As peacemakers interact with individuals in conflict, we sometimes marvel and sometimes grieve over our perceptions of the way people think. Easy decisions from the view of the “neutral and impartial third party” slip past combatants as they maneuver to either claim absolute victory in the moment or to navigate to a place of avoidance. [...]
Monday, January 16, 2012
Growing up, I had an aversion to ice cream. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it — perhaps too much. I loved it so much that I ate too much, too fast. And the result was always brain freeze. You know what I’m talking about. That intense [...]
Monday, December 12, 2011
“How could she think that?” We are often amazed by the reasoning or perhaps the lack of reasoning of those around us. I’ve been an avid student of conflict for a little more than a decade. But I’ve been a practitioner all of my life. Only in recent years have I come to realize the [...]
Hope seen . . . slowly softens the crust of worry. Hope celebrated . . . melts worry away. Melted worry is the compost that feeds faith and destiny.
An abundant life is not one free from worry, but one filled with hope.
Have you ever been in a really big hurry?
Have you ever been in a really big hurry . . . and everything seems to go wrong?
You drop your keys just as you get to the door. You leave your phone on the nightstand. You hit “reply to all” on the email that should have gone to one discreet individual. You can’t seem to hit the trash can with that one wad of paper. You find yourself face-to-face with the one person you don’t “really have time to deal with.”
Frustration builds inside. Anger, dismay, and depression grow like grass in a flower bed. What can you do? What is the most effective action step for the moment.
Slow down.
That’s it. Slow down. Take a breath. Whisper a prayer. Hum a song.
Slowing down allows tension to melt away. Slowing down allows your emotions to moderate. Slowing down allows you to gain control . . . by easing your grip.
So, slow down . . .
“Constantly Pleasant.”
That’s how she was described. Not a person attending the memorial service would have disagreed.
As I sat and listened to the accomplishments of this remarkable person, I was somewhat awestruck by the thought that I had been blessed to know an individual who touched so many and did so much . . . while being constantly pleasant.
What if I could become constantly pleasant? What would that change? How would I change?
Thanks, Colleen. For being constantly pleasant. It’s just one of many ways that God shone through you.
If you’ll just let go, your hands will be free to . . .
If you’ll let go . . . empty your hands of things and your heart of worries . . . you’ll be delighted with what you find in those sacred hollows.
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Thursday, March 1, 2012
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