Part Two of the previous post: This one features CHAOS THEORY and the power of the small but strategically placed bits of WISDOM that God gives! (And some amazing DNA stuff at the end!) These two messages have been so refreshing for me personally and I think they will for anyone who has followed this thought-journey! Enjoy!
http://theabbeychurch.com/The%20Abbey%20Church/shift-your-system-part-two/
Monday, March 25, 2019
Friday, March 22, 2019
Quantum True (Shift Your System)
For those of you have followed my "dance" with quantum physics over the years, this is an updated re-packaging of the understanding in the service of our church's theme for the year, "Living Unstuck"! Truly, it refreshed me as well with passion for the unseen realities! Enjoy!
http://theabbeychurch.com/The%20Abbey%20Church/shift-your-system-part-one/
http://theabbeychurch.com/The%20Abbey%20Church/shift-your-system-part-one/
Monday, March 11, 2019
The Principle of the Last Responsible Moment
It comes from the highly technical world of software developers and supply chain experts, and it has been used in analyses of military operations, even though it sounds more like pop culture “creative-speak”. The Principle of the Last Responsible Moment speaks to both hemispheres of the brain—and to some degree eases the tug of war between them. If we just let ourselves dance with it a little, The Principle of the LRM will ultimately tell us what creatives have suspected all along: efficiency is not just about checking tasks off a list without regard for rhythm and flow. (LRM is also referred to as the Principle of Postponement, but I have chosen the more accessible name—the one with word “responsible” in it—so as to not to instantly frighten the “tidy” among us.)
The PLRM advocates delaying--rather than rushing to--critical decision-making moments. When the decision is postponed, you get to live with the system a little bit longer, unearthing more real-time data, more interactive wisdom, or in the military case, more intelligence, all of which will enhance the decision ultimately made. In efficiency terms, nothing is lost from the delay and everything is gained. In the supply chain case, it’s a matter of keeping inventory lean and avoiding a stocked warehouse with goods collecting dust. It is an “on-demand” mentality that maximizes shelf space.
The only real challenge in following the principle is in having it observed by others who don’t understand it (sometimes including yourself)! Failing to decide seems counterintuitive to the Western values and can be misperceived as indecision, rather than, as someone called it, “inspired procrastination”! A leader postponing critical decisions can appear passive. Furthermore, the “last responsible moment” does not come labeled: individual comfort levels play a role here, somewhat like the game of “chicken”! But, if it is effectiveness you are after, you may want to consider some shift away from overly detailed pre-planning towards this more emergent and life-nurturing approach. You do your comfort level, but at least consider that the universe might have another timing available beyond the cherished, “way in advance”!
The PLRM does seem like a no-brainer to creatives. Experts at keeping our inner shelf space clear, we seldom pin down the plan too early. Perhaps because we see our job as pulling from somewhere in the great beyond the things you didn’t really know how to ask us for when you commissioned us, we take some time to process our assignments, looking for inspiration that meets your need in our own zone. When nothing seems to be happening toward the goal (even to our own minds), we are still doing deep data gathering, logging observations, studying the climate, testing the winds, and generally experimenting with imagined possibilities in our inner research and development department. We do feel and respect the pressure (especially your deadline) to hurry up and turn dreams into deeds, but the muse that we carefully dance with constantly reminds us not to crush the butterfly while it is pushing awkwardly out of its cocoon.
There’s a great scene in the 2000 biopic, Pollock, featuring Ed Harris as the artist commissioned to paint a very oversized canvas for a patron (prior to the full evolution of his canvas-on-floor technique). We see Pollock sitting before the giant blank canvas over a period of what seems like days doing nothing but staring--no paint has yet brushed, splattered or in any way applied. Then suddenly, as if a quantum shift had occurred inside, he bursts into a flurry of motion and the painting lands on the screen like a zip file unzipped--at the Last Responsible Moment! The soundtrack by Jeff Beal makes the sudden speed painting so powerful that anyone who has ever incubated for what onlookers thought might be a period “too long” was treated to some brief vindication!
Far from the world of modern art, there was an incident in Jesus’ life that resonates with that onlooker problem. Jesus, who counted the sibling trio of Mary, Martha and Lazarus of Bethany as his friends, received the news while away on Kingdom business, that Lazarus was sick and near death. Did the Ultimate Healer rush to his friend’s side to save him? No, the narrative tells us he stayed where he was for two more days and only then decided to go. When he arrived, it was “too late” by men’s terms: Lazarus had died already—an eventuality Jesus clearly knew in advance.
