me what you really see? What you should see.. what you need to see… what they see.

Perhaps the stories of the thousand lifetimes should be heard first before the stories of my perceptions freeze this image in my mind.. heart… and soul.

I will probably never see that lady again, but the image of her that morning will stick with me forever. How did she get to that place in life where she would awake each morning and for all the world to see, watch as she quietly went about her business?

You know what? I am tired of judging people and I am tired of listening to others do the same.

What did I see that morning? My soul.

In this, perhaps I need to take a long hard look at this(my soul) first before I begin looking upon others and burdening them with my judgements? Ironically, I wonder how many others have found themselves in those places due to the burdens others had placed upon them?

Why do we have the frozen perceptions of others that we do? Which are true and which are false? How do we change those that are false? In this, we should all seek to identify these frozen perceptions and seek to unlock them. Perhaps in this, they will remove barriers that keep each of us from reaching our true full potential while living here on earth.

In doing this, my hope is that it will then lead me to having a heart posture that seeks to serve others first… and me second… regardless of who they(others) are or what brought them to a place that has crossed my path.

A life void of service for ones neighbor, is a heart in need of transformation and Purpose… its how i’m living when I am not being distracted by the noise.

Perhaps doorstep living is all around you right where you are. in this, what do you see? What will you do?

Posted by on December 17, 2011 in frozen perceptions, homeless, Life, max, public transit and tagged , , , , .

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