DailyConnections.net

THURSDAY THOUGHT 1/31/08

Forget about safety. Life is full of risks…lots of them. If you sit back and wait for security, you’ll miss the best part.

Life was never meant to be about snug warmth and comfort. Real life is dangerous.

The bottom line: Decide what you want … and then go for it. Period. You may succeed or you may fail. So what? Go for what is important to you, and enjoy the trip. — jri

“To do anything in this world worth
doing, we must not stand back
shivering and thinking of the cold and
danger, but jump in, and scramble
through as well as we can.”
– Sydney Smith

WEDNESDAY THOUGHT 1/30/08

Get lost!  (No, no, get back here.)  I mean, lose yourself.  Lose yourself in something good and valuable and bigger than yourself. Lose yourself to the point you lose track of time, of when you last ate, of whether your hair is neat and presentable.  I think that’s why some people enjoy cooking for friends, volunteering for a cause in which they believe, or taking care of a loved one.

I also think that is what faith is about: those rare moments when we are able to let go and get lost in what God wants and forget about our own daily cares and woes.

My point?  Not sure.  Something about “letting go and letting God,” and trusting that God really is here (not somewhere out there, but right here), watching over us, caring for us, in charge and fully aware of what is best for us.  As for me, though I very likely will fail (and that’s okay), I will do my best to forget my worries this day and try to let myself get lost in God’s wondrous blessings, cherishing and just enjoying his love.  — jri

“The Lord is my light and my salvation –
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life –
of whom shall I be afraid?”
–    Psalm 27:1

MONDAY THOUGHT 1/28/07

Quick!  Who do you admire?  John Wayne and Mother Teresa don’t count.  Only real people.

I am blessed, because I can name maybe a dozen — all for different reasons.  From my mother, who loved and laughed, both openly and honestly, through a lifetime of pain; to my father, who survived  on his own terms (yes, that’s where I get it), and was decent and honest in his own way; to my brother, one of few people I’d give an arm and leg for, no questions asked, if asked; to my gentle parish priest, who learned love and compassion amid pain and hate; to a very special lady, who describes her father as her hero, which says as much about her as it does about him; to a friend who is a struggling alcoholic, who terrifies me because he’s a better man than I will ever be; to many, many good people who try their best and sometimes succeed, sometimes fail.

Who do you admire?  Bless them.  Accept them.  Most of all, Tell them!  And, of course, rejoice in them. — jri

“Despite all the forces arrayed against
us, we still want, very much, to be proud
of our lives.”
–    Og Mandino

MONDAY BIZ QUOTE

I am an unapologetic capitalist.

Why?  Because, as a Christian and a person who cares about the human condition, I have learned that capitalism has done more to help individuals, reduce poverty and foster democracy than all the socialistic warm-womb do-gooders’ pious hand wringing.

Care about people?  Love humanity?  Then you should be a capitalist.  Work hard.  Make money.  Have fun.  — jri

“During the Industrial Revolution, the
average expectancy of life increased
by greater than seven years [from 34.23
years to 41.31] in the course of just
over a century.”
–    Andrew Bernstein
( The Capitalist Manifesto)

THURSDAY THOUGHT 1/24/08

I’m as guilty as just about everyone else I know on this one: When someone is talking, I’m not really listening; I’m preparing my next witty and erudite reply.  That turns talking into a look-at-me, head-butting contest, a competition for air space.

But when I do shut up and listen — turn off my mouth and switch on my ears — boy, do I learn a lot about issues, ideas and, most of all, the person who is talking.

Today, I’m going to practice shutting up and listening … well, that is, after I’m done with a marketing presentation for UW Extension.  I already know what I’m going to say.  But after that, I’m going to find out what the others have to say.  And I’m going to enjoy the process and see what I can learn…even if I have to bite my tongue off to do it.  — jri

“When you talk, you can only say something
that you already know.  When you listen, you
may learn what someone else knows.”
–    Thomas Dreie

WEDNESDAY THOUGHT 1/23/08

Deal?  No deal?  I may be a bit simplistic, but I figure that every day God gives us two things:  blessings and choices.

Do we accept and appreciate and build on our blessings?  Or do we abuse them, reject them, ignore them?  Deal?  No deal?

Today I choose gratitude for the blessings of love, faith, friendship, forgiveness, family and, yes, even the potentially teeth-jarring challenges the Good Lord places before me.  I choose to enjoy and rejoice in it all.  Deal!  — jri

“A man can receive only what is given
him from heaven.”
–    John the Baptist
(John 3: 27)

MONDAY THOUGHT 1/21/08

God works in mysterious ways.  Now, there’s a trite comment.  (Yawn.) A friend helped put it into perspective.

As I mentioned, last week my friend Steve was scheduled for open heart surgery, and his brother Mike asked for prayers.  Well, as it turned out, they found out just before the surgery that Steve had pneumonia. The docs were clued in when he threw up as they attempted to stuff some tube down his throat.  If he hadn’t vomited, the surgery probably would have killed Steve, Mike told me, since pneumonia is the number one killer of post-op heart surgery patients (something I never knew).

