Lessons In Learning How To Fly

This past weekend I took my wife to hear one of her favorite music duos –Tuck and Patti. It was at One World Theatre in Austin, Texas. If you are ever visiting Austin check to see if they are having a concert. They always have a great lineup of artists. It is a small, warm and welcoming venue where you get a great feel for the artists no matter where you are seated.
The concert was phenomenal. Patti is a pure embodiment of joy. Her voice from low tones to high tones is so smooth and clear. She captures the emotions found in each song they sing. Tuck is a guitar virtuoso. Guitar is my favorite instrument so it was a joy to see an artist who was definitely in flow with his guitar.

Here is one of their songs they played near the beginning of the concert. Take a listen to them by clicking on the title of the song.

Learning How To Fly by Tuck and Patti (click on title to hear song)

When your heart is low feel the breezes blow
It's all right you just take your time
There's no hurry now that you're on your way
When you're learning how to fly
No more wandering 'round, step up off the ground
You will find you can glide on by
There's a magic place that is just for you
When you're learning how to fly
Chorus:
You've always known that this was not your home
You've been longing for that place
Where you would not feel so all alone
Well now that time has come for you to fly away
Just breathe on in then breathe on out
And you'll be on your way
Watch the ocean rise, say your sad good-byes
Don't be shy, go ahead and cry
There's a light to guide and you're really on your way
Now you're learning how to fly
Now you are flying, rising, floating
Sailing on this blissful ocean
Everything you've always wanted now
Learning how to fly

Freedom comes while you are soaring
Far away from cares and longing
Take this moment, open up your eyes
You're learning how to fly

Repeat chorus

You are higher now, feeling lighter now
So much joy, you just have to go
Feel the greatest love that you've ever ever known
When you're learning how to fly

You are higher now, feeling lighter now
So much joy, you just have to go
Feel the greatest love you have ever known
When you're learning how to fly
Now you're learning how to fly
You are learning how to fly

Listening to the song I thought of a saying by C. S. Lewis, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” A part of this life in my thoughts is preparing to fly to another realm that C. S. Lewis speaks of. What is ahead on that journey speaks of God’s love in my thoughts and my worldview.

Also as we travel through this life we fly from life passage to life passage. Part of maturity is learning to fly through the time points in our lives. Some of those time points are sad and some are full of joy. I find it important to learn to let go of the weightiness of life cares and concerns to fly lighter and higher to realms of joy.

During a couple of Tuck and Patti’s songs in their concert-- Castles in the Sand and Time After Time; I reminisced back to my days living in Chicago. I savored back to memories of listening to my musical friends, Keryn Moriyah and Lia McCoo in Northside Coffee Houses. Lia’s voice is similar to Patti and Keryn in many songs played a jazzy folk style I enjoyed listening to so much.

One of my favorite thoughts from the concert was when Patti shared an idea to listen back to favorite songs from your past and listen for new gems within the songs. She is so right. I have had that experience many times of listening to songs I enjoyed in the past, and depending where I was at in my life journey the song can take on a whole new meaning. As we traveled home from the concert, my wife and I reflected on that thought in that we heard them last year when they came to Austin and this concert had a totally different feel than the previous year.

If you ever get the chance to hear Tuck & Patti in concert make it a point to do so. Their music is full of positive energy to enhance your enjoyment of living.

Reflection: What does learning to fly mean to you? Look up and old favorite song of yours on YouTube and listen to it. How do you experience that favorite song in the here and now of the present?

Are You A Decoding Reader Or A Deep Reader?

This week I will continue on the topic of reading. Recently as I was reading news on the internet I came across an article from a recent issue of The Atlantic. The title read , “How Reading Makes Us More Human”. It is written by Karen Swallow Prior. I have the link to it listed under the reflection so that you can read it as well. I encourage you to do so as I am only touching on a few points that personally stood out to me.

The first major idea that struck me about reading is that reading is one activity that differentiates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. When was the last time at a zoo you saw a monkey reading a cookbook on recipes with bananas? Or have you seen an elephant reading a book on how to increase memory skills? Reading is uniquely a human activity.

