FROM THE ARCHIVES: THE LOST VALUE OF COMMUNICATION

Periodically I re-post the most popular blog posts on LIFE MATTERS since its inception in 2009. This is number one first published on February 5, 2010.

THE LOST VALUE OF COMMUNICATION

 Karen Spears Zacharias pointed me to a new blog and these profound words:

"Poor communication doesn’t disconnect souls. It’s the disconnected souls who poorly communicate." - Ann Voskamp,  A HOLY EXPERIENCE

As a pastor, I deal frequently with the effects of poor communication.  Lives broken because someone was not careful in their communication, embedding lies into someone's heart through de-humanizing or manipulative communication.  Relationships gone sour because someone did not understand that listening is part of communicating. Dreams unrealized because of a fear of expressing one's heart or dreams shattered because someone crushed the vulnerability of the dreamer beneath words spouting from a critical spirit. "Speaking the truth in love," is the counsel of the Bible but a soul disconnected from the Source of that Love will never truly communicate truth.

Not only is communication a lost art for many, but the commitment to communicate in civil and constructive ways has become a forgotten value in our culture.  Such a development is a measure of the poverty of our souls.

© 2016 by Stephen L. Dunn.  You have permission to reprint this provided it is unchanged, proper authorship is cited, it is in a publication not for sale, and a link is provided to this site or to www.drstevedunn.com. For all other uses, contact Steve at sdunnpastor@gmail.com 

FACEBOOK PROPHETS 4

Ready, set, grab your sackcloth and ashes, bullhorn and bully pulpit.  Time for FACEBOOK PROPHETS. -Steve Dunn

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS: IT'S SUMMER TIME

BY STEVE DUNN

Summer officially began a week ago. Cool mornings and sunshine.  Later in the day, hot breezes and the sound of lawn mowers and children at play.   At night, fairs and festivals and baseball games. And sometimes thunderstorms rolling in to rock the night and mess up your satellite TV reception. Dips in the pool and Dairy Queen runs.  The smell of backyard barbecues and colorful boom of fireworks.

Although I don't like the dryness and heat that accompany summertime, I love the season.   If I allow myself to shift gears mentally, summer often brings more freedom and spontaneity to my days.  If I have some money left over after all the bills, I might even manage a vacation somewhere.

This summer I have only a part-time job working for my seminary (to read more about my seminary click WINEBRENNER)  Half-time means 20-25 hours, basically three days a week.  Although it will be tight this summer financially, I never had a summer when I had four days a week off.  A day to do household things and pay the bills--but still with three more days at my discretion and Gods' prompting.

I am. however, a planner.  I make lists, and keep a paper planner.  I enjoy the thrill of checking things off those lists because I take energy from knowing that I have done something useful, even if half the list or more is yet to be done.

There is a danger in overplanning.  It's called overdoing.  And overdoing is antithetical to resting, relaxing and refreshing.  So my plans this summer are simply--more aimed at enjoying and stretching my boundaries.  Here is my short list.

* Finish unpacking and hanging the last of the pictures on the wall.  We have only loved in this house for eight months, but there are still boxes in the garage to be unpacked.  We have some great pictures that bless no one in a box.

* Spend more time with Dianne, being in one another's presence and enjoying one another's company.  It helps that see in willing to watch the Mlb Channel with me.

* Work on that mystery novel that has lain dormant on legal pads for  too many years.

* Spend more time alone with God and His Word.

Do you have a list?  Summertime has a way of disappearing for those  forget that "to everything there is a season ..."  So ENJOY your summer.

© 2016 by Stephen L. Dunn.  You have permission to reprint this provided it is unchanged, proper authorship is cited, it is in a publication not for sale, and a link is provided to this site or to www.drstevedunn.com. For all other uses, contact Steve at sdunnpastor@gmail.com 

GRACE LIKE RAIN

BY STEVE DUNN I have been thinking a lot lately about God's grace and how God transforms us through it. Reminded me of this great song by Todd Agnew.

CLEARLY, I AM TRYING TO SAY ....

BY STEVE DUNN

I was once asked by a friend of mine to explain the Trinity to his five year old son.  Anyone who has ever seriously tackled that theological concept can tell you how difficult that is to accomplish.  The Bible proclaims the concept and expounds on its importance but never gets around to explaining how that works. If an engineer were trying to construct the Trinity concretely, He would ultimately be defeated because the Designer was not working from a blue print nor operating from a finite set of laws.  In fact, no one designed the Trinity.The Trinity is the designer of everything else.  The Trinity simple is .... well, the Trinity - God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

Was that clear? No, because the Trinity is a mystery which defines life, creates life, sustains life.  Sometime, I will write about how I explained the Trinity to the little boy.  It was decent effort on my part, but it did not leave him without questions.  I still have questions.

I like this little quote from E.B. White: "Be obscure clearly."

How do I interpret that statement?  There are times when you cannot make everyone understand what you are trying to say.  Sometimes they just won’t get it.  Sometimes they don’t want to get it because they would have to open themselves to new possibilities, yet undiscovered realities that make them uncomfortable or take them in directions they want to avoid.

In their minds – you are being obscure.

But try to be clear nonetheless. Don’t stop the conversation.  Don’t be so stuck in your way of explaining that you aren’t growing in your understanding.

Don’t be afraid of saying, “It is a mystery but we must learn to live with it nonetheless.”

Ultimately such a conversation is a call to faith.  As a sign I once saw on a campus minister’s door proclaimed: “I don’t know all the answers, but I know the One who does.”

So let me say this clearly: My life does not depend on explaining the Trinity but by putting my trust in that Trinity and living by what IS clear."

 

© 2016 by Stephen L. Dunn.  You have permission to reprint this provided it is unchanged, proper authorship is cited, it is in a publication not for sale, and a link is provided to this site or to www.drstevedunn.com. For all other uses, contact Steve at sdunnpastor@gmail.com