A very merry Christmas to all of you — and thanks for your reading and commenting this year. A conversation falls apart if only one side is there, so I want to make sure you know I appreciate your lending me your attention.

Christmastime is here with all of its longing and all the ache of unfulfilled hope. It can be a time of unparalleled joy — a real rip — but for many people I know, the season is a mix of high and low. This is something of a choice, and I want to challenge you and me to focus on the tremendous upside that is Christmas.

I am not talking about a new guitar (ahem), outdoor gear, or any present under the tree. Instead, I challenge us to look beyond the reactive trappings to see the reality that set all of them in motion. Here’s my message to you:

Once upon a time there was no need of Christmas

When the world was very young, our first parents were innocent and free. They had responsibility for the entire world — to rule over it, to enjoy it, and to fill it — under the authority of God. Even better, they had face-to-face fellowship with their loving creator.

God told them they could have food from any tree in the paradise that was their home except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God explained that to eat of this tree would bring death. If you’re familiar with the Old Testament book of Genesis, you know that Adam and Eve did, in fact, eat that forbidden fruit — inviting and deserving the consequences. And such consequences! Lying, cheating, blame-shifting, stealing, killing, and dying, along with every sort of sickness and pain came when humanity fell. My sources say that the expression, “This sucks,” originated soewhere around that time.

But God, even though He would have been right to do it, didn’t give up on His image-bearers. Instead, He set in motion a plan of redemption that unfolded over hundreds of years. He chose a people for Himself and saw them through slavery and deliverance, faithfulness and rebellion. He sent sages, judges, and prophets — along with His divine law — to outline and to underscore man’s futility and inability to save himself and to point him back to God.

And at the point it seemed all was lost, God made good on His word. He fulfilled the long-awaited word of the prophets by invading time and space as a helpless baby — the fullness of deity in human form — ultimately to ransom fallen men and women from their bondage to sin. If you haven’t read it lately, here’s the Biblical account according to Luke that establishes the time and place of the pivotal moment of history, the night Jesus Christ the Messiah was born.

The Birth of Jesus
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.
⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Luke 2:1-20 (NIV)

The point of it all

So you see — our chaos, our brokenness is why Christmas exists. Let’s let it go to our heads — not because we’re good or we deserve it, but because at our worst God loves us so much that He gave His son Jesus.

In my short life, I have seen the world deliver the message repeatedly that we’re on our own. It isn’t true. Christmas proves it. It can be hard to see underneath the advertising and the desire to strip the season of its spiritual significance, but the substance of it is there if you have eyes to see it.

What if it’s all make-believe after all?

I assure you it isn’t, but consider the following. In C.S. Lewis’s The Silver Chair, Puddleglum the Marshwiggle is fighting off the enchantment of the green witch who has enslaved the prince and taken him and his young charges captive. As he extinguishes the witch’s magic fire with his foot, he delivers the following:

“One word, Ma’am,” he said, coming back from the fire; limping, because of the pain. “One word. All you’ve been saying is quite right, I shouldn’t wonder. I’m a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won’t deny any of what you said. But there’s one more thing to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things-trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that’s a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That’s why I’m going to stand by the play world. I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia.”

So let us live like Christmas people and celebrate the God who came to demonstrate His love for us by laying down His life for you and me. Merry Christmas!

So how about you? How do you intend to celebrate this Christmas? Add your comments below.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
-1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)

From the time my first son was born I have been a fan of C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia.  During my sons’ formative years, we probably read through the entire series — aloud — at least seven times.  This does not include the various other times I read one or another of the books for the enjoyment of it.

In book five (according to the copyright date — don’t get me started) titled The Horse and His Boy, we encounter a character who, despite his brief appearance in this one volume, made a real impression on me.  I am referring to King Lune of Archenland, a model of manliness as I hope you’ll see in the following passage:

“The King’s under the law, for it’s the law makes him a king.”

“As was certain to happen sooner or later, King Lune said it was time for young people to be in bed. “And tomorrow, Cor,” he added, “shalt come over all the castle with me and see the estate, and mark all its strength and weakness: for it will be thine to guard when I’m gone.”

“But Corin will be the King then, Father,” said Cor.

“Nay, lad,” said King Lune, “thou art my heir. The crown comes to thee.”

“But I don’t want it,” said Cor. “I’d far rather–”

“‘Tis no question what thou wantest, Cor, nor I either. ‘Tis in the course of law.”

“But if we’re twins we must be the same age.”

“Nay,” said the King with a laugh. “One must come first. Art Corin’s elder by full twenty minutes. And his better too, let’s hope, though that’s no great mastery.” And he looked at Corin with a twinkle in his eyes.

“But, Father, couldn’t you make whichever you like to be the next King?”

“No. The King’s under the law, for it’s the law makes him a king. Hast no more power to start away from thy crown than any sentry from his post.”

“Oh dear,” said Cor. “I don’t want to at all. And Corin– I am most dreadfully sorry. I never dreamed my turning up was going to chisel you out of your kingdom.”

“Hurrah! Hurrah!” said Corin. “I shan’t have to be king. I shan’t have to be king. I’ll always be a prince. It’s princes have all the fun.”

