Daily Blog
March 7, 2012
The frame displays the picture…What is your picture? Is it your faith? Is it your job? Is it something else that you hold to be of supreme importance? How is your life framing your picture? Is your frame displaying the picture in a manner so that it shines and has an aura that is transcendent? Is your frame such that the picture appears dull and somewhat lifeless? Is your frame a simple one that does not call attention to itself but focuses the eye on what is within? I recently read about artists who were performing restoration on a painting severely damaged by a bombing at the Uffizi museum in Florence in the early 1990’s. Painstaking work was going in to piece the painting back together. One can sometimes still see the incredible beauty in a work though, assembled back together it may be, when it is properly displayed. As you consider your city, your community, the areas you call your home, how is your frame promoting what you claim as your picture?
March 1, 2012
Last week I decided to quit cooking or heating any food or beverage in my microwave oven. My wife knew she was marrying a health freak, but little did she imagine some of the different ways that obsession would manifest itself. Fortunately for me, she is a very tolerant woman.
As I consider instant meals, I see that desire for the quick fix played out over and over in our communities. The other day, I went to the opening of a new apartment community just south of Downtown Dallas. I was struck by the idea that for that community to be built, there had to be investors willing to part with their money for a period of time to experience a greater return later.
What are we willing to give up of our money, talents, or time today to see a greater benefit later, whether it is for our family, work place, church, school, friendship, or community? Entities of consequence take time to develop. He who sows much will reap much.
February 28, 2012
A couple of Saturdays ago my wife and I were driving through a very heavy rainstorm in the middle of the afternoon to meet some friends for wine tasting at a place in McKinney. The weather conditions were such that one could only ascertain the highway pavement markings with great difficulty. We gamely pressed on, as we were looking forward to this outing. At the same time, I could not help but think about how easy it would be just to claim defeat before the elements, and wait until the weather was more cooperative before pressing on. As I considered the situation later, I could not help but think about how often people let rainstorms and things much less problematic than that, disrupt their plans for doing something; even gathering with others in community; whether it is meeting friends for a glass of wine, getting together for dinner with that person you haven't seen in a while, making the effort after a long day to attend a Bible study, or something else. Many of us desire a greater amount of community in the middle of a large, impersonal metropolitan area, but how often are we willing to step outside of ourselves and recognize that we should be third on our priority list?
