Point of View

Dear Marketplace Friend,

    With the disappearance – or, the decline – of most local newspapers, the Wall Street Journal has been tasked with the assignment to become more than an office rag for the One Percenters. In publication since 1889, it is America’s largest circulation daily paper. The Saturday/weekend edition moves to broader spectrums of life’s experiences to treat themes broader than just business and politics.
    It was intriguing to open the Review section on Saturday while hearing the live broadcast of Whitney Houston’s funeral in New Jersey. The lead story – and two pages – offered “Religion for Everyone,” which allowed Alain de Botton to give a preview to his soon-to-be-released book, Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believers Guide to the Uses of Religion (Pantheon).
    Botton is a 42-year-old Swiss native – and, Sephardic Jew – whose atheist philosophy has found a home in London. He has a high regard for some attributes of religious faith while having no need for any theology to go with it.
    He leads the article with a mild lament; it reads like the obituary for spiritual life: “One of the losses that modern society feels most keenly is the loss of a sense of community. We tend to imagine that there once existed a degree of neighborliness that has been replaced by ruthless anonymity, by the pursuit of contact with one another primarily for individualistic ends: for financial gain, social advancement or romantic love. In attempting to understand what has eroded our sense of community, historians have assigned an important role to the privatization of religious belief that occurred in Europe and the U.S. in the 19 th century. They have suggested that we began to disregard our neighbors at around the same time that we ceased to honor our gods as a community…”
    Later, he notes that “…Religions are a repository of occasionally ingenious concepts for trying to assuage some of the most persistent and unattended ills of secular life. They merit our attention for their sheer conceptual ambition and for changing the world in a way few secular institutions ever have. They have managed to combine theories about ethics and metaphysics with practical involvement in education, fashion, politics, travel, hostelry, initiation ceremonies, publishing, art, architecture – a range of interests whose scope puts to shame the achievements of even the greatest secular movements and innovators…”
    The compliments are sincere, but he lumps all “religion” in the same bucket. The incredible societal impacts of the Judeo/Christian faith systems have won most of the awards for which he nominates religion-in-general for consideration. What is it that makes these Biblically-founded movements a source of community and community impact?
    Jesus summarized the essence of the worldview underlying the Scriptures: Love Your God, and Love Your Neighbor was his core tenet (cited in parallel, in Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-34, Luke 10:25-28). Take those faith-founded core values off the table, and you don’t get the results applauded by de Botton.
    Much of his weekend writing was a proposal for a new kind of dining option – his name, the Agape Restaurant – where the experience of a church fellowship hall could be replicated. Really?
    In an interview found elsewhere, he responded to a question with this: “The salvation of the individual soul remains a serious problem – even when we dismiss the idea of God. In the 20th century, capitalism has really solved (in the rich West) the material problems of a significant portion of mankind. But the spiritual needs are still in chaos, with religion ceasing to answer the need. This is why I wrote my book…”
    Funny: that’s why God wrote His  Book… and why He sent His Son to flesh it out…
 