From the title of this blog post comes another thought from the article to ponder. She speaks of deep reading and defines it as “…slow, immersive, rich in sensory detail and emotional and moral complexity…”. The contrast to that is decoding reading which is “the mere decoding of words…”. The writer states that most reading that is done is of the decoding type. She especially points this is the sort of reading done in schools. It makes sense that in schools and I would say even work settings, most of the reading we do is to decode so we can process as fast as we can the basic meaning of what we are reading. Most workers working on reports and students are under the gun, so with the little time in their schedules they want to speed read to glean information for tests and reports. So I would say I have and still do, my share of decoding reading.

Still my joy of reading rests in taking my time through a book on a topic I deeply enjoy. This is the time where I want to go into the depths of what the author is discussing. When I read like this a nonfiction book I find myself mentally having a discussion with the author. Sometimes questioning what the author is saying or excitedly agreeing with the author is part of this reading process for me. With a fiction book I always take it slow so I can use my imagination to place myself into the story and gain a feel for the places and persons in the story. I had never thought of it as deep reading. Two words stand out to me in the definition she stated, “Slow, immersive…” . In our busy world this type of reading can be a helpful de-stressor. Slowing the mind down to enjoy the story to the fullest. Slow down to understand better the topic you are wanting to understand better. This slowing down allows the mind to then be immersed, defined as “Involve oneself deeply in a particular interest”. I feel this allows us to enjoy the deep joy of reading.

Karen Swallow Prior also expands on deep reading showing that it taps into the depths of our humanness on the spiritual plane. In doing this she quotes Eugene H. Peterson, a prolific writer and poet, who is most well known for being the writer behind The Message paraphrase of the Bible. She lists this quote of his about reading, “reading is an immense gift, but only if the words are assimilated, taken into the soul – eaten, chewed, gnawed, received in unhurried delight.” This quote reveals the joy of reading in the power of story, the growth we gain from reading others ideas and concepts. Reading is a powerful force to bring a deeper understanding of our fellow travelers on life’s journey. This type of reading we can improve our own creativity and critical thinking to make the best choices possible for living a more than ok life.

So as you look at reading understand that it is alright to be a decoder as seeking meaning and analyzing data of what we read is important in our work and school. If the boss wants a report done in a week it will not help on your next review to say, “Boss, can I have a month to read through this information I have found. I would like to slowly immerse myself and deeply enjoy the data”. The Boss will probably say that we can easily be replaced if we can’t turn in the report in a week. However the article is an important reminder that we need to find time in our lives to rejuvenate our minds and spirit with deep reading as well. As a Bookhead the article reminds me that one way to help people enjoy reading is to encourage them towards deep reading.

Reflection -- Do you take time in your weekly schedule for some deep reading? What is a fiction book you deeply enjoyed and learned from the story new meanings or understandings for your life?


http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/how-reading-makes-us-more-human/277079/

Tears of Joy Sets Us Free

Positive psychology and spirituality principles are not about us living a carefree life with happy smiles plastered on our face continually. The reality of our life journey, places us in hardships and times of sorrow from time to time. Some of us have more hardships than others. Some of us have higher mountains to climb and lower valleys to go into. The good news is we don’t have to stay in the dark valleys or remain on the arduous climb up the mountain. We can have times of exhilarating joy on the mountain top or restful joy in the valley meadows by still flowing streams of refreshing delight. The concept of positive psychology principles is to help people have more joy in their journey as they move out of times of grief and sorrow.

A song that comes to mind on this topic is “Tears of Joy” by Tuck and Patti. It is a simple song with a pleasant jazz feel and joyful energy. Take a listen to it by clicking on the title and soak into your spirit what they are saying in the lyrics.

Tears of Joy by Tuck & Patti

I can see the trace that sorrow has left upon your face
And being realistic I know there are some things that
Time just won't erase

But still I'm coming to you gently and there's one promise I can make
Beside of every tear that sorrow has left you Tears of joy will take their place

Tears of joy – hey Wash you clean Come on and let them set you free!

Hey sometimes I know life can make you feel like you don't know what to do
But once there comes a time when you must settle down And feel the presence of the One who loves you

Oh yes I'm coming to you gently and there's one promise I can make
Besides of every tear that sorrow has left you Tears of joy will take their place

Tears of joy – hey Wash you clean Come on and let them set you free!

