Sometimes out there beyond my reach
Is something that escapes me.
It causes me to walk the floor
Wondering what I don't see.
It's like there's something I should do
But, don't know what it might be
And so, I go from here to there
Looking for the right key
To unlock the thing that's out there --
Maybe something I should do
And I would do it gladly --
This thing that really bugs me.
Instead I get so restless
Thinking I am missing something
That I bounce from here to yonder
And annoy those around me
While I never stop the searching
For this thing that I can't figure
That causes such disquiet
Way down deep inside me.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Traveling and Blogging
It seems the traveling season is peaking over the next few days -- then a short break. I hope. It is Omaha tonight and meetings here in Nebraska tomorrow. Friday it's an early flight to Charlotte and a short drive to Hickory, NC, for the North Carolina Cattlemen's Convention. Saturday afternoon I drive to Nashville and will spend a leisurely Sunday there. Then on Monday it is the short drive to Bowling Green, KY, for the Mid-South Stocker Cattle Conference. Tuesday night I return to Nashville and then fly home on Wednesday -- one week from today.
Packing for trips like this is a pain. Fortunately, I don't have to include anything formal -- just jeans and shirts. The cattle industry is good to us who prefer blue jeans to a suit -- or even to business casual. I can wear jeans to nearly any event and be appropriately dressed.
I had the opportunity to work in an industry where a suit and tie were expected every day of the week. In fact, I was working in that industry when the opportunity came along to do what I am doing today. The company that I was with sold and the new owners expected us in the sales side of the business to wear a suit and tie every day. I could have made a LOT of money if I had stayed in that business. Money isn't everything though. Along with the suit comes the people that you have to deal with in that business (notice that I haven't mentioned what industry it was). I was happy to trade the big bucks and the suit for less bucks and blue jeans. Especially when I considered the people.
The cattle industry has some of the best people in the world working in it. I am fortunate to know many of them scattered across the country. As I have stated in a previous blog post, there is no other industry where you could do hundreds of thousands of dollars of business over the telephone on trust alone.
Well, so much for the rambling thought tonight. Stuck in a motel room in Omaha leaves one with little to do other than work or blog. Hmmm....come to think of it, that's one of the reasons I took up blogging in the first place!
Packing for trips like this is a pain. Fortunately, I don't have to include anything formal -- just jeans and shirts. The cattle industry is good to us who prefer blue jeans to a suit -- or even to business casual. I can wear jeans to nearly any event and be appropriately dressed.
I had the opportunity to work in an industry where a suit and tie were expected every day of the week. In fact, I was working in that industry when the opportunity came along to do what I am doing today. The company that I was with sold and the new owners expected us in the sales side of the business to wear a suit and tie every day. I could have made a LOT of money if I had stayed in that business. Money isn't everything though. Along with the suit comes the people that you have to deal with in that business (notice that I haven't mentioned what industry it was). I was happy to trade the big bucks and the suit for less bucks and blue jeans. Especially when I considered the people.
The cattle industry has some of the best people in the world working in it. I am fortunate to know many of them scattered across the country. As I have stated in a previous blog post, there is no other industry where you could do hundreds of thousands of dollars of business over the telephone on trust alone.
Well, so much for the rambling thought tonight. Stuck in a motel room in Omaha leaves one with little to do other than work or blog. Hmmm....come to think of it, that's one of the reasons I took up blogging in the first place!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Fullness
Sometimes I just get in one of those pensive moods. I dive into my head and think about things a little bit farther toward the deep end of the pool. You know, where you can barely touch the bottom if you're standing on the tips of your toes.
Today, I posted the following on Facebook.
"If Jesus came to give us life -- and not only that, He wants us to experience it in all its fullness -- why do we settle for mediocrity??"
Yeah, it seems a little strange to quote yourself, but, in the interest of accuracy, I am quoting my "status" on Facebook from earlier today.
Do you ever wonder what He meant by experiencing life in all its fullness? I do.
I think sometimes that it was a reference to the purely Spiritual. At other times, I think He was referring to experiencing a small piece of the Kingdom of God while still on this earth. Then, at times, I wonder if He meant something else altogether.
I guess that's where I was today when I posted that. OK, I guess that's still where I am. I think He meant something that has been lost in the jumbled thinking of today.
Perhaps it is that same jumbled thinking that makes me wonder about the concept of the fullness of life. Maybe I'm pulling a little science fiction/fantasy into my thinking. Or, maybe science fiction/fantasy, in one of its many manifestations, is drawing from a reality that we are only sometimes vaguely aware.
The Matrix, for example. Does it touch on a reality that we somehow sense? I don't mean literally that there is a world of machines that controls the human race -- what we think, do, say -- but, does it touch on the Spiritual aspect of our being? Is there a duality to our nature? Is there a Spiritual realm to which we are attached and yet only occasionally vaguely aware?
What if we could learn to more deeply touch the Spiritual? I don't mean seances or talking to ghosts or something like that. I mean truly getting in touch with LIFE -- that aspect of living to which Jesus referred. Life Everlasting. Eternity. Our Spiritual being.
We are so trapped and therefore blinded by our physical self that we fail to nurture the Spiritual aspect of our being. Only when we begin to feed the Spiritual self do we grow in that area. Just thinking....
