January Review

I committed to reporting out on the progress of 3 goals I've set for the year at the end of every month, and my time is up for January. Here's where I'm at:

Goal 1: Read 25 books this year.
I need to average two a month, and I finished three. I'm well on my way here. For anyone interested, the recent graphic novel of the book of Revelations is definitely worth your time.

Goal 2: Write 75 blog posts.
I need to write at least six a month. This is my eighth in January. My favorite for the month is my most recent post, "Draw, Antonio, Draw."

Goal 3: Write 25 letters.
I need two a month here, and I am writing #2 tonight. For whatever reason, this is the one I procrastinated on the most, though it might be what I see as the most fulfilling and most meaningful of the goals. Once again I see that what we most want to do is something we often don't "feel like" doing.

Goal Obstacle: Mindless television.
By my count I had somewhere between 5-6 hours of pointless television that could have better been spent in other ways. Not bad. Not great. I'd rather have those hours back, as I can't remember anything that I watched.

It's been a much more successful month that I had planned, as it's one of my busiest for basketball by far.  A lot of road trips and Saturday games filled the schedule, but having focused goals and targets for the moth really helped. Frankly, I'm please with my progress at this point.


A post just about my goals doesn't do much for the reader, I know, so I've decided that at the end of each month I'll include some links and quotes from the month that I found interesting. Below is what I have for January.

Quotes:

• "I didn't go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don't recommend Christianity." (C.S. Lewis)
• "It is difficult to see how Christianity can have a positive effect on society if it cannot transform its own homes." (John MacArthur)
• "It is a sad thing to be Christians at supper, heathens in our shops, and devils in our closets." (Stephen Charnock)
• "God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them." (John Piper)
• "If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come." (C.S. Lewis)

Articles/Blogs:

• Dan and Me - This is by far one of the best I've read this month. A great description of an active Christian coming from an author who is a leading gay rights activist.
• The Apathy Shield
• No Better Critics - An interesting take on women in combat.
• How One Woman Created a Community. . .

I'd love to hear about your January in the comment box, whether that be your successes/progress towards goals, interesting reads you'd like to share, or comments about my writings from the month. Good luck in February. 

Draw, Antonio, Draw

I have started this blog post, in my head, about fifty different times in fifty different ways. As it will appear, today, is merely a shell of what it once was or could have been. For all the brilliant sentences I had pieced together, all the organizational structures, the flow, the transitions, and the seemingly brilliant connections with real life, only about twenty percent of it is still here with me. Maybe twenty-five. And that, right there, is the point of this entire post.

Annie Dillard, in her book The Writing Life, writes this:

"One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. 

"These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do no give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.

"After Michelangelo died, someone found in his studio a piece of paper on which he had written a note to his apprentice, in the handwriting of his old age: 'Draw, Antonio, draw, Antonio, draw and do not waste time.'"

I know there are hundreds of blog posts, dozens of book chapters, and a couple of decent essays that have passed to the graveyard of good intentions because I simply didn't sit down, right then, and get them down. I'll write it later tonight, I'd say, or this weekend, perhaps. Then I'll really have time to get it right. Instead, when I finally came to the keyboard, I couldn't find the words at all. The idea was still there somewhere, and the idea was worthy of writing. But I had no idea how to do it well, where the real words that communicated real truth had gone. The moment passed, the opportunity lost.

And this is how it is in life as well. How many great ideas have you and I let go, waiting for the right time to act on them? I've written many letters in my head, thought out many phone calls, created ministry ideas and lesson plans that seemed just right while mowing my yard. But then I didn't act. Not that day. And I have no idea where those ideas, those plans, and the inspiration behind them, have gone. How many students, players, and friends have I meant to encourage but didn't out of waiting for a better time?

For the good ideas, there is no better time than now. Now might not be convenient. Now might be rough. But later will always be much, much worse. Later it will become something else entirely, something much, much less.

Draw, Antonio, draw.

