Here’s how they celebrate Christmas in Minnesota. Enjoy!
A word of hope from Jason Castro
November 22, 2011 By 3 Comments
My family and I saw Jason Castro perform the other night. He was appearing just three miles from our house, and we liked him well enough on American Idol (Season 7, fourth place), so we went.
I liked him, more than I thought I would. He’s laid back, a little shy, and very approachable. He waited around after the concert and spent a few moments with anyone who wanted to visit with him.
Jason was appearing at Bethany Bible Church. The audience size was respectable, but not huge – maybe 400 to 500 people. He’s writing and singing a lot of Christian music these days, but he mixes in a lot of secular material as well.
One thing he said really struck me, and I think I can quote it verbatim: “Everything’s going to be OK in the end, and if everything’s not OK, then it’s not the end.” That’s a very simple statement of belief, and yet very profound. Above all, it’s the optimistic view that good will win out. The same optimistic tone was found in Martin Luther King’s statement that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
When I think this week about what I’m thankful for, I’ll put seeing Jason Castro on the list. His appearance was a nice ray of sunshine at the start of the winter season.
Which quotes give you a sense of hope? Let me know.
Here’s my favorite quotation. What’s yours?
October 19, 2011 By 2 Comments
(Originally published Nov. 3, 2010)
There’s a current LinkedIn discussion in which people share their favorite quotations. If you like this sort of thing, check it out here.
Mine comes from Peter Kreeft, a philosophy professor at Boston College who often writes about religion and theology. He once said: “Conservatives hate questions. Liberals hate answers.” Conservatives usually like things the way they are and aren’t apt to change quickly. As a result, they’d rather not have a lot of questions asked about the status quo (unless the status quo has drifted away from the way things were).
Liberals, on the other hand, often are all about the search. They’re not likely to say, “This is it! This is THE ANSWER. I have found it!” Kreeft sees the liberal affliction as the worse of the two. Refusing to acknowledge a solid answer that stands before you is foolishness, he believes.
Of course, there’s a third way. Never be afraid to ask challenging questions, because it’s the only way you learn. But never be afraid to acknowledge an answer when it hits you in the face. There are times when the journey takes you to your destination, and when you get there, you should revel in it. There aren’t many people who walk the third path, but they’re the ones who make a difference, I think.
Other good quotes from the LinkedIn discussion include:
- “What happens to a man is less significant than what happens within him.” -Louis L. Mann
- “It isn’t what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.” -Dale Carnegie
- “Thought is cause, experience is effect. If you don’t like the effects in your life, you have to change the nature of your thinking.” -Marianne Williamson
- “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”-Yogi Berra
- “Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.” Albert Einstein
Take a moment to share one of your favorite quotations. I’d really like to know!
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