-
The Rocking-Horse Winner
In his short story “The Rocking-Horse Winner” published in 1926 D.H. Lawrence describes a young Englishwoman who “has no luck”. Though she and her husband have expensive tastes neither of them separately or together are able to stay out of the debt necessary to maintain their lifestyle. They are preoccupied by a sense of failure and as a result the house is permeated by an inaudible but palpable anxiety about the lack of enough money. “And so the house came to be haunted by the unspoken phrase: There must be more money! There must be more money! The children could hear it all the time though nobody said it aloud. They…
-
The Double Lie
When I was a student at Harvard Divinity one of the most popular stories was one explaining the reason for the fracture in the prominent nose of Paul Tillich’s death mask. According to the legend the librarian needed a door stop and none being available she took the mask off the wall lodged the nose under the edge of the door and it broke off clean. We loved that story and told it to all the new students. Of course, none of it was true. There was no death mask of Paul Tillich and no librarian. It was such a great example of the power of a double lie to…
-
Che
If you go to Cuba today the single most obvious image is that of Che Guevera. While he has been dead for 45 years an industry has grown up around that single photo. He more than any other embodies and perpetuates the revolution. While most of the countries I’ve visited have portraits and posters of the current leaders (especially dictators) plastered on buildings or hung in offices I saw two public pictures of Fidel and not a single picture of Raul. However fashion photographer Alberto Che’s image has a quality that allows it to signify anything to anyone and most everything to everyone. Whatever a person wants to see…
-
China in Cuba
On May 18-24 a group of 15 Gathering participants flew to Cuba. Most of us had never been and were curious about what is going on with the church there. All of us were surprised by what we learned and experienced. I don’t want to write a full report but would like to focus a couple of blogs on some of the highlights. The influence of China has almost replaced the subsidy of the Soviet Union. I use those words carefully because China is not subsidizing. It is in a trading relationship with Cuba. Still as a result of seeing China’s operating pattern in Africa and other places they…
-
Follow Me
I was with a young man who had just completed the biggest business deal of his career and if managed right left him with a fortune that would provide for he and his family for the rest of their lives. I asked him how he felt and he said, “I’m afraid. I know I don’t deserve this and I might lose it as quickly as I made it. God might take it away.” That reminded me of Jesus’ calling Peter in the boat on the lake. They just had the biggest catch of their lives and suddenly Peter says, “Depart from me Lord for I am a sinner.” It’s odd…
-
Let’s Go
I used to kid our youngest daughter that she came into this world saying “Let’s go guys.” She was five when we set up a lemonade stand in the front yard. She was ready to flag down all the passing cars. I stepped inside for a minute and when I returned she was nowhere in sight! I looked down the street and she was standing at our neighbor’s front door with the pitcher and cups. I ran down and asked her what she was doing and she said ” “They weren’t stopping.” That same word (except in Greek) for “let’s go guys” is dierchomai and Jesus uses it to…
-
Leadership For Losers
In a few days I'll be in a leadership seminar. There will be hundreds of others in the room with me to watch speakers and consultants on the topic from all over the country via live feed. I know there will be some thought provoking content but I doubt this thought by G.K. Chesterton will be part of it. "Distribute the dignified people and the capable people and the highly businesslike people among all the situations which their ambition or their innate corruption may demand but keep close to your heart keep deep in your inner councils the absurd people; let the clever people pretend to govern you let…
-
Luke 3-4
1. Setting the stage for John. Like reading a biography and creating the context for a life. Born in the Depression. Hoover was President. Many people were out of jobs. Recovering from a war. Politics was unusually depressing. Religious influence was declining. People were discouraged. Waiting for leadership. In the same way, Luke is describing the context for John. Tiberias was the son of Augustus who was declared a god when he died. A hard act to follow and Tiberias had no desire to rule. He had been forced to give up the woman he loved and marry a woman he despised. He thought he could simply delegate everything to…
-
Don’t Give Money To Your Kids
I’ve been reading more stories about teaching philanthropy to kids by handing them funds to give away. One article had a well-meaning foundation settling $100,000 on a group of college students and challenging them to figure out the best way to dispense the money. The amounts are all over the map but the assumption is the same: If we give kids our money and help create a structure they will learn to give. For instance: Students in a new philanthropy course in the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy awarded $100,000 in grants to seven Charlottesville-area nonprofits. “The grant funding was provided by the Once…
-
Is This Normal?
A local acquaintance made a very large donation to a worthy non-profit a couple of years ago and I attended the dinner honoring him and his wife. This was not their first major contribution but it was far more public and caught everyone by surprise. While everything was done with great taste to honor them and they were extremely appreciative ” there were a number of whispered comments. “I had no idea they had that kind of money.” “We’re going to see if we can get them interested in our project.” “Did they do this spontaneously or had someone been working on them for a while?” The evening concluded…
