Everyone needs a boost now and then–and there is nothing like a great story from the past or a clear picture of a preferred future to get you back on pace. When it comes to stories that bring real goosebumps, the ones that resonate most are the stories and history of real people. Here are a few great stories from yesterday and today plus a classic illustration to overcome the drag of discouragement and the tyranny of the urgent.
To view the five clips, click (more…)
Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men: "You can handle the truth!"
It is easy to draw a bright line on an issue. I suppose we like the clarity of either judging someone or giving them license to do whatever they want. But truth AND grace together takes a bit more effort.
To put it differently, it is natural just to curse the darkness. I have seen countless emails forwarded that simply take personal shots at national leaders. On the other hand, far too many of us shrug shoulders at the accelerating decay of our national identity. Our responses are too excessive–harsh or light.
Grace AND truth are hard to keep together. The AND-part is what trips us up. We know how to hammer people and we know how to let them off the hook. But how do we hold people accountable in a gracious way? How do we extend grace while remaining anchored in the truth? Here are keys to speaking the truth in love–to keeping AND in your vocab.
“No snowflake in an avalanche feels responsible.” - Voltaire
I am never surprised how composed and mature we can make ourselves sound in the midst of conflict. We know all the right answers. Whether it is husband and wife or two people who barely know each other, often when I am in a mediating role the players all sound convincingly innocent.
Reminds me that I too am prone to dodge the heart of the matter. I lean hard on my own intuition and believe my own press releases. Sometimes even when we turn to a trusted confidant, we paint ourselves in the best light, looking for validation and justifying the neglect of “the forgotten rule.” Some of us even use the Bible to gain the moral high ground while avoiding the main thing. What is that thing?
A Fable about tough love
In his book, Friedman’s Fables, the author uses shocking imagery to tell stories of hard truth. In one tale, he describes two men walking towards each other on a bridge, one carrying a rope. The man with the rope ties it around himself and hands the slack to the other man before jumping over the bridge. The man on the bridge calls down to the bridge-jumper and says, “Pull from your end and I will pull from mine, and we will get you out of this.” The dangling man say, “No. I am entirely in your hands.” The man says he cannot physically hold onto him much longer so they both need to make an effort. He refuses, to which the first man replies, “I accept your choice,” and releases the rope.
A similar situation in the news… (more…)
The 5 Love Languages Gift Edition by Gary Chapman
The Seven Conflicts: Resolving the Most Common Disagreements in Marriage by Tim Downs, Joy Downs
