What's this game you're playing?

I've been posting on Facebook more often, which is a dangerous thing to do in the middle of a contentious election year. But hey... I'm a risk-taker. Why not?

On one of my posts, there were some comments that, in my opinion, were nothing more than divisive and meant to anger people. You know... the typical political comments. In my past life when I was more immature (i.e., last election), I would have probably decided to go back and forth with this person until I proved my point, made them see the error of their ways, and understand that I was right.

But earlier this year I asked myself a question.

"What game are you trying to win?"

Personally, I'm trying to win the game of honoring God. I'm trying to win the game of serving my wife and kids well. I'm trying to win the game of building a successful business.

And there are a lot of games I'm not trying to win.

I'm not trying to win the game of pleasing everyone. I'm not trying to win the game of impressing people with buying stuff. I'm not trying to win the game of proving that I'm right.

My answers for the games I'm trying to win won't be the same as yours. It's not important that we have the same answers, but it is important that you have an answer.

So what is it? What game are you trying to win?

2305 days

2305 days. That's how long it's been since my last published blog post here.

I'm not sure if anyone will read this. I'm not sure if anyone was reading 6 years ago. But that's kind of the point.

I'm not writing to get views or to grow an audience or to monetize a blog. I'm writing because it's how I best express my thoughts. Some of my posts will be good. Most of my posts will be mediocre. And some of them will be bad. But they are all genuine.

I'm also leaving the history of blog posts up. Reading through my old blog posts is kind of like looking through an old high school yearbook. Some things I wrote are great to relive, but others take all I have not to delete. But that's part of the fun.

So if you find value in my writing, I hope you stop back. I promise my next post will be less than 2305 days from now!

The unity of 9/12

 How do we get the unity of 9/12 without the tragedy of 9/11?

After watching last night’s debate, it’s clear that the goal was to divide us even more. To push us to pick a side or dig our heels in even deeper on the side we’re on. But what if we were all on the same team with different opinions about the play we should run?

There was a day… maybe even a week when this was true…

After 9/11, there was a sense of unity that went beyond politics or personal beliefs. The opinions that people had didn’t go away overnight. They were just overshadowed by more important things that we’ve since lost sight of.

People helped each other without hesitation. Neighbors talked. Strangers said hi as they passed on the street. We weren’t being told to put our primary focus on our differences, but on what mattered most—taking care of each other.

“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1)

Unity doesn’t mean we always agree, but it does mean we treat each other with respect, grace, and love.

There are moments that refocus us on the important things. God help us if an event big enough to refocus us comes now. We are so far out of focus that we are nearly blind.

And those who lost their lives and the loved ones of those lost deserve better. They deserve neighborhoods to care for one another. They deserve us to lean into our similarities before our differences. They deserve for us to… be human again.

So I ask the question again. How do we get the unity of 9/12 without the tragedy of 9/11?