Music

If you were to write a story one tweet at a time, would your readers be patient enough to allow you the chance to publish your story on your time?

The music grows louder, the drum beats drive me forward. The white lines urge me forward, the yellow stripes remind me to be safe.

Each day we are faced with new challenges, new opportunities to succeed and to fail. The best part about failing ... learning one more way not to do something!

 When was the last time you glanced up at the moon and thought (or said), "Wow! Look at the wonder in that"? Have you considered some of the miracles that happen every day? Have you considered that your God truly does have a plan for you? Even if you don't want to admit it or even consider it ... maybe you are actively running away from it ... your God wants to work a miracle in you.

Step to the front of the line. Don't be shy. Life is best lived bravely.

Music in you!

I can still remember the class when David Luechauer first expressed the point in class, sharing a point from Dr. Wayne Dyer ... "Don't die with your music still in you."

What is your passion? Shoot, can anyone tell me what mine is? Where and how do you make sweet music? Is it creative writing? Do you have a gift for encouraging others? Do you truly have a passion for making the city around you a better place to live? Are you passionate about the work that pays you? Where do you find the release for the music that is inside you?

If you are like me, you sometimes doubt where you are passionate and what truly brings joy into your life. Wouldn't it be nice if all of our jobs and careers were somehow linked to that passion!

I enjoy helping others learn. I enjoy serving others. I enjoy solving problems.

So I teach. So I cook meals for others. So I fix things around the house.

Work? Fortunately, my job has outlets for all of these.

I am still trying to figure out where music fits in my life. I love to have music playing and I truly enjoy experiencing a new artist or group that speaks to my heart. Maybe that in someway is how I recharge. I'll have to check on that.

So what's your music? Are you playing it?

What a cool quote!

Sorry for not knowing the source, but I know it's not mine. Nonetheless, here goes:

You've successfully slain the dragon! How will you toast your marshmallows?

Fashion a marshmallow-toasting twig and then jump on his stomach repeatedly. There's got to be some left-over fire-in-the-belly somewhere in there...

The Crystal Ball Theory

A number of years ago I put something together which I called "the Crystal Ball Theory." It helped me understand a little bit of how the world worked for me. I have shared it with a few people. I still believe it's true (to a degree, of course). It needs a little work, but it was written by a younger me ... a me that still had a lot of thinking to do. I'd change a few things but nothing substantial. Anyway, here is the original:

The Crystal Ball Theory

I see my life as a crystal ball.

It was time to stop carrying it. I gave it to you for safekeeping, for you to keep it safe.

Why? Because you're my friend.

It's fragile — that's why it's crystal.

Don't drop it, it'll break.

I put my life in your hands because I trust you.

You can carry it however you want, that I can't control, but remember, it's my life, and it's fragile.

You might place it on a pillow, cradle it in your arms, or otherwise treat it as the fragile crystal that it is.

You might choose to handle it roughly, trying to discover just when it will break. It might not break the first or second time — sometimes it has some bounce in it.

But it will break.

And when it breaks, it will shatter into millions of pieces.

At that point you might choose to walk away, mindful of the mess, hoping that it will just go away.

They'll all get picked up, with or without your help. That is, all of the pieces except for two.

One piece fell into a corner. We didn't see it. We didn't find it. we don't know where it is. That's okay. Someday someone will see the piece of crystal catch a ray of light and they will pick it up. Hopefully, when they find this crystal and take the chance to look at it, they will see what it is and all that it stands for. In that way, that piece will serve a good purpose.

The other piece, you might take that one. Maybe it broke into a neat shape, or when you picked it up, you just never thought I would notice it missing. I hope that someday you will understand what it is you have and why you have it. I know you have it. I know that piece of my life is still in your hands. I want you to have it. Why? Someday you will understand that I love you and that is why I gave my life to you in the first place. We all make mistakes. Please understand that that piece of crystal is piece of my life, a life I hope that you see as filled with love, with love for you and for all.

Unfortunately, with these pieces missing, I can never be whole again.

How can I ever hope to fix it? I can't leave my life in millions of little shards of crystal, scattered everywhere.

