I'll admit it: I'm not a big hugger. I blame my English ancestry! But when I saw this video it inspired me a bit more and helped me to see the other side a little more clearer. I dedicate this to my friend Lynne who is the most "huggy" person I have ever met. Do you know someone who needs a hug today? Or maybe you need to ask someone for one. Happy Friday!
It occurs to me that for a Christ follower (with at least a slightly engaged conscience), you are sometimes restricted in what kind of business you purchase and what kind of products and services you offer. For instance, I love books but I don't think I could ever own a bookstore. Why not? Well, because a bookstore sells a lot of books and magazines that I wouldn't be comfortable as a Christian selling. Could I get away with just selling "decent" books? Probably not. And even if I could I'm not sure it would be profitable. And who would want to spend all of their time censoring which books are OK and which are questionable? And of course some books might be "grey" area ones where you aren't sure if they are OK or not. Some Christians might not have a problem with selling all books, but I don't think I could do it.
Another business I have considered is owning a resort. Owning and operating a resort in some beautiful locale seems like the perfect business. But if you own such a resort you can't really choose and pick who your guests are or control what they do on your premises. Would you be OK to have guests who you know will most likely be doing things that you ethically don't support? For instance, what if NAMBLA (the North American Man Boy Love Association) wanted to rent your facilities and you really don't support anything they say or do? Or what about a same sex couple on their honeymoon? Or even a young unmarried couple wanting to get away for a romantic retreat? I want to underline here that I don't condone any sort of cruelty or unkindness against people who's sexual behavior I disagree with. And some Christians might have no problem with these things as the law protects these people from being discriminated against (and hey, maybe it's a chance to minister and be a witness to these people, right) but I wonder how I would feel if I was the owner. Should one just obey the Golden Rule and offer lodging to all who ask? I feel conflicted on this one.
Another example of this: I talked with someone the other day who knew a person (a Christ follower) who as part of their job basically had to lie all the time. "Were they in sales?" I said. Turned out this person was. Sales is an area where deception seems to either be required or at least is a major temptation. Deception comes in many forms; outright lieing, witholding certain information, and sharing selective information (but not all of it). Now don't get me wrong, I have known a few excellent Christian salespeople over my lifetime - but very few. Sales can be a tricky area for Christians involved in business.
The ironic thing is that we as Christians sometimes have no problem supporting businesses that we ourselves might find morally impossible to operate! It might be something small: like buying your jeans in a store that sells shirts with immoral slogans on them. Or buying diamonds from a jeweler who gets their rough diamonds from a country where the goverment uses that money to oppress their own people. Or renting a movie from a place that also rents out soft or explicit porn. Or buying body spray from a company who uses illicit advertising/messages to sell their product. The question always comes back; where do you draw the line?
Anyway, this post is not about trying to come up with a solution (or a judgment) on anyone, but is an attempt to illustrate some of the ethical challenges involved for the Christian business person. I'm guessing some would say my conscience is way too sensitive (or completely off!) but these are honestly some of the things I think about. Have a good Wednesday!
A water bearer in China had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After 2 years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself because this crack in my side causes water to leak all the way back to your house."
The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."
Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. And God uses us despite our flaws and from those flaws brings forth amazing things.
Blessings to all my crackpot friends!
vali·date (val′ə dāt′)
transitive verb validated -·dat′ed, validating -·dat′·ing
1. to make binding under the law; give legal force to; declare legally valid
2. to prove to be valid; confirm the validity of; verify
Aneta blogged about smiling a few days ago and included a video (a little long at 16 minutes but worth the watch) which I've put below. It's called "The Validator" and it made me smile fiercely. It made me think about how powerful my acceptance, admiration, and appreciation of others is to those who I meet every day. So load it up and get some popcorn. Here's a little inspiration to power you for your week, enjoy!
We had some friends over today for supper, Keith and Lee and their charming (and I must say well behaved) children. It was great! After dinner (my famous homemade macaroni and cheese) Keith and I were talking about life stuff. I'm not sure how we got onto it but we were talking about being comfortable; comfortable with one's job, ministry, relationships, finances, etc. I told Keith that for myself, whenever I am comfortable for too long, my spiritual life gets worse. In fact, if you graphed it out on an X and Y axis, it would show a perfect curve. As comfort increases, spiritual vitality decreases at the same rate. Yikes!
When I'm comfortable for too long my walk with Christ begins to wither. I seek comfort and ease but the more I experience them the less I experience Christ. Sadly, I need challenges and "hard things" to keep me connecting to God. Am I happy about this? No, but its the reality I have learned to accept.
We are continually moving from comfort to discomfort and back again. Of course no one could live in discomfort and challenge for too long - eventually it would destroy them. Comfort is good and should be enjoyed providing we don't get stuck in it and spend most of our energy trying to stay in it. Does that describe you (it sometimes describes me)? Let's face it, when we choose to get out of our comfort zone we are usually at our best. To willingly risk and tackle challenges again after a time of comfort is one of the best choices we can make for ourselves and those who depend on us.
Too much comfort will eventually destroy us. And the rule doesn't just apply to individuals. Businesses, churches, and ministry teams all begin to lose their edge as soon as they live in comfort for too long. They become complacent and their "muscles" soften. And eventually they will self destruct.
At Olive Garden we got our worst guest satisfaction survey scores when we were slowest. Our best scores were received on our busiest nights when we had a full and hopping restaurant. Coincidence? I think not! Though we long for it, I believe we were not meant to be comfortable all (or even most) of the time. Perhaps if we did not have a sinful nature we could handle it, but I suspect most of us are like me. Instead of believing that a life of ease would solve all our problems I think we need to move to thinking about a life of challenges with occasional times of ease as the ideal situation. Embrace your lack of comfort - like eating your vegetables its good for you.
May Light increase!
You should never, ever try to steal a waiter's tip. If you do, this might happen. Don't say I didn't warn you!
So as I have mentioned in the past, I'm trying to decide what to do with this blog. Should I restrict it to only those I know? Or perhaps I should just stop posting about personal things? Should I stop blogging altogether? As a counselor I struggle with knowing how blogging fits with me and my profession. I'm into authenticity but I also want to protect myself, my reputation, etc.
So I'm still not sure what to do. In the meantime though I have decided to experiment by starting a new blog. I long for a blog environment that would be totally counselor centered: one where counselors can share insights, techniques, experiences (respecting confidentiality of clients of course), humor, theory, reflections, research findings, struggles, resources, job opportunities, etc. The mission of the site would be to foster community and to encourage, equip, and enlighten ourselves as counselors. This would be a private, invite only blog - that is once it was established people would have to email the administrators to get permission to see the site. This would restrict readers to those the community can confirm are counselors. I've emailed a few counselors already and have gotten positive feedback on the idea.
I'm not sure the new blog would affect this one, but I'm curious to see. In the meantime, I'm hoping to get the new blog off the ground by mid February. What do you think of this idea? And any ideas for a name? And, if you are in the helping field (counselors, psychologists, therapists, pastors, etc), feel free to contact me for an invite at markwestman at gmail dot com . . .
Charles Wigan is learning disabled. Yet he hasn't let that stop him from creating art that is simply extraordinary:
Thanks to my sister for showing me this.