“And that’s truer than thy brother knows, Cor,” said King Lune. “For this is what it means to be a king: to be first in every desperate attack and last in every desperate retreat, and when there’s hunger in the land (as must be now and then in bad years) to wear finer clothes and laugh louder over a scantier meal than any man in your land.”

–C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy in The Chronicles of Narnia

As a man, you are made to exercise your masculine strength.  If you’re called to be a husband, your mission is to be her head and to lead your wife toward ever-increasing Christlikeness.  If you’re blessed to be a father, your mission is to teach your children and train them in right living under the grace of God.  This type of spiritual headship has been described as a man’s being the king of his castle.

If you’re a leader — a king —  here are four concepts I offer for your consideration, based on the example of good King Lune.

Even kings are under authority

King Lune submits to the law, making him a moral and just leader.  If you read the entire series, you’ll understand that in the fictional realm of Narnia, there are laws because there is a transcendent law-giver.  So Lune wouldn’t have tried to change the law even if he wanted to. This is consistent with the saying that we are a country of laws, not men.  Everyone is subject to the same standard, even the king.

A king has a duty – he is not his own

Everyone in Archenland has his role.  As Lune points out, it isn’t a matter of what he, his son or anyone else prefers.  If your job is to be king, then by all means rule.  The monarch can’t shirk his responsibilities any more than a soldier or a sentry in the king’s army can be derelict in his.  As Robert E. Lee said, “You should do your duty in all things. You can never do more, you should never wish to do less.”

A king leads from the front

As Lune explains to his son what it means to be king, he models a concept known as leading from the front.  A good king is first in every charge, and the last man in every retreat.  He puts his own life on the line in battle, since it is by his authority that the kingdom is at war.  If there are hard times, he bears them with his subjects and doesn’t exempt or isolate himself from the suffering in his domain.  The motto at the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School is Ductus exemplo — lead by example.

A king sets the tone for those in his kingdom

Note that King Lune is no politician. He doesn’t promise never-ending prosperity, and he recognizes that bad years will come.  He understands and articulates that in those circumstances a good king doesn’t go into hiding.  Rather he brightens his attitude and those of his people by force of his optimism.  He wears fine clothes and laughs despite the lack of food on his plate because he has hope.

A husband and a father needs to be strong before his wife and children in this same way.  They are looking to their leader — you — to set the emotional and spiritual tone in good and bad times.  I personally couldn’t do this without God’s help, but I do it because I have hope

So how about you?  How do you — or how do you intend to — wield your authority in your domain?  Add your comments below.

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” – C. S. Lewis

In two recent posts under this same title, I summarized the message of Roy H. Williams’ and Michael Drew’s book Pendulum: How Past Generations Shape Our Present and Predict Our Future. As I explained in Part I, the thrust of the book is that history unfolds in cycles — like a pendulum — through forty-year arcs from what the authors refer to as a “Peak Me” phase to a “Peak We” phase. The period from a peak We to the next peak We  — one round trip — is roughly eighty years, and the authors claim we are heading for the next peak We in or around 2023 — less than six years from now.

The apex of a We cycle brings an over-the-top emphasis on conformity for the common good, stifling individuality, and suppressing individual liberty. Unfortunately, according to the authors, it always goes to extremes, bringing witch hunts and bloodbaths.

In Part I, I laid out the reasons why I think the current conditions in the US support the authors’ hypothesis. In Part II, I discussed how I think the unpleasantness might show up. Today, I want to offer some thoughts and encouragement on how we ought to live through difficult and dangerous times.

Is there light at the end of the tunnel? We’re going to find out!

Tough times aren’t anything new

First, it’s important to remember that this generation will not be the first to live through a peak We, or even the first to endure hard times. A family member with whom I was discussing this series pointed out that although World War II was a time of excessive violence and conformity, there was also a great deal of wholesome unity as Americans banded together to endure hardship and support the war effort. This observation is correct, and it neither rebuts nor excuses the internment of Japanese Americans in camps.

The potential for overreach notwithstanding, I believe it is possible for faithful men to live honorable, courageous, and fulfilling lives even in the midst of trouble. Consider the persecution of the first-century church at the hands of the Roman Empire. Christians rejected the empire’s demands that they confess Caesar as lord, and they suffered condemnation and martyrdom as a result. Even so, the apostles Peter and Paul each wrote that Christians were to submit to the authorities,  and more – they were to pray for the emperor. If you are unclear how hostile the relationship was between the empire and the church, take a look at the emperor Nero and the persecution he visited on followers of Jesus.

Options = strength. Strength = options

Making it happen

Your mindset matters

Love your neighbor (yes, that one) — If you’re on board with sowing good seed to help your community hold together, let’s go back to the Good Book. “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” goes back 3,000 years — and that’s still the best advice. To love your neighbor when things get dicey, you have to get to know him now, before things get difficult.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵ Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. ⁶ Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. ⁷ But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” – Jeremiah 29:4-7 (ESV)

Bridge the divide — Find ways to establish common denominators with your opposite numbers. No, you can’t make people love you but you can model godliness. Previously, I referred to Charles Murray’s book, Coming Apart, and the trends he cited that signified a growing separation between college-educated and non-college-educated Americans.

