Don't waste time.

"Life is short.
Be swift to love!
Make haste to be kind!"

-- Henri F. Amiel

I've attached a very special photo of my Mom & Dad holding and kissing each other on their 50th wedding anniversary. It moves me to tears to look at it and will forever be one of my favorites. My Dad could hardly breathe at the time, especially without his oxygen, and yet he clearly gets this powerfully simple message about life and love, and he moved in swiftly for this one. Way to go, Dad! Talk about a picture being worth a thousand words. My wish for all of us who are struggling mightily to find truth - that one pure and simple truth that connects us all - is that we find it in time to savor the experience with those special someones in our lives. I am so happy my Mom & Dad are there.

Plumb the depths

"We will find our hidden wholeness, on which effective contemplation-and-action depends, only if we are willing to go down and into our lives, not up and out of them as we are often urged to do."

-- Parker Palmer, in The Active Life

"Every year that I live I am more convinced that the waste of life lies in the love we have felt but not given, the powers we have identified but not used, the selfish prudence which will risk nothing, and which, while shirking pain, misses out on happiness as well."

-- Mary Cholmondeley

So, J.S., we went "down and into" together yesterday, resisting every urge to go "up and out of," and you were great. I really admire you. We identified both the hidden love (especially for yourself) and the hidden powers. Once it's all clearly written down, and you fall in love with your vision, you know your demons will flare up, seemingly working overtime to destroy you. The work will be to be proactive - to take bold risks in hunting them down, to forgive all of them for everything, to love them, to brave the agonizing pain of change, ... and to come alive.

Charm and grace

“For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1: 6 and 7)

Has God placed in your heart the desire to do something really big for Him, but you’re just not sure of your footing or His leading? This verse gives us the criterion to measure our ambition against His calling.

1. Power Has God given you a vision of what He wants done? Has He provided you with some — perhaps not all — of the direction, skills, and resources required for the road ahead? This, then, is the power He has given you through His Holy Spirit. Go with the power God has provided. He’ll send the rest.

2. Love Has God given you a love and concern for the people to whom you will minister or assist? Some people want to do great things, but only to promote themselves, not the Kingdom of God. If God has given you a desire to selflessly serve, then go for it, for that is an important signpost of His guidance.

3. A sound mind God is notorious for asking people to do things that seem a little nutty or strange at first - surely risky, but sensible in the spirit. Your “sound mind” will recognize that God is asking you to take a calculated risk on His behalf, while always trusting that He is God.

When God is calling you to something big, He will freely show you all the risks. He will not promise to give you what you desire or to minimize your pain on the journey,
but He will give you free access to all of His power, love, and wisdom when you most need it in doing His work.

-- Rebekah Montgomery

On Tuesday of this week, I worked with a woman in the Woodlands to co-create her Life Plan, and in gathering input for her personal vision I asked her if she had a favorite quote or lyric or verse she'd like to see on her cover page accompanying the theme we identified together, and she gave me the above Bible verse. She didn't know exactly where it came from in the Bible, so I went out to search for it. I not only found the words, in 2 Timothy 1: 6 and 7, but I also found this elegant expansion of those words in a language that clearly spoke to the hearts of not only this woman, but several other people who I've met with since. Two words that showed up for me in describing A.L. in the first line of her vision were "charm and grace," and how appropriate that these words were perfect reflections of those things. Thank you, Rebekah, for providing just the right words at just the right time to collaborate with A.L. and me in making this favorite verse come alive for her and for so many others. It is an honor to be a simple messenger, vs. author, today.

And while we're on the subject ...

“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile that moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral."

-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

So yesterday I spoke of "being the real you," and then my dear friend, John, showed up and, sure enough, he was busy being the real John, doing what he's meant to do, what he's called to do, and it sure takes on the look and feel of true "cathedral building," in the inspiring words of Bill Shore. John is building a beautiful "cathedral" called Curious Parents, and he just recently came across an extraordinary business opportunity to "grow his cathedral," doing God's work with his life, and this opportunity requires a significant sum of money as a bridge loan, and he asked me if I knew of anyone with the kind of money he needs that would be willing to lend it to him for a short period. My ego said, "stay away from this request," because I know I'm afraid to ask for help that I think is "too much to ask," and then I remembered that this is God's work going on here, not mine. Come to think of it, it's not even John's (he's simply the steward). Nothing is too big, and nothing ever happens if you don't ask. So I asked him to write a brief summary of what he needs and why, and I told him I would put it out there to see if anything showed up, and here's what he sent me. If someone out there can help him, please contact John directly. Regardless, please all join me in celebrating a good man surrendering to his calling in life and going for it. After all, this community is about "inspired living," and I can't think of many stories more inspiring than what John's created here as a way to stay true to what he cares about most - his family.
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Jim:

Curious Parents has an opportunity to acquire another parenting publication in a major city in the Northeast US. The aquisition would significantly increase Curious Parents business and enable it to reach a broader audience of parents and families. The acquisition would broaden CP's reach to the number one and number four advertising markets in the US. CP can aquire the candidate publication for a purchase price of $4.5 Million. The current ownership is willing to hold a note for $2 Million. CP is seeking a six month bridge loan of $3 Million (approximately 3-4 times EBITDA) by 9/30/2003 and will repay the bridge loan when it secures long term financing for the acquisition. Any help you can provide in finding an interested party would be greatly appreciated.

