Are you a natural helper? Do you find joy and satisfaction in serving others? Most people do. Even those who see service as a duty or a moral obligation experience the joy of service, only somewhat less directly. They are pleased and satisfied more by having done their duty, than by the act of service itself. In either mode, we often receive even more than we give. When we serve others, whether out of joyful duty, or out of naked sacrifice, the satisfaction that comes from that service can reinforce the attitude of service and generosity, and lead to a lifetime pattern of rewarding behavior.
But what happens when we ourselves need help? If you are like me, you often find it hard to ask for help in things large and small. Why? Because we have an inflated view of our own capacity for self-reliance? Because we don't want to admit that we just can't do everything for ourselves all of the time? Because we don't want to be a burden? There is an easy way out of these self-defeating ideas that will resonate with your generous soul. When you need help, ask for it out of generosity. Remember the satisfaction that you feel when you make a difference for somebody else. When you invite somebody to serve you, you are offering the other an opportunity to experience that same satisfaction.
When you have an opportunity to serve, serve generously. When you need help, ask generously. When you are grateful, offer thanks generously.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Structure of U.S. Presidential Race Shows Little Change So Far
Structure of U.S. Presidential Race Shows Little Change So Far
According to the latest Gallup numbers, the President and Mr. Romney are running neck and neck for the second straight month. Have voters already made up their minds? What will cause one of the candidates to surge ahead? Some major domestic or world event? Spin and rhetoric? So far, the only detectable trend is that the nonreligious and those with "no religion" (you'll have to ask Gallup about the difference) are moving into the incumbent's column. This movement however is offset by small gains by Mr. Romney in a broad range of subgroups. On the surface, this might suggest a weakening of the President's strategic position. It would be a huge gamble to openly and specifically appeal to the nonreligious. At the same time, any appeal designed to stem the apparent trend of slow erosion across a broad spectrum of voters is likely be general, vague, and personal. Let's hope that personal appeals, from either side, will be strengths-based and not degenerate into "politics as usual."
According to the latest Gallup numbers, the President and Mr. Romney are running neck and neck for the second straight month. Have voters already made up their minds? What will cause one of the candidates to surge ahead? Some major domestic or world event? Spin and rhetoric? So far, the only detectable trend is that the nonreligious and those with "no religion" (you'll have to ask Gallup about the difference) are moving into the incumbent's column. This movement however is offset by small gains by Mr. Romney in a broad range of subgroups. On the surface, this might suggest a weakening of the President's strategic position. It would be a huge gamble to openly and specifically appeal to the nonreligious. At the same time, any appeal designed to stem the apparent trend of slow erosion across a broad spectrum of voters is likely be general, vague, and personal. Let's hope that personal appeals, from either side, will be strengths-based and not degenerate into "politics as usual."
Sunday, May 13, 2012
My Mother The Pilgrim
My Mom was a many things to many people, but she was more things to me than she was to anybody else. She was a bundle of contradictions, at times in a deep and protracted struggle with her disappointments, at other times miraculously generous, going far, far out of her way to help and inspire others. She was a child of the Roaring 20s, a teenager of the Great Depression and a young adult of the Greatest Generation. She grew up in a world that told strong, smart women like her, with great and varied aptitudes for science, math, arts, and letters, that she should learn shorthand and bookkeeping. After World War II, she left her familiar surroundings of Northeast Ohio and made it on her own in graphic arts in Chicago, and in staffing and recruiting in New York, where she became a Mother.
We moved to Ohio for a while, to live with my grandparents. She continued to work in staffing and recruiting in Canton and Cleveland. Somewhere along the way, her pilgrimage took a different direction. I don't know whether it was a conversion or an awakening, or what she would call it, but it was a clear turning point. She quit the personnel business and went to work for the First Presbyterian Church of Akron, while also becoming heavily involved with the North Canton Baptist Temple. Soon, we moved back to New York, where she went to work for the United Church Board for World Ministries, then the Pension Board of the American Baptist Convention, and finally the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, whence she retired after 16 years of service.