Emphasize and live in the theology of the body — Recognize that we need each other and we need to be able to cooperate with people who are different from us.

¹² For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸ But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, ²⁴ which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, ²⁵ that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. – 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

Give space — Don’t be the moral busybody Lewis mentions above. Even if — especially if — you disagree with someone, let him be free to have his opinion without fear of reprisals. The gravest provocation is the one that hounds a man for his private thoughts. Speech codes and political correctness, along with employment practices that result in firings for saying or believing the “wrong” thing, .

We don’t get to choose the time or place…

Theoden: I will not risk open war.
Aragorn: Open war is upon you whether you would risk it or not.”

A man on a mission has to be on his guard, as there are obstacles and enemies that would thwart his purpose. Bandits will try to rob him, women will try to seduce him, fatigue will try to overpower him and even his appetite will attempt to sidetrack him. If he is at his best, and he remembers the reason he left home in the first place, he will see each challenge for what it is. He will then know best how to overcome it.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself
(photo by Rodion Kutsaev)

I have said before how much I love  The Chronicles of Narnia — C.S. Lewis’ series of fantasy novels about a world parallel to ours where animals talk, mythological creatures are real, and the king is a lion named Aslan. In the fourth* book in the series, titled The Silver Chair, two English children find themselves taken from their oppressive school to a mountaintop in Aslan’s Country. Here they receive a charge from Aslan himself to go on a quest for a lost Narnian prince.

Remember the signs

Aslan tells one of the children, Jill Pole, about the quest, and he gives her four signs to help her and her companion, Eustace, stay on track. Aslan demands that Jill repeat the signs over and over, and he tells her to continue repeating them often. He explains that the air on the mountain is clear, but that she will find it harder to remember them in the denser air of Narnia.

No spoilers here

The remainder of the story deals with the adventures that ensue from Jill and Eustace’s remembering or failing to remember the signs. There is so much good there, I’m not remotely tempted to ruin the story for you — you really should read it, though.

Also, I can’t tell you what sort of pitfalls await you on your journey, but I can tell you that no one I know sails a straight course through life. Our air is dense, too, and it is easy at times to forget and fall into trouble. Some hardships result from our poor choices, some from the whims of others, and some from living in a fallen world. I do believe that God is able to use them all to accomplish His will — even our failings — but we must be honest with Him and with ourselves.

What’s in it for you?

On multiple occasions, I’ve encouraged you to discover your purpose and to decide to live a life of consequence. I’ll stand by that advice. One way to help you see the benefits of this is to imagine you are a guest at your own funeral. What would you like to be remembered for? How do you hope your loved ones would sum up your life? What would you want your legacy to be? I hope all of your answers to these questions would be good ones. If they aren’t, it isn’t too late to get busy correcting them. No matter where you are relative to that ideal ending to your body of work, they key is to remember the signs.

Here’s your sign

For most of us, the principal signs are our purpose, our gifts and our relationships. Understanding why you are alive will animate your decisions — what you say yes to and what you refuse. Your gifts are the tools to help you fulfill your purpose and complete your mission over the course of your life. And your relationships provide the context, the teachers and the teammates for your life’s work. So, how do you know if you’re on track?

Go to the mirror, boy

I believe in working on strengths is more productive than focusing on weaknesses. Even so, there are some weaknesses one should work to overcome. In these cases, being willing to confront the need honestly — and calling it by its real name — is the first step to vanquishing it.

If you’re stuck, ask yourself what’s holding you back. If it’s fear, admit it and attack it. Have the difficult conversation you’ve been avoiding. Ask her out. If it’s ignorance or lack of skills, devise a plan and devote the time to do the work and — this is important — measure your progress. Keep a log. Don’t fudge.

Long before he was an action hero, or the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger was a bodybuilder. On his way to domination of that field, he was dissatisfied with his underdeveloped calf muscles, so he cut off the legs of his sweatpants so everyone would see those puny calves. This motivated him to train them harder, and his fame in bodybuilding set the table for his subsequent careers in movies, politics and movies again.

A little help from my friends

Part of the benefit of relationships is the opportunity to hear the truth from people who love you. A genuine compliment is great, but sincere constructive criticism is even more valuable to defeat self-deception.

An executive I know just subjected himself to a 360-degree review — a management tool where one’s peers, superior(s), and subordinates offer candid critiques of a colleague in order to reinforce what he is doing right, but also to point out those deficiencies that hinder his performance. This process is not for the squeamish or the easily offended, but it can be just the tonic needed to deliver a man from his self-deception. I’ve already seen my colleague make some significant changes as a result of this process. I hope he’ll continue improving.

The kindness of the surgeon — and Simon Cowell

Nobody I know enjoys criticism, but if you trust the motives of your critics, their words can save you years of frustration. The concept, as we’ve discussed before, is understanding the difference between what hurts you and what harms you. Even with modern anesthesia, surgery hurts. But, the purpose of surgery is to heal, not harm. The pain is unfortunate, but necessary, to accomplish the ultimate goal. Criticism can also sting but ultimately it can benefit you.

