Happy Halloween

I know I'm probably too old to enjoy Winnie the Pooh and his friends, but this little guy was a favorite of my little one when she was a youngling. He still brings me quiet smiles and warm memories of seasons gone by. Happy Halloween to all my online friends.

Common Tragedy

Have you ever heard of the tragedy of the commons? It represents a dilemma in which individuals, all acting independently with their own self interests in mind, will ultimately destroy a shared resource even when it is not in anyone's long-term interest for this to happen. The context that I first learned about this dilemma involved the community pasture. The sole quality grazing land available for a town to use. Everyone agrees that they will put no more than 10 cows on the land to protect the precious resource from overgrazing. The problem starts when one farmer has just a few more than 10 cows that need to graze on the land, so he slips them in hoping that nobody will know. How could just a couple of extra cows be a problem? The issue of course is that he is not the only one doing it. Eventually the number of cows exceeds what the pasture can support and it is destroyed for everyone. The tragedy of the commons.

A similar kind of story is illustrated by today's picture. A silly notion to be sure, but a wizard has turned Homer's head into a donut. This just happens to be his favorite food. In his lust and complete lack of self-control, he begins to eat his head. He knows this will eventually be his end, but in his words, "I'm just too good to stop".

Why is it that people who should know right from wrong still consistently choose the path that leads to tragedy? Is it because they are stupid? Uneducated? Unloving? Is it because they are anarchists to their very core? I am certain that the answer is no to each of these. I think the answer is that humans are, by nature, selfish creatures. It requires constant and consistent effort for us to put others first. I suspect that the tragedy of the commons results from the fact that we trick our minds via rationalizations that one extra cow or cigarette or serving of food or negative thought or store purchase won't hurt anyone. What an over-reaction. You're making too big of a deal of it. Geez, lighten up. The problem is that one slips so easily into two. Then three. Then, ...., tragedy.

Message in a Bottle II

Why do I blog? Is there a purpose? Where do the ideas come from? What do I give away with each post and what do I get in return? In a cost-benefit analysis, do the returns outweigh the expenditures?

I would say that, on average, a typical blog posting takes me about 20 to 30 minutes to prepare. I have often asked myself about the cost. Is it all worth it? Should I put my energies elsewhere? Am I really doing anything good and worthwhile for myself, for others with this effort? I sometimes feel that I am just killing time when I could be doing something, anything. Aren't I just avoiding life by hiding behind my computer screen? . . . However, I'm quite sure that I don't know what that something or anything is at this point in my life. Perhaps my writing is a way to help tread water until a clear purpose emerges.

A small handful of kind folks take the time from their lives to stop by a couple of times each week and leave a comment. I know that I look forward to connecting with them, if only electronically. Are they getting anything out of my posts? Do I sometimes inspire? Do I sometimes make folks think? Do I sometimes make folks smile and ease some degree of tension? Maybe though, I am just adding another item to their daily to-do list? Another burden or chore of something they feel somehow obligated to do they because they know me or because I comment on their blogs?

Herman Melville said "We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results." Perhaps this is an apt description of why I write. Perhaps too, it is simply a message in a bottle of an isolated castaway hoping for rescue.

(Part 2 of 2)

Message in a Bottle I

Why do I blog? Is there a purpose? Where do the ideas come from? What do I give away with each post and what do I get in return? In a cost-benefit analysis, do the returns outweigh the expenditures?

Some blogs that I write don't really seem like they belong to me. Somehow they already exist in complete form, just floating around out there in the aether. I simply pull them in and they immediately spill out onto the page. Other entries were born after spinning around in my mind for a few hours, a few days, a few weeks. As they simmer in the recesses of my mind, they fill out in form and substance. Threads and shadows take on flesh and bone. Others begin on the page as just a seed, a small naked kernel, that are painstakingly hewn out of the terse, wordless void that can envelop a sudden notion.

Writing a blog, being consistent with it, takes discipline. I suppose that this is much like anything else in our lives. I really do believe that this work, this labor, allows me, at times, to think about ideas that I might not mindfully take the time to consider. Sometimes the writing process is like laying out on the counselor's couch and letting things just come out that need to come out. Sometimes I feel the urge to tackle some topics that are so very personal, to expose myself to the world, to everyone and to no one. At other times, I show my inane and silly and random side with posts about things that amuse me. Somehow these posts are easier to read down the road as I do not have to expend the personal energy to write them. They allow me to avoid any possible tender areas that can sometimes surface.