If I could fly I'd fly straight to you Surround you with my love

You'll be crying tears of joy – yeah Wash you clean Come on and let them set you free!

Improvisation:

Come on say, and let those tears set you free say come on now you'll be crying tears of joy
Oh tears of joy You'll be crying tears of - you'll be crying tears of joy
Say joy now joy real joy say tears Tears of joy yes
You'll be crying tears of joy ah - they say that tears can wash you clean
And set you free set you free You'll be crying tears of joy
I'll surround you with love You'll be crying tears of joy.

The song starts off looking at the reality of life. There are times of sorrow and we can often see it visibly in people’s countenances. Some of those times are so full of deep grief they leave scars that time can not erase. We can move beyond the time of grief but sometimes there are physical scars or emotional ones that on certain times of the year trigger memories of the person or event. I know that is true in my life as there are days of the year when I can remember some of the difficulties I faced or important people that passed away.

When dealing with friends or family going through times of sorrow it is important to listen to the phrase, “I’m coming to you gently”. In sorrow people need the caring presence of others not glib “You’ll get over it” or “ The Bible says all things work out good!”. In the depths of sorrow the individual is not ready to see any good in the situation. In the midst of the confusion of these times in our life there is time to set time aside, and to settle down and rest. It is then that we can feel the presence of the One who loves us. I capitalized the word One as for me in my spiritual worldview, I look at it as being open to experiencing God’s presence during difficult times. I do not know if that is what the song writer meant. Holding on to God in difficult times has been a great help to me in the times of sorrow I have experienced.

Now what about the promise made in the song, ” Beside of every tear that sorrow has left you Tears of joy will take their place”. What does that mean? It probably means something different to every person reading this. I remembered in Brownsville after a hurricane would pass by with the stormy rains a clear sunny day would come. Many times after a hard rain storm there is joy in seeing a rainbow. These can become metaphors for the harsh reality of our difficulties in life. After times of tearful sorrow, tears of joy can come into our life. The time period is different for all of us. The writer uses tears of joy to move in to wash us clean. As we move into the phase from sorrow to joy we experience a refreshing of our spirits as they have been cleansed. We are then set free from the chains that sorrows bind us with. Free to live with joy on the journey. Again remembering on those certain days memories will come but in the renewed freedom even those days of remembrance can be celebration of what the person meant to us if it was a time of grief. Or if it was a disaster that affected us, the days of remembrance can be a time to reflect on what we learned to improve ourselves through the experience.

Reflection – Reflect over one of your times of sorrow. How did you move into a “tears of joy time” through the experience? Think over how the difficulties in your live have affected your life journey. Also think through the lyrics, “If I could fly I'd fly straight to you surround you with my love”. How can you show love to someone going through difficulties?

Living A Life Of Noble Purpose

This past week I had a nuclear stress test and the instructions had a suggestion to bring something to read as the whole process takes several hours. Much of that time is waiting between pictures of the heart at rest and after being on the treadmill. So I noticed in my books to read pile was a small book, Noble Purpose: The Joy of Living a Meaningful Life by William Damon. Dr. Damon is a Professor of Education at Stanford University. I took it to the Heart Clinic.

This book is a short book as I finished it during my time in the waiting room during the 3 ½ hours. Even though it was short, the impact of the message was very big in my thoughts. This is one of those books where I feel the world would be a better place if everyone would read it. I truly believe we are created as purpose driven. God has a purpose for each of us. So connecting our interests and God given strengths helps us to discover our career and non-career purposes in life.

I feel the core of his book is found in these statements by the author, “A life built around noble purpose is a life well spent….Commitment to a noble purpose, apart from the good that it produces for the world, endows a person with joy in good times and resilience in hard times.” (pgs. 66-67). That is what living more than ok is all about. In living a more than OK life we need to be following God’s purposes for our lives. What causes are important to you? How does the life you live impact your family and friends for the better?

That word “noble” in the title, I had never thought of before in relation to purpose in life. The author made me realize that we need to reflect over our purposes. My purpose does not have to be at the level of a hero or famous person. The key is -- are my purposes moral? Is my purpose just for selfishness of acquiring as much stuff I can store in my house or storage center? Is my purpose just about money? God centered purposes focus outward from the self to touch others’ lives for the better.