Is there any hope?

There's no glue strong enough, besides . . . I don't have all the pieces.

Tape . . . I don't think so.

Whatever method we use to put it back together, I have to be whole again.

I know! We'll reblow the crystal ball. Melt it down and then re-form it to be a perfect sphere again. The melting process will be the suffering I go through to become whole again, with the hope of the future being the fact that I will be whole again — another crystal ball.

The process will mark the change that I must go through to be refreshed.

I'll be a new person . . . parts of me will change because parts of me are gone, gone forever.

Shining brightly again.

I can give it out again. Give it to someone like you. Someone who might take care of it. Or might try to see when it will break.

Through time, it will become smaller and smaller. More and more of me will be given to others, until one day when I finally succeed in giving it all away.

. . . Stephen Schelonka

Personal Jesus

I pressed play on my iPod as I was driving home tonight and the first song that came on was one of my favorites ... "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode. I turned the volume up a bit and found myself thinking about whether I had accomplished being the hands of Jesus today.

I started by wondering how the people I had interacted with today might have been the hands of Jesus as they touched my life. How had I reacted to those sometimes gentle -- and sometimes, not so gentle -- gestures and touches? Had I seen the face of God in others?

As I drove a bit further, I wondered if I had been Christ to anyone today. Had I made anyone's day better? Had I served another child of God? Had it even crossed my mind before that moment?

I'm glad that I can struggle with that idea. I know that I am not perfect. I also know that I believe in a God that loves me despite my imperfection.

Thank goodness for that!

Did you fall in love today?

Did you fall in love today? I did.

Have you heard the Taylor Swift song "Love Story"? It's a love song that is catchy and, to me at least, a lot of fun to listen to and even sing along to.

It got me to thinking about falling in love.

Did I fall in love again today? With my wife? With my kids? With my job? With the other things going on in my life?

Today ... I say emphatically, "Yes!"

I'm really blessed to have a wife like Marie that is also my best friend ... someone that can make me laugh and that I can share all of my thoughts with ... yes, even the ones that make me sound stupid! And my kids ... two great boys that enjoy laughing and playing and sometimes even giving great hugs (yeah, they're young enough to want to do that from time to time!)

Work ... it was a tough day, but I was reminded of all the cool things that I learn and the opportunities that are available to me. Neat company with lots going on.

All that other stuff ... sometimes it feels like noise ... but I was reminded this past weekend of the chance to find God in everything. It is easier to find God in the relationship I have with my wife and kids and the people I see and interact with everyday. One of my boys accompanied me to two meetings tonight and to see his smile and the smiles on others when he was in the room was joy-filling.

If you haven't had the chance to hear that Taylor Swift song, I encourage you to listen to it. When you hear the words, consider that relationship that is either working in spite of the pains and struggles that cause it to not work sometimes or that has brought a great amount of joy to your life. Romeo and Juliet ... the star-crossed lovers that found love despite the pain that it caused them and their families.

I found love today ... again. It's a great experience.

Peace ... to all of you.

Journey

Are you ready to take a trip? Lots of people are traveling for spring break, some are still thinking about it, others (myself included) have made no plans and probably have little desire / intent to go anywhere. But that's not the kind of journey I was talking about.

I'm talking about the journey inside you ... the kind of quest that is both honorable and leads to a better you (or at least a better understanding of you!)

Have you read any good books lately? I've read a few books ... and they've all been good. Anne Rice is next on my list, or maybe I'll re-read Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert. Some of the best pages of fiction I've ever written are contained in that book. Hmmm ... a story about a reluctant messiah. Sounds a lot like a Richard Bach book. Can't think of the title.

I find a lot of spiritual references in books and music ... maybe that's why I at least have an interest in personal development.

Today at church it was an interesting homily on the transfiguration that spoke to me. The priest reminded us that sometimes we fail to see the glory/grace of God because of all the distractions. I have to agree with that. I know that so many of us are tremendously busy leading our lives and shaping the lives of the people around us. We just need to be reminded to see God in all of that. It's a great chance to be reminded of the child of God that we all are.

God bless you. All of you.