(Part 1 of 2)

Real Commitment

Some people are so committed to getting what they want, what they need, that they will let nothing stand in their path. They will find a way to the prize whether it is over you, under you, or through you. They broadcast the tacit but clear threat, if you hinder my progress, I will destroy you. It is this type of plucky and dogged determination that is lacking in many of us. How often have you made a suggestion to your boss at work, a suggestion that you had thought about or that lifted your passions, only to drop it like a glowing, red-hot charcoal briquette when it was suggested that you might take this on personally. The message you broadcast is quite clear. I care, but not enough to take it on myself, to really roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty. Oh pshaw, tain't werf it. Ultimately, you lack that necessary fire deep down in your belly.

I can hear some of you out there in cyberland banging on your heads saying "What about the time I ...?". Blah, blah, blah. You don't know nothin'. Let me tell you a real, true-to-life story of commitment, of passion, of gutsy follow through. Only this can illuminate how pathetic you really are. Some years ago, my entire group at work was heading to a meeting. We passed our boss in the hallway moving in the opposite direction. He said he first had to get some java. The rest of us ambled down to the meeting room and found our places and started in with some small talk. A few moments had passed and our boss had not joined us. We continued in our light chit chat. More time passed. Finally, he came in with a deep furrow on his brow, muttering that the make-shift coffee station in our hallway was out of cups. We all figured that he must have been delayed as he went off in search of a vessel for his hot beverage. Obviously he was successful as he had cup in hand. When he finally took a labored sip and placed that stained styrofoam cup on the table did we all understand what it was all about. On the side, written in blue ink, were the letters "Coffee 10¢". The man was so committed to having his caffinated beverage that he used the change collection cup at the coffee station. I'm quite sure that, only now, do you truly understand what real passion looks like.

Mission Possible

When most folks think of church missionaries, what springs to mind are people traveling to remote corners of the world to bring the word of God to those who do not have access to it. Perhaps they serve to strengthen small caches of believers in countries wrought with government opposition and oppression. Distributing literature and sharing stories of God and his message. Until recently, this was the image that I had of a missionary. While I have several friends who have gone on trips like this to far off places like Myanmar and Central America, I never thought that I too might have something to contribute to the field of missions work.

We were discussing a bit about our lead pastor in community group as it is pastor appreciation week. The conversation was focussing on some of his sermon tag lines. An oft-repeated one is that our church, Waters Edge Church, is a church for the unchurched. We are all about bringing folks to God who do not know him, to spreading his word and his teachings. Someone then suggested that missionaries can be missionaries without necessarily journeying to far off places. Many of us in group volunteer for our church. Some of us make phone calls to folks with questions, some work with teaching the children, some help with the production teams, and some help with leading community groups for children and adults. In our own special way, we are each missionaries for God. We are helping to spread the word by teaching and sharing. Mission possible.

"Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation", Mark 16:15.

Worker Bees

I recently received an email from my secretary at work. She and a number of other folks are feverishly planning this year's company holiday party. I am not talking about our Halloween party or Thanksgiving party or Virgin of Guadalupe party. I am talking about this year's Christmas party. It seems that the gaggle of secretaries who work on this spend about half of their day planning for parties and gatherings of this sort. In perfect synergistic fashion, CNN published a story about the personalities involved in typical office holiday parties. They start off their story with the following:

The best entertainment, however, comes from the people who attempt to hide the dread on their faces as they realize they're in for several hours of chitchat with people they don't particularly like.

But folks attend these parties as they will take any excuse to get out of doing real work. But my editorial comment here is not the reason for today's post. What I wanted to discuss comes from this same CNN article. They talk about people watching at work, most easily seen during these more informal gatherings. The article is entitled "Four Obnoxious Attitudes in the Office".

• The suck-up: The boss's lapdog. These folks rely on their buddy-buddy relationship with the boss to attempt to get a leg up on their co-workers and to help their chances for raises and promotions.
  
• The naysayer: The person whose sole intent is to shoot down every suggestion or course of action raised by anyone.
  
• The drama queen: The person who is overly emotional about every single little thing that occurs. They have no control of their emotions and tend to make every occurrence into the biggest-ever tragedy known to mankind.
  
• The star of the show: The person who feels that they are God's gift to mankind. They believe that they should be the focal point of every meeting and every project.

When I was a young buck, I used to consider myself "the star of the show", the genius whiz kid that the world couldn't live without. As I have gotten older, this sharp corner has eroded considerably. At this point in my life, I do not think that I fit into any of the above categories. What about you, what worker bee category do you fall into?