Jon's Big Rock Birthday

"Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday Jon"

Okay, today is your birthday and you're out in Colorado doing some type of rock fetch for the University of Georgia Geology Department.  The quiz of the day then is; what kind of rock is shown above? Yes, another test, another quiz and another final that I'm sure you weren't expecting.

But its your birthday and I'll go easy on you...the answer is well hidden below.  Proud of you and the end of this four-year madness of school is getting close. Enjoy your birthday and don't let any big rocks fall on you...although the one above would look nice in the front yard!

Answer: Krishna's butter ball "balancing rock" in Mahabalipuram, India

Single Ember

“Abruptly the poker of memory stirs the ashes of recollection and uncovers a forgotten ember, still smoldering down there, still hot, still glowing, still red as red.” ~William Manchester

A story was told at a recent meeting I attended. The speaker was Ps Steve Bullen, who along with his wife Simone paster theC3Church - North Atlanta. Steve was speaking to a large group of men about re-igniting their lives. He tells a story of many years ago during a beach-side conference that always held a very large bonfire at conference end.

The days leading up to the conference, folks involved with putting on the event had built a huge pile of wood and timbers. This was going to be a very large fire for those gathered. But as the conference started, the rains came. Rain pouring down for two to three days, through out the week soaking everything including the bonfire wood.

When the final night came, the rains had ceased and everyone was expecting a grand fire. As you would expect, the wood was damp and the day's sunshine had not fully dried it. So paper and bruch and lots of matches were consumed trying to get this bonfire started.

Then out of the corner of Steve's eye, he sees someone coming with a large fuel can, gasoline one would expect, letting the liquid fly towards the pile. It was estimated that it was probably two or more gallons of the highly flammable stuff.

To no one's surprise, there were a few small embers from the failed lighting attempts still glowing within the pile. Now if you have never seen what happens with gasoline; the fumes are flammable and all it takes it a small spark or ember to ignite it completely. An instant solar flare occurs that lit up the entire coastline. So bright that ships thought it was a light beacon. So intense that...well, you get the picture.

The amazing thing that one can draw from this story is that all it took was one small flame. One small spark or ember to change everything. Something so small and singular in purpose we somehow forget that it exists. But it does exist. It exists in each of us, deep inside where we have forgotten it.

That one small flame glows, just waiting for you to throw something on it. To let it ignite your life and explode into something great. Oh yes, it does exist and all it takes is that one small flame. A small touch or a small amount of movement to change your life.

Expecting Good

"Nearly all the best things that came to me in life have been unexpected, unplanned by me." ~Carl Sandburg

We each have this tendency to go through life expecting bad things to happen to us. We figure that when times are good, something bad is about to happen. And when things are going bad, we expect them to continue to go bad. It is a self defeating attitude that gets you no where.

What if you expected good things to happen? What if encountering an elephant on a bus were a good thing and not bad? What if you looked beyond the rough exterior of another person and found something good?

Take the story of Simon Cowell. Most know him by his prickly persona on American Idol and the UK’s X Factor, which has made Simon Cowell richer than Midas.

Yet if one were to expect the unexpected, underneath the seeming brusque exterior is actually a kind and generous gentleman. Back in 2008, Simon saw the story of a three-year-old cancer patient and family in a video on The Oprah Winfrey Show. He decided quietly to help. The family had been traveling 100 miles per day for their daughter’s radiation treatments and was financially at a dead end.

Simon stepped in and gave the girl’s family enough money to completely pay off their mortgage and allow them to focus their efforts on fighting the disease. He credited Oprah with teaching him to enjoy giving and said, “I never knew that doing good could feel so good.”

The unexpected good that we find from giving, the unexpected good we find from looking beyond the outer exterior can bring new light to everything. The flat tire you get may be placing you in opportunity to meet someone that can change your life. That painful divorce may be opening a door to meeting someone so wonderful. A job loss could be a gateway to starting that business you always wanted to.

We have to begin to expect the good within the unexpected. All that appears bad on the outside is not always bad on the inside. We'll get what we expect in most cases. If we expect the bad all of the time, then it is likely that which we will find. But to start expecting something good in most everything will begin to yield better things.

Expect the unexpected and expect that it will be good.

Take Off

"I knew that I did not have to buy into society's notion that I had to be handsome and healthy to be happy. I was in charge of my "spaceship" and it was my up, my down. I could choose to see this situation as a setback or as a starting point. I chose to begin life again." ~Warren Mitchell

Many great accomplishments in life are marked with first failures. The kind which make you question if success will ever be a possibility. The American space program was formed in 1958 and had its share of failed rocket launches, failed missions and a few individuals died along the way. But the vision of space flight was never given up. The journey pressed forward with the risks known.

Each of us have set backs and failures along the way as well. There will be those times when accomplishment seems furthest from our minds. The light at the end of the tunnel feels like a freight train coming towards you.

Yet we press on, we continue to move towards our goals. That light may be a train coming but I would choose to enjoy the light in a very dark tunnel. If only for a few moments, my eyes are opened and I can take the opportunity to assess where I am. The train will pass and I will be returned to darkness, but I will have renewed hope in my journey.

And then the tunnel will come to an end. The light of day will return and a big blue sky will open up before me. It is then I will light the fire of a rocket and spring skyward. Greater heights for life; for your life.

It is a choice we make to overcome that darkness. It is a choice we make to press on with our lives. There is so much more for you in life then the limits we impose on ourselves. Release yourself from those chains of gravity you place on life. The setbacks will occur, the failures may happen even when you get moving finally.

Just know the view will be more wonderous and amazing then you could ever imagine.