In Lazarus’ case, the Last Responsible Moment for healing had passed, but Jesus knew that when you have resources from another realm, earthly deadlines are not the final story: The last responsible moment for RESURRECTION was still at hand! In raising Lazarus, Jesus was demonstrating a Kingdom that had power beyond earth’s boundaries and beginning to stretch the expectations of that Kingdom’s first recipients! He was (always) willing to be misunderstood by onlookers who judged that he should not delay his conquests! He knew how to carry his heavenly responsibilities faithfully, giving them a wise and EFFECTIVE rollout in time! He knew how to pass up the rescues and go for the resurrections! He knew the TRUE last responsible moment!
It turns out that “cat-herding”—learning to manage the unique ways of creative individuals—is not just a kindness extended to some motley tribe that God “also” loves, but actually a key to productivity for even the tidiest of leaders! Nervous, early “covering of bases” (or the covering of something else more connected to us) can actually be the enemy of the glorious results we really seek when we say we want to reach the world! Command and control and early lock-down on prescriptive procedures limit the organizations we lead, partly because they fail to fully reflect the full-spectrum glory of the King they point to! (Cat-herding is worth the scratches sustained along the way.)
In my leadership life, I have observed a sad irony: those who seek to control everyone under them do so out of their own UNCONTROLLED fear! We all—leaders, followers, creatives and no-frills pragmatists—have fears, but surely there is a God in heaven that can make good on his promise to deliver us from ALL our fears, not just for the sake of our own peace, but also for the sake of real progress! The Principle of the Last Responsible Moment may not one you constantly cite, but it does need to be one we at least respect. Heaven often comes to earth in messy incubations followed by bursts! It requires all the styles and rhythms of people to manifest this Kingdom and this great Creator-King!
The PLRM advocates delaying--rather than rushing to--critical decision-making moments. When the decision is postponed, you get to live with the system a little bit longer, unearthing more real-time data, more interactive wisdom, or in the military case, more intelligence, all of which will enhance the decision ultimately made. In efficiency terms, nothing is lost from the delay and everything is gained. In the supply chain case, it’s a matter of keeping inventory lean and avoiding a stocked warehouse with goods collecting dust. It is an “on-demand” mentality that maximizes shelf space.
The only real challenge in following the principle is in having it observed by others who don’t understand it (sometimes including yourself)! Failing to decide seems counterintuitive to the Western values and can be misperceived as indecision, rather than, as someone called it, “inspired procrastination”! A leader postponing critical decisions can appear passive. Furthermore, the “last responsible moment” does not come labeled: individual comfort levels play a role here, somewhat like the game of “chicken”! But, if it is effectiveness you are after, you may want to consider some shift away from overly detailed pre-planning towards this more emergent and life-nurturing approach. You do your comfort level, but at least consider that the universe might have another timing available beyond the cherished, “way in advance”!
The PLRM does seem like a no-brainer to creatives. Experts at keeping our inner shelf space clear, we seldom pin down the plan too early. Perhaps because we see our job as pulling from somewhere in the great beyond the things you didn’t really know how to ask us for when you commissioned us, we take some time to process our assignments, looking for inspiration that meets your need in our own zone. When nothing seems to be happening toward the goal (even to our own minds), we are still doing deep data gathering, logging observations, studying the climate, testing the winds, and generally experimenting with imagined possibilities in our inner research and development department. We do feel and respect the pressure (especially your deadline) to hurry up and turn dreams into deeds, but the muse that we carefully dance with constantly reminds us not to crush the butterfly while it is pushing awkwardly out of its cocoon.
There’s a great scene in the 2000 biopic, Pollock, featuring Ed Harris as the artist commissioned to paint a very oversized canvas for a patron (prior to the full evolution of his canvas-on-floor technique). We see Pollock sitting before the giant blank canvas over a period of what seems like days doing nothing but staring--no paint has yet brushed, splattered or in any way applied. Then suddenly, as if a quantum shift had occurred inside, he bursts into a flurry of motion and the painting lands on the screen like a zip file unzipped--at the Last Responsible Moment! The soundtrack by Jeff Beal makes the sudden speed painting so powerful that anyone who has ever incubated for what onlookers thought might be a period “too long” was treated to some brief vindication!
