Jim's Blog

can everyone succeed?

I know that it's common to think about the past and wonder about what might have been.  What if the coach would have let me play a different position, or if i would have learned a different instrument?  What if i would have never dated that one guy or girl?  What if, what if, what if?

Does every human being have the potential to be absolutely amazing at something?  Is the key to success matching the right person with the right pursuit?

How do we feel about this and what are the ramifications if this is indeed true?  Would it change how we live or how we parent?

Let's say that it is true for the sake of discussion.  That every person on the planet has within them the potential to be amazingly successful at something.  I won't define success for us, i will let you work that out on your own.

Here is the first question, if the above is true.  How long should one work at something before trying something else out??

Let's dialogue about this, share your thoughts.

Jim

A lot to share

someone is watching, listening, observing, learning

you are on the podium right now, you are the teacher

no matter your age, gender, race

consider not your occupation, title, experience

do not claim your status, health, IQ

think none of your sanguine, melancholy, choleric, or phlegmatic

look past your beauty, ugly, shape, size

we are affected by you,
this cannot be stopped,
this cannot be shirked or shaken,

Now we ask most humbly......

do not give us only your best, give us you
do not look through us to what is next
do not hear our words as duty
do not forget that we enrich with your attention

May we gently learn from your mistakes
May we inspire from your greatness

thank you

Dream to Make a Difference

There's a dream to make a difference,
Residing in my veins.
And it courses through my everything,
To make the mountains plains.

And every hill that topples those,
Who don't fit in a box.
Of harshest words oft spoken by,
Those who make the locks.

The dream says in a moment's blink,
All in chains be free.
So easy for some just to say,
A ludicrous decree.

For how can I so tell this tale,
Of such amazing love.
If I can't hold redemption wings,
To take me up above.

The dreamers time has now arrived,
Decreed my trembling lips.
and lift my heart like rising dove,
To feel the melting crypt.

So now say I to all who hear,
This  voice now speaking bold.
Take this dream a dreamers held,
And resurrect your soul.

Responsibility Video

Here is the video Lisa Wilkerson made of the previous poem with Graham Colton's amazing new hit Best Days.

Responsibility Prose

Below is a poem i wrote based on an idea shared with me by Marsha Plumbtree about Responsibility.

Responsible

Paint cans stacked
A bit to high
Lids are lose
Passerby's

Footprints colored on my floor
Child hiding near the door,

Who's responsible

Heat so piercing
Through the skin
Summer camp counselor
Endured back when

Teen decisions you forgot
Eternal hands lifted up,

Who's responsible

Pass the joint
Or roll your own
Lay with him
Your mom won't know

A course of life chose long ago
Mindless madness endless flow,

Who's responsible

See the ceiling
Of St. Cistine
Take it in
And try to breathe

What a mind and heart and hand
Could paint a masterpiece so grand,

Who's responsible

Now the fighters
And steeples soar
Children die
Rock stars roar,

Endless backtalk nothings sure
Science hopes to make a cure

Who's responsible

So here's to chances
That await
To let them pass
Or make them great,

Though I've still to learn from here
I'll make differences appear.

Who's responsible

A Fairy Tale

I decided to write a fairy tale to go along with a talk I am giving tomorrow.  I hope you enjoy it, and just know that I could make the main character a man as easily as a woman.   Here Goes

