Greater Than What Divides

This week I hosted a get together for a bunch of church AV techs in the area.  We are all part of a big Facebook group for church sound and media techs around the world, but we get together occasionally at a local church to have fun and get to know each other.  We have people from mega-churches and from small churches, volunteers and paid professionals.  Our backgrounds are different, our churches are different, and our opinions are different, but I've discovered that our similarities are far greater than our differences.

As we get to know one another, we discover that the issues we face are all the same.  We all have failing equipment and diminishing budgets.  We all have grand visions and less-than-grand resources.  We all have a heart that strives to give excellence to our God who is worthy of the best. 

When we really get to know each other, we often discover that we are more alike than we are different.  That doesn't mean the differences don't matter, but it does mean that our differences don't have to divide us.  When we choose to build on our similarities and see issues from a different perspective, we can discover new ideas and new relationships.

I have gained support and encouragement from others who understand the struggle.  I have learned from others’ mistakes and have shared my own.  I have learned more about my faith by talking with others who believe differently.

There is much to be gained from others if we will take the time to get to know them.  There is a real beauty in our diversity.  God never intended for His church to be all hands or all arms; we are a diverse body of different parts that all work together for a common goal.

Chad Hess

Talent & Practice by Richard Hickam

I have had a number of discussions with parents lately about getting their child to practice, so I thought I’d write a blog this week on talent and the art of practicing:

I often get told how talented I am and asked “just how many instruments do you play?” People have this idea that I came out of the womb with a guitar in one hand and a saxophone in the other, playing a lovely duet to my mother from birth. The truth of the matter is that every single detail of my musical life has come from practicing. I am borderline obsessed with practicing different instruments all the time.

Lately, I have been reading a great book by Daniel Coyle entitled 52 Tips For Improving Your Skills. The book is filled with clever, quick tips that seem part Stephen Covey and part Stephen Colbert. Mr. Coyle analyzed hot beds of talent throughout the world and looked at common traits from a variety of fields. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Stare at who you want to become - Covey’s keep-the-end-in-mind is a rationale that works to keep the ship heading to its destination.

2.  Spend 15 minutes a day engraving a skill on your brain - If you can spend 15 minutes for 30 consecutive days on a specific small task, you’re on to great things!

3. Steal without apology - The year is 2014; learn from the past . . . from everyone.

4. Buy a notebook- Keep a record of what you are doing . . . in detail.

5. Be willing to be stupid - Taking chances is the only way that great things happen.

As you can tell, it’s a great book that I would highly recommend for yourself or others on the conquest of developing a skill. A few other suggestions that I’ve garnered from my years of teaching:

* Play in a group - Individual practicing only goes so far.  Playing music with friends is one of the greatest conversations in the world.

* Find another adult to encourage your child - Receiving outside encouragement is like compound interest on an investment.

* Having a child-friendly teacher is wonderful, but make sure it’s not all fun and games and that good, sequential learning is taking place. Sometimes honesty is a difficult and necessary companion to growth.

* Perhaps the single biggest component to practicing is taking the time to practice slowly. Most young people love to play fast through everything. If you can isolate a problem and play it 10x correctly, you will be ahead of the game.

What does this have to do with spirituality? Well, think of these tips in regards to Bible study, or memorization, or your prayer life. The art of practicing has many applications.  I challenge you to pick up some of these tips and put them into practice today!

Richard Hickam

In a Place Where Joy and Sorrow Meet by Tami Cinquemani

My first grandchild (a girl) will arrive any day.  Knowing how anxious I am about this impending miracle, my daughter now texts me before she calls me:  “Going to call you.  I’m not in labor.”  She knows me well.  She understands that seeing her name on my cell phone will instantly send my heart racing, and she wants to avoid any unnecessary craziness from her mother.

I have a dear friend whose mother recently reached the end of her battle with breast cancer that had painfully metastasized to her bones.  For weeks I had been waiting for that phone call.  Each text or call steeled my heart to the impending grief.

What a strange place to be . . . waiting in a place firmly planted between anticipated joy and anticipated sorrow.  Wanting to be by the side of my daughter as well as my friend – sharing what is before them.

In Romans 12:15 Paul says, ^“Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.” 

Then it goes on:  “Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!” (NLT)

I’m not sure if it’s what Paul originally meant, but this advice makes perfect sense to me.  “And don’t think you know it all.”  Isn’t this essential if we are to deserve the privilege of joining others in their most raw and intimate moments?

