Archive for the ‘Life’s Design’ Category

Serenity at Noon

Posted: August 28, 2018 in Life's Design
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After breakfast—actually, brunch since I slept in this morning—at Chris’ at the Docket restaurant, I walked to the Gateway Arch National Park, which is often my destination following breakfast. Today the 85° temperature is quite pleasant for the walk compared to the 90s we’ve been having.

I arrived at the park in time to see the geyser across the river. It is the tallest geyser in the United States and third tallest in the world. Many people look at it and don’t know what they are seeing and thus ignore the awesomeness of it. A few people I met today while walking near the Arch were impressed when I told them about it.

I walked around to the west side of the north reflecting pond and found a grassy spot to make this brief journal entry. It is quite pleasant sitting here looking out at the pond.

The small grove of eight cypress trees provides wonderful shade. Here and there are small groups of three to five people taking a noon respite from their current pursuits. There are office-workers enjoying ​lunch away from the thrum of the city and visitors to the Arch taking A pause from their walk around the park.

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A dad and his two young girls, an Asian family by the sound of their conversation, are having fun taking pictures with a phone. Just now, the mother walks up and sits with them, leans in, and a fun selfie is snapped. Such scenes are replicated throughout the park. The Gateway Arch National Park is one of Saint Louis’ best family attractions that brings thousands to the city and provides space for residents to cultivate serenity in their life’s design.

I live a very safe life “in the shadow of God’s wings.” I gather with the rest of the brood regularly, yet wonder if God’s pleased with my worship. I conduct activity that keeps God alive in me—morning prayer, evening prayer—in between these weekly occasions of corporate prayer on Sundays, but then have to work hard to conjure up his presence when not consciously communing with him. Where did I leave him during those hours? I know I’m deep in the water of Christian faith, that I’ve walked with Jesus into those waters, over my head in them. I know what that’s supposed to mean and I try to make that meaning reality, yet knowing and being don’t always merge into one.

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Considering living options as life winds down is an activity in which everyone will ultimately engage. Retirement planning is imperative. Many people immediately think about structuring their finances in a way that a sufficient amount of funds will be available for living out their final days. Without question, that is a huge piece of retirement planning. But that’s not all there is to ensuring quality, and even quantity, of life as it winds down. Another design component that goes into this last phase of living on this earth is whether or when to settle into a retirement community. (more…)

IMG_0100I have been in a process of reimagining my life. The word “reimagine” means to reinterpret or rethink an earlier version. It is approaching again something already experienced but in a new way. 

The memories are warm and comforting as I recall times in my life when I was completely encased in the ethos of those days, enveloped in a particular kind of Christianity and particular brand of Baptist. Inside that cocoon I felt comfortable and safe, developed ministry skills, and exercised spiritual gifts. Yet there were times I felt empty, that there was surely more to Christian living than a confining sterile obedience to biblical principles.  (more…)

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I can be ferocious if I want to.

I ran across a note in my file from August 2013. Although it was written over four years ago, there is an uncanny aspect to its application for today and may affect the design of our lives tomorrow. In light of today’s climate in almost any segment of American society—politics, entertainment, and religion to name three—there is a pervasive attitude pregnant with outsized self-importance. This shaded truth is explained as an alternate reality as though one phenomena can have more than one factually based truth. Claiming something to be true and factual when it is only my interpretation is claiming authority I don’t possess. (more…)

kaleid.A kaleidoscope, the kind shaped like a hand-held telescope, contains pieces of material, each a different color. The viewer looks through the lens like looking through a telescope and sees a colorful pattern through two or more reflective surfaces. As the instrument is turned, the colorful patterns change. 

Consider each color in your kaleidoscope represents someone you’ve met. As you meet someone new, you add a new color. Then, consider each turn of the kaleidoscope a new day. Suddenly the pieces in your life align in such a way that a new pattern emerges. The new piece(s) added the day before now appear in the design next to pieces you may have had all your life. (more…)

Life ChallengesSomeone asked me recently what my blog was all about. I directed him to the “About” page on the blog and then gave him the short answer “How people shape their lives and how their lives are shaped by external influence.” Here is a longer answer: (more…)

Here is a reflection on the state of our peaceful, progressive city of Saint Louis after a

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Peaceful protesters tduring the second day of demonstrations.
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month since a judge found Jason Stockley, a white former police officer, not guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man. Immediately after the verdict was announced (on Friday, September 14, 2017), people began to protest in the streets in anger against the decision. (more…)

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A representation of group at Kaldi’s.

A few days ago, I was sitting on Kaldi’s patio after my daily visit to the Arch. To my right was a group of four who apparently work out of the same office. It is an interesting ethnic mix: South Asian, East Asian, African-American, and Hispanic. This wouldn’t happen in many small towns across America. I enjoy the complexity and cultural diversity of urban living in downtown Saint Louis, (more…)

Life inexorably moves forward. But forward movement does not always mean progress. One definition of progress is “advance or development toward a better, more complete, or more modern condition.” Movement in time will not automatically result in a better life but it does provide the space for progress. I have great hope for your life’s design by the end of 2017. (more…)