Near the end of the book, Dr. Damon presents 9 principles to help in our building a purpose filled life. I will paraphrase them here. First of all is to start with a purpose. Find an interest or cause you are passionate about and become involved. If you are having difficulty finding a purpose look at the close areas of your life as in your family, your church, social organizations, your career. Wherever you find most of your energy expended is a good place to find a purpose. Next, look for purpose driven examples in others that you can follow. These may be found in a mentor at your workplace or maybe a historical figure you have read about. Another good idea is to look for support from others. Share your purpose with others and see if anyone wants to join you. Or maybe your purpose in found in your religious faith sod in your local congregation you can find others to join you. With following your purpose be wary of perfectionism. There are always bumps along the way to discourage you. Don’t let discouragement defeat your purpose God has given you.

If you are counting -- the next is his sixth principle of keeping a humble heart in following your purpose. This fits well with his concept of noble purpose. To keep our spiritual compass on a moral plane, we need to keep our pride in check with humility. Along with humility then keep a focus on keeping your purpose noble by reviewing the means you are using to reach the goal of your purpose. This is counter culture in a world where the emphasis is use any means even immoral means of lying and cheating to gain your advantage. Staying noble is looking at the morality of your purpose journey from point A to point B. Number 8 is have a thankful heart of celebration for the purpose you are seeking to achieve. This allows for joy in the journey in what you are trying to accomplish in your career or other aspects of your life. Then the last principle is just as in point three, you should look for examples to follow. Principle 9 is be an example yourself to others. Disciple others, especially younger people, in living a purpose driven life so others can have “… a life well spent”.

There is much more than these 9 principles packed into this little powerful book. I again highly recommend it. But more importantly take time to look at your purposes for living your life journey.

Reflection: Take some time to think over what are purposes that are driving your life direction? What is your career purpose? Is it a noble purpose? Outside of your work do you have a purpose or do you just exist? Consider a purpose you would like to follow to have a more than ok life and write it down with plans to follow a purpose driven life.

Too Rushed To Notice the Joys In Life

Many times we are too rushed in life to notice moments of beauty in the world around us. Our schedules are packed with an overload of activity, so we look like we are whirring around throughout the day. Too much of this wears us down. This constant tiredness from being in a rush can skew our thinking that life is drab, boring and exhausting and we only look for troubles and problems which usually generates more negativity with more problems occurring.

In a recent Sunday church message the Preaching Elder told a story that relates to our changing how we use our time. To learn to slow down in life to capture the moments of beauty and joy that God places in our paths but we are too hurried to notice them. The story was a true one of a study done by the Washington Post to see how people use their time and their priorities. Do people recognize real talent in unlikely places? They had Joshua Bell a famous violinist, go to a Washington D.C. transit station. In the lobby he played for about 45 minutes. How many people of the crowd of hundreds of passerbys would stop, listen and enjoy the talented musician? Click on the link here and you will see a short snippit of the film done while he was playing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOPu0_YWhw

The study found that only a handful of the hundreds that passed through actually stopped to enjoy his violin music. If only they knew people pay hundreds of dollars to hear Josh Bell play in concert halls. The video reminded me of my time of living in Chicago taking the trains for transportation. Many times at the station there would be street musicians playing. Most of the time, depending how busy I was; I would take a few minutes to listen and if I really enjoyed the music I would toss some coins or a dollar in their case or box. Why? Because, I enjoyed the beauty of the music. The sharing of their talent many times made my day better. Far too many people are too busy to take the time to enjoy a little portion of beauty.

Some may say catching a train is very important so they were right to rush by the musician. Yes, I did have my rushed days where running to the train was the most important issue. The important issue the Washington Times experiment drives home still, is do we stay in the rushed mode all the time or take times to savor the little beauties in life that come our way. Do we have to always quickly rush into the garage and miss the hummingbird in the front yard flower garden?

Jesus in the gospel writings says Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (Matt. 6:28-29). In the context the meaning is focusing on overcoming our anxiety and worry. Yet in relation to being mindfully aware and savoring the beauty in life which the Josh Bell video speaks to; we need to consider, take notice of the beauty of the lily to learn what Jesus is getting at. If we are too rushed and hurried in life to notice the lilies that come into our lives we can’t learn from the beauty around us.