Far from the world of modern art, there was an incident in Jesus’ life that resonates with that onlooker problem. Jesus, who counted the sibling trio of Mary, Martha and Lazarus of Bethany as his friends, received the news while away on Kingdom business, that Lazarus was sick and near death. Did the Ultimate Healer rush to his friend’s side to save him? No, the narrative tells us he stayed where he was for two more days and only then decided to go. When he arrived, it was “too late” by men’s terms: Lazarus had died already—an eventuality Jesus clearly knew in advance.
In Lazarus’ case, the Last Responsible Moment for healing had passed, but Jesus knew that when you have resources from another realm, earthly deadlines are not the final story: The last responsible moment for RESURRECTION was still at hand! In raising Lazarus, Jesus was demonstrating a Kingdom that had power beyond earth’s boundaries and beginning to stretch the expectations of that Kingdom’s first recipients! He was (always) willing to be misunderstood by onlookers who judged that he should not delay his conquests! He knew how to carry his heavenly responsibilities faithfully, giving them a wise and EFFECTIVE rollout in time! He knew how to pass up the rescues and go for the resurrections! He knew the TRUE last responsible moment!
It turns out that “cat-herding”—learning to manage the unique ways of creative individuals—is not just a kindness extended to some motley tribe that God “also” loves, but actually a key to productivity for even the tidiest of leaders! Nervous, early “covering of bases” (or the covering of something else more connected to us) can actually be the enemy of the glorious results we really seek when we say we want to reach the world! Command and control and early lock-down on prescriptive procedures limit the organizations we lead, partly because they fail to fully reflect the full-spectrum glory of the King they point to! (Cat-herding is worth the scratches sustained along the way.)
In my leadership life, I have observed a sad irony: those who seek to control everyone under them do so out of their own UNCONTROLLED fear! We all—leaders, followers, creatives and no-frills pragmatists—have fears, but surely there is a God in heaven that can make good on his promise to deliver us from ALL our fears, not just for the sake of our own peace, but also for the sake of real progress! The Principle of the Last Responsible Moment may not one you constantly cite, but it does need to be one we at least respect. Heaven often comes to earth in messy incubations followed by bursts! It requires all the styles and rhythms of people to manifest this Kingdom and this great Creator-King!
Monday, February 04, 2019
Designing Worlds
“We can live in a world that we design,” according to Hugh Jackman singing “A Million Dreams” in The Greatest Showman. That line recently landed as a live spark on my inner kindling, setting off a mini-firestorm of passionate thought! I have spent years learning to decode the language of church for the creative tribe and here suddenly was clear snapshot of the disconnect! It might take a bit of focus to unravel, but it is an understanding that can cut through the Gordian knots that keep creative folks in a particularly “Christian” funk!
Christians who have been well taught the fundamentals tend to have their religious triggers tripped with a line like that—and often go off preaching—sometimes in a pulpit (other times just on Facebook). I’ll briefly demonstrate here what that would sound like: A world WE design? NO! The messes we are in result solely from our choice to live in a world WE design rather than submitting to the one GOD designed! We are not called to live in a world that WE design, but rather spend our lives seeking to press into and express the world of salvation that HE designed! He alone is the great Designer—when we try to design things, we constantly mess up in “Romans 7-frustration” or “Ecclesiastes-futility” fashion! God, in fact, is trying to deliver us completely from the worlds WE want to design and relocate us in the perfect world HE designed! (That’s roughly how it would go…and it would get amens!)
HEAR ME SAY before I go on that the above is NOT untrue! God does specialize in actually extricating us from all the hells that result from heeding Fleetwood Mac’s word in the 70’s: “You can go your own way….” That is a fundamental: All we like sheep have gone astray, as Isaiah said, and Jesus gloriously and graciously took that wandering--along with all the dysfunction it unraveled--upon Himself, landing us in the immense potential of life lived in union with Him!
The preaching above is NOT untrue in essence, but it might be wildly incomplete in application! In sports or music, the problem with “fundamentals” would be if we never went on to actually play a game or attempt a concerto performance! If we fixate on truth without the laboratory of relationship and real life, we run the risk of alienating the more complex (and creative) souls among us. And, when our desire for clarity in the fundamentals exceeds our awe for the majesty and mystery of life, we might be headed toward a dangerous reductionism—one that threatens the creative among us (or keeps them from even being among us at all). Einstein said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.” Getting clear on fundamentals can be helpful. Being reductionist can hurt.