Bob Shank

February 13, 2012

    “So… are you ready for the Big Day?”
    Nothing could be more impossible to sort-out, without context. What – exactly – is the “Big Day?”
    If you’re Rick Santorum, it was last Tuesday, when his David v. Goliath(s) challenge landed a sling stone in the forehead of his opponent(s) in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri.
    If you’re the New York Giants, it was eight days ago… when their 2011 season reached the zenith, in the final seconds of Super Bowl XLVI (note to educators: NFL football is – singlehandedly – keeping the study of Roman numerals alive in America).
    If you’re a commercial musician – a minstrel-for-hire – it was yesterday, at the Staples Center. The Grammys were their corporate – and, for the winners, personal – Big Day!
    If you’re one of the estimated 24 million unemployed/underemployed in America today, it would be the day they start a job they believe to be a “fit” (rather than an only-for-the-money concession).
    For the millions who check-the-box marked “Christian” when entering a hospital for an overnight, we’re between the Big Days – Christmas and Easter – but, if the exploratory procedure doesn’t go well, the chaplain representing their particular selection from the faith menu will be dispatched to patient and family, who are bringing a plant from the main-floor gift shop to show their support when they don’t know what in the world to say…
    If you’re in a romantic relationship, it’s tomorrow: Valentine’s Day looms on the immediate horizon. Will it be the “Big Day,” for you?
    If you’re one of the 82 million adult Americans who are currently classified as "other-than-married" (single/divorced/widowed), it probably isn’t your day. For the Americans outside the "single" demographic category, it will be a dramatic performance that includes various props – giant teddy bears, long-stem roses, chocolates in heart-shaped containers, jewelry that plays on the desperation of the affluent – to make claims of commitment that are hard to prove from the day-to-day relationship that falls back into routines by the end of the week.
    We’ve mastered the art of Big Days in the modern cultural experience. The more profound question gets less treatment: who are the people in your life who warrant Big Day treatment, every day?
    Short and sweet, let me issue the challenge: first, make sure you make the message loud-and-clear tomorrow. Your heart belongs to her/him; your commitment to your relationship (if you’re in one) is unrelenting. February 14 th is your chance to demonstrate the dedication and to declare the obvious.
    And, second: take inventory of the people in your vital core who are irreplaceable in your universe. Allow me to make a short list: the God of Heaven, Who is your life; your marriage partner, with whom you pledged lifelong devotion; your precious progeny, who will live out their natural lives portraying the effectiveness of your parenting… end of list.
    My challenge – to me, and to you – is to develop a believable checklist of actionable expressions of love and honor that express the way you really feel about the relationships without whom you would cease to experience the richness of life.
    Today – and, every day – I’m checking in with God, Cheri, Shannon and Erin – and their families – to let them know that I don’t exist in a vacuum; they are mission-critical for me to have the life I long to experience! Make Every Day the Big Day… for the biggest parts of your life!

Bob Shank

February 6, 2012

    “So, who are you ‘for?’” It’s 2012, and that question is bouncing around regarding presidential politics, but for the last two weeks – unless you were in Florida or Nevada – Super Bowl trumped Super Tuesday as the context.
    I’ve been all over the country leading local Master’s Program sessions since the AFC and NFC berths to Indianapolis were secured. Being a SoCal guy – we have to travel to San Diego or San Francisco to find an NFL outpost! – I have no hometown loyalties to draw me into Super Bowl XLVI. I do, however, come loaded with conflicting relationships…
    I was in Manhattan the morning after the Giants squeaked past the 49ers, in San Francisco. George McGovern – Chaplain of the Giants – is in my TMP group in New York, and had flown all night to be with us for Session #9. He came straight from the airport.
    The networks had covered the apparent details of New York’s march to the Championship, but George had some locker room insights about the team’s journey through the end of the season and to the threshold of the Big One. It was reported in the local newspapers, so I can tell you what George said.
    It was Christmas Eve – going into their game against the Jets – when Gian Gonzalez, a teacher from New Jersey, came in to speak at the Giants’ pre-game chapel. He challenged the men in the room (about half the team) regarding their “real-life” roles as husbands and fathers. He encouraged them to be “all in” (a transferred-concept from Atlantic City poker tables). All in; they got it…
    From there, the All In caption drove them to the field with resolve and abandon. Defensive End Justin Tuck cited that motto in his post-game remarks after they beat the Jets, 29-14. The next week, management filled MetLife Stadium with 80,000 white towels emblazoned with those five letters. The crowd waved the towels as the team won, again… Does that make me a Giants fan?
    But, then, there’s the Patriots. Jackie Slater – 20 year NFL vet with the Rams and NFL Hall-of-Famer – sits behind me in church on Sundays. His son, Matthew, will be mid-field for the coin toss in Indianapolis, as the Captain for the Patriots’ Special Teams. He’s finishing his fourth NFL season, and was All Pro this year. Tim Tebow gained the faith headlines, but Matthew has been working the fine print as the go-to guy for his New England team mates as their ongoing Bible Study leader.
    To the hometown paper in Worcester, Massachusetts, he put it in perspective: “My father told me just to do everything I can to prepare myself and live with no regrets. He had a mindset that was unique. The more I play, the more appreciation I have for what he did.”
    All In.Do everything you can to prepare yourself and live with no regrets. Those are terse summations of what takes a pro decades to develop and sophisticate. Yet, on the top level of the sports world there are innumerable competitors; most won’t make it to the final contest. The ones that will take the field for the top prize carry something beyond just raw talent and refined maneuvers. When you have to summon the extra umph to squeeze out the victory… what tape will you be playing for motivation?
    I’m writing before the kick-off; it isn’t my norm, but I’ve got a date with my grandsons in front of a big screen this evening. Will George’s congregation of Giants win tonight? Or, will Matthew and his Patriot crew emerge from Lucas Oil Stadium with the Lombardi Trophy?
    Whoever goes home with the title, some from each team will leave their pro career with what it takes to keep on winning, in life. As husbands, as fathers, as citizens, as continuing contributors to their society and to the Kingdom: they’ll live to be All In; to do everything they can to prepare themselves and to live with no regrets.
    May the best men keep winning,
 