I haven’t spent much time watching “American Idol,” but I always marveled at the audition episodes. Candidate after candidate would walk confidently into the room, open his or her mouth and — stink the place up. Simon Cowell (God bless him!) would interrupt the embarrassing spectacle and tell the would-be performer that he or she simply could not sing. The most deluded would then have the gall to argue with Cowell regarding his lack of discernment regarding their “talent.”

May God give us ears to hear when we’re off-pitch — and friends to tell us the unpleasant truth when we can’t hear it for ourselves.

So how about you? How are you examining your purpose, your gifts and your relationships to determine whether or not you’re on course? Add your comments below.

*The fourth book in the series by copyright and publication date. Lewis wrote the books out of sequence relative to Narnian time, and toward the end of his life defended the publication order as the correct order for the reader.

“The Christian and the Materialist hold different beliefs about the universe.  They can’t both be right.  The one who is wrong will act in a way which simply doesn’t fit the real universe.”
— C. S. Lewis

A sound worldview is an under-appreciated aspect of living a maximized life.  To be sure everyone has one — the question is, does the worldview he has correspond to the world in which he lives?

The late Chuck Colson did more than anyone I know to explain the significance of a worldview generally, and why it was so vitally important to have a biblical worldview.

When the game is over, it all goes back in the box

Colson explained that to have a biblical worldview was to view the whole of life through the lens of scripture.  That is, one examines the four principal questions of our existence in light of what the Bible teaches. Those four questions are as follows:

1. Where did we come from?
2. What is our fundamental problem?
3. What is the remedy for our fundamental problem?
4. How should we live?

The Bible frames the answers to these questions with the following words:

• Creation
• Fall
• Redemption
• Restoration

Creation

The Bible teaches that God — the infinite, personal God — created the heavens and the earth and filled them with all kinds of creatures.  At the head of the created order, God placed humanity, on whom He had stamped His likeness.  We refer to this as the imago dei — the image of God.  So from the beginning we can draw two important inferences — 1) God is the maker and ruler of everything there is,  and 2)  There is something divinely different about human life because of the imago dei.

Fall

It wasn’t long after God placed the man and the woman — Adam and Eve — in the Garden of Eden, that they exercised free will and broke the one and only rule God had given them.  Specifically, they were not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Even though they knew it was wrong, they chose to eat it anyway.  This created a fourfold disruption of the harmony that had existed at creation.  From then on, there was conflict between man and nature, between man and woman (and among people generally), between man and himself, and most tragically, between man and God.

Here we can see that our fundamental problem is that we are in rebellion against the owner of the cosmos.  His judgment of us is correct, because He gave us perfect bodies in a perfect world and we rejected it and God with it.  And because we offended a loving and just God, He must punish our disobedience.

Redemption

Even at the moment of man’s rebellion, God was not about to give up on us.  Once God had established His covenant with Abraham and promised to make a childless septuagenarian into a great nation, he increased their number and even delivered them from slavery in Egypt.  He gave them His law — proving His love and faithfulness despite multiple betrayals.  He sent prophets to tell of the coming king who would bring about the kingdom of Heaven and no longer hold men’s sins against them.

And as those who celebrate Christmas know, at the figurative confluence of Athens, Rome and Jerusalem — where a common language, an  effective system of roads and commerce and a prevailing and ascendant monotheism were in place, Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem.

Understand that this was God in human flesh — one man with two natures, fully human and fully divine —  and totally without sin.  Only He could die in our place and satisfy the claims of divine justice on behalf of all who would believe.  And, as we celebrate at Easter, Jesus conquered death through His resurrection.

Here then is the remedy for our fundamental problem.  Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we can be reconciled to God.

Restoration

The purpose of Jesus’ incarnation, death and resurrection is not to give us a do-over.  It is not to erase the slate of our lives so we can mark it up again.  If you’re His, you’re absolutely forgiven forever.  Believe it!  But His purpose was to restore the harmony and perfection that was ours when the universe was brand new.  For this reason, every disciple is to live in gratitude and conduct himself in such a way as to make earth as much like Heaven as possible.  The real Heaven, the new Heaven and the new earth are still ahead, but our mission is to live as if it’s already ours.

Is There a Difference?

In their book unChristian, Gabe Lyons and David Kinnaman report that roughly 84% of Americans identify themselves as Christians.  However, no more than 9% of Americans can be said to have a biblical worldview.  Could this explain why the attitudes and behaviors of Christians are so hard to distinguish from the population at large?  For you to be the best version of yourself possible, I urge you to cultivate a biblical worldview — and for Heaven’s sake, live it.

So how about you?  How will you cultivate — and live according to — a biblical worldview?  Add your comments below.

“When we are out of sympathy with the young then I think our work in this world is over.” – George McDonald

Recently, I ran into a former colleague and her high school aged son. As we caught up, I asked the young man about his plans following high school. He replied: “College, of course!” He’s an intelligent fellow with intelligent parents so I’m not surprised. What was pleasantly surprising was that he’s seriously thinking about taking a path we’ve discussed here before — taking his first two years at the local technical college before transferring as a junior to a state university. Since he’s thinking about a career in healthcare, this is a sound plan.

The changing nature of work

As the end of 2015 approached, I read many articles predicting the future technologies that will affect our lives this year and beyond. Some are amusing. Some are alarming. Some seem beneficial, and some are hard to categorize. The fact is that due to technology, economics, politics, and demographics the kind of work we do and how we do that work will change. The question is, what can a man do today to be prepared for the likely changes?