What about this “fundamental” consideration: God is CREATOR and we are MADE IN HIS IMAGE! There are designs swirling in the hearts of people that are NOT necessarily contrary to God’s grand design because He planted them there in the sweet spot where He also placed “eternity”! It is harder to preach against living “in a world we design” if we begin to think of the God-possibilities wired in men and women BY HIS DESIGN! Even when those designs are not readily recognizable as His, the mere ABILITY to design (dream, create) should always be recognized as a hallmark of His Ephesians 2:10 creative workmanship! “We can live in a world that we design…” MIGHT JUST POINT TO THE CREATOR—AND REDEEMER—if we could just let it! Maybe we should celebrate the dreamers, not preach them into pits!
What if God wants to awaken and develop in you things that are Creator-like? What if He is not nearly as afraid of your dreams going astray as the church has made you feel? What if there are drives and urges and longings in us that did NOT die with Christ because they were actually planted by God in your very being? In that case, they would be turned on by the engine of resurrection life on the other side of the cross! What if His plan was for you to “rule and reign” in life—not just over attacks of the enemy but also over doldrums and uncreative living—over boring and repetitive mere conformity to a clinical standard—over the oppression that dwarfs novel thinking and keeps dreamers in boxes and creative risk-takers in religious captivity? In short, what if God DELIGHTS IN the worlds we design and wants to partner with us in the odyssey????
As I sweated it out on the elliptical today with Hugh Jackman singing in my ears, it occurred to me in broad spectral color how much we weren’t telling the whole story when we make a rush to force repentance from our own dreams! Only God Himself in intimate relationship can help a creative find the line between his own indulgence and his authentic passion-driven part in the master plan! It is a delicate work that requires a skilled spiritual surgeon! He alone qualifies!
Remember when God brought each of the animals to Adam to see what he would call them? Genesis declares, “Whatever Adam called them, that was their name.” That seems more like the commissioning of art than the fulfillment of a utilitarian purpose (though everything God does has purpose—even His art!). Think of it: the God who just released the ultimate creative project—the UNIVERSE--now turns and shares that joy by commissioning another creative act from His friend Adam! In reductionist terms (I’ll indulge): God’s first task for man was a right-brained one! (And have you looked at animals lately—really looked? Consider a pink flamingo or a jewel-toned ostrich and tell me that’s all just practical and no whimsy or creative fun? And don’t get me going on fungi and ferns, fish and insects and even the fractal formations found throughout the natural world!)
Could it be that God actually wanted Adam and Eve to be the “under-shepherds” of His design to such an extent that it would seem like they lived in a world they designed? Did He want to release them into--not restrain them from-- their own creative energies? The lie that they ultimately believed in the garden was that God was holding back freedom—and perhaps acts of design and creativity—rather than championing His sons and daughters in the things He wired into them in already through His own creative act!
So let’s not repeat that lie to each other or to the outside world! Let’s not portray a God who is too small to allow you room for your initiative, your plans, your designs—even to live in a world YOU—along with those you love including Him—DESIGN! Let’s realize that there is NOTHING man can dream that can excel the dreams God has dreamed for Him—and planted in Him! The way forward is found in receiving Him as all that He is, not in turning the fundamentals into reductionist confinement! Let’s let the fundamentals serve their purpose as a beginning, not an end--and definitely not a cage! (I hear Pink Floyd here asking, “And did you exchange a walk-on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?” But that’s another blog…)
God may be longing to graciously adjust our methodologies or mindsets, but He is not rebuking us for trying to design worlds. He wants to partner with your design skills like a Father partners with His child learning to paint, or a Master partners with His own apprentice. What creative projects might God be commissioning from you? Adam named the animals (not a few) and whatever he called them, that was their name! Your work, too, will matter because you have more authority as a “world designer” than you have realized!
Christians who have been well taught the fundamentals tend to have their religious triggers tripped with a line like that—and often go off preaching—sometimes in a pulpit (other times just on Facebook). I’ll briefly demonstrate here what that would sound like: A world WE design? NO! The messes we are in result solely from our choice to live in a world WE design rather than submitting to the one GOD designed! We are not called to live in a world that WE design, but rather spend our lives seeking to press into and express the world of salvation that HE designed! He alone is the great Designer—when we try to design things, we constantly mess up in “Romans 7-frustration” or “Ecclesiastes-futility” fashion! God, in fact, is trying to deliver us completely from the worlds WE want to design and relocate us in the perfect world HE designed! (That’s roughly how it would go…and it would get amens!)
HEAR ME SAY before I go on that the above is NOT untrue! God does specialize in actually extricating us from all the hells that result from heeding Fleetwood Mac’s word in the 70’s: “You can go your own way….” That is a fundamental: All we like sheep have gone astray, as Isaiah said, and Jesus gloriously and graciously took that wandering--along with all the dysfunction it unraveled--upon Himself, landing us in the immense potential of life lived in union with Him!
