“Would there be enough evidence to convict you?” I remember hearing this question once, and it has consistently remained at the back of my mind since I heard it. The person asking the question was in a church setting, and they had said “If someone accused you of being a member of this church, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” While the question was asked in application to a particular church, it struck me in how much it applies to what I believe. When I ask myse

Life is full of opportunity. At the beginning of every year, I find myself - in line with cultural tradition - making goals for what I will do in that New Year. As I look back on past goals made in previous New Year’s settings, I see a lot of ambition, but not as much follow-through. I see too many opportunities to be able to pursue them all, and too many uses of time that distracted me from my other goals. Each year, I accomplish a few things, half of some things, or a littl

I learned I might be praying to avoid the very things I needed A genie in a bottle. A magic carpet. These were supposed to be from the story of Aladdin, but one day I realized they were not entirely fictional—they described my prayers.   “Bless me and my family with safety today.”   “Bless me and my family to be healthy.”   “Bless us to have the money we need.”   “Please help [name] get better.”   “Bless us to have peace on earth.”   The above statements are common statements

Have you ever heard of the Grain of Mustard Seed parable? It is one that has passed the test of time, being passed down over the last 2000 years. Its message is that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains - and nothing will be impossible to you. I had been thinking about this parable quite a bit before the following realization hit me: You don't have to have faith the size of a mountain to move a mountain.   This parable is trying to give a small

Potential – what does it really mean? We often talk of reaching our potential as if it is some far-off concept, something elusive that we have not found yet.   When we look at a 16-year-old child and say that “he has a lot of potential”, what are we really saying? And, more importantly, when does that 16-year-old child actually reach his potential?   Is it when he gets married, becomes CEO of a company, starts a non-profit, speaks in 47 countries, helps a friend through a har

I recently have been reading an excellent book, Atomic Habits . It teaches powerful principles to help build good habits. It changed the way that I think about many topics. The principle that is impacting me the most right now is that preparation is not motion. The following might sound familiar to you. How many great ideas have you had in your life? An object you knew would sell and make you rich, if only you knew how to create it or had the investors to do so. Maybe it is t

Life is full of opportunity. Most of us can relate, though, to passing up on an opportunity, thinking “I will get to that tomorrow.” Tomorrow can be a powerful illusion that tricks us into thinking that at some future point in time, we will have more energy, time, money, or something that will make us do what we should have done today.   Perhaps tomorrow’s illusion is more powerful because it feels so close, so within our grasp. Perhaps it is powerful because it is an easy wa

Jim stared at Steve, the company’s vice president. “Really?” he thought angrily. “You really want us to double sales before the year ends? It took twenty years to get sales to where they are, and now you think it’s possible to just double that in a little over five months?”  Glancing around the room, the reaction of his co-workers appeared mixed. Dave looked tired as usual. Cindy looked excited and Gerald looked as angry as he felt. A mixture of the same emotions appeared in