Working hard or hardly working?
Photo by Joseph Booth

Seek education

One of the ways you can avoid poverty is to stay in school. According to 2012 data (the most recent I could find), high school graduates earn a median income (that is, the middle of the range of incomes) of just over $29,000 per year. Add a two-year Associates Degree, and the median income increases to nearly $38,000/year. The median income for a bachelor’s degree is over $50,000/year. Not only does having a degree lead to higher earnings, unemployment among those with a bachelor’s degree remained low throughout the worst of the great recession.

Now for the disclaimer: A degree is not like a lucky charm. You have to work to earn it, and once you have the job, you have to deliver a consistent return to your employer that is greater than your pay. To do this, not all degrees are created equal.

STEM the tide of unemployment

Degrees in the STEM fields — that is, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics — will put you in demand. The US lags behind in educational attainment in science and math, and this is creating problems for companies that will hire you if you have what it takes. If you’re suited to it, I recommend pursuing a two or four-year degree in a STEM-related discipline. Hint: These majors don’t usually end in the word “studies.”

As you consider your formal education, think first about the career you want as it fits within your life’s purpose. Then investigate the educational prerequisites for that career, and evaluate how your interests and your giftedness line up with these fields of study. Then pursue a degree with the best fit. You’ll fare better this way than if you pursue a course of study based on the starting salaries of holders of a given degree. Yes, getting paid is important. And earning enough to recoup the cost of your education is also important, but life is about more than what you earn.

But also seek wisdom

While STEM degrees are needed in our increasingly technologically saturated marketplace, and the STEM departments in most institutes of higher learning are blessedly free of the corruption of political correctness, you must also make time to cultivate the architecture of your soul. No doubt there is wonder in the periodic table, and grandeur in the laws of physics, but you owe it to yourself to read the great works of western civilization under the leadership of a wise and honest instructor.

So I strongly recommend that you also study literature, language, history, philosophy, and the arts. Read Aristotle, Homer, and the Bible. In doing this you will, to paraphrase novelist Tom Robbins, furnish your mind like a comfortable living room instead of like an office cubicle. This will also make it possible for you to think more broadly and insightfully about the work you do and to understand the times in which you live — a valuable thing when technologies rise and fall within a short span (remember Blockbuster video?) leaving the less flexible stranded as they struggle to adjust.

Professor Gelernter explains it

Yale computer science professor David Gelernter wrote an essay recently for the Wall Street Journal titled “Machines That Can Think and Feel” in which he explained why artificial intelligence was not close to replicating human consciousness. The reason was not that computer scientists lack the skill or desire to do so, it was simply because they are currently focusing solely on the logical and computational functions that our brains can perform, while ignoring the emotional component entirely. His critique of this approach is that it is like “trying to get to California (so to speak) without ever leaving I-95.”

I would add that an emphasis on STEM disciplines that excludes the arts and humanities, faith and values would seem to be an attempt to make men more like their robotic counterparts — the same error, only in the oncoming lane. And as C.S. Lewis said, “Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.”

Avoid turk work

Note the lower-case “T” indicating I’m not referring to a nationality. Turk work is anything that can ultimately be replaced by automation. These are often pay-by-the-piece tasks that pay very little for each repetition. If you want to see an example of this, click here to see Amazon’s Mechanical Turk job board. Similarly disappointing (in my opinion) experiences are available through gig economy staples such as fiverr.com or taskrabbit.com. As I’ve written before, we should all be looking for work that exists at the apex of our purpose, passion, and potential.

For the time being, driving for one of the ride-sharing companies, such as Uber or Lyft, may provide some income, but once self-driving taxis take off, that work will also go the way of the video store. Over the road truck drivers are similarly vulnerable, by the way, as are the sign twirlers outside the tax preparation offices.

But by all means work

I know several men in my age bracket who are changing or have changed jobs. The decisions aren’t always easy, as at least one friend is having to uproot his family to start over in a new city and state. However, this move is wise as it will provide a better income and a more humane work environment. Another young man I know has taken on seasonal work as a laborer while he pursues an additional certification. I’m betting on him to come out of this ordeal stronger. If you have the choice between working and not working, work. You’ll gain credibility if your next boss sees you have a bias toward action.

Rise above the gig economy like a boss

Changes in health care and tax law have dried up full-time employment opportunities for a lot of you. Some of you are having to stitch together two or more 20-hour-a-week part-time jobs to pay the bills. The hard part is these jobs under 30 hours don’t come with health insurance. If you’re in this situation, working as a contractor, you may want to consider forming your own personal services company. One young man I know did this and was able to increase his income significantly, as his client pays the contract rate he charges. You can file an LLC in many states for as little as a couple hundred dollars. If you’re stuck in gigland, you might want to consider it.

Here’s how I’m doing it

For my part, I earned a degree in Spanish from a liberal arts college, took a sales job out of college and worked for a couple of years before going to graduate school in an applied science (STEM), which led to my working in the textile industry from graduation to the present. I also formed a general partnership with my wife to manage and operate the band we own. And, as you’ve no doubt noticed, I blog. The things I’m doing are the fruit of getting an education, going to work, delivering results, and continuing to learn. You can do these things and more — just stay aware that the market will continue to change and be ready to change with it.