In making the most of our life take time to take note of the little things in each day of your life journey. Learn to slow down. Go to www.slowmovement.com for ideas. The little beauties and joys can perk up a dull boring day or brighten a downright terrible day. At the same time do not forget the big joys as well. Last week we enjoyed a big joy as jazz great Ramsey Lewis performed a concert at our local Arts Center. The concert was 90 minutes of sheer joy with an ending with inspiration as he ended his concert with a medley of gospel songs, Precious Lord and Amazing Grace. Looking for Joy and Beauty in each day helps you in living a more than OK life!

To see a World in a Grain of San
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour. (William Blake)

Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the crannies,
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
Little flower--but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, and all in all,
I should know what God and man is. (Tennyson)

Reflection
Write down three little things that you saw or occurred in your life today that could be considered a joy or a beauty in your life. Do you feel you are mindfully aware of what is going on in your life to savor life to its fullest?

The Joy of Enjoying Music

This past weekend I was enjoying the PBS show, Woodsong’s Old Time Radio Show. I have always enjoyed folk and bluegrass music and this show and the website www.woodsongs.com specializes in promoting this music genre. The host was emphasizing the importance of music in our lives as a force for good. Music makes us happier. It brings joy in our daily experience which helps us have a more than ok life. Seek out music in your life to bring more joy into your life journey.

As I did a workshop on Test Anxiety on my campus the other day, I used music to show also the health benefits of music in relaxing and aiding in overcoming anxiety. Music can also act as a motivator to stimulate us to be active. In the workshop I played a song from a Keiko Matsui CD. Her style is contemporary smooth piano jazz. Her music can be very relaxing to listen to. Her music writing is varied and listening to her CD’s over and over I always pick up on new nuances I never heard before. She is one of the most creative pianists I have ever heard. Click on her name here, (Keiko Matsui), to listen to one of her songs.

Even though I played trumpet in High School I always was impressed and enjoyed the saxophone. It can really capture the emotion of the artist playing the saxophone. One of my favorite sax players is Tom Braxton of Texas. He is an amazing player. Click on the hyperlink of his name to listen to one of his videos. Watching and hearing him play you can tell he enjoys communicating joy in his songs. When I hear him in concert I can sense how easily he gets into the flow of his songs and works in tandem with his band. We have enjoyed hearing him at the Corpus Christi Jazz Festival over the past years. I also appreciate he has a deep Christian faith and is not afraid to be open about his beliefs. Part of the flow of his music is that he is worshipping while he is playing which adds to the deep emotion of his performances.

I always try to be open to new artists to keep an open expanding creative mind. Recently we as a family went to a concert locally by the world renown Ahn Trio. They are three sisters from Korea all trained at Julliard. I was a little skeptical at first, as I am not too big of a fan of modern classical music. I prefer the old classics. In their literature they mention that their music is all composed for them by modern composers. I am glad we went. They definitely brought joy into our evening. Their talent and skill on the piano, cello, and violin was breath taking. Click here on The Ahn Trio to hear a sample video of their music.

I encourage you to try to attend a concert of your favorite music artist or go to a concert of someone new to you. Nothing is better than live music with the sight and sounds. Of course you may say your budget just doesn’t allow for that. Then do what my wife and I do sometimes. Put one of your favorite CD’s in the stereo and then sit back in a soft recliner with your eyes closed and imagine you are listening in a concert hall.

Also for enjoying live music on a budget watch for local university student programs that are often free or a low cost. We recently enjoyed a wonderful classical guitar concert of high school guitar ensembles and the University’s guitar ensembles for only $7.00 knowing that the funds were going for music scholarships. Some towns and cities during the Summers offer free music concerts. The free music festivals are one aspect of Chicago we miss.

Try to incorporate more music into your life and see how more joyful your journey is. Building music in your life will increase your own personal creativity levels as well. Think over who are your favorite musicians. Presently my top 5 are:
1. Phil Keaggy
2. Steven Curtis Chapman
3. Tom Braxton
4. Keiko Matsui
5. Michael Card

Reflection:
Think over what does music mean to you? Jot down your top 5 music artists. Take some time out of your busy life to sit in a comfortable chair and listen through one of your favorite CD’s.