Curious Parents is a media company in the Philadelphia region which publishes 3 monthly editions of a local parenting magazine and publishes a website www.CuriousParents.com. Curious Parents publishes local information and resources for inspired parenting. We seek out and publish the Good News that is interesting to parents, in the belief that modeling good and constructive outcomes and behaviors will create more of the same. Curious Parents publishes information and resources to assist parents and families in the areas of Education, Healthcare, Parenting, Summer Camps, Enrichment Programs (Music, Art, Dance, Drama, Academics and Athletics), Childcare, Nature, Safety, Birthday Parties, Entertainment and Books/Reading. Curious Parents focuses on publishing LOCAL information and resources so that the information, advice and articles are immediately useful to our audience.

Curious Parents publishes 3 monthly editions of the magazine covering:

Philadelphia and it's Pennsylvania suburbs
Southern New Jersey from Princeton and Trenton southward and including Philadelphia's NJ Suburbs
Lehigh Valley, including Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton and the Pocono Mountain Region in Pennsylvania

Curious Parents magazine reaches approximately 330,000 moms each month and approximately 250,000 people visit the Curious Parents website each month.

Regards,
John (jpiccone@curiouscorp.com)
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P.S. For those of you who are starting or growing a new enterprise, this is what being stretched and tested looks like, in the tough work of "growing" while staying true to your vision. Good luck, John, and keep me posted.

Come alive!

"Seek out that particular state of mind which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, 'This is the real me!'. And when you have found that attitude and hear that voice, follow it with all your heart."

-- William James

Wow, I'm starting to really tap the power of the archives, now that I've been doing this for over 4 years. I can't believe it, really, that there's anything I've been doing consistently, every day without fail, for over 4 years! So, I had a meeting with a few people yesterday where the consistent theme was listening for and acting on this small, tentative voice inside, until it becomes a loud, booming, confident voice and, sure enough, there was William James just when I needed him, from an old message I sent out in September of 2000 to a small fraction of you (you were only about 100 at the time, and you're now well over 400). So, for those of you out there beginning to hear that soft, whispery hint of your future that you've been longing for, you can feel free to use me as the tuning and volume dials on your heart's receiver.

And yes, I am up this early because of Little Miss Heather, who feels like hanging out on Daddy's lap at 4:00am this morning. Methinks she is a soft, whispery (and grunty and squirmy) hint of my future.

Two simple laws of relationship - the power of One

"No two people can fight if one refuses to; any two people can love if one chooses to."

-- Yours truly

I woke up this morning feeling it was time for a repeat out of the archives and, sure enough, this one was sitting there from this same date in 2000, just screaming for repetition. Lately, I've been working with a number of people about both aspects of this quote (one's power in a relationship to radically transform difficult conflicts when they show up and to radically generate unconditional love whenever it disappears), so this fits the purpose of group affirmation quite nicely. I love it when it works out this way. And please read deeply into this message to realize that it's not offered lightly. This is about allowing God to use you for powerful work. The former part does not refer to avoiding or running away from conflict, or "turning the other cheek," or "being a door mat," just as the latter doesn't refer to "caving" to please others, or "sucking up" to get what you want. This is about the "real thing" in both cases, where either half produces the possibility of the whole.

People often make light of powerfully transformative relationship work, because they doubt or question God, or themselves, or their ability to cooperatively make this kind of difference. They become cold, cynical, defended, and hard-headed in the face of difficult relationship issues, "all-knowing" about what's so about that other person. In reality, intentionally melting this icy posture from the inside gets one closer to the truth of the matter than anything the other might do or say. So, the key question becomes, "Do you want to be right or effective in your relationship with this person?" Isn't it interesting that if you focus on the former you're often neither, and if on the latter you're often both.

Authentic power

True strength is not the ability to control (or impress) people or accumulate things. ... Authentic power is neither fusion nor control, but the ability to bring about real interconnectedness of healthy, whole beings."

— T. Inbody, The Transforming God

I am offering this to a dear friend who sometimes seems a little confused about what, and who, is truly "powerful." I believe YOU are powerful, T.A., and that you demonstrated this power last week while bringing about "real interconnectedness" of me and A. (two of your biggest fans), and that you occasionally get lost in the "illusion" of power in others (leaving you feeling scared and small) when you are disconnected from the "real thing" in yourself. So, stop it now, OK. Claim your authentic power, own your relationship with God and your own personal ministry (notice how your tests keep showing up?), and get to work. The world needs your unique and very powerful gift.