iPhone 3.0

The highly anticipated software update for the iPhone is to be launched today. If you are not an iPhone user, than this means nothing to you. Of course you can go purchase one and join the millions of iPhone owners, the third generation hardware arriving on June 19th.

My son waited in line for several hours when the first iPhones hit the stores a couple of years ago (he was 22nd in line). He and my wife bought me one for Christmas the next year, and I have to admit that I am looking forward to the cool new features that the 3.0 software update will offer.

Has my life improved with my iPhone? I would say that I am more productive, information is more easily accessible and I really like the "Old Phone" ringtone. I don't have a bunch of game apps installed, but I do text regularly to keep up with my kids. But could I do that with a lower-tech device?

Allow me to move wider in my thoughts on technology and go beyond the iPhone.

Here's a question: Do we need the neatest and the newest to accomplish what we need to get done. I am not simply talking about our jobs here. What about our "purpose", that which we have been created for and called to do? I know that many who may read this post are probably too inward-focused to consider a "life purpose" (outside of getting the neatest and newest technology for themselves).

I am not against new technology. (I have been checking all day to see if the update has been released yet. I have it now!) But to be true to myself, I need to make sure that I am using technology to satisfy my purpose, rather than using it to satisfy me.

That's my purpose 3.0.

It Rained This Morning

It rained this morning. I woke up at 5:30 to start my day with rain. Lightning, thunder, the usual suspects accompanying a rain storm. Our over-saturated ground (translation: I haven't mowed my already-long grass for over a week now because of days of relentless rain in our region) wasn't thirsty, but my wife will be happy because she planted flowers yesterday.

Traffic was a bear as I drove my daughter to school, and then to one of the local Starbucks for a meeting. A lot of horn-honking, a surplus of impatience, an excess of unwise driving decisions. In Washington, DC, tempers flare, tolerance fades, and religion gets tossed into the back seat when it storms during morning rush hour. (Actually, without the rain those actions are commonplace.)

And to what end? People will eventually make it to their offices and jobs. Sure, meetings will need to be rescheduled. Of course explanations will need to be provided to bosses. Hopefully, apologies will be offered to friends and family members who saw us at our not-so-best. (I'm pretty sure I did OK until my daughter got out of the car. I'll check with her.) The bottom line: Armageddon is not the eventual outcome of a Tuesday morning rain storm.

Oh yes, some positive observations: There were some who allowed others to pull in front of them. A few half-hearted waves to say "thank-you" were offered. Some drivers slowed down near large puddles bordering bus stops. More than half of the drivers had their headlights on (OK, a pet-peeve...sorry). I even saw a car stop to offer another driver in a stalled car some help.

A rainbow after the storm? A silver lining to the raincloud? My car's cockpit became a front-row seat to sometimes the best, but more often the worst of our culture. I got thirty-seven minutes to watch a story unfold where the actors were real-life characters, the setting was authentic, not a Hollywood studio lot, and the script was well... not scripted (though predictable). And now I am Blogging about it.

It rained this morning.

I Am The Receptionist

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Today I am the receptionist at my organization where I work. All of the ladies on our staff are having a half-day retreat away from the office, and I volunteered to cover the phones, on-site visitors and the other responsibilities that our receptionist does.

I am a proven multi-tasker, so I don't mind the juggling of multiple phone calls, visitors and requests. I normally have a pleasant speaking voice and a smile, and I try to be helpful in all of my encounters with people, so the customer service aspect of the job isn't a challenge. I guess it is the intangibles that are causing me to experience a bit of a learning curve.

Case in point: A woman called and asked to be connected with "Barbara". We don't have a Barbara on staff, and when I responded with an unsure voice (we could have hired a Barbara since I left the office yesterday), the caller realized she needed to give me more information. "She has a nice haircut," was her next statement. Hmmmm. Again I went blank. Then the caller described where Barbara sat in our worship services. Adding that information to the nice haircut clue, I deduced a name. "That's her!" the caller exclaimed. Whew!

