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coffee October 27, 2010

EmPulse for Week of Oct 25, 2010

coffee

I don’t need coffee. Really, I don’t. I like coffee—good coffee, that is; but I don’t need it. I merely enjoy a mug of good coffee every day. Usually two. JUST WHAT DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT WHAT I AM SAYING!?! Ok, so I fear to talk with God (or anyone else) without at least two mugs in me, that doesn’t mean that I’m dependent on it! Does it?

The caffeine in coffee is a stimulant. Surprisingly, there are 115-175 mg of caffeine in every cup of drip coffee, versus 100 mg in a cup of espresso. Hum. There are also antioxidants that aid in preventing liver cancer and other diseases. The coffee bean (or seed) is grown in over 175 countries around the world, making coffee one of the most traded commodities in the world. Most people drink coffee for the quick energy boost it provides. Others, drink it as a cultural practice, or as a moral responsibility. However you see it, coffee seems here to stay as both a stimulant and as a means for social networking.

In recent years there have been a number of spin-offs from coffee to further enhance our stimulation. Ice coffee, lattes, espressos, caramel macchiatos, and even coffee lozenges; stimulation without the social dynamic, as it were. But our need for external stimulation doesn’t end there. We also have Gatorade, Red Bull, and Power drinks, all loaded with enough salt and/or sugars to fuel your adrenalin-rush to reach earth orbit. Exercise (running especially) does the trick for others. But most of us just chug down yet another mug o’ joe to keep going for yet another hour.

It’s almost as if we have all become addicted to adrenalin-rush. Do our lives feel so flat that we need that little extra “umph” to lift our spirits and improve our performance? So, other than coffee (the elixir of the gods), what kinds of things stimulate you to that enhanced life you crave? Sex, drugs, rock ‘n roll? Extreme sports? Speed (automotive)? Compassion for our world’s dismissed peoples? The will to win, to be the best you can be? To please God? To serve your country, your family, your faith? Or just to be independent and depend on no one else… ever.

After a time, many of us slowly seep into a kind of unconscious humdrum of life’s responsibilities. We are blind to the vibrant colors of the sunset over the deep green of a forest. All we see are all the trees that need to be cleared. It becomes simpler to look down at what we’re doing than to lift our eyes to the road ahead; and so we lose our way in the everyday. Stimulation, therefore, plays an important role in our lives…, but maybe from a different class. JOY lifts our hearts. LOVE makes us fly. TRAGEDY teaches us the importance of the little things— of caring, of spending time, of reexamining our priorities and interpersonal relationships. PRAISE kindles our resolve…, & pats us on the back a little. GOING FOR IT teaches us endurance and perseverance. PAIN reminds us or our frailty. FAILURE reminds us we need others. FEAR reminds us we need God.

So after you’ve had your third cup of java today, try one of the other kinds of stimulant in your life. I use PRAYER to realign focus. And MUSIC.  But right now I could really use another Latte.

Have a nice week.

Gary

Why not go out on a limb… October 19, 2010

Why not go out on a limb…

One of the most clever insights I’ve ever heard comes from the usually sardonic lips of one Samuel Clemens (a.k.a.- Mark Twain). Why not go out on a limb!?! That’s where the fruit is. It truly speaks to the human dilemma— anything of value in life involves some risk. Similar to Nothing ventured; nothing gained. Too many of us in this entitlement culture have grown used to things being handed to us. Actually, we expect things to be handed to us. No need to work for something. Nothing ventured; it will be given to you. So we learn to live in the expectancy that everything will work out in our favor. Striving, sweating, burning the midnight oil, or going out on a limb are all just asking too much of us. So we go down, and down, and down…, and expect rescue from…? Maybe the fruit doesn’t hold the same appeal for all of us.

When I was in college there was this tree that had been blown over by a wind storm so that its branches hung partly into the Hudson River. It had not died in the fall; rather, it had fought to grow in the new situation in which it found itself. That tree was an inspiration to me. I would often climb out on its trunk, lie back against a branch and ponder and plot my future. The tree became a place of solace in times of pain, a seat of learning as I formulated my life-philosophy, and, just as often, a place to feel the warmth of the sun on my face on a cold winter’s day. That tree is gone now, taken out to sea by an ice flow. But not before it had taught me that I, too, need to learn to go out on a limb if I am ever to accomplish anything of worth.

Granted, some of us are “high risk,” while others are “low risk.” But if we never make a move toward the fruit, we hazard the possibility of breaking the limb by merely staying in one place and gaining stagnant weight. Thus the question arises about our individual foundation, our inner core, our ability to desire, to trust, and to take a risk. Do I have such a solid base within that I can risk going out on a limb externally, for all to see, to go for the fruit? And to what extent does maintaining a healthy relationship with the God who made you make a difference? Might it solidify your foundation, or provide you with a reference point in the core of your being, or effect your ability to desire something, another, anything, or even to trust in yourself, and/or God? Call it risk, call it taking a chance, call it faith— just do something other than sit there.

