Stealing from John Piper

I was sent this by Jay Tornquist.  He calls it “food for thought” and I  am passing it along.

It is from John Piper’s book entitled “don’t waste your life”.

John Piper is sharing about what an impact C S Lewis had on his thinking.  Piper says on page 19:

“He has made me wary of chronological snobbery.  That is, he showed me that newness is no virtue and oldness is no vice.  Truth and beauty and goodness are not determined by when they exist.  Nothing is inferior for being old, and nothing is valuable for being modern.  This has freed me from the tyranny of novelty and opened for me the wisdom of the ages.  To this day I get most of my soul-food from centuries ago.  I thank God for Lewis’s compelling demonstration of the obvious. He has made me wary of chronological snobbery. That is, he showed me that newness is no virtue and oldness is no vice. Truth and beauty and goodness are not determined by when they exist. Nothing is inferior for being old, and nothing is valuable for being modern. This has freed me from the tyranny of novelty and opened for me the wisdom of the ages. To this day I get most of my soul-food from centuries ago. I thank God for Lewis’s compelling demonstration of the obvious.

He demonstrated for me and convinced me that rigorous, precise, penetrating logic is not opposed to deep, soul-stirring feeling and vivid, lively—even playful—imagination. He was a “romantic rationalist.” He combined things that almost everybody today assumes are mutually exclusive: rationalism and poetry, cool logic and warm feeling, disciplined prose and free imagination. In shattering these old stereotypes, he freed me to think hard and to write poetry, to argue for the resurrection and compose hymns to Christ, to smash an argument and hug a friend, to demand a definition and use a metaphor.

Lewis gave me an intense sense of the “realness” of things. The preciousness of this is hard to communicate. To wake up in the morning and be aware of the firmness of the mattress, the warmth of the sun’s rays, the sound of the clock ticking, the sheer being of things (“quiddity” as he calls it3). He helped me become alive to life. He helped me see what is there in the world—things that, if we didn’t have, we would pay a million dollars to have, but having them, ignore. He made me more alive to beauty. He put my soul on notice that there are daily wonders that will waken worship if I open my eyes. He shook my dozing soul and threw the cold water of reality in my face, so that life and God and heaven and hell broke into my world with glory and horror.

He exposed the sophisticated intellectual opposition to objective being and objective value for the naked folly that it was. The philosophical king of my generation had no clothes on, and the writer of children’s books from Oxford had the courage to say so.

You can’t go on “seeing through” things forever. The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it. It is good that the window should be transparent, because the street or garden beyond it is opaque. How if you saw through the garden too? It is no use trying to “see through” first principles. If you see through everything, then everything is transparent. But a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. To “see through” all things is the same as not to see.4

Oh, how much more could be said about the world as C. S. Lewis saw it and the way he spoke. He has his flaws, some of them serious. But I will never cease to thank God for this remarkable man who came onto my path at the perfect moment.”

I hope this gives you “food for thought” as it did for me.

Results Pyramid

I don't know how to attach a .pdf document to my Blog but if I did I would send you a copy of an article written by Dave Crumrine of Interstates Construction Service.  In the article he recommends the book "Change the Culture, Change the Game's" Results Pyramid as example of how to change a company's culture to produce better results.

The pyramid shows that we that our experiences and beliefs form the base for our actions and the results we get.

I am sure that I didn't do justice to Dave's Article but I plan to go out and buy the book.

Dave's book was the best thing I have read lately and that includes the literary classic "The Great Gatsby" by F Scott Fitzgerald that I also read this week! 

If you send me your e-mail adress I will send you Dave's one page article.

Life, Death and the Pursuit of Happiness

As a person goes through life you encounter a roller coaster of events that always leave me wondering what am I supposed to take away from all of this.

My day on Friday started with the news that a co-worker's infant son had to be been flown via life flight from Holdrege to Omaha because he had been found unconscious at day care.  After hours of medical treatments and heroic efforts to save the young life nothing could be done and sadly the boy died.  A tragedy in anybody’s book.  Nobody can understand why a young life is taken from us.

The second piece of news I received on Friday was also involving death.  Long time principal at Lincoln Christian Levi Kroeker had also passed away.  Earlier in the week Levi had collapsed at home.  Levi had just returned home from teaching the sixth grade Bible class.  It wasn't  a coinsidance that Levi ended his life teaching a Bible class.