Bob Shank

We call this weekly piece the Point of View. At least, that’s what we call it. But, when I run into the folks who read it, they often say, “Hey, I read about that in your newsletter!” Newsletter? (“A bulletin issued periodically to the members of a society, business or organization.”) Don’t really care what you call this, as long as you read it!
    In the last six weeks of 2011, you heard from me with two recruitments woven into my weekly musings: I shared our year-end financial challenge (twice), and I twisted your arm to spend Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with us in Orange County, for a never-before event called the Issachar Summit.
    Allow me to fall into newsletter mode, so we can turn our attention from recent-past to near-future. I asked you to move from passive reader to active engager over the last couple of months; what happened? Glad you asked…
    First, our ministry/non-profit end-of-year appeal: friends like you helped us to end the year in a squeaker. It was like a come-from-behind Broncos finish: our contributions exceeded our expenses by a .07% margin. In the fourth year of the Great Recession, that’s a blessing from God… and, our donors. For your prayers – and, if you were among our contributors, your gifts – we say, “thanks!”
    And, last Monday was a day of amazing dimensions. We convened on a cool and drizzly morning with 320 men and women on the campus of The Crossing Church(thanks to our hosts, Tim Celek and his great staff team!). The speakers/presenters came from international settings; their Kingdom roles as ministry leaders/marketplace leaders with Kingdom initiatives/foundation leaders with strategic investments in Great Commission efforts made the mix of messages an edge-of-your-seat experience. (relive it, vicariously, at www.issacharinitiative.org)

    We explored the current boundaries of the “Go into all the world” effort that was launched by the Lord Jesus, the day of his Ascension: today, about 3000 tribes/people groups remain unreached. The potential to finish the task in our generation was confirmed, over and over again. The assembled crowd was asked to join forces with a common declaration: that we would say, Our Lives will Count for Zero:

• Zero languages without the Scriptures
• Zero people groups without Disciple Makers
• Zero people groups who have not heard the Gospel
• Zero oral learners without an oral Bible
• Zero villages or neighborhoods without a Church

At the end of the Summit, we collected anonymous response cards, answering this challenge: “By 2025, I commit to giving and/or mobilizing $ ________ to help “reach the corners” (the support of those five “Zero” initiatives, among the remaining unreached people groups) and finish the task of the Great Commission”
    They were collected, cumulated… and, before we adjourned, we shared with the 320 attendees the results of the 187 cards that were received. Would you like to read what they heard?
    There were 21 cards that indicated increased percentages of contributions to these emphases in the next 13 years. And, there were 141 cards that stated specific dollar commitments to give – or, to obtain – in the next 13 years. From 139 of those cards, the total commitment was $ 4,639,116,527 (that’s $ 4.63 billion). There were two additional cards that recorded extraordinary numbers that would be possible, from a Forbes 400 lister. In deference to the exceptional nature of those two, we did not include or announce them, but we trust that God may well be doing something within His potential in those two respondents’ lives.
    If you helped our year-end, thanks. If you attended the Issachar Summit, thanks. If you were one of the informed commitments to the challenge, thanks . What a way to end – and, to start! – a year!
   

