Comfort Zone

For the gregarious only.

'Comfort zone' is just another term for 'stuck in a rut'.  At least that's the way the extroverts among us feel.

If we want to avoid repeating the mundane, we'll want to step up, climb out ...

Want change?
Pick one!

If your routine is ... routine,  plan a breakout; not a vacation, but a rut buster.   Go bicycling in Denmark, volunteer in a soup kitchen, or in Africa, go climbing in Colorado, exploring in Wyoming, weekending in NY, or work in the garden; whatever adds a fresh perspective.

For a bizarre challenge, try talking to a teenager about whatever they want to talk about.  One fellow talked about his first prom for as long as I was willing to smile and laugh and commiserate.  Another complained at length about his pre-calc class and showed me the 'stupid homework' on his iPad. More commiserating.

My dental hygienist and I laughed long and hard, exchanging grand-baby stories while she had stuff in my mouth.
A colleague regaled me with horror stories about building a deck and how the dog fell through the unfinished hole.  More commiserating.
A friend in Kenya laughed and told how the rain was so bad, you couldn't see, and her first grader couldn't go to school today.
Another fellow and I exchanged texts about his college progress and expenses.
My wife is sewing tick guards in pant legs for our son-in-law; he's a conservationist and has to be careful about such things.  They did the design together, and he loves the result.

Chatting with the new cashier at the drugstore about whether the afternoon would be a mandatory bike-ride or just an optional; he's maybe 20 and a neat fellow and lives 5 minutes from St. Mary's lake.
Most folks are easily engaged, and it's a lot more fun than just mmmphing at each other and moving on.

OK, that's the extrovert's view.  What does an introvert do for fun?

JA1:2-4.

If we're smart, we'll be happy when we find ourselves in this or that difficulty. Our labor through such times strengthens and equips us for greater challenges and service.  True?

Happy hump day.

Climate Doesn't Change

In western Africa, a tropical climate at the equator
gives this island country reasonable rain
and subsistence agriculture.
What's next for them?

"It's just a liberal agenda; it's not real."  How many times have we heard that or the equivalent.

"A relentless campaign backed by the fossil fuel industry and its allies challenges whether climate change is real, and if so, whether human activity such as increased carbon emissions from power plants, factories and cars contributes to it."

Today's report updates what we've been following for the last several years.  Climate is changing worldwide.

The effects in each country will be important, and in some cases, it will require regional 'way of life' changes.

For the first time, climate change is referred to as a 'clear and present danger'.  Scientists categorize the response to climate change into two strategies -- minimizing the effects by reducing the cause, which is known as mitigation, and preparing for impacts already occurring or certain to occur, which is called adaptation.

Reforms and programs driven by government will follow, of course, but the opportunity to actually solve the problem is perhaps long past.  What we expect is that change will come, regional sustainability will change, and populations will be reshaped.

My granddaughter was born this year.  Among other things, she'll see a rise in ocean levels between one and four feet.  Among other things, that means coastal areas will change; some will disappear, even some islands.  Cities and towns and villages along the shore will be affected.  In the less developed areas with limited resources, the effects will be difficult to address.

The most difficult among the questions will be faced by my granddaughter's children.  We're just now beginning to face this century's forecast ...

Browse through the report; it's richly informative.

A measure

There's likely to be an appropriate measure of dignity required for life, and for public publishing, for that matter. 

Despite this likely reality, we've yet to discover what that 'appropriate' measure might be.

Until such time as we do, we'll have to make our way along with an occasional excess of humor and absent seriousness.

Perhaps it's for the best, all things considered.

The Gospel?

Ancient olive trees in Gethsemane's garden ...

Once every hundred years Jesus of Nazareth meets Jesus of the Christian in a garden among the hills of Lebanon. And they talk long; and each time Jesus of Nazareth goes away saying to Jesus of the Christian, "My friend, I fear we shall never, never agree."  ~ Kahlil Gibran, 1926

Why would he say that?

A friend, thinking his way through the question, suggested that perhaps we've been persuaded to a 'cheap gospel'.  One where our purpose is to attend church and do religious things so we can go to heaven. Interestingly, Jesus himself never suggested going to church.  All of his teachings were about choice and love, conscience and service, and caring about others.  Going to church wasn't part of the curriculum.

If it's true that our purpose begins here and now, how shall we then live?

For the literalists among us, take a look at the biblical 'church' (Greek; ekklesia, a calling out from ... and to ..., from kaleo, to call).   

For Jesus, there was this 'calling out' of which he spoke, and just the one; not many callings out, not many churches. And to what purpose did he call them?

Church is those 'called out' people, wherever they are;
at home, at school, at work, or scattered across
the world. It's not a place or a building, it's us.

Just attending church doesn't seem to line up with any biblical teachings.   

Having been called out, on the other hand, perhaps called out and received by him, seems to fit more in the context of citizenship and service and perhaps even family. And purpose for us here and now.

_________________________________________

Sometimes faith turns into religion. Devotion becomes obligation, and suddenly you feel like you’re just going through the motions. Know what I mean?

Six Signs You're an Idiot

Okay, it's a really weird illustration, but unbridled anger works like that; it

feeds on itself and reemerges over and over.

1.  You're angry at least once, pretty much every day.

2.  You argue regularly, and there's emotional content.

3.  You find yourself talking about others in terms of why they did those annoying things.

4.  You get angry when someone cautions you about getting angry.

5.  You're pretty sure you're right, and you don't need to hear any more on the various subjects of contention.

6.  You expect things to improve once all these defective people get their act together and do it right.

Anger isn't the right response to differences of opinion, to differences of priority and preference, or to politics.  Anger isn't the right response to a difficult child or a difficult spouse.  Or a difficult boss or employee.  Or a difficult day or decade.

Want better?  It's available.  Courage, grace, self-control and an open mind, concern for others and for what's right, each of those is a better choice and powerfully so for effecting change.

Anger: it's a trainwreck that continues for years, piling up damage and destruction.  Angry people tend to re-experience the frustration, pain, and resentment each time they're reminded of the offense, whether perceived or real.  They tend to talk without listening and complain a lot about other people's transgressions.  Bitter or better; it's a choice.  It's a choice, and things can change.

Thanks and a hat-tip to Dr. Redford Williams, professor of psychology at Duke University Medical Center, for thought provoking work and discussion.