Throughout her journey, her vocation, avocations, ideas and attitudes had the hallmarks of a pilgrim's progress. She believed in sacrifice, providing more for me and for others than for herself. She believed in heroes, famous and obscure, of the world stage, of the silver screen and of everyday life, from Dwight Eisenhower, to the characters played by John Wayne, to her brother Ray and her uncle Tom. She knew exile. In broken relationships, untapped talents, and evaporated dreams, she knew what it was like to live far apart from one's mortal aspirations. She was passionate, especially when she became interested in a cause. She was passionate about doing the right thing, and doing the right thing the right way. She believed in justice, inclusion, and equality. In my earliest recollection of a conversation about race, she taught me not to follow my Grandmother's example when, speaking from ignorance, she used the "N word" to refer to a neighbor's household help.
Ultimately, my Mom's pilgrimage was grounded in inspiration. This was hard to see for those who only knew her in her later years, which were often times of suffering and confusion, but I know the spark that was there before and that never went out. She believed in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and in his Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. I can think of nothing that would please her more than to acknowledge this truth. She was inspired by the words of the scriptures, the great preachers of the Gospel, and the hymns. For her, the reality and mystery of the Trinity could not be better described than the words of three hymns. Of God the Father, in Martin Luther's words, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, a bulwark never failing!" Of God the Son, in Joseph Scriven's words, "What A Friend We Have In Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!" And perhaps most deeply, of God the Holy Spirit, through the words of Edwin Hatch:
Mom, you have long ago departed this imperfect life. You pilgrimage here is complete. Now you are with Him in Eternity. May those you left behind, run as good a race, as noble a pilgrimage as you did. Thank you, Mom! We will see you soon.
We moved to Ohio for a while, to live with my grandparents. She continued to work in staffing and recruiting in Canton and Cleveland. Somewhere along the way, her pilgrimage took a different direction. I don't know whether it was a conversion or an awakening, or what she would call it, but it was a clear turning point. She quit the personnel business and went to work for the First Presbyterian Church of Akron, while also becoming heavily involved with the North Canton Baptist Temple. Soon, we moved back to New York, where she went to work for the United Church Board for World Ministries, then the Pension Board of the American Baptist Convention, and finally the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, whence she retired after 16 years of service.
Throughout her journey, her vocation, avocations, ideas and attitudes had the hallmarks of a pilgrim's progress. She believed in sacrifice, providing more for me and for others than for herself. She believed in heroes, famous and obscure, of the world stage, of the silver screen and of everyday life, from Dwight Eisenhower, to the characters played by John Wayne, to her brother Ray and her uncle Tom. She knew exile. In broken relationships, untapped talents, and evaporated dreams, she knew what it was like to live far apart from one's mortal aspirations. She was passionate, especially when she became interested in a cause. She was passionate about doing the right thing, and doing the right thing the right way. She believed in justice, inclusion, and equality. In my earliest recollection of a conversation about race, she taught me not to follow my Grandmother's example when, speaking from ignorance, she used the "N word" to refer to a neighbor's household help.
Ultimately, my Mom's pilgrimage was grounded in inspiration. This was hard to see for those who only knew her in her later years, which were often times of suffering and confusion, but I know the spark that was there before and that never went out. She believed in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and in his Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. I can think of nothing that would please her more than to acknowledge this truth. She was inspired by the words of the scriptures, the great preachers of the Gospel, and the hymns. For her, the reality and mystery of the Trinity could not be better described than the words of three hymns. Of God the Father, in Martin Luther's words, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, a bulwark never failing!" Of God the Son, in Joseph Scriven's words, "What A Friend We Have In Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!" And perhaps most deeply, of God the Holy Spirit, through the words of Edwin Hatch:
Breathe on me, breath of God,
Fill me with life anew,
That I may love what Thou dost love,
And do what Thou wouldst do.
Breathe on me, breath of God,
Until my heart is pure,
Until with Thee I will one will,
To do and to endure.
Breathe on me, breath of God,
Blend all my soul with Thine,
Until this earthly part of me
Glows with Thy fire divine.
Breathe on me, breath of God,
So shall I never die,
But live with Thee the perfect life
Of Thine eternity.
Mom, you have long ago departed this imperfect life. You pilgrimage here is complete. Now you are with Him in Eternity. May those you left behind, run as good a race, as noble a pilgrimage as you did. Thank you, Mom! We will see you soon.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
That's a relief!
I was worried that this fall's U.S. presidential election was going to get bogged down in small matters like the ongoing economic malaise and the broadening disregard for the Constitution. Thanks to Mr. Obama's statements yesterday, we won't be discussing those things for a while. Phew!