January 16, 2012

    This may be “your year.” Many religions have written – or, unwritten – bucket lists for pilgrims. For Muslims, it’s a trip to Mecca. Catholics long to stand in St. Peter’s Square, in Rome. Calvinist Protestants book a trip to Geneva; Jews head for the Wailing Wall. There’s something about blending adventure and faith that stretches the devout…
    One trip that many Christians place on their future horizon is a journey through the whole Bible, getting on the boat at Genesis 1:1 and disembarking at Revelation 22:21. If this is your year, this is a big week for you! Get Netflix to send you a copy of Cecil B. DeMille’s signature movie – The Ten Commandments – and watch his reenactment of the story you’ll be revisiting, from the opening chapters of Exodus. Why do we need to know all of this ancient history, anyway?
    “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope,” (Romans 15:4). It’s there for a constructive benefit: when we consider how God has worked in the past, we get a better sense of what’s going on as He works in and around us, today… and that gives us the hope we need to get through our own wilderness moments!
    As Moses approached his 80th birthday, his memories were too painful to mention. Saved by his birth mother’s resourcefulness from an ethnic-cleansing order of Pharaoh, he had spent his first 40 years as a Prince of Egypt, though a son of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As an up-and-coming man with a position of privilege, he had intervened to save a Jewish slave being brutalized by his Egyptian handler, and killed the abuser in the process. He tried to hide the body, but his action was discovered, reported… and he became a fugitive from Pharaoh’s forces.
    Arriving in the wilderness, in the region occupied by Midianite Bedouins, he endeared himself to a sonless sheep magnate and gained a wife, two sons, and a job tending his father-in-law’s herds. For 40 years, the man with a bright future had lived the life of an expatriot, with no hope for a future that was any different than his current, less-than-he-had-hoped experience.
    Until he met the bush – or, should I say, – The Bush. Far from the home tents, tending sheep in uninhabitable desolation, he saw a natural phenomenon and got closer, to get a look: burning, but not consumed. A voice – the Angel of the Lord, Jesus before Bethlehem – has come for a meeting, with him. It wasn’t on Moses’ calendar, but it was certainly on God’s…
    The notes from the meeting are in Exodus 3 and 4. The executive summary: the people of the Promise – the family of Abraham/Isaac/Jacob – had multiplied in number (from 70 to 2 million) over their 400+ year sojourn in Egypt, and their grief had grown at the same rate. Originally honored guests; now, enslaved workmen, feared by the Pharaoh. Moses saw one Jewish man abused and intervened; God saw the whole of Israel’s family in that condition, and was ready to intervene.
    Why share that with Moses, the man who was furthest from the epicenter of the crisis? Just one reason: God was sending him to be God’s instrument of salvation from oppression, to lead them out. The Promised People, returning to the Promised Land. How would God’s plan be actualized? By one man fulfilling his Calling…
    The start of this familiar story is forgettable: just another Bedouin shepherd, encountering just another desert deity. Mid-story, they’ve progressed to I AM – God’s name for Himself – to “I’m not!” – which was Moses’ self-description, when confronted with God’s assignment for his future.
    The story blasted into hyperdrive when Moses progressed from, “I’m not!” to, “I am, because you’ve given me everything I need to execute the orders that have come from I AM!” All of the miracles that followed – for 40 years – came from Moses’ consent to live out his calling…
    By the way: the Bush still burns… and continues to call. Have you reached the “I AM, and, because of Him, I am!” moment, in your story?

January 9, 2012

    The next few weeks may be the most important among all of the remaining weeks of 2012. Allow me to make my case: we have an almost unconscious willingness – between the post-holiday back-to-work moment and Super Bowl weekend – to consider new designs and directions in the year that lies open in front of us. Call it “wet cement;” we act as if there is still time to give new life to the 11 months that are on the near-term horizon.
    Take the wheel, and steer your life the way you want to go in this fresh year of opportunity… or, let the culture set your coordinates and go along for the ride. If that’s your decision, you’ll be in the back seat for this journey, and you’ll be consigned to day-old headlines as your morning porridge. Ten months of presidential politics; 12 months of European financial/debt crisis; daily concerns over a 28-year-old son-of-a-mad-man whose video games have real nuclear warheads; the back seat chatter will be bleak.
    Get out of the back seat; regain control. Get a look at the map for the next 357 days (leap year!) of your journey. How would you like to remember this year, among all the rest of your life-years?
    Here’s a tip, from an aging friend to an aging friend: don’t be crazy. How so? “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” (Albert Einstein)
    Most security addicts think that it’s crazy to try something new. Einstein would say that it’s crazy not to try something new, if the results you are realizing from what you’re already doing aren’t enough to be satisfying and fulfilling!
    Einstein – Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1924 – is one reliable source; God is even better: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland…” (Isaiah 43:18-19)