So how about you? How are you preparing for the work environment of tomorrow? Add our comments below.

Update: Just this week two news articles brought this post to mind:

1. Artificial intelligence advances have resulted in machines that can beat professionals at poker. Machines’ increasing abilities to “reason” and solve complex problems will, over time, even begin to absorb what today is regarded as knowledge work.
2. Uber X is fielding driverless cars in Arizona. While the technology is not perfect (yet) the company has a human copilot in every car just in case. As these systems become more reliable, and the legal liabilities get sorted out, expect to see fewer opportunities for gig employment as a driver.

“No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.”
-1 Corinthians 10:13 (MSG)

C. S. Lewis said that if we love anyone, we make our hearts vulnerable and we will get hurt. When you’re disappointed or despondent, it can feel irreversible. You can slide into depression, and if you stay there long enough, you can get stuck in despair. This is dangerous territory, because despair is the breeding ground for suicide.

You don’t know what’s over the next hill. (photo by Jon Ottosson

Why not?

Let’s start with this guidance from me: DON’T DO IT. Do I need to tell you that you should fight this temptation with everything you’ve got? Just in case you were sleeping, let me recap the basis for rejecting suicide in four points:

1. You are made in the image and likeness of God and you belong to Him.
2. God, as the giver and taker of life, instructs us to do no murder.
3. Suicide is a rejection of God and His authority through self-murder.
4. It is permanent. As in forever.

Facts and figures

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that each year more people die from suicide than from car accidents. Of those taking their own lives each year, 79 percent are men.  Since this blog is aimed at helping men become the best possible version of themselves, let’s agree that the best possible version of you starts with you alive.

Death with dignity?

Everyone faces feelings of futility at one time or another. How you deal with those feelings is everything. The main error is in assuming that you have the proper vantage point to determine whether or not your life is pointless, or whether your pain is permanent. That’s God’s turf and it’s above your pay grade.

We compound the error by isolating ourselves and fixing on the idea that, ultimately, we’re on our own. I don’t know about you, but leaving this world lonely, bitter and afraid doesn’t sound like dignity or a relief to me.

Recognize that it is a temptation

Most sins are corruptions of good gifts. And most temptations are attempts to take the easy way. Suicide is just the logical conclusion of seeking shortcuts.

What if God is using this challenging and painful season to cultivate resilience in you? What if you’re going to need it in the future to overcome the defining challenge of your family, career or ministry? And what if someone other than God is trying to neutralize your strength — by killing you —  before you ever take the field?

You realize that you have an enemy, don’t you? The devil is on a mission to steal, kill and destroy what God loves — and God loves you. If you belong to God, the evil one can’t lay a finger on you, but he will try to seduce you into opening the door and inviting him in. The way he does this is to plant an idea and get you to agree with it. If you are looking for a job and it isn’t going well, your enemy will whisper to you: “It’s no use. Nobody will ever hire you.” Internalizing this lie is like inviting the devil into your room. It’s worth investing some time in prayer to see what agreements you may have made with the devil and renounce them before God.

Suicide can’t have you if you don’t give your mind over to it. Discipline your thoughts! Count your blessings!

What to do if you’re thinking of ending it

You know this isn’t really the answer, so please do the following:
1. Wait.

2. Tell somebody. Be 100% honest. If you’ve been considering how you’d end your life, that is a big red flag. Go somewhere where you can’t be alone. Call a hotline. Call your church. Go to a hospital ER. Don’t try to gut this out by yourself.

3. If you’re on the receiving end of this kind of communication, take it seriously. Regret is expensive. Even if it seems like a joke, ask questions — and don’t let your friend be alone.

4. You may hate yourself right now, so fight for the ones who know and love you. Taking your life may solve your problem and end your pain, but what about the problems you’ll create and the pain you’ll cause for everyone you’re leaving behind?

5. Right now may suck, but right now is not forever. Things change, but you’ll never find out if you check out before you find out how good they can be.

6. We’ve talked about it before, but you must understand your purpose. Without that, you can’t understand the value of your current hardships — or what they’re preparing you for. If you know your purpose, it’s possible you can see how this emotional or spiritual valley could be useful when your purpose is closer to its fulfillment.

So how about you? What hardship are you overcoming with God’s help? And how are you cultivating resilience? Add your comments below.

“Chastity is the most unpopular of the Christian virtues.” – C.S. Lewis

The Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies of all time.  (If you haven’t seen it, go watch it now.  I’ll wait.)

Keep the blade in its scabbard until the proper time

In a famous scene, one of the villain Vezzini’s henchmen, a Spanish swordsman named Inigo Montoya, corrects his boss.  Vezzini replies to every bit of unfavorable news with the exclamation “Inconceivable!”  After several such eruptions Montoya cocks his head and says, “You keep using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means.”

In a previous post, I encouraged you to “be a leader and try something different — chastity.”  I realize that I may not have explained what chastity is and what it is not.

