Foundation

A conversation on a local bus
 ........................................................................
 
Eddie: I really don't believe in God.

Jack : Really? Why?

Eddie: I mean I have read the Bible, and everything, but I don't believe that something that old could still be the same.

Jack: How do you mean?

Eddie: I mean the Bible is still the same, it hasn't changed, and I find it hard to believe in something like that.

Jack: Well, what about a building---the building itself could still get improvements, and may look different, but the foundation is still the same. That's how the Bible is---it's the foundation for life, it never changes.

Eddie: Yeah, I see what you mean. You are like an older man I know---he always kind of takes me aside when I have questions like that, and makes it clear.

…..........................................................................................................

You'll Live

Do I choose the strawberry Banana, or pick up Odwalla's? I pondered, wondering which one was a better buy in nutritional value. My night at Starbucks should be be nice, and the last thing to make it sour will be choosing the wrong fruit juice for company---let me take a closer look. So I thought, and thought, and read the labels over and over again. 

“Mommy!” came the murmuring voice of a child next to the fruit juice section. “Mommy!” the voice came again, and followed by a plaintive, buzzing plea. “You'll live,' I heard a certain adult female voice say in response.  

How fitting these words are for what I was internally contemplating throughout the week. I turned to see a pretty mother with her son clutching onto her right leg. Her son seemed about 5 years old, and was all up in complaint for the cold temps in HEB's fruit juice and vegetables section.

“Mom, it's cold!” He went on. His mom without looking downward at him, but purposefully looking to pick out her vegetables, assuredly repeated: “You'll live.” I turned a quick glance again, and saw the certainty of her words on her face: She knew beyond all doubt that the cold would do her son no harm.

I got engaged with this scene. I repeated her words to draw her attention, which she gave, and looked down at her son with a smile, who also realizing my presence looked up at me. I sent a hello his way, which he hid from, holding onto mommy's right leg much more firmly. “Why don't you say hello back?” His mom urged. 

We got into a quick chat, the lady and I. I asked of her family, and she readily told me of her four children, three of whom were also in the store with her, but were with their dad, an isle way, towards the bread section. Her fourth, a baby girl, she pointed at to show me---she was strapped into her carriage and placed safely within the front part of her dad's shopping cart, his eyes close-by for guard. A nice family, I thought to myself, and I enjoyed the exchange.  

Small talk all this was, so soon it was time to part ways. She walked farther down the fruit juice section. 

I walked away thinking it all over, after I choose both Odwalla's smoothie and Bolthouse Farm's Strawberry Banana---why not try them both.

You'll live? I questioned. How fitting, these words, and perfect dose for most of life's ails. The odds may be stacked against us, the circumstances (to us) may not bode well, the job is in a little way fulfilling, and the relationship is locked in stalemate, or headed for the rocks and often the search long. 

Yet the parallels of those and the scene in the store are not stretched---the settings are not very different from the cold temps in the store that day, for the little boy. But his older and wiser mom, loving nonetheless, knowing well what the end is, and the benefit of the moment for years to come, in perseverance, assuredly says: You will live. 

And in a similar fashion, the the great One above, of greater love, and understanding, and purpose, often in response to our ceaseless cries for relief from cold or hot temperatures, says: "You'll live." And in living, hope. 

..............................................................................

It cries in the supermarket too.

..............................................................................

Terms And Conditions

“By signing up, you agree to our terms and conditions.” 

 

Many websites have this requirement, and I know its a bore for many folks to sit down and read it. But could the time we do not want to take at the outset be taken back from us later, and stressfully so?

I bring this up because of the greater amount of business we do online these days. I believe its good sense, If you will have a lot to do with a particular website, to read their terms and conditions before doing business with them. I usually invest a day at the outset, to save me many days worth of trouble later.

Jack Dorsey's company at squareup.com, for example, has a very thorough and comprehensive user agreement that I really enjoyed reading. I enjoyed it for its thoroughness, and I got a good sense of what my transactions with them will mean, now and in the long term. With every transaction, I know what the consequence for good and bad could mean. What liberties are taken away from me, and why. What you don't know could hurt you.

Also on a personal level, I also took the opportunity to learn how they structured it, and that could come in handy, and as an idea guide for how to put together my own later, as my legal underpinning for my transactions with the world.

I believe knowing the terms of trade is crucial to any good business deal. So for starters who are looking to build your own thing, take time to master the basics of good business deals---and the legal part of it is crucial. It will come in handy later when issues come up, and they do come up, and will save you a lot of worry then.

Also, when it comes time for you to teach others who will like to learn the ropes from you, you will be able to give them a sound foundation for their own business. Trust me, they'll thank you later.

This nation is a nation of laws, and no one is above the law, so know what you are signing.

Integrity

What's integrity? 

A character that's one, integrated, made one. (Into—inside---grated---melded). What's the chief container on earth? Man. What is man's chief part? His heart, and that's a container, too. And yet a man's character is only by virtue of what's in his heart. MLK said this a little differently, the contents of his character. 
 
Let's be one, for God is one. The words cry, folks.

Grammar Is Not Unimportant

Okay, this is a quick response to a recent feeling about grammar.

Grammar is understanding's aid, it helps people think clearly about things, and lends respect to the reader. There's a reason why order is needed with all things useful. Grammar is order.

Writing is an exchange, an investment. A man takes his time, which he could have used somewhere else to do something else, but chooses to spend it--invest it---in reading your work. Respect that. Think like this: Is this piece of writing worth his time? After he is done reading will he be better off as a person? Make your piece worthwhile.

Grammar helps the mind think, and a person's mind is his privacy, a very delicate part of him. So feeding this part of him with a rushed jumble--forgetting grammar---hurts the mind---and is harsh to it. Few people spend time hurting. So write, and write well.

Yet, in saying all this, there are still audiences for whom grammar may not be necessary, because it may not lead to understanding, and understanding should be the chief reason for writing. But then again, for most literate audiences grammar is crucial to helping the mind properly process what the writing is about.

Ever heard this saying by B.J Chute: "Grammar is to a writer what anatomy is to a sculptor and the scales to a musician, you may loathe it, it may bore you, but nothing will replace it, and once mastered, it will support you like a rock."

Alright, off to your slate. Write.