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January 2, 2012

Dear Marketplace Friend,

    Welcome to 2012! According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Recession began in December of 2007; the same 90-year-old, independent, non-profit, non-partisan group declared the Recession “over” in June of 2009. So, here we are, 30 months into the recovery; feeling better, yet?
    I’ve decided to opt-out of the national funk (“a state of depression”) that will be agitated and aggravated during the next 11 months of presidential campaigning. Do you feel the longing to recover from the recovery?
    In my lifetime, I’ve become more and more drawn to trend lines to understand current conditions. Status reports are of limited value, in my view: the greater analysis is the tracking of the trajectory. Beyond “where are we now” stats, I need to know whether we’re on our way up, or on our way down… and, in either case, what is the current pace of change?
    National macro views aside: how are you doing today, one day into a brand new year? If you gave an objective look at the quality of life issues – which are, potentially, very different than the spread sheet stories – that define your life, where were you at the start of the Great Recession, where are you now… and, where will you be when we swear-in the winner from the Presidential Derby in 54 weeks?
    My claim: we have limited power over the hard numbers, but significant control over the more meaningful life stories that are underway in our personal dramas.
    While we listen to the amped-up articulations of primary candidates who are drifting from early-primary state to state, what are your proposals – for your life – to raise the quality of personal experience in a frightenly-fractured society that is searching for a Savior? What are you planning to do in 2012 to enable the “life to the full” (John 10:10) that Jesus said He came to enable?
    Scrap the anemic New Year’s Resolutions; that 10 pounds isn’t going anywhere, and your fantasy about taking a year off to travel with Anthony Bourdain – or, Bill Gates – isn’t going to happen. Why not think like the leader you are, and outline some initiatives that will point your trend line in a north-bound trajectory?
    Initiative (n): “a new action or movement, often intended to solve a problem; the power or opportunity to win an advantage; the ability to use your judgment to make decisions and do things without needing to be told what to do.” As my Master’s Program colleagues hear me say, so often: initiatives are the primary mark of leadership: no initiatives, no leadership. Without initiatives, you are left to manage today’s plateau. With initiatives, you climb to higher ground. Yesterday’s initiatives led to today’s reality; tomorrow’s reality will be a lesser version of today… or, an initiated future, undertaken today. Your trend line for tomorrow is set by today’s initiatives!
    Let me give you some seasoned counsel, on the threshold of a new year: give yourself the gift of some individualized leadership in the four key Realms of Life. Ponder a new pursuit – just one – in each of your crucial environments: Personal (your body, mind, soul and spirit), Family (that’s spouse and kids), Professional (your career and the stewardship of your resources) and Kingdom (your influence with believers, and your influence with not-yet-believers). What “new, to you” achievement would you be ready to give strategic energy and engagement in 2012, with the intent to shift your personal trend line upwards… at an accelerated rate?
    Dream it; plan it; do it: that’s the way accomplishment finds its way into your story. You have it in you to pull it off. Here’s an offer: give me the 10-words-or-less description of each of the four initiatives you have – one in each Realm – and I’ll initiate follow-up with you every 90 days to see how it’s going. Are you ready to invite God into your life to the full initiatives, for His glory?
     
Bob Shank  

December 26, 2011

    Breathe deeply; cool your jets; calm yourself: it’s almost over. Whether yesterday was defined by tinsel or tension, the ribbons and wrapping are jammed in the recycle bin, the leftovers are in the fridge… and your attention can now turn to the after-agendas.
    It’s a standard reading among the limited Christmas passages: “ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.   And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” (Matthew 2:11-12)
    The Magi – wise as they were – had their own great time at the 1 st Christmas crèche, in the house where the no-longer-infant Jesus was housed with his mother. The gift-giving tradition was set in motion by their acts of homage, but after they finished the Christmas service – complete with worship and the offering of their treasures – they had to go back to reality: “they returned to their own country…”
    If the Incarnation was celebrated back-to-back with Independence – before, or after July 4 th – it would be a bit easier. As it is, closing down Christmas is packaged with closing down a year. Some folks will use today’s federal holiday as a bargain bonanza, chasing the “after” sales with a vengeance. Others are under-the-gun: for them, 2011 is an unfinished work demanding a month’s work in a week.
    Wouldn’t it be wonderful to clear some piles from your virtual desktop and come into the New Years Weekend with a sense of accomplishment?
    There’s a good chance that your work-related necessities are no bigger today than they will be next Monday. If they require actions by others, you’re probably incapable of closure: the most you’ll get is an out-of-office automated response. If you’ve imposed your own “by year’s end” deadline, lighten the load: give yourself an after-Christmas gift of pressure relief. Chill… it’s good for you.
    If you’ve got other life-stacks that are calling your name, it might offer some balance to your sense of meaning and purpose to turn your attention there!
    Some fitting foci for this special week: if you could score a game-winning field goal in the final minutes of 2011, would it be worth a shot? What are some worthy considerations, now that it’s two-minute-warning time?
   