A Mercedes Fairy Tale

Once upon a time there was a beautiful queen. She lived in a palace with her husband a
king and had everything anyone could ever hope for. Her home was decorated just as she
liked it and every need or desire that she had was catered to.
One day she was looking at the pictures on her friend's myspace pages. She noticed that
most of the girls had pictures of their cars. And most of her myspace friends had shiny new
red convertible Mercedes coupe on their myspaces. On page after page her myspace
friends (who also had everything) she found red, convertible Mercedes after red,
convertible Mercedes.
She decided that it was obvious what she needed, a red, convertible Mercedes. Trying not
to be to blatent, she strategically laid brochures of the car she wanted around the palace
where her husband would see them. With the props in place she casually mentioned while
yawning one night before bed that she really would like a new car. Her husband the king
didn't say anything but two days later there was a shiny new Hummer parked out front with
a huge bow tied around it. She smiled gracefully as she was handed the keys but inside she
was thinking, "men do not know how to take a hint".
A couple of weeks went by and she tried to forget about it. Her dense husband the king
just didn't understand her car needs but she would survive. Then she got a myspace notice
that another one of her friends had added a new photo to her page. The young queen
quickly clicked the link to see and you guessed it, another friend had gotten a red, Mercedes
convertible.
She felt her neck and face turning as red as the car. She heard the servants downstairs
greeting her husband who was just getting home so she grabbed one of the brochures and
stormed down to meet him. This is what i want!! she said, and make sure its red!!! She
threw the brochure at him and stormed out.
She composed herself and acted civilly for the next couple of days until she walked outside
and saw a shiny new red Mercedes! But instead of exploding with joy she imploded with
anger. Instead of a convertible it was a red, Mercedes, 4 wheel drive, SUV. She would
handle this like any queen should, she would sulk in silence.
Weeks and months went by. When her husband would speak to her about the funk she was
in, she gradually unfurled her frustration that she did not get a convertible. And, instead of
ever seeing the car of her dreams she was just shown the usual gifts and affections.
The queen also had a myspace friend who was another king who lived on the other side of
the city. She found herself venting her frustration to him about the serious lack of a very
basic status symbol that every queen must have. Time went on and wouldnt you know it,
the king across town suddenly had a red convertible Mercedes and no queen to drive it. So
the queen, oblivious to all of the things that she had with her husband, left him and moved
in with the king across the city who had the convertible for her to drive. She quickly added
the picture to her myspace page and got lots of comments on how wonderful she looked in
the car.
One night as she was driving across her fair city of Nome Alaska to visit her mother she felt
her shiny new car slipping on the ever icy roads. she slid off of the highway onto a deserted
street into a deep snowbank. Her cell phone was not working, it may have been that her
new king didn't pay the bill, she wasn't sure, he was forgetful sometimes but she didnt care
because she loved her car. She wished her Mercedes had Onstar like the Hummer would
have had because the doors which sat low to the ground were unopenable in teh deep
snow. SHe spun the tires of her two wheel drive beautiful car but she could get no traction
like either of the two fourwheel drive vehicles her ex husband had gotten her. When her car
ran out of gas the cold quickly soaked through the soft top of the car and she knew that she
was freezing to death.
As the cold began to soak her body, she realized that she was passing out and all was
turning black. Her last clear thought was that if she was going out, she should go out
singing. She reached to touch the power button of her radio and heard the powerful stereo
come to life. As she slipped into unconsciousness, she heard a song that she had always
liked, she hummed along with mick jagger as he sang, "you can't always get what you
want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.
The End

and Again

I think one of the main points that Emerson realized and tried to get across, was that the creator, does not exist only in the stories of those who lived thousands of years before us, but is alive today, and is manifesting Himself in all that is.  I know that Emerson took a path that didn't necessarily lead him away from the message of Jesus Christ but probably did lead him away from a faith in Christ.

Emerson saw Jesus as one who realized that God was inside of him, and in doing so set the precedent and opened the door for others to do the same.

My own faith differs in that i look to and at Jesus Christ as God.  Yes I follow his example by finding him in me, but this comes as an act of my will to allow Him this access, not a discovery of what was there all the time.

So why mention Ralph Waldo Emerson in the first place?  In his discovery, he connected himself to the divine, which enabled him to transcend his circumstance.  In a sense, he felt he discovered a way to do what the scriptures were telling us to do all along.  Transcend circumstances. 

The words of Jesus and the writings of Paul speak of making our enemy (the things which keep us from justice and happiness) the very thing that we rest our feet upon.  To quote St. Paul, to make our enemies our footstool. 

Over the years having had conversations with many who have gone through difficult times, some excruciatingly so, I have made some observations.  First, it is almost always (in the US anyway) an emotional battle field more than a physical or material one.  It is the emotional stress and strain of uncertainty that effects us the most.  What if and when are the questions that keep us awake and night and tempt us to become depressed.

For some the big question is, will I be employed again, not when.  If we could only see into the future, and could see some sort of result we could be at ease.

I wrote a blog some time back about using a time machine to predict the future.  I never published the blog because it was very hard to read and borderline awful.  The basic premise however was that by looking at the progress of the past, we can estimate the outcome of the future.  I will add one thing to this concept as well, if the progress of the past deepens one's depression, then it is an opportunity to change some of the things we are doing now to reshape what lay ahead.