But, there is more to us than just the physical and the Spiritual. There is also the mental and the emotional. We are made up of four aspects to our nature. Rare is the individual who is truly rounded in all of those aspects -- the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. What if we truly nurtured and fed all of those aspects of our being? Could that be the "fullness of LIFE" that we should be experiencing but, don't?
Hmmmm....too far into the deep end for me. I'd better return to the shallower water. I might find something important if I keep going.....
Today, I posted the following on Facebook.
"If Jesus came to give us life -- and not only that, He wants us to experience it in all its fullness -- why do we settle for mediocrity??"
Yeah, it seems a little strange to quote yourself, but, in the interest of accuracy, I am quoting my "status" on Facebook from earlier today.
Do you ever wonder what He meant by experiencing life in all its fullness? I do.
I think sometimes that it was a reference to the purely Spiritual. At other times, I think He was referring to experiencing a small piece of the Kingdom of God while still on this earth. Then, at times, I wonder if He meant something else altogether.
I guess that's where I was today when I posted that. OK, I guess that's still where I am. I think He meant something that has been lost in the jumbled thinking of today.
Perhaps it is that same jumbled thinking that makes me wonder about the concept of the fullness of life. Maybe I'm pulling a little science fiction/fantasy into my thinking. Or, maybe science fiction/fantasy, in one of its many manifestations, is drawing from a reality that we are only sometimes vaguely aware.
The Matrix, for example. Does it touch on a reality that we somehow sense? I don't mean literally that there is a world of machines that controls the human race -- what we think, do, say -- but, does it touch on the Spiritual aspect of our being? Is there a duality to our nature? Is there a Spiritual realm to which we are attached and yet only occasionally vaguely aware?
What if we could learn to more deeply touch the Spiritual? I don't mean seances or talking to ghosts or something like that. I mean truly getting in touch with LIFE -- that aspect of living to which Jesus referred. Life Everlasting. Eternity. Our Spiritual being.
We are so trapped and therefore blinded by our physical self that we fail to nurture the Spiritual aspect of our being. Only when we begin to feed the Spiritual self do we grow in that area. Just thinking....
But, there is more to us than just the physical and the Spiritual. There is also the mental and the emotional. We are made up of four aspects to our nature. Rare is the individual who is truly rounded in all of those aspects -- the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. What if we truly nurtured and fed all of those aspects of our being? Could that be the "fullness of LIFE" that we should be experiencing but, don't?
Hmmmm....too far into the deep end for me. I'd better return to the shallower water. I might find something important if I keep going.....
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Into the Deep Water
Walk with me now
Into the deep water
Where only by faith we can go;
Where held in the warmth
Of supporting embrace
The strength of our God we will know.
Walk with me now
Into the deep water
Where love and forgiveness shall reign;
Where cleansing begins
To take out the stains
So only the light will remain.
Walk with me now
Into the deep water;
A place we are never alone.
Where hope lights the fire
Of life in our hearts
Reflecting the power of God's throne.
Walk with me now
Into the deep water
Where Jesus has traveled before
To draw us into
His presence so pure
And dwell with Him there evermore.
Into the deep water
Where only by faith we can go;
Where held in the warmth
Of supporting embrace
The strength of our God we will know.
Walk with me now
Into the deep water
Where love and forgiveness shall reign;
Where cleansing begins
To take out the stains
So only the light will remain.
Walk with me now
Into the deep water;
A place we are never alone.
Where hope lights the fire
Of life in our hearts
Reflecting the power of God's throne.
Walk with me now
Into the deep water
Where Jesus has traveled before
To draw us into
His presence so pure
And dwell with Him there evermore.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Safe Haven
When life's storms seem to overwhelm
As though we may have lost the helm
There is a place where we can sail
With love so deep it never fails;
A place of peace,
Of safety, blessed;
Where we can go
To find our rest.
When candle's fire is burning bright
And either end is shedding light;
As in our quest for happiness
We find our fire is growing less,
We've need for peace,
Of safety, blessed;
Where we can go
To find our rest.
Though some may look askance and say,
"This should not be, there is no way
That peace could come from such a place,"
They've never known abiding grace
Where we find peace
And safety, blessed;
Where we can go
To find our rest.
From such a place we leave recharged
To face the world, our faith enlarged.
Though part will linger in that place
We rise and feel upon our face
A lingering peace
From safety, blessed;
Though now we find
No longer rest.
For now we know the storms will come;
Our path is sure, from safety sprung.
And strength is ours though heavy laden
As on we charge from our Safe Haven.
As though we may have lost the helm
There is a place where we can sail
With love so deep it never fails;
A place of peace,
Of safety, blessed;
Where we can go
To find our rest.
When candle's fire is burning bright
And either end is shedding light;
As in our quest for happiness
We find our fire is growing less,
We've need for peace,
Of safety, blessed;
Where we can go
To find our rest.
Though some may look askance and say,
"This should not be, there is no way
That peace could come from such a place,"
They've never known abiding grace
Where we find peace
And safety, blessed;
Where we can go
To find our rest.
From such a place we leave recharged
To face the world, our faith enlarged.
Though part will linger in that place
We rise and feel upon our face
A lingering peace
From safety, blessed;
Though now we find
No longer rest.
For now we know the storms will come;
Our path is sure, from safety sprung.
And strength is ours though heavy laden
As on we charge from our Safe Haven.
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