My Story: The Chase

As I mentioned in my last post, I was challenged to write my faith story in 100 words. Here it is, in exactly 100:

Sanctification is not an event; it's a process. There is no before and after. My story is one of a constant chase. It is a chase for the best: the best life, the best happiness, the best of my abilities. Much has been given, so much is expected. I'm chasing to be the best steward of my time, my relationships, my passions. When the chase is wrong, it's unfulfilling. Part of the chase is experiencing what is worth chasing. My chase will never end, because what I most seek is all-encompassing, all-powerful, and beyond total comprehension. And the chase is joy.

I'd love to hear yours. It's a cool activity, whether your story is one of faith or not. If you're willing, post your story to the comment section, anonymously or not. Share your story - somebody out there probably needs to hear it.

Leaving the Event

Tomorrow in class I'm going to put the phrase "Success is not an event, it's a process," on my board to start the semester and ask students to reflect on that in some informal writing. Too many of them attempted to obtain a successful grade (by their standards, not mine) during the last week of the semester through some sort of one-time, quick-fix, band-aid style project that would send them to the academic promised land. "What can I do today to raise my grade?" they demanded, one after another. Today? I responded, glares of indignation staring from my eyes. Really?

Success is not an event in athletics either. You're either ready when opportunity knocks, or you're not. A game is an event, and to win the game one must be able to play well. The only way to play well is through the  daily process that no one sees. Otherwise you will crumble under pressure, when it matters, unable to succeed when all the lights are on, when all the people are watching, when a true reflection of your process is shown.

Writing is not an event, nor is parenting, marathon-running, weight-loss, relationship-building, or fantasy-football championships. They all require a dogged process, a long-term commitment that is revealed during an event.

Today in my adult Sunday school class we were challenged to write our faith story in one hundred words or less. We were encouraged in it, like any good story, to show a before and after regarding our relationship with Christ and to highlight the event that really changed it all. It is in that formula, though, where I think we get it wrong as Christians, as evangelists, and simply as tellers of our story. Just as academic success is not an event, neither is following Christ. It's a constant process, a daily journey, a commitment of making little decisions and taking little actions and becoming slightly more like Christ every day. To suggest to others that an event is going to fix everything, that a sharp before and after contrast can occur in the blink of an eye, is somewhat misleading.

Yes, I once was lost but now I am found. Sure, some people have an event like Paul's blinding in the desert and immediate conversion. But many of us, myself included, are somewhere in the process. I am less lost than I was ten years ago (and less blind too). But what have I found? What do I see? Only a glimpse. But the more I get of the glimpse, the more I want to see.

The process continues. . .

Give Us This Day, Our Daily Battle

Some things in life are worth fighting for.

Agreeing with that statement is easy. Living it out is something else altogether. To live it out means to name what is worth fighting for in your life and to do battle every day, committing to waging warfare not just against occasional obstacles but to the daily threat of of atrophy and mediocrity.

The apostle Paul was able to name what was worth fighting for in his letter to Timothy, urging him to "fight the good fight" of faith (1 Tim. 1:18). He tells Timothy that he is writing and instructing him in order to help him in this fight; because if Timothy is not going to battle for his faith, he will, like others before him, "shipwreck" his faith (1:19).

This is of major consequence to those who profess to have faith. Many come to believe that once they have "arrived" on the faith scene, once they've had the mountaintop experience and joyously called out in love and trembling to the God of the universe, that they will never lose it. Not so, writes Paul. A faith that is ignored, not fought for, will be shipwrecked. A mediocre, lukewarm faith is no faith at all; real faith requires a battle.

The idea here rings true even for those who profess no faith. For whatever you name in your life that is worth fighting for can and will be "shipwrecked" without an active, daily, strategic, and purposeful plan of attack. If you're not fighting daily for your marriage, your skills, your success, your friendships, etc., they will not last. They may float along with no sense of imminent danger, merely lacking excitement and attention. But to float aimlessly is to sail towards shipwreck on an unrecognizable, undesirable island from which there is no map.

So fight. Name what is worth it, and go to battle today. Whatever is of value in your life, prove yourself worthy of it by joining the battle to keep it.

Why My 3rd Hour Students Will Find Success

I actually felt like a teacher today. Or at least part of today.