Levi was in his 70's and spend his life teaching elementary students about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Again friends and families are left wondering why now.  But in the case of Levi we can look back on a long life and praise God for all his servant Levi had done.  He made a direct impact on thousands of people including the Chapin family.  He was a true missionary in our mist.

The third piece of news was delivered by my sister, Nancy.  She had received a call from our Mom telling her that our Dad was in a Florida hospital and they weren't sure what was wrong with him.  They thought it was something like an appendicitis or gall stones but they were unsure.  It wasn't a life or death situation but it does bring home the idea that one day we all receive a call that does line out a  dire situation.  I was relieved my Dad would be OK but yet it was a chilling reminder that someday the news won't be this "good."

That was Friday. It was time for the weekend.

So what did a do with my weekend?  If this was a novel things would take turn for the worse and only get more dramatic.  This is just a long note, not  a novel.

Over the weekend I went to 3 basketball games, enjoyed a drama at the local high school, watched football, went to church, coached a baseball practice and read the Great Gatsby.  For the most part pretty meaningless. 

My daughter's basketball seemed to be very dramatic coming down to free throws with 3 seconds on the clock.  The teammate made the free throw and the won by 1.

The football was also nail biting. 

Some might even think that I think baseball is life.  I fact I have 2 tee shirts that say that just that!!!  But it's not.

Friday's events kept the weekend's fun in perspective with the realization that life is precious and I should treat it as such.

Since you are retiring I won't confront you

I dont talk to very many people within a close range. Those of you that know me know I like to maintain about 10 feet of personal space.

A few summers ago Ben Nelson and I found ourselves face to face, about a foot apart, discussing Obama's health care plan. We were having a one on one conversation about several issues in the halls of congress and he told me "the President's plan was reaching to far and he could never support it." So I believed him.

Six months later he was the deciding vote in the overall passage!

He lied to my face. Eyeball to eyeball.

Two weeks ago we we had a editorial battle in the Omaha World herald about the National Labor Relations Board. He did lie this time, most just was misleading.

The next day he said he wasn't running for reelection.

I know many people think politicos tend to mislead from time to time. But my person experience is that Ben Nelson outright lies.

So today he sat behind me on a plane to Denver. We again were face to face. Many thought ran through my head. If he was going to continue is career I likely would have confronted him and imbaressed him with a few voters around. But since he is retiring I decided to simply let him go in front of me.

See I don't alway speak my mind.

Happy Birthday

As many of you may remember January 6th is my Grandpa Elmo Chapin’s birthday.  In past years I have sent out reminders that it is his birthday and explain way that matters.

It matters to me because my Grandpa is one of my heroes.  One thing that I remember about my Grandpa was his attitude toward his fellow man.  His loved to serve people and to make sure that he left every place he had been a better place than when arrived.  Sometimes that was as simple as picking up a piece of trash off the floor and throwing it away.  Other times it was lending a hand to somebody in need.

He did more behind the scenes favors than anybody I have ever known.  Giving people a lift up was what made him happy.  Often he did it for strangers.  He loved to find somebody that needed a hand and then help them out. 

So I challenge you to take hold of this tradition on January 6^th and give somebody a lift up. 

(if you are looking for an extra credit project, shut the lights off when you leave the room!)

P.S

Today when reading the Bible I came across a verse that fits the theme of this post perfectly.  It is Romans 16:1-2.  Paul’s letters typically open and close with what typically can seem like meaningless personal greetings.

 

But in the context of my Grandpa’s birthday I learned a few things from reading these verses.  One of the things I learned was every word in the Bible is applicable.

Back to Work

It has been a long time since I posted anything.  Travel before the holidays and taking time away during the holidays has kept me away.

I love the Christmas break.  It is fun to see the extended family and we spent a few days in Minnesota with both sides of the family.  It was very relaxing and extremely fun. 

Gift exchanges are always fun.  New clothes to work everyday this week and into next week.  Coffee mug, calender with pictures of my wife, a fire pit, iPad cover just to hit the highlights.  It is also fun to see the joy on the face of the people that you give gifts to.  Few moments in life top giving a phone to a Junior High student. 

Reading books is fun and relaxing as well.

But more then anything else I love the time off because it gives me time with my wife and kids. 

***** Warning: I might sounding like an old man*****

During breaks we get the chance to slow life down and enjoy the people in our lives.  It is a great way to build stronger relationships with the people you love.  People that you consider your number one priority.  But when the break is over we go back to the rush.  Could it be that we don't need to go back 100% into the rush?  Maybe we can keep some of the slow pace in our lives.

Hopefully I can.