1) If you’re married, think about scheduling a weekend, early in the new year, to deepen your relationship with your life partner! Modern marriages are often dehydrated by holiday demands; give your mate the gift of a relational oasis, out there on the schedule horizon! (A possibility: click here to explore an amazing DreamMaster weekend on Coronado Island!)   

2) If you do a bunch of your Kingdom giving during the last week of the year, consider the story of the widow (Luke 12:41-44) and think about arranging your year-end giving in a way that will capture the attention of God. Do you think He provided for the widow, after she made her extraordinary contribution? (A possibility: click here to consider a year-end gift to the mission of The Master’s Program.)

3) If you aspire to make new years better than last years, plan to invest in some personal experiences that will create new capacities in you. Declare yourself – and, the potential of your life – to be “in process”… then, make sure you find some ways to advance the process! (A possibility: click here to consider participation in the Issachar Summit in three weeks!)

   Dream with your Best Friend; Invest in Eternity; Strategize the Completion of the Great Commission. Talk about ending the year on a high! May your 2011 finish well… and your 2012 begin with a burst!
       
Bob Shank

December 19, 2011

    A big week ahead. Two notable deaths, and one notable birth; how do you handle those inevitabilities while trying to celebrate “the holidays?”
    Hold the presses for the obituary page. The world lost two icons within the space of days. Kim Jong II – the dictator/god of North Korea – is finished. And, Christopher Hitchens – the apologist-in-residence for the emerging atheist class of Western Civilization – has completed his earth years. The world-wide press coverage says, about both, that they are “dead.”
    Kim Jong II maintained the information black-out in North Korea that had begun under his father’s regime. The “official” North Korean account says that “ …at the moment of his birth, a bright star lit up the sky, the seasons spontaneously changed from winter to spring, and rainbows appeared.”
    Kim Jong II; dead, at 69. Known for his oppression of anyone associated with the Christian faith, he has passed from a world where he could command and control to a new era, for him, where he has no power to command and is in no position to control. Where is he now?
    Christopher Hitchens: dead at 62. Some have already splashed the question around the ‘net: “Do you think he might have changed his mind, at the end?” For the man who called himself an “antitheist” (atheist – the one who maintains that there is no God – was not enough to fully describe his disdain for the Divine; he wanted to be understood to be an outspoken opponent to the very possibility of Providence), he wanted to be sure that no one would speculate that he could ever change his mind. He issued a plea asking people to forgive him if he did make a deathbed conversion, arguing that if such a thing happened, it wouldn’t be him speaking but a “half-demented” entity racked by pain and riddled with drugs. How did he view the message of the Incarnation? “What kind of designer or creator only chooses to ‘reveal’ himself to semistupefied peasants in desert regions?” He was a man of words; what would he say, if he were to stand before the Word?
    Two deaths; one Birth. How do they relate? Is there a connection?

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December 12, 2011

    Not much left of 2011, is there? We’re both pushed – you and I – to make some pretty big things happen between now and the time the crowd cheers the end of ’11 and the start of ’12.
    Some of our to-do is personal – the paraphernalia of holiday celebration is daunting! – and some is professional. You’ll be at parties feigning fa-la-la while checking e-mails; shopping for friends and family will converge with gift-match challenges for work-related colleagues. In the midst of the melee, you’ll keep reminding yourself of The One.
    That’s The One whose entry into History we’ll be recognizing on the 25th. Retailers will cringe at saying, “Christmas;” you and I will boldly recall that “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” In the midst of the Yule yore is the timeless Truth; his name is Jesus Christ.

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