Emerson saw the god in himself connected to the god in all things. That somehow gave him hope and allowed him to live life transcending his circumstance.

I see the God of creation, choosing to take residence in me because of my acceptance of him.  He is Lord over all things and I can transcend any circumstance because of who he is in me.

I will rest in times of trouble, I will choose to lean on him.  I will transcend all that my enemies bring against me for my future has been written by the author of life itself.

My Children

Three of the people that one would think I know the most are my three children: Max, Duncan, and Franchesca.  Although I know a lot about them, I am by no means an expert.  The vastness of each of their intellects, emotional complexities, and world views is beyond mappable.  I want share what i see however, and thought it would take as many years as they have been alive to unfurl all of the things I know about them, I will see what abbreviated observations I can make here.

My three kids have five years difference between them and their closest siblings.

Max, who at this writing is five years old remains unrelentingly amazing.  The thing about Max that grips me so is his questions.  Not that he asks questions, and not the amount of questions that he asks, but it is the quality and complexity of his questions.  I must say that I have re scoped and re visited my world view and beliefs because of his inquiries.  There is a certain fantastic logic through which he perceives life.

Like most kids his age Max certainly lives in the moment, but at times he seems to transcend everything around him.  It is almost as though he crawls through the portal of his activity and is there fighting alongside Luke against the Dark Side and yet has a complete understanding that not only is this a play, but the story is a play as well.   To be able to descend into what seems real but to keep a deeper eye observing oneself engaged could possibly be the definition of genius.

Max rarely dangles his affection as a trap, he loves genuinely and wholeheartedly when he trusts.  He understands that people need affection, and he fully understands that he needs affection to thrive.  His dreams and talks about his mother's kisses like our Proust's narrator but without the madness.

Duncan is 10 years at this writing.  His soul is noble and gentle.  He is a giant hidden in the trees making the most of who he is while understanding where he is an expert and where he is not.  Duncan is full of passion and compassion, and seems to be devoted to process and accomplishment.  It's no wonder that he has such and enormous difficulty with losing and loss.

The dynamics of Duncan are subtle and often missed by the casual observer.  Even I who know him as well as anyone, see that the best components of my son Duncan are rich beyond measure, not common enough to perceive with the usual receptors.  You see, Duncan has a way of putting one at ease, to take the building pressure out of a room  To broadcast a new kind of goodness.  This is both matchless and somehow eternal.

The best way to describe Duncan is to be by his side in one way or another for as many years as possible and glean that goodness and learn to let it bloom in ourselves as well.

Franchesca at 15 years is one of the most stimulating conversationalists I know.  It is her intelect that drives her passion for understanding the dynamics of people, how they think, and how we can motivate them to greater things.  Ches is wonderful to spend an evening with chatting and observing.  It is impossible to escape her charm and grace and her motivation to lead.  What a beautiful teenager, passionate about life and making a difference.

Ches draws you in an makes you want to be a part of her world, her project.  She studies individuals and the human condition, not to take advantage of it, but it find her place in it and in them.  I think her motto is make a difference.  And i certainly can say that she has made a difference in my life and I see the difference she has made in others.

The Force

I sense a force with me, protecting me, providing for me, enlightening me.  Some would say that if I wasn't raised to believe that I wouldn't sense this.  But I think that i would.  The evidence I see of this unseen reality is clearer at certain times.  Explainable perhaps at some times but at other times undeniable.

My question then is, do i see this protection, provision, and enlightenment because I believe or would it be here anyway?  I remember the scripture that says, when i am faithless, he remains faithful.  But then another that says, all things are possible to those who believe.

This window of reality which is my experience shows the different facets and hues of this force.

Why don't I see this force working for everyone?  Maybe it is.  I don't think so, I think that one of the qualities of Him is justice and peace, which I can't say i see everywhere for everyone.  On second look, there are areas where injustice has  pressed against me.  But i have learned that these will always be righted, or made righteous.

One of my conclusions then is that i am compelled to bring to others what has been brought to me.  Protection, provision, and enlightenment.

I guess that is why the concept of a heavenly father resonates to me. The good qualities and traits of a father, we emulate.

 

Check this out!

Check out this video Lisa Wilkerson made of the poem i wrote a few blogs back.  It tells the story of the poem so vividly!