If I approach her side with answers, counsel, advice, and sometimes even “the perfect scripture,” what I offer my friend after she has lost one of the most important people in her life can quickly morph from comfort to increased pain. 

If I don’t honor my daughter’s and son-in-law’s natural gifts of parenthood and feel pressed to share MY experience, MY wisdom, and MY ideas without an opinion being invited, I could easily dampen the insane joy of new parents and wear out my welcome before I even arrive.

How wonderfully relevant are Paul's words as we share life’s unpredictable journey.  Whether it is in joy or in sorrow, when the call comes, I simply check my pride at the door and be the person they’re glad they called.

Tami Cinquemani

Enjoying the Journey by Tami Cinquemani

My family took a road trip this past week.  Our son completed his master’s degree at a university in Michigan, and we drove up north to load him up and move him back to Florida.  Unlike many (more sane) families who make this long of a journey, we make as few stops as possible, driving through the night until we arrive at our destination – a total of approximately 20 hours.  

My driving shift on the return trip took us through the Smokey Mountains at around 2:00 am.  It was dark, and only a vague shadow of these beautiful mounds could be seen.  As anxious as I was to get back home, I was disappointed that the view was wasted.

My game plan for staying alert during the early morning hours consisted of a large Panera coffee and podcasts from my iPod; it was a winning combination.  One of the podcasts I enjoyed was a sermon given by Leonard Sweet at the Kentucky Chapel of Asbury Theological Seminary.  Len told the story of the only eight individuals in history who could honestly say they were students of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  Dr. King was asked to teach a class on Social Philosophy at his alma mater, Morehouse College, in 1961.  This class had been open to the entire student body, but only six men and two women signed up.  

These students have periodic reunions to share the privilege of the experience . . . and the regret at what they missed.  You see, not one of these students thought to save a syllabus or a graded paper from the class.  Not one has a photo with their instructor or any evidence at all that they took the class beside their name on a register as taking the class and the fact that they received a grade.  So many people passed up the opportunity to be a student of Dr. King, and those who did take the class mourn the fact that they saved nothing – partially due to the fact that even a signature from this great man demands about $10,000.00! Len commented, “One of the worst things you can say about anybody is that greatness passed by, and they missed it.”

It’s like driving through the Smokies in the dark and completely missing the greatness right in front of me.  It made me consider how mindless we, as Christians, can sometimes be about the greatness that God puts in our path.  There is a world before us of beautiful creatures created by God.  But we may not see them because we find it hard to accept what we have so long believed to be unacceptable. They genuinely know and love Jesus but experience him with different disciplines, different expressions, and sometimes even different biblical understanding.  The longer we insist “true Christians” must read the Bible, live their faith, or worship exactly like we and/or our ancestors did, the more likely we are to miss the opportunity to experience the greatness they have to offer.

We may be heading in the right direction, but whether we like it or not, the Smokies are a necessary pathway.  If we take a good look and embrace what’s before us, I think we’ll get a beautiful view of the greatness of God . . . and maybe learn to better enjoy the journey.

Tami Cinquemani

Running God Off The Road by Tami Cinquemani

I consider myself a very submissive driver.  I don’t get angry when people make mistakes.  I don’t rush to red lights.  I give the right of way at non-signaled intersections, and I always yield to cars signaling to enter my lane.  There’s nothing that frustrates me more than drivers who are either too distracted or too much in a hurry to allow others to merge.  The people that especially make me shake my head are the ones who actually speed up so you can’t get in front of them. 

I wish I could say this attitude carried over into my spiritual life.  But it doesn’t.  If my mind is set on something, I have a very difficult time slowing down to let God’s plan merge into the path I’ve set before myself.  Truth be told, sometimes I even speed things up, pretending I don’t even know He’s there trying to get my attention.  I’m like a child who plugs their ears and hums a tune when a parent is seeking their attention.  I don’t yield well when things don’t seem to be going my way.

History has proven to me the truth of Jeremiah 29:11:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

But that doesn’t seem to make a difference when the next situation arises where God and I don’t see eye-to-eye.  I try to trust – I really do.  I try to yield to the One who sees the beginning from the end.  But it’s hard – and sometimes it really hurts. 

I guess it comes down to the question of who is better equipped to be in the driver’s seat.  I can reach for the steering wheel, or I can fall to my knees.  I do know that I can’t do both.

 Tami Cinquemani