A nice little miracle. But it took another friend to put it all into perspective, helping me realize that, yes, God answers all our prayers, but not always as we imagine.  Enjoy your day.  Enjoy the many mini-miracles that you encounter.  Enjoy God’s wonderful sense of humor. — jri

“You mean I was praying for
puke?”
–    JG (a dear friend)

FRIDAY THOUGHT 1/18/08

Ever get tired?  Ever wonder how everybody else seems to have steely-eyed, rock-solid faith, while you live with doubts?

Guess what?  I know of no one who doesn’t, at least once in a while, feel exhausted, spent, empty, with a soul as dry as dust.  Faith isn’t a feeling.  It’s a knowing sometimes, a hoping always.

My point?  Faith isn’t about a hale-fellow, feel-good experience. It seems to me that it’s about trying to trust in God and trying to serve Him, even when it doesn’t always feel thrilling.  And, yes, even enjoying (or at least accepting) those days when your soul feels empty. –jri

“He came to a broom tree, sat down
under it and prayed that he might die.
‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said.”
–    Elijah
(1 Kings 19:4)

THURSDAY THOUGHT 1/17/08

I sometimes think there are two kinds of people:  On one side of the fence are the invincible, the immortal, the indomitably young, who play at life and tackle it with restless joy and reckless abandon.  On the other are those who understand that their own mortality is all too real, that death and time are tightly intertwined.

A friend died this week, a peer, and way too young for such foolishness as death at age 62.  I’m still fairly new to this side of the fence. After all, we are supposed to bury our parents when it is their time, not our friends, mostly because I don’t think there really ever is a good time to bury friends.

That, it seems to me, is where faith comes in.  It helps make sense of that empty void, that blank spot where once a friend lived.  So, rejoice in faith.  And please pray for the soul of my friend, Jamie.  And just for the record, I’d rather have stayed on the other side of the fence. — jri

“Faith is being sure of what we hope
for and certain of what we do not see.”
–    St. Paul
Hebrews 11:1

TUESDAY BIZ QUOTE 1/15/07

I know business owners who, if they did the calcs, would find that they make somewhere between $5 and $10 an hour.  They could make the same income, maybe even with benefits, clerking at the Quickie Mart … AND get to go home at night without a care.

Sadly, strangely, proudly, that’s just not us. It takes a strange breed of person to be a business owner.  Some of us know what we are doing; most of us do the best we can.

One thing is fairly certain: We’re pretty much independent, stubborn, somewhat unemployable elsewhere.  So, you might as well just …  work hard, make money, have fun.  — jri

“He who learns mostly from his own
mistakes is either a fool or self-employed.”
–    Source Unknown

MONDAY THOUGHT 1/14/08

I know a man in his late 30s who can barely read and has no math skills. But I admire him because, last month, he set the bar impossibly high … at least for himself.  He plans to have his GED (high school graduate equivalency diploma) within two years.

Will he make it?  Beats me. But if he doesn’t try, he definitely won’t.  If he does try, he just might.

What do you want?  Are your dreams just wishy-washy wishes … or steely-eyed goals? Are you hopeful that a windfall will plop in your lap … or determined to climb the tree and pick the best fruit? It’s your call.  Set your goals, focus your efforts, refuse to give up … and enjoy the challenges; they’re all part of life. — jri

“The difference between the impossible
and the possible lies in a person’s
determination.”
–    Tommy Lasorda

DINNER WITH A PERFECT STRANGER

My brother has spoken to me about a standing invitation he has to buy God lunch. He has some pretty tough questions he needs answers to before he can go on. I understand the need.

That was also why I had to giggle when a friend recommended David Gregory’s Dinner With a Perfect Stranger. It was the fulfillment of my brother’s request put down on paper. Dinner is a short read (163 pages), and I breezed through it in two brief sittings. It was delightful and fascinating. My only fear when I cracked the book open was that it would be a preachy, didactic fundamentalist propaganda piece. Far from it. It is a refreshingly honest and enjoyable blend of logic, scripture, and compassion — without any cheap emotional tricks designed to send you on a sappy crying jag.

I like reading a book where I actually learn something, and I did here. For example, a dabbler of eastern religions such as Buddhism, I’d always enjoyed the philosophy, but found that, in the end, they lacked something, but I wasn’t sure what. Our hero in Dinner With a Perfect Stranger (yeah, it’s Jesus, this we know from the very beginning; no suspense) did a pretty good job of explaining why such religions (and this includes Islam, gentle reader) simply don’t do the job.

Most of all, Dinner was an honest treatment of the subject, grappling with the kind of questions I suspect most of us have struggled with. I didn’t see any sleight of hand, dodging of questions, or smoke and mirrors.

What would you ask Jesus if given the opportunity to have a one-on-one dinner with Him? Gregory’s Dinner With a Perfect Stranger may not provide a revelatory transformation (darn, yet another silver bullet gone astray); however, it is a delightful, well-worth-the-read experience. And, yes I have sent a copy to my questing brother. Enjoy. — JRI

“Here I am! I stand at the door and
knock; if anyone hears my voice and
opens the door, I will come in to him
and will dine with him, and he with me.”
– Revelations 3:20

THURSDAY THOUGHT 1/10/08

“John, I’m dying.”  With those blunt and chilling words, an old friend — not that old at all, really — confirmed what we had hoped to deny.