Making love right

Chastity is about the proper use of sex.  For the single, chastity means waiting until marriage.  (Most people, whether they agree or not, get that part right.) For the married, it means remaining faithful to your wife — “forsaking all others” as the traditional marriage vows say.  That means you invest your sexual interest and energy  – your thoughts, affection and loyalty — in your wife and in no other woman, real or imagined.

Chastity is not lifelong celibacy

Unless you are called to singleness, chastity doesn’t mean no sex for you — ever.  Yes, celibacy’s required before marriage, but in marriage, celibacy gives way to sexual exclusivity.  By the way, the Bible teaches that husbands and wives are not to deprive one another sexually.  Our Roman Catholic friends call this the marriage debt — and like all other debts, bad things happen if it isn’t paid.

Chastity is not anti-sex

In fact, the opposite is true.  Chastity places a higher value on sex and therefore doesn’t allow for the cheapening and commodifcation of such a great gift.  These days, women’s bodies are treated like props to sell us all kinds of products.  And with the ways we are marketed to constantly, in our culture we have become consumers — consumers of beauty, consumers of women.

Chastity honors the imago dei – the image and likeness of God — that He designed into us.  The complementarity of maleness and femaleness and the attraction of men and women to each other is for our benefit. It impels us toward love and its fullest expression in marriage, but the way is not broad and lighted like a runway.

It is easier to follow the herd and to become a consumer of women, rather than the lover of one wife.  But this more difficult way is the appropriate environment to discover what God reveals about Himself through the gift of sex.

Chastity is not about what you cannot have

I follow the slow-carb diet and I’m strict about it.  Friends ask me how I eat and when I tell them, many say, ” I couldn’t do without bread.” Or potatoes.  Or doughnuts — whatever.  This is the wrong way to go about a diet, and it’s the wrong way to go about living a chaste life.  Constantly thinking about what you can’t have is a way to make you miserable, and becoming obsessed with the forbidden is a nearly flawless way to give in to it.

Chastity is about the good of the individual and the community

Author Wendell Berry wrote that sex has a communal basis — that ultimately, it’s everyone’s business.  This idea is completely at odds with what our society believes is strictly personal.  But look at it this way: God gave human beings sex to be a picture of the love He has for His bride, the church.  God is revealed in scripture as a totally faithful — and jealous — lover.

In its proper place, sex is the deepest, most exclusive kind of knowing and being known.  If marriage and the family are the cornerstones of civilization, marital and sexual fidelity are the mortar that holds them together.

You unmarried guys need to see us older married guys living right so you know it is possible.  And we older married guys need to see you young single men living right so we aren’t led astray.  Let’s encourage and set a Godly example for each other.

Choosing to be a leader and to live a chaste life honors God and helps you to avoid one of the classic blunders.  More on this later.

So how about you?  What are you doing to help you live a chaste life?  Add your comments below.

“When we are out of sympathy with the young then I think our work in this world is over.” – George McDonald

Recently, I ran into a former colleague and her high school aged son. As we caught up, I asked the young man about his plans following high school. He replied: “College, of course!” He’s an intelligent fellow with intelligent parents so I’m not surprised. What was pleasantly surprising was that he’s seriously thinking about taking a path we’ve discussed here before — taking his first two years at the local technical college before transferring as a junior to a state university. Since he’s thinking about a career in healthcare, this is a sound plan.

The changing nature of work

As the end of 2015 approached, I read many articles predicting the future technologies that will affect our lives this year and beyond. Some are amusing. Some are alarming. Some seem beneficial, and some are hard to categorize. The fact is that due to technology, economics, politics, and demographics the kind of work we do and how we do that work will change. The question is, what can a man do today to be prepared for the likely changes?

Working hard or hardly working?
Photo by Joseph Booth

Seek education

One of the ways you can avoid poverty is to stay in school. According to 2012 data (the most recent I could find), high school graduates earn a median income (that is, the middle of the range of incomes) of just over $29,000 per year. Add a two-year Associates Degree, and the median income increases to nearly $38,000/year. The median income for a bachelor’s degree is over $50,000/year. Not only does having a degree lead to higher earnings, unemployment among those with a bachelor’s degree remained low throughout the worst of the great recession.

Now for the disclaimer: A degree is not like a lucky charm. You have to work to earn it, and once you have the job, you have to deliver a consistent return to your employer that is greater than your pay. To do this, not all degrees are created equal.

STEM the tide of unemployment

Degrees in the STEM fields — that is, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics — will put you in demand. The US lags behind in educational attainment in science and math, and this is creating problems for companies that will hire you if you have what it takes. If you’re suited to it, I recommend pursuing a two or four-year degree in a STEM-related discipline. Hint: These majors don’t usually end in the word “studies.”

As you consider your formal education, think first about the career you want as it fits within your life’s purpose. Then investigate the educational prerequisites for that career, and evaluate how your interests and your giftedness line up with these fields of study. Then pursue a degree with the best fit. You’ll fare better this way than if you pursue a course of study based on the starting salaries of holders of a given degree. Yes, getting paid is important. And earning enough to recoup the cost of your education is also important, but life is about more than what you earn.