There a lot of days, like many teachers, I walk away feeling defeated after spending more time baby-sitting than making students better, watching students try harder to avoid their education than in taking advantage of it. Today during 3rd period, however, I dealt with students who were interested in success.

What was the difference 3rd period today (and really, most days)? What do they do differently? The answer, quite simply, is ask questions.

It's amazing what a difference in positioning oneself for success the simple act of asking questions can make. That class is working on a term paper right now, and the due date is approaching. Many of the students I deal with in other classes might come in panicked five minutes before the due date of a paper, begging for last minute help. More still would simply throw something together, whether they're sure of it or not. Then there's the students whose only question comes two weeks after the due date: "So, can I turn that it late?"

Not 3rd hour. In this final stretch run of the semester, they're asking about semicolon placement, in-text citation, theme comparisons, and whether their ideas will be successful. They brave the fear-inducing ten feet between my desk and theirs, crossing the scary ground of comfortable silence and risk of ridicule to chase term paper immortality (or perhaps a solid "B").

The more I thought about it today, the more it strikes me that this is what successful people do. They ask questions in their life.

They ask questions of people smarter than they are. They seek out people who are more experienced, more thoughtful, or just plain better, and they ask they how and why they do what they do. The best of the best (or even just skilled peers) don't intimidate them; they're viewed as a resource.

They ask questions to prepare. They don't wait until the last minute, wait until a crisis attacks, wait until they are merely reacting to life. Successful people anticipate what they'll need to know at a later date and attempt to prepare themselves for that. They put in the work ahead of time to be as ready as possible when challenges arise.

They ask questions to love. They ask their co-workers about their weekend, their spouse about their day, their kids about their recess, and the person they don't know their name. They ask before they tell, discover before they inform, inquire before they complain.

Asking questions shows that you care. Whether it's about your job, parenting, a paper, God, or your co-worker's favorite dessert, if you care enough to ask, it's clear you place a value on the topic of the question.

There is such a thing as a dumb question - 11 years as a teacher has taught me that. But dumber still might be to ask no questions at all.

Read!

A couple of related C.S. Lewis quotes to consider:

• "God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than He is of any other slacker."
• "Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become."
• "We read to know that we are not alone."

First, I'm not advocating that people read more because it's one of my goals for 2013. I hate when people make their own personal goals the duty of all those around them. A danger of going public with goals is driving everyone crazy around you with discussions and demands regarding how good the goals would be for them. I don't want to eat healthier just because others do, nor do I want to swim laps, join Twitter, begin composting, or start a Life Journal and structured biblical reading plan just because others have decided those priorities will improve their lives. I'm with you, but leave me alone and chase your own goals. I'll try to do the same.

Secondly, I'm not advocating that people read more because I'm an English teacher. I love the English language and literature, but there's a lot I have to teach that I wouldn't suggest as quality activities for the masses. The five paragraph essay, for instance. Most of Emily Dickinson's poetry. Hyphen rules.

Having said that, this post is a call for more reading. I believe that you and I will know more and live better the more we can read. Fiction, non-fiction, journalism, graphic novels - they all have something to offer. And the offer is much more than we can get from passive viewing. 

I just got done reading a book called Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading Books by Tony Reinke. Great book. It's easy to read and offers commentary from the perspective of an individual who was certainly not a prolific reader for a long period of time. Several passages in the book strike me as revelatory in terms of what reading has to offer, and I share them here:

"By opening a book we can stop talking and we begin listening."

"But stories do more than entertain and inspire us. Stories make claims about the world in which we live. Stories can also inform the mind and edify the soul. If we have the right sotry, we can learn a lot about our world, our problems, and even ourselves."

From John Piper: "What I have learned from about twenty years of serious reading is this: It is sentences that change my life, not books. What changes my life is some new glimpse of truth, some powerful challenge, some resolution to a long-standing dilemma, and these usually come concentrated in a sentence or two. I do not remember 99% of what I read, but if the 1% of each book or article I do remember is a life-changing insight, then I don't begrudge the 99%."