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Doubt, Imagination, and Hope
 |
| I doubt it. |
Topic #21: Doubt
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1, NIV)
Can we truly give up doubt? No. Should we? No. Every one of us, even the most rational and analytical people we know, lives in a state of permanent tension between doubt and faith. Some of us more readily acknowledge this tension than others. For all of us, doubt can at times be a debilitating paralytic, and at other times, a whetstone on which we may sharpen our ideas.
In our everyday lives, we make certain assumptions about
what will happen today, tomorrow, next week, or next year. We live hopefully, buying cars and houses on
long-term credit, thinking years, even decades ahead. We enroll in degree programs that will take
years to complete. Our professional
sports teams sign athletes to multi-year contracts, hoping for long periods of
good health and high performance. We plan
for our children’s educations, our own retirement and other long term
goals. These are all expressions of
faith and hope in the unseen future. We
expect that tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, will come
and go without mishap or tragedy. At the same time, we acknowledge the element
of doubt in all of these things. We buy
insurance. We have fire and tornado and
earthquake drills at school and at work.
We hope for the best, but plan for the worst. Deep down, we know that every tomorrow will
not bring the best of all possible outcomes in all areas of our lives. We hope that life will go according to plan,
but we doubt it.
We who profess faith in God live with one foot in the
present and the other in eternity. We
may seem to have few doubts about the ultimate questions, but to be completely
free of doubt is neither possible nor wise.
Without doubt, we cannot adequately define and refine our faith. Without doubt, we can become lazy, making no
effort to understand and defend our faith.
The Apostle Peter wrote, “Always be prepared to give an answer to
everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (I Peter
3:15, NIV) Doubt does not weaken
faith. Doubt challenges us to understand
what we believe and to be prepared to explain and defend our faith. Doubt makes faith stronger.
For those who do not believe in God, those who believe that
this life is all there is, I would commend to you as well, the value of
doubt. Do not be so sure of the results
of your reasoning that you are unwilling to investigate and understand the
reasonable conclusions of faith. Atheist-turned-Christian
Lee Strobel, the former award-winning legal editor of The Chicago Tribune, said
"It was the evidence from science and history that prompted me to abandon
my atheism and become a Christian."
Let your reason lead you where it will, not where your current faith in
previous arguments tells you where it will go.
Hold on to your legitimate doubts until they are outweighed by something
else. At the same time, listen with your
heart, even with your imagination. As
C.S. Lewis said, “Reason is the natural order of truth, but imagination is the
organ of meaning.”
Therefore do not give up doubt, but do give up being ruled
by doubt. Doubt itself is not an answer.
Doubt drives us toward better answers. Let
it be the adversary in your inner court of reason; but when it has made its
case, let it be done. Let doubt be still
when what you believe has been thoroughly tested and you have become able to
give the reason for the hope that you have.
Follow my tweets on this and other topics http://twitter.com/#!/doug_picirillo
Follow my tweets on this and other topics http://twitter.com/#!/doug_picirillo
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
21 Things To Give Up For Lent (15-21)
- GREED "If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar." Matthew 6:22-23 (MSG)
- THINKING YOU KNOW IT ALL "It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." John Wooden
- HOARDING "We are not cisterns made for hoarding, we are channels made for sharing." Billy Graham
- ENVY "Envy is an insult to oneself." Yevgeny Yevtushenko
- BOREDOM "Boredom is rage spread thin." Paul Tillich
- RAGE "People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing." Will Rogers
- DOUBT "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1
Follow my tweets on Lent, and all sorts of other topics http://twitter.com/#!/doug_picirillo
Monday, February 20, 2012
21 Things To Give Up For Lent (8-14)
- STAGNATION "Change your thoughts and you change your world." Norman Vincent Peale
- PROMISE BREAKING Remember your promises. Deliver. Period.
- PROCRASTINATION "If you put off everything till you're sure of it, you'll never get anything done." Norman Vincent Peale
- RESENTMENT. "Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die." Malachy McCourt
- INCONSISTENCY. "I try to be the same person I was yesterday." Colin Powell
- SHORTSIGHTEDNESS. "Imagination is the true magic carpet." Norman Vincent Peale
- VERBOSITY. "Brevity is the soul of wit." William Shakespeare
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