I’m new at this: the idea of burying friends. In my mind, I cast about for the right words, the silver-bullet pearl of wisdom to make it all right. No luck. My friend beat me to it.  “I’m good with God,” he told me. “I’m okay.”

My point: Our funhouse ride on this mortal coil will end someday. Guaranteed.  No exceptions. Only God knows the details. Only thing we can do is trust and, strange as it may seem, rejoice. — jri

“All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.”
–    King David
(Psalm 139: 16)

WEDNESDAY THOUGHT 1/9/08

A woman brimming with life amid a lifetime of suffering, my mother used to shake her finger in my face and threaten, “If you find brief glimpses of joy in this world of sorrow, count your blessings.”  Then she’d laugh and say, “Come on, let’s get some ice cream.”

Mom had it figured out. Life can be a bear.  In truth, I don’t know anyone over the age of 18 — at least anyone in his or her right mind — who finds life easy.  No, that isn’t to say that life isn’t good.  On the contrary, it even has moments of downright glee and happiness. But it can also be downright hard.  Why point out the obvious?  Because it isn’t obvious to some folks. A lot of people think they’re the only ones with troubles.

My point?  Mom’s point, actually:   Don’t waste your time wishing life was easy. Instead, shrug off the challenges and setbacks of each day.  Then cherish those wondrous moments of joy, no matter how brief.  — jri

“If you cannot accept it with joy,
at least suffer it with patience.”
–    Thomas a Kempis

Monday Thought 1/7/08

I woke up vaguely discouraged this morning, with an uncomfortable sense of hungry wolf eyes beyond the campfire.

Why?  Friends with persistent troubles. Overdue miracles. The conclusion of the Christmas season and the dusky dawn of the short, chilled days of winter.

Then I read this morning’s Bible passage.  Ah!  Timely!  Persistence and patience.  My soul renewed and borderline joyful. Rejoice! — jri

“Be careful to follow every command
I am giving you today, so that you may
live and increase and may enter and
possess the land that the Lord promised
on oath to your forefathers.  Remember
how the Lord your God led you all the
way in the desert these forty years, to
humble you and to test you in order to
know what was in your heart, whether or
not you would keep his commands.  He
humbled you, causing you to hunger and
then feeding you with manna, which
neither you nor your fathers had known,
to teach you that man does not live on
bread alone but on every word that
comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
–    Moses
(Deuteronomy 8: 1-3)

Thursday Thought 1/3/08

Steadiness!  That, to me, is the single most important trait/strength/virtue a man can bring to any situation, event or, especially, relationship.

That means that he is not so much always agreeable, but consistent; a person of principle, not convenience; a man who says what he means and means what he says.  Most of all, it means that he brings strength to his relationship with a woman rather than expects her to fulfill  him and make him strong. And he bellies up to the bar when it comes to being a father.  No excuses.  No exceptions.

My point: So obvious it’s tough to summarize.  How about: Character and “steadiness” count!  Gentlemen, enjoy the gifts of manhood.  Ladies, seek men of character and steadiness.  — jri

“What we call midlife crisis is often a
man coming into a little money and
influence, and using it to go back and
recover what he missed as the Beloved
Son (he buys himself toys) or the Cowboy
(he goes off on adventures).  He is an
undeveloped, uninitiated man.”
–    John Eldredge
(The Way of the Wild Heart)

Welcome to Daily Connections

I’ve been doing these daily thoughts (I still think of them as just daily ramblings) for years.  I started out writing them for business clients (Business Thoughts), as a way to stay in touch with them…and remind them how much they loved me.  Nobody said anything negative, so I figured they were okay.

Gradually, I began writing general inspirational pieces (Motivational Thoughts) …and people told me they liked them.  Good enough for me.

Then I finally decided that my depending spiritual life (Spiritual Thoughts)needed to be expressed.  I’m not all that sure how, but I hit a positive nerve in people, mostly because I wrote about my inner fears, strengths and feelings.

I’m not all that sure where the ideas come from.  Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and they are fully formed.  Other times, I struggle to string together two coherent words. They are built around quotes, which I have been collecting for years. (Whenever I read, I have a pad and pen nearby and record anything that seems at all profound.)

I do know that the format: three paragraphs — followed by a notable quote –took more than 25 years to evolve.  It seems to work.  Short, sweet and to the point.

So, thanks for visiting. If you have questions or comments, let me know. I thrive on praise.  (Like a puppy, scratch me behind the ears and I’ll be in pure bliss.)  I also appreciate criticism, if only because it makes me a better man. (Still, a little of that goes a long way.)  Either way, contact me at: john@jringrisano.com.

So, thanks for visiting and God bless.  Here’s a note of interest (at leaast to me) but feedback says that some folks truly enjoy the ideas.