Well that was a first for me (not the amateur detective work in locating a person's identity, but the nice haircut clue). And now if I am ever tasked with identifying a person having only the same small bit of information, I feel I will be able to identify a mystery person more readily.

Actually I doubt it.

Question: What experiences have you had that give you a new poerspective on what others do? Share your thoughts below in comments.

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I Remember Art Class

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For some reason, I was remembering my seventh grade art class the other day. I don't remember much about my seventh grade experience, but for some reason, I remember what I learned in art class.

I distinctly remember the teacher (I think it was a she) teaching us different art styles (impressionism, modern, cubism, expressionism, realism, surrealism, etc.) in a way that obviously had an effect on me (hey, I was able to list those styles).

After she had taught the different styles over a period of weeks, she asked us to draw pictures of the same object, representing those styles. Same subject, different styles. She told us to choose something we liked. I, being a typical 13 year old boy living during the Vietnam war, chose a jet fighter, much like the ones I saw on the news every evening.

Here's where the impact was made on my life: she asked us to draw pictures of a subject we liked, as opposed to an assigned subject. Sure my F-4 Phantom jet looked unusual in an impressionism style, but I remember to this day what impressionism art is!

What's my point? I was greatly influenced by a person who allowed me to be a part of the learning process, simply by allowing me to choosing a subject for my drawings. Our influence can be greatly expanded by involving those whom we influence to be part of the learning process. I would call it ownership.

Question: Who are you letting be an owner? Share your thoughts below in comments.

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Say Less, Mean More

We sure do talk a lot. We live in a world of talking heads, talk radio, cell phones, chat rooms, Twitter, text messages, instant messages, status updates, comments on updates and comments on tagged photos. Whether we use our mouths, our MacBooks or our thumbs (pro texters will follow that), countless words leave us and move through the atmosphere and through cyberspace.

Often what we have to say is important. Many times it is complementary to what another has already shared. Sometimes it's just plain rhetoric. In the end, it is up to us to determine if what we have to say is really worth saying.

I remember once getting caught by my mother in a lie (I was a young boy of eight). After she confronted me on the issue and asked if I had done the deed , she said, "Be careful with what you say." Well I wasn't careful and Mom knew it wasn't the truth. Needless to say, I paid the price. (I can't remember what I did - I just remember the consequence for my lying.)

Maybe Mom's advice isn't just for eight-year-old boys who have the opportunity to lie. Maybe we all ought to consider to "Be careful with what you say." Maybe we'd say a lot less, but it would mean a lot more.

What's Your Story?

Everyone has a story. Some people's stories are exciting and full of life. Some people's stories may seem bland compared to others. Some people try to "create" an interesting story for themselves (the 15 minutes of fame syndrome) so they will be memorable.

Some people are great storytellers, spinning elaborate yarns about great adventures in far away places that make what they are telling about come to life. Some people simply tell about what has happened to them, and although it may not enthrall us, it is still a story. And everyone has one.

Everyone has a story, regardless of who they are and where they have been, how they have lived and who they have met. Sometimes they are real. Sometimes they are imagined. It's these stories that are the basis for books, films, conversations and instruction. Sometimes the telling of stories is the way history is passed from one generation to the next.

Not too long ago, one of my sons told me to tell him some more of my stories. I received it as a compliment. My life and experiences had found a place in his imagination where as I told the story, he could join me in his mind and live with me in the story.

What's your story? What has happened in your life? Who have you met? What great adventures have experienced? Remember, everyone has a story.

Perhaps the greatest story you could tell would be about the greatest, life-changing experience or relationship you have ever had. For me it was when I encountered Jesus Christ in my life. Now all of my stories revolve around that one. My wife and children are the other great experiences for me. That's my story.

What's your story?

Taco Bell's Fourthmeal

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Taco Bell's newest marketing campaign boasts the concept of the "Fourthmeal, the meal between dinner and breakfast." They go on to say you can "satisfy your late night cravings with Fourthmeal: crunchy, melty, spicy and grilled."