"Literature is life. If you want to know what, deep down, people feel and experience, you can do no better than read the stories and poems of the human race. Writers of literature have the gift of observing and then expressing in words the essential experiences of people. . . The rewards of reading literature are significant. Literature helps to humanize us. It expands our range of experiences. It fosters awareness of ourselves and the world. It enlarges our compassion for people. It awakens our imaginations. It expresses our feelings and insights about God, nature, and life. It enlivens our sense of beauty. And it is a constructive form of entertainment."

I can't say it any better than that. Read to learn, read to share, and read to see your own reflection inside the words of people who really know how to use words. Start somewhere - not necessarily Shakespeare or Whitman, necessarily. But somewhere. And talk about what your reading. It'll be worth your time.

By the Numbers

While it may be cliche to have goals starting the new year, I'm okay being cliche. Re-evaluating your journey and destination is important, and usually I go into every year aiming for something specific. Once I finished my graduate degree this past summer, I narrowed my focus to two areas: writing and relationships. While there was a lot that I wanted to accomplish with my new-found free time, I knew I would do little of anything well if I didn't maintain a narrow focus. That focus helped me to avoid taking on good opportunities that would have become mere distractions.

I begin this year with the same tight focus. I want to purposefully plan and use the time I have control over to commit to writing and relationships once again. It's easy, though, to simply say those are good priorities and try to stay "focused" on them while actually doing nothing concrete. I had to sit down and specifically indicate what I wanted to do to build those areas of my life. Three activities I'm committing to for the year are reading books, writing blog posts, and writing letters. That's not all I'll do to build writing skills and relationships; however, these are practical, simple to plan for, and easy to count.

I add that they'll be easy to count because I've decided that this year I've got to shoot for certain targets. Saying I want to read more books, write more blog posts, and write more letters is too ineffective. That's the type of thing I say when I know something is a good idea that I would love to get to if I get around to it. Putting a number on my goals, however, gives me a plan, or a workout program, so to speak. Instead of saying "more," I can say a number and check my progress as the year progresses. And I can make those numbers public, here, in order to place a little more pressure on myself to stay on top of those goals.

My 2013, by the numbers, is as follows:

1. Read 25 books
2. Write 75 blog posts
3. Write 25 letters

I read 18 books last year, wrote 56 blog posts, and wrote fewer than 10 letters. These numbers are both an improvement and completely doable. The number 25 is simply two a month +1 somewhere else. That shouldn't be too tough if I really want to get it done. To write 75 blog posts will require me to average about 6 a month, which is three every two weeks. If I can't do that, I probably shouldn't be blogging anyway. 

There's one more statistic that I'll be tracking as well - mindless television hours. There is no greater obstacle to accomplishing my goals than this. Not all television watching is mindless. Last night the football game was on my TV, and the ten people in my living room had a good time watching it. Relaxing with my wife watching the Best of 90's Hip Hop on VH1 is also not a bad way to spend time. But Wednesday night, when I meant to write this post and read a little, was a bust because I got caught up watching Jerry Maguire on AMC alone on my couch for two hours. Full House reruns, while absolutely adorable and nostalgic, aren't necessarily improving my life. Now, every time I make the decision to watch mindless television, I also am making the decision to write down that choice and count up the time lost.

I'll be reporting out at the end of each month my progress on these goals on this blog. I'm not sure how much any of my readers will care about my progress, but it is a way to hold myself accountable and to be public about my professed priorities. I invite you to do the same. If you're willing, in the comment section of this post write down your numbers for the year. For your stated priorities, what numbers do you hope to hit? If you want to participate throughout the year, at the end of each month post your numbers in the comment section when I post mine. I believe the journey for all of us will be more successful if we're doing it together.

So this is your invitation: pick some "stats" you want to hold yourself to, and begin chasing them. Whether those stats deal with health, finances, reading, phone calls, or resumes sent, make sure they matter to you. Post them here if you're willing. You can always adjust them if you find them unrealistic. If you aren't ready to publicly declare your direction, have a direction anyway. Put a number on what you want to do, whether it's for the week, for the month, or for the year. 

Stats don't lie. Join the numbers game.