But also seek wisdom

While STEM degrees are needed in our increasingly technologically saturated marketplace, and the STEM departments in most institutes of higher learning are blessedly free of the corruption of political correctness, you must also make time to cultivate the architecture of your soul. No doubt there is wonder in the periodic table, and grandeur in the laws of physics, but you owe it to yourself to read the great works of western civilization under the leadership of a wise and honest instructor.

So I strongly recommend that you also study literature, language, history, philosophy, and the arts. Read Aristotle, Homer, and the Bible. In doing this you will, to paraphrase novelist Tom Robbins, furnish your mind like a comfortable living room instead of like an office cubicle. This will also make it possible for you to think more broadly and insightfully about the work you do and to understand the times in which you live — a valuable thing when technologies rise and fall within a short span (remember Blockbuster video?) leaving the less flexible stranded as they struggle to adjust.

Professor Gelernter explains it

Yale computer science professor David Gelernter wrote an essay recently for the Wall Street Journal titled “Machines That Can Think and Feel” in which he explained why artificial intelligence was not close to replicating human consciousness. The reason was not that computer scientists lack the skill or desire to do so, it was simply because they are currently focusing solely on the logical and computational functions that our brains can perform, while ignoring the emotional component entirely. His critique of this approach is that it is like “trying to get to California (so to speak) without ever leaving I-95.”

I would add that an emphasis on STEM disciplines that excludes the arts and humanities, faith and values would seem to be an attempt to make men more like their robotic counterparts — the same error, only in the oncoming lane. And as C.S. Lewis said, “Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.”

Avoid turk work

Note the lower-case “T” indicating I’m not referring to a nationality. Turk work is anything that can ultimately be replaced by automation. These are often pay-by-the-piece tasks that pay very little for each repetition. If you want to see an example of this, click here to see Amazon’s Mechanical Turk job board. Similarly disappointing (in my opinion) experiences are available through gig economy staples such as fiverr.com or taskrabbit.com. As I’ve written before, we should all be looking for work that exists at the apex of our purpose, passion, and potential.

For the time being, driving for one of the ride-sharing companies, such as Uber or Lyft, may provide some income, but once self-driving taxis take off, that work will also go the way of the video store. Over the road truck drivers are similarly vulnerable, by the way, as are the sign twirlers outside the tax preparation offices.

But by all means work

I know several men in my age bracket who are changing or have changed jobs. The decisions aren’t always easy, as at least one friend is having to uproot his family to start over in a new city and state. However, this move is wise as it will provide a better income and a more humane work environment. Another young man I know has taken on seasonal work as a laborer while he pursues an additional certification. I’m betting on him to come out of this ordeal stronger. If you have the choice between working and not working, work. You’ll gain credibility if your next boss sees you have a bias toward action.

Rise above the gig economy like a boss

Changes in health care and tax law have dried up full-time employment opportunities for a lot of you. Some of you are having to stitch together two or more 20-hour-a-week part-time jobs to pay the bills. The hard part is these jobs under 30 hours don’t come with health insurance. If you’re in this situation, working as a contractor, you may want to consider forming your own personal services company. One young man I know did this and was able to increase his income significantly, as his client pays the contract rate he charges. You can file an LLC in many states for as little as a couple hundred dollars. If you’re stuck in gigland, you might want to consider it.

Here’s how I’m doing it

For my part, I earned a degree in Spanish from a liberal arts college, took a sales job out of college and worked for a couple of years before going to graduate school in an applied science (STEM), which led to my working in the textile industry from graduation to the present. I also formed a general partnership with my wife to manage and operate the band we own. And, as you’ve no doubt noticed, I blog. The things I’m doing are the fruit of getting an education, going to work, delivering results, and continuing to learn. You can do these things and more — just stay aware that the market will continue to change and be ready to change with it.

So how about you? How are you preparing for the work environment of tomorrow? Add our comments below.

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.” -Martin Niemöller

I love C.S. Lewis’ book series, The Chronicles of Narnia. I’m sure I’ve read the entire series at least seven times, several of those aloud.

In the final installment titled The Last Battle, the dwarfs, most of whom have been sympathetic characters,  refuse to take sides in the climactic skirmish between the followers of Aslan, the great Lion who rules Narnia, and the followers of Tash, the god of the Calormenes.

As much as it depends on you, try to live at peace with everyone…

Claiming that they had been equally mistreated through the years by both the Narnians and the Calormenes, the dwarfs’ rallying cry is “The dwarfs are for the dwarfs!” They even begin shooting at both sides, killing combatants from their rocky firing position.

Of course this goes badly for everyone involved, and when the dwarfs are thrown through the door of a nearby stable (that is to say, they are killed) they are in the presence of Aslan. But because they refused to be his subjects, they can’t see him — or anything else.

What Aslan can and cannot do for them.

One of the heroes takes pity on the dwarfs and asks Aslan to help them. He replies that he will show her both what he can and can’t do for them. He speaks kindly to them, but all they hear is a ferocious lion’s growl. He sets a feast before them, but they imagine it to be straw and manure. They spend their eternity blind, bickering and complaining in the presence of splendor.

It makes me wonder if we aren’t like them at times.

The error of parochialism

Closer to home

Games people play

The theology of the body

Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.  And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” – 1 Corinthians 12:15-20 (NIV)

Why it matters

So how about you? How do you avoid the trap of parochialism? Add your comments below.