Often I wonder if our culture drives our advertising, or if our advertising drives our culture. Are Americans already filling their stomachs four times a day, or will people watching late night television see the Taco Bell commercial and think, "What a great idea!" and then hop in their cars and drive to the closest restaurant?

My desire is to not get into soapboxing, but I believe that Taco Bell is capitalizing on the fact that Americans like to eat. Often. And our desire to eat makes us a nation of consumers where the average person consumes 2,175 pounds of food per year. Do we need to eat that much food?

While Americans are eating their Fourthmeal, approximately 815 million people in the rest of the world are undernourished, and over 16,000 children are dying every day from hunger-related causes.

Just think: if we ate less we could save money, have less health problems, live longer and feel a whole lot better about ourselves.

OK, now that you know where I stand on the issue of eating, what can we do? I suggest first of all that we eat less. That was easy. Maybe we could consider skipping a meal a week (not the Fourthmeal, but one of the regular three - let's take the Fourthmeal off the table!). If we skip a meal a week, we could consider giving the money we would spend on that meal to feed the hungry.

Something to chew on and digest.

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Imagine

Do you remember as a kid, lying in the grass and looking up at the clouds, imagining different things from the shapes of the clouds? A whale, a castle, maybe a unicorn. (Do kids do that anymore?)

When I was gowning up, my Mom would tell my sisters and me to go outside and play. "There's nothing to do," we'd say. "Use your imagination," was her usual retort. Use your imagination.

The Walt Disney Company has a division called Imagineering. It's main function is master planning, creative development and research. It boasts over 150 imagineers, who seek to blend creativity and innovative technological advancements to produce some of the world's most distinctive storytelling.

So what are you imagining these days? Are you using your creativity and even the technological tools that you have at your disposal to tell your story, a story, or perhaps His story?

Are you laying down in the grass and looking up at the clouds, allowing your imagination to work?

Stop And Hear The Music

A man sat at a Metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a three year old boy. His mother tugged him along hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only six people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.00 each.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the Metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: In a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

I wonder what else we are missing...

Searching For Creative Treasure, Part II

Last week I had a conversation with a colleague at the local Starbucks. I came away from our one-hour meeting with a renewed passion for creativity and even a few ideas for a project I was working on. Why? Because we engaged in conversation that drew creativity out of us.

We didn't spend all of our time talking about people or events. Rather, we exchanged ideas which in turn stimulated more ideas and our discussion was ripe with imaginative fruit, ready to be harvested.

I have always encouraged my musician children (two of which are now adults, one is about to be) to surround themselves with singers and musicians who are better then they are. Never be the best person in your band is a mantra I remind them often. Better, more creative players and singers challenge you and stretch you, bringing out from within you things that you didn't know were there.

So where am I going with this? I encourage you to engage in conversations with those who will stimulate your heart and mind to think, create and dream. Watch and ask questions of people who are better than you in your field of art and profession, especially those who demonstrate leadership qualities.

The treasure chest of ideas, thoughts and dreams is ready to be opened every time you dialogue with creative people. Lift the lid, look inside, and grab a handful of innovative treasure!

Searching For Creative Treasure

Where do you find your creativity? What stimulates your mind and heart to bring forth ideas? Where or who do you turn to for inspiration?

Sometimes the greatest ideas come from the simplest sources. Look around. What do you see? Listen. What do you hear? In your conversations, what is "striking a creative nerve" in you?

A few years ago I was asked to speak to a group of Youth Leaders. One of my topics was "101 Creative Ideas For Youth Ministry". I gave myself the challenge to come up with 101 new ideas to share. My goal was not to just share ideas, but to show that creative ideas can come to anyone, anywhere.

Here's what I did: I sat in my office, and using only what I had in my office (without reading some of my books full of creative ideas), I began to create a list of ideas. In just under two hours, I had 101 new ideas listed. I went back and wrote a brief description on how to use the idea to teach and minister to teenagers, and then I was ready.

You can find ideas. Just look, just listen, just think... just create!