groundwork

Thought for the Week - 06/21/09

A barn raising is a community effort. It’s something that’s done to aid a family - often more than one - with one of the most labor-intensive and expensive parts of getting settled domestically. It’s something that’s built collectively, because it’s an impossible task for just one person (or even a handful of people) to complete. It literally takes a village. And without barns and the group effort to build and tend to them, the community itself will suffer.

Communities - online and off - are ecosystems of their own, too. They’re not built. They grow, and they have to be collectively nurtured in order to survive. They don’t just exist without tending, and the people that make that happen are NOT the “community managers”. They are the community members themselves.

We can agree on that part, right? Okay good. Now here’s the rub.

If you are a member of a community, and if you are asking for and expecting the benefits of that acceptance, you have a responsibility to contribute to the community in a constructive manner.  It is your responsibility to ensure that you build instead of tear down. It is your responsibility to steward the health and future of that community as one of its inhabitants.

                                                             - Amber Naslund - Our Responsibility to Our Communities

Thought for the Week - 03/22/09

Anyone who desires to achieve and become successful most be like a fine craftsman: committed to excellence.  A great craftsman wants you to inspect his work, to look closely at it's finest details.  In contrast, sloppy people hide their work.  And it anyone find fault with it, shoddy workers find fault with their tools.  Which are you most like?  Excellence means doing your very best in everything, in every way.  That kind of commitment will take you where half-hearted people will never go.

            - John C. Maxwell

              (Today Matters, pg 163)

Thought for the Week - 12/14/08

Wonderful things in the Bible I see, most of them put there by you and by me.

- credited to an elder of the Plymouth Brethren in Ireland.

Thought for the Week - 12/07/08

To every person there comes in their lifetime that special moment when you are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to you and your talents.

What a tragedy if that moment finds you unprepared or unqualified for work which could have been your finest hour.

                      - Winston Churchill

Thought for the Day - 11/23/08

Our self-centeredness is deep.  It is so brutally idolatrous that it tries to domesticate God himself.  In our desperate folly we act as if we can outsmart God, as if he owes us explanations, as if we are wise and self-determining while he exists only to meet our needs.

                            - D. A. Carson

Thought for the Day - 11/16/08

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being.”

        –Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Thought for the Day - 01/16/08

Earlier this morning, I was working on plans for an upcoming meeting with our local church leadership.  I came upon the following quote in one of my 'quotes to remember' files.  I thought it would be a good thought to post on our leadership blog.

I also thought that others would benefit from pondering the following quote as well.  The quote provides some excellent food for thought!

"When we communicate, if we have integrity, our intent cannot be to deceive.  Integrity means avoiding any communication that is deceptive, full of guile, or beneath the dignity of others.  A lie is any communication with the intent to deceive."

     - Steve Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, page 197

And now to get a bit personal...

Please excuse me today while I get a bit personal...

I was sad to read about the death of one of my favorite musicians, Dan Fogelberg .  He died yesterday after a difficult struggle with prostate cancer. 

His music provided much of the soundtrack of my life - especially during my time at college.  I remember listening to his albums Souvenirs, The Innocent Age, and Windows and Walls on my cassette player while studying late at night.  Tina and I have seen him play live a couple of times.  He was a fine songwriter, an excellent musician, and an outstanding performer.

I find it extremely sobering and shocking that he was only 56 years old.

Dan was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2004.  He posted the following note (he called it a sermon!) on his website after his diagnosis. 

I cannot encourage you strongly enough to get a DRE (Digital Rectal Exam) and a PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test EVERY YEAR.

The medical community suggests this for men over 50, but men with a family history of prostate cancer should start getting tested at age 40.

The PSA test is a simple blood test...it only takes a minute or two. The DRE, okay, every man squirms at the thought of this exam, but hey, it too takes only a minute or two, and IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE.

Prostate cancer can be very slow growing or very aggressive, but detected early while it is still confined to the prostate gland, it can usually be treated and cured successfully.

Once it spreads beyond the prostate it is called Advanced Prostate Cancer (PCa). At this point it becomes imminently more life threatening and harder to treat. Do yourself and your loved ones a huge favor and GET CHECKED REGULARLY. I promise you, you DON’T want to go through what I’m going through if you can avoid it.

Fogelberg's cancer was considered stage 3 when he was tested. The news posted on his website about his death yesterday morning mentioned that he died peacefully with his wife Jean at his side. 

I recall that I was tested after reading the note concerning his diagnosis in 2004.  And it was not a big deal but I was extremely glad that I did it.  And to the men who may be reading this - and I can't stress this point enough  - please take the time to consider his advice.

I apologize in advance to those who may find this a bit too personal.  But I thought that this was something that was important to share today.

Thought for the Day - 11/04/07

  There are only two ways to live your life.  One is as through nothing is a miracle.  The other is as though everything is a miracle.

                     - Albert Einstein

Thought for Today - 05/17

The virtue of obedience makes the will supple.  It gives the power to conquer self, to overcome laziness, and to resist temptations.  It inspires the courage with which to fulfill the most difficult tasks.

                     - John Vianney