The preaching above is NOT untrue in essence, but it might be wildly incomplete in application! In sports or music, the problem with “fundamentals” would be if we never went on to actually play a game or attempt a concerto performance! If we fixate on truth without the laboratory of relationship and real life, we run the risk of alienating the more complex (and creative) souls among us. And, when our desire for clarity in the fundamentals exceeds our awe for the majesty and mystery of life, we might be headed toward a dangerous reductionism—one that threatens the creative among us (or keeps them from even being among us at all). Einstein said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.” Getting clear on fundamentals can be helpful. Being reductionist can hurt.
What about this “fundamental” consideration: God is CREATOR and we are MADE IN HIS IMAGE! There are designs swirling in the hearts of people that are NOT necessarily contrary to God’s grand design because He planted them there in the sweet spot where He also placed “eternity”! It is harder to preach against living “in a world we design” if we begin to think of the God-possibilities wired in men and women BY HIS DESIGN! Even when those designs are not readily recognizable as His, the mere ABILITY to design (dream, create) should always be recognized as a hallmark of His Ephesians 2:10 creative workmanship! “We can live in a world that we design…” MIGHT JUST POINT TO THE CREATOR—AND REDEEMER—if we could just let it! Maybe we should celebrate the dreamers, not preach them into pits!
What if God wants to awaken and develop in you things that are Creator-like? What if He is not nearly as afraid of your dreams going astray as the church has made you feel? What if there are drives and urges and longings in us that did NOT die with Christ because they were actually planted by God in your very being? In that case, they would be turned on by the engine of resurrection life on the other side of the cross! What if His plan was for you to “rule and reign” in life—not just over attacks of the enemy but also over doldrums and uncreative living—over boring and repetitive mere conformity to a clinical standard—over the oppression that dwarfs novel thinking and keeps dreamers in boxes and creative risk-takers in religious captivity? In short, what if God DELIGHTS IN the worlds we design and wants to partner with us in the odyssey????
As I sweated it out on the elliptical today with Hugh Jackman singing in my ears, it occurred to me in broad spectral color how much we weren’t telling the whole story when we make a rush to force repentance from our own dreams! Only God Himself in intimate relationship can help a creative find the line between his own indulgence and his authentic passion-driven part in the master plan! It is a delicate work that requires a skilled spiritual surgeon! He alone qualifies!
Remember when God brought each of the animals to Adam to see what he would call them? Genesis declares, “Whatever Adam called them, that was their name.” That seems more like the commissioning of art than the fulfillment of a utilitarian purpose (though everything God does has purpose—even His art!). Think of it: the God who just released the ultimate creative project—the UNIVERSE--now turns and shares that joy by commissioning another creative act from His friend Adam! In reductionist terms (I’ll indulge): God’s first task for man was a right-brained one! (And have you looked at animals lately—really looked? Consider a pink flamingo or a jewel-toned ostrich and tell me that’s all just practical and no whimsy or creative fun? And don’t get me going on fungi and ferns, fish and insects and even the fractal formations found throughout the natural world!)
Could it be that God actually wanted Adam and Eve to be the “under-shepherds” of His design to such an extent that it would seem like they lived in a world they designed? Did He want to release them into--not restrain them from-- their own creative energies? The lie that they ultimately believed in the garden was that God was holding back freedom—and perhaps acts of design and creativity—rather than championing His sons and daughters in the things He wired into them in already through His own creative act!
So let’s not repeat that lie to each other or to the outside world! Let’s not portray a God who is too small to allow you room for your initiative, your plans, your designs—even to live in a world YOU—along with those you love including Him—DESIGN! Let’s realize that there is NOTHING man can dream that can excel the dreams God has dreamed for Him—and planted in Him! The way forward is found in receiving Him as all that He is, not in turning the fundamentals into reductionist confinement! Let’s let the fundamentals serve their purpose as a beginning, not an end--and definitely not a cage! (I hear Pink Floyd here asking, “And did you exchange a walk-on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?” But that’s another blog…)
God may be longing to graciously adjust our methodologies or mindsets, but He is not rebuking us for trying to design worlds. He wants to partner with your design skills like a Father partners with His child learning to paint, or a Master partners with His own apprentice. What creative projects might God be commissioning from you? Adam named the animals (not a few) and whatever he called them, that was their name! Your work, too, will matter because you have more authority as a “world designer” than you have realized!
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