So why not go out on a limb? That is where the fruit is!  Personally, I prefer to go for the peaches.

Have a nice week.

Gary

afterlife October 12, 2010

EmPulse for Week of Oct 4, 2010

afterlife

What will you be like when you are dead? People have been obsessed with this question for millennia. Ancient Egypt established the afterlife as a destination, a passing over to another realm, at least for the worthy (or wealthy). Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259 BCE – 210 BCE) did take it with him— 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, all in earthy terracotta. Dante Alighieri’s 14^th century Divine Comedy describes for us the Nine Circles of Hell (Dante’s Inferno)— Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, Wrath, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery; as well as a depiction of Heaven as the Four Cardinal Virtures— Justice, Fortitude, Prudence, and Temperance, coupled with the Three Theological Virtues— Faith, Hope and Love. Hinduism offers us Reincarnation, Islam— Paradise, Christianity— Heaven (or Hell, depending). And postmodern scientific uncertainty— well, uncertainty, or nothingness, or, just the end. Then there are those Near Death Experiences, when people seemingly return from beyond and tell us of visions of light, a tunnel, even Jesus. Hum. Oddly, they report that it is the little things in life, kindness, caring, touch, forgiveness, that truly matter.

What seems amazing, though, is how much energy we expend on preparing for death, or at least for retirement. It’s all about protecting ourselves, isn’t it. Nothing wrong with that, of course; but history reveals just how obsessive we can become with it. On the other end of the spectrum are those who live for the moment. Future be damned! Live for NOW. This disregard for the consequences of our actions, though oft pleasurable, has its own built in self-destruct machinery. Obviously, we need to establish a happier, more sensible middle arrangement.

Though most religions offer us some revelations of the afterlife, most can be considered to be speculative, metaphorical, or at best, scant. Even within my own faith, Biblical Christianity, the descriptions of the afterlife usually describe encounters with God the Father, Throne Rooms, Judgment, etc. Even if these descriptions are merely metaphorical, versus actual, they are enough to give me pause about my own position before a Holy God. Shouldn’t we be giving our energies to making a difference in this life, on this planet, in the lives of some of those we know, and some we don’t know— quite yet! I’m not living my life, being good, to avoid Hell, or to gain a reward in Heaven. I live my life as honorably as I know how, as compassionately as I can be, and as in line with the principles set-up by God at Creation for this world to run smoothly.

As long as I am alive, I want to be someone who makes a difference in other people’s lives. (I’ll probably drive God crazy when I’m dead.) How ‘bout you?

Have a nice week.

Gary

weebles wobble October 4, 2010

EmPulse for Week of Oct 4, 2010

weebles wobble… .

Weebles is a trademark for several lines of children’s roly-poly toys designed by Hasbro‘s Playskool Division, premiering, July, 1971. Shaped like eggs with a weight at the fat, or bottom end, they wobble when pushed, but never fall completely over, hence the name and the slogan “weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down.” Weebles were re-introduced to our society in 2000 and have continued to wrap themselves around toddlers’ hearts, not to mention their not-as-steady parents.

My kids loved Weebles. They would teeter-totter, roll over, flip upside down… almost, or bounce down-stairs, and never, NEVER fall down. They always landed right-side up. Eventually our kids caught on to the idea or righting themselves and kept their balance as well, thus leading to adulthood (minus the wobbly teenage years) and, in due course, productive, creative lives.

Many of us are like Weebles. We bounce around in life, flip over, and somehow manage to land upright, resilient, no matter what we do. This is a gift; don’t mess with it. Others of us aren’t quite as Weeble-like. We, too, wobble around in life…, but we never seem to land upright. Why is that? With Weebles, it is because they are weighted at their bottoms. (And no, I’m not going there.) It is because their center of gravity is such that it stabilizes them to always upright themselves. With we homo erectus types it is much the same. If we have a center, a foundational weight that anchors us in life, we tend to right ourselves more readily than those who have no such center or foundational grounding.

So, as you begin your daily foray into the fray ask yourself some questions.

• Am I aware of my foundational center? To what extent does it influence my behavior, work attitude, and relationships with those around me?
• How do I know (epistemology) my center is grounded in real-reality, versus wishful fantasy?
• Does my faith in my foundational center work for me, really? Will it work for others? Why? How?
• On a 1-10 scale, to what extent do I wobble in life? How can I find sure-footing, stability, Weeble-like re-righting?
• Is there some spiritual substance, some sacred reality I need to plug into to make more sense of where I am right now?
• Does my faith carry me through dark waters? Is it based in enough concrete history and present-day demonstration to be truly real ?

Sorting through the Weeble-wobble of daily decisions and life challenging events is no simple matter. Having a central core, founded in real-reality, integrated into the simple and complex traffic of our lives is essential, these days, just to get by. None of us have the luxury of going off to work, to household management, or into silent hibernation without a deep, rich core of confidence in something that will carry us through.

Have a nice week.

Gary